Author: Andres-Papazian

SEVAN
De nouvelles plages publiques au bord du lac Sévan

Depuis une semaine, des plages publiques nouvelles sont en activité au
bord du lac Sévan. Selon Achot Avdalian, le chargé des plages au sein
du Ministère de l’Environnement, trois autres plages seront également
crées dans les prochaines semaines. Ces nouvelles plages seront à
Chorja à sept kilomètres de la route qui mène de Mardouni à Vardénis,
ainsi qu’au village de Tchologva. A. Avdalian a précisé que près des
aires de ces plages publiques, un certain nombre de service sont
gratuits, tels que le parking, les aires de jeux pour les enfants et
les terrains de sports, les toilettes et le centre de soins d’urgence.
La vente d’alcool, hormis la bière, est interdite près de ces plages.
C’est la société « Star Group » qui réalise les services et
l’exploitation des points de vente de ces nouvelles plages du lac
Sévan. Selon A. Avdalian en été chaque jour près de 800 personnes
fréquentent les plages publiques du Sévan et près de 1 200 en journée
de week-end.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 10 juillet 2011,
Krikor [email protected]

From: A. Papazian

MIKHAIL BAGHDASAROV RULES OUT THE ARRIVAL OF DISCOUNTER AIRLINES IN ARMENIA

Mediamax
July 6, 2011
Armenia

Wednesday 6 July 2011 15:47 Yerevan/Mediamax/. Owner of Armavia
Airline, President of “Mika” Corporation Mikhail Baghdasarov rules
out the arrival of budget airlines in Armenia.

Answering the question of Mediamax, Mikhail Baghdasarov said that
discounter airlines receive the overwhelming part of their income
from Airports.

“Budget airlines mainly do not fly to basic airports, but to secondary
ones, which pay airlines for them to land there. Central airports do
not pay airlines, and “Zvartnots” Airport will not be paying either”,
Mikhail Baghdasarov said.

He added that the tariffs of “Zvartnots” Airport for service and fuel
load of planes continues remaining one of the highest in Europe.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION LEADER IS LESS POPULAR THAN BIG BUSINESSMAN – SOCIOLOGIST

news.am
July 6, 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Provided that the President and the PM in office will not
participate in hypothetic early elections, the leader of opposition
Armenian National Congress (ANC) Levon Ter-Petrosyan will win none
of these positions, sociologist Aharon Adibekyan said at a press
conference on Wednesday.

“I was much interested what would be the results of hypothetic
early Presidential and Parliamentary election, provided that current
President and PM do not participate. The most frequent guess among
our respondents was for the leader of Prosperous Armenia party
Gagik Tsarukyan, whereas Levon Ter-Petrosyan was only the second,”
said Adibekyan.

According to him, the opinion poll among 1650 Armenian citizens
indicated that big businessman and leader of Prosperous Armenia party
Gagik Tsarukyan is also the most expected candidate for PM, but Levon
Ter-Petrosyan is marked only 6th in this list. Second most expected
PM candidate is the second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan.

Findings of the poll reveal that the political elite of Armenia has
significantly depleted recently.

“In presidential elections of 1998 we had 21 candidates, however
the respondents named only 14 candidates for President now: 5 among
authorities, 7 from opposition and two independent candidates. 19
candidates were named for PM office: 9 of them represented authorities,
8 represented opposition, and 2 of them were independent candidates,”
said the expert.

At the same time, 68 percent of 1650 respondents refused to participate
in Adibekyan’s poll.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA IS RUSSIA’S ALLY WITH ALL ENTAILING CONSEQUENCES – CSTO

news.am
July 6 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenia is Russia’s ally with all entailing consequences,
said the Secretary General of CSTO Nikolay Bordyuzha on Yerevan press
briefing after the meeting of Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO) drug control chiefs.

Asked what the position of CSTO would be in the event of renewed
hostilities with Azerbaijan, Bordyuzha responded in Russian president
Dmitry Medvedev’s words that Armenia is the ally of Russian Federation
with all entailing consequences.

“This says everything,” said Bordyuzha, adding that in the
light of high sensitivity of the issue further comments would be
counterproductive.

Secretary General mentioned that serious, exhaustive but positively
directed negotiations are still in action therefore it is not the
right time for loud statements.

From: A. Papazian

MOSCOW TO SUBMIT NEW PROPOSALS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH
Yelizaveta Isakova

The Voice of Russia
July 6, 2011

Russia is ready to hand over to Baku and Yerevan a new package of
proposals on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement, Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov said after his talks with Armenian counterpart Edward
Nalbandyan in Moscow on Wednesday.

The statement came in the wake of the June 24 talks between Russia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan in Kazan, where the sides failed to arrive at
a political accommodation on the matter.

The results of the Kazan parleys were high on the agenda of the
Moscow sit-down, with Lavrov particularly pointing to the necessity
of sticking to previously clinched agreements.

“Moscow remains committed to an array of agreements that were earlier
endorsed by the Presidents of the United States, France, Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Russia, Lavrov says, referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. The topic was also on the table of this week’s OCSE session
in Vienna, where participants specifically mentioned an improvement
in the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, a positive trend that
Lavrov says should further get a boost.”

Separately, he warned against attempts to change the format of the
Minsk Group of OCSE Mediators on the Nagorno-Karabakh Settlement,
which brings together Russia, the United States and France. Lavrov
was echoed by Nalbandyan, who touted the Minsk Group as an effective
mechanism to contribute to the negotiating process on the subject.

Lavrov, in turn, said that President Dmitry Medvedev, who is also
co-chairman of the Minsk Group, will submit the new Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement proposals to Armenia and Azerbaijan ” in the immediate
future.”

Experts, meanwhile, remain downbeat about an early breakthrough in
what remains the main bone of contention between Baku and Yerevan,
which continue to exchange barbs and trade accusations.

Moscow, for its part, urges a diplomatic solution to the problem, which
it insists can only be resolved by joint efforts of all parties to
the conflict. The conflicting parties know full well that if sparked,
the new armed conflict will be fraught with dire consequences.

From: A. Papazian

FOREIGN REPORTERS DENIED ENTRY AS TERRITORIAL DISPUTE ESCALATES

,40610.html
July 6, 2011
France

Published on Wednesday 6 July 2011.

Reporters Without Borders is very concerned that both Armenia and
Azerbaijan have been denying entry to foreign journalists amid an
increase in tension between the two countries over Nagorno-Karabakh,
a disputed territory within Azerbaijan that has a mostly Armenian
population. The media have become a hostage to this conflict.

“We urge the Armenian and Azerbaijan authorities to leave the media
out of their diplomatic dispute,” Reporters Without Borders said.

“Journalists must be free to do their work, which involves covering
matters of general interest, including ones as sensitive as the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. They must be able to able to move about without
having to obtain permission from either side. Compiling blacklists
of journalists for exclusion is both unacceptable and ineffective.”

In the latest case, Yuri Snegirev, the correspondent of the Russian
daily Izvestiya, was banned from entering Azerbaijan on 1 July as a
result of two articles about Nagorno-Karabakh that were published on
29 and 30 June. The ban was announced by foreign ministry spokesman
Elkhan Polukhov, who accused Snegirev of just reflecting the Armenian
viewpoint. The ministry also complained that he had used the Armenian
names for the cities of Stepanakert and Shushi (Khankendi and Shusha
in Azeri) although they are the names usually used in Russian.

Three days before that, on 28 June, Bloomberg photo-journalist Diana
Markosyan was denied entry to Azerbaijan on landing at Baku airport.

The authorities initially claimed that Bloomberg had changed the
name on its accreditation request at the last moment. But Markosyan
told Reporters Without Borders she had been in regular contact with
Polukhov during the three weeks prior to her arrival and that her
news agency had sent all the requested documents.

Polukhov finally recognised that the reason for the ban was Markosyan’s
Armenian-sounding surname although she has US and Russian dual
nationality and had never been to Armenia. “Bloomberg management was
informed that Azerbaijan is at war with Armenia,” Polukhov said.

“For this reason, there would be problems providing security for
the Armenian Diana Markosyan. We asked the agency to send another
photographer instead of Markosyan.”

“If it was impossible, why didn’t the authorities tell me earlier?”

Markosyan told Reporters Without Borders.

Sergei Buntman, the deputy chief editor of the Moscow-based independent
radio station Ekho Moskvy, was banned from visiting Azerbaijan on 23
May. Paralleling his later action with Snegirev, Polukhov announced the
ban the day after Ekho Moskvy broadcast interviews conducted by Buntman
with the leaders of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

Like Snegirev, Buntman had also upset the Azerbaijani authorities by
travelling to Nagorno-Karabakh without requesting their permission.

The region is nonetheless a de facto independent state and impartial
coverage of the issue necessitates a visit.

Nagorno-Karabakh is not the only story that has resulted in foreign
journalists being denied entry or deported from Azerbaijan. A TV
crew from Sweden’s First National TV was arrested and escorted to the
airport while trying to cover an opposition demonstration on 17 April.

A few days later, a leading New York Times reporter was told he would
not get a visa if did not submit the articles he had written about
Azerbaijan and explain why there was so much “negative information”
about Azerbaijan in the United States. “This is all rather stupid and
ridiculous,” the journalist told Reporters Without Borders. “In the
21st century, you can be in Australia and interview someone living in
London, Moscow or Baku (…) All they will achieve this way is that
our stories will not longer include their views or comments because
they refuse to talk to us.”

Although apparently a less repressive country, Armenia preceded its
neighbour in barring journalists. A four-member crew that wanted
to film interviews for a documentary that the Lithuanian TV station
Komanda was making about Nagorno-Karabakh was denied entry on arrival
at Yerevan airport on 11 March. They finally left after waiting for
28 hours at the airport.

Several Armenian news media then claimed that the documentary’s
producer, Andrius Brokas, was a spy working for Azerbaijan and a
senior Armenian foreign ministry official told the media that “it
is obvious that their aim was to damage Armenia’s reputation.” In
response to a query from Reporters Without Borders, foreign ministry
adviser Tigran Mkrchyan said in a 22 March letter that the crew was
turned back “for security reasons.”

Although inhabited mostly by Armenians, Nagorno-Karabakh was
incorporated into Azerbaijan by Stalin. Its declaration of independence
in 1991 triggered a violent armed conflict and an exodus of around a
million refugees. The dispute has been on hold since a 1994 ceasefire
and Nagorno-Karabakh has continued to govern itself during a series of
unsuccessful attempts to reach a solution. The past few months have
seen a series of bellicose statements by Azerbaijan proclaiming its
readiness to recover the lost territory, accompanied by skirmishes
along the border.

Picture : Elkhan Polukhov

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN’S REMARKS TO DESTRUCT ARMENIAN PLANES FLYING TO KHANKANDI IN FORCE

news.az
July 6, 2011
Azerbaijan

The CIS Interstate Aviation Committee will not give a certificate to
the Khankandi airport situated in occupied Nagorno Karabakh region
of Azerbaijan.

The statement came from Director of Azerbaijan State Civil Aviation
Administration (ASCAA) Arif Mammadov.

Mammadov said that the abovementioned issue was discussed during the
visit of chairman of CIS Interstate Aviation Committee to Baku.

‘We have also discussed the issue with him, and expressed our
position. The chairman promised that the Interstate Aviation Committee
will not conduct any work without Azerbaijani side’s consent. Even
if there is the appeal of Armenia, the certificate will not be given
to the airport’, underlined Mammadov.

Saying that the warning of ASCAA given to Armenian side in the line of
the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was not responded,
Mamadov noted that the Armenians postponed the opening of the airport
after the warning given via ICAO.

‘If any country carries out flights to the occupied territories,
acting contrary to Azerbaijan’s demands, the economic sanctions will
be used against these countries’ said Mammadov and underlined that the
information on purchase the equipments from Turkey for construction the
airport released by Karabakh Armenians is determined and it was false.

The administration chief said that Azerbaijan’s statements on usage of
physical destruction of Armenian planes, which will fly to Khankandi,
remain in force: ‘It is the right of Azerbaijani side basing on the
law of “Aviation”. The government will decide whether to use this
right or not’.

Commenting on Armenia’s statements that this country will close the
air corridor on it to the Azerbaijani planes, the Administration
chief said that Baku doesn’t need this corridor: ‘It is possible
to carry out any flight without that corridor. For example, we can
use Parsabad-Julfa line for flying to Nakhchivan. At the same time,
if Yerevan closes its air corridor, Azerbaijan can decide on closing
its air space to Armenian planes in response to it’.

APA

From: A. Papazian

JAMES APPATHURAI: NK CONFLICT CANNOT BE RESOLVED THROUGH WAR

Panorama
July 6, 2011
Armenia

“NATO hasn’t adopted any role in the resolution process for the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but still one thing is clear – the conflict
cannot be resolved through armed deal. The only way to the resolution
of the conflict is through diplomacy,” NATO Secretary General’s
Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia James
Appathurai said during his visit to Baku.

According to Azerbaijani “Trend” news agency Mr. Appathurai has
also referred to cooperation with NATO, and Azerbaijani efforts
in Afghanistan.

From: A. Papazian

WEST MAY SUPPLANT RUSSIA AS PEACEMAKER: MOSCOW’S INTERMEDIARY MISSION ON CIS TERRITORY IS IN NEED OF REVISION

Nezavisimaya Gazeta website
July 5 2011
Russia

Editorial
[translated from Russian]

Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan arrived in Moscow
yesterday. Russian Federation Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due
to meet with him. The topic of discussion has not been made public,
but even so, it was obvious to everyone that the conversation will
be about Nagornyy Karabakh, or, following the generally accepted
terminology, the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

Especially seeing that recent high-level talks on this subject in Kazan
were not crowned with success. The Russian and international mass media
even described them as a failure, and numbered them among the Russian
Federation’s image losses. But after all, President Dmitriy Medvedev
had assumed the role of mediator and most likely expected a compromise
from Ilkham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan. However, the good relations
of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents with Dmitriy Medvedev was
in no way reflected in the result. Baku and Yerevan did not change
their positions. This week France offered its intermediary services to
the parties to the conflict. That country’s Foreign Ministry stated
that the French have not only the desire to help, but also specific
proposals. What these are precisely is so far not being disclosed.

Another disappointment in the peacemaking field overtook Moscow
in June, when representatives of Chisinau and Tiraspol were unable
to reach an agreement in the Russian capital. The Dniester region
settlement process, in which, until recently, Russia played the main
role, has not only not moved forward, but to all intents and purposes
has actually gone backward by 20 years. At least in the rhetoric of
the sides, which is just as aggressive as it was before the beginning
of the war in 1992. That war was stopped by Russia, and throughout the
intervening years it has ensured peace in the region. However, today,
all the signs suggest, it cannot offer the sides anything productive.

Its role at this stage consists of security guarantees to the
population of the Dniester Region, which in a referendum in 2006 voted
for integration with the Russian Federation. Moscow cannot promise
Tiraspol anything more. But the European Union, on the other hand, can.

An active position here has been adopted by Germany, which is not only
conducting a political dialogue with the Dniester Region leadership,
but is also working with the local business community. The main
real enticement for the latter is to receive from the EU the same
preferences that have already been granted to Chisinau. This year the
EU increased various export quotas for Moldova by 30 per cent-50 per
cent. Deliveries of Moldovan goods to the European Union have increased
by 63 per cent since January. An autonomous system of preferences
effectively amounting to an asymmetric free trade regime operates
between Moldova and the EU. Moldovan goods reach the European market
without customs barriers. At the same time, Moldovan exports to the
Russian Federation, including of wines and cognacs, have shrunk by
50 per cent. It must be said that this kind of specifics is viewed
highly positively both by the population and by the politicians of
Moldova and the Dniester Region.

The fact that Russia is losing ground in an area of its vital interests
is noted by many people. As is the fact that Europeans are trying – not
without success – to take over its position as the main negotiator. At
the same time, one cannot deny the EU’s consistency.

Just take the “Eastern Partnership” programme, in which Ukraine,
Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia participate, and which
Belarus is being invited to join. The Europeans work with everyone
together and with each country separately, believing that thereby
they are safeguarding their own security. And at the same time they
are exporting to their partner countries those same democratic values.

The West’s activity in the post-Soviet area is a consequence of the
implementation of its own general security strategy. The presence of
regional hotspots in Europe does not fit into this strategy. Russia,
on the other hand, it would appear, is not partic ularly aggrieved
by the presence of smoldering conflicts along the perimeter of
its own borders. Today, however, it is perfectly obvious that
the political demand of contemporary Europe dictates the swiftest
possible settlement of all volatile situations. This requires the
organizational, financial, personnel, and intellectual reinforcement
of the peacekeeping segment of Russia’s foreign policy.

From: A. Papazian

CITING ETHNICITY, AZERBAIJAN BARS PHOTOJOURNALIST

CPJ Press Freedom Online

July 7 2011

New York, July 7, 2011–Diana Markosian, a freelance photographer for
Bloomberg Markets magazine was denied entry to Azerbaijan last week
by authorities who cited her ethnicity as a reason, international
news reports said.

On June 27, border guards at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport
in Baku detained Markosian on arrival from the Latvian capital, Riga,
then expelled her back to Riga the next day, according to press reports
and CPJ interviews. Markosian told CPJ that the border guards took
her passport, saying that she had an Armenian last name and that they
“needed to clarify something.” Then they put her in the airport’s
transit zone where she spent 16 hours until the U.S. Embassy in Baku
helped her to buy a ticket for the next return flight to Riga.

Markosian holds both U.S. and Russian citizenship, she told CPJ.

A government spokesman told the Baku-based news agency APA that
Markosian was deported because authorities would be unable to provide
her with “security” since she is an ethnic Armenian.

Markosian told CPJ that before her travel to Baku she and the
newsroom told the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry about her visit, and
were assured there would not be any complications. APA quoted Foreign
Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov as saying the government had sent
a letter to Bloomberg management saying that Azerbaijan is at war
with Armenia and because of this “there will be problems to provide
security for Armenian Diana Markosian.” Authorities asked Bloomberg
to send another photographer instead of Markosian, Polukhov told APA.

There have been no reports of other ethnic Armenians being denied
entry to Azerbaijan.

Ty Trippet, a spokesman for Bloomberg LP, told CPJ that the company
had not put out any statements on the case.

“It is deeply disturbing that Azerbaijani authorities would cite the
ethnic background of a foreign reporter as a reason for barring her
entry to the country,” said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. “Diana
Markosian should be allowed to work in Azerbaijan as freely as any
other journalist.”

Azerbaijan and Armenia are engaged in peace talks over Azerbaijan’s
breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, populated by mostly by ethnic
Armenians. A violent conflict over the territory erupted in 1988.

Although the ceasefire was declared in 1994, the conflict has not
ended and violent incidents continue to take place on the border.

From: A. Papazian