LINKS

This year, for the first time, International Mine Awareness day on the 4th of April is going to be marked in the South Caucasus with a region-wide awareness campaign under the slogan “LANDMINE FREE SOUTH CAUCASUS”. The campaign which will run from 4-10 April will see events held in a number of cities and districts of the region, and will feature information material in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Russian and English.

LINKS(DAR) is pleased to be the co-ordinator of the campaign LANDMINE FREE SOUTH CAUCASUS working with a number of international and local partners.
https://links-dar.org/landminefreesc/

The first meeting of the working group on confidence-building measures in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, established by LINKS (DAR) in the framework of the European Union initiative EPNK 3, was held in Brussels on 4 and 5 October 2017. The working group seeks to develop the next generation of ideas and measures that may impact positively the process of resolving the conflict, which continues to take a heavy humanitarian, economic and political toll, on Armenians and Azerbaijanis and other nations in the region

Karabakh conflict: First meeting of working group on confidence-building measures held in Brussels The working group seeks to develop the next generation of ideas and measures that may impact positively the process of resolving the conflict, which continues to take a heavy humanitarian, economic and political toll, on Armenians and Azerbaijanis and other nations in the region

LINKS (DAR) Executive Director, Dr Dennis Sammut highlighted the humanitarian cost of the war in Yemen and called for urgent dialogue between all concerned parties to end hostilities, so that the long process of reconciliation and reconstruction in Yemen could start. He was speaking at an event held at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London on Thursday, 21 September 2017 The event was organised by OXGAPS (The Oxford Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies Forum). Other participants in the panel discussion were Dr Noel Brehony, (Chairman, Menas Associates), Rafat Al-Akhali, (Former Minister of Youth and Sports of Yemen) and Sherine El Taraboulsi-McCarthy, (Fellow, Overseas Development Institute). The event was chaired by Commodore Neil Brown.

LINKS (DAR) Director calls for an end to fighting in Yemen so that humanitarian crisis can be addressed, and the process of dialogue and reconciliation can start LINKS (DAR) Executive Director, Dr Dennis Sammut highlighted the humanitarian cost of the war in Yemen and called for urgent dialogue between all concerned parties to end hostilities, so that the l…

LINKS (DAR) is pleased to support the third issue of Gulf Affairs, a publication of the Oxford Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies Forum (OxGAPS). This issue contains interviews with the Minister of Finance of Kuwait and with the Secretary General of OPEC and its focus is on "Energy and the State - the impact of low oil prices".
http://www.oxgaps.org/gulf-affairs/publications/energy-and-the-state--the-impact-of-low-oil-prices

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Gideon Wakefield has recently visited the Fergana Valley In this op-ed for commonspace.eu published on 21 August 2015 he argues for more EU engagement with what in many respects is the most important part of Central Asia.

The Fergana Valley - at the heart of Central Asia Compared to other parts of the former Soviet Union, Central Asia receives little attention in the European Union. A recent decision by the European Council has highlighted the EU’s priorities in th...

Happy Europe Day 9 May is celebrated annually as Europe Day. It marks the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration that was proposed by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in 1950 and that was to be the foundation...

http://links-dar.org/2015/04/26/armenia-turkey-and-the-pains-of-the-past-and-the-hopes-for-the-future/

Armenia, Turkey, and the pains of the past and the hopes for the future. In this commentary published on commonspace.eu on 26 April 2015, Dennis Sammut reflects on the events just held in Armenia and Turkey, and says that something has changed and both sides may find t...

Dennis Sammut highlighted concerns about the plight of Christian communities in certain countries in the Middle East and called for all nations to sign and ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court so that those who are perpetrating intolerable crimes against Muslims and Christians alike could be pursued and brought to justice. He also raised the danger of increasing Islamophobia in Europe and called for a clear and unambiguous rejection of all Islamophobic discourse and political action.

Dennis Sammut urges dialogue between Europe and the Islamic World based on realism and mutual... The Executive Director of LINKS (Dialogue, Analysis and Research), Dennis Sammut appealed for dialogue between Europe and the Islamic World based on mutual respect and on a sense of realism when ad...

Brussels Conference will contribute to dialogue between Europe and the Islamic World The Conference "Europe and the Islamic World: there is more that unites us than divides us will be held in Brussels on Tuesday 14 April. It is being organised by LINKS (Dialogue, Analysis and Rese...

8 March is International Women`s Day. We congratulate all women on this day, and particularly those who live in societies where women`s rights are still not fully recognised. This year we want to remember in particular the women activists who promote peace and reconciliation in the Caucasus Region - Armenians and Azerbaijanis, Georgians and Abkhaz, Ossetians and Ingush, and others. Some continue to pay a heavy price for their activism. They are the unsung heroes and we salute them.

We salute the women peace-builders of the Caucasus We salute the brave women of the Caucasus who over the last decades have defied critics to promote peace and reconciliation. Joseph Alexander Smith has been talking to some of them.