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ARMENIAN DELEGATION TO TAKE PART IN OSCE PA WINTER SESSION TO BE CONVENED ON FEBRUARY 19-20 IN VIENNA

Noyan Tapan
Feb 17, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, NOYAN TAPAN. The proposal on new European
Security Architecture is the main subject of discussion at the
OSCE PA 8th winter session to be convened on February 19-20 in
Vienna. The latter’s initiators are Russian and French Presidents
Dmitry Medvedev and Nicolas Sarkozy. The preparation process of
Kazakhstan’s assuming chairmanship in OSCE in 2010 will be also
presented to the parliamentarians.

In addition to the parliamentary delegations of organization’s 56
member-states, a delegation led by RA NA Bargavach Hayastan faction
Secretary Aram Safarian will also take part in the sitting. As
Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by the delegation, sittings
of Assembly’s standing and three general commissions will be held
during the session.

It is expected that at the Standing Committee sitting Assembly’s
Honorary Chairman, Assembly’s Special Representative on the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict and Special Envoy on the situation in Georgia Goran
Lennmarker will present a report on his visit to the South Caucasian
states, including Armenia, in February.

"OPEN ARMENIAN-TURKISH FRONT BENEFICIAL FOR RUSSIA"

Panorama.am
18:03 16/02/2009

"Open Armenian-Turkish frontier is beneficial for Russia taking
into account those changes with Georgia," said political expert
Yervand Bozoyan in a press conference: "The only way to strengthen
its pressure over Georgia and to isolate the country is to contribute
to open Armenian-Turkish frontier."

According to the expert if the front opens Armenia will have another
way out of the country, and Russia expects Armenia to press on Georgia,
too. "It is quite different thing how Armenia decides, what position
to chose but it is expected by Russia to see Armenian pressure on
Georgia," he said.

ANALYST ARMEN AGHAYAN: TIMES OF OPPOSITIONISTS LACKING IDEOLOGICAL CONTENT HAVE ALREADY PASSED

Noyan Tapan
Feb 16, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. There are preconditions
for national-political ideological change of generations in
Armenia. Political analyst Armen Aghayan reported at the February
16 press conference presenting an expert report under the title
Armenia: First Post-electoral Year: Developments and Changes in Public
Consciousness. According to the analyst, in the 2008 elections and
post-electoral developments the "12-year opposition lacking ideological
content finally passed away." "Lacking ideological content, as it
refused to formulate any ideological alternative to the foreign,
domestic or economic policy of the authorities, it only accused
the latters of various crimes, mainly, of seizing the power, and
declared restoration of legal power in the country its only goal,"
A. Aghayan said.

In his opinion, already in the past parliamentary elections it became
clear that the times of oppositionists lacking ideological content
have already passed: "One thing is clear: the opposition of the new
kind that cannot become fully-fledged without a serious ideological
and organization basis, will have a greater possibility of carrying
out a power shift," he said.

As A. Aghayan predicted it, from 2009 political fermentations will
proceed not so much over the problem of power shift as the problem of
"opposition shift." And the analyst expects nothing from the Armenian
National Congress March 1 rally. According to him, if the opposition
failed to carry out a power shift in 2008 February-March, it will
especially fail to do it in 2009 March. In A. Aghayan’s opinion,
the current opposition has a problem of keeping its positions in
the political sphere and succeeding in the forthcoming parliamentary
elections.

ROBERT FISK’S WORLD: WHEN IT COMES TO GAZA, LEAVE THE SECOND WORLD WAR OUT OF IT

independent
Saturday, 17 January 2009
UK

How do Holocaust survivors in Israel feel about being called Nazis?

Exaggeration always gets my goat. I started to hate it back in the
1970s when the Provisional IRA claimed that Long Kesh internment camp
was "worse than Belsen". It wasn’t as if there was anything nice about
Long Kesh – or the Maze prison as it was later politely dubbed – but
it simply wasn’t as bad as Belsen. And now we’re off again. Passing
through Paris this week, I found pro-Palestinian demonstrators carrying
signs which read "Gaza, it’s Guernica" and "Gaza-sur-Glane".

Guernica, as we all know, was the Basque city razed by the Luftwaffe
in 1937 and Oradour-sur-Glane the French village whose occupants
were murdered by the SS in 1944. Israel’s savagery in Gaza has also
been compared to a "genocide" and – of course – a "holocaust". The
French Union of Islamic Organisations called it "a genocide without
precedent" – which does take the biscuit when even the Pope’s "minister
for peace and justice" has compared Gaza to "a big concentration camp".

Before I state the obvious, I only wish the French Union of Islamic
Organisations would call the Armenian genocide a genocide – it doesn’t
have the courage to do so, does it, because that would be offensive
to the Turks and, well, the million and a half Armenians massacred
in 1915 happened to be, er, Christians.

Mind you, that didn’t stop George Bush from dropping the word from
his vocabulary lest he, too, should offend the Turkish generals whose
airbases America needs for its continuing campaign in Iraq. And even
Israel doesn’t use the word "genocide" about the Armenians lest
it loses its only Muslim ally in the Middle East. Strange, isn’t
it? When there’s a real genocide – of Armenians – we don’t like to
use the word. But when there is no genocide, everyone wants to get
in on the act.

Yes, I know what all these people are trying to do: make a direct
connection between Israel and Hitler’s Germany. And in several radio
interviews this past week, I’ve heard a good deal of condemnation
about such comparisons.

How do Holocaust survivors in Israel feel about being called Nazis? How
can anyone compare the Israeli army to the Wehrmacht? Merely to make
such a parallel is an act of anti-Semitism.

Having come under fire from the Israeli army on many occasions, I’m
not sure that’s necessarily true. I’ve never understood why strafing
the roads of northern France in 1940 was a war crime while strafing
the roads of southern Lebanon is not a war crime. The massacre of up
to 1,700 Palestinians in the Sabra and Chatila camps – perpetrated
by Israel’s Lebanese Phalangist allies while Israeli soldiers watched
an d did nothing – falls pretty much into the Second World War bracket.

Israel’s own estimate of the dead – a paltry 460 – was only nine
fewer than the Nazi massacre at the Czech village of Lidice in 1942
when almost 300 women and children were also sent to Ravensbruck
(a real concentration camp). Lidice was destroyed in revenge for the
murder by Allied agents of Reinhard Heydrich. The Palestinians were
slaughtered after Ariel Sharon told the world – untruthfully – that a
Palestinian had murdered the Lebanese Phalangist leader Bashir Gemayel.

Indeed, it was the courageous Professor Yeshayahu Leibovitz of the
Hebrew University (and editor of the Encyclopaedia Hebraica) who wrote
that the Sabra and Chatila massacre "was done by us. The Phalangists
are our mercenaries, exactly as the Ukrainians and the Croatians and
the Slovakians were the mercenaries of Hitler, who organised them
as soldiers to do the work for him. Even so have we organised the
assassins of Lebanon in order to murder the Palestinians". Remarks like
these were greeted by Israel’s then minister of interior and religious
affairs, Yosef Burg, with the imperishable words: "Christians killed
Muslims – how are the Jews guilty?"

I have long raged against any comparisons with the Second World War
– whether of the Arafat-is-Hitler variety once deployed by Menachem
Begin or of the anti-war-demonstrators-are-1930s-appeasers, most=2
0recently used by George Bush and Lord Blair of Kut al-Amara. And
pro-Palestinian marchers should think twice before they start
waffling about genocide when the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem once shook
Hitler’s hand and said – in Berlin on 2 November 1943, to be precise –
"The Germans know how to get rid of the Jews… They have definitely
solved the Jewish problem." The Grand Mufti, it need hardly be added,
was a Palestinian. He lies today in a shabby grave about two miles
from my Beirut home.

No, the real reason why "Gaza-Genocide" is a dangerous parallel is
because it is not true. Gaza’s one and a half million refugees are
treated outrageously enough, but they are not being herded into
gas chambers or forced on death marches. That the Israeli army is
a rabble is not in question – though I was amused to read one of
Newsweek’s regular correspondents calling it "splendid" last week –
but that does not mean they are all war criminals. The issue, surely,
is that war crimes do appear to have been committed in Gaza. Firing
at UN schools is a criminal act. It breaks every International Red
Cross protocol. There is no excuse for the killing of so many women
and children.

I should add that I had a sneaking sympathy for the Syrian foreign
minister who this week asked why a whole international tribunal has
been set up in the Hague to investigate the murder of one man – =0
ALebanese ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri – while no such tribunal is
set up to investigate the deaths of more than 1,000 Palestinians.

I should add, however, that the Hague tribunal may well be pointing the
finger at Syria and I would still like to see a tribunal set up into
the Syrian massacre at Hama in 1982 when thousands of civilians were
shot at the hands of Rifaat al-Assad’s special forces. The aforesaid
Rifaat, I should add, today lives safely within the European Union. And
how about a trial for the Israeli artillerymen who massacred 106
civilians – more than half of them children – at the UN base at Qana
in 1996?

What this is really about is international law. It’s about
accountability.

It’s about justice – something the Palestinians have never received
– and it’s about bringing criminals to trial. Arab war criminals,
Israeli war criminals – the whole lot. And don’t say it cannot be done.

Wasn’t that the message behind the Yugoslav tribunal? Didn’t some
of the murderers get their just deserts? Just leave the Second World
War out of it.

KHODJALU CORNERSTONE OF AZERBAIJANI MISINFORMATION POLICY

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.02.2009 14:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijan has launched a new round of its
traditional anti-Armenian campaign over the 1992 events in Khodjalu,
says a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic.

