Author: Andres-Papazian

EU SCOLDS TURKEY ON BORDER ISSUES

AZG DAILY #207, 11-11-2010

The Wall Street Journal

The European Union said two Balkan states were ready to advance their
membership efforts, while it admonished Turkey to move faster to
settle its border disputes and to normalize relations with Cyprus.

The assessments came Tuesday from the European Commission, the EU’s
executive arm, in separate reports on the readiness of countries that
aspire to join the 27-nation bloc.

The commission said that Croatia’s membership negotiations were
entering “their final stage” and that Montenegro could now be
considered a candidate country.

It added, however, that Croatia needed to do better in making sure its
judiciary was independent and efficient, in fighting corruption and
organized crime, and in cooperating with the international tribunal
investigating war crimes during the break-up of Yugoslavia.

It also said Montenegro’s negotiations couldn’t start immediately
because of concerns over the rule of law.

Turkey was further criticized for shortcomings in free speech and
freedom of religion. Negotiations over Turkey’s membership, which is
opposed by powerful EU states such as France and Germany, have dragged
on since 2005.

“No one can be satisfied with the current pace of negotiations,” said
Stefan Füle, EU commissioner for enlargement.

In Rome, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made it clear that
Turkey doesn’t have infinite patience to complete the process.
Europeans “must think about what the position of Europe will be in
2050,” he said. “The EU may become irrelevant in the geopolitical
context” with a small share of the global economy and a closed
culture.

The assessment said freedom of expression and of the media need “to be
strengthened in Turkey both in law and in practice,” while
“shortcomings remain in the exercise of the freedom of religion.”

It said Turkey also needed to step up efforts to resolve disputes with
neighbors, including with Armenia—with which it signed a 2009
agreement to normalize relations that hasn’t been ratified. The EU
also noted the lack of progress in normalizing relations with the
Greek-Cypriot half of Cyprus, which has been an EU member since 2004.

Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s chief negotiator to the EU, indicated at a
dinner in Istanbul Tuesday that Turkey doesn’t want EU membership
badly enough to make a unilateral gesture to unblock negotiations
frozen over Turkey’s refusal to meet a pledge to open its ports to the
Greek-Cypriot part of Cyprus.

“After all, 17 [negotiating] chapters are blocked. I don’t even have a
clear date to end the negotiations. I have so many leaders saying
Turkey shouldn’t join at all. So why should I give up on Cyprus?” he
said.

Mr. Bagis, however, also called the report “the most positive and
encouraging” Turkey had ever received.

Turkish leaders, including Mr. Bagis, say EU membership remains their
top foreign-policy objective, but there is a decline in popular
Turkish interest in the EU. Turkish media widely noted Monday that
Albanians and Bosnians gained visa-free travel to the EU’s borderless
Schengen zone, while Turks still are obliged to line up outside
embassies—despite Turkey’s full customs union with the EU since 1995,
and although it is further advanced in the EU membership process.

According to a recent survey by the German Marshall Fund of the United
States, a think tank, Turkish support for joining the EU has fallen to
38% from 73% in 2004.

“Perhaps the Turkish public also will say, ‘Let’s not become a member
despite having successfully concluded the negotiations,’ ” Turkish
President Abdullah Gul said in a speech at the Chatham House think
tank in London on Monday.

From: A. Papazian

news.az, Azerbaijan
Nov 11 2010

Karabakh peace process ‘needs its own Camp David’
Thu 11 November 2010 09:28 GMT | 11:28 Local Time
Text size:

Taleh Ziyadov News.Az interviews Taleh Ziyadov, a doctoral fellow at
the University of Cambridge (UK).
Could you comment on the recent meeting between the presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia in Astrakhan, mediated by Russian President
Dmitriy Medvedev?

This was yet another attempt to find ways to break the deadlock in the
current peace process that is bound to collapse if a way out is not
found. The OSCE Minsk Group has a revised proposal on the table that
outlines a feasible plan to achieve long term peace in the South
Caucasus. Mind you, this proposal was drafted taking into account the
concerns and suggestions of both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Baku declared
that the proposal is not perfect but it could be used as a basis for
drafting a final agreement on the so-called Basic Principles – which
is to say, it agreed in principle. Yerevan, on the other hand, did not
officially denounce the proposal (though a series of disapproving and
contradictory statements have been circulated in the Armenian press),
nor did it accept it. Instead, Yerevan started pointing to the more
recent trilateral discussions between the presidents of Azerbaijan,
Armenia and Russia in St Petersburg in June. While the content of the
St Petersburg meeting of the three presidents was not made public, it
seems that the discussions among the parties were not limited to the
OSCE Minsk Group proposal and may have gone beyond it. Azerbaijan
interpreted this as an attempt by Armenia to disrupt the peace process
and distract attention away from the current OSCE Minsk Group
proposal, which Baku considers a workable option. Therefore, the
following meetings facilitated by the Russian Federation, including
the one in Astrakhan, should be viewed in the light of the odd St
Petersburg meeting. I think the current OSCE Minsk Group proposal has
the best framework that could lead to a workable agreement on Basic
Principles. The focus should be placed on establishing common ground
for a possible agreement.

What do you think about the agreement on the immediate exchange of
prisoners and human remains by Azerbaijan and Armenia? Will this
agreement have a positive impact on the Karabakh peace process in
general?

The exchange of prisoners and dead soldiers between Azerbaijan and
Armenia is indeed a positive development. This is especially so,
considering that there had been numerous attempts to do this exchange
earlier. As you know, all the previous attempts, including the appeal
from Russia’s Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I to repatriate the body of
the dead Azeri soldier, Mubariz Ibrahimov, from Armenia, failed.
Hence, this was an important tangible outcome of the trilateral
meeting. But it is unfortunate that this exchange has been delayed for
so long.

The `real outcome’ for the Karabakh peace process, however, would be
reaching an agreement on the OSCE Minsk Group proposal. If the
initiative by President Medvedev helps reach this goal, it will be
applauded. But whether this is the intention or a possible outcome of
these trilateral meetings is yet to be seen. One thing is clear and
that is that Moscow has an undeniable influence over Armenia and it’s
probably the only regional power that could affect Yerevan’s
decisions.

Considering the increased number of meetings between President Aliyev
and President Sargsyan in recent months with the mediation of the
Russian Federation, has Russia de facto `squeezed out’ the other two
OSCE Minsk Group mediators, namely the United States and France?

I wouldn’t characterize these efforts as `squeezing out’ other
players, though Moscow undoubtedly makes sure its interests are taken
into account. Russia has always dominated the Karabakh peace process.
In addition to multilateral and bilateral meetings, there have been a
number of trilateral meetings of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia
and Russia. The meeting in Astrakhan was the third in 2010 and the
seventh since 2008. I don’t recall any trilateral meetings of the
presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and France or the United States
during this time. Compared to active Washington in the early 1990s
(when James Baker had worked out the so-called `Baker Rules’) and 2000
(when Colin Powell led the Key West talks), today the US is rather
inactive and the Obama administration has no clear strategy towards
the region. The same applies to Europe (i.e. the European Commission)
whose involvement in the Karabakh peace process does not go beyond
statements and reports. If Moscow is more active today, it does not
mean it is holding the United States or France/the European Union back
from doing the same. Rather, the Karabakh conflict is not a priority
in Washington, Paris or Brussels. For Moscow, on the other hand,
resolving the major conflict between two neighbours and states, which
Russia considers its strategic partners in the South Caucasus, could
be more important. After all, Moscow still perceives this matter as a
regional “duty”.

Moreover, the common belief that the status quo in the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict serves Moscow is bound to fail. The South
Caucasus region is a relatively small region and its further
integration is only a matter of time. The integration of the economies
of its neighbouring states will help this process and make the
regional states more interdependent. Therefore, building strategies
based on `freezing’ conflicts is counterproductive and will not bring
long-term peace to the region and may result in another war.

How would you judge the mediation efforts of the Russian Federation?
Are these efforts credible and do they have potential? Are these
efforts in line with the national interests of Azerbaijan?

The mediation efforts are judged by their outcomes. While small
results have been achieved in the negotiations, the more tangible and
final outcome – the signing of a peace deal between Azerbaijan and
Armenia – is yet to be attained. Hence, it would be premature to make
a judgment on the credibility of the mediation efforts. As for the
potential of Russia’s mediation efforts, this depends on how Moscow
views its role as a mediator. In other words, if a mediator has
leverage over the negotiating parties, but refuses to use this
leverage in view of impartiality, this mediation effort is likely to
be ineffective and a breakthrough should not be expected. Russian
officials, including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, have made a number
of statements in the past noting that the final decision on resolution
of the Karabakh conflict should be left to the leadership of Armenia
and Azerbaijan. This means that Moscow has so far been unwilling to
use its leverage to achieve a breakthrough, which Baku and Yerevan
won’t reach on their own.

Carrots and inducements are an inseparable part of the mediation and
negotiation process and it does not always run against the
impartiality principle. It is no secret that Russia has significant
influence in Armenia. Yerevan’s insecurity could be addressed by
Moscow’s guarantees and other measures could be introduced to make
sure that any signed peace deal will be sustainable and implemented by
all parties. If extra effort is not made, the current process will be
dead soon and the so-called Madrid principles will follow the fate of
the 1997 Lisbon principles. The mediation efforts should focus on
sealing a deal on the current OSCE Minsk Group proposal, as doing
otherwise would nullify several years of work.

As far as Baku’s position in the negotiations is concerned, it is
based on the principles of international law, and territorial
integrity constitutes the key component of this framework.
International mediators, including Russia, act within the framework of
international law and their mediation efforts are guided by
international law. Though bias among various mediating parties will
always exist.

What do you expect from the meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan
and Armenia on the sidelines of the OSCE Summit in Astana in December?

This would most probably be another round of talks between the two
heads of states. So no surprises there!

To make a serious breakthrough, the Karabakh peace process needs its
own Camp David. The parties have agreed to most of the outstanding
issues and require a final push. It’s extremely difficult to seal a
comprehensive deal through sporadic meetings that take place once
every two or three months. Realistically, what one should expect from
the negotiations at the current stage is a possible agreement on a
step-by-step `road map’ to a final solution. This is feasible. For
this reason, a dedicated high level peace accord should be organized
(be it in Russia, Europe or the US) with the attendance of the two
presidents and other influential global leaders. Such a retreat would
show serious intent and create an opportunity for intensive and
continuous mediated discussions between President Aliyev and President
Sargsyan, reinforced by additional incentives from other leaders,
which could hopefully break the deadlock.

Taleh Ziyadov is a doctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge
(UK). He specializes in energy security, transportation and
geopolitical issues in Central Eurasia. His article analysing the
phases of the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process from 1994 until
2009 was published in the journal of International Negotiation (Volume
15, Number 1, 2010).

Aliyah Fridman
News.Az

From: A. Papazian

Panorama, Armenia
Nov 10 2010

C. Zatulin: `In the context of regional peace the military base
deployment treaty ratification is necessary to accelerate.’

`I’ve always hailed the normalization process and have never
encouraged halts and withdrawals,’ Russian State Duma deputy
Constantine Zatulin told Panorama.am speaking about OSCE Minsk Group
activities and Karabakh conflict resolution process.
Constantine Zatulin arrived in Yerevan involved in Russian State Duma
delegation to attend the meeting of inter-parliamentary committee of
Armenian-Russian cooperation.

According to Russian diplomat, the violation of ceasefire regime
mostly recorded because of Azerbaijani side, first of all harms the
status-quo and is a serious threat for the regional peace and the
mediators’ efforts should be guided by the protection of negotiating
format.

Mr. Zatulin said he has always held his own monitoring and currently
he is alarmed by the tensions of the recent months. `Though OSCE MG
co-chairs are involved and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev takes
initiative of organizing meetings between Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia
and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan the situation remains alarming and
distressing,’ C. Zatulin said.

All the sides engaged in this process, including the mediators, State
Duma deputies and international community are interested in peace
though, according to the deputy, one party declares the conflict may
be settled through military activities. `I would like to remind that
Armenia and Russia have strong partnership relations, based on CSTO
treaty, as well as Russian military headquarters.’

In the context of regional peace, Russian official said, the military
base deployment deal ratification is necessary to accelerate.

From: A. Papazian

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER OF ARMENIA TO SPEAK AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,
HOLD HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS WITH EU INSTITUTIONS

AZG DAILY #207, 11-11-2010

Armen Harutyunyan, the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia,
will be in Brussels from November 15 to November 18, 2010, in order to
meet with European Institutions. The visit is organized by AGBU
Europe.

On the occasion of his visit, Mr Harutyunyan will address a special
meeting of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia. The meeting, which is open to observers, will
be held on 15th November at 5:30pm to 6:30pm in the European
Parliament.

Mr Harutyunyan will also speak at a round table of experts convened
jointly by AGBU Europe and European Friends of Armenia on November 16
at 1pm and hold a debate with the Armenian community in Brussels in
the evening of the 16th. These events will focus on the state of
democracy and human rights in Armenia, particularly in the context of
intensifying EU-Armenia relations, and on the role of the Human Rights
Defender. A number of other meetings with EU Member of Parliament and
officials have also been scheduled.

Armen Harutyunyan was elected first Human Rights Defender for 6 years
in a vote of the National Assembly held on February 17, 2006 , as
provided by article 83.1 of the Constitution of the Republic of
Armenia. The mission of the Human Rights Defender is to investigate
and formulate expert legal opinions on the actions of public
authorities in Armenia and on the conformity of new legislation with
the constitution and with human rights standards. His statements have
provided a much-needed anchor for public debate on matters relating to
democracy and the rule of law. The Ombudsman’s credibility and
influence depend on his ability to remain loyal to his mandate and
independent from political forces in Armenia.

The effective establishment institution of the Ombudsman in Armenia
has been praised by the European Union on a number of occasions. The
European Commission’s report on the European Neighbourhood Policy
implementation progress for Armenia for 2009, for instance, stated
that “the independence of the institution of the Human Rights Defender
(HRDO) in the political system and its role for the protection of
human rights was further strengthened. Overall, the trend in the
number of complaints received by the HRDO is increasing, confirming
the growing credibility of this institution”.

Mr Harutyunyan’s visit in Brussels is part of a series of events
organized by AGBU Europe in the context of its work with the European
institutions.

From: A. Papazian

KARABAKH IN WORLD TRAVEL MARKET (WTM) IN LONDON

AZG DAILY #207, 11-11-2010

Nagorno Karabakh Update: 2010-11-11 00:13:13 (GMT +04:00)

Despite reports that Azerbaijan would protest and try preventing
Karabakh’s representation at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London,
Karabakh did have its small separate pavilion right next to Armenia at
this prestigious annual world forum, panorama.am reports. Just as it
was on November 11-12, 2009 Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh were
represented in WTM exhibition in separate pavilions. Moreover despite
its very modest size, Karabakh’s representation was cozy, very warm,
nicely designed and much more interesting than any other countries for
that matter.

“Karabakh’s corner at the WTM was a kind of place where you’d like to
get in for a cup of tea or coffee, or a glass of wine or so, have a
friendly chat. It really felt very warm, welcoming and comfortable.
Charming – that was my first reaction as I saw it,” one of the
visitors says commenting on the forum.

