Category: Asia and Pacific

Armenian Parliament Rejects Recognition Of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh Region As A Separate Independent State‏

Armenian parliament rejected Nov. 12 the oppositional Heritage faction’s draft law, submitted in extraordinary manner, which stipulates recognition of independence of Azerbaijan’s separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Novosti-Armenia news agency reported.

Prior to the voting on the draft law, Artak Zakarian, an MP from the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) faction said the RPA believes that the draft law is not timely, so the RPA faction will not participate in the voting.

Thus, the draft law gained 8 votes “in favor”, with one abstention. Other MPs didn’t vote.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

Wednesday 12 November 2014

Kufi Seydali

November 13, 2014
Republican Congressional Majority Casts Dark Shadow on Armenian Interests

By Harut Sassounian

www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Nearly all congressional candidates nationwide who supported Armenian -American issues were victorious during the November 4 elections. The outcome was similarly positive for other candidates running in state and local races. Consequently, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) announced that over 95% of its endorsed candidates had been successful. Although both Republicans and Democrats have traditionally supported Armenian-American issues, there are some dark clouds looming over Armenian lobbying efforts in Washington due to major changes in the new Congress, which take effect in January 2015, during the critical Centennial Year of the Armenian Genocide. Several key pro-Armenian Democratic Senators will lose their leadership positions as a result of the new Republican majority. For example, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), rated A+ on Armenian issues by ANCA, will no longer Chair the Foreign Relations Committee. He will be replaced by Sen. Robert Corker (R-TN), rated D+ by ANCA, one of five Republican Senators who voted against the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the Foreign Relations Committee last April. In addition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), rated A by ANCA, will become Minority Leader. He will be replaced by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), rated C+ and endorsed for reelection by ANCA. Sen. McConnell has voted positively on some Armenian issues. The picture is not any brighter on the House side, in terms of the position of its top leadership on Armenian-American issues. Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), who saw a major surge in his party’s majority, had announced during a recent visit to Ankara that the House of Representatives will not deal with the Armenian Genocide issue. No wonder ANCA gave him a C rating. A glimmer of hope is House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), rated B- and endorsed by ANCA for reelection, who has maintained close contacts with his Armenian constituents. Fortunately, Cong. Ed Royce (R-CA), rated A+ and endorsed by ANCA, will still Chair the important Foreign Affairs Committee. It is not surprising that the Turkish media has been gloating over the congressional election results. “Republicans favor Turkey on Armenian issue,” was one of the headlines in Sabah, a Turkish newspaper. Reporter Ragip Soylu wrote: “Some changes within the Senate will help Turkey’s distasteful experience with Congress.” The “removal” of Sen. Menendez from chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee “will help Turkey’s uncomfortable and weak position in the Senate.” The reporter went on to call the continued Republican control of the House “more good news for Turkey as House Speaker John Boehner has already promised to not bring up the Armenian issue to the executive agenda of the chamber. ‘Congress won’t get involved in this issue. We don’t write history, we are not historians,’ he reportedly said during his visit to Ankara in April 2014.” In another Sabah article, Ilnur Cevik confidently wrote: “Turkey’s fortunes are not so bad,” in the face of “the likely problems posed by the advent of the 100th year since the 1915 incidents regarding the Armenians during Ottoman times.” Cevik described Republicans not as “combative” on the Armenian issue as Democrats “who are dying to appease the Armenian lobby in the U.S. and thus would be more receptive to a tough worded motion regarding Armenians, especially in 2015 when the 100th year of the events during World War I when Armenians living under Ottoman rule were killed and the Armenians called this controversially a genocide.” Another Turkish publication, “World Bulletin,” cheerfully headlined its report: “Republican Victory in US Congress Benefits Turkey.” The article pointed out that “a Democrat-led Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee would have been a nightmare for Turkish-American relations, as it would have come out with bills on Armenian claims of genocide during the 1915 incidents in eastern Turkey.” Soner Cagaptay, Director of Turkish Research Program at Washington Institute for Near East Policy, confirmed the pro-Turkish orientation of the new Senate, as “it has been Republicans in the Senate who have blocked bills on genocide claims against Turkey.” Another Turkish analyst, Kadir Ustun, observed that the chance of passing a Congressional Resolution on the Armenian Genocide “is now lower than ever, as the Republicans are in control of Congress.” It is now incumbent upon Armenian-Americans who have strong ties with Republican Congressional leaders to convince them to uphold Armenian initiatives, while exposing Turkey’s support for ISIS terrorists who threaten US national interests in the Middle East.

November 11, 2014
Afghan Refugees in Izmir

Suffering News: 150 Afghan Refugees (children, women & men) in Yabaneilar Sube Izmir, Turkey who are locked up, due to harsh condition and force deportation, stop eating food till their rights are accepted.

September 13, 2014
Parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan

This year’s most crucial political event in Uzbekistan is to become the parliamentary elections due on the first Sunday of the third decade of December. Uzbekistan has a bicameral parliament. The Legislative Chamber (lower house) consist of 150 members. One hundred and thirty five of them are elected in accordance with territorial electoral districts on the multiparty basis. Fifteen seats are granted to the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan, given the importance of nationwide issues related to ecology, public healthcare and protection of the environment. The Senate (upper ouse) is formed from among the deputies of local representative bodies of government during their joint sessions, in equal quantity – per six persons – from the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regions and the city of Tashkent. Sixteen members of the Senate are appointed by the President of Uzbekistan from among the most authoritative citizens of the country. The term of office of the Parliament is 5 years. In accordance with the results of parliamentary elections in 2009, four political parties are represented at the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan: the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businesspeople – the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (UzLiDeP), the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (PDPU), the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, and Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan. The forthcoming elections are to substantially differ from the previous ones, since they are going to be held amid the enhancement of powers of the parliament and further deeping of democratization of electoral system. As part of implementation of the Concept of Further Deeping of Democratic Reforms and Establishing Civil Society in the Country, put forward by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov at the joint session of both chambers of the parliament on November 12, 2010, amendments were introduced in 2011, 2012 and 2014 to some articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Articles 32, 78, 80, 93, 96, 98, 103 and 117) and laws on elections, which serve as a legal basis for further democratization of the activities of legislative and executive branches of power, as well as the electoral system. A number of amendments and addenda have been introduced into the electoral legislation to clearly identify the forms and methods of election campaign, inadmissibility of its conduct not only on the election day, but also a day before the voting, elevation of effectiveness in the mechanisms of securing equal opportunities for candidates and political parties during this crucial phase of the election campaign, along with the creation of additional legal guarantees for early voting, the establishment of polling stations in places of detention. Legal mechanisms of securing transparency during elections have been enhanced. The Central Election Commission (CEC) has been vested with a status of permanently operating and independent constitutional body. The mechanism of its activities has been defined that provides for the preparation and holding of elections without interference of any other government body, and principles of its activities have been approved: that is, independence, legality, collegiality, publicity and fairness. A law is to be passed in the nearest future to envisage a substantial expansion of powers and the consolidation of financial independence of the CEC. In May this year, the CEC approved an action plan to prepare and hold elections to the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, regional, district and municipal Kengashes (Councils) of people’s representatives in 2014, which includes a set of measures to ensure the legality, transparency, openness and publicity at all stages of the election campaign. The openness and transparency in the work of all electoral commissions is to be provided by way of holding their meetings with participation from political parties, mass media and observers. The participation of observers from international institutions and foreign states is also envisioned along with the observers and authorized representatives of political parties. The action plan also stipulates the creation of extensive and equal opportunities for political parties and candidates for deputies in utilizing the possibilities of mass media during the election campaign in order to inform the electorate and general public about their election programs, along with providing the voters with timely updates the voters about the progress of preparation and conducting of elections. Therefore, a great significance is attached in Uzbekistan to the conduct of forthcoming parliamentary elections at a high level in accordance with international norms and principles, for their results are to define the strategy and path of development of the nation for the next 5 years. Embassy of Uzbekistan Republic in Azerbaijan

September 1, 2014
Indonesia president says ISIS ’embarrassing’ for Muslims

Indonesia’s President Yudhoyono
Leader of world’s most populous Muslim-majority country urges Islamic leaders to unite in tackling extremism

According to The Telegraph, the president of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, Indonesia, has called the actions of Islamic State militants “embarrassing” to the religion and urged Islamic leaders to unite in tackling extremism.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the scale of the slaughter wrought by the extremists in overrunning large swathes of Iraq and Syria and the level of violence being used was appalling.

“It is shocking. It is becoming out of control,” he said in an interview with The Australian, a day after IS released a video showing a masked militant beheading US reporter James Foley, provoking worldwide revulsion.

“We do not tolerate it, we forbid ISIS in Indonesia,” he added, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as IS was formerly known.

