Author: Badalian Vardan

EVANS DOES NOT REGRET FOR PRONOUNCING WORD GENOCIDE

yerkir.am
17:26 – 27.09.2011

It would have been wiser, if Armenia and Turkey started from not
big initiatives instead of trying to solve all the problems at once:
former US ambassador to Armenia John Evans told “Agenda” newspaper
talking about Armenian Turkish protocols.

‘I don’t think that complexities that arose in the process of improving
relations between Armenia and Turkey are because of one part. The
process was stopped because of both parts, as there were many issues
that were impossible to solve”, said he.

Evans also informed that he carries on working to improve the role
of Armenia in the international sphere and also is working on his
book on the Armenian Genocide. Evans added that he does not regret
for losing his diplomatic career and pronouncing the word “Genocide”,
which, by the way, was against American policy.

In September 2006 USA ambassador to Armenia John Evans has named the
events taken place in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 a Genocide, because
of which he was called back to US and then returned again to carry
on with his responsibilities as ambassador for 1.5 more years. Later
the US Senate did not appoint him in any other position.

SENATE APPROVES HEFFERN AS AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
John Heffern

asbarez
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Controversial US envoy to Turkey Nominee Francis Ricciardone yet to
be confirmed.

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Senate voted by unanimous consent Monday night
to approve John Heffern’s nomination as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

“Although we remain disappointed with a number of his responses to
Senate inquiries, we look forward, in the coming months and years,
to working with Ambassador Heffern to expand U.S.-Armenia relations
on the basis of commonly-held values and shared interests, with
particular focus on the bilateral trade and investment issues,”
commented ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, upon Heffern’s
confirmation. “Ambassador Heffern can play a vital role in expanding
U.S.-Armenia trade, which has yet to reach the $200 million a year
mark, by leading the way toward a Trade and Investment Framework
Agreement (TIFA) and an updated Double Taxation Treaty. With these
accords in place and a firm commitment by all stake-holders to act
decisively and pro-actively, there is no reason we can’t reach more
than a billion dollars a year in bilateral trade within the next
five years.”

By contrast, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey nominee Francis Ricciardone,
who was to be fast-tracked for consideration on the floor, along
with the nomination of John Heffern, has yet to be scheduled for
Senate confirmation. Ambassador Ricciardone has been the subject of
considerable controversy, having faced opposition within the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee from Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ),
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Jim Risch (R-ID) prior to the panel’s
approval of his nomination. During the Committee’s deliberations of
Amb. Ricciardone’s nomination, Senator Menendez explained that he had
lost confidence in his abilities after Amb. Ricciardone had submitted
clearly false information concerning the destruction of Christian
churches in Turkey. Senator Menendez’s concerns over the persecution
of religious minorities in Turkey were echoed by Senators Chris Coons
(D-DE), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Chairman John Kerry (D-MA).

Heffern Questioned on Administration’s Armenian Genocide Policy During
Heffern’s July 13 confirmation hearing, Senate Foreign Relations
Committee member Robert Menendez (D-NJ) had pressed him regarding
the Obama Administration position regarding the Armenian Genocide,
and also about his own understanding of this crime. The nominee
cited the killing of over 1.5 million Armenians at the end of the
Ottoman Empire, but stopped short of properly referencing these acts
as “genocide,” arguing that “the characterization of those events
is a policy decision that is made by the President of the United
States. He added that this policy is enunciated in the President’s
April 24 Remembrance Day statement.”

Senator Menendez remarked, “This is an inartful dance that we do. We
have a State Department whose history is full of dispatches that cite
the atrocities committed during this time. We have a convention that
we signed on to as a signatory that clearly defines these acts as
genocide. We have a historical knowledge of the facts that we accept
would amount to genocide. But we are unwilling to reference it as
genocide. And if we cannot accept the past, we cannot move forward.

And so I find it very difficult to send diplomats of the United States
to a country in which they will go – and I hope you will go, as some
of your predecessors have – to a genocide commemoration and yet never
be able to use the word genocide. It is much more than a question
of a word. It is everything that signifies our commitment to saying
‘never again.’ And yet, we can’t even acknowledge this fact and we
put diplomats in a position that is totally untenable.”

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) joined Senator Menendez in submitting
written questions to Heffern following his confirmation hearing.

Senator Menendez had deferred Committee consideration of Mr. Heffern’s
nomination to allow broader Senate scrutiny of the candidate.

Heffern is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and serves
as the Deputy Chief of Mission at USNATO, Brussels. Prior to his
current post, Heffern served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Executive
Assistant to the Undersecretary for Political Affairs at the U.S.

Embassy in Indonesia.

Heffern’s career has also included overseas assignments to Japan,
Malaysia, Ivory Coast and Guangzhou, China. From 1994-1996, he
served as a Pearson Fellow on the Asia Sub-Committee for the House
International Relations Committee. Prior to entering the Foreign
Service, he served in the Office of Senator John C. Danforth as the
Senator’s Office Director and Research Assistant. He Heffern received
a B.A. from Michigan State University.

