Speaker Said To Appoint Poacher Director Of Reserve

SPEAKER SAID TO APPOINT POACHER DIRECTOR OF RESERVE

06 November 2012, 09:51

We have learned that Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan is likely to have one of
his friends appointed as director of Khosrov reserve who is known in
Ararat as a professional poacher. A lot of destruction in this reserve
is said to have been caused by him, including the burnt fir trees.

According to environmentalisms, the guest house the construction of
which was stopped after intensive protests of environmentalists belongs
to Hovik Abrahamyan. Apparently, by appointing his friend, Abrahamyan
wants to continue the construction and run a hunt business. Moreover,
there are already hunting trip offers in the web inviting to hunt on
disappearing species of animals in Armenia.

http://www.lragir.am/index.php/eng/0/country/view/27962

L’Ambassadeur Americain En Azerbaidjan Visite L’Eglise Armenienne De

L’AMBASSADEUR AMERICAIN EN AZERBAIDJAN VISITE L’EGLISE ARMENIENNE DE BAKOU MAIS NE PEUT VISITER LES VESTIGES DE DJOUGHA
Gari

armenews.com
mardi 6 novembre 2012

L’ambassadeur americain en Azerbaïdjan Richard Morningstar a lance
un appel en vue de la preservation du patrimoine et de l’heritage
culturel dans la region du Sud Caucase. Le diplomate a precise qu’avant
meme d’avoir ete nomme a son poste d’ambassadeur, il avait entrepris
d’etudier l’histoire et la culture du pays et visite, entre autre
sites, les monuments de la province du Nakhitchevan, afin de mieux
connaître la diversite de son heritage culturel. A cet egard sujet,
il a indique qu’il avait evoque avec des officiels azeris le sort
du cimetière armenien de Djoulfa ou Djougha, profane au debut des
annees 2000 par l’armee azerie qui avait vandalise et detruit des
khatchkars vieux de plus de cinq siècles parfois. M.Morningstar a
deplore d’avoir dû renoncer a son projet de visiter le site, les
autorites azeries ayant alors invoque des `raisons de securite’.

L’ambassadeur a souligne la necessite de preserver l’heritage culturel
dans la region, estimant que le respect du patrimoine etant l’une des
cles de la paix. Il s’est dit encourage par les efforts de l’Armenie
et de l’Azerbaïdjan en vue de proteger leurs patrimoines respectifs.

Le dossier pourtant accablant du cimetière de Djougha ne semble pas
avoir manifestement choque outre mesure le diplomate americain,
qui a prefere s’attarder sur sa visite de l’Eglise armenienne de
Gregoire l’Illuminateur a Bakou, dont l’etat de conservation serait
l’illustration des efforts deployes par les autorites azeries pour
preserver le patrimoine armenien ; il a ainsi loue la politique
de Bakou visant a conserver et restaurer les manuscrits anciens
armeniens. L’eglise armenienne de Bakou a ete edifiee en 1887, pour
accueillir les fidèles de la plus importante communaite armenienne du
Sud Caucase après celle de Tbilissi. Depuis les pogromes de 1988-1990
qui ont vide Bakou et l’Azerbaïdjan de leurs habitants armeniens,
l’eglise etait vouee a la disparition et n’a ete conservee que pour
servir de faire valoir a un regime azeri qui se dit tolerant. Une
tolerance de facade donc, et au prix de la plus grande discretion,
puisque la croix qui surmontait l’edifice a ete retiree en 1990.

Ankara: Turkey Rushed To Paris But The French Kiss Is Not Coming

TURKEY RUSHED TO PARIS BUT THE FRENCH KISS IS NOT COMING

Hurriyet Daily News
Nov 6 2012
Turkey

I really doubt if there was any other country that rejoiced so much
when Francois Hollande was elected as France’s new president in May.

This came after the French Constitutional Court’s February decision
repealing the law criminalizing denial of the Armenians’ claims
of genocide.

After the terrible Sarko years, a light at the end of the tunnel
appeared to put relations back on track. Turkey ended sanctions
against France in June following a meeting between Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hollande.

“We can see that Hollande has the will to work through problems,”
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had said, explaining the logic behind
the decision and defining the future of Hollande’s presidency as a
new page in bilateral relations.

Ankara at that time ignored statements made by Hollande during the
electoral campaign that he would seek ways to rework the denial bill
despite the court’s ruling. There is no evidence that Hollande might
have discreetly told Erdogan that he would not take action about his
campaign promise and gain time by telling the Armenians that they
are looking for a way to bypass the country’s highest legal authority.

