Month: November 2009

HOVHANNISYAN: THE BEST WAY IS TO PREVENT PROTOCOLS FROM BEING RATIFIED

Yerkir
24.11.2009 18:27

Yerevan (Yerkir) – Vahan Hovhannisyan, the leader of the ARF faction
in parliament, told a news conference on November 24 that after
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statement on resuming war, Armenia
had to tell the international mediators that negotiations cannot
be continued in these circumstances. Otherwise, the controversial
comments in various publications show that everything is done to get
more concessions from Armenia.

The ARF had been warning the Armenian authorities against such
developments, Hovhannisyan said. Azerbaijan is trying to get as much
as possible from the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation process.

Hovhannisyan does not believe the Armenian authorities as well as
the international mediators when they say that the return of the
territories is not considered at the talks.

Why isn’t ARF more active at this point? Hovhannisyan said that ARF’s
goal is to prevent the protocols from being ratified. The protocols
are at the Constitutional Court presently, and the ARF’s tactics will
change soon.

NATO OR CSTO? WHERE DO ARMENIA’S INTERESTS LIE?

Tert.am
16:17, 25.11.09

"Taking into consideration all concerns, Armenia must think about where
its national interests lie today, to NATO or to CSTO," said Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun, or ARF-D) MP and Chair of
the Standing Parliamentary Committee on Defense, National Security
and Internal Affairs Hrayr Karapetyan while speaking to journalists
today. He is sure that today Armenia’s national interests dictate
that Armenia must do its best to have a more active role in CSTO
(Collective Security Treaty Organisatin), as well as continue its
cooperation with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

Armenia is a CSTO member, and has been cooperating with CSTO since
2002, within the frames of the Individual Action Plan. In both CSTO
and NATO, according to Karapetyan, there are a number of concerns
for Armenia.

Karapetyan particularly stated that in NATO’s case, the fact that one
NATO member state arms and provides military support to another member
state in the same alliance gives cause for anxiety. The ARF-D MP was
referring to Turkey, which, being the NATO member country that has
the strongest military force, arms and provides military assistance
to Azerbaijan.

In CSTO’s case, according to Karapetyan, the deepening of cooperation
between Russia and Turkey also gives cause for concern.

The concerns mentioned above, according to the MP, must compel Armenia
to be better-oriented in the issue of becoming a part of military
alliances or in cooperating with them.

MEDVEDEV AND ALIYEV DISCUSS NAGORNO-KARABAKH DURING ULYANOVSK MEETING

Tert.am
13:39 ~U 25.11.09

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev disccussed issues related to continuing the process of
settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during their recent meeting
in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk, announces the President of Russia
official website.

Aliyev shared with Medvedev the latest developments in negotiations
with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, which took place with the
participation of OSCE Minsk Group mediators.

The two presidents also discussed issues related to bilateral
cooperation and regional development.

As previously reported by Tert.am, the Azerbaijani and Russian
presidents participated in the opening ceremony of the first stage of
Volga bridge crossing (a new double-deck bridge over the Volga River),
as well as being present during the opening ceremony of Aliyev Square,
dedicated to Heydar Aliyev, then First Deputy Chair of the Council
of Ministers of the USSR.

CALLIGRAFFITI AT ARMENIAN CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY EXPERIMENTAL ART

Tert.am
11:10 ~U 25.11.09

A new group exhibit has opened in Yerevan’s Armenian Center for
Contemporary Experimental Art (ACCEA, or NPAK in Armenian). The
exhibit, called "Calligraffiti" attempts to merge calligraphy, the
art of writing, with graffiti, the better-known contemporary art of
lettering on walls and property.

"What is the role of handwriting in the computer age? The so-called
letter as image, what does it tell us, when we’re not linguists,
we’re not reading it in a foreign language and we don’t recognize the
alphabet?… what remains in this case is only the form of the letter
and the emotion conveyed through the image…" writes the exhibit’s
curator, Arpa Hacobian.

In Calligraffiti, one can view works by Angela Karapetyan, Alexandra
Avakian, Garsu, Ali Ansari, Stepan Yesayan (Smee), Hayk Hakobian
and others, displaying calligraffiti from various countries. Also on
display are photos, providing further examples of calligraffiti.

Along with the decorative type of contemporary Armenian, Persian,
Japanese, Latin, and Greek, it’s possible to see contemporary type-art
‘solutions’: how a letter changes form, how it takes on a new image
and strength, sometimes becoming illegible and finally, appearing in
the city sphere, as a part of urban art.

The exhibit runs from November 24, 2009, to March 15, 2010.

