Author: Chatinian Lara

CEMIL CHICHEK: TURKISH PRIME MINISTER’S VISIT REMAINS AMBIGUOUS

armradio.am
01.04.2010 17:41

Turkish Government spokesperson Cemil Chichek said that consultations
resume to decide on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s pending
visit to the United States.

Reminding that Turkey faced unfair accusations at the US congressional
panel which approved a resolution on Armenian Genocide, Spokesperson
Chichek said it is not clear whether Erdogan will deliver the official
visit or not.

Referring to the billl, Chichek said "…Turkey does not deserve this.

Both countries have always been in close and friendly relations,
expressing desire for deepening of mutually beneficiary relations. We
have always reiterated potential risks that arise from decisions
incumbent upon historians but given by parliamentarians."

The spokesperson noted that Turkey expressed regret over the move and
said that Turkey stands behind the newly inked protocol; however, the
accord could make sense only if both sides fulfill responsibilities,
TRT reports.

NEW WAR FOR KARABAKH ON THE AGENDA
by Stepan Ter-Melkonyan

Golos Armenii (in Russian)
March 30 2010
Armenia

The possibility of a resumption of hostilities in Karabakh has
sharply increased. Most Armenian and Russian experts see no reason
to worry about this issue, assessing the likelihood of a resumption
of hostilities as low.

However, we have some facts indicating that Azerbaijan is preparing to
resume hostilities in the area of the conflict. Apart from these facts,
some of which we are going to give below, we would like to share our
assessments of reasons for the start of a war in the current period.

It is obvious that Azerbaijan will not launch a war without notifying
Turkey of this. Moreover, many things indicate that at present no-one
but Turkey would benefit from giving Azerbaijan the "go-ahead" for
a new war. Ankara has no better option to distract the international
attention and neutralize the growing pressure upon itself other than
persuading Baku into an intense and large-scale military provocation
in the area of the Karabakh conflict. To get its benefits, Ankara may
mislead Baku that, on the whole, the USA and Russia are not opposed to
the Azerbaijani leadership’s desire to use force to achieve something
that it wishes to get in the current settlement process. Eventually,
Turkey may get Azerbaijan interested in a way that if the latter
opposes the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols, then it
should help the "elder brother" [Turkey] get out of the confusing
situation by launching a war Karabakh.

Previous expert assessments that no super power will allow hostilities
in the area of the conflict for more than a week or two are still
topical today. However, there is one important correction here:
If Azerbaijan manages to achieve success in the first days of a new
war, then the period may be prolonged. In that case, it will be very
important for the Armenian side to strike counter attacks in the very
first days, and maybe the hours of the hostilities, and to go into
offensive at a certain sector of the front, meanwhile not only in the
immediate area of hostilities. A prolonged war could have side effects
for clear reasons, that is why it is in our interests to expand the
area of the conflict at directions that are weak for the Azerbaijanis,
and to deploy troops there.

THIS IS ABOUT NAXCIVAN [capital letters as published]. The deployment
of Armenian forces into Naxcivan would solve a number of very
important issues:

1) It is necessary to guarantee a narrow corridor of terrestrial
communication with Iran to the maximum possible extent.

2) The deployment of troops into Naxcivan, even volunteer squads
made up of veterans of the previous war, would have Turkey to face a
hard choice – to intervene or not (that is to deploy its troops into
Naxcivan or not).

3) The wider the area of the hostilities is, the more likely foreign
intervention will be to secure a ceasefire as quickly as possible,
and that is why the Armenian side should avoid localization of
hostilities on the Karabakh line of front only.

Turkey would never take military action against Armenia along the
current Armenian-Turkish border. This is not only because of the
existence of a Russian military base [near Armenian-Turkish border]
and action of guarantees in the framework of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization [CSTO, which says any aggression against a CSTO
member state is aggression against the whole of CSTO]. Turkey would
not take military action against the Armenian territory, because in
that case it would become clear to anyone that it was Turkey that
instigated Azerbaijan into war. Apart from that, one can say with
certainty that official decisions of major Western countries on the
recognition of the Armenian genocide and also on the recognition of
the independence of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic would immediately
appear on the agenda. Turkey’s intervention – in case Armenian
troops are deployed into Naxcivan – would bring it to the edge
of a confrontation with Iran, and would require coordination with
other NATO member states. On the whole, this would become not an
Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontation but an Armenian-Turkish one in
nature, and also a confrontation between the blocs – NATO and the CSTO.

Now, here are the promised facts about Azerbaijan’s serious
preparations for a resumption of hostilities.

There are all the grounds to consider as objective and true reports
in recent weeks that emissaries from Baku are collecting money for
war from Azerbaijani merchants and entrepreneurs in Moscow. According
to the reports, Baku emissaries are strenuously hiring servicemen
not only Azerbaijanis but also Russia’s Turkic peoples in Russian
military units. Special attention is being paid to the North Caucasus
Military District, where people are being hired not based on ethnic
but rather religious factor (people who practice Islam).

We would like to draw the attention of the Russian authorities to these
blatant facts. If the collection of fees from Azerbaijani merchants in
Moscow can be justified by law-enforcement agencies of the [Russian]
capital based on the principle "this is the internal matter of the
Azerbaijani community", the propaganda in regular military units
in Russia’s South to persuade Russian servicemen into taking leave
and participating "in a sacred war for Karabakh" does not fit into
the framework of the efficient work of Russian special services. If
the latter have little interest in the national security of Russia’s
strategic ally [Armenia], then let them at least take care of Russia’s
security at its southern borders, in the very restless regions of
the North Caucasus.

Stepan Ter-Melkonyan, the "Trabzon-Ardvin-Batum" patriotic Union,
Armenia Today.

IMF TO GIVE LOANS OF 150 MILLION DOLLARS TO ARMENIA THIS YEAR

Noyan Tapan
Apr 1, 2010

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
approved the Armenian government’s report on cooperation. Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan announced this at the April 1 sitting of
the RA government, noting that it means that Armenia will receive
the envisaged financial assistance.

This year the IMF will give loans of about 0 million to Armenia. "We
will receive this money from the IMF. Besides, that will give a
green light for implementation of all our international programs,"
T. Sargsyan stated.

He said that there are currently 150 billion drams in the treasury
accounts of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA). In addition, in case
of unforeseeable negative consequences of the crisis, resources of
the Stabilization Fund can be used to deal with economic and social
problems. "In 2009 our financial and macroeconomic stability was
maintained. Moreover, we increased the reserves of the CBA, which
inspires a hope that we will succeed in overfulfulling the 2010
programs," the prime minister underlined.

TURKEY’S TACTICS IN RESPONSE TO PASSING OF GENOCIDE BILLS: HARUT SASSOUNIAN

Tert.am
10:31 ~U 01.04.10

The Turkish government has been receiving a succession of bad news in
recent weeks. Its persistent policy of denial of the Armenian Genocide
suffered serious setbacks when the Foreign Affairs Committee of the
US House of Representatives, the Swedish Parliament, and Catalonia’s
regional Parliament in Spain adopted resolutions acknowledging the
Armenian Genocide, writes Harut Sassounian in The California Courier.

Turkish denialists are terrified by these official acknowledgments
on the eve of the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. They are
even more alarmed by the fact that the parliaments of Bulgaria, Israel,
Serbia, and Spain are about to consider similar resolutions in April.

The Turkish leadership was under the mistaken impression that the
Protocols signed with Armenia six months ago would end any further
action on the Armenian Genocide by the international community. In
fact, Turkey had viewed these Protocols as a last ditch effort to stem
the tide of such acknowledgments in the future. Its devious strategy
almost worked, as the genocide resolutions in both Sweden and the
US Congress were adopted by a mere one vote majority. The opponents
of these resolutions specifically cited the "reconciliation" between
Armenia and Turkey as their reason for voting against them.

