Author: Andres-Papazian

AZERBAIJAN FAILS TO LEAD THE OSCE MISSION TO IT FRONT POSITIONS

armradio.am
10.03.2011 18:45

On March 10, according to the earlier agreement with the authorities
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the OSCE Mission planned conducting
two monitorings of the Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces’
contact-line, eastward of the NKR Martakert region~Rs Talish village
and near Akna settlement, Askeran direction.

Due to the poor visibility caused by thick fog, the first monitoring
was cancelled.

During the monitoring in the Askeran direction, which was conducted on
the proposal of Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office
Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Azerbaijan party, unlike the Karabakh one,
didn~Rt lead the OSCE Mission to the earlier agreed site on its
front-lines, as a result of which the monitoring groups had to conduct
the monitoring from a more distanced site.

>From the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring was
held by Field Assistants of the Personal Representative of the
OSCE Chairman-in-Office Antal Herdich (Hungary) and Hristo Hristov
(Bulgaria).

>From the opposite side, the monitoring was conducted by Coordinator
of the OSCE Office Lieutenant-Colonel Imre Palatinus (Hungary)
and Field Assistants of the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office William Pryor (Great Britain) and Zhaslan Nurtazin
(Kazakhstan).

>From the Karabakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by
representatives of the NKR Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs.

From: A. Papazian

EVENTS DEDICATED TO NZHDEH’S 125TH ANNIVERSARY KICK OFF IN YEREVAN
Artak Barseghyan

“Radiolur”
10.03.2011 18:30

Series of events dedicated to Garegin Nzhdeh’s 125th anniversary
kicked off at the Yerevan State University today at the initiative
of the Ministry of Defense and the Association of Young University
Colleagues of the Yerevan State University.

President of the Association Gevorg Melkonyan said more than 20 events
will be held in Armenian regions and Nagorno Karabakh, as well as in
the military units.

According to organizers, the events will help inform the youth about
Nzhdeh’s ideology and will contribute to the reinforcement of the
army-society ties and the strengthening of the Armenian army.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER INVITES HIS LATVIAN COUNTERPART TO YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 10, 2011 – 12:33 AMT 08:33 GMT

On March 9, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with
his Latvian counterpart Girts Valdis Kristovskis in Riga to discuss
further development of the Armenian-Latvian relations, specifically,
collaboration in international organizations, organization of
consultations between the two foreign ministries, economic cooperation
and cultural exchange.

Nalbandian and Kristovskis referred to EU-Armenia relations, as well
as opportunities for bilateral cooperation within the framework of
the European Neighborhood and Eastern Partnership.

At the request of the Latvian Foreign Minister, Nalbandian briefed
on recent processes in the Karabakh conflict settlement.

Mr. Nalbandian also noted that the official visit of the Armenian
President to Latvia, as well as the reached agreements between the
Presidents play an important role in the bilateral relations.

The Armenian Foreign Minister invited his Latvian counterpart to
visit Armenia, the RA MFA press service reported.

From: A. Papazian

MONOPOLIZATION OF KARABAKH PROCESS BY ONE COUNTRY DANGEROUS

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 10, 2011 – 13:26 AMT 09:26 GMT

Chairman of European Integration NGO Karen Bekaryan said that Armenia
and Azerbaijan should not allow a third country to solely rule the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process.

It is dangerous for both Karabakh and the entire region, Bekaryan
said in his comments on the statement adopted upon the results of
Medvedev-Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting in Sochi.

He noted that it is not important whether the monopolization became
possible with the consent of the OSCE Minsk Group’s co-chair countries
or without it.

Bekaryan emphasized that lack of confidence is the hardest problem
in the Karabakh process.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA RANKS 76TH IN WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE INDEX

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 10, 2011 – 15:06 AMT 11:06 GMT

According to the World Environmental Performance Index, which is
created by the scientists of Yale and Columbia Universities, Iceland
and Switzerland have the highest index. Costa-Rica which implements
the stimulation and promotion of eco-tourism and protects the local
biodiversity strictly has got the third place.

The worst environmental index belongs to the United Arab Emirates
and Nigeria.

Georgia has the 59th place among 163 countries, Armenia is 76th and
Azerbaijan is 84th, REC Caucasus News reported.

Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks 163 countries on 25
performance indicators and it determines the environmental performance
in the world. According to the scientists, EPI is like GDP in the
environmental field. The indicators cover general conditions of water,
air and approach to the wastes. Also, it includes policy categories
covering state policy in conserving the biodiversity and improving
the environment and ecosystem vitality.

From: A. Papazian

REMITTANCES AT AMOUNT OF $86.7MLN RECEIVED IN ARMENIA IN JAN 2011

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 10, 2011 – 15:33 AMT 11:33 GMT

Remittances at the amount of $86.7mln were received by physical
persons in Armenia in January 2011.

According to the CBA monthly bulletin, the figure decreased by 22.7%
($16mln) compared to the same period in 2010.

Besides, 16.1% growth was recorded in the amount of remittances from
Armenia, totaling $42.6mln in January 2011 against $36.7mln during the
same period in 2010. The net cash inflow increased by 29.9% during the
reporting period, amounting to $44mln against $34mln in January 2010.

The largest amount of remittances was received from Russia ($49.5mln),
followed by Kazakhstan ($9.46mln) and Germany ($2.77mln).

From: A. Papazian

“ARAB WAVE” CAN SWALLOW UP AZERBAIJAN
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 8, 2011

Oil is oil, but Aliev Jr. must understand that life does not end
there and the international community will soon be bored with turning
a blind eye to the lack of democracy in Azerbaijan.

The “Arab wave” is gradually approaching the South Caucasus,
specifically Azerbaijan. Everything is going on a tested course that
did not become an alert for little and great dictators: blocking
of certain segments of the Internet, arrests of some human rights
defenders and activists. Let us also add to this the 42 years of rule
of the Aliyev clan with some interruptions, corruption, poverty of
the vast majority, and we’ll get the same situation as in Tunisia,
Egypt or Libya.

The Aliyev clan has been ruling Azerbaijan since 1969. And it
never matters that Heydar Aliyev was then the first secretary of
the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, and now his son, Ilham is the
“popularly elected” president. Everything remains as it was, except
that the capital of the clan has grown to astronomical size recently,
and now Aliyev Jr. believes he can dictate his terms not only to
Armenia, or say, Georgia and Turkey, but also to the international
community. Defectiveness and fallaciousness of this policy became
clear also to the USA and its embassy in Baku issued a statement
in connection with the detention of and physical pressure on young
activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev.

“U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza and the U.S. embassy
closely follow the report on detention of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev in Gandja
on March 4, specifically, the reports about his insult and deprivation
of legal aid. We urge the Azerbaijani government to respect the rule
of law, conduct a relevant process, as well as under the Azerbaijani
legislation ensure all the rights of Mr. Hajiyev as a defendant,
including the right to legal aid and medical aid, if needed,” reads
the March 7 statement of the U.S. embassy in Baku.

Currently, in order to obtain information about the case against
Hajiyev and his detention the embassy maintains contact with relevant
structures of the Government of Azerbaijan.

“We shall also closely follow the cases against other young activists
arrested recently,” the statement reads.

Three young activists were detained over the last month.

Jabbar Savalan was arrested Feb. 5 on charges of illegal possession of
drugs. Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, arrested on March 4, is accused of draft
dodging. On March 4, Dayanat Babayev was sentenced to 11 days of
administrative arrest on charges of violation of the public order.

However, the local democratic public believes all the three have been
detained on political grounds.

Apparently, Baku is reluctant to admit that a revolution, or rather
a revolt, is possible also in “tall-walking Azerbaijan”. The totally
corrupt state built on lies is capable of only sabre rattling and
calls for war. And it is clear that neither the members of the Aliyev
family, nor his entourage will fight in case a war breaks out.

Moreover, the second Karabakh war, like the first one, will be
disgracefully lost, in spite of the huge weapon purchases, or, rather,
because of it. A great number of weapons in an unhappy country may
turn against the authorities, as it happened in Libya.

There is one more factor that makes a revolution possible in
Azerbaijan – the religious issue. Not once has it been mentioned that
Iran is said to be involved in the Arab unrests through the HAMAS
and Hezbollah. Azerbaijan could become a valuable gain to Tehran,
as it is the only Turkic-speaking country professing the Shiite
branch of Islam, unlike the Arabs, who are followers of Sunnah. Let
us note that some ayatollahs have issued a fatwa on inadmissibility
of the ban on wearing hijab in Azerbaijan. In short, if there begin
disorders in Azerbaijan, it’ll be no news. Just on the contrary,
it’ll be an anticipated event. Despite the upbeat statements of
politicians and journalists in Azerbaijan, which, by the way,
are forced and obligatory, the situation in this country is not so
good. Oil is oil, but Aliev Jr. must understand that life does not
end there and the international community will soon be bored with
turning a blind eye to the lack of democracy in Azerbaijan. However,
there is no guarantee that after the riots there will be established
a democratic state; at least 200 years is necessary for it. But in
any case, the time has come for redistribution of oil revenues and
it is what the Azerbaijani president does not seem to realize.

From: A. Papazian

NO MATTER HOW THE REGION CHANGES, ARMENIA WILL BE OF NO STRATEGIC INTEREST TO ISRAEL
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 18, 2011

Israeli foreign policy stands out by its carefulness, and the country
will never take the path of confrontation with Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Walking a tightrope, Azerbaijan is trying to keep its balance and
preserve the fictional status of the “great energy power of the
region”. Bluffing of official Baku still works or it simply seems to
us that it works, since various kind of information is received by
Armenian media for reality. Every step of any country in the world
against Turkey and Azerbaijan is treated by Yerevan almost as an act
of friendly relations.

The latest example is the Azerbaijani-Israeli relations, which both
for the Jewish state and for Azerbaijan are much more important than
the Armenian-Israeli relations. The latter hardly exists. Let us cite
an example: “Azerbaijan may spoil its relations with Israel. According
to Azerbaijani media, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a
decree, which approved the agreement between Azerbaijan’s MFA and
the State of Palestine on disposing material-technical support to
Palestinian Embassy in Baku. The agreement was signed in Baku on
January 31.

