Author: Andres-Papazian

AZERI-ARMENIA CLASHES MAY ESCALATE INTO WAR, RESEARCH GROUP SAYS
By Zulfugar Agayev

Bloomberg

June 21 2012

Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia that killed at least ten
soldiers this month risk escalating into all out war in a region
where BP Plc (BP/) and its partners have invested $35 billion in
energy projects, an international research group said.

“There is a weak control of the cease-fire line by Azerbaijan and
Armenia and almost no international monitoring,” Sabine Freizer,
director of the Europe Program of the International Crisis Group,
or ICG, said by phone from Istanbul today. “Large-scale hostilities
can break out accidentally, as a result of tit-for-tat responses by
the sides.”

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mostly
ethnic-Armenian region that broke free of Baku’s control after the
disintegration of the former Soviet Union in 1991. As as many as
30,000 people died in the war, which left Nagorno- Karabakh and
seven adjacent Azeri districts under Armenian control. Large-scale
hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered cease-fire agreement in 1994,
though the two sides have yet to sign a peace agreement.

Azerbaijan, the third largest oil producer in the former Soviet
Union, has invested heavily on its army since the cease fire,
weaponry purchase from Israel. President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly
said Azerbaijan reserves the right to use military force to regain
control of its internationally-recognized territory should peace
talks mediated by the U.S., France and Russia fail.

Neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia plan an all-out military offensive in
the short term, Freizer said.

“If large-scale hostilities resume, it will be a protracted war as
neither side has a huge advantage over the other,” Freizer said. “It
is also unclear how Russia and Turkey will respond. They may be drawn
in due to security guarantees they have provided.”

Russia, Turkey

Russia has a military base in Armenia’s Gyumri region and is obliged
to help Armenia militarily as both are members of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization. Azerbaijan has close ethnic, political
and economic ties to Turkey.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who visited the region
earlier this month, also warned of an escalation with “disastrous
and unpredictable consequences”.

She added that prospects for a negotiated solution to the conflict
look dim as both countries are holding elections next year.

“Now it will be hard to compromise as both have elections next year,”
she said. “So far they cannot even agree on basic confidence-building
and security measures.”

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIA POSITIVELY ASSESSES THE PARIS MEETING OF ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI FMS

armradio.am
21.06.2012 17:44

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs positively assesses the meeting
of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers held in Paris on June
18, official representative of the Russian MFA Alexander Lukashevich
told a briefing today.

He said the Russian side positively assesses the Paris meeting from
the point of view of continuation of the political dialogue between
the parties to the conflict.

According to him, during the meeting the two ministers exchanged views
on the settlement of the Karabakh issue, the recent incidents at the
line of contact and the continuation of humanitarian contacts.

Touching upon the joint statement of the Presidents of Russia, the
United States and France issued on the sidelines of the G20summit
in Mexico, Lukashevich said: “It shows that the speedy resolution
of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict meets the interests of the three
co-chairing countries.”

Lukashevich informed that the Minsk Group Co-chairs will visit the
region in July.

From: A. Papazian

SERGEY BABAYAN’S CHARITY CONCERT IN GENEVA

armradio.am
21.06.2012 11:18

Famous pianist Sergey Babayan’s charity concert was held at Geneva’s
“Victoria Hall” on June 13. The concert was organized by the Armenian
Embassy in Switzerland, the World Food Organization and the Swiss
Agency for Development and Cooperation.

The money raised at the concert will be allocated to the program of
provision of free food to schoolchildren in Armenia implemented by
the World Food Organization.

Opening remarks were offered by Armenian Ambassador to Switzerland
Charles Aznavour, Armenia’s Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan,
heads of the World Food Organization and the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation.

In attendance were also the Mayor of Geneva, representatives of
international organizations, diplomats accredited in Switzerland and
the UN Geneva Office, as well as the local Armenian community.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN CLASSES ACCOMPLISHED IN TURKEY’S DIYARBAKIR

tert.am
21.06.12

The first 27 pupils that completed their classes of Armenian in
Suri region of Diyarbakir region in Turkey have received their first
certificates.

Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy party’s MP Altan Tan, Suri mayor
Abdullah Demirtas and other guests attended the certificate-handing
event.

“It is a step to compensate our historic debt. We will still continue
paying this debt. We continue the reconstruction of the Armenian
church,” Demirtas said.

MP Altan Tan said they too assist the “multi-language” policy of the
Suri mayor. “There was a time when Armenians, Assyrians, Kurdish,
Arabs were living together in this town. It is impossible to bring
the history back, but it is possible to make a positive step toward
future,” he said.

From: A. Papazian

WORLD BANK TO PROVIDE ARMENIA AROUND 200 MILLION DOLLARS

ARMENPRESS
21 June, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS: World Bank in coming fiscal year since
July 1st of this year till the end of June of next year will provide
Armenia around 200 million US dollars. Armenpress reports that about
this declared World Bank’s newly appointed regional director for South
Caucasus Henry Kerali during the press conference on June 21. In
his words that money will be directed to educational, healthcare,
road-building spheres, tax reforms as well as small and medium
enterprises. During the last twenty years World Bank has provided help
to Armenia equivalent to 1.6 billion US dollars. Earlier Armenpress
had informed that current regional director for South Caucasus Asad
Alam expressed opinion that 7 percent economic growth is available.

“The programs implemented by Armenia Government can serve as a basis
for higher economic growth. 7 percent growth of economy is available
but it will depend both on programs implemented by Armenian Government
and global economic situation” said Alam.

From: A. Papazian

SECURITY GUARDS OF ARMENIAN OLIGARCH KNOCK DOWN PROTESTER, WITH POLICE STANDING ASIDE

arminfo
Thursday, June 21, 17:21

A group of activists gathered in front of the parliament building on
Thursday to express their protest against the beating of a military
doctor by the security guards of oligarch MP Ruben Hayrapetyan.

ArmInfo’s correspondent reports that one of the protesters Vardges
Gaspari was holding a poster “Ruben Hayrapetyan is a Murderer!”

MP Samvel Aleksanyan, who was passing by at the moment, decided to
stand up for his friend.

He approached Gaspari and snapped the placard out of his hands.

Gaspari began chanting “Aleksanyan is a Hooligan!”

It was then that Aleksanyan’s bodyguard decided to show his loyalty to
his boss and approaching the protester, pushed him down to the ground.

The policemen standing nearby did not interfere and when Gaspari
complained to them, just advised him to file an application to
the police.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA RANKS 102ND IN THE 2012 FAILED STATES INDEX

armradio.am
21.06.2012 15:52

Armenia ranks 102nd in the 2012 Failed States Index released by the
Fund for Peace. Turkey ranks 85th, Russia is 83rd. Azerbaijan and
Georgia come 68th and 51st respectively.

The FSI is a leading index that annually highlights current trends in
social, economic and political pressures that affect all states, but
can strain some beyond their capacity to cope. Apart from the impact
on their people, fragile and failed states present the international
community with a variety of challenges. In today’s world, with its
globalized economy, information systems and security challenges,
pressures on one fragile state can have serious repercussions not
only for that state and its people, but also for its neighbors and
other states halfway across the globe.

The 2012 FSI ranks Somalia as number one for the fifth consecutive
year, citing widespread lawlessness, ineffective government, terrorism,
insurgency, crime, and well-publicized pirate attacks against foreign
vessels.

Meanwhile, Finland has remained in the best position, with its
Scandinavian neighbors Sweden and Denmark rounding out the best three
rankings. All three nations benefit from strong social and economic
indicators, paired with excellent provision of public services and
respect for human rights and the rule of law.

The FSI ranks 178 countries using 12 social, economic, and
political indicators of pressure on the state, along with over 100
sub-indicators. These include such issues as Uneven Development,
State Legitimacy, Group Grievance, and Human Rights. Each indicator
is rated on a scale of 1-10, based on the analysis of millions of
publicly available documents, other quantitative data, and assessments
by analysts. A high score indicates high pressure on the state,
and therefore a higher risk of instability

From: A. Papazian

STATEMENT BY THE FOREIGN MINISTRY OF THE NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 14:44:06 – 21/06/2012

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
supports the joint statement of the Presidents of Russia, the USA,
and France on the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict issued in Los Cabos.

We always had a positive attitude to such initiatives aimed at a
peaceful solution to the issue, taking into account all the principles
of international law, and reaffirm our readiness to follow the
appeals and recommendations of the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairing states.

At the same time, we have to state that the Azerbaijani party
continues to interpret the statement of the mediators in a way
favorable for itself and to set pre-conditions, thus torpedoing these
initiatives. Azerbaijan continues to boycott the implementation of
key confidence-building measures in the region, such as elaboration
of corresponding mechanisms for investigating the incidents at the
borderline, withdrawal of snipers from the contact-line, and others.

Unfortunately, official Baku hasn~Rt refused yet of the initially
assumed force method of solving the conflict. Azerbaijan, representing
a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, the responsibilities
of which include fighting for the security in the region, refuses of
civilized ways of solving the issue.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
expresses hope that this time the authorities of Azerbaijan
will display constructivism and abandon their futile policy of
military-force blackmail and sabotage threatening the fragile regional
security and stability.

We believe that only through a political dialogue, with the equal
participation of the Nagorno Karabakh party, it is possible to achieve
progress in the negotiations on the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict
settlement and to establish lasting peace in the region.

From: A. Papazian

THE ‘SIVILITAS’ FUND IS SUPPORTED FROM ARTSAKH

Wednesday, 20 June 2012 18:19

On June 16 the Public Council of Foreign Policy and Security sent
a letter to founder of the ‘Sivilitas’ fund, RA NA deputy Vardan
Oskanyan. The letter runs as follows: ‘We are greatly troubled with
the RA CSS actions and attempts to slander the ‘Sivilitas’ fund and
you personally.

Such unjust actions of the law enforcement bodies when there is no
independent judicial system operating are of a serious danger for
our citizens and the Armenian statehood in general.

We are fully confident of your being an honest and law-abiding figure.

Time sequence of the events obviously reveals the political clout of
the case.

The Public Council of Foreign Policy and Security offers its support
to you and the ‘Sivilitas’ fund. Supporting you in the issue we aim
to promote the law-governed state building process in Armenia and
in Artsakh.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT HOSTED ASAD ALAM AND HENRY KERALI

ARMENPRESS
21 June, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS: President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on
June 21 hosted World Bank’s Regional Director for South Caucasus of
Europe and Central Asia department Asad Alam on occasion of the end
of his mission and new Regional Director Henry Kerali. Armenpress was
informed from President’s press office that the interlocutors highly
estimated the cooperation between Armenia and World Bank speaking
with satisfaction about the results of the programs implemented in
various spheres.

President Serzh Sargsyan thanked the bank for such cooperation and
the support to social end economic reforms in Armenia highlighting
the support given to our country in the sphere of overcoming the
consequences of global financial crises. In President’s words it
strengthened more the partnership relations between Armenia and World
Bank. Serzh Sargsyan highly estimated the role of Asad Alam in the
strengthening of those relations. The President congratulated newly
appointed Regional Director Henry Kerali and hoped that he would be
able to get acquainted in place with the programs, challenges and
possibilities of the development of the country during his visit
to Armenia and would support the future cooperation of Armenia with
World Bank.

Henry Kerali assured that World Bank has a good team in Yerevan in
support of which it will be possible to develop and strengthen the
relations with Armenia.

From: A. Papazian