Author: Chalian Meline

PRIME MINISTER IS LEADER OF "AZAT HAIRENIK" POLITICAL PARTY

NKR Government Information and
Public Relations Department
November 02, 2009

On October 31, the third convention of "Azat Hairenik" political party,
where NKR Prime Minister was chosen leader of this political entity,
took place. The Prime Minister is taking up the post of party leader
after an interval of two years. Being appointed head of NKR Government
in September, 2007, A.Haroutyunyan abandoned the post of party leader
with the aim of efficient organization of the newly constituted
executive authority’s activities.

Expressing his thankfulness to his party members for their credit
of him and for the work they implemented during the past two years,
A.Haroutyunyan presented detailed information about the programmes
implemented by the Government during the former period and the issues
standing in need of solution. The Prime Minister, particularly, noted
the successive steps, that within the framework of the NKR President’s
electoral programme and with the support of "Azat Hairenik" political
party, are implemented by the Executive in the social, demographic,
economic, cultural and educational and other spheres of the Republic.

A.Haroutyunyan more thoroughly touched upon the projects being
implemented in the spheres of agriculture, power engineering,
construction and tourism, which substantially consolidate the economy
of the state and sow in citizens confidence in future. According to
the Prime Minister the Executive is consistent in the proportional
development of the Republic. In 2010, irrigable lands in Artsakh will
exceed 8 thousand hectares. The reservoirs in the Republic including
those in the liberated territories will be reconstructed. 70 percent of
NKR residential areas will be gasificated, which is quite a high index
even in comparison with industrial countries. New small hydro power
stations, by means of which the Republic will become self-sufficient
with electrical power in near future, are built.

A.Haroutyunyan noted that considerable progress is noted in the
spheres of construction, construction material production and mining
industry. Changes for the better in the sense of both quality and
rates of work are noticeable.

Through hypothecary crediting new flats are built both in towns
and villages of the Republic. It was underlined that the state
concentrated great attention on the reconstruction of Shoushi. Soon,
the most complicated problem of water supply will be solved. It is
urgent for numerous populated areas, capital Stepanakert inclusive as
well. According to Prime Minister the issue of solving water supply
problem is set.

During the past two years, numerous newly built and repaired
healthcare, educational and cultural institutions came into operation,
roads in almost all regions of the Republic are being reconstructed.

With the aim of stimulating highway construction "Artsakhughi" state
company, which is equipped with modern machinery in rapid rates,
was created.

A.Haroutyunyan emphasized that even under conditions of world
economic crisis tax revenues increased, and this is due to the way of
transferring shadow economic entities into a legal field. The state
has adopted new policy in the sphere of tourism, which already bears
desirable results,- the Prime Minister noted.

The sphere of agriculture was specially touched upon. The Government
renders considerable sums for a number of programmes being implemented
in this sphere,- the Prime Minister reminded. A new large enterprise
with state share was put into operation. The Executive takes purposive
steps well directed to raising the crop harvest and contributing to the
realization of agricultural products. More than half of the Republic’s
labour power is engaged in agriculture, however, Artsakh remains a
country importing agricultural products,- the head of the Government
expressed his anxiety. According to him "our country is considerably
retarded from the indices of the world’s advanced countries, for what
communities have their share of guilt as well".

The future of our country depends upon our prospered communities,-
the Prime Minister stated.

Touching upon the existent problems A.Haroutyunyan noted that at
present successful combating against corruption is organized in the
Republic. The work in this sphere is noticeable, he stated and added
that anti-corruption steps meet some resistance and are accompanied
by official circumlocution.

The Prime Minister called the members of "Azat Hairenik" political
party to strain efforts together with the society and the Government
in order to overcome the difficulties and achieve the results of
NKR social and economic indices to be equal with those of developing
countries during the forthcoming 10 years. "We must have strong army
and sound economy",- the head of the Government and "Azat Hairenik"
political party underlined challenging the members of the party to
political activity.

In 2010, parliamentary elections will take place in the NKR.

A.Haroutyunyan announced that long-term programmes must be drafted and
to prepare to campaign, an event political importance in the best way.

It is necessary to found new regional and urban party structures, and
to strengthen the activity of existing structures. By his suggestion
the convention has elected the new membership of "Azat Hairenik"
political party.

On the complition of the convention, A.Haroutyunyan answered the
journalists’ questions.

