Author: Torgomian Varazdat

ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER MAY OPEN IN SIX MONTHS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
13.10.2009 19:35 GMT+04:00

The project dedicated to the dialogue between youth of Armenia and
Turkey "Two sides of the mountain" was carried out from October 8 to
14 in the Turkey’s village Vakyfly. The project is supported by the
U.S. Embassy in Turkey. As a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent reports,
in the framework of the project, Armenian students visited the village
Vakyfly, which is officially the only village mostly populated by
Armenians.

Participants met with the U.S. Embassy in Turkey the attache on
culture and education Craig Dicker.

Welcoming the signing of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols, the official
expressed hope that parties will continue to develop relationships
that already exist.

"The United States will continue to support the parties in the process
of reconciliation, " Mr. Dicker said, noting that the opening of
the Armenian-Turkish border will occur within six months after the
Protocols are ratified by the parliaments of the two countries. "Turkey
has a great potential for tourism development in the country and when
borders open a vast number of Armenians from Diaspora will go to
Turkey to see the historical Armenian monuments, and it will bring
great economic benefits to Turkey". Mr. Dicker expressed opinion,
that the Turkish authorities are in favor of opening the borders for
economic reasons.

ARMENIA-TURKEY: WHETHER SIGNED AGREEMENT WILL BE RATIFIED?

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.10.2009 20:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On Saturday, October 10, Armenian and Turkish
Foreign Ministers signed "landmark" accord to normalize relations
and re-establish diplomatic ties. Deal was concluded through the
intermediary of U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton. British media
accepted such news with extremely cautious optimism.

The agreement, the culmination of more than a year of intensive
diplomacy, will commit both countries to reopen their land border and
restore diplomatic ties, Robert Tait of Guardian reports. But in an
indication of the many pitfalls that lie ahead of its implementation,
the ceremony was marred by a three-hour delay due to last-minute
disagreements on the wording of statements, forcing the American
secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, to engage in intense discussions
to salvage a deal, he further notes.

According to a Financial Times correspondent, "Armenians’ anger at
Turkey’s denial that the 1915 killings were genocide, mean each
government faces big obstacles to ratifying and implementing the
agreement – even though each should technically be able to win a
parliamentary vote".

Armenians who want to break out of their landlocked and poor
economy are looking for normal relations with Turkey while Turkey,
a member of NATO, seeks to become an oil-and-gas corridor connecting
energy-rich Russia and the Caspian with Europe and the Middle East,
The Christian Science Monitor says in an editorial article. Article
expresses uncertainty about Protocol ratification given that disputes
over Armenian Genocide are still in frozen state. CSM forecasts that
"nationalist forces in Turkey and Armenia will try to derail the
agreement, and prevent ratification". However, if documents are
ratified, "that might point the way to resolving other so-called
‘intractable’ disputes in the Caucasus, and perhaps even the Turk-Greek
problem over a divided Cyprus," says the CSM reporter. In that case,
author further notes hip on the parts of Gul and Sargsyan to sail
past these political shoals – and perhaps all the way to Oslo to
collect the next Nobel."

GALUST VS ARF

07.html
13:20:41 – 12/10/2009

The parliamentarian from the Republican faction Galust Sahakyan today
during a press conference presented his opinions on the Armenian and
Turkish protocols. According to him, the signing of the protocols
is a very important step. The international society assumed the role
of a guarantee and Turkey will have some problems with it if it does
not fulfill the arrangements.

The document is signed and has to be introduced before the
parliaments of both countries. In case of a change, in accordance with
international norms, the negotiating sides have the right to stop the
process of diplomatic relations. In other words, no other norms besides
those in the documents will not be accepted. If Turkey tries to add
new points, it will naturally be unacceptable for us and of course,
Turkey will not accept any change made by Armenia in the protocols.

If turkey imposes preconditions and ruins the ratification of the
protocols, it will appear under political hits because it will be
assessed as violation of arrangements which will of course have
consequences, said Galust Sahakyan.

According to Galust Sahakyan, "There was no resistance in the
Diaspora. The representatives of communities who took part in
the discussions shared the opinions which the Armenian government
presented. My impression is that only the ARF representatives who
partook in the discussions were against it. The rallies are the
shame of our nation because no citizen in the world will call their
president traitor. This is terrible we need to be purified. People
cannot be blamed we have always had this type of people. Is dangerous
also as Njdeh said, lees of our nation are also genius."

"We are going forward determinedly because our approaches will not
bring us to defeat. This is a mission, a period which we have to
overcome regardless the fact what the further solution of this document
are going to be. If we delay a little more our relations with Turkey,
we will lose our religious homeland, our cultural heritage. There
are no ways and we cannot wait for 100 years for Turkey to recognize
or not the genocide. In the end, Turkey will recognize the genocide
and our governmental commission will be engaged in eliminating the
consequences of genocide", said Galust Sahakyan.

TURKISH PARTY KEEPS ON CLAIMING ABOUT INTERCONNECTION OF NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA WITH KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

ArmInfo
2009-10-12 11:26:00

ArmInfo. The Turkish party keeps on claiming about interconnection
of normalization of relations with Armenia with the Karabakh conflict
settlement.

As APA reports quoting the Turkish news agencies, Prime Minister
of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the following when commenting
on signing of the Armenian- Turkish Protocols: "If Armenia doesn’t
withdraw from the Azerbaijani lands, its normal relations with
Turkey are impossible". "The Turkish government opened this way. Our
intention is that the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno Karabakh conflict
to be solved. If this problem is solved, our people will support the
normalization of relations yet more and it will ease the approval
of protocols at the parliament", Erdogan said and added that the
parliament will certainly review the process of solution of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani problem. "We have sent some messages and
made some steps since 2003. We eased visa regime for the Armenian
citizens. I proposed to the Armenian president in 2005 to leave their
claims, to establish historical fact-finding commission, to research
archive materials and to make decision after the experts’ opinion",
the Turkish PM said.

ERDOGAN TRYING TO SUGAR THE PILL FOR AZERBAIJAN?

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
12.10.2009 10:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says
Armenia must withdraw from the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh,
a day after the two countries signed a deal to normalize ties.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey cannot take a "positive step" toward
opening the joint border with Armenia until Armenian troops leave
the breakaway enclave in Azerbaijan.

Armenia and Turkey agreed Saturday to establish diplomatic relations
and open their border. Azerbaijan has criticized the agreement saying
it aggravates the dispute.

Erdogan said Sunday a solution to the issue would also ensure that
the agreement signed with Armenia is easily approved by Turkey’s
parliament, AP reported.

ARMENIAN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENTS TO DISCUSS COOPERATION

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
12.10.2009 12:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Russian and Armenian presidents will discuss
trade and military cooperation, prospects of energy projects and
interaction in regional organizations in Moscow on Monday, a Kremlin
source said Sunday. Nagorno Karabakh problem is also supposed to
be discussed.

Serzh Sargsyan will visit the Russian capital on an invitation from
Dmitry Medvedev on October 12.

"Regular confidential political dialogue at the highest level gives
dynamics to the Russian-Armenian partnership," the Kremlin source said,
adding that despite the global financial crisis, Russia retains the
positions of Armenia’s leading foreign economic partner.

In January-August this year bilateral trade totaled $428.2 million
– a 20.2% drop against the same period in 2008, but successful
implementation of joint priority investment projects continues.

Medvedev and Sargsyan met Friday during a summit of the post-Soviet
Commonwealth of Independent States in the capital of Moldova, with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also taking part in the meeting
chiefly dedicated to discussions of the Nagorno Karabakh issue,
RIA Novosti reported.

Lebanese Armenians are unhappy with Turkey deal
Middle East News

eeast/news/article_1506355.php/Lebanese-Armenians- are-unhappy-with-Turkey-deal
Oct 11, 2009, 10:26 GMT

Beirut – Thousands of Armenians in Lebanon have signed a petition
condemning the accord signed over the weekend between Armenia and
Turkey, accusing Armenian President Serge Sarkisian of dismissing past
suffering caused by Turkey.

Some 1.5 million Armenians were killed under the Ottoman Empire during
the World War I period in 1915-1918 and a large number of Armenians
were dispersed through the world via Syria and Lebanon.

Armenians have charged that the killings constituted genocide, an
allegation which Turkey admantly denies.

‘There are 5.7 million Armenians living in the diaspora, the massacres
were an attempt to wipe out our people. How can we forget that?’ said
Alice Boghossian, a member an Lebanese-Armenian political party in
Lebanon, on Sunday.

She, along with Lebanese-Armenian politician Hagop Pakradounian,
opposed the ‘weak stance made by the Armenian president, and the
concessions he gave to Turkey.’

There are 150,000 Armenians in Lebanon, around four per cent of the
country’s population.

The two protocols between Turkey and Armenia were signed Saturday in
Switzerland to establish diplomatic relations, open the Turkish-
Armenia border closed in 1993, to set up committees to for economic,
environmental and other bilateral issues.

The protocols also foresee the establishment of a historical commission
to investigate the events during World War I.

Houston Chronicle

AP News in Brief at 5:58 p.m. EDT

© 2009 The Associated Press
Oct. 10, 2009, 5:20PM

Turkey, Armenia sign historic accord after last-minute talks to
salvage pact

ZURICH (AP) ‘ Turkey and Armenia signed a landmark agreement Saturday
to establish diplomatic relations and open their sealed border after a
century of enmity, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
helped the two sides clear a last-minute snag.

The contentious issue of whether the killing of up to 1.5 million
Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire amounted to
genocide is only hinted at in the agreement.

"There were several times when I said to all of the parties involved
that this is too important," Clinton said. "This has to be seen
through. We have come too far. All of the work that has gone into the
protocols should not be walked away from."

The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers signed the accord in the
Swiss city of Zurich after a dispute over the final statements they
would make. In the end, the signing took place about three hours later
than scheduled and there were no spoken statements.

Clinton and mediators from Switzerland intervened to help broker a
solution, U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity, in keeping
with State Department regulations. Better ties between Turkey, a
regional heavyweight, and poor, landlocked Armenia have been a
priority for President Barack Obama, and Clinton had flown to
Switzerland to witness the signing, not help close the deal.

News.am

Turkey-Armenia match tickets free of charge
17:08 / 10/10/2009

The tickets for the Turkey-Armenia national team match due in Bursa
October 10 will be free of charge and it will be strictly banned to
wave Azeri flags on the stadium, Turkish e-source Ajanspor informs.

The Governor of Bursa Å?ahabettin Harput said the tickets for
the match will be distributed free of charge. `3.000 policemen will be
securing safety during the game. It will be banned to wave Azeri flag
as it is a qualifying match and not Turkey-Azerbaijan alliance against
something. Due to this it will be strictly banned to wave Azeri flags
on the stadium after Ataturk in Bursa.’

Harput declared he is aware of a group of Turkish Armenians who want
to attend the match. It was announced that all who want to attend the
event should arrive in Bursa as football is a sport contest open to
the publc.

NEWS.am informed earlier that Ambassador of Turkey to Azerbaijan
Hulusi Kilic refuted the information that Azeri flags would be banned
during the match.

Armenia-Turkey agreement delayed

Story from BBC NEWS:
europe/8299712.stm

Published: 2009/10/10 17:09:24 GMT

A landmark agreement normalising ties between Turkey and Armenia after
a century of hostility has been delayed.

It was to be signed at 1500 GMT in Switzerland, but a US state
department spokesman told AFP news agency there had been a "last-minute
hitch".

Armenia is reportedly objecting to a planned statement by Turkey.

The deal has been met by protests in Armenia, where many people say it
does not fully address the 1915 killing of hundreds of thousands of
Armenians.

Armenia wants Turkey to recognise the killings as an act of genocide,
but successive Turkish governments have refused to do so.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is among the dignitaries who are
in Zurich for the ceremony.

The BBC’s Kim Ghattas, who is travelling with Mrs Clinton, says the
Armenians apparently raised objections to a statement that was due to
be read out by the Turkish delegation.

Under the deal, the two are set to resume diplomatic ties and re-open
their shared border.

The draft agreement also calls for a joint commission of independent
historians to study the genocide issue.

The accord needs to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries.

International campaign

On Friday thousands of people protested against the deal in the
Armenian capital, Yerevan.

HAVE YOUR SAY It is in the best interest of both countries that they
forget about the past and start a new era in their relationship Abdul
Malik Niazi, Kabul

"The international recognition of the Armenian genocide will be
hindered by this signature, or ratification," said Vahan Hovanissyan, a
member of parliament for the nationalist Dashnak Tsutyun party.

One protester told the BBC he was not opposed to the opening of the
border, but was "against the setting up of a commission that will allow
Turkey to further postpone declaring the killings as genocide".

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, when they were
deported en masse from eastern Anatolia by the Ottoman empire. They
were killed by troops or died from starvation and disease.

Armenians have campaigned for the killings to be recognised
internationally as genocide – and more than 20 countries have done so.

Turkey admits that many Armenians were killed but says the deaths were
part of the widespread fighting that took place in World War I.

A roadmap for normalising relations between Turkey and Armenia was
agreed in April.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 because of its war with
Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh.