Author: Badalian Vardan

KHAZAR IBRAHIM: "RUSSIA SHOULD DEMAND WITHDRAWAL OF ARMENIAN ARMED FORCES FROM AZERBAIJANI LANDS"

Today.Az
itics/45358.html
June 2 2008
Azerbaijan

"If Russia makes statements that forced resolution of Karabakh conflict
is impossible, it should demand from Armenia to withdraw Armenian
troops from Azerbaijani lands", said spokesman for Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry Khazar Ibrahim at a briefing today.

He said it is Armenia that tries to settle Karabakh conflict by way
of war and the Azerbaijani lands were occupied forcedly.

"We are waiting for a response from Armenia. We want to know whether
Armenia is inclined to settling the conflict or no. If we see that
Armenia is not determined to settle the conflict, it would not be
expedient to continue talks", noted Ibrahim.

Monday 2 June 2008
Dark horses still finding their feet
by Vassiliki Papantonopoulou from Athens

Greece’s goalless draw against Armenia on Sunday caused some fans
concern but Otto Rehhagel was less worried about a team who have
"always been outsiders".

Scoring run
The reigning European champions looked listless as they failed to find
a way past Armenia in Offenbach am Main, and coach Rehhagel was
clearly unhappy with their form in front of goal. It was the first
time in 15 games that the national team had failed to score, having
lost 1-0 to the Korean Republic at London’s Craven Cottage, and it was
their first scoreless draw since they played Mexico in the FIFA
Confederations Cup in Frankfurt on 22 June 2005.

Tired legs
However, Rehhagel had calmed down by the time he met the Greek press
afterwards, saying: "It was a preparation encounter and the players
were obviously tired from training. That’s normal for all teams a week
before a competition starts. Perhaps I could have used an extra
forward at the expense of a defensive player, but it was vital not to
lose. The most important thing for us is to have the team fine-tuned
when our finals matches begin on 10 June."

No reputation
The unexpected triumph at UEFA EURO 2004?¢ has left Greece with
a reputation to live up to, yet Rehhagel insists there is no undue
pressure on the holders. "We are not the EURO 2008?¢ favourites
– we never were," said the German coach. "We are placed somewhere
between sixth and tenth in the European rankings. Greece have always
been outsiders, but I am OK with that."

Pressure off
Giorgos Karagounis struggled through the Armenia game despite a sore
knee, but the 31-year-old playmaker is sure he will be injury free by
the time Greece face Sweden in their opening Group D game in
Salzburg. "We know that we are not in the spotlight right now, but
that doesn’t bother us," he said. "We are the European champions but
we also know that no team in the history of the competition has won it
twice in a row."

‘Nine days’
Meanwhile, 26-year-old Eintracht Frankfurt forward Giannis Amanatidis
is hoping that Greece can find their true form in the days leading up
to their opening encounter of the finals. He said of the Armenia game:
"We were a bit tired, but I won’t use that as an excuse. We have room
for improvement. We have to rest and improve our tactics, especially
when we are in possession of the ball."

NKR RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE TO ARMENIA AND AJC REPRESENTATIVE DISCUSS
ISSUES OF KARABAKH PROBLEM SOLUTION

0

YEREVAN, MAY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues relating to solution of the
Nagorno Karabakh problem and the NKR’s approaches to the negotiation
process were discussed by the Resident Representative of the NKR to
Armenia Karlen Avetisian, representative of the American Jewish
Committee (AJC) Ambassador Piter Rosenblatt and the Executive Director
of the U.S.-Armenia Public Affairs Committee Ross Vartian.

According to information submitted to NT by the NKR Resident
Representation to Armenia, presenting his organization, Ambassador
Rosenblatt noted that AJC is one of the most important structures of
the United States’ Jewish community and plays a significant role in
international relations. According to him, they are well informed about
regional problems and developments.

Speaking about militarization of Azerbaijan’s economy and bellicose
statements made at various levels in Azerbaijan, the resident
representative of the NKR once again asserted the Karabakh side’s
willingness to settle the conflict only in a peaceful way and attached
great importance to the international community’s consistency in this
issue.

K. Avetisian expressed a high opinion about the role of the U.S. as a
co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in the peaceful solution of the
Karabakh problem, especially as the U.S. is the only country to
officially provide annual humanitarian aid of up to 5 million dollars
to the NKR.

Ambassador Peter Rosenblatt, the AJC Director of Strategic Studies
Barry Jacobs and Ross Vartian met with the Secretary of the RA National
Security Council Arthur Baghdasarian on May 30. The interlocutors
addressed issues related to strengthening the links between the Jewish
and Armenian communities of the U.S. and issues of regional cooperation
and security. They also discussed Armenian-Turkish relations, stressing
the necessity to open the Armenian-Turkish border.

Panorama.am

19:23 29/05/2008

EXPANDING CULTURAL BORDERS: -ONE NATION – ONE CULTURE-

In 17-23 August -One Nation – One Culture- pan
Armenian cultural third festival will take place in
Armenia and Artsakh, said Gayane Durgaryan, the head
of public relations department of the Ministry of
Culture to Panorama.am reporter. -We hope that the
festival will give a chance not only to present our
cultural values but to discuss them, too,- said G.
Durgaryan.

-It is planned to organize trainings for dance and
song professionals in the frameworks of the festival,-
she said. She said that dance and song groups, solo
singers and dancers can take part in the festival.

The Government has disposed 170mln 434 thousands drams
from its reserve budget to organize -One Nation – one
culture- pan Armenian festival. Note that the
organizers of the festival are the ministries of
culture and foreign affairs, and -One nation – one
culture- foundation. The festival takes place since
1999 every two years.

Source: Panorama.am

PanARMENIAN.Net

Lebanese Armenians free to receive Armenian citizenship
31.05.2008 14:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian authorities always
support our community in emergency situations,
editor-in-chief of Azdak Beirut-based newspaper Shahan
Kandakharyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

The assistance rendered by the Middle East division of
the Armenian Foreign Ministry is a bright evidence of
this, according to him.

-Armenia’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Vahan
Ter-Ghevondian, who completed his mission in the
country, was the first diplomat to be received by
President-elect Michel Suleiman and decorated with the
supreme order of Lebanon,- he said.

-On May 31, the Armenian newspapers in Lebanon will
publish the announcement of Armenia’s Embassy saying
that all Armenians in Lebanon can address the Embassy
for Armenian citizenship. Receiving the citizenship,
Armenians in Lebanon and other states will be granted
not only moral but also legal assistance,- Mr
Kandakharyan said.

ON THE OCCASION OF FIRST REPUBLIC DAY PARLIAMENT SPEAKER TIGRAN TOROSIAN ISSUES CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE

ARMENPRESS
May 28, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS: On the Occasion of the First Republic
Day Parliament Speaker Tigran Torosian issued a congratulatory
message. According to the parliament press service, the message reads
as follows.

"Dear compatriots, 90 years ago our people who few years before that
experienced the first genocide of the past century, were able to
combine their divided strength and win the battles of Sardarapat,
Karakilisa and Aparan thanks to freedom loving spirit and unbending
will to restore their statehood.

Although the First Armenian Republic lived three years only, it gave
our people the strong spiritual charge due to which we were able at
the end of the 20-th century not only to restore our state but to
liberate also Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

I congratulate you on the occasion of the First Republic Day being
sure that our achievements are irreversible and we have no alternative
to the path of democracy and reforms that will take us to the country
dreamt of by our ancestors."

FRANCE AIMS TO BOLSTER EU’S SWAY

The Associated Press
May 26, 2008

BRUSSELS: Bolstering Europe’s influence on the world stage – and
especially on the new American administration – will be the top
priority for France when it takes over the presidency of the European
Union in July, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France said Monday.

Kouchner said France wanted to promote efforts to create a common
EU defense policy and to work closely with Washington, once a
new U.S. president is elected, on issues like peace in the Middle
East. France will take over the EU’s six-month rotating presidency from
Slovenia on July 1, and a new American president will be inaugurated
in January.

"The American election offers a historic opportunity," Kouchner
told a gathering of diplomats and EU officials, to offer the new
administration "an agenda, a road map, that will correspond to
our priorities, our understanding of how to solve crises and find
solutions together."

He said a more effective EU foreign policy was needed, backed by better
and more effective cooperation on defense policies. "Our objective
is to put in place credible civil and military defense capacities
and means," Kouchner said.

EU nations had to overcome past problems in raising enough peacekeepers
to fill promised missions to Chad. "We learned difficult lessons when
we had to assemble 3,000 men for Chad," Kouchner said.

Today in Europe Health care fees trouble Eastern EuropeRussian jet
shot down Georgian spy drone, UN saysU.S. courts the support of
French Muslims There were problems in mustering enough soldiers from
EU nations to protect refugees who were flooding into Chad from the
Darfur region of neighboring Sudan. The EU mission also was hampered
by a shortage of helicopters and airplanes.

Similarly, EU nations have hesitated to participate in a joint police
training mission in Afghanistan.

Kouchner said the 27-nation bloc stood at a crossroads where it had
"to define renewed ambitious goals" to better the lives of Europeans,
notably in implementing the club’s new governing treaty, which is
currently being ratified by EU nations.

The Lisbon Treaty, signed last year in Portugal, aims to streamline
the way the bloc makes decisions and bolster its powers in such areas
as immigration and fighting crime. It also aims to make the EU’s
foreign policy more effective with the creation of an EU president
and a single envoy to represent the bloc abroad.

As EU president, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France will be
responsible for getting EU leaders to fill new posts created
by the treaty and setting up a new joint EU diplomatic corps in
Brussels. Kouchner said France aims to have posts filled before the
planned entry into force of the new treaty on Jan. 1, 2009.

France also aims to address growing fears that globalization spells
bad news for manufacturing and other industry jobs across Europe,
Kouchner said, as China and other emerging Asian economic powers
attract more industry from overseas.

Kouchner said investing more in innovation, research and technology
is key to economic growth. He said EU nations must also agree on a
common immigration policy, which could bring in more high-skilled
workers to fill increasing job openings.

In another development Monday, Poland and Sweden sought support from
other EU nations for a new outreach program to build closer ties with
Ukraine and the EU’s other former Soviet neighbors to the east.

The plan would go beyond the EU’s current "neighborhood policy,"
which groups East European countries like Ukraine and Belarus with
nations in North Africa and the Middle East.

Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski of Poland said it was important
to make a distinction because the easterners are European nations
who could one day apply to join the EU. Poland and Sweden presented
the plan at a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

Russia was not included in the Polish-Swedish plan, but the EU
approved plans Monday to begin negotiations with Moscow on a new
cooperation agreement, which had been long delayed because of Polish
and Lithuanian objections.

"We are trying to normalize our relations with Russia," Sikorski
said before the EU talks. But he predicted the talks with Russia
would be tough, particularly over sensitive issues such as energy
and human rights.

Poland, which joined the EU in 2004, is concerned about instability on
its eastern borders as former Soviet countries are squeezed between
Russia and the West. With older EU nations wary about offering
membership to the likes of Ukraine, Poland is seeking other means to
draw the easterners close to the Western bloc.

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt of Sweden said the plan would aim to
forge closer ties with countries that are of "fundamental importance
for all of Europe," including Moldova, Belarus and nearby Caucasus
nations like Georgia and Armenia.

"We think its time to look to the east to see what we can do to
strengthen democracy," Bildt said.

The Polish-Swedish plan includes easing visa restrictions on countries
to the east, closer cooperation on environmental issues and freeing
up trade.

