Author: Kafian Jirair

CO-CHAIRS REGISTER PROGRESS IN MUNICH NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS

ARMENPRESS
NOVEMBER 23, 2009
YEREVAN

"A very important progress has been registered in the negotiations,"
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs stated after the November 22 negotiations
between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Munich. "At the
same time we disclosed a certain difficulty," French co-chair Bernard
Fassier said.

The negotiations between the parties took place in the residence of
the French consul general in Munich and lasted for about four hours,
which according to Fassier "shows how long and deep the negotiations
were between first of all the two presidents and then between them
and OSCE Minsk Group mediators" Noting that the Munich negotiations
were the sixth during this year, B. Fassier considered that fact an
unprecedented one in the whole history of these negotiations, adding
that it witnesses the dynamics and seriousness of the negotiations.

"Today’s meeting was particularly long-lasting as thorough, very
constructive negotiations took place between the two presidents about
all the elements over which there is no agreement yet," he said.

"These discussions gave the presidents an opportunity to determine
the right elements of the progress. Today’s negotiations gave an
opportunity to also determine those difficult issues which have not
been solved yet," B. Fassier said.

According to him, the two presidents assigned the mediators to solve
those difficult issues.

At the same time in response to the question about the most
important issue over which a progress has been registered, Fassier
said that they have arrangement not to publicize the details of the
negotiations. "It must be done by the presidents, but we agreed that
in today’s negotiations an important progress has been registered."

At the meeting with the reporters the co-chairs also referred to
the recent statement of Ilham Aliyev that in case of not registering
progress in the negotiations the issue will be regulated in a military
way. "War cannot be an alternative in any case. We have told the
presidents in a strong and clear way that in Moscow, Paris and
Washington, our governments are of the opinion that war is not an
alternative as it cannot ensure a solution," Fassier said.

Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov noted that this or that statement
may be agreed with the circumstances of inner-political life. "We have
told the presidents that during this sensitive period of negotiations,
it would be better to avoid voicing extreme accusations against each
other especially about the possibility of military solution," he said,
expressing hope that the parties will take into consideration this
position of the co-chairing countries.

NKR PRIME MINISTER’S VISIT TO THE USA PROCEEDS

NKR Government Information and Public Relations Department
November 19, 2009

On November 18, NKR Prime Minister Ara Haroutyunyan had a meeting with
the representative of the ARF central committee of the USA Eastern
region Andranik Gasparyan and member of that committee Hrayr Baronyan.

During the meeting a number of issues dealing with the
Karabakhian-Azerbaijani conflict settlement, Armenian-Turkish
relations, the social and economic state of Artsakh and
Homeland-Diaspora contacts were discussed.

The Head of the NKR Government underlined that the Armenian-Turkish
relations have no concern with the Karabakhian-Azerbaijani conflict
settlement and they cannot further develop owing to unilateral
concessions in the Karabakh conflict and the fact of non-recognition
of the Armenian genocide of 1915. The Prime Minister noted that
the education of a patriotic generation represents one of the
essential principles of the further consolidation and extension of
Homeland-Diaspora relations.

Speaking about the reconstruction of Shoushi, this programme, the
successful realization of which will give the response of numerous
questions, was mutually underlined as having a vital importance for
the Armenians all over the world.

The Leader of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, Secretary of the Central Information
Department of the NKR President’s Staff Davit Babayan and the Permanent
NKR Representative to the USA Robert Avetisyan partook in the meeting.

* * *

The same day the NKR delegation at the head of the NKR Prime Minister
accompanied by the RA Permanent Representative to the UNO Karen
Nazaryan visited the United Nations Organization and got familiarized
with the structure and activities of the authoritative organization.

Ara Haroutyunyan noted that the international recognition of the
independence of Artsakh and the membership of our Republic to the
UNO is just a matter of time.

Furthermore the Head of the Government left for the town of Paramus and
had a meeting with the Executive of Director of the Armenian Evangelic
Union Andrew Tourikyan at the central office of the organization.

At the meeting a number of issues concerning the implementation of
various programmes in Artsakh were discussed. They specially touched
upon the construction of a new nursery school complex in Hadrout.

Ara Haroutyunyan highly evaluated the contribution of the Armenian
Evangelic Union in the process of reconstruction and development of
the preschool system in the Republic and expressed his hope towards
the continuation of their active cooperation furthermore.

* * *

On November 18, in honour of the delegation at the head of the NKR
Prime Minister a dinner was organized, which was participated by
about sixty representatives and benefactors of the Armenian community.

In his speech Ara Haroutyunyan presented the social and economic state
of the Republic, the programmes devoted to the reconstruction and
development of Shoushi, and answered the questions the participants
were interested in. The RA Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador
to the USA Tatul Margaryan and the RA Permanent Representative to
the UNO Karen Nazaryan partook in the meeting.

TURKEY CANNOT MEDIATE KARABAKH SETTLEMENT – ARMENIAN MINISTER

Interfax
Nov 19 2009
Russia

Turkey cannot co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group settling the Karabakh
problem, Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian said at the
national parliament on Wednesday.

"Turkey’s affiliation to the OSCE Minsk Group as the fourth co-
chairman is ruled out. That would require consent of Armenia and
Karabakh," he said.

"Turkey may try, but neither Armenia nor Karabakh nor current Minsk
Group co-chairman will allow that to happen," Nalbandian said.

TURKEY HAS COMPLICATED RELATIONS WITH ARAB WORLD

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.11.2009 12:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey is aspired for regional leadership but at
the same time experiences complicated relations with the Arab world,
says an article in Time magazine.

"Nevertheless, Turkey is gaining Arabs’ confidence. It develops
diplomatic relations with the neighbor states and even Saudi Arabia
and Egypt do not mind Turkish influence in Central Asia. Turkish state
model is positive in this case. No country in the region can reach the
heights like Turkey did, the article says, Tumgazeteler.com reported.

ILHAM ALIYEV: AZERBAIJANI LAND WILL BE LIBERATED

news.az
Nov 18 2009
Azerbaijan

Ilham Aliyev Azerbaijan is hopeful of success in talks to resolve
the Karabakh conflict, although Armenia is using delaying tactics,
President Ilham Aliyev has said.

He was speaking at the official opening on Tuesday of a nine-storey
residential building in Baku’s Binaqadi District. The building
will house 369 families displaced from their homes by the Armenian
occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding districts.

"I am sure that we will attain our desired goal but I want it to
happen as soon as possible," the president said. "I have worked and
will continue working in this regard."

He said Azerbaijan adheres to the policy of settling the conflict
through negotiations.

"We will continue our pressure on Armenia in political, economic and
all other forms and we should do our utmost to attain our desired
goal. We want to restore justice," Aliyev said.

The president said that Azerbaijan has no territorial claims on
other countries though present-day Armenia was established on ancient
Azerbaijani land, in particular the Irevan khanate and Zangezur.

Addressing the internally displaced people, Aliyev said that they
would live temporarily in the new houses and once the conflict in
Nagorno-Karabakh is settled they will be able to return to their
native homes which will be rebuilt.

"Once the Azerbaijani lands are liberated, we will build new houses,
new cities and create new infrastructure on these lands," the president
said. He also said that the authorities pay considerable attention to
the problems of refugees and IDPs and have assigned $2bn to improve
their living conditions.

The president said that Armenia is fully dependent on foreign
financial assistance, as its economy continues to weaken, while the
economic situation in Azerbaijan is improving and "this gap will grow
further" with the passage of time. At the same time, Aliyev said, the
Azerbaijani authorities pay considerable attention to strengthening
military potential.

"We are in a negotiating process, but we should be ready to liberate
our lands by force at any time," the head of state said. He described
Armenia’s continuing aggression against Azerbaijan as "an unbearable
situation" and "the greatest injustice and crude violation of human
rights".

