Author: Nahapetian Boris

A Slip of Tongue or Slap on the Face: Is Karabakh a Negotiating Party?

16:44 – 17.04.10

United States seems to be tightening the screws with Azerbaijan with
US Assistant Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley referring to Nagorno
Karabakh as a negotiating party while speaking about Armenia-Turkey
normalization in a recent briefing.

"And clearly, we’re also supporting the Minsk process regarding
Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh," said Crowley.

It follows statements by Azerbaijani leaders criticizing US and
accusing it of partiality as a co-mediator country over the Nagorno
Karabakh issue.

"The United States does not implement policy towards Azerbaijan as a
strategic partner, and that’s why we might reconsider our policy
towards the United States," Ali Hasanov, Aliyev’s head of
public-political issues, said in an interview with Reuters news
agency.

"We believe the Americans should not only think of how to help Armenia
overcome the economic crisis," he said, but as a co-mediator in talks
on Nagorno-Karabakh, Washington "should first of all promote a
solution to the Karabakh conflict."

The US response was quick enough with Press Secretary of the US
Embassy in Baku, Terry Davidson saying that the United States "has
always been pursuing a balanced policy when it comes to the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue."

Later on President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev accused the OSCE Minsk
Group of not being aware of what exactly is happening in the region,
advising all the parties concerned to try to study the conflict
thoroughly by reading books about the situation.

"The co-mediator states should be very attentive. May be people are
not well aware of the situation in the region and should try to study
it. If this is the case, I do not want to accuse anyone, let them
study the situation so that to draw correct conclusions. But we do see
that today, at this definitive moment, Armenia is getting such a
strong political support that it may completely withdraw from the
negotiations in the future," said Aliyev.

Tert.am

ARAM SARGSYAN: NEW ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROCESS NEEDS TO BE STARTED

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 16, 2010 – 14:01 AMT 09:01 GMT

Armenia should withdraw its signature from the Protocols on
normalization of relations with Turkey, according to Aram Sargsyan,
the leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia.

"Reasonable terms for ratification of the Protocols have expired. It’s
time to start a new Armenian-Turkish process," he told reporters in
Yerevan on April 16.

"Being a small country, Armenia has become a cornerstone in resolution
of regional issues and it should be the one who leads but not the
one who is led," he said.

As to recognition of the Armenian Genocide, he said, "The 100th
anniversary will be the Rubicon for recognition of the Genocide. So,
Armenians should pursue an efficient policy to gain maximal results
during the next five years."

Mr. Sargsyan also emphasized that in order to achieve success in
foreign policy, Armenia should resolve all domestic problems.

HEAD OF ARMENIAN PACE DELEGATION ASKS COE TO PRESSURIZE TURKEY

news.am
April 16 2010
Armenia

Head of the PACE Armenian delegation Davit Harutyunyan sent a letter
to Secretary General of the CoE Thorbjorn Jagland and PACE President
Mevlut Cavusoglu, as well as Members of PACE National delegations
on Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s threats to deport Armenian
migrants from the country.

The letter reads:

"Over the past two weeks the Prime Minister of Turkey has twice
explicitly stated his intention to deport Armenians who allegedly
reside in Turkey illegally. Immediately after the US Congress Foreign
Affairs Committee passed a resolution specifying &’the systematic and
deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians [in Ottoman Empire]
as genocide’ Recep Tayyip Erdogan told to BBC &’We are turning a
blind eye to the remaining 100,000 [Armenians, who are not citizens
of Turkey]. Tomorrow, I may tell these 100,000 to go back to their
country, if it becomes necessary’.

After the Swedish Parliament passed a decision recognizing the
Genocide of Armenians in 1915, the Prime Minister of Turkey in his
interview to &’Spiegel’ told: &’We turn to Armenian Diaspora and
those countries that support the Diaspora: there are Armenians in
Turkey who are Turkish citizens, and there are those who live in
our country illegally. So far we have not considered the question
of deportation, but if the Diaspora continues to exert pressure [to
recognize the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire], we could imagine
ourselves capable of doing that’.

These statements raised a wave of criticism even in Turkey.

Nevertheless the Prime Minister of Turkey refused to apologize and
to correct his mistake claiming only that he was misinterpreted and
misunderstood. But later events clearly showed that the Prime Minister
continues the same discriminatory approach.

