Month: May 2008

ARMENIANS SHOT DOWN OWN HELICOPTER DURING MILITARY TRAININGS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF AZERBAIJAN

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 30 2008

Aghdam. Teymur Guliyev-APA. On Wednesday, helicopter of Armenian armed
forces was shot down during the trainings of Armenian servicemen in
territory of occupied Uzundere village of Aghdam Region, Azerbaijan.

It is supposed that Armenians mistakenly shot down own
helicopter. Azerbaijani servicemen on the opposite site of contact
line and local residents of frontline areas have also watched the
shooting down.

It was impossible to know about the casualties, but witnesses said
the helicopter became worthless.

Armenians started the military trainings in the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan several days ago. Fires heard in nearby areas. The
trainings ended.

PETER SEMNEBY PLANS TO VISIT OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF AZERBAIJAN ALONG WITH NIZAMI BAHMANOV

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 30 2008

Baku. Lachin Sultanova-APA. Special representative of the European
Union for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby plans to visit Nagorno
Karabakh along with the head of Nagorno Karabakh’s Azerbaijani
community Nizami Bahmanov.

Diplomatic sources told APA that preparations were being made for
the visit.

The visit aims at establishing confidence between the Azerbaijani and
Armenian communities of Nagorno Karabakh. Peter Semneby put forward
the initiative last summer and wanted to realize it in September,
but the visit was delayed.

NEW PROCURATOR OF KASHATAG REGION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH APPOINTED

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
April 30 2008

YEREVAN, 30.04.08. DE FACTO. According to a decree the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic President Bako Sahakian signed on April 30, first class
Justice Counselor Maylest Karapetian has been relieved of the
position of procurator of the NKR Kashatag region, according to his
own statement.

By the NKR President’s another decree, second class State Justice
Counselor Robert Hayrapetian has been appointed procurator of the
Kashatag region, the Central Department of Information under the NKR
President reports.

GEORGIAN PRESIDENT ADDRESSES POPULATION OF BREAKAWAY REGIONS

ARMENPRESS
April 30, 2008

TBILISI, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS: In a televised address to people
in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgia’s two breakaway regions,
president Mikhail Saakashvili said confrontation and separatism is
the common enemy of Georgians, Abkhazians and Ossetians.

"We all are tired of the longstanding confrontation resulting from an
external force’s impact. The work of the Georgian government is aimed
at building conditions for peaceful life in conflict zones," he said.

He said the government’s plan of actions is anchored on creation of
new jobs and not on unleashing a new war, not stirring confrontation,
but taking care of old people and children, Although Saakashvili did
not flesh out on ‘foreign force’ he said that that force is again
trying to involve Georgians, Abkhazians and Ossetians into another
destructive confrontation.

TURKEY ALTERS LAW CURTAILING FREE SPEECH

Deutsche Welle, Germany
April 30 2008

After years of foreign and domestic criticism, Turkey’s parliament
passed a long-awaited revision of a law that prohibits insulting
"Turkishness." But critics say the reforms do not go far enough.

Parliament voted in favor of government-backed changes to the law,
which had been used to prosecute hundreds of writers, on Wednesday,
April 30, with 250 votes for and 65 against, according to the
Anatolian state news agency. Nationalist parliament members voiced
strong opposition to the changes during the eight-hour debate.

The reforms make it illegal to insult the Turkish nation, rather than
Turkishness and cut the maximum jail term down from three to two years.

The European Union, which has long pressed Turkey to alter the law,
also had a tepid response to the change. EU Commission President
Jose Manuel Barroso earlier this month called it a "step in the
right direction."

The EU has repeatedly warned Turkey that respect for free speech
will be a test of its commitment to align with the bloc’s democracy
norms. The 27-member EU is currently holding accession talks with
Ankara in six of the 35 policy areas that EU candidate countries are
required to conform to.

Turkish Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said there would still be
restrictions on insulting Turkey.

"With this change, it is not a question of letting people insult
Turkishness freely," he told parliament.

Few pleased with changes

Armenian-Turkish editor Hrant Dink, who was shot dead by an
ultra-nationalist youth last year, had been convicted under article
301. 2006 Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk has also been persecuted
under it for comments he made on the massacres of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks in 1915-16.

Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) accused the
government of betraying the country’s identity, and instead pandering
to EU demands that it reform laws prohibiting Turks from insulting
their nation.

The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, whose members often end
up in court for expressing views on the Kurdish separatist movement,
wanted to abolish the article.

Before the parliament voted, MHP leader Devlet Bahceli told party
members that reforming the law would be a "historic mistake."

"Slandering Turkey’s honorable history, insulting the Turkish nation
and the values of Turkishness has become a habit with the AK Party’s
political thinking, which lacks a sense of identity," he said.

DW staff ,2144,3302161,0 0.html

FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES LITHUANIA’S AMBASSADOR

ARMENPRESS
April 30, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS: Foreign minister Edward Nalbandian
received today new Lithuanian ambassador to Armenia, Gedrius Apuokas,
who handed to the minister the duplicates of his credentials.

The press division of the ministry quoted the minister as saying
that Armenia is interested in strengthening and deepening relations
with Lithuania.

He added that from that perspective the opening of embassies in both
countries will become an extra impetus.

The minister said also cooperation with Lithuania is useful for
Armenia in terms of its relations with the EU.

The ambassador for his part said Lithuania’s traditional attitude
towards Armenia is warm. He stressed development of multilateral
cooperation with Armenia saying he will focus on economic and cultural
ties between the two countries during his tenure in Armenia.

RASIM MUSABEKOV: "ARMENIANS ARE HINTED THAT THEY SHOULD MODERATE THEIR APPETITES AND BECOME MORE COMPLIANT AT THE TALKS CONDUCTED IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE MINSK GROUP"

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
April 30 2008

Day.Az interview with famous political scientist Rasim Musabeyov.

-How would you comment on the information that the All-Armenian
pilgrimage to Nagorno Karabakh "Forward Armenia, forward to God"
starts on May 1 from Saint Echmiadzin?

-I think this event does not deserve any political analysis. Tens of
such events are held every year and they do not cause any significant
reaction. That is they have local, internal-Armenian context. The
present one is held by initiative of the church leadership, which
thus attempts to overcome the deep split in the Armenian society
following the disgraceful elections.

Karabakh clan has rudely falsified them and set their successor
Serzh Sarkissyan to presidency. The protest of the supporters of
ex-president Levon Sarkissyan and greater part of the population was
brutally supressed. I do not think that such an action will have to
improve the state. I would remind that the anniversary of the so called
"genocide" had been marked recently and they did not manage to create
illusion of Armenian unity on this day. The powers and opposition
came to the memorial in different rows, while the latter could not
help anti-governmental scansions.

-As we know, the 20th anniversary of Artsakh liberation is to be
marked in the Vilsher Ebell theater of Los Angeles on May 2. Is it
proposed that the Karabakh clan, which usurped powers in Armenia,
will try to legitimate itself by speculating with the Karabakh issue
and trying to draw attention of the Armenian diaspora in the United
States, which was actively supporting Levon Ter-Petrosyan during the
presidential elections in Armenia?

-The Karabakh clan and Serzh Sarkissyan personally strive to use
foreign diaspora for neutralization of the negative image of Armenia
and its own government following falsification of elections and
violence against opposition. Yet Armenia’s foreign diaspora has been
deeply split. The old Diaspora, which lives in comfort and security
in the West, is ready to support the extremist "Karabakh clan" to
revenge to Turks, even via occupation of Azerbaijani lands.

But the part of diaspora, which left Armenia not long ago and
maintains closer ties with it, having idea of the situation, which
the Kocharyan-Sarkissyan tandem has led the country to, arranges
numerous protest actions. Its representatives also urge to impose
sanctions on Yerevan if the authorities do not release the prisoners
and punish those responsible for the bloodshed, committed against
opposition. Thus, diaspora would hardly help Sarkissyan to consolidate
the regime and the society.

-And what is the reason of Armenians’ decision to speculate actively
on Karabakh in early may, committing real provocation?

-And what is left to them? Armenian society has split and Azerbaijan
is gradually developing its economic and geopolitical potential,
strengthening the diplomatic and information pressure. The proof is
the recent resolution of the UN General Assembly on the situation
in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan. Soon this superiority will be
strengthened by the undoubted military supremacy of Azerbaijan.

Soon Armenian powers will have to think not on the consolidation
of results of the Phyrric victory in the war of 1992-1993, when
Armenians, making use of the temporary weakness of the state powers
in Azerbaijan, occupied 7 of our regions, but about ways out of the
situation with not completely empty hands. The Karabakh clan intends
to consolidate its regime, by straining the situation and on the
other hand provoke renewal of military actions before the military
superiority of Azerbaijan becomes too evident.

-How should the world community react to such actions of Armenians,
considering the fact that none of the world countries have recognized
independence of Nagorno Karabakh and influential international
organization Human Rights Watch called the Khojali genocide of 1992
the most terrible tragedy among those committed by Armenians during
the war?

-Armenians has many supporters including among superstates. Yet, they,
as well as international structures, realize that if they failed to
make Azerbaijan surrender Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia in the 1990s,
when we were much weaker, than now, it would be unreal to attain this
goal in the current situation.

Armenians are given hints that they should moderate their appetites
and become for compliant in the talks held within the Minsk Group. The
recently adopted resolution of the UN General Assembly should be
perceived in this sense. Certainly, the matter is not the sanctions,
or possible military reprisals, but I consider that pressure on
Yerevan by the world society will grow.

-And the last question: which steps should official Baku undertake
in current conditions?

-In fact. the program of actions results from the opportunities,
Azerbaijan has, owing to favorable oil, financial and geopolitical
conjuncture. It is only necessary to use these objective advantages
rationally, transform them into a sound basis for country’s
modernization, strengthening of its military potential, strategic
partnership with the West.

It is also important to avoid actions, which may affect Azerbaijan
negatively, in the sense of observance of human rights and democratic
liberties. Undoubtedly, it is necessary not only to continue but
also to grow the economic, diplomatic and information pressure on
Armenians and prove Azerbaijan’s right in the leading capitals of
the world and international structures and compliance of its position
with the norms of law and justice.

ZAHID ORUJ: "NOW AZERBAIJAN HAS FORCED ARMENIA TO UNDERTAKE THE SELF-DEFENSE TACTICS"

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
.html
April 30 2008

Day.Az interview with Zahid Oruj, Milli Medjlis deputy, member of
the permanent parliamentary commission on security and defense.

-How would you comment on the statement, passed by the Armenian
parliament regarding Nagorno Karabakh which in particular stresses
the need to work out a mechanism for provision of support to Nagorno
Karabakh by Armenia in case Azerbaijan resumes war in the region?

-Primarily, attention should be paid to the fact that events,
ongoing in Armenia are not fully reflected in the Azerbaijani press
or presented to our community, which hinders the formation of a full
scale image about processes, ongoing in neighboring country, which
has not formed as a state.

Sometimes, familiarizing with anti-governmental materials in Armenian
mass media, I regret that our community and political elite do not
always base on this critics. By its radicalism, Armenian society
and its anti-governmental elite outstrips ours, its activity is more
substantiated.

In such conditions, the illegitimate government of the Karabakh clain,
ruling over Armenia, is obliged to make efforts to raise trust of the
population, get certain political dividends, remove the split within
the society. Naturally, the Karabakh problem is the best instrument for
it, therefore, it is not by accident that one of the steps of the new
authorities in this direction became the decision, you have indicated.

Let’s see whether these steps, undertaken in the past or now, have
unified the Armenian community or put an end to the split between
the institutes of diaspora and lobby> On the contrary I consider that
Serzh will not be able to gain the trust of people. Certainly, he will
represent his country on the international arena from the legal point
of view, but the support of powers by the people is also important,
why Serzh does not have this support. Do not forget that the actions,
not basing on the support of people, gradually lead to elimination
of the political elite, undertaking them.

It seems to me that currently Armenia’s so-called "brain centers",
political institutions enter a new stage and this is mainly connected
with the events in the Balkans,. Yerevan saw that the main arguments,
which the West presented to legitimate independence of Kosovo, was
recognition of rights of Kosovo residents by Serbians and application
of the most brutal actions against them, including genocide, though
this can not be the basis for independence of any people.

Yet in the present day realities the world society substantiated
independence of Kosovo, this ethnic area of local importance,
by such moral and political factors. This was the uniqueness of
the Kosovo issue. Now Armenians consider different kind of steps,
aiming to involve Azerbaijan in various provocations, especially,
in military clashes, even at the expense of the lives of Armenian
people, to attach the same uniqueness to Nagorno Karabakh. At the
same time Armenians realize that in current conditions they lack such
a platform in the Karabakh issue, as Azerbaijan has not committed
genocide against Karabakh Armenians and on the contrary has fallen
victim of it, and on basis of this genocide, the working leadership
of Armenia came to power.

Thus, I think that the real cause of the events ongoing in Armenia
were the circumstances I presented.

-At the same time, the Armenian parliament periodically raise the
issue of possible recognition of independence of Nagorno Karabakh by
Armenia. Is it real?

-I don’t think it is. Recognition of independence of Nagorno
Karabakh will affect the state system of Armenia, which has not formed
yet. This step will in fact imply Armenia’s recognition of its indirect
participation in the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, which Armenians
have so far avoided. They personally speak of the untimeliness of this
step and the reason is clear. They are well aware that the steps,
undertaken by Armenia, have not yet helped to achieve the goal, set
by Yerevan: international pressure on Azerbaijan and its recognition
of that Karabakh Armenians have no alternative to independence.

Armenians realize that recognition of independence of Nagorno Karabakh
will lead to nothing. Unlike Kosovo, this will not be supported by
various countries. Nagorno Karabakh will never demonstrate itself as
a subject of international law and no one intends to provide a place
in the United Nations for it. This means that it will ot be able to
gain attributes of independence and on the contrary the process of
the peaceful settlement of the conflict will be affected. Azerbaijan
will gain political and diplomatic advantages, as Armenia will itself
prove the fact of the rude violation of the norms of international law.

Thus, Armenians avoid this step.

-Anyway the Armenian parliament express its position on Nagorno
Karabakh more frequently that Milli Medjlis, hold hearings,
discussions and other events with attraction of local and foreign
representatives. Don’t you think that our parliament should also
intensify its efforts on the problem?

-I think on the current stage we should pay more attention to the
traditional course, aimed at the more active advancement on the
diplomatic front for the purpose of strengthening international
support. I would like to note that Armenians have already undertaken
the tactics of self-defense in the result of it. Now they are obliged
to oppose the facts, we present.

I have recently familiarized with the session record of the Armenian
parliament and some announcements and saw the anxiety about the steps,
undertaken by Azerbaijan, while in the mid 1990s we were obliged to
follow them, opposing their statements by some well-known reasons,
that is Azerbaijan has conducted a policy "They tell a lie"

Therefore, I consider that any public discussions of the Karabakh
problem should not be built depending on the steps of the Armenian
side, by making an impression that we fall for their bait. This would
restrict our capacities.

On the other hand, I have always spoken for discussion of the Karabakh
problem in the parliament, as international situation is changing,
many new initiatives are being formed in the society which strengthens
the position of the country. I wish the discussion of the Karabakh is
not turned into a tool for gaining scores in the internal political
fight. We, in the parliament, have always feared the speculations
with this topic.

I have repeatedly witnessed that our opposition tries to consider
this issue from a different aspect. I think, the defining factor is
the position of the head of state on this issue. Analyze the position
of political powers of our country on the said problem and see whether
others have the second, non-compromise position on the Karabakh issue,
which fully reflects the national interests, and I want everyone to
assess the position in the duly manner.

PARLIAMENT APPROVES GOVERNMENT PROGRAM OF ACTIONS FOR NEXT FIVE YEARS

ARMENPRESS
April 30, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS: By a vote of 88 to 3 the National
Assembly approved today the government program of actions for
2008-2012. The program was voted against by the oppositional
Zharangutyun (Heritage) party.

Parliament chairman Tigran Torosian said the National Assembly stands
ready to support implementation of this ‘very important program.’
Before voting took place prime minister Tigran Sarkisian said his
government will implement changes and will begin with government
members.

‘We shall expose our defects and we shall be keeping you informed on
how we are going to carry out this program,’ he said.

He thanked the parliament for interesting debates over the program and
their suggestions and remarks many of which that were incorporated
into it. He also thanked the opposition Heritage party for their
‘moral support to the new government,’ saying it is more obligative
than frequent criticism.

The Heritage party had said earlier it would not vote for the
program because it wants a program of actions that would enforce
system changes, but said it would help the government correct its
shortcomings.

The prime minister also thanked members of the political coalition
for supporting the program.

‘I am confident that soon our people will see that the government
has come to implement sweeping reforms,’ he concluded.

KURDISH, A HUMANITARIAN LANGUAGE
By Ferhad Pirbal

Kurdish Globe, Iraq
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April 30 2008

A message from Kurdish authors to the European Parliament

"What we see today is that countries like Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and
Iran, who always claim to practice the Islamic religion, try to forbid
the use of Kurdish culture and language in spite of all the sacrifices
the Kurdish people offered for the sake of Islamic religion!"

The annual cultural festival was held in Belgium from April 17-19
under the sponsorship of Belgium’s Ministry of Culture, the Kurdish
Institution in Brussels, and the organization of Het Beschrijif VZW,
also in Brussels. The mentioned organizations asked me to write a
message; it was read during the festival on April 19 and it will be
presented to the European Parliament by those Kurdish authors who
participated in the festival. The message, also translated into Dutch
and French.

