Author: Nalbandian Eduard

AZERBAIJAN DOWNPLAYS SELF-DETERMINATION, INSISTS ON ‘SELF-RULE’ FOR KARABAKH

Asbarez
Dec 2nd, 2009

A map of Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh and the liberated territories.

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-Azerbaijan insists on the restoration of its
control over Nagorno-Karabakh despite accepting peoples’ right to
self-determination as one of the core principles for resolving the
Karabakh conflict, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov indicated
on Wednesday.

"Providing self-governance for Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan
will be a just and durable solution, and it can dramatically reduce
tensions and challenges for peace and stability in the region,"
Mammadyarov said in a speech at a ministerial conference in Athens
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The remark highlighted the conflicting parties’ differing public
interpretations of the basic principles of a Karabakh settlement put
forward by the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group. The proposed agreement calls for the transfer to Azerbaijan
of liberated territories linking Armenia and Karabakh and a future
referendum of self-determination in the Armenian-controlled territory.

Mammadyarov and his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, reaffirmed
their governments’ overall support for those principles in a joint
statement on Tuesday that was also signed by top U.S., Russian and
French diplomats. They agreed that the conflict’s resolution should
based on the internationally recognized principles of non-use of
force or threat of force, territorial integrity and self-determination
of peoples.

Nalbandian described the joint statement as one of the "greatest
achievements of Armenian diplomacy." He was referring to the
statement’s reaffirmation that the parties will "reach an agreement
based, in particular, upon the principles of the Helsinki Final Act
of Non-Use of Force or Threat of Force, Territorial Integrity, and
the Equal Rights and Self-Determination of Peoples."

He said that this was the first time the Co-Chairs had adopted
a written statement underscoring the need to observe the three
principles of international law. Nalbandian said Wednesday he hoped the
foreign ministers of the 56 OSCE member states would make a statement
confirming the principles.

An Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman, however, said last month
that the principle of self-determination does not call into question
Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Karabakh. The region’s predominantly
Armenian population could only determine the extent of its self-rule
within Azerbaijan, he said.

Armenian officials insist, however, the Karabakh Armenians would be
able to vote for independence, reunification with Armenia or return
under Azerbaijani rule in the would-be referendum. "Self-determination
means self-determination and territorial integrity territorial
integrity," the Foreign Ministry in Yerevan said on November 7,
dismissing the Azerbaijani interpretation of the Minsk Group plan.

In his speech, Mammadyarov also accused Armenia of occupying almost
20 percent of his country’s internationally recognized territory,
displacing hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis and destroying
their cultural heritage. "We in Azerbaijan strongly believe that
withdrawal of Armenian troops in a fixed time framework from the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan will open a tremendous opportunity
for the region, providing different environment of predictability,
development and benefit for everyone and for the entire region. This
is the core of the issue," he said.

Speaking at the OSCE forum later in the day, Nalbandian accused
Mammadyarov of seeking to "distort" the essence of the Karabakh
conflict and international efforts to resolve it. That, he said,
is hampering further progress in the peace process.

Still, both two ministers noted that the parties have moved closer to
hammering out a compromise peace accord. "I should admit that there
are positive dynamics in the latest talks and both sides together
with the Minsk Group Co-chairs agreed to intensify negotiations,"
said Mammadyarov.

HAY TAD HONOURS ITS WORTHY SON

htm?ar=307&p=21
Dec 09

Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra – In a celebratory ceremony, Speaker of
the House, Marios Garoyian, was honoured by the Armenian National
Committee of Cyprus as the "Personality of the Year 2009" for his
valuable services to the Armenian-Cypriot community and the Armenian
Question. This memorable ceremony took place at Latsia Municipal
Theatre last Friday night, 27 November 2009, in the presence of a
large number of officials and guests.

Opening remarks were made by Vahan Aynedjian, who spoke about
the history of the "Personality of the Year" award and the
personal/political connection the ANC has with Garoyian, whom he
called "yeghpayr". ANC Cyprus Chairman Hagop Manougian spoke of the
tragic history of the Armenian people that led to the formation of
the worldwide network of Armenian National Committees, pursuing the
restoration of the rights of the Armenian people and the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide.

Soprano Sona Gargaloyian and pianist Lilian Khatchadrian continued with
two beautiful songs, which were followed by a PowerPoint presentation
on the life of The Hay Tad Personality of 2009, Marios Garoyian.

Megerditch Megerditchian – member of ARF Dashnaktsoutiun’s Political
Bureau – addressed us, saying that Cyprus and Armenia are faced with
the same menace, Turkey, which, despite the violations of so many
principles of International Law, is assigned by the great powers
more and more tasks, because of its geostrategic location; therefore,
he said, the collaboration between our countries is imperative.

Accepting the prize – from ARF Dashnaktsoutiun Cyprus Representative
Hagop Kazandjian – Marios Garoyian thanked the Armenian National
Committee of Cyprus, and spoke on a personal and a political level,
reminiscing the trauma Turkey caused his generation, calling the
struggle with Turkey a historical obligation and a debt to our
ancestors. He declared himself committed to serve the Hay Tad and
the Armenian-Cypriot community.

The ceremony was completed, with a rich cultural programme by the
"Sipan" Dance Ensemble of the Hamazkayin Cultural Association,
followed by a reception, where Garoyian received the congratulations
of the attendees.

MEET THE MAN SHAPING TURKEY’S NEW DIPLOMACY

Tehran Times
Nov 30 2009
Iran

Expect to hear a lot more of the name Ahmet Davutoglu. The former
university professor who became Turkey’s foreign minister last year is
the man behind Ankara’s landmark new diplomatic outreach, including
a previously unimaginable rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia
and a new warmth with Syria.

Some Western analysts are dismayed at these developments, interpreting
them as a sign that Turkey is turning East at the expense of the West.

The mild-mannered Davutoglu typically gets angry at these suggestions,
saying these comments come from those who begrudge Turkey its expanding
role in the region.

Yet while Davutoglu is no stranger to Turkish politics — he began
serving as chief foreign-policy adviser to the ruling AKP in 2002
— he remains something of a cipher, even in his home country. To
remedy that, NEWSWEEK’s Turkish-language partner, NEWSWEEK Turkiye,
recently examined the forces that shaped Davutoglu and how he is
changing relationships with Turkey’s neighbors in the Middle East,
the Balkans, and the Caucasus.

Some of the highlights from the magazine’s comprehensive profile,
written by Yenal Bilgici with reporting by Semin Gumusel and Nevra
Yarac:

Davutoglu risked the deadly Izmit earthquake to save the manuscript of
his signature book, Strategic Depth: Turkey’s International Position,
which lays out the conceptual framework for what he now calls his "zero
problems with neighbors" policy. When the shaking started on Aug. 17,
1999, he managed to flee his endangered Istanbul home unharmed —
but then ignored warnings of aftershocks to dash back into the house
and eject the computer disk containing his years of work.

Now in its 30th printing, the book brought him national and
international recognition.

The foreign minister is a somewhat reluctant politician. After
Turkey’s ruling AKP won the elections of 2002, he turned down
requests to serve in the government and opted instead to continue his
university work while serving as an adviser to Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan. Five years later, he was on the verge of a full-time
return to academia when rebels from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK) attacked the Daglica military post in Turkey’s eastern city of
Hakkari, killing 13 soldiers. "I cannot leave now," Davutoglu told
his inner circle. Instead, he stayed on to take up the position of
foreign minister and facilitate recent agreements aimed at granting
long-denied rights to the Kurdish minority and ending two decades of
attacks by the PKK.

The peripatetic minister went to 13 countries in October alone,
raising Turkey’s diplomatic profile to its highest level in years.

Indeed, Davutoglu won unprecedented praise in Arabic media, like the
London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, where a columnist begged the foreign
minister to help solve Lebanon’s problems as well. "You carry ideas,
aspirations, solutions, and medicine in your luggage," wrote the
columnist. "You are the window to the future."

Davutoglu may be known for his temperate demeanor, but he has little
patience with Ankara’s political elites and their unassertive
approach to diplomacy. "These rootless elites are conditioned to
not being noticed and not taking initiative rather than coming to
the front and being decisive during critical periods," he wrote
in an uncharacteristically sharp tone in Strategic Depth. "They
think of being passive as a safer and risk-free policy." These
criticisms, writes Bilgici in NEWSWEEK Turkiye, are a beginner’s
guide to understanding Davutoglu and his policy. The second pointer
to his character: the minister’s constant use — and embodiment —
of the term "self-confidence." Davutoglu is also known for his work
ethic and self discipline. A family friend told NEWSWEEK Turkiye that,
while working on his book, the professor once spent three straight days
without leaving his chair. A former student says Davutoglu believes
that sleeping eight hours a night is a luxury. "We do not have the
right to sleep this much," he frequently told the student.

Davutoglu’s conscientiousness manifested itself at a relatively early
age. As a high-school student at the prestigious Istanbul High School
for Boys, where he was taught by German teachers who had come to
Turkey during World War II, he presented his teachers with ambitious
reading lists of dense philosophical and scientific works that he
thought would serve him well in the future. His instructors advised
him and his friends to go out and play ball for a while instead.

Davutoglu took the advice to heart; even after he’d become a professor,
he continued to play soccer with his students (as a highly regarded
forward), right up until he was appointed foreign minister.

While honing his soccer prowess, Davutoglu was refining his language
and academic skills too. In addition to the German learned in high
school, he took all-English programs to graduate from the economics
and political sciences department of Bogazici University. He learned
Arabic while studying on a scholarship in Jordan, worked on his
doctoral thesis at Cairo University, and learned Bahasa Malaysia while
a professor at Malaysia’s International Islamic University. His thesis,
a comparative analysis between Western and Islamic political theories
and images, was published in 1993 by American University Press with
the title Alternative Paradigms: The Impact of Islamic and Western
Weltanschauungs on Political Theory. Davutoglu’s postdoctoral work
included critiques of the theories of Samuel Huntington (clash of
civilizations) and Francis Fukuyama (end of history).

Colleagues say that Davutoglu’s oratorical skills are equal to his
writing ability. "There is no one the minister cannot make drop their
guard in 10 minutes," one high-ranking team member told NEWSWEEK
Turkiye. One example: when Ankara refused to allow U.S.-led forces
cross Turkish territory for the 2003 invasion into Iraq, a local Jewish
leader came over to read Davutoglu the riot act. The visitor initially
said he could only stay 10 minutes — partly because he needed to
prepare for a fast the following day — but ended up spending three
hours with Davutoglu after being won over by the minister’s erudite
discourse about Jewish culture, history, and the background to the
upcoming fast. Next time, the Jewish leader said, he’d like to stay
for the day.

Davutoglu is not without his critics; but even those who don’t support
him see him as a statesman who is both a thinker and a doer. And
right now, he’s the talk of more than just Ankara.

ANC: PRESIDENT READY FOR UNACCEPTABLE CONCESSIONS

news.am
Nov 30 2009
Armenia

Serzh Sargsyan’s attacks against Levon Ter-Petrosyan are evidence of
his intention to make unacceptable concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh,"
Vladimir Karapetyan, Head of the Foreign Relations Commission,
Armenian National Congress, told NEWS.am, commenting on the RA
President’s accusations against Ter-Petrosyan at the recent congress
of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA).

In his speech, the Armenian leader stated that he is accused by the
people "who would like to see Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan."

At his meeting with journalists today, one of the active RPA members,
Eduard Sharmazanov, pointed out that Serzh Sargsyan particularly
meant Ter-Petrosyan.

"Those actually yielding Nagorno-Karabakh will be exposed soon, and
the ones that have repudiated the Armenian Genocide are already known.

These are he people that are trying to repudiate the glorious victories
of the 1990s now as well. In 1990s there was no document calling
Nagorno-Karabakh’s interests in question, which cannot be said about
the recent period," Karapetyan said. Evidence thereof is the Resolution
of the UN General Assembly of March 13, 2008, and the PACE Resolution
adopted last June, both of which recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity, he said. Karapetyan pointed out that the documents were
adopted after Serzh Sargsyan was elected Armenian President. "He
was a loyal member of the The-Petrosyan team and never voiced his
discontent with the first president’s policy," he said.

90 PER CENT OF ARMENIAN MIGRANTS IN TURKEY ARE WOMEN

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.11.2009 18:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yerevan hosted a seminar "Situation of Armenian
migrants in Turkey". Coordinator of the Armenian-Turkish Initiatives
of Cooperation-Eurasia Fund Artak Shakaryan informed that the studies
were conducted in April-August of 2009.

"According to the study, 90 per cent of Armenian migrants in Turkey
are women. The studies show that the figure announced by the Turkish
leadership (50 to 80 thousand Armenian migrants) is untrue," Artak
Shakaryan said.

According to the survey, around 6000 Armenians emigrated from Armenia
to Turkey between 2000 and 2007. According to the study, the income
of Armenian migrants is ranging from $100 to $600 per month.

Participants stressed, children of Armenian migrants are deprived
of the opportunity to attend Armenian schools, since they are not
citizens of Turkey.

Regarding the relationship between the Armenian migrants and
representatives of the Armenian community of Istanbul, studies show
that most of Istanbul-based Armenians provide migrants with work.

NEXT COURT HEARING AGAINST "DENO GOLD MINING" SCHEDULED ON DEC. 25

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.11.2009 19:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Owners of Shaumyan village referred a claim to the
court of the Syunik region against "Deno Gold Mining" company.

Residents demand to stop the activities of the company in Shaumyan,
which threaten their lives and health, as well as to pay compensation
for the damage caused. According to local non-governmental organization
<<Ensuring ecological security and promoting democracy>>, the court
hearing is scheduled for December 25, 2009

The previous two claims with the same demand were rejected by the
court based on the lack of evidence. The court judged to make measures
to prevent risks caused by underground and on-ground works of Deno
Gold Mining.

TURKEY’S WIDENING ARC OF INFLUENCE

The National
Nov 30 2009
UAE

Last Updated: November 30. 2009 10:10AM UAE / November 30. 2009 6:10AM
GMT "Prospects for Turkey’s accession to the exclusive European club
may look dimmer than ever but the republic, which is Nato’s only
Muslim member, is increasingly turning eastward for its ambitions,"
Hamida Ghafour wrote in The National.

"From the Balkans to the Caucasus to the Middle East, Turkey is
focusing its energies on establishing an arc of influence in many
countries which were once part of the Ottoman empire."

Turkey’s ascent in regional influence has corresponded precisely with
the dwindling power of the United States whose own regional ambitions
tumbled in Iraq.

As Newsweek noted: "it’s the Turks – not the Iranians, as many
observers claim – who are now emerging as the war’s real winners. In
economic terms Turkey is running neck and neck with Iran as Iraq’s
biggest trading partner, even as most US businesses sit helplessly
on the sidelines. And in terms of regional influence, Turkey has
no rival. The country’s stern-faced prime minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, is working to consolidate that strength as he asserts Turkey’s
independence in a part of the world long dominated by America. Next
week he’s in Washington to meet with President Obama, but only a
few weeks ago he stood shoulder to shoulder with his ‘good friend’
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran and defended Iran’s nuclear programme.

"That’s only one example of the behaviour that’s disturbing many of
Turkey’s longtime Nato partners. Among the biggest worries has been
the souring of ties with Israel, once Turkey’s close ally, over the
military offensive in Gaza earlier this year that human-rights groups
say killed more than 1,400 Palestinians. Erdogan walked out of the
World Economic Forum in protest over the deaths, and recently scrapped
a decade-old deal allowing the Israeli Air Force to train over Turkish
territory. At the same time, the Turkish prime minister has repeatedly
supported Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, claiming he couldn’t
possibly be guilty of genocide in Darfur because he’s a ‘good Muslim’.

Right now there are ‘more points of disagreement than of agreement’
between Washington and Ankara, says Philip Gordon, Obama’s point man
on Turkey at the State Department."

Even so, Newsweek observed: "Turkey’s new standing in the region
has a chance of transforming the country into something far more
valuable to Washington than a subservient tool or proxy. The Turks
say they’re seeking to become what Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu calls a ‘partner to solve the region’s problems’. Whatever
ambitions they may have harboured in earlier years, it’s only in
this decade – especially since 2002, when Erdogan and the AKP came
to power – that Turkey has had the economic and political strength,
as well as the military presence, to fill such a position."

In The New York Times, Alastair Crooke wrote: "In recent months,
a spate of new agreements have been signed by Turkey with Iraq, Iran
and Syria that suggest a nascent commonality of political vision. A
new treaty with Armenia further signals how seriously Ankara means its
‘zero problem’ good neighbour policy.

"More importantly, however, the agreements with Iraq, Iran and Syria
reflect a joint economic interest. The ‘northern tier’ of Middle
Eastern states are poised to become the principal supplier of natural
gas to central Europe once the Nabucco pipeline is completed – thus not
only displacing Russia in that role but gradually eclipsing the primacy
of Saudi Arabia as a geostrategic kingpin due to its oil reserves.

"Taken together with the economic stagnation and succession crisis
that has incapacitated Egypt, it is clear that the so-called moderate
‘southern tier’ Middle Eastern states that have been so central to
American policies are becoming a weak and unreliable link indeed."

Today’s Zaman reported: "Ahead of an upcoming visit by Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Washington, the United States has appeared to
dismiss concerns that Turkey’s foreign policy orientation is shifting
away from the West, saying Ankara stands out as a democratic model
for its region.

" ‘We have a very robust and broad relationship with Turkey. Turkey
is a valued member of Nato. We see [Turkey] as an important model
for the region in terms of its very vital democratic institutions,’
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told a daily press briefing
on Wednesday.

"He was responding to a question on whether there has been a change
in the way the US perceives its relations with Turkey amid growing
accusations by ‘pro-Israeli forces in Washington’ that Ankara is
moving away from the West and building alliances with Iran and Syria."

On Monday, an editorial in The Washington Post had claimed: "it is
becoming evident that Mr Erdogan’s commitment to democratic principles
and Western values is far from complete. As Turkey’s prospects of
joining the European Union have dimmed, the government’s foreign
policy has taken a nasty turn: Shrill denunciations of Israel have
been accompanied by increasing coziness with the criminal rulers of
Iran, Syria and Sudan."

Semih Idiz, in a commentary for Hurriyet responded to the Post’s
editorial, saying: "those who see Turkey moving away from the West now
– and we personally don’t believe this to be the case – are basically
in a state of panic because Turkey, free from the pressures of the
Cold War, has started acting too independently for Western comfort.

"The desired formula on the other hand is a traditional one.

"A Turkey that remains in the western fold, but is not allowed in
its inner sanctum because it is the ‘eternal other’. A docile Turkey,
that is – which thus meets the West’s varying needs.

"This paradigm may have been operational in the past but it is
no longer.

"Like it or not, those who deal with Turkey have begun to see that
they are dealing with an entity that is increasingly coming up with
its own ideas, even if these do not tally with the needs of the West."

Patrick Seale noted that Mr Erdogan’s most daunting political challenge
nevertheless is domestic rather than foreign: his Kurdish initiative.

"Erdogan knows… that reconciliation with the Kurds is a must, which
cannot be avoided however difficult it may be. It is an essential
element of the ambitious diplomatic campaign – spearheaded by Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu – to make Turkey a key player in the Middle
East, the Balkans and the Caucasus, by mediating conflicts, promoting
economic and trading ties with neighbours such as Syria, Iraq and Iran,
and generally spreading peace and stability across the region.

"Ataturk’s slogan of ‘peace at home, and peace abroad’ has been
adopted by the AKP as its own. Without peace at home, there can be no
long-term peace abroad. Having recently made dramatic progress abroad,
the Erdogan government is now determined to address the first part
of the equation, even if it means a potentially bruising battle with
its domestic critics.

"Erdogan’s long and emotional speech in parliament on 13 November,
in which he launched his Kurdish reform program, was hailed by
his supporters as an historic event. Many Kurds welcomed the new
conciliatory approach, but the more militant among them felt that
the concessions being made to them were still too timid. This is
Erdogan’s dilemma: His opening to the Kurds risks antagonising many
voters, but he may not have gone far enough to persuade the fighters
of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to lay down their arms and end
a conflict which has caused some 40,000 deaths over the past quarter
of a century."

ARMENIAN DEPUTY FM PARTICIPATED IN THE "STABILITY AND SECURITY IN THE EU EASTERN NEIGHBORHOOD" CONFERENCE

armradio.am
30.11.2009 16:58

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosyan participated in the
"Stability and Security in the EU Eastern Neighborhood" conference
in Brussels.

Touching upon Armenia’s European policy, Deputy Foreign Minister
Arman Kirakosyan spoke about the opportunities provided by the Eastern
Partnership Program. He welcomed the start of the discussions on the
mandate of negotiations on the associated agreement with the EU. He
said Armenia is preparing to start negotiations on free trade and
simplification of the visa regime.

Mr. Kirakosyan presented the process of settlement of the Karabakh
conflict and the latest developments in the normalization of the
Armenian-Turkish relations.

Arman Kirakosyan also participated in the roundtable organized by
"European Friends of Armenia" NGO.

THE RA FM VISITED THE JAPAN’S EXTERNAL TRADE ORGANIZATION

Aysor
Nov 26 2009
Armenia

The RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s official visit to Tokyo
besides the political agenda had also an economic component, informs
the press and information department of the Foreign Ministry of the
Armenian Republic.

In Tokyo the Armenian foreign minister visited the Japan’s External
Trade Organization where he had a meeting with the Chairman of
the organization Yasuo Hayashi and discussed the possibilities of
development of the economic and commercial cooperation between the
two countries, presented the investment field and spheres of Armenia.

Yasuo Hayashi presented the activities of his organization and said
that the organization is interested in establishing and developing ties
with the Armenian colleagues. As a result of the meeting an agreement
was reached to host the representative of the organization in Yerevan
for discussing the ways of establishing ties and cooperation with
the Armenian colleagues.

Tomorrow will take place the meeting of the Armenian Foreign Minister
with the successor of the Japan throne Narohito. He will also give
a speech in Japan’s institute of the International relations.

AZERI LEADER VISITING RUSSIA AS BAKU STEPS UP WAR PREPARATIONS

Yeni Musavat
Nov 23 2009
Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani president is set to visit Russia on 24 November as
the government is stepping up preparations for a new war to retake
the breakaway region of Nagornyy Karabakh from Armenia.

The visit comes a day after Ilham Aliyev met his Armenian counterpart,
Serzh Sargsyan, in Munich for talks which Aliyev had said were the
last chance to resolve the conflict peacefully.

After the four-hour talks in Munich, "it can be said that the option
to resolve the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict peacefully is a complete
fiasco," Yeni Musavat said in a front page commentary on 23 November.

"Azerbaijan has stepped up war preparations significantly… According
to some reports, the political and military elite in Russia has even
tacitly allowed Azerbaijan to start limited military operations in
Nagornyy Karabakh," the newspaper said, quoting a "quite respectable"
source.