Author: Chilingarian Babken

ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES TAKE POLITICAL RISK

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.09.2009 20:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We are concerned that agreements signed do not
contain any statement on the principles of territorial integrity
and nations’ right to self-determination," ARFD Youth Wing member
Arthur Kazaryan told today a joint press conference with activists
representing the youth sectors of Republican Party of Armenia (RPA),
"Heritage" and Armenian National Congress.

The wording of Protocols arouses concerns, and Armenian authorities
take a political risk which has very dim prospects.

In that connection, "Heritage" party representatice Robert
Kadaryan noted that a clause on territorial integrity would imply
recognizing the prevalence of that principle over nations’ right
to self-determination in regional conflicts. "Under the documents
signed, Armenia and Turkey commit themselves to settling regional
conflicts. In that way, we involve Turkey in Karabakh conflict
settlement ," Kadaryan stressed.

RPA Youth wing representative Edgar Hovhanisyan disagreed to the above
position, considering that Karabakh issue is dealt with by Minsk Group,
so Turkey cannot be involved in peace process..

Answering journalists’ question as to what prevented opposition parties
from cooperating in the sphere, Kazaryan said that ARFD was ready for
cooperation and had already made a proposal for creating a national
fund. ANC and Heritage representatives also expressed willingness
to cooperate.

Yeni Azarbaycan, Azerbaijan
Sept 4 2009

Azeri politicians rap Turkish-Armenian rapprochement ahead of Karabakh
solution

Azerbaijani politicians believe that the protocols signed recently on
establishing Turkish-Armenian ties and opening the border between the
two countries will harm Azerbaijan’s interests and ties with Turkey.

In an interview with the ruling New Azerbaijan Party’s (NAP) Yeni
Azarbaycan newspaper, NAP deputy executive secretary and MP Mubariz
Qurbanli said: "Azerbaijan does not regard acceptable the
establishment of ties between Turkey and Armenia until the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem is resolved".

Qurbanli said that rapprochement with Armenia before the settlement of
the problem was against Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s interests. He said
that Turkey wanted to achieve peace and stability in the region by
taking that step. "However, history shows that one should not trust
the Armenians," he added.

In an interview with the Azadliq newspaper, the leader of the
opposition Liberal Party of Azerbaijan, Lala Sovkat Haciyeva, urged
President Ilham Aliyev to express his position on the ongoing
developments.

"It is very likely there have been some consultations [with the
Azerbaijani president] on this issue. However, the head of Azerbaijan
should express his opinion on the developments," Haciyeva said.

The politician noted that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said in the Azerbaijani parliament in May 2009 that the borders would
open after the Karabakh settlement.

"In any case, I want to believe that Erdogan will be loyal to his
word. Otherwise, this will be a great blow to Azerbaijan’s national
interests and will seriously harm ties between the two fraternal
countries," Haciyeva said.

In a comment on the developments, the opposition Yeni Musavat
newspaper quoted unnamed observers as saying that Baku’s reaction was
rather soft now unlike its reaction to the agreement on a road map
signed between Turkey and Armenia this April.

"This gives rise to the opinion that Baku has blessed the
Armenian-Turkish agreement… Although the agreement was made public
later, Turkey informed Baku about it last week. It seems that the
Turkish authorities convinced Baku this time as well that the opening
of the border with Armenia will depend on the Karabakh issue," Yeni
Musavat said.

The paper added that although the protocols to be signed with Armenia
did not contain any preconditions on Karabakh, Turkey hinted that by
delaying the ratification of those documents in parliament, it had a
chance to make their implementation dependent on the resolution of the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

Speaking about the impact of the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement on
major economic projects in an interview to the independent Ekspress
newspaper, economic expert Sabit Bagirov said that if the protocols
envisaging the resumption of Turkish-Armenian ties were ratified at
the level of parliaments, the EU might demand that technical changes
be made to the Nabucco gas pipeline and that it pass not via Georgia,
but Armenia. He said that this was a political issue.

"First, I do not believe that the Turkish parliament will take such a
decision. Second, this is an unrealistic idea and I do not believe
that it will materialize, because the Azerbaijani authorities have
repeatedly stated that Azerbaijan will not transport its hydrocarbons
via Armenia until the occupied territories are liberated and the
Karabakh problem is resolved," Bagirov said.

