Author: Vardapetian Ophelia

THE WEAKENING OF TURKEY’S MILITARY

Council on Foreign Relations
kening_of_turkeys_military.html?breadcrumb=%2Fpubl ication%2Fby_type%2Fregion_issue_brief
March 1 2010

Author: Steven A. Cook, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle
Eastern Studies

The arrest of forty-nine currently serving and retired Turkish military
officers for an alleged 2003 plot to overthrow the government is
unprecedented and has raised fears about destabilization arising from
a showdown between the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party
(AKP) and the military.

But none of this should come as a surprise. The current crisis
underscores the changes long underway in Turkish politics. Since 2003,
the ruling AKP has been whittling away at the military’s vaunted
autonomy. Yet the oft-cited power of the Turkish General Staff may be
more apparent than real. That perception stems from the fact that the
military has carried out four coups d’état (1960, 1971, 1980, and
1997) and countless less-dramatic interventions in Turkish politics.

Rather than demonstrate the officers’ power and influence, however,
these interventions reflect the underlying weakness of Turkey’s
military establishment.

Asserting Civilian Control

Since the founding of the Turkish republic, the basic, if unwritten,
rule of politics has been: Politicians and their followers must not
elicit the ire of the General Staff lest they be pushed from office and
banned (at least temporarily) from politics. As a result, successive
Turkish governments have shied from challenging the military on issues
such as personnel, the military budget, and weapons procurement,
as well as areas beyond the officers’ professional competence,
including education, broadcasting, and the national economy. Indeed,
the threat of military intervention has so conditioned Turkish civilian
politicians that they have often campaigned in part on the implicit
message that they could maintain good relations with the General Staff.

[N]one of this should come as a surprise. The current crisis
underscores the changes long underway in Turkish politics.

In 2003, however, the AKP, riding a wave of unprecedented popular
support for European Union-inspired reforms, began bringing the General
Staff under civilian control. The AKP-dominated parliament granted
itself oversight and control over the military’s extra-budgetary
funds, strengthened the civilian-controlled Ministry of National
Defense–which is separate from and has no control over the General
Staff–to identify priorities for defense expenditures, and removed
military representatives from the Higher Education and Audio-Visual
Boards. The officers on these boards were charged with ensuring that
threats to the republic, notably Islamism and Kurdish separatism,
did not creep into the educational system or national broadcasting.

The most important changes were made to the National Security Council
(known more commonly by its Turkish acronym, MGK), which had been
the primary channel through which the officers influenced Turkish
politics. First, the number of officers on the council was reduced
from five to one–the chief of staff. Second, the legislation required
that a civilian hold the office of MGK secretary-general, a position
previously reserved for a military officer who reported directly to
the chief of staff. The council was also stripped of its executive
authority and its budget placed under the prime minister’s control.

Despite these dramatic changes, the military was forced to accept
the council’s downgraded status. Given the enormous public support
(as high as 77 percent) for the EU reforms at the time, the officers
could not oppose the changes to the MGK without risking the military’s
popularity among the Turkish public–something the officers hold dear.

Despite periodic reports of grumbling among the officer corps about
the Justice and Development Party’s alleged "reactionaryism," there
were no confrontations between the military and the government
until April 2007, when the military tried to prevent then foreign
minister and deputy prime minister Abdullah Gul from becoming
Turkey’s president. Although the post is largely ceremonial, the
Turkish president has the power to approve or veto legislation. The
officers feared that a Gul presidency would bring down the last
firewall against the establishment of an Islamic state.

Without naming Gul, the officers posted a message on the General
Staff’s website implicitly threatening intervention should the
AKP-dominated parliament elect Gul to be Turkey’s eleventh president.

After a tense month of popular protests in Turkey’s major cities,
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called snap national
elections. The Justice and Development Party won a landslide victory,
capturing 47 percent of the vote, paving the way for Gul to be elevated
to the Cankaya Palace in August. Once again, despite the military’s
clear threats, the officers proved that while they could raise the
level of tension in the political arena, they were impotent to secure
their desired outcome.

Although the arrest of the forty-nine officers is big news, the fact
remains that the popular perception of an all-powerful Turkish military
is largely incorrect.

The following March, the public prosecutor filed charges against the
Justice and Development Party for being "a center of anti-secular
activity." Although the military was not directly responsible for
the charges, the General Staff’s deep mistrust of AKP created an
environment that made the charges possible. The Constitutional Court
ultimately found the party guilty, but decided against shuttering the
party and banning seventy of its members from politics. The decision,
despite the verdict, was widely regarded as a victory for Justice
and Development and a blow to the secular establishment, which the
military leads.

A string of embarrassing incidents have further eroded the military’s
public standing and allowed the AKP to begin subordinating the officers
to civilian authority.

These include the so-called Ergenekon investigation, which implicated
several former senior officers and a number of serving junior officers
in an effort to destabilize the country and provoke a coup. In
addition, the Turkish daily Taraf published alleged documents
demonstrating that the military was aware of planned Kurdistan
Worker Party attacks on Turkish soldiers before they occurred, but
chose to do nothing to undermine support for the AKP. And officers
from the Special Forces command were recently accused of plotting
the assassination of Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc. The latter
incident resulted in civilian prosecutors searching Special Forces
headquarters for evidence, an unprecedented development in Turkey.

The Inherent Weakness of Coups

Although the arrest of the forty-nine officers is big news, the
fact remains that the popular perception of an all-powerful Turkish
military is largely incorrect. The officers regard themselves as
the keepers of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s principles of secularism and
republicanism. Yet, Kemalism–at least the officers’ interpretation
of Ataturk’s ideas–demands a drab political conformity that
never accommodated Kurds, pious Muslims, Armenians, the small Greek
community, and, as Turkish society has become more modern and complex,
those who want to live in a more democratic political system.

The fact that the officers have had to intervene four times in five
decades demonstrates their inability to force the military’s political
will on society. To be sure, the coups of 1960, 1971, 1980, and the
"blank" or "post-modern" coup of 1997 reflect the awesome firepower at
the General Staff’s disposal, but coercion is the least efficient means
of political control. Indeed, in the aftermath of each intervention,
the military sought to ensure that it would not have to intervene
again by writing, rewriting, and amending Turkey’s constitutions to
safeguard the Kemalist political order, yet each time the reengineering
of Turkey’s political institutions failed to prevent challenges to
the political system.

The U.S. Response

Although the Obama administration has identified Turkey as a strategic
partner in the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and South
Asia, Washington must recognize that Turkey’s internal political
turmoil could undermine Ankara’s capacity to be a useful ally in
these critical areas. A military backlash in the form of a coup, or
if the AKP uses the arrests to engage in a political witch hunt, will
destabilize Turkish politics and markets for the foreseeable future.

Washington must continue to emphasize the importance of the rule of
law and the importance of Turkey’s democratic transition to put both
sides–the military and the government–on notice that the stakes in
this situation for both Ankara and Washington are high.

Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.

HAK WILL APPEAL TO THE COURT

7001.html
18:55:19 – 01/03/2010

Today, addressing the opposition’s rally near Matenadaran, the former
Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan said that the gas price increase is not
grounded. The reason is not the gas price or the dollar-dram exchange
rate as the official bodies state. This is some kind of tax set on
citizens. HayRusGazArd is a repressive machine in the hands of the
government, said Hrant Bagratyan.

The HAK issued a statement that it is going to appeal to the court for
the gas price increase. Bagratyan called on the citizens to stand firm
up to the end. The HHSh board member Aram Manukyan who read the HAK
statement, said that this appeal will succeed if RA thousand citizens
join it.

news.am, Armenia
Feb 27 2010

Armenian pogroms in Sumgait first sign of Azerbaijan’s neo-fascist policy

10:07 / 02/27/2010By Ivan Gharibyan

Today, February 27, is the 22nd anniversary of the first ethnic
pogroms in the Soviet Union’s history. On February 27-29, 1988, just a
few days after the council of the people’s deputies of the
Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region decided to submit a request for the
region to secede from the Azerbaijani SSR and form part of the
Armenian SSR, unprecedented events in the multinational state’s
history occurred in Sumgait.

The situation in the city, with lumpenproles constituting a major part
of its population, was being exacerbated for several days. One more
factor that complicated the situation was the absence of Jahangir
Muslimzade, Head of the Sumgait Committee of the Communist Party ‘ he
was on holiday. A day before the pogroms first Secretary of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan Kyamran
Bagirov, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Hasan Seyidov tried
to `cool the passions.’ But the passions were running high at the
Chemical Industry Workers’ Club in Sumgait, and the two top-ranking
officials had to leave through the back door.

On December 27, the wave of popular unrest swept over the streets. The
Azeri poet Khydyr Alovlu, a staunch supporter of the `national leader’
Heydar Aliyev, played a key provocative role in the events. He is the
person that held high posts in the Sumgait city administration later,
when the Aliyev clan came to power in independent Azerbaijan.
According to Azeri sources, at a rally on February 27, Khydyr Alovlu,
who considered himself a poet, cried out `Death to Armenians!’

Jahangir Muslimzade, who was attending the rally, lost control of the
situation. The local authorities and law-enforcers did not act. The
local Komsomol organization had to apply to Baku for help in
preventing a riot and murders.

The Armenian pogroms in Baku proved to be cold shower for the Kremlin,
which was completely confused by the events that were taking place for
the first time in the multinational state! According to official
information, 32 Armenians were tortured to death, and hundreds of them
were severely injured and disabled.

The Armenian massacre in Sumgait on February 27-29, 1988, which fact
is being passed over in silence in Azerbaijan, proved to be the first
sign of Azeri neo-fascism that was raising its head and later was rife
and rampant resulting in Armenian massacres in Baku and Kirovadad,
deportation of the Armenian population from the Shahumyan region, war
unleashed in response to the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s demand for the
right to self-determination.

Strangely enough, but even all the aforementioned facts are not the
most terrible. Much more terrible and dangerous is the Azerbaijani
leaders’ policy of sowing seeds of hatred toward the neighbors in
their own people by distorting historical facts and misinterpreting
the events of 1988-1994. The Aliyev clan’s style is far from being
ingenious: they invented the `Khojali genocide’ to consign the Sumgait
pogroms to oblivion. But the civilians killed in Khojali were actually
victims of a filthy domestic political struggle in Azerbaijan, which
fact is never mentioned in Baku. And irrefutable evidence, including
the statements by the then president of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutalibov, is
available. The same can be said of the Armenian pogroms in Baku on
January 13-19. To hold back the truth, the Azeri leaders present the
entry of troops to Baku to prevent the annihilation of non-Muslim
population as Azerbaijan’s national tragedy.

It cannot be helped. The Azeri authorities continue their policy of
turning their own people into a herd of cattle bereft of reason,
without any knowledge of history. As the saying was in Nazi Germany
`Our Fuehrer thinks for us.’ This must be President Ilham Aliyev’s
logic. By means of the mass media under his full control he is doing
his best to develop the personality cult of his deceased father.

The only thing for us to do is to bow our heads before the innocent
victims of the Sumgait pogroms organized by the Azeri cutthroats 22
years ago and thank the individual Azerbaijanis who, risking their own
lives, saved their Armenian friends and neighbors.

T.P.

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Feb 25 2010

Aliyev rules out `second Armenian state’

25-02-2010 05:45:58

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Tuesday his country will
never allow the establishment in its territories of `a second state’
by Armenians, who have been occupying part of Azerbaijan’s
internationally-recognized territory for over a decade.
President Aliyev noted, further, that the world community, and OSCE
mediators brokering peace talks in particular, are offering a conflict
settlement complying with the territorial integrity principle.
`I am confident that this approach will help us to swiftly resolve
the problem, because all norms of international law are on our side,’
Aliyev told the opening of a building constructed for those disabled
during the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh war with Armenia and war victim
families in the Lokbatan settlement, 15 km away from Baku.
`Upper Garabagh is an integral part of Azerbaijan,’ he said,
reiterating that the Azerbaijani region will never be an independent
state.
`The whole world knows this. And the sooner Armenia realizes this
truth, the sooner the problem will find its solution. Once it has been
resolved, peace in the region could be fully restored, as the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is the biggest problem facing the region.
Without having resolved it, no other problem can find its solution.’
The Garabagh conflict began in 1988 on Armenian territorial claims.
Since the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent
of Azerbaijan including the Upper Garabagh region and its seven
surrounding districts, despite four standing UN resolutions on
unconditional pullout of Armenian troops and condemnation by a number
of other international organizations.*

NKR FOREIGN MINISTRY: BAKU RESPONSIBLE FOR KHOJALY INCIDENT

20 10/02/25 | 18:51

Nagorno Karabakh politics

Below is the official statement of the NKR Foreign Ministry regarding
the incident at Khojaly.

The anti-Armenian campaign in connection with the regular anniversary
of the tragic events in the settlement of Khojaly, which has set
everybody’s teeth on edge for a long time, has gained an unprecedented
scope this year in Azerbaijan.

In connection with the insinuations of official Baku, the Press Service
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
considers it necessary to note that a military operation was organized
on February 25-26, 1992 with the aim of unblocking the only airport in
the country situated near the settlement of Khojaly and neutralizing
the fire-points of the enemy just in Khojaly, from where, beginning
from spring 1991, the settlements of Nagorno Karabakh were regularly
attacked by the Azerbaijani OMON-members and exposed to artillery
bombardment, including from "Grad" rocket launchers – weapon of mass
destruction (WMD) prohibited by numerous international conventions.

Fulfilling a vital goal for the Karabakh people, the units of the
NKR self-defense forces, attacking Khojaly, provided a corridor for
the civilians’ safe leaving the military activities zone, about which
the Azerbaijani party was informed beforehand.

This fact was repeatedly confirmed by the Azerbaijani officials,
in particular, the then President Ayaz Mutalibov.

But, the Azerbaijani authorities did nothing for the peaceful
population’s withdrawal from the military activities area.

Moreover, a column of civilians was shot down at the approaches to
the Aghdam region’s border, which was later confirmed by Mutalibov,
connecting this criminal act with the opposition’s attempts to remove
him from his position, making him responsible for the events.

The territory, where pictures of numerous corpses were made, is in a
three-kilometer distance from the town of Aghdam and in 11 kilometers
from Khojaly.

Up to the summer of 1993, this territory was under permanent control
of the Azerbaijani armed forces, which excluded any access for the
units of the Karabakh self-defense forces.

"The Azerbaijani official propaganda tries to blame Armenians for
the killing of the civil population of Khojaly, but even Azerbaijani
President Mutalibov admitted that "Armenians still provided a corridor
for the civilians’ leaving the place", the Russian Nezavisimaya Gazeta
from April 2, 1992 wrote. Also, Ogonyok journal (#14-15, 1992) noted
that "…the attack of Khojaly wasn’t sudden".

Some details of that military operation are still shrouded in mystery,
which is actively speculated by the Azerbaijani state propagandistic
machine, using various falsifications, forgeries, and obvious lie.

Last year, the NKR MFA drew the public attention to the false photo
placed at some Azerbaijani websites, including the one of a generator
of false ideas – The Heydar Aliyev Fund ().

In fact, the photo related immediately to the events in Kosovo and just
as such, along with numerous others, was introduced at the Serbian,
Albanian, and one of the specialized German forums, at the site of
The New York Times authoritative journal, and others.

This year, new forgeries have been added to the noted one. Thus,
about 20 false photos used by the Azerbaijani party, in particular,
those of the victims of the Kurdish pogroms in Turkey, the victims
of the massacre in Srebrennitsa, and others, were introduced during
the February 24 presentation of the project in Yerevan.

Besides, outrageous falsifications were discovered in the lists of
the Aghdam tragedy victims introduced by the Azerbaijani official
structures – embassies, the presidential library, etc. Also, the site
provides video-films about the interrogations of the Turks-Meskhetians,
which testify that despite the Armenian party’s warning of the
Khojaly attack, the Azerbaijani servicemen banned the escape of the
Turks-Meskhetians’ families, which were artificially settled there
by the Azerbaijani authorities.

The Azerbaijani propaganda tries to introduce the betrayal of the
Khojaly civilians by their high-rank compatriots as the Armenians’
revenge for the bloody orgy in Sumgait.

But, the remarks and assessments of the Khojaly events by some
Azerbaijani top officials, human rights activists, and journalists
refute flatly the false thesis of official Baku.

Thus, Azerbaijani human rights activist Arif Yunusov wrote: "The town
and its citizens were deliberately made victims of the political
goal – to prevent the Azerbaijani Popular Front’s coming to power"
(Azerbaijani Zerkalo newspaper, July 1992).

Tamerlan Karayev, in due time Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the
Azerbaijani Republic (now AR Ambassador to India), testified: "The
tragedy was implemented by the Azerbaijani authorities", specifically
"some of the top officials" (Mukhalifat Azerbaijani newspaper, April
28, 1992).

Heydar Aliyev admitted himself that "the former leadership of
Azerbaijan is also guilty" of the Khojaly events. According to
Bilik-Dunyasi Agency, still in April 1992 he expressed a cynically
monstrous idea:

"The bloodshed will do good to us. We shouldn’t interfere in the course
of the events". Did the "father" of Azerbaijan bear the responsibility
for these words?