Ankara might have thought that the court’s ruling had so well buried
the denial bill that it was safe to think Hollande will drag its feet
for a long time and thus decided to lift the sanctions.

The rationale behind the decision was also to encourage Hollande not
to revisit the Armenian issue, along with the belief that the move
would also serve as an incentive for the Socialist president to lift
Sarkozy’s veto over EU accession talks.

Actually, the satisfaction of seeing Hollande winning the elections
stemmed more from the hope of seeing the French lift their veto
over five chapters on accession talks than the hope of seeing a
more pro-Turkish approach on the Armenian problem. The belief that
Hollande’s staff was more aware of the strategic importance of Turkey,
and less fanatical in their objections to Turkey’s entry into the EU,
naturally led to the expectation that Hollande would take the decision
to lift the veto.

Well, that decision has not come yet. The French are saying it would
have been untimely to do so during the Greek Cypriot presidency. Fair
enough. But Ankara is not getting reassuring messages from the French
that the expected decision will come right after the end of the Greek
Cypriot presidency. The French so far have told the Turks they might
hold out an invitation to start an “exercise to talk about it.”

What’s clear is that the climate in relations has changed.

Turkey-bashing has ended; there is much better dialogue on regional
and international issues and an especially intense cooperation on
the Syrian crisis.

But we have to recall that Ankara told Nicolas Sarkozy’s France that
so long as the veto is there, the French should not expect bilateral
ties to thrive as if there is no abnormality on the EU side.

The current situation is not sustainable and the “Hollande Spring”
in bilateral ties might come to an end if the French don’t make up
their mind by winter.

November/06/2012

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-rushed-to-paris-but-the-french-kiss-is-not-coming.aspx?pageID=238&nID=34028&NewsCatID=412

Why Armenia Rejects Russian Integration Initiatives

WHY ARMENIA REJECTS RUSSIAN INTEGRATION INITIATIVES

Vestnik Kavkaza
Nov 5 2012
Russia

Author: Yekaterina Tesemnikova, Moscow, and David Stepanyan, Yerevan,
exclusive to VK

Today, one of the main topics on the agenda of the Russian-Armenian
relations is the discussion about the possibility of joining the
Eurasian Union for Yerevan. And now the idea of the benefits of
the Eurasian integration project compared to the CIS, which was,
according to the characteristic of Vladimir Putin, the means of
civilized divorce, is increasingly voiced. According to director of
the Armenian branch of the CIS Institute Alexander Makarov, “when the
CIS was created, there was the need to address a number of issues –
on the one hand, the need to maintain the bonds that had already been
established, on the other hand – the ability to support the economies,
which were interdependent, and third – the desire to preserve a
certain civilization, a common space, which was created not only in the
Soviet period, but before”. Speaking about the reasons why the CIS had
failed to become a successful integration project, Makarov said that
“this is a sharp decline in the level of the economy, the level of
GDP in each of the countries, the presence of internal instability
and external conflicts, and, in the case of Armenia, closed borders.

Accordingly, the integration project, which functioned in different
directions or at different vectors, was at the level of some
declarative statements for a long time. Nowadays the core elements are
those that are economic in nature and that can lead to real tangible
results, including from the point of view of economic growth and the
impact on the socio-economic situation in the country. Integration
process will go with great success in the presence of a specific core
filling, which can positively influence, in particular, the economic
cooperation and the level of economic development. If similar elements
of economic integration able to lead to the growth of macroeconomic
indicators which, accordingly, may later lead to a positive impact
on the overall economic situation in each country are found, the
economic component will be able to become the basis for further
political integration project”.

It is the dominant economic component that makes experts talk
about the prospects of a Eurasian Union. However, the question of
participation of Armenia in it is still open. Yerevan watches the new
integration initiative of Russia with great care, which sometimes
causes confusion in Moscow. Thus, the Russian political analyst
Mikhail Leontyev said that Armenia had been created in its present
form only thanks to Russia and continued to exist due to it. “Total
dependence on Russian gas and Russian transfers”, which has been
criticized by experts from the IMF, not to mention the power umbrella,
is a direct illustration to this”, Leontiev said. According to him,
“Armenia undertook highly regarded efforts to liberalize the economy
and attract foreign investment. However, there has been no investment
boom, and it is not expected. Even the powerful diaspora around the
world, including in Europe and the U.S., not much helped to lift the
Armenian economy. It rather facilitated the exodus of Armenians from
the country. Against this background, it is strange to hear nonsense
from Armenia about the “European choice” and a stark warning of the
German ambassador about the threat to this choice in the case of
Armenia’s participation in the Eurasian integration project. In fact,
Armenian opposition to reintegration is the best illustration to the
lameness of post-Soviet elites doomed to confront the real national
interests of their people. Armenia should be interested in this
process more than Russia, because an alternative for it is not the
“European choice” but the “Turkish choice”.

However, it should be recognized that the possibility of a real
integration with Russia has always been imperative for Armenia.

Armenian society is sympathetic to the Russian-proposed integration
initiatives in the former Soviet space. A special role in this
is played by a deep and multilayered nature of Russian-Armenian
historical, civilizational and cultural ties. Even critics have
to admit that, according to opinion polls, the vast majority of the
population of Armenia is committed to the development of relations with
Russia and supports the integration trends. All this combined with
the historical memory of the Armenians gives hope that the society
in Armenia respectfully treats Russia’s initiative to develop the
Eurasian cooperation not only in the economic sphere. The question
is the terms. In general, both Russia and Europe, and the United
States, and any other country in the world, always and everywhere,
above all, pursues its own interests. And that’s OK. So before the
Armenians think about the integration, they need to think about their
own interests. But in order to do it seriously and on the basis of
pragmatism they should try to answer a simple question: who needs
whom more: Russia needs Armenia, or Armenia needs Russia?

In Armenia, the northern ally is accused of establishing closer ties
with Baku, neglecting allied relations with Armenia, arms supplies to
Azerbaijan, desire to make friends with Turkey through concessions,
which in turn will be made at the expense of Armenia. Yerevan believes
that Moscow does not appreciate the fact that Armenia has long been
its ally in the South Caucasus. The reluctance to compensate for
costs and losses incurred by Armenia refusing to go to the West in
favor of Russia is also not approved, as well as the unwillingness
to write off foreign debt, as it was done, for example, with respect
to Kyrgyzstan, and to reduce the price of gas for its most loyal ally.

In turn, Moscow accuses Armenia of its total dependence on Russian
transfers, and Mikhail Leontyev wonders what would happen to the
economy of Armenia, if the price of gas had been the same as the
price for Lithuania and Germany. Moscow reminds Yerevan of the
Russian security umbrella covering Armenia surrounded by Turkey and
Azerbaijan, and of the blockade, of the fact that without Russian
partnership the economic situation of the republic would have been
very disappointing. Finally, the Armenian leadership is accused of
unwillingness to join the most ambitious project of Vladimir Putin,
the Eurasian Union and the Customs Union.

Note that all this time Armenia has been bought Russian gas at a
reduced price; however, the republic paid for these prices by selling
national gas transmission system and the 5th block of Hrazdan thermal
power plant to the Russians at the same reduced price. A huge role in
bilateral economic relations is played by Russian loans and, transfer
payments by Armenian citizens living in Russia. By the way, Armenian
government now is said to ask Russia for a new, this time billion
loan. Finally, there is military cooperation, in which, above all,
Armenia is interested (for Armenia, this area is the most important
one in our relationship, given that Azerbaijan today is the undisputed
champion in the CIS for the purchase of weapons). Moscow has already
supplied to Yerevan latest S-300, replacing outdated S-125.

Meanwhile, Russian military bases remain in Armenia, and in case of
need this fact will significantly facilitate arms supplies.

As you can see, the evidence is in favor of the Eurasian integration
of Armenia. However, the vagueness of the position of the official
Yerevan concerning the idea of a Eurasian Union is reasonable. And
the reason is not the pressure of the West and not even the hope of
receiving 1.5 billion euros in Europe, allegedly promised in case
of irreversible movement of Armenia on the path of “strengthening
democracy.” In fact, the government of Sargsyan expects from Moscow
guarantees of substantial financial, economic and political support
till the presidential elections, including gas prices acceptable for
Armenia. Former President Robert Kocharian enjoyed such Moscow’s
support, no matter what the price for it was. Thus, it seems that
Yerevan will specify its position on the Eurasian Union only when it
receives an appropriate message from Moscow, which has not yet been
received. Probably Moscow, in turn, expects Yerevan to first declare
its desire to join the Eurasian Union. However, given that, without
getting anything in return, Armenia will hardly dare to go to the
break with the EU against the approaching completion of negotiations
on visa facilitation and free trade zone with the European Union,
Moscow is waiting in vain. And Yerevan, of course, can give up the
only real level of European integration in the case of Armenia and
other CIS countries, but only for the respective concessions by Moscow.

Persuading Armenia to participate in the Russian integration project is
certainly possible, but only by applying the so-called “soft power”,
popularizing and economically justifying the benefits of carrying
out the idea of Eurasian Union.

http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/33329.html

Anca Calls On Morningstar To Reject Baku’s Ban On Access To Djulfa C

ANCA CALLS ON MORNINGSTAR TO REJECT BAKU’S BAN ON ACCESS TO DJULFA CEMETERY

Monday, November 5th, 2012

Djulfa monument destruction (Graphic by Simon Maghakyan)

Urges U.S. Ambassador to Keep Pressing for Visit to Desecrated
Christian Armenian Religious Site

WASHINGTON-The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has
called on U.S. Ambassador to Baku, Richard Morningstar, to honor
his commitment to the U.S. Senate to secure access to the site, in
Djulfa, Nakhichevan, of the Azerbaijani government’s 2005 video-taped
destruction of a medieval Armenian cemetery housing thousands of
intricately carved Armenian stone-crosses (khatchkars).

In a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Baku Monday, Ambassador
Morningstar stated that, when he was recently in Nakhchivan, he
“discussed at length with local authorities one such site in Julfa,
where, according to evidence from credible sources, an ancient Armenian
cemetery was desecrated or destroyed. I regret that the authorities,
citing security reasons, made it impossible for me to visit the site
and personally see what is there.” Read the complete text.

al_heritage.pdf

“Ambassador Morningstar cannot take no for an answer,” said ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “He can either keep knocking on
the Ilham Aliyev’s door until this baseless ban is lifted, or simply
travel to the site of the Djulfa cemetery on his own. Either way,
it’s clear that, as Americans, we should neither sell arms to an
Azerbaijani military that destroys cemeteries, nor send any aid to a
government in Baku that blocks U.S. ambassadors from visiting sites
of peace-time cultural desecration.”

In response to questions by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) during his confirmation hearing, in June of
2012, Ambassador Morningstar had committed to “make every effort
to visit the cemetery and that any kind of desecration such as that
is unacceptable, outrageous and I will do my best to get there, and
soon.” He also said he would: “amplify our concerns to the Government
of Azerbaijan and stress the need to respect and safeguard Armenian
religious and cultural sites in Azerbaijan.”

In his recent statement regarding Djulfa, Ambassador Morningstar spoke
of Azerbaijan’s “diverse cultural heritage,” while remaining silent
on the virulently and violently anti-Armenia policies of the Aliyev
government, including its escalating pattern of fatal cross-border
attacks, and its recent pardon and promotion of Ramil Safarov, who
axed to death an Armenian in his sleep during a NATO-sponsored peace
training program in Hungary.

Click here for more information about the history of the Djulfa
Armenian cemetery and its destruction, during peace-time, by uniformed
soldiers, acting under orders.

Click here for a timeline on the international response to the Djulfa
Cemetery destruction and Azerbaijan’s obstruction of an investigation.

 

http://asbarez.com/106331/anca-calls-on-morningstar-to-reject-bakus-ban-on-access-to-djulfa-cemetery/
http://photos.state.gov/libraries/azerbaijan/749085/press/Morningstar_cultur
http://www.djulfa.com.
http://www.anca.org/assets/graphics/2011/djulfa_timeline.pdf

Armenian-American Film "Here" Featured At Florida Festival

ARMENIAN-AMERICAN FILM “HERE” FEATURED AT FLORIDA FESTIVAL

November 5, 2012 – 19:40 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Last month, Cinema Paradiso, Fort Lauderdale, FL,
premiered “HERE,” an Armenian-American film, at Ft. Lauderdale’s
International Film Festival (FLIFF).

Arsine Kaloustian-Rosenthal, Florida Armenians (FLArmenians)
Communications Director, opened the program by introducing the Armenian
culture and FLArmenians to the diverse audience in attendance. She
explained that the Armenian community has been present in Florida
for over 50 years and that St. David was the first Armenian Church
in Florida.

She added, “Today we have 5 Churches and 2 mission parishes with
approximately 30,000 Armenian-American across the great State of
Florida.”

Kaloustian-Rosenthal then introduced renowned Armenian musician Joe
Zeytoonian, who played Armenian melodies with the Oud.

Inspired by the Armenian scenery displayed in the film, Arsine
Kaloustian-Rosenthal expressed, “The film provided us a very intimate
window into the landscape of Armenia – something many of us had never
seen before. For a few hours, director Braden King transported us
from the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival to the land of our ancestors. It
was a lovely escape.”

When asked why he chose Armenia as the landscape for this film, the
director has explained, “As I explored further, Armenia – its history,
landscape, location, people and culture – became another collaborator,
a third co-writer. When I visited for the first time in 2004, it was
instantly clear that Armenia was the most precise lens through which
to focus in on HERE’s story and themes. Within the first few hours
of that very first trip, there was no place else to go.”

Baku’s Military Adventure Will Lead To Nkr’s Recognition Not Only By

BAKU’S MILITARY ADVENTURE WILL LEAD TO NKR’S RECOGNITION NOT ONLY BY ARMENIA BUT ALSO INTERNATIONALLY

Panorama.am
05/11/2012

Baku in the person of spokesperson for Azerbaijani President Novruz
Mamedov has lately made an unsuccessful attempt to put into circulation
propositions misinforming society about the course of the Karabakh
conflict settlement and Azerbaijan’s achievements on the international
arena. Panorama.am asked Artak Apitonyan, head of the Department of
External Relations of RA President’s Administration, to comment on
this situation.

“First, it is important to stress that the Artsakh Republic
(Nagorno-Karabakh Republic: editor) has not been yet recognized by
the Republic of Armenia, which is the most serious compromise by
the Armenian side for the sake of the negotiated settlement of the
conflict. This fact, for its part, was highly appreciated by the
international community and that part of the civilized world which
is interested in peaceful settlement of the conflict,” said Apitonyan.

The head of the Department of External Relations of RA President’s
Administration also called attention to the fact that things have
started moving in NKR’s recognition, which is confirmed by both
official documents adopted still only on the level of regions and
swiftly growing number of visits of foreign politicians to Artsakh.

According to him, the international community in fact sends a “message”
to Azerbaijan that the “status quo” will not work for Azerbaijan
and should Azerbaijan undertake a military adventure, Artsakh will
be formally recognized not only by the Republic of Armenia but also
internationally. Apitonyan stressed that the Azerbaijani President’s
Administration should understand this, however, the adequacy of Baku’s
perception of the situation remains in doubt given recent publications
in Azerbaijani media on the beginning of collection of signatures under
petition in the name of President Serzh Sargsyan, which duplicated the
very propositions of Azeri propaganda that have been refuted long ago.

This is especially evident in Mamedov’s statements on the imaginary
success or growth of Azerbaijan’s authority on the international
arena. “Within several months of the current year only, Azerbaijan
managed to become a target of international criticism for three times,
making headlines in top media outlets and becoming a subject of reports
by international human rights organizations first in connection with
corruption scandals and Eurovision and later in connection with the
heroization of murderer Ramil Safarov, and now also in connection
with scandals over the statues of its late leader Heydar Aliyev in
different countries of the world. Baku has a strange idea of success
and authority on the international arena,” said the representative
of RA President’s Administration.

Apitonyan also advised his colleagues in the Azerbaijani President’s
Administration to refrain from using the epithet “spoilt child” when
referring to Armenia in order to avoid revealing their subconscious
motivations.

Banking Oligarchy Vs Criminal Oligarchy

BANKING OLIGARCHY VS CRIMINAL OLIGARCHY
Naira Hayrumyan

Comments – Monday, 05 November 2012, 15:16

The anti-corruption meeting of the government passed softly and safely
although it seemed that the civil society and the opposition would
help Tigran Sargsyan to deal with this scourge. It even seemed that
the prime minister invited representatives of the civil society on
purpose so that they finally said out loud what has long been said.

It is said that corruption is not the disease but the essence of the
ruling system. The system is built on corruption, and if at least one
fact of large kickback is revealed the entire system will collapse
like a house of cards.

Corruption is when money taken by the cops from drivers reaches the
president, when the state budget is already pre-shared between the
ministers and other officials and they just “spend” the budget as
individuals.

Armenia has a classical system of thieves, and even if it is not
led by a “criminal-in-law” but a very intelligent person he or she
is adjusted to the system, anyway. It has already been stated that
after the collapse of the Soviet Union which formally lay on the
patriotic and democratic platform and a parallel system of thieves,
the government of Armenia has started operating only by the system of
criminals. And corruption in the system is legal. Moreover, it helps
to make the “common fund” and the richness of the members of the
“mutual collective responsibility group”.