These statements raise serious concerns in that a person who bears the
responsibility for the policy of the Republic of Turkey singles out
a particular group of national origin in a context totally unrelated
to any objective of addressing the issue of illegal migration. They
imply application of Turkey’s immigration laws and policies selectively
and inconsistently, targeting a specific national group.

Such irresponsible statements flagrantly violate every international
treaty and convention in the field of racism and discrimination and
require urgent attention and prompt reaction by the Council of Europe
and its Parliamentary Assembly in particular. It is regrettable that
up to now neither the Secretary General of the Council of Europe nor
the President of the PACE reacted to such irresponsible statements,
which violate the principles and values of the Organization.

Particularly, the Prime Minister of Turkey must be reminded without
ambiguity that persecution against any identifiable group on racial,
national, ethnic or other grounds that are universally recognized as
impermissible under international law constitutes serious violations of
human rights and, in some cases, qualifies as crimes against humanity.

It is particularly striking that such statements have been made by
a high official representing a country of origin for millions of
migrants, including illegal migrants in most parts of Europe.

Furthermore, the words uttered by the Prime Minister in his statements
manifest negative stereotyping of a particular group, namely migrants
of Armenian origin, and abuse a situation of vulnerability in which
these migrants find themselves.

The Council of Europe should, therefore issue a clear and unambiguous
warning to the Government of Turkey about the nature and content of
statements made by its Prime Minister and impermissibility of using
this issue for making pressure on foreign countries by discriminatory
application of migration policies towards a particular national group.

The Council should also remind strongly the Government of Turkey of
its obligations and responsibilities under international human rights
law to safeguard and protect migrants against illegal or violent acts.

It is noticeable that recognition and condemnation of the genocide
by the international community is not only a tribute to the victims
of the genocides, but also an important step towards prevention of
the crime of genocide in the future. Yet, the statement of the Prime
Minister of Turkey amounts to clear manifestation of hate speech and
humiliation of a particular minority group, which may give rise to
genocidal tendencies in Turkey. In this connection, it is important
to consider what steps need to be taken to prevent development of
such tendencies in Turkey as well as any manifestations of racism
and discrimination in respect of any national or ethnic group.

It’s worth drawing attention to the fact that to date Turkey has
not ratified Protocol N12 to the ECHR, which provides for a general
prohibition of discrimination and has not signed and ratified the
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities,
the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Based on his visit to Turkey in 2009, the Commissioner for Human
Rights of the Council of Europe initiated a dialogue on the human
rights of minorities and subsequently published his report on this
issue. The Commissioner focused on and provided recommendations on
a number of major issues, namely, he recommended the creation and
implementation of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation,
the ratification of Protocol N12 to ECHR and Turkey’s accession to
the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

In its third Report on Turkey (adopted on 25 June 2004) the European
Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) emphasized the need
to reinforce respect for the rights of immigrants, irrespective of
their legal status, asylum seekers and refugees.

ECRI also recommends that the Turkish authorities ratify Protocol
N12 to the ECHR as soon as possible. It recommended to the Turkish
authorities to:

1. make the declaration under Article 14 of the International
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination,
empowering the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
to receive individual communications,

2. consider withdrawing their reservations in respect of Article 27 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 13
of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

3. sign and ratify UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in
Education, Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages,
the Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at
Local Level and the European Convention on Nationality,

4. sign and ratify Convention on Cybercrime and its Additional
Protocol on the criminalization of acts of a racist or xenophobic
nature committed through computer networks.

I believe that the Council of Europe should immediately take adequate
steps to influence the Government of Turkey to abstain from public
threats or actions of racist or discriminatory nature.

For your information I’ve attached to this letter appendix, which
contains the declarations and reservations of the Republic of Turkey
to some of the most important international treaties dealing with
the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination and rights
of migrants."

AZERBAIJANI POLITICAL EXPERT: JEWISH LOBBY WILL NOT BE INVOLVED IN CRAZY ARMENIAN ATTEMPTS IN U.S. CONGRESS

Today
66149.html
April 15 2010
Azerbaijan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Armenia President
Serzh Sargsyan in Washington several days ago. How do you assess the
outcome of this?

Given that the parties hold different positions, an hour and a half
is not enough to ensure that countries share their views on certain
issues. But, taking into account the fact that the meeting took place
on the sidelines of an international conference, is a good sign.

As for the talks, I think they were limited to regular mutual claims
of the parties. But important is that U.S. President Barack Obama and
his emissaries were present in the talks. I think everything is clear.

