Author: Andres-Papazian

EU WELCOMES CONTACT BETWEEN AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN POLITICAL FORCES

Today

Oct 15 2010
Azerbaijan

“The European Union welcomes contact between the Azerbaijani and
Armenian political forces”, said EU permanent representative in
Azerbaijan Roland Kobia making comments on the meetings of Azerbaijani
and Armenian political forces during the Socialist International
conference in Baku.

He said it needed to use every opportunity for the dialogue.

“We understand torments of the people involved in this conflict. The
European Union makes all efforts for peaceful solution to the
conflict. We are working for mutual confidence and contacts. We
consider that only dialogue could lead to the solution of the problem”.

From: A. Papazian

CONSTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN-IRANIAN POWER PLANTS SET FOR 2011

Armenialiberty.org
Oct 15 2010

Armenia — Energy Minister Armen Movsiaian (L) and his Iranian
counterpart Majid Namju launch the construction of an Armenian-Iranian
power transmission line, 14Oct2010.

Armenia and Iran will start building two major hydro-electric stations
on their border early next year, the energy ministers of the two
states said after talks in Yerevan on Friday.

Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said on September 16 that work
on the $323 million project will start during his Iranian counterpart
Majid Namju’s upcoming visit to Armenia.

However, the two men only signed a memorandum reaffirming their
governments’ decision to launch the construction, which is due to
take five years. “This year is coming to an end, so it will start
next year,” Movsisian said at the signing ceremony.

His deputy Ara Simonian clarified that the construction will get
underway next spring. “The construction will be done under direction
oversight of the Armenian side and meet our technical standards,”
Simonian told journalists.

“We, the ministers, are determined to announce the launch of this
very important project as soon as possible,” Namju said, for his
part. He said final details of the project will be worked out during
Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian’s visit to Tehran slated for the end
of this month.

Sarkisian and Namju discussed the matter at a meeting earlier in the
day. According to the Armenian government’s press office, they both
underlined its importance for the development of Armenian-Iranian
relations.

The two power plants will be built on either side of the Arax river
marking the Armenian-Iranian border and have a capacity of 130
megawatts each. They both are to be built by an Iranian company,
Farad-Sepasad.

Movsisian said last month that Armenia will finance its share of the
project with electricity to be generated at the facility and supplied
to Iran . “We will need 15 years to pay back the [Iranian] investments
with electricity supplies,” he said, adding that the plant will then
become property of Armenia.

Namju and Movsisian inaugurated on Thursday the launch of another
Armenian-Iranian energy project. It involves the construction of a
third high-voltage transmission line linking the two countries’ power
grids. The line will allow for a substantial increase in Armenian
electricity exports to the Islamic Republic.

That electricity is to be generated at Armenian thermal-power plans
using natural gas supplied from Iran. Iranian gas deliveries to the
country began in May last year.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN: BAKU REACHES OUT TO ARMENIAN HARD-LINERS IN KARABAKH PR BID

EurasiaNet
Oct 15 2010
NY

Some Baku residents probably did a double-take when the news
broke recently: two members of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutiun, a nationalist Armenian party fervently
opposed to Azerbaijan’s claims to Nagorno-Karabakh, had arrived in
the Azerbaijani capital on a surprise visit.

The two men — Kiro Manoian, one of the party’s deputy chairs, and
Mario Nalbandian, a member of its governing board — were traveling at
the invitation of the Social Democrat Party of Azerbaijan to attend
an October 11-12 conference in Baku of the Socialist International,
a worldwide alliance of left-wing parties. Public interest in the
conference had been minimal; initial news of the two politicians’
arrival came from Armenian media outlets.

For many Azerbaijanis, the surprise lay more in the identity
of the visitors than in the visit itself. Despite the ongoing
hostility between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Armenian officials and
politicians occasionally visit Baku to participate in international
conferences and meetings. But members of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutiun (ARF), who are often called Dashnaks, have
a particular reputation among Azeris. Media outlets in Baku regularly
characterize the party as a “terrorist organization.”

Asked to comment on the government’s decision to allow the two ARF
representatives to travel to Baku, Yeni Azerbaijan Party Executive
Secretary Ali Ahmadov offered a surprise response. He described the
decision as part of a public diplomacy campaign.

“Azerbaijan uses different ways to achieve the return of its occupied
territories. For this purpose, all necessary steps could be used,”
Ahmadov told an October 13 news conference. Visits by Armenian
politicians are “possible if it serves to facilitate the liberation of
the occupied territory,” he said, referring not only to Karabakh proper
but also seven adjoining Azeri regions occupied by Armenian forces.

Ahmadov did not elaborate how the trip by the ARF leaders served
this purpose. The ARF, a former Armenian governing coalition member,
is outspoken about its belief that Azerbaijan has no legitimate claim
to Karabakh.

One newspaper columnist, though, argued that denying the Dashnaks
entrance to the Socialist International conference could have backfired
on Azerbaijan. Social Democrat Party of Azerbaijan Co-Chairperson
Araz Alizade attended a similar SI conference in Yerevan in 2009,
the columnist, Rauf Mirkadirov, noted. “[A] refusal to let Armenians
attend a similar conference in Baku would give Dashnaktsutiun a
chance to talk about the Azerbaijani authorities’ intolerance,” said
Mirkadirov, a commentator for Zerkalo. The conference “is a plus for
the country’s image,” he added.

Creating an appearance of intolerance on the eve of Azerbaijan’s
November 7 parliamentary elections is not likely a desirable goal
for President Ilham Aliyev’s administration. Aside from a more than
three-hour delay upon arrival at Baku’s airport – a snag caused by
Nalbandian requiring a visa for his Argentine passport, according
to Social Democrat Party of Azerbaijan Co-Chairperson Alizade –
the Armenian duo’s visit appeared to proceed without a hitch.
Officials sometimes appeared careful about how they represented the
government’s role in the trip. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry and
embassy in Tbilisi both claimed that they had not been contacted to
grant permission for the two men to fly to Baku from Tbilisi on the
state-run AZAL airline, Trend news agency reported.

For all the mention of facilitating discussions with Armenian
politicians, the Dashnaks’ visit was not without conflict. Chanting
“Armenian Dashnaks, get out of Baku!” about 30 activists from the
hard-line Karabakh Liberation Organization on October 11 staged
a demonstration outside the site of the Socialist International
conference. Trying to execute that slogan, a few demonstrators managed
to get inside the conference building, but were detained by police.
Authorities eventually broke up the protest.

During the conference, discussions hit a few pockets of turbulence.
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Deputy Chairperson Manoian contended
that the Karabakh peace process had stalled because “the OSCE Minsk
Group and other international organizations want to return Karabakh
to Azerbaijan.” Peace can be reached only after Baku recognizes
Karabakh’s independence, he asserted – an opinion largely akin to
waving a red flag before a bull for many Azerbaijanis. Social Democrat
Party Co-Chairperson Alizade responded in kind. Armenia, he claimed,
could hardly speak of Karabakh’s independence from Azerbaijan, given
that Armenia itself is the outgrowth of Azerbaijan’s former khanate
of Yerevan. “Social Democrats are against war, however, the occupied
territories have to be liberated,” Alizade said.

In a later interview with News.az, Alizade said that he had invited
the two men to the conference to show the Socialist International
that the Dashnaks espouse a “national-socialist rather than social
democratic” ideology. The alliance is expected to release its position
on the Karabakh conflict in mid-November.

Azerbaijani media, meanwhile, focused on another Karabakh-related topic
— the whereabouts of the body of slain Azerbaijani soldier Mubariz
Ibrahimov, killed in June during a border skirmish with Armenian
forces. The failure to return Ibrahimov’s body to Azerbaijan has
sparked much emotional outcry.

Responding to reporters, Manoian, who plays no official role in
such matters, blamed the International Committee of the Red Cross
for not transferring the body from the “green zone,” a strip of
neutral territory separating Azerbaijani troops from Armenian and
Karabakhi forces.

ICRC spokesperson in Baku Ilakha Huseynova contested Manoian’s claim,
telling EurasiaNet.org that the Armenian government has confirmed
that they have the bodies of Ibrahimov and another soldier, and that
the ICRC has not received a request from Armenia to return the bodies.

Editor’s note: Shahin Abbasov is a freelance correspondent
based in Baku. He is also a board member of the Open Society
Institute-Azerbaijan.

From: A. Papazian

PROSPECTS FOR TURKISH – U.S. TIES NOT THE BEST
SEMIH IDIZ

Turkish Press

Oct 15 2010

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS – It is hardly a secret that Turkish-US relations
are going through one of their most turbulent periods in recent
history. Indications are that things may get worse before they
get better. At least this is the feeling I got from talking to US
diplomats, researchers and journalists over the past three days
in Bodrum.

The occasion of our discussions was a brainstorming roundtable session
organized by the Turkish Center for Economics and Political Studies
(EDAM) and the Center for European Reform. Because of the Chatham
House rules in force, I cannot quote any of the participants or go
into the details of our discussions.

It is nevertheless possible to reflect some of the ideas and opinions
floated on the sidelines of the roundtable and in private discussions.

>From these, it is clear that there are three elemental issues that
have to be resolved somehow if ties between Ankara and Washington
are to be normalized again: Turkish-Israeli relations, the question
of Iran, and Turkish-Armenian ties.

If we look at Turkish-Israeli relations first, these have become a
kind of litmus test for Turkish-US relations as well. As long as the
dispute between Turkey and Israel remains unresolved, it is clear that
Washington will veer towards Israel on issues like the investigation
into the Mavi Marmara incident, which in turn will feed the already
widespread anti-Americanism among Turks.

This is a fact that the Recep Tayyip Erdogan government, which has
shown serious populist tendencies to date, cannot afford to overlook,
especially as we move closer to next year’s general elections and
the campaign atmosphere.

>From Israel’s perspective, on the other hand, there appears little
hope that the Netanyahu government will provide an apology, let alone
compensation, over the killing of nine Turkish activists on the Mavi
Marmara by Israeli soldiers.

The short of it is that getting an apology and compensation from Israel
has become a matter of honor and public credibility for Prime Minister
Erdogan’s government. The opposite side of the coin, on the other
hand, is that not providing an apology, let alone compensation, has
also become a matter of national honor for the Netanyahu government.

Because of this, no early rapprochement should be expected between
Turkey and Israel, and this situation will of course continue
to cast a shadow over Ankara’s ties with Washington. Even if the
Obama administration wants to normalize ties with Turkey despite this
problem, it seems the US Congress, where the Jewish lobby is paramount,
will ensure that this does not happen.

The question of Iran, on the other hand, continues to be a festering
wound between Turkey and Washington, where the two governments don’t
see eye to eye at all. There seems little possibility, however, that
Ankara will change tack on its growing ties with Tehran for the sake
of improving relations with the US.

Doing so would represent a great loss of face for the ruling Justice
and Development Party (AK Party), and that is a touchy possibility
given the populist nature of the government.

It seems that we may also be facing further potential sore points
between the two countries, in addition to the fact that Turkey voted
against UN sanctions against Iran at the Security Council. Washington
continues to remain keen on a missile defense system that has one leg
in Turkey and which many analysts say will be primarily aimed at Iran.

The dilemma for Ankara, when the issue is on the table in earnest,
is how to manage this problem without falling out with its key NATO
ally, namely the US, while at the same time not antagonizing Iran.

The decision is a hard one, and Turkish diplomats are exhorting their
American counterparts that even if the missile defense system is
put in place in the end, its mission definition should not name any
country in particular, ‘because this would create automatic enemies
for NATO.’ What this means in plain language is that Ankara doesn’t
want any document about the mission of the proposed missile defense
system to name Iran.

Turkey’s dilemma is, however, that Iran has already been named in
this context, and even if it’s not mentioned in any document, the
whole world knows who the initial target of this system is. It’s
not clear at this stage how Turkey will extricate itself from this
problem if indeed the proposed missile defense system goes ahead.

The third thorn in the side of Turkish-US ties is the stalled
Turkish-Armenian normalization process and the fate of the Zurich
protocols signed last year, which were supposed to have paved the
way for a breakthrough between these two deeply estranged neighbors.

It seems from the discussions we held in Bodrum that the general
belief in Washington, and particularly in the US Congress, is that
Turkey negotiated the Zurich Protocols with Armenia in bad faith,
not to actually move ahead in terms of Turkish-Armenian ties, but to
prevent President Barack Obama from using the ‘G word’ [‘genocide’]
in his annual April 24 message earlier this year.

One person in Bodrum said the mood in Congress on Turkey is ‘ugly’
because of this, and that the Armenian lobby is mobilizing with all
its strength to use the downturn in Turkish-US ties in order to try
and push through an Armenian genocide resolution in the House and
the Senate.

Whether it will be successful this time remains to be seen. But if
it is, this will likely lead to a ‘train crash’ in Turkish-US ties,
which some are already predicting somewhat pessimistically as being
somewhere down the line anyway, if the present mood in bilateral ties
remains sour.

Even this somewhat cursory list of problem areas in Turkish-US ties
appears to indeed suggest that things will probably get worse before
they get better. In addition to these problems, there are also Ankara’s
overtures to Russia and China, which we are told are causing some
consternation in Washington.

The lines of the sides involved in all above three issues are so firmly
drawn that it appears almost to be stating the obvious to say that the
prospects for Turkish-US ties in the coming months don’t look the best.

From: A. Papazian

NEXT ANC RALLY SCHEDULED FOR CE FORUM’S DAY

news.am
Oct 15 2010
Armenia

Next rally of the Armenian National Congress will be held on October
19, Levon Zurabyan, ANC Office Coordinator, Armenian National Congress
said, speaking at the Oct.15 oppositional rally. Rally will to be
held on the occasion of the CE forum for democracy held in Yerevan.

Prior to the protest action, the ANC will hold a picket in front
of governmental guest house where the forum will take place. PACE
Co-rapporteur on Armenia John Prescott will participate in the forum
as well.

According to Zurabyan, they intend to remind the forum participants of
the issues regarding March 1 victims, political prisoners and other
problems. Then, at 6:00 p.m. the ANC rally followed by a procession
will be held.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN PM HOSTED IRANIAN ENERGY MINISTER

Panorama
Oct 15 2010
Armenia

Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan received today the energy
Minister of Islamic Republic of Iran Madjid Namdju and the delegation
headed by him, Government’s information and public relations department
reported.

Greeting the guests, PM Tigran Sargsyan stated the Iranian Minister’s
visit would greatly contribute to the reinforcement of further
cooperation.

The Iranian Minister underscored his country’s preparedness to improve
ties with Armenia, especially those in energy field. The officials
signified the successful implementation of Meghri’s hydroelectric
station.

From: A. Papazian

CORRUPTION RAMPANT IN ARMENIA, ANC REP SAYS

news.am
Oct 15 2010
Armenia

Corruption is spreading throughout Armenia, Aram Sargsyan, a member
of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC), stated at the
ANC rally in Yerevan on October 15. According to him, one of the
presidential candidates had nothing at all except for a private house
and a car in 2003. However, when he left in 2008 he was “wealthier
that the whole of Armenia.”

“There is not a more glaring example of corruption. Are the incumbent
authorities able – or do they want at all – to struggle against
corruption?” Aram Sargsyan asked. He is sure that early elections
are the only way out of the situation.

The ANC member addressed the latest developments in the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. “In his latest speech President Serzh
Sargsyan said that the sooner Nagorno-Karabakh becomes a negotiator
the sooner the problem is resolved. But where was Serzh Sargsyan when
Robert Kocharyan actually ousted Nagorno-Karabakh from the negotiation
process?” asked Aram Sargsyan.

In his turn, Levon Zurabyan, ANC office Coordinator, commented on
the arrest of an Armenian criminal group in the United States.

“The crime boss Armen Kazaryan nicknamed Pzo has close contacts with
President Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan,” the ANC member said.

