Author: Chaltikian Arsine

BAKU COULD ‘STRIKE MILITARY SITES’ IN ARMENIA

news.az

March 18 2010
Azerbaijan

Heydar Jamal ‘Armenia does not intend to engage in a constructive
dialogue and uses all methods to make it clear’, Heydar Jemal said.

The chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia, Heydar Jamal, has
commented on the reasons for non-constructive policy of Armenia that
refuses to accept the updated Madrid principles.

‘I believe that the growing tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia is
part of a larger process of political activity, which can now be seen
in most post-Soviet countries. Armenia does not intend to engage in
constructive dialogue and uses every method to make it clear. In fact,
a significant increase in tension can be seen between the countries
of Central Asia, Russia, Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine.

‘The recent provocation by Georgia’s Imedi TV about alleged attacks on
Georgia by Russia is an operation by the special services. In the end,
all the structures and foreign bodies, interested in maintaining the
tension in the South Caucasus, were exposed,’ Jamal said.

‘In my opinion, the differences between different states are leading to
a large military and political confrontation in the post-Soviet area,
which may manifest itself in local regional clashes. As for Armenia,
it is more a virtual than a real state, which is controlled from
the outside.

‘Today, Armenia is on the verge of collapse and the Yerevan government,
seeing the inevitability of complete crisis, believes that the best way
to avoid responsibility for the consequences is to provoke Azerbaijan
to war. The Armenian authorities want to try to shift the blame for
their failure onto "aggressive" Azerbaijan,’ Jamal said.

‘Yerevan must understand that this time Azerbaijan can launch military
action not in Karabakh, but carry out pinpoint strikes on strategic
military sites in Armenia and, as a result, the Karabakh Armenians
will be left without Yerevan’s support and will quickly start talks
with Baku. This time they will not be able to get what they did in
the first Karabakh war, when Azerbaijan was fighting on two fronts:
with Karabakh separatists in its area and with Armenia that had
committed external aggression against Azerbaijan,’ he said.

‘But first, official Baku should enlist the support of neighbouring
countries, do major diplomatic work with Iran and squeeze Armenia
out of Iran’s political area. Iran and Russia will not take any
drastic steps in the event of an Azerbaijani military operation to
restore its sovereignty. I think the factor of Russia and Iran is
strongly exaggerated in the Karabakh conflict, since this is not the
same situation as in the 90s or even a few years ago. Azerbaijan’s
advantages are obvious there and nobody wants to spoil its relations
with Baku by directly hampering the restoration of the sovereignty
of Azerbaijan,’ Jamal said.

ARMENIAN PM CONDEMNS TURKEY’S THREAT TO DEPORT 100,000 ARMENIANS

RTT News
eNews.aspx?Id=1244001&SM=1
March 18 2010

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian on Wednesday condemned his
Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for threatening to deport
some 100,000 Armenians living in Turkey without citizenship, stating
that such threats would harm relations between the two countries.

"These kinds of political statements do not help to improve relations
between our two states," Sarkisian said. "When the Turkish prime
minister allows himself to make such statements it immediately for
us brings up memories of the events of 1915."

Sarkisian made the remarks while addressing the country’s parliament
on Wednesday, just hours after Erdogan said in an interview with the
BBC Turkish service he might ask some 100,000 Armenians living in
Turkey without proper documents to leave the country.

"There are currently 170,000 Armenians living in our country," Erdogan
said. "Only 70,000 of them are Turkish citizens, but we are tolerating
the remaining 100,000. If necessary, I may have to tell these 100,000
to go back to their country because they are not my citizens. I don’t
have to keep them in my country."

Most of the 170,000 Armenians living in Turkey have settled in
Istanbul and are currently sending remittances home from there. Most
of them moved to Turkey after a deadly earthquake devastated their
impoverished home country in 1998.

Erdogan’s comments on Wednesday came a couple of weeks after a
US Congressional committee approved a resolution that described
the massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces during World War I as
genocide, ignoring warnings from Turkey that ties between the two
countries would be hurt if the measure was adopted.

The resolution was narrowly approved by the House Foreign Affairs
Committee on 4th March in a 23 to 22 vote. The House Resolution 252
urges U.S. President Barack Obama to ensure that his administration’s
future foreign policies reflects an understanding of the Armenian
"genocide."

Soon after the endorsement of the resolution by the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, Turkey recalled its ambassador from Washington for
consultations on the issue. Ankara also said in a statement that it
was condemning "this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of
a crime it has not committed".

