Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIA NEVER TO RECOGNIZE ATTEMPTS TO DIVIDE CYPRUS

news.am
April 03, 2012 | 20:48

YEREVAN. – Armenia will never recognize attempts to divide Cyprus,
Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian said on Tuesday during the joint
press conference with his Cypriot counterpart Erato Kozaku-Markulis
in Yerevan.

“It is necessary to find a fair, legal solution of the issue. We
support Cyprus in this context,” Nalbandian said.

As for the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, the Armenian FM stressed
the role of the mediators directed to the settlement of the conflict.

In her turn, Kozaku-Markulis said that over 45,000 servicemen are
placed in the northern occupied part of the island, making the 37%
of the territory. While over 200,000 Cypriot-Greeks were deported
from the territory and they have no possibility to return back and
take back their property.

U.S. REPORT SHIFTS ISRAEL-IRAN BATTLE LINES

Published: April 3, 2012 at 12:30 PM

Reports that Israel has access to airbases in Azerbaijan could point
to a strategic shift in the battle lines between the Jewish state
and Iran.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 3 (UPI) — Reports that Israel has access
to airbases in Azerbaijan, Iran’s uneasy northern neighbor, could
point to a strategic shift in the battle lines between the Jewish
state and the Islamic Republic — and could affect the smoldering
U.S.-Iranian standoff.

Having the use of air bases right on Iran’s doorstep would completely
change the military situation for Israel by eliminating one of its
major headaches: the distance its strike jets would have to fly to
reach their targets in Iran and return to their bases.

The round trip total in excess of 2,200 miles and would necessitate
one — possibly two — in-flight refueling, during which the strike
aircraft as well as their aerial tankers would be highly vulnerable.

Israel only has a handful of aerial tankers, limiting the size of
the strike force.

Having bases in Azerbaijan, a Soviet republic until 1991, would mean
the attacking F-16I and F-15I jets could reach their targets without
in-flight refueling because, if the reports attributed to U.S.

officials are correct, the planes could land in Azerbaijan to fill
their fuel tanks and head home.

The Azeri government in Baku has denied it has made any deal with
Israel and Israel has refused to validate the reports.

But in recent years, Muslim, pro-Western Azerbaijan has established
strong military and intelligence links with Israel while Baku’s
relations with Iran have steadily deteriorated.

The U.S. magazine Foreign Report, in its March 28 edition, quoted
four senior U.S. diplomats and military intelligence officers as
saying Israel has been granted access to airbases in Azerbaijan.

However, they said they didn’t know whether that meant Israeli combat
aircraft could use them in any assault on Iran, either before or
after attacking targets there.

But even if it’s only to allow Israeli jets to land there after a
strike, or to base Israeli search-and-rescue units there to pick up
downed pilots, these officials said Israeli access to Azeri bases
immensely complicates U.S. efforts to persuade the Israelis not to
mount an offensive operation Washington fears will trigger a regional
war that would drag in a reluctant America.

Now the whole issue gets rather murky.

There are growing suspicions that the report, true or otherwise, was
deliberately leaked by the administration of U.S. President Barack
Obama as a signal to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the
leading proponent of attacking Iran, to back off unilateral Israeli
action the U.S. administration believes will ultimately cost America
dearly.

“Clearly this is an administration-orchestrated leak,” said Republican
hard-liner John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

“It’s just unprecedented to reveal this kind of information about
one of your allies.”

What is clear is that Israel and Azerbaijan are drawing increasingly
closer for their mutual advantage and defense.

But Israel’s prime concern is definitely Iran.

Azeri security authorities, in conjunction with the Mossad, Israel’s
foreign intelligence service, have thwarted several plots to attack
Israeli targets in Baku, including a school and the embassy.

These operations were blamed on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’
elite al-Quds Force and Hezbollah of Lebanon, Tehran’s main proxy in
the Middle East and widely perceived as being run by the Guards Corps.

The Mossad maintains a sizeable presence in Azerbaijan and reportedly
runs clandestine operations inside Iran from there.

Then in January, Israel Aerospace Industries announced it had secured
a $1.6 billion contract with a state that wasn’t identified, apparently
for censorship reasons. This turned out to be Azerbaijan and now a key
source of oil from the Caspian Basin for the West. The deal involves
the sale of surveillance drones and other security equipment.

Brenda Shaffer, Israeli’s foremost export on Azerbaijan, suggests
the IAI deal is primarily intended to boost Azerbaijan’s military
capabilities against its longtime rival, Armenia. The largely Christian
state occupies the Nagorno-Karabakh region, 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s
territory.

Israel has been supplying Azeri forces with unmanned aerial vehicles
since 2008. But the contract unveiled in January is far larger than
anything Baku has awarded an Israeli company before.

“To accompany the materiel that IAI is delivering to Azeri security
forces, many Israeli advisors, instructors and technicians will be
sent to Baku,” the Web site Intelligence Online reported.

“This increased Israeli presence … could facilitate the Israeli
intelligence services’ clandestine operations” in Iran.

Read more:

“EURONEST PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY TURNED INTO A FIELD OF DISHONEST READING OF HISTORY”: RA DELEGATION ANSWERS ALIYEV

17:31 . 03/04

Hours after the shocking speech of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
in Euronest plenary session Armenian delegation gave its response in
Baku. The Armenian delegation head Vahan Hovhannisyan has presented
the complaint of our delegation over this speech in writing.

The document, which was distributed among the participants of the
assembly particularly says: “I would like to recall the letter which
I sent to all the members of the Bureau before the second Euronest
plenary session, which was held in Baku. I tried to warn all the Bureau
members that Azerbaijani leadership could misuse this opportunity
to make statements damaging the main spirit of the cooperation,”
Vahan Hovhannisyan has said.

He has also added that in Baku they witnessed what was foreseen:
“The Euronest Parliamentary Assembly turned into a field of dishonest
reading of history and of an anti-Armenian propaganda based on a
partial interpretation of the international law”.

The Armenian delegation to Euronest has expressed its deep complaint
over Azerbaijan’s misuse of the privileges as a host: “We call upon
the Assembly to chose the place for meetings more carefully, so
that statements are not made which can destroy the spirit of mutual
understanding and cooperation we have achieved overcoming numerous
problems. I am afraid those problems are returning,” the document
presented by the member of Euronest Bureau, the Armenian delegation
head to Euronest Vahan Hovhannisyan ends in this way.

IRAN IS VISIBLY IN ARMENIA’S FAVOR – ARF ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF TEHRAN CHAIRMAN – NEWSPAPER

news.am
April 03, 2012 | 08:52

YEREVAN. – Policy should not be designed on aggressiveness, but
this does not mean we step back from our demanding principles, ARF
Dashnaktsutyun Armenian National Committee of Tehran Chairman Surik
Abnussian said, in an interview with Yerkir daily, and reflecting on
Turkey’s foreign propaganda, the daily writes.

‘”The Armenian community in Iran has a very long history, and they
[the Iranians] are familiar with the Armenian people’s great role in
Iran’s cultural and political life. [But] It is more difficult when
this refers to the political scientists, because we try to individually
acquaint them with our history,’ Abnussian noted.

In his words, the Iranians’ demeanor toward the local Armenians is
very positive and friendly; [and] their positive attitude toward the
Karabakh issue is already evident.

‘It is clear that Iran is visibly in Armenia’s favor. [But]
Sadly, there still is unfamiliarity with respect to the [Armenian]
Genocide; and our main objective is to extract from the archives those
documents in which [official] Tehran, as statehood, has manifested
its positions,’ ARF figure added,” Yerkir writes.

SERGEI LAVROV: “RUSSIA IS READY TO STRONGLY SUPPORT THE DIALOGUE ON THE SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT”

APA
April 2 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. “Russia is ready to strongly support the continuation
of dialogue on the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, said
Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Lavrov in his press conference in
Yerevan, APA reports.”

According to him, president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev held series of
meetings with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia for development
of the work which was carried out by the representatives of the OSCE
Minsk Group.

“The work is not completed. But on January 23 in Sochi, the presidents
of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia expressed their willingness to
continue these efforts in order to reach agreements as soon as
possible. Russia is ready to strongly support this process with the
desire of the sides. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia are Russia’s friends
and strategic partners and Moscow cannot remain indifferent to the
relations between the countries.”

Lavrov said that the OSCE co-chairs were carrying out their functions
honestly: “They didn’t deviate from the principles of the Helsinki
Final Act and UN Charter. These principles consider non-use of
force, respect the territorial integrity and the right of people to
self-determination. The co-chairs didn’t change this position”.

Today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov started five-day visit to
Yerevan, Baku, Bishkek and Astana. He visits Armenia and Azerbaijan on
the occasion of the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between
Russia and these countries.

LIBRA 6 PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS SILENCE, 5/4

Broadway World

April 2 2012

Libra 6 Productions, Inc. presents SILENCE an original play by Herand
Markarian, directed by Kevin Thompson, starring Lorraine Serabian,
beginning May 4th.

Set against the backdrop of the World War I Armenian genocide, SILENCE
is the story of a woman’s courageous journey to survive, embrace her
family and preserve her Armenian heritage. SILENCE holds the power
to enlighten us to the tangible effects that the Armenian genocide
has left upon families and individuals during the past 100 years. It
evokes the SILENCE of history and the SILENCE of those who survived
the genocide. As we move toward the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide it is time to educate the world that this atrocity really
happened. Moreover, we must learn from SILENCE to draw parallels to
current world affairs in Syria, Darfur, and other parts of Africa.

SILENCE will begin previews on May 4, 2012 at The Shell Theater,
300 West 43rd Street 4th Floor, and run through May 24, 2012 with
talk-backs following the performances on May 4, 9, 12 and 24. Evening
performances will begin at 8PM, matinee performances at 2PM.

THE AZERBAIJAN DILEMMA

Thomas de Waal

The National Interest

April 2 2012

Who would be Azerbaijan? The Caucasian country has just joined the
UN Security Council, and it is wealthy as never before, its state
coffers overflowing with oil and gas revenues. But its position in
the world is barely easier than it was twenty years ago.

Relations with Western countries could be described as transactional,
dependent on energy supplies and the country’s status as a transit
route to Afghanistan. The Azerbaijanis blame a fairly difficult
relationship with Washington on the success of the Armenian lobby
in Congress in blocking the reconfirmation of Matt Bryza as U.S.
ambassador, leaving the State Department again without an envoy in
Baku. American officials say that the relationship is not bad but will
not be better as long as Azerbaijan is so far from being a democracy.

Azerbaijan has tricky relationships with all of its neighbors. The
surrounding landscape offers suspended conflict with Armenia,
simmering tensions with Iran and Turkmenistan, friendship masking
perpetual suspicion with Russia and constant misunderstandings with
its supposedly close Turkic cousin Turkey.

Even the relationship with the closest neighbor, Georgia, is not
trouble free. Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili talked up
Azerbaijani-Georgian friendship on a visit to Baku in early March and
even proposed that the two countries should make a joint bid to host
the 2016 European soccer championship. But Saakashvili caused his
hosts headaches in a speech to the Azerbaijani parliament, telling
his audience (in the Russian language) that Moscow’s foreign policy
“has many names, but only one meaning for all of us, the neighbors of
the Russian Federation: the end of our freedom and our independence,
the end of the dream of Rasulzade and many others of our ancestors.”

The speech raised the ire of some Azerbaijani parliamentarians. They
felt the Georgian president had offended protocol by using their
parliament to attack a neighboring state with whom they try to
maintain good relations. Saakashvili’s many references to Mammad Amin
Rasulzade, whose famous phrase “The flag once raised will never fall”
he used to conclude his speech, also went down badly. Rasulzade was
the founder of the first Azerbaijani independent republic of 1918
and leader of the Musavat Party, now the leading opposition group
to the government. He is a historical figure the current Azerbaijani
governing elite prefers not to glorify in public.

Israel is another high-maintenance ally. The two countries have a
strong commercial and political partnership with both stressing their
pro-Western foreign-policy orientation and resistance to radical
Islam. But being Israel’s best friend in this neighborhood comes
at a cost. Unhelpfully for the Azerbaijani government, the Israeli
media recently leaked the story of an arms deal worth $1.6 billion
between Israel and Azerbaijan. The relationship causes friction with
Turkey-the Turkish ambassador to Baku complained last year that the
Azerbaijanis should support Ankara in its row with Israel, just as
Turkey supported Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia. And, of
course, it draws hostile attention from Iran.

Azerbaijan joined the UN Security Council in January. That is both
a mark of respect and a big responsibility. As one Western diplomat
in Baku put it to me, “You can hide in the UN General Assembly, you
can’t hide in the Security Council.” The Azerbaijanis now have to
take a line on issues such as Syria where they might have preferred
to keep silent before.

As Turkey is finding on an even larger scale, it is easier to
declare big foreign-policy ambitions than to realize them. Capacity
is stretched. There are plenty of people in the new Azerbaijan who
are good at making money and doing deals but a limited few who bear
the burden of making a coordinated foreign policy.

At the same time, the government in oil-rich Baku is increasingly
opaque. Foreign visitors and diplomats complain that they find it
harder to gain access to the government officials making decisions
and struggle to understand what government strategy is. This is
the context in which Azerbaijan faces what could be its biggest
foreign-policy test since the war with the Armenians ended in 1994:
how to handle a looming crisis with Iran, a near neighbor, fellow
Shiite state and strong ideological adversary.

The working presumption has always been that because both countries
have the ability to hurt each other badly, they refrain from doing
anything that drags them into full-scale confrontation. Iran has
influence over dozens of mosques and tens of thousands of Islamists in
Azerbaijan who could rattle the Azerbaijani state. It also provides
an economic and energy lifeline for the Azerbaijani exclave of
Nakhichevan. Azerbaijan has the capacity to stir up parts of Iran’s
huge Azeri minority if it wanted to.

That presumption is now being tested. In January, the Azerbaijani
government said its websites had been attacked and defaced with
anti-Israeli messages, then announced it had foiled an Iranian
plot to assassinate a Jewish teacher and a rabbi in Baku. An
Azerbaijani parliamentarian took the opportunity to needle Tehran
with the suggestion that his country should be renamed “North
Azerbaijan”-implying that Iran’s Azerbaijani provinces would thereby
become “South Azerbaijan.”

Thankfully, the situation has quieted down again. The Azerbaijani
officials I talked to are focused on managing it. But if more trouble
strikes, Azerbaijan will need to keep its nerve and-an unaccustomed
predicament in recent times-find a way to ask for help.

Thomas de Waal is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace.

STUDENTS’ ART CALLS FOR FURTHER PROTECTION OF BIRDS AND BIODIVERSITY IN ARMENIA

Tert.am
02.04.12

Students’ art exhibition aimed to raise public awareness on the
protection of birds and biodiversity, which was dedicated to the
Bird Day and the UN Decade of Biodiversity was opened today, the UN
Armenia office reports.

The exhibition was jointly organized by the UN Department of Public
Information, Yerevan State Academy of Arts and supported by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.

The students presented for public attention more than 50 works of art,
including graphics, paintings, batiks, video art, pop art, decorative
and graphic applications.

They illustrated by their art works the importance of caring about
birds and their diversity in Armenia. It is known that birds are
sentinel species whose plight serves as barometer of ecosystem health
and alert system for detecting global environmental ills.

Maria Dotsenko, UN Department of Public Information Representative
said: “This exhibition not only highlights how young generation
understands the importance of biodiversity, but it also calls for
actions to support the rich variety of flora and fauna in the beautiful
Armenia and on our planet. The doors of UN House are always open for
pro-active young artists and activists.”

In 1992 the UN Member States agreed on UN Convention on Biological
Diversity, which was designed to coordinate and encourage actions of
Member States which will lead to a sustainable future and protection of
biological diversity. And in order to coordinate and encourage actions
aimed to protect the planet’s biodiversity, the UN Member States at
the General Assembly announced the decade 2011 – 2020 as the Decade
of Biodiversity, with a view to contributing to the implementation
of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity for the period 2011-2020.

Armenia has signed the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in June
1992, being among first of 168 UN Member States which have signed
this important treaty.

EU CONSIDERS OSCE MINSK GROUP THE ONLY FORMAT FOR SETTLING NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT: STEFAN FULE

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 2, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS: European Union is concerned about the
issue of Nagorno Karabakh, said Stefan Fule, European Commissioner for
Enlargement and European Neighborhood, reports Armenpress citing APA.

The current status-quo is inadmissible. EU looks upon the OSCE Minsk
Group as the only format for settling the conflict, which exerts
enormous efforts in the direction of regulating the issue and not
straining the situation, stressed Stefan Fule.

According to him, the conflicting parties should realize that the way
out from the difficult situation is bilateral compromise. Stefan Fule
said no time must be wasted. “Trust, patience and mutual respect are
the ingredients necessary for any peaceful regulation,” EU Commissioner
noted. In that context, he stressed the need for relaxing the tension
in the line of contact, adding the parties must avoid provocative
statements.

EXPERT PROPOSES WAYS OF PREVENTING ELECTION RIGGING

Tert.am
02.04.12

Hmayak Hovhannisyan, Chairman of the Political Scientists’ Union
of Armenia, proposes formation of central election staff to prevent
inaccuracies in voters’ lists.

He made the proposal at a discussion summing up a 2-month public
hearings program. Participating in the discussion were the leaders
of political forces that, as Hovhannisyan noted, had great potential
for running for parliament this year.

Among the participants were representatives of Free Democrats,
Heritage, Prosperous Armenia Party, Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) and Republican Party of Armenia (RPA). Members
of the Sardarapat movement had been invited as well. The participants
discussed the issue of ensuring servicemen’s voting right.

The aim of the discussions is to prevent election rigging, Hovhannisyan
said. He noted that they “issued prophetic warnings” that everything
would be done to rig the elections.

The major violation is “inflating” the voters’ lists, he said.

Since 2008 presidential election in Armenia, the number of voters
in Armenia has reached 2,485,000. Moreover, the census results show
Armenia’s resident population to be 2,780,000.

“This means that more than 90% of Armenia’s population are voters,
with the number of children of school age being 560,000, according to
the official data,” Hovhannisyan said. Also, the number of children
of pre-school age is 185,000. So 745,000 people have no voting right,
he said.

To resolve the problem the authorities should form central election
staff to deal with inaccuracies in voters’ lists.

The Political Scientists’ Union of Armenia proposes holding a plenary
meeting to sum up the public hearings, with the participation of the
political forces in question, on April 4. According to Hovhannisyan,
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will be invited to the meeting.

Tigran Mukuchyan, Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of
Armenia, declined the invitation.