During the 2008 presidential elections “Pzo” came to Armenia and
coordinated criminal actions against Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Zurabyan
claims. “The global scandals will have a serious impact on further
processes in Armenia. The international community confirmed that the
ANC is struggling against a mafia structure which is actually helping
international mafia,” the ANC member said.

Zurabyan also stated that the Armenian authorities are concerned
over arrests in the U.S., as well as over a list of criminals among
Armenian Government members, which was recently released in Russia.

“According to the information at our disposal, Serzh Sargsyan called
Vladimir Putin in this connection. Revealing the criminal essence of
the regime for the international community is serious progress for
our struggle,” Zurabyan said.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN MAN BURNT ALIVE BY TWO AZERBAIJANIS

news.am
Oct 15 2010
Armenia

Two Russian citizens of an Azerbaijani origin burned an Armenian man
alive in the Russian city of Volgograd.

An Armenian man, 33, got acquainted with two Azerbaijanis by accident.

The guys asked for cigarettes and offered to drink bear. Young people
went to Volga River bank to drink together. After having a bear they
argued and a scuffle broke out.

Presently they do not remember the reason for the argument. Two 30
year old men violently beat the Armenian guy, then poured gasoline
on the body and burnt him, local investigators say.

When the man was found by passer-bys, he was still alive. He was
taken to hospital where he died.

Criminal proceedings were instituted and the criminals were arrested.

They are likely to be sentence to 12 years’ imprisonment.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES GANGSTERS, ANC REP SAYS

news.am
Oct 15 2010
Armenia

The Armenian authorities’ rule can only be designated as gang rule,
the former Yerevan mayor and member of the opposition Armenian National
Congress (ANC) Vahagn Khachatryan stated at a rally in Yerevan. He
added that the Armenian authorities’ aim is to plunder Armenia.

Although President Serzh Sargsyan once said that each Armenian family
must be able to afford a house and a car, the population’s incomes
are decreasing day by day.

He also recalled the Armenian oligarch Samvel Karapetyan’s promise
to invest U.S. $200 million in Armenia, which has not so far been kept.

“The gang will not leave with credit, but they want to get rid of us,”
Khachatryan said.

From: A. Papazian

BRUTAL DEPORTATION POLICY CHALLENGED

Morning Star Online

Oct 15 2010
UK

Human rights and child protection groups told Austria on Friday to
stop detaining children and halt the deportation of well-integrated
foreign families who have been denied asylum.

In a joint appeal, Amnesty International Caritas, SOS Kinderdorf
and Diakonie urged the Vienna government to protect the rights
of non-Austrian minors and be more lenient about allowing young
asylum-seekers and their parents to remain in the country.

The appeal came just days after two eight-year-old twins were taken
into custody with their father in an early morning raid and deported
to Kosovo.

Their mother suffered a nervous breakdown after their most recent
application for permanent residence in Austria was declined.

She is still receiving treatment at Vienna’s Otto Wagner Hospital
and doctors said she was at risk of committing suicide.

The family had lived in Austria since 2004 but were expelled after
they were denied asylum and refused to leave on their own.

Their plight has sparked widespread protest, with critics calling
the deportations heartless and inhumane.

Interior Minister Maria Fekter, a member of the People’s Party,
stressed that Austria would continue to deport people resident in
the country for many years.

The rightwinger said she had no plans to change current regulations
which allowed immigration police to forcefully deport those residence
permits were rejected.

Ms Fekter angered opposition MPs and NGOs by calling the operation
of armed police procedure “constitutional and appropriate.”

But the joint appeal argued that separating two children from their
mother and forcibly expelling them from the country was not necessary
to maintaining the republic’s security.

“It’s tough to grasp why well-integrated families whose children have
spent most of their lives in Austria and who speak German better than
their mother tongue aren’t granted the right to stay for humanitarian
reasons,” the appeal stated.

On Thursday a 14-year-old Armenian girl resurfaced after disappearing
the day before to evade police plans to pick her up from school so
she could be deported.

Her mother is currently on suicide watch in hospital.

The interior ministry admitted that 4,152 applicants had been detained
to await deportation during the first eight months of this year and
that that 1,667 people had been deported in that time.

From: A. Papazian