Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

PRESIDENTIAL MEETING IN SOCHI REPEATED THE SCENARIO OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.01.2010 18:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The recent presidential meeting in Sochi repeated
the scenario of previous meetings, according to ARFD parliamentary
group member Hrayr Karapetyan.

"There was much fuss both now and prior to the Meindorf meeting, but
hopes didn’t come true in either case. Azerbaijan should realize that
Karabakh will never form its part and should be involved in talks as
an independent party. That will only strengthen our positions in the
peace process," he told a news conference in Yerevan.

At that, he didn’t rule out the possibility of Armenian authorities’
pursuing the same policy course as they did with regard to RA-Turkey
normalization process.

Commenting on RA CC decision on Armenia-Turkey Protocols, the
ARFD representative characterized it as a political document to be
necessarily considered by Armenia’s National Assembly.

The trilateral meeting between Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian
leaders took place in Sochi on Monday, Jan. 25. Following the meeting,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov summed up the results,
estimating the discussions as positive.

Meindorf Declaration is an interstate agreement signed by Presidents
of Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Armenia and Russian Federation
on November 2, 2008 in Meindorf (outskirts of Moscow).

Under the document, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan took
commitment "to contribute to enhancing the situation in South Caucasus
and ensuring peace, stability and security via political settlement
of Nagorno Karabakh conflict based on the principles and norms of
international law and decisions and documents deriving thereof."

Parties reiterated the significant role of continuing Minsk Group’s
mediatory efforts in the frameworks of Madrid Document (dated Nov. 29,
2007).

They also agreed that "peaceful conflict settlement should be
accompanied by legally binding international guarantees."

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in
1988 as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the
final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from
1991 to 1994. Since the ceasefire in 1994, sealed by Armenia, Nagorno
Karabakh and Azerbaijan, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions
of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the control
of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks
mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation. On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional
Court of the Republic of Armenia found the protocols conformable to
the country’s Organic Law.

STATEMENT SIMILAR TO THE MAINDORF ONE TO BE MADE IN SOCHIPRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN AND RUSSIA DISCUSS FURTHER WAYS OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

ArmInfo
2010-01-25 15:15:00

Arminfo. Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian Presidents Serzh Sargsyan,
Ilham Aliyev and Dmitry Medvedev discussed the further ways of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement in Sochi, Monday.

The press-service of the Kremlin reports that today’s trilateral
meeting is the fifth one. The first consultations took place in
November 2008: upon completion of negotiations Dmitry Medvedev, Ilham
Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan adopted the Declaration of the Azerbaijani
Republic, Republic of Armenia and Russian Federation.

The second meeting took place in June 2009 within the frames of an
international economic forum in St.Petersburg; the third one took place
in Moscow in July 2009 within the frames of the events connected with
a horse race for the Russian President’s prize; the fourth meeting
was held in Kishinev on the margins of CIS summit in October 2009.

WHY KOCHARYAN LEFT FOR IRAN

Lragir.am
22/01/10

In an interview with Lragir.am in connection with Robert Kocharyan’s
visit to Iran, the coordinator of the Armenian National Congress gave
the following comments saying that it is connected with the NKR issue
and Kocharyan left for Iran by Serge Sargsyan’s order.

Everything is pretty clear. This visit shows that `toasts become more
expensive’. Serge Sargsyan is apparent not to have any more the
assistance of the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs including Russia. Hence,
as a last attempt to prevent unnecessary developments, he tries to
activate the factor of Iran. Naturally, he cannot do all that through
direct contacts because it will be felt badly by the co-chairing
countries. So Serge Sargsyan sent Robert Kocharyan with this mission
to Iran. This enables to carry out more or less serious developments
with the Iranian government and on the other hand to show to the
international community the lack of official character. This
phenomenon is famous in politics with the term `deniability’ which
means to deny the involvement in political process being at the same
time involved in them. This is a serious sign that in the NKR issue,
processes become more active, Serge Sargsyan’s regime is nervous and
lost the control on diplomatic processes. If you want, you may
consider this a step of despair.

Why was Robert Kocharyan speaking on behalf of the official Yerevan?

We have read about this in the Iranian press. Naturally, because
Robert Kocharyan was accepted as an ambassador sent by Serge Sargsyan,
Iran considers what he said the stance of the official Yerevan.

In your opinion, what can Iran do in relation to the NKR issue for
Serge Sargsyan to turn to Robert Kocharyan?

Even if Iran is not involved in the OSCE Minsk group work but it is a
powerful neighbor of Armenia and Azerbaijan which carries independent
policy and can have great influence on different processes. And so the
government tries to activate the last, in their opinion, factor with
the help of this circumstance.

Will the government manage to activate it?

It is difficult to say. But it is obvious that this was a desperate
step and it shows that quite a serious process is taking place in the
NKR issue. And the NKR settlement is close to be over.

In your opinion, why did right Robert Kocharyan leave for Iran?

There is a simple reason. They could not send any Armenian official,
but at the same time, they needed someone who was able, from the point
of their status, to meet with the Iranian president and the Speaker.
In other words, he was the only candidate. Serge Sargsyan is obvious
to refuse all this but it is understandable to be a part of the plan.
No one would have met with Robert Kocharyan in Iran if there were no
diplomatic preparative works before.

Presuming that all this happened with Serge Sargsyan’s approval, does
it not mean they try to get Kocharyan back into active politics?

At all. Serge Sargsyan will never let Kocharyan be back.

Will the international community not understand all this?

The international community understands that this was a desperate
diplomatic game. But no one will accuse Armenia because the latter has
the possibility, as I have already said, to refuse its involvement in
political process being involved in them. There will be some negative
response but it will be softer.

Interview by ARMAN GALOYAN

IT’S TURKEY, NOT ARMENIA, THAT’S HINDERING RAPPROCHEMENT: AMBERIN ZAMAN

Tert.am
18:26 ~U 22.01.10

Ankara doesn’t stand behind its signature on the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols, said Turkey correspondent for The Economist and Taraf
columnist, Amberin Zaman, who also happens to be married to
U.S. Embassy in Armenia’s Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph Pennington.

"Turkey’s foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the following to his
Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian: ‘Stand behind your signature
on the Protocol. We expect a display of political will from the
Armenian side. Otherwise, a completely new situation will arise.’
However, it’s Turkey who isn’t standing behind their signature,"
said Zaman, adding that though there was no clause in the Protocols
which referred to Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey has nevertheless connected
that issue with the process of establishing Armenia-Turkey relations.

The Taraf columnist also noted that such a situation wouldn’t have
come about if the Protocols were implemented immediately. "If instead
of presenting the Protocols in parliament, they were put into effect,
this unpleasant ‘new state of affairs’ wouldn’t have come about, and
the process wouldn’t have been hindered," writes Zaman, adding that
the final point to this issue was that after the United States, Russia
made a statement that the establishment of Armenia-Turkey relations
shouldn’t be tied to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

‘WHAT’S SO ABSURD ABOUT THAT?’: NALBANDIAN ON KOCHARIAN’S IRAN VISIT

Tert.am
14:45 ~U 22.01.10

"What’s so absurd about that? Former presidents visit different
countries; our former president has gone to Iran," said RA Minister
of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian, speaking at a press conference
today and referring to former RA president Rober Kocharian’s recent
visit to Tehran.

Nalbandian said that it’s no secret that Armenia is in favour of
strengthening relations with Iran, adding that Iranian Minister of
Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki will visit Armenia on January 26.

"That [Armenia-Iran relations] was said when Mr. Kochrian was president
and it’s being said today. It’s natural that Armenia strives to
strengthen relations with it’s neighbouring countries," said the
Armenian foreign minister.

Nalbandian highlighted that Robert Kocharian had gone to Iran upon
an invitation by that country’s leadership.

RUSSIA BACKS DIALOGUE BETWEEN ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI LEADERS

news.az
Jan 22 2010
Azerbaijan

Sergey Lavrov Russia actively supports the dialogue between the
presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov said today.

"As for the next presidential meeting, we hope it will promote
continuation of the dialogue held between Presidents Sargsyan and
Aliyev last year. The dialogue was quite intensive; it did not lead
to any impressive breakthrough but strengthened relations between
the two leaders and allowed them a deep insight into the issues they
will have to settle. We are actively supporting the continuation of
the dialogue," Lavrov told a briefing in Moscow.

The Kremlin’s news service reported earlier that the meeting of the
presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on the resolution of
the Karabakh conflict will be held in Sochi on 25 January.

The Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh
Sargsyan, met a total of nine times in 2009. Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev attended two of the meetings.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan made positive comments about the
presidents’ last meeting in Munich on 22 November.

