Author: Andres-Papazian

ADIBEKYAN: CANCELLING THE RALLY IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITION

Aysor
July 29 2010
Armenia

The Artsakh authorities did not want to once again give false hope to
the people that the International Court of Justice ruling on Kosovo
can help Artsakh achieve independence, Head of the Sociometer center,
sociologist Aharon Adibekyan said when commenting upon the fact of
cancelling the rally scheduled in Artsakh.

â~@~It is a psychological condition,â~@~] the speaker mentioned adding
that thus the Artsakh authorities tried not to break peopleâ~@~Ys
hope for recognition of independence, since much time is needed for
superpowers to start taking into account Karabakh peopleâ~@~Ys opinion.

The speaker also noted that few among Artsakh people have information
about the Hague Court ruling on Kosovo, thus they did not even know
that a rally was scheduled.

From: A. Papazian

MATTHEW BRYZA TAKEN OFF THE ATTENDANCE LIST?

Aysor
July 29 2010
Armenia

US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will host on August 3 a
working meeting between candidates for posts of the US Ambassadors to
a range of countries. The meeting will reportedly headed by committee’s
chief John Kerry.

On its web-site, the committee issued a list of 25 candidates,
however, name of Matthew Bryza, who was nominated as an Ambassador
to Azerbaijan, is absent from the list.

The committee didn’t detailed agenda for the meeting and its
highlights.

Among attendees is Francis Joseph Rikardone, a candidate for post to
Turkey, whose candidacy was approved on hearings held on July 20.

Matthew Bryza’s candidacy for an Ambassador to Azerbaijan was discussed
on July 22.

From: A. Papazian

OPERA SINGER ARAKS DAVTIAN DIES AT 60

Aysor
July 29 2010
Armenia

Famous opera singer, People’s Artist of Armenia and Russia, Araks
Davtian has died at 60 in Moscow.

Araks Davtian was born in 1949. In 1975, she graduated from the
Yerevan State Conservatory. She was widely recognized after winning
the international Viotti contest in 1984 and was immediately invited
to the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, where she made her debut performing
Violetta. Araks Davtian repeatedly performed with the most famous
orchestras, including the State Academic Chamber Orchestra of Russia
under Constantine Orbelian.

A special state-run agency was established in Armenia to organise
her body’s transportation to homeland for memorial services and burial.

From: A. Papazian

TIME WORKS ON AZERBAIJAN – RUSSIAN DEPUTY

news.az
July 29 2010
Azerbaijan

Sergey Markov News.Az interviews Sergey Markov, deputy of the Russian
State Duma and director of the Russian Institute of Political Studies.

What can you say about the negotiation process on the peaceful
resolution of the Karabakh conflict, in particular, the updated variant
of Madrid principles? Is it possible to say that the negotiation
process has been stalled?

It would be incorrect to say that the negotiation process on the
Karabakh conflict has been stallen since the negotiations have several
goals. First is the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, second, the
prevention of conflict freezing and start of military actions. The
negotiation process has not gone too far on the first point while the
second point is working and there is no war. Therefore, the negotiation
process has not entered a deadlock. It is moving further. As for the
updated variant of Madrid principles I think there will be a crisis
in the negotiation process. The matter is that the shift of powers is
observed in the region, in particular, the increase in Azerbaijanâ~@~Ys
potential. In this situation time is working in Bakuâ~@~Ys favor
though previously it was in Yerevanâ~@~Ys favor, since the latter
benefits from the status quo. Yerevan will probably start searching
some ways of avoiding this crisis though the correlation of powers has
not changed in Azerbaijanâ~@~Ys favor too much. A number of European
politicians believe that the correlation of powers have changed quite
enough for the problem to be settled in Bakuâ~@~Ys favor. Though I
think today there will appear some intentions to form some crisis.

The UN international court in Hague has decided that Kosovo did not
violate the norms of international law by declaring independence. For
the first time international law recognized legitimacy of the
secession of the province of the UN member-state. Meanwhile, Yerevan
states that this precedent should be used for the national interests
of Armenia. Is the application of the Kosovo precedent real in case
with the Nagorno Karabakh issue?

It is absolutely clear that the opinion of the international court
on the Kosovo issue is a great victory of the United States and EU
and a serious victory of those separatist political regimes that
formed in most regions, in particular, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and
Nagorno Karabakh in the post-Soviet area. Naturally, these regimes
will actively refer to the opinion of the Hague court. Meanwhile, it
should be noted that they cannot appeal to the court independently
since the opinion of the Hague court was mostly influenced by the
political pressure of Washington and EU which resulted in Kosovoâ~@~Ys
independence rather than international law. Therefore, I think if
Nagorno Karabakh has appealed to the Hague court, the decision was not
the same like in case with Kosovo. But this precedent will be actively
referred to along with the right of nations for self-determination. In
fact, the Hague court confirmed that the self-proclaimed state will
be able to secede from a country and declare independence.

The temporary status of Nagorno Karabakh and the deployment of
peacekeeping troops in the region are among the key issues in the
updated variant of Madrid principles. Is the presence of Russian
peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh possible? Does the deployment of the
Russian peacekeepers in the conflict area meet Moscowâ~@~Ys interests?

Moscow has a contradictory attitude to this issue. On the one hand,
Russia does not want war and it is interested in such difficult
conflicts as Nagorno Karabakh and others to come closer to any
resolution. On the other hand, Moscow is not interested in carrying
any peacekeeping burden, either financial, political or humanitarian.
Nonetheless, Moscow is ready to assume this burden in case there are
definite political goals. That is the guaranteed rejection to resume
war would have become a political goal. Meanwhile, political forces
in Armenia and Azerbaijan treat the situation with responsibility
and war will hardly occur. On the whole, Moscow is ready for the
peacekeeping activity only at the agreement of all parties.

Do you really think that the key to solution of the Karabakh conflict
is in the Kremlin?

I think the key is only in Baku and Yerevan. These countries will
settle the issue. Today no one can make them take any variant of
the conflict solution. Anyway, the situation may change in the case
if geopolitical situation in the region changes cardinally. If this
occurs, there will emerge a new serious trend. It is difficult to
specify the trend but now I can say for sure that time works on
Azerbaijan.

From: A. Papazian

LIMIT OF TALKS ON KARABAKH ‘TO EXPIRE ONE DAY’

news.az
July 29 2010
Azerbaijan

Fikret Sadikhov Political scientist Fikret Sadikhov has commented on
his visit of the further developments around the resolution of the
Karabakh conflict.

‘Euphoria about the consultative decision of the Hague tribunal
about the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo has
decreased in Armenia. At the external similarity, every conflict has
its peculiarities and specific features. As for Kosovo and Karabakh,
they are different. I would like to remind that Kosovo was subjected to
aggression and ethnic cleansing. Kosovo is backed by strong political
powers headed by the United States which initially selected the
pro-Kosovo position’, the political scientist said.

‘As for the Karabakh conflict, the world community headed by leading
superpowers supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Leading
international organizations have adopted a great number of resolutions
on the restoration of the sovereignty of Azerbaijan.

There are powers in Armenia that are supported from abroad, for which
it is better to lose in the new war than to return the occupied lands
of Azerbaijan. Armenian authorities are hostages of this situation,
at the same time they are supported silently by the superpowers who
make everything to preserve status quo in the Karabakh conflict’,
Sadikhov said.

But time works not in Armenia’s favor and it will not gain anything
from the preservation of the current status quo. Finally, there will
be a moment when the limit of peaceful negotiations will be exhausted
and Armenia will suffer from the further development of the situation.

Nothing can stop the consistent development and strengthening of
Azerbaijan which is moving towards the resolution of the Karabakh
conflict based on his powers’, Sadikhov said.

From: A. Papazian

K. MANOYAN THINKS U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS TO HOLD VOTING

Panorama.am
July 29 2010
Armenia

“I think, a voting will not take placein the U.S. Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations on candidates of U.S. Ambassadors August 3,”
ARF Armenian cause office Kiro Manoyan told Panorama.am commenting
on the information in the US Senate Committee website.

According to him, the list includes the names of the candidates who
should be voted.

Panorama.am has already informed that a business meeting is scheduled
on August 3 in the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations with
candidates of U.S. Ambassadors. The meeting will be headed by Senator
Kerry.

According to the website of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations about 25 nominees to Ambassadors and other positions are
listed but the list lacks Matthew Bryza’s name.

The candidate of the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis Joseph
Ricciardone will be attending the business meeting.

“Bryza’s name is missing as he will be voted later, not that day,” K.
Manoyan said.

