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DASHNAKSUTUN: DOCUMENTS SIGNED BETWEEN TURKEY, ARMENIA NOT TO ENSURE REAL ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC TIES

Today.Az
5166.html
Sept 1 2009
Azerbaijan

The latest initiative to normalize Armenia-Turkey ties is just a game
by Turkey to keep Armenia in the game, chief of ‘Ay Dat’ bureau and
Dashnaksutun party member Kiro Manoyan said.

He said the documents signed are not guarantees for real establishment
of diplomatic relations.

"The current initiative was triggered by an interview of President
Serzh Sargsyan with BBC in which he stated that Turkey does not respect
agreements and was put into practice on the eve of the planned visit of
Armenian President to watch football match between the two countries,"
Manoyan said.

He disagreed with the view that Turkey has taken this step to get
reciprocal concessions from Armenia on the Karabakh issue.

He said Ankara did not pursue this goal in this case.

AN ACHIEVEMENT OF ARMENIAN DIPLOMACY
Shakeh Avoyan

"Radiolur"
01.09.2009 18:18

This is an achievement of our diplomacy, Turkologist Ruben Safrastyan
said, commenting on the agreement between Armenia and Turkey to start
internal political consultations on the two protocols – the "Protocol
on the establishment of diplomatic relations" and the "Protocol on
the development of bilateral relations." However, he refrains from
calling it victory, because there can be no victories in diplomacy,
there are agreements that can be profitable or not for us.

According to the Director of the Oriental Studies Institute, the
documents are of great importance to Armenia. Why are they positive
and why are they important? Ruben Safrastyan emphasized two main
points. "First, the most important achievement is that the Turkish
diplomacy actually refused from its longstanding policy of linking
the normalization of relations to the Karabakh issue. The documents
make no reference to the Karabakh issue. The second important issue
is that they includes no reference to preventing Armenia’s efforts
targeted at the recognition of the Armenian Genocide."

"Our diplomacy should keep to this style. In that case we’ll manage
to develop our relations with Turkey without preconditions," Ruben
Safrastyan said.

WORLD BANK TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FINANCING OF 36.6 MILLION DOLLARS FOR LIFELINE ROADS IMPROVEMENT PROJECT IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Sep 1, 2009

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The World Bank’s Board of Executive
Directors made a decision last week to allocate an additional sum of
36.6 million USD for the Lifeline Roads Improvement Project (LRIP)
in Armenia.

The project will help rehabilitate about 140 km of lifeline roads in
seven marzes (provinces).

According to a report of the World Bank Armenia Office, the project
will assist the Armenian government with the improvement of the
country’s main road network and the creation of jobs in the medium
term. It will also allow mitigating the impact of the global economic
crisis on the country’s economy and population.

EXPERT: ARMENIAN DIPLOMACY SHOULD NOT LOSE VIGILANCE

ARKA
Sep 1, 2009

YEREVAN, September 1. /ARKA/. Armenian diplomacy should not lose its
vigilance, Director of Oriental Studies Institute of Armenian Academy
of Sciences Ruben Safrastyan told journalists Tuesday, in commenting
the joint statement of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
and the foreign ministries of Armenia and Turkey about establishing
diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey.

"There is no doubt that the protocols about establishing diplomatic
relations between Armenia and Turkey and developing bilateral relations
is a landmark achievement of our diplomacy. Yet, out diplomats should
not relax and should work even better," Safrastyan said.

Armenia and Turkey agreed to start internal political consultations
about two preliminary protocols signed during the Swiss mediated
negotiations – the protocol about establishing diplomatic relations
between the two countries and the protocol about developing bilateral
relations.

Safrastyan appreciated the clear and quite tough policy implemented
by Armenia recently.

According to Safrastyan, the categorical statement of Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan that he would not leave for Turkey if "Turkey
does not take certain steps" played positive role in the process.

As to Turkey’s interest in the signing of the documents, the main
reason for it was Turkey’s geopolitical ambitions and its wish to
join 0Athe EU, Safrastyan said.

No diplomatic relations exist between Armenia and Turkey, and the
Armenian-Turkish border has been closed since 1993 initiated by
official Ankara.

The first warming of the relations occurred on September 6 2008
when Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrived in Yerevan for the first
time on the invitation of the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan for
watching together the football match between the nationals of Armenia
and Turkey in 2010 championship qualifying games. During this visit,
the two countries’ presidents discussed possible normalization of
the bilateral relations.

ARMENIA AND TURKEY AGREE TO PRESENT TO RESPECTIVE PARLIAMENTS A PLAN TO ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITHIN SIX WEEKS

NowLebanon
Aug 31 2009
Lebanon

Armenia and Turkey have agreed to present to their respective
parliaments a plan to establish diplomatic relations within six weeks,
the two countries’ foreign ministries said on Monday.

The ministries issued a joint statement saying that the two countries
agreed to start "internal political consultations" on two protocols:
one establishing diplomatic relations and the other developing
bilateral ties.