ITALY’S SAMPDORIA INTERESTED IN URUGUAYAN-ARMENIAN PLAYER BOGOSYAN

Tert.am
13:57 ~U 25.11.09

Joaqin Bogosyan from Uruguay, who is of Armenian origin and plays in
Argentina’s Newell’s Old Boys football club, can transfer to Italy’s
U.C. Sampdoria as early as this winter, reports Italian publication
La Gazzetta dello Sport.

In this mid-season, Bogosyan scored 8 goals while playing in Newell’s
Old Boys, and, according to President of the Armenian Football
Federation Ruben Hayrapetyan, he might also play for Armenia’s
national team.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN RESPONSE TO ALIYEV INADEQUATE: HRAYR KARAPETYAN

Tert.am
15:18 ~U 25.11.09

According to Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) MP
Hrayr Karapetyan, the Armenian side doesn’t respond to Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev’s bellicose statements adequately enough.

At a press conference today, the ARF-D MP drew attention to the
fact that Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian doesn’t even
provide adequate answers to questions posed by members of parliament,
"not to mention responding to statements made by outside powers."

"There’s such a situation today, that we really don’t know what to do,"
Karapetyan said.

WHAT IS CATHOLICOS’S ROLE IN THE END?
Hakob Badalyan

Lragir.am
25/11/09

The All-Armenian Catholicos Garegin II left for Moscow on a three-day
visit where he is going to consecrate a cross of a church dome.

Several days before his visit, the Armenian St. Gevorg church collapsed
in Tbilisi. The Armenian Catholicos seems logic not to leave for Moscow
but for Tbilisi where there are still standing Armenian churches. The
cross of a Moscow church dome could be consecrated without the
Armenian Catholicos too. But visiting Moscow is a pleasure. There is
numerous and which is more important a wealthy Armenian community
where churches do not collapse but are only built and he only has
to consecrate them and enjoy hospitality and honor that the wealthy
community will surely offer to the All-Armenian Catholicos. While in
Tbilisi, there are problems which need solutions.

In other words, visiting Tbilisi needs efforts for the defense of
Armenian churches.

The Armenian church in Tbilisi collapsed not because of the lack
of care of the Georgian government but because of the lack of these
efforts. The Georgian government is not caring and will not be. If
we announce that those churches are our, which is the reason why
we complain of others’ carelessness. If it is our property, we have
to take care of it. What did the Armenian Apostolic Church and its
pastor do for the preservation of our churches? In such cases, they
usually say that they work in silence and we without knowing anything
criticize them groundlessly. On the one hand, the information on
their work is strange to be kept in secrecy while information on
the consecration of churches can be compared to the work of world
famous informational agencies. Which is the reason why the Armenian
Church does not want people to know about its efforts aimed at the
preservation of for example Armenian churches in Georgia?

Usually, in such cases they say that in case of being public, their
effectiveness will decrease. As if the Church is negotiating for the
Karabakh issue and needs to keep the negotiations secret. It seems
to be more effective when the negotiation is secret but churches
publicly collapse. Consequently, either there is no negotiation or
if secret efforts are undertaken, they come out to be useless because
Armenian churches collapse the same. Maybe these secret or not secret
efforts are worth being replaced with a public visit of the Armenian
Catholicos to Tbilisi to meet with the members of the Armenian Church
and to hold a public speech in connection with the preservation of
Armenian monuments.

In general, the current situation brings about a question: what in
reality the role and the function of the All-Armenian Catholicos are
in the national life. Is he a symbolic person who is to be honored and
not demanded anything besides benediction or he is a person who has to
participate in the discussion of issues related to the national life?

If the Catholicos is just a symbol, maybe he had better not leave
his residence in Echmiadzin. If he is a person who is elected by
the choice of people having the mission to serve people, he must be
ready to discuss pan-national issues with the very people and look
for answers with them.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IT WAS THE SAME IN 1915

Lragir.am
25/11/09

At the request of Lragir.am, Igor Muradyan comments on the comments
and expectations in connection with the meeting of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents in Munich on November 22.

– The meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Munich
in November 2009 shows little new in the processes of the region
and the Karabakh issue. Outrageous scene still occurs for outside
observers, when the president of Azerbaijan continues threatening by
military actions, and the Armenian president pretends that the real
negotiations are continuing.

First of all, it should be noted that the three centers of power are
the main actors in the South Caucasus – the United States, European
Union, represented by France and Russia – assess the likelihood of
renewed hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan solely on the basis
of certain agreements of Azerbaijan and Turkey and possible solutions
in this connection and nothing else. This is the reason why external
players do not take for serious Ilham Aliyev’s threats.

Serge Sargsyan is still trying to show himself as a flexible political
figure, receiving the signals from the West and the East as the only
guide to action. Sargsyan is still trying to gain time, to prolong the
period of imitation of the talks, realizing the approval of external
parties, but at the same time realizing that after the events of the
past year, the United States, Russia and the EU are unable to fully
guarantee the continuation of ceasefire in the Karabakh zone. These
power centers can significantly influence the behavior of both parties,
but they cannot also guarantee the continuation of the truce, just as
the U.S. failed to guarantee the continuation of the settlement of
the Armenian-Turkish relations after the signing of the "Protocols"
in Zurich.

If Turkey tries to demonstrate the seriousness of their "new" position
in the region, then Azerbaijan will give a signal on the beginning of
the war, not paying attention to the views of politicians, representing
the world’s centers of power. Another matter, that Turkey does not
yet need it and the value of the Karabakh province for Turkey is
equal to zero.

Alongside with this, Serge Sargsyan is little likely to play such
dangerous and vulnerable games only for the sake of imitation the
way he is quite determined in settling the Karabakh issue within the
provisions of the principles of Madrid. The Armenian president has
repeatedly stated over years, that territories are to be yielded, in
addition within the frameworks of the offered "scheme". He thinks that
it is better to yield a part than to lose the whole. It is quite logic
from the point of an Armenian bourgeois or an Armenian citizen who have
something to lose. (Wasn’t there such logic before 1915 and a thesis
which would say "Gentlemen we have to live adequately to the life"?).

Activities of the Armenian president are not politics and it cannot
be called politics, it is just behavior. In practice, negotiations
are continuing in terms of direct threats, after which the president
Aliyev went to Moscow, apparently, to strengthen these agreements. The
U.S. is currently trying to pretend that they continue to adhere to
the declared principles of indifference between the Karabakh and
the Turkish-Armenian settlement, but in fact, they hope for the
elimination of Azerbaijani influence on Turkey in this issue. Not
surprisingly, the direct threat of the president of Azerbaijan did
not receive proper evaluation of either the U.S. or Russia. I wonder
what the same superpowers would have done if the president of Armenia
had made such a statement.

Armenia recedes, more and more losing the previous benefits, continuing
the simulation at any cost. Perhaps this would make sense if the real
intentions of Mr. Serge Sargsyan in the Karabakh topic lacked. The
Munich meeting and the taken arrangement may demonstrate much to
Turkey from the point that the Karabakh settlement is moving forward
and it can decide whether to open the border or not according to the
"Protocols". But the main result was that, regardless of the assurances
of the U.S. and Russia, Turkey became an immediate and, perhaps, a key
member of the Karabakh process. At the same time, there is no hope for
a "lifeline" of the world’s centers of power. In any case, with regard
to the U.S., this issue becomes quite unnecessary among their concerns.

THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO

Lragir.am
25/11/09

The responses of the Armenian government are not adequate to the
Azerbaijani statements which say that they will take from Armenia
not only Karabakh but also Zangezur. On November 25, said the head
of the NA commission on defence and security issues Hrayr Karapetyan.

Karapetyan said when they ask a question in this connection to the
minister Nalbandyan they do not get adequate answers here either. "We
do not understand how our concerns have to be dispersed", says
Karapetyan adding that the impression is that the Armenian government
does not know what do to.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARF IS DISCONTENT WITH RUSSIA

Lragir.am
25/11/09

On November 25, the ARF member, the NA head of the commission on
security and defence issues Hrayr Karapetyan expressed his concern
in connection with the Russian military-political cooperation with
Turkey and Azerbaijan. He noted that the fact that Russia which is a
CSTO member like Armenia carries out such partnership with Azerbaijan
which is not a member of that organization in case the president of
this country makes aggressive statements in address of Armenia. "If
Russia considers Saakashvili a psychologically non-equilibrated person
why doesn’t it think the same about Ilham Aliyev who regularly makes
aggressive statements?" says Hrayr Karapetyan. According to him,
the fact hat Russia cooperates with Azerbaijan in case the latter
may show aggression against Armenia at any instant is worrying.

Karapetyan wonders which is the difference of being a member of the
CSTO if Russia cooperates with Azerbaijan which is not a member. Hrayr
Karapetyan is dissatisfied with Russia’s cooperation with Turkey as
well. According to him, Russia cooperates with a country which is a
security threat to Armenia.

Nevertheless, Hrayr Karapetyan noted Armenia’s security interests
demand to deepen our relations with the CSTO but this structure must be
real and not artificial. Karapetyan of course, assesses positively our
cooperation with NATO saying it is wrong to contradict CSTO and NATO.

By the way, earlier the member of the ARF Bureau Vahan Hovhannisyan
expressed his dissatisfaction with Russia too, in particular with
Russia’s role in the process of the Armenian and Turkish normalization
and the Karabakh settlement. He said its role is dangerous for Armenia.