Author: Chakrian Hovsep

TURKISH MINISTER DENIES AZERBAIJAN RAISED PRICE OF NATURAL GAS

Anadolu Agency
April 26 2009
Turkey

Ankara, 26 April: The Turkish energy minister denied on Sunday [26
April] the news that Azerbaijan had raised the price of natural gas
it was selling to Turkey.

Turkey’s Energy & Natural Resources Hilmi Guler said that the stories
that Azerbaijan had raised the price of natural gas it was selling
to Turkey were not accurate.

quot;I am having talks with the Azerbaijani executives for two days,
and they haven’t said such a thing. There is no rise,quot; Guler
told reporters.

Guler also said that two countries had signed a contract, and it was
not possible for Azerbaijan to do so.

Some Turkish newspapers published news stories in their Sunday edition
that Azerbaijan had raised the price of natural gas it was selling
to Turkey as a reaction to Turkey’s rapprochement with Armenia.

OBAMA BROKE PROMISE OVER MASSACRES: ARMENIA GROUP

Agence France Presse
April 26, 2009 Sunday

A group representing Armenians in Europe fiercely criticised US
President Barack Obama for having broken a promise to describe the
1915 massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

quot;President Obama did not honour his promise to use the term
‘genocide’… as he promised to do many times before his election,quot;
said a statement from the Brussels-based Euro-Armenian Federation
after the president’s statement Friday.

He had dashed the hopes of millions of Americans and Europeans who
wanted the US president to break with quot;the cynical practices of
his predecessors,quot; the statement continued.

quot;He also casts discredit on his own word and on the credibility
of the United States in the world in general and in the southern
Caucasus in particular,quot; it said.

On Friday, Obama followed recent US diplomatic tradition by issuing a
written statement on Armenian Remembrance Day, branding the killings
of more than 1.5 million people as quot;one of the great atrocities
of the 20th century.quot;

The figure of 1.5 million is disputed by Turkey.

But Obama did not call the massacres quot;genocide,quot; despite
having vowed to use that exact term during his run for the White House.

He used instead the Armenian term for the killings, quot;Meds
Yeghernquot; which has been variously translated as quot;The Great
Calamityquot; or quot;Great Disaster.quot;

On Saturday, Turkey’s foreign ministry criticised Obama’s statement as
quot;unbalancedquot; and that it made no mention of the quot;several
hundreds of thousands of Turksquot; killed in the fighting.

Armenians say 1.5 million of their people were victims of systematic
killings from 1915, and many countries, including Canada and France,
have officially recognised the killings as such.

Turkey rejects the genocide label, arguing that 300,000-500,000
Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when
Armenians took up arms in eastern Anatolia and sided with invading
Russian troops.

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN LEADERS TO TALK PEACE IN MAY: MEDIATORS

Agence France Presse
April 27, 2009 Monday 12:38 PM GMT

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan will hold fresh talks on the
disputed Nagorny Karabakh region at a European summit next month,
international mediators said Monday.

The meeting between Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and Azerbaijani
counterpart Ilham Aliyev will take play on May 7 in Prague, said the
co-chairs of the Minsk Group of international mediators.

quot;The two presidents have confirmed they will participate in a
meeting in Prague,quot; said Bernard Fassier, the group’s French
co-chairman, told journalists.

quot;We hope that this process will create a favourable climate for
settling the Karabakh conflict,quot; he said.

Prague is to host the launch of an Eastern Partnership project aimed at
boosting the European Union’s ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

The American co-chair of the group, Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State Matthew Bryza, said he hoped recent moves to normalise
relations between Armenia and Turkey would help speed up the Karabakh
peace process.

quot;We believe that the normalisation of relations between Turkey and
Armenia will be a positive development for the entire region…. It
will also promote the process of settling the Karabakh question,quot;
he said.

quot;There is a new mood and new opportunities today for a faster
decision on the Karabakh question,quot; he said.

Armenia and Turkey last week announced a quot;roadmapquot; for talks
that could lead to normalising ties and the opening of their border.

Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic links with Armenia over
its efforts to have Ottoman-era killings of Armenians recognised
as genocide.

Azerbaijan has urged Turkey not to move forward in talks with Armenia
unless Yerevan agrees to withdraw its troops from Karabakh.

Backed by Armenia, ethnic Armenian separatists seized control of
Nagorny Karabakh in the early 1990s in a war that killed nearly 30,000
people and forced two million to flee their homes.

A ceasefire was signed between the two former Soviet republics in
1994 but the dispute remains unresolved.

France, Russia and the United States are co-chairs of the Minsk Group,
which is seeking to resolve the conflict.

HERITAGE REJECTED THE OFFER

A1+
04:22 pm | April 29, 2009 |

After withdrawing from the coalition and declaring itself an
alternative opposition, the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun was given a chance to
retain the posts at the National Assembly’s committees.

Speaker of the National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan suggested Armen
Rustamyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs,
and Arthur Aghabekyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense,
National Security and Interior Affairs, to take back their resignation
letters.

The ARF-Dashnaktsutyun thanked for the proposal and promised to
discuss it at the ARF’s Supreme Council.

Under the NA time-limit, the party is to give an answer within
free days.

"It is time we learned that the opposition and authorities shouldn’t
hold a hostile attitude towards each other. The culture isn’t developed
in our country yet." Dashnaktsutyun member Artyusha Shahbazyan said
commenting on the NA Speaker’s proposal.

Artyusha Shahbazyan couldn’t say whether the Dashnaktsutyun will
accept the proposal or not. He reminded the "Donti" resolution
adopted by the National Assembly in autumn 2008 which foresees seats
for the opposition in the parliamentary leadership. "This enables
the opposition to have seats in the National Assembly instead of
concluding bargains."

The resolution is not put into effect yet.

With regard to ARF’s ministerial portfolios, Mr. Shahbazyan noted
that the party received them as a result of a political agreement.

Note that the NA Speaker today offered the vacant posts at the Standing
Committee to the Heritage party but the latter rejected the offer.

AZERBAIJAN DOESN’T MEDDLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES’ AFFAIRS

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.04.2009 13:52 GMT+04:00

Azerbaijan never meddles in other countries’ affairs, Azeri President
said.

"The decision to normalize relations was taken by Armenia and
Turkey. As to Azerbaijan, it can reconsider its policy due to the new
regional developments. Some sources say the Armenian-Turkish agreement
includes preconditions, the others say there are not such. We must
know what is going on," Ilham Aliyev said in Brussels.

"We want to know whether the Karabakh issue remained beyond the
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process," he said, the Azeri leader’s
press office reported.

TURKISH SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES 1915 EVENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.04.2009 11:37 GMT+04:00

In a meeting held on Tuesday, the Turkish National Security Council
(MGK) stressed that "joint history of Turkish and Armenian nations
should be evaluated with an objective and scientific approach that
is supported by undisputable proofs and documents and is free of all
pre-conceived notions".

The MGK discussed Turkey’s would-be additional contributions to the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the MGK said that issues
pertaining to Turkey’s security were discussed and a will to continue
the fight against terror in democracy and a setting under the rule
of law was stressed.

"We have evaluated our relations with Iraq and discussed in details
the fight against terrorist incidents stemming from north of Iraq. The
issue of Turkey’s energy needs was discussed from political, strategic
and diplomatic perspectives. We welcome with pleasure the early
elections that took place in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC) in a peaceful atmosphere," the MGK also said, the Anatolian
Agency reported.

DEGREE OF CONTROL OF TV AND RADIO ADVERTISING BY STATE EQUALS TO ABSOLUTE ZERO IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-04-29 13:38:00

Degree of control of TV and radio advertising by the state equals to
the absolute zero in Armenia, President of the Armenian Advertising
Council Armen Martirosyan told journalists today.

‘If assess the quality of the television by the level of advertising,
we may claim that we have no television. Our Council has multiply
raised the question of control of the advertisement content, however,
our voice is ignored as possible’, A. Martirosyan said. According to
him, the Council he heads has repeatedly applied in written to state
agency, responsible for the advertising control, the National TV and
Radio Committee regarding different violations, however, it has never
got an answer. ‘If our appeals to the Committee give no result, we
shall have to apply to the Prosecutor’s Office’, A. Martirosyan said.

