Author: Andres-Papazian

HEAD OF POLAND’S NATIONAL SECURITY BUREAU INVITED ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN TO VISIT WARSAW

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 17, 2010 – 17:49 AMT 12:49 GMT

On June 17, Armenian Secretary of the National Security Council Arthur
Baghdasaryan received Deputy Director of the International Security
Department of Poland’s National Security Bureau Lukasz Kudlicki.

Attaching importance to deepening of the Armenian-Polish cooperation
in various fields, the two men noted that the two countries have
great collaboration opportunities in political, military, economic,
humanitarian and security fields. During the meeting, the parties also
discussed cooperation outlooks between the two countries’ national
security offices and emphasizing the importance of preparatory works
for signing of memorandum on cooperation and program of collaboration
for 2010-2012.

Besides, on behalf of Head of the NSB StanisÅ~Baw Koziej, Mr. Kudlicki
invited Arthur Baghdasaryan to visit Poland, the press service of
the RA NSC reported.

From: A. Papazian

POST-SOVIET BLOC TO ‘ADVISE’ KYRGYZSTAN ON SECURITY, BUT NO TROOPS

RIA Novosti
June 17, 2010
MOSCOW

Member states of a post-Soviet security bloc see no need yet to send
troops to troubled Kyrgyzstan, but could send advisors, the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) press service said on Thursday.

It said the CSTO, which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, had no plans of
sending peacekeeping forces to Kyrgyzstan “but will provide all-round
assistance to law enforcement and security agencies in the Republic
of Kyrgyzstan to help tackle the crisis and bring the situation back
to normal.”

It said the bloc could send law enforcement experts to advise Kyrgyz
authorities on ways of “planning and carrying out operations to
prevent mass riots and identify provocateurs.”

A Kyrgyz deputy interim prime minister said earlier on Thursday the
situation in the city of Osh, the scene of mass interethnic clashes,
had been placed under control.

The deadly clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek groups in
southern Kyrgyzstan broke out in Osh on June 11 and then spread to
the neighboring Jalalabad region, leaving at least 191 dead and over
2,000 injured according to official figures.

Azimbek Beknazarov said the city was returning to normal although
sporadic shooting had been heard on the city outskirts at night.

He also said anti-government elements were seeking to destabilize
the situation in the north of the country.

He said over 110 people had been detained on suspicion of being
involved in organizing “acts of provocation” in Osh and Jalalabad
and that followers of ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev were behind
the riots.

Russia, Germany, China, Pakistan and other countries continue to send
humanitarian aid to the Central Asian republic.

The United States expressed its concern over the situation in
Kyrgyzstan and said on Wednesday it had committed over $32 million
in response to the current humanitarian crisis in Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN STUDENTS PROTEST CONSCRIPTION DRIVE
Hasmik Hambardzumian

Institute for War and Peace Reporting IWPR
June 15 2010
UK

Postgraduates no longer automatically let off serving in the military.

Students in Armenia are furious about a cut in the number of
post-graduate places that secure an exemption from military
conscription, saying the government is wrong to favour the army
over academia.

Under the conscription system, all males between 18 and 27 have to
serve two years in the army, but until now, people studying for a
master’s degree or the higher “aspirantura” qualification have been
exempted and allowed to continue their studies uninterrupted.

The Armenian army is, however, suffering a shortage of men. The current
generation of conscripts was born in the years immediately following
the end of the Soviet Union, when the birth rate fell dramatically.

Students say the reduction in post-graduate places is intended solely
to swell the ranks of the army.

“Before this ruling, I could have calmly gone on to do a master’s
degree. Last year, there were 13 places available for Spanish language,
but this year there won’t be any,” said Sos Avetisyan, a student
in his fourth year at Yerevan State University. “The government’s
decision violates my rights, and there are many others like me.”

For the academic year starting this September, there will be 1,543
master’s degree places funded by the state. That number is unchanged
from last year, but now 1,193 of these places will not exempt the
holders from doing military service. As for the aspirantura – a
qualification above a master’s but not as high as a western doctorate –
there will be just 122 funded places, down from 134 this year.

Avetik Ishkhanyan, a rights activist from and head of the Helsinki
Committee of Armenia, said the government was violating students’
rights and ignoring the law.

“The public always needs to know the rules of the game. They
are changing the rules in the middle of the game, when people had
already made their plans. Changing the rules mid-game is completely
unacceptable. Such actions will increase distrust of the state,”
he said.

Government officials insist the changes are well-thought-out reforms
intended to modernise the education system, and deny that a spell in
the army would do postgraduate students any harm.

“Neither education nor the sciences will suffer any harm from these
changes,” said Robert Sukiasyan, head of the education ministry’s
department for higher education. “Anyone who wants to continue their
studies can resume them on returning from the army no matter how much
time has elapsed, whether two or four years.”

In May, several dozen students staged a protest against the changes
outside Yerevan State University. Among them was physics student
Daniel Ioannisyan, who said the government had not taken account of
the damage the changes would do to education.

“Students who are for example completing a BA in the physics faculty
and have the potential to become good physicists will not go on to
do a master’s. They’ll be dispersed around military bases, where at
best they’ll peel potatoes or stand guard holding guns. That’s a very
poorly-conceived use of resources,” said Ioannisyan.

“I don’t see how someone will continue in the basic sciences and
achieve valuable things after a spell in the army,” he said, adding
that neither the prime minister nor the education minister had served
in the army.

Armenian officials note that the country has yet to sign a peace
deal with Azerbaijan to end the currently dormant conflict over
Nagorny-Karabakh.

Vagharshak Harutyunyan, a former defence minister, says the government
needs to do more to ensure the armed forces are in a fit state to
defend the country for the eventuality that the conflict flares
up again.

“I think people have to serve in the army, especially in our country
given that the conflict hasn’t even ended,” he said.

Harutyunyan said young men should go into the military straight after
school, with no postponement. “That’s the age when they are most
receptive and physically ready for it. [In Georgia] the army did not
survive because they said students wouldn’t be conscripted. Our army
survived because we conscripted everyone without exception.”

Demands made by students go beyond the conscription issue, and
include calls for examination results to be made public, so as to
end corrupt practices in the admissions process for post-graduate
courses. This demand went unheeded as the lists for 2010 admissions
closed in early June.

“Our goal today is to continue the fight for another 360 days so we
can influence the number of places next year,” said Ioannisyan.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN RETREATS FROM NATO AMBITIONS
Shahin Rzayev

Institute for War and Peace Reporting IWPR
June 15 2010
UK

Defence doctrine rules out first strike on other states, but allows
offensive action to recapture occupied lands.

Azerbaijan’s new military doctrine retreats from a previous commitment
to closer integration with NATO and cites neighbouring Armenia as an
unfriendly state.

This was the only state in the former Soviet Union that did not have
such a formal statement of defence policy. After a 15 year wait,
the Azerbaijani parliament unexpectedly approved it on June 8, at an
extraordinary session lasting less than a day.

The defence challenge facing Azerbaijan is complicated by the presence
of Armenian forces in Nagorny-Karabakh, which has unilaterally declared
independence, and in several adjoining districts.

In the doctrine, Armenia is the only state to be singled out as
unfriendly, while no country is listed as a strategic partner, not
even close ally Turkey.

The document rules out military action against any state except in
self-defence, but in a clear reference to Nagorny Karabakh, reserves
the right to “use all the means necessary, including military force,
to liberate occupied territories and restore territorial integrity”.

Azerbaijan’s defence ministry expressed satisfaction with the new
doctrine.

“Work on this document has been going on for several years. The main
aim was to create a perfect document – a conceptual document capable
of securing the military and political security of Azerbaijan. I think
we have achieved this goal,” ministry spokesman Eldar Sabiroglu told
a press conference.

But analysts were less confident, saying the document was conceived
in a hurry and remained incomplete.

“The military doctrine is of poor quality and is does not up to the
realities of today,” said Uzeir Jafarov, chairman of the Centre for
Military Studies.

He said that in other countries, defence documents contained a
supplementary, confidential section, but the Azerbaijani government
appeared not to have included one here.

“Note that the fact that the word ‘NATO’ is only used twice in the
entire document. If we continually insist that our army is being
built up according to NATO standards, then Azerbaijan must pay much
more attention to cooperation with NATO, and this must be set out in
the text of the doctrine,” said “I am very concerned that a document
like this was discussed and approved in just half a day.”

Opposition politicians, too, picked up on the absence of a stated
ambition to integrate with NATO.

“Sadly, the document says nothing about Azerbaijan’s Euro-Atlantic
choice. The National Security Concept of 2007 said that integration
into the Euro-Atlantic area was a foreign policy priority. This
military doctrine is a step backwards,” said Sulhaddin Akper, a
former national security ministry and now deputy chairman of the
Musavat opposition party.

Elkhan Shahinoglu, head of the Atlas Centre for Political Research,
argues that the new document indicates that integration with NATO is
no longer a priority for the government. He also pointed out that
military cooperation with Turkey was not mentioned, nor was there
explicit reference to important neighbours Russia and Iran.

“As I read the document, I spotted these hidden, unremarked elements,”
he said. “Although Russia and Iran are not mentioned in the military
doctrine, there are hidden references to those countries’ policies
towards Azerbaijan. For example, part 2, point 11says, ‘attempts by
other states or non-state actors to obtain weapons of mass destruction
and means of delivering them would put non-proliferation regime for
those weapons under threat’. Isn’t that really a reference to our
southern neighbour [Iran]?”

The passing of the doctrine came just after United States Defence
Secretary Robert Gates visited Azerbaijan, officially to discuss
military-sector cooperation such as allowing NATO troops to transit
the country en route to Afghanistan.

Boyukaga Agayev, head of the South Caucasus Research Centre in Baku,
noted that Gates handed Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyeva letter
from President Barack Obama saying, “I am aware of the fact that there
are serious issues in our relationship, but I am confident that we
can address them.”

Agayev said one of the key points discussed during Gates’s visit was
the radar tracking site outside the town of Gabala. Russia has a lease
on the base until 2012, and talks are going on about extending it,
despite Washington’s desire to control the facility.

“It’s probable that in the wake of Gates’s visit, the authorities here
promised to re-examine the possibility of deploying foreign bases in
the country. This matter can be finally resolved during the forthcoming
visit to Baku by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” he said.

In Armenia, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan said the doctrine’s
reference to Armenia contradicted the Azerbaijani constitution,
which bans the use of military force except in self-defence.

Other Armenian officials said the doctrine showed that Azerbaijan
was still planning to use force to regain Karabakh.

“I can’t recall any other country where elements [amounting to]
a threat of war were included in the military doctrine,” said Grair
Karapetyan, chairman of the parliamentary commission for defence and
security. “This is testimony to the fact that Azerbaijan is using
the same old propaganda methods, spreading the same old militaristic
spirit, and once again showing the world community that it will not
assist in a peaceful resolation of the Karabakh problem.”

Shahin Rzayev is IWPR’s country director in Azerbaijan.

Additional reporting by Naira Melkumyan, a freelance journalist
in Yerevan.

From: A. Papazian

KARABAKH SKEPTICAL ABOUT NEXT ARMENIAN-AZERI SUMMIT
Ruben Meloyan

17.06.2010

Nagorno-Karabakh – Bako Sahakian, President elect of Nagorno-Karabakh,
talks to press in Stepanakert, 19Jul2007

The upcoming meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents will
not pave the way for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
a spokesman for Karabakh President Bako Sahakian said on Thursday.

The official, Davit Babayan, said the conflict’s resolution will remain
elusive as long as Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership is excluded
from direct Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations. He also stressed that
Russia can not single-handedly broker a peaceful settlement.

“Russia is showing the international community that it is able
to take the initiative in the Caucasus,” Babayan told RFE/RL’s
Armenian service from Stepanakert, commenting on Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev’s plans to host fresh talks between his Armenian and
Azerbaijani counterparts in Saint-Petersburg this week.

“In order to have a breakthrough here, there has to be a restoration
of the proper negotiating format — Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan
— and the involvement of other mediating sides, notably the United
States and France,” he said. “As long as these preconditions are not
in place, I don’t think there will be any breakthrough.”

Despite regular visits to Stepanakert by the American, French and
Russian co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, the self-proclaimed
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has not been directly involved
in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks for over a decade. Azerbaijan
refuses any direct contacts with the Karabakh Armenians, saying that
the disputed territory is controlled by Armenia.

The mediators have repeatedly assured the authorities in Yerevan and
Stepanakert that the Karabakh Armenians will play a major role at
a later stage in the peace process. The NKR leaders regularly state
that no peace deal can be put into practice without their consent.

Babayan claimed that the planned trilateral meeting in Saint-Petersburg
will focus not so much on the Karabakh peace process as broader
“peace and stability in the region.” He said the three leaders will
also discuss implications of Iran’s deepening standoff with the
international community over its controversial nuclear program.

Officials in Baku, Moscow and Yerevan have not yet commented on their
expectations from what will be the first Armenian-Azerbaijani summit
in nearly five months.

From: A. Papazian

ARRESTED POLICEMAN ‘SCAPEGOATED FOR CUSTODY DEATH’
Anush Martirosian

Armenia — Vahan Khalafian, a 24-year-old man who died in police
custody on 13 April 2010, photo undated.

An Armenian police officer prosecuted for allegedly ill-treating a
man who died in police custody in April has pleaded not guilty to the
accusation and feels that he was made a scapegoat by investigators,
his lawyer said on Thursday.

Major Ashot Harutiunian, the chief of criminal investigations at the
police department of Charentsavan, a small town about 40 kilometers
north of Yerevan, was arrested and charged in late April with using
force to extract a confession from Vahan Khalafian.

Khalafian, 24 was among several local residents detained on suspicion
of theft. He died several hours later in still unclear circumstances.

Armenia’s Special Investigative Service (SIS), which has investigated
the suspicious death, says he committed suicide after enduring
torture at the hands of Harutiunian and three other officers also
facing prosecution.

Khalafian’s relatives, backed by some human rights activists, believe,
however, that the young man was tortured to death and that the SIS
has failed to hold accountable all local police officials responsible
for his brutal treatment. The victim’s uncle, Hmayak Khalafian,
on Thursday again pointed the finger at Samvel Tonoyan, the deputy
chief of the Charentsavan police.

Unlike his boss, Norik Heboyan, Tonoyan has not been sacked or
subjected to disciplinary action. According to some media reports,
Khalafian was found dead shortly after Tonoyan arrived at the
Charentsavan police station on April 13.

According to Harutiunian’s lawyer, Seda Safarian, the arrested
policeman rejects the accusations leveled against him under an Armenian
Criminal Code article relating to abuse of power that results in
“severe consequences.” Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service, Safarian
indicated that he considers himself a police scapegoat.

The lawyer insisted that both the Charentsavan police chief and his
deputy must have sanctioned all police actions on that day. “The
whole police department was involved in the operation,” she said,
describing the SIS investigation as “incomplete and not objective.”

From: A. Papazian

US LAWMAKERS BLAST ‘DISGRACEFUL’ TURKEY OVER IRAN, ISRAEL

Agence France Presse
June 16, 2010 Wednesday 7:19 PM GMT

US lawmakers slammed “disgraceful” Turkey on Wednesday over its ties
to Iran and charged Ankara had the “blood” of nine Turks killed in
an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship on its hands.

“There will be a cost if Turkey stays on its present heading of growing
closer to Iran and more antagonistic to the state of Israel,” warned
Representative Mike Pence, the number three House Republican.

The group, firing an unusually harsh rhetorical broadside at a NATO
ally, rebuked Turkey for backing the aid flotilla, criticizing Israel,
and opposing US efforts to impose new sanctions on Tehran over its
suspect nuclear program.

“Because Turkey is a NATO ally, it’s even more disgraceful, their
actions,” said Democratic Representative Eliot Engel, who joined his
colleagues in accusing Ankara of drifting away from the West and into
the arms of Iran.

“If we look at what the Turkish government has done in the past couple
of years: they certainly have a very strong Islamic bent, but a bent
in terms of looking towards Iran, and looking towards the Middle East,
and not looking at the West and NATO anymore,” said Engel.

The lawmakers slammed Turkey for backing an aid flotilla for Gaza
and said Ankara was to blame for the deaths of eight Turks and a dual
Turkish-US national in a May 31 raid on one of the ships, the Turkish
ferry Mavi Marmara.

“I believe that blood is on the hands of Turkey,” said Republican
Representative Peter King.

“As far as I’m concerned, Turkey is responsible for the nine deaths
aboard that ship, it is not Israel’s troops that are responsible,”
said Democratic Representative Shelley Berkley.

Pence said he would consider dropping his opposition to a US Congress
resolution branding the World War I era mass killings of Armenians
by Ottoman forces as “genocide” and hinted at other consequences.

Berkley said she had turned Turkish officials away from her office this
week and would continue to do so “until I see and change in policy”
and vowed to fight against Turkey’s accession to the European Union.

“They don’t deserve to be a part of the EU until they start behaving
more like the European nations and a whole lot less like Iran,”
she said.

The harsh words came one day after Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of double standards in the
Middle East, but insisted that Washington remained a “lasting friend”
of his country.

The US lawmakers had come together to call on President Barack Obama
to defeat any attempt to launch an international investigation into
Israel’s actions in the raid on a flotilla trying to ferry Palestinian
activists and aid to Gaza, but swiftly swung to attacks on Turkey.

“If Israel is at fault in any way, it is for falling into the trap
that was set for them by Turkey,” charged Berkley, who said Ankara had
“extraordinary nerve to lecture the state of Israel.”

Lawmakers condemned Turkey for welcoming Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and accused Ankara of “hypocrisy” for criticizing Israeli
“self-defense” while its forces strike at Kurdish rebels on Iraqi soil.

Engel urged the US State Department to fully investigate possible
terrorist ties between activists aboard the flotilla that, he said,
sought visas to come to the United States to “spew their hatred and
their propaganda.”

Pence called on Obama to “actively oppose” and be “prepared to veto”
any effort at the United Nations to investigate the deadly raid,
which occurred in international waters.

“Do we want the UN investigating everything we’re doing in Afghanistan
or Iraq or any other place in the world?” agreed King.

Republican Representative Ted Poe unveiled a letter of support for
Israel he said had been signed by 126 US lawmakers, and charged that
tensions among the allies benefited only “the little fellow from the
desert, Ahmadinejad.”

From: A. Papazian

PERU SUPPORTS PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

State Telegraph Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan
June 16, 2010 Wednesday

The permanent mission Azerbaijan to the UN has received a letter
featuring position of the Peru permanent mission to the UN with
respect to the parliamentary elections held in occupied territories
of Azerbaijan.

The document says Peru respects principles of sovereignty, territorial
integrity of states, inviolability of internationally recognized
borders and inadmissibility of using force to occupy the territory.

Peru supports peaceful resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through
dialogue, and backs efforts of the UN and OSCE Minsk group in this
direction, the letter said.

From: A. Papazian

LAWMAKERS WARN TURKEY OF PAYBACK OVER IRAN, ISRAEL POLICIES

CNN.com
June 16, 2010 Wednesday 2:26 PM EST

Supporters of Israel in the U.S. House warned Turkey on Wednesday
they might support a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide
that so far has failed to come up for a vote by the full chamber.

Turkey opposes the resolution that would bring formal U.S. recognition
of the 1915-1923 campaign by Turkey’s Ottoman Empire against the
Armenian population of eastern Anatolia region as genocide.

The resolution passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee by a single
vote in March, but so far has not come up for debate by the full
House. Turkey called home its U.S. ambassador to protest the House
committee vote.

However, House members who have been unwilling to support the
resolution now say they might change their minds due to Turkey’s
pro-Iranian moves and support for the recent effort to break Israel’s
blockade of Gaza.

“There will be a cost if Turkey stays on its present heading of
growing closer to Iran and more antagonistic to the state of Israel,”
Rep. Mike Pence, Enhanced Coverage LinkingMike Pence, -Search using:
Biographies Plus News News, Most Recent 60 Days R-Indiana, told a news
conference. “It will bear upon my view and I believe the view of many
members of Congress on the state of the relationship with Turkey.”

In particular, Pence, said, “They need to understand going forward
there’s going to be a cost regarding the Armenian resolution.”

Rep. Peter King, R-New York, echoed Pence in saying he was
reconsidering his past opposition to taking up the Armenian genocide
resolution.

King said he and “many” other House members believe there was an
Armenian genocide, but have been reluctant to support the resolution
due to the strategic U.S. relationship with Turkey.

“I think that’s about to change,” King said.

Turkey provided support to the recent flotilla of six ships that
was stopped by the Israeli military from bringing aid to Gaza. Nine
people — all Turkish citizens — died when Israeli commandos boarded
the ships and violence ensued.

In response, Turkey has condemned Israel and led calls for an
international investigation of the incident.

Turkey also has stepped up relations with Iran, joining Brazil
recently in brokering an agreement with Iran intended to head off
new U.S. sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program.

The U.S. questioned the agreement and proceeded to win U.N. Security
Council approval for the additional sanctions.

Pence and others told the news conference that such steps by Turkey
must be opposed by the United States to demonstrate unwavering U.S.

support for Israel.

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-New York, called the actions by Turkey
“disgraceful” because Turkey is a NATO ally, while Rep. Shelley
Berkley, D-Nevada, said she would actively oppose Turkey’s bid to
become part of the European Union.

“They don’t deserve that recognition and they don’t deserve to be a
part of the EU until they start behaving more like European nations
and a whole lot less like Iran,” Berkley said.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA CONSIDERS NAGORNO KARABAKH AS KEY AGENT OF TALKS

Aysor
June 17 2010
Armenia

Armenia has recently made it clear that status of Nagorno Karabakh is a
key principle in the process of settlement to the Karabakh conflict,
said chairman of the European Integration public organisation,
a political scientist, Karen Bekarian.

“Recently, statements of Armenian President and Foreign Minister
have become more concrete; it was repeatedly said of the issue of
great importance to Armenia which is status of Nagorno Karabakh,”
said Bekarian. He pointed that Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan has
spoken to international communities about parliamentary elections in
Nagorno Karabakh. It is “quite an important step,” said Bekarian.

“This shows that Armenia despite its being an agent of negotiations,
nevertheless, pays respect to Nagorno Karabakh as an independent
state and a key side of the process of peace talks,” he added.

From: A. Papazian