"The political consultations will be completed within six weeks,
following which the two protocols will be signed and submitted to
the respective parliaments for ratification," the statement said.

The Swiss-brokered agreement would provide for the normalization of
ties "within a reasonable timeframe," said the statement.

"The normalization of bilateral relations will contribute to regional
peace and stability," it added.

Armenia and Turkey said in April that they had agreed to a road map
for normalizing diplomatic ties after year of enmity.

Turkey has long refused to establish diplomatic links with Armenia
over Yerevan’s efforts to have World War I-era massacres of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks recognized as genocide — a label Turkey strongly
rejects.

Turkey also closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
ally Azerbaijan over Yerevan’s backing of ethnic Armenian separatists
in the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region.

Washington has backed the reconciliation effort, with US President
Barack Obama calling for Armenia and Turkey to build on fence-mending
efforts during a visit to Turkey earlier this year.

MEDIEVAL CHURCH DISCOVERED IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am

A ug 31 2009
Armenia

The specialists of the Tourism Department, Government of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) discovered ruins of a church and
khachkars (cross-stones) on the slope of a hill in the village of
Krkzhan, to the south of Stepanakert.

The village of Krkzhan is famous for its archeological
finds. Archeologists found pitchers there before, and different
articles can be found during construction work now. It is noteworthy
that, in his book entitled Artsakh, Archbishop Markar Barkhudaryan
mentions St. Stephen Church located there. The old residents of
Krkzhan told about the church, but the young ones have not seen it.

During the Soviet times the rapidly increasing Azerbaijani population
in the village was ousting the Armenian elements toward Stepanakert.

The newly discovered building is evidence of Azerbaijanis’ attempts
to blot out every trace of an Armenian church and cross-stones. The
church was probably used as a cattle shed, and the cross-stones were
broken to pieces, say the specialists.

Sergey Shahverdyan, Head of the Tourism Department, said that an
archeologist will be involved in the cleaning work at the church. At
present, the specialists plan to clean the 12 meters high and five
meters wide church building (a limestone structure with a baptistry)
as well as the cross-stones and prepare them for the 10th anniversary
of the re-establishment of the Armenian Church in the NKR.

YEREVAN INTERNATIONAL MUSICAL FESTIVAL TO BE HELD AT FALL

Panorama.am
13:41 31/08/2009

Yerevan international musical festival will be held in Yerevan,
11-23 September. 12 concerts are scheduled to be conducted in Aram
Khachatryan hall in the framework of the festival held the third times,
Culture Ministry reports.

Solo performers invited to participate in the festival are Kim
Qashqashyan (alt, USA), Wolfgang Mayer (Clarinet, Germany), Anahit
Chaushyan (piano, UK), Ilia Gringolts (violin, Russia), Juzzepe
Jakomini (tenor, Italy), Karine Babajanyan (soprano, Germany),
Daishin Kashimoto (violin, Japan), etc.

The conductor of Yerevan international musical festival is Edward
Topchyan, violoncello Alexander Chaushyan from Great Britain.

It’s worth reminding that the festival is supported by the Ministry
of Culture under the patronage of Armenian First Lady.

PRESS RELEASE
Yerkir Union
Contact Europe:
<mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]

Contact Arm¨¦nie:
Robert Tatoyan:
Mobile: +374 94 36 17 93
E-mail: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]

26 August 2009

Georgian Authorities are continuously and deliberately Strengthening
Pressure on Javakheti Armenian Political Activist Vahagn Chakhalyan

The Javakheti Armenian political activist Vahagn Chakhalyan, who had
been transferred from Gldani prison ¡í8 of Tbilisi to the colony of
general regime ¡í2 of Rustavi on July 31 of this year, was again
transferred on August 21, this time – to the colony of strict regime
¡í6 of the same town.

¡°Yerkir¡± union declares that by transferring the Javakheti political
activist to the establishment, where the convicts are serving their
sentence for having committed grave and especially grave crimes, the
Georgian authorities, instead of ensuring the safety of Vahagn
Chakhalyan, are deliberately subjecting him to an even bigger danger.

By this step, aimed at strengthening both direct and indirect prison
pressure on Vahagn Chakhalyan, the Georgian authorities also hope to
break the determination of the latter to continue the struggle in
Court, since the completely fabricated nature of the criminal case
becomes more and more apparent in course of the trial.

Taking into account the above-stated situation, ¡°Yerkir¡± union calls
upon the Georgian authorities to stop immediately exerting pressure on
Vahagn Chakhalyan and to guarantee his safety by transferring him to
the initial place of detention at the Gldani prison of ¡í8 up to the
end of the entire process of appeal (including the higher courts).

¡°Yerkir¡± Union calls on the Public Defender of Georgia Sozar Subari,
the international human rights organizations, and accredited
diplomatic missions in Georgia to undertake effective measures and to
immediately stop this new round of pressure exerted by the Georgian
authorities on Javakheti political activist and to guarantee his
safety.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting IWPR, UK
Aug 28 2009

EUROVISION: AZERBAIJAN BACKS DOWN

Embarrassed government says Armenia song votes probe was a mistake.

By Elshan Mammadaliyev in Baku

The Azerbaijan security services’ interrogation of people who voted
for Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest was `a mistake by one
official’, the government says, while commentators said the probe
humiliated the whole country.

In a move that got the country some unwelcome publicity, all 43
Azerbaijanis who sent a text message voting for the Armenian entry in
the continent-wide music contest in May were summoned to the Ministry
of National Security, MNS.

`When I was called to the MNS, I thought they were arresting me for
the strong criticism of President Ilham Aliyev I’d written on
Facebook. I had even forgotten that I’d voted for Armenia. When in the
MNS they started to interrogate me about this, I almost burst out
laughing,’ said Rovshan Nasirli, who was called to the ministry on
August 12.

Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are very tense. The two
countries have never signed a peace treaty to end their 1991 war over
Nagorny-Karabakh, although a ceasefire was signed 15 years
ago. Armenian troops still occupy swathes of western Azerbaijan.

Nasirli described a scene reminiscent of the inquisition of a serious
criminal and said the interrogators tried to intimidate him.

`After they kept me for two hours in an empty room, two men came to
me, saying they worked for the main department of the MNS. One had a
list in his hand of all the people who voted for the Armenian entry,
and their addresses. They said that people like me should be sent to
prison. They said, `Today you vote for an Armenian, tomorrow you will
go to blow up the metro for them.”

The MNS refused to comment on the reasons for the campaign, but Novruz
Mamedov, head of the international department at the presidential
administration, said the affair had been whipped up out of all
proportion.

`Nothing special happened. There was no pressure applied to them. You
just have to bear in mind that Azerbaijan is still a very young
state. We have only been independent for 18 years, and not all our
officials have the required experience,’ he said in a statement issued
to the APA news agency, in which he blamed the Armenians for stoking
hatred against his country.

`For hundreds of years many peoples have lived in peace in Azerbaijan,
including 20,000 Armenians. Why does no one talk about this? And a
mistake by one official is presented like a deliberate act by the
national government. This is just part of a negative campaign which
has been conducted against Azerbaijan for many years, and which is
encouraged by Armenia.’

But his attempts to calm the furore failed, with gossip about the
arrests appearing on Azeri blogs and web sites.

`I am sure this mistake was made by just one low-ranking official. And
harm was done to the whole country,’ said Togrul Juvarli, a political
analyst.

`The political weight of this incident has been great. When it is
important to show the world that we are a civilised country, we behave
like this.’

Nasirli said he was shocked by how little public protest there had
been over the affair, and how the government was prepared to dismiss
as a `mistake’ the summoning of dozens of young people.

`Every citizen should ask the question why illegal interrogation and
investigation are allowed in Azerbaijan. This could happen to everyone
because the officials do not respect the law,’ he said.

`The MNS should occupy itself with more serious issues. I liked the
song, so I sent a text message. This is not betraying my homeland. If
only we could solve Karabakh with text messages.’

But he should not count on everyone defending him. Karabakh is a very
emotive issue in Azerbaijan, which is home to hundreds of thousands of
civilians displaced by the conflict, and Akif Nagi, chairman of the
organisation for the liberation of Karabakh, said Azeris should not
even send text messages in favour of their enemy.

`This is immoral. There is no place for tolerance in this
question. The position of the MNS is correct. However, the MNS
officials made a mistake in how they investigated the situation. They
acted very crudely, asking those who voted for the Armenians to come
in and putting pressure on them. Such people should have been
investigated and kept under surveillance so they didn’t even suspect
it,’ he said.

Elshan Mammadaliyev is a freelance journalist in Baku.

Aysor, Armenia
Aug 29 2009

New developments in Vayots Dzor

`Armproject’ open joint-stock company by the decision of the RA
Government and the RA Town Building Ministry has carried out a project
of planning of Vayots Dzor region, the main aim of which is organizing
the exact expansive ` economic functioning, solving the problems of
regional architectural-lay out structure’s and functional zoning.

As the Aysor.am was told by the manager of the `Armproject’ company
Nune Petrosyan in the project are taken into consideration the
conjoint principles of the regional planning. A great strategic
significance and importance is attached to the development of various
types of tourism, as a stimulus for developing the economy, as this
sphere is one of the most dynamically developing one in the
international services.

`Cooperation and development of all the fields of the economy is
excepted, as well as development of forest economy’, – mentioned
N. Petrosyan.

In the project the issues of the tourism development program devoted
to the process of turning Jermuk into a resort and a winter tourism
center were included. Suggestions were made to realize the project
proportionally and to take into account the social, cultural, economic
and surrender protection needs of the inhabitants and tourists.

Yesterday hearings of the `Lay out project of Vayots Dzor region’
project were held in the regional council.
As to N. Petrosyan very active discussions were held by all the
representatives of the communities, mayors, architects, regional
governors, local institutions, social organizations.

The project was estimated positively taking into account all the
offers. Now the project is to be reconsidered, tested, discussed in
the ministries interested and by the end of the year be confirmed.