Month: November 2009

OPPOSITION IN ARMENIA EXISTS, SAYS POLITICAL SCIENTISTS UNION PRESIDENT

Tert
Nov 18 2009
Armenia

According to Political Scientists Union President Hmayak Hovhannisyan,
there is opposition in Armenia because, despite shortcomings, our
country is authoritative, whereas in totalitarian systems, there is
no opposition.

Speaking with journalists today, Hovhannisyan stated, "There is
opposition today; it’s not mandatory for it to be the same."

Hovhannisyan made a reference to Levon Ter-Petrossian’s speech,
noting that the first president had stressed that there’s opposition
today, adding it comes in two forms: those leaning toward the Armenian
National Congress and those leaning toward the Armenian Cause ("Hay
Dat"). Meanwhile, Hovhannisyan spoke about the political footwork in
choosing an opposition leader.

"Though the issue of an opposition leader is not decided by the
ambitions of this or that opposition party or force, in a political
sense, the issue of an opposition leader is decided as a result of
the presidential elections. That is, if extraordinary presidential
elections don’t take place in the coming two years, no one has the
right, politically speaking, to place Levon Ter-Petrossian’s role,
as opposition leader, into doubt, because he took second place in
the elections’ official results; [Armenian Revolutionary Federation]
Dashnaktsutyun’s candidate was not in second place," announced
Hovhannisyan.

MOTHER OF ARMENIAN-CAPTURED AZERBAIJANI SERGEANT SENDS LETTER TO HER SON

APA
Nov 17 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Kamala Guliyeva – APA. Representatives of Berde office of
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited Naila
Mammadova, mother of the Azerbaijani sergeant Anar Hajiyev captured
by Armenia, to take the letter she had written to her son. Mammadova
told APA that ICRC representatives said they would soon visit Anar
Hajiyev and deliver the letter to him.

Anar Khanbaba Hajiyev, 19, was drafted from Goranboy. On May 10,
he was captured by Armenian Armed Forces. ICRC representatives last
visited him on October 23.

BERLIN HOSTS EU-AZERBAIJAN CONFERENCE

APA
Nov 17 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. Azerbaijani embassy in Germany
and Institute of European Policy organized a conference entitled
"EU-Azerbaijan relations: problems, ideas and prospects" at the
European Commission Office in Berlin, the embassy told APA.

Azerbaijani ambassador in Germany Parviz Shahbazov spoke about the
foreign policy course of Azerbaijan and called Azerbaijan-EU relations
a priority.

Member of German delegation to PACE, former member of Bundestag
Edward Linthner, professor of oriental studies of Marburg and
Hamburg universities Udo Steinbach, chief of the EU department of
Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nargiz Gurbanova and sector
chief of the law-enforcement department of the Azerbaijan Presidential
Administration Chingiz Asgarov addressed the conference.

The speakers mentioned importance of Azerbaijan for the European Union
and said the country had large potential for integration into Europe.

The German speakers said EU was sometimes non-active in the region
and called to take more advantages from the Union’s capacity. They
focus on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and said this conflict created
serious obstacle for cooperation and occupation of Azerbaijani lands by
Armenia was gross violation of basic principles of international law.

Representatives of German Bundestag, government agencies, different
political foundations and universities, journalists, scientists,
activists of Azerbaijani Diaspora in Germany participated at the
conference.

AZERBAIJAN’S DEPUTY JUSTICE MINISTER ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ORGANIZED BY COUNCIL OF EUROPE AND GOVERNMENT OF THE NETHERLANDS

APA
Nov 17 2009
Azerbaijan

Utrecht. Fuad Gulubayli – APA. Deputy Justice Minister of Azerbaijan
Vilayat Zahirov addressed the ministerial conference organized by the
Council of Europe and the government of Netherlands in Utrecht, APA’s
Europe bureau reports. Zahirov said the report made by Minister of
Public Administration and Local Government of Finland Mari Kiviniemi on
strengthening the activity of the Council of Europe was very important
for improving the work of the Council of Europe in the field of local
and regional democracy. He said Council of Europe’s strengthening
its relations with other international organizations will help member
states find answers to such global threats as economic crisis, national
extremism and terrorism. Deputy Minister said the forum will offer
opportunities to determine new priorities and give an impetus to the
development of the local democracy in the CE member states.

Expert of Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative of the
Open Society Institute, Professor Kenneth Davey made a report on the
impact of the economic crisis on the local and regional authorities
and cooperation of the bordering countries. Vilayat Zahirov said
he supported the views on financing the local authorities, meeting
the needs of the citizens, organizing effective cooperation and
facilitating the business sphere for eliminating economic crisis.

Touching on the cooperation of the bordering states, Deputy Minister
underlined that Azerbaijan ratified European framework convention
and additional protocols.

"We are developing our cooperation with Turkey, Russia, Georgia and
other neighbors. But such cooperation is impossible with Armenia
that occupied Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions. As a
result of Armenia’s aggression against our country, 20 percent of
Azerbaijani territories have been occupied, one million people have
been displaced. We are sure that after the occupation ends, the
relations with this neighboring country will be normalized," he said.

WHY SHOULDN’T ARMENIA HAVE ITS APPROACH?

Aysor
Nov 17 2009
Armenia

"The Turkish Parliament is very initiative and already has a very
well planned document showing when and what to do, in difference to
our Armenian Parliament who thinks that waiting is the most beneficial
step", – said the Larisa Alaverdyan the secretary of the NA "Heritage"
party answering the question whether the Turkish parliament will
ratify the Armenian – Turkish protocols.

