BAKU: Azeri Spokesman Links Armenian-Turkish Border Opening To Karab

AZERI SPOKESMAN LINKS ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER OPENING TO KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

Day.Az
Sept 1 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku, 1 September: Azerbaijan’s position on the opening of the
Armenian-Turkish border is based on numerous statements made by
senior officials of the Republic of Turkey, press secretary of the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Elxan Poluxov has said.

[Passage omitted: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated
in the Azerbaijani parliament on 14 May 09 that Turkey will open
borders with Armenia only after the latter’s occupation of Azerbaijani
lands ends.]

At the same time, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry once again says
that, in principle, it is the sovereign right of any state to define
its relations with other states.

"However, taking in to account that this issue directly affects
Azerbaijan’s national interests, the opening of the Armenian-Turkish
border without [prior to] the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Nagornyy Karabakh runs counter to Azerbaijan’s national
interests," Poluxov said.

Armenian Schools May Have No Graduates In 2011

ARMENIAN SCHOOLS MAY HAVE NO GRADUATES IN 2011

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.09.2009 15:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In 2011-12 academic year, Armenian schools will
probably have no graduates, Narine Hovhannisyan, Head of RA Education
Ministry’s Comprehensive School Department, told a press conference
Thursday. "In 2011, school system may face educational crisis, so to
say," she said.

That’s because 9th grade students will immediately transfer to high
school, with 3 more years to study. However, Ministry is considering
possibilities for 11th grade students’ taking exams without attending
classes and entering higher educational institutions, Hovhannisyan
explained.

As noted by Education Ministry official, Armenia introduced 12-year
educational system in 2006, considering up-to-date imperatives. "In
the course of time, school curricula faced the growing need of new
subjects such as ‘Computer Science’, ‘Me and Environment’ etc. The
present-day 12-year system envisages 8 lessons only for 11th grade
students," Narine Hovhannisyan stressed.

Shavarsh Kocharyan: Whether Any Changes Will Occur During RA-Turkish

SHAVARSH KOCHARYAN: WHETHER ANY CHANGES WILL OCCUR DURING RA-TURKISH RAPPROCHEMENT PROCESS, DEPENDS ON ANKARA

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.09.2009 20:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Ankara will face serious problems unless it
fulfills agreements reached with Yerevan," Deputy RA FM Shavarsh
Kocharyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter in Stepanakert. "Whether any
changes will occur during RA -Turkish rapprochement process depends
on Ankara. One thing is clear: Turkey will have serious problems,
should it fail to fulfill agreements and complete the process,"
Shavarsh Kocharyan emphasized.

Turkish Foreign Minister – "Border Could Be Opened By New Year’s"

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER – "BORDER COULD BE OPENED BY NEW YEAR’S"

20 09/09/01 | 15:32

Politics

In an interview with Turkey’s NTV television today, Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that, "If everything goes as planned,
if mutual steps are taken the borders could be opened around New Year."

"It is a long process," Davutoglu stated. "But every long process has
a beginning. We have lived through some bitter experiences but we have
to also remember the beautiful episodes of our joint history," he said.

Regarding Azerbaijan’s insistence that a normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations be linked to a settlement of the Karabakh
issue, Davutoglu said Turkey would safeguard Azerbaijan’s interests
throughout the reconciliation process.

"If all parties show goodwill, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue can be
resolved, we believe this can be achieved," he said.

Davutoglu said the rapprochement with Yerevan is part of Turkey’s
wider policy of "zero problems" with neighbors. Turkey has gradually
improved ties with longtime foes and neighbors including Greece,
Syria and Bulgaria.

Turkish-Armenian ties began to improve after a so-called soccer
diplomacy campaign last year, when Turkish President Abdullah Gul
attended a World Cup qualifier in Armenia.

Armenian President Sargsyan in the past has said he wants progress
on the reopening of the border before he agrees to attend an Oct. 14
match in Turkey – about six weeks away.

Davutoglu said Gul had traveled to Yerevan without "preconditions"
and urged Sargsyan to do the same

http://hetq.am/en/politics/15250/

BAKU: Karabakh peace process must be fully inclusive: Azerbaijani-Am

KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS MUST BE FULLY INCLUSIVE: AZERBAIJANI-AMERICAN COUNCIL DIRECTOR GENERAL

Today.Az
s/55199.html
Sept 2 2009
Azerbaijan

The dispute over the Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh has
festered for more than two decades. One of the keys to finding a
peaceful resolution of the conflict is achieving the normalization of
relations between the region’s ethnic Armenian and Azeri communities.

In 1992, a mission of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe (CSCE, precursor to the OSCE) headed by then-U.S. Secretary
of State James Baker worked out the so-called Baker Rules, which
were agreed to by all sides in the conflict. Those rules recognized
the two communities of Nagorno-Karabakh as "interested parties,"
and Armenia and Azerbaijan as "principal parties."

In this context, one could only welcome the headline of an RFE/RL
commentary by Robert Avetsiyan, a representative of Nagorno-Karabakh’s
ethnic Armenian community, entitled "Nagorno-Karabakh Must No Longer Be
Barred From The Negotiating Table." Unfortunately, the author stopped
short of mentioning the ethnic Azeri community that, prior to the
1988 conflict, comprised one-third of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population
and 99 percent of the population of seven other adjacent districts
of Azerbaijan currently occupied by Armenian forces.

Falling into the general pattern of Armenian-Azerbaijani
disagreements, Avetsiyan’s piece quickly shifted from discussing
the legal and political aspects of conflict resolution to
counterproductive historical allegations attempting to deny the Azeri
identity. Unfortunately, some of these assertions need to be addressed.

First Christians In The Caucasus

The modern Christian heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh has its roots in the
ancient kingdom of Caucasian Albania, called Aghvank in Armenian. While
the Armenian language belongs to the Indo-European family of languages,
Caucasian Albanians — the pre-Islamic ancestors of modern Azerbaijanis
— spoke an indigenous Caucasian language. Both Caucasian Albania
and Armenia were converted to Christianity in the fourth century.

The religion was first brought to Armenia by an ethnic Parthian noble,
St. Gregory the Illuminator, but the first Christian church in the
Caucasus was built in Albania. The church of Kish was established in
the present-day Sheki region of Azerbaijan by St. Eliseus, a disciple
of St. Thaddeus, who in 201 A.D. converted King Abgar IX of Edessa,
making Osroene the first Christian state.

The territory of present-day Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) belonged
to Caucasian Albania in the first century A.D. ("Great Soviet
Encyclopedia," 1973). Upon the Islamic conquest of the Caucasus
in the ninth century, Artsakh was ruled by the Albanian princes
(C. J. F. Dowsett, "A Neglected Passage In The ‘History Of The
Caucasian Albanians’", BSOAS, 19(3), 1957), while the Albanians in
the eastern plain of Karabakh mixed with the Turkic population and
became Muslims (R.G. Suny, "Looking Towards Ararat: Armenia In Modern
History," 1993). Thus the "Canons Of Aghvan," composed in the fifth
century, were a part of the Caucasian Albanian historical heritage
shared by present-day Azerbaijanis.

The monasteries of Amaras and Gandzasar remained the citadels of an
autochthonous Albanian Apostolic Church up until 1836, when the Russian
authorities incorporated it into the Armenian Apostolic Church. At the
time, Gandzasar was the see of the Catholicate of Caucasian Albania,
while the Amaras monastery was first claimed by the Armenian Church
only in 1848.

Territory Of Karabakh

The first independent state in Nagorno-Karabakh was the 18th-century
Karabakh khanate, established with a capital in present-day Shusha
circa 1751 and ruled by an Azeri khan (R. Hewsen, "Journal Of The
Society For Armenian Studies," Vol. 6, 1995, p. 270). Throughout the
19th century, Armenians remained a minority on the territories of
Karabakh and present-day Armenia despite their major resettlement
from Ottoman and Persian domains after the Russian conquest.

Upon the fall of the Russian Empire, in 1918-20, the territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh was under the control of the Azerbaijan Democratic
Republic, whose authority over Karabakh was officially recognized by
the Allied powers. After the establishment of the Azerbaijan SSR in
1921, the Bolshevik Kavburo voted to not to incorporate but to retain
Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.

While the nationality of "Azerbaijani" was first indicated in the
1939 Soviet census, the millions of Azeris did not appear out of
nowhere. The formulation of a uniform Azerbaijani identity started in
pre-Christian Caucasian Albania and Atropatene, incorporating Islamic
and Turkic elements in medieval times, to become the first secular,
democratic Muslim nation in 1918.