AZERBAIJANI OPTION OF THE SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT
LILIT POGHOSYAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on May 24, 2008
Armenia

The Conference `Caucasus-2007′ hold in `Tigran Metz’ hall of
`Armenia-Marriott’ hotel, initiated by Caucasian Institute of Mass
Media finished its work yesterday and summed up the results of the
discussion.

Editor-in-chief of Azerbaijani `3rd Opinion’ Informational-Analytical
Agency Rauf Rajabov who was participating in the conference, met with
the journalists at the end of the discussions.

`In my view the settlement of the conflict is not in shuttle diplomacy,
political compromises or military confrontation, but rather in free
economic rivalry, mutually beneficial cooperation and the field of
general interests on integration plane. Economy is the axle, which
unites the conflicting parties.

Market economy means free movement of the capital and the people,
whereas political compromise is trade. Which means, instead of mutual
concessions the two sides must compete to substantiate their arguments,
to see whose scale is heavier and who will suffer less loses in this
`trade’.’

Last year we passed a law, according to which 4 free economic zones
must be established in Azerbaijan. Karabakh can have similar status by
the time the issue of its final status is solved. It can be done by a
referendum, but with one condition – the representatives of Azerbaijani
community, those who have once fled their dwelling places, must also
participate in the referendum.

But for that these people must naturally return to Karabakh and live
side by side with Armenian people, in the format of a free economic
zone. I’m sure it will give an opportunity to overcome all the
psychological obstacles that hinders the establishment of friendly
relations between Armenian and Azerbaijani people.’

`Azerbaijani government refuses any type of cooperation with Armenia,
unless Karabakh issue is solved in the framework of Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity. Do you think Azerbaijan is ready to give the
status of `free economic zone’ to Karabakh?’

`What I mean is firstly the demilitarization of the conflicting zone.
It is not a secret that Armenian military subdivisions (30 thousand in
number) are located in the occupied territories. These subdivisions
must be withdrawn and Azerbaijan should also withdraw its forces, after
which Karabakh formations will remain there – around 20-25 thousand
people. These formations will provide the security of both Armenian and
Azerbaijani inhabitants in that region.

In that case there will be no need to bring the international
peacekeeping forces. Karabakh’s military subdivisions can realize this
mission, without the interference of the forces that have their own
interests in the region. This will reduce to the minimum the influence
of the foreign powers on our region.

Of course the return of the refugees must also be guaranteed. Which
means we can’t speak about Karabakh people ignoring the 50 thousand
Azerbaijani community, who used to live in Karabakh before 1988. If
this happens, Armenian majority, in the person of NKR military
formations will provide the security of Azerbaijani minority.

And both conflicting parties Armenia and Azerbaijan will be the
guarantees of this security. The future developments will lead to
Karabakh’s integration to Azerbaijan and Armenia’s economy will
integrate with Azerbaijan’s.

If we exercise this model, a joint system of internal security will be
created and the internal borders will not exist any more. Georgia will
also participate in this process and we will have South-Caucasian free
economic zone, meanwhile strengthening the foreign borders of the three
countries. But, if one of the parties demands from the other party to
sign under a document that enshrines the results of the war, that is to
say they try to legalize the results of the war, I’m sure it will not
lead to any positive results.’

`Do you think the results of the war must be annulled?’

`See! The Results of the war are the results of one battle. But there
can be the second battle as well, and the results of this battle can be
quite different.’

`Don’t you think the results of the second war can, mildly speaking, be
disappointing for Azerbaijan?’

`This is exactly what I mean. There can be second, third, fourth and
fifth battles. But if we really want to close this page of wars and
reach stability and peace in the region, in my view we must refuse the
idea of wars. Otherwise the defeated side will always try to take
revenge and we will appear in the situation of everlasting wars. That
is why it is better to speak about common interests and mutually
beneficial cooperation.’

`Saying refugees do you mean only Azerbaijanis, deported from Karabakh,
or also the Armenians who fled Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad, Shahumyan and
Getashen, etc?’

`All the refugees must have the opportunity to return to their dwelling
places. So a program of the solution of social, integration,
accommodation, and other issues must be implemented. Without the
solution of these issues it is senseless to speak about their return.

Of course these issues can’t be solved immediately. In my view we must
try to solve them phase-by-phase, elaborate mechanisms, which will be
backed by Armenia and Azerbaijan. Of course this program shouldn’t be
compulsory, without the violation of the rights of those who presently
live in the deserted homes in Baku, Karabakh, Yerevan or Vanadsor.’

CanWest News Service, Canada
May 24 2008

Atom Egoyan movie wins prize for its spiritual values

Jay Stone , CanWest News Service

CANNES, France — Adoration, a film by Canadian director Atom Egoyan,
has won the ecumenical jury prize — the award given for movies that
celebrate spiritual values — at the Cannes Film Festival.

Adoration, which is about a teenage boy who re-creates his own
identity on the Internet, "invites us to re-evaluate existing cliches
about the Other or that which is foreign in our own culture and
religion," the jury said.

An emotional Egoyan said he was "overwhelmed" by the choice and also
by the citation, which he called beautifully worded. "The jury got the
movie," he said after the ceremony.

Photo: RED CARPET: Director Atom Egoyan and actress Rachel Blanchard
arrive Thursday for the premiere of Adoration at the 61st
International Cannes Film Fes-tival in Cannes, France.

Sean Gallup, Getty Images

Egoyan has won the ecumenical prize before, for his 1997 film The
Sweet Hereafter, but he said he didn’t understand why that movie won
the award. Adoration, on the other hand, "is dealing with all sorts of
belief systems, some of them obviously invented, and it’s dealing with
the nature of how we organize systems of beliefs within families and
cultures and ourselves. So it seems to make a lot more sense."

The director, who lives in Toronto, said his movie is provocative, and
it was a brave choice for the six-member international jury.

Adoration is also in the running for Cannes’ biggest prizes, including
the Palme d’Or, which will be handed out Sunday. Egoyan said his movie
came to Cannes late — it was screened on Thursday, the eighth day of
the festival — and so he has not seen any of the other films in the
running for the Palme. "I can’t make any predictions," he said.

Earlier Saturday, Next Floor, an 11-minute Canadian film about
gluttony, won the festival’s grand prize for short movie.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Next Floor was shot in an abandoned
Montreal factory that was being demolished, and shows a group of
diners eating piles of food — everything from rhinoceros to deer —
before crashing through to the floor below.

Villeneuve, who has also directed Maelstrom, shot Next Floor while
taking a break from editing his new feature Polytechnique, about the
1989 Montreal massacre. The Cannes award is given by the French TV
network Canal+, which acquires the right to broadcast Next
Floor. Villeneuve wins 6,000 Euros (about $9,000) toward equipment for
the shooting of his next film.

story.html?id=81920b48-e51c-4769-9dde-1dbfe7f43245

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
May 24 2008

Alexei Vlasov: "I am more likely a careful pessimist than an optimist
in the issue of the Karabakh resolution"

24 May 2008 [13:49] – Today.Az

Day.Az interview with Alexei Vlasov, Russian political scientist,
director general of the information-analytical center for research of
sociopolitical processes in the post-Soviet area.

– Do you share the opinion of the Russian leadership that the
unilateral recognition of Kosovo’s independence will complicate the
solution of conflicts on the post-Soviet area, as it will become a
precedent for other unrecognized countries? I mean primarily Nagorno
Karabakh.

– I do not think that the resolution of this conflict will depend on
the adopted resolution on Kosovo as historically this conflict had a
bit different structure. And furthermore, the Kosovo precedent may
affect more Europe than the so-called "frozen conflicts" in the
post-Soviet area.

It is clear even without Kosovo that Abkhazia remains problem for
Georgia and Nagorno Karabakh is a factor, isolating Azerbaijan and
Armenia and nothing will change much in this sense.

