Author: Takmazian

Day of non-identical twins: Kosovo, Abkhazia…

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Fedyashin)

By an odd coincidence, February 17 has linked two unrecognized (or
semi-recognized) non-identical twins – Kosovo and Abkhazia. Two years
ago, on February 17 Albanians unilaterally proclaimed the independence
of the territory that Serbia considers its own and calls "Kosovo and
Metohija." On February 17, 1810, that is, 200 years ago, the Abkhazian
principality joined the Russian Empire of its own free will.

Its incorporation into Russia has several interpretations among the
highly volatile Russian scholars. Some historians maintain that it was
the ruling dynasty that joined Russia, after which almost half of
Abkhazians left the country. However, voluntary accession is a viable
version since the other half stayed.

In any event, Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh, who is currently in
Moscow on an official visit (February 16-18) and his host President
Dmitry Medvedev, have something to celebrate. Thus, in honor of the
memorable date, Abkhazia offered Russia to run its railroad and Russia
agreed.

For Kosovo the anniversary is marred by the legal proceedings in the
International Court of Justice in The Hague regarding its declaration
of independence. Since the past year the court has been debating this
issue at Serbia’s request (in the UN it was supported by 77 countries,
with 74 abstaining and six voting against it). The verdict will be
passed in late spring or summer.

Importantly, the verdict will be merely consultative but not legally
binding. However, even these proceedings are enough to keep tensions
between three camps – Kosovo’s supporters, opponents, and all other
non-identical twins – Abkhazian, Kosovar and Ossetian proto-statehood.

The verdict may have the following consequences. If the court decades
that Kosovars had a legal right to their declaration of independence
(which is not likely), dozens of movements, groups and territories
will be inspired to step up their struggle for independence and
recognition. If the court rules that they did not have that right
(which is also unlikely), the Kosovo issue will be in limbo again. But
in this case dozens of movements, groups and territories will also be
inspired to intensify their struggle for independence and recognition
but for a different reason: "If the UN is so unfair, then…"

There are also more global problems linked with the entire system of
UN functioning. Law experts fear that if The Hague recognizes the
legality of Kosovo’s independence, the UN ability to conduct
peacekeeping missions will be endangered. Unstable states with
separatist attitudes may refuse to accept the UN peacemaking mission
because Kosovo created a very bad precedent: First UN troops enter a
territory and then this territory proclaims its independence.

Judges in The Hague Court will have a hard time. They are going into
such wilds of jurisprudence from which only very educated people can
emerge unscathed. But they can make a compromise decision, for example
that the Albanians had the right to proclaim independence but they
didn’t approach the issue correctly, and the Serbians are right about
some things but wrong about others, etc. In law, conformism is more
often called "broad interpretation." This is what the court is most
likely to do. It has an unlimited range of instruments for this
purpose.

International law has two main theories on recognizing statehood –
declarative and constituent. Both are equally applicable to Kosovo,
Abkhazia, Ossetia, etc. In general this law is tailored in such a way
that skillful lawyers can pull it in any direction and make any issue
almost fully transparent or totally ambiguous. Debates in the UN bear
out that this applies to resolutions on Kosovo.

The advocates of "declarative statehood" are convinced that for its
recognition it is necessary to have a fixed territory, a permanent
population, a government and an ability to enter relations with other
states. Supporters of "constituent statehood" believe that to achieve
independence it is enough to be recognized by other states, or even by
one state. President Medvedev quoted this theory in regard to Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, although this does not at all mean that he supports
it. This is just an example.

International law is not a hadron collider or open heart surgery. The
precision of hadron particles or sharp scalpels can only harm rather
than be helpful there. As it often happens in international law, it is
possible to choose the most befitting instrument for the specific
geopolitical, historic, diplomatic, military, economic and disputed
territorial conditions. This is what interpretation of an ambiguous
decision is all about.

The trouble is that non-identical twins like Kosovo or Abkhazia can
also interpret the decisions of The Hague Court the way they see fit,
and there are many more of them than it may seem at first sight.

Unrecognized states (or recognized by many or several countries, or by
one state) include Kosovo (recognized by 65 out of 192 UN members),
Abkhazia and South Ossetia (recognized by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela
and Nauru). There are also other states like Taiwan, Nagorno-Karabakh,
Somaliland, Transdnestr, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,
Armenia (unrecognized by Pakistan), the Palestinian Autonomy, Israel
(unrecognized by 20 Muslim countries), South Korea (unrecognized by
North Korea) and North Korea (unrecognized by South Korea), the
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (West Sahara), the Czech Republic and
Slovakia (still unrecognized by Lichtenstein, and the other way round)
because of a territorial dispute.

The number of separatist or autonomy movements in the world is
countless. Most of them are based in Europe: 25 big, medium and small
ones from Albania to Germany, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Africa is
the runner-up with 24 groups, and Asia is third with 20. There are 21
such movements in North, Central and South America. There are
separatist groups even in the U.S. Caribbean islands, which would like
to break away from the metropolis. All of them are watching The Hague
Court.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not
necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Feb 20 2010

Iranian speaker: Solution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is important
for whole region (PHOTO)

20.02.2010 17:16
The main priority of Iran’s foreign policy is the solution of
regional problems, said the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali
Larijani, at a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Oktay Asadov,
who is on a visit to Tehran.

"The solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is important for the
whole region," said Larijani, Mehr news agency reported.

Azerbaijani Speaker mentioned Azerbaijan’s commitment to the peaceful
solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of the
principle of country’s territorial integrity.

At the meeting, Larijani also highlighted his country’s interest in
developing economic ties with Azerbaijan, with which Iran is closely
connected by historical and cultural ties.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the United
States – are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.

2773.html

YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY’S PROFITS FALL 28%

ARKA
Feb 19, 2010

YEREVAN, February 19, /ARKA/. The Yerevan Brandy Company’s profits
last year fell by 28%, Ara Grigorian, the executive director of the
French-owned winery told ARKA. He blamed the decline on global economic
crisis adding that the company’s sales fell by 36%.He said last year
was the ‘most difficult’ since the company was privatized by Pernod
Ricard, one of the leading world manufacturers of alcoholic drinks,
with production of brandy falling from 4.3 million liters in 2008 to
2.8 million liters.

"The main problem is that the consequences of the crisis are still
felt in Russia, Ukraine and some other former Soviet republics,
which are our major sale markets,’ he said.

However, according to Ara Grigorian, apart from the fallout the
crisis has had also some positive effect-despite the falling sales,
the company has succeeded in ‘strengthening’ the positions of Ararat
brandy.

‘Crisis, as an economic phenomenon, can not be eliminated, but we
can surmount it and move quickly to recovery,’ he said.

Last year production of brandy in Armenia slashed by 40%. It was due to
crisis and lowering solvency, Ara Grigorian said, adding that they plan
to produce this year 4.3 million liters of brandy, as much as in 2008.

The Yerevan Brandy Company was founded in 1887. In 1998 it was
privatized by Pernod Ricard at $390 million.

ARMENIA COMMEMORATES THE 6TH ANNIVERSARY OF GURGEN MARGARYAN’S MURDER

Armradio.am
19.02.2010 14:56

Armenia commemorates the 6th anniversary of the murder of Armenian
Officer Gurgen Margaryan axed by Azerbaijani Ramil Safarov in Budapest
on February 19, 2004.

Six years ago Lieutenant of the Armenian Armed Forces Gurgen Margaryan,
26, was hacked to death, while asleep, by a fellow Azerbaijani
participant, Lieutenant Ramil Safarov, in Budapest during a three-month
English language course in the framework of the Partnership for Peace
NATO-sponsored program.

In accordance with Budapest District Court sentence dated April
13, 2006, Ramil Safarov was life imprisoned for murdering Gurgen
Margaryan. On February 22, 2007, Budapest Court rejected the
Azerbaijani military officer’s appeal against a life sentence for the
2004 axe murder of the Armenian officer at the NATO’s Partnership
for Peace training course in Budapest. The appeal court ruled that
the decision brought by Budapest District Court against 30-year-old
Lieutenant Ramil Safarov, should stand.

Despite the fact that the Hungarian court sentenced Safarov to life
imprisonment, Azerbaijanis consider him a national hero and continue
fighting for his freedom.

IMF URGES ARMENIA TO TACKLE DEFICIT

RTT News
s.aspx?Node=B2&Id=1214841
Feb 18 2010

(RTTNews) – Armenia’s economy should recover this year after
contracting sharply in 2009, the International Monetary Fund said on
Wednesday, but urged the country to tackle its bulging budget deficit.

"After a very challenging year in 2009, output appears to have
stabilized and real GDP is expected to recover in 2010," Mark Lewis,
head of an IMF staff mission to Yerevan, said.

Armenia’s national output slumped 14.4% in 2009 while the government
forecast the economy to grow 1.2% this year.

Lewis said it was important that the Armenian government cut its
budget deficit. The government has pledged to bring down to deficit
to 6% of GDP by year-end from the current level of 7.5%.

"In light of debt sustainability concerns, the authorities should
gradually reduce the deficit and rely as much as possible on
concessional financing," said Lewis.

The staff mission also reached agreement with the government to extend
a tranche of $74 million in loan, as part of the stand-by arrangement
between the parties.

FEATURE: EXHIBITION – ARSHILE GORKY: A RETROSPECTIVE, TATE MODERN.
By John Evans

Islington Tribune
Feb 18 2010
UK

TATE Modern’s latest show is a retrospective of Arshile "I never
finish a painting – I just stop working on it for a while" Gorky.

The artist, born Vosdanig Adoian in western Armenia but having taken
the name of Gorky as homage to the Russian writer, had continued:
"The thing to do is always to keep starting to paint, never finish
a painting."

So "retrospective" might not quite fit the bill with all of this
exciting collection of more than 120 works, some thought to have been,
in his terms, unfinished. It’s the largest Gorky collection ever
brought to the UK, which chronologically examines the remarkable
25-year career of a pivotal figure who anticipated the Abstract
Expressionism to emerge in 1940s New York.

"Gorky would have wanted us to stand in front of these paintings
and have our breath taken away," says show curator Matthew Gale,
Tate’s head of displays.The important thing was bringing the works
together again – many having not been seen in Britain before – to
speak to people directly and to leave the dialogue to one side.

Certainly, with the later oils, they do have an undoubted power in
the way they are made, with their colouring and in the sheer energy
they display.

The irony is that it was at the time of serious critical acclaim,
notably from the highly influential Clement Greenberg, that events
finally took their toll and Gorky took his life, by hanging, in July
1948, aged about 45.

Greenberg was not the only admirer and, though not friends, Gale
points out: "Jackson Pollock was passing by and making sure what
Gorky was up to."

What Greenberg saw was a maturity in works such as Agony and The Plow
and the Song, both 1947, which marked Gorky out as internationally
important. The works were beginning to attract more commercial
interest, too.

Yet what also stand out, Gale says, are the "…terrible tragedies
lurking in the background". Gorky’s father left for America when
he was a young child (his exact birth date is not known) and the
remainder of the family fled the massacres of 1915. His mother was
to starve in Russian Armenia before Gorky and his sister landed in
the US in early 1920.

He reinvented himself, allowing people to think there was a real
Gorky connection and claiming to have studied in Paris, though he
never did so.

The exhibition examines his development from apprenticeship and the
influence of Cezanne and Picasso, through hard times as a struggling
art teacher in the Depression and relief through New Deal federal
art projects (mainly murals now lost) for the Roosevelt administration.

It examines the impact of Cubism and the European Surrealists on
his own art and how he drew on myths and memories of his childhood
and homeland.

Tragedy is directly addressed in two startling versions of The Artist
and His Mother, worked on in parallel and based on a 1912 photograph,
the paintings being constantly worked and reworked, probably between
1926 and 1937 or even 1942. Tragedy as work in progress, indeed.

Notable, too, is the startlingly titled Portrait of Myself and My
Imaginary Wife of

1933-4. Here we see two downcast heads, the male dark the female much
lighter, yet far smaller, pinched and peripheral.

We move on to the breakthrough years with Gorky working in the
countryside and getting to grips with the American landscape.

A hardback book Arshile Gorky: Enigma and Nostalgia by Matthew Gale,
£14.99, accompanies the exhibition.

â~@¢ Arshile A Retrospective, Tate Modern. Supported by the Terra
Foundation for American Art with additional support from the Arshile
Gorky Exhibition Supporters Group Tate Modern until May 3, £10
concessions. 020 7887 8888.

Pictures reproduced courtesy of The estate of Arshile Gorky

ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472 USA
Tel: (617) 926-TREE
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
February 18, 2010

ATP Environmental Education Program Creating a New Generation of Informed
and Responsible Citizens

An Interview with Alla Berberyan

Armenia Tree Project (ATP) recently announced the addition of Alla Berberyan
to its team of program managers in Yerevan. Alla has a degree in Linguistics
and Literature from Yerevan State University and a master’s in Political
Science and International Affairs from American University of Armenia. She
has completed a certificate program in Environmental Sciences and
Conservation at AUA, and has attended a number of international trainings
and conferences on sustainable development and environmental sciences. The
following is an excerpt of an interview that was published in ATP’s latest
annual report.

Question: Why do you think environmental education is important for ATP and
for Armenia?

Answer: Economic development occurs too often at the expense of long-term
social and environmental sustainability. Severe environmental losses in
Armenia began in the Soviet era, persisted throughout the economic crisis of
the 1990’s, and continue posing major challenges today. Massive degradation
of forests, soil erosion and landslides, desertification, air and water
pollution, and biodiversity loss are no longer threats but are becoming the
defining characteristics of Armenia’s environment.

One reason for this deterioration and the widespread apathy and denial
towards these issues is the limited awareness of environmental issues and
the lack of responsible and empowered advocates of sustainability. ATP has
assumed a leadership role in developing environmental education as a core
program area to create a new generation of environmentally responsible
citizens who will value the natural resources of our ancient land and uphold
the notion of preserving and restoring them.

Question: What are the latest developments in ATP’s environmental education
program?

Answer: In collaboration with experts from the National Institute of
Education, ATP’s "Plant an Idea, Plant a Tree" Teacher’s Manual was updated
to become a part of the required curriculum in public schools. The manual
was enhanced with new lessons to encompass a broader number of environmental
topics. We have expanded our regional network of collaborating teachers, and
will launch a new series of teacher training events.

Question: What is your vision for ATP’s environmental education program in
2010 and beyond?

Answer: We will continue to train teachers in all regions based on the
updated Teacher’s Manual. Our EE Program will continue to advance
eco-literacy among Armenian youth through environmental classes and events
at the Michael and Virginia Ohanian Environmental Education Center at Karin
Nursery and the new Ohanian Center for Environmental Studies in Margahovit.

Question: How have teachers and students responded to ATP’s environmental
education curriculum?

Answer: The curriculum offers a combination of interactive and practical
lessons that raise the schoolchildren’s interest in their surrounding
environment and nature. The manual equips teachers with information to guide
students to recognize and appreciate the value of natural ecosystems and the
feasibility of sustainable practices. Teachers and students are responding
to the manual with enthusiasm. The students become advocates of change,
display creativity and initiative, and often find positive solutions to some
of the environmental problems around them.

Question: What is the status of environmental education in the country in
general? Has the government been supportive of this ATP program?

Answer: The 2001 Law on Environmental Education called for implementation of
ecological education from pre-school to graduate levels. Based on this
mandate, the National Strategic Program on Ecological Education was
developed in 2007. However, environmental education and awareness was a
relatively low priority, especially since there was a deficit of educational
materials in the field.

We collaborated with the National Institute of Education of the Ministry of
Education and Science, which has been very supportive of our projects,
including integration of environmental education into the public education
system through the "Plant an Idea, Plant a Tree" Teacher’s Manual.

Question: What are the next steps needed to improve the level of
environmental education in Armenia?

Answer: It is important to take steps that can turn Armenia away from the
current path of purely economy-focused, environmentally destructive
development. The most essential of those steps is increasing the public’s
understanding and acceptance of the fact that the environment is influenced
by each individual’s actions as well as by their inaction. It is important
to grow such consciousness in younger citizens. Because of the Soviet past
and recent political challenges, our society is experiencing pervasive
passivity and denial, and the level of civic engagement is low.

It is vital to develop the belief among the young generation that every
person has the power and responsibility to contribute to the well-being of
our society. We need to continue environmental training at all levels of our
society and maintain pressure on the country’s leadership to pursue
sustainable policies and practice.

REPUBLICANS STAND FOR RATIFICATION OF THE PROTOCOLS
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur
17.02.2010 14:48

"The majority of Republicans stand for the ratification of the
Armenian-Turkish protocols," Vice-Chairman of the National Assembly’s
Standing Committee on Human Rights Defense and Public Affairs Rafik
Petrosyan told a press conference today.

"I think the protraction of the process is not necessary. I think
Armenia should hold the initiative till the end. It’s my personal
opinion and the opinion of the majority of the Republicans. The
Republican faction is always ready to consider the protocols in the
National Assembly and ratify those. The more we drag the process,
the worse. We must make it clear to the international community
that Armenia does what it says, while the opposite side is cunningly
dragging out and hindering the process," Rafik Petrosyan said.

TURKISH PARLIAMENT SHOULD PASS PROTOCOLS WITH ARMENIA FIRST, SAYS ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

Focus News
Feb 11 2010
Bulgaria

London/Ankara. The Turkish parliament should vote on and approve
the protocols with Armenia before the Armenian parliament does it,
said Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, as cited by Turkish Hurriyet
newspaper.

Sargsyan delivered a lecture at the Chatham House Institute themed
"Values and security in South Caucasus" in the frames of a work visit
to the UK.

The Armenian president said that he will invite his Azeri counterpart,
Ilham Aliyev, for the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border.

Commenting on the protocols for normalization of the Turkish-Armenian
bilateral relations, the president remarked that this may serve as
an example for solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. In his words,
the Turkish parliament should be the first to vote on and pass the
protocols.

"If instead of passing the protocols Turkey adopts a policy of
protracting the issue, we may continue delaying the process, too",
Sargsyan said.

A group of Azeri nationals were staging a protest in front of the
institute, while Sargsyan was delivering his lecture. They were
scanning and holding posters saying "Sargsyan is a murdered",
"Sargsyan is a terrorist", and etc., Hurriyet comments further.

AHMET DAVUTOGLU: OUR STRONG POLITICAL WILL TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA STILL EXISTS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
11.02.2010 22:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has firmly rejected
arguments suggesting that there has been deterioration in Turkey’s
political will to normalize relations with its estranged neighbor
Armenia.

Davutoglu’s remarks came on Wednesday at a press conference ahead of
his departure to Kazakhstan for a three-day official visit when he
was reminded of certain claims made in the wake of Ankara’s uneasiness
over an Armenian court ruling which the Turkish capital says threatens
protocols signed to normalize relations with Yerevan.

"Our strong political will regarding all types of efforts in the
direction of the constitution of permanent peace and stability in
the Caucasus exists," Davutoglu said, adding that Turkey’s efforts
are based on its strong resolve to contribute to the maintenance of
peace and stability, which will continue in the coming period with
the country making bold moves.

Ankara attaches importance to the advancement of this strong political
will within the framework of the initial perspective which put forth
such will, Davutoglu said, echoing Ankara’s view that the Armenian
court’s decision contains preconditions and restrictive provisions
that go against the letter and spirit of the protocols, Today’s
Zaman reported.

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation.

On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Armenia found the protocols conformable to the country’s Organic Law.

Commenting on the CC ruling, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
said that "it contains preconditions and restrictive provisions which
impair the letter and spirit of the Protocols."

"The decision undermines the very reason for negotiating these
Protocols as well as their fundamental objective. This approach
cannot be accepted on our part. Turkey, in line with its accustomed
allegiance to its international commitments, maintains its adherence
to the primary provisions of these Protocols. We expect the same
allegiance from the Armenian government," the Ministry said.