Caspian Sea nations sign landmark deal

Yahoo – AFP, Christopher RICKLETON, August 12, 2018

The Caspian Sea borders Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia and
Turkmenistan (AFP Photo/BEHROUZ MEHRI)

Aktau (Kazakhstan) (AFP) - The leaders of the five states bordering the resource-rich Caspian Sea signed a landmark deal Sunday on the legal status of the inland sea which boasts a wealth of oil and gas reserves and sturgeon.

The leaders of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan signed the agreement on the status of the inland sea, which has been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union rendered obsolete agreements between Tehran and Moscow.

The host, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, said before the signing that the leaders were "participants in a historic event."

"We can admit that consensus on the status of the sea was hard to reach and not immediate, the talks lasted more than 20 years and called for a lot of joint efforts from the parties," Nazarbayev said.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whose country was seen as driving the deal, said the convention had "epoch-making significance" and called for more military cooperation between the countries on the Caspian.

Nazarbayev said the convention allows for the construction of underwater oil and gas pipelines as well as setting national quotas for fishing and forbids any foreign military presence.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was quick to hail the clause that prevents non-Caspian countries from deploying military forces.

"The Caspian Sea only belongs to the Caspian states," he said.

Putin also praised this clause, saying it would help "ensure the peaceful status of the Caspian Sea."

National boundaries

The deal provides a means of delimiting national boundaries in the sea whose underground energy resources are estimated at 50 billion barrels of oil and just under 300 trillion cubic feet (8.4 trillion cubic metres) of natural gas.

But Rouhani stressed several times during the summit that these boundaries still need to be worked out between the countries.

Iran, which ended up with the smallest share of the sea under the terms of the convention, is viewed as a potential loser in the deal.

Sunday's summit was the fifth of its kind since 2002 but there have been more than 50 lower-level meetings since the Soviet breakup spawned four new countries on the shores of the Caspian.

The deal goes some way to settling a long-lasting dispute on whether the Caspian is a sea or a lake -- which means it falls under different international laws.

A map of the Caspian Sea locating Aktau, in Kazakhstan, where a deal was 

signed Sunday by surrounding countries which ends decades of dispute over the 

inland sea rich in oil, gas and caviar. (AFP Photo/Valentina BRESCHI)

While the convention refers to the Caspian as a sea, provisions in the agreement give it "a special legal status", Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin told Kommersant daily earlier this week.

The agreement also offers hope for the Caspian's ecological diversity and its depleted stocks of the beluga sturgeon, whose eggs are prized globally as caviar.

While it remains to be seen how the deal will be implemented, the summit in Aktau was another opportunity for Moscow to present itself as a diplomatic deal-maker.

After years of unsuccessful negotiations on the Caspian the Kremlin "gains political kudos for breaking a log-jam," said John Roberts, a non-resident senior fellow at Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.

Trans-Caspian plan

Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov greeted the deal enthusiastically as his country wants to send gas to markets in Europe via a long-planned Trans-Caspian underwater pipeline.

The project is billed as allowing European countries to ease their dependence on gas from Russia at a time of heightened geopolitical confrontation.

Nevertheless, Iran and Russia could still challenge the pipeline on ecological grounds. They have previously blocked the project, which could cost up to $5 billion to build and would have a projected capacity of 30 billion cubic metres per year.

Kate Mallinson, Associate Fellow for the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, urged caution over the prospects for the pipeline, saying the Aktau deal "is not a legal prerequisite for the construction."

"Neither will a major transport corridor to export Turkmen gas to Europe emerge overnight."

Pope's Mass snubbed in Orthodox Georgia

Pope Francis has celebrated Mass in a sparsely attended Tbilisi stadium in predominately Orthodox Georgia. The Pope was deserted by the leadership of the Georgian Orthodox Church, in a surprising snub to the Vatican.

Deutsche Welle, 1 Oct 2016

Barely 3,000 people braved brilliant sunshine Saturday on a beautiful autumn day to attend a Mass held in the former Soviet republic's 27,000-capacity sports arena in a snub that highlights ongoing divisions between the Catholic and Georgian Orthodox churches.

The snub was unexpected. Pope Francis had received a surprisingly warm welcome from the Orthodox leader upon his arrival Friday for the three-day visit that also includes a stop in Muslim-majority Azerbaijan.

Patriarch Ilia welcomed Francis as my "dear brother" and toasted him saying: "May the Lord bless the Catholic Church of Rome."

