Author: Andres-Papazian

SOLDIERS FROM RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE IN ARMENIA HOLD EXERCISES

news.am
April 12, 2012 | 16:57

Within the framework of the field exit at Armenia’s Alagyaz training
complex, the missile troop subdivisions and the artillery of the
Russian military base, which is stationed in Armenia, are carrying
out the final phase of the military exercises on the management
of missile strikes and artillery unit shots, press service of the
Southern Military Okrug (District) of the Russian Armed Forces informs.

More than 400 servicemen and close to 100 units of artillery weapons,
military and special equipment were engaged in the drills.

And in winter, ten tactical trainings-with military shots-were
conducted with the artillery base.

From: A. Papazian

Eurasia Daily Monitor — The Jamestown Foundation

April 12, 2012 — Volume 9, Issue 73

IN THIS ISSUE

President-elect Putin sees increasing political opposition to his rule
Azeri SOCAR is poised to lead foreign direct investment in Turkey
while `Forest Brothers’ launch attacks in Azerbaijan on eve of Eurovision contest
Belarusians grow more cynical rather than supportive of the Lukashenka regime

——————————

Azerbaijani Jamaat Cooperates With Caucasus Emirate

The Republic of Azerbaijan is inarguably one of the fastest developing
countries in the post-Soviet space. Large revenues from exports of oil and
gas have obscured all of the problems of this Caucasian republic. As in all
other republics of the Caucasus, there are also acute, unresolved issues in
Azerbaijan that it inherited from the former USSR. The deadlock over talks
on the future of Karabakh, the Lezgin ethnic group divided by the
Russian-Azeri border, Avar enclaves in northern Azerbaijan and the Sunni
minority are among the main problems.

However, the security services’ operation against radical Muslims in the
city of Ganja in the northwestern part of Azerbaijan has attracted the most
attention recently. Ganja is situated in the Ganja-Kazakh lowlands in the
northeastern foothills of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range and is very
close to the North Caucasus. Ganja is Azerbaijan’s second largest city in
terms of area and third largest in terms of population. On April 6, clashes
took place between Azeri Ministry for National Security forces and a group
of militants who ended up killing one member of Azerbaijan’s elite
special forces. The militants were called different things in different
media outlets, including `Forest Brothers,’ `Salafis,’ `Wahhabis’ and so on
().

The very first news from the site of the clashes indicated the significance
of the incident. Despite severe censorship, the government failed to hide
the losses sustained by the Ministry for National Security forces,
including the killing of Lieutenant Colonel Elshad Veli oglu Guliev (
). The Azeri version of events,
which says that government forces attacked the rebels because they had
received information about the arrival of Salafis and their preparations
for a terrorist attack in Ganja, does not appear to hold up. The residents
of the house where the militants stayed said the suspects had been there
for a long time and had caused no trouble (
). Yet, the authorities
decided to storm their apartment building on Tebriz Street on April 6. As a
result, three people on the government side were killed and three to five
were wounded, while one militant was killed and two wounded. Two people
were arrested during the operation in Ganja: 25-year-old Amir Muradov, a
native of Gusar district who had Sumgait as his place of permanent
residence; and Faik Sultanov, a resident of the Nizami district of Baku and
a student at the Academy of Physical Education (
).

Following the firefight in Ganja authorities in Azerbaijan on April 7 began
mass arrests of people suspected of involvement in or sympathy for radical
Islam. The arrests were carried out in the border areas with Russia, as
well as in Baku, Ganja, Sumgait and Gakh. Ammunition and illegal literature
calling for jihad (holy war) were confiscated (
). It should be noted
that special operations against jamaat members are carried out in the north
of the country on a regular basis ().
These areas are populated mainly by Azerbaijan’s Sunni minority and natives
of Dagestan. It is no coincidence that the city of Sumgait, one of the
larger suburbs of Baku, is mentioned frequently, because it has been the
place of residence for many people of Dagestani origin since the Soviet
period, when the city was promoted as a multicultural project. Cases of
conversion from Shiism to Sunnism are increasingly common among the youth.
By default, the authorities tend to regard such cases as the equivalent of
adopting radical Islamic teachings, which is hardly the correct way to deal
with the issue (, April 14, 2011).

The latest operation by Azerbaijan’s security services illuminated a
problem that has been persistently suppressed by the country’s authorities:
the fact that Azerbaijan’s jamaat closely cooperates with the North
Caucasian jamaats – the so-called Caucasus Emirate, the organization of the
North Caucasian armed resistance.

Azerbaijan’s jamaat was founded in Sumgait when Ildar Mollachiev (aka Emir
Abdul-Mejid) was still was in charge of the Dagestani jamaat. Mollachiev,
who became Emir in September 2007, came from the city of Zagatala in
northern Azerbaijan and was an ethnic Tsakhur, a Sunni ethnic group that
resides on both sides of the Azeri-Russian border that is closely related
to the Lezghians. The Azerbaijani Tsakhurs live mainly in the region of
Zagatala and Kakh, a multi-national zone full of small ethnicities, such as
the Tsakhurs, Ingiloy and Tabasars.

To provide a base of support in Azerbaijan for his operations, Mollachiev
set up an organization in Sumgait in 2008 that subsequently closely
cooperated with the North Caucasian jamaats, although it has been
completely independent from them. In Azerbaijan, this jamaat is called the
`Forest Brothers,’ but more correctly it should be called the `Sumgait
Jamaat,’ since it started off in Sumgait and then spread to other regions
of Azerbaijan ().

Members of this jamaat are persecuted across the republic. Thus, in 2011,
some of its members were charged with serious crimes, including a bomb
attack on the Abu-Bekr mosque in Baku on August 17, 2008 (
). Twenty-six members of the
jamaat received various sentences at the conclusion of the trial, and this
was not the only case of sentencing of members of an Azerbaijani jamaat.

Azerbaijan’s authorities face not only the presence on its territory of a
jamaat that sympathizes with the militarized North Caucasian resistance
movement, but also a more delicate issue, which is the conflict between the
Shia and Sunni branches of Islam. The vast majority of Azerbaijanis are
Shias and, after gaining independence in 1991, the number of Shias in
Azerbaijan was estimated to be 85 percent (
). However, in recent years
this gap reportedly has been narrowing and according to some estimates the
total number of Shias in Azerbaijan has dropped to 70 percent. By language,
culture and spiritual proximity, Azerbaijan is much closer to Sunni Turkey
than to Shia Iran. This divide makes Azerbaijan a target for both Iran and
Turkey, and the friction between the Shia and the Sunni makes the country
particularly vulnerable to its neighbors. That is why the Azeri authorities
are trying to limit information about the Azerbaijani jamaat in the best
traditions of the Soviet period.

Thus, the authorities’ actions in Ganja should be regarded as confirmation
of the existence of a jamaat (aka the `Forest Brothers’) that closely
cooperates with the North Caucasian armed resistance. This organization is
very dynamic and has multiple cells not only in the north of the country,
but also in Baku, Sumgait and Ganja. In the future we should expect more
government actions aimed at uprooting the structure that was established by
Dagestani militant leader Ildar Mollachiev in 2008, particularly as
Azerbaijan moves closer and closer to the Eurovision contest at the end of
May. Increasingly there are signs in Islamic forums that some militant
group in Azerbaijan might pose a threat to the thousands of foreigners who
will descend upon Baku ().

–Mairbek Vatchagaev

Azerbaijan’s Petkim Takeover To Overhaul Turkey’s Petrochemical Industry

Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company (SOCAR) is poised to become the largest
direct foreign investor in Turkey. According to company president, Rovnag
Abdullayev, and foreign investment department chief Vahit Aliyev, SOCAR
plans to invest $17 billion in Turkey in 2012-2017, concentrated on two
flagship projects: construction of the Trans-Anatolia Gas Pipeline and
expansion of the petrochemicals holding Petkim (Today.Az, Trend, April 4,
10, 12).

SOCAR recently acquired the majority of shares in the Izmir-based
Petrokimya (Petkim) Holding. This is the sole large producer of plastics of
all descriptions, packaging materials, fabrics, dyes and detergents, in
Turkey’s market of 80 million people. Petkim currently covers about one
quarter of Turkish demand for those chemical products. Dependent on
imported oil derivatives for raw materials, Petkim’s production is not
among the most competitive. SOCAR’s investment program aims to supply
Petkim directly with oil-based raw materials from a refinery of its own,
boost Petkim’s output and its competitiveness, increase its internal market
share to as much as 70 percent, expand into Near Eastern markets, and turn
Petkim’s port near Izmir into Turkey’s largest logistics center (1News.Az,
Trend, April 4, 5).

Azerbaijan’s state oil company acquired control of Petkim Holding through
two competitive bids: 51 percent for $2.04 billion in 2008 (through the
SOCAR-Turcas joint venture, renamed SOCAR-Turkey Energy since then); and
another 10 percent for $169 million in March 2012, for a total of 61
percent and the operating rights. SOCAR’s subsidiary, SOCAR-Turkey Energy,
holds those shares (while 39 percent of the shares remain in free-float)
(Anatolia news agency, April 1).

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyp Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham
Alyiev jointly made the final political decision to launch this project. On
October 25, 2011, Alyiev and Erdogan broke ground for construction of the
Star Refinery near Izmir. The overall site, Aliaga, is scheduled for
development as Turkey’s most modern manufacturing and trading hub on the
Aegean-Mediterranean coast.

The refinery is designed for a processing capacity of 10 million tons of
oil per year; construction of the first stage is planned for completion by
2015. Attached to it, a technical industrial lyceum named after Haydar
Aliyev is planned to train a local work force.

SOCAR expects to invest approximately $7 billion in the overall project,
including $5.5 billion for the two-stage construction of the Star Refinery.
Of this amount, Baku plans to raise $2.5 billion from export-crediting
banks of countries that will deliver the oil-refining equipment; $1.5
billion from commercial loans; and another $1.5 billion from the
shareholders themselves (mainly, SOCAR’s equity capital). (1News.Az, Trend,
April 10).

A state-of-the-art port is planned for construction by APM Terminals at
this site. In February of this year, Petkim and its fully-owned subsidiary,
Petkim Port [Turkish: Petkim Liman (Petlim)], signed a framework agreement
with APM Terminals to build and operate this port in Aliaga, a natural
deep-water site. A. P. Moller-Maersk (APM) is a Netherlands-based affiliate
of the Danish Moller-Maersk, a world leader for port and terminal
operations and container transportation.

The plan for Aliaga envisages a vertically integrated,
refinery-petrochemicals-energy-logistics complex, to become operational by
2015 (with the oil refinery’s first stage). In Turkey, overall, the
development of modern port capacities lags behind the country’s rapid
industrial development. Petkim’s port is designed to become the largest
integrated logistics center in Turkey for petrochemicals, container, and
general cargo transportation, under the agreement with APM Terminals
(Journal of Commerce, February 13).

Azerbaijan’s other flagship investment project in Turkey is the
Trans-Anatolia Gas Pipeline (TANAP). The investment is estimated at $5
billion to $6 billion for the first stage of construction and operation.
Under the December 26, 2011 inter-governmental memorandum of intent, SOCAR
shall hold 80 percent of the shares and the operating rights; Turkey’s
state pipeline company Botas, 10 percent; and Turkish Petroleum another 10
percent. SOCAR has the right to sell shares to possible minority partners,
out of its 80 percent package; but shall in any case retain the majority of
shares and operating rights. SOCAR’s own investment shall be proportionate
with its shares in the project. TANAP is designed for a first-stage
capacity of 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Azerbaijani gas per year from
2017 onward, with possible expansion up to 30 bcm per year in a follow-up
stage.

With these projects, Azerbaijan is surging to the top of foreign direct
investors in Turkey’s high-growth economy. SOCAR’s capacity to invest in
projects of Petkim’s and TANAP’s magnitude testifies to its effective use
of oil revenues for re-investment in other projects, only four or five
years after oil revenues had begun accruing to Baku.

Azerbaijan’s west-oriented oil export strategy turned Turkey into an oil
transit country, albeit without the means to invest in Turkey at that time.
Now emerging as a gas exporter with the same west-oriented strategy,
Azerbaijan is turning Turkey into a gas transit country – as well as
overhauling Turkey’s petro-chemical sector. Turkey had long aspired to
become a transit country for both oil and gas pipelines. Thus far, only
Azerbaijan makes this possible. Additionally, Azerbaijan’s investment in
the Georgian section of the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railroad, expected for
completion by November 2012, will connect Baku and Ankara within an
inter-continental transport system. These developments are apt to reinforce
Turkish-Azerbaijani political solidarity on all issues of regional
importance.

–Vladimir Socor

From: A. Papazian

ARF YOUTH UNION ORGANIZES A PROTEST RALLY AGAINST CONDUCTION OF AZERI FILM FESTIVAL IN ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 12, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. The Youth union of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation spoke against conduction of Azerbaijani
film festival in the second largest city of Armenia – Gyumri. The
union called on all to unite to the protest action which stems from
the principles of each Armenian. “Not experiencing hatred toward any
culture, we will not tolerate organization and conduction of such
event in Armenia,” the press release of the organization runs.

“As far as Armenian soldier dies from the bullets of Azerbaijani
snipers and as far as aggressor Azerbaijan has not recognized the
right of Artsakh Armenians to self-determination and continues
annihilating monuments of Armenian culture, as far as it has not
recognized Sumgait genocide and finally has not stopped its bellicose
and fascist statements addressed to Artsakh and Armenia, conduction
of such events is inadmissible,” the statement runs.

Instead the union called on the organizers to conduct presentation
of documentary film about Sumgait massacre in Baku and film about
Armenian Genocide in Ankara.

From: A. Papazian

CSTO MEETING IN YEREVAN FOCUSES ON ARMENIA’S MILITARY FACILITIES LOGISTICS

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 12, 2012 – 12:10 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian and Russian national units of
Intergovernmental Commission on Military Economic Cooperation (ICMEC)
of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are holding a
meeting in Yerevan.

“The commission has achieved much success; close cooperation and
collaboration between the national units of Russia and Armenia is
established,” Artur Baghdasaryan, secretary of Armenia’s National
Security Council said in his opening speech.

Participants of April 12 meeting will discuss the implementation of
agreements within the memorandum signed on August 10, 2010 between
Russia’s Federal service for military-technical cooperation and
Armenian Defense Ministry. It envisaged establishment of military
facilities and service centers for military equipment maintenance in
Armenia’s territory, as well as provision of its logistics.

Valery Semerikov, CSTO deputy Secretary General mentioned that
the bilateral format of the meetings provides for efficient work
and decision-making. The parties have also started re-equipment of
Collective prompt response forces.

The meeting in Yerevan brought together head of Armenian ICMEC,
deputy minister of economy of Armenia Garnik Badalyan, head of CSTO
ICMEC and Russian ICMEC, deputy industry and trade minister of Russia
Igor Karavaev, as well as other representatives of both countries.

Ambassador of Russia to Armenia Vyacheslav Kovalenko also attended
the meeting.

The participants will also visit some enterprises which serve bases
for maintenance of military equipment.

The meeting will end up with signing of a protocol.

From: A. Papazian

UNPRECEDENTED REACTION
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 12:18:36 – 12/04/2012

Yesterday the public was amazed by the Catholicos of All Armenian who
responded to the calls of the environmentalists and expressed his
standpoint on the encroachment of different economic and political
ruling clans to the environment of Armenia.

However, while the Catholicos of All Armenians amazed the public
because he never reacts to urgent public and civil issues, the content
of his response did not give a surprise.

“Nature is called to sustain the welfare of man who is the wreath of
creation, and man is empowered to manage natural resources reasonably.

We comment the attention and enthusiasm of environmental organizations
to environmental issues. Environmental issues must be addressed by
the relevant government bodies in accordance with the legislation,
guided by the interests of the country and the society,” runs the
message of the Catholicos.

This message produces an ambiguous impression. On the one hand, the
issues are there – Mashtots Park, other forests and parks which need
protection from businesses. On the other hand, the message is there
which can be interpreted differently.

However, this is enough for the beginning, considering that the
Catholicos did not utter a word at all.

However, other questions occur as well, namely relating to another
construction site in Yerevan where the Yerevan residence of the
Catholicos will be located and Saint Anna Church.

The civil society is fighting for different issues, including the
construction at the crossroad of Abovyan and Sayat-Nova Streets. The
Language Institute of the Academy of Science used to be there which
blocked the view of the cozy chapel and was demolished. They did not
demolish the building to free at least a tiny space in overcrowded
Yerevan with the calming sight of the church but in order to build
a bigger church and the residence of the Catholicos in Yerevan.

