Author: Torosian Aram

The Australian, Australia
Aug 5 2004

Armenians build a new world against the odds in Lebanon
By Nicolas Rothwell
August 05, 2004

AS you turn into tranquil Anjar village, deep in the border ranges of
eastern Lebanon, suddenly things aren’t quite the same.

The faces look different, the alphabet is different, the language
spoken on the streets has changed. There are arch-shaped monoliths
marking the crossroads.

A steep-roofed, distinctively Caucasian church looms above the
orchards and the cypress groves.

Anjar, in fact, is one of the Middle East’s more remarkable Armenian
communities, and its dwindling population of 4500 is determined not
just to hang on to its traditions, but to keep its history alive.

This month, as the culmination of its efforts, the Anjar festival,
dormant for more than a decade, will be staged once more in the
majestic Ummayad palace ruins lying on the edge of town.

“We felt the time had come once more to bring the whole world to
Anjar,” says Nicol Hergelian, one of the key figures behind the
festival.

“It will be a mixed affair. We have Muslim performers and Christians,
we have Arabs and also Armenians, all the different elements of
Lebanon.”

But the people of Anjar can’t help highlighting their own story,
which was once world famous.

Their village is an elaborate, well-planned community, built in the
shape of an eagle, “because the eagle is the strongest, most enduring
bird”.

In 1939, the ancestors of today’s Anjarians were living in an area of
northern Syria known as the Sanjak, close to biblical Antioch. Their
homes were seven villages in the mountains of Moses.

But France, which held control of the region, granted it to Turkey.
After a furious battle, which lasted more than a month, the Armenians
were forced into exile.

Their struggle became the subject of a best-selling novel, The Forty
Days of Musa Dagh, by the celebrated Austrian writer Franz Werfel.

The Armenians marched south, as far as Tripoli in Lebanon, and were
once more transplanted by the French to a tent city in the Bekaa
valley.

Here, gradually, they built a new world in the shadow of the Jabal
Esh Charqi mountains, developing an elaborate local irrigation
system, cultivating apple orchards, creating their own independent
schools and social institutions.

Today’s Anjarians face new challenges. Much of the original
population emigrated during Lebanon’s civil war in the 1980s, or
found refuge in their Armenian homeland when the Soviet empire
collapsed in 1991.

Across Lebanon, Armenian numbers fell from 350,000 to a mere 90,000.
Some areas of the country where large Armenian communities once
thrived still have a faintly forlorn air.

Here in Anjar, the local economy has yet to recover, despite the
profusion of engineers, doctors and technicians living in the town.

Nicol Hergelian, a former cheese production expert, is running a
store to put his many talented children through university, while his
plumber friend Musa Topalian, who speaks five languages fluently, is
unable to find a lot in the way of suitable employment.

A sleepy, cerebral mood mantles the little town, which also does duty
as a low-key Syrian military encampment.

Much energy is spent on celebrating the bleak anniversaries that dot
the Armenian calendar: February 18, for instance, which marks
Vartan’s heroic battle against the Persians in the year 451. Or May
28, Armenia’s first, abortive national independence day, or April 24,
which commemorates the deaths of untold numbers of Armenians in 1915.

But there are upbeat events as well, now the Anjar Festival is back
on track. Stars of the Arab music world, like Naiim Al Asmar and
Jahida Wehbi, will perform, while some of the great names of the
Armenian diaspora are expected too.

“Of course this festival is a kind of symbol,” says Hergelian. “And
not just an emblem of Anjar and Armenian strength. Yes, we are
strong, and we are determined to survive.

“We don’t bow our heads to anyone. Otherwise there would be no
Armenians.

“But we want to bring together all of Lebanon. Our neighbours here in
this valley are Arab Christians and Muslims and we enjoy living with
them all. We stay living in Anjar because we choose to – because
Lebanon is a very beautiful and civilised country.”

