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ARMENIA CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE
Hurriyet
Sept 21 2011
Turkey
Armenian air defence missiles launchers roll during a military parade
marking the 20th anniversary of the nation independence from the
Soviet Union Yerevan, on Wednesday. AFP photo
Armenia flexed its military muscle Wednesday at a showpiece parade to
mark 20 years of independence from the Soviet Union amid a simmering
territorial conflict with neighbor Azerbaijan.
According to an Armenian website, the sponsor company delivered
commemorative T-shirts made in Turkey, Armenia's western neighbor
with whom it is locked in long-running dispute over genocide claims.
Some 4,000 troops lined up in Republic Square in Yerevan accompanied by
tanks, missiles, helicopters, fighter planes and, for the first time,
Armenian-manufactured spy drones. Addressing the parade, President
Serge Sarkisian said that when the small Caucasus state of 3.2 million
people became independent in 1991, "a huge part of our country was
a disaster zone after an earthquake and we stood on the brink of war."
"In two decades, we have made a giant leap forward but there is still
a lot that we have not managed to do," he said.
Sarkisian described Armenian forces' victory in the 1990s war with
Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh as "the
most glorious page in our recent history." Russian troops who have a
base in Armenia also took part in the parade to reflect their role
in protecting the country's national security, according to the
Defense Ministry.
"The deep cooperation between Armenia and Russia in the sphere of
defense is no secret to our society," ministry spokesman David
Karapetian said Tuesday, rejecting criticism of the Russian
involvement.
Before the parade started, police stopped an attempted protest by a
small group of activists carrying placards with slogans like "Armenia
is not part of Russia."
U.S. President Barack Obama was among several world leaders to send
congratulations. Armenia has gone through political and military
turmoil since independence amid a series of disputed elections, the
aftermath of the devastating earthquake in 1988 and the war with
Azerbaijan over Karabakh that killed 30,000 people and sparked a
huge refugee exodus. The Karabakh conflict has remained unresolved
since a cease-fire in 1994 with regular outbreaks of shooting along
the frontline and repeated threats from Azerbaijan to take back the
territory by force if long-running peace talks fail to yield results.
Azerbaijan also held a lavish military parade to mark its own 20th
anniversary of independence in June, when President İlham Aliyev
vowed to reassert control over Karabakh, warning his Armenian foes that
"the war is not over yet."
'Made in Turkey' shirts
Armenia is locked in another long-running dispute with neighbor Turkey
over the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during
World War I, which Yerevan wants to be internationally recognized as
genocide - a claim strongly rejected by Ankara. In 2009, Ankara and
Yerevan signed landmark accords to establish diplomatic relations
and reopen the border between the two states, but the effort to end
decades of animosity broke down last year amid mutual recriminations.
Armenia's religious leader, Catholicos Aram I published a message on
Armenia's Independence Day, saying: "The journey of re-establishing
our independent statehood was long and difficult. Having been denied
native statehood for centuries, our people have suffered persecution,
witnessed destruction and plunder, been subjected to genocide, stripped
of patrimony and dispersed throughout the world. On a small portion
of our homeland which became part of the Soviet Union, our people
found deliverance."
According to Armenian website Hetq, the organizers of the events
handed out commemorative T-shirts made in Turkey to lucky contest
winners. The T-shirts read "2011 Hayastan Du Es" (2011, Armenia Is You)
on the front; Arevik Badalyan, the public affairs coordinator for the
events, told Hetq that they had no idea that the T-shirts carried the
"Made in Turkey" tag.
"It's the first I'm hearing about it. We have nothing to do with the
production of the shirts. It was the sponsor company which provided
the shirts. We just distributed what they gave us," Badalyan told Hetq.
Hurriyet
Sept 21 2011
Turkey
Armenian air defence missiles launchers roll during a military parade
marking the 20th anniversary of the nation independence from the
Soviet Union Yerevan, on Wednesday. AFP photo
Armenia flexed its military muscle Wednesday at a showpiece parade to
mark 20 years of independence from the Soviet Union amid a simmering
territorial conflict with neighbor Azerbaijan.
According to an Armenian website, the sponsor company delivered
commemorative T-shirts made in Turkey, Armenia's western neighbor
with whom it is locked in long-running dispute over genocide claims.
Some 4,000 troops lined up in Republic Square in Yerevan accompanied by
tanks, missiles, helicopters, fighter planes and, for the first time,
Armenian-manufactured spy drones. Addressing the parade, President
Serge Sarkisian said that when the small Caucasus state of 3.2 million
people became independent in 1991, "a huge part of our country was
a disaster zone after an earthquake and we stood on the brink of war."
"In two decades, we have made a giant leap forward but there is still
a lot that we have not managed to do," he said.
Sarkisian described Armenian forces' victory in the 1990s war with
Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh as "the
most glorious page in our recent history." Russian troops who have a
base in Armenia also took part in the parade to reflect their role
in protecting the country's national security, according to the
Defense Ministry.
"The deep cooperation between Armenia and Russia in the sphere of
defense is no secret to our society," ministry spokesman David
Karapetian said Tuesday, rejecting criticism of the Russian
involvement.
Before the parade started, police stopped an attempted protest by a
small group of activists carrying placards with slogans like "Armenia
is not part of Russia."
U.S. President Barack Obama was among several world leaders to send
congratulations. Armenia has gone through political and military
turmoil since independence amid a series of disputed elections, the
aftermath of the devastating earthquake in 1988 and the war with
Azerbaijan over Karabakh that killed 30,000 people and sparked a
huge refugee exodus. The Karabakh conflict has remained unresolved
since a cease-fire in 1994 with regular outbreaks of shooting along
the frontline and repeated threats from Azerbaijan to take back the
territory by force if long-running peace talks fail to yield results.
Azerbaijan also held a lavish military parade to mark its own 20th
anniversary of independence in June, when President İlham Aliyev
vowed to reassert control over Karabakh, warning his Armenian foes that
"the war is not over yet."
'Made in Turkey' shirts
Armenia is locked in another long-running dispute with neighbor Turkey
over the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during
World War I, which Yerevan wants to be internationally recognized as
genocide - a claim strongly rejected by Ankara. In 2009, Ankara and
Yerevan signed landmark accords to establish diplomatic relations
and reopen the border between the two states, but the effort to end
decades of animosity broke down last year amid mutual recriminations.
Armenia's religious leader, Catholicos Aram I published a message on
Armenia's Independence Day, saying: "The journey of re-establishing
our independent statehood was long and difficult. Having been denied
native statehood for centuries, our people have suffered persecution,
witnessed destruction and plunder, been subjected to genocide, stripped
of patrimony and dispersed throughout the world. On a small portion
of our homeland which became part of the Soviet Union, our people
found deliverance."
According to Armenian website Hetq, the organizers of the events
handed out commemorative T-shirts made in Turkey to lucky contest
winners. The T-shirts read "2011 Hayastan Du Es" (2011, Armenia Is You)
on the front; Arevik Badalyan, the public affairs coordinator for the
events, told Hetq that they had no idea that the T-shirts carried the
"Made in Turkey" tag.
"It's the first I'm hearing about it. We have nothing to do with the
production of the shirts. It was the sponsor company which provided
the shirts. We just distributed what they gave us," Badalyan told Hetq.