Author: Andres-Papazian

EU launches negotiations on Association Agreements with S. Caucasus states

News | 16.07.10 | 13:07

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Source:

The European Union is beginning talks to strengthen ties with Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Armenia that it hopes will eventually result in formal
association agreements.

The first round of negotiations on Association Agreements with
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia will take place in the capitals of the
three South Caucasus countries in the coming week, according to the
official website of the European Union.

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton held a formal event in the
Black Sea city of Batumi on July 15 to launch talks with Georgia.

Welcoming the launch of the talks, Ashton praised Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia for showing `a clear ambition to intensify their
relationships with the EU.’

`I am personally convinced that this comprehensive Association
Agreement shall impact positively not just on political relations but
also on people’s lives, in terms of economic opportunities, easier
contacts with people from the EU, the environment, just to name a
few,’ she said. `This agreement will be a catalyst to the domestic
reforms in these countries and can help us to focus resources on the
key institutions needed to make further efforts.’

The Agreements are based on joint commitments to a set of shared
values and will cover a wide range of areas, including political
dialogue, justice, freedom and security, as well as trade and
cooperation in sectoral policies.

`These Association Agreements will lay a new legal foundation for our
relations with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The main objective of
the Association Agreements is to achieve closer political association
and gradual economic integration between the EU and these countries,’
reportedly stated EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule on the
occasion.

The EU has launched the negotiations through first Plenary Meetings
held in Batumi (Georgia), on July 15 and to be held in Baku
(Azerbaijan) on July 16 and in Yerevan (Armenia) on July 19. It says
the negotiating process will be guided by the principles of
inclusiveness, differentiation, conditionality and joint ownership, as
well as by a strong commitment of the parties to shared values and
principles, including democracy, the rule of law and respect for human
rights and good governance.

The EU is currently negotiating similar Association Agreements with
Ukraine and Moldova.

From: A. Papazian

Pearl’s Peril: Environmentalists warn Sevan’s level reaches critical point

Environment | 16.07.10 | 16:42

Lake Sevan is bogging up because of rapid increase of the water level.

By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

Armenian environmentalists constantly voice their concerns over Lake
Sevan’ bogging up; in recent years the level of the lake has been
raising, and now reaches 1,901 meters, as a result of which hundreds
of legal and illegal constructions, artificial forests around Lake
Sevan, highways and even gas pipelines are under water.

The green mass now submerged does not decay rapidly, and according to
environmentalist Karine Danielyan, the lake may not manage to overcome
the danger of pollution and bogging up through self-cleaning.

According to the RA Law `On Lake Sevan’ adopted in 2001, the lake
level was supposed to rise by six meters (becoming 1,903.5 meters)
before 2030, about 20 centimeters annually. But since 2005, the speed
of the lake level rise has been higher than it was planned, averagely
37 centimeters annually. This year Sevan was raised by about 60
centimeters. The rise of the lake level was possible thanks to the
abrupt limitation of water flow from Lake Sevan. The Ministry of
Nature Protection of Armenia states that if the current speed of the
lake level’s rise is kept, it would be possible to reach the 1,903.5
meters index in 2020.

In 2005-2008, the Government of Armenia assigned funds to clean about
100 hectares of lakeside territory annually. In 2009, when President
of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan had a tour in Sevan, he ordered to assign
funds for cleaning about 600 hectares (annually), understanding that
100 hectares is too small.

On Thursday, the Government of Armenia made a decision to assign 30
million drams (about $82,800) to the Ministry of Nature Protection to
buy and bring to Armenia a special excavator of Finnish production,
which can work in territories covered with water and forming bogs, as
well as to organize Lake Sevan cleaning works more productively.

`During previous years, the quality and volume of those works (Lake
Sevan cleaning works) were poor, because the companies which won in
the competitions [for implementing the lake cleaning works], did not
have facilities with high level of productivity, which are designed
for functioning in underwater wooded territories, and cleaning them of
bushes,’ the government statement says.

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO ATTEND OSCE MINISTERIAL MEETING IN ALMATY

ITAR-TASS
July 15 2010
Russia

MOSCOW, July 16 (Itar-Tass) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
on Friday leaves for Kazakhstan’s Almaty to attend an informal meeting
of OSCE foreign ministers.

The meeting of foreign ministers from 56 OSCE member countries will
be held on July 16 through 17.

The ministers will discuss topical problems inside and outside the
OSCE area of responsibility, including the situation in Kyrgyzstan and
Afghanistan. They will consider intermediate results of the dialogue
within the so-called Corfu process launched last year and geared
towards a common position in respect of future European security.

Moscow hopes that the meeting will also address Russia’s initiative
on a European Security Treaty.

Special attention will be focused on issues to be included in the
agenda of an OSCE summit in Astana. Kazakh President Nursultan
Nazarbayev proposed to hold such a meeting in his country at the
end of 2009. The majority of OSCE member states, including Russia,
have supported the idea, since they have much to discuss bearing in
mind that their last summit meeting was held in 1999.

A number of bilateral and multilateral talks are planned within
the framework of the ministerial meeting. Thus, it is expected that
foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia will hold talks involving
their counterparts from the Minsk Group co-chairs (Russia, France,
and the United States), and the current OCSE chairman to discuss
Karabakh settlement problems.

From: A. Papazian

‘APPROACH AGAINST PYUNIK WAS EUROPEAN ONE-OFF’

Blic

July 15 2010
Serbia

A day after his team’s first leg match of the Champions League second
qualifying round, Partizan coach Aleksandar Stanojevic is aware of
both the encouraging elements and worrying downsides of his team’s
performance in the first competitive match of the season.

– “At times, our opposition got near our goal all too easily. We have
a positive result which doesn’t guarantee anything, and we will be
more cautious in the return leg in Armenia.”

The back four looked shaky in certain moments of the match against
Pyunik and were exposed. Does that worry you?

– “When I think of “defence”, I think of the entire team defending.

The defence is the department in the squad that has sustained the
most changes during the close season, and that’s obvious. However,
we will soon have Kizito at our disposal, while Stevanovic had played
only one match before the Pyunik game. We were threatened from their
midfield and that’s where Pyunik moved about too easily. We had their
attackers facing only the back four and it happened because we were
often on the attacked and risked being exposed. This is certainly not
the way Partizan will play a European game against a more prominent
opposition. This open game is something we are going to use in our
domestic league. I want Partizan to play for the crowd, to create
chances all the time and threaten the goal at all times. I am sure
the fans could see some positives in our game against Pyunik, and we
will eradicate the mistakes with time.”

How will Partizan approach games against tougher teams in Europe
this season?

– “We had Sasa Ilic, Moreira, Tomic and Petrovic in the midfield
and Cleo and Scepovic up front. Stevanovic and Lazevski are attacking
full-backs. This is not the kind of team I will field in a game against
a stronger team where our place in the Champions League group stage
would hang in the balance. Despite some of our mistakes in the game
against Pyunik, we need to create a Partizan which will boast an
eye-catching and really competitive play. In another scenario, we
will have Fejsa as a second holding midfielder alongside Petrovic,
which would provide much more cover for the back four. Since Fejsa
will be unavailable until the winter, the club officials are working
on signing a holding midfielder. Also, you could see we also need a
quick-footed forward.”

How much of a burden is it for Partizan that you simply have to
get past the second qualifying round in order to leave yourself in
contention for European football this season?

– “I love to be under pressure. That’s what I want in games and
training sessions from my players. I believe that is a way to be much
more professional towards your commitments as a professional football
player when you live with the pressure. I won’t be discussing today’s
draw, since we are only focused on the return match with Pyunik,”
said Stanojevic.

From: A. Papazian

EYES ON ALMATY TALKS FOR KARABAKH, TURKISH-ARMENIAN DIALOGUE

Today’s Zaman
July 15 2010
Turkey

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu may meet with his Armenian
counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, on the sidelines of an international
gathering that begins today in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The informal meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is also expected to be a
setting for key talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia concerning their
territorial dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.

News reports have said Nalbandian and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov will discuss a possible Armenian withdrawal from
the Lachin and Kelbajar provinces, which are the only link between
Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, during the gathering. Any breakthrough on
the protracted dispute of Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian
populated territory occupied by Armenia in the early 1990s, could
also lead to progress in the stalled efforts to normalize relations
between Turkey and Armenia.

Turkey and Armenia sealed historic twin reconciliation protocols in
Zurich last October, but the process was stalled amid Azerbaijani
opposition to any Turkish-Armenian rapprochement as long as the
stalemate in the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute persisted. Turkey related its
reconciliation with Armenia to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue immediately
after it signed the protocols, further complicating the painstaking
process.

Turkish officials said Davutoglu will hold meetings with foreign
counterparts on the sidelines of the two-day OSCE gathering but did
not say whether a meeting with Nalbandian was one of them. Davutoglu
is also expected to meet with Mammadyarov.

“Mr. Minister [Davutoglu] will have bilateral talks while in Almaty.

However, those meetings are not yet scheduled,” Turkish diplomatic
sources told Today’s Zaman yesterday, when asked whether Davutoglu
would have talks with Nalbandian and Mammadyarov. Armenian news portal
Panorama reported on Thursday that Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman
Tigran Balayan said, “At this moment, no meeting between the Armenian
and Turkish foreign ministers has been scheduled in Almaty.”

On the sidelines of the Almaty gathering, the OSCE Minsk Group, which
has been trying to find a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute
between Armenia and Azerbaijan for 15 years now, will also hold a
meeting. Nalbandian and Mammadyarov are both expected to participate
in the Minsk Group’s meeting, officials stated. The Azernews news
portal quoted Mammadyarov last week as saying Azerbaijan and Armenia
have already agreed to an Armenian withdrawal from five provinces
adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh and that this issue will no longer be
discussed. According to the Azerbaijani foreign minister, once a
peace accord is signed between the nations, Armenia will immediately
withdraw from the occupied regions, while Kelbajar and Lachin must
be returned within five years.

“We have already agreed to the terms that Armenia returns Lachin
and Kelbajar to Azerbaijan in five years,” Mammadyarov told a news
conference in Baku yesterday, adding that this principle is also
included in the Madrid Principles. Mammadyarov noted that Azerbaijan
thought it agreed with Armenia on this issue, yet the Armenian side
kept bringing this issue up in the foreign ministers’ St. Petersburg
meeting. According to Mammadyarov, Armenia’s approach in raising
concluded matters further prolongs the solution of the conflict.

From: A. Papazian

US DOES NOT SEE TURKEY MOVING AWAY FROM WEST, CONSUL GENERAL SAYS

Today’s Zaman
July 15 2010
Turkey

The United States does not see Turkey as turning its back to the West
and believes Turkey’s multiple identities are the country’s strengths,
not weaknesses, US Consul General Sharon Anderholm Wiener has said.

In a farewell visit, Wiener addressed Women Entrepreneurs Association
of Turkey (KAGÄ°DER) members, media representatives and other
participants at a breakfast meeting at KAGÄ°DER’s headquarters in
Ä°stanbul on Thursday. She will leave Ä°stanbul in a couple of weeks.

Wiener, who has been serving as consul general in Ä°stanbul for
three years, will be in charge of the appointment of new diplomats
in Washington.

Noting that the Turkey-US relationship has always been important but
that under today’s circumstances, this is truer than ever, Wiener said
the countries are in cooperation on social issues as well as issues of
security, freedom and prosperity in the region. Wiener recalled that
the US-Turkey relationship was once defined as a strategic partnership,
while US President Barack Obama redefined the expression as a model
partnership, also pointing to the increasing frequency of high-level
visits between the two nations.

Noting that Obama’s first overseas visit was to Turkey, the consul
general said it was not by chance. Wiener said in the president’s view,
the relationship between both countries is “critical for meeting the
challenges of our time,” observing that the challenges that Turkey
and the US must work to meet include Afghanistan, where Turkey is
uniquely effective because of its historical and cultural bonds,
and Iraq, with which Turkey has increasingly more economic relations.

Terrorism is another challenge for both countries to work on, Wiener
stated, noting that the outlawed terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK) is a common enemy as was acknowledged in a recent telephone
conversation between Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “The US supports Turkey’s efforts
to deal with the problem of the PKK.

Our support is continuing and always increasing in fighting against the
PKK,” she said. Wiener also reiterated the US’s support for Turkey’s
European Union membership. The consul general listed the remaining
challenges as Cyprus, Armenia and Iran.

Female deputies step in to stop bloodshed in eastern Turkey

KAGÄ°DER President Gulseren Onanc said they met with female deputies to
discuss the issue of terrorism. The first meeting took place on July 7
while the second one was on Wednesday. Five deputies from the Justice
and Development Party (AK Party), five deputies from the Republican
People’s Party (CHP) and three others from the pro-Kurdish Peace and
Democracy Party (BDP) were in attendance at the meetings in Ankara.

The meetings aimed to bring women’s sensitivity to the fight against
terrorism. “Women have a different understanding of dialogue,” Onanc
said, also recalling that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will
gather with women NGO leaders on Sunday at his office in Dolmabahce
Palace.

From: A. Papazian

From: A. Papazian

IRANIAN AUTHORITIES TAKE CARE OF ARMENIAN MONUMENTS

Aysor
July 15 2010
Armenia

Results of Armenian monuments study in Iran indicate that the Iranian
authorities take care of Armenian monuments, churches unlike the
neighboring Georgian authorities. Armenian architecture, monuments
expert Samvel Karapetyan told reporters.

