Author: Babajanian Karo

BAGIS HOPES FOR NEW CHAPTER IN TURKISH-FRENCH TIES

Today’s Zaman

Aug 31 2012
Turkey

Turkish EU Affairs Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Baðýþ has
stated that Turkey hopes that newly elected French President Francois
Hollande, who replaced Nicolas Sarkozy, will be objective and not
use Turkey’s EU accession target for domestic aims, adding that
Turkey expects to open a new chapter in Turkish-French ties in the
Hollande era.

“Turkey hopes and wishes to open a new page in Turkish-French relations
with the election of Hollande. In any case, it is the duty of the
French president and his team to meet our wishes. We cannot force
anyone to adopt a friendly attitude towards us. But any country which
is friendly to Turkey will receive Turkey’s friendship in return,”
said Baðýþ, speaking to Politique Internationale, a French journal.

Turkey had hoped that Hollande’s election might mean that France
would be more open to it joining the EU than under his conservative
predecessor Sarkozy, but has so far received no public support for
its EU bid from Paris.

The election of Hollande as president raised hopes for a new period
in Turkish-French ties, but after the Hollande administration included
a chapter about the 1915 mass killings of ethnic Armenians in Eastern
Anatolia in French secondary school textbooks, Turkish-French relations
were strained again.

“To summarize, the main goal of the new president should be France’s
national interests. Sarkozy’s opposition to Turkey’s full membership
in the EU and his veto of the five chapters, first and foremost,
harmed France’s interests,” said Baðýþ.

Turkish-French ties deteriorated sharply during Sarkozy’s rule, not
only because of the genocide debate but also due to the former French
leader’s outspoken opposition to Turkish membership in the EU. His
election defeat in June thus opened the door for a new era between
France and Turkey, with Ankara praising the new administration’s
willingness to restore ties. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan met
with Hollande on the sidelines of a UN meeting in Brazil, when the
two leaders agreed to turn a “new page” in relations.

Baðýþ added that Turkey expects Hollande to support Turkey not only
because of Turkey’s population of 75 million, but also because of
the French companies operating in Turkey.

“France has been an ally of Turkey for four centuries. However,
it should not be forgotten that 450,000 Turks and people of Turkish
origin live in France. Some of them are French citizens and they vote,”
said Baðýþ, adding that Turkish-French relations must be renewed.

IRANIAN, ARMENIAN FMS DISCUSS BILATERAL TIES IN TEHRAN

Fars News Agency
Aug 31 2012
Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and his
Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian in a meeting on the sidelines
of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran explored avenues
for the further expansion of the bilateral relations.

The two sides also pursued the latest agreements made during the
joint economic commission meeting.

Energy swapping is one of the main areas of cooperation and economic
relations between Iran and Armenia.

Nalbandian is in Tehran to attend the 16th heads-of-state summit of
the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran.

Iran has long taken various diplomatic initiatives to expand its ties
with the neighboring states.

In recent years, Iran and its Northern neighbor Armenia have boosted
cooperation, signed agreements on energy cooperation and agreed to
cooperate in technology and research and to enhance ties in commerce
and economy.

AZERBAIJAN: FREEDOM AND FANFARE FOR KILLER OF ARMENIAN ARMY OFFICER

EurasiaNet.org

Aug 31 2012
NY

Has justice been served when the person who “practically” severs the
head of a sleeping man with an axe can return home to a hero’s welcome?

That’s the question that comes to mind with the return to Azerbaijan
of Lieutenant Ramil Safarov, who was serving a life sentence in
Hungary for the brutal murder of 25-year-old Armenian Lieutenant
Gurgen Margarian at a 2004 NATO training in Budapest.

Extradited from Hungary, Lt. Safarov is not only walking freely,
but also taking bows in front of the cameras.

Upon arrival in Baku, he spoke of his sufferings “in a prison in
a foreign land” and thanked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for
pardoning him.

Armenia may be a bitter enemy and all for Azerbaijan, but the reaction
to this murder, an act worthy of the Hostel horror film series, shows
just how deeply seeded the raging propaganda against Armenia (and,
in turn, Armenia’s angry denunciations of Azerbaijan) has become
in the minds of many. The gruesome crimes committed by Armenians
against Azerbaijanis during the Nagorno-Karabakh war are cited as a
justification of sorts for both Safarov’s acts and his release.

Not all Azerbaijanis agree that Safarov ranks as a national hero,
but that detail, no doubt, will be lost on Yerevan as it debates a
response to Safarov’s release. The topic reportedly was on the agenda
of an August 31 meeting of the National Security Council convened by
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

Meanwhile, as for 35–year-old Safarov, he’s “ready to serve my
country, my people again.”

ARMENIA: TIES WITH HUNGARY SEVERED OVER PRISONER ROW
Liana Aghajanian

Global Voices Online

Aug 31 2012

Following Hungary’s release of an Azerbaijani army officer convicted
of murdering an Armenian soldier, Armenia has severed diplomatic ties
with the Central European country.

Lt. Ramil Safarov, who was serving life in prison, confessed to
killing 26-year-old Lt. Gurgen Margaryan when both were in Hungary
for a 2004 NATO language course.

The Hungarian government released Safarov after being informed by
the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan that his sentence, which was
life in prison, would continue to be enforced.

However, EurasiaNet’s Tamada Tales blog reports that Safarov, who
beheaded Markarian with an axe while he was sleeping, wasn’t exactly
treated like a man who had committed murder:

Extradited from Hungary, Lt. Safarov is not only walking freely,
but also taking bows in front of the cameras.

Upon arrival in Baku, he spoke of his sufferings “in a prison in
a foreign land” and thanked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for
pardoning him.

The release caused fury to erupt in Armenia, where tomatoes were
pelted at the Hungarian Consult as a crowd shouted “Shame, Shame!” in
Armenian:

After a press release was posted to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s
website followed the release, where he warned “we will not tolerate
that and have to decide on our future steps,” Armenia severed ties
with Hungary.

Hungary claimed the Azerbaijani government had lied to them about
ensuring Safarov’s sentence would be upheld:

@ralakbar: #Hungary: “#Azerbaijan lied to us” – BBC Azeri

… (It’s in Azeri thougth) #SouthCaucasus #Azerbaijan #Armenia

@Babken: Really #Hungary? #Azerbaijan lied to you?Pathetic. Is this
what passes as an independent judiciary in an EU member state?

#Safarov #Armenia

The row adds new fuel to the nationalistic fire between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, who are still essentially at war in a “frozen conflict”
over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region, while diminishing hope
that the two countries can ever reach any type of agreement.

The release and subsequent discussion of the murder managed to
conjure up past crimes both countries have committed against each
other and rhetoric on what the future holds for the South Caucasus,
an area ruled more by the past than anything else.

@TurallM: @GoldenTent how come you so sure it was a crime? Yes, if
it was me and a guy would try to abase my flag and abused my nation
I would do same

@arzugeybulla @VusalAlisoy i know we are at war. i know innocent people
die. but we must reconcile. atrocities bring only more atrocities

Though some of the exchanges on Twitter were polarizing, many engaged
in discussion that seemed to unite both sides in agreement:

â~@~O@arzugeybulla @VusalAlisoy unfortunately we have same people
against peace on both sides, and thats why people like me will be
called prostitute & traitor

@Taniel_Shant @arzugeybulla saddened to hear that, stay strong,
hate cannot penetrate truth

@PhilGamaghelyan @arzugeybulla you & a few others today helped everyone
to see the human face of Azerbaijan, which is tarnished by the likes
of @Cerrard113

ARMENIA CUTS DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH HUNGARY OVER RELEASE OF AZERBAIJANI KILLER

Times of India

Aug 31 2012

YEREVAN (ARMENIA): Armenia’s president says his country is cutting
diplomatic ties with Hungary after the release of an Azerbaijani
military officer convicted of hacking to death an Armenian officer.

The Azerbaijani officer, Lt Ramil Safarov, was sent back to his
homeland on Friday and, despite assurances, immediately pardoned and
freed by his country’s president.

Safarov was given a life sentence in 2006 by the Budapest City Court
after he confessed to killing Lt Gurgen Markarian of Armenia while both
were in Hungary for a Nato language course. Azerbaijan and Armenia are
ex-Soviet neighbors who have been locked in a long-standing conflict
over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In response, Armenian President Serge Sarkisian announced that his
country is “halting diplomatic relations and all official ties with
Hungary.”

ARMENIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER POSTPONES HIS VISIT TO HUNGARY INDEFINITELY

Mediamax
Aug 31 2012
Armenia

Yerevan /Mediamax/. The chairman of the Armenian National Assembly,
Hovik Abrahamyan, postponed his official visit to Hungary scheduled
for late September.

The decision was made today taking into account the extradition of
Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan by Hungarian authorities. Ramil Safarov
was sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of Armenian
officer Gurgen Margaryan.

AZERBAIJAN HAS CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MURDER OF ARMENIAN OFFICER, LAWYER THINKS

Mediamax
Aug 31 2012
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Armenia can hold Azerbaijan accountable for the
murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan,
who represents the interests of Gurgen Margaryan’s family in Budapest,
told Mediamax’s correspondent commenting on the reports that the
murderer of the Armenian officer Ramil Safarov was pardoned and
released.

“Armenia can bring a lawsuit against Azerbaijan based on international
conventions. This country has actually claimed responsibility for
the murder of the Armenian officer,” said Nazeli Vardanyan.

“During all these years Azerbaijan has used all the resources for the
extradition of Ramil Safarov. The Armenian Foreign Ministry assured
us that relevant work was underway in order to prevent the extradition
of Ramil Safarov to motherland,’ the lawyer said.

Ramil Safarov, who was serving a life-time imprisonment in Hungary for
the brutal murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, has returned
to Azerbaijan and was pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev.

On February 19, 2004, Ramil Safarov brutally killed 26-year-old
Armenian officer, Lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan, who was on training
at the University of the National Defense of Hungary within NATO’s
“Partnership for Peace” program. At 5:00 early in the morning Ramil
Safarov axed Gurgen Margaryan who was asleep.

DISCUSSIONS ON OPENING IRAQI EMBASSY IN YEREVAN

Aswat al-Iraq (Voices of Iraq)
August 29, 2012 Wednesday

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The foreign ministry’s undersecretary Labeed
Abawi discussed today with the Armenian ambassador to Baghdad Murad
Muradian possibilities of opening an Iraqi embassy in Yerevan and
expected visit of deputy premier Roz Nouri Shawees to Armenia.

Bilateral relations and developing them were discussed during the
meeting, as stated by the foreign ministry.

ARMENIA TO BUILD STRATEGIC NORTH-SOUTH HIGHWAY
by Lilit Gevorgyan

Global Insight
August 28, 2012

Armenia’s Minister of Transport and Communications stated on 27 August
that preliminary work started on construction and renovation of the
North-South highway at the beginning of this year. Construction work
is set to start in the coming weeks which will see around USD2.7
billion invested in the 550-km highway. The Asian Development Bank
(ADB) is to provide part of the necessary funding, according to a
January 2010 agreement on extending a USD500-million loan to the
Armenian government. In April when preliminary work started on the
highway, Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan said the programme was not
an ordinary infrastructure development but: “a project of strategic
importance, that will change lots of things in the country.”

Significance:The new highway is to meet international standards
and will help to improve transport communication between northern
and southern parts of the mountainous country. However, due to its
geographic location the Armenian government hopes that the highway will
also serve as a throughway between Iran and Georgia, the only two out
of Armenia’s four neighbours that have open borders with the country,
unlike Turkey in the west and Azerbaijan in the east, which have sealed
their borders with Armenia for nearly 20 years. The road will also
have some military importance, improving links to the south of the
country where it links with the ethnic Armenian self-declared republic
of Nagorno-Karabakh locked in a decades-long dispute with Azerbaijan.

SERZH SARGSYAN: HUNGARIAN AUTHORITIES HAVE MADE A ROUGH MISTAKE BY ENTERING INTO COLLUSION WITH AZERBAIJAN

arminfo
Friday, August 31, 21:20

The Hungarian authorities should realize that they have made a rough
mistake by entering into collusion with Azerbaijan, and Armenia
will give a relevant response to this incident, Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan said during today’s emergency sitting of the National
Security Council, the presidential press service told ArmInfo.

“You are already aware of what has happened. The basibozuk
(headbreaker), who cruelly killed Gourgen Margaryan, the lieutenant
of the Armenian army, has been extradited by the Hungarian authorities
to Azerbaijan, where President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has granted
him a pardon. We can’t keep silence, we must coordinate our further
actions”, Sargsyan said.

He said that the first thing already done by the Defense Minister of
Armenia is that the vigilance of the Armenian armed forces has been
increased. Second, Serzh Sargsyan gave a special instruction to Gorik
Hakobyan, Head of the Armenian National Security Service.

The President pointed out the inexpediency of further diplomatic
relations with Hungary and instructed the National Assembly to arrange
a special meeting to discuss the incident.

“Moreover, we must send relevant letters to the OSCE Minsk Group co-
chairs and must give instructions to all Armenian embassies. The
Armenian Diaspora must also express its opinion on the matter. This
is not just a murder but an ethnic murder justified by an EU member
state,” Sargsyan said.

Earlier in the day Sargsyan convened a special meeting of the National
Security Council. Invited to the meeting were the ambassadors of
UN member states to Armenia and the heads of the Yerevan offices of
international organizations.

On Aug 31 Azeri mass media reported that Ramil Safarov, an Azeri
officer sentenced by a Hungarian court to life in jail for killing
sleeping Armenian officer Gourgen Margaryan with an axe in Budapest
in 2004, was extradited to Azerbaijan. The same day Azeri President
Ilham Aliyev decreed to pardon the criminal.