Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

GEORGIA, ARMENIA DISCUSS REGIONAL ECONOMIC COOPERATION

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Dec 13 2013

13 December 2013 – 1:54pm

Yerevan has hosted the 29th session of foreign ministers of BSEC
members. The Georgian delegation was headed by David Jalagania,
Deputy Foreign Minister, and included Tengiz Sharmanashvili, Georgian
Ambassador to Armenia, Georgy Meskheli, Head of the section for
multilateral and regional economic cooperation of the department for
international economic relations of the Foreign Ministry, and Akakiy
Lomidze, an advisor of the section, Trend reports.

Foreign ministers discussed regional economic cooperation and plans
for further collaboration. The meeting concluded Armenian chairmanship
in the BSEC.

Jalagania met the Armenian foreign minister and discussed bilateral
relations, noting the importance of organizing high-ranking visits
in the near future. Armenia expressed hope that Georgian Foreign
Minister Maya Panjikidze will visit Yerevan in early 2014.

Yerevan has hosted the 29th session of foreign ministers of BSEC
members. The Georgian delegation was headed by David Jalagania,
Deputy Foreign Minister, and included Tengiz Sharmanashvili, Georgian
Ambassador to Armenia, Georgy Meskheli, Head of the section for
multilateral and regional economic cooperation of the department for
international economic relations of the Foreign Ministry, and Akakiy
Lomidze, an advisor of the section, Trend reports.

Foreign ministers discussed regional economic cooperation and plans
for further collaboration. The meeting concluded Armenian chairmanship
in the BSEC.

Jalagania met the Armenian foreign minister and discussed bilateral
relations, noting the importance of organizing high-ranking visits
in the near future. Armenia expressed hope that Georgian Foreign
Minister Maya Panjikidze will visit Yerevan in early 2014.

From: Baghdasarian

Davutoglu receives `The Armenian Genocide: Eye-Witness Testimonies of
Survivors’ book in Yerevan 18:20, 13 December, 2013

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 13,

ARMENPRESS. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu
received a unique gift in Yerevan. The Turkish version of `The
Armenian Genocide: Eye-Witness Testimonies of Survivors’ book was
handed to him. `Armenpress’ reports that the author of the book, Lead
Researcher at the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography at the
Academy of Sciences in Armenia, Verjine Svazlian handed it to the
Turkish Minister through one of the members of the Turkish
delegation. The suggestion was heard by broadcaster Nver Mnatsakanyan
at the course of `Interview’ TV program on Public TV Company of
Armenia when the author of the book Verjine Svazlian was in the
reception-room of the program. She accepted the suggestion and asked
to hand the book to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Ahmet
Davutoglu. Voluminous `The Armenian Genocide: Eye-Witness Testimonies
of Survivors’ has been introduced to the international community in
the Turkish language. The book, which was published in the Armenian
and English languages yet in 2011, encloses 700 eye-witness
testimonies of the Armenian Genocide survivors. Prominent Turkish
human rights advocate Ragip Zarakolu has also published the book in
Turkey and attended the presentation of the book held on December 10
in Yerevan’s National Library. Verjine Svazlian, Lead Researcher at
the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography at the Academy of Sciences
in Armenia, presented her research on the oral tradition of Armenian
Genocide survivors, through their eye-witness testimonies and songs
revealing their experience. Svazlian’s presentation was based on the
many oral histories of Armenian Genocide survivors, which she
personally collected beginning in 1955 from 100 localities in Western
Armenia. She undertook these efforts often at great personal risk
from authorities in the former Soviet Union and Turkey. Svazlian began
collecting Genocide testimonies as a student at the Yerevan Khachatour
Abovian Pedagogical University, walking door-to-door and
village-to-village, searching for Armenian Genocide survivors who had
been rescued. Her work is particularly valuable not only because of
its volume, but because of the short amount of time that had passed
since the Genocide. Through her interviews, which Svazlian conducted
in written, audio taped, and videotaped form and in different dialects
and languages, she also captured testimonies about the self-defense
actions that took place in several Armenian towns attacked by the
Turkish military (as in

From: Baghdasarian

RELATIONS WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS: NALBANDIAN-DAVUTOGLU MEETING IN YEREVAN

22:47 12.12.2013

On December 12 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had meetings
with the heads of delegation participating in the 29th sitting of
the Council of Foreign Ministers of BSEC member states.