However, the Orthodox leader and other senior figures were nowhere to be seen on Saturday. Meanwhile, some hardline Orthodox protesters gathered in the city to criticize the Papal visit. Signs read: "The Vatican is a spiritual aggressor," and "Death of papism."

The Orthodox patriarchate, though, had criticized the protests, indicating something of an institutional shift that compared to the frosty reception by then-Pope John Paul II's 1999 visit, which the Orthodox Church explicitly encouraged Georgians to boycott.

The Georgian Orthodox church is ultraconservative and nationalistic and tied to the Moscow Patriarchate, which has strained, though improving, relations with the Holy See.

Hardline Orthodox Christian protesters
didn't exactly roll out a red carpet for
 Pope Francis in Tbilisi, Georgia.
September 30, 2016.

Georgia has a miniscule 2.5-percent Catholic minority in the overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian country. It was to those Catholics that Pope Francis seemed to tailor his address.

"Little and beloved flock of Georgia, who are so committed to works of charity and education, receive the encouragement of the Good Shepherd, trust in the One who takes you on his shoulders and consoles you," Francis said in a homily.

But some Orthodox Christians did turn up to hear the Pope's message. "I'm Orthodox, this is a Catholic Mass, but we are all Christians," Nata Koridze, a 40-year-old woman, told the DPA news agency.

Francis' Saturday itinerary includes a meeting with Georgia's Catholic clergy, a visit a hospital for the poor run by Catholic missionaries and a cathedral in Mtsketa, 22 kilometers (14 miles) northwest of the capital city and considered the spiritual center of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

His three-day visit will next move on to Muslim-majority Azerbaijan. That country is locked in a bitter and bloody conflict with Armenia over the breakaway province of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Francis visited in June.

jar/rc (AP, dpa)

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Pope Francis and other religious leaders at the Vatican. Photograph: AP

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

"The Humanization of God"–  Jul 16, 2011 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… The Humanization of God

I'm going to title this channelling so that my partner will not. I don't always title them, for labeling items is something done for 3D reasons. In your reality, you want a label for the message you're about to hear. So I'll give it to you, just as a dichotomous exercise. Its title will be, "The Humanization of God."

My partner sits in a chair. It has taken him 22 years to bring my conceptual thoughts to you. Even though these conceptual thoughts from the other side of the veil are also within each Human, within your Higher-Self, they are not easy to access. This is because they exist in a multidimensional state and not one that a Human relates to. Therefore, it has taken 22 years for my partner to learn to linearize the concepts into a string of words, presented in a language that you will understand.

Not all of you here and reading this will understand what I'm teaching today. I am aware of that, for Spirit does not speak to Human Beings with words in this fashion. Instead, the language of Spirit speaks in that what you call intuitive flashes, outside of linear time, and all at once. That is how you get your best information. Yet many of you feel you have God all figured out.

Examples of the Linear

As I sit here, perhaps an individual who may be here for the very first time asks the question, "Who are you, Kryon, and where are you from?" Now those two questions may absolutely be logical and normal to every single Human Being who hears and reads this message, but I will tell you that the questions themselves betray biased linear thinking. For Kryon is not a who and is from nowhere. How can that be? The only way I can explain this is to give you metaphors. I know that metaphors don't hold up under full examination, since no analogy is perfect. So consider it only a close example to get you to begin the understanding process.

Let's say you feel incredible love in your life for another Human, or for an animal, for instance, or for your child. Let us say that it is overwhelming and perhaps even has you weep with joy, so strong it is! Now, when you feel this way, do you look around and say, "Who are you, really? Who is there?" Would you address that love emotion as though it had a body and ask, "Where are you from?" You would not! Instead, you'd simply accept it and say, "I know it's coming from me, but it really doesn't feel part of me."

There's something about love. It comes from everywhere. It permeates the soul of the Human Being. You feel it so strongly. You are not aware of it being sent to you, or pulled to you; it just is. But it's unusual and profound, almost like it's part of something else, something bigger. Perhaps it's the God part of you, expanding? You'd be right about that. Love is not singular. You don't segment it into parts, or put a body on it and give it a name either. It's a concept that affects every cell of your body and all your body functions. It sometimes even takes over! This is the beauty of love.

I'm not a who. You hear me within this voice, coming from a singular body of a Human Being. So you understandably want to know who's talking. But the only thing singular here is the Human who I come through. I am best identified as that which is the collection of the confluence of the creative energy source in the Universe. I am uncountable and am not isolated and singular. You can't notate me (define me with attributes in 3D). Twenty-two years ago, I identified myself and said, "I am, that I am." And then I said, "And so are you!" I told you that at the center of the atom is where I am. I told you that the space between the electron haze and the nucleus is filled with love. I told you that the benevolent, creative source energy that is part of you is part of me. It is all things together. You'll find it in a tree, in the dirt and in the grass. You'll find it in the air and you can't ask who because we are not singular. You can't count the flavor in the soup, or identify "where is the salt?" It just "is" the soup.

God does not have the mind of a Human Being with the consciousness of a Human Being. God is not a collection of many separate consciousness parts either, and this is difficult for you to understand. God can talk to every single Human - all 6, 7 billion of them - at the same time. God can carry on a loving, healing conversation, being personal all at once with every single one of you. Think of that! That's not a who. That's the creator of the Universe. That's a divine, intelligent, loving energy. Don't humanize this source! It's not like you.

The Linear Thinker

Humans want to make everything separate and individual. You want to separate, identify, and quantify. This is Human nature, for every living thing you come into contact with is separate and singular - a Human, an animal, a bug, a tree. They all have this in common. Each one is a closed life system and is ONE thing. So placing God in this box makes you feel better. Because only then can you grasp how you're supposed to act and react to Spirit. Linearizing God helps you to feel what you're supposed to do and when you're supposed to do it. All of the survival attributes that you've learned all your life go into this, and we call it the Human linear bias. God is better understood if it's a man with a beard and a low voice - the authority figure. But Spirit is not like that.

God is not an authority figure, either! Yet many of you will not accept that. "You mean the creator of the Universe is not in charge?" I didn't say that. I said that God is not an authority figure. God is family. If there is any authority energy, then you share it with God, for God is in you. Therefore, YOU are the authority figure.

There is no protocol, either! Did you hear me? There is no generic protocol! Thousands of years of religion have created thousands of "rules" of how to "get God's favor." What if none of that is so? Let me ask you something: If you wanted to talk to your own body's cellular structure, what's the protocol? If it's you with you, how do you start? Should you dress up a bit, kneel, prepare yourself? Do you invent something, some framework of motions, so it will work better? Or do you simply go inside with your mind, talk to that which you own, and work the puzzle out? Do you see what I mean? Humans never consider God in them. Instead, they wish to separate God. They wish to elevate God and put Spirit on the altar where they can face it and perhaps even create a statue so they can visualize who to talk to. That is humanizing God.  …”

Putin tells Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders to 'ensure' end to Karabakh clashes

Yahoo – AFP, 5 April 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin (AFP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday urged the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ensure a halt to deadly clashes over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region after a truce was agreed.

"Putin called on both sides to urgently ensure a complete cessation of military hostilities and respect for the ceasefire," the Kremlin said in a statement after Putin spoke to the two presidents separately by telephone.

Putin voiced "serious concern" after four days of fighting killed at least 64 people in the the worst outbreak of violence over the territory since since an inconclusive truce in 1994.

Putin also underlined the need to restart internationally moderated peace negotiations that have failed to definitively end the bitter feud over the past two decades.

Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists in Nagorny Karabakh on Tuesday said were ending their fighting after four days of bloodshed, as international powers scrambled to resolve the worst violence in decades over the disputed region.

Armenian and Azeri forces said they had agreed a ceasefire to halt the fighting from 0800 GMT.

The truce came after Azerbaijan's army claimed to have snatched control of several strategic locations inside Armenian-controlled territory, effectively changing the frontline for the first time since the 1994 truce.

Separatists backed by Yerevan seized control of mountainous Nagorny Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian region lying inside Azerbaijan, in an early 1990s war after the Soviet Union crumbled that claimed some 30,000 lives.

The sides have never signed a peace deal despite the 1994 ceasefire and sporadic violence regularly claims lives of soldiers on both sides, though the latest outbreak represented a serious escalation.

While ex-Soviet master Moscow has sold arms to both sides and treads a careful line between the two, it has a military alliance with, and base in, Armenia and far closer ties to Yerevan.

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First European Games open in Azerbaijan

The first European Games have opened in Azerbaijan. A dazzling opening ceremony featuring surprise guest Lady Gaga was not enough to dispel misgivings about human rights in the country.

