Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

RUSSIAN JOURNALIST: KARABAKH CONFLICT MIGHT BE DISCUSSED AT OBAMA-MEDVEDEV MEETING

Today.Az
s/53359.html
June 24 2009
Azerbaijan

"Honestly, now I see only the subject for negotiation, but do not
see any possibility of settlement of the Karabakh conflict", said
well-known Russian journalist, TV host Alexander Arkhangelsky,
according to Novosti-Azerbaijan.

"Russia has its allied obligations towards Armenia. It can in many
ways assess the relations with Armenia, and its role in the conflict,
but the alliance relationship has a long history", he said.

According to A. Arkhangelsky, the United States has its own view of
the South Caucasus region in connection with the South Stream project.

"For those reasons, the Karabakh conflict can be discussed at the
meeting of the Presidents of the United States and Russia, but
specific solutions will not be adopted. They can only give advice
to Azerbaijan and Armenia to cooperate on other issues where there
is common ground, leaving the solution to the conflict for later",
summarized the journalist.

TURKISH FM SPOKESMAN: NORMALIZATION TALKS WITH ARMENIA ARE UNDERWAY

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
25.06.2009 01:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The talks aimed at the normalization of relations
between Ankara and Yerevan continue at various levels, a Turkish
foreign ministry spokesman said on June 24th, ruling out recent
reports suggesting the suspension of the agreed road map with Armenia,
Hurriyet Daily News reports.

"We are discussing all issues with Armenia, and what is important
is principles we set," Anatolian Agency quoted spokesperson Burak
Ozugergin as telling a press conference in the Turkish capital
of Ankara.

Burak Ozugergin said there was also an ongoing process between
Azerbaijan and Armenia, and both processes were affecting each other.

Turkey and Armenia agreed in April on a "road map" deal for U.S.-backed
talks that could lead to the normalization of ties and the opening
of their border, which Ankara closed in a show of support to Baku in
1993 after Armenian occupation of Azeri territories in the disputed
Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Turkish officials, however, have said Turkey will not open its border
with Armenia before the neighboring country ends its occupation of
Nagorno-Karabakh, reassuring Azeri leaders that Ankara’s efforts to
reconcile with Yerevan would not undermine the country’s interests.

Recent media reports questioned further progress in talks between
Turkey and Armenia. Even EU South Caucasus envoy Peter Semneby said
in an interview published last week Turkey has taken a "tactical step
backwards" on normalizing relations with Armenia because of fierce
domestic reaction to the move.

Ozugergin said the road map would be made public when the conditions
are suitable, adding he had already said that the two countries have
agreed on some principles.

He said Turkey was supporting a solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute through peaceful means, and a positive course of the process
would contribute to peace and stability in the Caucasus.

The spokesman also said Turkey would support any positive development
or step in the Minsk process.

"Settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem will restore stability
in the region, and make it sustainable," Ozugergin said.

Ozugergin also said Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu might
meet foreign ministers of other countries, including his Armenian
counterpart Eduard Nalbandian, on the Greek island of Corfu during
an informal meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe, or OSCE, this weekend.

TURKISH MP: OPENING OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER IS NOT AN ISSUE OF THE NEAREST FUTURE

Today.Az
/53328.html
June 23 2009
Azerbaijan

Relations with fraternal Azerbaijan – a priority in the external policy
of the country – are always important for Turkey, said Cahan Kalsin,
deputy from the Turkey’s ruling party of Justice and Development and
member of the Turkish group of OSCE parliamentary assembly.

According to her, the people of both countries should not doubt it.

On the roadmap, coordinated by Turkey and Armenia, she said it is
unclear what the roadmap is.

"But there is no complete information on it, as the map has not yet
been made public. This is one of the aspects connected with normalizing
relations between Turkey and Armenia, starting relations from zero. But
the resolution of all these issues should be accompanied with the
resolution of the Karabakh issue.

The MP also noted that Armenians’ demands to exclude Turkey from
the OSCE MG members will not be useful for both parties. She said
"this is not a solution that would promote the problem settlement".

