Author: Andres-Papazian

ALEXANDER ISKANDARYAN: ARMENIA CAN AFFORD STATEMENTS INEXCUSABLE FOR AZERBAIJAN
by Nana Martirosyan

arminfo
Friday, February 24, 19:56

Interview with Alexander Iskandaryan, Director of the Caucasus
Institute

Sociologists in Armenia have been frequently voicing the chances of
political forces recently. Does it testify to the high level of the
Armenian sociology considering that their forecasts usually come true?

Sociology in Armenia is at a good level. We have a good school that
prepares material for professionals. Sociologists become especially
active on the threshold of elections. But public opinion polls do not
present the general image of forthcoming elections. At present the
results of several surveys have been published. They presented the list
of the parties which will allegedly enter the new parliament. But I
don’t agree with it. I think that if the election were held not on 6
May but tomorrow, the following parties would find themselves in the
parliament: Republican Party of Armenia, Prosperous Armenia Party,
Armenian National Congress and ARF Dashnaktiutyun. But this does not
at all mean that other parties will be out of parliament. At the same
time, I doubt very much that Orinats Yerkir party will

manage to overcome the 5% threshold to the parliament.

Is it possible to establish a People’s Front in Armenia? Why don’t
our political forces adopt the similar experience of Russia?

No, it is not possible. We are in quite a different situation and
at quite a different stage of political development. The difference
between Armenia and Russia is that there is actually no political
opposition in Russia, and people like Levon Ter-Petrosyan are either
in prison or abroad or they are not alive at all. And those who call
themselves opposition do not attend rallies, as they are not true
oppositionists. Russia has to create what has been in Armenia for
20 years. So, Armenia needn’t create a People’s Front, like the one
recently created in Russia.

Opposition forces in Armenia have stated beforehand that the upcoming
elections are fraud. Nevertheless, they still intend to run for the
parliament. What is the reason of such paradox?

It also means that there are still political traditions in Armenia.

Since 1995 all the political forces of Armenia have been using radical
rhetoric over the election period. Armenia has a huge demand for system
rhetoric, not the political one. As a rule, after every election some
forces appear that do not acknowledge the results of the election.

The authorities say that the opposition’s proposal to switch to a 100%
proportional electoral system is part of its PR campaign…

An active political fight is going on, in which all the parties
simply must use PR methods, which will draw the attention of the
voters. Certainly, such kind of proposals is part of election campaign
and the oppositionists are not so naive to propose such changes on
the threshold of the election.

Has the Arab Spring of 2011 had any impact on the situation in Armenia?

The world policy does not directly affect domestic political situation
in Armenia, but the world financial crisis directly affects financial
flows and the western programs being implemented in Armenia.

This affects the social situation which naturally affects

the political situation in the country. But the global policy does not
affect the results of the parliamentary and presidential elections in
Armenia. The people which believe that Armenian political candidates
represent interests of any superpower, are naive, as in this context
there is no single Russia or America. We are linked with the world
and cannot stay in isolation. 2011 was the year of turbulence in the
Middle East and the Arab world, as the American-Iranian confrontation
was developing, which directly affects implementation of the projects
linked with Russian and Iranian capital. But this cannot directly
affect political field of Armenia either.

Confrontation around Iran is continued and there is an impression
that the situation is becoming increasingly tense…

Overland war in Iran is impossible. One should be mad to unleash
war against Iran. It will be irrational for the U.S. authorities on
the threshold of elections. There may be bombing or missile blows
that will not settle the Iranian problem, but what is happening in
reality is a tough bargaining with use of pressure and rhetoric of
threats. Military actions against Iran will plunge the entire world
into a crisis. In case the Persian Gulf is paralyzed through closing
the Strait of Hormuz, the global economy will prove in the situation
similar to those of 90s in Armenia. A real war against Iran would
stop oil currents from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain and
Oman. Speaking of such war is unnecessary at the given moment.

Baku is trying to gain from the situation around Iran, and the
Azerbaijani politicians have suddenly remembered about the so-called
Southern Azerbaijan…

Some Azerbaijani politicians were allowed to voice this theory,
which finds room in the game between the USA and Russia and the West
and Iran. In this way Baku is trying to demonstrate certain loyalty
towards the West. Azerbaijan has been simultaneously working for Russia
as well as for the West. It is a value for Russia in the energy and
communication context. It is not an important energy and communication
corridor for the West. For this reason, Azerbaijan is forced to express
loyalty to the West as well. But it has not succeeded much in this
way taking into consideration the fact that many countries of the
West treat Azerbaijan with disgust. Azerbaijan is like Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan and Kazakhstan which have an absolutely different
political reality and their loyalty is displayed by the principle –
“I am against your enemy”. Stemming from it, Armenia has a great
opportunity to speak about its complementary policy and cooperation
with Iran, Russia as well as the West. And Azerbaijan has nothing
else to do but to demonstrate its pro-Western orientation. Hence,
there is no threat that northern and southern Azerbaijan will unite.

From: A. Papazian

RPA MP SAYS KARABAKH SHOULD BE ENGAGED IN TALKS

ARMENPRESS
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS: Nagorno Karabakh must also be
engaged in the negotiation process, MP from the Republican party of
Armenia Karine Atchemyan told the reporters today, according to her,
the time has come for it. “Azerbaijan is more widely represented abroad
than Armenia is. We must intensify the diplomatic works,” she said.

The MP positively assessed the results of the Euronest assembly
conducted in Armenia’s National Assembly, stressing that it was a
brilliant opportunity to listen to the unbiased opinions of the others.

Referring to the Azerbaijani delegation, Atchemyan said they were
also inclined to peaceful settlement of the conflict.

Secretary of the “Heritage” faction Larisa Alaverdyan stressed that
the absence of the NKR in the talks has turned the negotiations into
just common meetings. “Azerbaijanis always say one thing do another.

Through diplomatic steps Azerbaijan must be forced to a dialogue,”
she said.

From: A. Papazian

BILL ON SHIFTING TO 100% PROPORTIONAL ELECTORAL SYSTEM TO BE DISCUSSED FEBRUARY 28

ARMENPRESS
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS: National Assembly Standing Committee
on State and Legal Affairs discussed February 24 the bill on “Making
Changes in RA Electoral Code” forwarded by Styopa Safaryan, Artsvik
Minasyan, Vahan Hovhannisyan and Armen Matrirosyan from Heritage and
Armenian Revolutionary Federation parties. The bill proposes to pass
from mixed electoral system to 100% proportional one.

An official from Heritage Party told Armenpress the committee
has not made up an affirmative conclusion related to the bill. So,
“Heritage” faction recognized it special at its session and submitted
that decision to NA Speaker.

The bill will be included in the agenda of the February 27-March 1
four-day session and will be brought to a special discussion February
28 – during the second sitting of the day.

From: A. Papazian

IRAN ADVISES AZERBAIJANI PARTNERS TO BEWARE OF ENEMIES WEARING CLOTHES OF FRIENDS

news.am
February 24, 2012 | 18:01

YEREVAN.- An Iranian diplomat advised Azerbaijani partners that they
should be wary of ” the enemies wearing the clothes of friends”.

Commenting on the recent reports about a terrorist group discovered
by the Azerbaijani intelligence, Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Seyed
Ali Saqqaiyan said Iran is a peace-loving country.

Earlier Azerbaijani state-run Aztv channel reported that the group
allegedly working for the Iranian secret services was planning
terrorist attacks against foreign citizens.

In response Esmail Kusari, deputy chairman of Iranian parliament’s
security committee, said the Muslims of Azerbaijan are accused of
cooperation with special services but it is well known that the
country is cooperating with Mossad and CIA.

“We advise that our Azerbaijani partners should be wary of the enemies
wearing the clothes of friends. Iran is a peace-loving country and
we also suffered from terrorist attacks. The Zionist regime cannot
be friendly to any country,” he said addressing the Armenian students.

From: A. Papazian

ANTI-ARMENIAN PROPAGANDA BY AZERI, TURKISH TV CHANNELS CAN’T BE BANNED IN IRAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 24, 2012 – 16:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – During a meeting with Yerevan State University
students Iran’s ambassador to Armenia Seyed Ali Sagayan dwelt on
broadcast of several Azerbaijani and Turkish TV channels in Iran.

Asked about Iranian authorities’ reaction to anti-Armenian propaganda
by those channels in the north of the country, the envoy noted that
all claims should be presented to the countries owning the channels.