Ekspress said that the Nabucco pipeline company, which will construct
the pipeline, also did not rule out Armenia’s participation in the
project.

"We have stated repeatedly that this project is open to any state
wishing to join it. If this is the case, then Armenia or another
country which might be considered as an effective option to increase
the pipeline’s profitability can join the project," Ekspress quoted an
unnamed source at the company as saying.

Les Echos, France
Jeudi 3 Septembre 2009

Turquie-Arménie : la diplomatie du football

par JACQUES HUBERT-RODIER

Après la diplomatie du ping-pong, celle du football. Après près d’un
siècle d’animosité, écrit « Hürriyet », la Turquie et l’Arménie se
sont mises d’accord pour restaurer leurs relations diplomatiques et
rouvrir leur frontière. Des protocoles d’accord devraient être ainsi
signés d’ici à six semaines. Ce « mouvement historique » tombe à
pic. Car, souligne le quotidien turc, il devrait permettre au
président arménien, Serge Sarkisian, de se rendre en Turquie pour le
match avec l’Arménie dans le cadre des qualifications à la Coupe du
monde 2010 de football. Déjà en septembre 2008 à l’occasion d’un autre
match entre les équipes nationales, le président turc, Abdullah Gül,
s’était rendu en Arménie.

Le journal ne cache cependant pas que des incertitudes demeurent. Le
conflit sur le Nagorny Karabakh reste un obstacle. En soutien à Bakou,
Ankara avait décidé de fermer en 1993 sa frontière avec l’Arménie, qui
avait envahi cette enclave peuplée d’Arméniens mais située en
Azerbaïdjan. Le journal « Vatan » note, pour sa part, que, si
l’Occident – Union européenne, Etats-Unis – a accueilli avec
satisfaction l’accord turco-arménien, « il a provoqué des inquiétudes
en Azerbaïdjan », mais aussi de l’opposition en Turquie. Outre les
deux projets de protocole, souligne « Hürriyet », les deux pays ont
accepté de mettre sur pied une commission « pour examiner le dossier
des assassinats de masse qui ont eu lieu pendant la période de la
Première Guerre mondiale ».Les massacres et déportations d’Arméniens
ont fait plus d’un million et demi de morts, selon les Arméniens, de
300.000 à 500.000 selon la Turquie, qui récuse la notion de
génocide, reconnu notamment par la France.

TURKISH-ARMENIAN DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS MAY BE AROUND THE CORNER

Examiner.com
Sept 4 2009

It is no surprise that Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic
relations. During World War I, in the death throes of the Ottoman
Empire, the Turks killed an estimated 1.5 million Armenians. The
Armenians and most of the world call this the "Armenian Genocide." The
Turks furiously deny that it was a genocide and have refused to
consider reparations or even an apology. (See "Turkey needs to accept
responsibility for the Armenian Genocide.")

More recently, in the early 1990s conflict erupted between Armenians
and Azeris, who are ethnically related to the Turks. They fought
over Nagorno-Karabakh, also called "Artsakh" in Armenian. The
Armenians regard Karabakh as a historical part of their homeland,
but the Bolsheviks had assigned it to Azerbaijan in 1923, although
Armenians were its majority population. Years of fighting resulted in
the Armenians winning control over Karabakh with a Russian-mediated
ceasefire of 1994. The Azeri population fled Karabakh. Karabakh now
has nominal independence, recognized only by Armenia. Azerbaijan wants
it back; Armenians are content with the status quo. Turkey sided with
Azerbaijan, and closed its border with Armenia.

Thus, as noted by analyst Joe Ribakoff, while Turkey swiftly recognized
Armenian independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
that’s where the train stopped. The two countries did not go on to
establish diplomatic relations. That’s no surprise. The surprise is
that this may soon change.

On August 31 the two countries simultaneously announced that they
have "agreed to start their internal political consultations on
the two protocols – the ‘Protocol on the establishment of diplomatic
relations’ and the ‘Protocol on the development of bilateral relations’
– which have been initialed in the course of their efforts under
Swiss mediation." The exchange of ambassadors may be in the offing.

The two nations have apparently decided that their differences,
however serious, should not prevent them from moving towards normal
relations. Armenia, a small, landlocked country, would benefit
economically from the opening of its long, westward-facing Turkish
frontier. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has an announced
policy of "zero problems with neighbors," but more pertinent is gas
pipeline politics. Turkey is positioning itself to be the main route
of Azerbaijan’s rich gas resources to Europe. Andrea Bonzanni of the
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva
explains in World Politics Review:

The AKP [Turkey’s ruling party] leadership has in fact demonstrated
a long-term vision for the country’s future and, given the prolonged
political instability in Georgia, it simply does not want to rule out
a precious potential alternative route for Caspian hydrocarbons on
purely ideological grounds. This also explains Turkey’s desire for a
full resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and
resource-rich Azerbaijan, which would finally bring regional stability.

In addition, good relations with Armenia are instrumental to the
full success of Turkey’s plans, not least because of the improvement
in Turkey’s reputation that will result. Indeed, trust-building is a
necessary condition, as European governments have to be fully convinced
that Turkey is a reliable partner that can guarantee the security of
gas supplies. With Turkey’s accession to the EU currently a remote
possibility, it seems unlikely the Europe would grant Ankara such
a crucial role in the diversification of its gas supplies unless
it is certain that Turkey will prove to be different from Russia,
Ukraine and Belarus.

As in most diplomatic dances, Turkey has to try to please several
partners at once. Consequently, while it courts Armenia, it smiles
winsomely at Azerbaijan, which is afraid of being hypovehiculated
on the Karabakh issue. "To be able to turn this normalization into
permanent peace, we are expecting a forthwith settlement on the
dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan with the contributions of the
international community," said the Turkish foreign minister. Good luck
with that. Karabakh has never been high on the diplomatic agenda. And
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian reiterated on September 2 Armenia’s
view that the fate of Karabakh will be decided in accordance with
the wishes of its citizens (now almost entirely Armenian).

Moreover, under the heading of "no good deed goes unpunished," there is
opposition in each country to these efforts to improve relations. The
Armenian opposition party ARF Dashnaktsutyun objected on the ground
that reconciliation would be possible only after Turkish recognition
of the Armenian Genocide. On the other side, the vice president of the
Turkish opposition party the Republican People’s Party, Onur Oymen,
complained that "Armenia has promised nothing in response to this
protocol and so what Turkey does will be a one-sided concession."

In short, there are many potential stumbling blocks between here and
Armenian-Turkish normalization.

CHAIRMAN TOUCHES IMPORTANCE TO THE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Aysor
Sept 3 2009
Armenia

"I am pleased to take part in the annual Conference of the Association
of the European Electoral Authorities, the 18th meeting of which will
be held in Yerevan" – the Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly
Hovik Abrahamyan said welcoming the participants and guests of the
Conference.

The 18th annual conference of the Association of the European Electoral
Authorities opened in Yerevan today. More than 150 representatives
from about 30 countries and international organizations have arrived
to Yerevan to take part in the Conference.

"The election system is the very strategic area for any democratic
state" – H. Abrahamyan said stressing the subject of the Conference
"The voting rights court defense" refers to the issues related to
present elections.

According to the speaker, no one wants to lose the elections, but
some people tempt to challenge the election results after loosing.

"That is the reason for solving the disputes of that kind through
judicial power" – H. Abrahamyan noted. He also added there are
no two truths especially when it comes exclusively to political
competition. The independent and strong judiciary only can give a
final conclusion on the controversy of competing political forces.

The speaker also noted the importance of the international cooperation
and the experience exchange, saying that the "election organization
and holding include general achievements and common problems at the
same time".

"The presence of our foreign colleagues in this hall shows that we
all have got serious and determined intentions to work with partner
international organizations", – the speaker said.

H. Abrahamyan said he hoped that the Conference participants would
devote time for "getting acquainted with our country, its history
and cultural heritage and hospitality" as well as taking active part
in Conference."

CONGRESSMAN SCHIFF CRITICIZES TURKEY-ARMENIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION PROPOSAL

Pasadena Star-News
13254812
Sept 2 2009
CA

Congressman Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, denounced the idea of a historical
commission on Armenian deaths during World War I and after, between
1915-1923.

The commission is part of proposed talks between Turkey and Armenia.

Schiff is a cosponsor of a bill to officially label those deaths as
a genocide against Armenians perpetuated by the Turkish state.

