Month: September 2013

SENIOR MP: IRAN READY TO MEDIATE IN KARABAKH DISPUTE

Fars News Agency, Iran
Sept 26 2013

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior member of the Iranian parliament’s National
Security and Foreign Policy Commission voiced Tehran’s readiness to
help resolve the territorial dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia
over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Javad Jahangirzadeh, who is in Baku heading a parliamentary delegation,
in an interview with reporters underlined necessity of settlement of
Karabakh conflict by using regional capacity.

Referring to his meetings with Azerbaijan Republic speaker of
parliament, members of parliamentary friendship group and executive
secretary of New Azerbaijan Party, Jahangirzadeh said an important
axis of negotiations had been Karabakh conflict.

He added that conflict in Karabakh is a sensitive issue for Iran
and that Iran has always condemned foreign interference in domestic
affairs of other countries and believes that borders of all countries
should be respected by neighbors.

He expressed Iran’s readiness to help settling Karabakh conflict
in direction of providing security and tranquility in the region,
adding that since forming the Minsk Group, Iran has declared that the
group does not have a suitable structure to solve Karabakh conflict
between the two countries of Azerbaijan Republic and Armenia.

Despite facing strong international pressure, the Armenian and
Azerbaijani leaders have failed to agree on the basic principles of
ending the Karabakh conflict put forward by Russia, the United States,
and France in 2011.

Armenia and Azerbaijan thus remain officially at war over Karabakh
and the dispute is a major source of tension in the South Caucasus
region wedged between Iran, Russia and Turkey.

No country – not even Armenia – officially recognizes Karabakh as an
independent state.

The mountainous rebel region has been controlled by ethnic Armenians
since it broke free of Baku’s control after a fierce war in the early
1990s that killed 30,000 people.

ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN: A SEASON OF RISKS

International Crisis Group
Sept 26 2013

Baku/Yerevan/Tbilisi/Brussels | 26 Sep 2013

Stronger international engagement is needed to help prevent the deadly
conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan from escalating gravely at
a time of internal political tensions in both.

In its latest briefing, Armenia and Azerbaijan: A Season of Risks, the
International Crisis Group examines possible scenarios for a conflict
that could explode at any time. Since peace talks broke down in 2011
over Nagorno-Karabakh – the Azerbaijan enclave seized and occupied by
Armenian forces in the fighting that accompanied the break-up of the
Soviet Union – arms purchases and war rhetoric have gained momentum on
both sides. In this tense situation, exacerbated by domestic political
competition, the greatest danger is an accidental war.

The briefing’s major findings are:

~USince 2011, both sides have vastly augmented their military budgets
and developed detailed war contingency plans. There is a real risk
that miscalculations, brinkmanship or the increasingly frequent
skirmishes in geographically widespread front-line areas could lead
to an outbreak of full-scale fighting, pulling in some or all of the
regional powers: Russia, Turkey and Iran.

~UThe coming months pose special challenges, as both countries deal
with internal political tensions. In Armenia, opposition groups are
planning an autumn of protest. In Azerbaijan, the government fears
disorder after the presidential elections – virtually certain to be
won by the authoritarian incumbent – in October. Both sides’ domestic
pressures could limit their efforts to re-invigorate the mediation
process or enter direct negotiations.

~UVigilance from international actors, especially the mediators
of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) –
namely Russia, the U.S. and France, the co-chairs of its “Minsk Group”
– as well as the EU, is needed to prevent an escalation. They should
highlight the risks of miscalculation and the huge costs for both sides
of any return to open hostilities. Russia, as an influential player
in this conflict, should work more decisively towards an agreement
and cease supplying arms to both sides.

~UA crisis hotline should be re-established between Yerevan and Baku
to lessen chances of a military escalation.

“Unrest at home might tempt leaders to deflect attention by raising
military tensions or to embark on risky attempts to capitalise on
their adversary’s troubles”, says Lawrence Scott Sheets, Crisis
Group’s South Caucasus Project Director. “Both sides are given to
provocative gestures”.

“The immediate effort required of mediators and other supporters
of a peace process is modest, yet urgent”, says Paul Quinn-Judge,
Crisis Group’s Europe and Central Asia Program Director. “They need to
start talking about the risks of Baku’s and Yerevan’s ‘in-your-face’
approach. Then, both countries need to be brought back to the table
before someone decides the time has come to use their expensive
new weapons”.

AZERI POLITICIAN WISHES FOR MORE INFLUENTIAL TURKEY

, Turkey
Sept 26 2013

Iqbal Agazade, running for presidency in Azerbaijan, told AA that
Turkey should be more influential in Caucasus

Chairman of Azerbaijan’s Umid (Hope) Party Iqbal Agazade, a candidate
for the presidential election planned to be held on October 9
in Azerbaijan, told about his reasons for being a candidate, his
promises and the things he wanted to do if elected as president to
Anadolu Agency.

Noting that he would make radical changes in Azerbaijan’s foreign
policy, the chairman expressed his willingness for founding a
Southern Caucasian Union together with Armenia and Georgia to solve
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflicts and Upper Karabakh issue.

Agazade also said Turkey should absolutely have power in the region
in order to end Russian domination in the area.

Pointing out that the Upper Karabakh issue and other ethnic conflicts
in the region would not be solved as long as Russia continued
dominating the problematic region, Agazade stated his wish for
foundation of Southern Caucasian Union by taking EU as a model.

Agazade insisted that re-opening Turkish-Armenian border would help
solving Upper Karabakh issue and ending Armenian-Azerbaijani conflicts.

He also recorded that they had communication with several political
parties and non-governmental organizations in both Armenia and Georgia
in international domains.

Agazade also said that they would invest oil incomes in domains
out of petroleum and increase efficiency of these incomes to hint
socio-economic reforms he was planning for his presidential term
if elected.

AA

DEMOCRATIC PACKAGE’ WILL BE CONDUCTED BY PARLIAMENT

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Sept 24 2013

ANKARA – Hurriyet Daily News

Turkey’s ongoing peace process to resolve the decades-long Kurdish
issue would not challenge the Lausanne Treaty, Zafer Toprak, history
professor at Bogazici University has said.

“Turkey will protect its nation state identity at some point. This
includes the country’s borders too. However it is important to realize
that Turkey must enable internationally acknowledged norms of human
rights, individual freedoms for [Turkey’s citizens]. If Turkey gains
ground on this issue I do not sense a threat factor about national
borders,” Toprak, who is the founder and president of the Ataturk
Institute of the Bogazici University told daily Hurriyet when he was
asked if recognition of ethnic identities in Turkey regarding the
Kurdish issue would reach a point of challenging the Lausanne Treaty.

“Lausanne is not open to debate because at this point the whole
process [in the Middle East] proceeds independently from Lausanne. The
arguments are not linked to Lausanne, it’s mostly linked with people’s
ethnic identities,” he said.

The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne,
Switzerland, on July 24, 1923, before the founding of the Turkish
Republic. It officially ended the state of war that had existed between
Turkey and the Western Alliance since the onset of World War I. The
treaty set the structure of Turkey’s minority laws accepting only Rums
(Anatolian Greeks), Jews and Armenians as ethnic minority groups.

September/24/2013

‘PEACE PROCESS’ NOT A CHALLENGE TO LAUSANNE

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Sept 24 2013

ISTANBUL – Hurriyet

Turkey’s ongoing peace process to resolve the decades-long Kurdish
issue would not challenge the Lausanne Treaty, Zafer Toprak, history
professor at Bogazici University has said.

“Turkey will protect its nation state identity at some point. This
includes the country’s borders too. However it is important to realize
that Turkey must enable internationally acknowledged norms of human
rights, individual freedoms for [Turkey’s citizens]. If Turkey gains
ground on this issue I do not sense a threat factor about national
borders,” Toprak, who is the founder and president of the Ataturk
Institute of the Bogazici University told daily Hurriyet when he was
asked if recognition of ethnic identities in Turkey regarding the
Kurdish issue would reach a point of challenging the Lausanne Treaty.

“Lausanne is not open to debate because at this point the whole
process [in the Middle East] proceeds independently from Lausanne. The
arguments are not linked to Lausanne, it’s mostly linked with people’s
ethnic identities,” he said.

The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne,
Switzerland, on July 24, 1923, before the founding of the Turkish
Republic. It officially ended the state of war that had existed between
Turkey and the Western Alliance since the onset of World War I. The
treaty set the structure of Turkey’s minority laws accepting only Rums
(Anatolian Greeks), Jews and Armenians as ethnic minority groups.

September/24/2013

A LOOK AT TURKEY’S MINORITY SCHOOLS

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 26 2013

Photo: A 100-year-old file photo from the school for the
hearing-impaired in Amasya. The teacher is attempting to aid an
impaired child’s speech.

26 September 2013 /ERKAM EMRE, Ä°STANBUL

The History Foundation has released its report, “Minority Schools
from Past to Present: Issues and Solutions Project.” The report,
drafted by Assistant Prof. Dr. Selcuk AkÅ~_in Somel and Nurcan Kaya,
analyzes the historical evolution of Turkey’s minority schools and
reviews their current problems.

The Private Gökceada Greek School was recently opened with four
students and a principle. This constructive step was welcomed on
both sides of the Aegean Sea. However, the school seems to have held
onto the burdens of the past. This primary school in the village of
Zeytinli exhibits the same problems and issues that all other minority
schools in Turkey do.

The History Foundation announced its report in a press conference. A
delegation that included YeÅ~_ilköy Primary School Principal Garo
Paylan and journalist Mihail Vasiliadis discussed the historical
evolution and issues of minority schools at the meeting. The
participants offered solutions to the problems minority schools have
been experiencing amid a visible row between the nations concerned,
Greece and Turkey.

Sadly, the Anatolian region, which once hosted peoples and nations as
friends, has changed. Non-Muslim minority schools were affected by
the social polarization that rising nationalism in the 19th century
made inevitable. Under Shariah law implemented during Ottoman rule,
non-Muslim minorities were regarded as communities to be protected
by Muslims; in this context, they were entitled to administer their
own education systems. Institutions led by clerics used to train
teachers who would offer religious education. The number of these
schools dramatically declined as tensions grew in the late Ottoman
period. The report by the History Foundation presents statistics
covering the period from the 19th century to date.

According to the data available in 1984, there were 6,437 non-Muslim
minority schools in the Ottoman state. The report says there were
302 of these schools in Ä°stanbul, and that they were able to offer
education freely. Interestingly, the report also notes that Jews,
Armenians and Greeks as well as Bulgarians, Arameans (Syriacs) and
Maronites all had their own schools. The number of such schools has
declined over time. Currently, there are only 22 minority schools in
the country. Armenians run 16, Greeks five, and Jews run one school,
in Ä°stanbul.

Selcuk AkÅ~_in Somel, addressing the historical cause of the problem
and the Ottoman period, offered a clarification regarding the emergence
of the notion of “minorities” at the meeting. In his presentation,
Somel noted that the Committee of Union and Progress, which came
to power in the late Ottoman period, implemented social engineering
policies designed to force non-Muslim communities to emigrate.

The committee was the primary actor in this field until the Treaty of
Lausanne, which referred to the issue as a “minority” problem. Under
the Treaty of Lausanne, non-Muslim communities, referred to as
minorities, were entitled to autonomously administer schools in their
native languages; the schools were to be funded by the state. However,
the minority schools, which were already in decline, were negatively
affected by the policies of repression and assimilation pursued during
the republican era.

The minority schools had severe problems because of provisions in a
law that unified the education system. The law specified one central
set of rules for all education institutions. As a result of these
problems, a huge number of members of minority communities left the
country. The deputy principals appointed by the Education Ministry and
the inspectors who checked up on education standards in these schools
viewed them as places of potential disruption; this attitude left
an indelible impression on non-Muslims. Many had to migrate because
of the pressure to use the Turkish language, the Sept. 6-7 incidents
and the Cyprus issue.

Syrian Armenian children unable to get report cards in Turkey One
of the issues discussed in the report is the right to education in
one’s native language, which has recently become popular again. While
non-Muslim minorities had the right to offer education in their
native languages under Treaty of Lausanne, current circumstances
make it impossible to return to that system. There are no qualified
teachers because there are no faculties training teachers in Armenian
or Hebrew. The lack of a public institution to prepare course materials
is another obstacle. As a result, education is offered only in Turkish
in these schools. Paylan notes that Turkey’s high-school admissions
tests are administered in Turkish; for this reason, he says, parents
ask for education in this language.

Another issue discussed at the meeting is the process Armenian or
Greek children who identify as Muslims go through to enroll in minority
schools; law forbids people officially recognized as Muslims to study
at these schools. In addition, Armenian children who took refuge in
Turkey to escape the ongoing war in Syria may be given the status of
“visiting students” at minority schools. Children with this status
are not entitled to receive report cards. Practices based on the
principle of reciprocity are also causing enormous problems. As a
result of these problems, students looking for a better future mostly
prefer to study abroad.

“Istanbul’s 100 schools tell forgotten history” The Culture Company
(Kultur AÅ~^) has released another volume for its series of 100-themed
books. The 66th volume in the series discusses the schools, which
were indicators of how multicultural life was in the capital city of
the Ottoman Empire for centuries. The book, “Istanbul’s 100 schools,”
which tells the stories of the Armenian, Greek and Jewish schools in
the Ottoman era, was written by Derya BaÅ~_.