The Karabakh conflict was initiated in February 1988 when the Karabakh
Autonomous Region, which had a predominantly Armenian population
centered in Stepanakert, declared secession from Azerbaijan.

Stepanakert announced the creation of the Nagorno-Karabakh republic
in September 1991 within the borders of the former autonomous region
and neighbouring parts of Azerbaijan. Official Baku recognized this
act as illegal and withdrew the autonomy that had existed in Karabakh
in the Soviet era.

The armed conflict during which Azerbaijan tried to prevent Karabakh
from secession while Armenian divisions fought for the independence
of the region with the support of Yerevan and Armenian diaspora from
other countries lasted until 12 May 1994 when a cease-fire came into
force. As a result, Azerbaijan lost control over Karabakh and part
or all of seven adjacent districts. Negotiations on the peaceful
resolution of the conflict have been held since 1992 within the
framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States,
Russia and France. Azerbaijan insists on the preservation of its
territorial integrity while Armenia defends the interests of the
Armenians of Karabakh. Neither the Armenians living in Karabakh,
nor the Azerbaijanis forced to flee the region take direct part in
the negotiations.

A joint statement of the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing
countries was adopted in L’Aquila in Italy at the G8 summit on 10
July 2009. They consider that the agreement between the Azerbaijani
and Armenian leadership should be reached on the basis of the Basic
Principles of the 2007 Madrid agreement. Those principles include the
return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani
control, an interim status for Karabakh providing guarantees for
security and self-governance, and the future determination of the
final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding
expression of will.

In a joint statement on 1 December last year, the foreign ministers
of Russia, France, the first deputy US Secretary of State and the
foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia appreciated the positive
dynamics in the negotiations and agreed that the growing frequency
of the meetings between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia "has
intensified the dialogue between the sides and promoted coordination
of the main principles of the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh
conflict proposed in Madrid".

Medvedev discussed the Karabakh conflict settlement during negotiations
with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Moscow on 18 January. The
settlement was also discussed during shuttle diplomacy by the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs in Yerevan and Baku on 19-21 January.

RAMIZ MEHDIYEV: WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NAGORNO KARABAKH, 20,000 ARMENIANS LIVE IN AZERBAIJAN, WHILE THERE IS NO AZERBAIJANI IN ARMENIA

APA
Jan 22 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. "The solution to Nagorno Karabakh
conflict is very important for the development of the region," head
of Azerbaijan’s Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev said while
addressing I Azerbaijan-Russia Forum on Humanitarian Cooperation in
Baku, APA reports.

Mentioning that OSCE foreign ministers issued a statement on the
settlement of the conflict in Athens, Ramiz Mehdiyev said the document
noted the importance of solving the conflict basing on the principle
of the territorial integrity and underlined that for the first time
Armenia admitted it and signed the document.

Mehdiyev called on the Russian media to be professional while writing
about Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"Writing about the history of the conflict, read the letter of
the Russian diplomat Alexander Griboyedov to the emperor. Writing
about the Armenians deported from Iran and Turkey to Azerbaijan, the
diplomat says the Azerbaijanis fear that the Armenians will stay in
these territories forever," he said.

Touching on the Russian media reports that Nagorno Karabakh was
presented to Azerbaijan by Stalin, Ramiz Mehdiyev said the truth was
quite to the contrary.

"In fact, Yerevan was presented to Armenia under pressures. Armenia
said it would not have territorial claims against Azerbaijan, but
it was not so. Actually, Borchali was also presented to Georgia by
Stalin," he said.

According to Ramiz Mehdiyev, with the exception of Nagorno Karabakh,
20,000 Armenians live in Azerbaijan, while there is no Azerbaijani in
the present Armenia, which was the historical land of Azerbaijanis. He
once more underlined that Nagorno Karabakh conflict could be solved
only within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION JOURNALIST JAILED OVER UNREST

Hurriyet
Jan 21 2010
Turkey

An Armenian court sentenced an opposition journalist to seven years
in prison for his involvement in mass post-election protests that
sparked deadly unrest, a court spokeswoman said.

Nikol Pashinian, a prominent opposition figure and editor of the
Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, was convicted on charges of "organizing
mass unrest", Yerevan district court spokeswoman Alina Engoian told
AFP. Pashinian was a key organiser of opposition protests following
President Serzh Sarkisian’s victory in a February 2008 election.

Street battles broke out when riot police moved in to disperse
thousands of supporters of former Armenian president Levon
Ter-Petrosian, who came second in the vote. Two police officers
and eight civilians were killed in the clashes and dozens more
were injured, many from gunshot wounds. Pashinian went into hiding
following the unrest, but turned himself in to authorities in July. He
ran unsuccessfully in a parliamentary by-election earlier this month
in an attempt to gain immunity from prosecution.

A spokesman for Ter-Petrosian’s opposition Armenian National Congress
said the sentence flew in the face of Armenian law and the country’s
international commitments. "This is lawlessness. This shows how the
current regime flouts not only the law, but resolutions of the Council
of Europe, which has called for people who did not carry out violent
acts and who presented themselves before the law to be acquitted,"
said the spokesman, Levon Zurabian.

Rights body the Council of Europe has repeatedly raised concerns about
what it calls "artificial or politically motivated charges" against
opposition activists related to the unrest. Armenia – a mountainous
country of about three million people wedged between Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Iran and Turkey – has seen repeated political violence and
post-election protests since gaining independence with the Soviet
Union’s collapse in 1991.

DAVID MURADIAN RELIEVED OF POST OF RA DEPUTY MINISTER OF CULTURE

Noyan Tapan
Jan 21, 2010

YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, NOYAN TAPAN. By RA Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsian’s decision David Muradian was relieved of the post of RA
Deputy Minister of Culture. Noyan Tapan was informed about it by the
RA NA Press Service.

HRANT DINK MURDER: 3 YEARS PASSED

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.01.2010 11:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of the
Armenian-Turkish Agos newspaper was assassinated three years ago today.

"Hrant Dink face the trial for using the term Genocide. Then he was
killed," said Professor Taner Akcam, a Turkish scholar, the author of
"Shameful Act" book.

"During a visit to Paris, in an interview with Reuters, Dink said,
"We must shout it was a genocide… And I will say it in the court." It
was on January 5, 2007," Akcam recollected.

"Diaspora seeks justice, Turkey seeks freedom and democracy. These
two aspirations should give a start to dialogue between the civil
societies. We should recognize the Genocide and reconcile," he said.

Hrant Dink (September 15, 1954 – January 19, 2007) was a
Turkish-Armenian journalist and columnist and editor-in-chief
of Agos bilingual newspaper. Dink was best known for advocating
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and human and minority rights in
Turkey. Charged under the notorious article 301 of the Turkish
Criminal Code, Dink stood a trial for insulting Turkishness. After
numerous death threats, Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in
January 2007, by Ogun Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist.

Taner Akcam (October 23,1953, Turkey) is a Turkish historian,
sociologist and publicist. He is one of the first Turkish academics
to acknowledge and discuss openly the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman
Turkish government in 1915. Akcam studied at the Middle East Technical
University in Ankara. He was a faculty member of Administrative
Sciences, Department of Political Economy. He received his Bachelor
of Administrative Sciences in 1976. He stayed at the university as
a Master’s student and assistant in the same department for some time.

In 1976 he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment as
the editor-in-chief of a political journal. He escaped prison one
year later. He has been living in the Federal Republic of Germany
since early 1978 as a political refugee. He continued his political
activities and in 1988 started working for the Hamburg Institute for
Social Research on the history of violence and torture in Turkey. He
earned his Doctorate Degree at The University of Hannover in 1995. The
topic was called Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide on
the Background of Military Tribunals in Istanbul between 1919 and 1922.

Currently he belongs to the scientific staff of the Hamburg Foundation
to promote science and culture, working at the Hamburg Institute
for Social Research. Today, Akcam is currently a Visiting Associate
Professor of History at the University of Minnesota.

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic
destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during
and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to
lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths
reaching 1.5 million.

The date of the onset of the genocide is conventionally held to be
April 24, 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities arrested some 250
Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople.

Thereafter, the Ottoman military uprooted Armenians from their homes
and forced them to march for hundreds of miles, depriving them of
food and water, to the desert of what is now Syria. Massacres were
indiscriminate of age or gender, with rape and other sexual abuse
commonplace. The Armenian Genocide is the second most-studied case
of genocide after the Holocaust.

The Republic of Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire,
denies the word genocide is an accurate description of the events. In
recent years, it has faced repeated calls to accept the events as
genocide.

To date, twenty countries and 44 U.S. states have officially recognized
the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars
and historians accept this view. The Armenian Genocide has been also
recognized by influential media including The New York Times, BBC,
The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the
Genocide survivors.