Month: December 2008

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
Dec 4 2008

Armenian Foreign Minister meets with OSCE PA rapporteur on Karabakh
issue – UPDATED

04 December 2008 [14:56] – Today.Az

The distorted comments voiced in Azerbaijan and attempts to ignore the
regulations, fixed in the Moscow declaration hinder the effective
negotiation process and progress", said Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbanduan speaking at the meeting with rapporteur of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly on the issue of Nagorno Karabakh Goran
Lennmarker.

The sides discussed the recent development of the negotiation on the
resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

Stressing the importance of the Moscow declaration, Mamedyarov noted
that Armenia attaches a special importance to the parliamentary
diplomacy as the effective standard for discussing problems.

Goran Lennmarker in turn said that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
still supports the resolution of the Karabakh conflict only by way of
peaceful talks, reports the department of press and information of the
Armenian Foreign Ministry.

The working visit of the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan
to Helsinki started on December 3.

The first meeting of the Minister was held with OSCE Secretary general
Mark Peren de Brishambo, reports the department of press and
information of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

The sides discussed issues of different spheres of the OSCE activity
and exchanged views on the reforms in the organization.

In this context, Edward Nalbandyan noted that Armenia attaches a
special importance to OSCE role in ensuring security and cooperation
in Europe and considers that the organization needs reformation for
the more effective reacting to today’s problems.

Minister Nalbandyan and ambassador Brishambo also discussed the format
of the working European security system.

The Armenian Foreign Minister noted that the European Security System
needs improvement and the organization member-states must join efforts
to make it more effective.

Nalbandyan and OSCE Secretary General also discussed the activity of
the OSCE Yerevan Office and raising its effectiveness.

During the meeting the OSCE secretary general voiced the intention to
visit Armenia.

/Tert.am/

URL:

Hürriyet, Turkey
Dec 4 2008

Turkey not to open Armenia border until Azerbaijan’s integrity restored

The Turkish-Armenian border could be opened only after Armenia gives
up distorting history and restores Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,
Turkish Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen said. (UPDATED)

"We are open to developing relations with Armenia, to open borders,
and to develop trade," Tuzmen was quoted by Interfax as telling an
Azeri-Turkish business forum in Baku on Thursday.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and their border has been
closed for more than a decade over Armenia’s aggression over
Azerbaijan.

"We do not oppose developing trade relations, which will have a
positive influence on the development of the whole region; however,
prior to this historians should solve some issues and Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity should be restored," Tuzmen added.

The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in 1988 on Armenian
territorial claims over Azerbaijan. Since 1992 Armenian Armed Forces
have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding districts.

Some 10 percent of the Azeri population was displaced due to a series
of bloody clashes both between and within the two neighboring
countries.

In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group are currently holding peaceful negotiations.

TURKISH FM MEETS ARMENIAN, AZERI FMS
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan met separately with Armenian
Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov to discuss the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict in Helsinki where the Organization for the Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ministerial meeting is being held.

Foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met on Wednesday with
Russian, French and U.S. executives, the co-chairmen of OSCE Minsk
group.

Babacan’s talks with the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers
assessed the results of this meeting, Anatolian Agency reported.

The Turkish foreign minister was also scheduled to meet with the
Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group dealing with the issue in Helsinki on
Thursday.

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 4 2008

OSCE FMs to Adopt Special Declaration on Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict:
OSCE Special Representative

04.12.08 15:07

Finland, Helsinki, 4 Dec /Trend News corr. I.Gusatinskaya/ OSCE
Foreign Ministers will adopt a special declaration on Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, OSCE Special Representative for the South Caucasus Heikki
Talvitie said to Trend News in Helsinki on 4 Dec.

On 4 Dec, Helsinki is hosting a meeting of the OSCE Foreign
Ministers. Conflict settlement is one of the topics under discussion.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost the Nagorno-Karabakh, except of Shusha and Khojali, in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian Armed Forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and
Nagorno-Karabakh’s seven surrounding regions. In 1994, Azerbaijan and
Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active
hostilities ended. The countries keep on peace negotiating. OSCE Minsk
Group co-chaired by USA, Russia, and France is engaged in peace
settling of the conflict.

Next year Greece will assume the duties of OSCE Chairman-in-Office and
many issues will depend on how Greece will join settling of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Talvitie said.

Recent progress in settling of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict provides
a good basis to find a solution. Constructive character of recent
meetings between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in
St. Petersburg in June and in Moscow in November is an important step
to settle the conflict.

The latest meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers
took place in early November during the trilateral Moscow meeting
among Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russia’s Dmitriy Medvedev
and Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan. As a result Presidents signed the Moscow
Declaration.

