Month: December 2008

CSTO TO FORM COLLECTIVE ANTI-TERROR FORCES

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 14:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils focused on
coordination of activities to combat drug traffic, illegal migration
and customs security, RA NSC Secretary said.

"The CSTO will form collective anti-terror forces to combat
international terrorism. We also outlined the main trends of Channel
operation launched to suppress drug traffic," Artur Baghdassaryan
told a news conference today.

"CSTO member countries demonstrate a unanimous stand in the
international organizations," he added.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE TOP PRIORITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 14:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A high-level U.S. taskforce on preventing genocide
said on Tuesday it expected President-elect Barack Obama to support
its call for a $250 million fund to back emergency action in high-risk
countries.

The Genocide Prevention Task Force, co-chaired by former Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright and former Secretary of Defense William
Cohen, issued a report this week calling for prevention of genocide
to be a top priority in the new U.S. administration that will take
office in January.

Albright told reporters at the United Nations on Tuesday the United
States should not bear the burden alone but should lead the way in
taking responsibility to prevent mass atrocities and genocide wherever
they may happen.

She called for the creation of a high level inter-agency mechanism to
coordinate between various branches of the U.S. government to focus on
early warning when the first signs of a problem occur. That should be
backed by $250 million a year to finance specially tailored projects
in countries at risk.

"This modest fund would give U.S. diplomats a potentially pivotal
tool with which to avert catastrophe," Albright said.

Albright, who was secretary of state under U.S. President Bill Clinton,
said the report was prepared with input from many people involved in
Obama’s transition team.

Cohen said the 34 recommendations in the report aimed to create the
mechanisms to ensure early detection and preventative action to stop
genocide before it was too late, retaining the option of military
action as a last resort.

"We believe that president-elect Obama will support it, we don’t know
that for certain but we believe that to be the case," Cohen said.

Albright was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Rwandan
genocide in 1994. She said the report by the taskforce was not a
historical analysis but it did take account of lessons learned when
the international community failed to stop the slaughter of some
800,000 people in Rwanda.

"There’s broad range of foreign policy options between standing
aside and ordering in the Marines," Albright said, emphasizing the
importance of early warning systems and international cooperation to
exert diplomatic pressure.

Cohen said it was vital that the United States not appear to be
"meddling" in a unilateral way.

He said preventing genocide was in the national security interest of
all countries, since it could lead to failed states with the potential
to breed terrorism, Reuters reports.

BAGRAT ESTUKYAN: TURKEY MAY RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WITHIN NEXT 10 YEARS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 15:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey may recognize the Armenian Genocide within
next 10 years, the editor of the Armenian sector of Agos newspaper
said.

"The world is changing. Turkey is aspired to join the European
family. Besides, economic trends in both Turkey and Armenia demand
reconciliation. Turkey needs a free economic market and it will try
to come to a common ground with neighboring Armenia," Bagrat Estukyan
told a news conference in Yerevan today.

Acknowledging the Genocide, Turkey will, however, urge Armenia to
renounce any territorial claims, according to him.

"It’s not an easy task for Turkey to confess of perpetrating the
Genocide but it’s inevitable, since the Armenian Genocide is a
historical fact. All know what befell Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
but Ankara is still engaged in self-delusion," he said.

SAAKASHVILI PROMISES TO ADDRESS NORASHEN PROBLEM

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 15:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili assured
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan that he will address the
problem of Norashen Armenian Church in Tbilisi.

"This is a matter of principle for us. I requested the Georgian
President to interfere and he promised to personally address the
problem," the Armenian PM told reporters on Tuesday.

Encroachments on Norashen Armenian Church started in 1994.

The latest incident took place on November 16, 2008, when Georgian
monk Tariel Sikinchelashvili instructed workers to raze to the ground
the graves of Mikhail and Lidia Tamamshevs.

This barbarian act outraged Armenians, who demanded to let the graves
in their place.

Upon arrival of representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church and
parliament member Van Bayburt, the Georgian monk said he just wanted
to replace the gravestones to "clean under them."

CLOSED ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER NONSENSE

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 15:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish top officials understand that closed border
with Armenia is an abnormal phenomenon, said the editor of the Armenian
sector of Agos newspaper.

"Our trip from Istanbul to Yerevan lasted two hours. Direct flights
are exercised 4 times a week. The two countries are engaged on trade
relations. It means that it senseless to keep the border closed,"
Bagrat Estukyan told a news conference in Yerevan today.

"I am hopeful that the dialogue launched by Armenia and Turkey will
result in an open border," he said.

WORLD FINANCIAL CRISIS MADE AZERBAIJAN’S FUTURE RATHER VAGUE

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 16:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Caspian oil and gas makes 4 per cent and 7 per
cent of the world resources respectively, what is undoubtedly not
enough to boast a glut of wealth, a French expert said.

"Two thirds of the oil world resources are concentrated in the
Middle East, a high-risk zone. As to Azerbaijan, it has 7 billion
barrels. To compare, Turkmenistan has 1 billion while Kazakhstan has
40 million. So, any oil pipeline from the Caspian region to Europe
is non-remunerative without Kazakh oil. Furthermore, Kazakhstan
can choose routes. Kazakh pipelines can stretch to Russian, China,
Persian Gulf and finally to Baku," Petros Terzian, head of Paris-based
strategic research foundation, said in Yerevan on Tuesday.

"The oil fields in Azeri, Shirag and Gyuneshli will be exhausted
in some 10 years. Moreover, after the status of the Caspian Sea is
determined, investments in oil extraction will become unprofitable,"
he said.

Mr. Terzian reminded that Azerbaijan’s current oil income is equal
to the republic’s state debt.

"Baku can make a breakthrough with $100 for a barrel, what is,
however, hardly probable for near-term outlook. The world financial
crisis made Azerbaijan’s future rather vague," he said.

DINK MURDER CASE DELIBERATELY PROTRACTED

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 16:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The legal procedure on Hrant Dink’s assassination
is being constantly protracted, said the editor of the Armenian sector
of Agos newspaper.

"All we have now is the accused and his several accomplices," Bagrat
Estukyan told a news conference in Yerevan today.

"Every time the judge postpones the hearings for a long period,
obviously to leave the things as they are," he said. "Dink’s murder
shocked Turkey. People understood that Dink was assassinated for
being an Armenian. Dink was the first who was prosecuted under the
article 301."

Mr. Estukyan informed that Agos editorial staff still receives offences
and threats.

"A group of lawyers work in the office to deal with these threatening
messages," he said.

TURKISH INTELLECTUALS WHO APOLOGIZED FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECEIVE THREATS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 17:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Employees of Agos Armenian-Turkish bilingual
newspaper are well acquainted with the Turkish intellectuals, who
apologized for the Armenian Genocide, said the editor of the Armenian
sector of Agos.

"Media somehow obtained the statement that was supposed to be
promulgated on January 1, 2009. Nevertheless, they will continue
their action," Bagrat Estukyan told a news conference in Yerevan today.

"These people present their personal viewpoint of the problem and do
not impose it on anyone," he said.

Mr. Estukyan informed that several days after the publication of their
letter, the intellectuals started receiving threats and offending
messages.

A group of Turkish intellectuals have apologized for the "great
disaster that Ottoman Armenians suffered in 1915."

Professors Baskan Oran and Ahmet Insel, journalists Ali Bayramoglu
and Cengiz Aktar personally apologized for the 1915 events.

The group is asking other people to sign the petition, which reads
as follows: "I cannot conscientiously accept the indifference to
the great disaster that Ottoman Armenians suffered in 1915, and its
denial. I reject this injustice and acting of my own will, I share
the feelings and pains of my Armenian brothers and sisters, and I
apologize to them."

The campaign initiators have underlined that first they will collect
signatures from intellectuals and they will then open a secure website
to collect signatures.

ARMENIA, EU SIGN AVIATION AGREEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 18:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Union (EU) and Armenia on Tuesday
signed an aviation agreement which will allow all EU airlines to fly
between Armenia and any EU member state.

The agreement, signed by French Minister of State, responsible for
European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet and Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian, removes nationality restrictions in the existing
bilateral air services agreements between EU member states and
Armenia. Now any EU airline can operate flights between any EU member
state and Armenia, the RA MFA press office told PanARMENIAN.Net.

The EU has negotiated 35 such horizontal agreements with partner
countries and thereby removed nationality restrictions in more than
600 bilateral air services agreements.

"The agreement recognizes that airlines in the EU are not any longer
national airlines, and all of them will thus have non-discriminatory
access to the air transport market between the EU and Armenia. This
is an important step in our external aviation policy and a further
building block in our policy toward neighboring countries," said
European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, who is responsible
for transport policies.

The EU-Armenia agreement was a result of three years of negotiations.

Passenger numbers between the EU and Armenia increased from 166,000 in
2006 to 204,000 in 2007 with the main markets being France, Austria,
Germany and the Czech Republic.

The agreement removes nationality restrictions in the existing
bilateral air services agreements between EU member states and
Armenia. Now any EU airline can operate flights between any EU member
state and Armenia.

BRYZA ACCUSES RUSSIA OF FRUSTRATION OF HELSINKI DECLARATION ON KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 18:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A declaration on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
was not adopted in Helsinki because of Russia’s groundless demands,
according to the U.S. Co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group.

"Some proposals [I can’t give any details] were put forth at the
meeting between Armenian, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers and the
Co-chairs’ in the framework of OSCE Ministerial Council," Matthew
Bryza said.

He said that the exact date of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents’
meeting is not known but voiced hope it will take place within
several weeks.

Ambassador Bryza also informed that the Co-chairs are not planning
a regional visit till the end of the year, the Azeri Press Agency
reports.
From: Baghdasarian