The society protested, demanded a little park in the place of the
Language Institute to boost the attraction of the magnificent church
with its historical biography.

However, the Holy See insisted, and now construction of the residence,
as well as the church is underway which will be an expression of the
will of the benefactor.

Knowing this fact, questions occur relating to the message or response
of Garegin II.

The Catholicos commends the battle of the citizens for nature but
at the same time he is among those who launched construction in a
small area which was the natural resource of Yerevan, and not having
a residence of the Catholicos in Yerevan would not be a loss for
Armenia and the Armenian Apostolic Church would be prejudiced. At
least the residence could be built somewhere else, and Yerevan would
have a very small green area.

This example makes the reaction of the Catholicos to environmental
issues look quite relative, and one feels that he wanted to say
“the environmentalist can protest, and the builder can build”.

This won’t do. Other principles should be there, and if the Armenian
Apostolic Church reacts to a public issue, the response must contain
guidelines rather than relativity. These guidelines would constitute
the value of the reaction of the Catholicos because relativity was
discovered by Einstein a long time ago.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES WANT TO RUIN JOINT HEADQUARTERS – ARFD

news.am
April 12, 2012 | 03:49

YEREVAN. – Armenian authorities make great efforts to ruin the joint
headquarter, which will control over the upcoming parliamentary
elections, ARF Dashnaktsutyun MP Artyusha Shahbazyan told Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

At the same time, Shahbazyan rejected to comment on the initiative of
the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) member David Harutyunyan,
who proposed a set of rules for the conduct of a civilized election
campaign as an alternative to create joint headquarter.

To note, the preliminary idea of joint headquarter, included ruling
coalition member Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), parliament opposition
ARF Dashnaktsuyun, Heritage and off-parliament opposition Armenian
National Congress (ANC). However, Heritage party representative
withdrew the party’s agreement on Wednesday offering some conditions.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun is one of
the oldest Armenian political parties. It was founded in the end of
19th century.

Following the Sovietization of Armenia in 1920, the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun
was banned by the Communists and its leadership exiled. The
ARF-Dashnaktsutyun officially re-emerged in Armenia after the collapse
of the USSR, in 1990.

In June 2003, the party signed a coalition memorandum with the
Republican Party of Armenia and Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law). However,
in 2009 ARFD left the coalition in protest against signing the
protocols with Turkey.

Party’s proportional list includes 85 candidates. Eight candidates
will run for an MP seat with majority system. The party’s motto is
‘Freedom, Justice, Dashnaktsutyun.’

From: A. Papazian

LA GEORGIE INAUGURE UNE STATUE DE L’EX-PRESIDENT POLONAIS KACZYNSKI
Ara

armenews.com
jeudi 12 avril 2012

TBILISSI, (AFP) – La Georgie a inaugure mardi une statue a l’effigie
de l’ancien president polonais Lech Kaczynski a l’occasion du deuxième
anniversaire de l’accident d’avion dans lequel ce fervent soutien
de Tbilissi et d’autres hauts responsables polonais avaient peri
en Russie.

La statue est erigee dans un petit jardin public situe dans une rue
de Tbilissi portant le nom de Kaczynski, qui a soutenu la Georgie
dans la courte guerre ayant oppose cette ex-republique sovietique a
la Russie en août 2008.

“Ce sera une place où les anciens raconteront a leurs petits-enfants
que le president Kaczynski etait aux côtes de la Georgie pendant
la periode la plus difficile pour notre pays”, a declare le chef de
l’assemblee locale de Tbilissi, Zaal Samadachvili, a la television
georgienne.

Plus tôt dans la journee, le Parlement georgien avait observe une
minute de silence a la memoire des victimes de l’accident de l’avion
presidentiel polonais qui s’est ecrase le 10 avril 2010 en tentant
d’atterrir par un epais brouillard a Smolensk (ouest de la Russie),
ce qui avait provoque la mort des 96 personnes presentes a son bord.

