Author: Babajanian Karo

AZERBAIJAN: KARABAKH FLARE-UP SEEN AS KREMLIN MISCHIEF

EurasiaNet.org
Aug 14 2014

August 15, 2014 – 1:18pm, by Shahin Abbasov

Highlighting the challenge of forging a lasting political settlement
to the 26-year-long conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh, officials and experts in the two countries are
offering starkly different views on the heavy fighting that erupted
around the territory in late July and early August.

Not surprisingly, everyone is convinced the other side started it. In
Armenia, observers believe that Baku’s frustration with the stalled
Karabakh peace process boiled over, prompting the Azerbaijani military
to launch an attack. Azerbaijani analysts scoff at such speculation.

“Baku would not start active military actions because, at that
particular moment, both President Ilham Aliyev and Defense Minister
Zakir Hasanov were on holidays outside of Azerbaijan,” Jasur Sumarinly,
the head of the Baku-based Doctrina strategic affairs think tank,
told EurasiaNet.org.

An opinion shared by many in Baku is that Armenia, Russia’s strategic
ally in the Caucasus, started the late July clashes at Moscow’s
behest in an effort to help reset the Kremlin’s international
image. Russian leader Vladimir Putin is now widely regarded in the
West as a mischief-maker and bully, and is now eager to change that
perception, the thinking in Baku goes.

Vafa Guluzade, a foreign affairs commentator and a former policy
advisor to former president Heydar Aliyev, said the flare-up in
Nagorno-Karabakh was directly related to Russia’s predicament in the
Ukrainian crisis, in which pro-Russian separatists are losing ground,
and Western sanctions on Russia are beginning to bite. Putin, Guluzade
added, used Armenia to stir the Karabakh pot in order to then intervene
in an effort to boost his credentials as a statesman.

Putin convened a snap summit August 10 with Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan in order
to show the world his “peaceful, mediating face,” Guluzade told
EurasiaNet.org. “Putin [also] wanted to show that Russia still plays
a decisive role in the South Caucasus,” he added.

Other analysts believe Russia is also trying to compel Azerbaijan to
join the Kremlin-led Customs Union, an economic entity that Azerbaijani
officials have thus far shown no interest in joining.

“The Kremlin wants Yerevan to play a role in having Azerbaijan in the
[Customs] Union. The escalation [of tension] at the front, the death
of Azerbaijani soldiers and the [summit] meeting in Sochi is part
of one scenario,” suggested Arastun Orujlu, who heads the East-West
think tank in Baku.

Guluzade and Orujlu indicated that it is highly unlikely that the
Aliyev administration’s aversion to Customs Union membership will
change in the foreseeable future. But Orujlu, citing the government’s
ongoing crackdown on internal dissent, cautioned that Baku was
alienating Western governments, something that could invite Kremlin
meddling in the future.

“In the current situation, Baku urgently needs to improve its relations
with Western powers. Those ties have been seriously damaged by the
recent crackdown on non-governmental organizations and the arrests
of civil society activists,” Orujlu said.

Publicly, Azerbaijani government officials have made only vague and
non-committal statements concerning Putin’s diplomacy. “We consider
the initiative of the Russian president as an effort to restore a
ceasefire in the region,” Ali Hasanov, an influential presidential
aide, was quoted as saying by the Turan news agency.

A looming challenge for Azerbaijani authorities may be keeping the lid
on patriotic fervor. In the wake of the late July/early August clashes,
social networks in Azerbaijan buzzed with chest-thumping statements
about the country’s martial prowess, and a mass desire of young men to
enlist in the army and go fight. Local media outlets also reported that
veterans of the 1991-1994 Karabakh conflict expressed readiness to take
up arms again. In response, Defense Ministry officials took steps to
dampen enthusiasm for mass enlistments. In the aftermath of the August
10 summit, Karabakh has remained quiet, and most experts in Baku do
not expect recent events to prompt a resumption of an all-out conflict.

“The big number of citizens’ appeals we consider as a large show of
support to the army. We are thankful to [the public] and believe that
this patriotic initiative will raise moral spirit of our soldiers,”
said a Defense Ministry statement.

Editor’s note: Shahin Abbasov is a freelance correspondent based
in Baku.

Al-Jazeera, Qatar
Aug 16 2014

Turkey: Voting out founding ideology

The Turkish people not only elected Erdogan, but they also voted
against the founding ideology of the Republic.

by Galip Dalay

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the presidential
elections on August 10 [AP]

As widely expected, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
emerged victorious in the first round of Turkey’s presidential
elections with about 52 percent of the votes. This is his ninth
consecutive election victory (3 general and 3 local elections, plus 2
referendums and the recent presidential elections) – a record that is
hard to beat by any politician in any democracy. The joint candidate
of the main opposition parties, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, received around
38 percent of the vote, whereas the pro-Kurdish and left-leaning
candidate, Selahattin Demirtas, took slightly less than 10 percent.

Erdogan the conciliator

In his victory speech, Erdogan struck a conciliatory tone and adopted
inclusive language. He called on the opposition and different sections
of society to leave behind the old rifts and to embark on establishing
a new Turkey.

While spelling out the names of groups making up the socio-cultural
and ethnic composition of Turkey, he did not only refer to the Muslim
sections of society, such as the Turks, Kurds, Circassians and others,
but he also included non-Muslim sections of society as well: Armenians
and Greeks, in particular.

Erdogan wins turkey’s presidential elections

Referring to the primary foundation of Turkey’s identity, he spoke of
the concept of Turkiyelilik in place of the official and
constitutional concept of Turkishness (the constitution defines all
citizens of Turkey as Turks).

The term Turkiyelilik stands for a more civic conception of
citizenship in place of the previous ethno-centric understanding of
Turkey’s citizenship and identity. This term facilitates moving away
from ethnic and sectarian cleavages in Turkey.

The state’s favouring of certain ethnicities and sects over others has
been the root cause of many of Turkey’s woes. Moreover, such a
redefinition of Turkey’s citizens is likely to contribute to Turkey’s
ongoing Kurdish peace process, as the state’s previous policy of
Turkification – strictly enforced, but utterly failed in the case of
Kurds – provoked the rise of Kurdish nationalism which later
manifested itself in the armed action of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK).

Erdogan also adopted a conciliatory rhetoric on Turkey’s social and
political faultlines that have emerged recently around difference in
lifestyle. Erdogan said he will remain respectful of citizens’
different lifestyles from the presidential office as well. The debate
over lifestyle essentially accounts for the tension between Turkey’s
conservative and secular sections of society. All these conciliatory
words illustrated that Erdogan is warming up to his role as the
president, a position that will require him to be even-handed towards
all citizen of Turkey.

Putting this aside, this election outcome essentially illustrated
first, that the majority of Turkey’s population demand the revision of
Turkey’s founding ideology (Kemalism); and second, that genuine
politics is the only game in town for any party that strives for
political success or popular support.

Revising the founding ideology

Election results indicate that both Erdogan and Demirtas earned more
votes compared to previous elections, hence both can count this
election as a victory.

Moreover, unlike Ihsanoglu, they both are political figures and
represent two social bases that had been marginalised by the previous
Kemalist establishment: the conservative and Islamic segments of
society and the Kurds.

In contrast, Ihsanoglu was running on the joint ticket of the main
opposition Republican People Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement
Party (MHP). Whereas CHP is primarily representative of the secular,
western-oriented part of the founding ideology of the Turkish
Republic, which was premised on laicism, nationalism (Turkishness) and
a western-orientation, the MHP is representative of the nationalism
(Turkishness) part of the same ideology. Thus, Ihsanoglu ran in this
election as the representative of the previous Kemalist establishment
and its founding ideology.

And at present, any party in Turkey which reduces its political
platform to protecting the old status quo is doomed to failure.