"Yet the world community is indifferent to this. Though international
organizations have adopted the relevant resolutions, they are not
executed. In such conditions, these resolutions are senseless.

Unfortunately, the norms of international law are crudely violated
in the world and, as a result, Azerbaijani lands remain occupied for
many years," the president said.

"We try to settle the issue peacefully, as we do not want war. But
negotiations are ineffective," he said. Seven to eight rounds of
negotiations on resolution of the conflict are held every year but
with no special result.

"There is progress but we are not able to attain the final solution
to the issue. Today Armenia takes positions that contradict all
international norms, while the world community does not put pressure
on them," Aliyev said. In similar cases elsewhere, when one country
occupies another, political and military intervention is observed,
he said.

"Yet our case is different for some well-known reasons. As a result of
the activity of the Armenian lobby, the world community does not treat
the Armenian occupation very seriously. Therefore, we should hold a
thorough analysis of the current situation and make some changes to
our plan of action for the coming years. We see that we can rely only
on ourselves," the head of state said. He said that for this purpose
Azerbaijan continues to increase its economic and military strength.

"I do not doubt that Azerbaijani lands will be liberated. The main
issue is whether it will be done peacefully or by force."

The president said that the conflict settlement has been drawn out
for a long time, while Azerbaijan cannot wait for ever. Speaking
of definite achievements in the negotiation process, he said that
the withdrawal of Armenian troops from all seven districts around
Nagorno-Karabakh and the return of Azerbaijanis to Karabakh itself
are being discussed.

"This gives us hope and an additional stimulus for participation in
the negotiations. We think that there is hope. But at the same time
we see the Armenian side choosing tactics to delay the settlement,"
Aliyev said. He said that this gives Yerevan time to settle Armenians
in the occupied lands, but this will be difficult as Armenian
citizens are leaving the country for a variety of reasons and the
real population is just 1.7 million. The president thinks that this
trend will weaken the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani
troops in the conflict area.

LEVON TER-PETROSSIAN IS NOT COLLABORATING WITH SERZH SARGSYAN: ANC

Tert
Nov 17 2009
Armenia

First president of the Republic of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrossian,
is not cooperating with RA President Serzh Sargsyan in the process
of establishing Armenia-Turkey relations, said Armenian National
Congress coordinator Levon Zurabyan at today’s press conference,
referring to recent news which declared that the former and current
presidents were co-collaborators in this process.

"Serzh Sargsyan is collaborating with Dashnaktsutyun [the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation]," said Zurabyan instead. As for those
appraisals that Levon Ter-Petrossian’s last speech was "a swan song"
(that is, his final song), Zurabyan echoed, in Russian, that it hasn’t
yet come to that.

Commenting on the recent news that Prime Minister Tigran Sarsyan
has now become a member of the Republican Party of Armenia , the
ANC coordinator said that "that is a stage that one must pass in the
mafioso oligarchic clan, and we can congratulate the prime minister
on the occasion of his being accepted into the mafia."

MEMBER OF OLIGARCHY CLUB

Lragir
17/11/09

"Aravot" daily reports the Prime Minister of Armenia joined the
Republican Party. The information was confirmed by the Republican
press speaker Eduard Sharmazanov who noted that the event took place
a couple of days ago.

The press has recently written that the Republican Party, especially
its oligarchic wing is very much dissatisfied with the Prime Minister.

The press wrote also that the Prime Minister was possible to be
dismissed next spring when the crisis will be more felt in the
Armenian socio-economic sphere. The coalition member parties are
also discontent with the Prime Minister, as well as the ARF which
left the coalition. And in particular, the major business.

Tigran Sargsyan became a Republican, or as the press baptized him
"member of the oligarchic club". The same oligarchs who the Prime
Minister said were the target of the economic course of the government
of this year. They had to pay taxes, come out of shadow and not to
create obstacles for the formation of free competitive atmosphere. A
thing that international structures demand altogether with which the
Prime Minister agreed.

