Category: Regions

Cyprus Peace Operation Ended Pain Of Turkish Cypriots, Erdogan

ANKARA – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday “the Cyprus Peace Operation of July 20th, 1974 ended the pain suffered by Turkish Cypriots.”

Speaking at a group meeting of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in the Turkish parliament, Erdogan said, “the Cyprus Peace Operation helped protect the Turkish Cypriots from a possible genocide in the island.”

Reminding that July 20th was a day of celebrations for peace and freedoms in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Erdogan said, “the Cyprus Peace Operation ended the violence perpetrated towards the Turkish Cypriots. The Peace Operation was a proof that the motherland, Republic of Turkey, would stand by the Turkish Cypriots at all costs. The Peace Operation was based on international agreements and helped Turkish Cypriots attain freedom and peace. The whole world must understand this reality. Those who are resisting to understand the realities would see the facts sooner or later. We have always been on the side of peace in Cyprus. Both before and after the Peace Operation, we maintained our posture supporting peace and dialogue.”

“A comprehensive solution in Cyprus should be based on the political equality of Turkish Cypriots. The new partnership should be bi-zonal and based on political equality and be under the active guarantee of Turkey,” Erdogan said.

“Despite their peaceful stance, the Turkish Cypriots have been subject to unfair isolations. The Turkish Cypriots voted for the Annan Plan on April 24th, 2004. While the Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan Plan, they got rewarded by the European Union (EU) with full membership. The Turkish Cypriots got punished although they had approved the Annan Plan,” Erdogan said.

“Closing eyes to the isolations imposed on Turkish Cypriots in the 21st century is a shame for all of humanity,” Erdogan said.

“We expect all parties, including the EU, to fulfill their promises made to the Turkish Cypriots,” Erdogan stressed.

“Regardless of what the conditions may be, the AK Party government would continue to stay on the side of the TRNC and our brothers and sisters living there,” Erdogan said.

“Cyprus is our national cause. We would carry this matter on our shoulders at all costs,” Erdogan said.

Touching on the water need of the TRNC, Prime Minister Erdogan said that Turkey would build an underwater system to carry 75 million cubic meters of potable water from the southern town of Anamur to the island soon.

“Water is essential for the Turkish Cypriots and this project may turn into a ‘peace water’ project. With God’s help, we would complete this project by the end of 2008,” Erdogan also said.

Source: www.turkishpress.com, 22.07.2008

July 24, 2008
Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan launch joint rail link

By Hatice Aydogdu

KARS, Turkey, July 24 (Reuters) – Leaders of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan launched a railway project between the three countries on Thursday, building on links already forged by gas and oil pipelines.

At a railway station in the eastern Turkish border town of Kars the presidents of the three countries held a ground breaking ceremony for the $290 million Turkish section of the railway.

The three countries are already linked by the BP-led Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas line but trade links between Turkey and the Caucasus region are limited.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Georgia’s Mikheil Saakashvili and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev placed three sections of railway track on a large map of the region in a symbolic launch of the project as confetti showered down.

A tender last September for construction of the 76-km (47-mile) Turkish stretch of the railway was won by the Ozgun Yapi-Celikler joint venture with a bid of $289.8 million, the lowest of 14 bids.

The project involves new track construction and renewal of existing track, and is expected to be completed in 2011. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Jon Boyle)

July 24, 2008
Turkish stretch of railway linking Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan launched

ANKARA, Turkey: The Associated Press – The presidents of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan have launched the construction of the Turkish stretch of a railway linking their nations.

The US$600 million rail line will connect the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, with the eastern Turkish city of Kars, via the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

The project is one of several linking oil-rich Azerbaijan and Central Asia with Turkey and European markets while bypassing Russia.

A groundbreaking ceremony in Kars Thursday marked the start of the 50 mile (76 kilometer) Turkish section of the 110 mile (180 kilometer) railroad.

“We are launching the iron Silk Road,” Turkey’s Abdullah Gul said. “It will link China in Asia to London.”

The Silk Road was an ancient Asian trading route. The railway will be operational in 2011.

Source: International Herald Tribune, July 24, 2008

July 24, 2008
Kurds ask for US bases to be built near Iran border

As part of a long-term security agreement with Iraq, US forces could be stationed in Kurdistan. [sic.]

The Iraqi government and the head of northern Iraq’s regional Kurdish administration, Massoud Barzani, have suggested to military officials that US forces be permanently based in Kurdistan. [sic.]

Mr Barzani has said a permanent US military presence in the Kurdistan region would defend Iraq from internal and external risks.

On hearing the request, US Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama said it would be appropriate to redeploy US troops there in the future.

