Author: Jabejian Elizabeth

Today’s Zaman , Turkey
June 27 2009

G-8 countries praise Turkish-Armenian rapprochement

Foreign ministers of the Group of Eight industrialized nations on
Friday praised talks between estranged neighbors Turkey and Armenia to
normalize their relations.

In a statement released after their talks in Trieste, Italy, the G-8
ministers also vowed to continue to work to ensure stability in the
Caucasus and expressed backing for the efforts undertaken by the
United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) and the European Union to this effect.

Turkey and Armenia have been holding closed-door talks to restore
their diplomatic relations and open their border, closed since
1993. In April, the two countries announced progress in the talks and
said a framework agreement on how to normalize relations has been
reached. But Azerbaijan, an ethnic and regional ally of Turkey, has
protested the rapprochement, saying Turkey should not soften their
stance toward Armenia before Armenia ends its occupation of a chunk of
Azerbaijani territory. Armenia occupied the Azerbaijani territory
during a war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Following Azerbaijani protests, the government announced progress in
talks with Armenia depended on progress in talks to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, a separate process overseen by OSCE’s Minsk
Group, which consists of Russian, US and French representatives.

The G-8 statement said the ministers praised the efforts of the Minsk
Group to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

On Thursday, Russia warned the West against foreign meddling in the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. "Russia is
against foisting remedies upon the conflict sides from outside," the
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on the eve of
the G-8 meeting. "Russia is ready to support the option of conflict
resolution that is satisfactory to all the sides involved and, in case
a compromise agreement is reached, act as guarantor of the
resolution."

The ministry said that the key mediators — Russia, the US and France
— are in consensus about the main approaches for a resolution to the
21-year conflict.

Speculation has run rampant recently that a resolution breakthrough
could occur this year, but, as yet, no concrete signs of such a
development have emerged.

27 June 2009, Saturday
TODAY’S ZAMAN Ä°STANBUL

COURT MEETS ARMENIAN ASYLUM HOLDER’S CLAIM OF PENSION

Prague Daily Monitor
June 25 2009
Czech Republic

Brno, June 24 (CTK) – The Czech Constitutional Court (US) Wednesday
complied with the complaint by Mnatsakan Pogosyan, an Armenian holder
of Czech asylum, against the Czech authorities’ refusal to grant him
an old-age pension.

The authorities then said the Czech Republic had terminated its
agreement with Armenia on the recognition of the years for which
the pensioner worked before retirement, which was signed by then
Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union in 1959.

However, Pogosyan’s defence counsel said the Czech Republic failed
to publish the agreement’s termination properly.

Pogosyan lives in Prague. In 2005 he asked the Czech Social Security
Administration (CSSZ) to grant him an old-age pension on the basis
of the agreement from 1959.

The CSSZ rejected his request saying that the Czech Republic terminated
the agreement with Armenia through a diplomatic note.

The Prague Court and at the Supreme Administrative Court then rejected
Pogosyan’s complaint.

In his constitutional complaint, his defence counsel said the state
did not announce the termination of the agreement in the Law Digest.

US deputy chairwoman Eliska Wagnerova supported the defendant’s
position.

"The constitutional law unambiguously implies the [state’s] duty to
publish all changes in international agreements, including unilateral
legal steps. The state and its Foreign Ministry made a mistake when
they failed to publish the information about the diplomatic note’s
content," Wagnerova said.

The courts have to deal with the case again. They are supposed to
meet Pogosyan’s claim.

Wagnerova said Pogosyan’s claim must be assessed in a way as if the
Czech Republic had never terminated the agreement.

The CSSZ is likely to recognise the years for which Pogosyan worked
in Armenia while calculating his pension.

Pogosyan, 77, was granted Czech asylum for humanitarian reasons
several years ago.

People such as those refusing to serve in the military and Jehova’s
Witnesses, reportedly face persecution in Armenia.