Czech journalist Yana Mazalova who, by the Azerbaijanis’ oversight,
found herself in both groups of the mass media representatives, which
were shown the "corpses defiled by Armenians", noted a sufficient
difference in the latters’ condition.

Visiting the field immediately after the events, Mazalova didn’t
see any traces of barbarity on the corpses. And two days later,
the journalists were shown the disfigured bodies already "prepared"
for filming.

The Russian Megalopolis-Express newspaper wrote: "We cannot but admit
that if the Azerbaijani Popular Front had really far-reaching goals,
so it has achieved them. Mutalibov is compromised and dismissed,
the international community is shocked, the Azerbaijanis and the
friendly Turks believed in the so-called "genocide of the Azerbaijani
population in Khojaly".

As it is known, still on February 26, 47 Armenian hostages were kept
in Khojaly, which is deliberately concealed by the Azerbaijani mass
media. After liberating Khojaly, there were only 13 of them (among
them 6 women and a child), while the rest 34 were taken away in an
unknown direction by the Azerbaijanis. So far, there is no information
about there further fate. We only know that they were taken away from
the village in the operation night, but they didn’t enter Aghdam.

It is evident that those who wanted to make a semblance of the corpses’
defilement by Armenians disfigured, first of all, the bodies of the
Armenian hostages in order that they couldn’t be identified.

Just for this purpose, the majority of the corpses were undressed, and
just for this purpose, the victims’ bodies were exposed to outrages,
which changed them out of all recognition.

Proceeding from the abovementioned facts, we can confidently state
that the Azerbaijani party is guilty of the death of the civilians of
Khojaly and the Armenian hostages kept there, and that the Azerbaijani
party committed a monstrous crime against its own people for the sake
of its political intrigues and struggle for power.

It is already obvious for everybody that the "genocide" of Azerbaijanis
in Khojaly is a myth created still by Heydar Aliyev and taken up by his
throne-successor Aliyev-the-junior in order to draw the international
community’s attention away from the massacre of Armenians in Sumgait,
Baku, Kirovabad, and many other populated-by-Armenians settlements,
as well as to conceal the political, humanitarian, military, economic,
and other penal offences of the Azerbaijani leadership against Armenian
civilians and against its own people.

OPPOSITION LEADER MEETS EU AMBASSADORS

news.am
Feb 24 2010
Armenia

Armenia’s first President, leader of the opposition Armenian National
Congress (ANC) Levon Ter-Petrosyan held a meeting on Feb. 24 with
the Ambassador of the EU member-states to Armenia.

Ter-Petrosyan informed the ambassadors of the ANC’s positions on a
number of domestic and foreign policy issues. The sides held a thorough
discussion of problems of poverty and corruption, socio-economic
situation in Armenia, emigration, violation of human rights, as well as
the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process and Armenian-Turkish reconciliation.

Attending the meeting were ANC Central Office representatives, Levon
Zurabyan, Avetis Avagyan and Vladimir Karapetyan.

PRESIDENT OF THE ARTSAKH REPUBLIC VISITED STEPANAKERT AIRPORT

24-02-2010

On 24 February President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan visited
Stepanakert airport.

The Head of the State got acquainted with construction of the airport
passenger complex. Bako Sahakyan expressed satisfaction with the
quality of the carried out activities at the same time noting the
importance of putting the airport in commission in correspondence
with the set timetable.

NKR premier Ara Haroutyunyan, minister of municipal engineering
Anahit Vardanyan and other officials accompanied the President during
the visit.

US MAY USE GEORGIAN TERRITORY FOR TRANSIT OF MILITARY CARGO TO AFGHANISTAN

Yerkir
23.02.2010 12:25

Yerevan (Yerkir) – Georgian territory may be used as transit
for supplying military cargo to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke,
Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Obama
administration, said during his visit to Georgia.

Earlier, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had suggested that
US could use the Georgian territory and transport infrastructure as
a transfer station for supplying military cargo to Afghanistan.

Dereyan: Armenia Starts the Journey in Vancouver

By Antranig Dereyan – on February 19, 2010

eyan-armenia-starts-the-journey-in-vancouver/
The Armenian Weekly sports correspondent Antranig Dereyan reports from
Vancouver.

VANCOUVER, Canada (A.W.) – As darkness falls over Vancouver on Feb. 12,
the night of the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic Games, inside
BC Place the lights are shinning as the participating Olympic nations
prepare to live their Olympic dreams

Outside, hundreds of people are scattered about. `I need two tickets,
any tickets?’ comes from one distraught Finnish support. `Sorry, the
only tickets available are for $1,000,’ says one representative.

Once the clock strikes 6 p.m., BC Place is filled with spectators
wearing white shirts – called `White Out’ – and snowboarders begin to
appear on the stage.

Afterwards, Michaelle Jean, the governor general of Canada, and
Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee,
come out. Following the singing of `O Canada’ by Nikki Yanofsky, it is
time for `The Parade of Nations.’

Greece, the host nation of the first Olympic Games, comes out first.
Not before long, Argentina walks out. And then comes Armenia. Leading
the way, holding his flag high and proud, waving it for the world to
see is alpine skier Arsen Nersisyan. Behind him are the other members
of the team, cross-country skiers Kristine Khachatryan and Sergey
Mikayelyan, Armenia’s young super star, along with alpine skier
Ani-Matilda Serebrakian. They march to the applause of the crowd, the
silent cheering of Armenians behind the scenes at the event and the
millions of Armenians around the world.

It is a sober experience when Georgia comes out. The loss of their
luge athlete, Nodar Kumaritashvili, just hours before was symbolized
by the black ribbon at the end of the Georgian flag.

The Parade of Nations draws to an end with only one nation left to be
introduced. The crowd rises to its feet, the stadium appears to be
covered with a blanket of snow. Outside, Canadians are cheering from
their homes, watching their TVs, scattered all throughout Vancouver’s
downtown section and Whistler. With flags waving and cameras flashing,
the last nation to make their walk in is the current host of the 21st
Winter Olympic Games, Canada.

And the festivities begin. Canadian performers Bryan Adams, Nelly
Furtado, and Sarah McLachlan, to name only a few, sing songs and show
their pride of their home country.

The event that takes the cake is the lighting of the Olympic Flame.

Again high-profiled Canadians take the stage: Steve Nash runs along
with the light glowing above his head, tilting the flame down to light
the torch of the final torch bearer, `The Great One,’ Wayne Gretzky.
The crowd rises once again to their feet as Gretzky, almost in tears,
along with Nash and the other torchbearers, wait for the cauldron to
be lifted from underground into place.

With the crowd still roaring, the cauldron is beginning its
appearance, but is taking a long time to do so. (It is only the TV
viewing audience and media personnel who know about the technical
issues that have arisen.) `We’ll be right back,’ says the voice of
most TV announcers. Once back live, the cauldron still isn’t in place,
but the torchbearers hold their spots.

Finally the cauldron comes up, but not fully; only four out of the
five stands appear, but the flame is lit.

With the BC Place flame glowing bright, the only other flame needing
fire is the outside flame, which is downtown, next to Canada Place.
And who better to do the honors than Wayne Gretzky?

Running onto the back of an open SUV, Gretzky is taken down the
street, which is closed off to other cars, but not to the walking
public. As the car drives up, it has no choice but to go slow as
people are crossing the street and trying to touch Gretzky – just
wanting a piece of this for themselves.

At the destination, the outside flame is lit, bringing an end to the
ceremony and starting the Olympics – and the medal hopes for Armenia and
the other nations.

SLAVONIC UNIVERSITY STUDENTS HOLD MODEL OSCE IN YEREVAN

armradio.am
20.02.2010 13:01

Some 35 students and alumni from the Russian-Armenian Slavonic
University discuss the political situation in the hypothetical
country of Artenia and challenges related to freedom of the media,
gender equality and political instability at a Model OSCE Conference
in Yerevan.

The conference is the first organized in Yerevan following two Model
OSCE conferences in the Shirak and Lori provinces last year.

"Engaging youth in discussing matters currently on the agenda of the
OSCE is one of the goals of the Model OSCE initiative," said Carel
Hofstra, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. "Simulating
a Permanent Council session gives the participants an insider’s
perspective of the complex negotiations and decision-making processes
that the participating States engage in at the OSCE."

Prior to the conference, participants were trained in public speaking,
communication skills and negotiation techniques, and were provided
with a general overview of international relations. Ambassador Sergey
Kapinos, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan briefed them about
key OSCE activities, principles and values. The briefing concentrated
on the human dimension of the OSCE’s work, which is the focus of the
played scenario to be used at the Model OSCE Conference.