Author: Jagharian Tania

RA CC RESOLUTION ON PROTOCOLS POLITICAL MANEUVER

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.01.2010 14:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The protocols on normalization of relations between
Armenia and Turkey do conflict with the RA Constitution, according
to Ara Papian, head of Modus Vivendi center.

"The resolution of the Constitutional Court was rather political and
juridical," he told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. "It reads that the
commitments both countries undertake are bilateral and have nothing
to do with relations with third states. It’s notable that the CC
underlined that international agreements can have legal force only in
case of their conformity to the international law. So, if Treaties of
Alexandropol, Moscow and Kars are invalid in terms of the international
law, these protocols possess no legal force for Armenia."

"I believe that ratification of the protocols are not in the interests
of the Armenian nation," Mr. Papian concluded.

The protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the common 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.

EXPERT SAYS CONSTITUTIONAL COURT’S DECISION AND COMMENTS ARE HIGHLY ASSESSED

Panorama.am
18:18 13/01/2010

Ruben Safrastyan, the director of Armenian Institute of Oriental
Studies signifies the declaration of RA Constitutional Court that
Armenian-Turkish protocols correspond to Armenian Constitution, as
well as he signifies the court’s comments given to those protocols. "I
highly assess Constitutional Court’s act which gives no opportunity
to put under threat the recognition of Armenian Genocide," Safrastyan
told at the meeting with the reporters. According to him Turkey extends
the time of ratifying the Armenian-Turkish protocols in order to get
more profit. Turkey has another mission also to get involved Karabakh
conflict resolution processes. But the OSCE Minsk Group is strict and
won’t let them interfere that process. Expert said it might happen
that Turkey extends the ratification of the protocols for another
2-3 months. It’s not excluded that Armenia might abort the process
on legal basis if Turkey prolongs the ratification.

MALASHENKO: ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS WILL BE RATIFIED IN BOTH COUNTRIES

Panorama.am
14:59 12/01/2010

"I think, eventually, the Armenian-Turkish protocols will be ratified
in both countries," Karnegy center Moscow branch expert, politician
Aleksey Malashenko told Day.az.

Malashenko said, surely, there will be some intrigues over the process,
though, it cannot be predicted how the parties will react.

Nevertheless, he is sure that the authorities of both countries now
do everything possible to ratify the Armenian-Turkish protocols.

The expert noted that the ratification process is to face more
difficulties in the Armenian Parliament than in the Turkish one.

Despite this, the protocols will be ratified, be it the first or the
second attempt.

ISRAEL SNUBS TURKISH AMBASSADOR IN PUBLIC
By Amy Teibel

Associated Press
Jan 12, 2010 04:11 PM

JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel publicly snubbed Turkey’s ambassador over his
country’s persistent criticism of the Jewish state, with a government
official refusing to shake the envoy’s hand and making him sit on a
lower seat at a meeting.

Turkey’s ties with Israel have been strained by Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s fierce criticism of the Jewish state’s use of
force against Palestinians.

On Monday evening, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon
summoned the Turkish ambassador to criticize a Turkish television
drama depicting Israeli security forces as kidnapping children and
shooting old men. Another show broadcast last year also portrayed
Israeli security forces as brutal.

As the meeting started, Ayalon told cameramen the ambassador was
pointedly seated on a sofa lower than his own chair. He also noted
there was no Turkish flag on display and that Israeli officials
weren’t smiling.

Asked before the meeting whether he would shake hands with Ambassador
Ahmed Oguz Celikkol, he replied, "No. That’s the point."

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement Tuesday calling on Israel
"to abide by diplomatic courtesy and respect."

"Turkey is expecting steps to repair the treatment of our ambassador
in Tel Aviv," the statement said.

For years Israel’s isolation in the overwhelmingly Arab Mideast had
been eased by good ties with predominantly Muslim Turkey.

In 2008, it mediated several rounds of indirect talks between Israel
and Syria.

