Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
March 14 2010

Swedish PM Reinfeldt apologizes to ErdoÄ?an after Armenian resolution

Sunday, March 14, 2010
ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News

Swedish Prime Minister Frederick Reinfeldt called his Turkish
counterpart late Saturday to apologize for a vote in the Swedish
parliament saying the Ottoman Empire committed `genocide’ against
Armenians and other minorities in 1915.

`The government is absolutely against the resolution, which was
ratified as a result of domestic policy, and it will have no sanction
or exercise power,’ Reinfeldt said, according to a statement issued by
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an’s office.

The controversial 131-130 vote came as a blow to the `excellent
diplomatic relations’ between the countries, Turkish diplomats said.

`We will not allow this [resolution] to affect bilateral relations in
a negative way,’ Reinfeldt said. `Sweden will continue supporting
Turkey, especially in its EU accession process, as always. We are
ready to do our best to protect the existing relations from such a
baseless decision made by only one extra vote.’

In reply, ErdoÄ?an said politicians cannot re-shape history.

`Turkey presented its archives to historians, scientists and
researchers from all sides,’ he said. `The political attempts, results
of ignorance and prejudice, disrupt both scientific research and
Turkey’s peace efforts in the region.’

Expressing his disappointment with the resolution, ErdoÄ?an urged the
Swedish government `to take steps to remedy this mistake.’

The resolution says that Armenians and other Christian minorities were
subjected to genocide during World War I while the Ottoman Empire fell
apart. Turkey denies any systematic massacre or genocide and asserts
that people from both Turkish and Armenian communities were killed in
civil strife during wartime.

In protest of the Swedish parliament’s move, ErdoÄ?an has canceled a
planned visit to Stockholm, and Turkish Ambassador Zergün Korutürk has
been recalled to Ankara.

Gates responds to `genocide’ vote

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates meanwhile said Saturday that the
United States felt very strongly that passing of a similar resolution
in a congressional committee was a mistake.

A resolution of that kind could be very damaging to U.S.-Turkey
relations, Gates said.

`We certainly hope that Congress and the House of Representatives take
this measure no further,’ Gates said during an interview with the
al-Arabia TV channel.

Saying he was worried about the resolution, Gates noted that only one
committee of the House of Representatives had voted on the bill
labeling the events of 1915 as `genocide.’

`Turkey and Armenia are making progress toward a reconciliation,’
Gates said, adding that the protocols between the two countries had
been drafted with that goal in mind and that the United States
supports that process.

NKR President and Chairman of BAMO group board discuss joint program

13.03.2010 14:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On March 12 the President of the Artsakh Republic
Bako Sahakyan met philanthropist and entrepreneur, chairman of
Chairman of BAMO group board of directors Mourad Mouradyan, Central
Information Department of the NKR President’s Office reported.
The meeting was also attended by Valery Mejloumyan, president of the
"Base Metals" company. Various projects to be implemented in Artsakh
were discussed. After the meeting the President and the philanthropist
visited Shoushi and got acquainted with the investment potential of
the town on site.

NKR premier Ara Haroutyunyan and other officials accompanied the
President during the visit.

SABINE FREIZER: "MAIN OBSTACLE TO NORMALIZATION OF TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS IS NOT THOSE COUNTRIES, BUT AZERBAIJAN"

APA
March 12 2010
Azerbaijan

Yerevan – APA. "Both Armenia and Turkey will win in the process of
normalization of bilateral relations.

Ankara hopes that it will be a step towards realization of the
program "zero problems with neighbors", but discussion of the issue
of Armenian genocide at the joint commission will delay international
recognition of this fact. Armenia will get opened borders and restore
diplomatic relations with the neighbor country", said Sabine Freizer,
Europe Program Director, International Crisis Group at the NATO 73rd
Rose Roth seminar in Yerevan, APA reports quoting News.am. Freizer
said with normalization of its relations with Turkey, Armenia at the
same time would prove to the Armenian Diaspora that it could pursue
policy not depending from it.

"But the main obstacle to normalization of the relations is not
these countries, but Azerbaijan, which considers that Turkey closed
its borders with Armenia because of Nagorno Karabakh conflict and
they are sure that the borders must not be opened without withdrawal
of Armenian troops from the Armenian-controlled lands. Turkey also
intends to prolong the opening of borders, but it has other reasons".