He said, it is going to be a voting, not meeting, as the previous
sittings of the Senate were also termed as “meetings” though they
were voting rather.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA AND KARABAKH ENCOURAGED BY UN COURT RULING ON KOSOVO
Emil Danielyan

[tt_news]=36679&tx_ttnews[backPid]=484&no_cache=1
July 29, 2010

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 146
Category: Eurasia Daily Monitor, Home Page, Foreign Policy, Azerbaijan , Armenia, Russia

Authorities in Armenia and Karabakh have reacted very positively to
the July 22 decision by the highest UN court to uphold the legality
of Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia. They say
it strengthens the Armenian case for international recognition of
Karabakh’s de facto secession from Azerbaijan. One apparent implication
of this is that they will now be even less likely to agree to the
disputed region’s return under Azeri rule.

Yet, despite being buoyed by the non-binding ruling issued by the
Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Armenian
government will hardly recognize Kosovo’s independence anytime soon.

It will clearly remain anxious not to upset Russia, Armenia’s closest
ally, that has thrown its weight behind Serbia throughout the conflict
in the predominantly Albanian-populated territory. Armenian Deputy
Foreign Minister, Shavarsh Kocharian, welcomed the ruling as “truly
unprecedented” just hours after its announcement. He said the ICJ
ruled that the principle of peoples’ self-determination, championed by
the Armenian side, should take precedence over territorial integrity
in the resolution of other ethnic or territorial disputes (Armenian
Public Television, July 22).

A spokesman for the ruling Republican Party of Armenia echoed this
interpretation. “For the first time, an international court ruled that
… self-determination is more important than territorial integrity,”
Eduard Sharmazanov told Radio Free Europe’s Armenian service the next
day. The ruling could “positively impact Karabakh’s international
recognition,” he claimed. The pro-government daily, Hayots Ashkhar,
similarly predicted on July 24 a “certain impact” on the long-running
Armenian-Azeri peace talks mediated by the US, Russia and France.

Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership also welcomed the ICJ decision.

Bako Sahakian, the president of the self-proclaimed Karabakh Republic,
called it an “important event” that created a “new political situation”
(, July 23). The three political parties represented in
the Karabakh government and parliament also stressed the verdict’s
importance in a joint statement issued on the occasion.

“Karabakh declared its independence in conformity with all norms of
international law … and in the same conditions facing Kosovo,”
Vahram Atanesian, a senior member of the Karabakh legislature,
announced. He said the Armenians should therefore “assert our rights
from a firmer position” (Regnum, July 23).

Azerbaijan’s reaction to the development was predictably different.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Elkhan Polukhov, was quoted by the Trend
news agency as saying that the ICJ cannot have any implications for
the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. The US State Department
agreed, saying that the ICJ’s advisory verdict is based on “unique
facts specific to Kosovo. We do not see that this ruling and these
facts apply to other cases,” department spokesman Philip Crowley told
a daily news briefing in Washington (, July 22).

The US, Russia and France, which co-chair the OSCE’s Minsk Group, have
tried to reconcile self-determination and territorial integrity with
regard to the Karabakh dispute. All their peace proposals made since
2005 have been based, in one way or another, on a combination of these
principles enshrined in the 1975 Helsinki Final Act. The so-called
“basic principles” envisage a gradual settlement that would start
with the liberation of virtually all territories in Azerbaijan proper
that were occupied by Karabakh Armenian forces in 1992-1993. Karabakh
itself would remain under Armenian control at least until the holding
of a referendum (presumably within the disputed enclave) on its final
status in the future.

Despite years of intense diplomacy, the mediating powers have so
far failed to persuade the conflicting parties to overcome their
disagreements on crucial details of this peace formula, such as the
timetable for Armenian troop withdrawal and practical modalities
of the referendum. The parties also continue to make diametrically
opposite interpretations of the so-called Madrid Principles drafted
by the Minsk Group co-chairs. Azeri leaders insist, in particular,
that Karabakh’s predominantly Armenian population can exercise its
right to self-determination only within the framework of Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity.

Armenian officials dismiss such claims, saying that Karabakh residents
would be able to vote for independence, reunification with Armenia
or return to Azeri rule. The ICJ ruling may not have an immediate
impact on the mediators’ position, but it should further embolden both
Yerevan and the Karabakh Armenians to reject any possible ambiguity
in the Madrid document’s provisions relating to Karabakh’s status.

Another Armenian calculation is that the Kosovo precedent
will reinforce the mediators’ apparent belief that putting the
Armenian-controlled territory back under Azerbaijan’s control is
unrealistic, at least in the foreseeable future.

In their June 27 statement adopted during the G8 summit in Canada, the
US, Russian and French presidents said vaguely that the status issue
should be settled through “a legally-binding expression of will.” A
Russian translation of the statement released by the Kremlin spoke of
“a legally-binding expression of the will of Karabakh’s population.”

Moscow gave the Armenian side what has turned out to be another boost
when President Dmitry Medvedev presented his Armenian and Azeri
counterparts with a new peace plan during their last face-to-face
talks in St. Petersburg on June 17. The Armenian leaders refer
to them as a “new version” of the Madrid document drawn up by the
mediating troika. After initial denials, the Azeri foreign ministry
confirmed the existence of such a plan on July 22. Yet, the ministry
spokesman insisted that it was single-handedly drawn up by Russia
and is therefore not a Minsk Group document. He also said, without
going into details, that the Russian proposal is unacceptable to Baku
because it changes “the whole philosophy of the negotiating process”
(, July 22).

Senior diplomats in the US, Russia and France made no mention of the
Russian proposal in a joint statement which they issued in Almaty on
July 17, following fruitless negotiations held there by the Armenian
and Azeri foreign ministers. However, they did praise Medvedev’s
efforts to “bridge the differences between the parties.”

From: A. Papazian

9,500 DRAMS TO VISIT THE CEMETERY

July 29, 2010

Parents of soldiers who died in Armenian military units in peace
organized today another protest near the government building.

In addition to presenting the circumstances of their sons’ murders,
they also told “A1+” about their extremely difficult social conditions.

“My wife and I are disabled. We don’t have jobs and we have even eaten
soil for the past three years because we have no alternative,” said
Suren Ohanjanyan, father of Tigran Ohanjanyan who was electrocuted
according to an official version.

The parents of other soldiers said that they spend their small pension
to, as they say, reveal their sons’ murders.

The Ministry of Defense pays them 9,500 drams a month as assistance,
but the parents consider that ridiculous.

“I asked them if they were paying that money to help the mother of a
dead soldier live and they said, “no, that’s just money for you to
go and visit your son’s tomb,” said Tigran Ohanjanyan’s mother as
she transmitted the Defense Ministry representative’s answer.

From: A. Papazian

HYDRO-ELECTRIC STATION TO BE BUILT ON “KAPUYT BERD”?

July 29, 2010

Although Minister of Nature Protection Aram Harutyunyan has responded
to the protest by members of S.O.S. Argitch initiating group and the
residents of 6 communities of Martuni, that doesn’t instill any hope
in them.

They demand the destruction of the dam built on Gayladzor brook before
starting investigation.

Minister of Nature Protection Aram Harutyunyan has assigned to end
construction near Argitch River and has created a working group which
will conduct studies of 5-6 communities where the protest began within
14 days.

“All construction on Gayladzor River are illegal because all activities
had to undergo an expert examination,” Deputy Head of the Department
of Biodiversity and Land Control at the Ministry of Nature Protection
Yuri Ishkhanyan told “A1+”.

Ishkhanyan assured that the hydro-electric station will not be built
on Argitch River, but on “Kapuyt Berd” brook.

Let us add that according to the members of S.O.S. Argitch initiating
group, the construction of the hydro-electric station will deprive
6 communities of water for irrigation and will damage the fish of
Lake Sevan because Argitch is a sustainable place for the fish of
the basin of Sevan to lay their eggs.

From: A. Papazian

KARINE GHAZINYAN RECEIVES OUTGOING SWISS AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
JULY 29, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 29, ARMENPRESS: Armenian deputy foreign minister Karine
Ghazinyan received today outgoing Swiss ambassador to Armenia Lorenzo
Amberg.

Armenian foreign ministry press and information department told
Armenpress that giving positive assessment to the work of Ambassador
Lorenzo directed toward the development of Armenian-Swiss friendly
relations, Karine Ghazinyan said she is pleased with the development of
relations and formation of stable political dialogue between Armenia
and Switzerland.

The parties highlighted the extended legal-agreement field between
Armenia and Switzerland from the point of view of development of
bilateral cooperation. They also greeted the activity of the office
of the Swiss embassy operating in Armenia from September 2009 as an
impetus to the development of friendly ties.

The parties also referred to the necessity of activating trade-economic
cooperation, support programs of the Swiss Development and Cooperation
agency.

The interlocutors also exchanged thoughts over regional issues.

From: A. Papazian