The resolution will now be put to vote in the full House. US officials
have indicated that the resolution could be put to vote in the full
house despite opposition from the Obama administration, which has
urged lawmakers to keep the measure from a vote in the full U.S.

House.

"Congress is an independent body, and they are going to do what
they decide to do," Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon told
reporters on Wednesday ahead of speech at the Brookings Institute. He
also denied reports that the Obama administration had reached a
deal with Democratic congressional leaders to block the resolution,
contradicting earlier claims by the State Department.

It, however, was not the first time that a similar resolution on the
issue has passed the committee stage. The Foreign Affairs Committee
approved a similar genocide measure in 2007, but was shelved ahead
of a House vote following intensive pressure from the George W Bush
administration.

Following the approval of the resolution by the US House Foreign
Affairs Committee, the Swedish parliament also followed suit by
recognizing the Armenian Genocide by Turkish forces in 1915 in a 131
to 130 ballot held on 11th March. Turkey reacted by canceling the
planned visit of Prime Minister Erdogan to Sweden and by recalling
its ambassador to that European country.

Despite Turkey’s anger at the US and Swedish move, Armenia, welcomed
the endorsement of the resolutions, and described them as an important
step towards the prevention of crimes against humanity.

Turkey denies the occurrence of any genocide of Armenians during
World War I and insists that those killed were victims in the chaotic
collapse of the Ottoman empire, prior to the birth of modern Turkey
in 1923.

Erdogan on Wednesday criticized the resolutions in the US and
Sweden that described the killings of Armenians in Ottoman Empire as
"genocide," and said that those actions "unfortunately have a negative
impact on our sincere attitudes." He added that such resolutions
"harm the Armenian people as well… and things become deadlocked".

Warning that the resolutions could disrupt the Turkey-Armenia
reconciliation process launched last year, Erdogan said the Armenian
immigrants were allowed to live and work in Turkey as a "display of
our peaceful approach, but we have to get something in return."

Turkey and Armenia have not had any diplomatic or economic relations
after Armenia declared its independence in 1991. In addition, Turkey
also closed its borders with Armenia in 1993 as a token of support
for Azerbaijan, which has a territorial conflict with Armenia.

The developments come almost a year after Turkey and Armenia announced
last April of having reached a historic deal that would normalize
relations between the two sides. Though the deal has strong backing of
the international community, it is currently on the brink of collapse
as both Turkey and Armenia are yet to ratify the agreement.

One of the hurdles to Turkey’s ratification of the agreement sprung
up recently after Armenia’s Constitutional Court ruled on 12th
January that the deal with Turkey should not breach the country’s
Independence Declaration, which states that the Republic of Armenia
"stands in support of the task of achieving international recognition
of the Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey and Western Armenia."

Turkey objected to the Armenian Constitutional Court ruling, insisting
that the ruling was based on "preconditions and restrictive findings"
that undermine the "fundamental objectives" of the protocols. Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the court ruling as
"unacceptable" and has said it could undermine the reconciliation
efforts between the two countries.

Turkey’s parliament initially delayed ratifying the protocols, as it
linked the establishment of diplomatic relations to negotiations on
the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Armenian troops currently occupy the
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh after they helped Armenian separatists to
seize control of the enclave from Azerbaijan, a close ally of Turkey,
in the early 1990s.

Turkey demands the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave conflict be resolved
through international meditations and has kept the withdrawal of
Armenian forces from the enclave as a condition for ratifying the
agreement.

PATRIARCH OF ALL RUSSIA TAKES PART IN THANKSGIVING IN YEREVAN

ArmInfo
2010-03-17 18:44:00

ArmInfo. Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Patriarch of Moscow
and All Russia Kirill, who is currently on a visit to Armenia, are
taking part in thanksgiving in St.Grigor Lusavorich Church in Yerevan.

ArmInfo correspondent reports that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan,
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Armenian MPs and Head of the Union
of Armenians of Russia Ara Abrahamyan are present at the thanksgiving.

The Russian part is represented by a delegation of the Russian Orthodox
Church. Upon completion of the thanksgiving, Karekin II will award
St.Grigor Lusavorich Medal to Patriarch Kirill.

To recall, today Serzh Sargsyan received Patriarch of All Russia
Kirill I and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, Wednesday. The
meeting covered issues related to the role of church in upbringing
and education of the society, as well as the opportunities for
consolidation of the two churches’ cooperation.

ZORI BALAYAN AWARDED NKR MESROP MASHTOTS ORDER

Noyan Tapan
March 17, 2010

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 17, NOYAN TAPAN. By NKR President Bako Sahakian’s
March 15 decree, for prominent state, public-political activity and
on the occasion of his 75th birth anniversary, writer-publicist Zori
Balayan was awarded Mesrop Mashtots Order.

According to the report of NKR President’s Press Service, on March 16
B. Sahakian took part in the solemn ceremony dedicated to Z. Balayan’s
jubilee at Stepanakert House of Culture and Youth and awarded him
Mesrop Mashtots Order.

LOVE AND PRAYERS FOR HIV/AIDS CHILDREN

Noyan Tapan
March 17, 2010

KALKATA, MARCH 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On 16th March 2010,
Very Reverend Father Khoren Hovhannisyan, Pastor of the Armenians in
India and Manager of the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy
along with the chairman, Michael Dutt, the wardens Susan Reuben and
Sunil Sobti, and the committee members, Peter Hyrapiet and Hermine
Adamyan of the Holy Nazareth Mother Church, Kolkata visited ANANDAGHAR
charitable organization’s special wing "Armenian Church HIV/AIDS
Care Centre for Children" which shelters youngsters suffering from
the deadly disease.

According to the report of Press centre of the Armenian College and
Philanthropic Academy, father Khoren prayed for the well being of
the children and blessed them. The kids presented a little cultural
programe, sang and danced to the delight of the visitors. Thereafter
the committee members sat down with the supervising head of the centre
and discussed the possibilities of improving the infrastructure,
adding a floor to the residential and hospital sectors providing
better facilities to enable the accommodation of 115 HIV infected
orphans who are desperately waiting to be admitted.

The Armenian Church sponsored unit was inaugurated in 2006. It started
with only seven HIV infected innocent victims and now the number has
gone up to thirty seven ranging age group of three to thirteen years.

The children and supervisor thanked Father Hovhannisyan and the church
committee members for their care and support.

KAMURJ INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM TO BE HELD IN TBILISI FROM APRIL 30 TO MAY 3

Noyan Tapan
March 17, 2010

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, NOYAN TAPAN. On the initiative of Master center
of the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia (UMBA), the
Kamurj (Bridge) international economic forum will be held in Tbilisi
from April 30 to May 3, UMBA Chairman Arsen Ghazarian announced at
the March 17 press conference.

In his words, they are doing organizational work with Georgia’s Union
of Employers and Association of Banks. "We hope that this first forum
organized jointly with Georgia will become a step towards integration
of Armenian and Georgian markets. We will succeed in ensuring that
later Armenia and Georgia will act as a single economic entity for
foreign investors and international companies," A. Ghazarian declared.

He said that the forum would also contribute to development of
Armenian-Georgian programs in construction industry, transport,
and banking.

UMBA Executive Director Gagik Makarian added that the forum would
open good opportunities for Javakheti businessmen. In his words, it is
envisaged cooperating first of all in the "face-to-face" format, that
is, with Armenian regions that border Georgia. It was mentioned that
a Kamurj international forum will be also held in Artsakh in late June.

GENOCIDE VOTE WAS PURE POLITICS, SAYS TURKEY CAUCUS CO-CHAIR
Fulya Ozerkan

Hurriyet
March 17 2010
Turkey

A recent United States House Panel vote on Armenian genocide claims
was pure politics, according to a Republican congresswoman who was
convinced by the panel’s chairman that the matter would not proceed
any further.

"What happened was purely California politics. It was all to help some
members from California who stayed out of this issue," said Virginia
Foxx on Tuesday.

Foxx is also the co-chair of the Turkey Caucus in the U.S. Congress.

Her remarks came during a meeting with Turkish and U.S. youths
who came together under a project led by the Atlantic Council,
a Washington-based think tank.

"It will not go anywhere. They absolutely will not bring it to the
floor for a vote," said the veteran politician who has established
herself as a leader in the House of Representatives.

Her conviction that the resolution would not reach a full House floor
vote comes from her meeting with U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee
Chairman Howard Berman.

The U.S. panel passed the measure 23-22 on March 4. The Turkish
government has recalled its ambassador in protest and declared the
whole process a parody.

‘Misuse’ in the process

Foxx wondered if the voting process had actually been conducted
appropriately. "We questioned the process and were told it is up to
the chairman to decide if there is a quorum present. We just wanted
to go on the record saying we thought that the process was wrong."

Although little thought is typically paid to procedure, she said,
"A lot of attention is being paid to the process this year because
of the kind of misuse of the process that is occurring."