Deutsche Welle, 13 June 2015

Friday evening's two-hour opening ceremony in Baku's Olympic Stadium was kicked off by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, who entered the stadium with a flaming torch at the start of a dazzling show produced by Dimitris Papaioannou, the producer of the 2004 Olympics ceremonies in Athens.

Aliyev, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, watched from the stands as 6,000 athletes marched into the stadium, kicking off the 16-day games. Thirty-five other heads of state also attended the ceremony, which depicted the history of Azerbaijan in a colorful display.

Gymnast Fabian Hambüchen
carried the flag for Germany

Azerbaijan, which was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in 2012, has spent more than a billion dollars (888 million euros) organizing the event, including on the construction of several venues from scratch.

US pop star Lady Gaga made a surprise guest appearance, performing John Lennon's song "Imagine" at a flower-covered piano.

In a brief speech, the president of the EOC, Patrick Hickey, described the Games in Baku as "a landmark moment" for European sport.

Few big names

The games in Baku will feature 50 nations, but have largely failed to attract big names in the fields of athletics and swimming. Boxing and wrestling are, however, expected to come up to near-Olympic standard.

Human rights activists around the world - with the exception of Baku itself, where demonstrations are heavily restricted - protested on Friday ahead of the ceremony. Azerbaijan is frequently accused of engaging in political repression under Aliyev, whose family has ruled the country since 1993.

On Thursday, jailed Azeri journalist Khadija Ismayilova criticized the government, describing the country as being in a "human rights crisis" amid widespread corruption.

In the letter, released by the PEN international writers organization, which said it had been smuggled out of the prison in pieces, Ismayilova said, "Things have never been worse."

US pop star Lady Gaga sang John Lennon's "Imagine"

Regional rivalry

Despite demands from the government for politics and sport to be kept separate during the Games, the athletes from Armenia, Azerbaijan's traditional rival, were booed by the crowd.

The European Games run
until June 28

Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region and other territory nearby have been controlled by Armenian soldiers and local forces since a six-year war ended in 1994 with a cease-fire. Several soldiers from both sides were killed in the region as recently as April.

The opening ceremony was also overshadowed by news of an accident in the athletes' village on Thursday, in which a 15-year-old Austrian swimmer was left with serious spinal injuries when she was hit by a bus. Two other teammates were also injured, but less gravely.

tj/ (AP, Reuters)

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EU leaders meet with ex-Soviet partners in Riga

The European Union has gathered in Latvia to meet with eastern countries and bolster ties. Russia has warned that the meeting "mustn't hurt" its interests.

Deutsche Welle, 21 May 2015

European Union leaders met in the Latvian capital of Riga on Thursday for a summit of the bloc's Eastern Partnership program, eighteen months after the last meeting set off a fateful chain of events that led to the current turmoil in Ukraine.

The program seeks to bolster ties between the EU and six former Soviet nations: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Just before the two-day summit, the European Union promised grants amounting to 200 million euros ($223 million) to support small and medium sized businesses in some of these countries, including Ukraine, but as German Chancellor Angela Merkel (pictured above with Latvian President Andris Berzins) stressed ahead of the meeting, these talks "are not an instrument" of EU enlargement.

"We should therefore not raise any false expectations that we cannot fulfill later," Merkel told German lawmakers in Berlin before boarding her plane to Riga.

Russia takes center stage

Relations with Russia are likely to be a hot topic at the meeting, as the last summit in November of 2013 saw former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych withdraw his country's bid to sign an association agreement with the EU, opting instead for closer ties with Russia. The resulting protests in Kyiv ultimately caused Yanukovych's ouster which, along with Russia's annexation of Crimea, brought about the ongoing conflict in the east of Ukraine which has claimed over 6,000 lives.

The two-day summit will be
closely watched by the Kremlin

Speaking in Riga, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said his country was "ready to demonstrate a real fight against corruption and improve the investment climate."

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov drew a line in the sand, saying that while it wasn't a "tragedy" that the six nations were seeking closer ties with Europe, the developments of the meeting "musn't hurt the interests of the Russian Federation."

But Donald Tusk, former prime minister of Poland and current European Council president, dismissed Russia's "bullying tactics" after arriving in Riga.

"The Eastern Partnership is not a beauty contest between Russia and the European Union. But let me be frank: beauty does count," Tusk said at the start of the summit. "If Russia was a bit softer, more charming, more attractive, perhaps it wouldn't have to compensate its shortcomings by destructive, aggressive and bullying tactics against its neighbours."

