The Kremlin has announced the main idea of SPIEF-2024. “Russia stands for cooperation, for business cooperation based on equality, based on law and on a mutually beneficial basis, and offers it to interested countries and entrepreneurs,” the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov formulated the message.
Russia is a country that is developing at a pace that is above-average, he noted, and is recognizing changes in global political and economic conditions.
BRICS expansion is one of the key topics of the Forum
Sergei Katyrin, President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recalled that the BRICS countries account for a quarter of the world’s gross product, and with the entry of new members this is already 37% and almost half of the world’s population. About 40% of Russian trade turnover falls on the BRICS countries. “We believe that this is not the limit of the points of view and volumes that we can achieve,” noted Sergei Katyrin. “At the same time, there are a number of problems and challenges that our campaigns jointly solve in such industries as logistics and settlements, tourism and rating agencies.” He recalled that this year the Russian part of the BRICS Business Council is heading the Russian chairmanship of the BRICS association.
Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Vladimir Ilyichev noted the important role of BRICS in Brazil with the tightening of measures taken against Russia, as well as in securing supply chains. From the point of view of his professionalism, cooperation in the field of creating a protected economic zone occupies an important place in the BRICS system. Minister of Planning and Economic Development of the Arab Egyptian Republic Hala Helmy El-Said said that the whole world is going through unprecedentedly difficult times, and with the accession of new countries to BRICS, the bloc will be strengthened with political and economic views.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum takes place from June 5 to June 8. So far, more than 136 countries have confirmed their participation in the Forum.
So far, 17,100 people and 3,400 representatives from 136 countries including Turkey have confirmed their participation in SPIEF.
The organizers of the Forum note that participation indicators have reached pre-Covid levels: the period of restoration of economic activity is over, and the Forum is in a growth phase. As a communication tool, it is in demand by the global business community.
Today, SPIEF is one of the sovereign centers for the development of Europe, which is a historical restructuring that implements the mission of maintaining the global balance of power and building a multipolar international system. It also provides conditions for development based on the continental and constructive development of the day, dictated by the national interests of the Russian Federation. The forum has become a full-fledged institute for national growth.
The business program covers a wide range of issues: from the development of international economic relations and technological transformations to priority science research the studies of the modern society. The headline of the 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is “The basis of multipolarity causes the growth of new centers.”
On the eve of SPIEF, several conferences are held annually in different countries. This year, the final session took place in the capital of the Republic of Costa Rica – San Jose. The location was not chosen by chance – it was Costa Rica that became the first country in Central America to establish official diplomatic contacts with Russia back in 1872. Over the more than 150-year history of relations, a strong bond has been established between the two governments.
In Russia, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will be held from June 5 to 8.
In reality, the problem that lies at the root of the Cyprus problem and needs to be solved is the problem of ‘trust’.
The number of Turkish Cypriots who sincerely trust the Greek Cypriots and Greeks is almost negligible.
The roots of this mistrust go back to the early 20th century, but if we leave the past in the past and return to the present, we see that nothing has changed since then.
As you know, the Greek Cypriots prevent all kinds of initiatives that will mention the name of the TRNC, that will bring the TRNC to the top and that will give the Turkish Cypriots a breath of fresh air. This includes touristic visits, economic and scientific activities.
The Greek Cypriots are doing their best to isolate from the world the state that the Turkish Cypriots, who were subjected to a genocide between 1955 and 1974, similar to the genocide in Gaza today, managed to establish – as a result of their liberation in 1974 with the help and support of the motherland Turkey -.
The Greeks, who have been terminating the negotiations that have been going on since 1968 to establish a so-called common state with the Turkish Cypriots, each time with a megalomaniacal attitude and with lame excuses, overturning the table and leaving, today, as if they were not the ones who left the negotiation table, they are trying to get the Turkish Cypriots to sit at the table, they are travelling from door to door and trying every way to put pressure on Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots.
Recently, they did everything in their power to prevent our President Ersin Tatar from travelling to Australia and meeting with Australian local administrators and government members.
They tried to do so, but this time they were not successful and for the first time a TRNC President was welcomed, hosted and visited Australia as ‘President’, even if not officially.
The Greek Cypriots, who prevented the Turkish Cypriots from participating in international sports competitions, prevented the Turkish Cypriots from connecting to the world with direct flights, prevented the Turkish Cypriots from becoming an ‘observer’ member of the Organisation of Turkic States established by states of Turkish descent, and plotted all kinds of intrigues to prevent the Turkish Cypriots from establishing academic, commercial, industrial, social and cultural ties with the states of the world, have run out of credit, and it has become impossible for them to expect love and respect from the Turkish Cypriots.