AZERBAIJAN HAS RIGHT TO LIBERATE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES BY FORCE – ALIYEV

Interfax
June 24 2009
Russia

Azerbaijan has carried out a large-scale field exercise, involving
Defense Ministry’s troops, State Border Service and interior troops,
which was attended by Azeri President Ilkham Aliyev.

"The Azeri Army is a strong army. The process of strengthening the
Armed Forces is moving successfully at a fast pace," Aliyev said
after the drills on Wednesday.

"If necessary, Azerbaijan may exercise its full right to liberate
the occupied territories by force," the president said, noting that
justice and the international law are on the Azeri side.

Azerbaijan lives in conditions of war with Armenia and in such
conditions the Azeri Army should be ready to liberate the occupied
territories at any moment, the president said.

Azerbaijan tries to peacefully resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict;
however, the lack of results at talks with Armenia makes Azerbaijan
to pay greater attention to strengthening its military power, he said.

"Today the Azeri Army is the strongest army in the region and is
capable of accomplishing any mission," the president said.

"We should be ready to liberate our lands at any moment," he said.

MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI: ARMENIA AND GEORGIA SHOULD IMPLEMENT JOINT PROGRAMS IN ENERGY SPHERE

ArmInfo
2009-06-24 23:23:00

ArmInfo. Georgia and Armenia implement various regional programs
related to development of transport infrastructures. But today
it is important to implement joint programs in the energy sphere,
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said during June 24 joint
press-conference with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

According to him, the two countries’ economic integration will help
overcome the tasks faced by the countries. Saakashvili also stressed
that there are big opportunities for rapprochement of Armenian and
Georgian cultures.

"Georgia is expecting numerous tourists from Armenia and we’ll do
our best for Armenians to spend unforgettable summer holidays in our
country",- the Georgian leader said.

Mikheil Saakashvili also emphasized that he will personally control
the problems connected with simplification of the Armenian-Georgia
border crossing. He also added that after the last year August
events both republics continued developing good relations. For
this reason president of Georgia thanked Armenia for the active
cooperation. ‘Similar cooperation was earlier developed with
ex-president Robert Kocharyan and at present with Serzh Sargsyan,
whom we know for many years, and he always stood next to Georgia’, –
Saakashvili said. ‘South Caucasus should develop by the joint efforts
of all the three states. There is no alternative to our common future’,
– president of Georgia said.

200 DETAINEES GRANTED AMNESTY IN ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
25.06.2009 13:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Under RA Parliament decision "On Declaring Amnesty",
200 individuals have already been released from penitentiary
institutions, RA Justice Ministry’s press service reports.

CONFERENCE ON "EASTERN PARTNERSHIP AND THE PROSPECTS FOR DEMOCRACY BUILDING IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS"

armradio.am
24.06.2009 15:36

On June 26 the Caucasus Institute and the South Caucasus Bureau of
the Heinrich Boll Foundation will hold an international conference on
"Eastern partnership and the prospects for democracy building in the
South Caucasus."

Well-known experts and representatives of the civil society from
Armenia and Georgia, as well as Director of the Henrich Boll Foundation
Iris Kempe and Director of Foreign Policy Research Center of Slovakia
Alexander Duleba will make reports during the conference. Scientists,
social activists, journalists, representatives of international
organizations and diplomatic missions will participate in the
conference.

During the conference, the joint analytical report "Turkey-Armenia
dialogue series: Breaking the vicious circle" compiled by collaborators
of TESEV Turkish Fund Aybars Görgulu and Sabiha Senyucel Gundogar,
and the collaborators of the Caucasus Institute Alexander Iskandaryan
and Sergey Minasyan will be presented.

MATTHEW BRYZA: "AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS MAY MEET IN RUSSIA IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY"

APA
June 22 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. The next meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents
may be held in Russia in the middle of July.

APA reports quoting CNNTurk. According to the report, US Co-chair of
OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza said a text of agreement between the
sides on regulation of Nagorno Karabakh conflict might be prepared by
the end of 2009. He also noted that the co-chairing countries hoped
for concrete results from the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian
Presidents in Russia. According to him, the text of agreement they
are working on also includes the point on holding referendum for
self-determination of "Karabakh people".

