Author: Babajanian Karo

ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS AZERBAIJAN AMID SPECULATION OF AIRFIELD ACCESS DEAL
Lilit Gevorgyan

Global Insight
April 26, 2012

Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liebermann during his visit to
Azerbaijan this week dismissed media suggestions about his government
gaining access to an airfield in Azerbaijan that reportedly could be
used for a possible Israeli attack on Iran. Following his talks with
the longstanding Azeri president Ilham Aliyev, Liebermann said that
there was no connection between these suggestions and reality. Earlier
in April,Foreign Policymagazine quoted an unnamed US official saying
that, “The Israelis have bought an airfield, and the airfield is
called Azerbaijan.”

Liebermann did, however, hail relations with Azerbaijan, saying that
they could not have been better: “they are trusting and productive”.

He also held talks with his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov,
discussing the prospects of co-operation in international organisation
in the light of Azerbaijan’s two-year temporary membership to the
UN Security Council. The two chief diplomats also talked about
Iran although no details were publicised by either side following
the meeting. Azerbaijan and Israel have maintained very close ties
since the South Caucasian mainly Shi’a Muslim former Soviet republic
declared its independence in 1991. These ties have continued despite
the crisis in Tel Aviv’s ties with Turkey, Azerbaijan’s ethnic kin.

The commercial relations are hinged on energy supply from Baku as
Israel receives one-third of its oil from Azerbaijan. The overall
trade turnover is around USD4 billion annually. A large part of this
co-operation is in the defence sector as Israel–despite initial
silence–admitted the conclusion of a USD1.6-billion arms supply deal
(seeAzerbaijan – Israel: 27 February 2012:). The defence co-operation
also involves setting up a joint production of unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs) in Azerbaijan. Iran has been very concerned over the
very close relations between the two countries, especially after the
arms supply deal was revealed which will include delivery of aerial
defence systems to Azerbaijan. Azeri Defence Minister Colonel-General
Safar Abiyev paid a visit to Iran on 12 March to assure that the new
weapons will not be used against Iran but rather against the Armenian
populated self-declared independent Nagorno-Karabakh entity, to bring
it back under Baku’s control.

Significance:Azerbaijan has five operational air bases for possible
combat or search and rescue use by for the Israeli Air Force (IAF).

According to IHS data these are at Baku/Kala, Ganja, Kyurdamir,
Nasosnaya, and Sangchal while the sixth one at Dollyar is not currently
operational. Baku and Tel Aviv have been keen to emphasise lack of any
agreement to allow the use of Azerbaijani territory as a launch-pad
for potential attacks by Israel on Iran. However, the controversy is
likely to linger, not least because of Israel’s particularly close
ties with Azerbaijan out of all three South Caucasian states as well
as repeated spat between Iran and Azerbaijan over the latter’s claims
of Iranian religious fundamentalist group members’ foiled attempts
to attack Israeli and US diplomatic targets in Baku.

THOUSANDS OF ARMENIANS MARK GENOCIDE IN BEIRUT

Agence France Presse
April 24, 2012 Tuesday 2:47 PM GMT

Thousands of Armenians demonstrated in a suburb of the Lebanese capital
Beirut on Tuesday to commemorate the 97th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide by Ottoman Turks during World War I.

Speaking at a commemoration ceremony at the main Armenian church in
the suburb of Antelias, Patriarch Aram I denounced Turkey’s efforts
to expand its influence in the Middle East.

He stated that while Turkey touts itself as a vanguard of democracy
and human rights, it has yet to recognize the systematic killing and
deportation of its Armenian population.

“Can a nation that fills its prisons with human rights advocates and
journalists lecture others on the imperative to champion democratic
principles and human rights?” he asked.

“We hold the present Republic of Turkey, in its capacity as the
legitimate successor of the Ottoman Empire, accountable for its crimes
against our people,” the patriarch said.

After the service, around 7,000 to 10,000 Armenians marched to the
Turkish embassy in the Rabieh suburb northeast of Beirut, carrying
banners in Arabic, Armenian and English demanding Ankara’s official
recognition of the Armenian genocide.

In front of the embassy, Armenian MPs gave speeches and the crowd sang
the Armenian and Lebanese national anthems, with all three Armenian
political parties participating.

Several Turkish flags were torn up and set ablaze and some
demonstrators threw water, eggs, sticks and firecrackers onto the
embassy premises.

Party leaders and fellow demonstrators prevented a confrontation with
the Lebanese security forces when some attempted to break through
the barbed-wire barrier.

Armenians mark the anniversary every year on April 24, which is
accepted as the date in 1915 when the Ottoman campaign began.

The Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed during World
War I as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, a claim supported by
several other countries.

Turkey strongly rejects the genocide label, asserting that 300,000
to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in the civil
strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided
with invading Russian troops.

Lebanon is home to 140,000 Armenians, the largest such community in
the Arab world, the majority of whom are descendants of those who
survived the mass killings.

AZERBAIJAN CHANGES ITS CEASEFIRE VIOLATION TACTICS – MILITARY EXPERT

tert.am
26.04.12

Military expert Davit Jamalyan said the recent violations of ceasefire
regime by Azerbaijani side show the change of tactics targeting
common citizens.

‘Azerbaijan has changed its tactics directing its aggression against
civil society. It gives us a room for thought,’ Jamalyan said at a
news conference Thursday.

He stressed that yesterday’s shooting in Dovegh village of Tavush
province targeted the kinder-garten. It is an aggression and not a
caprice of a soldier standing in army base.

‘The Azerbaijani army opened a targeted fire on the peaceful settlement
and on a kinder-garten specifically,’ he said, stressing, ‘To say
that it is a caprice of a person standing in army base is wrong,
we are dealing with the manifestation of targeted aggression.’

The fire opened by Azerbaijan early on Thursday on Armenia’s ambulance
car is the consequence of the same aggressive policy. Two people were
wounded as a result.

In Jamalyan’s opinion it is remarkable that these incidents are taking
place after marking the 97th anniversary of Armenian Genocide which
implies additional cynicism to the incidents.

In his words, the Turkish people are aware of the genocide, if not
in details but they have heard about it. ‘It proves that the Turkish
people do not regret. An Azerbaijani Turk and a Turkey’s Turk do not
differ much,’ Jamalyan said.

IN CASE ARF-D WINS, IT WILL MEAN THE KIND OF ARMENIANS HAS WON, WHO NEVER BOW THEIR HEADS

14:30 . 26/04

“The most important substantiation for choosing ARF-D is that ARF-D
is a team, is not a force gathered around one individual and is not
dependent on posts,” this is the opinion of one of Artashat residents.

During yesterday’s meeting with ARF-D representatives the party
members proposed when entering the voting booth to think for a while
over yesterday’s and today’s conduct of the forces who have entered in
the political fight. Contrary to the republic’s president’s calls for
tolerance, for free and fair elections, the reality is different. The
responsible person for ARF-D campaign Aghvan Vardanyan voiced a
rhetorical question: “Is there any one, who doesn’t know what is
going on? I am declaring for those who pretend they don’t understand:
everywhere 10 000 AMD election bribe is promised and distributed. The
governors, village heads, law enforcers call people, frighten them,
make them work for the authority. By saying authority I mean the
present coalition. They are making lists, collecting copies of
passports, they are threatening they will dismiss people and their
relatives from job, they will sentence them. They are calling those
who don’t obey to the tax administration and to police stations,
they are making discounts of taxes and property levy”.

The country must not be shaken. It is an all-national election, where
it will be decided which forces will govern in the coming five years
and in what direction Armenia will move. According to MP Artsvik
Minasyan, ARF-D definitely knows the way and has entered into the
fight with a programme standing no competition.

“As a socialist and revolutionary force, we will ensure a revolution
with ARF-D’s election programme of radical and system changes. Let’s
say “yes” to ARF-D in order to return our dignity. We say in case
ARF-D wins, it will mean the kind of Armenians has won who never bow
their heads and who are ready to build a free, independent and united
Armenia,” Artsvik Minasyan said.

ARF-D candidate Manvel Hayrapetyan has been nominated at polling
station N 17. The ARF-D politicians urged to chose the forth point
in the ballot on May 6 and to cast a vote for Manvel Hayrapetyan who
has earned with decent work the right to raise the issues concerning
the residents of Artashat at the parliament.

In case the course chosen by ARF -D is realized, a revolution will
take place in the country. Each family will feel a quality change.

This was the address of ARF-D Supreme Body representative Armen
Rustamyan. The politician considers the call of today’s authorities
for trust to be illogical.

“They have done everything to kill that trust,” Armen Rustamyan said,
and today they are trying to restore it by means of elections bribes.

CANADIAN SENATOR: ARMENIANS FIGHT FOR GENOCIDE RECOGNITION FOR HUMANITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 26, 2012 – 18:14 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Canadian Senator Maria Chaput addressed the Senate
with a speech on Armenian Genocide on April 24.

“I am joining with the thousands of our Armenian-Canadian citizens
who have gathered on Parliament Hill and across the country to honor
the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

On this day, 97 years ago, the Turkish Ottoman government proceeded
with the mass arrest of the Armenian intellectuals on its soil. The
arrest, deportation and execution of these hundreds of intellectuals
was only the beginning of the atrocities that followed. Left without
its elite, the Armenian population was brutally decimated in the
months and years that followed. More than 1.5 million men, women and
children fell victim to an ethnic cleansing campaign that was planned
and orchestrated by the central government.

Some 97 years later, the Turkish government continues to deny this
crime that was committed by its Ottoman predecessor despite the
academic consensus on the genocidal nature of these acts and the fact
that a number of countries, including Canada, recognize this genocide.

Ninety-seven years later, the Armenian people continue to fight on
two fronts: they are fighting for their rebirth and for the full
recognition of this crime. They are fighting for recognition of
this crime to honor the memory of their ancestors and for justice
and human rights, to raise awareness and to prevent such tragedies,
to encourage mutual acceptance among all peoples, for the Jews of
Europe and the Ukrainians, for Cambodia, for Rwanda, for Yugoslavia
and Sudan, for all of humanity.

A famous member of the Armenian diaspora, the great singer Charles
Aznavour, wrote these lyrics about his people: They fell . . . never
knowing the cause. The women fell as well, and the babies they tendered
. . . they fell believing their children could grow . . .

they fell like flies . . . all in vain, for just one helping hand . .

.

Honourable senators, we will never be able to explain why they fell.

Nevertheless, 97 years later, Armenians are standing up for their
cause and for all of humankind. I hold out my hand to them and stand
in their honor,” Senator Chaput said.

THEY STEAL FROM ARMENIA’S STATE BUDGET – FIRST PRESIDENT

NEWS.AM
April 26, 2012 | 16:44

If you vote for the ruling coalition’s senior partner, the Republican
Party of Armenia, it will become worse. This was stated Thursday
by the opposition bloc Armenian National Congress (ANC) leader and
Armenia’s First President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, during his meeting in
Yeghegnadzor city, and within the framework of campaigning for the
upcoming parliamentary elections.

“Our [state] budget is [US$] 2.5 billion, and [$]5 billion is stolen
from you every year. If they had not stolen, the budget would have
been $7 billion,” the First President said.

He noted that there is no difference between the regimes of incumbent
President Serzh Sargsyan and former President Robert Kocharyan,
and added the current authorities should not be accepted as true.

“If they are stealing [$]5 billion up to now, they will steal more
from now on,” Levon Ter-Petrosyan said.

He added that around one million people had left Armenia during the
current authorities’ tenure in the past 14 years, and asked the people
to vote solely for the ANC.

SOCIOLOGIST: NO PARTY WILL GET MAJORITY OF PARLIAMENTARY SEATS

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 26, 2012 – 15:32 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – No party will gain 66 proportional seats in the
National Assembly and form a majority, Aharon Adibekyan said.

At an April 26 press conference, the sociologist briefed the
journalists on the 3-stage survey the Sociometer sociological center
is currently conducting.

According to him, they are holding public opinion polls in 8
constituencies; the survey includes initial, interim and final studies
aiming to identify the candidates’ rating in the given constituency,
the age group of their voters, etc.

In this election campaign the parties set their hopes on candidates
running by majority system, while the candidates rely on their parties’
profile, Adibekyan said.

The sociologist believes the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA) tops the race with its proportional list; Prosperous Armenia
comes second followed by ARF Dashnakstutyun, Orinats Yerkir and the
opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC).

However, Adibekyan said, Prosperous Armenia will get few seats
by majority vote since “it did not nominate candidates in many
constituencies, while those proposed are not prominent figures”.

The sociologist forecasts 75% of votes to be distributed between RPA
and Prosperous Armenia in the proportional vote, with respective 40
and 35 per cent ratio.

As to ANC, Adibekyan believes it will gain only 8-9% instead of
estimated 23-24% of votes, because one cannot come to power in Armenia
on a wave of protest which namely unites ANC supporters.

ARMENIA’S ECONOMY MINISTRY AND SITRONICS ARMENIA AGREE TO ESTABLISH FREE ECONOMIC AREA

NEWS.AM
April 26, 2012 | 15:01

YEREVAN. – In six months the first free economic area in Armenia will
be launched.

Armenian Minister of Economy Tigran Davtyan and Armenian-Russian
joint company Sitronics Armenia head Armen Khachatryan signed on
Thursday a document to set up a free economic area in the territory
of the RAO Mars JSC and the Yerevan Scientific Research Institute of
Mathematical Machines (YerSRIMM).

According to the Minister, the formation of the free economic zone
has been completed and currently the process is on. Sitronics Armenia
is obliged to secure all the necessary technical, organizational and
infrastructure projects. The Minister is ready to accept applications
from the investors, Davtyan added.

Head of the Sitronics Armenia stated that the official website will
post information about the zone during a week.

In response to the question by the Armenian News-NEWS.am reporter the
YerSRIMM head Arsen Torosyan said that the territory of the university
is already provided with a high speed and cheap Internet.

HAS FM BID FAREWELL TO HIS OFFICE?
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 16:09:18 – 26/04/2012

Azerbaijan has decided to try the sturdiness of the Armenian forces.

The nursery school in Doveg village, Tavush region, was under firing
for 2 full hours, while on April 24 the Azerbaijanis fired at the
sanitation car in Karabakh injuring two.

These outrageous facts were not discussed publicly. Moreover, they did
not result in diplomatic acts. In fact, the Armenian diplomacy does
not consider the firing at the nursery school and the sanitation car a
sufficient reason to express dissatisfaction at an international level.

The foreign ministry did not issue a note of protest to the mediators
who are to some extent responsible for maintaining the ceasefire. The
OSCE Minsk Group has to take measures to force Azerbaijan to observe
the commitments. And if Baku reneges on its commitments, it must
account.

In fact, by silencing these outrageous facts the Armenian diplomacy
admits its impotence, while the OSCE undersigns its lack of mechanisms
to make its members observe their commitments.

The impression is that Edward Nalbandyan has already bid farewell
to his office and continues to go to work for the sake of formality,
thinking about who will take his place after the elections. Otherwise
he would not have missed the chance to criticize Azerbaijan, especially
on the eve of staging Eurovision in Baku.

The Armenian young people who proudly went home after they had
prevented the show of a couple of miserable Azerbaijani films does
not even care for demanding that the foreign ministry and the Armenian
state take measures to protect their children.

This case is a test for Armenia and no reaction will inspire Azerbaijan
to take more decisive steps.

YEREVAN IS DEAR TO US – SAINT PETERSBURG VICE-GOVERNOR

news.am
April 26, 2012 | 14:55

YEREVAN. – Within the framework of Saint Petersburg (Russia) Days
in Armenia’s capital Yerevan, Mayor Taron Margaryan met with Saint
Petersburg Vice-Governor, Olga Kazanskaya, and the official delegation
led by her.

The Mayor noted that the holding of Saint Petersburg Days in Yerevan
yet again proves the high level of relations between the two cities.

Also, Margaryan highly appreciated the Saint Petersburg Government’s
efforts toward improving bilateral ties.

“Today, our relations are developing along the lines of the 2011-2014
Cooperation Program, and I am confident we will achieve the results
we have outlined,” Taron Margaryan stressed.

In her turn, Olga Kazanskaya noted that Saint Petersburg considers
Yerevan to be a stable and a trustworthy partner, and that the
Russian side underscores the need to expand collaboration with
Armenia’s capital.

“Yerevan is dear to us not solely as a friend, but also as a
partner city, and we highly appreciate the climate of constructive
partnership,” Saint Petersburg Vice-Governor stated.

Considering the two cities’ rich historical and cultural heritage,
the parties agreed to further deepen experience exchange in this
direction, and to stimulate tourism development.

The guests from Russia informed that Taron Margaryan, and a Yerevan
delegation led by him, will soon be invited to Saint Petersburg.