Author: Vardapetian Ophelia

YET ANOTHER PROTEST

A1+
02:45 pm | June 04, 2009

Society

After the elections for Yerevan’s Council of Elders, residents of
the sale zone gathered in front of the Government building once again.

Police officers did not let the protesters stand in front of the
building and they held their protest a little far from the building.

"How long can they continue to trick us? We don’t participate in
any elections, so how can we be considered citizens of Armenia?" say
residents of the sale zone.

President of the "Property Rights Defense" NGO Vachagan Hakobyan
told "A1+" that they are not given any responses. Hakobyan also said
that more and more citizens of Yerevan are thinking about leaving
in despair.

The mothers of soldiers killed in Armenian military units were also
gathered in front of the Government building with the photos of their
sons. Mother Alvard Margaryan was also there and blames the general
doctor at the hospital of Berd city for the death of her 31-year
old son.

"He was transferred to the hospital after an accident, but died from
poisoning," said Alvart, adding that the doctor is still working at
the hospital despite the fact that many people have died because of
his operations.

A welcome new stage in Azerbaijani-Israeli ties
ALEXANDER MURINSON

THE JERUSALEM POST
Jun. 1, 2009

Israel has actively sought to establish friendly relations with
Azerbaijan and other Muslim states in the post-Soviet space. Relations
between Israel, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan serve as a model for
cooperation between the Jewish state and Muslim nations. As a result of
the meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Israel’s new
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Prague on May 6, an agreement
about a state visit by President Shimon Peres to Baku has been reached.
Peres is scheduled to visit Azerbaijan near the end of June as a part
of his tour of the Muslim republics of the CIS. The visit to Baku will
take place "at the highest level and with all honors."

In view of increasing tensions between the Iranian mullahs’ regime,
which seeks to build nuclear weapons and threaten the Gulf region, and
Israel, the invitation for Peres to visit secular Muslim Azerbaijan,
Iran’s northern neighbor, reaffirms the strategic relationship between
the two countries. Diplomatic relations between the countries were
established shortly after Azerbaijan’s independence in 1992. Premier
Binyamin Netanyahu paid a working visit in 1997 on his flight from
China.

This diplomatic breakthrough was achieved by Lieberman, who emigrated
from the former Soviet Republic of Moldova. Since his days as the
minister of strategic affairs (2006-2008), he has pursued a policy of
deepening relations with the newly independent states of Eastern
Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Lieberman paid special attention
to the Republic of Azerbaijan, strategically located on the western
shore of the Caspian Sea. He paid an official visit to Azerbaijan in
August 2007. During their meeting in Prague, Aliyev and Lieberman
discussed the development of Azerbaijani-Israeli relations. Lieberman
mentioned that he intends to visit Baku in the near future.

THE CRITICAL AREA of cooperation between the two countries is energy
securi
ael’s oil. Due
to the high proportion of petrochemicals in bilateral trade, the value
of imports from Azerbaijan reached $3.5 billion in 2008. There are also
plans to supply Azerbaijani natural gas via Turkey to Haifa. However,
there is renewed interest on both sides in expanding bilateral
cooperation into new areas such as agriculture, medical research and
hi-tech. As part of this effort, a series of events have been organized
with the participation of Ambassador to Azerbaijan Arthur Lenk, who has
represented the Jewish state in Baku since 2005 and will leave his post
in July.

In May 2008, the Israel-Azerbaijani business forum took place in Baku,
with the Israeli side represented by Agriculture Minister Shalom
Simhon. Tel Aviv hosted a forum with representatives of more than 20
companies from Azerbaijan and officials of the Ministry of Economic
Development on May 18. The key part of the forum was the signing of an
agreement on cooperation between the Israel Export Institute and the
Azerbaijan Fund for Export and Investments Encouragement (AzPromo).
This agreement institutionalizes mutual trade and investment. The
International Agricultural Exhibition Agritech 2009 taking place in
Israel will also see the Azerbaijani delegation led by Ilham Guliyev,
deputy minister of agriculture.

