Nobel Laureates Agree: Armenia & Turkey Should Cooperate!

Too bad they're all wrong.

...the Nobel Prize winners call on the Turkish government to end up with discrimination towards national and religious minorities and cancel Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which supposes criminal punishment for "insulting Turkishness". Nobel Prize winners call on Armenia to "give opportunity for holding free and fair elections, as well as respect human rights." Alongside they urge Turkey to open borders with neighboring Armenia, speed up mutual contacts and establish full diplomatic relations

In particular, the [U.N.] Convention says, "events at the beginning of the 20th century contain all elements of Genocide, approved by the convention," the document underscores

A lot of the points are valid, but Turkey has a lot of work to do before the opening of the border can be discussed.

Source: Yerkir

Armenia Surrenders to Turkish Demands

As you know, I disapprove of Armenia's insistence to develop relations with Turkey without precondition. But now, all is lost.

Robert Kocharian rejected Turkey's offer to set up a joint panel of historians to debate the issue and called on Ankara to accept his suggestion of an intergovernmental commission. "The normalization of bilateral relations is the responsibility of governments, not historians," Kocharian was quoted by Reuters as saying.

"That is why we are ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without preconditions, create an intergovernmental commission and to discuss all issues, including the most sensitive," he added.

We all know that whatever commission is in place to discuss the Armenian Genocide will only be for show. Do you really expect Turkey to discover that it indeed killed 1,500,000 Armenians after decades of lies? Come on!

Sadly, this and other calls from Armenia to open relations have been due to the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway project, from which Armenia was excluded recently, despite attempts by Armenia and the United States to the contrary. Great! Let's sell our our history for money!

Source: ArmenPress

Armenian-Georgian Border to be Decided

I was not aware of a border dispute between the countries. Were you?

On February 19-21 the Co-Chairs of the Committee deciding upon the Armenian-Georgian state borderline, RA deputy Foreign Minister Gegham Gharibjanyan and Georgian deputy Foreign Minister Georgi Manjgaladze will meet in Tbilisi.

The sides will discuss issues about several parts of the borderline.

If this is an important story that develops, you'll be the first to know.

Source: A1+

Yet Another Armenian Soldier Killed by Azeri Sniper

Remember this a few weeks back? Well, another Armenian soldier has met the same fate.

On February 14, at about 09:30, an Azeri sniper wounded the major Ervand Pashikyan (b. in 1958), contractual serviceman, in the chest. Ervand Pashikyan died on the spot, RA Defense Ministry reports.

The investigation is under way.

I find it sad that virtually nothing is done after such killings: a few words condemning the act here, a few harsh words there, and that's it. Then again, short of an all-out war, what can be done? Obviously, we have to involve the international community, but all too often these soldiers get forgotten shortly after all is said and done.

Source: A1+

Turkey's Preconditions to Border Opening: Laughable!

It seems that Turkey comes up with stranger and stranger requests weekly. Maybe not entirely so, but I found this particular attempt laughable.

"We do not want the border with Armenia to be opened," announced head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Igdir Kemal Arslan. According to him, the businessmen of Igdir are against the opening of the border as, "Armenia has occupied 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan."

According to the Turkish official, as a precondition for the opening of the border, "Armenia must give back the occupied territories to Azerbaijan, recognize the borders of Turkey and refrain from the recognition of the Armenian Genocide."

First, this is not Turkey's official stance, it seems, but rather that of Igdir, a city in Eastern Turkey. Second, do you realize that if we refrain from the recognition of the Armenian Genocide - and that is what Kemal Arslan suggests - then that means a Genocide actually took place, which is the opposite of the official Turkish stance. Ah, they'll come to terms with their past.

Anyway, this whole thing is laughable to me. I've covered the border issue in previous entries, if you're interested in finding out more.

Source: A1+

Azerbaijani Sniper Kills Armenian Soldier

I hope this incident is not related to this one. Here's the story:

Armenian defense ministry said an Armenian serviceman was fatally wounded by an Azerbaijani sniper today morning at a position on Armenian-Azerbaijani border near the town of Berd. The ministry said Armen Malkhasian, 19, was wounded in the head and died on the road to hospital. Seyran Shahsuvarian, a spokesman for Armenian defense ministry, said an investigation was started into the incident.

This is getting out of hand: what is the future of our two countries?

Source: ArmenPress

Azeris Double Number of Ceasefire Breaches

I'm surprised as to the extent of the ceasefires, which are not merely machine guns going off by mistake or confusion.

Armenian troops have registered this year 581 instances of ceasefire breaches by Azerbaijani troops along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, a significant rise from 273 breaches last year. A spokesman for the Armenian defense ministry Seyran Shahsuvarian said Armenian troops had to retaliate to only 58 breaches. He said this year Azeri troops used large-caliber machine guns and grenade cup dischargers when violating the ceasefire. Three Armenian villages of Voskepar, Aygepar and Chinar, all located in the north western province of Tavush, were shelled by Azeris eight times each.

What do they want from us?

Source: ArmenPress