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03/29/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Armenia Warns of Azeri War Preparations 2) Parliament Committee Hearing on Mountainous Karabagh 3) Longtime ARF Member Natalie Lazian Passes Away at 105 4) Arab Tribal Leaders Pay Tribute to Genocide Victims 5) Armenian among Kidnapped Journalist in Iraq 6) Oskanian Speaks at National Assembly Hearings on Karabagh 1) Armenia Warns of Azeri War Preparations YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said on Tuesday that Azerbaijan may be preparing for another war in Mountainous Karabagh, and revealed that Azeri troops have moved closer to Armenian positions along the heavily militarized frontline in recent weeks. He said the Armenian government has already alerted international mediators about what it sees as a possibility of renewed fighting. "They have been bringing their trenches closer to ours and more casualties are suffered as a result," Oskanian told reporters. "We just don't see the rationale for that and are starting to think that maybe they want to torpedo negotiations; maybe they have serious intentions to start military actions." The remarks are the starkest yet warning about a resumption of the Karabagh war voiced by a senior Armenian official since the signing of the May 1994 ceasefire agreement. They follow recent deadly skirmishes reported along the line of contact northeast of Karabagh, with each side blaming the other for truce violations. "The Armenian army is ready to give an adequate response to any Azerbaijani offensive," Oskanian said. He added that Armenia has conveyed its concerns to the United States, Russia, and France that jointly co-chair the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Azeri leaders regularly threaten to take by force Karabagh and territories surrounding, if the long-running peace talks remain deadlocked. "The people of Azerbaijan will never put up with the loss of their lands," President Ilham Aliyev repeated over the weekend. "The people will liberate their native lands at all costs." Addressing a congress of the governing Yeni Azerbaycan party, Aliyev at the same time claimed that recent trends in the peace process bode well for Azerbaijan, pointing to recent meetings between Oskanian and Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. Oskanian and Mammadyarov were due to continue their talks in Prague on March 2. They were cancelled due to Oskanian's illness. Mammadyarov was quoted by the Azerbaijani media this week as saying that the meeting will take place at the end of April. But Oskanian insisted that no new dates have been set yet. He also indicated that a possible meeting in May between Armenian and Azeri presidents would be far more important. "We believe that quite a lot of work has been done by the ministers and it is time for the presidents to step in," he said. 2) Parliament Committee Hearing on Mountainous Karabagh YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--Armenian parliament's foreign relations committee on Tuesday began two-day hearings on the Karabagh conflict. Senior government officials and representatives of political groups in the National Assembly will review possible resolutions. "Common ground is on the horizon," Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian told the hearings. "But at the same time we are still far apart in our positions." Oskanian and other speakers were unanimous in ruling out Karabagh's return to Azeri rule under any circumstances. Opinion only differed on whether the Armenian-populated enclave should be independent or formally become part of Armenia. ARF faction's Armen Rustamian, who chairs the committee and is presiding over the hearings, called for the creation of an interagency body that would coordinate Armenia's Karabagh policy. He also urged Armenia to formalize its close political, economic, and military links with Mountainous Karabagh Republic (MKR). 3) Longtime ARF Member Natalie Lazian Passes Away at 105 ATHENS--ARF member Natalie Lazian passed away in Athens on March 24 at the age of 105. A woman loved and respected by all, Lazian, along with her husband ARF Bureau member Gabriel Lazian, traveled from country to country, finally settling in Athens where they carried on their nationalistic work. Born in Izmir of Greek ancestry, Natalie Lazian became acquainted with Armenians, embraced our struggles, and faithfully followed her husband. Serving the Armenian Cause, her travels were risky--going from Izmir to Batumi, from Batumi to Yerevan, Alexandropol, Alaverdi, Porchalou, Tbilisi, back to Izmir, then Greece, Egypt, Lebanon, and finally, Athens. After learning to speak Armenian fluently, the couple established the "Nor Or" newspaper in Athens from 1932-40. Funeral services for Natalie Lazian took place on March 25, at the Nea Smirni Cemetery. She is survived by her son, Aidan, who currently resides in Athens. 4) Arab Tribal Leaders Pay Tribute to Genocide Victims YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--A delegation of 12 Arab tribal leaders, accompanied by National Assembly's Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) faction and the ARF Armenia Supreme Body members, visited the Dzidzernagapert Memorial on Tuesday to pay tribute to the victims of the Armenian genocide. Praying for the victims' souls, the delegation members stressed that the reality of the Genocide cannot be denied, noting that it is proven by numerous documents. The influential tribal leaders, some of whom reside in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, and Qatar, are in Armenia to take part in the events commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, to pay tribute to the Genocide victims, and remind the world of the unpunished vicious crime. The trip has been organized by the Armenian community of Aleppo. Leader of the Tal