Author: Badalian Vardan

AZERBAIJANIS PROTEST AGAINST ARMY DEATHS

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #680
March 15 2013

Officials dismiss public expressions of anger as plot by agents
provocateurs.

By Seymur Kazimov, Shahin Rzayev – Caucasus

Police in Azerbaijan used water cannons and stun grenades to disperse
people protesting against conscript deaths in the army.

Estimates of numbers at the March 10 demonstration vary, with some
media outlets putting the figure at 3,000.

The water cannons struck journalists and bystanders as well as
protesters. Two IWPR correspondents were drenched, despite wearing
jackets identifying them as press.

Although some media outlets reported that rubber bullets were fired,
the IWPR journalists who were present were unable to confirm that.

They generally found that police behaved professionally and without
the kind of violence seen at previous rallies in Baku.

The protesters chanted, “Say no to soldiers’ deaths”, “The army is
not a morgue”, and “The commander in chief must answer for this”.

According to Doktrina, a defence affairs research centre, of the 17
soldiers who have died this year, only three were killed by Armenian
forces along the front lines, where a tenuous ceasefire has been
in place since the Nagorny Karabakh ended in 1994. Last year, the
proportion was similar, with 20 combat deaths out of a total of 97
fatalities in the military. (IWPR looked at this issue in January:
Azeri Anger Roused by Soldier’s Death.)

Police detained around 100 people at the demonstration, although
most were freed by the end of the day. Around 20 were given minor
sentences. Three will spend a week in jail, while the others were
given hefty fines of between 400 and 600 manats, or 510-765 US dollars.

Three days before the protest, police arrested a three activists from
an opposition youth group called NIDA and accused them of preparing
an insurrection.

Officers said they found petrol bombs and marijuana when searching
the houses of Bakhtiyar Quliyev, Mahammad Azizov and Shahin Novruzlu.

Relatives of the three men insisted the evidence had been planted.

On March 9, the day before the protest, the three men were shown
on state television admitting their guilt and saying they had been
plotting revolution. The leaders of NIDA said the three could have
been tortured into confessing, and denied any violent plans against
the state.

On March 14, a fourth NIDA activist, Rashad Hasanov, was arrested.

Opposition leaders said the use of televised confessions coupled with
robust police action against protests were signs the government was
taking a harsher line in anticipation of a presidential elections
this autumn.

“This performance with the arrested activists and the ‘revolution’
charges, as well as the use of water cannons, demonstrate that the
government fears increased activity from civil society, Ali Kerimli,
leader of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan, said, adding, “I am proud
of our young people.”

Government representatives portrayed the March 10 demonstration as
the work of agents provocateurs.

“A few provocateurs are trying to exploit the tragedy of soldiers’
deaths for their own personal ends,” Siyavush Novruzov, a leading
member of the governing Yeni Azerbaijan party who was present at
the protest as an observer, said. “They are trying to raise their
political profile ahead of the election.”

Eldar Sabiroglu, spokesman for Azerbaijan’s defence ministry, offered
a similar explanation.

“Certain groups have an interest in sowing distrust between the army
and society. They are trying to exploit the tears of the mothers of
the dead soldiers for their own foul ends,” he said.

Uzeri Jafarov, a retired lieutenant-colonel who heads an association
called Military Journalists, said the government was to blame for
failing to introduce the military reforms that were needed to end
the wave of deaths.

“Even if we appointed the most famous general in the world as defence
minister, the problem would not be solved until the laws are changed,”
he said.

Jafarov said the age of conscription should be raised from 18 to
20, and the army should move to being a professional rather than
conscripted force.

Elkhan Shahinoglu, head of the Atlas think tank, said the government
would be unwise to dismiss the protest as an opposition publicity
stunt.

“The voices of the dissatisfied must be heard, otherwise these
protests could turn into something more radical. There has to be
civilian control over what’s happening in the army. Every soldier’s
death must be fully investigated and the results made available to
society,” he said.

Natiq Jafarli, executive secretary of the opposition REAL movement,
doubted the government would do anything to improve life for
conscripts.

“The government has had both the opportunity and the preconditions
for pursuing army reforms, it did not make use of them,” Jafarli said.

“Presumably they think that any concessions in an election year will
look like weakness. We need to hold more protests.”

Seymur Kazimov is a freelance journalist in Azerbaijan. Shahin Rzayev
is IWPR’s Azerbaijan Country Director.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SAYS HIS FORMER RIVAL REFUSED TO HEAD UP COUNCIL ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

Interfax, Russia
March 19, 2013 Tuesday 3:09 PM MSK

Raffi Ovannisyan, leader of the opposition party Heritage, who
recently lost the presidential elections in Armenia, has refused
to head up the council on constitutional reform, Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan said.

“During our meeting with Ovannisyan, we reached an agreement to make
written proposals. I suggested creating a council on constitutional
reform headed by him, drawing up changes to the constitution,
and organizing a referendum,” Sargsyan told a press conference on
Monday evening.

“I sent my written proposals, but they came back to me with a crossed
out,” Sargsyan said.

The Armenian president also said he has asked Ovannisyan if he
believes he won the presidential elections, and the answer was
negative. However, Sargsyan said Ovannisyan believes all of the
members of his team are confident that the incumbent president did
not win the elections.

Ovannisyan is protesting the official outcome of the recent
presidential elections in Armenia. According to the Armenian Central
Elections Commission, 58.64% of the voters voted for incumbent
President Serzh Sargsyan and 36.74% voted for Sargsyan.

On Thursday, the Armenian Constitutional Court declined Ovannisyan’s
lawsuit seeking the invalidation of the election outcome. The
opposition politician went on hunger strike on March 10. ON February
21, Ovannisyan met with Sargsyan. Ovannisyan then told his supporters
that no agreements had been reached in that meeting.

av mk

ISRAELI PREMIER APOLOGIZED TO TURKISH COUNTERPART

20:59, 22 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 22, ARMENPRESS: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
of Israel on Friday apologized in a personal phone call to Turkey’s
prime minister for a deadly commando raid on a Turkish ship in 2010,
in a sudden reconciliation between the two countries that was partly
brokered by President Obama during his visit to Israel this week,
according to Israeli, Turkish and American officials.

As reports Armenpress, referring to NYT, in the call, Mr. Netanyahu
expressed regret for the raid, which took place as Israeli troops
were enforcing an aid embargo on Gaza, and offered compensation,
Turkish and Israeli officials said. And after years of holding out
for a public apology for the deaths, the Turkish Prime Minister,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accepted Israel’s gesture in the phone call.

Afterward, officials from both countries said that diplomatic relations
had been fully restored and that ambassadors would be reinstated.

In a statement, Mr. Obama welcomed the call, saying, “the United
States deeply values our relationships with both Turkey and Israel,
and we attach great importance to the restoration of positive relations
between them, in order to advance regional peace and security.” At
one point, Mr. Obama, just before leaving for Jordan, got on the phone
with both leaders as they spoke, one senior American official said.

ARTO TUNCBOYACIYAN LANCE DEUX CD PLEIN DE FRAECHEUR ET DE NOUVEAUTE

La presentation de deux nouveaux CD de l’Armenian Navy Band a eu
lieu dans le club “Yans” le 2 mars. Le fondateur du groupe Arto
Tuncboyaciyan a mentionne que ses tentatives de creation ces dernières
annees ont ete resumees dans les CD.

” La musique est comme une pomme, pour certains cela peut sembler
nouveau et a quelques autres pas si nouveau ” a declare Arto
Tuncboyaciyan. Il dit que le groupe ” pimente ” la musique moderne
avec des elements folkloriques.

ARMENPRESS

jeudi 21 mars 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

CONTESTED SOVEREIGNTY AND COMPETING IDENTITIES IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Atlantic Community
March 19 2013

by Alexandra Lewis
2013

As a territory that remains contested by Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Nagorno-Karabakh reflects a series of local, regional and international
power struggles that have emerged as part of a process of regional
realignment, brought about by the post-Soviet transitioning and rise
of new states and local powers after the 1990s. Nagorno-Karabakh’s
“no war/no peace stalemate” (MacGinty, 2010) and reoccurring conflict
offer a microcosm of regional development challenges that have been
brought to the fore in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse
in 1991. Among these issues, self-determination, state sovereignty
and political association with the values of key Western, Russian and
Middle Eastern actors in the global arena have emerged as central
themes in continuing violence. From Armenia to Azerbaijan, from
the Russian Federation to the United States of America, From Iran to
Turkey, and from the European Union to the United Nations, there are no
neutral actors or donors in the disputed territory. Yet despite growing
recent interest on the part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(NATO) and other important international strategic players, or perhaps
because of the wealth of competing narratives now associated with
the area, the Nagorno-Karabakh case study remains little understood.