In late September 2008, Azerbaijan agreed to buy military hardware from
Israel. On September 26, Haaretz reported that Azerbaijan will purchase
Israeli weapons, including ammunition, mortars and military radio
equipment worth hundreds of millions of dollars. This is the first
public acknowledgment of the growing strategic relationship between the
two countries, even though the relationship goes back to the first
years of Azerbaijani independence. This political move demonstrates
Azerbaijani commitment to its Western orientation and independence from
Moscow and Teheran.

Israel sought to establish close relations with these countries,
because the developments in this region profoundly affect the stability
o d the size of the
predominantly Muslim population of Central Asia and Azerbaijan. The
Caspian region can become a fertile ground for the spread of Islamic
radicalism and nuclear proliferation. These threats also unite Israel
with the elites and secular middle class in these nations. The natural
riches of the region make cooperation with these nations even more
attractive.

The Obama administration would be wise to see Israel under Netanyahu as
an asset and interlocutor in the American strategy toward Eurasia in
general and the South Caucasus in particular. Israel’s influence among
the ex-Soviet republics and the Russian Federation is bound to increase
under Lieberman, who has built a broad network of formal and informal
relations with the elites of these republics during his tenure as
minister of strategic affairs.

News reports about the coming visit of Peres to Azerbaijan have already
caused consternation among the Iranian military. The Azerbaijani media
reported on May 21 that the Iranian Chief of Staff Hasan Firudabadi
made public threats directed at Azerbaijan, saying that a visit by the
Israeli president would be an "incorrect step." He added: "The Shimon
Peres visit does not seem like a friendly step in Azerbaijani relations
with Iran."

The writer is an independent researcher; his book Turkey’s Entente with
Israel and Azerbaijan: State Identity and Security in the Middle East
and Caucasus will be published by Routledge in September 2009.

ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI MEN DESIGNING FALSE DOCUMENTS DETAINED IN GEORGIA

Today.Az
/52832.html
June 3 2009
Azerbaijan

Armenian and Azerbaijani men, who were designing false documents in
an effort to sell in Azerbaijan, have been detained in Georgia.

Georgian Interior Ministry’s Counter Terrorism Center’s officers
detained two Georgian citizens who are charged with designing and
distributing false official documents.

The detained are Gurgen Nazaryan and Azer Ibrahimov. A suit has
been filed against them, the Interior Ministry press service told
Trend News.

The detained pleaded guilty. False documents in large volumes have
been seized in their workplace.

The false documents were planned to be sold in Azerbaijan. Part of
the documents has already been sent to Baku.

ARTHUR ABRAHAM: I WOULD BE LYING IF I DIDN’T SAY I WANT TO WIN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
03.06.2009 14:48 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The first press conference ahead of the IBF World
Title fight between King Arthur Abraham (29-0, 23 KOs) and Mahir
Oral (25-1-2, 10 KOs) in the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin was held
today, almost four weeks before the middleweight showdown. The
two title rivals met on Tuesday to give their first statements
regarding the June 27 fight. Whoever expected insults to fly from
the 29-year-old IBF champion and his challenger from Hamburg was
left disappointed. Instead, both gave a rather laid-back, relaxed
impression.

"It was a great pleasure for me to hear that I was going to fight
Arthur," opened Mahir Oral. "We know each other from our early days
as sparring partners, although now we have both matured. Arthur has
become King and I have developed a lot too." Although Oral can well
remember Abraham’s brutal knock-out triumph over Khoren Gevor in Berlin
in August 2007, that does not scare him in the slightest. "Of course
you have respect as a boxer. Khoren was giving a good impression
of himself to begin of that fight. The knock-out in the 11th round
looked spectacular, but had that not happened, we would be looking
back on that fight in a different way," added the 29-year-old.

Ahmet Oner, the challenger’s manager, is delighted with how the World
Title fight came about. "First of all I have to say that this has not
unsettled Mahir at all. Many others in the middleweight division are
avoiding Arthur because they don’t think they have any chance against
him, but I told Mahir that he has nothing to lose. Should he actually
be beaten, then it will be against the strongest ever World Champion
in his weight division. And that is Arthur Abraham. So we have nothing
to lose," he said. "Mahir is a fighter and although Arthur Abraham
is the favorite, we still think we have a chance. We will all know
the answer on June 27."