During the meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
Edward Nalbandian reiterated the principled position of Armenia on
the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations without preconditions.

The Ministers referred to the activity and future programs of the
Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

Minister Nalbandian had meetings with BSEC Secretary General Victor
Tsvirkun, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin, Russian Deuty
Foreign Minister Vasily Nebenzia, State Secretary at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Romania George Ciamba, Serbian Deputy Foreign
Minister Roksanda Nincic, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister David
Jalaghania, Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Kirakos Gerontopoulos,
Albania’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alki Pool and Moldova’s Deputy
Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration Valeriu Chiver.

From: Baghdasarian

TURKISH FM PROTESTED IN VISIT TO ARMENIAN CAPITAL

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Dec 12 2013

12 December 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, Ä°STANBUL

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who went to the Armenian
capital city of Yerevan to attend an Organization of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation (BSEC) conference, was protested by several
groups upon his arrival on Thursday morning.

Protesters gathered in front of the building where Davutoglu was set
to attend the BSEC’s 29th meeting of foreign ministers. Protesters
held placards in English and Armenian, in which they condemned Turkey
for its stance against the 1915 incidents. Speaking to the Cihan
news agency, a protester who identified himself as Gerafin Vartanyan
stated that Turkey should accept the so-called Armenian genocide,
reopen the borders and stop supporting Azerbaijan.

Two Turkish journalists of Armenian origin, columnist Markar Esayan
and Rober KoptaÅ~_, the editor-in-chief of the Armenian weekly Agos,
accompanied Davutoglu during his trip to the capital city.

Davutoglu first announced his visit to Armenia in a press conference
on Dec. 5 after his visit to Kiev, where he met with his Azeri
counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov to discuss the thorny Nagorno-Karabakh issue, which is key
for the resumption of Turkish relations with Armenia.

“Turkey is one of the founding members of the organization. Its
headquarters is located in Ä°stanbul and Armenia, which is a member
of the organization, also has a representative. I received the
invitation and decided to accept it, after consulting the president,”
Davutoglu said.

On the eve of Foreign Minister Davutoglu’s visit to Yerevan, Armenian
Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said that Davutoglu
should visit the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, adding,
“Turkey could also open its closed border with Armenia if it wants
to improve relations between the two countries.”

From: Baghdasarian

TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS BACK ON THE AGENDA AS DAVUTOGLU HEADS TO YEREVAN

Blouin News
Dec 12 2013

December 11, 2013 by Lora Moftah

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is on his way to Yerevan
on Thursday, in a visit that could offer the beginning of a possible
restart to long-stalled Turkish-Armenian normalization efforts. Though
Davutoglu is officially traveling to attend the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation forum, his attendance at the Armenian-hosted conference
has sparked speculation of possible bilateral talks between the two
states, which have not maintained diplomatic relations since the
failure of the 2009 Zurich Protocols.

There are already reports afloat that the minister will propose
re-opening a border gate between the two countries. However, the
attached condition that Armenia withdraw from two occupied areas
of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region will no doubt make this
proposal a non-starter for the Armenians, who have long been opposed
to linking their territorial conflict with Turkish ally Azerbaijan
to Armenian-Turkish bilateral relations. Armenian officials have
already begun preemptively pushing back against Davutoglu ahead of his
arrival, with Deputy Foreign Minister Savarsh Kocharyan challenging
the Turkish F.M. to visit the Armenian Genocide Memorial – not much
of an invitation to move beyond the current state of antagonism,
at least from Ankara’s standpoint.

The sense that possible talks are doomed to failure before they even
begin isn’t so much a statement on the intractability of the issues
between the two governments (though that is certainly part of the
problem) as it is a window into the AKP’s foreign policy strategy
in light of some glaring failures in recent months. Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s missteps and fumbles with Turkey’s Arab
relations have added up in a big way for his government and pretty
much torpedoed the success of Davutoglu’s “Neo-Ottomanism” strategy,
one of the AKP’s crowning political achievements.

A legislative motion filed this week to censure Davutoglu over the
failure of the government’s foreign policy may have eventually failed
in the AKP-dominated parliament but should still offer a reminder that
the issue has become a big target for the Islamist party’s opponents.

With Arab ties in tatters and Kurdish peace on the rocks, it might
make sense that Ankara is pivoting towards seemingly lower-stakes
foreign issues such as these conflicts with their European neighbors
(Davutoglu is also scheduled to visit Athens on December 13).

The AKP may be hoping that making overtures in this direction could
at least give the impression that Turkish foreign policy is not in
shambles but it’s important to remember that Turkey’s conflicts with
Armenia and Greece are no less politically loaded. As the controversy
over the Hagia Sophia’s conversion shows, there are still major
points of sensitivity here. If Turkey’s record in the past months is
at all predictive, look for these efforts (the good faith of which
is questionable) to do little to up the AKP’s foreign-policy cred
and even less to reduce cross-border tensions.

From: Baghdasarian

AHEAD OF DAVUTOGLU’S VISIT TO ARMENIA: REGIONAL DIMENSIONS – OPED

Eurasia Review
Dec 12 2013

Eurasia Review
December 12, 2013
By Vahan Dilanyan

The visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmed Davutoglu, to Yerevan
has a few goals; however none of them are related to the normalization
of Turkish-Armenian relations.

First, it is a visit before the Armenian Genocide’s centennial
commemoration, through which Turkey will attempt to mislead the
international community that the Armenian-Turkish normalization
process allegedly continues, and that other factors would damage the
normal course of the process. One such factor is the recognition and
condemnation of the Genocide by more states.

Second, it is an unsuccessful attempt aimed at disguising the
failures of Turkish foreign policy, particularly the “zero problems
with neighbors” policy which can more aptly be called “zero results
recorded” policy.

Third, through this visit Ankara is trying to gain political dividends
from Baku by making the same tiresome statements that link any
future Armenian-Turkish normalization to the Azerbaijani-Artsakh
(Karabakh) conflict. Furthermore, if Turkey sets Nagorno Karabakh
conflict resolution as precondition for opening the borders with
Armenia closed by Turkey, itself, then Armenia requests progress in
Cyprus talks as a precondition.

In conclusion, Davutoglu’s visit to Armenia does not have any intention
on moving the Armenian-Turkish normalization process forward; quite
the opposite. Rather, in this case, Davutoglu is like a pseudo-
doctor who goes to people’s homes with expired medicine and asks,
“do you have a patient I may cure”, but he is just not welcomed in.

Vahan Dilanyan Chairman of Political Developments Research Center
PhD in Political Science

Political Developments Research Center (PDRC) is a non-profit
organization based in Armenia. The Center owes no allegiance to
any government, or to any political organization, and is strictly
independent. PDRC was founded in July, 2006 in Armenia by a number
of individuals interested in how to manage on objective and useful
researches in the politically dynamic 21st Century.

From: Baghdasarian

ARF MEMBER CAUTIONS AGAINST HIGH EXPECTATIONS FROM TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER’S VISIT TO ARMENIA

YEREVAN, December 11, / ARKA /. Kiro Manoyan, the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Political Affairs Director, has
cautioned today against high expectations from Turkish foreign minister
Ahmet Davutoglu’s visit to Armenia saying it has nothing to do with
normalization of relations between the two countries.

Speaking at a news conference he said it is merely a ploy to create
the illusion of progress in the normalization process before 2015 –
the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

Turkey’s top diplomat is expected in the Armenian capital on December
12 to attend a regular meeting of foreign ministers of countries
making the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) organization.

“We should expect nothing from this visit. He is coming to Yerevan
to just attend a regular BSEC meeting,” Manoyan said.

According to earlier reports in Turkish press, Davutoglu was going to
Armenia with a message to normalize ties with its neighbor, however
preconditioning that Armenia “cede” at least two of the so-called
“occupied territories” in reference to liberated regions around
Nagorno-Karabakh.

On Tuesday an Armenian newspaper “Aravot” said citing a source in
the foreign ministry that Armenia developed a new “road map” for
normalization of Armenian- Turkish relations and delivered it to
Davutoglu about 10 days ago. -0-

16:21 11.12.2013

From: Baghdasarian

DAVUTOGLU DISCUSSED ARMENIA VISIT WITH JOHN KERRY AND WILLIAM HAGUE

15:10, 11 December, 2013

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. At the course of the recent
telephone conversation with the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
and the British Foreign Secretary William Hague, the Foreign Minister
of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu discussed the upcoming visit to Armenia.

“Armenpress” reports about this citing Turkish Haber7.com.

Among other things the interlocutors discussed the Syria crisis,
the Cyprus issue, and the situation in the Caucasus.

Ahmet Davutoglu will arrive in Yerevan on December 12 to participate in
the meeting of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

The 29th session of the Foreign Ministers’ Council of the Organization
of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation will take place in Yerevan on
December 12, during which the results of the six-month chairmanship
of Armenia in the Organization will be summed up. The high ranking
delegations of the Organization’s member states will arrive in Yerevan
to attend the session. A press conference will follow the 29th session
of the Foreign Ministers’ Council of the Organization of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation. At the Ministerial meeting the BSEC chairmanship
will pass from Armenia to Bulgaria.

© 2009 ARMENPRESS.am

From: Baghdasarian

U.S., TURKEY MULL SITUATION IN S.CAUCASUS

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Dec 11 2013

11 December 2013, 13:34 (GMT+04:00)

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry discussed the situation in the South Caucasus in a telephone
conversation.

Local media reported that Davutoglu’s expected visit to Yerevan was
also discussed.

Davutoglu will visit Armenia on December 12 to participate in a
meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations. The border has been
closed since 1993. The reason was Armenia’s claims for international
recognition of the so-called ‘genocide’ and occupation of Azerbaijani
territories by Armenian armed forces.

From: Baghdasarian

TURKISH ARMY TO RETURN ARMENIAN CHURCH LOCATED ON BASE

Al-Monitor
Dec 11 2013

Author: Sabah (Turkey)Posted December 10, 2013

The Turkish army is making an important contribution to the decision
to return the property of minority foundations.

Surp Kevork Armenian church, which is located inside the
Sivas-Temeltepe 5th Infantry Training Brigade’s base, will be restored
and handed over to the Friends of Armenians Association of Sivas.

Sebuk Kocak, the president of the Friends of Armenians Association
of Sivas expressed his pleasure in a statement to Sabah. “The church
has been inside that military zone since 1940. For many years, we
were not allowed to go near it. This summer we went to the brigade
with our friends. The commander allowed us in and we were able to
see our church after so many years. Frankly, we were not expecting
to be given permission [to enter]. We were all happy. We didn’t have
a church where we could worship and pay respect to our dead,” he said.

Before 1915, the Armenians had 198 churches and 21 monasteries in the
Sivas region. The only one still standing is the Surp Kevork Church.

There is an Armenian cemetery near it. Turkish Minister of Defense
Ismet Yilmaz, who hails from Sivas, was personally involved in the
work to return the church. Association officials visited the minister
in October and asked him to restore and return the church. Yilmaz
told them that the government had made serious efforts to return
the properties of minorities. He promised them that he would try to
expedite the return of the property after restoration was completed.

Yilmaz later went to Sivas and instructed the governor of Sivas,
Zubeyir Kemelek, and his deputy, Salih Ayhan, to start the work.

The church has been inside a military zone for 73 years, thus saving
it from treasure hunters. The church has little damage and should be
restored quickly.

Gov. Kemelek also spoke to Sabah. “It is the only structure that is
standing with its walls and roof intact. The minister responded to the
request made to him by coming and inspecting it. It is good fortune
that the church was inside a military zone. As soon as formalities
are competed we will ask for bids for restoration, which will not
deviate from the original. I have asked our Armenian citizens to
bring photographs of it,” he said.

Deputy Gov. Ayhan, who is coordinating the restoration work, said the
church will be removed from the guarded military zone. He added, “That
military base has been the largest military training base in the region
since the 1940s. It is also a training center for our border units. The
church occupies an area of about five acres in the military zone. We
asked for its return from the Treasury and they wrote their approval
to the Ministry of Defense. As soon the Defense Ministry agrees, that
land will be handed over to us. Then the restoration will commence.”

Architect Zakarya Mildanoglu, who was in the delegation that visited
Yilmaz, said, “Our people don’t have a place of worship and somewhere
that they can pay their respects to their dead in Sivas. There is one
cemetery. After the Armenian deportation, churches were destroyed in
many parts of Anatolia. Similar places exist in other military zones.

I hope the procedures will be completed quickly.”

From: Baghdasarian