He also said one can hardly count the number of violations of the rules
on the content of advertising. Her exemplified use of children’s voices
and images in the advertising of goods not intended for children,
as well as violations of the rule on the language of advertising,
according to which the language of advertising in the republic is
Armenian only.

WILL NAIRA ZOHRABYAN BE APPOINTED AS RA MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION?

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2009 16:21 GMT+04:00

When questioned by PanARMENIAN.Net reporter about her supposed
appointment as RA Minister of Science and Education , Prosperous
Armenia MP Naira Zohrabyan denied the rumors. "There haven’t been
official decision or discussion of candidates to positions vacated
by Dashnaktsutyun MPs. Actually its not a burning issue that requires
immediate discussion," she said.

She advised to ignore the rumors.

Today RA Media was circulating rumors on Naira Zohrabyan’s oncoming
appointment as RA Minister of Science and Education.

KAAN SOYAK: SERZH SARGSIAN MIGHT TRAVEL VIA ARMENIAN-TURKISH BOARDER TO WATCH FOOTBALL MATCH IN TURKEY

Noyan Tapan
April 28, 2009
Stambul

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsian will likely travel to Turkey via
Armenian-Turkish border to watch a football match between national
teams of Armenia and Turkey in October. This was stated by Kaan Soyak,
Turkish co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Council (TABC),
in the interview to Cnn Turk.

"The greatest wish of Sargsian is to cross the border into Turkey to
watch the football game. He wants this come true. I believe this can
take place.",- stated Soyak.

"There is a "road map", which is a product of joint efforts of Armenia
and Turkey. On appropriate time and the points of that roadmap will
be quickly implemented. This is very important ", said the Turkish
co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Council. Touching upon
Azerbaijani factor in the region Soyak stressed that without Azerbaijan
it is impossible to settle peace and stability in the South Caucasus.

"Involving of Azerbaijan in the peace process is very important. The
problem requiring an urgent solution is a gradual withdrawal of
Armenian forces from occupied territories. Actually, in Caucasus
it is impossible to speak about peace without Azerbaijan ", stated
Kaan Soyak.

PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN TO MEET N PRAGUE ON MAY 7
Anna Nazaryan

"Radiolur"
27.04.2009 17:24

The Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham
Aliyev have confirmed their willingness to have a meeting in Prague on
May 7, Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Yurni Merzlyakov (Russia),
Bernard Fassier (France) and Matthew Bryza (USA) told a press
conference in Yerevan today.

They assessed the agenda of their visits to Baku and Yerevan as
rich. They did not visit Stepanakert because of bad weather conditions,
but talked to the President of Nagorno Karabakh on phone.

Noting that they have worked long to organize the forthcoming meeting,
French Co-Chair Bernard Fassier voiced hope that the meeting would
be constructive and productive like the three previous meetings in
Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Zurich.

US Co-Chair Matthew Bryza added that new opportunities exist for a
rapid solution of the issue, and the Co-Chairs will do their best to
contribute to the process. According to him, expecting a resolution
within the coming three months is quite real.

According to Russian Co-Chair Yuri Merzlyakov, good bases exist
for progress.

The agreement reached between the Foreign Ministries of Armenia
and Turkey with the mediation of Switzerland could have a positive
influence on the whole region, the Co-Chair declared, adding that
the resolution of the Karabakh conflict and the establishment of th
e Armenian-Turkish relations would proceed separately.

"The normalization of relations would be a good basis for regional
development. The rapprochement of the two countries reflects the
positive energy in the region, and this energy benefits Armenia,
Azerbaijan and the Karabakh solution. However, we expect the two
processes to develop separately."

Another road map will possibly be developed in the process of
settlement of the Karabakh conflict. "Everything depends on the
decision of the parties on the level of the Presidents of the two
countries."

Fassier said the Madrid Proposals still remain on the table and many
of its provisions are going to be discussed in Prague by Presidents
Sargsyan and Aliyev. The Co-Chairs added that the Presidents could
have another meeting in Saint Petersburg in June if they wished so.