Author: Andres-Papazian

Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
May 28, 2011 Saturday

Crisis Group: Wrong time to change Minsk Group format

BY: E.Ostapenko, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan

May 28–AzerbaijanIt is not a time to change OSCE Minsk Group format
having an EU representative instead of French co-chair, because the
co-chairs feel that they are very close to the signature of the basic
principles, International Crisis Group analyst Sabine Freizer
believes.

“It is not a time to change OSCE Minsk Group format, because the
co-chairs feel that they are very close to the signature of the basic
principles,” Crisis Group Europe Program Director Freizer told Trend.

If an agreement on “basic principles” is not reached in the coming
months, the international community will have to seriously think about
efficiency of negotiating format and the chosen strategy, she
believes. In this context the EU will have a chance to prove itself.

On Wednesday the EU published a report — revised European
Neighborhood Policy (ENP), which is under consideration of the
European Parliament and other EU authorities.

The report says that the European Union is ready to enhance EU
involvement in solving protracted conflicts. The EU must be ready to
step up its involvement in formats where it is not yet represented,
such as the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the
report reads.

Experts suppose that this may imply the EU involvement in the Minsk
Group as a co-chair, perhaps, by replacing the French co-chair.

“There has been a discussion within the European Union about weather
or not it would useful to have an EU representative instead of French
co-chair,” Freizer said. “But, of course, for that to happen would
require also the approval by Azerbaijan and Armenia, and other two
co-chairs” she added.

It seems highly unlikely at this stage there would be any change of
the actual co-chair arrangement, Freizer underscored.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group — Russia, France, and the U.S. —
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

The EU has always stood for the Minsk Group’s efforts without being
directly involved in the conflict resolution.

“The EU has not come out with a kind of plan, strategy on how it could
address Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, especially if there is an agreement
on basic principles,” she said. She believes that the EU should think
about it and suggest a concrete plan.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan have been holding the periodic meetings since June 2008 to
agree the positions to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Despite
this, the basic principles have not been agreed yet.

It is expected that the presidents’ next meeting will take place in June.

Freizer also believes that if there isn’t an agreement on the basic
principles soon, then it is possible that there will be changes.

“Until Kazan meeting it is clear that the Minks Group will stay as it
is,” she said.

From: A. Papazian

REGION
Le lac d’Ourmia en Iran au seuil de la disparition
il est l’un des trois lacs de l’Arménie historique

Le taux de salinité du lac d’Ourmia (Nord de l’Iran) le plus grand lac
du Proche Orient a atteint des seuils très importants. Le lac qui fait
partie des trois lacs de l’Arménie historique est menacé de
disparition à cause de l’épuisement de ses eaux récupérés pour
l’irrigation et d’un écosystème non protégé. Il y a quelques dizaines
d’années la superficie du lac était de 5 400 km². Aujourd’hui sa
surface s’est réduite de 60% et selon les spécialistes, dans les
prochaines années, le lac disparaîtra complètement. Une catastrophe
écologique pour toute la région.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 29 mai 2011,
Krikor [email protected]

From: A. Papazian

RECRIMINATIONS FOLLOW CALL FOR KARABAKH PEACE

news.az
May 27 2011
Azerbaijan

Senior Azerbaijani officials have accused Armenia of delaying a peace
deal on the Karabakh conflict in response to a similar accusation
from Armenia.

The mutual recriminations come less than 24 hours after the US,
French and Russian presidents issued a statement, calling on the
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents to make progress on a peace deal
and “to prepare their populations for peace, not war”.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian responded to the three
presidents’ statement by saying that Armenia had always been committed
to peace and that the call for progress on a peace deal was, therefore,
addressed to Azerbaijan.

“The Armenian side has once again shown its hypocrisy and is trying
to confuse the international community,” Novruz Mammadov, head of the
international relations department at the Azerbaijani Presidential
Administration, told 1news.az, commenting on Nalbandian’s response.

“I want to say that the Deauville statement, issued by the presidents
of the USA, France and Russia, directly addressed the Armenian
authorities. However, the Armenian foreign minister, Edward Nalbandian,
is again trying to mislead the world community, but it is useless
because everyone knows that Armenia has occupied Azerbaijani lands
and is now seeking to maintain this situation,” Mammadov said.

“We welcome and support the joint statement… The concern of
Presidents Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitriy Medvedev over the
unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is understandable. The presidents
stressed the need for an early peaceful settlement to the conflict. We
are pleased with this,” Mammadov said.

Moving to the thorny issue of the Basic Principles for a peace
settlement, also known as the Madrid principles, which the OSCE Minsk
Group would like to see adopted by both sides, Mammadov said that it
is Armenia that has failed to accept the principles.

“The point is that the negotiating process has been delayed by the
Armenian side so far. The reason is that though the Armenian side
expressed a positive attitude to the Madrid principles in 2009,
later it changed its mind which caused a delay in negotiations and
loss of time.

“We assess the subsequent desire of the co-chairs to continue
negotiations, to draft an updated version of the Madrid Principles
and the report by the OSCE Field Assessment Mission on the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan, which confirmed the need to change the
status quo in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict as important steps
towards resolving the conflict,” the presidential official added.

Status quo cannot continue

“Our demand is that the status quo cannot continue and it is important
to change it, which requires the release from occupation of seven
Azerbaijani districts as a first step. Everyone who was expelled as
a result of the conflict should go back and settle down. Then, these
lands must be cleared of mines, rehabilitated and provided with new
infrastructure. All this is the first step in resolving the conflict,”
Mammadov said, in effect outlining most of the Basic Principles.

“This may be followed by other stages in the settlement with issues
related to an expression of will resolved at the end. Now, after the
Deauville statement by the presidents, the Armenian side should not
look for excuses to delay the negotiating process further and should
support the principles put forward by the presidents of the three
co-chairing countries and strongly supported by President Dmitry
Medvedev.

“It would be nice if the Armenian side dealt with these issues instead
of making provocative statements. This is the message of Azerbaijan
to Armenia prior to the upcoming June meeting of presidents Dmitry
Medvedev, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan in Kazan,” Mammandov said,
referring to the Russian president’s mediation of the next meeting
of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Kazan on 26 June.

Foreign Ministry

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry described the Deauville statement
of the US, Russian and French presidents as an open letter to Armenia
on the need to withdraw its troops from Azerbaijani territory.

“The Armenian side should understand that the international community
will not accept the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories by
Armenia. Armenia must withdraw its armed forces from the territory of
Azerbaijan according to the logic of this statement. This will allow
the return of the internally displaced persons to their homeland,
the restoration of communications and establishment of a more certain
situation in the region,” Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman
Elman Abdullayev told Interfax-Azerbaijan.

He accused Armenia of dragging its feet on a Karabakh settlement,
echoing Novruz Mammadov.

“Azerbaijan’s position is unchanged and the withdrawal of the Armenian
armed forces and return of the IDPs will create the opportunity to take
the next step towards the creation of favourable conditions in the
region. It will help the coexistence of the Armenian and Azerbaijani
communities in Nagorno Karabakh and the determination of the status
of this region within Azerbaijan. Armenia is using different ways to
delay the withdrawal of its troops from the territories of Azerbaijan
and is preventing a peaceful solution to the conflict.”

Background

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988 when Armenia
made claims on Azerbaijani territory. Armenian armed forces have
occupied a swathe of Azerbaijani territory since 1992, including the
Nagorno-Karabakh region, and seven surrounding districts.

The nub of the conflict remains unresolved – the competing claims of
territorial integrity, which Azerbaijan insists takes precedence in
the case of Karabakh, and self-determination, which Armenia wants to
see for the Armenians of Karabakh.

From: A. Papazian

KARABAKH PEACE CONDITIONAL ON ‘OVERTHROW OF ARMENIAN REGIME’

news.az
May 27 2011
Azerbaijan

An Azerbaijani official has said that progress cannot be made
on a Karabakh peace deal until the “fascist regime in Armenia is
overthrown”.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov, who is also chairman of Azerbaijan’s
State Committee for Refugees and Displaced Persons, made the comments
on Friday during discussions of a book by the head of the Presidential
Administration, Academician Ramiz Mehdiyev, “Goris 2010: Theater of
the Absurd”.

His emotive remarks come a month before the Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents are to hold their next meeting in Russia with the mediation
of the Russian president, and a day after the US, French and Russian
leaders urged the two countries to make progress on a peace deal and
“to prepare their populations for peace, not war”.

Ali Hasanov called on the international community to change the ruling
regime in Armenia, following the example of Middle Eastern countries,
1 news.az reported.

“Serzh Sargsyan’s regime is the most bloodthirsty of all the
world’s regimes and it should be overthrown. The time has come for
the international community to pay close attention to the actions of
the Armenian president. Serzh Sargsyan is a real criminal who has the
blood of thousands of Azerbaijanis on his conscience. And until this
fascist regime in Armenia is overthrown, I do not think there can be
any progress on the Karabakh conflict,” Hasanov said.

He said that the regime in Armenia would have to be replaced if the
international community wanted stability in the Caucasus.

“This regime should be overthrown, as 90% of the population of the
country are poor and hungry. If this continues, the collapse of Serzh
Sargsyan’s regime is unavoidable,” the deputy PM continued.

He said that Nagorno-Karabakh would be liberated thanks to the policy
of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, since, unlike other presidents,
he conducts an independent policy and does not consult other heads
of states on every issue.

The book under discussion by Hasanov and others on Friday criticizes
the views of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, some of them expressed
in the town of Goris in southern Armenia.

“The first clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis occurred in
Goris in Soviet times in 1965 and Goris has the Armenians who are most
hostile towards Turks and Azerbaijanis. Sargsyan made the statements
there in order to gain the sympathy of the people of Goris,” 1 news.az
reported Ali Hasanov as saying.

He accused the Armenians of continuing criminal acts by destroying
the cultural and historical heritage of Azerbaijanis in the occupied
lands of Azerbaijan.

“Thus, in [Caucasian] Albanian churches in Kelbajar, they started
to replace Albanian crosses with Armenian ones. This process started
just a few months ago,” he said.

He also urged the West to give a “legal assessment” to Armenian
actions.

“The West should know that if they do not put Armenia in its place,
Armenians will soon say that California is ancient Armenian land,
while French Marseilles is an Armenian city. They will do it sooner or
later and the West should already take action, though, unfortunately,
we cannot see any action on their part,” Hasanov said.

From: A. Papazian

MP SAYS WATCHING PORN AMORAL DURING SECURITY COUNCIL’S MEETING

news.am
May 27 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN.- Meetings of National Security Council are so interesting
that watching porn is simply amoral, MP from Orinats Yerkir Party
Hovhannes Margaryan told briefing in parliament.

He commented on rumors that some participants of council’s meetings
are enjoying porn on their mobiles.

All the meetings of Security Council are very interesting as they
are related to security of the state, he said.

“However, people differ,” Margaryan noted recalling that some of his
colleagues play computer games during parliament sessions.

The video capturing porn lover person has been shot at a workshop
dedicated to EU-Armenia cooperation. Later he was identified as Armen
Gevorgyan, Chief Adviser to Armenian Economy Minister. At the moment
Gevorgyan is on business trip to Moscow.

From: A. Papazian

FM: ARMENIA MUST BEGIN WITHDRAWING ITS FORCES FROM AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIES FOLLOWING LOGIC OF PRESIDENTS’ DEAUVILLE STATEMENT

Trend
May 27 2011
Azerbaijan

Following the Deauville statement of the presidents of the OSCE
MinskGroup co-chairing countries, Armenia must begin withdrawing its
forcesfrom Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.

It is necessary to make this action to open up the opportunities
forinternally displaced people to return to their houses,
thecommunications to be restored in the region and more predictability
to be created in the region, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told
Trend.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, U.S, President Barack Obama
andFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy called on the Armenian
andAzerbaijani leaders to demonstrate political will and to finalize
thebasic principles during the upcoming Armenian-Azerbaijani summit
in June.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that in the adopted
statementMedvedev, Obama and Sarkozy consider the status quo in the
existingsituation on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as unacceptable.

TheAzerbaijani side has also repeatedly stated about this.

“The presidents of three countries refer on the documents
andprinciples. They have been repeatedly discussed . The necessity of
withdrawing the Armenian forces from Azerbaijani territories is raised
in all of them. Consequently, the Armenian side must understand that
the world community does not accept the occupation of Azerbaijani
territories by Armenia, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said .

“Azerbaijan’s position remains unchanged,” the ministry
said.”Withdrawing the Armenian armed forces and returning the
internallydisplaced people to their houses will allow us to move to
the nextstep to create favorable conditions for the coexistence of
Armenianand Azerbaijani communities of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

The Foreign Ministry regrets that having a clear position of the
international community regarding the withdrawal of Armenian forces
from Azerbaijani territories, Armenia still delays the process
and prevents the peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988when
Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

Armenianarmed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since
1992,including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

Theco-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
arecurrently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s
fourresolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
theoccupied territories.