Mr Obama is known to believe troops stationed in the Kurdistan [sic.] area are not in any great danger.

There are currently no US airbases in Kurdistan, [sic.] although there are two Air Force facilities in neighbouring provinces.

The US military has denied any intention of building a US air base, but Kurdish sources have said if the US military decides to establish a permanent presence it will be closer to the Iraqi-Iranian border.

Source: BirminghamStar.com, 22nd July, 2008

July 24, 2008
Armenian spy killed on Azerbaijan border, says Baku

20 July 2008 | 00:54 | FOCUS News Agency

BAKU. Azerbaijani soldiers overnight killed a suspected Armenian intelligence agent who tried to cross the border, Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said Saturday in a statement.

The incident occurred in a village in Azerbaijan’s north-western Tovuz region, the ministry said, adding that two other intelligence agents fled.

Armenia and Azerbaijan remain locked in a tense stand-off over the enclave of Nagorny Karabakh, where ethnic Armenian forces took control during a war in the early 1990s that killed thousands and forced nearly a million people on both sides to flee their homes.

A ceasefire was signed between the two former Soviet republics in 1994 but the dispute remains unresolved after more than a decade of negotiations, and shootings are common. Up to 16 soldiers were killed in a clash last month.

Nagorny-Karabakh is a 4,400-square-kilometre (1,700-square-mile) enclave surrounded by Azerbaijan.

Source: www.focus-fen.net, 20 July 2008

July 24, 2008
Armenians for Obama”

Armenians for Obama” isimli kampanya çerçevesinde Colorado, Washington, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington DC ve New York eyaletlerinde düzenlenmesi öngörülen „grassroots” toplantılarına ilişkin olarak 17 Temmuz tarihinde „Asbarez”de yayımlanan „Armenians For Obama to Host Nationwide Platform Meetings” başlıklı haberin metni :

sgurbuz@aol.com

„LOS ANGELES, CA – Armenians for Obama announced this week that it has organized grassroots platform meetings throughout the country aimed at including domestic and international issues of interest to the Armenian American community within the Democratic Party’s platform to be approved at the Democratic National Convention in August.

The meetings will take place in Lakewood, CO; Seattle, WA; Gallup, NM; Las Vegas, NV; Portland, OR; Houston, TX; Austin, TX; and Glendale, CA in the Western United States, and in Dearborn, MI; Philadelphia, PA; Washington, DC; and New York, NY on the Eastern part of the country. For more information on the platform hearings, Armenians for Obama, or getting involved, please email: info@armeniansforobama.com.

Those attending the platform meetings will discuss the possible inclusion of US recognition for the Armenian Genocide, the right to self-determination of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and lifting the Turkish blockade of Armenia. Participants will also address the war in Iraq, the troubled U.S. economy, and rising cost of healthcare.

“The Bush Administration has failed the Armenian-American community on a wide range of issues, especially its continued complicity in the denial of the Armenian Genocide, but also its opposition to a broad array of foreign policy and domestic issues of concern to Americans of Armenian heritage,” said Areen Ibranossian, Chairman of Armenians for Obama.

“Including issues of special concern to Armenian Americans in the Democratic Party Platform, such as the need to end the cycle of genocide, will play a vital role in energizing this highly motivated and networked community to tip the scales for Barack Obama this November in battleground states such as Nevada, Virginia, Colorado, and Michigan”, added Ibranossian.

“In the upcoming election, we have an historic opportunity to elect a President who offers a fundamental change from the failed policies of the last seven year,” explained Ibranossian.

In January, Sen. Obama issued a strong statement to the Armenian American community calling for passage of Armenian Genocide legislation and pledging to end U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denial of that crime against humanity. “The facts are undeniable,” stated Sen. Obama in his January 19 statement. “An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

He has made subsequent statements in support of US recognition of the Armenian Genocide both publicly and privately during meetings with Armenian-American community representatives.

Last month, Obama submitted questions on the Armenian Genocide to Marie Yovanovitch, President Bush’s nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. The Senator serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which must confirm Yovanovitch before she can assume her post in Yerevan.

While on a fact-finding mission to Azerbaijan, Sen. Obama openly criticized the Turkish and Azeri blockades of Armenia and urged the two nations to open their borders with the land-locked country.

Armenians for Obama is a nationwide voter registration, education, and mobilization effort dedicated to electing Barack Obama President. Based in Los Angeles, and with chapters and affiliates in all 50 States, Armenians for Obama will harness the energy and enthusiasm for Barack Obama’s candidacy to ensure record high Armenian American turnout in critical battleground states. „

July 24, 2008