Tsipras to meet with Hollande and Merkel

Although Russia and its President Vladmir Putin will be important themes of discussion at the summit, the Greek debt crisis will also be on the agenda. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is set to meet with Merkel and French President Francois Hollande after dinner on Thursday, as an end of June deadline looms over a debt deal for Athens.

However, Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble downplayed hopes for reaching an agreement soon, telling news agency Reuters on Thursday that the Greek government's optimism may be unfounded and that one should not rule out a possible default.

es/msh (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Georgia, Moldova Endorse EU Association Agreements

Radio Free Europe, RFE/RL's Georgian Service, November 28, 2013

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has said he would like his country to
get on with the "long and meticulous work" ahead of signing an Association
Agreement with the EU by next September.

VILNIUS -- Georgia and Moldova have initialed their respective Association Agreements with the European Union ahead of the start of an EU Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius.

The process leaves one page to be ceremonially initialed during the second day of summit proceedings in the Lithuanian capital before more work that allows actual signings months or years down the road.

None of the other four so-called Eastern Partnership countries -- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Ukraine -- is expected to initial deals in Vilnius.

Georgian First Deputy Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani, who is leading his country's delegation in Vilnius, told RFE/RL that the initialing of the some 1,000-page document means it is already an irrevocable agreement.

MORE on the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius

Newly installed Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said earlier this month that his country hoped to sign its EU Association Agreement by September 2014.

But he noted that "long and meticulous work" must be done first.

A signed Association Agreement would offer Georgia the possibility of closer economic integration provided Tbilisi adjusts its legal, judicial, and economic systems to fit certain EU norms.

Ukraine last week turned its attention toward Russia and upended negotiations with the European Union, putting a damper on the widely awaited summit and extending a Moscow-backed chill between some post-Soviet states and Brussels. Kyiv's move sparked street protests by pro-European Ukrainians who view with distrust President Viktor Yanukovych's moves to ally their country more closely with Russia.

Armenia recently sent a similar message to the European Union, putting its priority on a Russian-led customs union.

INFOGRAPHIC: A Cold Front From The East

Belarus, already a member of the same customs union, is still far away from any intention of significantly deepening its ties to the European Union.

Azerbaijan continues to negotiate for its own Association Agreement with the bloc.

 Students take part in a rally to support EU integration in Kyiv 

on November 26.

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Tens Of Thousands Attend 'Pro-Europe' Rally In Moldovan Capital

Radio Free Europe, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service, November 03, 2013

Reliable estimates put the number of participants in the November 3 "pro-Europe"
rally in Chisinau at more than 60,000.

Tens of thousands of Moldovans have gathered in downtown Chisinau for a rally organized by the country's ruling coalition to highlight public support for further European integration.

The demonstration's aims were to signal internal support but also send a message to Brussels in the weeks ahead of a major EU summit in Vilnius on November 28-29.

Eastern Partnership states Moldova and Georgia are hoping to initial Association Agreements with the European Union at the Lithuanian summit, while Ukraine is expected to sign its Association Agreement.

But Russia, still a powerful trade partner and political player in the region, has intensified its efforts to derail those plans for Moldova, as well as for Ukraine and Georgia.

ALSO READ: EU Says Moldova 'Good Example' For Eastern Partnership States

Armenia, another Eastern Partnership country reportedly under pressure from Moscow, recently announced its intention to join a Russian-led Customs Union.

Moldovan Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman and Deputy Prime Minister for
Reintegration Eugen Carpov at the rally in Chisinau on November 3.

The November 3 rally in Chisinau ended with the adoption of a symbolic "Pro Europe" statement describing "the European option" as "the only correct one for the future of our country's major national interests and the only chance to ensure rights, freedom, and prosperity for all [Moldova's] citizens."

President Nicolae Timofti told the crowd that Moldovans will "have to work harder to reach European standards."

"But we can do this effort, for us and the future generations," Timofti said. "Moldova belongs to Europe."

RELATED: Draft EU Summit Text Acknowledges 'Aspirations' Of Eastern Neighbors

Organizers claimed 100,000 people attended the rally, while other sources put the figure at between 60,000 and 70,000.

"Being here sends a clear message that Moldova belongs to Europe," Democratic Party leader and former acting President Marian Lupu told the crowd. "We want a European destiny."

Officials have suggested that Brussels and Chisinau hope to finalize the EU Association Agreement by next spring.