STEPAN SAFARIAN: TODAY INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES ARE INCLINED TO MEET AZERBAIJAN’S STRIVINGS

Noyan Tapan
Nov 4, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. Unless the international community
meets Azerbaijan’s strivings in the issue of Nagorno Karabakh
settlement, Azerbaijan threatens to resume the war. RA NA Zharangutiun
(Heritage) faction head Stepan Safarian expressed such an opinion at
a November 4 press conference. In his words, today the international
structures are inclined to meet Azerbaijan’s strivings. According
to S. Safarian, evidence of it is the statement of EU Special
Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby that the issue
of Nagorno Karabakh status should be left for indefinite future.

According to deputy’s observation, putting the Armenian side before the
alternative "war or compromises" they incite us to make concessions.

Touching upon the Armenian-Turkish protocols S. Safarian said that by
their signing the Armenian authorities gave Turkey a possibility to
become an OSCE Minsk Group member and to have influence on the Nagorno
Karabakh settlement. And in general, as the Zharangutiun representative
stressed, the situation formed after the signing of the protocols is
deadlock. In his words, the reason is that Turkey always strives for
linking the normalization of relations with Armenia with the Nagorno
Karabakh problem.

According to S. Safarian, Armenia’s wish at the current stage is quick
ratification of the protocols for Turkey not to continue linking
them with the Nagorno Karabakh settlement. And Turkey is afraid of
adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the U.S. Senate. "On
the one hand, Turkey will try to avoid the prospect of recognition
of the Genocide in the U.S., on the other hand, will try not to lose
Azerbaijan’s confidence," S. Safarian predicted.

TURKEY NEEDS TIME TO RESOLVE INTERNAL ISSUES: SAFARYAN

news.am
Nov 4 2009
Armenia

At the current stage of Armenia-Turkey talks, Armenia pursues two
critical objectives, Head of oppositional "Heritage" faction Stepan
Safaryan stated at Nov. 4 press-conference in Yerevan.

According to him, the minor one is achievement of Protocols’
ratification till April 24 to rule out its linkage with Karabakh
conflict resolution, and major objective-if Turkey fails to ratify
the documents, U.S. will force Ankara to make concessions and open
the border by possible Genocide recognition.

Meanwhile, Turkey needs time to ratify the Protocols signed in Zurich,
Safaryan said. According to him, Turkish opposition sees that incumbent
authorities were pressurized. If its leadership takes this step without
hearing opponents’ opinion, it will be fraught with domestic policy
shocks. Consequently, Turkey needs time to resolve internal issues,
Safaryan outlined.

ARFD: TURKEY GOES BY PRECONDITIONS

Aysor
Nov 2 2009
Armenia

Turkish officials’ activities are aimed at not only internal,
domestic audiences, told journalists member of ARF Dashnaktsutyun,
Hrayr Karapetyan. He described Armenian foreign policy as "passive
and unclear". When asked about Edward Nalbandyan’s statement that
Armenia is not under anyone’s pressure, Hrayr Karapetyan said:
"Foreign Minister’s statements are sent to opposition, in particular,
to ARFD, instead of being designed to neutralize the statements made
by Turkish officials. Our Foreign Ministry’s actions are not in tune
with the situation."

Hrayr Karapetyan expressed regret that Turkish declarations come
gradually true. He pointed that Turkey openly seeks to chair OSCE
Minsk Group to participate in settlement of Karabakh.

"Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister already participates in OSCE Minsk
Group discussions," he said noting that Turkey goes by preconditions
being led by third party’s claims. Hrayr Karapetyan said that
governmental forces involved in normalization relations with Turkey and
issue of Karabakh should focus and go by strategy of national security.

WHAT DOES ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY DO, WHEN TURKEY IS COMPARED WITH FASCIST GERMANY?

Tert
Nov 2 2009
Armenia

Armenian Foreign Ministry doesn’t act according to the existing
situation, constantly thinking that both Turkish official statements
made from UN platforms and Deputy Turkish Foreign Minister’s
participation in the OSCE Minsk Group’s activities are addressed
to their own public, said Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun, or ARF-D) MP Hrair Karapetyan today.

The member of parliament thinks that the Foreign Ministry instead of
neutralizing the statements made by Turkey’s leadership, opposes
their party’s position. He quoted a section from the National
Security Strategy on the blockade on Armenia by Turkey and accused
the foreign minister, because the latter "takes advantage of that and
doesn’t state that it is inadmissible in international practice that
relations between two countries are connected with relations with a
third country."

"The present phase showed that Turkey is setting a precondition to
Armenia," Karapetyan stated. He emphasized that so far there hasn’t
been such a situation when Turkey was showing unprecedented activeness
in the Nagorno-Karabakh process. This, according to the ARF-D MP,
directly results from signing of the Protocols.

Criticizing actions of the Armenian leadership Karapetyan recalled
that recently the president of Cyprus stated that Turkey’s present
attitude is like that of Fascist Germany, when people made concessions
to Hitler so that he wouldn’t become more aggressive. According to
Karapetyan, many condemn Turkey, but Armenia doesn’t.

"The statements of all Turkish political officials, their recent
hints that Turkey must become a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, prove
that signing of the Protocols by Armenia as they are presently was
not justified."

ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS BROUGHT ABOUT ‘NEW PHENOMENA’ IN TURKISH-AZERBAIJANI RELATIONS

Tert
Oct 30 2009
Armenia

"Let me state an opinion [widely] spread in Turkey that if the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue is not resolved, Armenian-Turkish border
will not open, but if the border doesn’t open, the US Congress will
pass the Armenian Genocide resolution," Turkologist Ruben Safrastyan
stated today.

According to the analyst, Turkey’s political elite are burdened by
these issues, which, in reality, are connected with one other.

"Recently, quite serious analysis appeared in Turkey, which show that
Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s relations are not only emotional, but also
dependent on each other in energy matters," Safrastyan said, bringing
as an example a Turkish official’s words that Turkey has always paid
more than the accepted market prices and Azerbaijan has no grounds
for complaining.

On the other hand, the analyst said, it is not definite whether the
present tension in Turkish-Azerbaijani relations connected with the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols will have an influence on gas prices.

"In fact, Armenian-Turkish relations influence Turkish-Azerbaijan
relations already in the economic sector. This is a new phenomenon,"
Safrastyan emphasized.

According to him, it will be clear in the near future whether
Azerbaijan will take serious steps against Turkey or not.

WATCHFUL EYES ON TURKEY AS IT APPEARS TO TURN EAST
Dan Bilefsky

The International Herald Tribune
October 28, 2009 Wednesday
France

With Turkey’s prospects for joining the European Union more elusive
than ever and the country reaching out to predominantly Muslim
countries with a vigor not seen in years, an age-old question is
vexing the United States and Europe: Is this large secular Muslim
country turning east instead of west?

When President Barack Obama visited Turkey in April – a gesture that
underlined its strategic importance – he emphasized Turkey’s role
as a bridge between East and West, acknowledged its mediation in the
Arab-Israeli conflict, and threw his weight behind Turkey’s becoming
an E.U. member.

Now, six months later, some in Washington and Brussels are questioning
Turkey’s dependability as an ally. Relations with Israel have seldom
been worse. And many Turks – insulted by opposition in France, Germany
and elsewhere to the country’s joining the E.U. – are asking whether
Turks should reject the E.U. before the bloc rejects them.

When it comes to their European credentials, an influential member of
the U.S. Congress, Robert Wexler, asked last week, "how many speeches
do the Turks have to endure?"

Mr. Wexler, chairman of the European Foreign Affairs Subcommittee
of the U.S. House of Representatives, recently announced he would
resign from the House to head the Center for Middle East Peace and
Economic Cooperation.

"You wonder why Turkey is curious about different avenues?" he asked
at a conference in Istanbul about Turkey and the Middle East. "Look
at your own behavior and attitude, Europe."

Fears of a Turkish lurch toward the Muslim world were fanned this
month when the country canceled air force exercises with Israel,
straining ties that were already frayed after Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan got into a public fight over the war in Gaza with
President Shimon Peres of Israel in front of peers at the World
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, early this year.

Turkey’s decision to put its special relationship with Israel on hold,
some Western diplomats say, has been accompanied by overtures toward
Iran. During a visit by Mr. Erdogan to Iran on Tuesday, President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad praised him for opposition to Israel. "Your
clear stance against the Zionist regime had a positive impact in the
world which undoubtedly made all nations happy," he told Mr. Erdogan,
the state media in Iran reported.

When the official result of Iran’s presidential election was announced
in June, leading to bloody demonstrations, Turkey raised eyebrows by
being one of the first countries to congratulate Mr. Ahmadinejad.

Last week, Mr. Erdogan called on the international community to ease
its concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. Earlier, he had exhorted
the West to remember that "those who possess nuclear weapons do not
have the right to tell others to not acquire them, too."

Some analysts blame the E.U.’s mismanagement of its relations with
Turkey for pushing the country in another direction. President
Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany
have expressed vociferous opposition to Turkish membership in the
E.U., signaling, however tacitly, that a large Muslim country, most
of whose territory sits outside of Europe, has no place in a club of
nations that are predominantly Christian.

Even a partial collapse of talks with the E.U. would have far-reaching
consequences. Turkey is an indispensable ally for the United States
and Europe. Bordered by Iran, Iraq and Syria, Turkey, which has NATO’s
biggest army after that of the United States, is a powerful symbol
of the compatibility of democracy, capitalism and Islam. Situated
between the Middle East and the former Soviet Union, Turkey has vital
strategic importance as a transit country for natural gas. It also has
deep influence in Afghanistan and is a regional leader in the Caucasus.

