Author: Andres-Papazian

UNION OF SASUN ARMENIANS APPEALS TO EUROPEAN COURT

news.am
March 9 2011
Armenia

“Union of Social Solidarity and Culture of Sasun Armenians” intends to
appeal to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the denial
to create a fund in Turkey.

Chairman of the Union, Aziz Dagcin said they had been struggling
for several years to make their union into a fund, Firat news agency
reports.

He recalled six founders of the union appealed to the civil court of
Istanbul two years ago requesting for a permission to open a fund,
but the claim was rejected. Istanbul Armenians’ request was also
rejected by the Court of Cassation and then they decided to appeal
to the European Court of Human Rights.

The union, which includes Armenians living in the provinces of Bitlis,
Van and Mush, intends to restore ethnic, cultural, linguistic and
religious identity of Armenians.

From: A. Papazian

HRANT DINK’S BROTHER MAY BE NOMINATED FOR TURKISH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

news.am
March 9 2011
Armenia

The Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), which will participate
in the parliamentary elections with independent candidates, is
discussing the candidature of the murdered journalist Hrant Dink’s
brother Orhan Dink.

According to Firat news agency, the party has started accepting the
applications of candidates for nomination.

“The BDP, who is nowadays discussing about the nomination of SDP
President Rıdvan Turan within the scope of ‘Democratic bloc’,
intends to make a candidature offer to Hrant Dink’s brother Orhan
Dink,” the source writes.

Earlier this month BDP decided to nominate Hayko Baghdad, an Istanbul
Armenian journalist.

From: A. Papazian

NO “SOON” OR “SHORTLY” IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS, OSCE CHAIRPERSON-IN-OFFICE SAYS

news.am
March 9 2011
Armenia

Lithuanian Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Audronius
Azubalis held a meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in Vilnius.

Such terms as “soon” or “shortly” are not relevant to the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, Azubalis said following the
meeting. This process requires consistent and strenuous efforts,
he said.

With cautious optimism the Lithuanian FM is assessing the negotiations
between the conflicting parties. The negotiations are going on. The
results of the Armenian-Azerbaijani-Russian presidential meeting may
be a good ground for further positive decisions aimed at resolving
the conflict, DELFI reports, quating Azubalis.

The sides also discussed building of confidence between Armenia
and Azerbaijan in the military field and the countries’ honoring
the ceasefire agreement. Despite the ceasefire agreement, deplorable
instances of sniping by both sides have been reported, the Lithuanian
FM said.

Besides the OSCE MG Co-Chairs, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, the
Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in- Office, will participate
in the meeting.

Armenian News-NEWS.am reminds readers that, after considering the
implementation of the Astrakhan statement of October 27, 2010,
at their March 5 meeting in Sochi, the Presidents also agreed on
additional steps.

The first step is completing the POW exchange process as soon as
possible.

The second point envisages settling all the disputable issues in
a peaceful way and investigating possible incidents on the line
of contact with the parties` participation, under the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chairs` auspices and with the assistance of the Special
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.

From: A. Papazian

ISTANBUL ARMENIANS SUE TURKISH MINISTRY AND GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

news.am
March 9 2011
Armenia

Armenians of Istanbul have opened a third case against the Interior
Ministry and the Istanbul Governor’s Office over the decision not
to permit an election for a new patriarch, Hurriyet Daily News &
Economic Review reports.

The lawsuit was issued by an individual whose name was not made public.

Last December the initiative group “We want to elect our own patriarch”
organized a press conference, saying they want to elect a religious
leader who will represent Armenian community.

Istanbul Armenians collected 5, 359 signatures to oppose Turkish
Government’s decision appointing a patriarch vicar replacing current
Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Mesrob Mutafyan.

Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Mersrob Mutafyan is permanently
ill. One group within the Armenian community considers they should
elect a new patriarch, whereas another group, objects to this, saying
it is against traditions to elect a new patriarch while the elected
one is still alive.

