Author: Andres-Papazian

EDITORIAL: ATATURK OVERTURNED?

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The bloom is off the rose in the long friendship between Turkey
and the West. Ankara is now openly Islamist. Its support of Hamas –
exposed in the recent “peace” flotilla episode off the Gaza Strip –
ends any hope that Turkey might join the European Union anytime soon,
and now opens the question of Turkey’s legitimacy as member of NATO.

“Who lost Turkey?” might join “Who lost China?” as a refrain of future
American history. Turkey’s seat at the fulcrum point of East and West
gives it a crucial role in international diplomacy. Turkey has for
too long been taken for granted because it has been a stabilizing
force for eight decades.

But you can hardly blame Turkey for sniffing the diplomatic winds
and wondering who, today, is the “strong horse” in world affairs.

After World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish
leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk democratized Turkish politics, secularized
its society (which, like that of Iran, is Muslim but not Arabic),
separated mosque and state, and barred organized Islamic participation
in politics.

Turkey joined NATO in 1952, served as a bulwark against the Soviet
Union, and as an ally of Israel. Turkey’s military (known, in
conjunction with Turkey’s secularist judiciary, as the nation’s
“deep state”) staged four coups to protect the secularization of
Turkish society, most recently in 1997.

European governments, many with huge Turkish immigrant populations,
paid lip service to the idea of Turkish accession to the European
Union, but some have turned against it more overtly since an Islamist
party won parliamentary control in 2002, giving the prime ministry
to Recep Tayyip Erdogan. An Islamic activist, he has used democratic
rhetoric to deftly undermine 80 years of secularization.

The prime minister has calculated that few Western leaders are
willing to admit that Turkey’s ameliorative role, especially in
Mideast affairs, has evaporated.

Meanwhile, Mr. Erdogan has twice rounded up secularist generals,
daring the military to act against his desecularization policy. The
military has twice sat on its hands. Now that Turkey has officially
supported efforts to break its erstwhile ally Israel’s blockade
against supplying arms to terrorist Hamas, Ankara has shown its cards.

In sidling up to Iran by voting against the latest round of U.N.
sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program, Turkey has declared whose
side it is on – a 180-degree turnabout from its traditional foreign
alliances.

So far, the Obama administration’s reaction to those developments has
been distinctly muted. Surely, Turkey has trade and security reasons
for maintaining a link to the West, and the administration should
use its leverage to remind Turkey of these, while prodding moderates
to put greater pressure on the regime. The West has benefited from
Turkey’s generally helpful role in world affairs (notwithstanding its
occupation of Cyprus, and its earlier Armenian genocide) and should
strive to bring it back into the fold.

We hope that cooler heads will eventually prevail in Ankara, but it
sure doesn’t look that way now.

From: A. Papazian

ARMRUSGASPROM TOPS THE LIST OF LARGEST TAXPAYER

According to data of the RA State Revenue Committee, ArmRosgazprom CJSC
tops the list of 300 largest taxpayers of Armenia. The company paid
taxes in the total amount of AMD 10.038bln in the first half of 2010.

With some minor displacements in the list, the top five companies
have remained the same compared with the same period in 2009.

Alex-Grig LLC owned by Armenian parliamentarian Samvel Alexanyan
comes the second in the list with a total payment of AMD 8.5bln,
followed by ArmenTel CJSC- AMD 7.2bln and K-Telecom- AMD 7.2bln.

Flash (AMD 5.4bln), City Petrol Group (4.7bln), Zangezur
Copper-Molybdenum Combine (AMD 4.2bln), Electric Networks of Armenia
(AMD 3.3bln), Vidis Distribution (3.1bln) and International Masis
Tobacco (AMD 3.1bln) companies also entered the top ten of largest
taxpayers.

From: A. Papazian

YEREVAN METRO TRANSPORTS 60 000 PEOPLE A DAY

During the summer months Yerevan Metro transports about 60 000 people.

“Metro is the most convenient means of transport. I travel by metro
5-6 times a day,” said a Yerevan citizen.

“I came to Yerevan from Kharkov four days ago. I feel very comfortable
in the metro as it is very quiet and clean. Only the cars are fewer,”
said another passenger.

Yerevan Metro Director Paylak Yayloyan says the cars undergo daily
technical testing and are in normal state. The number of passengers
has increased by 7-8% over the past two years.

18 million people traveled by metro in 2009.

Remind that in March, the Armenian government and the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed a loan agreement
to cover immediate rehabilitation needs of Yerevan Metro. Under the
agreement, EBRD will allot ~@5 mln. for the rehabilitation works.

Mr. Yayloyan says the project will be implemented in three years. The
project targets at upgrading the quality and the efficiency of Yerevan
Metro services.

From: A. Papazian

HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS CALL FOR OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION

A group of human rights activists and citizens have addressed a letter
to the RA Minister of Education and Science raising their profound
concern over the situation at special school N11.

“The situation at school is still most concerning. In early July,
former Principal M. Yengibaryan requested the Administrative Court of
Yerevan to return him to the post. According to our sources there are
still teachers who exert violence against schoolchildren. But their
crime continues to be neglected by relevant bodies. We are deeply
concerned over the psychological atmosphere at school.”

To recover the situation, the authors suggest conducting an official
investigation over the cases of violence, testing professional
abilities of the teachers’ staff and making relevant changes.

Artak Kirakosyan Civil Society Institute

Avetik Iskhanyan Helsinki Committee of Armenia

Veronica Melikyan Fund against Legal Arbitrariness

Mariam Sukhudyan RA citizen

Sofik Minasyan RA citizen

Aida Gevorgyan RA citizen

Guram Matiashvili RA citizen

From: A. Papazian

WILL FORMER POLICE CHIEF BE SUMMONED TO COURT?

A Kotayk court today resumed the hearing into the death of 24-year
old Vahan Khalafian, who sustained a fatal injury while in the custody
of the Charentsavan police station on April 13.

Today the court was to hear Charentsavan’s former Chief of Police
Norayr Heboyan but the latter did not show up due to some health
problems. He had asked to rely on his testimony given during the
preliminary investigation. Both the plaintiff and the accusant motioned
that Norayr Heboyan be summoned to court.

The next court sitting is due on August 18.

Today’s hearing ended with a scuffle between the relatives of Khalafian
and defendants.

Four policemen are suspected in Khalafian’s murder – Ashot Harutyunyan,
Mores Hayrapetyan, Garik Davtyan and Ggaik Ghazaryan.

From: A. Papazian

Georgia’s Neighbours Eye Plan to Sell Key Pipeline
Many Georgians oppose possible gas pipeline sale to Russia, while Armenia
fears consequence if Azerbaijan buys stake in this key supply route.

By Ana Kandelaki Naira Melkumyan
Shahin Rzaev Ahmedbeyli – Caucasus CRS Issue 551

23 Jul 10

Georgia is close to allowing the privatisation of a major gas pipeline,
risking a battle over the crucial transit link that could stir up tensions
across the south Caucasus.

The North-South Pipeline, which runs from Russia through Georgia to the
Armenian border, and supplies consumers in both the latter countries, is
currently on a list of strategic assets that cannot be sold. However, the
Georgian parliament recently approved a second reading of a bill that could,
if finally passed, allow the privatisation to go ahead.

The opposition was furious about the bill as it fears that the most likely
buyer would be Russia, with which Georgia fought a brief war in 2008, and
which has recognised separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent
states despite strong objections from Tbilisi.

Keen to avoid a purchase by Russian energy giant Gazprom, the United States
spent 35 million US dollars on repairing it after Georgia first suggested
privatising it. Although Tbilisi would have to repay that investment if it
decided to sell, the government is nevertheless pushing for privatisation.

When the bill was being debated in parliament on July 13, Giorgi
Akhvlediani, a member of the opposition Christian Democrats, said, `You draw
your sword to fight with Russia, while with the other hand you give it all
these strategic assets, or you’re raising the possibility of doing so.’

Government supporters attempted to allay such fears, while Lasha Tordia, one
of those who drafted the bill, argued that even if Gazprom did buy the
pipeline, it would not spell disaster.

`I don’t want you to think that I’m in some way politically inclined
towards
the Russian Federation,’ he said. `But if you want my opinion, it wouldn’t
create any problems.’

Gazprom has so far refrained from commenting on the pipeline, saying it will
wait for the bill to go through before considering whether to approach the
Georgian government.

Russia is not the only gas producer watching the bill’s progress with
interest.

Mahir Mammadov, the head of SOCAR Energy Georgia, a subsidiary of
Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas company, said on July 14 that his company,
too, was interested in the pipeline.

Government officials in Azerbaijan have so far avoided commenting on the
issue, while energy experts there say a purchase would not make much
commercial sense.

`I don’t think Azerbaijan would gain materially by buying shares in it,’
Qubad Ibadoglu, head of the Centre for Economic Investigations in Baku,
said. `The transit fees don’t generate much income, and the pipeline is old
and needs a lot of investment in repairs.’

At the same time, he said, a majority stake in the pipeline could prove a
useful geopolitical tool for Azerbaijan, in the context of the continuing
stand-off over Nagorny-Karabakh, which is controlled by Armenians but is
internationally considered part of Azerbaijan.

`Azerbaijan would gain a lever with which to put pressure on Armenia. It
might not be a big lever, but it would be something,’ he said.

That possibility has caused some alarm in Armenia, which is dependent on
Georgia for almost all its land-based trade, as its borders with Azerbaijan
and Turkey are closed, and its only other route out is through a short
frontier with Iran.

In Armenia, there are concerns that Azerbaijani ownership of a stake in the
North-South gas route would pose a threat to national security.

`Relations are not that smooth with our neighbour Georgia, which for various
reasons does not always allow Russian gas to transit its territory to
Armenia,’ said Stepan Safaryan, head of the Heritage party in parliament.
`Therefore, if our opponent Azerbaijan held some kind of stake, it would
use
however many shares it owned to advance its aims. If it owned ten or 15 per
cent, it would play anti-Armenian games, and if they owned 100 per cent,
then it would completely close off the transit.’

For Georgia, selling the pipeline to Gazprom could mean cheaper prices for
Russian gas, as has been the case in other post-Soviet states that sold
their transit systems to Moscow. However, since most of the two billion
cubic metres of gas that Georgia buys every year comes from Azerbaijan, that
factor is not as significant an incentive as it would otherwise be.

`The proportion of Russian gas on the Georgian market, even in the best-case
scenario for the Russians, is not going to exceed 20 per cent. It follows
that Georgia does not have a very great economic interest in selling the
pipeline to the Russians and reducing the price of Russian gas,’ said Revaz
Sakevarishvili, an economic commentator with Radio Liberty.

Referring to Russia’s strong support for and presence in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, he said, `Georgia has even less political benefit to gain from
handing over a gas pipeline to a country that is occupying our territory.’
*Ana Kandelaki is a freelance journalist in Tbilisi. Naira Melkumyan is a
freelance journalist in Yerevan. Shahin Rzayev and Samira Ahmedbeyli are
IWPR staff in Baku.

*

From: A. Papazian

Statue of Liberty Made From Armenian Copper

YEREVAN (ArmInfo)-The Statue of Liberty is made of Armenian copper,
according to the president of a US mining company that owns the
Akhtala Ore Mining and Processing Works in Armenia.

Metal Prince President Serob Ter-Pogosian said he has documentary
proof that the statue, located on New York’s Liberty Island, was
constructed from copper extract from the Akhtala deposit in Armenia’s
northern region of Lori.

According to Ter-Pogosian, all the copper ore mined from Akhtala was
shipped to France in the 1880s when it was under the management of a
French company headed by Henry de Gaulle, father of former French
President Charles de Gaulle.

The statue built by the French and shipped to the US, was officially
inaugurated in 1886 by President Cleveland. 225 tons of copper was
used inconstructing the statue.

From: A. Papazian

Mher Shahgeldyan: Armenia’s positions have strengthened in Karabakh issue

July 24, 2010 – 13:55 AMT 08:55 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

Vice-Chairman of Orinats Yerkir party Mher Shahgeldyan said that the
statement of the Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair
countries once again accentuated the three principles of international
law for the Karabakh conflict settlement: the people’s right to
self-determination, non-use of force and territorial integrity.

It is very important that the statement views these principles as
something single and interrelated, Shahgeldyan told a press conference
in Yerevan.

According to him, Armenia hails this approach of the Heads of
Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries.

Shahgeldyan noted that Armenia’s diplomatic positions have
strengthened in the Karabakh issue.

From: A. Papazian

Azerbaijan developing tradition of awarding hero titles to subversives

July 24, 2010 – 15:27 AMT 10:27 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

Awarding the initiator of June 18 subversive attack on NKR Defence
Army positions is meant for internal use. Azerbaijan is developing a
tradition of awarding hero titles to subversives, Orinats Yerkir
deputy chairman Mher Shahgeldyan stated, reminding of Azeri attempts
to defend Ramil Safarov who hacked a sleeping Armenian officer to
death.

As he told a news conference in Yerevan, it’s important that
international community condemns Azeri subversive attack.

Mher Shahgeldyan also reiterated Armenia’s adherence to peaceful
settlement of Karabakh conflict.

An Azeri recon element attempted to penetrate into Artsakh territory
in the environs of Chaylu settlement, Mardakert region, on June 18, at
11.30 pm. As a result of retaliatory measures, the armed group was
neutralized, leaving one dead and armament on the spot. The Armenian
side lost 4 killed. 4 were injured.

On February 19, 2004, Armenian citizen Gurgen Margaryan, 26, was
hacked to death while asleep by Ramil Safarov, a Lieutenant of the
Azerbaijani Army. Both were participants of an English language
training course within the framework of the NATO-sponsored Partnership
for Peace program held in Budapest, Hungary.

On February 22, 2007 Budapest court rejected the Azerbaijani military
officer’s appeal against a life sentence for the 2004 axe murder of an
Armenian student. The appeal court ruled that the decision brought by
Budapest District Court against Lieutenant Ramil Safarov should stand.

From: A. Papazian

Court of Justice put the right of nations to self-determination above
the principle of territorial integrity

Very soon we will be faced with yet another application of double
standards. It’s about the former Soviet autonomies, which inspired by
the decision of the Court, will require recognition of their
independence too.

On July 22 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) confirmed that
proclamation of Kosovo’s independence did not contradict international
laws. And although the court’s decision is not mandatory, it finally
put an end to the issue of the former colonies’ right to independence.
It is quite likely that after the decision of the ICJ many states,
which considered Kosovo part of Serbia, will recognize its
independence. One could even say that the two-year fight of Kosovars
for their rights produced the logical result.

July 23, 2010
PanARMENIAN.Net –

However, not everything is as easy as it seems, and we will very soon
be faced with yet another application of double standards. It’s about
the former Soviet autonomies, which inspired by the decision of the
Court, will require recognition of their independence too. First and
foremost, these are Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and
Transdniestria. As for the former Georgian autonomies, they have been
recognized by Russia and by another 2 or 3 states, but not by the U.S.
and EU. The status of Transdniestria is not incomprehensible at all.
Things are hardest with Nagorno-Karabakh, which declared independence
20 years ago, but never achieved recognition as an independent subject
of international law. It would be naive to expect that anyone,
including Armenia, would recognize the independence of
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Moreover, after Kosovo various international platforms came to say
that Kosovo cannot become a precedent for the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In fact, in this case, we are dealing with
a bright example of double standards, which are designed to hold Baku
back. The logic of the West in this matter is quite clear – `oil in
exchange for non-recognition’. By the way, a similar hypothesis in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, `peace in exchange for territory’ did
not work, and all the more so cannot work in case of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Before sitting of the International Court, Serbian Foreign Minister
Vuk Jeremic stated that if the court decides in favor of the Kosovars,
none of the disputed borders in the world could ever be considered
safe. `The first and most important principle for any democratic
government in the world is protection of its own sovereignty and
territorial integrity,’ declared the Foreign Minister of Serbia, BBC
reports.

Political consequences of the verdict will appear not only on the
post-Soviet territory, but also in Spain, China, Belgium, i.e. it will
result in the redivision of the world formed after the Yalta treaty.
In fact, the process of redivision started with the collapse of the
Soviet Union and continues to this day. But, unfortunately, nobody can
say when and how the recarving of borders will end, and how long the
peoples can go on without bloodshed. We have been repeatedly writing
that conflicts are rarely regulated at the negotiating table. A peace
agreement is a result of a finished war, and once there is no
agreement, then war is not over yet. Sad but true. But the thing is
that in today’s geopolitical reality starting a war is a little
difficult for newly created states, like Azerbaijan. Georgia has
already made an attempt and lost its autonomies. The same fate awaits
Azerbaijan. Things were somewhat different with Georgia: Russia came
to the rescue of Ossetians and Abkhazians.

Armenians will not be expecting help from anywhere or anyone, and in
the event of renewed hostilities, they’ll have to rely only on
themselves, never reassuring themselves that the world powers will
call Ilham Aliyev to order. They may also wait and see the outcome of
the `blitzkrieg’ promised by Baku. But on the other hand, the verdict
of the Court of Justice, beyond question, put the right of nations to
self-determination above the principle of territorial integrity. It is
a very important and demonstrative fact. Another important fact is
that the NKR may turn to the International Court of Justice, which is
exactly what will be done.

Karine Ter-Sahakyan / PanARMENIAN News

From: A. Papazian