Therefore, the Kosovo precedent is more likely a break of all existing
norms and traditions of the international law, which formed in period
following the World War Second, we will feel the geopolitical
consequences for long. But I would not say that this may cardinally
influence the resolution or deterioration of the situation around
Nagorno Karabakh.

– Russia’s mediatory role in the resolution of regional conflicts,
which mainly occur in the territory of Georgia is negatively assessed
in the Caucasus. The Russian leadership has once issued Russian
passports to Abkhazs and now openly uses it as a cause for
interference with possible new Georgian-Abkhaz war to defend "its
compatriots" or hints on possible annexion of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. Don’t you think that such policy not peace-keeping but
deteriorates the conflict even more?

– I think no annexation is possible in this case. I think a
complicated game is conducted around Abkhazia and South Ossetia, being
connected with the counteraction between Georgia and Russia.

Several factors have appeared here if speaking about Abkhazia. These
are Abkhazs’ objective striving for creation of an independent country
and West’s influence on Georgia, which is gradually becoming the
outpost of the US influence in the South Caucasus, unlike Azerbaijan,
which in this sense having close contacts with the West, conducts a
multi-directional and balanced policy, I think.

And the third factor is a hidden conflict between Russia and the West
in a struggle for the post-Soviet area, including on the issue of the
South Caucasus and the problem of unrecognized states.

If these factors are brought together, we will see that in fact there
is no direct counteraction between Russia and Georgia, there is a
complex geopolitical game, involving not two or three subjects, but
several sides. Therefore, it is difficult to find the common ground in
the Abkhaz, South Ossetia and Transdniestria conflicts.

But you have singled out Nagorno Karabakh, as here I do not feel any
counteraction between Russia and the West. This is the problem of
bilateral relations, of Armenia and Azerbaijan. When these countries
find common grounds on Nagorno Karabakh conflicts, the serious
breakthrough would be possible. But at present we see the results of
the mediatory efforts since 1994. They have no results.

– You have used the term "outpost" speaking about the relations of
Georgia with the West. In our region this term was previously applied
by chairman of Russian State Du,a B.Gryzlov to Armenia, whom the
speaker called "the outpost of Russia in the South Caucasus. Don’t you
think such statement of a high-ranking representative of the country
which is, undoubtedly, the leading mediator in the Karabakh conflict
settlement, undermine its neutralize?

– (Laughing) You know, being a Russian political scientist, I have
already got used to that primarily it is necessary to treat seriously
the announcements of senior political leadership: Previously it was
President and not there are two of them-President and Prime Minister.

This is because for example when Luzhkov states his position on
Sevastopol, it is clear that this is his position of a politician and
a patriot (by the way, I mostly agree with all he says). But this is
not Russia’s position and this does not reflect position of the senior
officials.

– A new president, who is considered to succeed to the previous one,
was inaugurated in Armenia. The same occurred in Russia. In October of
this year the elections will be held in Azerbaijan as well. Do you
hear any changes in the talks on Karabakh following the completion of
this year of elections?

– First of all, according to all my forecasts, the outcome of
elections is quite predictable in Azerbaijan.

Indeed, despite the replacement of the President in Armenia, the
policy, conducted by Kocharyan’s team insite the Armenian elite, will
also remain changeless. It is possible to say about succession of
powers in Russia, as well. The replacement of the first figure on the
political Olymp will also not change two much in the first 1.5-2
years, which means that there positions, Putin fixed lately, which
will successively affect the external political course of
Medvedev. Perhaps, only the rhetorics will change a bit.

Now what we have? As for the Karabakh resolution I am more a careful
pessimist than an optimist, as, if three components are the same, any
real achievements can not be expected in such case without the due
ground. And this is not because of Russia’s egoism. This is because
neither of the countries has an exact plan of resolution, though it
was worked out in the 1990s: this is primarily, liberation of the
seven regions of Azerbaijan. As I understand no achievements should be
expected for the next 1-1.5 years.

/Day.Az/

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