The book offers interesting anecdotes on the schools, which have
become an inseparable part of Ä°stanbul’s identity. The book contains
historical photos of the schools that lovers of the city will find
invaluable.

Photo: Teachers from the Bursa Kevorkyan School.

Photo: Hrant Dink (far left) while captain of his school soccer team.

The Tuzla Orphanage, where Dink spent his childhood, has since been
shut down.

RUSSIA’S PUTIN SAYS SYRIA VIOLENCE COULD HIT EX-SOVIET BLOC

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 23 2013

23 September 2013 /REUTERSÄ° SOCHI

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned ex-Soviet allies on Monday
that Islamist militancy fuelling the war in Syria could reach their
countries, some of which have Muslim majorities.

Russia, which has a large Muslim minority of its own and is fighting
an Islamist insurgency, has accused the West of helping militants
by seeking Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s removal without paying
enough attention to the potential consequences.

Putin told leaders of the six-nation Collective Security Treaty
Organisation (CSTO) that militants fighting Assad could eventually
expand attacks beyond Syria and the Middle East.

“The militant groups (in Syria) did not come out of nowhere, and they
will not vanish into thin air,” Putin said.

“The problem of terrorism spilling from one country to another is
absolutely real and could directly affect the interests of any one
of our countries,” he said, citing the deadly attack on a shopping
mall in Nairobi as an example.

“We are now witnessing a terrible tragedy unfold in Kenya. The
militants came from another country, as far as we can judge, and are
committing horrendous bloody crimes,” Putin said at a CSTO summit in
the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

His words appeared to be a warning about violence spreading from both
Syria and Afghanistan, which shares a long border with CSTO member
Tajikistan in Central Asia. The security alliance also includes
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Belarus.

Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan all have mostly Muslim
populations.

Russian officials have expressed concern that Russian-born militants
fighting in Syria could return to Russia’s North Caucasus and join
an insurgency that claims lives almost daily.

They have also voiced worries that violence could spread into former
Soviet Central Asia and Russia after the withdrawal of most Western
troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year.

Russia has been one of Syria’s strongest backers in a conflict that
has killed more than 100,000 people since it began in March 2011,
delivering arms to Assad’s forces and joining China in blocking
Western-backed initiatives in the U.N. Security Council.

Russia, which has echoed Assad’s contention that he is fighting al
Qaeda-inspired Islamists rather than a popular revolt against his
autocratic rule, has warned the West that military intervention in
Syria would play into the hands of the militants.

TURKEY, AZERBAIJAN SHOULD INCREASE EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN TIES

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 23 2013

23 September 2013 /LAMÄ°YA ADÄ°LGIZI, Ä°STANBUL

Turkey and Azerbaijan, neighboring countries that are connected through
ties of kinship, should intensify efforts to strengthen their bilateral
ties based on opportunities that will benefit both Ankara and Baku,
a top official from Azerbaijan has stated.

“Both states should reinforce their efforts to bolster ties and
increase cooperation and strategic partnership between the two
nations,” said Novruz Mammadov, deputy chief of the Presidential
Administration of Azerbaijan and chief of the department for external
relations, during his meeting with Turkish journalists in Ä°stanbul
late on Friday.

Talking about Azerbaijan as a rising power in the region and its
economic achievements, Mammadov particularly emphasized Azerbaijani
efforts in cooperation with Turkey that have resulted in the revival
of the historic Silk Road, despite many challenges.

“Our states [both Azerbaijan and Turkey] have been playing a huge
role in the realization of the historic Silk Road that will extend
from China to the United Kingdom. It is almost finished and I do
believe that together we will achieve this phenomenal success and
grab a slice of history, too,” Mammadov said.

Particularly remarking on the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP)
that Turkey and Azerbaijan agreed to build in late 2012 to carry
Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian basin to Europe via Turkey,
Mammadov said the TANAP project stands out as a good example of the
strengthening relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

“The materialization of the TANAP project first of all aims to help
Turkey with its gas demand, a fact that is met with jealousy in some
other states, and then Azerbaijani gas is to flow to Europe via Turkey
to provide energy security for Western countries,” Mammadov said.

The first stage of TANAP is scheduled to pipe 16 billion cubic meters
of gas a year from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz II field, which is later
to be doubled. TANAP would link the Caspian natural gas on the western
border of Turkey to Nabucco West and to Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary
as well as Europe’s gas hub in Austria.

Underlining the importance of a strategic partnership with Turkey
that is based on unity of language, religion and history, Mammadov
said strengthening ties with Turkey should be considered the greatest
achievement of the Azerbaijani nation since Azerbaijan regained its
independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. “This unity
should be protected and boosted, as it is quite important,” Mammadov
said, adding that relations with the Turkish nation should continue
to prosper.