For King Arthur, the fight in the German capital is a real home
fight. "I have very good memories of the Max-Schmeling-Halle,
particularly the fight with Khoren Gevor," he said. "That was a tough
one back then," added the IBF title holder who lives and trains in
Berlin. He is not going to take the fight with Mahir Oral lightly
either. "In 2003 and 2004, we sparred a lot together in Cologne,"
he said. "We got on well with each other. We are both sportsmen
and are training hard. We both do our own job – he does his and I
do mine – but of course I would be lying if I didn’t say I want to
win. Afterwards, things will revert to how they were before," added
the IBF World Champion.

"Mahir is a great lad. We will let what happens in the ring decide
who is the best," added Abraham’s trainer Ulli Wegner. "I believe
that it is going to be a great fight; one which will excite the
spectators. Boxing fans have had to witness a few bad fights recently
and that is why we want to put on a particularly good show. Obviously,
we want to defend our title, but the important thing is we deliver
the fans a decent, exciting event on 27 June," he said, fightnews.com
reports.

ELMAR MAMMADYAROV: "THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH ARMENIA HAVE NOT PRODUCED ANY RESULTS YET"

APA
June 2 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Elbrus Seyfullayev – APA. "We hope Armenia will demonstrate
constructive position at St. Petersburg meeting of the presidents,"
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists, APA reports.

The Minister mentioned that there were some expectations from the
Zurich meeting in January and Prague meeting in May, and advised not
to hurry.

"The results can be analyzed after the St. Petersburg
meeting. Unfortunately, no improvement was made at the meeting in
Prague. It is another matter why it did not happen, but we want to
achieve improvement soon," he said.

Elmar Mammadyarov said signing of any document at the meeting in
St. Petersburg was not discussed.

"If any agreement is reached during the discussions, there may be
an opportunity to work on the document. But it is impossible to say
whether it will be or not beforehand," he said.

To the question "What can you say about the proposal on your addressing
the parliament concerning the negotiations on the settlement of
Nagorno Karabakh conflict?" the minister said he will brief with
great pleasure not only in closed meeting, but even openly, if there
is improvement in the negotiations.

"The negotiations have not produced any results yet. The negotiations
are held in closed conditions because of some delicate issues. There
are such delicate issues that agreement may be reached, if discussions
are closed," he said.

The Minister said the negotiations were held stage-by-stage. First
of all Armenian troops should leave the occupied territories, the
areas should be cleared of mines, roads should be restored, IDPs
should return to their native lands, all communication lines should
be opened, the status of Nagorno Karabakh should be determined after
normal condition is established there. Elmar Mammadyarov said the
working group would solve the way of determining the status.

ACCORDING TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE MONITORING MISSION, YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERS ELECTIONS WERE HELD AT SATISFACTORY LEVEL, BUT WITH SOME SHORTCOMINGS

Noyan Tapan
June 1, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The monitoring mission of Council of
Europe Congress of Local and Territorial Authorities states that the
general organization level of Yerevan Council of Elders elections
corresponded to European standards. As monitoring group head Nigel
Mermagen stated at the June 1 press conference, their mission welcomes
the Yerevan Council of Elders first elections that were held at a
satisfactory level, but with some shortcomings. N. Mermagen added
that a progress was recorded in the May 31 elections as compared with
the 2008 presidential elections. "However, democracy is not only
limited to elections: there should be an electoral culture in the
country. Elections should be simple and pure outside polling stations,
as well," he said.

Though journalists asked for several times concretely what shortcomings
and omissions the European observers had recorded, N. Mermagen did not
mention them. According to him, those shortcomings will be presented
in their final report to be published in October.

In response to the questions of why observers disregard the fact of
beating many journalists on the day of elections and why when visiting
polling stations observers only spoke with power representatives
N. Mermagen said that he was sorry that journalists formed such
an impression.

SwissInfo, Switzerland
May 31 2009

Most Turks back EU entry despite suspicions

By Ayla Jean Yackley

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A majority of Turks support their government’s
bid to join the European Union, but most say the bloc views it with
prejudice because Turkey is a Muslim nation, a new study showed.

Three out of four Turks believe the EU is trying to divide Turkey and
81 percent believe the bloc’s goal is to spread Christianity, said the
study by Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, released at a weekend
conference.

Despite this, 57 percent want full EU membership for Turkey, according
to the study, which also gauged Turks’ tolerance towards religion,
ethnic groups, gender equality and foreign countries.

"A majority of Turks still want EU membership, but a larger majority
has very serious doubts about the EU’s intentions towards Turkey,"
said Yilmaz Esmer, a professor of political science at Bahcesehir who
led the study.

The study, called "Public Attitudes Towards Diversity, Tolerance and
Extremism in Turkey," was conducted between April 12 and May 3 and
polled 1,715 people in 34 Turkish provinces.

Strongest opposition to EU entry came from the 15- to 18-year-old age
group, Esmer said.

One out of four Turks thinks Turkey is either already a full member of
the EU or is unsure of its status, he said. Turkey has in fact been an
official candidate for EU membership for 10 years and has completed
only one of the 35 "chapters" in the accession process.

RELIGION TOP PRIORITY

Sixty-two percent of Turks said religion was their priority, followed
by 17 percent who said secularism was. Democratisation was the top
priority for 15 percent, followed by smaller numbers who cited ethnic
identity and financial gain.

"The main issue for Turks is religion and secularism," Esmer said.

"Turkey has the highest level of ‘unwelcome’ (attitudes) in Europe in
terms of whom they would prefer as neighbours, a question used in
studies to measure tolerance," Esmer said.

Among the least welcome neighbours for Turks were those who consume
alcohol followed by Christian and Jewish neighbours, the study showed.

About 18 percent of respondents said they felt discriminated against,
the highest rate in Europe, Esmer said. Still, most respondents felt
that religious and ethnic diversity enriched life, rather than
threatened national unity, he said.

Religious extremism and nationalism have remained level in Turkey this
decade, although anti-Israeli sentiment was on the rise, Esmer said.

Israel is the most unpopular foreign country, followed by Armenia and
the United States, the study said. Israel is also seen as most
responsible for the world’s problems, followed by U.S. and EU
policies, according to the survey.

Religious extremism was seen as a danger to Turkey by 69 percent of
respondents. The main threat was perceived to be the Kurdistan Workers
Party, the armed rebel group that has fought a 25-year war for
autonomy in southeast Turkey.

The military remains the most popular institution, while the
Democratic Society Party, parliament’s pro-Kurdish grouping, is the
least popular, the study showed.

(Editing by Richard Balmforth)

NA deputy Levon Sargsian’s bodyguards beat a number of journalists at
polling station N 9/1

YEREVAN, MAY 31, NOYAN TAPAN. Today, at about 10:25, NA deputy Levon
Sargsian burst into polling station N 9/1 and ordered his bodyguards to
take out correspondents of the Chorrord Ishkhanutyun, Hayk, Zhamanak
Yerevan newspapers Gohar Vezirian, Tatev Mesropian, and Marine
Kharatian. In response to journalists’ questions, according to the
report provided to Noyan Tapan by the Armenian National Congress, the
bodyguards and their chiefs beat the correspondents, took away their
recorders and telephones and drove them away from polling stations. The
journalists are going to present a report to the police station on that
occasion.

APA, Azerbaijan
May 30 2009

Russian political analysts’ views on prospects of Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement ` ANALYSIS

[ 30 May 2009 14:32 ]

Moscow. R. Metleboghlu ` APA. The next round of the negotiations on
the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be held between
Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents within the framework of the 13th
international economic forum in St. Petersburg.

The process of settlement of the conflict, which arose as a result of
Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan and occupation of 20
percent of the territories of the sovereign state, is attentively
followed in Russia, co-chairing country of OSCE Minsk Group.