Nagorno-Karabakh as a Post-Soviet Transitioning State

Nagorno-Karabakh is a land-locked mostly-mountainous region situated
on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Though an acting
self-administrating province with its own governance system, the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is not recognised as a country by the
European Union or the United Nations and is formally considered
Azerbaijani territory in the global political arena, connected to
Armenia by the “illegally” seized Lachin corridor (Kaldor, Oil and
Conflict, 2007). In Soviet times, the province was populated mostly
by Armenians, while the territory itself holds strong cultural and
historic meaning for Azeris (Economist, States of Independence,
2011). According to James Appathurai, NATO’s special representative
in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, Nagorno-Karabakh and the
wider South Caucasus are also an area of strategic importance
in terms of their geographic location and relevance for regional
natural resource transportation and supply (Trend, 2012). In 2005,
a new pipeline known as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline was opened
close to Nagorno-Karabakh’s peripheries, pumping Azerbaijani oil to
Turkey. The pipeline undermines Russia’s dominance in oil supply
to Europe, impacting European and Eastern European politics, but
also representing huge economic benefits for controlling countries
(Economist, Conflict on Ice, 2011). Potential damage to the pipeline
could hold severe economic repercussions for Azerbaijan and surrounding
territories, should regional stability deteriorate further. In the
post-Soviet period, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has therefore been
read as a struggle defined at times by issues of national identity,
security and material interests. With the rising involvement of Iran
and its growing support of Azerbaijan, the conflict has also been
read as a religious one (Flanagan, 2013).

Soviet Influence

The Nagorno-Karabakh area has a strong tradition of Russian influence
and intervention, which has shaped the course of its development and
contributed to its current political climate. The broader Karabakh
territory – which comprises Artsakh, Nagorno-Karabakh and the Southern
Kura-Steppes – became a Russian protectorate in 1805 and was formally
absorbed into the Russian Empire in 1828. Despite periodic power
struggles over Karabakh itself by competing states and Empires,
Russian influence over the region continued up until the 1990s.

Due to local concerns about the potential for religiously-based
prosecution under Russian administration, the 1800s saw the
wide-scale emigration of Azeri Muslims to more Islam-friendly Persian
territories, as well as the influx of Christian Armenians into
Nagorno-Karabakh. This explains why the Azerbaijani province is today
strongly linked to Azeri cultural heritage while being predominantly
populated by Armenians in the 1990s (Kaldor, Oil and Conflict, 2007).

After the 1917 Russian Revolution and the formation of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922, Nagorno-Karabakh became part
of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR), later
to be partitioned into Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Territorial
competition between Armenia and Azerbaijan often resulted in fighting
over the Karabakh region, however analysts find that these early
skirmishes have little in common with the on-going political stalemate
affecting Nagorno-Karabakh today (Kaldor, Oil and Conflict, 2007). In
1923, the Soviet Union placed the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
under Azeri control, having previously promised the territory to
Armenia. This last minute policy switch was likely an attempt to
maintain positive diplomatic relations with Turkey, which, at the
time, had strong economic and social ties with Azerbaijan (Cornell,
Turkey and the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, 1998). Despite local
hostility towards this arrangement, Nagorno-Karabakh remained largely
peaceful under Soviet control until the dissolution of the USSR,
though competing nationalist narratives of relevance to the current
conflict originated during this period.

The Post-Soviet Transition

The post-Soviet transition brought the Nagorno-Karabakh issue to the
fore in Armenia and Azerbaijan.

>>From 1988, Armenians began heavily protesting the territory’s
continued status as a province of Azerbaijan.

Initial skirmishes in 1988 resulted from retaliatory marches by Azeris
against Armenians communities. Early conflicts led immediately to
forced migration and displacement. The population of Nagorno-Karabakh,
which, at the time, was 76 per cent Armenian and 23 per cent Azeri,
was significantly radicalised by escalating violence (Human Rights
Watch, 1994). From 1989 to 1991, Armenia and Azerbaijan struggled
to redefine the administrative division of their territories. This
conflict escalated dramatically after 1991, when both coun tries
achieved independence from the Soviet Union. The former USSR was unable
to placate either side by granting Nagorno-Karabakh self-administration
capacities. This led to full-out war, genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Former Soviet troops, mercernaries, Afghan fighters, transnational
organised crime networks and a wealth of other foreign fighters
were also drawn into the conflict. By 1994, Armenia had brought
Nagorno-Karabakh, the Lachin corridor and other key Azerbaijani
territories under its control and a ceasefire was reached through
Russian mediation (Kaldor, Oil and Conflict, 2007).

Despite a peace agreement negotiated under the Bishkek Protocol,
skirmishes continue between

Armenia and Azerbaijan to this day. A number of international
instruments have now been developed to condemn the ethnic cleansing of
Azeri communities in the area, with Middle Eastern states especially
also rejecting Armenian control of seized lands as an illegal
occupation.

On-Going Development and Peace-Keeping Challenges

Though open warfare over Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and
Azerbaijan was avoided by the Bishkek Protocol and other negotiated
peace agreements, the current political situation in the Karabakh
region should be understood as a stalemate rather than a resolution
of hostilities. As recently as 2009, conferences and world summits
have been held in Munich and elsewhere in an attempt to reach
permanent solutions to Nagorno-Karabakh’s current challenges. However,
continuing threats of renewed violence on behalf Armenia, Azerbaijan
and the Government of Nagorno-Karabakh have consistently undermined
negotiations. On-going development and peace-keeping challenges stem
from the legacies of war, as well as from core issues relating to
the right to self-determination of the Karabakh area and to competing
constructions of national identities and oppositional cultures.

Svante E. Cornell writes that: “Since the beginning of 1988,” the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict “has led to over twenty thousand casualties
and almost one and a half million refugees, a refugee flow which has
resulted in a considerable crisis especially in Azerbaijan, with the
number of displaced persons numbering close to one million” (Cornell,
The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, 1999).

The scale of violence caused by genocide and forced displacement of
Nagorno-Karabakh communities in the 1990s has left a considerable need
for reconciliation at the local and regional levels, but efforts are
undermined by the continued politicisation of the Nagorno-Karabakh
territory. Mary Kaldor argues that:

“Since the ceasefire, the conflict has been immobilised or ‘frozen’,
providing a long-term obstacle to democracy. Despite early progress
in economic and political reforms, Armenia suffers from pervasive
militarisation and from economic isolation; the borders with both
Turkey and Azerbaijan are closed. In both countries, the dominance
of the Karabakh issue blocks democratic debate and the growth of
civil society. On both sides there are huge numbers of refugees
and/or displaced persons (DPs), and both sides manipulate them for
political purposes.”

(Kaldor, Oil and Conflict, 2007)

Resolution of these issues will not only require further investigation
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but will also necessitate
fostering greater understandings and appreciations for the nuances of
international aid and mediation strategies, especially with relation
to the ways in which different parties to the conflict are perceived
by competing regional and international donors.

Regional Relevance of the Nagorno-Karabakh Case Study

Being inherently linked to national narratives whose formations
were deeply impacted by Soviet Union administration, and later by
the collapse of the USSR, the Nagorno-Karabakh case study offers
a microcosm of regional development and peace-keeping challenges
that are connected to political restructuring and realignment from
hegemonic to multi-polar power relations in the South Caucasus. In
this sense, Nagorno- Karabakh offers a so-called “typical instance”
(Yin, 2004) of conflict resulting from contested borderlands in the
aftermath of Soviet administration.

About the Author

Alexandra Lewis is a doctoral student at the University of York,
Department of Politics, specialising in the area of young offending
in Yemen and other fragile states. She also works as an editorial
assistant at Stability: International Journal of Security and
Development.

Works Cited

Cornell, S. E. (1998). Turkey and the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh:
a delicate balance. Middle Eastern Studies, 34(1), 51-72.

