Namaz in Ani gives kick-start to election campaign in Turkey![]() October 1, 2010 - 16:44 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Director of the Oriental Studies Institute at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, professor Ruben Safrastyan said that with namaz in Ani, Devlet Bahcelu actually gave a kick-start to election campaign in Turkey. The upcoming struggle will be rather tough and anti-Armenian, for sure, Safrastyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. “The basic focus will be on problems of national minorities, first of all, on Armenians. The sad experience suggests that each similar pre-electoral campaign leads to stronger persecution of the Armenian community of Istanbul, which has neither rights, nor vote,” Safrastyan said. Pan-national elections will be held in Turkey in 2011, during which the ruling party – Justice and Development Party (AKP) – hopes for victory, as has been the case since 2002. ![]() ![]() Grigoryan added that the situation around the world and particularly in the region is very difficult. The Armenian Defense Ministry has denied Azerbaijan's accusations of violating the ceasefire. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took to social media to thank his Lithuanian counterpart for the contribution. President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. ![]() ![]() Partner news | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |