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PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN NEEDS A SIMPLE ANSWER TO A SIMPLE QUESTION

ArmInfo
2009-04-29 11:37:00

It is the choice of Armenia and Turkey how to continue their relations,
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said at a joint press conference
with President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso,
APA reported.

The Head of the Azerbaijani state also answered the questions
regarding the discussions he had conducted with Jose Manuel Barroso
about Turkey-Armenia rapprochement: "I have discussed a number of
issues, including regional development and cooperation issues with
the President of the European Commission. Of, course while talking
about the regional cooperation, we could not leave aside of the latest
developments in the region you have mentioned about. We have expressed
our position on this issue many times. The position is that we never
intervene in the affairs of other states and the relations between the
two sovereign countries. This is the decision what Turkey and Armenia
can make. It’s their choice how to continue their relations. But
while touching on some comments about the historical roots of this
issue, I want to remind that the border between Turkey and Armenia was
closed in 1993 as a result of occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories
by Armenia. This occupation is still continuing today. Today, Armenia
still continues keeping the internationally-recognized territories of
Azerbaijan under its occupation. I reiterate that we do not have such
a position to create obstacle for further development of relations
between these two countries or prevent it. I want to mention that we
also have a right to form our policy according to the new realities
in the region and we will use this right. We receive different
information from different sources. According to him, one source says
that "Road Map" was accepted in certain circumstances, but another
source says no circumstances have been determined yet. This is a kind
of word game. I think the world, region and Azerbaijani People have
a right to know what happens. Is Nagorno Karabakh problem left aside
of Turkey-Armenia rapprochement? This is a very simple question and
we need a very simple answer", I. Aliyev said.

ARMENIA HAS GOOD CHANCES TO BECOME A CENTRAL FORCE IN THE REGION

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2009 15:25 GMT+04:00

The route map on Armenian-Turkish ties normalization has given rise to
various reactions in public, political and analytical circles. However,
to obtain a more comprehensive and accurate picture, it is necessary to
reduce the emotional component, David Babayan, a political scientist
from Karabakh, writes in an article entitled "Armenian Turkish
geo-politics: real situation and perspectives".

The political scientist finds that domestic policy requires sober
approach to different problems. "It doesn’t mean that the emotional
component should be absolutely ignored in politics, because this is
a kind of immune system for the nation; once it’s lost, the state
may find itself in a very complicated situation," the article says.

According to Babayan, if Turkism becomes a principal trend in Turkey’s
policy, it will produce a direct impact on the country’s multi-million
Kurdish population whose native land, by the way, was adjacent to the
South Caucasian region. "Turkism will arouse serious concerns among
Kurds and seriously impact their policy."

Clearly, Turkey will have to compensate the existing dissatisfaction
and distrust by proposing a national ideology capable of ensuring
stability and internal self-satisfaction in Turkish public. The only
way to achieve that is to pursue the Islam religion. Actually, by
attacking Israel, Ankara has officially recognized Islamic religion
as its national ideology. In view of Turkey’s more active role in the
South Caucasus, especially, the combination of Turkism and Islamist
religion, Armenia is assuming an increasingly important role for
Georgia, Iran, Israel and the Arab world. Armenia has good chances
for becoming a central force in the region.

Studying the Armenian-Turkish geopolitics, we are confronted the
following question: what’s the price of that? "If Ankara proposes
the Azerbaijani scenario of Karabakh settlement as a precondition
(i.e. the de-facto and step-by-step partition of Artsakh), then,
all the possibilities becoming a central force will vanish. The
loss of Artsakh is fraught with an overwhelming shock, leading to
the collapse of the nation. Such scenario is certainly unacceptable,
especially considering that Ankara will hardly insist on its previous
statement on the Armenian-Turkish ties normalization being a parallel
process with Karabakh settlement. The country is now required to
enter Tran Caucasus and establish firm positions in any part of the
region except Azerbaijan. Only in that case can Turkey resort to
other methods. But if we conduct a balanced and well-reasoned policy,
we’ll really manage to attain desired results," he noted.

SECRETARY OF NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: IRANIAN INVESTMENTS IN ARMENIAN ECONOMY TO REACH $980MLN

/ARKA/
April 28, 2009
YEREVAN

As a result of Armenia-Iran political agreement, Iran is to invest
about 980mln USD in the Armenian economy, Secretary of Armenia’s
National Security Council Artur Baghdasaryan told journalists Saturday.

He reported that Armenian president presented the results of his
last visit to Iran and the agreement reached at the recent Security
Council meeting.

The Iranian side is ready to invest 400mln dollars in construction of
Armenia-Iran railroad, Baghdasaryan said. Total cost of the project
is to be 1-1.2bln dollars.

The road will not only create new jobs, but will also allow Armenia
getting connected with Middle Asia counties and China through the
Iranian transport system, Baghdasaryan said. He also stressed that
during his April visit to Moscow President Sargsyan got it confirmed
that Russia is interested in the project.

Total length of Iran-Armenia railroad is to be about 470 kilometers,
including 60 kilometers on the territory of Iran and the remaining
part on the territory of Armenia. The works are to be carried out in
several stages: feasibility study, establishing of financial sources,
selection of optimal route and the construction stage itself.

Baghdasaryan reported that an agreement was reached about construction
of Iran-Armenia oil pipeline with 2.5mln-ton capacity. Armenia is to
receive refined oil through this pipeline. This will provide Armenia
with an alternate fuel supply and will reduce the fuel price. He also
said that Armenia will have an opportunity to export oil products as
its own demand is about 500,000 tons only.

Another important agreement was reached on construction of a hydro
power plant on Araks River. The project is to cost approximately
250mln USD.

Baghdasaryan pointed out that the main financial investments are to
be implemented by the Iranian side with the further settlement to be
made by electricity, goods and equipment.

YURI MERZLYAKOV DENIES RUMORS ON WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN TROOPS FROM ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.04.2009 18:43 GMT+04:00

At a news conference convened in Yerevan, OSCE MG Russian Co-Chair
Y. Merzlyakov said the rumors on Russia’s intention to withdraw its
troops from Armenia in case of Armenian-Turkish ties normalization
are untrue. "To the best of my knowledge, withdrawal of Russian troops
is not on agenda at present," the Russian diplomat noted.

OSCE MG AND RA PRESIDENT DISCUSSED PLANS FOR NEXT SARGSYAN-ALIEV MEETING

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.04.2009 19:28 GMT+04:00

On April 27, President S. Sargsyan received OSCE MG Co-Chairs Matthew
Bryza (USA), Yuriy Merzlyakov (Russia), Bernard Fassier (France) and
personal representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office Anjey Kasprchik. RA
FM Eduard Nalbandyan also attended the meeting.

During the meeting, the parties discussed current stage of the Karabakh
peace process as well as plans for the next meeting between Armenian
and Azeri Presidents. Serzh Sargsyan once again reiterated Armenia’s
commitment to settling conflict through peaceful negotiations, within
MG format and in compliance with basic principles of international law,
RA President’s Press Service reports.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT: NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS WITH TURKEY NOT TO IMPEDE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

/ARKA/
April 27, 2009
YEREVAN

Normalization of the relations with Turkey is not an obstacle on
the way of international recognition of the genocide of Armenians in
Ottoman Empire, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at the meeting
in the country’s National Security Council Saturday.

He pointed out the frequent statements made today saying that the
joint statement of the foreign ministries of Armenia, Turkey and
Switzerland on normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations on the eve
of April 24, Memorial Day of the Armenian genocide, may impede the
process of international acknowledgement of the genocide.

Foreign ministries of Armenia and Turkey, together with the Swiss
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs made a joint statement about
normalization of the relations on the night of April 23. The statement
reads that the parties reached an agreement on a wide-ranged settlement
of bilateral relations. The sides also agreed on establishing a
"road map" for normalization of the relations.

According to the President, on the contrary, the genocide topic became
a subject of a more intense coverage this time than ever.

All leading world mass media outlets were starting their news with
this topic pointing out that there has been a genocide and saying
that the President of Armenia repeatedly stated that set tlement of
relations with Turkey does not imply renunciation of the genocide
or doubting the fact of the genocide, Sargsyan said as quoted by the
presidential press service.

"Establishing relations with Turks does not impede the international
acknowledgement of the genocide. International recognition of the
genocide is the only way to prevent genocides," President said.

The fact that the statement was made on the eve of April 24 proves
that Turkey acknowledges the meaning of the day, he said.

According to Sargsyan, the signing of the statement by the Swiss
Department for Foreign Affairs and the positive response of the
U.S. Department of State followed by the telephone talk with the
U.S. Vice-President Josef Biden, confirmed the readiness of the world
community, the USA and Switzerland in particular, to consistently
assist in the process and to somehow stand surety for the agreements
reached.

"Our approaches to the cause-effect relations around the historical
facts, our national ideas and problems have not changed. But we should
realize that a step needs to be made to cover the path. Nobody says
it is easy or it would be easy but we should be ready to move in a
correct direction and protect our interests," the President said.

Armenian genocide was the first genocide committed in XX
century. Turkey rejects the accusation of massacres and the killing
of one and a half million Armenia ns during World War I.

The fact of the Armenian genocide is recognized by many countries,
particularly by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, most of the
U.S. states, as well as by the parliaments of Greece, Cyprus,
Argentina, Belgium, Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Common
House of Canada, the Seym of Poland and lower house of Italian
parliament.

ARMEN ASHOTIAN: ARFD TRIES TO CLEAN ITSELF OF PRO-GOVERNMENTAL PARTY’S IMAGE BEFORE 2012 ELECTIONS

NOYAN TAPAN
APRIL 27, 2009
YEREVAN

ARFD tries to come out of the ruling coalition for the purpose of
cleaning itself of pro-governmental party’s image before the 2012
elections. Armen Ashotian, a member of the RA National Assembly
RPA faction, expressed such an opinion at the March 27 press
conference. However, in his opinion, for ARFD it will be very difficult
to clean itself of pro-governmental party’s image, as Dashnaktsutiun
has been a non-formal power since 1991. "It is difficult to say how
well they will manage to return their former image among society’s
opposition sector within three years," he said.

According to A. Ashotian, the current development of Armenian-Turkish
relations is a good occasion for Dashnaktsutiun for coming out of
power on the pretext of national ideology. At the same time he said
that ARFD’s referring to change of Armenia’s foreign policy does not
correspond to reality. According to the RPA deputy, it is rather an
occasion than a deep cause of principle.

According to A. Ashotian’s prediction, ARFD’s appearing in the
opposition sphere will create a new situation in the home political
sphere in the respect of quality. According to him, ARFD becoming
an opposition will deprive Armenian National Congress of monopoly
position in that sphere, as well as will deprive the Zharangutiun
party of the unique status of being the only parliamentary opposition.

US CO-CHAIR OF OSCE MINSK GROUP REFUTES REPORTS ABOUT POSSIBLE CHANGES IN MG MEMBERSHIP

ArmInfo
2009-04-27 19:14:00

US co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza has refuted the reports
about possible changes in the MG membership.

Particularly, some sources have said that France might secede from
the MG and might be replaced by Turkey.

‘WE ARE ALL ARMENIANS’ OBAMA WAS RIGHT NOT TO JEOPARDIZE RECONCILIATION BETWEEN ANKARA AND YEREVAN.

Wall Street Journal
75856957.html
April 27 2009
ISTANBUL

President Barack Obama trod a fine moral line this month between his
past campaign promises to use the word genocide to describe the World
War I massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and his present
opportunity to nurture normalization between Armenia and Turkey. But
his compromise was no capitulation to the realpolitik of U.S.-Turkish
strategic interests, as some Armenians may suspect and some Turks
may hope. It is actually a challenge to both parties to move beyond
the stalemates of history.

APThe opportunity could hardly be better. After a decade of civil
society outreach and growing official engagement, Armenia and Turkey
jointly announced on Wednesday a Swiss-mediated deal to establish
diplomatic relations and open borders. The two sides will also set
up a bilateral commission to study what Armenians commemorate each
April 24 as the beginning of a genocide against their people by the
Ottoman Turks in 1915, and what Turkey says were forced relocations,
uprisings and massacres during the chaos of World War I.

Before implementing the deal, however, Turkey is now seeking an
Armenian commitment to withdraw from territory in Azerbaijan that
ethnic Armenian forces occupied in the 1992-94 Nagorno-Karabakh
war. But Ankara would be ill-advised to hold up rapprochement with
Yerevan because of protests from its ally, Azerbaijan. In fact,
normalizing relations with Armenia is the best way for Turkey to help
its ethnic and linguistic Azerbaijani cousins. It would make Armenia
feel more secure, making it perhaps also more open to a compromise
over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The border closure these past 16 years has done nothing to
force a settlement over the contested region. The fragility
of the 1994 cease-fire truce suggests that a new way forward is
imperative. Armenian normalization with Turkey will not be sustainable
in the long run, though, unless Yerevan and Baku agree to the ongoing
international Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, leading to Armenian
troop withdrawals.

It is this complex situation that explains Mr. Obama’s diplomatic
language. In this year’s April 24 memorial statement, the
U.S. president chose not to use the word "genocide" to describe the
events of 1915. The Turks resent this term partly because they want
their view of the events to be taken into account and partly because
the term genocide has potential legal implications involving possible
demands for reparations and compensation. The Swiss-brokered deal
will include an Armenian recognition of Turkey’s borders, banishing
the shadow of long-lingering territorial claims.

Instead, President Obama chose the Armenian term for the atrocities,
"Mets Yeghern," meaning "Great Man-Made Catastrophe." The
U.S. Congress, where a resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide
was introduced on March 17, may want to follow the president’s lead
and avoid confrontation in order to give the current Turkey-Armenia
normalization process a chance.

Armenians have a point when they argue that the past decade of
international resolutions and statements recognizing the Armenian
genocide have forced Turkey to end its blanket denial of Ottoman
wrongdoing. But such outside pressures have got no closer to making
Turkey accept the term genocide itself, especially when the bills
before Congress and other parliaments are clearly the result of
domestic political calculations rather than high-minded deliberation.

On the Armenian question, many Turks, including government officials
now publicly express regret over the loss of Armenian life. After
more than eight decades of silence, when any open discussion of what
happened in 1915 was considered taboo, the Turkish public is digesting
an onrush of new facts and opinions about those past events.

The past decade has seen much convergence between Turks and Armenians
in understanding the history of 1915 as academic exchanges have
grown and information become widely available. A 2005 conference on
the Armenian issue by the front ranks of the Turkish intelligentsia
demonstrated that the country’s academic and cultural elite wants
to do away with the old nationalist defensiveness. In the east
of Turkey, efforts have begun to preserve the surviving Armenian
heritage. Far from worsening Turkish-Armenian relations, the murder of
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in 2007 by a shadowy nationalist
gang triggered a march of 100,000 people in Istanbul carrying signs
saying "We Are All Armenians."

Opinion polls show two-thirds of Turks supported President Abdullah
Gul’s decision in September to accept his Armenian counterpart Serzh
Sarkisian’s invitation for a World Cup qualifier soccer match and
to become the first Turkish head of state to visit Armenia. Then
in December, 200 leading Turkish intellectuals began a signature
campaign to apologize for what they called the "Great Catastrophe"
of the Armenians. Nearly 30,000 people have signed it so far.

Overall, Turkey’s efforts with Armenia also fit into decade-long
efforts to improve ties with other neighboring countries. Ankara has
successfully normalized its once tense relations with Syria, Greece
and Iraqi Kurdistan. Ankara also tried its best to bring about a
reconciliation between Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

New trends are visible in Armenia too. As pride and security in the new
Armenian statehood grows, genocide recognition no longer overrides all
other national interests. Issues such as the need for more economic
opportunities, a broader-based regional strategy and an open Turkish
border that can be a direct gateway to the West are taking center
stage. Armenians increasingly spend their vacation in Turkish resorts.

Change is also evident in the diaspora, which outnumbers the
population in Armenia and has a strong influence on Yerevan. The
Armenian community in France led an international campaign, joined by
Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan and more than 100 public intellectuals,
to say "Thank You" for the Turkish apology efforts. Armenian-French
intellectuals are increasingly seeking to reconnect with their heritage
by cultivating their links to Turkey and Turks and visiting Istanbul.

As President Obama has recognized, it is this trend of convergence
that offers the best chance in decades to open the borders between
these two states, moving beyond nearly a century in which Turks and
Armenians have been held hostage to frozen conflicts, nationalist
confrontation and the ghosts of the past.

Mr. Pope, author of "Turkey Unveiled: A History of Modern Turkey,"
is the Istanbul representative of International Crisis Group.

Buffalo News , NY
April 26 2009

Poems bear witness to the world’s horrors

Lucy Kogler

Little did T. S. Eliot know when he wrote the first five words of `The
Wasteland’ in 1920 ‘ `April is the cruelest month’ ‘ just how
portentous his words were.

April is the month in which poetry is celebrated and genocide
memorialized. The six genocides commemorated are: April 6, Bosnia and
Herzegovina; April 7, Rwanda; April 17, Cambodia; April 18, present
Darfur; April 21, the Holocaust; and April 24, Armenia.

These two occasions would seem to be at odds, but I don’t think so. I
believe that National Poetry Month is the corollary to Genocide
Awareness Month.

National Poetry Month gives us the opportunity to celebrate our
ability as humans to use words to explain and glorify our
world. Genocide Awareness Month gives us the opportunity to
acknowledge

our capacity for evil. The desired outcome of focusing our attentions
on atrocities is that a global intolerance for further occurrences
will be generated.

We are creatures who need to explain and illuminate. We need to give
voice to our rage, fear, hope and joy. We need to share our
experiences. Ultimately a poem is a memory, thought or experience put
into words. A poem organizes what is chaotic and terrifying.

A poem tells the story of the disappeared, of the butchered, of the
gassed, of the starved.

A poem is an image of something seen by the dead ‘ hidden in a wall,
written on a leaf, memorized and rebirthed by survivors.

A poem is a song heard in ditches, in forests, in tents, in barracks,
in transports. Poems bear witness. It is the obligation of not only
the witness, survivor, poet, but of the words themselves, to give life
to the horror. One need only recognize the pulse of humanity and not
the specific author in order for the words to be alive and present. It
is our own voice we hear as we read these poems, and by hearing our
voice transported to the situation, we make alive our conscience and
force awareness.

Carolyn Forche is the editor of an incredible and important anthology
of poetry: `Against Forgetting.’ In it are poems from the wars and
genocides of the 20th century starting with the Armenian
genocide. Reading the political poetry of the 20th and 21st century
should be an essential part of everyone’s education.

I remember being given a poetry anthology, `A Gathering of Poems,’ as
a teenager by one of my friends. I was home from school, sick, and
feeling sorry for myself. I opened it and found the poem by a young
girl who had been in a concentration camp. I still remember the words
and why I wanted to memorize them:

From tomorrow on I will be sad From tomorrow on Not today, today I
will be glad And every day no matter how hard it may be I will say
>From tomorrow on I will be sad And not today. I still use this poem as
fortitude

when confronted with an intolerable situation. Poetry will always be
the most immediate and the most intimate way in for me.

This month at Talking Leaves Books we will be handing out a `Books of
Conscience’ flyer prepared by the independent booksellers association.
On Thursday we will be handing out poems for `Poem in Your Pocket
Day.’ As Buffalo’s oldest independent bookstore, we take our
responsibility to make available the writing that will keep us free
from tyranny very seriously. Let’s be utterly aware this month, and
for longer!

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