But Russian political analysts do not assess the St. Petersburg
meeting of Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan unambiguously. Experts’
assessments range between pessimism and optimism. The majority of
Russian political analysts consider that the process of negotiations
is positive, almost all consider that real and significant results
will not be achieved in St. Petersburg. APA’s Moscow correspondent
learned the opinion of political analysts on the prospects of
settlement on the eve of the meeting and Russia’s mediating role.

Sergei Mikheyev ` Vice-president of the Center for Political
Technologies

There has not been and is no improvement in the settlement of the
conflict. I consider that we only witness intentions and statement on
paper, there is no real improvement. Armenia does not accept the fact
that Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding occupied regions are a part
of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan does not and will not agree to give
independence to Nagorno Karabakh.

The positions of the sides do not coincide and I do not see any sings
of compromise. It is especially difficult to perceive what compromise
may be achieved in this situation. As is known, such kind of conflicts
remain unsolved for a long time, for example, the problem of Cyprus
remains unsolved, though enough sides have been involved in the
process of settlement. I think Prague meeting and forthcoming
St. Petersburg meeting have already confirmed ineffectiveness of the
process. The positions of the two states do not coincide.

It is impossible to support the position of one of the sides,
either. The mediators, including Russia, should support either
Azerbaijan or Armenia. There is no third variant, because the
positions of the sides are so unambiguous that either Azerbaijan’s or
Armenia’s position should be fully supported. There is no other
choice. The mediators do not want to make this choice, as such a
choice does not meet the interests of Russia, US or France. It favors
the mediators to keep more or less normal relations with both Armenia
and Azerbaijan. That’s why the root of the conflict is not in the
mediators, but in the noncoincidence of the positions of the
sides. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan put the mediators before the choice
` either Baku or Yerevan. It is obvious that the mediators have few
opportunities to manoeuvre in this situation.

Alexander Konovalov ` President of Institute for Strategic Assessments

No significant improvement can be expected from the meeting of
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents. Continuation of the negotiations,
the leaders’ meetings mean much in itself. Russia’s mediation in the
process is an important factor, too. The words that Azerbaijan agrees
to establish corridor between Karabakh and Armenia are noteworthy. I
do not know to what extent these thoughts display the already passed
decisions, but the fact shows that the leaders are seeking ways to
move the process off dead center. The main thing is that the two
presidents perceive it is impossible to advance the process of
settlement through military way, war can destroy the whole process,
the work done up to now. Though there are no strategic expectations, I
am satisfied with the continuation of the process. The process will
have an end sooner or later. I think the process will not end with
war, because in order to wage war there is no need to meet, agree on
something. With some exceptions war never begins with negotiations. If
the leaders discuss the problem, this in itself denies the supposition
of military conflict.

Vladimir Jarikhin ` Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS countries

I am sure that permanent relations, such high-level meetings are of
great importance. In the end, this is a long, tiring process leading
to compromises. Positions are always strict in the negotiations.
Azerbaijan’s position is principled, because the question is the
national interests. No one promised that such a complicated problem
will be solved at one stroke. I want to underline once more that
negotiations are better than lack of negotiations. Both sides should
welcome any mediation, particularly the mediation of Russia, one of
the greatest states of the world. I consider that this problem is
complicated because peace agreement is possible only through serious
compromise of the sides. Of course, this compromise will not be
assessed unambiguously by Armenian and Azerbaijani people. In both
countries they will say `we lost’ and we should be ready for it. And
only the mediation of the big neighbor Russia will help the leaders to
find variants for compromise.

Kirill Tanayev ` Director General of Foundation for Effective Policy

The problem is that Azerbaijan-Armenia relations are very
complicated. There are no decisions that will fully satisfy the
sides. That’s why every meeting between Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham
Aliyev is of great importance, such steps play important role to move
the situation off the dead center. I think attempts of Russia and
other mediators aim to achieve some improvements. Actually, pessimism
will have negative influence on the process of negotiations. But
thinking patiently we will see that the process of negotiations is
good. There is no war, bloodshed, victims ` this is already good. And
everything gives ground to say that the situation is improving. It is
not known when the process will end, but Petersburg meeting of the
presidents is of course very important.

