Author: Andres-Papazian

FRANCE PULLING OUT OF PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN KOSOVO

November 28, 2013 – 19:30 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – NATO’s supreme commander says France is pulling out
of the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo because of commitments in Mali
and Central African Republic, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. Gen. Philip Breedlove says the decision to remove most of
the 320 peacekeepers was a national decision taken by Paris and the
withdrawal won’t impact the mission. Breedlove said Thursday, Nov 28,
that some French military staff will remain in Kosovo. No timing for
the withdrawal was given.

French peacekeepers, which serve as part of the 5,000-strong NATO-led
mission, were often caught in violent clashes between minority Serbs
and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo’s volatile north.

NATO sent 50,000 soldiers into Kosovo in 1999 after a 78-day air
war forced Serb troops to withdraw and end a brutal crackdown on
separatist ethnic Albanians.

From: A. Papazian

EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION TO REPLACE THE CUSTOMS UNION IN 2015

18:28 28.11.2013

Kazan is hosting a public forum on “Eurasian economic integration:
achievements and problems” to discuss the development of the
common infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as
social, political, economic and cultural projects, business, trade,
intellectual property.

Head of the Rossotrudnichestvo agency Konstantin Kosachev said in his
opening remarks that Armenia is ready to join the Eurasian Economic
Union and has taken steps in that direction.

“Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, India and other countries are next,” he added,
ITAR-TASS reports.

The Eurasian Economic Union should come to replace the Customs Union
from January 1st, 2015.

“We must create comfortable conditions for all – both the member
states and those, which are going to join,” Kosachev said.

He noted that “creation of the international union is a global, not
a regional project” and that the Eurasian Union is at the crucial
point of development.

From: A. Papazian

WHERE ARE THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EU?

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 27 2013

by Ali Yurttagul*

27 November 2013 /
The summit meeting of the European Union to be held in Vilnius, the
capital of Lithuania, on Nov. 28, will necessarily be a meeting on
the boundaries of the EU.

Indeed, the main agenda item of this summit, which German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande are expected
to attend, is the association agreement and a number of commercial
cooperation agreements to be signed with Ukraine. While human rights
violations tend to be the main obstacle to the signing of such
agreements, all preparations must have been made before the signing
procedure can take place.

However, the Ukrainian government has since suspended its preparations
for the association agreement’s signing procedure.

The problem stems from the Kremlin, not the EU. It is rumored that
the five-hour meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin
and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was an effort by Putin
to dissuade Ukraine from signing this agreement with the EU. Putin
claimed that Ukraine would have “all-dependent” or “semi-colonial”
status within the EU, implying at the same time that he will have to
resort to punishments if Yanukovych does not toe the line.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov brought up the fact that Russia
may treat Ukrainian citizens living in Russia (who number around 1.3
million) as “aliens,” requiring them to abide by certain passport
requirements. This, in turn, created panic among these Ukrainian
citizens and their relatives. Then Russian Prime Minister Dmitry
Medvedev stressed that Ukraine has been failing to pay its natural gas
bills on time, describing the situation as “critical.” This approach
actually points to the fact that cold winter days are ahead and the
gas valves are controlled by Russia, thus it can be seen as a first
sign that Ukraine may be pressured using gas prices. In terms of the
draft resolution at the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the
Duma, that condemns the “unacceptable pressures” the EU is exerting on
Ukraine, we can counter that the Kremlin has resorted to all sorts of
“persuasive” means.

To make the economic aspects of the bill more visible, Putin halted
imports of chocolate from Ukraine and milk from Latvia citing “health
concerns” (Le Figaro, Nov. 7, 2013). The Ukrainian administration
believes the association agreement it will sign with the EU will
not overshadow its ties with Russia and tries to make clear that its
strategic relations with the Kremlin will continue. In the coming days,
we will see how the process evolves.

‘Kremlin’s attitude an eye-opener’

An interview with the Lithuanian president published in Le Figaro
indicates how the matter is perceived by the EU. President Dalia
Grybauskaite pointed out that the Kremlin’s attitude was an eye-opener
for many European leaders, explaining: “It [Russia] has failed to learn
anything from the 1990s … When Lithuania declared its independence in
1991, it was blockaded for eight months in winter. It was deprived of
natural gas and oil. What happened in the end? Our economy turned its
face more quickly westward. Twenty years later, Putin has repeated
the same mistake.” Russia is going to shoot itself in the foot,
Grybauskaite argued, as the Customs Union Russia is building does
not rule out free trade with the EU.

It is not wrong to assume that Ukraine’s attitude will be decisive
in relations between the EU and Russia. This country, perceived
as the cradle of Russian culture, is indispensable for Russia’s
Customs Union, particularly in terms of its population and area. This
country’s decision will determine the fate and orientation of the
Black Sea region. A brief comparison between the pre-1990 state of the
Baltic Sea and its current state is enough to indicate that there is a
likelihood the Black Sea will become an inland sea for the EU. Russia
is now occupied with blocking such a development using everything in
its power, and we can say that this is quite successful.

Georgia’s NATO and EU plans resulted in a partial occupation of
the country, and today it appears that Georgia is aligned with
the Kremlin. Although Nicolas Sarkozy, former president of France,
marketed it as a “victory,” the “agreement” on Russian troops pulling
out of Georgia remained inconclusive, and it is known that Sarkozy
had buttonholed Lavrov, calling him a “liar” for this reason. The
fact that Lavrov claimed that the Abkhaz and Ossetia regions of
Georgia are “independent,” and Russian soldiers are in Georgia under
“international” agreements, may seem a joke to many, particularly
given the country’s attitude to the situations in Kosovo or Cyprus,
but it certainly sheds light on Russia’s behavior in international
relations. Lavrov is known for being impolite in his “dialogue” with
Western politicians, and he even chided British Foreign Secretary
David Miliband, saying, “Who are you to f*cking lecture me?” in his
clean English (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Sept. 14, 2013).

Russia-West relations tense

In larger issues, such as Syria and Iran, it is possible to see
“dialogue” and “cooperation” from Russia, but relations between Russia
and the West are tense, as seen in the Armenian case. It is not wrong
to say that this country is under Russian occupation. Russia does not
have a shared border with Armenia, but it ensures “domestic security”
with its bases and “peacekeeping force” in the country. These days,
Armenian diplomats make frequent references to the term “balance,” and
we see that Armenia is moving closer to Russia and Iran and abandoning
its policy of opening up to the West and the EU. Recently, Armenia
shelved the “association agreement” with the EU after two years of
negotiations. Instead of this agreement, which involves a customs
union with the EU, Armenia “preferred” to go with the Russian-led
Customs Union of which Kazakhstan and Belarus are the only current
members. It is said that Russia “persuaded” Armenia to join this union
by making a deal on arms sales amounting to $4 billion with Azerbaijan.

Brussels was not only unprepared for such an eventuality, but also
helpless. The EU believes that it was duped, as it was not informed
of the talks Armenia had been conducting with Russia for months. I
am not sure if the process of Armenia’s “persuasion” can be called
“negotiations,” but I do not think this “persuasion” process lasted
many months. It is known that the Armenian public, and even the
Armenian cabinet, learned about the suspension of the EU association
agreement only after it was decided. In other words, the decision
was not made in Yerevan, but in a northern city.

The Armenian case tells us that there is not much room for optimism.

Ukraine may force both the EU and Russia to be more flexible and open.

For this reason, Ukraine-EU relations are of great concern for Turkey.

Sarkozy had said, “I wasn’t taught at school that Cappadocia is
located in Europe,” to stress that he believes Turkey is located
outside the EU’s boundaries. While his opinion is not shared by the
majority within the EU, he is not alone. The debate over Ukraine,
Georgia and Armenia has the potential to be decisive for the EU’s
boundaries. Turkey benefited from the end of the Cold War not only
economically, but also in other respects. In addition to improving its
commercial ties and developing relations across the former Soviet zone,
Turkey had access to new and direct energy resources and emerged as
a hub for international energy.

Russia’s policy of polarizing relations once again, with the help
of China and Iran, and questioning the boundaries of the EU, will
certainly restrict Turkey’s mobility in the region. Turkey, as a NATO
member, will have to be aligned with the US and the EU in a potential
polarization, and it will not have to make a “choice” between Brussels
and Shanghai, but it will pay the price of polarization. And it is
not incorrect to say that the seriousness of this price will be
dependent on Russia’s economic ties with the West. I do not know
if those European politicians who locate Turkey outside Europe’s
borders are happy with the new borders Putin is drawing for Europe,
but this development is certainly worrisome for the EU and Turkey.

Turkey’s interests lie not in a re-polarization of the world and
the redrawing of borders, but in abolishing borders and developing
international dialogue. If Ukraine chooses to move closer to the EU,
this will make Turkish-Russian ties easier and less problematic,
and it may turn the Black Sea into a new inland sea, similar to the
Baltic Sea.

________________________________

*Ali Yurttagul is a political adviser for the Greens in the European
Parliament.

From: A. Papazian

TURKEY’S FIRST FEMALE WAR PHOTOGRAPHER TO BE COMMEMORATED

Hurriyet, Turkey
Nov 27 2013

ISTANBUL

A symposium will be organized to commemorate Semiha Es, Turkey’s first
woman travel and war photographer. An exhibition will also open as
a parallel event of the symposium

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Organized in memory of Turkey’s first female travel and war
photographer Semiha Es, world renowned women photographers will come
together during an international symposium in Istanbul.

“Semiha Es – The Women Photographers International Symposium,”
will take place in Istanbul between Nov. 28 and 30. The event will
be organized in cooperation with the Women’s Museum Istanbul, the
Gender and Women’s Studies Forum at Sabancı University, and Koc
University’s Center for Gender Studies (KOC-KAM).

Simultaneous with the symposium, a photography exhibition will also
be opened, titled “Second Eye: Women Photographers from Turkey.”

The symposium is part of the “Women’s Cultural Heritage” program of
the Women’s Museum Istanbul. During the event, Es, who lived between
1912 and 2012 and is known for her coverage of the Korean War as a
photojournalist, will be commemorated.

Es will be commemorated during a symposium and photography exhibition,
organized in cooperation with the Women’s Museum Istanbul, Sabancı
University and Koc University.

The symposium will start with the screening of a documentary entitled
“Semiha Es” in the Cezayir Meeting Hall. It will host panels and
round-table discussions focusing on women photographers’ place in,
as well as their contribution to, the world of photography in the
21st century. Participants will also presents their work as well as
share their thoughts on related topics, such as the question of war
and the photographic gaze from a gender perspective, the female body,
violence, memory, documentary and art photography.

Fourteen leading women photographers from around the world will
participate. On the international front, the photographers Ami Vitale,
Yunghi Kim, Diana Blok, Vera Lentz, Heidi Levine, Mitsu Maeda,
Shadi Ghadrian, Lucia Nimcova, Lucy Azubuike, Tzeli Hadjidimitriu,
Eman Mohammed Darkhalil, Fatou Kande Songhar, Lynsey Addario, Nomusa
Makhubu, the documentary photography editor and strategist Ayperi
Karabuda Ecer and Fiona Rogers from Magnum-Firecracker will discuss
and explore the contributions of women to the world of photography.

The symposium participants from Turkey include Ahu Antmen, Laleper
Aytek, Silva Bingaz, Melisa Onel, Sebla Selin Ok, Bikem Ekberzade,
Serra Akcan, GulÅ~_in Ketenci, Å~^enay Ozturk, Å~^ehlem Sebik,
as well as some promising young women photographers such as Begum
Kocum, Cemre YeÅ~_il, Dilara Arısoy, Pınar Gediközer, Larissa
Araz, Zeynep Kayan, Senem Sinem, Gözde Turkkan. The panels will be
moderated by Feride Cicekoglu, Gamze Toksoy, Zeynep Devrim Gursel,
Asena Gunal and AyÅ~_e Gul Altınay.

Photography exhibition

A photography exhibition will also open parallel to the symposium
on Nov. 29 at Sismanoglio Megaro, the exhibition venue of the Greek
Consulate. This exhibition will also be a tribute to Es.

“Second Eye: Women Photographers from Turkey,” will host not only
works by Es belonging to different periods and shot in different
countries, but also the intellectual and artistic accomplishments
of 25 Turkish women photographers who since 1980s have produced a
significant body of work contributing to the subjective approach of
photographic expression.

At the opening of the exhibition, jazz pianist and composer AyÅ~_e
Tutuncu will debut a piece inspired by four photographers featured in
the Istanbul Women’s Museum’s permanent exhibition: Naciye Hanım
(1881-1970), the first professional Muslim woman photographer;
Maryam Å~^ahinyan (1911-1996), the first professional Armenian
woman photographer in Turkey; Eleni Kureman (1921-2001), the first
professional woman photojournalist for the Turkish press and also
the first professional Greek woman photographer in Turkey.

The exhibitions, curated by Antmen and Aytek, can be viewed until Jan.

5, 2014. The exhibition will be followed by two books featuring
the works of the photographers whose works were displayed in the
exhibition.

From: A. Papazian

OPINION: SYRIA, EGYPT REVEAL ERDOGANS HIDDEN AGENDA

The Tripoli Post, Libya
November 26, 2013 Tuesday

– by Nicola Nasser

The eruption of the Syrian conflict early in 2011 heralded the demise
of Turkey’s officially pronounced strategy of “Zero Problems with
Neighbours,” but more importantly, it revealed a “hidden agenda” in
Turkish foreign policy under the government of Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.

What Sreeram Chaulia, the Dean of the Jindal School of International
Affairs in India’s Sonipat, described as a “creeping hidden agenda”
( ) on Sept. 15, 2013) is covered up ideologically as
“Islamist.”

But in a more in-depth insight it is unfolding as neo-Ottomanism
that is pragmatically using “Islamisation,” both of Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk’s legacy internally and Turkey’s foreign policy regionally,
as a tool to revive the Ottoman Empire that once was.

Invoking his country’s former imperial grandeur, Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davotoglu had written: “As in the sixteenth century … we
will once again make the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the Middle East,
together with Turkey, the centre of world politics in the future. That
is the goal of Turkish foreign policy and we will achieve it.”

(Emphasis added)

Quoted by Hillel Fradkin and Lewis Libby, writing in last March/April
edition of , the goal of Erdogan’s AKP
ruling party for 2023, as proclaimed by its recent Fourth General
Congress, is: “A great nation, a great power.”

Erdogan urged the youth of Turkey to look not only to 2023, but to
2071 as well when Turkey “will reach the level of our Ottoman and
Seljuk ancestors by the year 2071” as he said in December last year.

“2071 will mark one thousand years since the Battle of Manzikert,”
when the Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire and heralded the
advent of the Ottoman one, according to Fradkin and Libby.

Some six months ago, Davotoglu felt so confident and optimistic to
assess that “it was now finally possible to revise the order imposed”
by the British – French Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 to divide the
Arab legacy of the Ottoman Empire between them.

Davotoglu knows very well that Pan-Arabs have been ever since
struggling unsuccessfully so far to unite as a nation and discard the
legacy of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, but not to recur to the Ottoman
status quo ante.

But he knows as well that Islamist political movements like the Muslim
Brotherhood International (MBI) and the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami
(Islamic Party of Liberation) were originally founded in Egypt and
Palestine respectively in response to the collapse of the Ottoman
Islamic caliphate.

However, Erdogan’s Islamist credentials cannot be excluded as simply a
sham; his background, his practices in office since 2002 as well as his
regional policies since the eruption of the Syrian conflict less than
three years ago all reveal that he does believe in his version of Islam
per se as the right tool to pursue his Ottoman not so-“hidden agenda.”

Erdogan obviously is seeking to recruit Muslims as merely “soldiers”
who will fight not for Islam per se, but for his neo-Ottomanism
ambitions. Early enough in December 1997, he was given a 10-month
prison sentence for voicing a poem that read: “The mosques are our
barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the
faithful our soldiers;” the poem was considered a violation of Kemalism
by the secular judiciary.

Deceiving ‘Window of Opportunity’

However, Erdogan’s Machiavellianism finds no contradiction between
his Islamist outreach and his promotion of the “Turkish model,” which
sells what is termed as the “moderate” Sunni Islam within the context
of Ataturk’s secular and liberal state as both an alternative to the
conservative tribal-religious states in the Arabian Peninsula and to
the sectarian rival of the conservative Shiite theocracy in Iran.

He perceived in the latest US withdrawal of focus from the Middle
East towards the Pacific Ocean a resulting regional power vacuum
providing him with an historic window of opportunity to fill the
perceived vacuum.

“Weakening of Europe and the US’ waning influence in the Middle East”
were seen by the leadership of Erdogan’s ruling party “as a new
chance to establish Turkey as an influential player in the region,”
Gunter Seufert wrote in the German Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik
(SWP) on October 14.

The US and Israel, in earnest to recruit Turkey against Iran, nurtured
Erdogan’s illusion of regional leadership.

He deluded himself with the unrealistic belief that Turkey could
stand up to and sidestep the rising stars of the emerging Russian
international polar, the emerging Iranian regional polar and the
traditional regional players of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, let alone
Iraq and Syria should they survive their current internal strife.

For sure, his allies in the Muslim Brotherhood International (MBI) and
his thinly veiled Machiavellian logistical support of al-Qaeda – linked
terrorist organisations are not and will not be a counter balance.

He first focused his Arab outreach on promoting the “Turkish model,”
especially during the early months of the so-called “Arab Spring,”
as the example he hoped will be followed by the revolting masses,
which would have positioned him in the place of the regional mentor
and leader.

But while the eruption of the Syrian conflict compelled him to reveal
his Islamist “hidden agenda” and his alliance with the MBI, the removal
of MBI last July from power in Egypt with all its geopolitical weight,
supported by the other regional Arab heavy weight of Saudi Arabia,
took him off guard and dispelled his ambitions for regional leadership,
but more importantly revealed more his neo-Ottoman “hidden agenda”
and pushed him to drop all the secular and liberal pretensions of his
“Turkish model” rhetoric.

‘Arab Idol’ No More

Erdogan and his foreign policy engineer Davotoglu tried as well to
exploit the Arab and Muslim adoption of the Palestine Question as
the central item on their foreign policy agendas.

Since Erdogan’s encounter with the Israeli President Shimon Peres
at the Economic Summit in Davos in January 2009, the Israeli attack
on the Turkish humanitarian aid boat to Gaza, Mavi Marmara, the next
year and Turkey’s courting of the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas,”
the de facto rulers of the Israeli besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip,
at the same time Gaza was targeted by the Israeli Operation Cast Lead
in 2008-2009 then targeted again in the Israeli Operation Pillar
of Defence in 2012, Turkey’s premier became the Arab idol who was
invited to attend Arab League summit and ministerial meetings.

However, in interviews with ResearchTurkey, CNN Turk and other media
outlets, Abdullatif Sener, a founder of Erdogan’s AKP party who served
as deputy prime minister and minister of finance in successive AKP
governments for about seven years before he broke out with Erdogan
in 2008, highlighted Erdogan’s Machiavellianism and questioned the
sincerity and credibility of his Islamic, Palestinian and Arab public
posturing.

“Erdogan acts without considering religion even at some basic issues
but he hands down sharp religious messages … I consider the AK Party
not as an Islamic party but as a party which collect votes by using
Islamic discourses,” Sener said, adding that, “the role in Middle
East was assigned to him” and “the strongest logistic support” to
Islamists who have “been carrying out terrorist activities” in Syria
“is provided by Turkey” of Erdogan.

In an interview with CNN Turk, Sener dropped a bombshell when he
pointed out that the AKP’s spat with Israel was “controlled.” During
the diplomatic boycott of Israel many tenders were granted to Israeli
companies and Turkey has agreed to grant partner status to Israel in
NATO: “If the concern of the AKP is to confront Israel then why do
they serve to the benefit of Israel?” In another interview he said
that the NATO radar systems installed in Malatya are there to protect
Israel against Iran.

Sener argued that the biggest winner of the collapse of the Syrian
government of President Bashar al-Assad would be Israel because it
will weaken Lebanon’s Hizbullah and Iran, yet Erdogan’s Turkey is
the most ardent supporter of a regime change in Syria, he said.

Erdogan’s Syrian policy was the death knell to his strategy of “Zero
Problems with Neighbours;” the bloody terrorist swamp of the Syrian
conflict has drowned it in its quicksand.

Liz Sly’s story in the Washington Post on this November 17 highlighted
how his Syrian policies “have gone awry” and counterproductive by
“putting al-Qaeda on NATO’s (Turkish) borders for the first time.”

With his MBI alliance, he alienated Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE,
in addition to the other Arab heavy weights of Syria, Iraq and Algeria
and was left with “zero friends” in the region.

According to Gunter Seufert, Turkey’s overall foreign policy, not
only with regards to Syria, “has hit the brick wall” because the
leadership of Erdogan’s ruling party “has viewed global political
shifts through an ideologically (i.e. Islamist) tinted lens.”

Backpedalling too late

Now it seems Erdogan’s “Turkey is already carefully backpedalling”
on its foreign policy,” said Seufert. It “wants to reconnect” with
Iran and “Washington’s request to end support for radical groups in
Syria did not fall on deaf Turkish ears.”

“Reconnecting” with Iran and its Iraqi ruling sectarian brethren
will alienate further the Saudis who could not tolerate similar
reconnection by their historical and strategic US ally and who were
already furious over Erdogan’s alliance with the Qatari financed and
US sponsored Muslim Brotherhood and did not hesitate to publicly risk
a rift with their US ally over the removal of the MBI from power in
Egypt five months ago.

Within this context came Davotoglu’s recent visit to Baghdad, which
“highlighted the need for great cooperation between Turkey and Iraq
against the Sunni-Shiite conflict,” according to
on this November 13. Moreover, he “personally” wanted “to spend the
month of Muharram every year in (the Iraqi Shiite holy places of)
Karbala and Najaf with our (Shiite) brothers there.”

Within the same “backpedalling” context came Erdogan’s playing the host
last week to the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government,
Massoud Barzani, not in Ankara, but in Diyarbakir, which Turkish Kurds
cherish as their capital in the same way Iraqi Kurds cherish Kirkuk.

However, on the same day of Barzani’s visit Erdogan ruled out the
possibility of granting Turkish Kurds their universal right of
self-determination when he announced “Islamic brotherhood” as the
solution for the Kurdish ethnic conflict in Turkey, while his deputy,
Bulent Arinc, announced that “a general amnesty” for Kurdish detainees
“is not on today’s agenda.”

Three days earlier, on November 15, Turkish President Abdullah
Gul said, “Turkey cannot permit (the) fait accompli” of declaring
a Kurdish provisional self-rule along its southern borders in Syria
that his prime minister’s counterproductive policies created together
with an al-Qaeda-dominated northeastern strip of Syrian land.

Erdogan’s neo-Ottomanism charged by his Islamist sectarian ideology
as a tool has backfired to alienate both Sunni and Shiite regional
environment, the Syrian, Iraqi, Egyptian, Emirati, Saudi and Lebanese
Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Israelis and Iranians as well as Turkish
and regional liberals and secularists.

His foreign policy is in shambles with a heavy economic price as
shown by the recent 13.2% devaluation of the Turkish lira against
the US dollar.

“Backpedalling” might be too late to get Erdogan and his party through
the upcoming local elections next March and the presidential elections
which will follow in August next year.

(Nicola Nasser is a veteran Arab journalist based in Birzeit, West
Bank of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

From: A. Papazian

AMBASSADOR: TEXT OF ARMENIA-EU ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT LIKELY TO BE UNVEILED AFTER EASTERN PARTNERSHIP SUMMIT IN VILNIUS

YEREVAN, November 27. /ARKA/. The text of the Armenia-EU Association
Agreement that was expected to be initialed on November 28 or 29 at
the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius is believed to be unveiled
after the summit, Novosti-Armenia quoted Polish Ambassador to Armenia
Zdzislaw Raczynski as saying today at “Armenia in a Deadlock or on a
Crossroad: Ahead of Vilnius” political discussion. He said there is
nothing reprehensible in it.

Asked why then the document hadn’t been published before, he stressed
that if Armenia initialed the agreement in Vilnius, it would mean
the signing of only the first and final pages of the document,
and details, legal concepts etc. had to be specified throughout
approximately one year.

In early September, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and his Russian
counterpart, Vladimir Putin, made a joint statement, according to
which Armenia has decided to join the Customs Union and to take part
in formation of the Eurasian Union in the future.

The statement came as Armenia was poised to sign the Association
Agreement with the European Union aimed at making European Union’s
ties with Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova and Georgia closer.

After the statement, the official Brussels said it would not initial
the Association Agreement with Armenia. —-0—-

– See more at:

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA’S SOCIETY UNAWARE OF CUSTOMS UNION DETAILS – LARISA ALAVERDYAN

17:37 ~U 27.11.13

With respect to Armenia’s integration into the Customs Union, Armenia’s
first Ombudsperson Larisa Alaverdyan believes that no good or bad
political situations exist.

“Rather, it is good or bad use of the situations,” she said at a debate
on ‘Vilnius summit: Armenia in a stalemate or at the crossroads.’

“We are in a situation that gives us grounds for suspicion. How can
I voice my opinion of a document I do not know anything about? Must
civil society force the authorities or will we remain eyewitnesses?”

Alaverdyan said.

With respect to the arguments for the Customs Union being Armenia’s
security guarantee, she said that being protected by a single state
is the greatest threat.

“It is high time for Armenia to play its own role in the world and
regional politics rather than be happy about being loved by another
country,” Alaverdyan said.

Republic Party of Armenia (RPA) parliamentary group member Naira
Karapetyan said that Armenia is implementing a pro-Armenian policy,
which was the basis for the Armenian president’s statement on accession
to the Customs Union.

“We always mix our economic way with our political way. Opinions have
been voiced that Armenia is losing its sovereignty. Armenia’s policy
meets its national interests,” she said.

Secretary of the Heritage party Styopa Safaryan said that Armenia’s
decision in favor of the Customs Union made the following clear:

“We have no right to decide on our country’s prospects, namely, on
which nations we can cooperate with. We have no right to choose our
partners. This is the message President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement
contained on September 3,” he said.

In commenting on Ms Karapetyan’s statements that Armenia’s political
and economic ways are different, Safaryan said:

“You say that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s security should not be
discussed. But who could not say what would our economic interest be?

Who said we were solving the security problem. We are discussing the
RPA’s proposals. We are told it is our security interest, which is
immediately related to Nagorno-Karabakh’s security.”

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA’S CUSTOMS UNION MOVE LINKED TO SECURITY CONCERNS – DEBATE

16:27 ~U 27.11.13

Armenia’s decision to join the Eurasian Customs Union is linked to
security and economic concerns, according to a parliament member.

Speaking at a public debate in Yerevan, a lawmaker of the Rule of Law
party, Mher Shahgeldyan, said the move does not absolutely prevent
the country from implementing the agreements signed earlier with the
European Union.

According to him, Armenia continues to remain at the intersection
between Europe and Russia.

“Armenia has made a decision to accede to the Customs Union,
considering national security and economic interests. This has to do
with our national security, and regional issues,” he noted.

Aram Sargsyan, the leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia, said
later that it is important for Armenia’s public and political circles
to finally realize what the country needs.

“Do we have to by all means set up barricades and split up? There
has been no sober debate over the issue to date. We have limited
opportunities I think, because Armenia didn’t choose the association
with Europe; agree that Europe is to blame for that. What were
the European organizations doing in Armenia over [the past] 22
years? Some $220 million were spent for making structural reforms,
but can the state administration system be said to have become more
efficient?” he said.

The Free Democrats party’s leader, Angela Khachatryan, noted for
her part that the Armenian society has not so far seen the documents
which Armenia is to sign to become a Customs Union member.

“The Association Agreement text was not known either, but certain
clauses were familiar, at least on the level of analyses. We would
evidently have a progress here as the access to the European market
was said to be offering big opportunities to the country. Armenia
today has a broader cooperation with the European rather than the
Russian market,” she said.

Khachatryan added that Armenia is thus joining a supranational
organization where all the decisions are legally binding on all the
member states.

“They will actually intervene in the entire financial-economic system
of Armenia. As for security, I do not share the opinion that Armenia is
thus ensuring its security. Are there guarantees that the authorities
will not hand over Karabakh without informing the society, as they
did with the Customs Union decision?” she said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

ECONOMY MINISTER: ARMENIA TO RECORD 4.4% GDP GROWTH AND ABOUT 6.5% INFLATION IN 2013

YEREVAN, November 27. /ARKA/. Armenia will record a 4.4-percent GDP
growth and about 6.5-percent inflation in 2013, Economy Minister
Vahram Avanesyan told ARKA News Agency on Wednesday.

“According to forecasts, the economic growth will fail to reach the
indicator projected in the 2013 government and will stand at some 4.4
percent, which is lower than the projected indicator by two percentage
points,” he said. “Instead, inflation will exceed the projected rate
by 2.5 percentage points.”

The minister said that this discrepancy is not surprising, since
it was stated yet several months ago, that it was caused mainly by
the increase in prices for energy resources and that international
experts point out this factor in their reports as well.

According to the International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic
Outlook released in October, GDP growth in Armenia may be recorded
at 4.6% and consumer price index will reach 7% this year.

The World Bank predicts a three-to-four-percent GDP growth for Armenia
in 2013.

In the 2013 government budget, GDP growth is projected at 6.2%,
inflation at 4% (±1.5%).

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan instructed the government to ensure
a seven-percent economic growth in 2013. —0—-

– See more at:

From: A. Papazian

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief

===============================================
Thursday 28 November 2013
ARMENIA: JAILED CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS FREED – BUT ALTERNATIVE SERVICE
APPLICATIONS MISSING?

Armenia’s Jehovah’s Witness community has welcomed the freeing from prison
of all conscientious objectors jailed for refusing military service, and
the approval of 72 applications for the new civilian alternative service.
However, Jehovah’s Witnesses expressed concern over 41 further applications
to the government’s Alternative Service Committee – many lodged in July –
which officials claimed to Forum 18 News Service have not been received. 12
of those waiting for a Committee decision have criminal cases against them,
and have been deprived of passports. This means, among other things, that
they cannot travel abroad, legally work, or marry. Committee Chair
Sogomonyan insisted to Forum 18 that the applications – secretary of the
Alternative Service Committee – insisted to Forum 18 that no applications
had been lost. The Territorial Administration Ministry spokesperson claimed
she could not answer Forum 18’s question as it had not been formulated in
accordance with the law.

ARMENIA: JAILED CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS FREED – BUT ALTERNATIVE SERVICE
APPLICATIONS MISSING?

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service

Armenia’s Jehovah’s Witness community has welcomed the freeing from prison
of all their young men imprisoned for refusing military service and the
approval of 72 applications for the new civilian alternative service. “Now,
for the first time since 1993, no Jehovah’s Witnesses are imprisoned in
Armenia for their conscientious objection to military service,” they told
Forum 18 News Service.

However, Jehovah’s Witnesses expressed concern over 41 further applications
to the government’s Alternative Service Committee – many lodged in July –
which officials claimed to Forum 18 have not been received. Also, 12 of
those waiting for a decision have criminal cases against them, and have
been deprived of passports. This means, among other things, that they
cannot travel abroad, legally work, or marry (see below).

The release of all known conscientious objectors from prison, and the
introduction of what appears to be a fully civilian alternative service,
implements a January 2001 commitment Armenia made on joining the Council of
Europe to do both these things by January 2004. Repeated failure to do both
has been strongly criticised internationally (see F18News 17 October 2013
).

Jehovah’s Witnesses calculate that more than 450 of their young men were
imprisoned for conscientious objection between 1993 and 2013. Another known
conscientious objector former prisoner was a member of Armenia’s small
Molokan community, a Russian Protestant-style community.

However, a Council of Europe commitment Armenia made at the same time – “to
ensure that all churches or religious communities, in particular those
referred to as ‘non-traditional’, may practise their religion without
discrimination” – has not yet been fully implemented (see forthcoming
F18News article).

Amendments

The conscientious objection change came in amendments to the 2003
Alternative Service Law and to the 2003 Law on Implementing the Criminal
Code. They were approved in parliament on 2 May 2013 and signed into law by
President Serzh Sarkisyan on 21 May (see F18News 6 June 2013
).

President Sarkisyan was reminded of the continuing imprisonment of 29
conscientious objectors when he addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 2 October. In response, Sarkisyan
claimed that Armenia has conducted “an immense amount of work” to ensure
freedom of conscience, according to remarks published on the Parliamentary
Assembly and presidential websites. He pointed to the alternative service
legal amendments and the abolition of criminal prosecution for
conscientious objectors. “There is a political will, legislative reform has
been implemented and the process is under way,” he claimed.

Releases

The releases of imprisoned conscientious objectors only began after
President Sarkisyan’s Strasbourg speech.

Eight imprisoned conscientious objectors – all Jehovah’s Witnesses – were
freed on 9 October after they were included in a prisoner amnesty which saw
their prison terms reduced by six months. Several of the eight were freed
just days before the end of their sentence (see F18News 17 October 2013
).

Six more were released on 24 October, the day after their applications were
accepted. They were the first to benefit from the June 2013 amendments. The
remaining 14 were freed on 12 November, the same day the Alternative
Service Commission accepted their applications (see below).

Alternative Service Committee applications

The government has set up an Alternative Service Committee to decide on
applications for alternative service (see F18News 6 June 2013
). It has met twice to
review applications. At its first session on 23 October, 72 applications
were approved. Six of them were from Jehovah’s Witness prisoners, who were
freed the following day.

Only one application – not from a Jehovah’s Witness – was rejected,
Committee secretary Artur Sogomonyan told Forum 18 from Yerevan on 27
November. He said the individual had lodged his application late and
therefore it could not be considered. He declined to identify the young
man. Human rights defenders were unable to identify the individual either.

At the Alternative Service Committee’s second session on 12 November – held
in Erebuni Prison because all the 14 applicants were then prisoners there –
all applications were accepted. The releases of the prisoners occurred the
same day, Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18.

The Committee interviewed each applicant separately for between five and 40
minutes, their lawyer Yelena Margaryan told Forum 18 from the capital
Yerevan on 27 November. For all the Jehovah’s Witness applicants, she was
present during interviews. During the 23 October interviews she was also
accompanied by another lawyer.

“Questions to the young men were reasonable,” Margaryan told Forum 18. “The
Committee wanted to understand their stance.” Decisions on each application
were made the same day as the hearing.

Will civilian service be civilian?

All the young men accepted for alternative civilian service are waiting at
home for information on where they will be assigned to perform their
service. Those who have served a prison sentence will have the length they
have served deducted from the length of alternative civilian service.

Under a 25 July government decision, 11 institutions were identified as
places where alternative civilian service would be carried out including
nursing homes, children’s homes and psychiatric clinics. The 11
institutions are controlled by a number of ministries: the Labour and
Social Affairs Ministry, the Health Ministry and the Emergency Situations
Ministry. A separate list identified tasks the alternative service workers
would carry out, including hospital orderly, laundry worker, kitchen
worker, ground staff or emergency rescuer’s assistant (see F18News 17
October 2013 ).

Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18 that they are hopeful that the
alternative civilian service will remain civilian.

Since the Alternative Service Law entered into force in 2004, those called
up could instead apply for alternative service under military control,
which lasted up to 42 months. This did not meet the country’s Council of
Europe commitments (see F18News 3 December 2012
). When the Alternative
Service Law was first adopted in 2004, 22 Jehovah’s Witnesses and a Molokan
accepted the new alternative service. But they abandoned it in early 2005
after it became clear it was under military control. All 23 were
subsequently imprisoned (see F18News 22 February 2006
).

The new 2013 alternative civilian service has been set at three years,
compared to military service of two years. Although Jehovah’s Witnesses
note that the longer service could be considered “punitive”, they told
Forum 18 that they consider this a lesser issue than having a genuinely
civilian service available for their young men. Armenian human rights
defenders have criticised the length of the alternative service (see
F18News 6 June 2013 ).

Missing applications?

In addition to those whose applications for alternative civilian service
have been accepted, applications from 41 Jehovah’s Witness conscientious
objectors have yet to be considered by the Alternative Service Committee.
Many were lodged on 23 July, the same day that others which have already
been considered were lodged. Others were lodged after that as the young men
involved were still aged 17 and were trying to clarify from Conscription
Offices whether such applications should be lodged before they reach their
18th birthday.

Twelve of those waiting for a decision have criminal cases against them,
and five of the 12 have criminal trials currently underway against them.
“In the case of those on trial, courts repeatedly have to adjourn hearings
as they wait for an Alternative Service Committee date”, their lawyer
Margaryan told Forum 18.

They have no passport and live under restrictions while they wait for the
Alternative Service Committee decisions. The restrictions imposed by having
no passport include not being able to legally work or marry.

However, Sogomonyan – secretary of the Alternative Service Committee –
insisted to Forum 18 that no applications are currently pending. Asked
about the 41 waiting – many of which were lodged more than four months
earlier – he responded: “I haven’t got them. Any that have been submitted
end up with me.” Asked if they could have got lost, he replied:
“Applications don’t get lost.” He speculated that some might have been
submitted after the deadline, but had no information.

The applicants’ lawyer Margaryan insists that the 41 applications were
submitted properly. She stated that some may have been submitted late, as
individuals still aged 17 or who had medical conditions which might have
led to exemption from call-up were trying to find out from Conscription
Offices whether they needed to submit applications. She insisted that in
all these cases, individuals who submitted applications late asked for an
extension to the consideration period, which was not rejected.

Forum 18 tried to reach Vache Terteryan, First Deputy Minister of
Territorial Administration and Chair of the Alternative Service Committee.
However, his staff told Forum 18 on 27 November that he was not available,
referring Forum 18 to Ministry spokesperson Zoya Barsegyan.

At Barsegyan’s request, Forum 18 asked in writing the same day what has
happened to the missing applications and whether the young men now have to
send photocopies to the Committee for them to be considered. She responded
on 28 November refusing to answer the question, as she said it had not been
formulated in accordance with the law.

26 cases at European Court of Human Rights

A total of 26 Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objectors who were subjected
to imprisonment to punish them for refusing to perform military service or
the military-controlled alternative service then on offer have lodged cases
to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg, Jehovah’s
Witnesses told Forum 18. They said these cases are continuing.

In four previous cases, the ECtHR in Strasbourg has found the Armenian
government to have violated the rights of conscientious objectors. In a
landmark case, the court ruled in July 2011 in favour of former
conscientious objector prisoner Vahan Bayatyan. The ECtHR handed down two
similar judgments against Armenia – in cases brought by Hayk Bukharatyan
and Ashot Tsaturyan – in January 2012 (see F18News 1 February 2012
).

In November 2012, the ECtHR – in its fourth decision against Armenia in
conscientious objector cases – found that Armenia had violated the rights
of 17 Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objectors. For the first time in such
cases, Armenia’s European Court Judge, Alvina Gyulumyan, did not dissent
from the judgment.

The November 2012 judgment awarded compensation of 6,000 Euros to each of
the 17 conscientious objectors. The government was also required to pay a
total of 10,000 Euros in costs for all the applicants (see F18News 3
December 2012 ).

This judgment became final on 27 February 2013, with compensation payable
by 27 May. The government paid the 112,000 Euros compensation in mid-May.

The EcTHR’s most significant judgment was in July 2011, in the case of
former conscientious objector prisoner Vahan Bayatyan (Application No.
23459/03). It found that the right to conscientious objection is protected
by Article 9 (“Freedom of thought, conscience and religion”) of the
European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (see F18News 7
July 2011 ).

Conscientious objection deniers

Other Council of Europe countries which do not offer a full civilian
alternative to compulsory military service are Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Azerbaijan freed both of its known conscientious objector prisoners earlier
in 2013 (see F18News 28 June 2013
).

Turkish military court decisions concerning conscientious objection claims
have shown a selective and not complete recognition of the right to
conscientious objection, after Council of Europe pressure on the Turkish
government to implement ECtHR judgments (see F18News 1 May 2012
).

The unrecognised breakaway entity of Nagorno-Karabakh in the south Caucasus
also imprisons conscientious objectors. Jehovah’s Witness Karen Harutyunyan
was sentenced in December 2011 to 30 months’ imprisonment and remains in
prison in Shusha (see F18News 17 January 2012
).

Belarus – not a Council of Europe member – has in recent years imprisoned
conscientious objectors, though none are currently known to be in prison.
Any Alternative Service Law is, officials claim, now being prepared (see
F18News 10 January 2013
).

Turkmenistan – also not in the Council of Europe – currently has eight
known conscientious objector prisoners (see F18News 29 August 2013
). The latest prisoner
freed was Juma Nazarov on 29 August. (END)

More coverage of freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Armenia and
the unrecognised entity of Nagorno-Karabakh is at
.

A personal commentary, by Derek Brett of Conscience and Peace Tax
International, on conscientious objection to military service and
international law in the light of the European Court of Human Rights’ July
2011 Bayatyan judgment is at
.

A compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments can be found at
.

A printer-friendly map of Armenia is available at
.

All Forum 18 News Service material may be referred to, quoted from, or
republished in full, if Forum 18 is credited as the
source.

© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855.

From: A. Papazian