Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Armenian leader condemns "genocide" before pope
Armenia's Orthodox leader on Wednesday used the pulpit of the Vatican to condemn the 1915 killing of 1.5 million ethnic Armenians by Ottoman Turks, saying the whole world should recognize it as a genocide.
"We Armenians are a people who have survived genocide, and we know well the value of love, brotherhood, friendship and a secure life," Karekin II said in a public address during Pope Benedict's general audience in St Peter's Square.
"Today, many countries of the world recognize and condemn the genocide committed against the Armenian people by Ottoman Turkey ..." the head of Armenia's Apostolic Church added, speaking in English before tens of thousands of people.
Karekin, who like the pope has the title "His Holiness," said he wanted to "appeal to all nations and lands to universally condemn all genocides that have occurred throughout history and those that continue to the present day ..."
Turkey strongly denies Armenian claims, saying that Muslim Turks also died in inter-ethnic conflict as the Ottoman Empire crumbled during World War One.
Western historians have backed Armenian claims that the killings amounted to a genocide. (BBC)
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Armenian president sworn in
Serzh Sarkisian has been inaugrated as president of Armenia nearly two months after elections which the opposition criticised as rigged.
As he was sworn in before dozens of foreign dignitaries and government officials inside the opera house in the capital Yerevan, Sarkisian promised to work with his opponents.
Sarkisian, a former prime minister who was hand-picked by outgoing president Robert Kocharian, won 53 per cent of the vote in February's election.
But thousands of supporters of Levon Ter-Petrosian, the runner up, rallied for 11 days against the result, accusing authorities of fraud.
In his inaugural address before parliament, Sarkisian said: "This ceremony takes place about a month after painful events, which inflicted wounds that are still fresh."
"These wounds caused pain and bitterness to all of us. Today, I urge everybody to look forward, together, to seek and find the path of reconciliation, of development, for the future of Armenia." (Al Jazeera)
Labels: Armenia
Friday, March 14, 2008
U.N. assembly tells Armenia to get out of Azerbaijan (Reuters)
The U.N. General Assembly on Friday demanded that Armenian forces withdraw from all occupied territories in Azerbaijan, but key mediators in the Azeri-Armenia dispute rejected the non-binding resolution.
In an Azeri-drafted resolution, the assembly called for "the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal from all the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan."
Although the largely symbolic resolution was adopted, only 39 out of 192 members of the U.N. General Assembly voted for it. Seven countries, including Armenia, the United States, France and Russia, voted against it. (Link)
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Armenian opposition ends protest after violence (Reuters)
Armenia's opposition ended a standoff with riot police in the capital Yerevan on Sunday after the government declared a state of emergency and mobilized the army in response to the worst unrest in a decade.
Earlier, police fought pitched battles with opposition supporters who had held daily protests since a February 19 poll that the opposition said was rigged in favor of Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan to become president. At least one person was killed.
About 2,000 protesters with metal rods and Molotov cocktails stayed on as army trucks headed for the capital of the former Soviet republic, lying in a Caucasus mountains region emerging as a key transit route for Caspian Sea oil and gas supplies. (Link)
Labels: Armenia
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Armenia declares emergency rule (BBC)
A state of emergency has been declared in Armenia's capital on the 11th consecutive day of protests against an allegedly rigged presidential election.
President Robert Kocharyan signed the decree "to prevent a threat to constitutional order".
It came after police fired in the air to disperse demonstrators. Some reports suggest a number of casualties.
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian won the 19 February vote against opposition challenger Levon Ter-Petrosian.
Mr Ter-Petrosian says he is under house arrest.
The latest clashes erupted after police cleared Freedom Square of opposition demonstrators who had been camping there since the election.
Regrouping later, they used buses as barricades. Some cars were set on fire.
Lines of police were deployed to face the protesters.
A witness told Reuters news agency police had fired in the air "to scare us".
"They have fired tear gas. But people are standing firm. There are thousands of people standing here with us." (Link)
Labels: Armenia
Armenia set to declare emergency (Al Jazeera)
Armenia has warned it will declare a state of emergency if protests against last month's presidential poll continue.
More than 30 people were injured on Saturday after riot police clashed in Yerevan, the capital, with about hundreds of demonstrators who had been protesting that the electon was rigged.
The violence broke out after police began forcing protesters onto buses. (Link)
Labels: Armenia
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Turkey eyes normal ties with Armenia after election (Reuters)
Turkey's president said on Thursday he hoped the victory of Serzh Sarksyan in Armenia's presidential election would lead to a normalization of relations between their estranged countries.
Turkey has no diplomatic relations with Armenia and keeps their land border closed in protest at Yerevan's occupation of territory belonging to ally Azerbaijan.
Turkey and Armenia are also at loggerheads over Ankara's refusal to acknowledge as genocide the mass killings of ethnic Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915-16.
"I hope your new position ... will permit the creation of the necessary environment for normalizing relations between the Turkish and Armenian peoples, who have proven over centuries they can live together in peace and concord," President Abdullah Gul said in a message of congratulations to Sarksyan. (Link)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Thousands protest over Armenia's election result (Reuters)
Thousands of protesters gathered in Armenia's capital on Wednesday claiming a presidential election was rigged to hand victory to Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan, but Western observers called it broadly fair.
Sarksyan has promised to continue the policies of outgoing President Robert Kocharyan, his close ally. The new leader's biggest challenges will be a simmering territorial conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan and frozen ties with Turkey.
Sarksyan took 52.86 percent of the votes, the Central Election Committee said, giving him enough to win outright in the first round.
Nearest rival Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Armenia's first president after independence from the Soviet Union, had 21.5 percent. (Link)
Labels: Armenia
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Armenians vote for a new president (Al Jazeera)
Armenians have begun voting for a new president with their country's prime minister and ally of Robert Kocharian, the outgoing leader, seen as the frontrunner after a bitterly fought campaign.
Polling stations across the ex-Soviet republic opened on Tuesday at 8am (0400 GMT) and are due to close at 8pm.
Opinion polls showed that Serzh Sarkisian, the prime minister, was well ahead of his eight rivals in the race to replace president Kocharian - who is constitutionally barred from running for a third five-year term.
Sarkisian is seen as improving living standards and facilitating economic growth.
But analysts say he may struggle to win the more than the 50 per cent needed to avoid a second round. (Link)
Labels: Armenia
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