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 4 2008

Foreign Ministers of Russia, France and US Urge Azerbaijan, Armenia to
Launch Work on Draft Peace Agreement based on Basic Principles

04.12.08 16:26

Finland, Helsinki, 4 Dec/ Trend News corr I. Gusatinskaya/ Foreign
Ministers of co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group ` Russia, the
United States and France urged Azerbaijan and Armenia to make efforts
in the coming months to complete work on the Basic Principles of the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Foreign Ministers of the of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries
Sergey Lavrov (Russia), Bernard Kouchner (France) and US Assistant US
Secretary of State Daniel Fried made a joint statement on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Helsinki.

`We urge parties to make efforts in the coming months to complete work
on the Basic Principles of the settlement and negotiate draft
agreement on this basis,’ according to the joint statement by the
Russian, U.S. and French Foreign Ministers read out by the Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at conclusion of the meeting in
Helsinki.

Armenia has occupied 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory ` Nagorno-Karabakh
and seven surrounding regions. The occupation began in
1988. Azerbaijan lost the Nagorno-Karabakh, except of Shusha and
Khojali, in December 1991. In 1992-93, Armenian Armed Forces occupied
Shusha, Khojali and Nagorno-Karabakh’s seven surrounding regions. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group (Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful, but
fruitless negotiations.

Ministers called on the conflicting countries to use a constructive
and positive impulse coming from the Moscow meeting among the
Presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia on 2 Nov 2008.

In the Moscow Declaration inked as a result of the trilateral
presidential meeting, Presidents confirm their adherence to peace
settlement of the conflict within the Minsk Group on the basis of
Madrid principles, the statement says.

Ministers also called on the parties to the conflict to implement the
trust-fortifying measures, to commence withdrawal of snipers in order
to preserve the lives of civilians and military.

`The conflict does not have military solution and we call on parties
to confirm their commitment to the peaceful settlement,’ the statement
said.

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
Dec 4 2008

Mubariz Ahmedoghlu: "Armenians can lose in a referendum in Nagorno
Karabakh, which they suggest to hold"

04 December 2008 [15:36] – Today.Az

The issue of holding a referendum in Nagorno Karabakh is not dangerous
for Azerbaijan, said head of the Center of Political Innovations and
Technologies Mubariz Ahmedoghlu.

He considers that if theoretically we imagine that Azerbaijan agrees
to hold a referendum, the results can be negative for Armenians, who
offer them.

"Armenians consider that there are more Armenians than Azerbaijanis in
Nagorno Karabakh. But a simple calculation shows that it is not like
that. According to them, there are 137,000 Armenians in Nagorno
Karabakh and jist 65,000-70,000. They should realize that no one will
allow them to hold a referendum with results to be defined by the
50%+1 vote principle. They adopt the law which says that the results
of the referendum must be held by the 2/3 principle", said he.

Ahmedoghlu considers that in such a situation the results of the
referendum can be in Azerbaijan’s favor. He said of 137,000 of Nagorno
Karabakh Armenians, 20,000 are Armenian servicemen.

"Moreover, of 137,000 we must also deduce 20.000 people, who come from
former Shaomyan. In this case there are 90,000 Armenians who can not
make 2/3 of majority against 70,000 Azerbaijanis", considers the
political scientist.

/Day.Az/

URL:

Russia Today
Dec 4 2008

OSCE calls for resolution to Karabakh conflict

Military action is not the solution to the troubles in the disputed
Karabakh region in the South Caucasus, according to Foreign Ministers
of the OSCE Minsk Group. They discussed the need for a peaceful
resolution to the long frozen conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains a serious source of
instability. The instable ceasefire regime cannot replace a lasting
peace," said Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov at the OSCE
meeting in Finland.

He added that the signed declaration "creates a good base for the
settlement of the conflict".

Mamedyarov’s statement was hailed as a positive sign in the
process. Novruz Mamedov, head of the department of international
relations for the Azerbaijani president, told Baku television channel
ANC that the "resolution of the problem is moving to a different
level".

The statements come just as the Minsk grouped stressed the need for
further cooperation between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"We call for both sides to reaffirm their devotion to a peace
settlement," the group said.

At the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that basic
principles of a peace treaty regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia must be formed.

"We urge the parties to make efforts jointly with the co-chairmen of
the Minsk Group to achieve an agreement within months on the basic
principles of the settlement, and then, on that basis, to pass over to
drafting a comprehensive peace agreement," Lavrov said.

The two countries came together last month in Moscow and agreed to
seek a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Lavrov reminded both sides about the agreement they signed in
November. "The declaration signed in Moscow opened a new promising
step in the restoration of peace in the region," he said.

At the OSCE meeting, Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan also
expressed his support for cooperation but remained cautious about the
role of the signed document.

"The session in Moscow was very positive. For the first time we signed
a concrete document," said Nalbandyan. "The declaration is not a
peaceful agreement but it is a treaty on key principles."

Nargorno-Karabakh, a region in the South Caucasus, is technically part
of Azerbaijan. In 1988, the area voted to join with the Armenian
Soviet Republic. This action set off a conflict between Armenians and
Azerbaijanis. After violence and conflict continued for several years,
Armenians in the region approved through a referendum the creation of
an independent state.

The referendum was rejected by Azerbaijan and conflict escalated.

The fall of the Soviet Union led to a power vacuum causing full-scale
war to erupt. By 1994, thousands had been killed and hundreds of
thousands displaced as a result. With Russia’s help, an un-official
cease-fire was reached in May 1994.

However, random spells of violence continued to plague the region
causing numerous deaths every year on both sides.

Today the region is under joint military control by Armenian and
Nagorno-Karabakh military forces. Armenia remains steadfast in its
commitment to bringing independence to the region while Azerbaijan
claims its territorial integrity must be respected.

The Minsk Group was formed by the OSCE and includes the US, Russia and
France. Its purpose is to encourage and negotiate a complete and
peaceful resolution between Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding Karabakh.

The efforts culminated on 2 November when the President of Azerbaijan,
Ilham Aliyev, and the President of Armenia, Serzh Sarkisyan, signed a
peace declaration at a meeting in Moscow arranged by Russian president
Dmitry Medvedev.

243

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Dec 4 2008

Foreign Minister Babacan meets with his Armenian and Azerbaijan
counterparts

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan separately met Armenian Foreign
Minister Eduard Nalbandian and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov in Helsinki on Thursday.

Babacan is currently in Helsinki to attend the 16th Ministerial
Council Meeting of the Organization for the Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE).

Foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met on Wednesday with
Russian, French and U.S. executives, the co-chairmen of OSCE Minsk
group. Babacan’s talks with the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign
ministers assessed the results of this meeting.

OSCE Minsk group assumes a mediating role in talks aiming to achieve a
peaceful solution to the problem about Upper Karabakh.

Le plan de relance de Sarkozy, toujours très critiqué
LeMonde.fr avec Reuters | 06.12.08 | 18h25 . Mis à jour le 06.12.08 | 18h26

rticle/2008/12/06/le-plan-de-relance-de-sarkozy-to ujours-tres-critique_1127912_1101386.html

Deux jours après l’annonce à Douai par Nicolas Sarkozy d’un plan de relance de
26 milliards d’euros, les critiques ne faiblissent pas. Alors que le plan est
centré sur l’investissement, membres de l’opposition et économistes soulignent
l’absence de mesures fortes de soutien à la consommation, moteur de la
croissance française et nombreux sont ceux qui jugent les sommes débloquées
trop faibles pour relancer l’économie.

Martine Aubry, premier secrétaire du Parti socialiste, a fustigé samedi un
"recyclage de crédits maintes fois annoncés" et des "veilles recettes éculées".

"Ce plan n’a rien d’un plan de relance à la hauteur de la crise, alors que 40
milliards d’euros ont été donnés aux banques", a dit l’ancienne ministre de
l’Emploi à la tribune du Conseil national du PS.

Le président du Mouvement démocrate, François Bayrou, juge lui aussi que le
plan placé sous la responsabilité de Patrick Devedjian n’est pas à la
hauteur de la situation. "Quand j’analyse le plan, je ne vois que 4
milliards d’euros d’investissements publics véritablement nouveaux", dit-il
dans un entretien publié samedi dans La Tribune. "On est loin du seuil
critique d’une action publique. Cela ne suffira donc pas à faire repartir
une machine économique profondément encalminée", explique l’ex-candidat
centriste à l’élection présidentielle. "Je n’envisage pas aujourd’hui de
l’approuver", a déclaré M. Bayrou à l’issue d’un conseil national du MoDem,
alors que le texte doit être examiné en janvier à l’Assemblée.

"IL FAUT ESPÉRER UN DEUXIÈME PLAN"
Selon un sondage OpinionWay pour Le Figaro, les Français ont pourtant bien
accueilli les mesures de relance, 61 % estimant qu’elles "sont de nature à
limiter les effets de la crise en France", 38 % jugeant le contraire. Mais
pour le directeur du département analyse et prévision de l’OFCE, Xavier
Timbaud, "le plan est insuffisant pour ramener la confiance : il manque des
éléments forts pour encourager la demande". "Il faut espérer un deuxième
plan, concerté et mis en oeuvre cette fois avec nos partenaires européens",
déclare-t-il dans les colonnes du Figaro.