Andrei Areshev – Deputy Director General of Strategic Culture
Foundation

After the Prague meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents,
Armenia made its position much stricter. Unless the conflicting
parties and mediating states have achieved compromises, there will be
no improvement in the process of negotiations, as well as
Aliyev-Sargsyan meeting in St. Petersburg. I am sure that military
solution to the conflict favors none of the sides. Principle
improvements are noticed only in the mediators’ activity, and
political freezing of the conflict. Increase of military clashes
between the sides, frequent violation of ceasefire, military exercises
of both sides should not be ignored.

Grigori Trofimchuk ` Vice-president of Strategic Development Modeling
Centre

If Russia does not use all opportunities in cooperation with
Azerbaijan, it will possibly not find such a chance once
more. Everything, or at least much depends on Russia in these
relations. If Moscow does not normalize the relations in
Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijan triangle, the situation may move up to war
like in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russia should determine its
position and to determine the position in favor of Azerbaijan favors
Moscow. Unfortunately, Russia does not use formats of unique
cooperation with Azerbaijan. Moscow should not be afraid of putting
forward the initiatives on releasing the occupied Azerbaijani
territories, Turkey bravely does it. In case of inactivity, other
players can drive Moscow out. Russia should also determine what status
of Nagorno Karabakh is favorable for it. Otherwise it is useless to
deal with the settlement. Azerbaijan is pursuing a very successful
varied policy, but this variety will end for official Baku when there
is a need to determine the position concerning Iran, Nabucco
etc. Armenia needs to establish relations with Azerbaijan, because
Azerbaijan is the leading country of the region. Establishing good
relations with the neighboring state meets the interests of
Armenia. But unfortunately, Armenia and Azerbaijan is the best couple
to create an everlasting conflict like Arab-Israel in the Caucasus.

771 477 CITIZENS ON FINAL LIST OF VOTERS IN YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERS ELECTIONS

Noyan Tapan
May 29, 2009

YEREVAN, MAY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. 771 477 voters are included in the
final list of voters in Yerevan Council of Elders elections. Norayr
Muradkhanian, the Head of the RA Police Passport and Visa Department,
reported at the May 29 press conference.

He said that 12 calls connected with clarifications of electoral
rolls were received by the hot line operating at the department since
April 5. Two messages from Patvakan Hovakimian, Plenipotentiary
Representative of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) bloc were
also received.

According to ANC, data of 106 dead people, 189 people not registered
in the given address, 35 people doing their term military service,
7 imprisoned people are on voters lists.

N. Muradkhanian explained that convicts’ data are removed from voters’
register after receiving a report from the penitentiary institutions,
and no report on the above mentioned persons’ being convicted has
been received so far. Only 2 out of 35 above mentioned persons are
doing their military service, and they are not on the final lists,
and the rest 33 are not doing their military service, thus they are
registered. According to N.

Muradkhanian, 173 out of 189 citizens having no registration in the
given territory, but included in the lists are registered in the
mentioned territory, 3 have no registration and cannot be on the
list. And 6 that were on the preliminary lists but came out of the
registration after printing the preliminary lists are not included
in the final lists.

The department received information from Yerevan Mayor’s Office
Special Service company on the death of 42 out of the 106 dead people
mentioned by ANC only in May, after printing the preliminary lists,
and they are not on the final lists. 26 citizens, according to their
neighbors’ reports, are dead, but there is no document confirming
the fact of their death, their data were removed from the lists,
18 are registered, but were not at their apartments at that moment:
no information was received about them, 10 citizens are not dead,
live at their apartments, and no information was received on 10.

According to ANC’s another report, data of at least 2038 citizens of
various regions must be on the lists. After checking it was found
out that 2025 of those persons are registered in Yerevan according
to places of their residence and are on the lists. 5 citizens are
registered in various regions and are not on the lists of Yerevan
voters. Information about another 8 citizens is being clarified.