The statement goes on:

"The official Azerbaijani propaganda machine does not disdain
to use any methods and means to display the Armenian side as a
party responsible for the tragedy and to inject another portion of
poison of Armenian phobia into the public both in Azerbaijan and
abroad. Moreover, Baku goes on circulating the already unmasked frauds.

Thus, next year the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic drew the public’s attention to a forged photograph
exposed in a number of Azerbaijani websites, including the website
of Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which is very respectable in Azerbaijan
(). It has been mentioned, that the propaganda
machine of the neighboring republic tries to use the fact that
besides a great number of corpses of civilians in the foreground of
the photograph, outskirts of a settlement are seen in the background,
which, in principle, should add verisimilitude to Baku’s version on
mass killings of Azerbaijanis in Khodjalu. Meanwhile, color version
of the above-mentioned photograph absolutely refutes it, namely the
faces of the deceased, their garments, etc. In fact, this photograph
is directly connected with the events in Kosovo. Namely as that the
photograph along with a great number of the others was exhibited
in one Serbian, one Albanian, and in one specialized German forum,
in internet-page of reputable edition "New York Times" etc.

However, the mentioned undisguised fraud still remains in a number
of Azerbaijani sites, thus deluding those uninformed. Booklets with
similar fraud are circulating all over the world.

The NKR MFA Information Department reminds that on February 25-26,
1992, the Karabakhi side launched a military operation to release
the only airport of the republic, situated near Khodjalu settlement
and to neutralize the weapon emplacements of the enemy in Khodjalu,
from where since summer of 1991 the populated areas of Nagorno
Karabakh have been regularly exposed to attacks of the Azerbaijani
special police squads (OMON), artillery bombardments from "Alazan",
"Crystal" and rocket facility of volley fire "Grad".

The release of the airport and neutralization of weapon emplacements
of enemy in Khodjalu was of vital importance for the NKR people. The
subunits of the NKR Defense Army granted a corridor to the peaceful
population for safe and timely leaving the battle zone and the
Azerbaijani side was informed of it beforehand. It is well-known that
the NKR authorities informed the Azerbaijani side of preparation for
the neutralization of the Khojalu weapon emplacements two months prior
to the operation and that was repeatedly confirmed by the officials
of Azerbaijan, in particular, by the then president Ayaz Mutalibov.

However, the leadership of Azerbaijan did not undertake anything
to help the peaceful population to leave the battle zone. Moreover,
a column of peaceful population was shot near the border of Aghdam
region, which was later on confirmed by Mutalibov, who connected the
crime with the opposition’s efforts to remove him from the office by
making him responsible for everything.

The territory where subsequently many corpses were filmed is 3 km
far from Aghdam and 11 km from Khojalu. Up to the fall of Aghdam
(summer 1993) this area was under permanent control of the Azerbaijani
units, which excluded the access of the Karabakh self-defense units
there. Some details of this military operation are so far shrouded
in mystery and namely using this circumstance official Baku tries to
profit from it to gain its political goals.

It is noteworthy, that all the propaganda is being carried out with
pronounced anti-Armenian insinuations and is used for forcing ethnic
intolerance and hatred towards Armenians among Azerbaijanis.

Unfortunately, the topic of "Khodjalu" remains to be one of the
cornerstones of the Azerbaijani domestic and foreign information
or rather misinformation policy within the context of the Karabakh
problem in general."

Turkish PM: Israeli Election Results Paint ‘Very Dark Picture’

etails.aspx?id=74039&language=en

14/02/2009

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an interview with
Reuters and two Turkish newspapers late on Friday, said the results of
the Israeli elections this week had "painted a very dark picture" for
the future of Middle East peace.

Erdogan urged the next Israeli government to look at how it conducted
policies and actions towards the Palestinians and to lift what he
called an embargo on the Palestinians. He said Israel’s tough stance
against the Palestinians was failing.

"Unfortunately we have seen that the (Israeli) people have voted for
these (rightist) parties and that makes me a bit sad," Erdogan said of
the Israeli election result. "Unfortunately the election has painted a
very dark picture."

"With the ceasefire the embargo should be lifted. The Palestinian
people should be freed from an open-air prison they are living in right
now, this is against human rights," he said.

In a phone call expected soon with US President Barack Obama, Erdogan
said he would urge him to take a different approach to the Middle East
than the Bush administration. "I am expecting President Obama to be the
voice of the voiceless and the protector of the unprotected," he said.

Erdogan again defended his criticism of Israeli authorities. "We have
to distinguish between two things – the Israeli people and the Israeli
government. I say the same to my people. I see anti-Semitism as a crime
against humanity," Erdogan said. "I have also said that while
anti-Semitism is a crime against humanity, Islamophobia is also a crime
against humanity. I have said that the Jewish people should take part
in fighting this kind of prejudice," he said.

However Turkey’s fierce censure of Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip
will not end its role as a peace mediator in the region, Tayyip Erdogan
said.

"I don’t think that way… Turkey is a strong country that has a
(unique) international position," said Erdogan, speaking on his plane
while returning to Ankara from a campaign trip to Sivas. "We were not
the ones who wanted this negotiations role. In negotiations between
Syria and Israel both countries wanted Turkey to be the mediator, this
is why we took part in it. The same happened with the Israeli and
Pakistani talks."

He said critics misunderstood Turkish foreign policy if they thought
the government was siding with Hamas or was against Israel. Turkey
wanted peace in the region and was defending the helpless, in this case
the civilians in Gaza, he said.

Meanwhile Turkey’s foreign ministry has protested to Israel over a
senior Israeli general’s remarks criticizing Turkey. The ministry said
it summoned Israeli Ambassador Gabby Levy on Saturday to discuss
comments made Feb. 10 by Israel’s Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi.

Turkish media said the Israeli general accused Turkey of massacring
Armenians, oppressing Kurds and occupying Cyprus. Turkey’s military
said the remarks "cannot be accepted under any condition" and "can harm
national interests between the two countries."

PanARMENIAN.Net

Karabakh problem not urgent for Turkish-Armenian relations
14.02.2009 12:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Nagorno Karabakh problem was probably discussed
during the Russian-Turkish presidential talks in Moscow but it was not
among priorities, a Russian expert said.

`The visit of Turkish President Gul has followed the talks between
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and his Armenian and Azeri counterparts,’
Andrey Areshev, expert at the Strategic Culture Fund, told
PanARMENIAN.Net.

`Further activities depend on the policy the new U.S. administration
takes up. On the one hand, it gives the sides an opportunity to verify
positions; on the other hand, some forces can use the pause for
provocations, as it was in case with `Russian arms transfer to
Armenia.’ The international mediators keep saying that they can’t make
decisions instead of the sides. Meanwhile, despite flows of
misinformation poured upon ill-informed publics, Azerbaijan’s threats
and violations of the ceasefire clearly point out to the side which
doesn’t want peace,’ he said.

Regional powers ` Russia, Turkey and Iran – are not interested in
destabilization of South Caucasus, according to him.

`Ankara’s stability and security platform should be thoroughly
studied. Nevertheless, serious disagreement still persists and
Turkey’s interference in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement
process will hardly be welcomed by Tehran and Moscow,’ Areshev said.

Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:34:20 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Armenia: Charles Aznavour Ambasssador In Switzerland

ARMENIA: CHARLES AZNAVOUR AMBASSSADOR IN SWITZERLAND

Agenzia Giornalistica Italia
Feb 13 2009
Italy

(AGI) – Erevan, 13 Feb. – Charles Aznavour has been nominated as
ambassador in Switzerland by the government of his native country,
Armenia, which the 85-year-old artist has always supported in any way
possible, even when it was still under the rule of the former Soviet
Union. Aznavour, born in Paris 1924 and son of Armenian immigrants,
accepted the post with enthusiasm, saying that "It is a great honour
for me. At first I had some doubts, but then I thought that if it
matters for Armenia, it matters for all of us. I accepted with joy
and pleasure". Authorities in Erevan granted Armenian nationality to
Aznavour last December, and before that he was already acting as a
permanent delegate with Unesco for the country.

Born under the name Shahnour Vaghinagh Aznavourian, in 1988 the famous
singer went out of his way to help the victims of an earthquake that
counted approximately 25,000 victims: he created a specific foundation
and financed humanitarian assistance with a long series of charity
concerts. He is the author of more than a thousand songs, and during
his career he sold more than 100 million records around the world. He
was also the first French author to gain a platinum record in Europe.

RUSSIA, ARMENIA TO CREATE JOINT AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.02.2009 15:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia and Armenia are planning creation of joint
air defense system, CSTO Secretary General said.

"Possibility of creation of exchangeable air defense system in Central
Asia is also under consideration," Nikolay Bordyuzha told a news
conference in Moscow.

"This is the initial stage of creation of three anti-aircraft systems
in Eastern European dimension, Caucasus and Central Asia. Then we will
proceed to coordination of all three regional systems and development
of information exchange scheme. It’s a part of work we carry out
in the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization,"
he said, RBC reports.

The CSTO includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

STABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT TO BE SIGNED ON FEBRUARY 14

Noyan Tapan
Feb 13, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. Stable Development Program Social
Partnership Agreement is planned to be signed at a conference to be
held on February 14 in Yerevan with the participation of the public
government bodies and civil society. As Noyan Tapan was informed by
the RA Ministry of Economy Information and Public Relations Department,
Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsian will sign the agreement on behalf
of Armenia’s government.