Cornell, S. E. (1999). The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict. Uppsala:
Uppsala University.

Economist. (2011, December 28). Nagorno-Karabakh and Kosovo: States
of Independence. The Economist.

Economist. (2011, October 28). Nagorno-Karabakh: Conflict on Ice. The
Economist.

Flanagan, S. J. (2013). The Turkey-Russia-Iran Nexus: Eurasian Power
Dynamics. The Washington Quarterly, 36(1), 163-178.

Human Rights Watch. (1994). Azerbaijan: Seven Years of Conflict in
Nagorno-Karabakh. Helsinki: Human Rights Watch.

Kaldor, M. (2007). Oil and conflict: the case of. In T. L. Mary Kaldor,
Oil Wars. London: Pluto Press.

Kaldor, M. (2012). New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global
Era. Boston: Staford University Press.

MacGinty, R. (2010). No war, no peace: Why so many peace processes
fail to deliver peace.

International Politics(47), 154-162.

Trend. (2012, March 16). NATO: Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be
resolved quickly and legally.

Trend News Agency. Baku, Azerbaijan.

Yin, R. K. (2004). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. London:
Sage.

Download PDF: Contested Sovereignty and
Competing Identities in Nagorno-Karabakh:

AZERBAIJAN CHALLENGES INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO REJECT “ILLEGITIMATE” ARMENIAN ELECTION

Sacramento Bee, California
March 19 2013

By Azerbaijan Monitor

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 19, 2013 — /PRNewswire/ —

The Head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary
Assembly, Elkhan Suleymanov, called the recent elections in
Armenia “illegitimate” due to the continued violation of human
rights of one million ethnic Azerbaijanis who became refugees and
internally displaced people in the wake of Armenia’s occupation of
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other Azerbaijani districts more than 20
years ago.

“We are concerned and deeply regret the fact that the international
community positively evaluates the presidential elections in Armenia
in the light of democracy, human rights, and rule of law,” Suleymanov
said. “After all, that country conducted an armed aggression against
its neighbour Azerbaijan and still keeps 20 percent of Azerbaijani
territory under military occupation.”

Resolutions by the UN, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European
Parliament calling for Armenia’s immediate, complete and unconditional
withdrawal from the occupied territories have not been enforced.

Suleymanov said his nation is further troubled that the recent Armenian
elections returned to power President Serzh Sargsyan, a former military
commander who “committed a brutal genocide against innocent civilians
in the town of Khojaly in Azerbaijan on 26th February of 1992”.

International observers had already found flaws with the poll,
in which one candidate went on hunger strike to protest campaign
violations and another was shot and wounded.

Sargsyan won the election against what the New York Times described as
“relatively weak competition”. It reported how the challenger Andreas
Ghukasian staged the hunger strike and another, Paruir A. Airikyan,
was shot in “what the authorities described as an assassination
attempt”. It further noted that supporters of President Sargsyan were
involved in the “inappropriate use of government resources to promote
his candidacy”.

The re-election of Sargsyan will do nothing to promote peace in the
region, Suleymanov said, given that President Sargsyan “acknowledges
that he is one of the authors and participants of the bloody ethnic
crimes against civilians”.

In a challenge to the international community Suleymanov said:
“We call on the international community and the official election
observation missions to consider the presidential elections in Armenia
and the election of Serzh Sargsyan illegitimate.”

He also demanded the European Union block the signing of the
Association Agreement with Armenia until the occupation of Azerbaijani
territories cease and urged the issue to be discussed by the OSCE,
PACE and European Parliament.

SOURCE Azerbaijan Monitor

Read more here:

ZHIRAYR SEFILYAN: IT IS NECESSARY TO SPECIFY ACTIONS AND FURTHER PLANS OF PAN-ARMENIAN MOVEMENT

ARMINFO
Wednesday, March 20, 19:35

The goal of Raffi Hovannisian’s movement is not only to change the
power, but also to introduce system changes, Zhirayr Sefilyan, member
of the initiative group of Sardarapat Movement, hero of the Karabakh
war, said at an open sitting of the Civil Council.

“It is necessary to specify our actions and further plans. Luckily, we
have found the mechanisms that will unite our citizens”, he stressed.

He also pointed out that a new way of struggle has been found, which
meets the Constitution.

Sefilyan added that he would advise Raffi Hovannisian not to start
a hunger strike and, instead, to continue visiting the regions of
Armenia and consolidate the people around this movement. The politician
advocates ignoring the swear-in ceremony of Serzh Sargsyan on April 9.

Public figure Garegin Chugaszyan, another member of Sardarapat
Movement, said that people deal with the authoritarian regime, which
should be fluently replaced by democracy. “The movement aims to remove
the current regime from the power and to switch to democracy”, he said.

To note, Raffi Hovannisian’s parents have come from the United States
to visit their son, who is on hunger strike in Liberty Square.

ARMENIAN ENERGY MINISTER SAYS PRICE OF RUSSIAN GAS MAY RISE OR STAY UNCHANGED

YEREVAN, March 20. / ARKA /. Armenia’s energy and natural resources
minister Armen Movsisyan said today he could not say whether Russia
would raise the price of natural gas shipped to Armenia across Georgia
or not . “As a matter of fact, we rule out nothing- it may rise or
remain unchanged,” he said to journalists in parliament.

According to him, the negotiations on the price of gas are now in the
final phase, and once they are over, the public will be informed of
their results.

According to some speculations in Armenian media, natural gas price
in Armenia may rise to $280 per 1,000 cubic meters from April 2013.

Currently, Armenia buys gas for $180 per 1,000 cubic meters from
Gazprom. The reports claimed that an agreement to that end would be
signed after February 18 presidential election in Armenia.

Armen Movsisyan said earlier that Armenia ‘will be paying the best
price of gas among other CIS countries.’

Russian gas is imported and distributed by ArmRosGazprom. It was
established in 1997. Russian Gazprom holds 80 percent in it, the rest
is owned by Armenian government.-0-

ARMENIA, GEORGIA AND MOLDOVA TO GET ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM EU

20:11, 20 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 20, ARMENPRESS: The European Commission has presented
its annual European Neighborhood Package. The package will be a key
factor in determining how much EU funds that will be granted to the
individual member states later this year. This year’s report shows
that Georgia, Moldova, and to a certain extent Armenia have reformed
the most in the recent year and will benefit from additional funds
from Brussels, reports Armenpress referring to Radio Free Europe/
Radio Liberty. European Neighborhood Package details political and
economic development in its six eastern neighbors, as well as countries
in the southern Mediterranean.

The commission has urged the Armenian government to step up its work
to implement and enforce human rights legislation. The report also
underlined the need to address shortcomings in Armenia’s recent
presidential elections. It stated that freedoms of assembly and
expression were generally respected but media independence remained
insufficient.

The report also took note of Yerevan’s efforts to reform its judiciary
and fight corruption. On the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the EU urged
Armenia to intensify efforts with Azerbaijan to reach an agreement
and ensure “unimpeded access” for EU representatives to the area and
surrounding regions.

Stefan Fuele, the EU commissioner for enlargement and neighborhood
policy, said in Brussels that the EU needs to increase efforts to
help the countries in the report meet goals to become members of the
European Union.

“The Eastern Partnership countries need our continued support to
deliver on their commitments, and it is my conviction that they
deserve an ambitious future,” Fuele said.

Despite the criticism, the EU still said that Armenia qualifies for its
“more for more” principle in which extra reforms lead to additional
EU funds for the upcoming year.

JOHN DEERE INTENDS TO INTENSIFY ITS ACTIVITY IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, March 20. /ARKA/. John Deere, one of the largest manufacturers
of agricultural machinery, intends to intensify its activity in
Armenia, Regional Sales Manager Dirk Stratmann said Wednesday as met
with Armenian Deputy Agriculture Minister Robert Makaryan in Yerevan.

The ministry’s press office quoted Stratmann as saying that he want
to get information about particular demand for agricultural machinery
in Armenia.

Makaryan and Stratmann arranged to conduct certain studies, on which
John Deere’s offers to the ministry will be grounded.

John Deere started his partnership with Armenia’s CARD Agroservice
in 2010.

Some 70 pieces of agricultural machinery made by John Deere are used
in Armenia now.

Armenia has 14,683 tractors and 1,362 combine harvesters. -0-