Author: Basmajian Ani

STATUS QUO HINDERS TURKEY’S ROLE IN KARABAKH DISPUTE, SAYS ANALYST
Fulya Ozerkan

Hurriyet Daily News
Oct 28 2009
Turkey

‘Maybe there is a need to redefine Turkish-Azerbaijani relations.

Turkey and Azerbaijan are one nation and two states, but the two are
not one state. The family is getting crowded,’ says a senior foreign
policy analyst from TEPAV

Hurriyet photo

Turkish support for Azerbaijan, expressed by keeping the
Turkish-Armenian border closed, has proved nothing more than a symbolic
gesture, says a senior foreign policy analyst.

In addition, poor Turkish-Armenian relations have hindered Ankara’s
prospects of playing an influential role in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

"For the last 17 years, Turkey’s boycott of Armenia has not brought
about a solution. It seems difficult to argue that the insistence on
keeping the border with Armenia closed has had any positive impact on
the resolution of the Karabakh problem," Dr. Burcu Gultekin Punsmann
wrote in a policy note for the Economic Policy Research Foundation
of Turkey, or TEPAV, an Ankara-based think tank.

"Moreover, Turkey’s policy has limited Ankara’s potential influence
over Armenia," Dr. Punsmann added. "While being a permanent member
of the Minsk group and supporting its work, poor Turkish-Armenian
relations have hindered Turkey’s prospects of playing an active
mediating role in the Karabakh conflict."

Turkey and Armenia inked two protocols this month to normalize their
troubled relationship in defiance of domestic opposition, the first
intergovernmental text signed between the two neighboring states since
the 1921 Treaty of Kars. The agreement is likely to be a harbinger of
change in the south Caucasus, where the status quo, characterized by
conflicts, divisions, blockades and trade restrictions, is far from
being satisfactory, according to Punsmann.

"The status quo was not helpful for Turkey in terms of achieving
its policy objectives," she wrote. "The status quo is also hardly
beneficial for Azerbaijan."

Redefining Azerbaijani relations?

Azerbaijan opposed Turkey’s signing of the protocols with Armenia
because there has not yet been a settlement to the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani territory occupied by Yerevan.

Tension that began with a ban on Azerbaijani flags during the
Turkish-Armenian football game in Bursa escalated with the removal
of Turkish flags at the martyrdom monument in Azerbaijan.

"Maybe there is a need to redefine Turkish-Azerbaijani relations.

Turkey and Azerbaijan are one nation and two states, but the two
are not one state. The family is getting crowded," Punsmann told the
Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

She said the Turkish-Armenian dialogue to normalize relations
prompted the revival of talks under the Minsk group to settle the
Karabakh dispute. "Of course there is an indirect link between the
normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations and the resolution of
the Karabakh problem, but the latter should not be a precondition
for neighborly relations between Ankara and Yerevan," Punsmann added.

"The Karabakh problem was laid down as a precondition for 17 years
and that brought no solution," said the analyst, who warned that if
the protocols fail to pass the respective parliaments of Turkey and
Armenia, the Karabakh talks mediated by France, Russia and the U.S.

would be suspended and the Minsk group’s interest in the matter
would diminish.

"The normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations has the capacity of
fostering new dynamics in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,
the most intractable conflict and one of the biggest obstacles to
region-wide cooperation," Punsmann wrote in the policy note. "At
this stage, the interruption of Turkish-Armenian bilateral relations
will dissipate the international attention focused on the region and
decrease the chances of an agreement on the conflict over Karabakh
for the foreseeable future."

The protocols signed by the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia
must be ratified by the two countries’ parliaments in order to come
into force.

U.S. MAKES USE OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROCESS

Aysor
Oct 28 2009
Armenia

Today editor of Washington-based paper The Armenian reporter, Emil
Sanamyan, met with journalists. Speaking about the U.S. situation
around the current round of Armenian-Turkish relations, especially
citing the situation in Diaspora – which strongly stresses issue of
Genocide, Emil Sanamyan said that U.S. President and Congress hadn’t
recognized Genocide before Armenian-Turkish reconciliation. U.S. has
its own reasons not to, he said.

"Today U.S. makes use of Armenian-Turkish process not to allow
resolution on Armenian Genocide to be considered at Congress," says
Emil Sanamyan.

In his opinion, Armenia’s authorities have correct objectives related
to the policy of neighborhood and relations with the west-states. He
also stressed the importance of the result of Armenian-Turkish
negotiations, in particular, the border opening and improving the
living conditions of Armenians who live in Turkey. Nevertheless,
Emil Sanamyan says he opposes against the current content of protocols.

PRESS RELEASE
United Nations Development Programme / Armenia
14 Petros Adamyan St., Yerevan 0010
Contact: Mr. Hovhannes Sarajyan, Communications Associate
Tel: +37410 566 073
E-mail: [email protected]<mailto:hovhannes.sa [email protected]>
Web site:

2009 Human Development Report was launched in Yerevan

Yerevan, 27 October, 2009 – "Mobility is a key element of human
freedom. Movement typically benefits migrants, their families and
source and destination communities. But the full potential of
migration to enhance human development is constrained by barriers of
movement," according to the 2009 Human Development Report (HDR).

The HDR, which is an independent report commissioned and published
annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), tackles
pressing global challenges. The 2009 Report, which is titled
Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development, was presented in
Yerevan today with participation of Ms. Consuelo Vidal, UN Resident
Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative (UN RC/UNDP RR), Mr. Vache
Terteryan, First Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration of the
Republic of Armenia and Ms. Irina Davtyan, Deputy Head of Migration
Agency under the Ministry of Territorial Administration.

More than one in seven of the world’s population is a migrant and the
majority of them – over 700 million – are internal migrants, while
over 200 million are international migrants. Fewer than 70 million
international migrants move from a developing to a developed
country. Most of the world’s international migrants move from one
developing country to another or between developed countries. Nearly
half of all international migrants move within their region of origin
and about 40 percent move to a neighboring country. 48 percent of all
international migrants are women and this share has been quite stable
during the past five decades: it stood 47 percent in 1960.

"The 2009 HDR sets out the case for migration’s contribution to human
development and provides the guidance to governments to fully realize
this potential. However, the migration cannot be a substitute for
comprehensive domestic programmes to reduce poverty and foster
development. Therefore, governments should maximize the gains from
migration by mainstreaming human mobility into national development
and poverty reduction strategies," said Ms. Consuelo Vidal, UN RC/UNDP
RR addressing the participants of the launching ceremony.

Migrants’ gains are often shared with their families and communities
at home. In many cases this is in the form of remittances, but the
families of migrants may benefit in other ways too. These "social
remittances," as they are called, include higher school enrolment
rates, the empowerment of women and reductions in fertility. Research
for the report found that migrants from the poorest countries gained
the most, and, on average, saw a 15-fold increase in income, a
doubling in education in enrolment rates and a 16-fold reduction in
child mortality after moving to a developed country.

Contrary to commonly held beliefs, migrants typically boost economic
output. Immigration generally increases employment in host
communities, does not move out locals from the job market and improves
rates of investment in new businesses. Overall, the impact of migrants
on public finances is relatively small, while it has a positive impact
in other areas, such as social diversity and innovation. Moreover,
migration often liberates women and leads to significant gains in
their income, levels of empowerment and education, but it also
presents risks of exploitation and harsh conditions.

Armenia has an emigration rate of 20.3%. The major continent of
destination for migrants from Armenia is Europe with 78.2% of
emigrants living there. In Armenia, there are around 492,000 migrants
which represent 16.1% of the total population.

The HDR argues that governments should undertake a series of policy
reforms to maximize the benefits of migration and to better ensure the
rights of migrants. The Report lays out a core package of reforms, six
‘pillars’ that call for:

* Opening existing entry channels for more workers, especially those
with low skills;
* Ensuring basic human rights for migrants, from basic
services, like education and healthcare, to the right to vote;
* Lowering the transaction costs of migration;
* Finding collaborative solutions that benefit both destination
communities and migrants;
* Easing internal migration; and
* Adding migration as a component for origin countries’ development
strategies.

"Sustainable human development is a critical area of UNDP’s work. We
focus among, others, on reduction of regional disparities, income and
employment generation, food security, healthcare and child protection
issues, which are reflected in the 2010-2015 UN Cooperation Framework
with the Government of Armenia," stated the UN RC/UNDP RR.

Also presented today, as part of the 2009 HDR, was the latest Human
Development Index (HDI) – a summary indicator of people’s well-being,
combining measures of life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and
GDP per capita (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP). It shows
that despite progress in many areas over the last 25 years, the
disparities in people’s well-being in rich and poor countries continue
to be unacceptably wide. These HDI results, however, do not reflect
the effects of the global economic and financial crisis, which is
expected to have a huge impact on human development achievements in
many countries across the world.

This year’s HDI, based on 2007 data, was calculated for 182 countries
and territories, the most extensive coverage ever. The 2009 HDR
introduces a new top country category: Very High Human Development,
which shows that people living in countries in the higher human
development categories can expect to be better educated, to live
longer and to earn more.

The HDI for Armenia is 0.798, which gives the country a rank of 84th
out of 182 countries and is an improvement of 0.023 points compared to
the last HDI value. This improvement is largely due to the increase in
GDP per capita. Between 1990 and 2007 Armenia’s HDI rose by 0.51%
annually. Armenia holds the first place in the category "Medium Human
Development" and is followed by Ukraine and Azerbaijan
respectively. Iran and Georgia are in 88th and 89th places, while
Russia and Turkey are respectively 71st and 79th in the HDI ranking.

The top three ranked countries in the HDI are, in order, Norway,
Australia and Iceland. The bottom three ranked countries are Niger,
Afghanistan and Sierra Leone.

Trends in the HDI since 1980 show significant advances in human
development, with an average improvement of 15 percent in countries’
HDI scores. The strongest gainers have been China, Iran and Nepal. Yet
progress has been much more significant in education and health than
on the income front.

###

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and
connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help
people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries,
working with them on their own solutions to global and national
development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on
the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners. UNDP in Armenia was
established in 1993 and supports the Government of Armenia to reach
its own development priorities and the Millennium Development Goals by
2015.

CAFESJIAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS WILL BE OPEN TO PUBLIC WITH NO ADMISSION FEE ON NOVEMBER 8

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.10.2009 13:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Cafesjian Center for the Arts will open on
evening November 7, with a spectacular fireworks display near the
Cascade monument, Yerevan. Taking over two years and $35 million to
complete, the Cascade has been completely transformed into one of
the world’s outstanding contemporary art centers.

On November 8th, the center invites the public to view all the
renovations that have taken place inside the Cascade and to enjoy an
outstanding schedule of exhibitions, lecturers, book-signings concerts
and events. For this one day only, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts
will be open to the public with no admission fee.

A number of exhibitions will inaugurate the Cafesjian Center for
the Arts, but the most prominent is undoubtedly Libenský Brychtova:
For Armenia. The Gerard L. Cafesjian Collection is one of the largest
collections of modern glass found in any museum, and its holdings of
works by the Czech couple are among the finest in the world.

Cynthia Lennon and Pattie Boyd – former wives of Beatles John Lennon
and George Harrison – will visit Yerevan to take part in a series of
special events marking the Grand Opening.

An exhibition of works by well-known American-Armenian artist Arshile
Gorky will be open for attendees from November 8 to 31.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Oct 23 2009

Azerbaijan raises issue of illegal armament of Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh in UN

USA, Washington, October 23 / Trend News N. Bogdanova /

This issue of illegal armament of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh was
discussed today during the debate at the 17th meeting of the Committee
of UN General Assembly about the peace, security and disarmament.

Azerbaijan has raised the issue of illegal armament of Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh at the Sixty-fourth UN General Assembly.

"Armenia had built up its military presence, with data showing a
growing number of uncontrolled arms, including 316tanks, 324 armoured
vehicles and 322 artillery systems in the occupied territories,
exceeding its maximum levels", deputy chairman of the committee, the
first secretary of Azerbaijani permanent office in UN, Ogtay
Ismayilzada, said.

"Armenia’s aggression had led to the occupation of one-fifth of
Azerbaijan’s territory, triggering the internal displacement of 1
million people, and of war crimes and genocide.Armenia had used the
occupied territories to hide great numbers of unaccounted and
uncontrolled treaty-limited equipment from the "CFE" community,
endangering the security of Azerbaijan and the stable development of
the whole region," he said.

Other representatives noticed that peace and security could only be
achieved with strong regional action and strict compliance with
existing arms agreements; otherwise the present arms races would erect
stumbling blocks along the road to stability around the world.

Ismayilzada regretted that unfortunately, unlawful use of force still
plagued certain States, and civilian populations were suffering around
the world, owing to the failure of individual States to fulfill their
most basic responsibilities.

"Armenia had blamed Azerbaijan for increasing its military budget and
for violations of arms limitation norms, but it had failed to mention
Azerbaijan’s defense spending, conformed to overall budget increases,"
he said.

"Azerbaijan spent 3.26 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on
the army, compared with Armenia’s 3.86 per cent. Despite being in a
state of war, Azerbaijan was continuing to fulfill commitments under
the CFE Treaty, reducing and destroying more than 150 treaty-limited
armaments and equipment over the last five years, in line with the
Tashkent Agreement. Azerbaijan aimed to liberate all occupied
territories, return internally displaced persons to their homes and
establish a durable peace and stability in the Nagorno-Karabakh
region," he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed
a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia,
France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION SUBMITTED TO US SENATE IS, IN A WAY, PROTEST AGAINST PROTOCOLS: MANOYAN

Tert
Oct 23 2009
Armenia

Resolution N252 on Armenian Genocide recognition, which was submitted
to the U.S. Senate on October 21, is in a way an expression of protest
against the creation of a commission of historians foreseen by the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols, head of Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun, or ARF-D) Political Affairs and Armenian Cause
(Hay Dat) Bureau Giro Manoyan stated at a press conference today.

Continuing, he said that submitting the mentioned resolution to
the Senate is also pressure on the White House so that the US first
recognizes the Armenian Genocide, then distinguishes the Genocide
issue from the Armenian-Turkish Protocols.

Manoyan referred to that approach by the international media which
declares that by signing the Protocols, Armenia itself puts the
Genocide issue to doubt. Manoyan said that in order for neither the
international press nor the international community to perceive the
meaning of the Protocols as such, Armenian diplomatic corps must
carry out a huge amount of work. According to ARF-D representative,
the Armenian diplomatic mission must be able to communicate to the
world the approaches which were mentioned in Serzh Sargsyan’s address
which was issued on the day of the signing of the Protocols.

Manoyan didn’t agree with the opinion that submitting the Armenian
Genocide recognition resolution after signing the Protocols speaks
to the contrary; that is, Armenia doesn’t place the fact of Armenian
genocide to doubt. "At best, it is a simple-minded explanation,"
Manoyan said, adding that submitting the resolution doesn’t mean it
will be passed.

TURKEY REGRETS SPATS WITH AZERBAIJAN OVER GAS, FLAG

Agence France Presse
Oct 20 2009
ANKARA

Turkey regrets spats with Azerbaijan over gas prices and the removal of
a Turkish flag in Baku, officials said Tuesday amid tensions between
the two allies over Ankara’s peace efforts with Yerevan.

"We have been hurt by… the removal of the Turkish and Azeri flag"
from a cemetary in Baku, where Turkish soldiers who fought for
Azerbaijan in the early 20th century are buried, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech to his lawmakers.

Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said he "regretted" comments by Azeri
President Ilham Aliyev that Baku was no longer happy with selling
cheap gas to Turkey and would consider other routes to ship gas to
Europe because of high transit fees Turkey demanded, Anatolia news
agency reported.

"I regret this statement," Yildiz said, rejecting that Turkey was
buying Azeri gas at low prices and asking for transit fees higher
than market levels. "I guess President Aliyev was given inaccurate
information," he said.

Azerbaijan, linked to Turkey with close ethnic and economic bonds, has
slammed the two protocols Ankara and Yerevan signed this month to end
decades of hostility, establish formal ties and open their border, wary
that Turkish support for its own conflict with Armenia will now wane.

Ankara sealed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity
with Baku after ethnic Armenian separatists, backed by Yerevan,
seized the Nagorny Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts
from Azerbaijan in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.

Erdogan gave fresh assurances that Turkey’s efforts to normalise ties
with Armenia would not come at the expense of Azeri interests.

"It is absolutely out of the question for us to take any step that
will harm our Azeri brothers," he said.

Without giving names, Erdogan said some circles — both in Azerbaijan
and Turkey — were "sowing discord" between the two countries, whose
alliance is often described as "one nation, two states."

"No one should distort Turkey’s sincere efforts and no one should
try to test Turkey," he said.

Ankara’s bridge-building with Yerevan also faces strong opposition
at home, with nationalists accusing the government of selling out
Azerbaijan.

Erdogan has said progress in resolving the Nagorny Karabakh conflict
will be a determinining factor in the Turkish parliament’s ratification
of the deals with Armenia.

The protocols, which will take effect only after they are ratified
by the legislatures of both countries, are expected to be submitted
to Turkey’s parliament this week, but a vote is unlikely soon.

FIRST SETS OF MEDALS CONTESTED AT ARMENIAN FENCING CHAMPIONSHIP

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
23.10.2009 14:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ First sets of medals contested at the Junior
fencing Championship of Armenia. 57 fencers fought in the village
Byureghavan, hosted the championship, spokesman of the Armenian fencing
federation Artashes Madoyan told PanARMENIAN.Net. Gevorg Harutyunyan
("Hayastan" Sports Union) won the champion title, Zhora Vartanyan
(fencing school of the Arabkir community in Yerevan) conquered the
second place. The third-ranked fencer was Gevorg Hayrapetyan (club
"Katherine" Byuregavan) and Hayk Zeytounyan (Shooting sports school).

120-130 fencers from Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor and Byuregavan
participate in the championship. Championship will end on October 24.

The Armenian Youth Team will be formed after the championship, from
October 30 to November 5.

ARARATBANK OFFERS NEW PACKAGE OF DEPOSITS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
23.10.2009 10:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As part of its new autumn offers Araratbank provides
its clients a new approach to the term deposits, press office of the
bank reports.

Urgent dram deposits will be drawn at a 11 per cent per annum rate,
and dollar deposits – by 9 per cent per annum," the report said.

In addition, for deposits, attracted for 45 to 90 days, the 7.5
percentage annual rate per is offered for dram deposits and 2.5
percentage annual rate for dollar deposits.

For the deposits attracted for 91 to 180 days, the 8.5percentage annual
rate per is offered for dram deposits and 4.5 percentage annual rate
for dollar deposits.

At the same time, 9 and 6 percentage annual rates are offered for the
dram and dollar deposits, attracted for 181 and 270 days respectively,
and 10.5 and 8 percentage annual rates are offered for the dram and
dollar deposits attracted for 271 and 365 days, 11 and 9 percentage
annual rates are proposed for dram and dollar deposits attracted for
366 and 546 days respectively.

Deposits for more than 546 days, as in drams, or in the U.S. dollars
will be engaged on a contractual basis. Contractual interest rates
will also be offered for deposits of 20 million drams or U.S. dollar
equivalent.

WATER SUPPLY ISSUES DISCUSSED BY OFFICIALS IN YEREVAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
22.10.2009 20:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglaryan and the head
of the "Yerevan Water" Pascal Royer discussed the issues of water
supply in the capital, press office of City Hall reports.

During the meeting the sides discussed the implemented credit program
of the company. Both sides attached importance to huge losses of
water. According to Pascal Royer the company take steps to minimize
them.

At the same time, the parties agreed to undertake joint work to
improve the quality of water supply in the capital, eliminate water
wastage and ensure round the clock water supply throughout the city.