Author: Andres-Papazian

Interfax, Russia
April 30 2011

Armenia urges world to condemn Azerbaijan for killing N. Karabakh servicemen

YEREVAN. April 30

Armenia urges world to condemn Azerbaijan for killing N. Karabakh servicemen
The international community should strictly condemn Azerbaijan’s
actions, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on
Saturday, referring to reports that three servicemen from the armed
forces of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic were killed
and one more wounded by sniper fire from the Azeri side.

“The situation that has taken shape as a result of Azerbaijan’s
actions is causing additional tension and negatively affecting the
negotiating process. Azerbaijan shows that it can ignore calls by
various international organizations and countries to promote the
armistice regime, withdraw snipers from the frontline, improve the
atmosphere of confidence, and solve the problem in a purely peaceful
way,” the ministry said.

“Azerbaijan’s conduct should be strictly condemned by the
international community,” it said.

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From: A. Papazian

Mediamax, Armenia
April 29 2011

EU official “extremely concerned” at statements on force use in Karabakh dispute

Yerevan, 29 April: European Commissioner for Enlargement and European
Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule said in Yerevan today that he is
“extremely concerned with the statements about use of force as one of
ways to resolve the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict”.

Mediamax reports that during today’s press conference in Yerevan,
Stefan Fule said that “all parties involved should clearly understand
that the military way of conflict resolution is inadmissible”.

For his part, Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan pointed out
that “murders and provocations on the contact line do not facilitate
the negotiation process in any way”.

“This is why, it was decided in Sochi to create relevant mechanism to
investigate such provocations. Time has come for this mechanism to
become also an important instrument for preventing provocations,” the
minister stated.

Soldier of NKR [self-styled Nagornyy Karabakh republic] defence army
Vazgen Bakhshyan was killed by an Azeri sniper on 28 April.

From: A. Papazian

Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 28 2011

Ukraine backs “inviolability of borders” in Karabakh solution – Azeri leader

28 April: Ukraine backs a resolution to the [Nagornyy] Karabakh
conflict [between Armenia and Azerbaijan] on the basis of
international law, taking into account the principles of territorial
integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of borders, Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev said this on Thursday at the end of his talks
with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych.

Aliyev said this was reflected in a joint statement of the Azerbaijani
and Ukrainian presidents on the further development of strategic
partnership relations between the two countries signed in Baku on
Thursday.

The sides also agreed to continue cooperation in international organizations.

From: A. Papazian

WPS Agency, Russia
April 29 2011

AMERICAN INSPECTOR

by Yuri Roks
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, No 90, April 29, 2011, p. 1

U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE TINA S. KAIDANOW. HER VISIT
TO THE CAUCASUS AND PARALLELS WITH NORTH AFRICA; Senior functionary of
the U.S. Department of State is touring the Caucasus.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Tina S. Kaidanow completed
the Azerbaijani and Georgian parts of her tour of the South Caucasus
and moved to Yerevan, Armenia. In all three countries of the region
Kaidanow met with representatives of the authorities, opposition
leaders, and non-governmental organizations. Formally, Kaidanow is on
a fact-finding mission with regard to the condition of democracy and
democratic processes in the region. Domestic situation in some
countries of the region in the meantime permit experts to draw
parallels with what is happening in North Africa.

Kaidanow’s visit to the restive South Caucasus fomented rumors on the
forthcoming political changes in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia.

Considering the processes in North Africa and Middle East and
activization of the opposition in republics of the South Caucasus,
Kaidanow’s visit looks kind of ominous. Permanent protests in Georgia
and Armenia are something the international community (the part of it
that cares, that is) is used to, but protests in Azerbaijan turned out
to be unexpected – even though they were small and promptly dispersed
by the police. In other words, the visit of Kaidanow, America’s former
ambassador to Kosovo, could not help fomenting speculations on “color”
processes in the region. Moreover, Kaidanow went to Baku from Tbilisi
accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijani Matthew Bryza. It was
during her stay in Tbilisi that Bryza engineered a conference of
America’s top diplomats in the region.

The rendezvous failed to live up to the expectations. American
Ambassador to Armenia Mary Jovanovich begged off and sent an envoy in
her own stead. Even this fact set the tongues wagging. Jovanovich’s
name is associated with the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan where she
was an ambassador before going to Armenia. In Armenia the opposition
scheduled a mass protest for this Thursday. Political tension in this
particular republic is high even by the local standards.

The Armenian authorities know that they are walking on thin ice.
President Serj Sargsjan told law enforcement agencies Wednesday to let
the opposition meet and protest at the usual site in the capital. He
instructed the Justice Ministry to draw the laws that would defuse the
political situation. All of that failed. The Armenian National
Congress headed by ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosjan urged its
followers to meet Thursday all the same.

According to Bryza, American top diplomats in Tbilisi discussed he
situation in the Caucasus. That was definitely a vague statement that
did not really explain anything. As for Kaidanow, she made no secret
of the purposes of her visit. In Tbilisi, she met with opposition
leaders and discussed the forthcoming parliamentary (in 2012) and
presidential (2013) elections with them. Kaidanow backed the plans of
the Georgian opposition to improve the Election Code and essentially
encouraged the authorities to stop emulating the talks but initiate a
constructive dialogue with the opposition. The Georgian opposition was
ebullient.

Kaidanow said that the U.S. Administration expected democratic free
and fair elections in Georgia.

As a matter of fact, she had said essentially the same thing when in
Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. It stands to reason to expect
something like that as well during her stay in Yerevan.

[translated from Russian]

From: A. Papazian

Time Out
April 29, 2011

DVD – The Lighthouse

FILM Cert: 12
by David Jenkins

Not all new films that play in film festivals go on to receive wider
releases, and there are inevitably going to be a clutch of leftfield
gems that are consigned to the back pages of modern cinema history.
Maria Saakyan’s 2006 debut, ‘The Lighthouse’, is one such gem that’s
been deservedly rescued from obscurity, a breathtaking, expressionist
chronicle of a shy young woman’s efforts to retrieve her grandparents
from a rural Armenian warzone. Offering a consummately crafted vision
of a world gone seriously awry which favours mood and texture over a
linear narrative, comparisons with the otherworldly dramas of Andrei
Tarkovsky are inevitable. Saakyan’s knack for constructing beautifully
surreal compositions from mundane activities such as washing and
singing is second to none, while the cavalcade of striking, austere
imagery works in perfect unison with the throbbing soundtrack from
composer Kimmo Pohjonen. With the inclusion of Saakyan’s short
‘Farewell’ (2004), this is a real lost treasure that’s been unearthed
with great dilligence and passion.

From: A. Papazian

Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan
April 29, 2011 Friday

Expert: Leaders’ political will necessary to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

by T.Konyayeva, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan

April 29–The Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders must demonstrate
political will to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Professor at
the University of Haifa Brenda Shaffer said at a roundtable on “The
Barack Obama Administration and the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict,” organized by the Azerbaijani Presidential
Center for Strategic Research in Baku on Friday.

“However, in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, one should
consider the U.S.- Russia relationship, Russia’s desire to help, given
that Moscow being one of the major players in the region, may
influence the internal situation in the region,” she said.

The United States is interested in resolving this conflict by virtue
of its economic interests in the energy-rich region, through which,
also the hydrocarbons transit to Europe passes,” she added.

However, Shaffer said, many questions arise about the conflict.

“One of the key points is that the money allocated by the Congress to
Nagorno-Karabakh may not be used for the needs of the population,” she
said.

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.

From: A. Papazian

Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan
April 29, 2011 Friday

BRIEF: Armenia withdraws its candidacy for non-permanent UNSC member

by S.Aliyev, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan

April 29–Armenia has withdrawn its candidature for a non-permanent
member of the UN Security Council for 2012-2013, the UN told Trend.
Elections will be held in October 2011.

Given that Azerbaijan will participate in these elections, Armenia ‘s
decision, of course, is regarded as an admission of defeat.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
April 29 2011

EU worried about incidents on Armenian-Azeri frontline

YEREVAN. April 29

EU worried about incidents on Armenian-Azeri frontline
Continuing provocative acts on the border separating the armed forces
of Armenia and Azerbaijan will not help make progress in talks to
settle the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandyan said.

“These murders and provocations will not help make process in the
talks. A decision was adopted in Sochi to form clear mechanisms to
investigate such provocations. I hope that it will become an
instrument capable of preventing similar incidents,” Nalbandyan said
at a joint news conference with EU Commissioner for Enlargement and
Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fuele in Yerevan on Friday.

Last Thursday, a serviceman of the Defense Army of the self-proclaimed
Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh died when fire was opened from
Azerbaijan’s territory.

The EU is seriously concerned over this incident, Fuele said.

The EU also supports steps taken by the Minsk Group of the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, he said.

This neighborhood will not be reliable until protracted conflicts are
resolved peacefully in compliance with international law, Fuele said.

Military solutions are not an option, he said.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
April 29 2011

Yerevan accuses Baku of disrespect toward Armenian historic monuments

YEREVAN. April 29

Yerevan accuses Baku of disrespect toward Armenian historic monuments
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan has accused the Azeri
authorities of wiping out all traces of Armenians’ presence in
Nakhichevan, an autonomy within Azerbaijan.

Recently the Nakhichevan administration did not allow U.S. Ambassador
to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza to visit a destroyed Armenian cemetery in
Staraya Dzhuga, Nalbandyan said at a joint news conference with EU
Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fuele in
Yerevan on Friday.

“If they do not permit this, it means that they have something to
hide,” he said.

The Azeri authorities have not permitted representatives of
international organizations to travel to Nakhichevan, the minister
said.

“In 2005 the international community witnessed Azerbaijan’s attempt to
destroy the Armenian cultural heritage in Nakhichevan without leaving
any traces of the Armenian presence there. What did they do it for?
Did they do it in order to be able to say that Nakhichevan has been
the territory of their forefathers since the days of Noah? But who
will believe them?,” he said.

A military training range was built at the site of Nakhichevan’s
Armenian cemetery with unique medieval stone crosses in 2005-2006,
according to the Armenian authorities.

However, the Azeri government did not allow the European Parliament’s
commission in charge of investigating the situation to visit to area.

tm dp

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
April 29 2011

EU hopes Armenia parliamentary elections will be fair

YEREVAN. April 29

EU hopes Armenia parliamentary elections will be fair
The European Union hopes the Armenian authorities will hold fair
parliamentary elections, said EU enlargement and European neighborhood
policy commissioner Stefan Fule.

The 2012 elections will hopefully be free and fair and comply with EU
standards, Fule said at a joint press conference with Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan.

Election processes should match the law, he said.

Not only good laws are important. The laws must be duly applied, he said.

From: A. Papazian