According to L. Alaverdyan for Turkey is advantageous not only this
behavior but also the statements of Armenian politicians who say that
we will ratify the protocols after Turkey having ratified them.

According to the secretary of the party she doesn’t care when and
what the Turkish parliament will do, she is more concerned with the
question why Armenia doesn’t have its own approach, and why it should
wait for the other player to make the first step.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE ARMENIAN BANKING SYSTEM GROWING

Aysor
Nov 17 2009
Armenia

As the Aysor.am was informed by the Union of the Armenian Banks
according to the records of the 3rd semester of this year the credits
of the 22 Banks together have reached 1.2 trillion drams, which in
comparison with the 2nd semester is more with 10.6 %.

The general capital of the banks has grown with 4% and has made 266.8
milliard drams. On January – June the capital was 256.3 milliard drams.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKEY THE MOST WESTERN STATE OF THE EAST: BAGIS

News.am
Nov 17 2009
Armenia

Turkey is the most western state in the East and the most eastern
state of the West," Turkish Minister for EU Affairs Egemen Bagis told
in the interview with TRT TV channel. According to him, "Giving the
back to West, Turkey will be unable to progress in the East, while
otherwise it will fail to achieve progress in the West."

Bagis is confident that Turkey’s foreign policy is aimed at
transformation of the country into "center of the globe". Turkey
that is carrying out active foreign policy "rapidly moves forward
on the way to acquire a status of world power." In the frames of
prioritized foreign policy strategy "zero problems with neighbors",
Turkey undertook crucial steps in relations with Armenia, Syria and
Iraq. The country intends to open new landmark in the talks with EU by
this year end. "West acknowledges Turkey’s potential," considers Bagis.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI MP: ANKARA HAS AGAIN STARTED TO PUT STIFF PRESSURE ON YEREVAN

news.az
Nov 17 2009
Azerbaijan

Asim Mollazade I consider the recent stable thaw in the Turkish-Israeli
relations to be a very positive sign, MP Asim Mollazade said commenting
on the resumption of the military and strategic cooperation between
Turkey and Israel.

This cannot be otherwise, as both countries are strategic partners
in the Middle East, Turkey is a NATO member and it fulfills wide
functions of ensuring Israel’s security. The long confrontation of
these countries could have serious negative implications for such a
dangerous region as the Middle East, Mollazade noted.

"Moreover, Turkey did not manage to get much sympathy among Arab
states. In particular, when speaking to representatives of secular
Arab countries, I often heard them saying that stiffening of Turkey’s
position toward Israeli had a negative impact on balance of powers in
the region and complicated the dialogue with official Tel-Aviv. Turkey
gained nothing except for applauds from radical groupings of Lebanon,
Palestine and Syria that have no serious influence in the international
arena", Mollazade said.

I think that the sharp anti-Israeli slant of the Turkish leadership
was connected with elections in Turkey. The rating of the ruling party
was rapidly declining and the initiated anti-Israeli rhetoric helped
the powers get support of pro-Islam Turkish circles during elections.

And now when the task is fulfilled, official Ankara is gradually
turning to its traditional foreign-policy vector including to
restoration of relations with Tel-Aviv, the parliamentarian said.

"I would like to note that the Turkish-Israeli rapprochement has,
undoubtedly, had a positive influence not only on the Middle East
but also on the South Caucasus. Turkey continued its traditional
policy of developing strategic partnership with Azerbaijan, aimed at
implementing the planned economic and energy transportation projects.

Ankara has resumed stiff pressure on Yerevan in the resolution of
the Karabakh conflict. On the whole, I think the hard geopolitical
moments for Azerbaijan are left behind", Mollazade said.

AMERICAN-TURKISH COUNCIL: ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS IMPORTANT FOR REGIONAL PEACE

news.am
Nov 17 2009
Armenia

Brent Scowcroft, Chairman of the American-Turkish Council, has arrived
in Ankara. He is visiting Turkey on the threshold of Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the United States, which
is scheduled for December 7. At his news conference, Brent Scowcroft
made his appraisal of Turkey’s domestic and foreign policy.

The Chairman of the American-Turkish Council welcomed the
democratic reforms in Turkey. He pointed out the importance of the
Armenian-Turkish protocols for establishing peace in the region.

The Council members discussed the Cypriot problem. They pointed out
that the resolution of the problem is of high importance for Turkey’s
admission to the European Union and expressed their support for Turkey.

Richard Armitage, Brent Scowcroft’s successor, made an appraisal of
the Turkish-Israel relations, pointing our temporary tension.

Scowcroft stressed Turkey’s important role in the region due to its
policy in the Near East. The Council members will meet with Turkish
President Abdullah Gul, State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ali
Babacan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Defense Minister Vecdi
Gonul, and Energy Minister Taner Yildiz.

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER JOINS RULING PARTY

APA
Nov 17 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan joined the ruling
Republican Party, APA reports quoting News Armenia.

The party’s executive committee positively responded to his application
about membership at its meeting on November 16.

The Republican Party of Armenia was established early 1990s.

Then-prime minister and incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan was
elected the party chairman. Most of the government ministers and
speaker of the Armenian parliament Ovik Abrabyan are also members of
the Republican Party.

The party established parliament coalition with the parties of
Prosperous Armenia and Country of Legality.