Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

NATO LIAISON OFFICER: “DEEPENING OF NATO PARTNERSHIP DEPENDS ON THE GOVERNMENT OF AZERBAIJAN”

MilAz.info
June 8 2012
Azerbaijan

“Non-Aligned Movement membership doesn’t contradict NATO partnership”

“Azerbaijan-NATO relations are strong and we hope that the relations
will strengthen further”, NATO/PfP Liaison Officer in South Caucasus
William Lahue told journalists.

Lahue highly appreciated Azerbaijan’s contribution to the peacekeeping
operations in Afghanistan and said Azerbaijan’s membership to
Non-Aligned Movement didn’t contradict its partnership with NATO.

“Deepening of this partnership in the future depends on the government
of Azerbaijan because this issue is determined by the country”.

Commenting on NATO Chicago Summit’s final declaration, William Lahue
said that NATO member countries supported the peaceful settlement
of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. “NATO was not involved in the
negotiation process, this is not a NATO’s role, but the alliance
supports the peace process and expresses its political support of
the settlement of the conflict”.

From: Baghdasarian

RETIRED GEN TOLON PRIME SUSPECT IN NEW MALATYA MASSACRE INDICTMENT
by Esref Akgun

Today’s Zaman
June 8 2012
Turkey

An additional indictment prepared into the 2007 Zirve Publishing
House murders, in which three people who sold Christian literature
were brutally killed, points to retired Gen Hursit Tolon as the prime
suspect in the case.

The indictment was submitted to the Malatya 3rd High Criminal Court on
Friday. The court has 15 days to either accept the document or return
it to prosecutors for a more detailed work. There are 19 suspects
in the indictment, and prosecutors are seeking two life sentences
without the possibility of parole for Tolon. Tolon, a former 1st
Army Corps commander, is currently under arrest as part of the case
into Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal network that has alleged links
within the state and is suspected of plotting to topple the government.

The indictment accuses the 19 suspects of “inciting murder,”
“establishing a terrorist organization and becoming member to it”
and “working to overthrow the government.” Among other suspects are
retired Col. Mehmet Ulger, who served as Malatya Provincial Gendarmerie
Brigade Commander in 2007, Maj. Haydar Y., noncommissioned officer
Abdullah A., sergeant Mehmet C. and Ruhi A., an instructor at Inonu
University’s theology department.

On April 18, 2007, Christians Necati Aydin (35), Ugur Yuksel and
German national Tilmann Ekkehart Geske (46) were tied to their
chairs, stabbed and tortured at the Zirve Publishing House in
the southeastern Anatolian city of Malatya before their throats
were slit. The publishing house they worked for printed Bibles and
Christian literature. Suspects Abuzer Yildirim, Cuma Ozdemir, Salih
Gurler and Hamit Ceker were apprehended at the scene and immediately
taken into custody, while another suspect, Emre Gunaydin, jumped
from a third-storey window in an attempt to escape from police and
was taken into custody after being treated for injuries.

The indictment also states that the Zirve murders were carried out
as part of the Cage Action Plan, a subversive plot allegedly devised
by military officers that sought to undermine the government through
assassinations and other acts of terror against non-Muslims in Turkey.

The Cage plan was allegedly drawn up on the orders of Ergenekon. Cage
plan documents specifically call the killings of Armenia-Turkish
journalist Hrant Dink, Catholic priest Father Andrea Santoro and
the Zirve murders an “operation.” An anti-democratic group within
the Naval Forces Command behind the Cage plan had intended to foment
chaos in society with those killings, but complained that the plan
had failed when large segments of society protested the killings in
mass demonstrations.

From: Baghdasarian

UFO OR RUSSIAN MISSILE? MIDDLE EASTERNERS PANIC OVER SPIRAL LIGHT

Hurriyet Daily News
June 8 2012

>From online dispatches

A glowing spiral of light moving across the night sky caused panic
across the Middle East yesterday.

The moving light source that left a luminous trail of dust in its wake
was seen in eastern Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.