Sabine Freizer said the situation was complicated by the decision of
Armenian constitutional court. "I don’t think that the decision of
Armenian constitutional court doesn’t tackle the ratification of the
protocols. Ankara is willing to ratify the protocols, but there should
be certain progress in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict for that. The
question is not about the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the lands
controlled by them or signing of any framework agreement. The question
is about the small movement. I met President Gul in Ankara. He said
that they were ready to ratify the protocols in the form that was
signed in Zurich".

TURKEY AND ARMENIA MUST SPEAK PRIVATELY
By Vartan Oskanian

Daily Star – Lebanon
March 11 2010

Will Turkey’s current turmoil between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and the country’s powerful army complicate and delay the
country’s boldest initiatives in years – the moves to address
decades-old tensions with both Armenians and Kurds?

Restructuring the role of Turkey’s army is vital, but if Turkey cannot
follow through with the Armenian and Kurdish openings, the country’s
own domestic situation, its relations with the two peoples, as well
as tensions in the Caucasus, will undoubtedly worsen. Of the several
flashpoints in the region, including that between Georgia and Russia
over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the tension between Armenians and
Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh is among the most challenging.

As to Georgia and Russia, the disproportionate size, weight, and power
on one side are enough to deter any return to violence. Moreover,
there are no entangling alliances complicating the matter. Georgia
is not a NATO member, and the United States, it is clear, will not
go to war with Russia over Georgia.

The Armenian-Azerbaijani struggle is more precarious. It is no longer
a two-way tug-of-war between two small post-Soviet republics, but part
of an Armenia-Turkey-Azerbaijan triangle. This triangle is the direct
consequence of the process of normalization between Armenia and Turkey,
which began when both countries’ presidents met at a soccer game.

That process now hinges on protocols for establishing diplomatic
relations that have been signed by both governments but remain
unratified by either parliament. Completing the process depends
directly and indirectly on how Armenians and Azerbaijan work to
resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

This snarled three-way dispute, if not carefully untangled, holds
many dangers. Turkey, which for nearly two decades has proclaimed
its support for Azerbaijan, publicly conditioned rapprochement with
Armenia on Armenian concessions to Azerbaijan.

Turkey, a NATO member, is thus a party to this conflict now, and any
military flare-up between Armenians and Azerbaijanis might draw it
in – possibly triggering Russia’s involvement, either through its
bilateral commitments to Armenia, or through the Collective Security
Treaty Organization, of which Armenia and Russia are members.

Given energy-security concerns, any Azerbaijani conflict would also
seriously affect Europe. Iran, too would be affected, since it is a
frontline state with interests in the region.

Armenians and Azerbaijanis have not clashed militarily for more than
a decade and a half. But this is only because there has been the
perception of a military balance and a hope that ongoing negotiations
would succeed.

Today, both factors have changed. The perception of military parity
has altered. With Azerbaijan having spent extravagantly on armaments
in recent years it may now have convinced itself that it now holds
the upper hand. At the same time, there is less hope in negotiations,
which appear to be stalled, largely because they have been linked to
the Armenia-Turkey process, which also seems to be in limbo.

The diplomatic protocols awaiting ratification by the two countries’
parliaments have fallen victim to miscalculations on both sides. The
Armenians came to believe that Turkey would find a way to reconcile
Azerbaijan’s interests with the Turkish opening to Armenia, and would
open the border with Armenia regardless of progress on resolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. The problem is that Turkey initially closed
the border precisely because of Nagorno-Karabakh, rather than any
bilateral issue.

Turkey believed that by signing protocols with Armenia and clearly
indicating its readiness to open the border, the Armenians could
somehow be cajoled or pressured into resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem more quickly or cede territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh.

But this has always been unlikely in the absence of a comprehensive
settlement that addresses Armenians’ greatest fear – security –
and fulfils their basic political requirement, namely a definition
of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status.

Both sides seem to be somewhat surprised by the other’s expectations.

Indeed, there is a growing fear that a settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute is more distant now, because Turkey’s public
backing has raised Azerbaijan’s expectations, while some Armenians fear
collusion between neighbors out to railroad them into an unsustainable
agreement.