Schiff said in a statement that the idea of a commission is "thoroughly
discredited," and that there is no dispute amongst scholars that
there was a genocide.

He said he does favor the two states holding talks.

ARMENIA-TURKEY BORDER MAY OPEN BY END OF YEAR

Today.Az
5208.html
Sept 2 2009
Azerbaijan

Turkish authorities intend to open border with Armenia by late 2009
under the protocol on establishing diplomatic ties, Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday.

Recently, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Turkey and
Switzerland issued a joint statement that Armenia and Turkey
have reached an agreement to start political consultations on the
establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

ARMENIA, TURKEY MOVE CLOSER TO RESTORING DIPLOMATIC TIES

RIA Novosti
10:4601/09/2009

ANKARA, August 31 (RIA Novosti) – Turkey and Armenia agreed at
talks mediated by Switzerland on Monday to start "internal political
consultations" on re-establishing diplomatic relations and opening
their borders.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support
for Muslim ally Azerbaijan following a bloody conflict over Nagorny
Karabakh between the two ex-Soviet republics. Ankara has also demanded
that Yerevan drop its campaign to have the mass killings of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks in 1915 internationally recognized as genocide.

"Political consultations will be completed within six weeks, and
following that, two protocols will be signed and submitted to the two
countries’ parliaments for approval," Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said.

"Both protocols [on establishing diplomatic relations and on the
development of bilateral relations] create a base for normalizing
bilateral relations…

The normalization of bilateral relations will further guarantee peace
and stability in region," the ministry said.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said that the country is ready to establish
diplomatic relations without preconditions, and welcomes the timeframes
as reasonable.

"Both documents define reasonable timeframes for the normalization
of bilateral relations," the ministry said.

However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in comments
on the accord on Tuesday that Turkey does not plan to open the border
"at the current stage."

"Turkey’s goal is to maintain friendly relations with its neighbors
and establish stability and lasting peace in the Caucasus," he told
national TV, adding that Azerbaijan’s interests must not be disregarded
in efforts to improve ties with Armenia.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said after the talks on Monday that the
border would be opened within two months after the two countries have
signed the protocols.

Turkey and Armenia have held talks mediated by Switzerland for
two years.

They agreed to a "roadmap" to normalize their relations under Swiss
mediation this April.

The U.S. State Department welcomed Monday’s talks.

"We urge Armenia and Turkey to proceed expeditiously," State
Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a statement. "We remain ready
to work closely with both governments in support of normalization, a
historic process that will contribute to peace, security and stability
throughout the region."

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is expected to visit Turkey on
October 14, where he will attend a World Cup qualifying football
match between the two countries.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul watched the first leg of the match in
Yerevan last year. Sargsyan said earlier he would go if the border
has reopened or Turkey has lifted its economic blockade of landlocked
Armenia.

TURKISH FM INFORMS OSCE MG COUNTERPARTS OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RAPPROCHEMENT

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Sept 1 2009
Armenia

Today Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has had telephone
conversations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov,
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French Foreign Minister
Bernard Kouchner. The Turkey-based Posta newspaper reports that
Minister Davutoglu informed his counterparts of the achievements in
the Armenian-Russian rapprochement.

The Turkish FM stated he expects the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to
intensify their efforts toward settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
and establishing peace and stability in the region.

The OSCE MG Foreign Ministers promised to spare no effort to resolve
the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.

AZERI PRESIDENT AFFIRMS PROGRESS IN KARABAKH NEGOTIATIONS

Interfax
Aug 31 2009
Russia

Progress in the Karabakh peace settlement is a result of the purposeful
policy, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said at the Friday Ramadan meal,
Iftar, provided by Caucasian Islamic Department Chairman sheikh
ul-Islam Allahshukyur Pashazade.

Local television broadcasted the president’s speech on Saturday.

"I can tell you that our efforts have brought the first results at
the negotiations," he said.

"We always said that the [Karabakh] problem could be resolved only
within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," he said.

"People in Karabakh can enjoy a high degree of autonomy within the
united state of Azerbaijan. These are the fundamental principles,
and any agreement must be based on them. We always said that the
problem would be resolved gradually. The proposals discussed at the
negotiations provide for a step-by-step solution," he said.