OSKANIAN SAYS INTERNATIONAL GENOCIDE RECOGNITION TOP PRIORITY FOR 2007

ASBAREZ
1/10/2007

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian detailed the 2007 foreign policy agenda Tuesday saying the
international recognition of the Genocide, as well as international
condemnation for the destruction of Armenian monuments in Julfa,
Nakhichevan would be priorities on the agenda.

"In 2007 we anticipate important developments in a number of
countries–particularly France and US–in connection with the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The activation of the process
of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide has caused
serious anxiety among political circles in Turkey," said Oskanian.

The Foreign Minister said that prioritizing the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide did not interfere with developing
diplomatic relations with Turkey. He opined that the Karabakh conflict
was the main obstacle in that realm.

Oskanian assessed that no major progress was seen Armeno-Turkish
relations

Armenian-Turkish relations.

"Turkey continues to associate the improvement of Armenian-Turkish
relations with a number of preconditions, while Armenia stands
for establishment of relations without any preconditions. Armenia
repeatedly has expressed willingness to hold talks to settle issues
that exist between the two countries," explained Oskanian.

The foreign minister also emphasized that by pursuing non-constructive
policies, Turkey and Azerbaijan continued to isolate Armenia from
regional programs and projects.

He went on to underscore the importance of garnering international
condemnation for the destruction of Armenian monuments in Nakhichevan.

Oskanian said Armenian diplomats would work to have the Council of
Europe, UNESCO and other international organizations to condemn this
barbaric act.

The monuments in question are intricate stone-carved crosses in the
cemetery in Julfa, Nakhichevan. Azeri soldiers have systematically
destroyed the crosses. Photos supporting the claim were shown in
Strasbourg, France, and will be moved to a new city every two months.

Late last year the Armenian government launched a traveling photo
exhibition detailing the destruction of monuments at the Armenian
cemetery in Julfa.

In discussing prospects for peace in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Oskanian said a "very tentatively" meeting with his Azeri counterpart
Elmar Mammadyarov was scheduled to take place in Moscow on January
23. A spokesman for the Azeri foreign ministry confirmed this report.

The talks will presumably be attended by the French, Russian and US
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. The mediating troika is pressing
the parties to build on progress that was apparently made by the
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan during their last face-to-face
meeting held in Minsk on November 28.

President Robert Kocharian made it clear last month, however, that
Yerevan will not cut any peace deals with Baku before the Armenian
parliamentary elections due next month. Oskanian insisted on December
19 that the negotiating process has not been put on hold and will
continue with "less publicity" in the coming months. The Minsk Group’s
US co-chair, Matthew Bryza, was likewise reported to say that the
mediators and the parties will continue to "work together quietly."

Oskanian implied on Tuesday that a breakthrough could be achieved
later this year. "I have repeatedly said that quite an interesting
[peace] proposal is on the table," he told a news conference.

"Assuming that there is political will, one can expect serious progress
in this process at any moment."

Oskanian reiterated that further progress in the peace process hinges
on Azerbaijan’s acceptance of the "Nagorno-Karabakh people’s right
to self-determination." The Minsk Group’s current peace proposals
seem to uphold that right, envisioning a future referendum on the
disputed region’s status.

However, Azeri leaders say they will never agree to Karabakh’s
independence or unification with Armenia. In his New Year address to
the nation, President Ilham Aliyev said Baku could grant the Karabakh
Armenians only "greater autonomy opportunities within Azerbaijan."

For his part, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Tagizade
claimed Tuesday that their right to self-determination is not
incompatible with Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

Also. Armenia is looking to benefit from an ambitious project to build
a natural gas pipeline that would stretch from Central Asia to Turkey
and Europe via the Caspian Sea, Oskanian said on Tuesday.

The idea of putting in place a new export route for the Caspian
region’s rich hydrocarbon resources was actively promoted by the
United States in the late 1990s but never got off the drawing board for
geopolitical and economic reasons. The European Union is now trying to
revive it as part of a long-term strategy of easing Europe’s growing
dependence on Russian gas.

The EU hopes that work on the 3,300-kilometer pipeline, dubbed Nabucco,
will start in 2008 and end in 2011. The pipeline would pump gas from
Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan and have a maximum capacity
of 30 billion cubic meters per year.

According to Oskanian, official Yerevan regards the $5.8 billion
project, which was formally approved by five EU nations last June,
as an opportunity to further diversify Armenia’s energy resources
in the long run. "Armenia will try to have some involvement in that
project," he said.

"No practical steps are being taken in that direction yet. But
negotiations are going on, and we are trying to be involved in
those discussions in order to ensure the diversification of our gas
supplies," he added without elaborating.

Azerbaijan is extremely unlikely to agree to Armenia’s participation
in the project before a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
though. Besides, the Transcaspian pipeline would almost certainly
link up with a newly built pipeline that will soon start delivering
Azerbaijani gas to Georgia and Turkey, suggesting that it would bypass
Armenia in any case.

Armenia will instead be able to receive gas from neighboring Iran
through a much smaller pipeline. Officials in Yerevan and Tehran say
work on its first Armenian section has all but been completed. A
senior Iranian official reportedly said over the weekend that his
country is ready to start supplies "at any moment."

But Oskanian insisted that the 40-kilometer facility still needed
to undergo technical tests. "The pipeline is physically complete. We
just need to test it," he said, adding that Iranian gas will therefore
not start flowing into Armenia before March.

In the meantime, Russia will remain Armenia’s sole gas supplier.

Russian energy companies, notably the Gazprom monopoly, also own the
country’s gas and electricity distribution networks as well as several
major power plants. Furthermore, the Armenian government is widely
expected to give Gazprom a controlling stake in the pipeline from Iran.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress