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 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". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |