Author: Babajanian Karo

POLISH AMBASSADOR GIVES EXCELLENT ASSESSMENT TO ARMENIAN-POLISH TIES

17:38, 10 October, 2013

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 10, ARMENPRESS. The relations between the Republic of
Armenia and Poland are excellent. The Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Ambassador of Poland to the Republic of Armenia Zdzis³aw Raczyñski
stated this at the course of the press conference held on October 10.

Among other things Zdzis³aw Raczyñski assured that Poland will remain
Armenia’s “advocate” in the EU.

Also, the Ambassador stated that he does not agree that Poland appeared
in an awkward situation because of Armenia’s decision to join the
Customs Union. As reports “Armenpress” in addition the Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Poland to the Republic of Armenia
Zdzis³aw Raczyñski noted: “Mutual trust lays in the foundation of the
relations between the countries, just in case of human relations. We
may say that the bilateral relations between Armenia and Poland
are excellent.”

EXPERT. “JOINING THE CUSTOMS UNION WITHOUT COMMON BORDERS IS UNPRECEDENTED AND GIVES US NOTHING” (VIDEO)

October 10 2013

Today, at “RA socio-economic development challenges: Europe or Russia”
seminar, economist Vahagn Ghazaryan presented the major differences
that exist between the Customs Union and the Deep and Comprehensive
Free Trade Agreements. “Aravot” asked Mr. Ghazaryan to present the
difference between these two alternatives for the readers in simple
and accessible language, without complicated terms (although now
it is clear in what direction our country is moving). According to
the expert, there is one major difference between the classical free
trade and classical customs union. “In case of the Customs Union, the
country provides its external economic border under the disposition
of the authorities of the Customs Union, which, in their turn, become
the primary decision-makers. And during the free trade, the country,
in addition to mutual trade, uses its external borders with all third
countries, and executes its economic policies based on its own economic
and other interests.” More specificity, and referring to our case, Deep
and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) and the Customs Union,
Mr. Ghazaryan said, “In case of DCFTA, we already had anticipated
quite serious financial support resources, which was to cover all the
field of our services to ensure the comparability of our economy to
European requirements and standards. In case of the Customs Union,
we do not have it, it is so vague and not clear as to what resources
we are going to conform the procedures our external borders to the CU
requirements.” At the seminar, in his speech, Mr. Ghazaryan noted that
there is no precedent in any of several Customs Unions existing in the
world, and that any member of these unions has a common border with
the Union. In his reply speech, the official of RA Ministry of Economy
Gagik Kocharyan tried to convince that there were serious research
and analysis to find ways to overcome these obstacles, and the issue,
essentially, was resolved. To the question of “Aravot” as to what
extent this explanation was acceptable for him, Mr. Ghazaryan replied,
“The explanations are acceptable under any circumstances, because they
contain something rational by themselves, but… What does Customs
Union mean? It means that your external border is a common border. In
our case, having no common border, you become enclosed, isolated… my
external border becomes a border of the Customs Union… eh!, it was my
border, why did I give it to him…” In addition, joining the Customs
Union without having a common border, this way or another, we are
not deprived from customs procedures, which is the objective of such
unions. “In fact, we do not get rid of the customs procedures, which
are necessary for the Customs Union, so that during transportation
of the product, it does not pass the procedures. The product is
transported from Vanadzor to Yerevan without customs procedures,
but in this case, it will pass these procedures, whether it is at the
border with Georgia, Iran, or by other territory. This means that the
Customs Union does not operate in its classical sense, which more
complicates, makes it almost impossible to get all advantages that
are possible for establishing a Customs Union.” Mr.

Ghazaryan also talked about the possible increase in customs duties,
“Customs duty will definitely rise with the third countries. They will
be zero with the CU countries, but we just have zero, we gain nothing
in this case. With other countries, we have a simplified procedure,
0 and 10. The CU member countries apply quite complicated procedure,
for example, for the import of fresh meat, the CU countries are charged
5 % customs duty, but in Armenia, it is 10%. It seems that it is lower,
but there is a “but” here, this 5 % is only in the case if it makes
not less than 8000 euro per ton of product. That is, eight euro per
kilo 5% would be only if a kilo of the product is 200 euro. But,
we import meat of 4 euro, in this case it is 200 %. In that case,
how advantageous it is to joining the Customs Union, in response to
our question, the expert smiled, “You are asking quite a complicated
question. In the economic field, I do not see any advantages, in the
political field, they maybe are any that I do not know.” And what
about the gas price, we asked, is it also uncertain? Mr. Ghazaryan
replied that the gas prices might fall for the population, but it is
a social issue, and not economic.

Melania BARSEGHYAN

Read more at:

TURKEY REVAMPS ITS IMAGE

EDITORIAL, TURKEY | OCTOBER 10, 2013 12:26 PM

By Edmond Y. Azadian

Serving as a geopolitical bridge of NATO structure between Europe
and the Middle East, Turkey improved its economy and international
image to a point where Ottomanist ambitions were resurrected once
more. The duo of Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu were credited with Turkey’s high-flying position.

As a scholar-diplomat, Foreign Minister Davutoglu had begun to nurture
and nostalgically portray the Ottoman Empire, when subject nations
lived “in harmony” and “brotherly love,” the Armenian Genocide and
the bloodbaths from the Balkans to North Africa not withstanding.

Fueled by the dynamics of a booming economy and the hegemony forged
with Israel in the Middle East, Ankara entertained visions of reshaping
the region in a configuration matching its dreams.

Davutoglu proudly proclaimed Turkey’s new policy of zero problems with
neighbors, which basically meant to force down Ankara’s policies on
its neighbors, under the umbrella of NATO powers.

At this time, Mr. Erdogan’s “mildly” Islamist party, in power for
the last decade, had to put the brakes on its domestic and foreign
policy ambitions because it realized that it was biting more than it
could chew.

Despite the dramatic achievements in its economy, its domestic policies
hit some snags as revealed by the Gezi Park demonstrations.

Erdogan was smart enough to diffuse another potential problem –
the Kurdish issue – which could bring down his rule, if it had
combined with the social unrest sparked by an environmental issue and
conflagrated throughout the country. Generally the Kurds abstained from
any action, waiting for the outcome of the Erdogan administration’s
negotiations with the jailed leader of the Kurdish Workers’ Party
(PKK), Abdullah Ocalan.

Erdogan’s personal ambitions and the ambitions of his country are
under a severe test at this moment; personally he is gearing up for
the upcoming presidential elections, during which he would like to
replace his erstwhile ally, President Abdullah Gul.

He has proclaimed his reform package with the visible intent of
building domestic coalitions for a successful presidential bid.

His “zero problem” foreign policy is in complete tatters, because
Ankara overextended itself to meddle in every neighbor’s internal
problems, which backfired.

On September 30, Erdogan announced his package of reforms, which
were met with general discontent. The package does not go enough to
satisfy Kurdish aspiration. The Kurds began their 30-year struggle for
complete independence, which meant the partition of Turkey. Ocalan
realized that the great powers would not allow the territorial
disintegration of an ally and to have down his rhetoric to settle for
cultural self-determination, which meant in the first place, the use
of the Kurdish language. Erdogan’s package give only lip service to
that demand. It allows for the instruction of the Kurdish language
only in private schools, which very few Kurds can afford. The terror
laws, which cost the lives of 40,000 Kurds, are still in place and
Erdogan’s promise to dismantle them as he plans to draft and adopt
a new constitution. The new constitution will also lower the bar,
allowing Kurdish representatives to be elected to the parliament.

The Kurds are dissatisfied and they have been grumbling about the
withdrawal of armed guerillas from Turkish territory, the only
guarantee to force the government to make concessions.

Turkey boasts a population of 75 million, of which 20 million are
Kurds. Another 20 million are Alevis, whose religious rights have
been completely trampled. Alevi ethnic pride has been mostly awakened
by neighboring Syria, where the Alevi rulers are battling for their
survival. Erdogan’s Sunni-dominated administration has ignored Alevi
aspirations, planting a time bomb under his reform package. While
the Syriac Church has been promised the return of some shrines, the
Heybeli Island Greek seminary remains closed and it is contingent
upon some reciprocity with Greece. Turkey insists on opening two
mosques in Athens to consider the opening of the seminary.

The Ecumenical patriarch of the Greek Orthodox church is the spiritual
head of 300 million adherents, yet Turkey refuses to recognize his
title. If the seminary remains shut, no young seminarians will be
educated to replace aging priests or the patriarch himself.

The same applies to the Armenian seminary as the Turks have set
up a trap; no foreign-born clergy can be elected Greek or Armenian
patriarch. And if their respective seminaries are closed, they are
doomed to extinction.

Turkey’s foreign policy is under intense scrutiny as most of its
promises and premises have failed; Turkey was in hegemonic alliance
with Israel which afforded Ankara Western powers’ full support. In
an effort to win over the Arab and Muslim sympathies, Ankara went too
far with the Mavi Marmara incident which still keeps the Israel-Turkey
axis under tension.

Erdogan’s gamble in Egypt backfired as he supported the Islamist
Brotherhood in its overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi, while Saudi
Arabia and the Gulf emirates supported the military government,
politically and through generous economic aid. Underneath that
reaction, there was a rebuke by Arab countries towards Erdogan’s
pretentions to lead the Sunni world.

Of course, there us no lack of solving the Cyprus crisis, where Turkish
occupation forces are well entrenched and a demographic engineering
is in progress with Anatolian peasants settling on the islands.

Turkey’ involvement in the Syrian War resulted in a flood of refugees
into it territory and the rise of Kurdish autonomy movement in Turkey
with the potential threat of a domino effect.

Erdogan’s administration has realized that alliance with Israel
not only assures Western powers’ support, but also huge potential of
natural gas reserves that Israel has discovered under its Mediterranean
shores. Turkey is dependent on Azeri, Russian and Iranian energy (the
latter under sanctions) and before Israel strikes a deal with Turkey’s
arch-enemy, Cyprus, it has to restore relations with the Jewish state
to get a piece of the pie and deny Cyprus a boost to its economy.

Ankara has also extended all the way to Beijing negotiations over
air defense systems to the chagrin of NATO. Two years ago Erdogan
had accused the Chinese government of Genocide in relation to an
incident with the Uyghur minority. Now it is extending its hand for
a military deal.

The ill-fated protocols with Armenia remain frozen and there is no
hope of reviving them, although a former Turkish ambassador to the US
has commented that Ankara needs to restore its relations with Armenia
to enhance its international image.

Thus far, Erdogan’s magic has worked domestically and internationally.

He has to prove his political mettle in the present challenges.

– See more at:

TURKEY LOOKING FOR ‘CREATIVE IDEAS’ TO DEVELOP TIES WITH ARMENIA: FM DAVUTOGLU BERN – ANADOLU AGENCY

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Oct 10 2013

Turkey is looking for “creative ideas” to develop relations with
Armenia, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said today, adding that
Ankara was giving a lot of importance to the normalization of ties.

Coincidentally speaking in Switzerland where both countries signed
a landmark protocol four years ago to the day, Davutoglu said Turkey
would increase efforts on the issue in the coming months.

“We made serious efforts to put the protocol into effect four
years ago. However, it was not possible to implement it because of
the decision of the Armenian Constitutional Court,” Davutoglu said
during a joint press conference in Bern with his Swiss counterpart,
Didier Burkhalter.

He was referring to the Armenian top court’s decision to mandate that
the protocol agreement not contradict Yerevan’s efforts to have the
mass killings of Ottoman Armenians in 1915 recognized as genocide.

“Now we are looking to develop it and advance with creative ideas and
new ways of thinking. We will increase our works in the coming period.

When relations between Turkey and Armenia are normalized, most of
the issues between Azerbaijan and Armenia will also be within the
framework of a solution,” Davutoglu said.

The 2009 protocol aimed to boost ties between Ankara and Yerevan
with a series of measures, including the opening of the countries’
border, a move that Azerbaijan has repeatedly said must not happen
until there is an agreement on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

October/10/2013

ARMENIA HAS BEEN AND REMAINS AN IMPORTANT PARTNER FOR EU, POLAND’S AMBASSADOR ZDZISLAW RACZYNSKI SAID, REPORTS NEWS.AM.

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Oct 10 2013

10 October 2013 – 6:37pm
The diplomat noted that initialing of the Association Agreement at
this stage is impossible given the decision to join Customs Union.

Therefore, the sides should seek other platforms for cooperation.

Ambassador RaczyÅ~Dski believes the decision on Customs Union has
been economically calculated beforehand.

“I do not know what benefits Armenia will get from joining Customs
Union, but I believe tat the decision was balanced and calculated,”
he emphasized.

According to assessment of Polish experts, the Association Agreement
would have brought Armenia annual income of â~B¬150 million, he said.

Ambassador said it is better not to jump to a conclusion and wait
until Armenia joins the Customs Union. According to him, last year
GDP growth was 7%. If the next year’s growth reaches 9.5%, this would
mean that joining Customs Union is profitable.

ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN CALLS FOR ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN HAYASTAN ALL-ARMENIAN FUND’S TELETHON

October 10, 2013 | 17:43

YEREVAN. – ARF Dashnaktsutyun bureau urged Armenians to actively
participate in Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s upcoming Telethon.

The Telethon will be held on November 28 and will be dedicated
to raising financial support for the construction of the
Vardenis-Martakert Highway.

“This is another occasion for the Armenians to show their joint
efforts in implementing national goals,” says the statement issued
by the party.

The Vardenis-Martakert Highway will be of key economic and humanitarian
importance, says the statement issued by the Fund. By functioning
as a direct road link, the highway will become a second lifeline
between northern Armenia and northern Artsakh, significantly
cutting down travel times, boosting the economies of scores of
Artsakh communities along its path, stimulating inter-community
ties, and vastly improving geographic access for implementing local
development initiatives. Currently the only land-travel link between
Artsakh and Armenia is the Berdzor community, through which passes
the Goris-Stepanakert Highway.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

KARABAKH DEFENSE MINISTRY DENIES NEWS ON INJURING AZERI CONSCRIPT

16:31, 10 October, 2013

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 10, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic denies news circulating in the Azerbaijani
mass media stating that a soldier of the Azerbaijani Army was injured
on the line of contact of the Armed Forces of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic and Azerbaijani armed forces.

Previously the Deputy Head of the Press Service of the Ministry of
Defense of Azerbaijan Teimur Abdullayev has confirmed this news.

The Secretary of the Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic Senor Hasratyan announced that the news
is not accurate and we face with disinformation. Among other things
the Secretary of the Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic Senor Hasratyan emphasized:

“The Armed Forces of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic remain loyal to
the ceasefire regime.”

The Azerbaijani side is used to introduce the victims of harassment
among servicemen in its own Army as a result of “violation” of the
ceasefire regime by the Armenian side.

BAKU CONFESSED THE NUMBER OF REFUGEES WAS FIVE TIMES EXAGGERATED

15:35 10/10/2013 ” ANALYSIS

By Armen Minasyan

Discussing the presidential elections held in Azerbaijan on October
9 from the standpoint of their legality, as well as legitimacy, is
at least naïve. To understand this, one only has to follow online the
voting process in separate precincts at the Central Electoral Committee
of the country. Thus, the video footage aired online made it visible
that in certain precincts only eight people voted within three hours
(12:00-15:00), while the indicators at the precinct, according to
the same online statistics, were increasing with an incredible speed.

We have already reported how the Azerbaijanis ensured voter
participation with the help of Microsoft Excel software: for instance,
in all the precincts of No 1 polling station in Nakhichevan the voter
participation by 10.00am was 23%, by 12.00am – 37%, by 15:00pm – 57%,
by 17:00pm – 72% and by 19:00pm – 83%. In other polling stations
the numbers are slightly different, but the logic is the same. The
differences in numbers between certain polling stations were so
minuscule and the distribution was so perfect that those who love the
“last digit test” could be amazed by the scene. Thus, I suggest instead
of discussing the legality of the elections or the technologies applied
(as no technology has apparently been used except for the computer
and bludgeons) to observe a number of interesting facts.

In order to point out a number of amazing cases we suggest paying
attention to the election results in Nakhichevan. For each precinct
these are published on the Azerbaijani CEC website. It turns out that
out of seven polling stations in Nakhichevan in all the 316 precincts
the average participation index was 82.26%. At the same time in three
precincts (7/50, 7/51, 7/52) 100% participation was registered. In
other 286 precincts (which is 90% of all the precincts) more than 80%
voter participation was registered.

As for the distribution of votes, in Nakhichevan all the seven
precincts taken together registered 90.29% of the total votes in favor
of Ilham Aliyev. In four precincts (7/49, 7/50, 7/51, 7/52) Aliyev
junior received 100% of the votes. Here is another remarkable fact –
in 238 precincts (which is 75% of all the precincts) the votes Aliyev
received range from 90% to 91% – in this case the computer apparently
helped as well. In the whole Nakhichevan it was only in one of the
precinct (4/11) where Ilham Aliyev received less than 80% of the votes.

The number of people with suffrage in Azerbaijan is a separate topic
of discussion. As it is known, Azerbaijan has announced that as of
13 July 2013 the number of residents in Azerbaijan was 9 590 159.

According to the official statistics, 2 170 672 (22.6%) out of this
are less than 14 years old, 1 754 919 (18.3%) are from 15 to 24 years
old, 4 302 568 (44.9%) are from 25 to 54 years old and 601 167 (6.3%)
are over 65.

According to the official data only the number of those over 25 in
the country is 5 664 568. Compared to this, the number of people from
18 to 24 years old, according to official statistics, will be about
1.2 million. This means that the number of people who have suffrage
and who reside in Azerbaijan is officially 6.9 million, while in
the voting lists 5.1 million people were registered. This means that
either 1.8 million people are missing from the voting lists or the
number of the population in that country is extremely exaggerated
(the latter is more likely).

Some additional precincts were also established for the people who
had left Arstakh. It is hard to say what is actually happening in
those polling stations. Suffice it to observe that the results from
some twenty precincts from Lachin polling station are up to now not
published in the CECwebsite. It must be noted that in these precincts
more than 95% participation was registered. In all the other cases,
according to the official information, in the polling stations from
120 to 125, 74.04% participation was registered, while the number of
votes Aliyev received amount to 85.67% of all the votes.

Yet the most crucial in this whole story are the voter lists.

Obviously, these precincts are established in order to register and
keep mobilized those people who have left Nagorno Karabakh Republic as
a result of the conflict, and also to use them or their descendants
against Artsakh in the future. To put it another way, we must be
certain that in this particular statistics neither Ilham nor his
propagandists would “concede”, not to say they actually exaggerate
it far beyond realities on the ground. And what do we have at the end
of the day? In all the above mentioned precincts, taken together (i.e.

all electoral precincts projected in the territory of present-day
Nagorno Karabakh Republic), according to official voter lists, there
are 233 062 people all in all. As we stand in the year of 2013,
those born in or before 1994 (the year when the ceasefire agreement
was signed among Azerbaijan, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, and no
refugee could appear afterwards) have now long passed their 18th
anniversaries and successfully received suffrage. This brings us to a
final argument, that the number of all the people who have ever lived
in the present-day Nagorno Karabakh Republic, is exactly 233 062,
all of whom now appear in the voter lists. Obviously, this number has
a tendency of decline due to natural reasons, and it remains to rest
astonished, why in Baku the official propaganda still speaks of the
“one million refugees” while according to their own official data
the numbers are at least five times less.

ARA ABRAHAMYAN: THERE ARE MANY NUANCES IN HRACHYA HARUTYUNYAN’S CASE WHICH HAMPER INVESTIGATION

by Nana Martirosyan

ARMINFO
Thursday, October 10, 13:51

There are many nuances in Hrachya Harutyunyan’s (KAMAZ driver which
dashed against a minibus not far from Moscow, as a result, 18 people
died) case which hamper investigation, President of the Union of
Russian Armenians, Ara Abrahamyan, said at today’s press-conference
in Yerevan.

UN TO ALLOCATE 16 KG FOOD BASKET TO SYRIAN ARMENIANS

11:15, 10 October, 2013

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 10, ARMENPRESS: The United Nations Organization will
implement a new program of assistance to the Syrian Armenians. The
Deputy Director of the Center for Coordination of Syrian Armenians
Issues Aleksan Karadanayan told Armenpress that the UN monthly program
will launch soon and in its framework each Syrian Armenian living in
our country will be provided with 16 kilogram food basket. “The food
basket will include vegetable oil, rice, pasta, etc”, – stated the
Deputy Director of the Center.

The Syrian Armenians, who have moved to Armenia due to the political
crisis in Syria, do not get money assistance from the UN, as they
are not registered as refugees. The UN allocates monthly $30 to the
Syrians, who moved to Lebanon. The Syrian Armenians, who have come
to our country, were provided with passports and became the citizens
of the Republic of Armenia. The Deputy Director of the Center for
Coordination of Syrian Armenians Issues Aleksan Karadanayan noted that
a part of the Syrian Armenians have here their own apartments. They,
who are financially backed up, rent apartments and the needy Syrian
Armenians are provided with residential areas in the Yerevan suburbs
by the state.

Currently about 10,000 Syrian Armenians live in Armenia, who are
permanently supported by the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic
of Armenia in apartment and job issues. About 1000 Syrian Armenians
applied to the Ministry and were provided with jobs.