Author: Boshkezenian Garik

ANTI-AMERICAN CAMPAIGN STEMS FROM ANXIETY

Azadliq
March 19 2010
Azerbaijan

It was a grave mistake for the Azerbaijani government to act as an
independent subject in the energy sector

[translated from Azeri]

Zafar Quliyev: The authorities understand that gradually mounting US
pressure is not by chance

Anti-American campaign in the country is on the rise as time goes on.

After the sharp criticism of America by Parliament Speaker Oqtay
Asadov and MP Ali Huseynov [of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party and
chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on legal issues and
state building], official media has also brought this topic under
the spotlight.

Referring to the speaker’s speech at the latest session of the
Milli Maclis, who branded The Washington Post report as "a word of a
groveller", official newspapers have slammed America for what happened
in Guantanamo.

Political expert Zafar Quliyev believes that as a rule, the Azerbaijani
authorities’ reaction to the pressure from the West is similar, adding
that this behaviour of the authorities is connected with the recent
mounting US pressure. Zafar Quliyev believes that both the article
by The Washington Post and the annual report of the US Department
of State [2009 Human Rights Report: Azerbaijan], where Azerbaijan is
harshly criticized, are behind this [criticism].

"The government is trying to prove that the US criticism of it is
groundless. However, it should also be stressed that there are a lot
of conflicting moments in relations between the Azerbaijani government
and the West. There were frequent brief anti-western campaigns in
autumn last year. A similar campaign was also launched against Turkey.

They all show that the authorities are in general anxious about
processes taking place around. They understand that the gradually
mounting pressure from the USA is not accidental. All of a sudden,
the Department of State releases a very tough report about Azerbaijan
and The Washington Post publishes such an article."

The authorities understand well that their policies are causing
serious reactions from the West, Zafar Quliyev said, adding that the
criticism of the authorities is not only related to human rights and
democracy issues. The political expert believes it was wrong for the
Azerbaijani government to act as an independent subject in the energy
sector. He believes that although the government’s energy policy does
not provoke immediate reaction, anyway, similar statements and the
display of positions are manifestation of negative attitudes by the
West and the USA in particular.

"It is also possible that the Azerbaijani authorities’ position on
the Karabakh issue adds up to the anxiety. Moreover, [Azerbaijan’s]
sharp interference in the Turkish-Armenian dialogue, its failure to
clearly state its position on Iran has an impact on the Azerbaijani-US
relations irrespective of our wishes. If corruption-related accusations
are also added up to them, the whole complexity of the situation
will surface."

A GROUP OF CONGRESSMEN SENDS LETTER TO BARACK OBAMA REFLECTING IMPORTANCE OF US-AZERBAIJAN RELATIONS

APA
March 30 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. Ten members of the Caucus on Azerbaijan in the U.S.

Congress sent a letter to President Barack Obama reflecting the
importance of Azerbaijan-US relations.

Foreign Ministry’s press service told APA that it was due to the
activity of the Azerbaijani embassy in the US.

The letter said: "We are contacting you to express our views regarding
the Republic of Azerbaijan. As you know, Azerbaijan is an important
strategic partner of the United States. Located in a geopolitically
dynamic region between Europe and Asia and sandwiched between Russia
and Iran, Azerbaijan is a secular county with a predominantly Muslim
population that has also been home for more than a millennia for
vibrant Christian and Jewish communities. Azerbaijan has opened Caspian
energy resources to development by U.S companies and has emerged
as a key player for global energy security. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline project, supported by both the Clinton and George W. Bush
Administrations, is the most successful project contributing to the
development of the South Caucuses region and has become the main
artery delivering Caspian Sea hydrocarbons to the US and our partners
in Europe. Notably, in 2009 Azerbaijan provided nearly one quarter of
all crude oil supplies to Israel and is considered a leading potential
natural gas provider for the U.S supported Nabucco pipeline.

On the security front, immediately after 9/11 Azerbaijan was among
the first to offer strong support and assistance to the United States.

Azerbaijan participated in operations in Kosovo and Iraq and
is actively engaged in Afghanistan, having recently doubled its
military presence there. Azerbaijan has extended important over-flight
clearances for US and NATO flights to support ISAF and has regularly
provided landing and refueling operations at its airports for US and
NATO forces. Also, Azerbaijan plays an important role in the Northern
Distribution Network, a supply route to Afghanistan by making available
its ground and Caspian naval transportation facilities.

Additionally, Azerbaijan provides specialized training for Afghan
police, border guard officers and de-miners, education and training of
Afghan civilian and military medical doctors, and medical treatment of
Afghan citizens at Azeri hospitals. Azerbaijan has provided medical
equipment and supplies to Afghanistan as well as assisting in the
construction of schools and hospitals there. Azerbaijan remains a
reliable partner of NATO and the EU in the South Caucuses through its
consistent and effective contribution to common goals and objectives.

Azerbaijan is also an active partner of the United States in efforts
regarding the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction through
its participation in programs such as Caspian Guard and Cooperative
Threat Reduction. Against this backdrop, Section 907 of the Freedom
Support Act of 1992, which prohibits direct U.S government assistance
to Azerbaijan, remains a serious obstacle to expanding the strategic
partnership between our two counties and is contrary to U.S. national
interest in the region. Furthermore, the absence of a U.S. Ambassador
to Baku since July 2009 creates unnecessary uncertainties. Finally,
as one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group charged with resolving
the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the United States
must engage more actively in mediation efforts, as is the case with
Moscow and Paris.

Thank you in advance for your consideration. We look forward to
continuing to work with you as we engage with Azerbaijan on these
and other important issues".

The letter was sent by the Congressmen Bill Shuster, Michael Conaway,
Dan Burton, Howard Coble, Denny Rehberg, Solomon Ortiz, Michael
McMahon, John Boozman, Sue Myrick and Tim Ryan.

PRESIDENT COMPARES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO AUSCHWITZ, CALLS FOR "NUREMBERG"

HULIQ
March 29 2010
SC

Serzh Sargsyan, The President of Armenia, couldn’t help, but
go to the desert Deir ez Zor during his official visit to Syria
earlier in March. In his impressive speech at the meeting with the
Syrian Armenians there, Mr. Sargsyan drew direct parallels between
the crimes of Nazi’s in Auschwitz and Young Turks’ conduct of the
Armenian Genocide.

"Historians … soundly compare Deir ez Zor with Auschwitz by
saying that Deir ez Zor is the Auschwitz of Armenians.’I think that
the chronology pushes us to present the facts in a reverse way:
Auschwitz is the Deir ez Zor of Jews. Just one generation later,
the humankind witnessed the Deir ez Zor of the Jews. Today, as the
President of the Republic of Armenia, the homeland of all Armenians,
I am here to ask: Where and when will our Nuremberg be held?" said
the president of Armenia.

Say the least of it, all Armenians know this place as the sinister
symbol of the Armenian Genocide and understand the President’s
comparisons but what about the rest of the world? Was there a
concentration camp in that desert? Why did the President appeal to
Nuremberg? To understand this, people should know what happened in Deir
ez Zor in 1915. According to different estimates, as many as 400,000
Armenian citizens of Ottoman Empire found their final destination
point within this Syrian desert after they had been banished from
their lands into a long march. That desert became the witness of the
annihilation of the remaining refugees who were forced by the Ottoman
government to death marches.

There were several major killing centers in the region known as Deir
ez-Zor Camps where those innocent Armenians were exterminated. Here is
the most important parallel with Auschwitz: both crimes were organized
on a government level aiming at the elimination of the non-titular
ethnic group in accordance with officially issued decrees. The
formation of concentration camps by Nazi Germany was fully condemned
by the famous Nuremberg trials, whereas the deportation and further
systematic massacres of Armenians remained with impunity. This is
the reason for the Armenian President’s rhetorical question.