Sharing what she witnessed during the vote, Foxx said: "The committees
are always tilted in the majorities’ favor whether it is Democrat or
Republican and the resolution passed by one vote. I actually saw the
speaker talking to [Democratic Congressman] Gene Green on the floor."

Foxx said Green left the committee because of his reluctance to vote
on the measure.

"It was my understanding that Green did not want to take a position
on the issue but that he had his arms twisted literally and went back
to the committee and voted on it," she said. "There was obviously
a lot of political pressure brought on them to do that. Probably it
has a lot to do with money-raising because the Armenians raise a lot
of money for them."

‘I believe the Turks who say it wasn’t genocide’

While making her case, Foxx said she personally believed the Turkish
argument that there was no genocide; nevertheless, she said it was
an issue for Turks and Armenians to resolve, not Americans.

"It is my position that we don’t know what happened in those days
and letting the Turks and Armenians work it out is the right way,"
she said.

FRENCH EMBASSY COMMENTS IN WAR REMARKS ROW

news.az
March 16 2010
Azerbaijan

Karabakh mediator Bernard Fassier’s remarks to the NATO seminar in
Yerevan were made in French, the French embassy in Baku said today.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman’s words were translated into several
languages, the embassy said in a statement.

‘Bernard Fassier officially dismissed the words, distorted by Armenian
and Azerbaijani journalists. He has provided the necessary explanations
to the governments of both countries which has satisfied them,’
the statement says.

The media reported Fassier as saying at the seminar on Friday that,
‘Azerbaijan’s victory in the event of renewed war is impossible,
because I know about the bravery of Armenian and Karabakh warriors.’

Political scientist Ilgar Mammadov confirmed that he had heard these
words used by the official English interpreter during the seminar.

GEORGIAN PROSECUTORS GO AFTER JAILED JAVAKHK ACTIVIST

Asbarez
Mar 15th, 2010

TBILISI (ArmRadio)-Georgian prosecutors have filed two new charges
against Georgian-Armenian political activist, Vahagn Chakhalyan,
who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment last April.

The leader of the United Javakhk Democratic Alliance, Chakhalyan
was found guilty last year for the "acquisition and possession of
firearms and ammunition", "organizing a group action which grossly
disrupted public order", and "hooliganism committed against a
government representative."

He is now being charged for allegedly attempting to interfere in
the "Georgianization" of the Armenian church in the Javakheti
village of Samsar in July 2005 and for organizing protests at
the Georgian-Armenian border checkpoint of "Zhdanovakan-Bavra" in
December 2005.

Chakhalyan and his lawyers were informed of the new charges on
March 11 by investigators at the Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda Police
departments. Spartak Khechoyan and Gevorg Kspoyan visited the Javakheti
activist for interrogation in the Rustavi colony.

According to the two investigators, the new charges came in response
to a recently published book by Chakhalyan titled, "Prison-political
notes."

The Akhalkalaki police have said the book contains evidence that
would allow prosecutors to file new charges in connection to cases
against the activist from 2005.

The Yerkir Union of Georgia, which has taken up Chakhalyan’s defense,
said Friday that "it is obvious the new accusations against the Javakhk
Armenian political figure are part of a campaign of terror against
the Armenians of Javakhk in the run up to local elections in May."

MILLENIUM CHALLENGE ACCOUNT-ARMENIA SNCO GOVERNING COUNCIL’S MEETING AT THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT

gov.am
March 15 2010
Armenia

The Governing Council of Millenium Challenge Account-Armenia SNCO
met today in the Office of Government, presided at by GC chair,
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

As part of agenda item 1, the council has discussed a package of
application for the 15th disbursement, subject to MCC approval. Under
the mentioned request, the MCA-Armenia expects to be allocated USD
18.966.425 for the next quarter (April-June, 2010). The bulk of this
amount will be used to make contractual settlements under the Irrigated
Agriculture component. The remaining balance will be used to fund
monitoring, evaluation, management and oversight-related activities
under the program. The application package was approved by the council.

The council next discussed and endorsed the proposed amendments to the
Capacity Building for Irrigation Management Entities" contract under
the Irrigated Agriculture activity. In the framework of the From Water
to Market activity, the meeting has approved the draft GIS procurement
contract for water user associations and water supply agencies.

Among other agenda items, the council discussed and approved the
activities carried out under the second package of the Ararat valley
drainage system rehabilitation project, as well as the contract and
the results of the technical auditor recruitment tender for irrigation
infrastructures.

In conclusion, the council took note of the account of preparations
and implementation of early elections for MCA-Armenia program’s
Stakeholders Committee.