tribe, Mohamed Elfarif, said the Arabs gave shelter to Armenians who were deported by the Turkish government to the desert and were condemned to death. Commenting that some Armenian girls even married young Arab men, Elfarif said, `Now we have the same blood,' adding that he had heard such stories from his grandparents. He said they wish to see Armenia in its historic borders, and expressed that the viewpoint of the tribes does not differ from the viewpoint of the Arab people as a whole. Armenian chief consul in Aleppo Armen Melkonian said, `The visit of such people who are considered rather influential in their country will promote the establishment of friendlier relations between our countries.' According to another leader of a Syrian tribe, Noaf Alpashiri, 100 families are currently living in their tribe who are the descendants of Armenians who survived the Turkish massacre. The delegation arrived in Yerevan on Monday, accompanied by representatives of the Armenian Church's Beria Prelacy. Armenian National Assembly's ARF faction secretary Hrair Karapetian and ARF Bureau's Political Affairs Office director Giro Manoyan greeted the guests at Yerevan's Zvartnotz airport. Their hospitable ancestors gave refuge to the fragments of Armenians who miraculously survived in the Genocide; today, many of those Armenians and their heirs still live side-to-side with the friendly Arab people and enjoy equal rights. The leaders of the tribes met with Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and Yerevan mayor Yervand Zakharian. They are also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Andranik Margarian, parliamentary factions, and Defense Minister Serge Sargsian. 5) Armenian among Kidnapped Journalist in Iraq BUCHAREST (Combined Sources)--Three Romanian journalists kidnapped in Baghdad, among them Romanian Armenian Ovidiu Ohanesian, managed to send desperate text messages to relatives and colleagues just before disappearing on Monday, as they became the latest foreigners to be abducted in Iraq. "We're kidnapped. This is not a joke. Help!!!!," one of the three, Prima TV reporter Marie Jeanne Ion, managed to message her mother from her mobile phone, her mother Magdalena Ion told Realitatea TV on Tuesday. "Don't kill us, we are from a poor country and we have no money," Ion was quoted as saying. Ion's cameraman Sorin Miscoci and journalist Ovidiu Ohanesian of the Romania Libera daily newspaper, all on a short reporting trip to Iraq, were also missing, authorities said. President Traian Basescu said both local and foreign secret services had been alerted and he chaired a meeting of a crisis committee set up to handle the situation. "We have alerted all the secret services and the foreign intelligence services of our allies to solve the case," Basescu told the Romanian TVR1 television after the three journalists were snatched on Monday night. "President Traian Basescu assures Romanians that Romania has the will and the capacity to defend its citizens," his spokeswoman Adriana Saftoiu said. The three were seized while Basescu was on a whistle-stop visit to Afghanistan and Iraq, where staunch US ally Romania has sent 800 troops to join the US-led force. Like other east European countries grateful to Washington for its support in shedding communism, Romania is a faithful US ally that has unwaveringly supported the war in Iraq, providing logistical support and troops. Amid wide political consensus, it joined NATO in 2004 and is eager to host permanent US military bases on its Black Sea coast. The kidnappings appeared to cause no immediate political backlash for Romania's role in Iraq, with officials saying they suspected the motives were financial rather than political. "I would like to believe that only economic reasons triggered their situation. I don't want to believe that their kidnapping was politically motivated," said Simona Marinescu, an adviser to the Romanian embassy in Baghdad. More than 150 foreigners have been seized in Iraq over the past year. Most have been freed after negotiations or payment of ransom, but about a third have been killed. Many more Iraqis have been abducted, often for ransom. The news editor of Prima TV, Dan Dumitru, said Ion managed a quick call to her newsroom before disappearing and that he had heard her desperately pleading with her kidnappers. "I heard Arabic, English, and Romanian words shouted," he said. "I heard her imploring the attackers not to kidnap them because they come from a poor country which won't be able to pay the ransom." Her mother appealed to authorities not to rush into rescue operations before hearing out the abductors. "Please don't send special troops to look for them," Magdalena Ion said. "We must wait and see what the kidnappers want." Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu told reporters: "We will make every effort so that the three journalists return home safely." Journalists at Romania Libera had a difficult time believing their colleague had been kidnapped since there was no demand from the kidnappers. "We cannot say we are absolutely positive he was kidnapped. We have tried to contact our colleague and we will continue to try," said fellow journalist Cornel Popa. The disappearance of the three Romanians is just the latest kidnapping incident involving journalists in Iraq. Earlier this month Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena was freed after the intervention of the Italian secret service, after nearly four weeks as a captive. But Nicola Calipari, the international operations chief of Italy's military intelligence service who masterminded her release, was shot and killed by US troops at a checkpoint as Sgrena was being driven to Baghdad airport. In January Liberation correspondent Florence Aubenas and her translator, Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi, were snatched outside a Baghdad hotel and are still missing. And Christian Chesnot, a freelance journalist kidnapped in Iraq while working for Radio France International and Georges Malbrunot, Le Figaro's Iraq correspondent, were released just before Christmas, after more than four months in captivity. 6) Oskanian Speaks at National Assembly Hearings on Karabagh YEREVAN (Yerkir)--Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian on Tuesday made a statement at the Armenian National Assembly's Foreign Relations Committee hearings on resolving the Mountainous Karabagh conflict. Below is an excerpt of his statement: `I welcome this opportunity to discuss aloud and together the history, development, present situation, and future prospects for the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh issue. I believe that such joint, public explorations are useful and should facilitate a healthy civic debate on premises and prospects, always with the purpose clearly in mind: that what we seek is a peaceful, lasting resolution to this conflict. I've looked at the agenda of these two days--the topics and speakers are diversified and reflect varying political perspectives and political forces. Such a diversified spectrum will provide us with a better picture of the range of opinions in our republic on this issue. I will try to be as open as possible, to present not just Armenia's position, but also our take on those international situations and events which may affect the Nagorno Karabakh process, our perception of the adversary's views, and also the evolution and dynamics of the resolution process. Really, we must understand the dynamics and evolution of the process if we are to understand our situation today and the choices before us. Let me break down the NK process into stages during which both the format and nature of the negotiations evolved, as did the content of the discussions. This most recent phase became a conflict, when, in 1988, Azerbaijan used force to respond to peaceful demonstrations and demands, thus resulting in military activities. During those early years, there were various incongruent, uncoordinated, random, impulsive efforts at mediation from within the former soviet space. These efforts did not turn into a coherent process, however, and no documents were produced. In 1992, the resolution process became internationalized. The Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe, of which both Armenia and Azerbaijan were members, took a decision to resolve the issue of Nagorno Karabakh's status through a conference in Minsk. As a result, the CSCE Minsk process was born, with the participation of Nagorno Karabakh. The Russian Federation continued to remain engaged, often competing with the Minsk Group. At the same time, the conflict itself extended beyond the borders of Nagorno Karabakh, when as a result of Azerbaijan's aggression, Armenian forces were compelled to bring certain territories under Armenian control, for the purpose of assuring Nagorno Karabakh's security. By May 1994, there was a mutually agreed upon ceasefire, and therefore, a halt to military activities. As military activities ceased, the OSCE, at a Summit in Budapest, harmonized the various negotiation tracks. They created the Minsk Group co-chairs structure, formalized the negotiation process, and put an end to competition among the various mediators. Thus the end of militarization coincided with the creation of a mechanism for serious negotiations. This cycle of negotiations that has now gone on for over a decade, can be divided into 4 stages: the first stage began with the OSCE Budapest Summit and ended with the OSCE Lisbon Summit; the second stage covered the post-Lisbon period through the change of presidential administration in Armenia; the third stage stretched to the death of Father Aliyev; and the fourth stage is the one we're in now, that started with the change of administration in Azerbaijan. Despite Azerbaijan's engagement, and the efforts of the sides to search for an acceptable resolution of the issue, Azerbaijan continues to attempt to simultaneously introduce the Nagorno Karabakh issue in those international forums which continue to abide by a traditional, conservative approach to the issues of territorial integrity and self-determination. Their answer to claims of self-determination is simply greater human rights and certain economic benefits. This approach ignores a great many factors including the role of history in shaping of one's identity and destiny. Today, everyone recognizes that these principles cannot be universally applied, that there are places in the world where more acceptable solutions can and are being found, and states--new and old-- continue to live in new relationships to each other. In our time, we have witnessed East Timor's independence through referendum, we witnessed the signing of an agreement in Sudan putting an end to a decades-old conflict on the basis of the notion of referendum to be held in one portion of the country in six years. We are all following serious deliberations about the possibility of a referendum to determine Kosovo's status. Among the political, legal, academic experts working in and around those places, there is a growing awareness of the possibility and reality of recognizing the right of self-determination in certain circumstances. In all cases, one must judge existing self-determination struggles each on its own merits, each in terms of its own historical, legal circumstances, as well as the realities on the ground. As such, we can divide today's self-determination conflicts into four types determined by the combination of degree of control the state exercises over its entire territory (including the territory occupied by those striving for self-determination) and the degree of self-determination achieved by them. Quebec, for example, falls in Category I. In this case, the territorial integrity of Canada is preserved, while the province of Quebec has voted to remain part of Canada; that is, they have exercised their right to self-determination. The overwhelming majority of today's secessionists fall in Category II, where the movements struggle without any degree of self-determination and the state continues to fully control the territory under question. The Kurdish people's struggle in Turkey falls into this second category. Those in Category III are the borderline cases where the state is not able to control those desiring self-determination, while they themselves are not strong enough to maintain control over their territory with any certainty of permanence, and the outcome can go either way. Today, Nagorno Karabakh falls in a completely different, fourth, category. Azerbaijan has no control whatsoever over those territories, as Nagorno Karabakh has enjoyed, for the last 15 years, all the attributes of complete sovereignty. In this case, to attempt to win over the people of Nagorno Karabakh by enticing them with human rights and economic advantages in order to attempt to return them to Azerbaijani jurisdiction, is a simply senseless exercise. Azerbaijan's new authorities are having a hard time coming to terms with these indisputable realities. Clear-cut, categoric changes are obvious in their approach to negotiations and the search for a resolution. Worse, and more worrisome, there are new myths and premises --public and official--on which their positions are being constructed. First, they have convinced themselves that the essence of the issue is the issue of their territories. When this conflict began, there were no territories outside Nagorno Karabakh under Armenian control. Those territories came under Armenian control because not only was there not an agreement on Nagorno Karabakh's status, but also because Azerbaijan saw the solution in cleansing Nagorno Karabakh of all Armenians. Therefore, the solution today necessarily revolves around the determination of Nagorno Karabakh's status, and continued control over those territories guaranteeing the security of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. Second, they want to believe that if they do not receive their maximum demands through negotiations, they can always resort to military solutions. It is obvious that it has not been possible nor will it be possible to conclusively resolve this issue militarily. In order for a successful military solution, arms and munitions are not sufficient against the people of Nagorno Karabakh who are defending their own homes and hearth. Azerbaijan must succeed in ethnically cleansing Nagorno Karabakh of all Armenians. Under today's circumstances, that is simply not possible. This has been proven impossible in Serbia, for example, where the former authorities nearly succeeded in their efforts at ethnic cleansing using military might. But today, they are standing trial for their crimes, and the right of the people of Kosovo to self-determination is on the table. Third, Azerbaijan thinks that time is on their side. Of course, the obvious reason for this is their confidence in future oil revenues to enhance their military capacity. This is the greatest deception, because time is not guaranteed to work in favor of any one side. Further, international tendencies today are moving towards reinforcing the right to self-determination. The longer that Nagorno Karabakh maintains its de-facto independence, it will be that much harder to reverse the wheel of history. Fourth, they think that an isolated Armenia will be economically unable to sustain its positions, and will sooner or later agree to serious concessions. This is in itself a faulty assumption, because it is the people of Nagorno Karabakh who must first agree to concessions. Additionally, a people who lived through the deprivations and hardships of the last decade and a half have demonstrated that they can do so again if it is life and liberty that is at stake. On the contrary, both in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, the societies have gone past survival, and are recording economic growth. Finally, Azerbaijan has convinced itself that by presenting Armenia as aggressor, it will become possible through resolutions in international organizations to force Armenians to capitulate. However, Armenians have succeeded in consistently demonstrating that Azerbaijan is a victim of its own aggression and that today's situation is a consequence of that aggression. If those territories must be returned to assure Nagorno Karabakh's security and future, that is possible. If those territories must be kept in order to assure Nagorno Karabakh's security and future, that, too, is possible. The purpose is security and self-determination and not territories. To conclude, the point is the solution will not be found through military action, it will not be found through the creation of documents and resolutions in international forums, nor can there be a solution imposed on the sides from the outside. The only way to a solution is to demonstrate political will, to sit and discuss openly and honestly, by embracing realistic positions. Armenia remains faithful to its initial premises that there cannot be a vertical link between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh, that it must have a geographic link with Armenia, and that the security of the people of Nagorno Karabakh must be assured. Today, for us, the basis of the resolution, is the affirmation of the right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to self-determination and the international recognition of that right. Azerbaijan's simply accepting this fact, and its formalization in an agreement, will make possible the start of a resolution of the matter, and the elimination of the consequences of the conflict. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.