Author: Andres-Papazian

Trend, Azerbaijan
June 23 2010

Azerbaijani MP: What are Armenian Armed Forces doing in Azerbaijani
territories?

France, Strasbourg, June 23 / Trend, A. Maharramli /

What are the Armenian Armed Forces doing in the Azerbaijani
territories? Member of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE Ganira
Pashayeva asked this question in response to the Armenian MPs’
statement during the discussions around the Swedish MP Bjorn von
Sydow’s report “The situation in Kosovo and the role of the Council of
Europe.”

“Actually, I intended to speak on the Kosovo issue. Unfortunately, due
to the untrue information that the Armenian delegation’s
representatives gave to the Assembly and accusations against my
country, I must first clarify some issues. All international
organizations, including the Council of Europe stated that the
settlement of the conflict in Kosovo is not and can not be a precedent
for other conflicts in Europe. Every conflict has different roots,
various reasons and different ways of settlement. Unfortunately, some
members, especially the Armenians, misuses this problem,” Pashayeva
said.

She stressed that the two conflicts are very different. “First I must
say that the conflicts in Kosovo and Nagorno-Karabakh have different
historical roots, different reasons and they are different conflicts
for all other factors. Armenia, except Nagorno-Karabakh, occupied the
seven surrounding areas and this fact is reflected in resolutions and
other documents of the UN, PACE and other international organizations.
In addition, all international organizations and world countries,
except Armenia, recognized Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. The
resolution 1416, adopted by PACE clearly indicates that Armenia
occupied the Azerbaijani territories, it must liberate these
territories and create conditions for a million refugees and IDPs to
return to their native land. However, it not only failed to fulfil the
resolutions of international organizations, including PACE, but also
takes steps to strain the situation,” she said.

The Azerbaijani MP also touched upon illegal parliamentary elections
in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Not paying attention to the advices of international organizations,
including the Council of Europe, Armenia organized “elections” in
Azerbaijan’s occupied territories in May. Unfortunately, despite the
fact that the CE and other international organizations stated about
the non-recognition of illegal elections, Armenia continues similar
actions now and will continue in the future. Thus, it damages the very
sensitive process of negotiations to resolve the conflict peacefully
and strains the situation, which is so intense. At the same time,
Armenia violates the obligations of the Council of Europe,” Pashayeva
stressed.

Ganira Pashayeva brought to the attention of the European MPs that
Armenia constantly fires at the occupied territories, the Azerbaijani
villages.
According to her, the Armenian Armed Forces from positions in
Azerbaijan’s occupied territories fires at the Azerbaijani territories
and villages by violating ceasefire. “Since May, the Armenian forces
from territories of Azerbaijan’s occupied villages commit purposeful
burning of nearby villages. It has the character of the threat of
civilian population and causes them economic harm. The Armenian MP,
who spoke before me said that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces strained
the situation in the region by violating the ceasefire. This is
untrue.

In fact, Armenia and the Armenian armed forces strain the situation.
Two days ago, and yesterday the Armenian armed forces by violating
ceasefire attacked on the directions of Tartar and Fuzuli regions. The
Azerbaijani armed forces prevented the attack. Unfortunately, the
Armenian side, as always, again provides the untrue information in
order to put Azerbaijan in an unfavourable situation. I want them to
answer one question: what were the Armenian armed forces doing in the
territory, where the incident took place? They can not answer the
question, otherwise truth will come to light . Because this territory,
this area is recognized as Azerbaijan’s territory by entire world
community,” Pashayeva said.

The MP urged not to accept the observers’ position towards Armenia.
“Given all this, the Council of Europe can not remain an observer, and
should take actions against Armenia, who will further strain the
situation, not fulfilling the resolutions of the CE and international
organizations, as well as obligations of the Council of Europe.
Armenia doesn’t take any steps to resolve the problem, on the contrary
ir exacerbating it aggravates the situation, ” Pashayeva said.

Before the Azerbaijani MP’s speech, the Armenian delegation’s
representatives Hermina Naghdalyan and Zaruhi Postanyan said that the
Council of Europe adheres to double standard towards Nagorno-Karabakh
compared to the Kosovo problem. They stressed that the organization
must recognize the “elections” in Nagorno-Karabakh, as it recognized
the elections in Kosovo.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
June 23 2010

Tehran will not allow deployment of U.S. peacekeepers in
Nagorno-Karabakh – diplomat

YEREVAN June 23

Tehran objects to the possible deployment of U.S. peacekeepers in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area, Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Seyed
Ali Saghaeyan said at a press conference in Yerevan.

“These are reports from unofficial sources, but Iran is currently the
only country located near the conflict area, and it will naturally
defend its national security. From this viewpoint, Iran is interested
in establishing stability,” he said.

“According to my information, American peacekeepers might be deployed
near the town of Fizuli. We will not allow this,” Saghaeyan said.

He acknowledged, however, that it is too early to talk about the
deployment of peacekeepers in the area, as the settlement of the
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is currently proceeding with the OSCE
Minsk Group mediation.

Tehran could play a positive role in settling the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, Saghaeyan said. “Considering that Iran has close
relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan and also other countries in
the region, such as Turkey, it can play a positive role,” he said.

In commenting on a recent incident at the contact line between
Armenian and Azeri armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, Saghaeyan
suggested that it had been provoked by “countries located outside the
region.”

“A conflict or a clash do not promote any nation’s prosperity. A way
to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be found only through
peace negotiations,” he said.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
June 23 2010

Armenia accepted Madrid Principles on Nagorno-Karabakh 2 years ago –
Foreign Ministry

YEREVAN June 23

Armenia expressed its position on the updated Madrid Principles of
settling the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh at a recent meeting
between its president and the Azeri leader in St.

Petersburg, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan told
Interfax on Wednesday.

“Armenia adopted the Madrid Principles as a basis for negotiations
more than two years ago. All the other proposals were made routinely,”
Balayan said in commenting on Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov’s remark that Armenia had once again evaded giving a clear
answer as to whether it would follow the Madrid Principles at the
meeting in St.

Petersburg.

“It is very difficult to work in such conditions, because, on the one
hand, Armenia says it agrees with the Madrid Principles, and on the
other, it says that it cannot accept some of their provisions,”
Mammadyarov said.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
June 23 2010

Meeting between Armenian, Azeri presidents helped clarify parties’
positions – Azeri foreign minister

BAKU June 23

A meeting between Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan in St. Petersburg was important in terms of clarifying
the parties’ positions in settling the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh,
Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said at a press conference on
Wednesday.

“Meetings between the Azeri and Armenian presidents are very
important. As is well known, the previous time the heads of state met
was in Sochi in January 2010. It was important to hold a new meeting
in St. Petersburg in June to clarify the positions once again,” he
said.

“It was necessary to do that, as the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
presented an updated version of the Madrid Principles in Athens in
December last year,” Mammadyarov said.

Azerbaijan has already presented its position on this document and
believes that it provides a good basis for drawing up a comprehensive
peace agreement, he said.

“Unfortunately, Armenia once again failed to give a definite answer in
St. Petersburg. It is very difficult to work in such conditions,
because, on the one hand, Armenia says it agrees with the Madrid
Principles, and on the other, it says that it cannot accept some of
their provisions,” he said.

Armenia is acting this way even despite the fact that the work on the
Madrid Principles proposed in 2006 continued until 2009 and the
parties have held intense negotiations on them, based on which an
updated version of the document has been drawn up, he said.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
June 22 2010

Armenia leader: S. Caucasus conflicts unlikely to be settled soon

YEREVLIN June 22

The Armenian president on Tuesday argued that conflicts in the South
Caucasus were unlikely to be resolved in the near future but called
for international economic activities in the region despite the
conflicts.

“I believe that comprehensive political solutions are unlikely in our
region in the near future. On the other hand, more intensive regional
economic cooperation will make it necessary to revise the status quo
of closed borders and frozen relations and will build an atmosphere of
mutual confidence for the resolution of the conflicts,” Serzh Sargsyan
said in a speech at the Academy of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in
Germany.

Sargsyan also expressed “serious doubts” about the view that the South
Caucasus conflicts need to be settled before the conflict-stricken
areas can launch normal economic relations with foreign countries.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
June 23 2010

Sargsyan criticizes Azerbaijan, Turkey in talks with Merkel

Azerbaijan’s position on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is a threat to regional stability, Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan told German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Concerning the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh, Sargsyan expressed
concern about Azerbaijan’s repeated claims that it wants to resolve
the problem militarily, which imperils the Armenian-Azerbaijani talks
and is a threat to regional stability in general,” the presidential
press service told Interfax on Tuesday.

Sargsyan is in Germany on an official visit.

“The Armenian president also raised the issue of Armenia’s relations
with Turkey, expressing regret that Armenia and the world community’s
efforts to reopen the last closed border in Europe, and to settle
relations with Turkey, were wasted because Ankara had mishandled the
process, rejecting the negotiated principles,” the presidential press
service said.

Merkel and Sargsyan noted the importance of promoting the settlement
of Armenian-Turkish relations without preconditions, and said that the
Karabakh conflict must be resolved peacefully through talks under the
Minsk Group’s mediation, the press service said.

From: A. Papazian

Interfax, Russia
June 23 2010

Armenian leader frustrated by intl community’s unclear position …

The international community’s unclear position on incidents relating
to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh hampers its resolution, Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan said.

“Progress in the process is often hindered by an unclear position of
many structures, including European ones, and their fear that, if they
try to say bluntly who is to blame, this could shatter the negotiating
process,” Sargsyan said at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Germany
on Tuesday.

“The whole world knows that the Azeris attacked, and what? The OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs and the EU special representative for the South
Caucasus are making general judgments and calling on the parties not
to yield to provocations. Who are these parties? Let me ask you who in
particular is to blame for the incident?” Sargsyan said referring to a
recent armed clash in Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to Armenia’s account, an Azeri reconnaissance team appeared
on the outskirts of the village of Chailu in the self-proclaimed
Nagorno- Karabakh republic and engaged in a close combat with Armenian
sentries late in the evening on June 18. Four Armenian and one Azeri
soldiers were reportedly killed in the clash.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs described the incident as unacceptable
and called on the parties to refrain from using force.

Armenian media also quoted Sargsyan as recalling that a tripartite
armistice agreement had been signed between Azerbaijan, Nagorno-
Karabakh, and Armenia at Baku’s proposal and with Russia’s mediation
in 1994.

“That is, we also have legal grounds not to violate the ceasefire, but
it is being violated. This incident, which occurred several hours
following my meeting with the president of Azerbaijan with Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev’s mediation, was intolerable. This was a
direct challenge to the Minsk Group, to Russia, and, of course, to
you,” Sargsyan said.

From: A. Papazian

Agence France Presse
June 22, 2010 Tuesday 2:36 PM GMT

Armenia says new Turkish foreign policy ‘regrettable’

BERLIN, June 22 2010

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said Tuesday that he thought a
perceived new direction in Turkish foreign policy was undermining any
easing of tensions between the neighbours.

“This new path offers little grounds for optimism and is regrettable,”
he told reporters after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in
Berlin.

“Current Turkish policy is not contributing to greater openness in our
relations.”

European and US officials have shown growing concern in recent months
over Ankara purportedly turning “eastwards” by no longer reliably
backing US diplomacy and due to its worsening relations with Israel.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically
killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of
modern Turkey, was falling apart.

Turkey fiercely rejects the genocide label and the dispute has
poisoned relations between the two countries for decades.

Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark deal in October to establish
diplomatic ties and reopen their border.

But ratification of the deal faltered amid mutual recriminations that
the other side was not committed to reconciliation and Armenia in
April announced it was removing the agreement from its parliament’s
agenda.

Sarkisian said in Berlin that Turkish-Armenian relations “will not be
able to evolve unless a great political will is there and we have not
seen that will on the Turkish side.”

From: A. Papazian

AssA-Irada, Azerbaijan
June 22, 2010 Tuesday

GERMANY’S MERKEL VOWS TO AID GARABAGH SETTLEMENT

Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Germany intends to contribute to
finding solutions to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh
conflict, Russias state news agency ITAR-TASS quoted her as saying
after a meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian. “Where we can
help, we want to do it,” Merkel told a joint press conference in
Berlin on Tuesday with Sarkisian, who is on his first official visit
to Germany. Merkel stressed that the settlement of the long-lasting
conflict is of great importance for the region. She also expressed
hope for improved relations between Armenia and Turkey, which have
been marred by decades of hostility. “We very much welcomed that the
Armenia-Turkey relations were in motion some time ago. Unfortunately,
now everything has once again lost momentum,” she said. The Chancellor
added that the outstanding issues could be resolved in case the
Nagorno Garabagh problem is settled. Sarkisian opined that this
process could move forward only if there is goodwill. “We did not see
this faith on the Turkish side,” he maintained. “Turkey’s current
policy does not help to have our relations resumed.*

From: A. Papazian

AssA-Irada, Azerbaijan
June 22, 2010 Tuesday

OSCE CONCERNED OVER SHOOTING IN GARABAGH

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Kanat
Saudabayev expressed serious concern Tuesday over the fatal shooting
that took place during the night of June 18-19 on the contact line
between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in the Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh conflict zone. Saudabayev called for measures to prevent
similar incidents in future.

“There is no sensible alternative to the continuation of negotiations
on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Garabagh conflict,” the OSCE
chairman said. “Effective measures should be taken to prevent similar
incidents from happening in the future.” Saudabayev also said he lends
unconditional support for the efforts undertaken within the Minsk
Group framework, referring to the OSCE-brokered peace talks, to
channel the negotiations into constructive dialogue. I have entrusted
my Personal Representative, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, to work
closely with the Minsk Group co-chairs to seek ways to peacefully
resolve the protracted conflict, said the statement, posted on the
OSCE website. According to reports by the Defense Ministries of
Armenia and Azerbaijan, the armed incident that took place in the
northern part of the line of contact resulted in casualties on both
sides. The conflict between the two South Caucasus republics reared up
in the late 1980s due to Armenia’s territorial claims. Armenia has
been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s
internationally-recognized territory since the early 1990s in defiance
of international law. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but
peace talks have been largely fruitless so far. Sporadic clashes on
the frontline continue.

From: A. Papazian