Although the UN representatives meet with the anti-TRNC people in the TRNC and present them as the general opinion of the Turkish Cypriots, the vast majority of the Turkish Cypriots do not want to establish a common state with the Greek Cypriots, who have been carrying out armed, economic and political attacks to destroy them for the last century, and where they will be relegated to minority status like the Maronites, Armenians and Latins after a while.
The inhumane practices of the Atlantic Alliance, which isolates them from the world and does not recognise laws and rules, has been a great lesson to the Turkish Cypriots about who they can trust.
The Atlantic Alliance, which has been providing financial and arms support to the terrorist formation operating under the names of PKK, YPG and similar names in the territory of North East Syria for years, is now trying to give legal status to their existence by supporting them to hold local elections illegally, but unfortunately, it has not imposed any sanctions to be taken seriously on the rulers of the ‘Hellenic Republic of Cyprus’, Greek Cypriots and Greece, who declared the ‘Hellenic Republic of Cyprus’ by overthrowing the internationally recognised ‘Republic of Cyprus’ by staging a coup d’état in Cyprus on 15 July 1974 and declared the ‘Hellenic Republic of Cyprus’ and announced the annexation of the island of Cyprus to Greece the next day. (Turkey, which saved the Turkish Cypriots from genocide and extinction, was subjected to an ‘arms and financial embargo’ immediately after the 1974 Peace Operation). In the United Nations Organisation, of which they are the protector and founder, they took the decision dated 18 November 1983 and numbered 541, which is a disgrace to humanity, isolating the Turkish Cypriots from the world.
Now, while they are trying to illegally create a terrorist state in North East Syria, which will be completely under their control, I leave it to you to interpret the aim of bringing together two communities that have fought each other and whose anger has not subsided on the island where the world’s longest-lasting conflict is taking place, and giving the administration to the Greeks. Here, there is a 41-year-old state with all its institutions – not counting the Federated State – and there is an attempt to have terrorists establish a state there!
What kind of global justice is this? Who, why and how should we trust?
Prof. Dr. (Civil Engineer), Assoc. Prof. Dr. (UA. Relations) Ata ATUN
Member of the Advisory Board of the TRNC President
Recently, a number of official sources have published the information confirming that the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan has purchased a multi-channel VARAN complex from Seven Hills LLP. The VARAN system is mainly known for wiretapping phones, intercepting and jamming any radio signals. Nothing could seem extraordinary at first glance, given the deal value at modest 340K tenge (800 USD).
However, regardless the most possible scenario that the supply is going to be on a regular basis, it is not the prices that draws attention to the deal, but the sides involved in it. The manufacturer and chief executor of the contract is the Ukrainian company Ualeks (www.ualeks.com) that produces similar equipment for the Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
One may wonder why such important and needed equipment in the war-torn country is being sold abroad, and why do the Ukrainian authorities allow it? Needless to say, that Ukraine has been fighting desperately with almost no resources of its own. The aid from the Western countries that was generous at first months of the special military operation is now very limited, as the United States may no longer support Kyiv due to many other strategic operations it is pursuing in the Middle East.
Ukraine is better to tight up the belts and concentrate on its national tasks rather than search for blur profit and support by former CIS countries in return of technologies. At the moment, Ukraine needs them more. Unless the country’s government is only interested in getting quick money and short-term profit.
Blinken’s second letter to Congress facilitates and serves Turkey to permanently challenge Greek sovereignty over islands and islets
25.02.2024 • 22:03
The Biden administration with not one, but two letters from the US Secretary of State Blinken to the Congress on the guarantees of the sale of F-16s to Turkeyfacilitates and authorizes it to permanently and completely question the Greek sovereignty over islands, islets and islets in the Aegean, with the Mitsotakis government not having realized the deadly/disastrous trap for Greek sovereignty in the Aegean and the opposition parties being in a criminal nirvana, which leads to a division of Greek sovereignty in the Aegean.
The letter on the restrictions on the sale of F-16s to Turkey was presented journalistically as a Greek success, and this because none of the government or the competent experts understood the phrase “internationally recognized sovereignty“. US Secretary of State Blinken sent his first secret letter to Congress on the approval of the sale of spare parts and new F-16s to Turkey, involving the Turkish F-16s with the Greek F-35s “to maintain the balance of power”.
However, motivated by the pre-election period in the USA and the fierce votes of the Greek and Cypriot lobby, a group of American senators around Senator Bob Menendez and Greek-American actors demanded a second letter from Blinken to Congress, with the aim of making clear and clearly visible Turkey’s commitments to do not use the F-16s against Greece.