GOVERNMENT OF ARMENIA WORKS OUT A NUMBER OF CONCEPTIONS IN FAVOR OF
NATIONAL MINORITIES

YEREVAN, August 3 (Noyan Tapan). At present the RA government is
working out a number of conceptions directed to preservation of
cultural originality of the national minorities of the republic. But
Hranush Kharatian, the Head of the Department on Issues of National
Minorities and Religion attached to the RA government, mentioned that
for the national minorities it’s difficult to preserve originality in
Armenia, as they don’t live there compacted. Besides, according to
her, the international experience shows that preservation of ethnic
peculiarities is possible if only the national minorities make at
least 15-20% of the population of the country. While all the 11
national minorities living in Armenia make only 2.2% of the population
of the republic. Neverthless, H.Kharatian said that 3m drams (about
$5.5 thousand) a year is allocated from the state budget for the
national minorities in the RA for carrying on publishing activity and
another 20m drams are allocated for educational and cultural needs.

Rimma Varzhapetian, the Chairwoman of the Jewish community of Armenia,
told Noyan Tapan that necessity of the above-mentioned allocations is
very appreciable. She properly estimated the fact that the government
gave a territory for the House of Culture to the national
minorities. There will be an exhibition hall, a library, a concert
hall, a gymnasium in the territory with an area of 800 sq.m. But,
according to her, “there is a willingness to achieve more.” In
particular, she said that they would like to establish a united
Internet site of the national minorities of Armenia and a united
cultural almanac, for which they hope for the state support. It was
also mentioned that that it’s necessary to give air to the national
minorities once a week on the Public Television, which, according to
her, is envisaged by the frame Convention of the Council of Europe on
protection of the rights of the national minorities signed by Armenia.

The New York Times
Series of Blasts Hit Churches in Baghdad and Northern City
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: August 1, 2004
Filed at 1:26 p.m. ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — A series of coordinated explosions rocked five
churches across Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul on Sunday,
killing at least two people and injuring about 60 others in the first
attacks targeting the country’s Christian minority in a violent
15-month insurgency.

Two explosions just minutes apart shook separate Baghdad churches in a
largely Christian neighborhood during Sunday evening services,
followed shortly by two more explosions at churches in other areas of
the capital. A car bomb and grenade attack hit a church in Mosul at
roughly the same time, Iraqi officials said.

Many of the country’s Christians had become increasingly concerned
about the rising Islamic fundamentalism here and some had fled to
neighboring country’s to wait until the security and political
situation became more calm.

“What are the Muslims doing? Does this mean that they want us out?”
asked Brother Louis, a deacon at the Our Lady of Salvation, as he
cried outside the Assyrian Catholic church. “Those people who commit
these awful criminal acts have nothing to do with God. They will go
to hell.”

U.S. military officials in Baghdad’s Karada neighborhood, where the
first two churches were bombed, said they found a third bomb in front
another church that had not exploded. Karada is home to many of the
city’s Christians and many of its churches.

“We were in the Mass and suddenly we heard a big boom, and I couldn’t
feel my body anymore, I didn’t feel anything,” said Marwan Saqiq, who
was covered in blood. “I saw people taking me out with the wood and
glass shattered everywhere.”

U.S. military officials said at least one and possibly both of the
blasts appeared to have come from booby trapped cars.

The explosions in Baghdad killed one person and injured between 50 and
55 people, medical officials said. The blasts in Mosul killed one
person and injured 11 others, said police Maj. Fawaz Fanaan.

In Mosul, about 220 miles north of Baghdad, a car bomb blew up next to
a Catholic church while worshippers were coming out of Mass, police
Maj. Raed Abdel Basit said. Several rocket-propelled grenades were
also launched at the church, Bowman said.

The bomb, inside a white Toyota, blew up about 7 p.m. just yards from
the church, said Ghaleb Wadeea, 50-year-old engineer who lives next
door. Debris from the exploded car were scattered about the site, with
some hanging off a nearby electricity pylon.

A bridge in Mosul was also hit, Bowman said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said a total of four churches
were hit in Baghdad, two in Karada, one in the Dora neighborhood and
one in New Baghdad.

At the site of the two blasts in Karada, Iraqi police and National
Guard cordoned off the area. Firefighters and emergency workers were
battling fires and helping the wounded.

The first blast in Baghdad hit outside an Armenian church just 15
minutes into the evening service, witnesses said. The second blast hit
the Assyrian Catholic church about 500 yards away.

Stunned Iraqis ran away from the scene, holding their bleeding heads
in their hands.

“I saw injured women and children and men, the church’s glass
shattered everywhere. There’s glass all over the floor,” said
Juliette Agob, who was inside the Armenian church during the first
explosion.