The Eastern Partnership also includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine.

EOC: European Games approved at last

Sport Features, Laura Walden, Rome, Sports Features Communications, 8 December 2012

December 8 - After years of discussion the European Olympic Committes (EOC) have approved the European Games. The first edition will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan in June 2015.

The European Games will have a roster of 15 Olympic sports disciplines with two non-Olympic sports. The first ones will be a test for the 2019 edition to see how the program plays out.

Sports already slated for the program are: archery, badminton, boxing, canoeing, fencing, handball, judo, rugby sevens, shooting, taekwondo, table tennis, triathlon and volleyball.

Dance sport and karate will be the two non-Olympic sports on the program. Karate is in the running to become and Olympic sport in 2020. Dance sport should bring on television coverage given the popularity of dance competition programs abroad in the USA and Great Britain.

Now the EOC will have to liaise with the International Sports Federations and work this into the calendar.

Originally in the '90's when Dr. Jacques Rogge was then president of the EOC before he went on to become IOC chief, he carried out a feasibility study on the European Games over the 28 Olympic sports.

The already active sports calendar was a large deterrent for the project going ahead.

The new plan seems to have been the recipe for success for a new elite event on the European sports calendar.

Azerbaijan Facebook activist freed ahead of Clinton visit

Deutsche Welle, 4 June 2012

Azerbaijan on Monday released an activist jailed last year after taking part in anti-government protests just two days before US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's visit to Baku.

Activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was jailed in May 2011 for two years after using social media site Facebook to garner support for a democracy movement in the former Soviet country. Hajiyev headed an Arab Spring-inspired wave of peaceful demonstrations throughout the country.

"I am delighted to be released, but I repeat today that I do not agree with the charges on which I was arrested," Hajiyev told news agency AFP after his early release.

The country's Supreme Court decided on Monday that Hajiyev would be freed early for good behaviour after serving half of his two-year jail term.

US senators last month demanded Hajiyev's immediate release, saying his arrest and incarceration was a violation of freedom of expression and association.

Educated at Harvard, Hajiyev said his "arrest was politically motivated," and vowed to return to political activism. He stood as an independent candidate at parliamentary elections in November 2010, where he condemned President Ilham Aliyev and claimed the polls were rigged.

International election observers called the vote flawed, but Aliyev's governing party which won by a landslide said the election "conformed to European standards."

Rights activists in the country accuse Aliyev's ruling party of jailing opponents and gagging the media, cracking down on dissent, although the government insisted the country is free and democratic.

A number of protests broke out in Baku last month as the capital hosted the Eurovision Song Contest. Human rights violations, media censorship and democratic inadequacy's in the country gained unprecedented international media coverage during the event.

jlw/rc (AP, AFP, dpa)

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More opposition protesters arrested in Baku

Deutsche Welle, 24 May 2012

The run-up to Saturday’s Eurovision song contest in Azerbaijan continues to be overshadowed by the authorities’ crackdown on dissent. Dozens more protesters have been arrested in Baku.

Police in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, broke up an anti-government demonstration and arrested dozens of protesters on Thursday.

Police moved in after opposition activists gathered in front of the headquarters of Azerbaijan's state television station and began reading out statements demanding the release of political prisoners and an end to alleged censorship by the country's state media.

"Thirty to 35 people were detained," Leila Mustafayeva, a spokesperson for the opposition alliance Public Chamber told the AFP news agency.

Among those arrested were two women who held up a banner reading “We want public TV, not Ilham TV,” in a clear reference to the country's president, Ilham Aliyev.

The unauthorized demonstration came a few hours before the second semifinal of the Eurovision song contest, which is being held in Baku this year after the entry from Azerbaijan won last year's event. As the official partner of Eurovision, the state television station is hosting this year's contest.

Opponents of President Aliyev and his government have been trying to use the run-up to the event to draw international attention to alleged human rights abuses in the energy-rich country.

Government condemns 'politicization' of event

The government, meanwhile, condemned a meeting on Wednesday between the Swedish contestant, Loreen, with local human rights activists.

"The European Broadcasting Union must intervene in this issue and stop these politicized actions," Ali Hasanov, a senior official in the president's administration told the Trend news agency.

The final of the song contest, which is to be held on Saturday evening, will be broadcast live all over Europe. The annual event regularly attracts television audiences estimated at around 125 million people.

pfd/msh (AFP, dpa)

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