From: A. Papazian

ILHAM ALIYEV, BRITISH MPS DISCUSS COOPERATION

news.az
May 27 2011
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation of British
MPs, led by Mark Field, chairman of the UK-Azerbaijan parliamentary
group.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received a British delegation led
by Mark Field, chairman of the UK-Azerbaijan parliamentary group,
member of the Conservative Party and Intelligence and Security
Committee from the Cities of London and Westminster.

Conservative MP Field said one of his group’s objectives was to
find out about Azerbaijan and report back to members of the British
parliament. He noted Azerbaijan that had great potential not only
in oil and gas, but also in the non-energy sector. He expressed hope
that the UK and Azerbaijan would share best practice in agriculture,
tourism, sports, culture and other areas.

Touching upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh,
Field said that over the past 20 years the Azerbaijani people and
government had been very patient and stressed that they understood
Azerbaijan’s concerns over the conflict.

The president welcomed the group’s plans to report back on Azerbaijan’s
achievements and future plans.

The head of state said that Azerbaijani-UK relations covered various
spheres and were developing successfully. He added that the two
countries enjoyed a long history of energy cooperation.

President Aliyev underlined the importance of expanding cooperation
in tourism, sport and culture as well as the non-oil sector.

He underscored the need to explore even more opportunities to develop
mutually beneficial cooperation.

From: A. Papazian

EXPERT CALLS KAZAN-HOSTED ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS’ MEETING A PRO-FORMA EVENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 27, 2011 – 11:16 AMT

Kazan-hosted meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents Serzh
Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev to be held through the mediation of Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev is only a pro-forma event, according to an
expert at Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies.

As Sergey Markedonov stated in a conversation with a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter, “Kazan-hosted meeting will follow the same scenario as
those in Sochi and Astrakhan. No final result in Karabakh conflict
settlement is yet to be expected. Yet, a communication is better
than war preparations. A progress in humanitarian aspects would be
a definite plus.”

On June 25, Kazan will host a trilateral meeting between Armenian,
Azerbaijani and Russian Presidents.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN JUSTICE MINISTRY: 82 DETAINED AFTER MARCH 2008 EVENTS WERE AMNESTIED

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 27, 2011 – 19:28 AMT

As of 7:30 p.m. Yerevan time, 82 persons detained after March 2008
events were amnestied, Ministry of Justice Penitentiary Department
press service reported.

The release of prisoners continues, with 28 and 23 persons released
from Nubarashen and Vardashen prisons respectively.

Earlier, editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak paper Nikol Pashinyan
and former member of the Armenian parliament Sasun Mikaelyan, convicted
in March 1, 2008 case were released.

President Sargsyan offered the National Assembly to declare amnesty
on occasion of the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s independence, the
proposal being based on article 81.1.1 of the RA Constitution and
article 90 of the law on National Assembly regulations. With a vote
91-0, the Armenian parliament approved Thursday, May 26, President
Serzh Sargsyan’s proposal for declaration of amnesty for 396 people
to be released and 379 to have their sentence cut.

>From February 20, 2008, the Armenian opposition led by first president
Levon Ter-Petrossian, who ran for presidency in 2008, but was not
elected, held rallies in the central part of Yerevan, protesting
against the election results. The protest actions resulted in unrest
and clashes between the police and rally participants on March 1-2.

According to the Office of RA Prosecutor General, around 200 people
were injured, 10 people were killed, and over 100 people were arrested.

From: A. Papazian

PROKOFIEV’S ROMEO AND JULIET ARMENIA-HOSTED BALLET WILL TAKE VIEWERS TO MODERN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 27, 2011 – 13:08 AMT

On May 29, Alexander Spendiaryan Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
will host the first night of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet 3-act
ballet.According to the ballet stage director Rudolf Kharatyan,
though drawing on a classical work, the performance will take the
audience to a modern Yerevan, with its streets full of youth.

As Armenian Minister of Culture, Hasmik Poghosyan noted, the ballet
was staged through the efforts of modern specialists, without invited
professionals’ involvement.

5-6 decorations containing 16th century elements in modern rendering
will be used during the performance. Music will be performed by the
Symphonic Orchestra of Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet National Academic
Theatre under the guidance of the Honoured Artist of Armenia Karen
Durgaryan.

From: A. Papazian