Kalsin said assessing the activity of the OSCE Minsk Group "it is
good the gates to a dialogue are open between the parties".

"I believe both parties will benefit from this as they will be able
to hold talks.

Asked about the time the border between Turkey and Armenia opens,
she stressed that the policy, based on negotiations on this issue,
will continue.

"I think this will happen after Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia agree
and come to a single point. But I do not think it will happen so soon
and this is my personal opinion", concluded the deputy.

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER ADMITS: A "FASCIST APPROACH" RESULTED IN ETHNIC CLEANSING
Paul Kujawsky

Examiner.com
814-LA-Middle-Eastern-Policy-Examiner~y2009m6d21-T urkish-Prime-Minister-admits-A-fascist-approach-re sulted-in-ethnic-cleansing
June 21 2009

In Turkey, a parliamentary argument about government contracts
has become a discussion about the historic treatment of non-Muslim
minorities.

The background: The Turkish-Syrian frontier is seeded with land mines,
placed since the 1950s to deter smugglers and Kurdish terrorists. The
Turkish parliament recently enacted a law to clear the mine fields,
and, significantly, permitting foreign companies to bid on the
work. The winning bidder would have the right to lease the land for
farming for 44 years. That provision offended some legislators, whose
national pride was wounded. For example, the Nationalist Movement
Party’s chair expostulated: "Borders are a matter of honor for
nations. … What sort of honor and pride does this government have if
it wants to surrender and trust the border to foreigners for 44 years?"

That fact that Israeli companies are reportedly in the running raised
the temperature in Turkey considerably. (Presumably, Syria isn’t too
happy about it, either.)

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is having none of it. He mordantly
declared: "We should first clear the mines in our heads." At a May
conference of his Justice and Development Party, Erdo?an firmly
rejected such complaints in favor a more pragmatic, capitalist
approach: "You see, some come out and say: ‘This Jewish investment
is wrong.’ No, this friend is coming to invest in my country. He is
investing a billion dollars. There is no ‘we don’t want that.’"

He continued warmly: "Syria cleared its part of the border, and we
wanted to do the same and reclaim 210 million square meters of land
suitable for organic farming. Immediately, accusations began. They
said, ‘You are going to make a gift of this land to Israel!’ For
decades the same approach has persisted. How can you say Turkey is
selling out just because the global capital that is investing in our
country comes from this or that religion?. . . Money has no religion
or race. They will invest here, and Ahmet, Mehmet and Ay?e will find
work, not Yitzhak."

Then came the bombshell. Erdo?an stated: "For years those of different
identities have been kicked out of our country … This was not done
with common sense. This was done with a fascist approach."

This was a welcome, unexpected bit of truthfulness. The Turkish
government historically has been unwilling to look self-critically
at its treatment of minorities. With a single blow Erdo?an knocked
a chunk off of a hulking Turkish taboo.

Greek commentators were very excited. What are now western Turkey
and the Turkish Black Sea coast for many centuries were part of
Greek civilization, and some Greeks still nurse a grudge about the
Greek-Turkish population exchanges of the early 20th century.

An Armenian website regarded the statement as "an indirect reference to
the tragic fate of other ethnic groups, such as Armenians, in Turkey."

And the story has legs. The Turkish newspaper Zaman took up the
theme in a June 21 article about the Tuzla Armenian orphanage,
confiscated and destroyed by the Turkish government. With luck,
Turkey will continue to benefit from open discussion of its policies
towards minorities.

What was the purpose of the predictably controversial statement
? Was the Islamist Erdo?an striking at the secularist legacy of
Kemalism? This would make it a scheme to strengthen the Islamic
strain in Turkish politics. Or was it a boost for historical memory
and for human rights, aimed at the European Union, which Turkey
wants to join? Then it would be a scheme to strengthen integration
with Europe. Or was it an unpremeditated outburst, without political
calculation? These are at present unanswerable inquiries.

Erdo?an’s remarks led Turkish columnist ?ahin Alpay to observe:
"In short, Prime Minister Erdo?an, who is claimed by some to be an
unrepentant Islamist with a hidden agenda or even an Islamofascist,
is in reality not ideally liberal but relatively the most liberally
inclined politician in Turkey today."

Well, that may be going too far. But he’s showing himself an
interesting, unpredictable politician.

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER TO TAKE PART IN THE EURO-ATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL FORUM

ARMENPRESS
June 23, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS: Delegation headed by the Armenian Defense
Minister Seyran Ohanyan will June 24-25 visit Astana (Kazakhstan) to
take part in the Security forum of Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
(EAPC).

During the conference held with the participation of Defense and
Foreign Ministers of Euro-Atlantic region, Secretary Generals of NATO
and other international institutions and other top-officials thoughts
are intended to be exchanged on different urgent issues referring
to the security including the energy security and establishment of
stable environment in the South Caucasus.

Press secretary to the Armenian Defense Minister Colonel Seyran
Shahsuvaryan told Armenpress that within the frameworks of the visit
the meeting of Armenian Defense Minister S. Ohanyan with the head
of the committee of heads of headquarters, charge d’affaires of the
Defense Minister Mukhtar Altinbaev is intended.

During the meeting bilateral and multilateral cooperation issues
within the CSTO frameworks will be discussed.

HOVHANNESS IGITYAN: AMNESTY WILL NOT MITIGATE THE DOMESTIC TENSION
Anna Nazaryan

"Radiolur"
22.06.2009 17:48

Although the general pardon applies to 2 000 prisoners, there are a
lot of controversies, former head of the Armenian delegation to the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Hovhanness Igityan
told a press conference today.

The human factor will play a great role in releasing the prisoners. The
amnesty failed to solve the issue of persecution for political views,
representative of the Armenian National Congress said. According to
him, the amnesty will not mitigate the current internal political
tension.

According to Hovhannes Igityan, the fact that several people were
released today proves that our judicial system is not ideal, Hovhannes
Igityan continued. In his opinion, the amnesty has been applied on an
individual basis. "They have released whoever they wanted to," he said.

Seeking Alpha
June 21 2009

U.S. Tops List of Countries with the Largest External Debt

The World Bank maintains the database of Gross External Debt Positions
of countries.The top five countries with the largest external debt are
as follows:

Country External Debt in Millions Year-Over-Year Change
(at the end of 2008)
United States 13,641,807 1.6%
United Kingdom 9,388,012 -19.9%
Germany 5,250,499 1.8%
France 5,001,696 2.4%
Netherlands 2,439,864 -6.1%

The USA is the biggest debtor country with a total of $13.6 Trillion
at the end of 2008. On a year-over-year basis, this represents an
increase of 1.6%. In order to see the creditors to the US, you can
check my earlier post titled Top Ten Creditors to the USA. The country
with the second largest debt is the UK. Total external debt of the UK
stood at $9.3 T. Though this may seem large at first glance, it is
actually good since the UK reduced their debt by 19.9% from 2007. All
the top five debtor countries are developed rich countries.This is
fascinating since these countries are able to borrow so much money to
keep their economy moving forward.

The countries with the lowest amount of debt are:

Country External Debt in Millions Year-Over-Year Change
(at the end of 2008)
Armenia 3427 15.1%
Kyrgyz Republic 3467 8.8%
Paraguay 3507 11.7%
Moldova 4125 19.4%
Bolivia 5923 9.1%

All the above countries are small countries in the developing
world. Armenia has the lowest debt at $3.4B. However this was an
increase of 15.1% from 2007.

Some of the countries have been reducing their external
debt. Switzerland and the UK reduced it the most at nearly 20% from
2007. Other countries that have decreased their debt in 2008 include
Australia, Canada, Israel, Egypt, etc.

The list below shows the countries that reduced their debt in 2008:

Country Year-over-Year Change
Korea -0.7%
Egypt -2.2%
Uruguay -3.0%
South Africa -4.8%
Israel -5.1%
Italy -6.0%
Netherlands -6.1%
Canada -7.4%
Australia -7.4%
Hong Kong, China -7.7%
Belgium -14.3%
United Kingdom -19.9%
Switzerland -19.9%

The countries that increased their external debt in 2008 compared to
2007 are:

Country Year-over-Year Change
Georgia 26.8%
Japan 24.6%
Ukraine 20.4%
Hungary 20.0%
Moldova 19.4%
Malaysia 17.2%
Bulgaria 16.6%
Belarus 15.7%
Slovak Republic 15.6%
Armenia 15.1%
Chile 14.0%
Paraguay 11.7%
India 10.8%
Croatia 10.1%
Kazakhstan 10.1%
Turkey 10.1%

Georgia was the worst with an increase of over 25%. Hungary almost
collapsed due to the heavy debt load before it was rescued earlier
this year.

tops-list-of-countries-with-the-largest-external-d ebt

RUSSIAN KALININGRAD REGION’S DELEGATION VISITS ARMENIA, WOOS WITH BIGGER COOPERATION PROMISES

ARKA
June 18, 2009

YEREVAN, June 18. /ARKA/. Russia’s Kaliningrad oblast (region) has
sent a delegation to Armenia to boost cultural and economic ties
with Armenia, Governor of Kaliningrad region Georgy Boos was quoted
as saying at today’s press conference in Yerevan.

"With around 15,000 Armenians living in the Armenian community in
Kaliningrad region, we stress the importance of allowing them to
maintain cultural and historical relations with their motherland,"
Boos said.

He stressed that the visit aimed at fostering relations of Armenian
community of Kaliningrad with Armenia.

Pointing out possible economic cooperation prospects, Boos emphasized
tourism development, agricultural equipment manufacturing, fish
industry and jewelry making.

According to the governor, Kaliningrad region comprises less than 1%
of Armenia-Russia trade. Boos said the delegation’s visit would boost
bilateral trade.

Kaliningrad region’s delegation, led by Governor Georgy Boos, arrived
in Yerevan on June 17 on a four-day visit.

Boos is to meet with high-ranking officials in Armenia, public figures,
Russians living in Armenia and student of the Russian-Armenian
(Slavonic) University.

HOVIK ABRAHAMIAN RECEIVES AMBASSADOR OF INDIA REENA PANDEY COMPLETING HER DIPLOMATIC MISSION IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
June 18, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 18, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 18, RA National Assembly Speaker
Hovik Abrahamian received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of India to Armenia Reena Pandey on the occasion of completion of
her diplomatic mission in Armenia.

H. Abrahamian thanked the Ambassador for close cooperation in the past
years mentioning that she made her unique contribution to development
of bilateral relations.

According to the report of the RA National Assembly Public Relations
Department, at the meeting the interlocutors discussed prospects of
cooperation between the two countries’ parliaments. R. Pandey said
that her country is going to assist development of one of Lori region
rural communities, as well as to found an information technologies
center in Yerevan.

Concluding the conversation, H. Abrahamian wished R. Pandey success
in her future activity.

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER VISITS THE SIXTH HOSTEL BUILDING OF YEREVAN STATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

ARMENPRESS
June 16, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
took part today in the opening ceremony of the sixth building of the
Zeytun students’ community which is attached to the hostel of Yerevan
State Medical University.

The Armenian Prime Minister walked round the entirely reconstructed
building which was rendered to the Medical University on the decision
of the Government in stead of the seventh building which formerly
belonged to the university.

Public relations department of Armenian Government told Armenpress that
Tigran Sargsyan has got acquainted with the housing conditions also
attending the hotel division intended for the students, professors and
guests who arrived in Armenia on the international exchange projects.

The hostel is armed with corresponding technical means and security
system. At present the fifth and sixth buildings of the students’
community with nearly 300 rooms and facilities to organize living
conditions of more than 600 students are attached to the medical
university. The building has been reconstructed with the financial
means of the payment system of the university.

The Prime Minister considered the decision of Armenian Government
justified noting that the most important thing is the marks of the
students.

"I think the students of our generation who lived in the hostels
could only dream of such conditions. I lived in a hostel in Leningrad
and have never met such conditions yet. What we saw today is very
impressing. This will create an opportunity for our students to wholly
addict to the science, learning and the knowledge," the Armenian
Prime Minister said.