“We also come across anti-Iranian propaganda,” he said.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES ALREADY CAMPAIGNING FOR ELECTIONS IN THE PRESS: VAHAN HOVHANNISYAN

epress.am
02.24.2012

The Armenian authorities quite plainly aspire to remain in power
forever. Added to this situation characteristic of the election period
is also the strive to avoid at all costs a repeat of Mar. 1-2, 2008,
or similar events, which, of course, gives the newly developing
civil society the opportunity to overthrow the government, said
Vahan Hovhannisyan, head of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun, or ARF-D) parliamentary faction, while meeting with
reporters in Yerevan today.

“Elections generally can mean one of two things: a change in generation
or a change in government – or both,” he said, emphasizing that in
the case of Armenia, it’s time for both.

Weighing in on the matter of foreign policy, Hovhannisyan said this
is directly linked to developments within the country.

“It’s obvious that European agencies have clearly made it known to
Armenia’s authorities (and not only) that they won’t be tolerant
when it comes to the elections and Armenia should be able to ensure
elections that if aren’t in compliance with European standards than
at least approach the level [of such compliance]. Finally, the main
indicator of democracy is in the quality of elections,” he said.

As an example, the lawmaker pointed to the persecution of Armenia’s
news media outlets, which aren’t completely free; that is, the
government doesn’t want to undergo a change through the path of
civilized elections, he said.

“The main mechanism on the path to civilized elections is campaigning,
and in whose hands is this? Of course, in [the hands of] news outlets,”
he said, meaning that the authorities are using the news media to
campaign for elections and get their message across.

According to Hovhannisyan, Armenia’s situation today is rather
difficult, which means that the country’s ruling authorities had to
already have ensured such reforms in domestic politics that would’ve
strengthened Armenia’s defensiveness, security system, and so on.

“This wasn’t done, and it’s one of the reasons that it’s time for a
change of government,” he said.

From: A. Papazian

IRAN IDENTIFIES MOSSAD OPERATIVE IN AZERBAIJAN

press tv
Sat Feb 25, 2012 11:23AM GMT

Iranian intelligence officials have identified the operative of Mossad,
Israel’s spy agency, in republic of Azerbaijan, who has been involved
in assassinating Iran’s nuclear scientists, Press TV reports.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has called for the extradition of Mossad’s
Iranian spy, identified as Ja’far Khoshzaban, alias Javidan, who has
been working under the auspices of Azeri security forces.

Deputy Head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy
Committee Esmail Kowsari said on February 22 that they have obtained
documents, which state Azeri officials have aided and abetted
Mossad and CIA agents in their targeted killings of Iranian nuclear
scientists, namely Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan.

Ahmadi Roshan was targeted on January 11, when an unknown motorcyclist
attached a magnetic bomb to his car near a college building of Allameh
Tabatabaei University in northern Tehran.

The legislator highlighted that Baku’s alliance with Israeli and US
spy networks against Tehran will harm Azerbaijan’s interests, calling
on the Azeri government to keep foreign spies away from Iranian border.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on February 12 summoned the Azeri ambassador
to Tehran, Javanshir Akhundov, to object to Baku granting asylum to
the Mossad-trained assassins of Iranian nuclear scientists.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also criticized the anti-Iran campaign
on state-controlled Azeri news outlets and the degrading behavior of
Azeri customs officials towards Iranian truck drivers.

The Azerbaijani ambassador expressed regret over the events and said
Tehran’s message would be conveyed to Baku as soon as possible and
that a response would be relayed to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Last year, Majid Jamali Fashi, a Mossad agent who assassinated Iranian
nuclear scientist Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, confessed to having received
forged documents in Azerbaijan’s Heydar Aliyev Airport to travel to
Tel Aviv.

Professor Ali-Mohammadi, a lecturer at Tehran University, was
killed when an explosive-laden motorbike was detonated with
a remote-controlled device near his home in northern Tehran in
January 2010.

Azerbaijan has reportedly granted asylum to the Mujahedin-e Khalq
Organization (MKO) as well as the Party for Free Life of Kurdistan
(PJAK) terrorists.

The London Times reported on February 11 that Israel is using
Azerbaijan, a small Eurasian country which shares a border with Iran,
as a base to spy on the Tehran government.

The newspaper cited the testimony of an anonymous Mossad agent referred
to only as Shimon.

“This is ground zero for intelligence work,” Shimon told The Times.

“Our presence here is quiet, but substantial. We have increased our
presence in the past year, and it gets us very close to Iran. This
is a wonderfully porous country.”

According to Shimon the Azerbaijan-Iran border, just a few hours south
of the capital Baku, is prime territory for the Israeli intelligence
service to gather information on Tehran’s activities.

“There is a great deal of information there from people who regularly
and freely travel across the borders. It is unregulated – almost,”
said Shimon.

Azerbaijan is a major energy producer, and exports oil to Israel and
imports weapons and military hardware in return.

From: A. Papazian

YEREVAN MAYOR PAYS TRIBUTE TO ZORAVAR ANDRANIK

Tert..am
25.02.12

Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan has visited the Yerablur military
cemetery earlier today to pay tribute to the legendary Armenian
freedom fighter and activist, Andranik Ozanyan, whose 147th birthday
is celebrated today.

Clergymen of the Armenian Apostolic Church offered a liturgy by the
great hero’s grave to commemorate him and all the devoted martyrs, who
sacrificed their lives in the Armenian people’s fight for liberation.

According to a press release by the Yerevan City Hall, the mayor
also laid flowers on the tombs of Armenia’s former prime minister
and a hero of the Nagorno-Karabakh liberation war, Vazgen Sargsyan
(who was assassinated during the 1999 October 27 terrorist attack on
the parliament), and the founder of the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia, Ashot Navasardyan.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN STATE APPARATUS IS UNPREDICTABLE IN TERMS OF TELECOMMUNICATION

news.am
February 25, 2012 | 11:50

AGHVERAN. – Armenia’s regions have problems in connection with
developing telecommunication, Transport and Communication Deputy
Minister Andranik Aleksanyan stated during a seminar, being held in
Aghveran village, which is devoted to telecommunication.

In his words, however, the situation is relatively better in the
capital Yerevan, and there is competition.

In his turn, Orange Armenia Company representative Vahe Hovhannisyan
noted that the business does not clearly know what the state wants
to do, specifically in the regions. He argued that very often they
are taken by surprise by the programs of the state.

Yerevan City Hall representative Sargis Manukyan said the activities
of the telecommunication operator companies are not regulated, and
the networks are unsafe.

And as per Vahe Danielyan, the Economy Minister’s advisor, the state
has two documents on the telecommunication domain: the information
and telecommunication strategy, and the “road map” for establishing
an information society.

From: A. Papazian

NKR MFA: SUMGAIT IS AN UNPUNISHED GENOCIDE

armradio.am
24.02.2012 14:38

“On February 26-29, 1988, with the actual support of the Azerbaijani
authorities and the connivance of the Soviet leadership, a massacre
of Armenians was carried out in the city of Sumgait, the Azerbaijani
Soviet Socialist Republic, which shocked the international community
with its savagery and brutality,” the Foreign Ministry of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic said in a statement.

The statemnet reads, in part: “The Sumgait massacre of Armenians was
committed in response to the Karabakh people’s legitimate expression of
will for reunification with Armenia and became the embodiment of the
Azerbaijani authorities’ policy of hatred towards Armenians conducted
during the entire Soviet period. The mass pogroms of Armenians in
“international” Sumgait were intended to block a possible solution
to the issue, to frighten the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh with
the prospects of new bloody actions and to make them abandon their
national-liberation movement. Dozens of people were killed with
sadistic cruelty; a considerable part of them was burned alive after
having been beaten, tortured, and violated. Hundreds of people were
disabled for life and thousands became refugees.

The massacre of Armenians in Sumgait was thoroughly organized,
including from the ideological and psychological points of view. At
the anti-Armenian rallies, which started on February 26 in the central
square, the municipal leaders openly called upon the participants
for violence against the Armenians.

On February 27, the ‘rallies’ escalated into acts of violence. The
first ‘rally’ in front of the building of the Sumgait City Party
Committee was attended by about 50 people; the next day, the number
of participants grew to several thousands. In her speech, Second
Secretary of the City Party Committee Melek Bairamova demanded that
Armenians leave Azerbaijan; Azerbaijani poet Khydyr Alovlu concluded
his speech by saying: “Death to Armenians!”

In addition to the city leadership, representatives of the law
enforcement agencies were on the tribune, and it wasn’t accidental
that unprecedented facts of inaction and heartlessness of the Interior
employees were fixed during the pogroms.

An open atmosphere of mass psychosis and hysteria was formed at the
‘rallies’. Those on the tribunes called upon the participants to be
true to the credit of the Muslims and to unite in a war against the
“infidels.” The thugs were inflamed by, actually, fascist appeals,
heated by alcohol, which was distributed freely out of trucks, and
drugged; convinced of their own impunity, they continued with renewed
impetus the pogroms of Armenians’ apartments, their mass beating
and killing, which lasted until late at night. The crowd was headed
by none other than First Secretary of the Sumgait City Committee of
the Communist Party Jahangir Muslimzade, with the national flag of
Azerbaijan in his hands. The gangs were headed also by some prominent
people in Sumgait – the director of secondary school #25, an actress
of the Arablinsky Theater, and others.

On February 28, the number of thugs armed with iron bars, axes,
hammers, and other improvised means considerably increased. The crowd
clearly knew its tasks. The pogrom-makers, who were divided into
groups, broke into Armenians’ apartments and killed the people in
their own homes; but more often they took them out in the street or in
the yard for making a public mock of them. After painful humiliation,
the victims were poured with petrol and burned alive.

Only on February 29 military forces were brought into the city of
Sumgait, but they did not immediately establish control over the city.

The killings and pogroms of Armenians were going on. Only in the
evening the military units started taking decisive actions.

The central authorities were not interested in establishing the exact
number of victims in the Sumgait bacchanalia. Officially, 36 Armenian
and 6 Azerbaijani deceased persons were stated. Meanwhile, British
researcher Tom de Waal wrote in his book Black Garden. Between Peace
and War: “…If you pay attention to the serial numbers of medical
death certificates, you’ll find out that at least 115 bodies were
recorded those days in the morgues… Such a number of natural deaths
is excluded, at least because no more than 72 deaths were registered
in the previous two months” (“February 1988: Azerbaijan”, chapter 2).

The fact that the Genocide of the Armenian population of Sumgait
was planned in advance and was not a spontaneous action of a group
of hooligans, as the Soviet authorities and judicial agencies tried
to present it, is testified by some irrefutable facts: production
of cold arms for the pogroms at the industrial enterprises of the
city; making lists of the Armenians living in the city with the aim
of their killing; the authorities’ inaction; speeches of specially
trained provokers at the rallies for manipulating the crowd; the
local militia’s assistance to the thugs; disconnecting the phones
in the Armenians’ apartments; cutting off the electricity supply in
the blocks where the pogroms were going on; accurate coordination
of the gangs’ actions; providing the thugs with reinforcement rods,
pipe scraps, rocks and bottles with gasoline and alcohol; blocking the
entrances to the city by armed groups; lack of any assistance to the
victims by medical workers of the city; removal of the crimes’ traces
(hasty repair of the smashed shops, apartments, and other facilities),
and hiding the organizers and many executors of the Genocide from
the justice.

All this was not an act of hooliganism; it was an action against
a particular nation, against the Armenians. It was not against the
Russians or some other nations, it was against the Armenians; they
were looking for only Armenians.

On February 29, 1988, a session of the Politburo of the USSR Communist
Party Central Committee took place in the Kremlin, at which it was
stated for the first time officially, though classified as ‘top
secret’, that the mass pogroms and massacre had been carried out in
Sumgait on an ethnic basis, that is exclusively against Armenians.

However, the USSR official structures were quick to taboo the topic of
‘Sumgait’, artificially dividing the mass slaughter of Armenians into
separate crimes. The crimes, which, according to the International
Convention on Genocide, must be assessed as crimes against humanity,
were classified as crimes committed out of “hooliganism motives.” In
other words, the committed Genocide was veiled, and its organizers
were defended at the official level.

Unfortunately, the February 27-29 pogroms in Sumgait, organized at
the highest state level, are not given yet an adequate political and
legal assessment, and the Moscow trial did not become the Nuremberg
trial, because the roots of the mass crimes were not identified.

The policy of silence related to the Genocide in Sumgait, concealment
of the reasons, which gave rise to it, and leaving its real organizers
unpunished made possible the ethnic cleansing carried out by the
Azerbaijani SSR authorities throughout the Republic, which culminated
in the January 1990 bloody bacchanalia in the Republic’s capital city
of Baku and led to further large-scale military aggression against
the people of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

Meanwhile, the truth about Sumgait, like the materials of the Nuremberg
trial, is needed to the people for preventing a new “brown plague.”

From: A. Papazian