The recent official recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the future
consideration of this issue in the parliaments of some other countries
cause ineffable anger of the Turkish officials. They probably realize
that no one is going to try Turkey nowadays but that recognition is
almost the same for them as Nuremberg trials.

RUBEN SAFRASTYAN: SOONER OR LATER NEW ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROCESS WILL START

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
29.03.2010 17:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey does not seek to ratify the Armenian-Turkish
protocols, Professor Ruben Safrastyan, Director of the Institute of
Oriental Studies of RA NAS told a news conference in Yerevan.

According to him, Turkey by its diplomatic steps drove the
Armenian-Turkish process to a deadlock.

"If this process does not find its logical conclusion, sooner or
later a new Armenian-Turkish process will start," Safrastyan said.

"It depends on Turkey, whether the Armenian-Turkish process to get
out of the deadlock or not," Ruben Safrastyan said. To process out
of the impasse, Ankara should take steps to demonstrate its interest
in continuation of that process, the expert concluded.

According to Ruben Safrastyan, Armenia should not be the first to
ratify the Protocols, and wait for Turkey’s action.

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation. On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional
Court of the Republic of Armenia found the protocols conformable to
the country’s Organic Law.

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation. On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional
Court of the Republic of Armenia found the protocols conformable to
the country’s Organic Law.

Itar-Tass, Russia
March 23 2010

Turkey, Azerbaijan suspend talks on Nabucco

23.03.2010, 15.26

ANKARA, March 23 (Itar-Tass) – The talks between Turkey and
Azerbaijan on the Nabucco gas pipeline project has been suspended,
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told a news conference on
Ankara’s energy policy on Tuesday.

He stressed that the contacts with Baku on this project were suspended
`for political reasons.’

The Nabucco pipeline will run across Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey,
Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria. It will pump gas from the
Caspian region to Europe bypassing Russia.

The project is estimated at almost 8 billion U.S. dollars. More than
one third of the pipeline will run across Turkey’s territory.

From Sydney to Las Vegas, world to go dark for Earth Hour
27.03.2010 14:31

Ruzan Khachatryan
`Radiolur’

Global landmarks from Sydney’s Opera House to the glittering Las Vegas
Strip, will be plunged into darkness on Saturday for the `Earth Hour’
starting from 8:30 p.m. Yerevan time.

The Armenian Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Yerevan City
Hall, the HSBC-Aremnia Bank, the Congress Hotel, a number of
organizations, as well as the UN Yerevan Office will join the action.

The United Nations will observe `Earth Hour’ at its Headquarters in
New York and other facilities around the world to show its continuing
commitment to action on climate change.

`As we watch the lights go out from continent to continent, let us
reflect on the fragility and importance of our natural heritage and
pledge to protect it for a sustainable future for all, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

`By switching off non-essential lights for an hour, people will join a
symbolic display that can inspire the change we so urgently need,’ he
said.

Hundreds of millions of homes, in scores of cities scattered around
125 countries will also join the great Earth Hour switch-off.

Iconic structures like the Empire State Building and Egypt’s pyramids,
Sydney’s Harbor Bridge, the Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul, the Eiffel
Tower in Paris, the Buckingham Palace in London, the Roman Coliseum
will be plunged into darkness for an hour.

Beijing’s Forbidden City and Bird’s Nest Stadium will also go dark
along with dozens of cities in China, the world’s biggest carbon
polluter.

Earth hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007,
when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all
non-essential lights. Following Sydney’s lead, many other cities
around the world adopted the event in 2008.

More than one billion people in about 6,000 cities around the globe
are expected to participate in the action this year.

Akcyz
March 26, 2010 Friday

Armenia: Philip Morris estimates market at 5.3bn cigarettes per year

ABSTRACT
According to a subdivision of Philip Morris International, Armenian
cigarette market totals 5-5.3bn items per year. Philip Morris’ goods
account for 18.3% of the market in the capital of the country,
Yerevan. In general, the presence index of the company’s trademarks is
lower in Armenia. Goods are mainly supplied from the company’s
enterprises in Ukraine and Russia. Products are represented in all
price segments. The company Vidis Distribution imports cigarettes to
Armenia. Import exceeded 920mn cigarettes in 2009.