In neighboring Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili said before the recent
election that his greatest fear is the return of thieves whom he with
everyone’s approval has expelled. The fresh prime minister Ivanishvili
reassured him, saying that he was not going to make criminals return
to Georgia. Time will show how everything will go but it is clear
that Georgia has been able to eradicate corruption only because the
thieves’ system was broken.

Tigran Sargsyan whom the president has “requested” to eradicate
corruption, is trying to eliminate the system of criminals and build
the government of financial and banking capital. The difference is
small. This is just a banal transfer of money from industrialists to
financiers. In fact, a fight is underway in Armenia at the moment.

In any case the outcome of this struggle will be bad for the citizens
because the two systems consist lawful or unlawful ways of picking
our pockets. If the old criminal oligarchy wins, we will continue to
live under the law of thieves and corruption which have penetrated into
the kitchen even. If the banking oligarchy wins, everything can become
a bit more legitimate at the lower and middle levels but the economy
will become a big financial bubble which may burst at any moment.

http://www.lragir.am/index.php/eng/0/comments/view/27958

Abrahamyan’s `tires’ and Torosyan’s `underwear’

Abrahamyan’s `tires’ and Torosyan’s `underwear’

2012-11-03 12:51:18

Yesterday Hovik Abrahamyan made a sensational discovery. The NA
speaker stated that there is no corruption in the legislative body of
Armenia and it can’t be so, `there is corruption in Armenian executive
and judicial bodies but never in the legislative’.
If the Parliament Speaker says this kind of things than obviously he
knows something. Only simple people don’t know the most primitive
things and represent everything wrongly. For example, when last year
the same Hovik Abrahamyan resigned and took with him five armored
tires bought during his tenure, people started slandering like `aha he
abused his official position, bought armored tires each with AMD 1,2
million, now when the NA speaker is Samvel Nikolyan he took them and
snatched away’. And everyone qualified that nothing but corruption. In
fact, it is not corruption at all but charity done with all honesty
and open heart: from time to time it’s worth paying attention to you,
do charity; it is not only helping others, isn’t it?
However, that is special only few people, the `chosen’ ones who are
inspired with the noble idea of charity to such an extent that
sometimes are in confusion and instead of helping others help only
themselves. Some years ago Tigran Torosyan, the NA former speaker, was
also inspired with similar noble ideas. Torosyan’s charity has even
infected his wife. Thus, wife of the ex-speaker once visited an
expensive underclothes shop and being not able to resist temptation
bought underwear of several millions and urged to receive the check
from the NA budget. And this, simple people and the ones who are not
able to understand `chosen’ ones, qualified it as corruption –
official position abuse and only now, only with virtue of Hovik
Abrahamyan, the current NA speaker, everything was clarified and put
in its place.

Lusine Kesoyan

http://lurer.com/?p=52846&l=en

War between Armenia and Azerbaijan impossible to prevent completely

War between Armenia and Azerbaijan impossible to prevent completely, expert says

tert.am
17:43 – 03.11.12

Political analyst Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan thinks it is impossible to
completely prevent war with Azerbaijan. `There are no factors today on
the basis of which it is possible to start or not start the war,’ the
political analyst said, speaking to reporters today.

`The unexpected resumption is a crucial issue. I am convinced that all
the parties are not interested in resuming the war understanding its
destructive consequences,’ Melik-Shahnazaryan said.

According to the analyst three important factors have changed in
Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process. The first is that after Safarov’s
case the international community understood that Karabagh can never be
part of Azerbaijan.

`The second was the statement of Armenia’s president that the security
in the region is kept thanks to the potential of Armenian military
forces,’ he said.

The third factor, he said, is the recognition of Nagorno Karabakh by
Australia’s largest state. `Of course it is not an act of state
recognition but it made Turkey and Azerbaijan be seriously concerned,’
Melik-Shahnazaryan said.

He said recognition of South Sudan by Azerbaijan was an important
factor as it was the first case when Azerbaijan recognized the right
of people to self-determination.

He said each party has its expectations. If for the Minsk group it is
maintenance of the created situation, the status-quo impedes
Azerbaijan and the latter wants to do everything for the negotiations
to fail, be moved to other format and pave way for Turkey to
participate in the political processes.

`These negotiations give Armenia an opportunity to strengthen the
liberated territories and the defense line. It is impossible to
prevent the war. I have always been against Armenia’s withdrawal from
negotiations. I am for joining Karabakh to Armenia,’ he said.