Turkey and Israel grew close in the mid-1990s, their alliance based
on mutual fears of Iran and Syria. Israel has supplied hundreds of
millions of dollars of military hardware to Turkey over the years,
the two countries conduct joint naval exercises and the Israeli air
force trains over Turkish airspace.

But since Erdogan’s government came to power in 2003, it has also
forged closer ties to Iran and Hamas. Turkey believes Hamas must play
a key role in the Palestinian territories.

The alliance began to fray after Israel’s three-week military offensive
in the Gaza Strip early last year.

Erdogan, who heads an Islamist-oriented government, set off the latest
round of acrimony by accusing Israel of being a threat to world peace
and using disproportionate force in the Gaza war. The operation was
launched against Gaza militants, but hundreds of Palestinian civilians
were among the more than 1,400 dead.

"We can never remain silent in the face of Israel’s attitude. … It
has disproportionate power and it is using that at will, while refusing
to abide by U.N. resolutions," Erdogan said in Ankara Monday at a
joint news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Israel lashed back by insisting it had "the full right" to protect
itself against Islamic Hamas militants in Gaza, which had bombarded
Israel with thousands of rockets for years before the offensive,
and against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas who struck Israel with
4,000 rockets during their 2006 war.

"The Turks should be the last to preach morality," Israel’s Foreign
Ministry said in a statement late Monday, an apparent reference to
Turkey’s past conduct against Armenians, Kurds and Greek Cypriots.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected that criticism, saying Turkey
has always been a friend to Jews.

"Deep-rooted relations between Turks and Jews that precede the
establishment of the Israeli state and the general structure of
our relations give us the responsibility to make such warnings and
criticism," it said in a statement.

Because Israel is so concerned about the deteriorating ties with
Turkey, there was much criticism Tuesday of Ayalon’s blunt conduct.

Cabinet Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer of the Labor Party, who has
been trying to repair ties, called it "uncalled for" and "humiliating."

Speaking to Army Radio, Ayalon refused to apologize. "It’s the Turks
who need to apologize," for both Erdogan’s remarks and the TV shows,
he said.

The Turks summoned Israel’s ambassador Gabriel Levy on Tuesday "to
express unease and seek explanation," Turkey’s state-run Anatolia
news agency said.

Turkey’s public fury with Israel peaked a year ago at the World
Economic Forum conference in Davos, Switzerland, where Erdogan
stormed off a stage he shared with Israeli President Shimon Peres,
after telling him, "you kill people."

Turkey later scrapped a military exercise involving Israel. Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out Turkey’s resuming its
role as mediator in Israel-Syria talks, which broke down with little
tangible progress after the Gaza war.

SHOTS AT "GIANI"

A1Plus.am
12/01/10

On January 11 at 5:30 a.m. Grigor S. (born in 1964) went to the
"Erebuni" medical center after being diagnosed with "polytrauma".

It turned out that on the same day at 4 a.m., a group of people
gathered near the "Giani" restaurant complex on Grigor Lusavorich
Street disturbed social order, got into a debate with Grigor S.,
beat him and shot him in the restaurant.

Two capsules with 9 mm bullets were found after the examination on
the scene.

On the same day at 6 a.m. Hayk M. (born in 1982), Roman M. (born in
1982) and Saro T. (born in 1984) came to the division and said that
they had beaten Grigor S. at "Giani".

Hayk M. presented the "ATMACA 2008 LIGHT 57383" gasified gun, three
9 mm bullets and said that he was the one who used the gun during
the debate.

Forensic medicine examination has been scheduled and preliminary
investigation is underway, as reported by the press service of
the Police.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF ARMENIA STARTS CONSIDERING ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS

ArmInfo
2010-01-12 11:59:00

ArmInfo. Today, the Constitutional Court of Armenia starts hearings
on the Armenian-Turkish Protocols, signed in October 2009, on
establishment of diplomatic and development of bilateral relations
between Armenia and Turkey.