This was the occasion for the State Department, with the cooperation and assistance of the pro-Turkish Legal Service of the US Department of State, at this time, to formulate the second Blinken letter to Congress, giving the right and authorization to Ankara from the US to fragment Greek sovereignty and all national Greek interests within the Athens FIR. A fact that allows Turkey to return to the era and actions of 1996, with the Declaration of Athens now looking like… rag paper.
In particular, in this second letter Blinken states verbatim: “…If a NATO ally commits repeated violations within the internationally recognized borders of another ally, the US will try to resolve the situation diplomatically.” If the situation cannot be resolved through normal diplomatic channels, the US will use additional political and economic tools to resolve the situation. With the fancy term “internationally recognized borders” between NATO allies, in this case Greece and Turkey, the US is striking directly against Greek sovereignty at 10 p.m. of the national airspace in the Aegean, against Greekness and Greek sovereignty over the islets and rocky islets of the Aegean, while rendering the Athens FIR non-existent.
In other words, they offer another gift to Erdogan, in his aspirations and claims against Greek sovereignty and Greek interests in the Aegean, now openly and directly supporting Turkish positions at the expense of Greece. And, in fact, through an official letter to Congress, which aimed to prohibit Turkey from using the American-made F-16s it will receive at the expense of Greece.
Secret document ‘nullifies’ Athens FIR and 10 miles of national airspace
It is noted that the second Blinken letter:
Firstly, it takes advantage of the fact that Greece from the mouth of the Evros to the east of Kastellorizos has no continuous sea border with Turkey, only the middle line between the Greek islands and the coast of Turkey.
But even this middle line is not agreed upon between Greece and Turkey both through fault and because of Turkey’s views. However, between Samothraki and Lemnos, Lemnos and Lesvos, Lesvos and Chios, Chios and Samos, Rhodes and Kastelorizo, etc. there are no Greek-Turkish borders at all, nor can they ever be defined, since the distances from the Turkish coasts to the Greek islands are greater than the territorial waters of the two countries (6+6=12 nm) and there is no middle line.
With the American wording-Trojan horse, which is misleadingly presented as protection of Greek sovereignty, “within internationally recognized borders”, Turkey is granted the right to enter the Aegean with the American F-16s unchecked through international airspace, e.g. between Lemnos and Lesvos and without filing a flight plan, to thresh in the international airspace of the Aegean, and to exit the international sea and the international airspace between Rhodes – Kastellorizos, thus having operational control (with all Turkish military aircraft) throughout the international airspace of the Aegean and the Mediterranean.
And this is because according to the Blinken letter and pursuant to this letter, Turkey does not violate internationally recognized borders, given that the international sea and international airspace do not constitute recognized borders under International Law. At the same time, with regard to military aircraft – namely the American-made F-16 – the Athens FIR, which is not a recognized Greece-Turkey border, is also abolished.
Secondly, according to the Chicago Convention and the Law of the Sea, but also the statements of Mitsotakis – Gerapetritis that Greece has 6 nautical miles. sovereignty, it is proved that the islands of Samothraki, Lemnos, Lesbos, Rhodes, Kastellorizo, etc. they have internationally recognized sovereignty at 6 nautical miles, which NATO also accepts and applies.
Thus, with the second Blinken letter, the airspace on the islands beyond 6 n.m. ( 6-10 n.m.) is not internationally recognized Greek sovereignty, with the result that Turkish F-16s and UAVs can fly at 6-9 n.m. from the islands, “approaching” Greek sovereignty, without any compensation for the Mitsotakis government and much more for Greece.
Thirdly, Turkey’s disputes and claims against Greece, as a single and continuous event, and against Greece’s sovereignty and national interests are a controllable and manageable problem. However, they turn into a dangerous threat when the Mitsotakis government cannot legally and indeed in an international context – support Greek sovereignty itself.
In particular, Turkey questions the Greekness of a large number of islets and islets in the Aegean. He even sent a letter to the UN, in which he questions the sovereignty over islands, islets and islets in the Aegean. However, the Mitsotakis government has been found incapable of ensuring the Greekness of islets and islets in the Aegean.
This is proven by the fact that the Mitsotakis government sent a reply letter to the UN under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dendias, in which it is stated that islets and rocky islets in the Aegean were granted to Greece by the Lausanne and Paris Treaties. However, in these two Treaties, nowhere is it written that the islets and islets were granted to Greece by the Treaties, nor do they even mention the words “islands” and “rock islets”.