From: A. Papazian

FRANCE ACKNOWLEDGED SELF-DETERMINATION OF KOSOVO, THE SAME RIGHT COULD BE GRANTED TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH, DEPUTY MAYOR OF MARSEILLES SAYS

news.am
March 9 2011
Armenia

“France, as one of the three States which chair together the OSCE
Minsk Group, remain faithful to the principles which where defined by
the 15th Ministerial Council of the OSCE which took place in Madrid on
29th and 30th November, 2007,” Roland Blum, member of the Assemblée
Nationale, First Deputy Mayor of Marseilles told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“Nevertheless, the difficulties met by the implementation of
those principles find their roots in the disagreement between the
parties about the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh and in the current
impossibility to reach an agreement between territorial integrity and
self-determination. Yet, only self-determination, expressed through
the vote of the Karabakhtsi people, will definitely allow to settle
this problem, since I regard as unbelievable that a people may be
forced to live under the domination of another one against its will,”
he stressed.

“Since France has acknowledged this principle for Kosovo, the same
right could be granted to Nagorno-Karabakh,” he noted.

From: A. Papazian

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS COMMEMORATE 40 MARTYRS ON MARCH 9; THE MUCENICI TRADITION

Romania-Insider.com

March 9 2011

The Orthodox Christians on March 9 hold the feast of the Forty Martyrs
(Mucenici), soldiers in the Roman army during the reign of Emperor
Licinius (308-324), who were tortured and executed in Sebaste (capital
of the Roman province Armenia Minor, nowadays the city of Sivas in
Turkey – editor’s note), because they refused to apostatize their
Christian belief.

The popular commemoration of the martyrs marks the beginning of the
agricultural year, celebrated on the vernal equinox, a borderline
halfway between winter and summer, between the freezing days of Dochia
(mythological figure identified with the return of the spring, believed
to be frozen alive) and the milder days of the Mosi (identified with
the martyrs, mythological figures believed to counterbalance the cold
brought by Dochia).

The customs in the Mucinici day bear specific traits of rites of
passage common for New Year: baking “mucenici”, traditional sweets
resembling a human shape or the eight figure (in picture), the ritual
drinking derived from the popular belief claiming that one should
drink 40 glasses of wine this day, stoking fires in yards and gardens,
purification of both people and animals by sprinkling holy water,
beating up the ground with wooden mallets to drive out cold and
unleash the warmth.

The custom to drink forty glasses of red wine on this day dates
back to old pagan rituals in ancient times. People believe that the
wine consumed on this day turns into blood and vigour all the year
round. In case someone cannot drink that amount of wine, one should
have at least a sip or be spattered with wine.

From: A. Papazian

LATVIA PROVIDES TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO ARMENIA FOR EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

Panorama
March 9 2011
Armenia

Latvia will provide technical support to Armenia in the sidelines
of European Union Eastern partnership project. Presidents of Armenia
and Latvia Serzh Sargsyan and Valdis Zatlers recorded the agreement
today in Riga during the bilateral negotiations.

Panorama.am reporter tells that the Presidents have first had separate
meeting, which has been followed by wide format negotiations and on
behalf of foreign ministers a statement has been signed.

“Latvia is intended to support Armenia to make the country closer to
Europe. I’m happy we’ve agreed upon the priorities,” Latvian President
Valdis Zatlers stated in a meeting with the reporters. He said Latvia,
which has accumulated serious experience in Euro integration, could
support Armenia in it.

“Another advantage of our experts is that they know Russia,” President
Zatlers said and added that another advantage is that Armenia and
Latvia have as heritage same social-political roots.

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said that Armenia has defined
the priorities in Eastern Partnership in the aftermath of its
implementation Armenian citizens may feel the project’s outcomes.

“They can feel welfare in economy and social conditions,” RA President
said.

From: A. Papazian

WHERE IS OSCE’S KARABAKH ASSESSMENT REPORT?

news.az
March 9 2011
Azerbaijan

Baku has questioned the OSCE’s failure to publish a report on a field
assessment mission to parts of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenian forces.

“The report of the OSCE Minsk Group’s field assessment mission to
the occupied lands has not been published, despite the expectations
of the Azerbaijani side,” the head of the foreign policy department
at the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, Novruz Mammadov,
told Public TV.

If the OSCE undertook the mission to investigate the facts in the
occupied lands, then it must publish its report, Mammadov said.

“If it doesn’t, this means something dubious is afoot,” he said.

The OSCE-led field assessment mission took place in October 2010. The
mission team included the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,
the personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office and
three technical experts, including two from the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

The mission’s report was initially expected to be ready in time for
the OSCE summit in Astana on 1-2 December last year.

However, in November, Bernard Fassier, the French co-chair of the Minsk
Group, said the report would be submitted to Armenia and Azerbaijan
early in 2011.

From: A. Papazian

KARABAKH CONFLICT STILL AWAITS ITS BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT

Georgian Daily

March 9 2011
Georgia

Alman Mir Ismail
Source:

The March 5 meeting in Sochi between the Armenian, Azerbaijan and
Russian presidents, Serj Sarksyan, Ilham Aliyev and Dmitry Medvedev,
respectively, resulted in a joint declaration, but once again failed
to produce the much-expected breakthrough on the resolution of the
Karabakh conflict. This was the eighth meeting of these state officials
in such a trilateral format.

The joint declaration merely referred to the previous agreement
between the two sides, reached in Astrakhan on October 27, 2010
regarding the full exchange of all prisoners of war. The document
urged both sides to speed up and complete the exchange process and
solve all other disagreements through peaceful means, as well as
investigating possible ceasefire violations under the auspices of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk group
(, March 6).

After the end of the trilateral meeting the Russian Foreign Minister,
Sergey Lavrov, met the co-chairs of the Minsk group to discuss the
Karabakh conflict and further steps towards its peaceful resolution
(, March 6).

It is evident that President Medvedev, who has been closely involved
in this conflict’s peace process in the past two years, has put his
personal reputation on the table. Many observers believe that the
keys to the resolution of the conflict are in the Kremlin. In fact,
the close military alliance between Russia and Armenia provides
hope that at some point Russia can indeed play a constructive role
in the resolution of the conflict and urge Armenia to make certain
compromises. This would break the deadlock, which appeared in this
22-year old conflict, earn Moscow certain political dividends and image
of a peacemaker as well as further drawing Azerbaijan closer to Russia.

Yet, despite the proactive participation by President Medvedev in
this process, no significant results have been obtained. Armenia
still refuses to accept the so-called “renewed Madrid principles,” a
proposal made by the Minsk group in 2009 on the basic principles of the
resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan has already expressed
its general consent with this document, which envisages the gradual
return of the occupied Azerbaijani territories to Azerbaijan, return
of the displaced persons to their homes, resumption of trade links,
guaranteeing of the security of the local population and eventual
determination of the status of Karabakh by the free expression of
the will of the population.

The absence of any reaction from Yerevan towards this document
frustrates both the mediators and official Baku. During the OSCE summit
in Astana in December 2010, mediators urged both sides not to delay and
take urgent steps towards the resolution of the conflict. All mediators
are trying to save the peace process from becoming a complete fiasco
by organizing new meetings of the presidents and foreign ministers
and making new creative statements which establish an appearance that
the peace process is still alive. In many ways, the Sochi meeting
resembled an attempt to rescue the patient rather than treat him.

Meanwhile, many in Azerbaijan are convinced that Armenia is
not interested in peace and the Minsk group is dragging out the
process. Baku’s frustration with Yerevan’s refusal to agree on the
Madrid principles translates into more military spending, harsher
rhetoric from Azerbaijani politicians and anger among the general
public with the international mediators. This week, President Aliyev
visited several new plants which produce equipment and technology for
the military and launched the construction of several more. Azerbaijan
also participated in the IDEX-2011 military-industrial exhibition in
the United Arab Emirates which displayed 71 types of new military
products (APA, February 23). Generally, the Minister of Military
Industry of Azerbaijan, Yaver Jamalov, stated that the country will
increase the number of new products from the current 413 to 480 and
some of them will even be exported (ANS-TV, February 23).

Thus, the military buildup by both countries is increasing, but
Russian mediation seems to focus on strengthening the ceasefire
rather than a complete resolution of the conflict. President Aliyev
evidently places much hope on the Russian role in the mediation. If
this process fails and Russia is unable to pressure Armenia to make
compromises, it is unclear what other peaceful means will remain on
the table. Frustration in both capitals can lead to new escalation
of the conflict, including a full-scale war.

From: A. Papazian

KARABAKH PRESIDENT MEETS WITH NKR DIPLOMATS IN PARIS

news.am
March 9 2011
Armenia

President of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan met on Wednesday
with republic’s permanent representatives to the European countries
and the U.S., as well as employees of the NKR foreign ministry sent
abroad with diplomatic missions.

During the meeting held in Paris the sides discussed wide range
of issues related to the activities of NKR diplomatic missions in
foreign countries, NKR presidential press service informs Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

President Sahakyan stressed importance of developing relations with
the political, analytical and cultural circles.

From: A. Papazian