Azerbaijani mass media distort statements of Polish deputies

2009-06-20 10:17:00

ArmInfo. Foreign Ministry of Poland charged its ambassador to
Azerbaijan to express official protest of the Polish party and demand
explanation in connection with false information in Azerbaijani mass
media regarding the statements allegedly made by Polish deputies.

On 16-17 June Polish parliamentary delegation headed by deputy of Seym
Wieslaw Woda was in Baku. Over that period of time Azerbaijnai mass
media disseminated numerous informations about statements allegedly
made by members of the Polish delegation to support of Azerbaijan as
well as condemning ‘barbarities of Armenians’ regarding Azeris.

As a diplomatic source told Arminfo, Armenian Embassy to Poland applied
to Foreign ministry of Poland to get explanation on the matter. As a
reply the ministry officially informed that the information in
Azerbaijani mass media is false and unfounded. Representatives of
Foreign ministry of Poland also said that the propagandist tricks of
the Azerbaijani party have recently passed all the permissible borders.

To get additional explanations of the anti-Armenian statements ascribed
to the Polish parliamentarian, Ambassador of Armenia to Poland had a
phone talk with Vice Premier of Poland Waldemar Pawlak on June 18, who
expressed regret for the above provocation. For his part Leader of the
Parliamentary fraction of the People’s Party of Poland Stanislaw
Zelikowski met with Armenian Ambassador Galoyan the same day and cast
doubts on the reliability of the reports by the Azerbaijani media on
the statements by the parliamentarian Wieslaw Woda . He said the
Azerbaijani propaganda machine had misappropriated the honesty of the
parliamentarian.

Polish Ambassador to Armenia met also with Vice Marshal of the Polish
Sejm Eva Kierzkowska (People’s Party) who also expressed regret for the
incident. She pinned hopes on further friendship of the Armenian-Polish
peoples despite the above provocations.

GEORGIA PREPARING A NEW WAR?

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
19.06.2009 18:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgian Lieutenant Alik Bzhania, who defected
to Russia seeking political asylum, said his decision was prompted
by unwillingness to participate in the new war against Abkhzaia and
South Ossetia.

"I am against Sahakashvili’s course of declaring a new war against
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. I don’t want to participate in a war with
Russia," he told a press conference in Moscow.

Georgian deserter said he had met with met many Navy Officers who
were also against Georgia’s domestic and foreign policy course but
are forced to remain silent. "If anyone says a single word, he’ll be
dismissed from service and sent to jail. Phone conversations are also
eavesdropped," RIA Novosti quote Bzhania as saying.

ARMENIA VOTES TO AMNESTY OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS

Reuters
June 19 2009
UK

YEREVAN, June 19 (Reuters) – Armenia’s parliament passed an amnesty
on Friday that the government said would cover 90 percent of those
charged over violent clashes with police in March last year.

President Serzh Sarksyan and his government had been heavily criticised
by rights groups for the crackdown that followed the deadly clashes,
when the opposition took to the streets to protest Sarksyan’s victory
in presidential elections.

Ten people, including two police officers, died in the violence. Some
100 people were convicted on charges stemming from the unrest, and
more than 50 received jail terms.

"The amnesty will promote the resolution of very important issues,
ease tensions in society and create the basis for cooperation," said
ruling party official David Harutyunyan, a member of the parliamentary
state and legal affairs committee.

Legal experts in the former Soviet republic said the amnesty, proposed
by Sarksyan, would likely apply to former foreign minister Alexander
Arzumanyan and other opposition figures currently standing trial.

The move comes ahead of a June 24 sitting of the Council of Europe
at which the rights body is due to discuss the issue. The Council
had criticised the arrest and imprisonment of people for "political
reasons".

Justice Minister Gevorg Danielyan said anyone jailed for up to five
years would be freed, and those jailed for longer would see their
sentences halved. (Reporting by Hasmik Lazarian; writing by Matt
Robinson; editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)