The back wall of the Catholic church, where a bomb had been placed,
was badly damaged, with bricks scattered about, revealing the graves
from a cemetery behind the building. The bomb left a hole nine feet
wide in the ground.

Three cars were in flames in front of the Armenian Church, colored
glass was scattered across the ground. Four unexploded artillery
shells were still visible inside the booby-trapped car.

Massive plumes of black smoke poured into the evening sky over the
city and U.S. helicopter gunships circled above. Fire fighters and
residents struggled with water hoses to put out the flames, which
leapt from the front of a tan colored church.

Relatives raced to search for loved ones.

One, Roni George, was sitting on the ground weeping after failing to
find his father, mother and two brothers who were at Mass inside one
of the churches during the blast.

Numbering some 750,000, the minority Christians were already concerned
about the growing tide of Islamic fundamentalism, so long repressed
under Saddam Hussein. The majority of the Christians are Chaldean
Roman Catholic, the rest Syrian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox and
Assyrian. Most live in Baghdad and its outskirts and some dwell
further to the north.

Islamic radicals have warned Christians running liquor stores to shut
down their businesses, and have turned their sights on fashion stores
and beauty salons. The increasing attention on this minority community
has many within looking for a way out. Many are in neighboring Jordan
and Syria waiting for the security situation to settle, while others
have applied to leave the country.

PAP Polish Press Agency
PAP News Wire
July 25, 2004 Sunday

Poland to get 440,000 euros from European Refugee Fund

Warsaw, July 25

Poland will get 440,000 euros this year
from the European Refugee Fund to receive immigrants, their
integration and for repatriation of displaced persons, the interior
ministry reported in a statement issued to PAP.

To get the money Polish institutions and non-governmental
organisations have to cover 25 percent of an undertaking from their
own funds.

Head of the section for the European Refugee Fund Bartosz Ziolkowski
said this year the section received 507,000 euro worth of projects for
legal, medical assistance to refugees, the purchase of clothes and
footwear and assistance in repatriation.

Last year more than 6.9 thousand people applied for a
status of refugee with 82 thousand from Czechnya. the group of
applicants included also citizens of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Armenia
and India. Close to 50 percent of them were houses by refugee
centres.

Star of Mysore, India
July 26 2004

JUMBO YATRA TO MEET ARMENIAN LOVER

Mysore, July 26 (VG)- The staff at the Chamarajendra Zoological
Gardens are all agog with exictement as Komala, the eight-year-old
female elephant, is to go to Armenia.

According to Zoo Director Mr. Kumar Pushkar, Komala will be paired
with a nine-year-old Asian elephant at Armenia Zoo. The Armenian Zoo
had written to the President of India requesting for a female
elephant from one of the Zoos in India.

The Central Zoo Authority’s search for a healthy female elephant
ended in Mysore, Mr. Pushkar added.

“Central Zoo Authority’s Member-Secretary Dr. Rajesh Gopal and
Armenian Embassy’s Advisor Mr. Arman Kachatran selected Komala and
she would be air-lifted to Armenia within a month,” he informed.

Mr. Pushkar said Komala is a gift to the Armenian President from the
President of India. Giving away one elephant is not a loss as the
Mysore Zoo had successfully bred elephants in captivity. The Zoo will
be saving about Rs. 1.5 lakh spent on Komala’s maintenance.

The Central Government will bear the expenses of constructing an
enclosure required to airlift Komala to Armenia. Meanwhile, Komala is
being trained to remain in the enclosure for long hours as the
journey would take about 18 hours, Mr. Pushkar disclosed. The
pachyderm would be accompanied by a veterinarian and two keepers.

A doctor from Armenia and an elephant caretaker have arrived in the
Mysore Zoo to study the elephant’s behaviour and the ambience that
needs to be created at Armenia Zoo.

“ARMROSGASPROM” INVESTS 13 MLN DOLLARS TO SPHERE OF GAS-SUPPLY THIS
YEAR

YEREVAN, July 26 (Noyan Tapan). This year the “Armrosgasprom” company
will invest 6.76 bln drams (about 13 mln dollars) to the sphere of
gas-supply of Armenia. Abgar Budaghian, senior specialist of the
Commission on Public Services Regulation, said about it during the
July 23 sitting. It should be mentioned that “Armrosgasprom” submitted
the 2004 investment program to the commission for discussion. According
to it, 372.8 mln drams will be invested with the purpose of study,
restoration, reconstruction and re-equipment of the gas-supply system,
178.5 mln drams will be invested with the purpose of the decrease of
losses in the gas-supply system, and 23.3 mln drams – with the purpose
of the purchase of machines and mechanisms in the system of gas
transportation. The decrease of losses in the gas-distribution system
made 350 mln drams as a result of investments. 530-kilometer new gas
pipeline will be constructed, and 160,000 people will receive an
opportunity to join the network of gas-distribution, including 98,000
people will become real subscribers. It should be mentioned that
according to the data of 2003, there were 54,000 subscribers in the
republic. The same day, the commission approved the investment program
of “Armrosgasprom”.

CRIME EXPOSURE IN ARMENIA IN FIRST HALF OF 2004 TOTALED 83.5% AS AGAINST 83%
IN 2003

YEREVAN, JULY 23. ARMINFO. 5,351 crimes were registered in Armenia in
the first half of 2004 as against 5,120 in the same period of 2003,
said Military Prosecutor Gagik Jhangiryan at today’s session of the
Collegium of Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office.

In the sphere of economic crimes, 152 cases were registered. At the
same time, tax evasion totaled 34 as against 17 in 2003, the number of
exposed cases increased 113.3%. Damage on the misapproriation cases
submitted tp the court totaled 1 bln 34.4 mln drams, 140.7 mln of them
were returned in the course of the investigation, which totals 12/6%
as against 3.3% in 2003.

Crime exposure in the first half of 2004 totaled 83.5% as against 83%
in the same period of 2003. In the same period, investigatory bodies
of Armenia completed 2.298 criminal cases, 1.709 were submitted to the
court, including 31 cases against 43 people charged with premeditated
murder. In the period under review, 30 cases of murder were registered
in the country, which is by 11 cases less than in the same period of
2003. The First Instance Courts of Armenia considered and announced
verdicts on 1,610 criminal cases, including 109 against minors. The
Court of Appeal considered 314 cases, the Court of Cassation 14. 49%
of the defendants were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment as
against 38% in 2003. 95 criminal cases were initiated. Prosecutors
submitted 286 claims on protection of state interests for 1 bln 842.7
mln drams to the courts. 570.6 mln drams were returned on the
voluntary basis. Courts satisfied 199 claims for 397.5 mln drams.

ORDWAY’S FAREWELL TO ARMENIA

Azg/am
23 july 2004

The US ambassador to Armenia John Ordway opened his last official
press conference with a hearty speech. He spent 3 years in Armenia,
learnt Armenian, and appreciated “the beauty of the land and people’s
kindness.” The Armenian-American relations during his tenure could be
called positive in its main features. The ambassador is sure that the
opening of all borders is the only way for the region’s
development. He noted development in the military sphere between the
two countries during these 3 years. Armenia established relations with
the state of Kansas, Armenia was granted military equipments and
relations withthe NATO get tighter.

The fact that the territory of the US embassy is one of the largest in
the world John Ordway considered a guarantee for stable and
everlasting relations between the countries. The dynamics and the
quality of the relations will depend on the developments in Armenia
and the Caucasian region as a whole. But the main interests of Armenia
and the USA will remain unchanged.

According to Ordway, the spheres of mass media and freedom of speech
are the ones with less progress. He thinks that establishment of
democratic institutes demands time and a new generation with new ideas
and values should come to bring the change.

Speaking of the Karabakh issue, John Ordway mentioned that he believes
in the peaceful settlement of the conflict. Azerbaijan’s complaints of
theMinsk group do not sound strange to Ordway. “Both Armenia and
Azerbaijan used to complain of certain things on different stages of
the conflict settlement process but the two presidents are loyal to
the peaceful end. The Minsk group co-chairs want to engage more
actively in the settlement process only believing in this
fact. Renewal of a war will be a tragedy for the region itself, and
the sides comprehend that.”

The ambassador considers this period the most suitable one for the
conflict settlement as the two presidents have enough time on their
posts. The co-chairs also think so.

Concerning the present state of Nagorno Karabakh, John Ordway said
that it is unacceptable for him if the probability of a lasting peace
and normal relations are on the other side of the scales. “But if we
have no other option but the current state or war then the former is
preferable.”

“My memories of Armenia consist of two parts: its nature and the
kindness of people living in this nature. I don’t think that I will
ever forgetArmenia. I have a big collection of Armenian souvenirs but
the best souvenirs are my recollections”, said Ordway.

Only bad roads made ambassador’s stay in Armenia uncomfortable.

By Karine Danielian

TURKEY MUST NOT ACCEDE TO EUROPEAN UNION UNTIL IT ADMITS GENOCIDE OF
ARMENIANS OF 915

YEREVAN, JULY 21. ARMINFO. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has pressed ahead with an official visit to France aimed at prying
open the European Union’s doors to his overwhelmingly Muslim
country. But his quest was a hard sell in France, where leaders have
failed to enthusiastically embrace Turkey’s bid and polls show most
French want Turkey to stay out of the 25-member union. Erdogan, after
meeting with French President Jacques Chirac, on Tuesday, said he
tried to convey the message that Turkey is making the changes required
to meet the so-called Copenhagen criteria for membership and is
counting on France not to withdraw its support. But he said Turkey
should not be held to a higher standard than the other EU members or
the two nations hoping to join in 2007, Romania and Bulgaria. “Turkey
doesn’t ask to join at any price,” Erdogan said at a press
conference. “Joining the EU is not a must for Turkey.” But France has
its doubters. One of the most prominent voices to oppose Turkey
membership has been former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing,
who bluntly said that Turkey isn’t European and its entry would mean
“the end” of the EU.

The ruling Union for the Popular Majority party, which has an
overwhelming majority in the French parliament, also is hostile to
Turkey’s membership. Erdogan met with former party head Alain Juppe
and others later Tuesday to try to win over hearts and minds. The
French public also needs to be convinced. In a poll of 1,511 people
last month, 61 percent of French who responded said they opposed
Turkey membership in the EU, and only 31 percent said they approved.
Eight percent did not have an opinion. Turkey is hoping for a positive
report on its candidacy from the European Commission this fall. Turkey
hopes to get a start date for entry negotiations at the EU summit in
December, but some European countries have seemed reluctant to include
Turkey _ a country of some 70 million, mostly Muslim inhabitants.

Membership of Turkey, located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia,
would stretch the EU’s borders to Syria and Iraq _ a fact that
opponents say moves Europe too close to the unstable Middle
East. Chirac has said that he believes Ankara was not likely to be
able to meet the bloc’s conditions for another 10-15 years. Foreign
Minister Michel Barnier said in a radio interview Tuesday that “Turkey
should not expect to enter the European Union tomorrow morning” even
if it improves its human rights record and reforms its justice system,
two key requirements.

“Turkey still has a ways to go toward becoming a social and democratic
model along the lines of the European model,” Barnier told Europe-1
radio. Turkey also has passed sweeping democratic reforms to meet the
EU’s membership criteria, abolishing the death penalty and granting
greater cultural rights to long-oppressed Kurds. French Prime Minister
Jean-Pierre Raffarin said Monday after talks with Erdogan that France
was awaiting the European Commission report. “We will study the
Commission’s report this fall with the greatest attention,” Raffarin
said. Whatever the outcome of Turkey’s application, it likely will
maintain its strong commercial contacts with France. Turkey’s Anatolia
news agency said that Erdogan and Chirac on Tuesday agreed in
principle on the purchases of 36 Airbus planes by Turkish Airlines at
a cost of around US$1.5 billion. In Paris, members of the
Revolutionary Armenian Federation held a demonstration against
Erdogan’s visit and said Turkey should not be allowed into the EU
until it recognizes the Armenian genocide. Armenians accuse Turks of a
genocide of up to 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923. Turks
claim the number of deaths is inflated and say the victims were killed
in civil unrest.

“We are here to convince the French government, specifically Chirac,
to say absolutely ‘No’ to Turkey’s entry into the European Union,”
said Marie Ghazarossian, a housewife of Armenian descent who has lived
in France for 15 years. “Turkey is not a part of Europe, not the
Europe that we know.”

BAKU TO TRY TO DISCREDIT MINSK GROUP

Azg/am
21 July 2004

Azeri Authorities and Mass Media Criticize Co-Chairs’ Last Visit

Both official Baku and the Azeri press are obviously displeased with
Yuri Merzliakov and Steven Mann, Russian and American Co-Chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group. After the negotiations with Mamediarov, foreign
minister, Abiev, defense minister and Aliyev, President, in the course
of the press conference Steven Mann refused to call Armenia aggressor
and Yuri Merzliakov characterized the four formula of the UN Security
Council as “a decision adopted in another reality.”