This fact did not slip the attention of Israel, as it was the first
time that the term “the State of Palestine” instead of “Palestine”
had been used in bilateral documents of the two countries. Earlier,
Baku had stood for the establishment of Palestinian state, with
Jerusalem as its capital. Azerbaijani political circles state
that Israel has warned Baku to revise her policy toward Palestine,
otherwise Jerusalem would answer by recognition of independence of
the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.”

This information is not worth a damn, because if Israel refuses to
recognize the Armenian Genocide, having, probably, good reasons for
that, she will certainly not recognize the independence of Nagorno
Karabakh. In Big Politics one’s own interests are in the first place,
but it is the truth the Armenian “experts” are unwilling to realize.

Living in the Arab world, where moderate adherents of Islam are much
fewer than radicals, Israel must be overcautious in order to survive.

And it is exactly what she does. Israeli foreign policy stands out
by its carefulness, and the country will never take the path of
confrontation with Azerbaijan and Turkey. She does not need to get
involved in the affairs of a region not so close to her, especially
under the current circumstances when her only ally – Hosni Mubarak –
was forced to resign. Neither is it advisable to implicitly rely on
the United States, which is not so happy about Israel’s existence. Or
rather, let us say, she has come not to be so happy about it. The
Obama Administration has won laurels in the Muslim world, to the
detriment of respect and protection of all the other allies. So,
Azerbaijan and Turkey, despite their unreliability, prove to be more
predictable than the U.S. or Europe.

As for the closing of Israel Embassies in several countries, including
Turkey and Azerbaijan, it is no more than a stopgap measure. After
all, Jerusalem knows that both of the above-mentioned countries,
though trying to distance themselves from radical Islam, are still
Muslim. And all of their “secularism” can easily turn into nothing
under threats from Hezbollah or any other grouping, for which the
existence of Israel is a bur in the throat.

As to Armenia, for Israel she’s just a not very close country
that boasts rather complicated relations in the region. So,
Israel needs not interference in the Karabakh conflict or in
Armenian-Turkish relations. Neither does Armenia need to get involved
in Palestinian-Israeli relations and recognize (or not) a state,
which does not exist, namely Palestine.

From: A. Papazian

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY DENOUNCES EP’S CRITICAL REPORT

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 10, 2011 – 16:32 AMT 12:32 GMT

Turkish Foreign Ministry officials denounced a critical report on
Turkey passed Wednesday in the European Parliament, saying it was
biased and influenced by individual parliamentarians’ domestic
concerns.

‘While partially referring to the positive steps taken in the field
of reforms in our country, [the report] essentially takes a one-sided
stance and includes elements that do not correspond to the realities
and hence are not acceptable to us,’ the Foreign Ministry said in
a statement.

The report, prepared by Turkey rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruyjten, takes the
stance that accession talks with Turkey that began in 2005 are only
‘the starting point for a long-lasting and open-ended process.’

It criticizes Turkey for its ‘slow progress’ in 2010 on reforms and
human rights issues such as gender equality and freedom of religion
and the press, particularly in light of a wave of recent arrests of
journalists in Turkey.

The resolution also calls on the Turkish government to more actively
support negotiations towards a resolution of the Cyprus issue, which
continues to be a major obstacle to the opening of new chapters in
membership talks for Turkish accession to the EU.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry blamed the ‘domestic political considerations
of a limited number of MEPs representing certain member states’
for the tone and content of the report.

‘There are presuppositions and prejudices regarding the Cyprus issue
and freedom of the press. It is impossible for us to accept these,’
said Turkey’s chief EU negotiator, Egemen Bagis, M&C reported.

From: A. Papazian

BAKU SHUTS EYES TO AZERIS’ RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN GEORGIA FOR TBILISI’S ANTI-ARMENIAN POLICY

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 10, 2011 – 15:59 AMT 11:59 GMT

Member of the Republican Party of Armenia, Chairman of Javakhk
compatriots’ union Shirak Torosyan said that the problem of
Azerbaijanis in Georgia is a secondary matter for Azerbaijan,
since Turkey and Azerbaijan have managed to engage Georgia in their
anti-Armenian policy.

“The Azerbaijani authorities do not encourage voicing these problems
not to offend the Georgian leadership, as long as Georgia is involved
in anti-Armenian programs,” Torosyan told a press conference in
Yerevan.

Torosyan pointed out to the case of detainment of the Head of Assembly
of Azerbaijanis of Georgia in Baku.

Torosyan added that though Azerbaijan temporarily turns a blind eye on
violations of Azerbaijanis’ rights in Georgia for the sake of Georgia’s
engagement in the anti-Armenian policy, it will not last for long,
specifically, due to the rapidly growing number of Azerbaijanis
in Georgia.

Chairman of Yerkir union Sevak Artsruni noted for his part that though
some problems of Azerbaijanis are solved internally in Georgia and such
an open persecution is not applied towards them, but Azerbaijanis face
the same problems in this country as the Armenian community of Georgia.

He added that cooperation with the Azerbaijani community for the
protection of common rights has not been launched yet.

From: A. Papazian