Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

UKRAINE MAY JOIN NATO RESPONSE FORCE IN 2015-16

AZG DAILY
22-01-2010

International

Ukraine has been invited to join the NATO Response Force as a partner
country in 2015-16, a spokesman for the NATO military committee
said Wednesday.

Colonel Massimo Panizzi said Ukraine would become "the first non-NATO
country to join the Response Force."

The Response Force consists of rapid deployment forces with land, air
and sea components, capable of swiftly reacting to crisis situations.

Panizzi added that the matter would be discussed at a meeting of
Ukrainian and NATO chiefs of staff on January 26 in Brussels.

He described the move as "a significant step forward in the
implementation of military reform" that NATO is expecting from Kiev
"on its way" toward NATO candidate status.

Asked whether other NATO partners could join the Response Force,
Panizzi said: "All partners are invited to cooperate within the
framework of the process."

Ukraine was one of the first NATO partner countries to offer to play
a role in the NATO Response Force.

The country’s pro-Western leadership has been pursuing NATO membership
since 2004, when President Viktor Yushchenko came to power.

Ukraine failed to secure membership in the NATO Membership Action Plan,
a key step toward joining the alliance, at a NATO summit in April 2008.

Russia vehemently opposes the post-Soviet country’s NATO ambitions,
and in February 2008 the Kremlin threatened to retarget missiles at
Ukraine if it joined NATO.

The NATO Response Force is capable of performing missions worldwide
across the whole spectrum of operations, including evacuations,
disaster management, counterterrorism, and acting as ‘an initial
entry force’ for larger, follow-on forces.

Russia is creating a similar force with its partners in the Collective
Security Treaty Organization, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
and Tajikistan, RIA Novosti reports.

MONITORING ON CONTACT LINE OF AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN TROOPS DID NOT TAKE PLACE

APA
Jan 22 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. Under the mandate of the Personal Representative of the
OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the contact line of troops near Chemenli
village of Azerbaijan’s Aghdam region was to be monitored on January
22.

Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s press service told APA that
as field assistants of the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office ordered the territory to be monitored wrongly on
the map, the process did not take place because of technical reasons.

OSCE MG INTRODUCES UPDATED VERSION OF MADRID PRINCIPLES TO YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.01.2010 19:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Following the meeting with Armenia’s President
Serzh Sargsyan, the Co-Chairs of OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Yuri
Merzlyakov (Russia), Bernard Fassier (France) and Robert Bradtke
(U.S.) have issued the following statement:

"On January 20, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs (Ambassador Yuri
Merzlyakov, the Russian Federation; Ambassador Bernard Fassier,
France; Ambassador Robert Bradtke, United States) met with Armenian
President Serzh Sargsian in Yerevan, Armenia. As instructed by
their presidents in L’Aquila in July 2009, the Co-Chairs delivered
to President Sargsian, just as they had to President Ilham Aliyev
during their visit to Baku in December 2009, an updated version of the
Madrid Document of November 2007, containing the Co-Chairs’ latest
articulation of the Basic Principles. On January 21, the Co-Chairs
met President Aliyev in Baku, Azerbaijan. In their discussions with
the Co-Chairs, each president expressed their commitment to continue
to pursue a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and
reaffirmed the seriousness of their side in the negotiations.

The Co-Chairs traveled to Astana, Kazakhstan for consultations with
the Government of Kazakhstan, upon its ascension to the Chairmanship of
the OSCE. Following their consultations in Astana, they will continue
on to Sochi, Russia, where Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will host
the next meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia."

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in
1988 as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the
final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from
1991 to 1994. Since the ceasefire in 1994, sealed by Armenia, Nagorno
Karabakh and Azerbaijan, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions
of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the control
of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks
mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.

The Madrid principles contain the proposals put forward by the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs on the basic principles of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement. The document was submitted to the Armenian and
Azerbaijani representatives at the OSCE summit in the Spanish capital
in November 2007.

ROBERT KOCHARIAN MEETS WITH IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MANOUCHEHR MOTTAKI ON JANUARY 20 IN TEHRAN

Noyan Tapan
Jan 21, 2010

YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, NOYAN TAPAN. Former RA President Robert Kocharian
met with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on January 20 in
Tehran. According to the Tehran Times daily newspaper, issues related
to the bilateral relations and regional developments were discussed
at the meeting. R. Kocharian declared that Armenia is ready to expand
cooperation with Iran. It was reported that at the meeting R.

Kocharian also spoke about the necessity of being guided by regional
approaches in the issue of security and economic development in the
region saying that "the recipes of foreign states of settling the
crises in the Caucasus are harmful."

In response to news.am’s question of who empowered R. Kocharian to
come up on behalf of Armenia head of the RA Foreign Ministry Press
Service Tigran Balayan advised to ask it at R. Kocharian’s office. And
head of second President’s office Viktor Soghomonian confirming that
indeed such a meeting took place meanwhile mentioned that he was not
present at that meeting and is not able to say whether R. Kocharian
made statements on behalf of Armenia.

ERDOGAN: COURT RULING COULD HURT PEACE WITH ARMENIA

armradio.am
20.01.2010 17:50

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that a
ruling by a court in Armenia could derail efforts to end a century
of hostility between the two neighbours.

"It’s definitely unacceptable to Turkey," Erdogan told a news
conference in Saudi Arabia during a state visit, Reuters reports.

"We have never taken the protocol to our Constitutional Court. We took
it directly to our parliament, without making changes. We didn’t employ
a mediator on the text. We didn’t carry out any read-between-the-lines
operations. This is a proof of our sincerity.

Armenia has tried to change the text."

ARMENIAN RULING COULD ‘IMPAIR’ PROTOCOLS, SAYS TURKEY’S FOREIGN MINISTRY

Hurriyet Daily News
ish-foreign-ministry-says-armenian-ruling-could-hu rt-protocols-2010-01-19
Jan 19 2010
Turkey

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian (L) shares a joke with his Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul, on Oct. 14, 2009, during the World Cup 2010
qualifying football match between Turkey and Armenia. AFP photo

A published decision by Armenia’s top court about the constitutionality
of the protocols that could pave the way for diplomatic relations with
Turkey could hurt the negotiation process, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry
said Monday.

"It has been observed that this decision contains preconditions
and restrict provisions that impair the letter and spirit of the
protocols," the ministry said in a statement.

The Armenian court’s Jan. 12 decision established that the protocols
with Turkey conformed to the country’s constitution.

But the decision also stipulated that the agreement must not
contradict Paragraph 11 of the Declaration of Independence, which
states, "The Republic of Armenia stands in support of the task of
achieving international recognition of the 1915 Genocide in Ottoman
Turkey and Western Armenia," likely the section the Turkish Foreign
Ministry protested in its statement.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and their border has
been closed since 1993, after Armenia’s invasion of 20 percent of
Azerbaijani territory.

The territorial conflict, referred to as Nagorno-Karabakh, was tied
to the normalization process after Turkish leaders warned it would be
hard to pass the protocols without any progress toward a resolution
to Karabakh.

Armenia has expressed growing frustration over the Turkish Parliament’s
failure to ratify the protocols. The Armenian parliament also has
yet to ratify the accords.

The first protocol, covering the establishment of diplomatic relations,
and the second, on the further development of bilateral relations,
are accompanied by an annex that sets a clear timetable for the
implementation of both.

ARAM I MET WITH GREEK PRESIDENT

news.am
Jan 19 2010
Armenia

January 15, 2010 His Holiness Aram I met with Greek President Karolos
Papoulias, Communication and Information Department of Catholicosate
of Cilicia reports.

In the course of the meeting positive contribution of the Armenian
community to the country and Greek society was discussed. Catholicos
Aram assured the president of the loyalty of Armenians in Diaspora
to their adopted countries.

They also touched upon the situation in the Middle East. His Holiness
Aram I signified the importance of strengthening Christian presence
in the Middle East, the cradle of Christianity, meanwhile emphasizing
the intensification of dialogue with Islam.

They also discussed the long and fruitful relations between Greek and
Armenian churches. His Holiness emphasized the role of the church in
the life of societies as promoter of dialogue, mutual understanding
and moral values.

RUSSIAN FM PAYS HIS REGULAR VISIT TO ARMENIA IN UNPLANNED PERIOD

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.01.2010 17:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov carried
out his regular visit to Armenia in an unplanned period, Caucasus
Institute Director, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan finds.

The visit coincided, in time aspect, with RA CC decision on
Armenia-Turkey protocols’ conformability to Armenia’s Constitution,
he told today a news conference devoted to "Armenia-Russia relations:
Summing up the results of RF Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit
to Yerevan".

"This is a tense and interesting period. Russia dynamically develops
ties with Turkey in energy and political-military sectors. In this
respect, Mr. Lavrov’s visit to Armenia is crucial to the entire
region," the expert said.

For his part, political scientist Alexander Markarov proposed the
following triangle: Turkish premier’s visit to Moscow, Sergey Lavrov’s
visit to Armenia and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s visit
to Moscow. All these visits, according to him, focused on regional
problems, including Karabakh conflict settlement and Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation.

Sergey Lavrov was off to Armenia on January 13-14. In a news conference
held in Yerevan, he told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter that the date
of his visit had been appointed 1.5 months before his arrival while
Turkish Premier’s visit to Moscow had been planned just a few days
before his departure to Russian capital.

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 Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) is a de facto independent republic
located in the South Caucasus, bordering by Azerbaijan to the north
and east, Iran to the south, and Armenia to the west.

After the Soviet Union established control over the area, in 1923
it formed the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) within the
Azerbaijan SSR. In the final years of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan
launched an ethnic cleansing which resulted in the Karabakh War that
was fought from 1991 to 1994.

Since the ceasefire in 1994, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several
regions of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the
control of Nagorno Karabakh defense army.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have since been holding peace talks mediated
by the OSCE Minsk Group.

IN TURKEY, IT’S NOT A CRIME TO APOLOGIZE TO ARMENIANS

Tert.am
18:12 â~@¢ 18.01.10

Ankara’s Sincan 1st High Criminal Court recently approved a decision
not to launch a criminal trial against the organizers of the "I
Apologize to the Armenians" campaign, reports Turkish daily Radical.

The internet signature campaign ("Erminilerden Ozur Diliyorum" in
Turkish) was launched in December 2008 by four Turkish intellectuals
— journalist Ali Bayramoglu, Prof. Baskın Oran, Prof. Ahmet Ä°nsel
and Dr. Cengiz Aktar — and gathered 30,000 signatures.

The campaign message is as follows: "I cannot reconcile my conscience
to denial of and insensitivity about the great Ottoman disaster
the Armenians were imposed to in 1915. I reject this injustice and
share the feelings and grief of my Armenian brothers and sisters. I
apologize to them."

A complaint, filed by six Turkish residents, was subsequently
investigated by Ankara Public Prosecutor Abdulvahap Yaren. A case was
launched upon article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Court (TCK); however,
in January 2009, it was dropped, reasoning that, "In a democratic
society, opposing ideas are also protected under freedom of thought."

Though Sincan 1st High Criminal Court had backed Ankara Public
Prosecutor’s decision in March 2009, it only recently decided not to
launch a criminal trial against campaign organizers.

‘VIEWS OF PEOPLE OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH REPUBLIC CANNOT BE IGNORED’

Aysor
Jan 14 2010
Armenia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is on a two-day visit
to Armenia, made some comments on the Karabakh conflict at today’s
meting with journalists.

Russia comes from the incontestable fact that views of people of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic cannot be ignored, according to minister.

Journalists responded to this by saying that at the very beginning of
the negotiations Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was negotiator; however,
after Russia began mediate talks and involved Armenia in negotiations,
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic lost its negotiating part.

"We had neither goal in mediating but to reach an agreement which
would go with interests of Armenian and Azerbaijani people," Lavrov
answered. He added, the current stage of negotiations focused on
fundamental principles for de jure agreement.