Baku violates ceasefire over 100 times over past week

27.03.2010 19:11 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Baku violated ceasefire on NKR-Azerbaijan line of
contact over 100 times over past week (March 21-27).
According to NKR defense army provided data, leading troops of Azeri
army centered fire on Karabakh side’s positions located in south
-eastern, central and north-eastern directions of the line of contact.

`Specifically, on March 22-23 the rival centered fire on Karmiravan,
Namirli, Jraberd, Seysulan, Shurabad and Yamrja for 34 times. Azeri
side applied AK-type small arms, as well as special purpose sniper
rifles,’ NKR Defense Ministry press service told PanARMENIAN.Net.

After NKR defense army’s leading subdivision response, the rival
ceased fire. Karabakh side suffered no losses as a result of ceasefire
violation.

CZECH DEFENSE MINISTER DUE TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA

Panorama.am
12:19 25/03/2010

Politics

On March 26 the delegation headed by Martin Bartak, Deputy Prime
Minister and Defense Minister of the Czech Republic, is due to arrive
in Armenia on an official visit. The Defense Ministers of Armenia and
the Czech Republic Seyran Ohanyan and Martin Bartak are expected to
have a face-to face meeting to be followed by a meeting of Armenian
and Czech delegations, according to Defense Ministry press department.

Document signing ceremony and a press briefing have been scheduled
in the Defense Ministry administrative complex.

Within the formwork of the visit, the Czech Defense Minister will
meet with the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and will visit
Tsitsernakaberd to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide
victims.

ARMENIAN COURT REFUSES TO BLOCK MINING PROJECT
Hasmik Smbatian

1992756.html
24.03.2010

An Armenian court on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit against a
controversial mining project which ecologists say would wreak further
havoc on Armenia’s shrinking green areas.

The environment protection group Ekodar asked the Administrative
Court earlier this year to annul recent years’ government decisions
allowing a private mining company to develop a massive copper and
molybdenum deposit in the northern Lori region.

The Teghut deposit is estimated to contain 1.6 million tons of copper
and about 100,000 tons of molybdenum. Its commercial exploitation
would result in the destruction of 357 hectares of rich forest,
including 128,000 trees.

In their 66-page lawsuit, Ekodar lawyers said the
Lichtenstein-registered company Armenian Copper Program (ACP) received
an official authorization to press ahead with the project in violation
of laws and government regulations relating to environment protection.

The Ministry of Environment and other government agencies sued by
the non-governmental organization deny this.

The court took the government’s side in the dispute, ruling that
Ekodar is not even entitled to taking legal action against the
Teghut-related decisions. The verdict came just one day after it opened
public hearings on the case. The presiding judge, Artsrun Mirzoyan,
controversially decided on Tuesday to adjudicate the dispute under
an "accelerated procedure" that bars litigants from making oral
presentations of their cases and asking each other questions in court.

Hayk Alumian, an Ekodar lawyer, said this was done to minimize public
resonance caused by the suit. "I knew that there is pressure on the
court and that the court will not agree to rule in our favor," he told
RFE/RL. "But at least I expected a public trial during which we would
present our arguments and hear the arguments of the opposite side."

Hrayr Savzian, the Ekodar chairman, expressed hope that the brief
court battle will nonetheless put the Teghut controversy under greater
international spotlight. He said the European Court of Human Rights
is already looking into a lawsuit filed by his organization.

The global economic crisis appears to have put the Teghut project on
hold. ACP has yet to attract an estimated $260 million in investments
needed for its implementation. A top ACP executive said last year that
the company has delayed the launch of large-scale open-pit operations
at Teghut until 2011.

ACP, which operates copper mines and a smelter elsewhere in Lori,
admits the heavy environmental cost of its plans but says that will
be more than offset by 1,400 new jobs which it has pledged to create
in the economically depressed area. It has also pledged to build new
schools and make other investments in the local infrastructure.