This is Turkey’s moment of truth. The Armenia-Turkey diplomatic process
has stalled, and the Turkish government’s effort at reconciliation
with the country’s large Kurdish minority has soured.

Just as a loss of confidence among Kurds and Turks in eastern Turkey
will rock the shaky stability that they have recently enjoyed, a loss
of hope for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute may end the
tentative military calm between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.

However, the situation is not irretrievable. Endless public sparring
between Turkish and Armenian officials through the media is not
helping. It is time for both countries’ leaders to speak privately
and directly with each other, with an understanding of the instability
that could result from any failure to complete the diplomatic opening
that the two sides initiated.

So, even as Turkey tries to deal with the consequences of its history
at home, and redefine the army’s role in society, it must reset its
tortured relationship with Armenia. The recent resolution passed by
the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Congress, which called upon
President Barack Obama to ensure that US foreign policy reflects an
"appropriate understanding and sensitivity" concerning the Armenian
Genocide, should serve as a wake-up call to both the Turkish and
Armenian governments that Armenians are not about to question the
historical veracity of the genocide. After all, if France and Germany
can face their tortured history, Turkey should be able to do so
as well.

The two sides must step back, look at the situation dispassionately,
acknowledge the deficiencies in the protocols, address the other
side’s minimum requirements, and bear in mind that a single document
will not heal all wounds or wipe out all fears.

The international community must support this effort. The problem
should not be dismissed as a mere settling of old scores. What is at
stake is the future of a region critical to Eurasia’s peace.

Vartan Oskanian was Armenia’s foreign minister from 1998 until 2008.

THE DAILY STAR

publishes this commentary in collaboration with Project Syndicate ©
().

TURKISH PM CANCELS VISIT AFTER SWEDEN RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Russia Today
ognizes-armenian-genocide.html
March 12 2010

Ankara has recalled its Ambassador to Stockholm and canceled the
planned visit of Prime Minister Erdogan, after the Swedish parliament
adopted a resolution recognizing the genocide of Armenians by the
Ottoman Empire.

The controversial document was sponsored by the opposition in the
Swedish parliament and was opposed by the government. The resolution
was adopted by a small margin, with 131 MPs in favor, 130 against
and 88 more abstaining.

After the vote, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said he regretted
the decision.

"It’s not right politicizing history. By this, Sweden hurts the chances
for reconciliation," he said in an interview to TT news agency. "I’m
afraid now it will be used by those opposing reforms in Turkey and
those opposing normalization of relations in Armenia".

Meanwhile, Turkish officials did not take much time to react harshly
to the news. Ankara has cancelled the visit of Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan to Sweden, which was planned for March 17, and recalled
the Turkish ambassador.

"Our people and government reject this decision based on false data
and the lack of any basis," Erdogan commented.

An official statement by his administration said the Swedish
parliament’s decision was dictated by domestic politics in the
Scandinavian country and the election scheduled for September.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul suggested dismissing the resolution
as irrelevant: "We know how such decisions are taken. We don’t care
about them." Gul added that the sponsors of such documents were people
with lowly motives and no respect for history.

The development mirrors the events of last week, when the Foreign
Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives adopted a similar
document. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on legislators not
to support the draft resolution when it is debated in the Congress,
while Turkey also recalled its ambassador to the US.

Last year, Turkey and Armenia showed progress in overcoming the rift,
which has gone on for almost a century. The border has been opened
between the two countries, and both governments have made steps
towards a settlement.

The oppression of Armenian residents in Ottoman Empire in 1910s has an
estimated death toll of up to 1.5 million people, who allegedly died
through neglect and violence. Many governments and organizations,
including 42 individual states in the USA, the European Parliament,
Russia, France, Germany and the Vatican, among others, consider the
events as genocide. Turks have always rejected the accusations and
opposed moves for their international recognition.

EMBASSY MAGAZINE: AZERBAIJAN CONTINUES LOOKING FOR SCAPEGOATS IN KHOJALU FIASCO

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.03.2010 13:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Embassy Magazine famous Canadian newspaper published
an article titled, "Azerbaijan Continues Looking for Scapegoats in
the Khojalu Fiasco".

"Karabakh, heart of Armenia, was inexplicably snatched from Armenia
in a sinister stroke of the pen by Joseph Stalin and placed under the
jurisdiction of Soviet Azerbaijan as an "autonomous province": a game
of political expediency by the newly established Soviet authorities
in the early 1920s to gain favours from the newly emerging Turkey
and extend Soviet inference among its Turkic neighbours.

Karabakh, which was 90% Armenian-populated, never ceased complaining
to the Central authorities in Moscow and expressing dissatisfaction
over Azeri treatment, and continued lobbying for realization of its
aspirations to be part of the motherland, Armenia.

Hundreds of thousands Armenians demonstrated in 1988 urging the
Kremlin for action and the return of Karabakh to its rightful owner,
Armenia. In response, the slaughter of Armenians was unleashed in
Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and continued for a week before
Soviet troops were brought in to end the violence. Baku was emptied
of its 250.000 Armenians, an industrious and loyal minority. Similar
massacres of cleansing were organized in the Azeri cities of Sumgait
and Kirovabad and later in the Shahumian district of Karabakh. As the
Soviet Union disintegrated, fighting erupted all over Karabakh. It
was a superhuman struggle of life and death for Armenians again in
the belief that force cannot constitute the basis of rights.

As the fighting continued, the Azeris started creating myths in order
to rationalize their defeat. The most sordid of these fictitious
scenarios was one about Khojalu.

Eighteen years have passed since the alleged February 26 Khojalu
massacres. Today, Baku tries to use those events to conceal the
pogroms that took place in Sumgait during February 1988 and other
cities thereafter," the article stated.

The Sumgait pogroms (also known as the Sumgait Massacre or February
Events) was an Azeri-led pogroms of the Armenian population of
Azerbaijani Sumgait from 26 to 29 February 1988. On February 27, 1988,
large mobs made up of Azeris formed into groups that went on to attack
and killed Armenians both on the streets and in their apartments.

Sumgait pogroms lasted three days and were accompanied by widespread
violence, looting and murder. Sumgait events signaled the beginning of
another unprecedented wave of anti-Armenian persecutions and violence
in Azerbaijan, a new genocide. The victims of this of anti-Armenian
persecutions and violence were Armenians of Kirovabad, Kazakhs,
Khanlar, Dashkesan, Mingechaur, Baku and other towns and villages
of Azerbaijan. This has led to floods of refugees from Azerbaijan in
Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: A CASE OF SELECTIVE MEMORY
Dmitry Babich

RIA Novosti
15:44 09/03/2010
Moscow

A resolution on the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, passed
by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Relations, has raised a real
storm in international diplomacy.

Feverish diplomatic activity and apparent hesitations of the
U.S. administration are a clear sign that Turkey’s foreign policy
influence has grown.

The committee’s resolution is non-binding and it is not clear if it
will be placed before the whole house, but Turkey has already recalled
its ambassador to Ankara for consultations, while U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton, according to The New York Times, has asked
the Congress not to take up this delicate matter now.

When, in 1915, 1.5 million Armenians "disappeared" as a result of the
action undertaken by the Young Turks’ government, Turkey and Armenia
froze all contacts with each other. It was only last year that signs
of thawing first became manifest, and in the fall of 2009 the sides
agreed to establish diplomatic relations. This was viewed as a success
for the Turkish leadership, both the prime minister and the president.

Will now a final "thaw" be postponed again?

That is not likely, although Turkish politicians are certain to take
advantage of the situation to improve their standing.

It is very likely that the current scandal will only boost the prestige
of Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Not so long ago,
he was the first politician in Turkish history to challenge the
military, saying he uncovered a military plot initially scheduled
for 2003. Before that, Erdogan made out a successful case for the
Palestinians as Muslim brothers, harshly criticizing Israel for
its Gaza Strip operation. During the U.S. Iraqi campaign, Turkey
never allowed American troops to pass through its territory, forcing
Washington to invade Iraq only from the south.

Now the ambiguous position the U.S. has maintained for years on the
Armenian genocide, which helped Washington to draw Turkey into NATO,
is beginning to backfire against U.S. interests. This is a good
lesson for all, and it is not limited to the events of 1915. There
are other examples. The Western mass media are still keeping silent
about anti-Armenian violence in Baku in 1989-1990. Most reports
mention only that Soviet troops were introduced into the city.