“Indonesia is not an Islamic state. We respect all religions.”

He urged international leaders to work together to combat radicalisation.

“This is a new wake-up call to international leaders all over the world, including Islamic leaders,” he said, adding that the actions of IS were not only “embarrassing” to Islam but “humiliating”, the newspaper reported.

“All leaders must review how to combat extremism. Changing paradigms on both sides are needed – how the West perceives Islam and how Islam perceives the West.”

Indonesia is home to the world’s biggest Muslim population of about 225 million and has long struggled with terrorism. But a successful clampdown in recent years has seen the end of major deadly attacks.

Jakarta has estimated that dozens of Indonesians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight and Yudhoyono said he was concerned about their return, adding that he had tasked agencies to oppose the spread of extremist ideology in the sprawling nation.

“Our citizens here in Indonesia are picking up recruitment messages from ISIS containing extremist ideas,” said the president, whose decade in office comes to an end in October.

“The philosophy of ISIS stands against the fundamental values we embrace in Indonesia. Last Friday, in my state of the union address to the nation, I called on all Indonesians to reject ISIS and to stop the spread of its radical ideology.

“My government and security agencies have taken decisive steps to curtail the spread of ISIS in Indonesia, including by prohibiting Indonesians to join ISIS or to fight for ISIS, and also by blocking Internet sites that promote this idea.”

August 21, 2014
Armenian Australian church leader ‘was a KGB spy’

Phillip Dorling

A highly respected Australian church leader was a KGB spy, according to newly released Russian intelligence archives.

Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia and New Zealand, was listed as a KGB agent, codenamed “Zorik” in the papers of former KGB archivist and defector Vasili Mitrokhin, which were released by the UK’s Churchill College Archive last month.

Born in Syria in 1946, the late Archbishop Baliozian arrived in Australia in 1975 to serve as Vicar General of the diocese of the Armenian Church before being appointed as Primate of Australia and New Zealand in 1982.

A highly respected religious leader and a well-known figure in Chatswood, Sydney, Archbishop Baliozian was strongly committed to ecumenism, working for cooperation and greater unity between Christian churches.

He was the first president of the National Council of Churches in Australia from 1994 to 1997 and president of the NSW Ecumenical Council from 2005 to 2007. He represented the Armenian Church at the World Council of Churches.

Archbishop Baliozian was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1995 “in recognition of service to the Armenian community” and the Centenary Medal in 2001, again for community service.

However, Mitrokhin’s papers on KGB espionage operations in Australia allege Archbishop Baliozian was recruited by Soviet intelligence in 1973 while undertaking theological studies in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, then part of the Soviet Union.

According to Mitrokhin’s notes of Soviet state security files, Aghan Baliozian went on to work as a KGB agent while studying and teaching in Jerusalem in 1974, and maintained “ongoing communications in three countries”. He continued contact with the KGB after he transferred to the Armenian Church in Australia, according to the papers.

However, Mitrokhin’s papers also suggest that his performance in Australia was considered unsatisfactory. The third department of the KGB’s foreign intelligence directorate, responsible for operations in Australia, concluded Archbishop Baliozian had “insufficient operational training” and eventually discontinued his employment.

The precise terms of Archbishop Baliozian’s separation from the KGB are not recorded in Mitrokhin’s notes and it is not known whether he had any further dealings with Soviet intelligence in the 1980s.

Mitrokhin’s notes of KGB files record Soviet state security’s extensive efforts to recruit clergy as agents and informants, especially in churches with a significant presence in the former Soviet Union.

British intelligence historian Christopher Andrew, who collaborated with Mitrokhin on two books, claims that, during the Cold War the KGB recruited a number of representatives on the World Council of Churches, mainly from the Russian Orthodox Church but from other denominations as well, in successful efforts to influence the Council’s policies.

Archbishop Baliozian died in September 2012. More than 600 people attended his funeral at the Armenian Apostolic Church in Chatswood, including three archbishops from Jerusalem, India and Armenia.

Many NSW political figures paid tribute to the archbishop, with Liberal MP Jonathan O’Dea applauding his commitment to inter-religious dialogue as well as his abilities as an orator.

“Always approachable and gregarious, the archbishop was captivating as a speaker… He would simply speak from the heart, capturing the attention of young and old in his congregation and developing a strong and loyal following,” Mr O’Dea told the NSW Parliament.

m.smh.com.au, August 12, 2014

August 13, 2014