“Azerbaijan’s pavilion was unremarkable,” notices one of the
participants. Putting on the top of it a weird map of Azerbaijan with
the empty space to indicate Armenia, “and the inscription “territory
occupied by Armenia” was inappropriate and totally out of place,” he
says.

Speaking about representation of Armenia the visitor mentioned that
the people (members of the delegation) were friendly, helpful and
cheerful. As for the other country of the South Caucasus Georgia he
noticed that the coolest design was that of Georgia’s. You could feel
modernity there, and you could actually see it from afar.

From: A. Papazian

Tehran Times, Iran
Nov 11 2010

Mother of Iranian astronomy honored
Tehran Times Culture Desk

TEHRAN — The 90th birth anniversary of the first Iranian female
astronomer and physics professor, Alenush Terian, was celebrated at
the Ararat Club in Tehran.

The ceremony was attended by some Iranian MPs and over 100 Armenian
people to pay tribute to Iranian mother of astrology and the
establisher of the solar observatory of the Institute of Geophysics at
the University of Tehran.

At the ceremony, the Tehran MP Hassan Ghafurifard made a short speech
about his acquaintance with Terian who was his professor at the
university. He said that she had visited her at the elderly house
once.

`She always said I have a daughter who named sun and the moon is my
son,’ he added saying that it is his honor that he is the guest of
this celebration.

After that, the representative of northern Tehran Armenian inhabitants
in Majlis Yureg Vartan called Terian as one of luminaries which
Iranian Armenian is proud of her.

`The presence of luminaries like Terian is a witness to Armenian
accompaniment with Iranians all through the history,’ he added.

The message of the Iranian Archbishop Sabuh Sarkisian on the occasion
of Terian’s birth anniversary was read out at the ceremony as well.

Born in an Armenian family in 1920 in Tehran, Alenush Terian graduated
in 1947 from Tehran University Science Department and she began her
career in physics laboratories of the same university and was elected
as the chief of laboratory operations in the same year.

She graduated in 1856 in atmospheric physics from Sorbonne University.
She came back to Iran and she became an assistant professor in
thermodynamics physics at the University of Tehran.

She studied solar physics observatory for 4 months by a scholarship of
German government and finally became the first female professor of
physics in Iran on 1964.

In 1966 she became a member of the geophysics committee of Tehran
University and in 1969 finally was elected as the chief of the solar
physics studies in that university and began to work in the solar
observatory which she was one of its founders. She was retired on
1979.

Photo: Mother of Iranian astronomy Alenush Terian blows out the
candles on her birthday cake during a celebration at the Ararat Club
in Tehran on November 9, 2010. (Mehr/Majid Asgaripur)

From: A. Papazian

New York Times
Nov 11 2010

Aronian Holds Lead at Tal Memorial, Chased by Many
By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN

Levon Aronian of Armenia continues to hold the lead of the elite Tal
Memorial in Moscow through five rounds, but his lead is not secure – a
number of players are close behind.

Aronian has 3.5 points (wins are worth a point, draws are half a
point), followed by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, Sergey
Karjakin of Ukraine, Wang Hao of China, Hikaru Nakamura of the United
States and Alexander Grischuk of Russia, who each have 3 points.
Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, the defending champion in the event, has
2.5 points, Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine and Boris Gelfand of Israel each
have 1.5, and Alexei Shirov of Spain is in last place with 1 point.

In each of the first three rounds of the tournament, there were at
least two decisive games. But in the fourth and fifth rounds, the only
decisive game was Eljanov’s win over Gelfand on Wednesday. That does
not mean that the games have lacked drama. On the contrary, they have
been hard fought. A typical example was Aronian’s draw against
Karjakin in Round 5.
Aronian gained an edge from the opening and eventually won a pawn. But
Karjakin would only bend, he did not break as he kept putting
obstacles in Aronian’s way, preventing the extra pawn from being put
to use. Though Aronian hung on to his pawn for a long time and managed
to double his rooks on the seventh rank, Karjakin kept finding ways to
stymie Aronian. Aronian finally tried giving back the pawn to create a
breakthrough, but Karjakin had no trouble creating a defensive
fortress and the players agreed to a draw.

One of the interesting stories at the tournament is the performance of
Nakamura. Though he became a grandmaster at 15 and won the United
States championship just before his 17th birthday, he struggled for
years to become an elite player, as well as to gain acceptance by
other top players. One reason was that he was immature and prone to
wildness, sometimes playing openings that were inferior, even against
top competition.

He seems to have harnessed his abilities and grown up. He remains an
uncompromising player, no matter the opposition, but he plays more
circumspectly. In the tournament he has twice used the stolid Berlin
Defense, though in his hands the opening is not necessarily dull, as
he demonstrated in Round 5 against Shirov. In unofficial rankings,
Nakamura has risen to No. 10 in the world, a career best, and he may
go higher as he is only 22 (23 next month).

Nakamura’s rivals have noticed the change. In the video below by
Macauley Peterson for Chess Life Online, the Web site of the United
States Chess Federation, Karjakin and Kramnik discussed their games
with Nakamura in Rounds 3 and 4. The comments by Kramnik, a former
world champion, are particularly noteworthy as he says Nakamura is a
dangerous and interesting opponent. That’s high praise.

From: A. Papazian

Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration meets representatives
of Istanbul’s Armenian Community

November 11, 2010 – 21:29 AMT 17:29 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

On November 11, Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration Armen
Gevorgyan visited the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople and met
with Istanbul’s Armenian Community.

The Minister specifically noted the importance of Armenian Patriarchy
in unification of Armenian community.

He characterized Istanbul’s Armenian community as the bearer of
national and spiritual traditions, assuring of Armenia’s continued
support to their fellow countrymen through the Ministry of Diaspora.

The parties discussed issues Armenian community is currently facing,
with the Minister briefing the meeting participants on
Armenia-Diaspora relations and programs implemented in Armenia,
governmental press service reported.

From: A. Papazian

Preliminary agreement on experimental cultivation of Syrian wheat in
Armenia reached

November 11, 2010 – 19:29 AMT 15:29 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

On November 10, Armenian Ambassador to Syria Arshak Poladyan met with
the Syrian Minister of Agriculture Adel Safar.

At the meeting, the parties discussed current stage of bilateral
cooperation in agriculture sector, as well as development prospects.

Preliminary agreement on experimental cultivation of Syrian wheat in
Armenia was reached.

In conclusion, Mr. Safar expressed a wish to visit Armenia to study
cooperation prospects on site, Armenian Foreign Ministry press service
reported.

From: A. Papazian

RA government allows Jermuk International to postpone VAT payment

November 11, 2010 – 17:00 AMT 13:00 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

During the November 11 sitting, the Armenian government allowed Jermuk
International company to prolong the term for VAT payment in case of
equipment import at the amount above AMD 300mln as part of an
investment program.

Under the investment program, the company envisages establishment of a
modern plant in Yerevan for soft drinks and natural juice production.
The plant will start operating in July 2011.

Armenian Deputy Minister of Economy Karine Minasyan said that the
plant will be supplied with modern equipment, while investments as
part of the program will amount to AMD 5bln, including AMD 2.8bln for
purchase of the equipment.

`At least 120 new jobs with an average salary of AMD 120,000 will be
created as part of the program implemented by the company,’ she said.

Karine Minasyan noted that the total volume of investments as part of
the program implemented by the government made AMD 30mln, as a result
of which 1,050 jobs will be created.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan added that a potential for
economy’s development is created in Armenia. `Similar programs will
contribute to its diversification,’ he said.

From: A. Papazian