“We have no judicial plenipotentiaries that would help to decide which
of the sides in conflict has undertaken a fair position,” said the
American diplomat in reply to the question “Do you accept that the
Azeri territories are occupied and who is the occupant?” The Co-Chairs
were in the region on July11-17. The new about this visit was the
fact that the mediators met with the political figures, deputies, NGO
representatives in Baku, Stepanakert and Yerevan, besides the
officials of the sides in conflict.

The Azeri Defense Minister told the Co- Chairs that Nagorno Karabagh
conflict can’t be settled unless the Azeri occupied territories are
liberated. Abiev said that UN Security Council’s four formulae should
be applied and OSCE should take the relevant decision.

Mann contradicted the statement made by Abiev and said that the
Nagorno Karabagh conflict shouldn’t be settled by OSCE. “The Nagorno
Karabagh conflict can be settled by Armenia and Azerbaijan only, while
the Minsk Group can only contribute to that.”

Merzliakov contradicted Abiev too. “We try to find the peaceful
solution to the conflict and help the sides to make the decision. The
four formulae of the UN Security Council were made in the conditions
of other reality and today they can’t be carried out. The deadline of
the commitments has expired and it’s time to find a new variant of
settlement,” said the Russian diplomat.

The UN Security Council has adopted four formulae on Nagorno Karabagh:
# 822, 853, 874 and 884, that clearly state that “the local Armenian
forces” should leave the occupied Azeri territories. Abiev, on his
turn, didn’t agree with Mann and Merzliakov and emphasized that the UN
commitments were complied in Yugoslavia and Iraq and he hoped that the
time will come when the abovementioned four formula will be applied
for the Nagorno Karabagh settlement. President Ilham Aliyev stated
once again that the activities of the Minsk Group had no results.
Aliyev spares no efforts to compromise the Minsk Group, denying the
achievements of the group in the conflict’s settlement. This can mean
that Baku tries to transfer the Nagorno Karabagh conflict settlement
to another framework, for example, to the EU.

The position of the united Europe, particularly that of France, is
worth mentioning. Henry Jackelen said: “If this format (OSCE Minsk
Group) yields no results the mediator’s plenipotentiaries can be
passed to the EU. But I must remind that neither the EU nor the UN
didn’t express readiness to undertake the responsibility.”

Indeed, the EU hasn’t expressed readiness to undertake a mediator’s
role in Karabagh, but, on the other hand, Brussels is discussing the
possibility to participate in the Karabagh settlement. Javier Solana,
the EU Responsible for Foreign Policy Issues, said this after the
meeting with Ilham Aliyev, last May.

The positions of Baku and Brussels concerning Karabagh settlement are
quite close today. Thus, Baku demands the withdrawal of the Armenian
forces from the Azeri regions, the EU demands the same. Azerbaijan
accepts the stage-by-stage version of the settlement, so the EU does.

One shouldn’t exclude that the EU “New Neighbors” initiative (Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia) will become the means to make Brussels feel
more confident in the Caucasus. Solana said: “New Neighbors”
initiative that is suggested to these countries can help the EU
participate in Karabagh settlement on a new level.

The possible involvement of the EU in the settlement process is not
desirable for Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh for other reasons
too. Thus, Solana accepts not only the stage-by-stage settlement of
the problem but also Turkey’ participation in the process.

Besides, Brussels doesn’t find the territorial integrity and the right
for self-determination primary issues. They consider the South
Caucasus a united economic area, where democracy, human rights
protection should be primary issues. The EU care neither for the
basic essence of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict nor for the results of
the war. To be more correct, the results of the Karabagh war are
important for other reasons: the Armenian forces should be withdrawn
from the regions they control against the probable agreement of
Azerbaijan to stop the blockade of Armenia.

Henry Jackelen stated in Stepanakert and Baku that the possibility of
a new war is bigger unless the issue of “the occupied territories”
isn’t solved. While the simple logics prompt that the current
cease-fire is conditioned by the security chain created by the
Armenian armed forces. And on the contrary, in case the Armenian
forces retreat the possibility of a war grows.

By Tatoul Hakobian