As ArmInfo correspondent reports, all the required protocol texts,
as well as yesterday’s address of ARF Dashnaktsutyun concerning these
Protocols, were presented to CC members during the session which
started at 11:00 am. Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan
was also present at the session. Currently, all the members of the
Constitutional Court moved away to the consultation room. The decision
will be expectedly made today or tomorrow.

To note, a picket of ARFD representatives is being currently held in
front of CC building, with participation of several tens of people.

news.az, Azerbaijan
Jan 8 2010

There is no complete unity among mediators on Karabakh conflict settlement
Fri 08 January 2010 | 06:11 GMT Text size:

Alexey Vlasov News.Az interviews Alexey Vlasov, director of Moscow
State University’s analytical centre on post-Soviet states.

How would you evaluate 2009 in terms of stabilization of the situation
around Nagorno Karabakh?

2009 has not become a turning point in terms of the conflict
settlement, but new positive trends that may lead to a breakthrough in
the Karabakh issue have been recorded within the year. This is
primarily the overall intensification of the negotiation process,
activation of the moderators working to reconcile the positions of
the hostile parties. A complicated process of negotiations is under
way and the most important is that it is proceeding as a constant, not
a sporadic movement. Moreover, it became clear that the first
achievement in the Karabakh conflict can be reached through return of
several Azerbaijani regions around Nagorno Karabakh by Armenia. The
fact that this step is important has been clear before, but now
Yerevan also admits this fact which is an important change.

Do you consider that the superpowers have been quite active in their
attempts to settle the conflict or, on the contrary, they have not
demonstrated the due interest?

I think the intention of external powers to settle the conflict was
demonstrated more clearly. But the problem is that the roadmap of the
settlement has not yet come true including for the reason of certain
differences in the positions of Brussels, Washington and Moscow. There
is no complete unity among the mediators. Second, it is difficult for
the United States to conduct the two processes at the same time as it
lacks the necessary creativity. Therefore, Washington has concentrated
its main efforts on the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement.

What are your expectations from 2010? Can Kazakhstan’s OSCE
chairmanship in 2010 help overcome a breakthrough in the Karabakh
process?

I am not sure that Kazakhstan will be able to intensify OSCE’s efforts
in this process though, undoubtedly, Nursultan Nazarbayev will take
steps to settle the Karabakh issue. But this is the case when
Kazakhstan’s intentions do not coincide with the real opportunities of
the OSCE which are not so significant. The organization is passing
through a complex period of a search of `a new identity’. It needs
internal reformation. Therefore, I am sure there will be many
initiatives but most of them would hardly come true.

Leyla Tagiyeva
News.Az

news.az, Azerbaijan
Jan 6 2010

US-Russian joint efforts to help Azerbaijan and Armenia achieve peace
Wed 06 January 2010 | 08:09 GMT Text size:

Mark Katz If America and Russia work together, they may both be in a
good position to help Azerbaijan and Armenia help themselves to
achieve peace, Mark Katz.

US expert Mark N. Katz, Political Science Professor at the Public and
International Affairs Department at George Mason University believes
that Turkey-Armenia rapprochement is putting particular
responsibilities on Armenia in terms of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

In an interview the analyst said that "If there is a Turkish-Armenian
settlement, then Armenia will be under less pressure to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. On the other hand, Armenia wants to integrate
itself more and more with the West. The possibility of this, however,
will remain limited so long as the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute remains
unsettled".

The analyst also mentioned that "Especially now Russia appears more
interested in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and it is
possible that the US and Russia could work together on this. It is not
enough, of course, for Washington and Moscow to want this. An
agreement must be found that is acceptable to both Azerbaijan and
Armenia. Nobody can force an agreement on either".

Besides that, Mr.Katz says that "All moderating countries pursue their
own interests; America and Russia are no exception".

APA

Ambassador expecting ministerial visit sure of one: ‘we need liquor’

The Irish Times
Thursday, December 31, 2009

Secret move to transport State exam papers’It was the most bitter
confrontation in the history of the State’Gift elephant resulted in
jumbo transportation billTraining of Egyptian pilots raised doubts at
department levelSafe And Sound ‘Boat People’ ArriveHaughey challenged
early on to define his policy on Northern IrelandFIONA
GARTLANDDIPLOMACY: IRISH DIPLOMATS in Saudi Arabia smuggled in alcohol
concealed under false shipping labels to dodge the Islamic state’s
drink ban, official files reveal.

