Author: Tamamian Anna

AZERBAIJANI COMMENTATORS PESSIMISTIC ON KARABAKH PROGRESS

news.az
Jan 21 2010
Azerbaijan

Zardusht Alizade Political scientist Zardusht Alizade does not expect
any result from the latest visit to the region of the OSCE’s mediators
on the Karabakh conflict.

The co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe’s Minsk Group are holding meetings in Baku on Thursday.

Like their previous visits, this trip will make no breakthrough on a
peace settlement, Alizade told 1news.az. "This is what the co-chairs
are paid for."

In an apparent reference to Russia and the USA, Alizade said,
"This long-drawn-out affair will last until the superpowers openly
financing the aggressor country and ordering the victim country not
to act in self-defence settle this issue amongst themselves."

Political scientist Fikret Sadikhov told 1news.az that the visit is
taking place at an important time. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov recently visited Yerevan, while Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were in Moscow.

"What’s obvious from all this is Russia’s intention to drag Yerevan
out of the crisis. I mean both the difficult economic state and the
political isolation of the country," Sadikhov said.

Russia understands that it would be difficult to do it without
Azerbaijan, Sadikhov said. The countries chairing the Minsk Group,
France, Russia and the USA, also understand this.

He said that serious pressure on Armenia is needed to make progress
on a solution to the Karabakh conflict.

"The more pressure is exerted on Armenia, the quicker the issue
will be settled. I mean substantiated pressure based on the norms
and principles of international law. We do not need alien lands, we
need to liberate our seven districts and in this case we are ready to
grant a high status of autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan,"
Sadikhov said.

"It is clear that the leading countries would like to settle this
problem as soon as possible but I think the conflict will not be
settled in the near future without active pressure on the Armenian
side," he said.

Turkish-Armenian rapprochement

Zardusht Alizade said that the superpowers wanted to keep the Karabakh
settlement process separate from Armenian-Turkish rapprochement.

"Everything will depend on the position of Baku and Ankara and their
ability to avert this process," Alizade said.

He said that Armenia had not wanted to sign the protocols on the
normalization of relations with Turkey: "Armenia did not want to sign
the protocols with Turkey and did so only under pressure."

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan ordered the Constitutional Court to
pass the decision on the protocols’ conformity with the constitution,
which Turkey this week criticized for containing "preconditions and
restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the
Protocols", Alizade said.

He thought, however, that "this is not the end of Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation and it will continue".

The United States, France and Russia will put pressure on Turkey,
rather than Armenia, Alizade said. "I even think that instead of
punishing Armenia they will start pressure on Turkey. They use Armenia
as a strong destabilizing factor in the region directing it against
either Turkey or Azerbaijan and Georgia. I do not rule that they may
use Armenia even against Iran."

TURKEY WON’T RATIFY PROTOCOLS, SAYS ALEXANDER ARZOUMANIAN

Aysor
Jan 21 2010
Armenia

Soon after signing the Armenia-Turkey protocols in Zurich, Turkey’s
government declared the process of reconciliation has links with
the Karabakh conflict, told journalists former foreign minister of
Armenia, a member of the oppositional Armenian National Congress,
Alexander Arzoumanian.

"Armenian side of negotiations was ready at the beginning to normalize
relations with Turkey at the expense of concession in the Karabakh
talks. This agreement was reached by word of mouth," he said.

"Turkey now has received a beautiful present. It uses Armenian
Constitutional Court’s decision for drawing away."

"Turkey won’t ratify protocols and wasn’t even going to. Nothing
surprising," he said.

"However, the pressure on Armenia will go on to progress in
ratification process at the expense of concessions in the Karabakh
talks."

TURKEY DISPLEASED WITH RA DECLARATION ON INDEPENDENCE?

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.01.2010 12:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey believes that the RA Constitutional Court’s
Jan.12 verdict conflicts with the essence and spirit of the Protocols
on normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey, Milliyet
newspaper said.

Paragraph 5 of the Armenian Constitutional Court argumentation
affirms that the protocols "cannot be interpreted…in a way that
would contradict the provisions of the preamble to the Republic of
Armenian constitution and the requirements of Paragraph 11 of the
[1990] Declaration of Independence of Armenia."

The 11th paragraph of the Declaration reads that "the Republic of
Armenia stands in support of the task of achieving international
recognition of the 1915 genocide in Ottoman Turkey and Western Armenia.

Commenting on the decision of the Armenian Constitutional Court, the
Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the decision 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.

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.

The Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Armenia was adopted
on August 23, 1990.

It says, "The Supreme Council of the Armenian Soviet Socialist
Republic expressing the united will of the Armenian people; aware of
its historic responsibility for the destiny of the Armenian people
engaged in the realization of the aspirations of all Armenians and the
restoration of historical justice; proceeding from the principles
of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the generally
recognized norms of international law; exercising the right of
nations to free self-determination; based on the December 1, 1989,
joint decision of the Armenian SSR Supreme Council and the Artsakh
National Council on the Reunification of the Armenian SSR and the
Mountainous Region of Karabakh; developing the democratic traditions
of the independent Republic of Armenia established on May 28, 1918;
Declares the beginning of the process of establishing of independent
statehood positioning the question of the creation of a democratic
society based on the rule of law."

HRANUSH HAKOBIAN: HRANT DINK’S DEATH WAS A LOSS NOT ONLY FOR ARMENIAN PEOPLE BUT ALSO FOR WHOLE PROGRESSIVE MANKIND

Noyan Tapan
Jan 19, 2010

YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The 20th anniversary of the massacres
of Armenians committed in 1990 January in Baku and the 3rd anniversary
of murder of editor-in-chief of the Agos weekly of Istanbul, Hrant
Dink was marked on January 19. In this connection the RA Ministry of
Diaspora representatives visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex
on January 19.

According to RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobian, Hrant Dink’s
death was a loss not only for the Armenian people but also for the
whole progressive mankind as he was a symbol of freedom and democracy.

"H. Dink wanted non-democratic Turkey having closed society to be
really liberated from the situation in which it had appeared. He
wanted all nations living in Turkey to be protected in the respect
of human rights and freedom. He wanted relations to be established
between Armenia and Turkey only after Turkey’s recognizing the
Armenian Genocide and admitting the black page of its history,"
the Minister said.

According to H. Hakobian, H. Dink was a victim of the Genocide: he
perished for his ideas, for being Armenian. "No matter ho hard Turkey
tries to meanly silence people, all the same the justice, the truth
will pave their way. History should not be misrepresented, and Turkey
should stand face-to-face with its history, should admit the truth,
should recognize the Armenian Genocide. Turkey cannot remain closed
so long, and all the same the people will mature and will understand
what the Turk criminals committed," H. Hakobian said.

BARGAVACH HAYASTAN PARTY’S OPINION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS KEPT UNCHANGED

Noyan Tapan
Jan 19, 2010

YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, NOYAN TAPAN. Bargavach Hayastan (Prosperous
Armenia) party’s opinion of Armenian-Turkish protocols is kept
unchanged." BH leader Gagik Tsarukian’s Spokesperson Khachik
Galstian reported this to the Iravunk periodical. According to him,
Constitutional Court’s decision just put into a legal framework the
commentaries voiced over the protocols not permitting unnecessary
speculations.

ELEVEN CASES OF PHYSICAL VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS REGISTERED IN 2009
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
19.01.2010 16:32

The Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression issued its 2009 report
on "Violated rights of journalists and media in Armenia." Overall,
in 2009 fewer violations of rights of journalists and media than in
2008 were recorded. Yet, the overall situation and the trends cannot
but be alarming. As statistics show (based on the findings of the
Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression), even during a relatively
calm year Armenia has quite a number of right infringements of media
and journalists.

The report says 11 cases of physical violence were registered in
Armenia in 2009. There were 14 cases of pressure on media and their
staff. The right to seek and impart information was violated 13 times.

The Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression states that the data
presented in the report is not exhausting and absolute accuracy,
because media representatives often prefer not to publicize the facts
of being impeded from exercising professional activities, overlook the
various threats to their address or prefer to overcome the appearing
problems and illegal restrictions on their own.

TURKISH GOVERNMENT MUST SHOW POLITICAL WILL TO SHED LIGHT ON DINK MURDER CASE

ArmInfo
2010-01-19 15:00:00

ArmInfo. The government of Turkey must show political will to shed
light on Hrant Dink murder case. An article under such a name was
published in Today’s Zaman dedicated to the memory of a well-known
Armenian journalist shot dead on January 19, 2007.

The edition recalls that "three years after Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink was fatally shot outside his office by an
ultranationalist teenager, the investigation into his murder has
stalled as the suspected perpetrator and his immediate accomplices
have been put on trial, but those who masterminded the plot to kill
him still wait to be revealed". While the anniversary of Dink’s
murder is being commemorated today with a series of ceremonies in
Turkey and abroad, Dink’s lawyers, domestic and international rights
organizations and activists express their frustration that the murder
investigation has not been progressing. There is a lengthy list of
suspicious irregularities in the investigation, including deleted
records and hidden files suggestive of an attempted police cover-up",
the newspaper says.

According to one of one of the family lawyers Tuna, the majority of
the evidences indicate that the murder could be prevented, and all the
indications point to Dink’s murder being part of a plan. "The security
personnel were informed beforehand about the assassination plot and
did not take steps to stop it. They are being protected by certain
authorities in an attempted cover-up. We are talking about the state’s
security forces: the gendarmerie, police and intelligence agencies.

Therefore, it is the government which is supposed to demonstrate the
political will to make progress in Dink’s murder".

AZERBAIJAN KEEPS ON WISHFUL THINKING

ArmInfo
2010-01-19 14:53:00

ArmInfo. Azerbaijan keeps on wishful thinking. This time, that matter
concerns interpretation of the statement on the Karabakh settlement
passed within the frames of OSCE FMC in Athens at late 2009.

In particular, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev tried to present
this statement as pro- Azerbaijani. "The document, passed on this
issue at OSCE FMC session at late 2009clearly shows the conflict
settlement ways. It indicates that the problem must be solved within
the frames of the countries’ territorial integrity", Aliyev said. In
view of this, ArmInfo correspondent applied to Head of the Mass Media
Relations Department of Armenia’s Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan. "I
think it incorrect to comment the statements made by the president.

However, I would like to recall that a clear statement on this issue
was made by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan just the day
before. It makes no sense to add something to that", Balayan said.

To recall, E. Nalbandyan said in an interview with Radio Liberty,
when touching on the statement made in Athens, that "the peoples’
right for self-determination has been fixed in such a statement for
the first time, and the name of Azerbaijan is mentioned in it".

Hranush Hakobian: Decision of Constitutioanl Court was balanced in itself

YEREVAN, JANUARY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush
Hakobian believes that the Constitutional Court’s decision about
constitutionality of the Armenia-Turkey protocols answered a number of
questions in Armenian circles. "Of course, there will be different
responses from the Diaspora, but the decision of the Constitutional
Court was balanced in itself," she said.

The minister will express her viewpoints on this and other issues at a
meeting at the Azdak Club on January 16.

International Armenian-Kazakh Union opens branch in Russia
17.01.2010 15:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The branch of Armenian-Kazakh Union of Friendship
and Cooperation NGO was officially registered in Novrosiysk, Russia.
The new organization will be headed by representative of Novrosiysk’s
Armenian community, Kazakh Colonel Marat Kazaryan.

As the Council of Atamans of Kazakh-Armenians reported to
PanARMENIAN.Net, the objective of the branch is to assist in the
strengthening of friendship and cooperation between people and Kazakh
organizations of Armenia and Russia and implementation of projects
aimed at economic, political-military, cultural and other partnership.
The branch will also contribute to establishing law and order,
preventing inter-ethnic conflicts, uniting Kazakhs and Armenian
Diaspora representative in the south of Russia to the benefit of
Armenian and Russian peoples.

It is planned to organize festivals of culture and art, conferences,
historical-patriotic events, as well as discussions over cultural,
moral, spiritual and political-military upbringing of young
generation. The organization will also launch activities aimed at
restoring and maintaining national, cultural and historic monuments,
including those established by ethnic minorities (particularly
Kazakhs).

The International Armenian-Kazakh Union of Friendship and Cooperation
is a private-run non-profit organization. Established on voluntary
bases and using the potential of peoples’ diplomacy, it aims to
promote friendship, mutual understanding, cooperation and strengthened
ties with Kazakhs residing abroad and development of multilateral
cooperation. The organization currently has 5 thousand members,
including 4000 ethnic Kazakh citizens of Armenia.