Author: Navasardian Karapet

WE HAVE CHANCE TO PLAY WHITE: ALAVERDYAN

news.am
Feb 5 2010
Armenia

"We have often participated in OSCE Parliamentary Assembly activities
and Armenian delegates always voiced national issues," Rule of Law
party member, RA NA delegation member in OSCE PA Khachik Harutyunyan
stated at Feb. 5 briefing. Earlier, Heritage faction and OSCE PA member
Larisa Alaverdyan barred from participating in PA activities said
she intended to put forward new initiatives and prevent Azerbaijani
delegation steps to constantly refer to the implementation of 4 UN
resolutions. "We should disclose the content of these resolutions;
they enable us to play white as under the document Azerbaijan also
has obligations and issues to tackle," she noted.

Asked whether Armenian delegates will be able to raise same issues at
the meeting without Alaverdyan’s participation, Harutyunyan replied:
"There is indeed a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and we
are winning. If we succeed in presenting national interests, it is
irrelevant who does it — authorities or opposition."

Khachik Harutyunyan (RLP), Artak Davtyan (RPP) and Aram Safaryan
(PAP) represent Armenian delegation in OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE IN CRISIS – AZERBAIJANI MP

news.az
Feb 4 2010
Azerbaijan

Rafael Huseynov MP Rafael Huseynov, a member of the Azerbaijani
delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
has criticized the council’s work.

"The Council of Europe is one of the most influential international
organizations, in a number of questions it fulfills the UN functions
and I think the Council should avoid double standards and other
factors that undermine its influence. Unfortunately, the Council of
Europe is at present in a state of serious and worsening crisis,"
a member of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe (PACE), Rafael Huseynov, said today.

He said the crisis could be seen in the topics under discussion and
the work of different Council structures.

"The organization is passive in the implementation of resolutions
adopted in previous years. For example, the resolution on the Karabakh
conflict contains several serious demands. Today Armenia is the only
Council member-state that occupies part of the territory of another
Council member-state. Naturally, this causes concern and disappointment
not only in Azerbaijan but also in other Council member-states."

Asked about the frustrated visit to the region of Edward O’Hara, the
Committee on Cultural Heritage’s co-rapporteur on the South Caucasus,
Huseynov said:

"Some time ago Armenia asked the Council of Europe to send O’Hara
to Nakhchivan to study the destruction of ancient Armenian graves
in the cemetery at Julfa, according to the documents presented by
the Armenian side. At that time I also spoke in the committee and
said that because O’Hara is the rapporteur on the South Caucasus, he
should first visit the Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan,
meaning the land where Armenians have destroyed numerous monuments
of Azerbaijani culture, not to mention desecrated cemeteries. I also
said that we have prepared and submitted to the Council of Europe a
special document on this problem.

"At that time it was decided to organize the visit to Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia, but primarily to the occupied lands. However,
Armenia is hampering this plan. On the other hand, O’Hara planned
to visit Karabakh from Armenia. We were against it because this
means disrespect for the sovereignty of Azerbaijan. Karabakh is an
inseparable part of Azerbaijan though it is currently occupied by
Armenia. O’Hara represents an influential international organization
capable of ensuring his security. If Armenian representatives face
no problems in participating in different international events
in Azerbaijan, there will be no hindrances for Council of Europe
representatives visiting one part of Azerbaijan from another, though
it is under occupation."

U.S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE TO VISIT ARMENIA AND GEORGIA

news.am
Feb 3 2010
Armenia

February 4-5, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg will
pay a visit to Armenia and Georgia, U.S. Department of State informs.

In Yerevan Steinberg will hold meetings with RA President Serzh
Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. In Tbilisi U.S.

diplomat will meet Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and
opposition representatives.

Thereafter, Steinberg will arrive in Munich to participate in Munich
Security Conference, February 5-7. There U.S. official will meet
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu.

AXA CLARIFICATIONS

AZG DAILY
04-02-2010

Armenian Genocide

Each heir will get 8 thousand dollars

The Prague journal "Orer’ asked for clarifications on the process
of compensation to the heirs of the victims of the Armenian genocide
the U.S. attorney Vardges Eghiayan.

Claims to AXA confirmed by the District Court of Central region
of California in late January. The foundation received 13 790
applications, of which 996 passed, 12 794 rejected.

Each will be given a little more than 8000 dollars in the next 2
weeks who will receive corresponding letter.

AXA Insurance Agency will pay 17.6 million dollars, of which 11 million
will have the heirs, the rest will be transferred to the accounts of
lawyers’ offices and Armenian organizations that were involved in a
lawsuit, lragir.am reports.

ARMENIA’S MEDALS TO GREEK SOLDIERS

A1Plus.am
04/02/10

Athens held a ceremony on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of
the Armenian Army.

Accredited representatives of diplomatic representations and
military attaches, high-ranking officials and officers from different
subdivisions of the Greek Armed Forces, Greek-Armenian clergymen,
as well as representatives of different Armenian organizations and
Armenian students of the "Evelpidon" military academy were present at
the invitation of RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to
Greece Gagik Ghalachyan and military attache, Colonel Samvel Ramazyan.

Military attache, Colonel S. Ramazyan awarded the "Mariner Isakov"
and "Marshal Baghramian" medals to the Greek high-ranking soldiers
awarded by RA Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan, including commander,
General-Major Teoklidos Rusakis, former military attaches of the
Greek Embassy in Armenia, General-Lieutenant Khristos Levteriotis and
Captain of Marine Forces Georgios Righanakos, Head of the Department of
Military Education at the headquarters of National Defense, General
of the Brigade, Adam Tomaidis and Colonel Leonidas Papageorgiu.

Greece is among the first countries that showed support to the newly
created Armenian national army by opening the doors of its military
educational institutions for preparing officers. Since 1994, nearly 130
officers of the RA Armed Forces have studied at Military Educational
Institutions of Greece. Today, there are nearly 30 Armenian students
at the "Evelpidon" military academy and the military-medical academy
in Salonic, as reported by the department of information and public
relations of the RA Ministry of Defense.

TURKEY CRITICIZES ISRAEL WHILE DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.02.2010 17:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Hayat London-based Arabic newspaper slammed Turkey’s
police towards the Arab world.

As Shahan Kandaharian, Editor-in-Chief of Beirut-based Aztag newspaper
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, Ankara was criticized for using
double standards in relation to Arab world.

"Turkey criticizes Israel while denying Armenian Genocide," the
newspaper said.

At the same time, Turkey is developing a unified strategy with Syria,
Lebanon and Jordan. "Nevertheless, strategic partnership between
Turkey and Israel continues," Shahan Kandaharian emphasized.

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic
destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during
and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to
lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths
reaching 1.5 million.

The date of the onset of the genocide is conventionally held to be
April 24, 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities arrested some 250
Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople.

Thereafter, the Ottoman military uprooted Armenians from their homes
and forced them to march for hundreds of miles, depriving them of
food and water, to the desert of what is now Syria.

To date, twenty countries and 44 U.S. states have officially recognized
the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars
and historians accept this view. The Armenian Genocide has been also
recognized by influential media including The New York Times, BBC,
The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the
Genocide survivors.

KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION UNLIKELY IN FORESEEABLE FUTURE

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.02.2010 15:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is
unlikely in the foreseeable future, according to Alexander Iskandaryan,
director of Caucasus Institute.

Commenting on Iran’s willingness to mediate between the conflicting
parties, he said, "Iran is not a member of the Organization for the
Security and Cooperation in Europe. So, its joining the process as
an intermediary is unreal."

Mr. Iskadaryan also emphasized that Armenia won’t sacrifice Karabakh
to normalize relations with Turkey.

KAZAKHSTAN TO FOCUS ON KARABAKH TALKS

Aysor.am
Tuesday, February 02

Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev
will pay his first official visit as the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office
to the South Caucasus. It’s worth mentioning that Kazakhstan joined
the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on January
30 1992, and joined the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement to the
Karabakh conflict.

Preparing the trilateral Armenia-Azerbaijan-Russia meeting in Russia’s
Sochi, the OSCE MG Co-Chairs traveled to Astana for consultations with
the Government of Kazakhstan, upon its ascension to the Chairmanship
of the OSCE. There were no reports on meeting’s results, but some
general sayings, as it was held behind the closed doors.

Perhaps, the parts talked about the Madrid Document, as its updated
version, containing the Co-Chairs’ latest articulation of the Basic
Principles, was delivered to Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents.

Kazakhstan’s government has announced that as OSCE MG
Chairperson-in-Office the state will focus on the Karabakh talks.

"Kazakhstan has historical solidarity with the conflict’s sides; the
country knows the conflict’s roots and has a deeper understanding of
the current stage of the conflict," said Kanat Saudabayev pointing
that there is another very reliable resource – that is, Kazakhstan
President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s high credibility and authority that
he enjoys of the involved in the conflict nations.

ARMENIA CANNOT POLLUTE KUR AND ARAX

Lragir.am
02/02/10

On these days, the Azerbaijani media issued information as if as a
result of monitoring carried out in December and January, pollution
in Kur and Arax rivers was found out to be big which is mainly due
to cooper and phenol combinations. The Azerbaijani side thinks the
author of the pollution is Armenia.

In this connection, the ministry of nature protection of Armenia
informs that the data of the Azerbaijani side are not true. In the
part of Arax River, bordering with Armenia the amount of copper in
2009-2010 January is within the permissible limits. At the same time,
the amount of copper in Arax, Debet and Aghstev rivers is below the
adopted norms in European countries.

The presence of phenol is determined by the waste of huge organic
chemical industry, oil, production of wood material and cattle-breading
which currently lack in Armenia. This issue was brought up by the
Azerbaijani side still in Soviet times. After monitoring for 5 years
the amount of phenol in Armenian waters was found out to be low and
the monitoring was stopped. The Azerbaijani side has set for itself
low level of phenols permissibility without grounds and declares that
the waters are polluted.

Nevertheless, the monitoring of phenols in Armenian waters is
restarting and in upcoming months, the latest data will be known. At
the same time, at the proposal of the Azerbaijani side, with which
the Armenian and Georgian sides agreed, monitoring of the surface
of waters for the presence of phenols within the framework of the
European Union TASIS project will be carried out.

Despite all this, the Azerbaijani side, groundlessly, issues unserious
statements, the message of the ministry of nature protection runs.

CHINGFORD: MOTHER DESCRIBES WEST BANK GUNFIRE HORROR
By Carl Brown

Guardian
11:39am Tuesday 2nd February 2010
UK

A MOTHER-OF-TWO has described the terrifying moment Israeli soldiers
fired bullets during a peace protest near Bethlehem.

Catherine Arakelian, of St Egberts Way, Chingford, flew out to the
Middle East for a 10 day trip earlier this month with Christian Arab
charity Holy Land Trust, which peacefully campaigns against oppression
of Palestinians.

Mrs Arakelian attended a protest in the village of Al Massarah,
which involved campaigners walking 40 minutes out of the village and
demonstrating in front of Israeli troops.

She said the protest, which happens every Friday, was on this occasion
particularly large.

The campaigners finished their peaceful protest, which involved flag
waving, and as they began to walk back to the village, Mrs Arakelian
said the Israeli army decided to act.

She added: "All of a sudden they started rolling razor wire across
the road, to stop us going further away and then they fired shots
above our heads to try and get us to go back to the village, which
is where we were going anyway. They also threw smoke bombs to scare us.

"It was very scary, I have never been anywhere close to a group of
young soldiers who themselves looked frightened and I did not know
what a smoke bomb was.

"The whole point of the Palestine Peace Movement is that it is
non-violent, but the media got the pictures they wanted of people
running away and of conflict."

Mrs Arakelian said she and her fellow campaigners did not know why
the army acted in the way it did.

The 48-year-old, who is standing as the Labour candidate in the
Chingford & Woodford Green constituency at the general election, added:
"When we touched down in Luton on the way back I felt free.

"Here we have freedom of expression, movement and association, we
don’t always realise in this country how important these freedoms are."

During her visit Mrs Arakelian also visited the Armenian quarter of
Bethlehem and met a Muslim family in danger of losing their home to
Jewish settlers.

Despite the terrifying moment with the army, Mrs Arakelian, a
practising Christian, described the trip as "amazing spiritually
and politically."

Mrs Arakelian will be speaking about her trip at a meeting at 7 Hatch
Lane, Chingford, on Thursday, from 7.30pm.