Erdogan and Demirtas represent the segments of society that demand the
revision of this ideology. Erdogan’s social constituency was primarily
the victim of the republic’s militantly enforced secularising policies
and demanded their relaxation. Demirtas’s social base has essentially
been the victim of the republic’s nationalist (Turkification) policies
and demanded the redressing of this aspect of the founding ideology.

In this election, Turkey’s founding ideology was put to the vote. The
result was a clear victory for revisionist forces: conservatives and
Kurds. In fact, since the 1990s, conservatives and Kurds have been the
primary force for change in Turkey.

They are both ascending in Turkey’s politics and possessed the
necessary will, energy, and motivation to change the country to make
space for themselves in the socio-political and economic centre, and
to revise Turkey’s founding orthodoxies. And at present, any party in
Turkey which reduces its political platform to protecting the old
status quo is doomed to failure, as repeatedly demonstrated by the
dismal election performance of Turkey’s main opposition party.

As the military was pushed backed to its barracks and its influence
curtailed, politics in Turkey has been freed from its previous chains.
Therefore, political parties should engage in politics in earnest, if
they strive for political success and public support. No longer is it
possible for any political party to come to power and shape public
politics through means other than genuine political processes.

As Turkey has changed in this regard, political parties need to
reconsider their political platform, strategies, and language. They
have to start to genuinely engage people and produce policies and
politics that aim at their base. The insistence of Turkey’s moribund
opposition not to understand and execute this basic form of PR is at
the root of its repeated failures.

For instance, in a context, where people were going to vote to elect
Turkey’s next president, the opposition chose an apolitical name with
generic messages as their candidate. Opposition candidate Ihsanoglu
spent the whole campaign period just trying to make himself known to
the public.

He succeeded at this: only around 10 percent of society knew him at
the time of his nomination, but this figure reached 90 percent by the
end of the campaign. But by the end of his election campaign, the
general public still did not know where he stood on major social and
political issues. Being politically unknown was a significant setback
for Ihsanoglu.

In a political environment unburdened by the vestiges of military rule
and of extra parliamentary forces’ influence, Turkey’s people voted to
revise its founding ideology by choosing Erdogan and emboldening
Demirtas. As Erdogan changes his role from being the prime minister
and the chairman of the AKP to being the president of the Republic, he
has recognised the content and imperatives of his new job and adopted
a conciliatory rhetoric of unity.

Galip Dalay works in the political research department at the SETA
Foundation in Turkey. He is currently a PhD candidate in International
Relations at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not
necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.

ARMEE ARMENIENNE
L’Arménie termine 2ème du 1er biathlon des chars d’assaut, derrière la Russie
12 pays participaient aux épreuves

L’Arménie prit la 2ème place du 1er concours mondial du biathlon des
chars d’assaut qui se déroulaient du 4 au 16 août à Alabino près de
Moscou. L’Arménie médaille d’argent est derrière la Russie vainqueur
des compétitions. La Russie a terminé l’épreuve en 1h15’13” devant
l’Arménie (1h20’03”). La Chine, médaille de bronze termina en
1h30’56”. Le Kazakhstan est 4ème (1h34’11”).

Lors du concours qui s’est déroulé près de Moscou les tankistes
étaient notés sur leur agilité à conduire le char d’assaut ainsi que
des épreuves de tirs. 12 pays participaient à cette 1ère édition du
biathlon des chars, la Russie, l’Angola, l’Arménie, le Belarus, le
Venezuela, l’Inde, le Kazakhstan, la Kirghizie, la Chine, Koweït, la
Mongolie et la Serbie. Plus d’une vingtaine de pays avaient également
envoyé leurs observateurs.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 16 août 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