Department of Foreign Affairs papers from 1977-78 show the Embassy in
Jeddah used an Italian company to secretly ship in cases of wine and
whiskey using documents marked `preserves or furniture’.

The then ambassador Eamon Ó Tuathail stressed the importance of having
liquor available for ministerial visits, and he wrote several letters
to the Irish Embassy in Rome to help arrange the secret shipments,
using Trieste-based firm Alberti.

`As usual, Alberti should arrange that the boxes inside the containers
should be sealed and have no indication on the outside as to
contents,’ the ambassador wrote to official Billy Hawkes in Rome in
February 1978.

`The shipping documents should show `furniture’.

`We now have the police sitting outside both the office and residence!’

The diplomat insisted the Embassy needed to stock up on supplies in
case a government minister visited. `While it would be pleasant to
have an odd drink oneself, I am concerned that we may have a
ministerial visit either before or after the summer,’ he wrote in an
earlier letter in May 1977.

`For that we need liquor. Most Saudis expect to be served alcohol at
diplomatic receptions.’

Added to the final sentence was a handwritten note reading: `Ministers
also like to be served liquor!’

Mr Ó Tuathail said authorities turn a blind eye to diplomatic imports
of drink provided there was no mention of the contents on the shipping
documents.

In the 1978 letter, the diplomat referred to a telex note about
furniture costs which he sent to Mr Hawkes detailing three payments
from separate bank accounts, totalling $13,375.

Other newly released papers show a more complicated side to the world
of diplomacy than drinks receptions at the ambassador’s residence.

Among correspondence in the file from the Department of Foreign
Affairs was a letter from the Spanish embassy in 1975. It announced
the embassy `has the honour to inform the department’ that on April
14th a hold-up took place at the branch office of a nearby bank, the
Bank of Ireland on Merrion Road.

Gardaí had pursued the offenders and officers in uniform and plain
clothes entered the embassy grounds in search of the robbers. While
the embassy was grateful to the Garda, `the Spanish embassy would be
very grateful if it were possible to have the gardaí instructed to
request permission to enter the premises in cases such as the one
referred to,’ it said.

A handwritten note said `the chief superintendent’ had been spoken to
about the matter. `He informed me that armed bank robbers entered the
embassy grounds followed by gardaí in hot pursuit. He thought that in
similar circumstances in future the gardaí might do the same,’ the
message said.

`I would propose not to reply to the embassy note, but to mention the
security considerations to the ambassador or secretary at a suitable
opportunity.’

The Turkish embassy in Dublin wrote to the Department of Foreign
Affairs in August 1979 and highlighted attacks on various Turkish
diplomats around the world by the `Armenian Liberation Army’.In view
of the above, it would be `greatly appreciated’ if the Department of
Foreign Affairs alerted the `competent authorities’ to instruct gardaí
at the embassy to `exercise utmost vigilance’ while on duty.

`The instructions are urgently needed in the case of the ambassador’s
residence where the officer on duty has been observed on several
instances engaged in conversation with other tenants in the building
or dozing off under the staircase,’ the message said. – (Additional
reporting: PA)

VAN CITIZENS FOR SURB KHACH CHURCH REOPENING

news.am
Dec 29 2009
Armenia

Turkish Medya73 website issued the results of public opinion poll
conducted in Gevash region of Van province (Turkey) due to which local
citizens support the reopening of Surb Khach church on Akhtamar Island,
presently functioning as a museum.

NEWS.am recalls that recently Van Mayor (city in Turkey) Munir Karaoglu
informed that jointly with Ministry of culture they have done all due
paper work for church reopening. The Mayor announced September 12, 2010
a date of possible reopening and invited Armenians to come for a visit.