Prior to 1939, Azerbaijanis were called Turks, until Stalin decided to
disassociate the Turkic people of the Caucasus and Central Asia from
Turkey. In a similar move in the 1920s, Soviet authorities granted the
Zangezur region to Armenia, separating Azerbaijan into two disjoined
parts, and got rid of the Turkestan toponym in Central Asia.

Violence Erupts

The Armenian side often claims that the Sumgait events of February
27, 1988, were a precursor to the violence in Nagorno-Karabakh. But
the first acts of violence took place in the Gugark region of Armenia
in the fall of 1987. Subsequently, thousands of Azerbaijani refugees
were forced to flee Armenia and were settled in Sumgait by the Soviet
authorities.

These events were followed by clashes in the Askeran region of
Nagorno-Karabakh on February 22, 1988, when two ethnic Azeris were
killed by an ethnic Armenian mob. Among the convicted perpetrators
of the Sumgait events were also three ethnic Armenians who killed a
quarter of the 26 ethnic Armenians who died in the violence, according
to the deputy prosecutor-general of the USSR at the time.

While Sumgait is often highlighted in the context of Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, less attention is paid to the 1992 Khojaly massacre of
ethnic Azeris by Armenian forces. Named the "largest massacre" of
the conflict by Human Rights Watch, Khojaly’s civilian death toll
was some 20 times that of Sumgait.

While both Azerbaijani and Armenian perpetrators in Sumgait were tried
and sentenced by the court of law, those responsible for Khojaly were
never brought to justice, despite the fact that the then-military
commander in Nagorno-Karabakh (and now the president of Armenia),
Serzh Sarkisian, has admitted Armenian responsibility for this atrocity
(Thomas De Waal, "Black Garden: Armenia And Azerbaijan Through Peace
And War," NYU Press, 2004).

In its efforts to settle historical differences with Turkey, the
Armenian side often appeals to the notion of justice. Yet the so-called
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) is an unjustly established monoethnic
Armenian entity in the Caucasus. It is not independent, because it
cannot sustain itself without the existence of its sponsor, Armenia.

But most importantly, it was established after the exodus of one ethnic
group forced by another. The self-proclaimed "NKR officials" cannot
speak on behalf of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, because one-third
of them were stripped of the right to choose their leaders due to
their ethnicity. Therefore, Azerbaijan — along with all reputable
organizations including the United Nations, the Council of Europe,
and the OSCE — consider the "NKR elections" and "NKR officials"
illegitimate. Moreover, in the words of then-U.S. Assistant Secretary
of State Elizabeth Jones, these "NKR officials" constitute "criminal
secessionists."

Contrary to the Armenian allegations that Azerbaijan intended to
cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population, in a letter
addressed to the UN Security Council on November 9, 1993, the
chairman-in-office of the CSCE Minsk Conference on Nagorno-Karabakh
detailed the territories occupied by Armenian forces and outlined the
required timetable for their withdrawal. Additionally, all four of the
1993 UN Security Council resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh call for the
immediate withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan. It has been 16 years since the "NKR officials" and their
protectors in Yerevan refused to fulfill these international demands.

At present, Armenia’s military occupation of the region precludes
the much-desired participation of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian
community in the peace process, because the region’s ethnic Azeris
were stripped of this right. Lasting peace in Nagorno-Karabakh
cannot be achieved without a return of the region’s ethnic Azeri
population and their harmonious coexistence with the ethnic Armenian
community. Furthermore, to reestablish the much-needed trust between
the two nations, it is important for both Armenians and Azerbaijanis
to refrain from any hostile, derogatory, or inflammatory rhetoric.

by Javid Huseynov

Dr. Javid Huseynov is general director of the Azerbaijani-American
Council. He was assisted in the preparation of this article by
U.S. Azeris Network Managing Director Dr. Adil Baguirov, Azerbaijani
National Cultural Association (Hungary) founder Dr. Vugar Seidov,
and Azerbaijan Society of America President Tomris Azeri. All four
are originally from the once Azeri-populated regions currently under
Armenian military occupation. The views expressed in this commentary
are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.

http://www.today.az/news/politic

Congratulation In View Of Day Of Republic

CONGRATULATION IN VIEW OF DAY OF REPUBLIC

/9/2.htm
September 02, 2009

Dear compatriots,

I convey to you my hearty congratulations in view of the day of Artsakh
Republic. 18 years ago with the Declaration of Independence a new
era opened for our small and invincible Homeland. The nation-state
sovereignty became the way, which leads our land through the havens
of survival and self-affirmation to get united with Armenia as an
inseparable part of Homeland.

