PanARMENIAN.Net
Italy: EU impossible without Turkey
28.02.2009 17:37 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Italy’s Ambassador in Ankara Carlo Marsili expressed
support for Turkish membership in the European Union (EU).
"As the Italian state, we know well that EU is impossible without
Turkey. We extend special support for Turkey’s accession to the
Union," Marsili said.
The Italian ambassador also urged the Union to live up to its promises
to Turkey, the Anatolia Agency reports.
Hurriyet, Turkey
Feb 28 2009
"Turkey-Armenia relations at historic point, border could be opened"
The relations between Turkey and Armenia are at a historic turning
point and the developments could result the opening of the border of
two neighboring countries, a U.S. congressman said late on Friday.
Robert Wexler told the U.S. Foreign Affairs Committee it seemed
relations between Turkey and Armenia were at a point of historic
opportunity, adding the relations could be normalized and border gates
between Turkey and Armenia could be opened, the state-run Anatolian
Agency reported Saturday.
Wexler, co-chair of the Turkish friendship group in the U.S. House of
Representatives, paid a visit to Turkey and held a series of talks
with high-level officials last week.
Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and their border has
been closed for more than a decade, as Armenia presses the
international community with the backing of the diaspora to admit the
so-called "genocide" claims, instead of accepting Turkey’s call to
investigate the allegations, and over Armenia’s invasion of 20 percent
territory of Azerbaijan.
A warmer period began in relations when Turkish President Abdullah Gul
paid a landmark visit to Yerevan in September to watch a World Cup
qualifying football match between the two countries on the invitation
of Sargsyan. The two countries have been holding contacts at the
ministerial level since.
TENSIONS ON EVE OF YEREVAN RALLY
By Karine Asatrian
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Feb 27 2009
UK
Armenia braces for protests commemorating violent break-up of
opposition demonstration.
Opposition activists will defy the authorities on March 1 to mark
the anniversary of a police crackdown on protesters last year that
left ten people dead.
Both sides of the political divide hope there will be no repeat of
last year’s violence, but observers say there has been no significant
easing of the tensions that caused the mass protests a year ago.
Last year’s protests were the result of opposition anger over the
results of February 19 presidential elections, which they say were
stolen by now-president Serzh Sargsian.
The then president imposed a state of emergency after the
demonstration, restricted the media, and sent in troops and armed
police – resulting in the deaths of eight opposition protesters and
two policemen.
"The political crisis in Armenia has still not been overcome," said
Alexander Iskandarian, director of the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan.
Indeed, opposition anger has been heightened by the police
investigation into the events. Prosecutors say they have opened 90
criminal cases against 110 people. Courts have already ruled on 97
cases involving 101 people, and five people remain on the run.
The most high-profile detainees, seven opposition leaders, remain
behind bars, awaiting trial. Their cases have been repeatedly
postponed. No police have been charged in relation to the deaths.
"The Armenian authorities’ response to the March 1 events has been
one-sided," said Human Rights Watch in a damning report published
earlier this month.
"While they have investigated, prosecuted, and convicted dozens of
opposition members, sometimes in flawed and politically motivated
trials, for organising the demonstration and participating in violent
disorder, they have not prosecuted a single representative of the
authorities for excessive use of force. The Office of the Public
Prosecutor has also dismissed all allegations of ill-treatment and
torture in detention as unfounded."
The opposition says its supporters were engaged in lawful protests
on March 1 and were subjected to an unprovoked attack, despite calls
from the international community for a peaceful resolution of the
political crisis.
The authorities, however, say they were forced to act after receiving
information that weapons had been distributed among the demonstrators
and that "mass riots" were planned.
The trouble began early on the morning, when police moved in on several
hundred protesters sleeping in tents pitched on Freedom Square in
central Yerevan. They cleared the square quickly, but subsequent
protests continued all day, culminating in the state of emergency
being proclaimed.
The government has promised a full probe into the events, and
prosecutors have occasionally reported on the results of their own
investigations, but have come no closer to announcing arrest warrants.
"I am not accusing anyone. I just want to know who killed my son. I
want to know the truth," said Aghasi Tadevosian, whose son Hamlet
was one of the policemen killed in the clashes.
His words were echoed by the bereaved parents of those on the other
side of the lines.
"Leaving political convictions aside, Armenians were killed by their
fellow-countrymen. I am sure that the time will come when all those to
blame for the crimes of March 1, as well as those before and after that
day, will be punished," said Robert Harutiunian, whose son Samvel died.
Under pressure from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe, the government has agreed to alter two controversial articles
in their criminal code under which the seven detained opposition
leaders are charged, but most opposition figures say nothing of
significance has changed in the last year to prevent protests bursting
out once more.
"Dialogue required actions, and not just promises. If the authorities
were genuinely prepared for this, then first of all they would
free the political prisoners, which must be their side of the
dialogue. Secondly, we must uncover the circumstances around the deaths
of ten innocent people, specifically the murderers and who gave the
orders," said Armen Martirosian, the leader of the Heritage Party’s
Parliamentary group, the only opposition presence in parliament.
"There are already experts who could be deployed quickly to uncover
the crime. But they have not done this, which means they do not want
to solve these murders."
City hall refused to give opposition parties permission to protest on
the anniversary of the crackdown. Artak Zeynalian, representative of
the opposition Armenian National Congress, said 58 political prisoners
remained in prison and that the Yerevan authorities had already turned
down 100 requests to hold protests about it.
He said that the opposition activists would gather at 3 pm in central
Yerevan on March 1 anyway, and that they had warned police of their
intentions.
Eduard Sharmazanov, a member of parliament from the ruling Republican
Party, said he expected the demonstration to pass peacefully, and
hoped the police would allow the protesters to express their views.
"I am far from the opinion that we must have an exclusive ruling
class. If we are a country without a strong opposition, we won’t have
a strong government," he said.
DOES MOSCOW CONSIDER BAKU ITS PRINCIPAL PARTNER IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS?
PanARMENIAN.Net
27.02.2009 20:07 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Azerbaijan is our principal regional partner ,
both in the economic and political spheres", Head of RF President’s
Staff Sergey Naryshkin said. "Russia- Azerbaijan relations can be
characterized as strategic collaboration. Russia aims to expand its
cooperation spheres with Azerbaijan. Within the recent years Russian
and Azerbaijani leaders have conducted the most productive dialogues,
which allow to develop our cooperation in the political, humanitarian
and military spheres", 1news.az cited Naryshkin as saying.
IRAN IS ON THE WAY TO NUCLEAR POWERS
Karine Ter-Sahakyan
PanARMENIAN.Net
26.02.2009 GMT+04:00
If we believe the English paper "The Times", Washington is considering
the previously unthinkable variant – to turn to Iran with the request
to use her territory for deliveries.
Iran successfully completed the Bushehr nuclear power plant trial
run, thus taking the first step towards the nuclear powers. However,
Russia has had her role in the realization of this step, and it was
rather predictable. The atomic station "Bushehr" has been built for
30 years. Russia joined the construction process only in 1995, while
before it the construction works were carried out by western companies,
which also supplied the power plant with part of the equipment that
has been kept in the site for more than 20 years.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It’s quit clear that "Bushehr" is part of Iran’s
nuclear program, because of which, by the hand of 43rd US President
George Bush, this country became a Â"social outcastÂ". However,
the reality is that not so much the "Bushehr" as the centrifuges at
Natanz pose a real threat to the world. As fuel the Iranian power
plant uses lead and not enriched uranium, the latter being necessary
only for full-power operation of the reactor and pretending to become
the nuclei of the atomic industry of Iran. By the way, this is what
the world community fears most. However, for some unknown reasons, the
same world community does not fear of the nuclear weapons of Pakistan,
which is more dangerous than Iran. Possibly the reason is that Israel
stands closer to Iran than to Pakistan. And even if this theory is
not quite true, it is at least tempting – to blame the omnipresent
Jewish lobby for everything. By the way, this is what Tehran has been
engaged in for quite a while.
Times are changing however, and what was impossible yesterday may today
be a necessity. As a matter of principle, there is nothing strange
here – nothing is impossible in politics, especially when it comes
to the interests of power states. After the closure of the air base
"Manas", the United States have been looking for new paths to deliver
goods to Afghanistan, desirably bypassing Russia. ¾ of the goods go
through Pakistan but lately there have been cases of attacking convoys
and acts of sabotage on the roads, especially in the region of Khyber
Pass. Islamabad Government is unable to guarantee security. Thus,
there remains only the southern way, i.e. Iran. If we believe the
English paper "The Times", Washington is considering the previously
unthinkable variant – to turn to Iran with the request to use her
territory for deliveries. By the way, Iran will be more compliant
than the RF that laid down her terms: "Traffic must necessarily be
of non-defense character". What will Iran require against the transit
is still a question. Neither is it known whether Washington will turn
to Iran or not. Most likely, the issue will be settled down after the
Presidential Elections in Iran due in June. There is little time left,
and if we also take into account that the USA is deeply concerned with
the victory of ex-President Mohammad Khatami, we should be expecting
certain changes in the region. In any case, even if current President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stays to power, he will have to reconsider his
policy both towards the USA and Russia. After all, no one can guarantee
that Moscow will not arrange the southern variant of the Â"gas warÂ"…
Even the EU has begun to speak in favour of Iran. "The Nabucco
project can be realized only with participation of Iran and Russia,"
declared EC Energy Spokesman Ferran Tarradellas Espuny. Thus, Europe’s
dependence on the Russian gas will be somewhat neutralized through
Iran. But nothing is certain even in this case. Everything depends
on what Russia and the USA will offer Iran, taking into account that
after all Iran is not Kyrgyzstan and she needs more than USD 2 billion
and not in money terms.
As for Russia and Iran, they are currently in the stage of discussions
for a joint enterprise on operating the Bushehr atomic power plant. In
the words of Sergei Kiriyenko, Head of Russia’s state nuclear power
corporation "Rosatom", "Iran and Russia are due to sign a long-term
contract of minimum ten years on delivering nuclear fuel."
FIRUDUN SADIGOV: "THE ARMENIAN HELD CAPTIVE IN AZERBAIJAN PERSONALLY APPLIED FOR ASYLUM IN ANOTHER COUNTRY"
APA
Feb 25 2009
Azerbaijan
Baku. Kamala Guliyeva – APA. "According to the international law,
the Azerbaijani captive and Armenian captive must not be equated.
The Azerbaijani was doing his military service in his country, but
the Armenian was drafted, deceived and sent to Karabakh. Measures are
being taken to return both captives," said head of the Working Group
of the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing
Persons Firudun Sadigov when asked whether Azerbaijani soldier held
captive in Armenia Rafig Huseynov and Armenian Paruyr Simonyan held
captive in Azerbaijan might be exchanged, APA reports.
He said according to the international law, it is forbidden to send
a captive back to his country by force.
"We have reports that the Azerbaijani captive feels normal. Of course
all details will be known after he returns. Measures are being taken
for Rafig Hasanov’s returning. As regards the Armenian captive,
he personally applied for asylum in another country," he said.
Sadigov said the reports that Rafig Hasanov underwent torture in
Armenia were not true.
"Sometimes, strange reports spread in media. Some persons announce
themselves military experts and spread information about the captives
held in Armenia. The State Commission has information that 783 people
were captured by Armenians during the operations in 1992-1995. Let
these experts give information about these people, if they can. Such
media reports, of course, aim to create sensation," he said.
ARMENIA FUND FINANCES DEVELOPMENT OF WEBSITE FOR ARTSAKH PUBLIC TELEVISION AND RADIO
armradio.am
26.02.2009 12:07
The Hayastan All Armenian Fund is financing the development
of a state-of-the-art website for Artsakh Public Television and
Radio. Through the four-month project, the company will be provided
with two Internet servers and a computer system, while technical and
administrative staff will receive training from E-works in web-content
generation and site management.
The initiative was designed following a technical-needs assessment
earlier this year, conducted by a Hayastan All Armenian Fund work
group.
When the project is completed in June 2009, the site will feature
programs broadcast by Artsakh Public Television and Radio, as well as
breaking news and information about Nagorno Karabakh. The site’s audio
and video clips will also be accessible through Google and YouTube.
"With its support to this vital project, the Hayastan All Armenian
Fund will enable Nagorno Karabakh to have its voice heard across the
world," said Ara Vardanyan, the fund’s acting executive director.
The continued development of Artsakh Public Television and Radio has
been a priority for the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. In December 2008,
it donated a variety of cutting-edge technical equipment to the Artsakh
Public Television and Radio, significantly enhancing its newsgathering
capabilities and broadcast quality. The project, worth U.S. $100,000,
was sponsored by the Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region.
A PERMANENT EXHIBITION-SALE OF ARMENIAN PRODUCTS TO FUNCTION IN ALEPPO
ARMENPRESS
Feb 25, 2009
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 25, ARMENPRESS: A permanent exhibition-sale of
Armenian products will function in the town of Aleppo, Syria. Executive
director of Armenian Trade-Industrial Chamber Araik Vardanian told
Armenpress that currently the Armenian side discusses the issue of
providing the exhibition territory with governor of Aleppo.
According to A. Vardanian, it will give the local Armenian community an
opportunity to permanently use Armenian products. After the exhibition
of Armenian products, which was held in December last year in Aleppo
in which nearly 100 Armenian producers took part, an interest is noted
in Aleppo especially towards Armenian food. Therefore a permanent
sale of Armenian sweets, cool drinks, brandy, drained fruit and dairy
product is intended to be organized in Aleppo.
A. Vardanian also informed that last week an agreement was signed with
the executive director of Aleppo Trade Chamber, according to which
an exhibition-sale of Syrian products will be held in June in Yerevan.
70 Syrian companies have already presented applications for
participation in it.
BAGIS SAYS DEVELOPING TIES WITH ARMENIA IS IMPORTANT
Today’s Zaman
Feb 25 2009
Turkey
State Minister and chief EU negotiator Egemen BagıÅ~_ has said that
Turkey attaches importance to developing ties with Armenia within the
scope of the country’s policy of friendly relations with its neighbors.
"In this respect, we see the Armenian community in Turkey as an
essential vehicle for this strategy," he said at a meeting at the
Private Pangaltı Armenian School with administrators, directors and
other representatives of schools run by Armenian minority foundations
in Ä°stanbul.
BagıÅ~_ gave a speech thanking everyone for a warm welcome and saying
that he brought Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s good wishes
to them. "For centuries, we have shared our bread and water in these
lands. We have been together in our good and bad days," he added.
Recalling that he was appointed the chief EU negotiator for Turkey
on Jan. 8, BagıÅ~_ said: "Today, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become
not only the prime minister of Turkey, but also the voice of the
conscience of the world. We attach great importance to developing
relations with Armenia as part of our policy for having good ties
with our neighbors. We know that Turkey has increased its foreign
trade with its neighbors 400-fold. We seek to improve political,
economic and social relations with Armenia. Recent developments are
reinforcing our hopes. I am hopeful. We see the Armenian community
in Turkey as an important bridge in this respect because there are
many contributions you can make to this friendship."
Minister BagıÅ~_ noted that hatred and animosity cannot
continue forever, as the two nations have lived in peace for many
years. "Whenever we cooperated with common enthusiasm and common
desires, we all won. Now we share common enthusiasm and common desires
once again. This common enthusiasm is EU membership," he said.
UMBA PRESIDENT ASSESSES GOVERNMENT’S ANTI-CRISIS PROGRAM AS DARING
Hasmik Dilanyan
"Radiolur"
24.02.2009 14:26
"Daring steps." This was how the President of the Union of
Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia, Arsen Ghazaryan,
characterized the Government’s anti-crisis program. Those steps are
targeted at promoting the business programs. "Serious government
support alongside the free market is noticeable," the President of
the Union said.
Arsen Ghazaryan hopes that if businessmen review their programs,
Armenia will come out of the crisis, building a strong economy.
Representatives of the opposition say the Government’s steps,
especially the legislative initiatives, are belated. President of the
Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia does not share the
opinion, adding that all spheres need support.
"It would be if the steps were taken a few years ago. But today the
economic policy is radically changing because of the current situation.
Assistance will be provided to all spheres, which will submit seriously
worked out programs," Arsen Ghazaryan said.