Obama promised Ankara not to raise the issue of "Armenian genocide". I
think even Armenians have humbled to this. Instead, Washington wants
Ankara to make concessions in other important matters, particularly in
terms of Iran. In this case, to somehow satisfy Armenia’s demands,
the U.S. will try to achieve the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement
separately from the Karabakh issue.

It is obvious that efforts are made to coordinate positions in the
"road map" between Turkey and Armenia, which will influence the
Karabakh issue paving a way for progress in the Karabakh conflict
resolution which will now be carried out under direct patronage
of Washington.

After the meeting with Turkish PM, Armenian President met with
representatives of the Armenian Diaspora in the U.S. where he assured
them that Armenia will never make concessions in vital issues. What
is your assessment of this statement?

The Armenian Diaspora is one of the main tools to promote Armenia’s
interests in the world. Armenian president’s statements, though full
of standard Yerevan phrases, gives ground to say that Armenia has
been given a promise on principal matters.

Though Armenian lobby has strong influence in the U.S., it is not
enough to "push" bills through the House of Representatives. On what
forces do they count in this matter?

Lobbying is well known and debugged tool to protect one’s own interest
in the U.S. legislature. At different stages the Armenian lobby in
the United States has worked with both the Jewish and the Greek. Of
course, given the recent developments between Turkey and Israel,
relations between the two countries have been somewhat overshadowed.

But I think that despite this, the Jewish lobby in the U.S. will not
be involved in crazy Armenian attempts in the Congress. The same can
be said about the Greek lobby, which has always been distinguished
for its love for Armenians, who have problems with Turkey. I think
that Armenian lobby counts on their support.

Do you think the Armenian Diaspora is controlled by Yerevan or
vice versa?

It is difficult to give an unequivocal answer to this question. But
I still believe that these two should not be considered in isolation
from each other. There are two factors which should be noted.

First, Armenia is weak economically, and therefore largely depends
on its diaspora.

Secondly, ideology of Armenians has always been nurtured by their
diaspora since the Soviet period, when influence of the Armenian SSR
increased in Moscow thanks to the work of their diaspora. For example,
in 1948, Azerbaijanis were resettled from Armenia SSR under their
influence. In addition, many Soviet spies in the U.S. were Armenians.

In fact, the diaspora has always been the matrix of Armenians and
major idea-monger of paranoid dreams of creating a "Greater Armenia".

GALUST SAHAKYAN: ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER MAY BE OPENED BEFORE RATIFICATION OF PROTOCOLS

ArmInfo
2010-04-15 16:45:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian-Turkish border may be opened even before
ratification of the Protocols, deputy Chairman of the Republican
party of Armenia Galust Sahakyan told journalists today.

"So, the Armenian-Turkish process has already overstepped ratification,
as the Armenian-Turkish border may be opened before ratification
of the Protocols signed in Zurich. The Armenian diplomacy has done
its part, and the process is moving forward in accordance with the
international law", he said.

On January 12, Constitutional Court of Armenia recognized the
commitments, fixed in the Armenian-Turkish Protocols, meeting
Armenia’s Constitution. According to CC decision, the commitments,
established by the Protocols, are of mutual interstate nature and
cannot cover the third countries. CC also noted that opening of the
Armenian- Turkish border is a priority provision of the Protocols,
and all the other commitments acquire legal force only in case of
the borders opened. After that, Turkish FM said in its statement that
the decision of Armenia’s CC on recognition of the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols complying with the Constitution contains preconditions and
restriction provisions, which do not meet the Protocols signed in
Zurich on October 10, 2009. The both documents must be approved by
the two countries’ parliaments to take effect.

DETAILS OF CLINTON-DAVUTOGLU MEETING

news.am
April 13 2010
Armenia

April 13, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Turkish
FM Ahmet Davutoglu in Washington. The advancement of Armenia-Turkey
reconciliation was in the limelight.

"The matter of discussion was concrete steps to be taken towards
progress with both parties," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip
Crowley said.

Asked about the comment by Turkish FM on prospects of relations
between two historically alienated states, Crowley replied: "Those
knowing Davutoglu are aware that he is always optimistic."

Referring to Iran’s nuclear program he stated that there was short
of time to discuss it in the course of the meeting, but Clinton and
Davutoglu will meet again Thursday.

ARMENIA SHOULD WITHDRAW FROM NORMALIZATION WITH TURKEY: ARF-D

Tert.am
14.04.10

Armenia should not have started the normalization with Turkey in
this way at all or it should have withdrawn from the normalization
process shortly after beginning it, Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutiun, ARF-D) deputy Hrayr Karapetyan said at a press
conference today.

In his words Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent
threats to deport illegal Armenian from Turkey was a good reason for
Yerevan to withdraw from the process, though it did not take advantage
of that chance.

Karapetyan suggested that Armenia withdrew from the process now –
prior to April 24. At the same time he did not downplay the importance
of establishing diplomatic relations with Ankara and the opening of
Armenia-Turkey borders.

As what concerns the recent developments in Washington Karapetyan said
that on the one hand they proved once again that the Turkey-Azerbaijan
alliance still exists and that Azerbaijan and Turkey act as one single
unit when it comes to foreign issues.

On the other hand, according to Karapetyan, those meetings testified to
the fact that Erdogan’s statements, that the Armenia-Turkey relations
will not improve and that the border will not open unless Karabakh
conflict is resolved, are quite true.

Asked what changes the Washington meetings could bring about,
Karapetyan said that Armenia and Turkey reaffirmed their positions
there, while the US and other world powers realized that Turkey is
firm on its stance.

TURKISH PM DOES NOT WANT ANY COUNTRY TO HAVE NUKES
MATTHEW BARAKAT

Associated Press Online
April 12, 2010 Monday 8:38 PM GMT

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that his
country does not want Iran or any other nation to have nuclear weapons.

Erdogan is among dozens of world leaders in Washington for President
Barack Obama’s nuclear security summit. He spoke Monday at George Mason
University’s new Center for Global Islamic Studies, just outside the
U.S. capital.

Turkey currently holds one of the rotating seats on the U.N. Security
Council, and the United States is hoping Turkey will cooperate with
efforts to impose sanctions against Iran as punishment for its alleged
work toward creating nuclear weapons.

While the United States worries about Iran’s nuclear program, Turkey
has its own concerns about Israel’s nuclear program. Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opted not to attend Obama’s summit, and
insiders said he had expected Turkey and Egypt to use the conference
as a platform to challenge him over his country’s widely assumed
nuclear arsenal, which the Jewish state never has acknowledged.

Erdogan, in his remarks, did not specifically mention Israel’s nuclear
program, but he criticized its treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza
Strip and called Gaza an "open-air prison."

While he specifically said Turkey does not want nuclear weapons in
"our region," he also said Ankara "would like to see all countries
possessing nuclear weapons work to eliminate them in a certain time
frame." His remarks in Turkish were translated by an interpreter.

As for Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Erdogan noted that Tehran has
denied it is pursuing a nuclear weapon, but he also said that the
International Atomic Energy Agency, the world’s nuclear watchdog,
has faulted Iran for a lack of transparency.

In his prepared remarks, Erdogan also criticized a long-running effort
in the U.S. Congress to pass a resolution declaring that Armenians
were victims of Turkish genocide nearly a century ago.

"We are against a one-sided interpretation of history," Erdogan said.

"History cannot be written in parliament and judged by parliament."

Turkey recalled its U.S. ambassador last month in protest after the
House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution declaring that
the Ottoman-era killings amounted to genocide. The full House has
not voted on the resolution.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed
by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies
that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated
and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

KARABAKH A ‘MAJOR ISSUE’ IN ARMENIAN-TURKISH TALKS

news.az
April 13 2010
Azerbaijan

APA interviews Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

You are accompanying Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
on his visit to Washington, where he discussed many issues today,
especially during his meeting with the Armenian president. What place
did Azerbaijan, and especially Nagorno-Karabakh, take in the talks?

As usual, this was a major issue. Our prime minister is very interested
in explaining to the Armenian leaders the sensitive points of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We believe Azerbaijan is an integral part
of a solution to the problem in the Caucasus and that its exclusion
from the process is out of the question. There is no question of
Turkey leaving Azerbaijan out of the cycle in any way.

Before the US visit, I spoke to Azerbaijani diplomats. Our
representative has been in Baku and Yerevan. We are in frequent
contact with them.

It is also important for Turkey that the Obama administration focus
its attention on this topic. I want to reiterate that the liberation
of the occupied Azerbaijani territories was one of the goals of
the Turkish-Armenian protocols, in addition to the normalization of
Turkish-Armenian bilateral relations.

We will maintain our peaceful perspective but we will not let
anyone put pressure on Turkey over issues on which we can give no
concessions. We hope our counterparts on this issue have received
the message.

The international community must understand that one-sided peace is
impossible in the South Caucasus.

What is the next step in the normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations?

The fact is that we have always been aware that Turkish-Armenian
reconciliation alone is not enough to create peace and stability in
the South Caucasus. Only with a comprehensive solution can we maintain
the atmosphere of reconciliation and remove the remaining barriers
to dialogue, cooperation and peace in the region. This, of course,
will require political will and courage.

We all want to forget the previous hostility and to instigate in
future positive aspects of common history. It is very important that
we have a common aspiration to build a bright future in the South
Caucasus. One of them is signing the Turkish-Armenian protocols in
Zurich on 10 October. However, the decision of the Constitutional
Court of Armenia to introduce changes to the protocols was a sudden
obstacle to ratification of the protocols.

If all sides – we and they – take responsibility and try to contribute
to the achievement of comprehensive peace in the South Caucasus, then
the Turkish parliament will ratify the protocols in the near future.

This will not only facilitate the rapprochement between the two
nations, but also continue the way to the new future and establishment
of peace, prosperity and cooperation. In this respect, the urgent
need is not to impede the establishment of peace and stability under
a veil of fictional juridical problems.

However, as our PM said, we will explain to the US administration that
we cannot achieve lasting peace in the region without resolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. We strongly believe that the occupation of
Azerbaijani lands by Armenia complicated cooperation in the Caucasus
on a regional and global scale. The OSCE Minsk Group is the only
international instrument that can induce the parties to take steps
to overcome their differences and reach a peaceful settlement.

Recognition of the so-called ‘Armenian genocide’ will have a very
negative impact on the further establishment of peace in the Caucasus.

May US President Obama recognize the ‘Armenian genocide’ this month,
thereby spoiling strategic relations with Turkey? If so, how will it
influence the negotiations on Turkish-Armenian rapprochement?

I hope that President Barack Obama will not recognize it on 24 April
[marked by Armenians as Genocide Remembrance Day]. Every spring
we face with fear the threat of crisis in US-Turkish relations. The
United States now has two options: to bring to nought all the progress
achieved in relations between Turkey and Armenia, and in general in
the South Caucasus, or to continue promoting the peace process in
the region. We think they will choose the second path.

SERZH SARGSYAN: TURKEY CANNOT SPEAK IN THE LANGUAGE OF PRECONDITIONS WITH ARMENIA

armradio.am
13.04.2010 15:57

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan rejected Turkey’s efforts to impose
preconditions on Armenia-Turkey dialogue, during remarks delivered
following a wreath laying ceremony honoring the life and legacy of
President Woodrow Wilson.

Speaking to hundreds of Armenian Americans gathered at the National
Cathedral, Sargsyan praised President Wilson’s 1919 call for a united
effort to ensure that "the Armenian people never suffer again." Ninety
five years later, countries around the world and organizations,
including those in the U.S., continue to carry on Wilson’s legacy,
stated Sargsyan, to prevent genocide and suffering through recognition
of the Armenian Genocide.

Noting his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan earlier in the
day, Sargsyan reiterated opposition to Turkey-imposed preconditions
on Turkey-Armenia Protocol discussions. "Turkey cannot speak in
the language of preconditions to Armenia and the Armenian people,"
said Sargsyan, who went on to reject Turkey’s efforts to question
the historical truth of the Armenian Genocide, or inject itself in
the Nagorno Karabakh negotiation process.

During his visit to President Wilson’s tomb, Pres. Sargsyan greeted
Armenian Genocide survivors Rose Baboyian, Yeretsgeen Sirarpi
Khoyan and Lousadzeen Tatarian, who presented the President with
a letter urging him to continue the fight for Genocide recognition
and stand up for the rights of the Armenian people. Following the
wreath-laying ceremony, Sargsyan stood solemnly as Armenian American
clergy offered prayers in memory of President Wilson and honored the
victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Amongst the clergy in
attendance were His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of
the Armenian Apostolic Church of Eastern U.S.; His Eminence Archbishop
Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church
of America (Eastern), and His Eminence Archbishop Vicken Aykazian,
Legate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), and
representatives of the Armenian Catholic and Evangelical communities.