The reason for such selective memory in American and West European
media is understandable: it is simple to place the blame on Moscow,
forgetting all about previous events. At that moment, the troops
sent by Moscow saved the lives of thousands of Armenians and other
"Russian speakers" in Baku. Even many Russian media find the subject
of the violence in Baku unpopular and almost forbidden. Some say this
could lose Russia advertising contracts and lead to conflicts with
influential people.

"I do not know what has to be done to get the mass media throughout
the world to highlight those events," says political analyst Andronik
Migranyan, a member of Russia’s Public Chamber. "Will Armenia itself
have to carry out PR campaigns to make things change?"

The point is that the events of 1915 and those of the 1980s in Armenia
and Azerbaijan do not concern only Armenians; they concern everyone.

The anti-Armenian violence in Baku came after an inhumane expulsion
of Azerbaijanians from Nagorny Karabakh, followed by the Khodzhala
tragedy that shocked the world. People must remember everything,
because destruction of human life cannot be forgotten or remembered
selectively. Otherwise, diplomatic embarrassments like the present
U.S.-Turkish spat may become regular.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not
necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

SALE OF BORDER LANDS TO JURIDICAL PERSONS MIGHT BE PROHIBITED IN ARMENIA

Tert.am
16:26 ~U 09.03.10

The draft law on making amendments and additions to the RA Land
Code was presented in today’s Standing Committee on State and Legal
Affairs meeting.

"Under this draft law, the sale of border lands to juridical persons
and organizations will be prohibited: they are only able to make use of
the land," said sponsor of the bill, Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun) MP Ruzanna Arakelyan, today.

Taking into account Armenia’s issues with its neighbours, this bill,
according to Arakelyan, will also resolve the country’s security
issues.

Arakelyan added that, in drawing up the draft law, she used Turkey’s,
Iran’s and European countries’ practices.

RA VICE PRIME MINISTER INVITES CROWN PRINCE OF ABU DHABI TO VISIT ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.03.2010 11:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Monday, March 8 Armenian Ambassador to United Arab
Emirates Vahagn Melikyan met with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi,
Lieutenant General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The parties focused on implementation of agreements reached during
RA Vice Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan’s January visit to UAE.

On behalf of RA Vice Prime Minister, Melikyan invited Crown Prince of
Abu Dhabi to visit Armenia, RA Foreign Ministry press service reported.

TURKEY EXPERIENCES SIGNIFICANT CHANGES: THE NEW YORK TIMES

news.am
March 8 2010
Armenia

Recent arrests of high ranking servicemen in Turkey accused of
coup d’etat attempt signal of significant changes in the country
and militaries will no more play dominant role. This might assist
strengthening of Turkish democracy, if the government and judicial
officials follow the letter of law, The New York Times reads.

For modern Turkey’s history the army had been dominant and willing
to use any means to keep Turkey a secular, Western-oriented state
including disseat of 4 democratically elected leaders since 1960. In
2007, the servicemen tried to hinder the election of Abdullah Gul
of the Islamic-influenced Justice and Development Party (AKP) as
president reasoning that his spouse wears hijab. The officers reckon
that political life weakened considerably under AKP rule and pressure
from the European Union, insisting that as part of Ankara’s bid for
membership, the military must hold more responsibility to civilian
leaders, the source says.

The recent detentions and arrests followed an article in Taraf
independent paper that said about military documents from 2003
meeting with description of coup staging. The servicemen admitted the
meeting but insisted it was focused on protecting the country from
external not domestic, threats. Since the arrests, the military’s
top leaders have shown welcome restraint. Meanwhile, relations with
the U.S. hit new course on March 4, the U.S. House Committee on
Foreign Affairs passed resolution on Armenian genocide. "We think the
resolution was unnecessary, just as Ankara’s denial of that tragedy is
self-destructive. Instead of threatening Washington with retaliation
for the vote, Ankara should focus on getting a normalization deal with
Armenia back on track. The U.S. and other Western countries need to
keep nudging Turkey forward while keeping the hope of E.U. membership
alive and credible," The New York Times writes.

Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan needs to restrain his autocratic
tendencies and seek to replace the military-imposed constitution with
the one stipulating rights for Kurds and other national minorities,
freedom of religion and press, a commitment to secular rule and jural
courts, the source concludes.