Author: Vardapetian Ophelia

SENIOR OFFICIAL SAYS BAKU MIGHT RESORT TO WAR IF KARABAKH DIPLOMACY FAILS

Today’s Zaman
April 2 2010
Turkey

Azerbaijan is committed to a peaceful resolution of its
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute with Armenia, but it may resort to military
measures in the future if efforts to end the dispute through talks
fail, a senior official of the Azerbaijani administration said
on Friday.

Ramiz Mehdiyev, the head of the Azerbaijani presidential
administration, complained that the international community was not
doing enough to pressure Armenia, which invaded Nagorno-Karabakh and
the adjacent territory in a war following the collapse of the Soviet
Union, to take steps for peace. International mediators of the Minsk
Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE), comprising representatives from the US, Russia and France,
have been working for almost two decades now to find a negotiated
solution, but their efforts have not produced a concrete result yet.

Mehdiyev, speaking to editors-in-chief of television news programs and
newspapers in Ä°stanbul after two days of talks with Turkish officials
in Ankara, said the Minsk Group’s efforts have not brought about any
outcome and that the group was not doing what is needed to be done.

"Nobody tells Armenia, ‘You have invaded these lands; you must
withdraw.’ Why should Azerbaijan give up on its own lands?" Mehdiyev
asked. "Azerbaijan has committed itself to resolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute peacefully. But we may bring to the table
other options, including military measures, in the future if this
method fails to produce an outcome. Our patience is wearing thin,"
he continued.

Turkey, a close ethnic and regional ally of Azerbaijan, signed
protocols with neighboring Armenia to restore bilateral ties and
open the border, but Parliament is unlikely to ratify the documents
unless there is concrete progress in resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute. Ankara closed the border and severed its diplomatic ties with
Yerevan in 1993 to protest the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh
and the adjacent territory. Azerbaijan has protested the protocols
and said the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border without progress
on Karabakh would be detrimental to efforts for peace in the South
Caucasus.

Ramiz Mehdiyev met with editors-in-chief of Turkish newspapers and
television programs at Ä°stanbul’s Cıragan Kempinski Hotel.

On Friday, Mehdiyev said the signing of the protocols cannot harm
Azerbaijani-Turkish relations because they are two "brother nations."

He dismissed suggestions that Turkey signing the documents could be
seen as a "betrayal" of Azerbaijan and asserted that the tensions that
emerged in Baku-Ankara ties over the protocols were now a matter of
the past.

He also said the Turkish officials he had met in Ankara reaffirmed
that the Turkish-Armenian border would not be opened before the
Karabakh problem is solved. Turkey closed its border because of
Nagorno-Karabakh, and it will not be reopened unless the occupation
of the territory is ended, he said.

Mehdiyev had talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Parliament
Speaker Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during
his three-day visit. He described the meetings as "extremely useful"
at the meeting with media representatives.

The Azerbaijani official also underlined that Russia has recently
stepped up its efforts for a settlement. He called on the Russian
administration, which he said is the main supporter of Armenia in
the Caucasus, to adopt a clearer and more sincere attitude to help
peace efforts.

As for the United States, he said Washington is also backing Armenia.

"Armenia would have withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh by now had it
not been receiving support from other countries," Mehdiyev said. He
said helping a solution in the Caucasus is a responsibility for all
Western countries, not only for those in the Minsk Group, but lamented
that the Western states continue to "pat Armenia on the head."

Mehdiyev also lauded the progress his own country has achieved in
improving its economy and democracy, saying Azerbaijan has carried out
major reforms in both areas in recent years, while also strengthening
its military. "Azerbaijan is aspiring to become a leading country
in its region maintaining Western standards" to achieve a goal set
first by former President Heydar Aliyev and now pursued by President
Ä°lham Aliyev.

The Azerbaijani economy has kept up its dynamism despite the global
financial crisis, Mehdiyev said, noting that the economy grew by
9.3 percent in 2009. He also praised relations between Azerbaijan and
Turkey and promised that the two countries will soon take the necessary
steps for visa liberalization. Ankara and Baku are working to abolish
visa requirements for their nationals, but a final agreement to that
effect has not yet been signed.

02 April 2010, Friday BULENT KENEÅ~^ Ä°STANBUL

-web/news-206296-100-senior-official-says-baku-mig ht-resort-to-war-if-karabakh-diplomacy-fails.html

OZUGERGIN: ‘DATE NOT CLEAR ABOUT TURKISH AMBASSADOR’S RETURN TO US’

Today’s Zaman
April 1 2010
Turkey

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin said on Thursday
that a date had not been set yet regarding the return of Turkish
Ambassador Namik Tan to Washington.

When asked who would represent Turkey in Nuclear Security Summit
in the US, Ozugergin said that whether Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip
Erdogan would go to the US or not for the summit was not clear yet.

Asked whether Armenia demanded suspension or cancellation of protocols
(signed by Turkey and Armenia for normalization of relations),
Ozugergin said that a formal demand was not made. He added that on the
other hand, it was wrong to claim that Turkey was not interested in
Upper Karabakh issue. Ozugergin said that as long as Upper Karabakh
issue was not solved, a solution would not be found to the problems
in the region.

Regarding Direct Trade Regulation (in Cyprus), Ozugergin said that EU
committed to end isolations on Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
following Annan Plan referendum in 2004, however, EU had not still
kept this promise, and Direct Trade Regulation had not been put into
practice yet.

Ozugergin noted that the process began to debate Direct Trade
Regulation at EP within the scope of Lisbon Treaty, adding that EU’s
fulfilling its commitments would increase its credibility.

Regarding Turkey’s stance about a sanction on Iran regarding its
nuclear agenda, Ozugergin said that Turkey’s stance about prevention
of proliferation of nuclear weapons and use of nuclear energy for
peaceful means was clear.

He added that exerting efforts for solution was still Turkey’s
priority.

Assessing the decision of Serbian Parliament about Srebrenica,
Ozugergin reminded that on March 30, Serbian Parliament adopted a
decision which condemned the crime committed in Srebrenica in July,
1995.

Ozugergin said that Turkey considered this development as an important
step for a consensus between peoples of Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER ELMAR MAMMADYAROV: "NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT SHOULD BE SOLVED IN STAGES"

APA
April 1 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received
French National Assembly deputies Christian Batay and Rolan Blum,
Foreign Ministry’s press service told APA.

Nagorno Karabakh conflict was the main subject of discussion at
the meeting.

According to him, Armenia has occupied the territories of Azerbaijani
and roughly violated international legal norms and principles.

Mammadyarov said that it was necessary to eliminate the consequences
of occupation for the settlement of the conflict. Noting that this
requires the settlement of the conflict in stages, Mammadyarov said
that first and foremost it is necessary to withdraw Armenian armed
forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, to establish normal
living conditions in these areas, to open the communication, to ensure
the return of IDPs to their homelands, and finally to determine the
status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Minister Mammadyarov noted that only in
this way one can ensure lasting peace and stability in the region.

In response, the French deputies expressed confidence in sooner
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and noted the importance
of increased international efforts in this direction. The two sides
also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

OSCE MONITORING ON ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI AF CONTACT LINE HELD WITHOUT VIOLATIONS

ArmInfo
2010-03-31 12:08:00

ArmInfo. OSCE monitoring on the contact line of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani armed forces was held without violations.

As ArmInfo correspondent reports, the monitoring was held near Berkaber
village of Armenia’s Tavush region. Field assistants of the Personal
Representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, Antal
Herdich and Vladimir Chountulov took part in the monitoring from
the Armenian party, as well as Imre Palatinus and Jaslan Nurtazin –
from the Azerbaijani party. Monitoring started at 11:45 AM and lasted
for about 7 minutes. Visual contact was made at a distance of 1500
meters. No ceasefire violation has been fixed.

To note, it was initially scheduled to hold the monitoring near
Koti village, where an Azerbaijani subversive group was found out
and partially liquidated on March 3. However, the day before the
monitoring, the Azerbaijani party said it could not assure security
of participants in the monitoring in this direction. To also note,
despite the Armenian party’s proposal to extend the monitoring to half
an hour today, the Azerbaijani party insisted on its early completion.

$73.6 MILLION

f
05:11 pm | March 30, 2010

Economy

IMF Completes Third Review Under Stand-By Arrangement for Armenia
and Approves $73.6 Million Disbursement

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today
completed the third review of Armenia’s economic performance under
a program supported by a Stand-ByArrangement (SBA). The decision
enables the immediate release of an amount equivalent toSDR 48.485
million (about US$73.6 million), bringing total disbursements so far
an amountequivalent to SDR 350.425 million (about US$532.2 million).

The Executive Board also approved a request for a waiver of
nonobservance of the end-December 2009 quantitative performance
criterion on the net domestic assets of the CentralBank of Armenia
(CBA).

The 28-month SBA was approved for an amount equivalent to a total
of SDR 368.0 million (about US$558.9 million) on March 6, 2009 (see
Press Release No.

09/68), with a total amount of access augmented to an amount equivalent
to SDR 533.6 million (about US$810.4 million) on June 22, 2009 (see
Press Release No. 09/228).

Following the Executive Board’s discussion on Armenia, Mr. Murilo
Portugal, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, stated:

"Armenia’s performance under its Stand-By Arrangement with the Fund has
been strong, andthe economic recession appears to have bottomed out,
aided by supportive monetary and fiscal policies. The challenge remains
to support the fragile recovery, address externalvulnerabilities,
and advance a credible fiscal consolidation plan over the medium term.

"Fiscal policy aims to continue to support the recovery, while
gradually starting fiscal consolidation in 2010. Social spending will
be protected. The authorities are committed to make good progress on
the reforms in tax policy and administration, as well as on public
expenditure and debt management.

"Monetary policy aims to move from an accommodative to a more neutral
stance, in order to head off potential inflation pressures. The
authorities are committed to a flexible exchange rate regime, and
aim to strengthen the monetary transmission mechanism to enhance the
International Monetary Fund Washington, D.C. 20431 USA

effectiveness of monetary instruments, as well as improve the central
bank’s communication strategy.

"The financial sector remains sound and well capitalized, and
the authorities have strengthened their crisis preparedness and
contingency planning frameworks. Further reformswill be important to
ensure continued resilience to risks.

"The authorities are committed to pursue broad-based structural
reforms to enhance productive capacity and promote long-term growth
through an open trade regime, an improved business environment,
better governance, and increased market competition in keysectors of
the economy," Mr. Portugal said.

TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian School
1200 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Tel: 323-461-4377
Fax: 323-323-461-4247
Contact: [email protected]

TCA Arshag Dickranian School Scores High in the KAHAM Games

Los Angeles, March 30, 2010 – TCA Arshag Dickranian School’s athletes
attained impressive scores in the 2009 – 2010 KAHAM Tournament with their
compelling performance in table tennis, track and field, basketball and
soccer. The participants’ performance was a reflection of their developed
athletic skills, their team spirit and their love for sports. Once again,
the Dickranians proved that their effort and training paid off.

`This year, our students proved that they have come a long way and I am
proud of them.’ said Mr. Rudolph Rameh, the Athletic Director at Arshag
Dickranian School. `I would also like to thank The Athletic Committee for
the moral support they give the athletes besides providing their logistics
and transportation. We couldn’t have done this without them.’

The Dickranians participated in the KAHAM Games for their fourth year.
Their achievement deserves special praise for competing with schools whose
student bodies are more than that of Arshag Dickranian School.

For the Table Tennis Tournament which took place on November 14, 2009,
Hakob Kiramidzhyan won 1st place in the 8th graders’ competition for boys.
Khachik Bogosyan won 2nd place for the 7th graders’ competition for boys,
while Jeerire Manokian and Zaven Nalbandjian both won 3rd place. For the
4th graders’ competition for boys, Alec Kourouyan and Armen Dayan won 2nd
and 3rd place respectively.

For the Track and Field Tournament that took place on Sunday, November 15,
2009, Khachik Bogosyan and Sarkis Shishikyan won 2nd and 3rd place
respectively in the 1500 Meters Match. Diana Petrosian, Anais Nahapetyan,
Silvia Grigorian and Mariam Mgdsyan won 3rd place for the 7th graders’
4×100 Relay Match for girls. Hampik Goradtchyan won 1st place and Armen
Dayan won 2nd place in the Soft Shotput Match; Zohrab Shamlyan won 1st
place in the Iron Shotput of the 5th graders’ competition for boys,
whereas Hovik Mkryan won 2nd place in the 6th graders’ Iron Shotput Match.
Vartuhi Khanjarian won 1st place in the Standing Long Jump Match of the
2nd graders, Khachik Bogosyan won 3rd place in the 7th graders’ Long Jump
Match for boys, while Diana Petrossian won 3rd place for the 7th grader
Long Jump Match for girls.

The 6th and 7th graders won 3rd place in an intense basketball match for
boys on March 14, 2010, whereas the 6th, 7th and 8th graders won 1st place
in the Boys’ Soccer Match on March 21, 2010.

`Parents showed a high sense of commitment this year which we appreciate,’
said school Principal Vartkes Kourouyan. `Our students played really well
and hopefully we will see further improvement next year.’

Located at 1200 North Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles, the TCA Arshag
Dickranian Armenian School is a federally tax exempt, Pre-K to 12th grade
private educational institution. For more information visit

TURKISH PM SAYS "1915 INCIDENTS" SHOULD BE EXAMINED BY HISTORIANS

Anadolu Agency
March 29 2010
Turkey

Ankara, 29 March: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
on Monday that 1915 incidents should be examined by historians,
not parliaments.

Replying questions of reporters about Armenian resolution on 1915
incidents during his joint press conference with German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, Erdogan said that Turkey’s stance was obvious about
the issue.

We should leave this issue to historians; parliaments are not the
places to discuss this issue, added Erdogan.

Noting that he sent a letter to Armenia’s former president Robert
Kocharian in 2005 (which proposes to set up a joint historians
commission to examine 1915 incidents), Erdogan said that he had not
received a response to the letter yet.

Erdogan said that currently there was a normalization process in
the relations between Turkey and Armenia, adding that decisions of
other countries (to adopt Armenian resolution on 1915 incidents)
were affecting the normalization process negatively.

UN OPENS CORNER IN ARTASHAT YOUTH CENTER

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
30.03.2010 13:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ With a UN Corner established in the Artashat-based
Ararat Youth Center, the public in Ararat region will have access to
information on United Nations values and activity in Armenia.

Young people, civil society activists and local authorities jointly
with their UN partners will have an opportunity to organize UN-related
cultural, educational and other kinds of events for the community
and discuss joint solutions to pressing problems.

"We welcome the launching of this UN Corner in Artashat and we are
confident that it will serve as an additional stimulus to raise the
activeness of youth population of the province. We appreciate this
initiative and look forward to continue our cooperation with the UN
Armenia Office", said Ms. Anahit Tahmazyan, representative of the
Artashat Youth Center.

Maria Dotsenko, UN Department of Public Information Representative
said, "This is an important initiative for the UN, as the Corner will
contribute to the promotion of UN values and activities in Armenia. We
are trying to come closer to ordinary people in the regions."

The launching of this UN Corner is a result of the trilateral
cooperation between the Center for Organizing Youth Activities
governmental non-profit organization of the Ministry of Sports and
Youth Affairs, UN Department of Public Information and Armenian UN
Association NGO. This is the fifth UN Corner functioning in Armenia.

Other UN Corners exist in Gyumri, Hrazdan, Ijevan and Kapan.

OTTAWA GETS RARE CHANCE TO SEE AN AZERBAIJANI MOVIE

Ottawa Citizen
/Ottawa+gets+rare+chance+Azerbaijani+movie/2742083 /story.html
March 30 2010
Canada

The Facts on Fortress

The film is in Azeri with English subtitles and airs at 7 p.m. tonight
at the ByTowne Cinema, 325 Rideau St. It’s free, but donations will
be taken for vicitims of the hurricane in Haiti.

– – –

The cinema of Azerbaijan, mostly an unknown quantity in the rest of
the world, has its coming-out in Ottawa tonight with the screening
of Fortress, a romantic drama set amid the turmoil of a refugee crisis.

That’s to be expected: Azerbaijan has been embroiled in a border
dispute with neighbouring Armenia for years, and while Fortress
doesn’t mention any specific nations, "anyone who knows our recent
history has an idea which country is involved," according to director
Shamil Najafzada.

Najafzada — whose business card reads "Honoured Art Worker of
Azerbaijan" — is in Ottawa to attend the screening, which is being
presented by the country’s embassy. Admission is free, but donations
will be taken to aid the victims of the Haitian hurricane.

Fortress is a movie within a movie in which a film crew is shooting
a historic drama about a 15th century warrior fighting off invaders,
even as present-day refugees are streaming back into the village where
the fortress is located. They’re coming from what the movie calls
"the neighbouring country."

Azerbaijan is a nation of 8.7 million on the shore of the Caspian
Sea, sitting just on top of Iran. Farid Shafiyev, the country’s
Harvard-educated ambassador to Canada, says the nation has the highest
per capita diaspora in the world. Some 5,000 Azerbaijanis live in
Toronto; there are about 50 in Ottawa.

Fortress screened previously at the Montreal film festival and at a
special screening in Toronto. It has also shown in festivals in Russia,
India and Japan. It was the country’s official entry for the 2009
Oscars, only the second time an Azerbaijani film has been submitted.

"It was important to me as a director to show the way ethnic people
should protect their culture and history," Najafzada said through
an interpreter.

He said there is a proverb that "art is the expression of our life,"
and in the film, art becomes real when the film crew flees and a few
residents have to decide whether to stay at the ancient fortress to
fight the new invasion.

ISLAMIST GULEN MOVEMENT RUNS U.S. CHARTER SCHOOLS
By Stephen Schwartz

American Thinker
amist_guelen_movement_runs.html
March 29 2010

A secretive foreign network of Islamic radicals now operates dozens of
charter schools — which receive government money but are not required
to adopt a state-approved curriculum — on U.S. soil. The inspirer of
this conspiratorial effort is Fethullah Gulen, who directs a major
Islamist movement in Turkey and the Turkish Diaspora but lives in
the United States. He is number thirteen among the world’s "50 most
influential Muslims," according to one prominent listing.

Gulen has been criticized as the puppet master for the current Turkish
government headed by the "soft Islamist" Justice and Development
Party, known by its Turkish initials as the AKP, in its slow-motion
showdown with the secularist Turkish military. But Gulen is also known
in Muslim countries for his network of 500-700 Islamic schools around
the world, according to differing sources favorable to his movement. A
more critical view of Gulen’s emphasis on education asserts that his
international network of thousands of primary and secondary schools,
universities, and student residences is a key element in solidifying
an Islamist political agenda in Turkey.

But in startling news for Americans, the Gulen movement operates more
than 85 primary and secondary schools on our soil. A roster of the
Gulen schools and of the numerous foundations that support them has
been released to the public by the patriotic group Act! for America.

The Gulen schools are often designated as "science academies" and are
concentrated in Texas, Ohio, and California — with others scattered
across the rest of the country.

Two states that host Gulen charter schools are Arizona and Utah. In
the former, the Daisy Education Corporation (the Gulen movement loves
friendly-sounding institutional names) operates three schools in
Tucson: one serving kindergarten through the eighth grade, another
designated as an elementary school, and a middle-high school, all
under the rubric of the Sonoran Science Academy. In Phoenix, it runs
a satellite kindergarten-to-10th-grade campus with the same name.

The appearance of Gulen charter schools in Tucson has produced critical
attention in local media. The Tucson Weekly published a report at the
end of 2009 noting that the Sonoran Science Academy in the southern
Arizona town had been named "charter school of the year" by the Arizona
Charter School Association. But writer Tim Vanderpool reported that
according to one dismayed parent, who declined identification while
pointing out the Gulen movement’s history of intimidating critics,
"the Sonoran Academy seems constantly to be bringing Turkish educators
into the United States, and subjecting students to substitute teachers
while the teachers await work visas."

Vanderpool submits that "several Sonoran Academy parents believe
the school has a hidden agenda to promote Gulen’s brand of Turkish
nationalism, advance sympathy for that country’s political goals such
as winning acceptance into the European Union, and discourage official
acknowledgment of Turkey’s genocide against the Armenians during World
War I." Such issues are exotic, to say the least, for Tucson parents.

Earlier in 2009, the Beehive Science and Technology Academy, a high
school in Salt Lake City, came under similar critical scrutiny from
the Salt Lake Tribune. That major daily’s writer, Kirsten Stewart,
reported that the Utah State Charter Board had begun an investigation
of the Beehive school following complaints from a former teacher
and an alarmed parent. The complainants asserted that while "Beehive
advertises itself as a public charter school offering college-bound
seventh through 12th graders a foundation in math and science … the
school has another mission: to advance and promote certain Islamic
beliefs. They point to questionable financial transactions and hiring
practices as proof of the school’s covert ties to Turkish Muslim
preacher Fethullah Gulen."

But while Fatih Karatas, principal of the Sonoran Science Academy
middle school in Tucson, flatly denied any connection with the Gulen
movement, Beehive principal Muhammet "Frank" Erdogan in Salt Lake City
admitted such links in the case of his school. The Salt Lake Tribune
quoted his admission that along with him, "many of Beehive’s teachers
and founders also support Gulen’s ideals." The paper also described
how "Adam Kuntz, a first-year history teacher at Beehive, was fired
[in spring 2009], he alleges, for taking academic freedom concerns to
the state board. Earlier in the school year, Kuntz had a run-in with
Erdogan over a lesson plan on World War II and the Holocaust. Erdogan
wanted Kuntz to revise the plan and during a tape-recorded meeting,
questioned conventional accounts of the genocide."

Kelly Wayment, a parent of three children in the school, was removed
from his post on the Beehive administrative board after he e-mailed
other parents about Gulen movement influence in the school. Wayment
told the Salt Lake Tribune that as in the Tucson case, teachers
"tend to be from Turkey and central Asian republics living here on
work visas."

Americans should ask both why and how the Islamist Gulen movement
has managed to establish such a large presence for Turkish religious
political indoctrination in publicly financed education — and should
unite to oppose it.

Stephen Suleyman Schwartz is executive director of the Center for
Islamic Pluralism in Washington, D.C. This article was sponsored by
Islamist Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum.