Author: Boshkezenian Garik

DASHNAKTSUTYUN IS HMAYAK HOVANISYAN’S HOPE

Lragir.am
16:38:34 – 08/11/2008

The political scientist Hmayak Hovanisyan and the head of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun office of political affairs and hay dat Kiro Manoyan
were hosted at the De Facto press club on November 8 for a debate on
the U.S. presidential election and the recognition of the Armenian
genocide in this context. Hmayak Hovanisyan said if Obama recognizes
the genocide, which he has pledged, it will first of all push Turkey to
improve relations with Armenia to rid of the stain of the tragic events
left on it. Hmayak Hovanisyan thinks the recognition will be helpful to
the United States too, which will thereby remain faithful to its image
of a forerunner of universal values. In this connection, Hmayak
Hovanisyan says Armenia should also take steps to push Obama to fulfill
his pledge. Among steps, Hmayak Hovanisyan offers the Armenian
government to pass a resolution on the Armenian genocide, which he had
proposed in 2002 but got a refusal. He says now it is time to do that,
and since he is not a member of parliament any more, Hmayak Hovanisyan
handed over the package with the appraisal of scholars to Kiro Manoyan
since the ARF Dashnaktsutyun has a parliamentary delegation and can
raise that issue at the parliament.

By the way, Kiro Manoyan said it is highly probable that Obama will not
repeat the previous presidential candidates who pledged to recognize
but failed to. Kiro Manoyan says a little before the election Obama
repeated his pledge, which is already a serious argument, and perhaps
therefore the Turkish prime minister congratulating Obama stated that
the recognition of the genocide would endanger the U.S.-Turkish
relations, Kiro Manoyan says.

EDWARD HAMBARTSUMIAN GAINS VICTORY AT START OF EUROPEAN BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP

Noyan Tapan

Nov 7, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN. On November 6, Edward Hambartsumian
(64 kg) among representatives of Armenia gained a victory at the start
of European Boxing Championship being held in the city of Liverpool,
England and will continue competing.

Artur Grigorian (54 kg) and Samvel Matevosian (69 kg) were defeated.

THOSE IN POWER IN ARMENIA LACK KNOWLEDGE ABOUT GOPVERNMENT SYSTEM, HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER VARDAN HARUTYUNIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan

Nov 7, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN. "In the Republic of Armenia, human
rights are violated constantly and everywhere," Karapet Rubinian,
a member of the Committee for Protection of Political Prisoners and
Persecuted Persons, said during a discussion at the National Press Club
on November 7. In his words, the most absurd violation was the mass
violence in connection with the rigged presidential election, and this
violence reached its culmination on March 1. Another obvious violation
is the problem of "victims of state needs" when people are evicted from
their houses for the reason of state needs. "There is mass violation of
human rights under the name of implementing state business programs,
whereas in reality an oligarch wants to construct an elite building
on the site of the apartments taken away from citizens," he said.

K. Rubinian expressed an opinion that one of the gravest violations
is that people are imprisoned or subjected to tax pressure because
of their political views.

Vardan Harutyunian, a human rights defender, in his turn noted that
Shant Harutyunian who was arrested under the March 1 case is not
only a political prisoner but also a prisoner of conscience because
he was sent to prison for making a public speech. In his opinion,
the reason for human rights violation in the country is that those
in power have no idea about power, law and a state. "They would be
good turners or drivers, but they lack knowledge about the government
system," V. Harutyunian stated.

It is noteworthy that although some representatives of the authorities
had been invited beforehand, they were not present at the discussion.

PRESS RELEASE
OFFICE OF THE NAGORNO KARABAGH REPUBLIC
122 C Street, NW. Suite 360,
Washington, D. C. 20001
Tel: (202) 347-5166
Fax: (202) 347-5168

November 6, 2008

ARTSAKH WELCOMES 44th AMERICAN PRESIDENT
Looks Forward to Expanded Cooperation with New U.S. Administration

WASHINGTON, DC – NKR President Bako Sahakian congratulated the U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama on his election victory, calling it an
`epoch-making event both in American history and for the world
democracy."

In his November 6 letter, President Sahakian highly appreciated the
ongoing American economic assistance to Nagorno Karabakh and the
U.S. mediation efforts as co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. Bako
Sahakian expressed confidence that under the new Administration `the
ties between the two countries will become much stronger and more
diversified’.

Elected the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama has
advocated for further deepening of the U.S.-Armenia ties and for
formal recognition of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Mr. Obama also
called for a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh)
conflict in a way `agreeable to all parties, and based upon
America’s founding commitment to the principles of democracy and
self-determination’.

* * *

This material is distributed by the Office of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic in the USA (NKR Office) on behalf of the Government of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic. The NKR Office is registered with the
U.S. Government under the Foreign Agent Registration Act. Additional
information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington,
D.C.

The Office of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the United States is
based in Washington, DC and works with the U.S. government, academia
and the public representing the official policies and interests of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Artsakh.

TALKS BEGIN NEAR MOSCOW BETWEEN RUSSIAN, AZERI, ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS General Newswire
November 2, 2008 Sunday 3:01 PM MSK
Russia

Talks on Nagorno Karabakh settlement between Russian, Azeri and
Armenian presidents Dmitry Medvedev, Ilham Aliyev and Serge Sargsyan
began at Meiendorf Castle near Moscow on Sunday.

Medvedev announced in Yerevan last week his plans to invite the Azeri
and Armenian presidents to Russia to discuss the Nagorno Karabakh
problem.

The events in South Ossetia in August showed that, "all disputable
issues must be tackled based on international principles," the
Russian president said then. "Nothing else exists that would bring
about positive results," he said.

"We are at an advanced stage now, and both parties are prepared
for talks," Medvedev said, when asked by Interfax to comment on the
current state of Karabakh settlement.

ARMENIA, BELARUS INTERESTED IN DEEPENING CULTURAL TIES

armradio.am
06.11.2008 17:25

On November 6 RA Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan received
the Ambassador of Belarus to Armenia Stepan Sukharenko.

During the meeting the parties discussed the issues on the agenda of
Armenian-Belarusian relations. In particular, reference was made to
the ways of deepening the trade-economic cooperation and development
of cultural ties.

The interlocutors noted that the rich contractual – legal field
existing between the two countries provides an opportunity to deepen
the political, economic and humanitarian cooperation between Armenia
and Belarus.

The parties emphasized the role of the Armenian community of Belarus
in the development of Armenian-Belarusian relations.

SERZH SARGSYAN: TURKEY CANNOT ACT AS MEDIATOR IN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

ArmInfo
2008-11-07 11:07:00

ArmInfo. Turkey cannot act as a mediator in Karabakh conflict
settlement, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan at a joint
press-conference with Chairman of the European Commission Jose Manuel
Barroso in Brussels.

The Armenian president recalled that a joint Declaration was signed
in Moscow on November 2 together with the presidents of Russia
and Azerbaijan, according to which the settlement process should be
carried out within the frames of OSCE MG. As for Turkey, this country
is not the Minsk Group cochair, though it is a member of OSCE MG,
the Armenian president said.

THAW SEEMS TO HAVE EMERGED IN THE PROCESS OF THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT REGULATION
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2008 GMT+04:00

Signing of the Declaration was accelerated by the "five-day" war
of Georgia against South Ossetia. In spite of the burning desire of
Georgia and Azerbaijan, Russia displayed complete unwillingness to
resign from the Region.

The Moscow Declaration on political settlement the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict signed by the Presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan
once again awakened interest in the seemingly "frozen" conflict. In
fact, we witnessed assertion of what we used to repeat for years – the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved on the basis of principles
and norms of the international law.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On the whole, there was nothing new in the
Declaration, in spite of the numerous commentaries both from the
Armenian and Azerbaijani sides. Notwithstanding the attempts of
Official Baku to tilt the balance to her advantage by declaring that
the right of territorial integrity stands higher than the right of
a nation to self-determination, the Declaration contains no such
clause. Azerbaijan insists on the priority of territorial integrity,
while Armenia demands right of nations to self-determination. In other
words Azerbaijan is determined to return the "occupied" territories,
while Armenia requires independence of Nagorno Karabakh.

On this occasion it would be relevant to remind Press Secretary of
Azerbaijani FM Khazar Ibrahim that in 1999 Istanbul Charter was
adopted in which all the 10 principles of the Helsinki Final Act
were equal, and, what is equally important, the Charter also contains
the signature of Azerbaijan. Khazar Ibrahim can’t but know about it,
and if it is so, he opposes his President…

But let us leave aside such trifles. For Armenia, and also for
Azerbaijan one of the basic provisions of the Declaration is that in
spite of the absence of Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiation process
the OSCE Minsk Group remains a mediator in the talks. The point is
not in its being good or bad, simply there is no other worked-out
mechanism yet. It was especially with the help of the OSCE Minsk
Group that the conflict did not enter a "hot" phase.

Signing of the Declaration was accelerated by the "five-day" war
of Georgia against South Ossetia. In spite of the burning desire of
Georgia and Azerbaijan, Russia displayed complete unwillingness to
resign from the Region. Moreover, unleashing a war is especially
dangerous for the side that declares it and Ilham Aliyev realizes
it perfectly. Naturally, should it declare war against Nagorno
Karabakh, Russia would not interfere. Well, in any case the
Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Army is in no need of assistance. It
absolutely manages to defend its borders and Baku knows it well. At a
recent Armenian-Azerbaijani meeting representatives of Azerbaijan once
again began listing their military equipment, the volume of gas and
oil export, etc. On this account, experts of the Armenian delegation
wished Azerbaijan well-being and prosperity but they also noticed
that however rich in oil and gas Azerbaijan might be, most of its
population live in poverty, and for nearly 20 years miserable refugees
have been nestling in tent camps, embodying the martyr Azerbaijan.

But let us revert to the Declaration. Clause 5 says: "The parties
find it important to encourage conditions that will contribute to
the consolidation of trust, within the framework of efforts aimed
at settling the conflict." This must be the most difficult point to
realize, since anti-Armenian hysteria in Azerbaijan, heated and openly
provoked by the authorities can be overcome only after generations
and only on the condition that it is immediately put an end to. This
hysteria has its reasons: Azerbaijan is a poly-ethnic republic and
the image of a "common external enemy" still helps the authorities to
preserve the integrity of their country. Thus, when Baku speaks of the
territorial integrity of the country, it realizes that not only Nagorno
Karabakh will become independent. Talishes, Lezgins, and Udins will
also demand independence. They are all compactly living on their land
and were once joined to Azerbaijan at the will of Stalin and Narimanov.

Be that as it may, thaw seems to have emerged in the process of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation. On the one hand, the desire
of Turkey and Iran to take part in the process causes some anxiety
since both these countries are extremely interested in Azerbaijan
and Armenia. On the other hand, however, the OSCE Minsk Group would
hardly like to draw new players into this game. In any case a pretty
interesting situation is taking shape in the South Caucasus, after
which the region may finally change both in borders and in the quantity
of states.

LEVON TER-PETROSSYAN: "BY MOSCOW DECLARATION NAGORNO-KARABAKH WILL PLAY NO ROLE IN A NEGOTIATING PROCESS DETERMINING ITS FATE"

Today.Az
tics/48762.html
Nov 5 2008
Azerbaijan

"The Moscow Declaration should undoubtedly be considered as one
of the most important stages of the Karabakh peace process",
Levon Ter-Petrossyan, the first president of Armenia, head of the
oppositional Armenian National Congress, said in his interview with
"A1+" TV company.

He stressed that in the near future one should expect important
events related to the fates of Karabakh and Armenian statehood,
against the background of which domestic political problems are
paled into insignificance. "And we are going to attentively follow
the developments, assess the adequacy of the Armenian authorities’
actions in the current situation and we’ll try to either prevent or
minimize the threats to the Armenian party’s interests. The Declaration
signed in Moscow on November 2 should be considered as one of the
most important stages of the peace process", Ter-Petrossyan stressed.

He disagreed with the opinion that the Declaration has a formal
character and is deprived of specific content. According to
Ter-Petrossyan, only those who are unaware of the Karabakh peace
process nuances may have such wrong impression. However, experts
qualify this Declaration as quite "eloquent" as some principles and
specific moments are determined in it. One should keep in mind that
this document is only the tip of an iceberg, something more essential
in concealed under it, and it is not difficult to guess its content,
says Ter-Petrossyan.

In this connection, he noted that, firstly, the first item of
the Declaration contains formulation which can’t help causing
concern. According to the first item, "the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
will be settled on the basis of standards and principles of the
international law, as well as decisions and documents adopted
within these frames". Ter-Petrossyan is concerned not so much for
the reference of norms and principles of the international law as
of decisions and documents adopted on their basis. The Declaration
undoubtedly means resolution 62/243 of UN GA and resolution 1614 of
PACE – both recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and
demanding that the Armenian armed forces be immediately withdrawn
from the Azerbaijani territory near Nagorno-Karabakh.

Second, the 2nd point of the Moscow Declaration clearly says that
the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be based on
the Madrid proposal made by the OSCE Minsk Group Nov 29 2007. This
proposal combines two principles of the international law: territorial
integrity and nation’s self-determination.

Third, the 4th point of the declaration says that the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict must be resolved through direct dialogue between Azerbaijan
and Armenia – this is a new format and a de facto end to the decision
of the OSCE Budapest Summit of 1994 recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic as the third party to the conflict. This means that
Nagorno-Karabakh will play no role in a negotiating process determining
its fate.

Fourth, the most important result of the Moscow Declaration is that
the two conflicting parties, Armenia and Azerbaijan, have given their
consent to the Madrid proposal. The problem is that the previous
proposals of the OSCE MG were rejected by the conflicting parties
and removed from the agenda. The Moscow Declaration has marked the
beginning of the final stage of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

Ter-Petrossyan also added that Russia’s initiative on signing of this
Declaration does not at all contradict his idea that the West will play
the decisive role in the Karabakh conflict settlement. Ter-Petrossyan
said the Moscow meeting is crucial, nevertheless it is just the
beginning of the settlement process. At present this process continues
in Europe and will probably end in December in the USA. That is to
say, despite the fact that Russia initiated settlement, nevertheless
the West will put full stop. Sargsyan as well as Aliyev took part
in the Moscow meeting if not forcefully but evidently with unhidden
displeasure. And finally stemming from these ideas they will prefer
mediation of the West. As for the role of the OSCE Minsk Group,
the more the necessity of continuation of the OSCE MG activity is
emphasized and more complements sound in its address it is becoming
more suspicious there are disagreements within it, Armenian first
president Levon Ter-Petrossyan said.

AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT: "MOSCOW DECLARATION IS A GOOD GROUNDWORK FOR THE SOLUTION TO NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT"

Azeri Press Agency
Nov 5 2008
Azerbaijan

Ankara. Mayis Alizadeh – APA. The joint Declaration signed by
Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian Presidents in Moscow is a good
groundwork for possible peace agreement.

The main essence of the declaration is that the document covers the
international legal norms, supports the decisions and resolutions
passed within the framework of these norms and pays attention to
the solution to the problem by stages. I think that it can be a good
basis for the solution to the problem," Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev told the press conference after meeting with his Turkish
counterpart in Ankara, APA’s Turkey bureau reports. Ilham Aliyev
said that Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity recognized by the world
community should be restored, the lands should be liberated and over
one million Azerbaijanis should return to their native lands.

"I hope the new situation in the region and Turkey’s serious
interference in these issues, at the same time Russia’s giving impetus
to the mediating mission, the activeness of other co-chairs of OSCE
Minsk Group US and France – all the joint efforts will lead to the
solution to the issue," he said.

The president noted that Turkey-initiated Caucasus Stability and
Development Platform aimed to establish normal relations in the region,
solve the problems causing anxiety, end conflicts and ensure peace in
the region and added that in order to achieve this Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorno Karabakh conflict should be solved first of all.

"We welcome Turkey’s activeness in these issues, and have great
expectations from official Ankara’s active participation in the
ongoing processes in the Caucasus. We consider that it may have
splendid results. We are witnessing the sings of the first pleasant
moments," he said.

Azerbaijani President also added that efforts should be continued
for the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The head of state underlined that Turkey-Azerbaijan relations were
developing rapidly.

"We will keep this wonderful dynamics and strengthen the relations
in all spheres in future. We are satisfied with this cooperation,"
he said.

Azerbaijan’s President noted that the discussed issues would give
impetus to the prospects of bilateral relations and have a positive
influence on the situation in the region.

"Turkey-Azerbaijan relations have positive influence on the ongoing
processes in the region. All our joint initiatives aim to strengthen
peace, deepen cooperation and establish stability in the region,"
he said.

Ilham Aliyev added that Turkey-Azerbaijan relations had been enriched
with concrete projects.

"Energy and transport projects were implemented on our
initiative. Great efforts were made to achieve all this. We could do it
in the very complicated geopolitical situation. It shows that we solve
all the issues with joint efforts, will and basing on Turkey-Azerbaijan
brotherhood. These projects will offer new opportunities in future,
bring profit and give an impetus to deepen the cooperation in the
region. We have no divergence concerning these issues," he said.

Azerbaijan’s President noted that international issues had also been
thoroughly discussed during the meeting.

The President continues his visit to Turkey.