USA calls on Government of Azerbaijan to conduct full and transparent
investigation into death of Armenian man in Azeri captivity

by Tatevik Shahunyan
Saturday, August 16, 12:46

To the question of the Armenian Public TV on the capture and killing
of the Armenian citizen Karen Petrosyan, State Department
Spokesperson Office stated that United States is deeply concerned by
reports on the death of Karen Petrosyan while in Azerbaijan’s custody
and by allegations that his death was not due to natural causes. The
United States offers its sincere condolences to Mr. Petrosyan’s
family. “We call on the Government of Azerbaijan to conduct a full and
transparent investigation into this incident and to make its findings
public. We remind the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia of their
obligations under international humanitarian law, especially their
obligation to treat humanely all those taken into custody. We call on
both Armenia and Azerbaijan to grant the International Committee of
the Red Cross access to all detainees and internees held for
conflict-related reasons,” the Spokesperson said.

The 31-year-old resident of Chinari village Karen Petrosyan, crossed
the border while drunk and fell captive to the Azerbaijani forces. In
a day, Azerbaijan reported that Petrosyan died of what they call a
cardiovascular deficiency. Meanwhile, Armenia insists that Petrosyan
died from tortures, as the man did not suffer from any heart problems.
The video and photo materials available in the Azerbaijani mass media
testify to the inhumane treatment of Karen Petrosyan in Azeri
captivity. At present Armenia is collecting the necessary materials to
apply to international instances over inhumane treatment of captives
in Azerbaijan. Negotiations are underway for repatriation of
Petrosyan’s body.

ÁE709D0-2521-11E4-BE350EB7C0D21663

Italy’s position in harmony with that of European Union – Italian
foreign office’s statement on Nagorno-Karabakh

13:17 * 16.08.14

Below is a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy:

On the occasion of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Rome,
July 14, Italy and Azerbaijan agreed to adopt a joint declaration with
the intent to further enhance their bilateral political, economic and
cultural relations and to explore new horizons of cooperation,
including through the involvement of civil society.

Part of this all-round cooperation is also the commitment to seek a
negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict under the
auspices of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (with Italy being
its member and supporting its principles).

In line with its traditional position and in full harmony with that of
the European Union, the Italian side considers it necessary to
reiterate, even in the context of the Joint Declaration, that the
mutual commitment of Rome and Baku should be focused on a peaceful
solution to the conflict, based on the rules and principles of the UN
Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, as well as the ongoing negotiation
process, conducted under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairs, France, Russia and the United States.

In view of the latest developments, Italy is deeply concerned over the
recent incidents in the region and, in close cooperation with the EU
partners, is urging Armenia and Azerbaijan to refrain from using force
and to seize the opportunity for to find a political solution to the
conflict, taking advantage of the meeting between President Aliyev and
President Sargsyan in Sochi, on August 10.

Armenian News – Tert.am

FRENCH COURT ANNULS DECISION FOR ARMENIAN FAMILY’S ARREST

02:13, 14.08.2014

A French administrative court has annulled the decision of the
administrative arrest of the Armenian Babayan family, who was living
illegally in France.

The court, however, denied the family’s request to return to France.

According to L’Alsace daily of France, the court accepted that the head
of the respective department had made a “legal error” by ordering an
administrative arrest without considering the fact that the Armenian
couple has seven-year-old and seven-month-old children.

After more than twenty hours of administrative arrest, the Babayan
family was deported to Armenia.

The attorney for the family welcomed the court’s decision.

“I will ask the administration so that the family can return to
France,” she added.

The Babayan family was arrested on August 5, violently deported from
France on the next day, and their arrest was recorded on video by the
resident of a shelter for asylum seekers. Even though the family’s
lawyer had lodged a complaint, the family was transferred to the
Paris airport to be sent to Armenia.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

$600 MILLION TO BE INVESTED IN CONSTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN TPP

13:09, 14.08.2014

YEREVAN. – Abstracts of the agreement on construction of new thermal
power plant have been approved by the Armenian government during a
session on Thursday.

According to the agreement, $600 million will be allocated for the
construction of a thermal power plant consisting of two units with
General Electric 270 MW gas turbines.

The constructor, Anaklia IEP Holding, expressed readiness to deal
with the export of produced electricity.

“Armenia needs this project. This is a major investment program,
which will expand our ability to export electricity,” Prime Minister
Hovik Abrahamyan said.

Minister of Energy Yervand Zakharyan said the government, for its
part, is ready to give the company tax preferences and guarantees
for the protection of investments.

A few days ago Minister Zakharyan said that Armenia will ask Japan
for a loan of $400- 450 million for the construction of a new power
unit of Yerevan TPP.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

Massacre Des Chretiens, Hier L’empire Ottoman, Aujourd’hui L’Irak
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COMMUNIQUE DU MAFP
MASSACRE DES CHRETIENS, HIER L’EMPIRE OTTOMAN, AUJOURD’HUI L’IRAK

Les images quotidiennes qui nous arrivent d’Irak sont insoutenables.

Des familles entières obligées de quitter leur maison, d’abandonner
derrière elles tous leurs biens pour trouver refuge dans des
églises ou des villages kurdes dans des conditions précaires et
d’insécurité.

Il semblerait malheureusement que l’Histoire se répète,
déportations, spoliations, massacres. Comment ne pas faire le
parallèle entre ces événements et les exactions dont furent
victimes les chrétiens dans l’Empire Ottoman entre 1915 et 1917
? Des Arméniens, des Assyro-Chaldéens, des Grecs pontiques et des
Syriaques furent ainsi chassés de leurs terres et périrent pour
des raisons religieuses.

Aujourd’hui en Irak, d’autres Arméniens, des Assyro-chaldéens,
des Syriaques ainsi que des Yezidis subissent un sort analogue. Dès
le XIXème siècle, ces populations de l’Empire Ottoman hurlaient
leur douleur en réclamant l’aide des Occidentaux prétendument
défenseurs des chrétiens d’Orient. Certes, quelques interventions
ponctuelles eurent lieu mais l’essentiel de l’action des Francais,
des Britanniques et des Américains se bornait a des remontrances
et a des communiqués transmis a la Sublime Porte. Aucune action
coercitive ne fut prise a cette époque-la et nous savons comment
l’Empire Ottoman régla la question des Chrétiens d’Orient. Force est
de constater que bien souvent une action d’envergure ne se justifie
aux yeux des Occidentaux que si leurs ressortissants sont en danger
ou si les enjeux économiques sont vitaux. Il n’est pas rare de voir
que les intérêts financiers prévalent sur les droits de l’Homme.

Nous ne pouvons pas aujourd’hui faire comme si nous ne savions
pas, les média jadis inexistants ou censurés sont aujourd’hui en
alerte et nous informent quasi quotidiennement du déroulement des
événements. Il ne faudrait pas que la phrase de Jaurès prononcée
lors des massacres de 1894-1896 revête une nouvelle actualité

MASSACRE DES CHRETIENS, HIER L’EMPIRE OTTOMAN, AUJOURD’HUI L’IRAK

COMMUNIQUE DU MAFP

Les images quotidiennes qui nous arrivent d’Irak sont insoutenables.

Des familles entières obligees de quitter leur maison, d’abandonner
derrière elles tous leurs biens pour trouver refuge dans des eglises
ou des villages kurdes dans des conditions precaires et d’insecurite.

Il semblerait malheureusement que l’Histoire se repète, deportations,
spoliations, massacres. Comment ne pas faire le parallèle entre
ces evenements et les exactions dont furent victimes les chretiens
dans l’Empire Ottoman entre 1915 et 1917 ? Des Armeniens, des
Assyro-Chaldeens, des Grecs pontiques et des Syriaques furent ainsi
chasses de leurs terres et perirent pour des raisons religieuses.

Aujourd’hui en Irak, d’autres Armeniens, des Assyro-chaldeens, des
Syriaques ainsi que des Yezidis subissent un sort analogue. Dès le
XIXème siècle, ces populations de l’Empire Ottoman hurlaient leur
douleur en reclamant l’aide des Occidentaux pretendument defenseurs des
chretiens d’Orient. Certes, quelques interventions ponctuelles eurent
lieu mais l’essentiel de l’action des Francais, des Britanniques et des
Americains se bornait a des remontrances et a des communiques transmis
a la Sublime Porte. Aucune action coercitive ne fut prise a cette
epoque-la et nous savons comment l’Empire Ottoman regla la question
des Chretiens d’Orient. Force est de constater que bien souvent une
action d’envergure ne se justifie aux yeux des Occidentaux que si
leurs ressortissants sont en danger ou si les enjeux economiques
sont vitaux. Il n’est pas rare de voir que les interets financiers
prevalent sur les droits de l’Homme.

Nous ne pouvons pas aujourd’hui faire comme si nous ne savions pas,
les media jadis inexistants ou censures sont aujourd’hui en alerte et
nous informent quasi quotidiennement du deroulement des evenements. Il
ne faudrait pas que la phrase de Jaurès prononcee lors des massacres
de 1894-1896 revete une nouvelle actualite

LE LAC SEVAN : LA PERLE ARMENIENNE

REVUE DE PRESSE

Par La Voix de la Russie | Le lac Sevan armenien jouit d’une
grande popularite parmi les touristes des pays de la Communaute des
Etats independants. Le lac montagneux pittoresque offre de vastes
possibilites pour se reposer. Il est attrayant tant pour ceux qui
prefèrent les vacances un calme repos en famille que pour les amateurs
de tourisme extreme.

Le lac Sevan est qualifie a juste titre de >. C’est la plus grande source d’eau douce potable en Armenie et
en Transcaucasie. Le lac est compare a la mer parce qu’il occupe un
trentième du territoire de l’Armenie et les tempetes sont non moins
puissantes qu’oceaniques. Le Sevan est le lac le plus alpestre de la
CEI. Il est depuis longtemps un centre d’attraction des touristes du
monde entier. Au micro Andrei Gafourov de Zelenograd :

Le Sevan nous a bouleverses. Je n’ai jamais vu une telle beaute. Le
lac fait plutôt penser a une mer entouree de montagnes. Le ciel est
plus près ici. Assis au bord du lac, on ecoute le bruit des vagues,
on admire cette eau miraculeuse et on a l’impression que les emotions
negatives, la fatigue reculent et l’eau les emporte. En partant j’ai
senti que nous sommes devenus plus purs.

La saison au bord du Sevan n’est pas très prolongee : juillet et août.

En plus de la plage, il y a toutes sortes de manifestations recreatives
: par exemple, un voyage a bord d’un navire du Moyen âge.

Les membres du Club des etudes maritimes > ont reproduit il
y a vingt ans la copie du voilier marchand du Royaume armenien de
Cilicie et construit deux bateaux de neuf mètres destines au Moyen
Age au transport des cargaisons et a la peche. Le capitaine du navire
Cilicie Karen Balayan raconte :

Nous offrons aux touristes la possibilite d’essayer de naviguer,
comme nos ancetres, a bord du voilier et des bateaux traditionnels
sur le Sevan, de les conduire, etc.

Les amateurs de plongeon se rendent au bord du Sevan. Le fond du lac
est moins ravissant que celui de la mer Rouge et des Caraïbes mais
les plongeurs s’y rendent volontiers, poursuit Caren Balayan :

Nos amis : les plongeurs se rendent chez nous parce que la descente
dans le fond du Sevan est une entreprise extreme. Le lac se trouve
a la hauteur de près de 2 mille mètres au-dessus de la mer.

Près de 800 mille touristes visitent tous les ans l’Armenie et presque
chacun se rend au bord du lac alpestre. Ceux qui y ont deja ete sont
sûrs qu’il est impossible de connaître l’Armenie sans avoir visite
le lac Sevan.

Lire la suite :

jeudi 14 août 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com