Heffern replaces Marie Yovanovitch, who returned to the U.S. in June
to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Northern and
Central Europe.

JUDGE DIDN’T SHOW UP TO COURT

07:49 pm | Today

Social

The trial for the Committee in Defense of Freedom of Speech against
the National Commission on Television and Radio case wasn’t held at
the RA Administrative Court because the court hadn’t shown up to court.

However, 15 minutes after the hour of the trial, the court employee
provided the plaintiff with the court’s verdict denying the appeal.

The plaintiff’s attorney Olga Safaryan told “A1+” that the court had
reached a verdict on a document without knowing what that document
was about.

“The verdict was reached on the grounds of the announcement made by
the state body (NCTR),” said Olga Safaryan, adding that the plaintiff
will appeal the verdict at higher instances.

Let us remind that the Committee in Defense of Freedom of Speech
demands acknowledging the NCTR’s actions as illegitimate and obliging
it to provide all documents required in the notice N-30 dated 21
February 2011, including the rebroadcasting contracts in the documents
adjunct to the tender applications, as well as the papers of employees
of the companies.

ARMENIA SHOULD NOT LOOK FOR OUTSIDE SOLUTIONS TO ITS PROBLEMS; FORMER AMBASSADOR SAYS

ARKA
Sep 27, 2011

YEREVAN, September 27. / ARKA /. Armenia should itself look for
solutions to its problems instead of seeking outside help, former
U.S. ambassador to Armenia, John Marshall Evans, said today during a
discussion in Yerevan organized by Civiliats Fund to mark the 20-th
anniversary of Armenia.

He said when Armenia finds these solutions, it will get the support of
the world community. He said the South Caucasus is a volatile region
and everyone understands that its problems are not easily solved,
however, the region has huge potential.

He said the peoples in the South Caucasus tend to look for outside
forces to solve their internal problems. According to him, it is a
very serious problem, a relic of the former Soviet Union when two of
its constituent republics sought Moscow’s help to solve their problems.

According to him, many people here think that the U.S. can tell
Turkey to do this or that, but it is not so, and Yerevan must itself
establish relations with Ankara. Evans said the first step towards the
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations should be the establishment
of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

He said establishment of diplomatic relations is often misunderstood
even in his country. He said it does not imply friendship. States
should recognize each other, know who they are dealing with. He
said Greece and Turkey or Japan and Russia have diplomatic relations
despite having serious territorial disputes.

Germany’s ambassador, Hans-Jochen Schmidt, said the resolution of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will positively affect not only the
development of the conflicting sides, but also the whole region.

“The EU is trying to cooperate with the South Caucasus, but,
unfortunately, no significant economic results have been achieved so
far,” he said.

The Civilitas Foundation Fund was established in 2008 by former
Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian.

POLITICAL ANALYST: NO ROOM FOR RATIFICATION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS

ARKA
Sep 27, 2011

YEREVAN, September 27. /ARKA/. Alexander Iskandaryan, political
analyst and director of Caucasus Institute, speaking Tuesday in
Novosti International Press Center, said there are absolutely no
prospects today for ratification of Armenian-Turkish protocols by
Turkish Parliament.

It became known on September 24 that Turkish government that Turkish
government has returned Armenian-Turkish protocols signed in 2009 to
the parliament’s agenda.

“To put it mildly, Turkey now doesn’t care about protocols – it
has far bigger troubles in both foreign and domestic policies,”
Iskandaryan said.

In recent weeks, there is an all-out war between Turkish army and
Kurdish guerrillas, and this is a grave problem for Turkey.

Iskandaryan also finds it obvious that Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan will seek to amend the country’s constitution to make
Turkey a presidential republic and run for presidency. According to
Iskandaryan, in such a situation ratification of the protocols will
hardly play into his hands.

He says that Turkey seeks dominance in the rapidly-changing Middle
East, but having no sufficient resources for that, faces difficulties.

“Things are very complicated and risky, and Turkish leadership stakes
everything to obtain a new position in the region,” he said. “In such
a situation, how can Turkey think about Armenian protocols?”

The political analyst said that the United States keeps pushing Turkey
to sign the protocols, but it has no sufficient pressure instruments.

Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic ties since Armenia became
independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. Turkey closed its border
with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support for its ally, Azerbaijan,
which had a dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic
Armenian enclave of Azerbaijan.

There are several sensitive issues complicating the establishment of
normal relations between the two countries, particularly, Ankara’s
blatant support of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
resolution process and Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge the mass
killings of Armenians in the last years of the Ottoman Empire as
a genocide.

Thaw in Armenian-Turkish relations began in 2008 at Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan’s initiative.

On October 10, Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers Edward
Nalbandyan and Ahmet Davutoglu signed the protocols on establishment of
diplomatic ties between the two countries and development of bilateral
relations. The protocols had to be ratified by the two countries’
parliaments, but on April 22, 2010, the Armenian president signed a
decree ceasing the process of ratification. He said Turkey was not
ready to continue the process.

WHAT ELSE TO EXPECT FROM TURKS

yerkir.am
15:47 – 27.09.2011

Leader of the orthodox church of Cyprus Khrizostomos the second pays an
official visit to Georgia and has asked for any possible aid against
Turks to Georgian patriarch Ilya the second.

“Over 500 orthodox churches that are in the occupied land are in
disastrous condition. Some of them have been destroyed; some have
been converted into mosques, night clubs and even to mews. Icons and
church property has been sold in Europe and USA”, said he.

According to the archbishop, church of Cyprus has demanded many times
the Turkish administration to allow them reconstruct churches; however,
there was no answer.

He added that in 1974 37% of the island was occupied by Turkey, which
wanted to acquire the rest territories, deporting the orthodox Greeks
and reestablishing Muslims that came from Anatolia.

ARMENIAN YOUNG THINKERS CLUB TO BE CREATED

ARMENPRESS
10:11, 27 September, 2011

The “Hawk” club of Armenia’s youth foundation in collaboration with
“Active Youth Citizens initiative” NGO and Avetik Isahakyan library
plans to create “Armenian young thinkers” club of young people fond
of reading.

“I think this initiative will promote the spread of reading among the
young people. In this case we view the young people not as participants
but those who will continue the program in their universities, working
places”, director of Avetik Isahakyan library Hasmik Karapetyan said,
adding that the launch of the program is a “resonance phenomenon”.

The goal of the creation of the club is to create a field where the
young people may meet, discuss and analyze the works of Armenian, world
classics, contemporary writers developing the analytical thinking,
negotiation skills.

“Of course preference is given to the works of Armenian authors”,
Karapetyan said, expressing conviction that the members of the club
will have interesting meetings and discussions.

MANVEL GHUMASHYAN: TURKEY TRIES TO TURN ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS INTO AN OBJECT OF TRADE

ARMENPRESS
14:29, 27 September, 2011

Turkey tries to turn Armenian-Turkish protocols into an object of
trade, political expert Manvel Ghumashyan told today a news conference,
referring to the Turkish step of recalling of the protocols to the
parliament.

According to the political expert, we should not expect an essential
change in the process of ratification of the protocols in the nearest
future. He said that there were two extreme opinions in regard to
the protocols: the first is that they gave nothing, and the second
is that they showed one more time what a Turkish diplomacy means.

“As before, now too, when the protocols have been recalled to the
parliament, Turkey will attempt to turn them into an object of trade,”
Mr. Ghumashyan said.

In his opinion, Turkey will try to keep the protocols in a suspended
state till 2015 ~V 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, but
the expert also does not rule out other scenarios of development of
the processes.

NO ONE CAN FORCE ARMENIA OR TURKEY, INSIST AMBASSADORS IN ARMENIA

epress.am
09.27.2011 17:41

No one from outside can force Armenia, Azerbaijan or Turkey to take
this or that step. These countries have to sit together and resolve
their problem, said former US Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall
Evans today at the “Assessing Independence in Armenia and the Region”
public forum organized by the Civilitas Foundation.

“As you know we often have difficult relations with Turkey, as, for
example, in the war with Iraq, Turkey refused to get troops into Iraq.

Thus, America can’t force, it can support processes through different
formats, but resolving the conflict is the problem of those countries,”
he said.

German Ambassador to Armenia Hans-Jochen Schmidt, also speaking on
the panel, likewise emphasized that the “outside world” cannot force
a decision.

“The EU also takes steps in the issue of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, as well as the normalization of relations with Turkey,
but they can’t force anything,” he said.

Schmidt said the most important step in Armenia-Turkey relations is
the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries,
after which discussions on other issues will begin.

“What’s important is that the parties understand that by establishing
diplomatic relations, no one is doing anyone a favor; it is a normal
process,” he said.

CONTRACT ALLOWS POISONOUS WATER SUPPLY?

01:05 pm | Today

Social

“It still hasn’t been proven that the massivie poisoning in Nubarashen
was from the water. The case is still being examined,” Head of Contract
Management and Legal Affairs of Yerevan Water Company Artak Malkhasyan
said during a press conference today.

According to him, based on Yerevan Water’s contraact, the company
could have had 5% flaws, including supply of polluted water, but
that makes up only 0.5 percent in the 5th year of the contract and
the case in Nubarashen” fits in that 0.5 percent”.

More than 60 residents of Nubarashen were poisoned this summer,
and doctors say the main reason was the polluted water.

The Yerevan Water official presented a report stating that the company
provides 88.6 percent of water supply in Yerevan.

Why is water supply interrupted or lacking in the Nubarashen, Erebuni
and Ajapnyak communities to supply water for car washes and villas,
according to the residents? In response, Malkhasyan said it was
because those subscribers receive water through the same water tube.

He added that there may be illegal acts and that the company is
working on revealing them.

The lower threshold for continuation of the average water supply
throughout the day is only 8 hours, but the company representatives
say it will be 22 hours within five years.