“Ce n’a pas seulement ete une tragedie pour la Pologne, mais aussi
pour la Georgie”, a declare le president du Parlement georgien,
David Bakradze. M. Kaczynski figurait parmi les rares dirigeants qui
se sont rendus a Tbilissi pendant la guerre d’août 2008, lorsque la
Russie a envahi une partie de la Georgie pour repousser les troupes
de Tbilissi qui tentaient de reprendre le contrôle de la region
separatiste pro-russe d’Ossetie du Sud.

La delegation polonaise qui a peri dans l’accident devait assister
a Katyn, près de Smolensk, aux ceremonies ayant marque le 70e
anniversaire du massacre de plusieurs milliers d’officiers polonais
prisonniers de l’Armee rouge par la police secrète sovietique pendant
la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

From: A. Papazian

LE FILS DU MARCHAND D’OLIVES : VOYAGE DE NOCES EN PAYS NEGATIONNISTE
Stephane

armenews.com
jeudi 12 avril 2012

L’auteur de ce film, Mathieu Zeitindjioglu, Francais d’origine
armenienne, est le petit-fils d’un rescape du genocide perpetre
par l’Etat turc en 1915. Mathieu, un jour, decide d’en savoir plus
sur l’histoire de ce grand-père et de filmer sa quete a la manière
d’un journal. La grande curiosite de ce film est que cette decision
survienne au lendemain du mariage de Mathieu avec Anna, une jeune
Polonaise installee en France. Les deux jeunes gens decident en
effet de passer leur voyage de noces en Turquie et d’y mener de
front l’enquete sur le passe douloureux de la famille de Mathieu. Une
certaine conception du voyage de noces.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJANI SECURITY FORCES ARREST SUSPECTED ISLAMIST MILITANTS FOLLOWING DEADLY CLASHES
Lilit Gevorgyan

Global Insight
April 10, 2012

On 6 April, Azerbaijan’s National Security Ministry reported that
17 suspected Islamist militants had been arrested in a raid. In a
statement the Ministry said that during the nationwide operation,
an agent from the ministry’s special operations department, Elshad
Guliyev, was killed while three others were wounded in the town
of Ganja. The operation also covered the capital Baku and Sumgait,
north of the capital and home to most of Azerbaijan’s petrochemical
industry. The state security services stated that the suspects were
members of “an illegal armed group which were planning subversive
and terrorist acts aimed at undermining political stability in the
country.” Meanwhile, local news in Ganja reported that the detained
people were “Wahhabist-influenced”, followers of particular Sunni
branch in Islam.

Significance:Azerbaijan is a largely Shi’a Muslim republic, and
has seen a rise in the activities of Islamist militants. Given the
country’s poor human rights record, it is hard to verify if the
reported arrest of suspected militants are indeed to do with a true
security risk or is a way of suppressing the already weakened and
beleaguered opposition in Azerbaijan. Its national security agency,
which has increased significantly in size in recent years under the
presidency of Ilham Aliyev, has claimed in the past to have thwarted
attacks on foreign embassies by Islamists with links to neighbouring
Iran, which is also a largely Shi’a Muslim state. However, there have
been fewer reports of Wahhabi militants’ presence in Azerbaijan in
recent years. These groups are prevalent in Russia’s North Caucasus,
which shares Azerbaijan’s northern border. During Azerbaijan’s war
against its mainly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous
region from 1988 to 1993, there were numerous reports of the
presence of Chechen brigades fighting against Armenians in support
of Azerbaijan. However, since the return of precarious peace in the
region it is difficult to establish if these North Caucasian groups
operate in Azerbaijan or if the recently arrested suspects have
any links with them. Nonetheless, the growing reports of arrests of
militants raise concerns over the security situation in the country.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA IMPORTS IRANIAN OIL DESPITE SANCTIONS

The Messenger
April 11 2012
Georgia

Despite the international sanctions on Iranian oil exports, Armenia
has continued, and even increased, its import of Iranian oil products.

There are also plans to build a pipeline between two countries, made
at a meeting between the countries’ energy ministers in February. The
decision to increase economic cooperation with Iran was taken by
the Armenian leadership despite pressure from the United States and
other Western countries. Armenian officials explain their country
is experiencing an embargo from Turkey and Azerbaijan, and it is
expensive to buy oil products via Georgia.

From: A. Papazian