Alarmed by these developments, and distracted by serious internal
problems, the Turkish government has initiated, perhaps a little too
late, a series of actions, hoping to prevent further defeats on the
Armenian Genocide issue.

These actions range from using harsh, bullying tactics against
countries that dare to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, and a soft
approach to mislead the international community into thinking that
the Turkish government is being more accommodating towards Armenians.

Among the Turkish bullying tactics against countries acknowledging
the genocide are:

— Recalling its ambassador;

— Cancelling military contracts; and

— Boycotting the purchase of consumer goods.

Last week, Turkish officials added a new twist, threatening to sue the
more than 20 countries that have already acknowledged the Armenian
Genocide. This is one of the many bluffs Turkish leaders use from
time to time to discourage additional countries from acknowledging
the Genocide.

Turkey’s more clever tactics, using soft gloves at the advice of
western public relations agents, include:

— Renovating a couple of historic Armenian churches, while thousands
of others are converted to mosques, stables, residences or simply
ruined.

— The "gracious" gesture of allowing religious services to be
performed once a year for a limited number of people and limited
duration to be determined by Turkish authorities, at the 10th century
Holy Cross Armenian Church at Akhtamar Island, on Lake Van.

— Reviewing the possibility of lifting the ban on children of refugees
from Armenia to attend private Armenian schools in Istanbul.

— A "show" meeting held last week between Prime Minister Erdogan
and the head of Istanbul’s Sourp Prgich Armenian hospital, who was
wrongly named as the leader of Turkey’s Armenian community. This
meeting was more akin to a slave being summoned by his master.

— Finally, Foreign Minister Davutoglu came up last week with a
new ploy to divide the Armenian Diaspora: he announced that the
Turkish authorities will initiate "dialogue" with "reasonable Diaspora
Armenians," meaning Armenians who do not mind selling out the Armenian
Cause for their own ego and personal gain.

Clearly, Turkish officials are resorting to all possible means,
including the continued exploitation of the defunct Protocols,
to discourage additional countries from acknowledging the Armenian
Genocide.

TIGRAN SARGSYAN SPOKE WITH UKRAINIAN PM ON ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

Tert.am
13:39 ~U 01.04.10

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan had a phone conversation with
Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov, during which Sargsyan said
that there is untapped potential between the two countries, while
noting that there exists expansive prospects of bilateral cooperation.

During the conversation, the parties agreed to stimulate the activities
of the Joint Armenian-Ukrainian Intergovernmental Commission on
Economic Cooperation Affairs. To that end, the commission’s chairs
have been charged with the task of developing an agenda and organizing
a commission meeting in the near future.

ANC-PAC HOLDS FUNDRAISER FOR MENENDEZ IN N.J.

endez-speaks-at-anc-pac-fundraiser-in-n-j/
Mon, Mar 29 2010

SADDLE RIVER, N.J.-On March 21, the ANC-PAC held a successful
fundraiser at the home of Andreas Roubian in Saddle River, More than
100 members of the community members from all facets of political
life were present.

(L to R) Sue Aramian, Senator Bob Menendez, and Annie Pampanini
After Roubian welcomed the guests to his home, James Sahagian, the
ANC-NJ co-chair, spoke about the importance of ANC work for Armenian
Americans and for Armenia. ANC activist Ani Tchaghlasian introduced
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), listing his years of support for the
Armenian Genocide Resolution both in the House of Representatives and
now in the Senate. Over the years, Menendez has worked on halting
funding for a rail system in the Caucasus that bypassed Armenia;
advocating for funding for Armenia and Karabagh; and, twice placing a
hold on Dick Hoagland’s nomination as U.S. ambassador to Armenia after
the latter continued to deny the genocide during Senate confirmation
hearings. (Marie L. Yovanovitch was later named the ambassador to
Armenia.)

