Anniversary of Sumgait massacres commemorated in Stepanakert
armradio.am
27.02.2010 14:04
On 27 February in connection with the twenty second anniversary of the
Sumgait massacre President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako
Sahakyan accompanied by top officials of the republic visited
Stepanakert memorial complex and laid flowers at the monument to the
innocent victims of those events, Central Information Department of
the Office of the NKR President reported.
ECONOMIC CRISIS CANNOT BE REGARDED AS PASSED IN ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
26.02.2010 19:38 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The economic crisis will be passed when remittances
from abroad come to the pre-crisis level," MP Armen Martirosyan ,
chairman of Heritage party said. According to Martirosyan, Armenian
leaders link their hopes to two factors: increase in copper prices in
international markets and the money remittances from abroad. "At the
moment the economic crisis cannot be regarded as passed in Armenia,"
he concluded.
15 YEARS TO THE FUTURE LEADERS EXCHANGE (FLEX) PROGRAM
Aysor
Feb 26 2010
Armenia
On February 25, 2010, the U.S. Embassy in Armenia, the Armenian
Ministry of Science and Education, American Councils/ACCELS, and
program alumni commemorated the 15-year anniversary of the Future
Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program in Armenia. U.S. Ambassador to Armenia
Marie L. Yovanovitch and Armenian Minister of Science and Education
Armen Ashotyan delivered keynote remarks, informs the press office
of the US embassy to Armenia.
In her remarks, Ambassador Yovanovitch noted that, "The FLEX program is
an example of the strong educational partnership that has flourished
between the United States and Armenia. Both countries recognize that
international education and cultural exchanges are an investment
in global understanding and peace. Both countries also know that
the exchange of people and ideas is essential to the promotion
of democracy, economic prosperity, international cooperation, and
security around the world."
Established by the U.S. Congress in 1992 to encourage long-lasting
peace and mutual understanding between the U.S. and countries of
Eurasia, FLEX is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. In Armenia it is administered
by American Councils. The program provides opportunities for high
school students (ages 15-17) to spend a year in the United States,
living with a host family and attending an American high school.
Nearly 700 high school students from Armenia have studied in the U.S.
under FLEX since its inception. Program alumni from Armenia are
leaders in their fields, working in local government, international
organizations, civil society, and business.
SEMNEBY DISCUSSED ARMENIA-TURKEY RECONCILIATION IN BAKU
news.am
Feb 26 2010
Armenia
EU backs Armenia-Turkey reconciliation, as it will entail the stability
in the region inciting settlement to other disputes, EU message after
the visit of EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter
Semneby to the region reads.
According to the document, Semneby discussed European-Azerbaijani
relations and their development within the frames of Eastern
Partnership project with Azerbaijani authorities.
At the meetings with President Ilham Aliyev and FM Elmar Mammadyarov
regional issues were in focus. Semneby reaffirmed EU’s support to
OSCE MG efforts on Karabakh conflict settlement.
Besides, Armenia-Turkey relations’ normalization and its impact on
Azerbaijan were discussed.
AZERBAIJAN SEES RISK OF ‘GREAT WAR’ WITH ARMENIA II
Agence France Presse
Feb 25 2010
Azerbaijan warned Thursday that the threat of conflict with Armenia
is rising fast and that a "great war" is inevitable if Armenian forces
fail to pull out of disputed Nagorny Karabakh.
"For 15 years diplomacy has not achieved any concrete results and
Azerbaijan cannot wait another 15 years," Defence Minister Safar
Abiyev said.
"Now it’s the military’s turn and the threat is growing every day," a
defence ministry statement quoted him as telling the French ambassador
to Baku, Gabriel Keller.
"If Armenia does not end its occupation of Azerbaijan’s territory,
the beginning of a great war in the South Caucasus is inevitable."
Abiyev’s statement was one of the most threatening to emerge from
Baku as tensions with Yerevan have grown in recent months.
Tensions over Karabakh have risen amid efforts by Armenia and Turkey,
a close ally of Azerbaijan, to establish diplomatic ties and reopen
their border after decades of hostility.
Azerbaijan fears the efforts will lead Ankara to soften its
longstanding support for Baku in the dispute.
Backed by Yerevan, ethnic Armenian forces seized control of Nagorny
Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in the early
1990s, in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.
The two former Soviet republics have cut direct economic and transport
links and failed to negotiate a settlement on the region’s status.
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are spread across a ceasefire line in
and around Nagorny Karabakh, often facing each other at close range,
and shootings are common.
Last week three Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in fighting with
Armenian forces in a tense area on the border with Karabakh.
France, along with Russia and the United States, is among the co-chairs
of the so-called Minsk Group, which is trying to negotiate a resolution
to the longstanding conflict.
NKR PRESIDENT MEETS ARMRUSGAZPROM DIRECTOR GENERAL
armradio.am
25.02.2010 12:23
President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan met Karen
Karapetyan, chairman of the board of directors and director-general
of the ArmRusgazprom closed joint-stock company, Central Information
Department of the Office of the NKR President reported.
Issues related to the application of new technologies in Artsakh,
as well as to the cooperation and experience exchange in the energy
sector were discussed during the meeting.
NKR Prime Minister Ara Haroutyunyan, executive director of the
"Artsakh Gas" closed joint-stock company Maxim Mirzoyan were present
at the meeting.
TURKEY’S PRESIDENT, PM TO MEET TOP COMMANDER THURSDAY
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.02.2010 00:31 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s president and prime minister will hold
a meeting with the country’s top military commander on Thursday,
a government source said, as tensions between the military and the
government escalate.
Seven senior Turkish military officers were charged on Wednesday over
an alleged plot by the armed forces to topple the AK Party government
after police detained around 50 serving and retired officers in an
unprecedented move.
The strains, which have fed speculation that elections due next year
could be brought forward, have hit investor confidence in the European
Union candidate country, reported Reuters.
ARMENIAN SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL RECEIVES US, RUSSIAN OFFICIALS
Panorama.am
17:19 22/02/2010
Politics
Secretary of the National Security Council of Armenia Artur
Baghdasaryan received Ann K. Ganzer, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State. Issues related to the modernization of border infrastructures
of Armenia and ensuring border security were discussed, according to
national security council press office.
At the request of the guest, Arthur Baghdasaryan presented the work
done in the direction of modernization of border infrastructures and
ensuring border security.
The parties attached importance to the development and implementation
of the border security strategy in line with international standards.
The issue is included in the Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership
Action Plan.
Artur Baghdasaryan also received today Russian Ambassador to
Armenia Vyacheslav Kovalenko. They discussed issues related to the
Armenian-Rusian cooperation in the sphere of security. The parties
signified intensification of cooperation between Armenian and Russian
security councils, as well as in the frames of the CSTO.
YEREVAN HOLDS INITIATIVE IN ARMENIA-TURKEY RELATIONS:EDUARD SHARMAZANOV
news.am
Feb 23 2010
Armenia
Yerevan holds the initiative in Armenia-Turkey relations and recent
events strikingly prove this, Republican Party faction Secretary
Eduard Sharmazanov said in the RA Parliament on Feb.
23, speaking of recent message to RA President Serzh Sargsyan by his
Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul and Sargsyan’s speech in Chatham
House.
"RA President’s statement was an alert to international community
and Turkey that Ankara’s actions should suit to the word. Serzh
Sargsyan’s speech in London was the one of a regional leader, aimed
at protection of Armenians and Armenia’s interests," Sharmazanov
declared. He restated Republican Party’s stance that Armenia should
ratify the Protocols only after Turkey does.
Touching upon Karabakh issue, Sharmazanov advised Azerbaijani
authorities to come to their senses and realize that "rather the
world will turn tits up, than Nagorno-Karabakh will become a part
of Azerbaijan."
ARMENIA CAN BECOME ONE OF REGIONAL ENERGY HUBS IN CASE OF OPENING BORDERS WITH TURKEY
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.02.2010 18:39 GMT+04:0
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish civil society seems to be the main pushing
force behind the ratification of the protocols in Turkey, Dr. Sargis
Ghazaryan, Senior Research Fellow at European Friends of Armenia
organization believes.
"As we know, according to the provisions of the protocols, Turkey
should open its border with Armenia in two months time after their
ratification. Consequently, the real political question is whether
Turkish government will contribute to their ratification by the
Parliament in a reasonable timeframe, or would instead artificially
postpone the vote up to the next legislature, thus killing them?
Normally, when the executive needs to contribute to the passage of a
legislation, it sets up positive communication campaigns countrywide,
it organizes vote simulations inside its majority in the Parliament
and engages civil society in order to raise awareness. I haven’t seen
that happening in Turkey. Paradoxically, while from the very first
day after the signature of the protocols official Ankara was adopting
a logic of "what is mine is mine, what is yours is negotiable",
Turkish civil society seems to be the main pushing force behind the
ratification of the protocols in Turkey.
As for the geopolitical value of an open border with Turkey, if its
short term economic effects are properly managed, Armenia should
use it to move forward in making sure it is integrated into the
trans-regional energy networks. Moreover, Armenia can become one of
the regional energy hubs considering the EU willingness to include
Iran in Nabucco. The importance steel and coal had in the post-war
European integration, hydrocarbons can have in the transformation of
the post-Soviet conflict-torn and segmented the South Caucasus.
The EU needs to upgrade its involvement in this most decisive stage
of the Armenia-Turkey rapprochement and contribute to demolishing of
the deepest and tallest wall of Europe.
To sum up, yes, Turkey can open the border this year, and it is in
Turkey’s best interest, too. What Turkey needs in order to go down
that road is vision.
The ratification of the protocols and full implementation of their
provisions are a necessary condition to overcome geography and
to unleash the real potential of Armenia and eventually, of the
South Caucasus. The success of such a process can put an end to
nationalism and populism and boost diversity, multiculturalism and
cosmopolitanism," Sargis Ghazaryan told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation.
On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Armenia found the protocols conformable to the country’s Organic Law.
The Nabucco pipeline is a proposed natural gas pipeline from Turkey
to Austria diversifying the current natural gas suppliers and delivery
routes for Europe. The pipeline attempts to lessen European dependence
on Russian energy. The project is backed by several European Union
states and the United States and is seen as rival to the planned
Gazprom-led South Stream pipeline project. At the same time there
are some doubts concerning viability of supplies. The main supplier
is expected to be Azerbaijan in cooperation with Turkmenistan, Iraq
and Egypt.
Preparations for the Nabucco project started in 2002 and the
intergovernmental agreement between Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary
and Austria was signed on 13 July 2009. The project is developed
by the consortium of six companies. The pipeline is expected to be
operational by 2015 and it will carry 31 billion cubic meters of
natural gas per year.