The foundation of our statehood and consolidation of its grounds
did not come easily. Like many nations people of Artsakh as well
had to sanctify the independence and freedom of their country with
their own blood enduring the severities of the three-year war which
cost sacrificed lives of thousands of Armenians. The independence of
our Republic costs too dear inducing us all to preserve what we call
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) with the greatest dedication and
care. I assure that the day will come and the international community
will pay its long-awaited respect to our country recognizing its
independence. Nowadays the international civilization is developing
also through attaching importance to such kind of values common to all
mankind. Irrespective of the world position our main problem today
is to develop and strengthen our Republic with all our potential,
increase its economic and social power through democratic institutions
and civil society.

We must not forget the fact that Artsakh continues remaining a
target for our enemy and other hostilely disposed forces, thus it is
necessary to allot our social and public resources to the destination
of fortifying the fighting efficiency of our triumphantly war-hardened
army. The Government deeply realizes these problems and in its everyday
activity assigns a primary place to their settlement applying new
resources and intentions.

We are obliged to successfully cope with this period of time when
the world economic crisis creates serious obstacles for all, first
of all for us, whereas, the process of Karabakh conflict settlement
still does not envisage necessary security for us. I have no doubt
towards overcoming the available difficulties and creating a more
fortified country endowed with its national feature.

Dear Artsakh people, I wish you health, power and prosperity. Once
more my congratulations to you in view of the glorious holiday. May
with God’s help all dreams of Artsakh people come true.

NKR Prime Minister A.Haroutyunyan

http://www.karabakh.net/engl/inform/2009

Turkey’s Closed Borders With Armenia A Gross Violation Of Internatio

TURKEY’S CLOSED BORDERS WITH ARMENIA A GROSS VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL NORMS

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.08.2009 21:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "At international scene, Turkey never initiates short
term programs. Turkey develops several scenarios of a single program,
to use the suitable one in case of necessity. With Kurds’, Cyprus
and Armenian Genocide issues on its agenda, Turkey still negotiates
for joining EU as a member," Heritage Parliamentary Faction Secretary
Larisa Alaverdyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

According to Larisa Alaverdyan, experienced rival like Turkey should
not be challenged without long-term plans.

When questioned by reporters whether Turkey is to blame for cessation
of RA -Turkish rapprochement attempts, Larisa Alaverdyan responded
that no rapprochement actually existed. When signing the road map,
Turkey made some non-committal statements, without assuming any
obligations as to their fulfillment, she noted.

Touching upon opening of RA-Turkish border, the MP noted that Turkey’s
closed border with Armenia is a gross violation of international
norms. "Turkey continues blockading Armenia because of unresolved
conflict with Azerbaijan, which actually has no bearing with
Turkey. This is a gross violation of international law."

Azerbaijani Authorities Vs. Madrid Principles

AZERBAIJANI AUTHORITIES VS. MADRID PRINCIPLES

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Aug 31 2009
Armenia

Concerned over the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, the Azerbaijani
authorities have decided to once more perform their favorite painfully
primitive trick. Today a number of Opposition political forces, which
have no influence on the country’s political life, have announced
their intention to hold rallies in Baku this September, to protest
the Madrid Principles.

The leaders of the National Salvation Party of Azerbaijan and of
the Popular Front of Azerbaijan arranged about an action of protest
against the Madrid Principles, which run counter to Azerbaijan’s
national interests.

Since rallies are most rare events in authoritarian Azerbaijan, it is
obvious that an action will by no means be held in the center of Baku
without being sanctioned by the authorities and by President Ilham
Aliyev personally. All the opposition parties’ initiatives to hold any
mass actions in the center of Baku were formerly nipped in the bud,
and the opponents of the Aliyev clan had at best to be content with
the most "uncomfortable" conditions on the outskirts of the city. The
fact that the Government-controlled advertised the two small parties’
initiative proves that it was approved by the authorities.