I also wanted to publish that message, which concerns the issue of
saving the Kurdish language and culture in Turkey, Syria, and Iran,
for The Kurdish Globe readers:

The Kurdish language is the language of more than 45 million
people, and it has been jailed. It is distributed throughout several
countries. The Kurdish language is one of those languages that served
as a basic structure in the founding and development of Eastern
civilization, and it served humanity centuries ago.

The famous book of Anabaz (401 B.C.), written by great Greek
philosopher Xenophones, is the most ancient documentary data that
refers to the existence of the Kurdish language; it mentions the
Kurdish language of a time when Greeks had sent interpreters to
translate the Kurdish language for them.

Post Jesus’s birth, the Kurdish language held a high humanitarian
position. It was full of peaceful messages. In prehistoric times,
it was written in the Pahlavi alphabet, and then in Syriac letters;
Easterners benefitted from it. After that, under the influence of
Islamic religion, the Kurdish language was obliged to be written in
the Arabic alphabet. In 1856, the Kurdish language was practiced in
written form in the Armenian alphabet and was used to translate the
Bible from the Armenian alphabet into the Kurdish language in order
for Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Armenians who lived in Kurdistan to be
able to read and practice their religion.

It is true that the Kurds had no country, but they still published
their first newspaper in the Kurdish language in 1898, as did Persians,
Arabs, and Turks. The attractive point here is that the first Kurdish
newspaper was nongovernmental and private, unlike the first Persian,
Turkish, and Arabic newspapers, which were government-issued papers
about government activities. The first Kurdish newspaper was published
by a Kurdish cultural individual who provided for the cost of the
newspaper without government assistance; he wanted to focus on issues
like culture, public news, and the rescue of people under the power of
Ottoman feudalism and totalitarian government. The cultural practice
of the first Kurdish newspaper (Cairo, Geneva, 1898-1902) is obvious
evidence that the Kurdish language, from so many years ago to the
present, strived to explain the meaningful purpose of culture to
humanity and reached for a humane democratic and peaceful situation,
which is why the Kurdish language deserves to be proud.

In the passage of time, such a great offer to humanity has made
problems for the Kurdish language and has become a victim after
sacrificing itself for others. The history of great Kurdish ruler
Salahaddin al-Ayubi (1138-93) tells us that in 1187, his empire decreed
an order allowing the use of the Armenian language so that Armenians
could write down their culture and religion and have freedom of
expression; he didn’t decree any decision to encourage his nation (the
Kurdish nation) to practice the Kurdish language and develop Kurdish
culture. What we see today is that countries like Syria, Turkey, Iraq,
and Iran, who always claim to practice the Islamic religion, try to
forbid the use of Kurdish culture and language in spite of all the
sacrifices the Kurdish people offered for the sake of Islamic religion!

What is shocking along with this history is that the Kurdish language
has been forbidden through means like religion and politics and
has not been allowed to be expressed freely. Kurdish authors and
cultural people, historians, and others were obliged to submit to those
authorities who always conquered their lands, and were forced to write
in Persian, Arabic, and Turkish to serve human culture. These Kurdish
authors, thinkers, and scientists who wrote in foreign languages rather
than Kurdish include Ibn Khallikan (an Islamic sociologist in the 13th
century); Ibn Sirin (the first Muslim scientist who interpreted the
psychology of dreams centuries before Sigmund Freud); Ahmed Shawqi
(who pioneered the modern Egyptian literary movement and was named
the Prince of Poets); Qassim Amin (the first cultural man in the East
who defended women’s rights); Nezami Ganjavi (a famous Iranian epic
poet of centuries ago); Yashar Kamal (a famous novelist in Turkey);
Yilmaz Guney (a Turkish film producer and director); and Salim Barakat
(a great Syrian author). Among all these great cultural people are
others who invented great things and were originally Kurdish.

The success of Kurdish people continues to this day. In 2007, Kurdish
author Seyhmus Dagtekin was awarded the most famous poetry prize in
France, the Prix Malarme. All of this evidence bears out the fact that
if the Kurdish language becomes free and if Kurdish culture could be
written down freely, many great works would be produced that would
be as magnificent as those written works in European languages.

Very much worth mentioning is that were the Kurdish language freely
spoken, a language that is spoken by more than 45 million independent
people who are under dictatorial powers, then it would give all
mankind access to a growing number of people with a great hidden
humanitarian ability, a people wishing to install peace and democracy
in the Middle East.