Yet the country’s E.U. negotiations are in a precarious state. Eight
negotiating chapters have been blocked because of a dispute with
Cyprus. For the first time in years, leading figures in the business
establishment, which has always led the drive for E.U. integration,
are questioning the wisdom of continuing a negotiating process that
appears to have no end.

"Ten years ago I was fighting for us to join the E.U., but I have
lost all faith in the honesty of the process," said Hasan Arat,
a Turkish venture capitalist. "We Turks are a proud nation, and we
don’t want to go to a house where we were invited but where the host
keeps slamming the door in our face."

For all its wounded pride, officials and analysts in Turkey insist
that it has no intention of abandoning the West but, rather, is
developing an independent streak in line with its growing economic
and political clout.

Rather than reorienting Turkish foreign policy toward the East,
Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s minister for European affairs, argued in an
interview that the recent outreach to its neighbors – including the
opening of its border with Syria, the rapprochement with Armenia,
the engagement of Iran and a raft of agreements solidifying ties with
Iraq – was helping Turkey to become a more effective interlocutor
for its Western allies.

"Any bridge with one strong leg and one weak leg can’t stand for long,"
he said. "For a bridge to be useful and stable, both legs need to
be strong."

Ibrahim Kalin, chief foreign policy adviser to Mr. Erdogan, added
that Western critics of Turkey’s new inclusive foreign policy were
applying a double standard. "When the U.S. makes an overture to Russia,
everyone applauds this as a new era in diplomacy," he said. "But
when Turkey tries to reach out to Iran, people ask if it is trying
to change its axis."

Yet Mr. Kalin acknowledged that the anti-Turkish rhetoric emanating
from several European capitals was making it harder to convince the
Turkish people about E.U. membership.

Support for Turkey’s E.U. aspirations four years ago topped 70 percent,
he noted, but today fewer than half of Turks think joining the bloc
would benefit Turkey.

"We keep hearing cultural arguments about why we are not suitable for
the E.U., that we are different, that we are Muslim," Mr. Kalin said.

"If this type of talk continues, it will become increasingly difficult
to make a case for Turkish membership in the E.U. to public opinion."

While a growing anti-E.U. backlash in Turkey has invariably made
a rapprochement with the Arab world more attractive, some Turkish
analysts argued that cultural and economic interests were also at play.

Ersin Kalaycioglu, a professor of political science at Sabanci
University in Istanbul, noted that the global financial crisis had
contracted European economies, prompting Turkey, a large export
country, to seek alternative markets.

Other analysts noted that leaders in the governing Justice and
Development party, or A.K.P., a socially conservative party with
Muslim roots, felt more at home in Riyadh, Damascus and Baghdad than
in Paris, London or Rome. "The A.K.P. has reached the Arab Street
and Arab radicals in a way that previous Turkish governments didn’t
do in the past," Mr. Kalaycioglu said.

Indeed, many secular Turks say they are concerned that outreach to
the Muslim world is being replicated by the expanding influence of
Islam on daily life at home.

Last year, Parliament voted to end a ban on women’s wearing of head
scarves at universities, prompting a challenge from the constitutional
court that the ruling party was trying to subvert Turkey’s secular
state. A growing number of hotels along the Mediterranean coast boast
segregated beaches where liquor is not served.

Egitim-Sen, a leftist teachers’ union, has accused the ruling party
of allowing Islam to encroach on the national curriculum.

Government officials retort that secularism is enshrined in the
Constitution and that Turkey is inextricably tied to the West, both
economically and strategically.

"I am against limitations on freedom, whether someone is trying to
ban a woman from the right to wear a head scarf or is trying to limit
a person’s right to enjoy a glass of wine," said Mr. Bagis, the E.U.

affairs minister.

Rather than fearing that Turkey is moving toward the East, Cengiz
Aktar, a leading E.U. expert, argued that the West had more to fear
from a wounded Turkey turning to Russia. Already, Russia has been
courting Turkey as a distribution point for energy supplies to the
Middle East and the southern Mediterranean, while Turkish investment
in Russia is intensifying.

Mr. Aktar expressed alarm that Mr. Erdogan’s government – whose tax
authority recently imposed $4 billion in fines and penalties on a
leading media group critical of the ruling party – appeared intent
on imitating Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s autocratic style
of governance.

"People should be far more concerned about Turkey getting closer
to Russia and applying the Russian approach to governance than they
should about the turn toward the Middle East and Islam," he said.