Azerbaijan urges caution on Turkish-Armenian border issue Mammadov
especially made note of the debate about opening the Turkish border
with Armenia, emphasizing that the idea of opening the Armenian
border gates to Turkey is the propaganda of Western powers which aim
to alienate Turkey and Azerbaijan, two brother countries.

“Our relationship is not ordinary. Our relations are the reflection of
our common language, religion and the cultural roots and past we have
shared for a long time,” Mammadov said, adding that the solidarity
between Azerbaijanis and Turks is important not just for the two
states but also for the stability and growth of the whole region.

“So we hope that Turkey, as a brother country, will take such steps
[on the issue of opening borders with Armenia] that won’t further
depress Azerbaijanis and harm the ties of kinship between the two
nations,” Mammadov said, urging both sides not to cause the problems
that have created trouble between the two nations.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan after the Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent
of Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, including the Nagorno-Karabakh
territories. In 2009, the Zurich Protocols were signed between Armenia
and Turkey to normalize relations; however, the move did not bear
fruit, as the border remains closed.

RECOMMENDATIONS ON SECURITY ISSUES IN THE REGION OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT

Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
September 24, 2013 Tuesday

In the framework of the “Breaking the Impasse” project, a group of
experts from the region of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict met in Berlin
on September 13-17, 2013. Based on international humanitarian law,
the group offers a number of recommendations to strengthen security
in the conflict zone. The recommendations that were developed refer
to those aspects concerning security around which the group was able
to develop a consensus. At the same time the present document does not
claim to provide a comprehensive overview of the questions concerning
security in the conflict zone. The group recommends to:

– calling on the sides to rigorously maintain the ceasefire regime
and to prevent any actions leading to casualties in the civilian
population and among military personnel;

– developing measures to strengthen civic control over maintenance
of the ceasefire regime;

– developing measures that would exclude expressions of xenophobia,
hate speech and the language of violence;

– initiating a depoliticized process to develop legal norms and
guarantees for secure return and/or compensation for all individuals
who were forced to leave their homes;

– studying the experience of demilitarized zones throughout the world
and the possibility of implementing a demilitarized zone in the region
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

This document was produced in the framework of a project implemented
with organizational support from The Center for Peacemaking Practice
in the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason
University and the Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation. The
project is supported by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
reads the press release sent to Turan news agency. No other details
reported. -0-

AZERI OPPOSITION SAYS PRESIDENT HAS “NO MORAL RIGHT” TO RUN FOR THIRD TERM

Turan news agency, Azerbaijan
Sept 22 2013

“I call on Ilham Aliyev to withdraw his candidacy [for the October
presidential election]. First, his nomination for a third term is
illegitimate. Second, during his two presidential terms, Aliyev did
not resolve any problem facing the country and has no moral right
to run for a third term. Therefore, it would be would be better
for him to withdraw from the race,” Isa Qambar, leader of the major
opposition Musavat party, was quoted as saying at the opposition’s
campaign rally in Baku on 22 September.

The presidential candidate of the opposition alliance National Council
of Democratic Forces, Camil Hasanli, urged Aliyev to participate
in TV debates of presidential candidates in person rather than by
sending his proxies.

“Let him answer questions that were mentioned here. Let him say why
has not he liberated even 20 cm of the occupied lands [reference to
Azerbaijan’s breakaway Nagornyy Karabakh] during the past 20 years,”
Hasanli was quoted as saying at the rally. “The authoritarian regime
has set up a criminal pyramid which is ruling the country. But they do
not want to stop. They want the pyramid to rule over our children too.

We should not allow this to happen,” Hasanli added.

The rally participants adopted a resolution, demanding that all
“political prisoners” be set free, a free and fair election be held,
conditions be created for all presidential candidates to meet their
voters and that Ilham Aliyev stop using administrative resources in
his election campaign.

In the meantime, the deputy executive secretary of the ruling New
Azerbaijan Party, Mubariz Qurbanli, described the remarks made at
the opposition rally as “political demagogy”.

“Things they said at the rally are political demagogy. They neither
spoke about preparations for the election nor about their candidate’s
platform,” Media Forum news website quoted Qurbanli as saying.

Meanwhile, the Baku City Main Police Department said on 23 September
that 2,000 people attended the opposition rally, whereas the
pro-opposition Turan news agency put the rally turnout at 10,000.

[Translated from Azeri]

From: A. Papazian