Month: November 2009

Trend, Azerbaijan
Nov 21 2009

Adopting law on alternative military service depends solution of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Azerbaijan, Baku, November 20 /Trend News A.Huseynbala / Adoption of
the draft law on alternative service depends on the solution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem. The bill on alternative service is ready and
the Council of Europe experts positively commented on it, the head of
the Azerbaijani Parliament’s administration Safa Mirzayev briefed the
media.

While joining the Council of Europe in 2001, Azerbaijan has undertaken
a number of commitments. One of them is the adoption of the law on
alternative service. Azerbaijan fulfilled other obligations, except
this. The draft law on alternative service is ready, and the Council
of Europe commented on it.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are
currently holding the peace negotiations.

According to Mirzayev, next year, the bill will be reconsidered with
the working group, after which it will be fully prepared for
discussion. However, the adoption of the bill depends on the results
of ongoing negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. If the
negotiations will not bring to any positive results, the draft will
not be submitted for consideration, said Mirzayev.

According to Mirzayev, Azerbaijani military opposes against the
adoption of the law. They think that the adoption of this law is
premature in a country with war situation, he said.

World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
November 20, 2009

Armentel Announces Launch of ADSL 2+ Technology

BYLINE: Michael Lacquiere

Armenia’s dominant fixed-line operator Armentel has announced that it
has launched ADSL 2+ technology, reports ARKA, citing company General
Director Igor Klimko. The upgraded network will now offer download
speeds of up to 24 Mbps, double the previous speed. The precise cost
of the upgrade has not been disclosed.

Significance:Armentel has previously indicated that it within five
years it plans to switch to fibre-optic communication throughout the
country, a move which ought to offer faster download speeds than
copper-based DSL services, bolstering its Internet offering. However,
DSL-based services evidently remain on the agenda, with the operator
looking to upgrade its legacy infrastructure. In common with many of
the surrounding CIS countries, the Internet market in Armenia is not
particularly well developed, and former monopolist Armentel remains
the market-leader, although there is some competition in the sector.
It is indicative of the state of the market that dial-up remains the
primary internet technology.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website
Nov 20 2009

Russia does not link Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia-Turkey processes – spokesman

Russian MFA Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko Response to Media Query
Regarding "Association" between Processes of Nagorno Karabakh
Settlement and Normalization of Armenian-Turkish Relations
1751-19-11-2009

Moscow has taken note that some Armenian media have raised a fuss
about the remarks made by the Russian MFA Spokesman on November 17.
They allege that Moscow has changed its position and now links the
processes of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and Armenian-Turkish
rapprochement. This is a misunderstanding. Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov has repeatedly clarified Russia’s point of view. It remains
unchanged. These are two different processes.

We have a positive attitude to the bilateral documents signed by
Armenia and Turkey, which determine their subsequent actions towards
comprehensive normalization of state relations.

We believe that the establishment of good neighbourly relations
between Armenia and Turkey should objectively contribute to further
steps to promote peace and security in Transcaucasia.

As to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, despite continuing disagreements,
the parties have managed to achieve some definite progress in agreeing
on the basic principles for its settlement.

We see our role in facilitating this process, the search by the
parties for mutually acceptable solutions to the key issues, but
without the imposition on the conflict participants of any recipes
from outside. At the same time we believe that the primary
responsibility for the final choice should lie with the Azerbaijanis
and Armenians themselves. Russia will be ready to support the solution
option which will suit all parties involved, and if a compromise
agreement is reached to act as guarantor of the settlement. Clearly, a
viable solution will be the one that will enable returning stability
and tranquillity in Transcaucasia and in the post-conflict period help
to maintain the historically established geopolitical balance of
forces there and is not likely to transform the region into an arena
of international political and military rivalry.

November 19, 2009

Public Television of Armenia
Nov 19 2009

Armenian government denies wasting Russian loan

The Armenian prime minister has dismissed allegations that his
government is misusing money received from Russia as a stabilization
loan.

"These allegations are not true at all," Tigran Sargsyan said in a
televised cabinet meeting on 19 November. "We provide a guarantee, and
the amounts are provided by commercial banks. Risk management is
carried out by commercial banks. If incomplete construction facilities
are risky, commercial banks simply refuse to provide these loans," he
said.

The government has allocated part of the 500m-dollar loan to the
construction sector. The opposition has criticized this, saying that
the government should not give loans to individual businessmen or to
the construction sector, as real estate sales have dropped due to the
global economic crisis.

Sargsyan denied reports that the government had provided hundreds of
millions of dollars in loans to the construction sector. So far, the
government has provided loans to the tune of 3.5bn drams (about nine
million dollars) on strict conditions to construction projects where
50 per cent of construction work had been accomplished, he said.

The government has also provided 12bn drams (about 30m dollars) to the
mortgage fund, he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Nov 20 2009

Baku urges change in Yerevan’s stance at presidents’ meeting

20-11-2009 06:34:30
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has said Baku expects
a change in Yerevan’s non-constructive stance at the next round of
talks on the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict between Presidents
Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sarkisian due in Germany in the coming days.
Azimov told reporters on Thursday that, though Armenia says it is
ready for a peaceful solution of the long-standing dispute, its
position `shows its moving in the opposite direction.’
`If Armenia gives preference to violating Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity and separating a part of its land after the co-chairs’ [the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs brokering the peace process] many-year-long
efforts, so many meetings and steps taken toward progress that hopes
are bound with, while ignoring again the principles and the options
offered, then Armenia adheres to an opposite position. So, a change
must occur in Armenia’s stance.’
According to Azimov, without this change any advances in the conflict
settlement are ruled out.
`Azerbaijan’s position is crystal clear. We want the problem to be
solved within territorial integrity. And this
stance of Azerbaijan is entirely supported by the international
community. It is based upon the norms and principles of international
law.’
Azimov noted that Azerbaijan `leaves room for compromise’ in its
position, adding that Baku `is standing in the middle of the bridge
and awaiting the opposing side to come there.’
`If the Armenian side is ready to discuss compromises within
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, we are ready for that too,’ Azimov
said.
The deputy minister pointed out that Yerevan has made a point of
returning the agreed issues to the negotiating table, but he did not
elaborate which issues have been agreed upon so far. He emphasized,
though, that, in any case, liberation of the Armenia-occupied
territories of Azerbaijan is one of the components of the conflict
resolution. `If occupation does not end, nothing will be possible.’
Azimov reiterated that Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani
districts under occupation are integral parts of Azerbaijan and this
is not a subject of discussion.
`Vacating the seven districts and returning Azerbaijanis [displaced
during the armed conflict in the early 1990s] to Upper Garabagh has
been a core in Azerbaijan’s position of principle since the very
beginning. Armenia has two choices: the conflict is not settled or,
following Azerbaijanis’ return to Upper Garabagh, the region’s status
is determined. There is no other choice.’
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the
signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper
Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of
international law. Despite numerous rounds of OSCE-brokered
negotiations, peace talks have been fruitless so far and refugees
remain stranded. Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and
Azerbaijani refugees returned home, and only after that could the
status of Upper Garabagh be determined within the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan.*

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Nov 19 2009

Garabagh solution in superpowers’ interest, US congressman says

19-11-2009 06:20:38

A US congressman has said he would support the October agreement on
mending ties signed by Turkey and Armenia if the deal can both bring
Armenia closer to the West and expedite a negotiated solution to the
Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
`It is in the interest of both the United States and Russia to resolve
this conflict, which has serious implications for global energy
security,’ Michael McMahon said.
The congressman also noted that Washington shares with its allies an
interest in the Caucasus region.
Armenia and Turkey signed protocols on October 10 in Switzerland to
establish diplomatic relations and reopen their sealed borders, in a
bid to normalize ties, marred by decades of hostility due to Armenian
occupation of Azerbaijani territory and Yerevan’s claims on 1915
`genocide’ in Ottoman Turkey.
`Unfortunately, a timeline has yet to be set for the protocols to be
ratified by Turkey or Armenia. This does not mean, however, that the
signing in Zurich was not a huge step forward for both countries. In
an ideal world, all the players would be cognizant of this fact and
move to ratify on the protocols in their respective parliaments,’
McMahon added.
The documents require ratification in both countries’ parliaments, and
Turkish officials have assured Azerbaijan, Turkey’s ally, that the
protocols will not pass in the country’s parliament until progress is
made in resolving the Garabagh conflict.*

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Nov 19 2009

Turkish reporter denies her controversial statement on Garabagh

19-11-2009 06:08:20
The Turkish journalist who has visited Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, an
Azerbaijani region under Armenian occupation, has dismissed Armenian
media reports that quoted her as saying that the region is Armenian
land, an allegation that has drawn ire from Azerbaijan.
Nagehan Alci, a writer for the Akhsham newspaper, speaking in
Istanbul, told Radio Liberty’s Armenian service that she had not said
Upper Garabagh is `100 percent Armenian land.’
According to Alci, her interview with the separatist regime’s public
television channel had been distorted.
`I said we had come there to see and cover what’s going on. We
witnessed that, today, this is an Armenian land, an Armenian country,
because 100 percent of its population are Armenians. Though it is not
internationally recognized, there is an Armenian government there
today,’ the reporter alleged.
Alci added that the TV channel employees cut out the word `today’ from
her statement, trying `to hide which tense she was talking in.’
Following the journalist’s visit to the occupied territories without
Baku’s authorization, she was included in the list of `personas non
grata.’ But the Akhsham editorial office has assured it had not
instructed Alci to visit the region.
Upper Garabagh is an historical Azerbaijani territory. Armenians were
settled there in the early 19th century. Azerbaijan and Armenia have
been locked in conflict over the mountainous region for over a decade.
OSCE-brokered peace talks kicked off after a lengthy war that ended
with the signing of a shaky cease-fire in 1994. Armenia continues to
occupy Upper Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in
defiance of international law.*

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Nov 19 2009

Minister: Turkey-Armenia ties possible only with Garabagh settlement
19-11-2009 06:06:48

Turkey-Armenia relations could normalize and be permanent only as a
result of a settlement reached to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict, Turkish Anatolian news agency has quoted
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying.
Davutoglu emphasized that the status quo in Garabagh settlement has
persisted for 17 years.
`We attach great importance to defending Azerbaijani territories,’ the
minister said. `If we don’t try to alter the status quo in the next
ten years, the current situation will persist endlessly. Our goal is
to change the regional situation by diplomatic means.’
Davutoglu said the OSCE Minsk Group brokering the peace process has
lately stepped up effort, and meetings between the Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents have become more frequent.
`Technical issues have been expedited. We hope that we will also play
a role in restoring sustainable and comprehensive peace in the South
Caucasus this way,’ he said.
Davutoglu noted that the Garabagh problem had topped the agenda of the
meetings held by Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan with US President Barack Obama. `Turkey sees this
situation as an unfair one and wants it to be resolved in the soonest
time possible.’
Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a war over the mountainous region of
Upper Garabagh in the early 1990s which claimed some 30,000 lives.
Armenia has been occupying over 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory since
then, despite UN resolutions on unconditional pullout of its armed
forces and condemnation by a number of other international
organizations. One million Azerbaijanis have been displaced as a
result of ethnic cleansing.
Davutoglu said the ultimate goal of the protocols that Turkey signed
with Armenia in October is to normalize bilateral relations and pursue
a policy based on respect for the borders of countries and good
neighborliness ties. He said Ankara was looking to take a fresh look
at Turkish-Armenian relations while distancing from the historical
elemental approach; to counter Armenian claims about the alleged 1915
genocide in the Ottoman Empire; to launch a new era between Turkish
and Armenian societies, and to establish a commission of historians to
research the World War I developments and resolve the Garabagh
conflict as part of these efforts.
The protocols, signed by the Turkish and Armenian governments in
Zurich on October 10, seek to forge diplomatic ties and open the
sealed border, following decades of hostility caused by the Armenian
occupation of Azerbaijani territory and genocide claims.*

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Nov 20 2009

Ankara-Yerevan rapprochement to allow Garabagh settlement: CE chief

20-11-2009 06:59:40

Thorbjorn Jagland, the Council of Europe (CE) Secretary General, has
said he welcomes Turkey-Armenia rapprochement and hopes the process of
mending their strained ties will allow to resolve the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.
The remarks came following the ceremony of transferring CE Committee
of Ministers chairmanship to Switzerland from Slovenia. Jagland told a
press conference with the two countries’ foreign ministers that his
organization was ready to facilitate reconciliation efforts if Ankara
and Yerevan seek assistance.
`So far, we have not been approached over this issue. Both countries
are Council of Europe members, and this fact alone is important for
both sides as well as for the process of normalizing relations,’ the
CE chief added.
Following decades of hostility, Turkey and Armenia signed protocols on
October 10 to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders.
The agreement has raised concerns in Azerbaijan, which faces a
long-standing conflict with Armenia. However, Turkey has assured
Azerbaijan, its ally, that the protocols will not pass in its
parliament until progress is made in resolving the Garabagh conflict.*

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Nov 20 2009

Armenia expects Russia to retract statement on Garabagh

20-11-2009 06:58:39

The Armenian government is seeking a retraction from Moscow following
a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman that the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is being discussed as part of
Turkey-Armenia reconciliation talks.
Armеniа Today news agency quoted Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian as
saying that Andrei Nesterenko was a professional diplomat but this
time he committed `an omission.’
`Andrei Nesterenko made a mistake, it happens. I suggest we wait for a
refutation from the Russian Foreign Ministry, which probably won’t
take long.’
Nalbandian claimed that the Turkey-Armenia rapprochement has no
bearing to the process of settling the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh
conflict.
`Nesterenko’s statement runs counter to the statements being made by
the Russian foreign minister, as well as those made by Russia jointly
with the other co-chair countries of the [mediating] OSCE Minsk Group
– the United States and France,’ Nalbandian claimed, adding that those
statements have repeatedly ruled out a link between Garabagh
settlement and Ankara-Yerevan normalization.*