This fact constitutes a criminal indifference on the part of the government to the detriment of Greek sovereignty, since the islets and islets, although they are completely Greek, the government, whether out of indifference or weakness or purposefulness (?), does not legally support them, with the result that country to become internationally resilient and reduce Greek sovereignty in the Aegean. And this is because the Greekness of the rocky islands is not stated in the Treaties, but in international agreements signed by Turkey, which, unfortunately, the government does not bother to identify, in order to ensure Greek sovereignty in the Aegean.
Based on the second letter, the US government ensures Greek sovereignty from Turkish F-16s only from the mouth of the Evros to Didymoteicho, because there is a Greek-Turkish border, internationally recognizing Greek sovereignty based on the Treaty of Lausanne. From Evros to Kastelorizo, the US is putting the Aegean at the mercy of Erdogan, because there is no sovereignty in the international sea.
Blinken’s second “carmaniola” letter about Greek sovereignty and national interests in the Aegean cannot be a surprise, as it follows to the letter the Report of the Congressional Research Directorate on US-Turkish relations in 2023. This pitiful report, to which the Greek government did not react at all, officially characterizes Greek islands in the Aegean as non-Greek, but disputed, arguing that Turkish overflights do not violate Greek sovereignty over the islands, because they are not Greek, but disputed.
In the relevant Map of the Congress Report, cited by the “Sunday democracy” as a presumption for the Biden administration, from 2023 the islands, islets and islets are not Greek (in pink on the Map):
In the area of Crete: Gavdos, Chrysi, Koufonisi, Dia, Dragonada, Elassa.
In the area of Karpathos: Astakida, Zafora, Pacheia, Makra.
As well as the islets and rocky islets of Stefania, Pontikousa, Giali, Imia, Pserimos, Lipsi, Farmakonisi, Arkioi, Agathonisi, Agrelousa, Hatapodia, Melabioi, Donousa, Kalogeri, Antipsara, Oinuses, Tzourafa, Strogyli and Khina.
Namely, 29 Greek islands, islets and rocky islets according to the Biden administration and Turkey, at the same time do not have Greek sovereignty, they are disputed and stray, without ownership status, since they do not belong to either Greece or Turkey. And this second Blinken letter to Congress is a second godsend to Erdogan, who is “liberated” to fragment Greek sovereignty with the thumb of the Biden administration.
On the map of the Report of the American Congress, 29 of our islands are colored pink and are marked as disputed. On the same map we see the almost daily violations of Greek sovereignty by Turkish UAVsTurkey continues to run almost daily with UAVs undisturbed through Greek sovereignty in the Aegean, from Rhodes to Thassos, and back, occupying Greek islands, islets and rocky islets, issuing the relevant illegal international notice in the Athens FIR (see map ).
I believe that this information will be of interest to our esteemed readers. That’s why I’m reprinting it. The information below is not my investigation. It was published by one of the X users and as I see seems very trustworthy. I do deal with the issues in our region, especially with the problem of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. I know quite well the roots of the Karabakh conflict as well. And I’m aware of Ruben Vardanyan’s illegal activities in the territory of Azerbaijan.
For those who need a bit more information, Ruben Vardanyan alongside other criminal separatist elements of Karabakh was stopped and brought to Baku to be investigated. He is among those who fueled ethnic hatred between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. He was arrested after a 1-day local anti-terror operation led by the Azerbaijani military on September 19-20, 2023. Before that, he and others were called to lay down arms and cease. But they continuously ignored peaceful calls. Then Azerbaijan had to launch an anti-terror operation, which resulted in success.
Now let’s see who this friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a perpetrator of crimes even in Ukraine Ruben Vardanyan is.
Backed by Kremlin Ruben Vardanyan was very sure that he will not be punished…
GENERAL INFORMATION
Ruben Vardanyan, born in Yerevan on 25 May 1968, is a Russian oligarch of Armenian descent, a billionaire, and former minister of the state of the so-called “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic”, an entity not recognized anywhere in the world.
Vardanyan was the initiator, one of the founders, and the first president of the Moscow School of Management in Skolkovo. President Vladimir Putin attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the campus in 2006.
According to the Washington Times, Vardanyan is a friend of Vladimir Putin.
Ruben Vardanyan with the Russian President Vladimir Putin
Vardanyan was once the head and main partner of Troika Dialog, an investment company that created an extensive network of offshore companies involved in money laundering from Russia. Since 2011, Forbes has included him in its ranking of Russia’s richest people.
In September 2021, Ruben Vardanyan renounced his Russian citizenship but continued to actively participate in Russian business, where his partner is the head of ROSTEC, Sergei Chemezov. Together they hold positions on the Board of Directors of KAMAZ OJSC and receive significant payments for their work. In addition, Vardanyan owns a stake in the car manufacturer KAMAZ through a consortium of investors in which ROSTEC also participates.
