Author: Hakobian Adrine

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT CALLS ON AZERBAIJAN TO SIGN NON-AGGRESSION PACT

Yerkir
22.03.2010 14:13
Yerevan

Yerevan (Yerkir) – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has appealed to
Azerbaijan to sign a non-aggression pact which he hopes would prepare
the ground for continued talks about the future of Nagorno Karabakh.

In an interview with Euronews, Sargsyan said that non-use of force
is an underlying principle of international law, which holds the key
to a lasting settlement of the long-running territorial dispute.

In an earlier conciliatory move towards Baku, the Armenian leader
said he was ready to accept the modified Madrid Principles of solving
the conflict.

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev responded by saying the negotiations were
already in their final stage but insisted on the return of all Karabakh
territories and the withdrawal of the Armenian forces stationed there.

Simultaneously, President Sargsyan reiterated Armenia’s longstanding
premise about the people of Nagorno-Karabakh having every right to
self-determination, adding that Karabakh was artificially appended
to Azerbaijan during the Soviet times and Armenia could not just give
it up.

U.S.-TURKEY ANNUAL CONFERENCE POSTPONED

Panorama.am
16:32 22/03/2010

Politics

The 29th Annual Conference on United States-Turkey Relations,
which is organized by Turkish-American Business Council, or TAIK,
and American-Turkish Council, or ATC, every year in April, has been
postponed, Hurriyet reported.

Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey, or DEÄ°K, stated
on Saturday that the conference, which was planned to be held in
Washington between April 11 and 14, was postponed due to approval of
an Armenian resolution at Foreign Relations Committee of U.S. Congress
and the following developments, according to the source.

On March 4, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign
Relations approved a resolution in support of the Armenian allegations
regarding the incidents of 1915. Upon such development, Turkey
temporarily recalled its ambassador in Washington, D.C., Namık Tan,
to Ankara. Experts have been since commenting on the situation as
Turkish-American crisis.

The U.S. prove this as well. Remind that the U.S. Department of
State issued a statement March 19 to alert "U.S. citizens to evolving
security concerns in Turkey, and remind them of the continuing threat
of terrorist actions and violence against U.S. citizens and interests.

U.S. citizens in Turkey should be particularly vigilant in light
of the ongoing "Get Out America, This is Our Country" campaign. We
remind U.S. citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance and to
take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness."

TURKEY’S BEGINNING TO HARM ITSELF: FORMER US AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY

22.03.10
Tert.am

American-Turkish Council (ATC) president, former US Ambassador
to Turkey James H. Holmes, criticizing Turkey’s decision not
to participate in an annual conference organized by ATC and the
Turkish-American Business Council (TAÄ°K) in Washington, said that
the situation created by Ankara is beginning to harm Turkey itself.

"That conference aims to develop relations between the two countries
[US and Turkey]; however, one of the parties has decided not to
participate. In this situation, Turkey is beginning to harm itself.

Ambassador Namik Tan should return to Washington," said Holmes in an
interview with Turkish daily Hurriyet.

Turkey’s decision not to participate in the conference comes in
the aftermath of a US congressional panel decision to recognize the
Armenian Genocide.

According to Turkish news source Today’s Zaman, ATC and TAÄ°K have
announced that the 29th Annual Conference on US-Turkish Relations,
scheduled for April 11-14 in Washington, D.C., will not be held
as scheduled.

AT LEAST 8 OUT OF 22 BANKS SHOULD’VE GONE BANKRUPT, SAYS ARMENIA’S FORMER PM

Tert.am
16:18 ~U 19.03.10

In a very short period of time, the dollar’s fixed price is going to
lead to inflation and Armenia’s economy will collapse, said former
prime minister of Armenia Hrant Bagratyan at a press conference today.

"Today, the government is searching for approximately 2 billion
dollars. If it finds that money, it will lessen today’s burden and
it’ll make do. On account of that, our debt will increase; that is,
our future will become more complicated. I don’t know how they’ll
solve the issue of 2 billion dollars. Of course, there’s a lot of
money in the world today, but our government feels that it has money
problems," he said.

Bagratyan said that he had predicted these developments months before.

According to him, if there was a "normal economic field" in Armenia,
then at least 8 out of 22 banks in Armenia should’ve gone bankrupt.