“Our expedition worked in the south of Tehran. We saw over 20 well
preserved Armenian churches there with noticeboards marking that
they are Armenian monuments,” Mr. Karapetyan said adding that Iranian
villagers never damage Armenian monuments.

The speaker noted that the Iranian government even allocates funds
to repair some of the monuments.

According to the monuments expert, unlike the Iranian side, the
Georgian authorities do their utmost to misappropriate Armenian
churches.

From: A. Papazian

PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: SOONER OR LATER ARMENIA TO BE FORCED TO TAKE CONSTRUCTIVE POSITION (INTERVIEW)

Trend
July 15 2010
Azerbaijan

Trend interviewed Presidential Administration International Relations
department head Novruz Mammadov

Q: The next round of the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations on the
peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is expected to be
held in Almaty this week. Taking into account the recent statements by
the presidents of the Minsk Group co-chairing countries, is it possible
to expect a constructive position from Armenia in the negotiations?

A: Taking into account all the points on this issue, we must accept
the statements by the Presidents of the United States, Russia and
France, especially the recent statement made in the Canadian city
of Toronto, as their common position. I believe that the processes
which became more intense amid this statement are a serious signal
for the Armenian side, because Armenia was first indicated in the
statement in an open form. I do not know how it is indicated in the
translation, but the original says that a serious step must be taken
in this regard, that is, in the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The proposals on the Madrid principles on which the Azerbaijani side
has expressed its position are on the agenda. Taking into account
that Armenia has not yet announced its position on this issue, this
statement and the appeals relate to the Armenian side. Therefore,
I believe that the Armenian leadership must recognize that. It gives
us a chance to believe that sooner or later, the Armenian side will
feel the pressure and will be forced to take a constructive position.

Q: How do you assess possible exerting pressure on Armenia by the
Minsk Group co-chairmen?

A: These statements mean a kind of pressure. Keeping borders closed
up to now is also pressure. The Azerbaijani President’s putting
Azerbaijan’s fair position in the forefront within the territorial
integrity and international law, and in parallel – strengthening the
army, rapid development also mean pressure on the Armenian side.

Pressure is just so. The pressure on the international arena, in
international relations must be understood in that context. Of course,
other forms will appear gradually. I think that all the members of the
international community express their position to Armenia regarding
this matter at the meetings with the Armenian leadership.

Some time ago, Armenians held “elections” in unrecognized
Nagorno-Karabakh. All international organizations and countries stated
non-recognition of these “elections”. These countries and organizations
see Nagorno-Karabakh only as part of Azerbaijan. They recognize the
territorial integrity of the country. This fact is pressure.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly former president said that the
responsibility in this matter falls on Armenia. But it is a pity
that he did not say it during his presidency, but only after leaving
the office. This means that Armenia must take steps towards the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. I believe that Armenia is under
heavy pressure over recent years.

Q: The issue of returning the Kalbajar and Lachin regions has been
on the agenda of the talks over recent period. Azerbaijan has agreed
with return of these regions within five years. Can this be estimated
as the last limit of concessions to the Armenian side?

A: In certain sense, tasks have been already made within the Madrid
principles and an agreement has been reached. Now one can talk only
about specific details of the issue. Certainly, these issues will be
discussed in details.

I think the main issue is today’s position of Armenia on the Madrid
principles. If a meeting is held in Kazakhstan, they will have to
announce their positions on basic principles under OSCE patronage. At
the same time, discussions may be held, views on other specific
issues may be exchanged. There is nothing abnormal, as the process
of conflict settlement must be the result of discussions.

From: A. Papazian

THE MAYOR’S PROMISE GIVES HOPES

Aysor
July 15 2010
Armenia

“Our leaders too are getting sure that movie is a very important
weapon for the country, it is a very important means to speak about
ourselves, about our identity, culture and shortcomings,” mentioned
the director of the international film festival “Golden Apricot”
Harutyun Khachatryan.

H. Khachatryan believes that the film art should be paid a great
attention at. On this occasion he especially stressed the problem
of financing the film projects as a result of which many “wonderful
projects do not reach their audience.”

Talking about the problems of the “Golden Apricot” the director of
the festival stressed the fact of the lack of cinemas in Yerevan. He
mentioned that the lack of cinemas and the absence of the corresponding
equipments create big problems for presenting the needed films in
the festival.

“We also have a problem of territory: we do not wish to have our
private territory, let it be governmental but let it for a long term,”
mentioned H. Khachatryan.

From: A. Papazian