In 2018, Vardanyan’s foundation and a subsidiary of ROSTEC invested in facial recognition technology by buying shares in the company. In addition, Vardanyan was a former co-owner of Avtovaz, but sold his stake for $180 million in 2013, remaining in partnership with ROSTEC.
SKOLKOVO PROJECT
Back in 2009, well-known Russian opposition actor Alexei Navalny (now dead) investigated Skolkovo’s financing scheme and noted in his blog that, despite Vardanyan’s statement about the charitable nature of Skolkovo, the school’s project was estimated at $500 million, with half of that amount coming from the founders’ donations and the remaining $250 million coming as a loan from Sberbank.
“The loan was granted under unclear conditions and with unclear guarantees. Both the Skolkovo school and Sberbank categorically refuse to disclose the terms of the loan,” Navalny said.
“The construction of the Skolkovo school was financed from the funds of the state-owned Sberbank, and no one was going to pay back the money, but Vardanyan and the rest of the gang of tycoons told the naive public and journalists that this was a very “cute” commercial project”, Navalny added.
ORGANIZED CRIME AND CORRUPTION REPORTING PROJECT (OCCRP) ABOUT TROIKA DIALOG
For more than two decades, Ruben Vardanyan was the face of Western-style investment banking as the founder of Troika Dialog during the birth of Russian capitalism, with successes that earned him billionaire status and ties to the Kremlin.
The system dubbed the Troika Laundromat by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, involved at least 75 offshore companies and exported about $4.8 billion between 2006 and 2013, often through fictional deals, with the help of a now-defunct Lithuanian bank, according to the OCCRP’s investigative journalists.
Sergey Roldugin, a cellist and friend of Vladimir Putin, was among the ultimate recipients of the funds.
While Vardanyan wasn’t personally accused of wrongdoing, he was president, chief executive officer, and chairman of Troika during this period, as well as its main partner. According to the OCCRP, he used the bank to pay millions of dollars in personal expenses.
In March of 2019, the European Parliament members wrote a letter to the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, in which they stated the need to introduce sanctions against the ex-owner of Troika Dialog Ruben Vardanyan and others linked to Troika Dialog’s “offshore eco-system”. The letter was signed by 22 MEPs representing Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Great Britain, and other countries.
VARDANYAN’S INVOLVEMENT IN AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE
Known for his active pro-Russian stance, Ruben Vardanyan was included in the Ukrainian “Peacekeeper” sanctions database for his assistance to the Russian invaders and his involvement in crimes committed by the Russian authorities against Ukraine and its citizens. He is also accused of denying and publicly justifying Russian aggression and financing military actions in the post-Soviet space. The list designates him as a person subject to “immediate arrest and transfer to the law enforcement authorities of Ukraine and NATO countries”.
Bob Blackman, a Conservative member of the British parliament, said Vardanyan was an accomplice to aggression against Ukraine. “We have to understand that this is someone who has been sanctioned as part of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine, and it is believed that Russia is trying to strengthen its capabilities in terms of its war effort. His companies have been well used and well involved in the whole process of expanding the military presence in Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh”, the British MP said.
Vardanyan also has links with Tehran, which is helping Moscow in its regular attacks on Ukraine. His ties to Iran can be traced through Russia’s Gorchakov Foundation, which organizes events in various countries, including Armenia, with government-approved speakers from Tehran.
In September 2022, Vardanyan renounced his Russian citizenship to avoid Western sanctions, but Ukraine included him on its sanctions list for providing logistical support to the Russian occupation army.
IN THE TERRITORY OF AZERBAIJAN
After renouncing his Russian citizenship to avoid Western sanctions, Vardanyan came to “power” in Karabakh and illegally seized copper, molybdenum, and gold deposits in the region, which belongs to Azerbaijan. The resources, guarded by the Russian peacekeepers, were plundered in violation of environmental regulations. The Azerbaijani authorities demanded that experts be given access to the deposits, but this was repeatedly blocked.
According to Canada’s Geopolitical Monitor, the Kremlin appointed Vardanyan to the post of “Minister of State of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh” in order to thwart the European Union’s potential success in reaching a peace agreement.
Bulgarian National Radio noted that Vardanyan was engaged in active propaganda that did not contribute to the resolution of the conflict between Baku and Yerevan.
There are reasonable grounds to suspect that Vardanyan has committed offenses under Articles 214-1 (Financing terrorism), 279.3 (Participation in the creation and activities of paramilitary groups or groups not provided for by law), and 318.1 (Illegal crossing of the state border of Azerbaijan) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.