A footage of the bright object uploaded on YouTube sparked UFO
speculation, while others considered it “a good omen for the Syrian
opposition,” daily Hurriyet reported.

Russia’s RIA Novosti agency later reported that the country’s Strategic
Missile Forces had test-fired a Topol-class intercontinental ballistic
missile from a ramp near the city of Astrakhan in southern Russia. The
report added that the missile successfully hit its target.

Israeli Astronomical Association Chairman Dr. Yigal Pat-El, however,
said the missile “most likely spun out of control and its remnants
and the fuel was what people saw,” Ynetnews.com reported.

The missile reached a height of 200-300 kilometers, Pat-El said.

“That’s why it was seen from so many locations.”

From: Baghdasarian

AZERI FORCES READY WITH ARMENIAN RESPONSE

United Press International UPI

June 8 2012

BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 8 (UPI) — Armenian forces intervened in the
disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh as a statement of sorts to a
U.S. diplomat, an official said.

Skirmishes broke out between Azeri and Armenian forces this week over
Nagorno-Karabakh. Both sides have gone to war over the territory,
which Azerbaijan claims as its own.

Azeri Deputy Prime Minister Ali Gasanov suggested “provocation”
from the Armenians was timed to coincide with a visit to the region
from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russia’s state-run news
agency RIA Novosti reports.

Clinton, during talks with Azeri officials in Baku this week, said
conflict wouldn’t solve the issue, simmering since at least the 1990s.

“Presumably, some states patronizing Armenia were unhappy with the
U.S. state secretary’s visit, and they organized that incident,”
the deputy prime minister was quoted as saying.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had said that his country wasn’t
interested in further escalation of the conflict. Talks are scheduled
June 18 in Paris.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA READY TO PREVENT ANY PROVOCATION ON CONTACT LINE WITH AZERBAIJAN – SARGSYAN

Interfax
June 7 2012
Russia

Armenia adheres to peace settlement of the Karabakh conflict but will
react to every destabilization attempt along the contact line with
Azerbaijan, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan told Armenian journalists
while visiting Japan.

“We do not want an escalation of tensions but we will react to every
provocative action against our citizens, borders and Karabakh,”
he said.

“The Armenian Armed Forces have been ordered to stay reserved and
vigilant and to prevent any provocations,” Sargsyan said.

“I have always said that provocations alongside the contact line
are very dangerous. I have also said that the provocations will be
deterred firmly. Incidents of the past few days are a proof to that,”
the presidential press service quoted Sargsyan to Interfax.

“Either the provocations were ordered by the Azeri administration,
which, in that case, was personally responsible for the violation
of ceasefire commitments, or the national Armed Forces are beyond
control of their commanders, and, in that case, we must deal with
particular field commanders instead of an organized army,” he said.

Armenia has no reasons for using military force, because it deems
“negotiations to be the only way of settling the Karabakh conflict,”
the president said.

“The conflict must be settled on the basis of the Karabakh people’s
right to self-determination,” he said.

Regretfully, provocations were made on the day Armenian and Azeri
intellectuals were meeting in Moscow by the Russian initiative to
build up confidence and the secretary of the state of the U.S. – a
country co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group – was visiting the region,
Sargsyan said.

Activity along the Armenian-Azeri contact line has intensified lately.

The Armenian Armed Forces prevented a new Azeri incursion in the
northeastern sector of the contact line on Wednesday evening.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said that two incursions were deterred
early in the morning on Monday and Tuesday. There were casualties on
both sides in both cases.

Another attack of Azeri servicemen was deterred on the Karabakh border
early on Wednesday morning. One serviceman of the unrecognized republic
died and two were injured.

From: Baghdasarian

Interfax
OSCE CHAIRPERSON-IN-OFFICE TO DISCUSS KARABAKH CONFLICT IN SOUTH CAUCASUS
June 7 2012
Russia

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Chairperson-in-Office and Ireland’s Foreign Minister, Eamon Gilmore,
will visit Azerbaijan on June 13-14, wrapping up his South Caucasus
tour, during which he plans to discuss the OSCE’s role in the region
with the local authorities and political parties, the organization
said on its website.

Since Ireland declared the search for solutions to conflicts on
OSCE territory a priority of its OSCE presidency, ways to settle the
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh and the consequences of the 2008 war in
South Ossetia will be addressed during Gilmore’s South Caucasus trip.

From: Baghdasarian

JAPAN EMPEROR MEETS ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

Jiji Press Ticker Service
June 7, 2012 Thursday 4:43 PM JST
Japan

Japan’s Emperor Akihito met with visiting Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan at the Imperial Palace on Thursday.

The Emperor appeared in black suit and tie, as he is in mourning for
his cousin, Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, who died Wednesday. Sargsyan
expressed his condolences when he arrived at the palace, the Imperial
Household Agency said.

Sargsyan said he believes Japan will recover from the disaster that
struck in March 2011.

He added that he had witnessed a great deal of patience among Japanese
people when he visited Natori in Miyagi Prefecture on Tuesday. The
city was badly damaged by last year’s monster tsunami.

The Emperor said he feels reassured by people living in disaster areas,
as they are working together to rebuild their communities.

From: Baghdasarian

DETERIORATED SITUATION IN KARABAKH MAY FOIL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS

ITAR-TASS
June 7, 2012 Thursday 04:52 PM GMT+4
Russia

A deteriorated situation in Nagorno Karabakh may foil the agreements
on conflict settlement, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry
Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.

“The death toll among servicemen went up sharply as a result of a
disrupted ceasefire agreement. The parties to the conflict should
adhere to the 1994 ceasefire agreement,” the diplomat said. The
incidents “complicate the process for settlement, lead to disruption
of the previous agreements,” he said.

Moscow together with other co-chairpersons of the Minsk OSCE Group
intends to promote the conflict settlement in political and diplomatic
ways, Lukashevich noted.

“A ministerial meeting within the mechanism of mutual consultations
is scheduled in Paris on June 18 after a long break. We hope that
the meeting will deescalate the situation,” the spokesman said.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN INTEREST RATE REMAINS STABLE AS M/M DEFLATION PERSISTS
BY: Venla Sipila

Global Insight
June 7, 2012

The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) has decided to leave its refinancing
interest rate unchanged at 8.0% in June, ARKA News reports. The central
bank has now kept the policy rate at this level since September 2011,
when a 50 basis point cut was enacted. The decision was taken as
already very meagre inflation pressures further subsided.

According to the National Statistical Office, Armenian consumer prices
in May only climbed by 0.5% year-on-year (y/y), following growth of
1.9% y/y in April and 2.2% y/y in March. Notably, food prices in May
fell by 1.6% y/y and by 2.6% month-on-month (m/m). The total consumer
price index in May retreated by 1.3% from April, following deflation
of 0.6% m/m posted in April. Consumer prices have now increased by
0.8% since the beginning of the year, while the annual January-May
inflation rate was reported at 2.5%. The CBA indicated that it may
cut the interest rate in the future, if inflation continues to ease.

Significance:The persistent m/m deflation and the y/y deflation
in April continue to clearly demonstrate the significant impact on
Armenian inflation from the price of food. The moderating cost of
food has now resulted in deflation also in annual terms. The annual
average rate for this year so far coincides with the lower bound
of the CBA’s target range of 4% with variation of 1.5 percentage
points on either side. Armenia’s inflation outlook is increasingly
benign. Demand pressures are weak, and the recent downward correction
in international commodity prices also restricts pressures from the
cost side, already suppressed due to the deal with Russia not to
increase gas import prices this year. Inflation is likely to remain
well within target in the coming months and quarters. Risks to this
forecast arise from agricultural performances, since a weak harvest
would quickly push up food prices. In addition, there is a risk that
the overall uncertainty related to the persisting Eurozone debt crisis
will result in further weakening of the dram/USD exchange rate. Any
major dram depreciation would likely quickly be further reflected in
upward inflation pressures.

From: Baghdasarian

A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH TURKEY
by David Ignatius

Washington Post

June 8, 2012 Friday 8:12 PM EST

As President Obama was feeling his way in foreign policy during
his first months in office, he decided to cultivate a friendship
with Turkey’s headstrong prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Over
the past year, this investment in Turkey has begun to pay some big
dividends – anchoring U.S. policy in a region that sometimes seems
adrift. Erdogan’s clout was on display this week as he hosted a meeting
here of the World Economic Forum (WEF) that celebrated the stability
of the “Turkish model” of Muslim democracy amid the turmoil of the
Arab Spring. One panel had the enraptured title “Turkey as a Source
of Inspiration.”

In a speech Tuesday, Erdogan named Turkey’s achievements over
the decade he has been in power: Its economy has grown an annual
average of 5.3 percent since 2002, the fastest rate of any country
in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; gross
domestic product has more than tripled, as have its foreign reserves;
investment from abroad has increased more than 16 times. For Erdogan,
receiving a visit from the WEF was a kind of vindication. The Turkish
leader walked angrily offstage at the group’s 2009 meeting in Davos,
Switzerland, after a panel moderator (yours truly) didn’t allow him
time to respond to Israeli President Shimon Peres’s remarks about
the Gaza war. This week, that moment seemed well in the past.

Turkey’s ascendancy in the region may seem obvious now, but it
was less so in 2009, when Obama began working to build a special
relationship. To an otherwise predictable European itinerary for his
first overseas trip in April 2009, he added a stop in Ankara. What
impressed the Turks wasn’t just that he spoke to their parliament
but that earlier, in Strasbourg, he pushed for a greater role for
Turkey in NATO, and in Prague he argued for Turkish membership in
the European Union.

Obama and Erdogan continued their courtship despite a sharp
deterioration in Turkey’s relations with Israel after the Gaza war
and despite U.S. worries in early 2010 that Ankara was becoming too
friendly with Iran. Obama expressed his concerns in a blunt two-hour
conversation at the June 2010 Group of 20 summit in Toronto. Since
then, according to both sides, there has been growing mutual trust.

“My prime minister sees a friend in President Obama,” says Egemen
Bagis, the minister for European affairs and one of Erdogan’s closest
political advisers. “The two can very candidly express their opinions.

They might not always agree, but they feel confident enough to share
positions.”

An example of the Obama-Erdogan channel was their meeting in March
at the Asian summit in Seoul. The top item was Obama’s request that
Erdogan convey a message to Iran’s supreme leader about U.S. interest
in a nuclear agreement. In Seoul, Erdogan also promised to reopen a
Greek Orthodox seminary on the island of Halki, granting a request
that Obama had made in 2009; Erdogan had earlier agreed to Obama’s
request that Turkey permit services at an ancient Armenian church on
Akdamar Island in Lake Van. Turks cite several other concessions made
by the Turkish leader: Obama persuaded him to install a missile-defense
radar system that became operational this year, upsetting Tehran. And
at U.S. urging, Erdogan reversed his initial opposition to NATO
intervention last year in Libya.

In playing the Turkey card, Obama has upset some powerful political
constituencies at home. Jewish groups protest that Obama’s warming to
Ankara has come even as Israel’s relationship with Turkey has chilled
almost to the freezing point. Armenian groups are upset that Obama
has soft-pedaled his once-emphatic call for Turkey to recognize the
genocide of 1915. And human-rights groups complain that the United
States is tolerating Erdogan’s squeeze on Turkish journalists, judges
and political foes.

But as the Arab Spring has darkened, the administration has been
glad for its alliance with this prosperous Muslim democracy – which
it can celebrate as a beacon for the neighborhood. Ahmet Davutoglu,
Turkey’s ambitious foreign minister, argues that his country is a
role model for Arabs because it shows that democracy brings dignity,
not chaos or extremism.

Bagis puts it this way: “There are many Muslim leaders who can go to
Egypt and pray in a mosque. And there are many Western leaders who
can go talk about democracy. Erdogan did both.” For Turkey these days,
that’s something of a trump card. But there’s a mutual dependence. It
seems fair to say that no world leader has a greater stake in Obama’s
reelection than the Turkish prime minister.

From: Baghdasarian