Tchaghlasian presented Menendez with a painting of a village in
Karabagh, donated by artist Roudik Petrosyan, who was born in
Stepanakert, the capital of Karabagh.

Menendez spoke eloquently about his support and belief in the Armenian
Cause. He also commented on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s words earlier that week regarding the possible "deportations"
of Armenians currently residing illegally in Turkey-chilling words,
given the recent history of the genocide. The Senator graciously
thanked the host, the artist, all guests, and the ANC for their
support. In closing, he said that the ANC does great work and anyone
who is not a member of the ANC should be.

In addition to a great turnout (despite having been rescheduled due
to inclement weather), the event brought together many Armenians from
different walks of life.

MEDIATORS ‘SATISFIED’ WITH TRIP TO ARMENIA, KARABAKH

1998103.html
30.03.2010

"After the recent meetings between the Co-Chairs and the parties in
Paris and in the region, the Co-Chairs note with satisfaction the
commitment of the parties to reach a peaceful settlement within the
framework of the Madrid Principles," they said in a joint statement
issued after a visit to Stepanakert and Yerevan.

The co-chairs met with the leadership of the unrecognized
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic at the weekend and held talks with President
Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan
on Monday.

The statement said they further discussed "Armenian comments on the
Basic Principles" that were modified by the mediating powers late
last year. It give no details.

Yuri Merzlyakov, the Minsk Group’s outgoing Russian co-chair, said in
Stepanakert that Yerevan disagrees with some points of the "updated"
peace plan. He downplayed the unspecified objections, saying that they
do not bode ill for the success of the protracted negotiating process.

The statement did not say whether the mediators will make additional
changes in the so-called Madrid Document to make it more acceptable to
the Armenian side. Nor did it mention the possibility of yet another
meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in the coming weeks.

HARUT SASSOUNIAN AWARDED GRATITUDE MEDAL BY NKR PRESIDENT

Tert.am
14:46 ~U 31.03.10

On March 30, Nagorno-Karabakh President Bako Sahakyan signed a
decree awarding president of the United Armenian Fund, vice-chair
of the Lincy Foundation Harut Sassounian the Gratitude Medal for
considerable philanthropic activity, according to a release issued
by the NKR presidential central information department.

"ESCAPE" OF CAPITAL

s17350.html
15:40:49 – 30/03/2010

There are no monetary prerequisites for the devaluation of the dram,
said the former head of the Central Bank of Armenia Bagrat Asatryan.

He believes that under normal policy, dollar will not grow so quickly.

Bagrat Asatryan notes that there is a public expectation of
devaluation of the dram, because it does not trust the financial and
economic policy of the government, which leads to inflation. This was
facilitated by the gas price hike, which, according to the economist,
is an administrative decision. Bagrat Asatryan believes that in order
to stop the devaluation of the dram, CB will try to reduce the amount
of the dram in the market, and will hinder the economic development.

Devaluation of the dram is one of the reasons of the "escape" of the
capital of Armenia, as well as economic monopolies.

JOINT PROGRAM IMPLEMENTED WITH EU DISCUSSED IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.03.2010 20:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On March 30 a regular meeting of the commission,
chaired by RA prime minister Tigran Sargsyan, coordinating cooperation
between Armenia and the EU was held in Yerevan, press office of the
RA government reported.

The Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan made a report on the
implementation of measures ensuring the Armenia-EU Action plan for
2009-2011 in frames of European Neighborhood Policy.

RA Deputy Foreign Minister Karine Ghazinyan reported that the Italian
government submitted a proposal to expand bilateral cooperation
in frames of Eastern Partnership. Meeting participants identified
priority areas, in particular, SME development, energy, environment
and emergency situations.

Primary tasks aimed at development of state administrative bodies
were approved, as well as the schedule for preliminary talks on free
trade agreement between Armenia and the EU.

The meeting endorsed the National Indicative Program for 2011-2013,
discussed partnerships in frames of SIGMA, Twinning, TAIEX.