Armenian Online News

Faced with the possibility that the U.S. Congress will consider a proposal with regard to the alleged Armenian genocide, Spokesperson for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Namik Tan asked the U.S. Administration to continue its long-lasting balanced and constructive policy.At a weekly press conference Tan discussed news reports indicating that with the Democrats in control of both houses of Congress, the U.S. legislative body would consider a proposal on the alleged Armenian genocide. Tan noted that Turkey was following the efforts of the Armenian lobby to exploit the political situation in the United States with great concern. Read the rest of this entry »

December 29, 2006 (RFE/RL) — Armenian authorities have detained a man in connection with an alleged coup plot, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reported.

In a statement released today, the National Security Service says Vahan Aroyan was arrested at his home in the western Armenian village of Lusatar. Read the rest of this entry »

Meeting on December 28, the Armenian government ruled that a building erected by the opposition Orinats Yerkir (Law-Based State) party on Yerevan’s Teryan Street on land owned by the state was built without official permission, Noyan Tapan reported. Read the rest of this entry »

Following a meeting in Astana, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and visiting Armenian President Robert Kocharian signed a set of bilateral agreements on December 25, AKIpress reported on December 27. The new agreements included accords on bilateral transport, culture, and transport, as well as treaties to prevent double taxation and for legal safeguards for investment. Read the rest of this entry »

Looming congressional passage of genocide resolution threatens Ankara-Washington ties

ÜMİT ENGİNSOY

WASHINGTON - Turkish Daily News

  Turkey and the United States have a lot of differences to talk about in 2007 including those related to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s presence in northern Iraq, the more general Iraq question and a crisis over Iran’s nuclear program. But an unlikely matter, potential U.S. congressional recognition of the Armenian genocide, may be the actual cause of a rupture in the two nations’ fledgling relationship. Read the rest of this entry »

One should not expect coolness in Azerbaijani-Russian relations, leader of the Armenian opposition National Unity Party Artashes Geghamyan said commenting on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s CIS policy, refusal from the Russian gas and the decision to suspend broadcasting of two Russian TV-channels since 2007.

“Azerbaijan just wants to put a good face on things and try to sell gas to Georgia bypassing Russia. However, it failed, and Baku decided to resort to economic blackmailing threatening to decrease oil supplies to Russia. At the same time, the strategic partnership between Turkey and Georgia is fraught with the danger of turning into friendship against Russia. The gas issue is nothing but fuss on the eve of the new year. Ukraine tried to boost a similar situation and create a pseudo-economic crisis on the eve of 2006. Read the rest of this entry »

An Azerbaijani soldier was reportedly taken captive by the Armenian forces on Sunday afternoon, in another such incident in the past weeks.

Samid Mammadov was unarmed when he was seized near the Armenian borderline town of Ijevan, Armenian defense ministry spokesman Seyran Shahsuvarian told the local press.

Armenian media maintained that the 19-year old Azerbaijani serviceman passed to the other side of the frontline over alleged pressure by his superiors. The case is being investigated. Read the rest of this entry »

52% of young people in Azerbaijan believe that the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict the country faces with Armenia should be settled through military action, a recent study has found.

34% of those polled spoke in favor of a negotiated settlement, according to the survey commissioned by the National Council of Youth Organizations. It was held among 1,300 respondents in Baku, Ganja and Sumgayit as well as ten regions of the country. Read the rest of this entry »

Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan considers he is entitled to run for President. As he told the RA Public Television, the Constitution provides him with the possibility to become a presidential contender. “I have the right and I will not abdicate from it,” Sargsyan stated adding that the final decision on his participation in the presidential election in 2008 he will take after the parliamentary election in May 2007. The Minister also said that the presidential office is not an end in itself for him and this fact distinguishes him from the other contenders. Read the rest of this entry »

Gazprom will make no more concessions to Belarus, official spokesman for the gas monopoly Sergey Kupriyanov said, Ekho Moskvy Radio informs. Moscow admitted assessment of Beltransgaz at the price of $5 billion, and, as Kupriyanov said, “Gazprom is not Santa Claus.”

Moscow does not rule out that Minsk would resort to unsanctioned pumping out of gas assigned for European consumers. The European Union prefers not to dramatize the situation. Read the rest of this entry »