Cyprus House President sends back Northern Cyprus leader's New Year presentsJanuary 15, 2009 - 13:49 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A political feud has broken out over the decision by Cyprus House President and DIKO party leader Marios Garoyian to send back a basket of presents sent to him by Northern Cyprus leader Mehmet Ali Talat for the New Year. The action was criticized by the Turkish Cypriot press which called it an insult. DIKO said that the reason he did so was because it wrote "President Mehmet Ali Talat" and "TRNC" on the card. That accepting a present does not mean recognition, Gibrahayer reports. In 1974, following years of intercommunal violence between ethnic Greeks and Turks and an attempted coup d'etat by Greek Cypriot nationalists aimed at annexing the island to Greece and engineered by the military junta then in power in Athens, Turkey invaded and occupied one third of the island. This led to the displacement of thousands of Cypriots and the establishment of a separate Turkish Cypriot political entity in the north, recognized by Turkey only. This event and its resulting political situation are matters of ongoing dispute. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |