Author: Hunanian Jack

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIAN: AUTUMN OF 2009 NOT TO BE BEGINNING OF KARABAKH PROBLEM SOLUTION

ArmInfo
2009-08-11 18:57:00

ArmInfo. Autumn of 2009 will not be the beginning of the Karabakh
problem solution, moreover, I think there will be no serious progress
in this direction, MP of Heritage oppositional party Stepan Safaryan
told ArmInfo.

‘I characterize what is currently happening within the frames of the
Karabakh process just an imitation. As for the partial shift of OSCE
MG cochairmen staff, it will happen just to assure Turkey that the
Karabakh conflict settlement process is moving so far as it depends
on OSCE MG cochair-countries’, he said. The MP thinks that Turkey,
if desired, can speed-up the conflict settlement process only through
settlement of the Armenian-Turkish relations, i.e. Ankara is explained
that if it wishes to affect the Karabakh settlement process, it has
to normalize the Armenian-Turkish relations.

‘So, we should consider the statement by OSCE MG American Cochairman
Matthew Bryza about the parallel nature of the Karabakh conflict
settlement process and the process of normalization of the
Armenian-Turkish relations, as well as their dependence on each
other just in this context. We should consider this statement as some
message by Turkey for implementation of serious steps in the process
of normalization of the relations with Armenia’, S. Safaryan resumed.

MP EXPECTS FALL CHANGES

News.am
17:51 / 08/10/2009

Artsvik Minasyan, ARF Dashnaktutyun faction MP, expects changes in
foreign and domestic policy. Commenting on Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s
statement there would be significant changes in fall this year:
"Changes are possible in every season. Significant changes occurred
in foreign and domestic political situation of Armenia. I do not rule
out the possibility that it can bring to a number of crucial steps,"
MP informed NEWS.am.

Minasyan supposes there can be a Government reshuffle as
well. "Authorities, governmental structures and political field on the
whole might undergo certain alterations," Minasyan stated, specifying:
"Foreign policy, in particular Armenian-Turkish ‘football diplomacy’
being out in counting will unveil the consequences. As to the domestic
affairs, I consider that day-to-day increasing affect of global crisis
will definitely demand certain steps of RA Government."

Turkish government blackmailed sitting member of House of Representatives

FROM THE WAYNE MADSEN REPORT – SPECIAL REPORT

The Seminal Blog
Saturday, August 8, 2009

Ohio Election Commission officials and lawyers representing Ohio
Democratic House of Representatives candidate David Krikorian and
incumbent Ohio Republican Representative Jean Schmidt heard testimony
Saturday morning and afternoon from former FBI Turkish and Farsi
translator Sibel Edmonds in a case brought against Krikorian by
incumbent Republican Representative Jean Schmidt. Schmidt alleges in
her complaint to the commission that Krikorian made "false statements"
in his 2008 independent race against Schmidt. The commission
subpoenaed Edmonds in the case, Schmidt v. Krikorian and the
deposition was held at the offices of the National Whistleblowers
Legal Defense and Education Fund in Georgetown, Washington, DC.

According to sources attending the deposition, Edmonds testified that
while she was working as a translator for the FBI she was aware of
bribes being made by the Turkish government to elected and former
members of Congress, as well as senior officials of the executive
branch, including the Department of State.

The Eric Holder Justice Department attempted to block Edmonds’s
testimony and said it considered the subpoenaed testimony by the Ohio
Election Commission to be void since it was conducted in the District
of Columbia and not Ohio. However, no Justice Department or FBI
representatives attended the deposition by Edmonds as had been
previously expected. Edmonds has been blocked from revealing the
nature of the Turkish espionage and bribery ring by a State Secret gag
order that was imposed by Attorney General John Ashcroft. There is
uncertainty as to whether the Holder Justice Department will block
release of Edmonds’s testimony transcript and video.

After Edmonds was fired from her FBI job after she complained to her
superiors about Turkish intelligence infiltration of the translation
branch of the bureau, she was exonerated in a report by the FBI’s
Inspector General. Her allegations were also supported by senior
members of the U.S. Senate.

Edmonds’s testimony under oath revealed that the American Turkish
Council (ATC), which has been cited by a number of informed observers
as a sister organization of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC), paid bribes to a number of members of the House of
Representatives in return for opposing the Armenian genocide
resolution as well as providing other legislative assistance to
Turkish special interests. Other Turkish organization in the United
States named in the bribery scandal is the Assembly of Turkish
American Assoiactions (ATAA).

WMR has learned that attorneys for Schmidt objected to most of
Edmonds’s statements.

Named as recipients of Turkish government bribes are, in addition to
Schmidt, former House Speakers Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Dick Gephardt
(D-MO), and brief House Speaker Robert Livingston (R-LA), as well as
Representative Dan Burton (R-IN) and former Representative Stephen
Solarz (D-NY). Also named are Brent Scowcroft, former National
Security Adviser under George H. W. Bush and Gerald Ford and former
George W. Bush State Department Political Undersecretary Marc
Grossman.

Edmonds’s testimony also dealt with the involvement of the Rand
Corporation with the Turkish espionage and bribery operations in the
United States.

Edmonds’s testimony also dealt with Turkish and Israeli joint
operations to engage in smuggling nuclear technology from the United
States. In particular, the Turkish espionage and influence-peddling
ring was heavily involved in the Bush White House "outing" the covert
identities of CIA counterproliferation officer Valerie Plame Wilson
and her Brewster Jennings & Associates non-official CIA cover
firm. WMR has learned from another informed source that the nuclear
smuggling operations also involved Israel PhD students at American
universities and research firms.

The Turkish operations also involved the U.S. corporate media, which
was pressured by the ations not to cover the Armenian genocide issue.

Krikorian, in a statement during a break in the deposition, said that
based on what he heard, such criminality "should not be tolerated in
the land of the free and home of the brave," adding that what he heard
constitutes "high crimes against the U.S. government."

Perhaps the most explosive part of the deposition involved the Turkish
government being engaged in a sexual blackmail operation against a
sitting member of the House of Representative. In what the FBI termed
a "hooking process," an ATC female operative enticed a female member
of the House into a lesbian sexual encounter at a Washington, DC
townhouse.. A Turkish intelligence surveillance team had placed
surveillance bugs throughout the townhouse, including the bedroom and
captured the lesbian tryst on tape, according to Edmonds’s
testimony. To ensure the surveillance team successfully completed its
technical surveillance operation, another Turkish operational team was
present outside the townhouse to make sure the surveillance team
carried out its task.

After the surveillance recordings were made known to the House member,
she changed her support for the Armenian genocide resolution and
announced her opposition to it.

The identity of the House member in question was not revealed during
the deposition by Edmonds. However, WMR has learned from another
informed source that it is Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a
strong supporter of AIPAC and Israel and a close political ally of
President Obama and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

The first sexual encounter between Schakowsky and the Turkish lesbian
prostitute reportedly occurred at a vulnerable time for Schakowsky,
just after her mother’s death. The first sexual encounter was followed
by numerous others, according to U.S. law enforcement sources.

To her credit, Schakowsky has been a vocal opponent of private
military contractors and the lack of government oversight of their
activities, especially in Latin America and Iraq.

Informed Ohio police report that Schmidt’s complaint against Krikorian
has resulted in unforeseen "blow-back" with the Edmonds testimony and
that Schmidt is under significant pressure to drop her complaint
against Krikorian lest more damaging information is revealed about
members of both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Schakowsky is a Chief Democratic Deputy Whip in the House and a member
of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. She is
married with grown children and was mentioned as a possible
replacement to fill Obama’s Illinois Senate seat. She has also been
mentioned as a possible Senate candidate in 2010 to replace tainted
Senator Roland Burris.

The revelations about Schakowsky will not come as good news to
Democrats in Illinois, already buffeted by scandals involving indicted
and impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich and ethics issues involving
Burris, Obama’s replacement in the Senate. However, the Turkish
bribery scandal is bipartisan with Hastert also implicated in bribe
taking.

ry/7055

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 9 2009

Armenia, Azerbaijan inching closer to deal, says Bryza

Sunday, August 9, 2009
YEREVAN – Daily News with wires

Armenia and Azerbaijan are inching closer to a framework agreement on
the long-standing territorial dispute, a top U.S. official has said,
downplaying the significance of changes made in the international
mediators’ existing peace proposals.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza paid a two-day visit
to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, and met with President Serge
Sarkisian, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, or RFE/RL, reported on its
Web site.

Bryza rejected suggestions that the newly modified version of the
proposed basic principles of a Karabakh settlement was less favorable
to the Armenian side than the original document formally put forward
by the OSCE Minsk Group in Madrid in November 2007. Bryza also said
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey had a historical chance to improve
relations, but added that negotiations would resume for several
months.

`The fundamental formulations that are in the Madrid document remain,
and what has changed is a few slight technical points that are
important, of course, but they are technical and in no way
disadvantage either side,’ Bryza told RFE/RL in an interview on
Saturday.

Bryza and fellow Minsk Group co-chairs from Russia and France met in
Krakow, Poland, late last month to prepare what they call an `updated
version’ of the peace plan and thereby try to facilitate its
acceptance by the conflicting parties.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan that has been occupied by
Armenian forces since the end of a six-year conflict that left about
30,000 people dead and displaced a million more before a truce was
reached in 1994. Its unilateral independence is not recognized by the
international community.

Sarkisian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met last month for
the new round of peace talks in Russia, as the Kremlin cast itself as
a peacemaker after its August war with Georgia. Moscow said Armenia
and Azerbaijan had made progress toward a resolution. Mediators from
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, who
have been monitoring peacemaking efforts, hope that the two leaders
will finally achieve a breakthrough when they meet again in late
September or early October.

Turkey, which is also involved in normalization talks with Yerevan,
closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan in the
conflict.

Proposed changes:

Bryza discussed the proposed changes in the peace plan with Sarkisian
on Friday and is scheduled to hold similar talks with Azerbaijan’s
Aliyev on Wednesday. `What we did [in Krakow] was try to offer our
best ideas and suggestions on how to bridge the remaining differences
between the presidents based on all of the discussions that have taken
place since the Madrid document was first presented back in November
2007,’ RFE/RL quoted him as saying. `President Sarkisian has strong
views, President [Robert] Kocharian had strong views after Madrid,
President Aliyev has strong views. Discussions have gone up and back
for almost two years, and we took all of those ideas that were put on
the table and tried to bring them together with the co-chairs’ best
effort to make both sides as satisfied as possible.’

Some opposition politicians in Armenia have speculated that the
updated peace proposals call for more Armenian concessions to
Azerbaijan on key issues such as the holding of a future referendum on
self-determination in Nagorno-Karabakh, security guarantees for the
Armenian-controlled territory and the return of refugees. They claim
that there are important differences between the mediating powers’
recent and past statements on Karabakh.

Bryza dismissed those claims as `ridiculous’ and `empty.’ `Certainly
those who are claiming that the update of the Madrid document, based
on what we did in Krakow, somehow disadvantages Armenia ¦ are
operating out of sheer ignorance,’ he said.

Bryza also maintained that the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders agree
on the `fundamental concept’ behind the compromise settlement favored
by the United States, Russia and France. `But it’s a long distance
from agreeing on the basic concept to actually agreeing or to having a
finalized document,’ he cautioned. Significantly, the U.S. envoy
indicated that Baku and Yerevan are close to agreeing a timetable for
the withdrawal from seven Azerbaijani districts that were partly or
fully occupied by Armenian forces during the 1991-1994 war. According
to some Armenian sources, that was the main stumbling block in
Aliyev’s negotiations with Kocharian.

Sarkisian’s predecessor is said to have insisted that two of those
districts, which are wedged between Armenia and Karabakh, be returned
to Azerbaijan only after the Karabakh referendum. Aliyev rejected that
condition. In a recent televised interview, he said that the Kelbajar
and Lachin districts would be placed back under Azerbaijani control
five years after the start of an Armenian pullout from the other
occupied territories.

`I think they are getting close and maybe they do generally agree on
the timing [of Armenian troop withdrawal,] but there are very
important details that still have to be agreed and can not be agreed
until other associated questions, other elements of the basic
principles are resolved,’ Bryza said. `So I would not say that they
agreed on any of these things, but they are coming closer."

ARMENIAN STOCK EXCHANGE TO BECOME MORE ACTIVE BY THE END OF 2009, AN EXPERT PREDICTS

ArmInfo
2009-08-07 18:55:00

ArmInfo. Armenian stock exchange will become more active by the end
of 2009 thanks to possible appearance of new emitters at the market,
director general of "Cascade Investment" company, Hayk Papyan, told
ArmInfo correspondent.

He also added that the present passiveness of NASDAQ OMX Armenia
is caused by the two main factors. First, the factor of season, and
second, by the factor of general worsening of the situation in the
country because of the world financial and economical crisis. "It is
very much important that this passiveness is not caused by reduction
of the potential emitters of the stock exchange market or by the
principles changing of their positions", – Papyan said and added that
some companies did not cancel their plans on quick joining the IPO.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 0033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website:

August 7, 2009

ACNIS Director Richard Giragosian Convenes Special `Closed Briefing’
Addressing Current Developments

Yerevan–Armenian Center for National and International Studies
(ACNIS) Director Richard Giragosian convened a special `closed
briefing’ on August 6 to address three of the most significant current
developments in the region. The briefing featured three separate
presentations, including an assessment of the latest developments in
Iran’s ongoing post-election crisis, with a focus on the implications
and lessons for Armenia, an update on the status of Turkish-Armenian
diplomacy, and a review of the mediation effort aimed at seeking a
negotiated resolution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.

Participants in the briefing included a number of leading Armenian
specialists and experts, representatives from international
organizations and the diplomatic community, and parliamentary staff
from the Armenian National Assembly, as well as a number of summer
interns from the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA). Additional
guests included officials from the British, Egyptian and Syrian
Embassies, the United Nations, the Armenian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and several leading experts from Yerevan State University.
Several participants representing Armenian civil society were also in
attendance, including officials from the European Partnership for
Democracy (EPD), the Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF), and the
National Citizens’ Initiative (NCI).

The off-the-record briefing, which was closed to the press, is the
first in a monthly series of special briefings aimed at raising
awareness and promoting debate and discussion of issues of national
importance.

All three presentations can be downloaded from the ACNIS website, at:

ACNIS Special Briefing #1: `Crisis in Iran: Considerations for Armenia’

ACNIS Special Briefing #2: `Turkish-Armenian Diplomacy: Where are we?’

ACNIS Special Briefing #3: `The Nagorno Karabagh Conflict: Core Considerations’

JIVAN TABIBIAN, 72, DIPLOMAT AND RENAISSANCE MAN

jivan-tabibian-72-diplomat-and-renaissance-man
Jul y 31, 2009

Yerevan – Jivan Tabibian, who had served for 10 years as Permanent
Representative of Armenia to the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, died on July 31, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry
announced the same day.

Between 1998 and 2008, Mr. Tabibian also served as Permanent
Representative of Armenia to the International Atomic Energy
Association and other UN agencies in Vienna. He served as ambassador
to Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia from 1998
to 2006. He was awarded the rank of ambassador extraordinary and
plenipotentiary in 1999. He retired from the Foreign Service last year.

"We were each very, very fortunate to have had Jivan as a
friend and colleague – and in my case as a permanent teacher,"
Salpi Ghazarian, director of the Civilitas Foundation, told the
Armenian Reporter. Mr. Tabibian served on the Honorary Board of the
foundation. "I would even say that the world, and especially our little
piece of it, has benefitted from his wisdom and goodness," she added.

Born in 1937 in Beirut, Mr. Tabibian graduated in 1959 from the
American University of Beirut, where he majored in politics. He was
also a graduate of Princeton University and the Sorbonne, where he
studied political sociology. From 1962 to 1971, he taught politics
and international relations at the Universities of North Carolina
and California, and urban planning at USC.

Mr. Tabibian thereafter served as a consultant to governments,
institutions and corporations in various countries, including
the United States, Japan, France, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Guatemala,
Venezuela, Canada, and Iran. He was on the boards of the International
Design Conference in Aspen, the Sundance Institute of Film and
Television, and the Corporate Board of the Grand Union Corporation
in New Jersey.

8TH PAN HOMENETMEN GAMES KICK OFF

Asbarez
-pan-homenetmen-games-kick-off/
Aug 4, 2009

YEREVAN-The opening ceremonies of the 8th Pan-Homenetmen Games took
place Saturday at Republic Square, with a parade of athletes. After
the official opening and presentations, local entertainment and dance
groups entertained the crowds.

On July 31 a press conference was held at the Marriott Hotel. Speaking
on behalf of the organization was Homenetmen Central Executive member
Mihran Shimishirian, Organizing committee Chairperson Manuel Marselian
and Homenetmen HASK Chairperson Hratch Shmavonyan. Numerous media
outlets were present at the press conference.

Opening remarks were made by Hratch Shmavonyan who welcomed all those
present. He then related that in its 91 years of existence this would
the first time that the Pan Homenetmen Games would be held in the
Republic of Armenia. The prior seven Pan Homenetmen Games have been
held in the various different countries of the Diaspora.

This year’s tournament will include 5 different athletic events:
soccer, basketball, table tennis, swimming and chess. Shmavonyan noted
that 450 athletes, coaches, and representatives are expected to arrive
in the Republic of Armenia specifically to participate in these games.

Shmavonyan further thanked all the individuals, especially the Armenian
Football Federation, for aiding with the technical specifications
in organizing these games. He also added that the Armenian Olympic
Committee’s chair Gagik Dzaroukyan has presented Homenetmen with
a special trophy which will be handed to the region which is the
overall winner of the tournament.

Homenetmen’s Central Executive Committee member, Mihran Shimshirian,
spoke about the founding and mission of Homenetmen, Homenetmen -Hask’s
creation within the Republic of Armenia, and about Homenetmen’s
participation in the International Scout Movement. He noted that
Homenetmen has over 100 chapters and 25,000 members throughout the
world. Shimshirian stressed the importance of the 8th Pan Homenetmen
Games being held in the Republic of Armenia, especially for the
younger generations, who are given the opportunity to visit their
homeland and participate in these important games.

Manuel Marselian, Chairperson of the 8th Pan Homenetmen Games
Organizing Committee commented that alongside the athletes’
participation in the games, they will also partake in an educational
seminar, after which the participants will visit the "Dzidzernagapert"
Genocide Memorial to pay their respects to the martyrs of the Armenian
Genocide. The athletes will also be given the opportunity to visit
Lake Sevan. Finally, Marselian noted that the participants of the
Games include only those that are members of Homenetmen, an amateur
athletic and scouting organization.

INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE REVIEWS EARLY RELEASE OF ARMAN BABAJANYAN

nyan/
2009/08/04 | 13:40

Court Society

Today, at an independent committee hearing convened to review the
matter of a temporary early release for Arman Babajanyan and gave
their consent.

The Criminal Enactment Services, in accordance with RoA law,
immediately informed the court and other tribunals about the
decision. The court will review the decision and arrived at a verdict
in the matter.

TURKISH EXPERT: SERZH SARGSYAN SHOULD REFRAIN FROM PRECONDITIONS TO TURKEY

ArmInfo
2009-08-05 14:42:00

ArmInfo. "President Sarkisyan is right to point out that the
agreements reached within the roadmap are not fulfilled and the
timeframe not respected, expert of the Center for European Studies
of the Turkish Near East Technical University Burcu Gultekin told
ArmInfo. According to her, the text she prepared is based on the
feedbacks she got during her meeting at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs last week in Ankara. "The Armenian side is right to stress
that the normalization process of the bilateral relations should go on
without preconditions. It would be counterproductive in this respect
that President Sarkisyan stands behind his statement he announced at
his joint press conference with the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic
visiting Yerevan, that he would only agree to attend to the return
leg match of the World Cup qualifying tie between Turkey and Armenia
on Oct.14 in Turkey if Ankara takes "real steps" to open the border",
the Turkish expert said.

Accoridng to the expert, "in April, President Sarkisyan expressed his
whish that the border be open before October and to be able to travel
by road directly from Yerevan". She added that if the Armenian-Turkish
border is not opened till October, S. Sargsyan will be able to fulfill
his intention in any way. "President Gul can perhaps meet him at the
border crossing", she said and added the two Presidents can even travel
together to Ani and visit the ancient Silk Road bridge which used
to link our two countries over the Arax river. "That would be a very
powerful symbolical gesture and an efficient public diplomacy move",
the expert said. Burcu Gultekin added that the speeches delivered by
the Presidents – even if they highlight the dissatisfaction because
of the slowdown of the negotiations-will help to keep the issue
of the normalization of the Turkish-Armenian relations high on the
Turkish political agenda. "This will also support efforts of those
striving to normalize the bilateral relations without preconditions",
B. Gultekin emphasized.