Economiste chez Barclays Capital, Laurence Boone salue un plan "nécessaire"
mais "doute qu’il soit à la hauteur de la récession qui se dessine". "Les
mesures annoncées ne sont pas mauvaises en soi", déclare-t-elle dans un
entretien à La Tribune. "Mais leur impact sera limité à court terme et il
n’est pas sûr qu’elles redonnent confiance aux ménages ou qu’elles fassent
repartir l’investissement".

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 4 2008

Co-chairs make statement on Nagorno Karabakh conflict

[ 04 Dec 2008 15:40 ]

Helsinki. Tamara Grigorieva`APA. Foreign ministers of OSCE Minsk Group
co-chair countries ` Russia and France Sergei Lavrov and Bernard
Kouchner, as well as US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried made
statement on Nagorno Karabakh conflict, APA correspondent in Helsinki
reports.

The top diplomats called on the sides of Nagorno Karabakh conflict to
use constructive and positive impulse created at the presidents’
meeting in Moscow.

`Moscow Declaration opened a new far reaching phase for peace
achievement in the region. The presidents confirmed their commitment
to the peaceful solution based on the Madrid principles. We call on
the sides to make efforts to complete the work on the basic principles
in the few next months and then to prepare draft peace agreement on
this basis. We call on to carry out measures toward the mutual trust
and to withdraw snipers from the line of contact to save lives of
militaries and civilians. It is necessary that the sides work with
each other and the co-chairs as well. We are stating once more that
there is no military way of solution to the conflict and calling on
the sides to confirm their loyalty to the peaceful solution’.

Newsweek/Washington Post
Dec 4 2008

Witnesses to Genocide

Christiane Amanpour

For the better part of the past year, I have been interviewing people
who found themselves witnessing history that made them scream bloody
murder. They were trying to focus the world’s attention on the world’s
most heinous crime – genocide – only to be shunned, ignored, or told
it was someone else’s problem.

I wanted to know what made them do what they did. Some were
idealists. Others were pragmatists. All were stubborn. And none
considered themselves heroes.

Even though the international community was indifferent when they
tried to stop the killing, their moral courage gives us hope. For what
they witnessed on their watch was genocide, unchecked evil that they
would not let pass without a fight.

Note: Please upgrade your Flash plug-in to view our enhanced content.
I confess: there’s much here I do not fully understand. As a young
correspondent covering the war in Bosnia, my day often began with a
trip to the Sarajevo morgue to count bodies. How else would a
journalist know how many Muslim children were cut down by Bosnian Serb
snipers? How else could we put names to civilians left faceless by
mortar shells from the surrounding hills? I learned what it means to
bear witness.

In the 1990’s in the heart of Europe, "never again" was happening
again for the first time since WWII. The Bosnia war pitted Orthodox
Christian Serbs against the Muslim population, in a quest to achieve
an ethnically pure Greater Serbia as Yugoslavia exploded. Hundreds of
thousands were killed, millions were forced to flee as refugees.

But to this day, I ask myself what would have happened if roles had
been reversed. If the principal aggressors were Muslim and their
victims were Christian, would the West have intervened sooner to stop
the slaughter of innocents?

In Rwanda, in 1994 Roman Catholic Hutus turned with a vengeance
against their Tutsi compatriots, often chasing them into churches and
butchering them there. Yet today a strong Christian faith sustains
many who find themselves on the path to national reconciliation. In
Rwanda I watched as Iphegenia, a Tutsi woman who had lost her husband
and five children, served lunch to Jean Bosco, the Hutu neighbor who
had killed them. When I asked her how she found it in her heart to
forgive, she responded "I am a Christian and I like to pray to
forgive. In my heart the dead are dead and they cannot come back."

I often wonder, when I’ve come back from a place like Rwanda or
Bosnia, why people ask me: Is it really that bad? I guess they do not
want to believe such evil can exist. Or perhaps they just do not want
to be pushed into that moral space where they would have to take a
stand and do something. The heroes we profile stood up to confront and
speak out against the evil they saw. Their governments thought they
too were exaggerating. They, too, were not believed.

We’re always told that evil happens when good men, and women, do
nothing. Well these heroes did something, and the question — my
question as a reporter and as a witness to history is: Will we ever
learn? Or will I or my children or my successors be reporting on this
same kind of atrocity and inhumanity for years and years to come?

Dec. 9 marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on
Genocide. Its commitment to prevent and punish this awful crime are
inspiring words.

Christiane Amanpour is CNN Chief International Correspondent. Her
special report, Scream Bloody Murder, premieres at 9 p.m. Dec. 4 on
CNN.

h/guestvoices/2008/12/scream_bloody_murder.html