Apparently, this worried the Armenian oligarchic system. Serge
Sargsyan found a solution particular to him – the Prime Minister
becomes a member of the oligarchic club which on one hand calms this
class down, on the other hand, it becomes a little inconvenient to
dismiss a partner. At the same time, those interested structures will
be satisfied.

The joining of the Prime Minister to the Republican Party confirms
the affirmations that there will not be any reform in the current
governmental system, in other words, there will not be even an
imitation of it. The maximum that can be is the complete transition of
the policy to the backstage, redistribution of property, formation of
new oligarchs instead of the old ones and other such kind of phenomena.

ON THE OCCASION OF JOINING MAFIA

Lragir
17/11/09

In the opinion of the member of the Central office of the Armenian
National Congress Levon Zurabyan, the prime minister’s joining the
Republican Party is a stage the mafia government must pass through.

According to him, Tigran Sargsyan deserves congratulations on the
occasion of becoming a part of the mafia.

Turkish Press
Nov 15 2009

France And Turkey: With Or Without The E.U.?

Published: 11/15/2009
BY BERIL DEDEOGLU

STAR- Paris was one of the important stops in Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu’s November schedule. This visit followed President Abdullah
Gul’s trip to Paris as part of the Turkish Season in France, where
certain tensions were seen. Davutoglu explained Turkey’s foreign
policy moves to the French and international media, saying that people
who claim Turkey has changed its axis should try to look at the world
with new eyes. He discussed Turkey’s approach and initiatives. During
his visit, he also met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and
probably said similar things.

France’s approach can be summed up as, ‘Let’s do the European Union
process, but let’s also develop bilateral relations,’ whereas Turkey’s
approach says that bilateral relations can’t be separated from the EU
process. France is eager to develop bilateral relations and invest in
Turkey, especially in the energy sector, and to win back military
contracts. But Turkey wants to see France change its stance, and is in
no hurry. Turkey knows that Sarkozy and his people, who oppose
Turkey’s EU bid, aren’t all there is to France.

As there are other forces in France, Turkey partially dropped
obstacles to France using its airspace to reach its troops in
Afghanistan. The US might have played a role in this. The possibility
of Gaz de France getting involved into the Nabucco project has also
been raised. Among other pipelines, Nabucco is the one which most
closely concerns Europe, but it’s also likely to suffer delays. So
getting France involved would require decision-makers to be careful
about Turkey and also shows that Turkey is in no hurry. These
developments, which don’t indicate great initiatives in terms of
bilateral relations but long-term expectations, were welcomed in
Turkey.

French Minister for EU Affairs Pierre Lellouche said that France would
continue to oppose Turkey’s EU membership, but that it wants Turkey to
stay in the talks and that France wants to maximize bilateral
economic, strategic and political relations, as does Turkey. In short,
as France tries to block Turkey’s EU membership, Turkey will try to
work with France and do what it asks. Of course some might ask, why
would Turkey do this?

Either Turkey has left the EU process and we learn this from
Lellouche, or he’s trying to create a public perception that they
convinced Turkey, that is, presenting it as a fait accompli through
such statements. Lellouche said that he was invited to attend the
recent landmark soccer game between Armenia and Turkey in Bursa, but
he wasn’t able to come due to scheduling conflicts. So the first
possibility doesn’t seem to be reasonable or credible. The second
possibility might indicate a Turkish ‘wait and see’ policy. We should
also remember that such a stance poisons Turkish public opinion and
that Turkey is helping France’s policy of throwing in the towel.
Turkey needs top officials to make statements about the issue of EU
and France.

Institute for War & Peace Reporting IWPR, UK
Nov 13 2009

Azerbaijan wrestles with nationality poser

Young Armenian, born in Azerbaijan, faces bureaucratic struggle to
gain citizenship rights.

By Aytan Farhadova in Baku and Mammad-Sadiq Fataliyev in Sheki (CRS
No. 519, 13-Nov-09)

Akif Abishov just wants to be an ordinary Azeri young man, but he has
an awkward secret in a country that still lacks diplomatic relations
with Armenia. He is an ethnic Armenian.

He was handed to a state children’s home in the town of Sheki in 1988,
the year when growing ethnic tensions forced many Armenians to leave
Azerbaijan, and his relatives left him behind when they fled.

He has no documents to confirm his identity, but such documents might
do more harm than good, since his real name ` Artur Avakyan `
identifies him clearly as an Armenian.

He left the children’s home when he turned 18 in 2002 and since then
has appealed to numerous state bodies for help in securing documents,
but without results. His only ally has been Khalida Bayramova, deputy
head of the administration in the Sabail region of Baku.

"I am very grateful to Khalida khanum," he said, using the respectful
Azeri term for a woman. "Only she has sympathised with me. She found
me this accommodation, and helps with money. But every time when I ask
about documents, she tells me to be patient, that work is going on.
But the years are passing.

"I had a high school diploma in the name Akif Abishov, and when I went
and asked for documents they took it from me, supposedly to use in
preparing them. Now I only have a copy of it and I have never seen the
birth certificate where I have an Armenian name."

Without documents, Abishov cannot travel, make a doctor’s appointment,
receive state benefits and much more. Azerbaijan has inherited the
bureaucracy-heavy Soviet system, and it is impossible for him to enjoy
the rights of a citizen without being able to confirm his identity.

Bayramova herself told IWPR that the young man’s fate was unresolved
because it raises so many legal and ethical questions, and officials
are not sure how to proceed. Their indecision, combined with the
problems caused by his lacking the papers required to receive identity
documents, has left him in a legal limbo.

"This question is being discussed in the government, in the
president’s administration, in the parliament in the ministries of
justice, internal affairs and national security," she said.

"This is a political question, and publicity for this question will
just harm Akif himself. Of course, he is not to blame that he is an
Armenian, but a fact is a fact.

"We do not know what name to put in documents for him. We cannot make
them in his Azeri name. But to go around Azerbaijan with an Armenian
name is a death sentence. Or else he could just be deported from the
country."

According to Arif Yunus, a specialist in conflict resolution and
co-founder of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, there were just
25 Armenian men with typically Armenian surnames living in Baku in
1999, but that did not mean Akif Abishov did not deserve documents.

"Not giving documents to someone for reasons of ethnicity is a
violation of the law," he said.

A spokesman for the ministry of national security denied any knowledge
of the case and referred IWPR to the ministry of the interior, where a
spokesman in turn denied any knowledge.

"If the person you are speaking about appealed in the correct manner
to the ministry of the interior then, independently of his ethnicity,
he could receive documents confirming his identity," the spokesman
said.

Bayramova said there are three other young Armenian men in the same
position as Abishov. One works as a hairdresser, a second has been
adopted by an Azeri family, and the third still lives in a children’s
home despite being 23 years old.

IWPR visited the children’s home where Abishov lived until the age of
13, before he was moved to Baku, and discovered a letter confirming
his real name as Artur Avakyan, and his year of birth as 1984. But
there was no information as to the identity of his parents, since his
birth certificate had vanished somewhere along the way.

Fazil Mustafa, a member of parliament and chairman of the Party of
Great Creation, said documents should be provided for Abishov without
delay, and that the young man would then be able to move freely.

"If he wants Akif could then move to another country," he said,
perhaps expressing a broader wish among officials to get rid of the
problem.

But Abishov himself does not want to leave, and just wants to live
like any other young man in Baku.

"I have recorded on my phone a quote from Heydar Aliyev," he said,
referring to the father of the current president of Azerbaijan who
headed the country until 2003.

"It says ‘I have always been proud and am still proud that I am from
Azerbaijan’, and I listen to it all the time. I was born here, I know
Azeri as my native language. I want to work and to live in Azerbaijan,
I don’t want to leave my homeland," he said.

Aytan Farhadova is a journalist with Express newspaper. Mammad-Sadiq
Fataliyev is a freelance journalist.