TURKEY AND THE 100,000 ARMENIANS
by David Pryce-Jones

National Review Online
?q=NDgxMzE2MWI4OTUxMDU0ZmYwOTg3YzI1Y2VjMmZhN2Q=
Ma rch 18 2010

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, has been in London,
with a photo-op next to Gordon Brown, his British opposite number,
on the steps of Downing Street. The ceremony, the courtesy, goes with
the job. In return, Erdogan did something extraordinary. He threatened
to expel 100,000 Armenians from Turkey. "They are not my citizens. I am
not obliged to keep them in my country." My citizens? My country? Mass
expulsion? This is the mind-set and the language of a dictator.

One of the mysteries of official Turkey is the point-blank refusal
to discuss the deaths of probably 1.5 million Armenians as a result
of the First World War. These unfortunates were faced with massacre
or flight, which usually amounted to the same thing. Genocide is a
valid description. Hitler, you remember, used the precedent of the
Armenians to apply to the Jews.

In contrast, Turkish intellectuals, including historians and the Nobel
Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, do not flinch from examining what happened,
even though they may be penalized by the state for it. What is this
about? All the First War regimes involved are long since vanished.

This should be a matter of the historical record. Yet official Turkey
evidently feels that any admission of deliberate mass-murder would
be the source of permanent shame.

A Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee has just passed a
resolution that the fate of the Armenians was indeed genocide. The
Swedish parliament has passed a similar motion. Turkey has recalled
its ambassadors to the capitals concerned. Erdogan doesn’t seem to
realize it, but the threat now to expel 100,000 Armenians is an open
admission of a guilty conscience.

This is another stage in Turkey’s changing political stance, whereby it
is dropping out of the West and moving over to Islamism. The Erdogan
government has trumped up charges of conspiracy against the secular
military, and is purging the judiciary and academia. In London now,
Erdogan has said that to suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon
is to fall for a fiction. A commentator in the Times points out that
Turkey is a member of the U.N. Security Council and can do its bit
for Iran in that forum.

In the context, the threat of expelling 100,000 people is less a
hang-over from the past than evidence of the kind of world already
taking shape.

PRIME MINISTER URGES COALITION TO WORK TOGETHER FOR ELIMINATION OF SHORTCOMINGS

ARKA
March 17, 2010

YEREVAN, March 17, /ARKA/. Armenian prime minister Tigran Sarkisian
called on coalition government members March 16 to avoid criticizing
the performance of separate ministries, saying the coalition should
join efforts to work together.

His remarks came after economy minister Nerses Yeritsian reacted
angrily to a blistering attack of Gagik Tsarukian, a wealthy
businessman, MP and head of the Prosperous Armenia party, who
accused him of being incompetent. Asked by journalists to comment on
Yeritsian’s claims that the economic crisis ended , Gagik Tsarukian
said on Monday that Yeritsian was not in the right position and had no
knowledge of the economy and the country’s economic situation." "The
president of the country knows that and he is taking corresponding
steps," Tsarukian said.

"The economic crisis is not over. Nobody in the world is saying today
that the economic crisis has ended. Moreover, analysts say a second
phase is possible " Tsarukian added, urging the government to soften
some taxes instead of seeking to toughen them.

In retaliation to this criticism Nerses Yeritsian suggested that Gagik
Tsarukian should assess the work of ministers from his own party,
adding that his work is assessed by the president of the country and
prime minister.

‘There are shortcomings in all ministries, not only in the ministry of
economy. We should not focus on criticizing each other. The coalition’s
strength is in its unity,’ the prime minister said to journalist
during a visit to Ashotsk in the northwestern province of Shirak.

Armenian economy reported a 2.4% year-on-year growth in 2010 January.

According to the official figures, the GDP volume in January amounted
to 149.5 billion Drams, while the GDP deflator index was 10.5% from
January 2009.

THE RESUMPTION OF THE WAR IS BASED ON TURKEY’S WILL

Aysor
March 17 2010
Armenia

The resumption of the war in the conflict zone will be possible
if Turkey will have the wish, said the political scientist Igor
Muradyan today.

According to the speaker Ankara can initiate a war to show the
international community that he plays a serious role in the region.

"Turkey hopes to have a local and not a long-term war, which he will
be able to cease by itself", – the expert said.

According to I. Muradian, the authorities of Azerbaijan, regardless the
frequently voiced warlike statements, is not interested in resuming
a war. According to the speaker, the war can be provoked without the
wish of the official Baku, as the main military staff of the country
is under the patronage of Turkey.

TURKISH TOP OFFICIAL: ARMENIA MUST DRAW CONCLUSIONS FROM TURKISH PM’S STATEMENTS

Trend
March 17 2010
Azerbaijan

Armenia should draw conclusion from Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan’s statement regarding the eviction of 100,000 Armenians
living illegally in the country, Erdogan’s Adviser on Eurasia Geybulla
Ramazanoglu thinks.

"Armenia and the Armenian lobby should be make conclusions from
Erdogan’s statements," he told Trend News over the telephone from
Ankara.

Erdogan warned of a possible expulsion of 100,000 Armenians living
illegally in Turkey, in an interview for the BBC.

Erdogan said that nearly 170,000 Armenians live in Turkey now.

"About 70,000 of these people are our citizens and the rest are living
in Turkey illegally," he told the BBC. "Tomorrow, if necessary,
I will say that 100,000 of them have to leave our country. I’ll do
this because they are not our citizens and I am not obliged to keep
them in our country."

Erdogan said Armenia should be rescued from the diaspora’s control.

Erdogan wants to show the world and the Armenian lobby that Turkey
has great capacity to deal with the Armenians.

"It is no secret that Armenia continues its pressure on Ankara over the
so-called ‘genocide’ and many other means. Armenia should understand
that Turkey may also resort to different levers of pressure,"
Ramazanoglu said.

However, the Armenian lobby is unlikely to make concession in
connection with Erdogan’s statement.

"The welfare of Armenians has never been relevant for the Armenian
lobby and the lobby has never worked in the interests of Armenia,"
he added.

Ramazanoglu said that the continuous negotiations are "at an impasse"
and until Armenia backs down from its current position, there won’t
be any shift.

TURKISH MOVE TO RECALL ENVOY ‘REGRETTABLE,’ US OFFICIAL SAYS
Fulya Ozerkan

Hurriyet
March 16 2010
Turkey

US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg. AA photo

A senior U.S. official has expressed regret over the Turkish
government’s decision to recall its ambassador in a show of protest
against a House committee resolution labeling the 1915 killings of
Armenians as "genocide."

"The decision to recall the ambassador is regrettable; we have a policy
of engagement and I hope Turkey has the same policy with the U.S.,"
James B. Steinberg, the No. 2 official at the U.S. State Department,
said Monday in an address to the Atlantic Council, a think tank in
Washington, D.C.

"I think whatever the differences with Congress on this issue, it is
important that we engage and that we talk about these areas," he said.

An infuriated Turkey recalled Ambassador Namık Tan shortly after the
U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly approved a resolution
calling on President Barack Obama to ensure that U.S. foreign policy
reflects an acknowledgment of the Armenian "genocide" and to label
the 1915 killings as such in his annual statement.

Though the Obama administration opposed the measure, Turkey considers
the last-minute move to be "too little, too late."

Ankara is now seeking assurances from the U.S. administration that
the non-binding resolution will not go to a vote by the full House
of Representatives. In recent remarks, Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was not ready to return its ambassador
"as long as the situation does not get any clearer."

Turkey had already warned that such measures taken up in parliaments
by politicians would harm efforts to normalize the country’s troubled
ties with Armenia. The U.S. vote was followed by a similar vote in
Swedish parliament last week; both initiatives came after the signing
of the protocols in October establishing diplomatic relations between
Turkey and Armenia.

"We have tremendous admiration and respect for prime minister [Erdogan]
for his efforts on the Turkey-Armenia protocols," Steinberg said. "We
think that was a courageous decision."

"That was in Turkey’s interest, but it also provided leadership in
the region," the U.S. official added. "We look forward to working
with Turkey on those questions because we think Turkey can play a
very constructive and stabilizing role."

The State Department official emphasized that Turkey is an important
partner in NATO and in international cooperation in Iraq.

"We think we have a strong and constructive engagement with Turkey and
I hope that the Turkish leadership understands the strong importance
we place on this and continues to work with us to achieve our common
objectives," he said.

Another senior U.S. official, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said
in previous remarks that the United States felt very strongly that
passing the resolution was a mistake.

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

ILHAM ALIYEV SHOULD TAKE A DECISIVE STEP

Azg
March 16 2010
Armenia

According to Anspress agency, OSCE PA Chairman Joao Suarez said the
settlement of Karabakh conflict depends on the Azerbaijani side,
mainly, Ilham Aliyev.

"I hope that the leaders of the two countries will show corresponding
will to take decisive steps. I hope President Aliyev will take a
decisive step and go down the history of Azerbaijan as a man that
solved Karabakh conflict", Suarez said.

Earlier, Suarez visited Yerevan, where he met with NKR NA Speaker
Ashot Ghulyan. Here he once again underlined that the sides should
exclude violence and military settlement of the conflict.

"The best way to settle the conflict is peaceful negotiations",
Joao Suarez said in Yerevan.