The Azerbaijani authorities have lately been showing a gradual
tendency toward declining the Madrid Principles – in an indirect
way. President Aliyev’s rather strange statement last weekend was the
first presage. Speaking of the present state of the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process, Aliyev expressed the confidence that the problem will
be resolved within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. That step was
as unconstructive as it could be just before the end of the August
interval and on the threshold of an active stage of the preparations
for the two Presidents’ meeting.

No doubt, President Aliyev is well aware of the possible consequences,
namely: the stronger positions of the forces that have for a long time
been objecting to the Madrid Principles in Armenia and consider any
territorial concessions to Azerbaijan inadmissible. What else does
official Baku need for if not for concealing its own unconstructive
approaches, torpedoing the negotiations, which are not following a
course favored by Azerbaijan. In this context, one is not surprised
at the reports on the Opposition-planned rallies just a couple of
days after Aliyev’s statement. These tendencies should be expected
to grow stronger and stronger in Azerbaijan as the Sargsyan-Aliyev
meeting is drawing closer.

A bare-faced Kim Kardashian not a hit with fans

Examiner.com
Aug 30 2009

A bare-faced Kim Kardashian not a hit with fans

August 30, 3:25 AMEntertainment News Examiner Ellen Stewart

Socialite Kim Kardashian has faced criticism her beauty may not be so
spectacular after the self-proclaimed ‘Armenian princess’ stepped out
of a Los Angeles hair salon minus her usual make-up.

Picture below.

The fresh-faced reality star stared disapprovingly into the camera
lens of paparazzi as she clutched her cell-phone and headed toward her
vehicle, appearing unimpressed to be photographed without her face on.

Kardashian, who shot to fame after the release of her sex-tape with
rapper Ray-J, stars in the reality television program Keeping Up With
the Kardashians and has been the subject of plastic surgery
speculations, including suggestions she plumped her now famous rear
end with butt-implants.

The daughter of deceased lawyer Robert Kardashian recently dyed her
dark brown locks a golden blonde, said to be a therapeutic method of
dealing with her break-up from long time boyfriend Reggie Bush.

A bare-faced Kardashian has not gone down well with fans, while gossip
bloggers claim the natural face of the starlet ‘hurts their eyes."

tainment-News-Examiner~y2009m8d30-A-barefaced-Kim- Kardashian-not-a-hit-with-fans

http://www.examiner.com/x-22152-Enter

BAKU: US Congress to mull Armenian `genocide` again – scholar

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Aug 25 2009

US Congress to mull Armenian `genocide` again – scholar
25-08-2009 23:24:29

A bill on the alleged World War I-era genocide of Armenians will be
put on discussion during the fall session of US Congress, after
repeated unsuccessful attempts, an Armenian scholar has said.
Ruben Safrastyan, who heads the Oriental Studies Institute at the
country`s National Academy of Sciences, claims that, a good
opportunity has emerged this time to achieve recognition of the
alleged genocide.
Armenians say Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million people in 1915 and
brand the developments as “genocide“, while Turkey strenuously
dismisses the claim. Yerevan has repeatedly declined Ankara`s
proposals to collaborate in researching the developments.
Meanwhile, the US-based federation of Turkic societies said in a
statement that the Turkish community, which is maintaining close ties
with Azerbaijan and Jewish societies, has leveraged all of its power
to counter Armenian claims and stands ready to ward off any of their
endeavors.
Mustafa Adnan, head of the federation, has pledged that Armenians will
not succeed in reaching their goals in the U.S. He noted that an
appeals court has recently overruled a ruling of a California court on
paying out life insurance benefits to the relatives of the alleged
genocide victims, adding that this was a graphic example of the
Turkish Diaspora`s strength.
The judge at the California court of appeal who handed down the ruling
said the developments took place miles away from the United States,
and the state of California therefore bears no responsibility before
the persons involved. The ruling also emphasized that the US
government has not passed a decision to recognize the alleged
genocide, therefore, US Armenians are not entitled to relevant
compensation or insurance.
The Armenian lobby, which is advocating for the acceptance of
“genocide“ around the world, has achieved its recognition in the
parliaments of several countries, and is now seeking its passage in
Congress.