Author: Andres-Papazian

AZERBAIJAN TOLD ABOUT OSCE MINSK GROUP PROCESS

Aysor
Sept 10 2010
Armenia

“The fact that Azerbaijan has proposed to revoke the draft of the
resolution [on Karabakh] put on the agenda of the UN General Assembly
and postponed it until the 65th session doesn’t mean that it an act
of good will as it is trying to introduce,” told Aysor Vice-Speaker
Samvel Nikoyan.

“Azerbaijan had to take that step,” said politician. He said that
the “resolution’s recalling means that those who are responsible
for the foreign policy of Armenia have been acting with an aim and
effectively for a long time and the most important thing is that
our authorities’ actions are appreciated positively and receive
international community’s support.”

Nikoyan stressed that works to prevent Azerbaijan’s wishes of that
kind were carried and will be carried by all those who are responsible
for Armenia’s foreign affairs.

“It’s clear that the international community talked to Azerbaijan
pointing at the process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group
which clearly expressed its position over settlement to the Karabakh
conflict,” added Nikoyan.

From: A. Papazian

N. YERITSYAN: VARIETY OF IDEAS LEADS TO DEVELOPMENT

Aysor
Sept 10 2010
Armenia

Armenia’s government has organized discussions to reveal preferable
directions for country’s development in the post-crisis period,
Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan told a press conference.

Director of the Center for International Development and Professor of
the Practice of Economic Development at Harvard University Ricardo
Hausmann has been invited to Armenia for the discussions. According
to Yeritsyan, Hausmann can encourage the Armenian youth, show them
ways towards development other countries choose.

“Boldness, variety of ideas are the only way to development,”
Minister stressed.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIANS OF FRANCE INITIATE ONLINE PETITION ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Panorama
Sept 10 2010
Armenia

The assistant to Marseilles Mayor, Didier Parakian of Armenian decent,
has initiated an internet petition to urge the French Senate to ratify
the draft on criminal law that punishes the denial of the Armenian
Genocide, Ermenihaber.am reported.

The French Parliament has already endorsed the draft.

A video is available at petition-genocidearmenien.com website,
specially made for the petition, in which Parakian underlines
that the time has come to adopt laws on criminal punishment of the
Armenian Genocide in France, the defender of human rights, and Europe,
generally.

Didier Parakian is a son of a family that survived the Genocide.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN BACKS OUT ON KARABAKH RESOLUTION
Giorgi Lomsadze

EurasiaNet
Sept 10 2010
NY

Tamada TalesArmenia Foreign PolicyAzerbaijan Foreign PolicyNagorno
Karabakh In a surprise mood swing, Azerbaijan has yanked from the
United Nations General Assembly floor a draft resolution meant
to reaffirm the right of displaced Azerbaijanis to return to the
breakaway region of Nagorno Karabakh and its vicinity.

The disputed region’s main supporter, Armenia, was quick to thank the
three Karabakh conflict-mediating powers – the US, France and Russia –
for talking Azerbaijan out of pushing the divisive resolution through
the UN.

Several days earlier, Armenia and Azerbaijan’s neighbor, Georgia,
secured UN support for a similar resolution that called for the return
of ethnic Georgians expelled by separatists from the disputed Abkhaz
and South Ossetian territories.

Baku said it decided to postpone discussion of the resolution in
response to the trio’s intention to field an international fact-finding
mission to the territory, now occupied by Armenian troops. Armenia,
in turn, responded that the Azerbaijani explanation holds no water
since the mission was agreed months ago.

The US, French and Russian chairpersons of the Minsk Group, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe body tasked
with mediating the talks, will lead the expedition to inspect the
humanitarian situation in areas that border Karabakh.

From: A. Papazian

DRAMATIC DECLINE IN ARMENIA’S AGRICULTURE, PREMIER SAYS

news.am
Sept 10 2010
Armenia

A dramatic decline in Armenia’s agricultural sector had a negative
impact on all the macroeconomic indicators in the country, RA Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan told reporters, speaking of this year’s
agricultural decline.

The climate caused problems in the agricultural sector, he said. The
Premier pointed out reforms implemented in the agricultural sector,
particularly the first seed-growing program. Despite the embargo on
seed export in Russia, Armenia will import 1,000 tons of high-quality
seeds this week.

“We plan to reach this level within the next five years – produce up
to 30,000 tons of top-quality elite seeds here. Dozens of seed-growing
farms will be involved in the program, and we hope that the problem
will be resolved within five years,” Premier Sargsyan said.

Another aspect of agricultural reforms is an organic fertilizer
production program, which will make Armenia less dependent on imported
fertilizers. Armenian fertilizers will be cheaper. The cattle stock
is being increased – calves are imported to Armenia. With the WB’s
assistance regional consulting centers have been formed for farmers.

The irrigation and drinking water supply systems are modernized in
Armenia. Premier Sargsyan underlined the importance of comprehensive
rural development and creation of jobs in the regions for harmonious
regional development.

From: A. Papazian

WHAT ARMENIANS DID ON THEIR SUMMER VACATION: AVOID TURKEY
by Marianna Grigoryan

EurasiaNet

Sept 10 2010
NY

As Armenia’s summer vacation season winds down, one country, Turkey,
will be missing from many of the usual travel tales. With Armenia’s
attempts to reconcile with Turkey now at a standstill, Armenian
tourists this summer largely bucked the trend of recent years and
gave Turkey’s sun-drenched beaches a miss.

Over the past few years, Yerevan’s TezTour agency saw summer sales
of travel packages to Antalya, the popular Turkish Mediterranean Sea
resort town, increase annually by 30 to 40 percent. Not any more.

“Anything can influence people’s decision to spend their vacation in
this or that place. In this situation, the Turkish coasts are really
vulnerable [to a decline in Armenian visitors],” said the firm’s
Yerevan office director, Narine Davtian. “Business should have nothing
to do with politics, but, in this case, they’re interconnected.”

The posters advertising vacations in Turkey that used to flood
Yerevan each summer have largely disappeared. [For details, see
the EurasiaNet’s archive.] In their place, other posters warn city
residents against vacationing in Turkey, urging them “not to arm the
Turkish army” by putting money into Turkey’s economy.

Some travel agencies refused to sell tours to Antalya outright. First
Travel Director Karen Andreasian claims safety concerns for Armenian
tourists amidst the uptick in tensions between Yerevan and Ankara
drove his agency’s decision. “I urge everybody to boycott Antalya,”
Andreasian said.

With Turkey now blackballed, tourists headed instead to the beaches
of Spain, Greece, Tunisia, and longtime seasonal favorite, Georgia.

Armenian holiday destinations are frequently seen as too expensive.

The government maintains that such boycotts are not part of a specific
policy, but, rather, the natural result of Turkey’s alleged inability
to meet Armenia halfway on a reconciliation agreement. Turkey, in turn,
blames Armenia. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan this April called
a timeout for attempts to normalize ties with Turkey; Ankara broke
its diplomatic relations with Yerevan in 1993 to protest the war with
Turkish ally Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Politics is politics, but it influences the moods and preferences
of the people,” said Mari Grigorian, deputy head of the Ministry of
Economy’s department for tourism and regional economic development.

“We should use any chance to promote domestic tourism and make it
attractive for people.”

Grigorian, who is no relation to this reporter, said that the
government has no official data about the number of Armenians who
travel to Turkey each year since the two countries do not have
diplomatic relations.

Aside from diplomatic wrangles, though, Armenians have also been
subjected to a full-force television campaign to steer clear of both
Turkish beach resorts and Turkish products.

In one TV ad, a Turkish-speaking man, dressed as an official, is
featured sitting under a portrait of the founder of the Republic of
Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and the Turkish flag. Smiling, the man
via a voiceover thanks Armenians for boosting Turkey’s economy and
strengthening its army by buying Turkish products. He ends by saying
“thank you” in Armenian — “shnorhakalutiun.”

At the same time, news coverage of Turkey on Armenian television,
particularly Public Television, has become notably chilly after
earlier attempts at emphasizing the chances for reconciliation.

Some analysts see nothing unusual in the coverage or in Armenians’
decision to bypass Antalya and other Turkish resorts this year.

“We must keep in mind what’s going on. There has been an attempt to
normalize relations, and Turkey didn’t support this move despite many
actions by the Armenian authorities,” opined Armenian National Academy
of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies Director Ruben Safrastian,
a Turkish studies specialist. Disappointment with Turkey followed
and soured the public mood, Safrastian believes.

One sociologist agrees. “People had great expectations, and once
again they saw it was useless to expect anything from a country like
Turkey; all this would surely affect the public mood,” commented
Aharon Adibekian, director of the Sociometer polling center.

Interviews with Yerevan residents often confirm that analysis.

Thirty-seven-year-old linguist Vardan Hakobian believes Armenians who
spend money in Turkey to be “traitors” who deny Ottoman Turkey’s 1915
slaughter of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians.

Seventy-year-old pensioner Matevos Mkrtumian expressed similar
bewilderment about Armenians who “go to develop the tourism of a
country which is their enemy.”

“Armenians have never seen anything good from the Turks. How can we
believe them now?” he asked.

One computer programmer, however, who asked not to be named, believes
that summer vacations should not be mixed with politics.

“My great-grandparents also fled from Western Armenia [term often used
for areas of Eastern Turkey traditionally inhabited by ethnic Armenians
– ed], but I don’t want to mix things up,” said the programmer. “My
vacation in Antalya was wonderful, though I must confess that very
often I tried to forget I was in Turkey.”

Editor’s note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based
in Yerevan.

From: A. Papazian

SPEAKER OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES ISSUES OF COOPERATION WITH TURKMEN AMBASSADOR

Turkmenistan.ru
Sept 10 2010

Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan received the newly
appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan
to Armenia, Ata Serdarov, in Yerevan on 9 September.

According to ArmInfo news agency, Abrahamyan expressed hope that “the
work of the Plenipotentiary Representative of Turkmenistan will bring
relations between the two countries to a qualitatively new level.”

The speaker also noted the importance of strengthening
inter-parliamentary ties, stressing the Armenian side willingness to
facilitate this process in every way. In turn, Ata Serdarov said that
he would use all his knowledge and experience to further develop the
Turkmen-Armenian relations.

From: A. Papazian

OFFICIAL STATEMENT: OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS STRONGLY URGED ALL PARTIES TO RESPECT THE CEASE-FIRE
I.Huseynov

Trend
Sept 10 2010
Azerbaijan

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Igor Popov of
Russia, Bernard Fassier of France, and Robert Bradtke of the United
States strongly urged all parties to respect the cease-fire, OSCE
Minsk Group’s official statement says.

While all parties reconfirmed their commitment to the 1994 cease-fire,
the Co-Chairs reiterated that it is critical that this commitment is
carried out in practice.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs travelled to Baku, Yerevan, and
Nagorno-Karabakh September 6-9.

On September 8, with the facilitation of the Permanent Representative
of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and the
military authorities of all sides, the Co-Chairs crossed the Line of
Contact (LoC) on foot, en route to Stepanakert/Khankhendi, to highlight
that the LoC is not to become a permanent barrier between neighboring
peoples and to demonstrate to all parties that the ceasefire of 1994
must be strictly respected. This marked the first time the mediators
have crossed the LoC since November 2001.

The Co-Chairs held discussions with all parties regarding the
previously agreed Field Assessment Mission to the territories
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, which they will conduct between late
September and mid-October. They presented the elements of their
mission, and they will finalize their preparations for the mission
in the nearest future.

The Co-Chairs welcomed the decision by Azerbaijan to postpone
consideration of its resolution in the United Nations General
Assembly. At the same time they reiterated that the OSCE Minsk
Group remains the sole framework for a peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Before they return to the region to carry out the Field Assessment
Mission, the Co-Chairs will travel to Washington, D.C. and then to
New York to work with the sides on the margins of the United Nations
General Assembly, as they had previously announced.

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 region and the
occupied territories.

From: A. Papazian

KARABAKH MEDIATORS BECOME WHAT MARTTI AHTISAARI WAS FOR KOSOVO
by Armen Hareyan

HULIQ.com
Sept 10 2010
SC

The Minsk Group co-chairs of Nagorno Karabakh Conflict that mediate
a resolution between Armenia and Azerbaijan seem to go with the same
scenario that Martti Ahtisaari used in time when regulating the Kosovo
problem and leading to its independence, thus establishing lasting
peace in Balkans.

Five events and statements, including today’s statement by the Minks
group, support the idea that the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict will lead to its independence and that will be a win win
situation for Azerbaijan and Armenia establishing peace in the region.

Look at the Balkans. Serbia has given up the diplomatic fight and
looks to the future.

Crossing the Line of Contact between Azerbaijan and Karabakh.

Mediators crossed the line of contact between Nagorno Karabakh and
Azerbaijan by foot. In the past nine years of mediation this had
never happened. Now, by crossing the line of contact from Azerbaijan
to Nagorno Karabakh and doing it by foot Mediators show four things.

First that this line is not to become a permanent barrier between
neighboring peoples. Second, they recognize Nagorno Karabakh by a
conflicting side and in their statement use the phrase “all parties.”

Third, they recognize the leadership of Nagorno Karabakh as the de
facto authorities running Nagorno Karabakh: one thing that Azerbaijan
had failed to do in the past years. The last one is that the cease
fire on this line of contact “must be strictly respect,” the co-chairs
say in today’s statement.

Field Assessment Mission

This mission remotely reminds Martti Ahtisaari’s Kosovo Status
Process. Co-Chairs also say they will be back and conduct a Field
Assessment Mission sometimes between late September of 2010 and mid
October. While the details of this mission are not known, it was after
several missions, negotiations and hard work as UN Special Envoy for
the Kosovo Status Process that president Ahtisaari recommended a UN
monitored independence for Kosov as the best possible solution for
its conflict with Serbia. Since Azerbaijan periodically violates the
ceasefire and threatens the use of force against the people of Nagoro
Karabakh if the problem is not solved in its favor, the mediators may
well recommend a speedier independence for the region after this Field
Assessment Mission, especially given the fact that they already refer
to the region’s authorities as the de facto leadership and part of
“all conflicting parties.”

Reiterating Minsk Group is the place for resolving this conflict

Minsk Group peace process is revolving around the Six Principles,
which eventually call for a referendum to determine the final
status of the region. Azerbaijan fears this will lead to Karabakh’s
independence as Christian Armenians are the 80 percent majority in
the region over 20 percent Muslim Azeris. Azerbaijan recently had
a resolution draft in UN trying to bring the conflict to the UN’s
attention and hoping for a different outcome. Yet, it had earlier
on several instances committed itself to Minsk Group. Two days ago,
in an 11th hour arrangement Azerbaijan withdraw its resolution from UN.

Minsk group co-chairs today included a close in their statement
welcoming Azerbaijan’s withdrawal and at the same time reiterating
“that the OSCE Minsk Group remains the sole framework for a peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

Madrid Principles and the Referendum

The Madrid Principles, that were set forward by the United States,
France and Russia as a way to resolve this conflict seem to be a
win win situation for all parties. Nagorno Karabakh would conduct
a referendum for its final status and would have a land border with
Armenia with which it shares cultural, lingual and religious tiles.

Azerbaijan would get its some of its territories back, which Armenian
forces had liberated as a buffer zone between Nagorno Karabakh and
Azerbaijan. Azeri forces were bombarding Karabakh cities and villages
from those territories.

Impossible to Resist Kosovo Precedence

All things lead to the de jure recognition of Nagorno Karabakh’s
independence as a way to resolve this conflict permanently and
establishing peace between the conflicting parties and in the region.

As principles call for consistency, Kosovo as a precedence
is impossible to resist. The spirit of Karabakh’s independence
recommendation may well be in the air ahead of co-chairs’ upcoming
Field Assessment Mission echoing Martti Ahtisaari’s approach to Kosovo.

From: A. Papazian

BEIRUT MAYOR INVITED TO YEREVAN

news.am
Sept 10 2010
Armenia

This week, RA Ambassador to Lebanon Ashot Kocharyan has held a number
of meetings with high-ranking Lebanese officials.

The press service of the RA foreign office informed NEWS.am that at
their meeting Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berry and
Ambassador A. Kocharyan discussed issues of developing bilateral
parliamentary cooperation, as well as regional problems.

At their meeting, Ambassador A. Kocharyan and Lebanese Foreign Minister
Ali Al Shami stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation within
international institutions. The RA Ambassador briefed the Lebanese
FM on the present developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

Beirut Mayor Bilal S. Hamad and Ambassador A. Kocharyan discussed
various ways of developing cooperation between the Armenian and
Lebanese capitals. Ambassador A. Kocharyan conveyed to the Beirut
Mayor Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglaryan’s invitation to visit Yerevan to
take part in the festive events scheduled for October 10.

Ambassador A. Kocharyan and Roger Halat, Economic Advisor to
the President of the Beirut Chamber of Commerce, Industry and
Agriculture discussed the necessity for mutual visits by high-ranking
delegations and businessmen. The sides discussed prospects of holding
Armenian-Lebanese business forum.

From: A. Papazian