"This government is perfectly capable of saying ‘no thanks’ to Europe
and instead shifting toward Russia."

AAA REQUIRES PARITY IN U.S. MILITARY ASSISTANCE

news.am
Oct 27 2009
Armenia

The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) urges U.S. Congress to
maintain parity in security assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan, and
requests $4.3 million in Foreign Military Financing, and $1 million
in International Military Education Training assistance to Armenia,
AAA press release reads Oct. 26.

According to the conditional waiver of Section 907 of the FREEDOM
Support Act, any assistance provided shall not "undermine or hamper"
the Nagorno Karabakh peace process or "be used for offensive purposes
against Armenia" or any "Armenian community in the Caucasus region."

The paper reads, "Specifically, the conditional waiver stipulates
that President must consult with Congress prior to the provision of
any assistance, and report to Congress ‘in detail’ on ‘the nature
and quantity’ of such assistance, its impact on the ‘military balance
between Azerbaijan and Armenia’ and negotiations over Karabakh.

Finally, there is an understanding between the Administration and
Congress to ensure military parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Providing asymmetrical military assistance to Azerbaijan violates
the will of Congress, subverts the short- and long-term U.S. policy
goals for the South Caucasus region, and will only serve to legitimize
Azerbaijan’s ongoing blockades against Armenia and Karabakh, thereby
making its position at the negotiating table even more intransigent.

In fact, Azerbaijan continues its unabated war rhetoric against
Armenia, despite U.S. demands to cease such provocative actions.

Rather than heed U.S. and European Union calls for cooperation with
Armenia, Azerbaijan has rejected Armenia’s numerous proposals for
economic and regional confidence-building, and has instead dramatically
increased its military spending to levels that nearly equal Armenia’s
entire national budget.

Given Azerbaijan’s escalating military expenditures, we encourage
Congress to carefully monitor military assistance given to Azerbaijan,
through other assistance programs, such as the Caspian Guard
initiative, to ensure that the principle of military and security
parity is maintained throughout all funding areas."

CHARLES AZNAVOUR MEETS WITH GENEVA CITY COUNCIL CHAIRMAN

Aysor
Oct 27 2009
Armenia

Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva,
Ambassador Charles Aznavour, attended Geneva City Council meeting
held on October 22.

During the meeting the parties discussed range of issues which are
important for Armenia. Mr. Aznavou praised the warm and friendly
welcome and relations shown by Geneva’s authorities to Armenian
community in Switzerland. Mr. Daniel Hillarie, in his part, praised
role and activities of Armenian community and its some individuals.

The parties also talked about Armenian-Turkish protocols signed in
Zurich and further developments in this process.

Mr. Charles Aznavour has signed the book of honorable guests of Geneva.

TURK, ARMENIAN SIDES WATCH EACH OTHER, WAIT FOR NEXT MOVE

Hurriyet Daily News
Oct 27 2009

Armenia and Turkey are waiting for each other to take the next
step toward improved relations. The Turkish foreign minister says a
positive development in Azerbaijani-Armenian relations will be good
for the Turkish Parliament to pass the protocols. Meanwhile, experts
in Armenia say Armenian lawmakers may delay voting on the protocols
until the Turkish parliament makes its judgment After taking the first
major step toward normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations and signing
historic protocols on Oct. 10, both sides now await the next move –
from the other party.

In an interview with Al Jazeera television Monday, Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the government would not impose pressure
on Parliament to accept the protocols but that a positive development
in Azerbaijani-Armenian relations would affect the parliamentary
approval process positively. The psychological and political atmosphere
had significance for such agreements to be approved, he said.

Asked whether the acceptance of the protocols by the Turkish Parliament
depended on a development in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is the
cause of the Azerbaijani-Armenia conflict, Davutoglu said [no matter
when they are approved] the protocols would have a positive effect
on stability in the southern Caucasus, especially in the resolution
of the Azerbaijan-Armenian conflict.

"A development in this field would definitely have a positive effect
on the acceptance process. However, if the situation gets worse or if
there is no longer hope that there can be a positive development, in
that case our parliamentarians will have a negative inclination. This
is why we need to work on a positive scenario now," he said.

The Turkish foreign minister said Azerbaijan is a strategic ally and
that the subject is also a domestic political issue for Turkey.

When asked whether Armenian claims of genocide could be confirmed after
the proposed commission researches the events of 1915, Davutoglu said
he, himself, is an academic and historian and historical facts should
be researched based on historical documents.

Meanwhile, Armenian lawmakers may delay voting on the protocols until
the Turkish Parliament has considered the measure, reported Bloomberg
on Tuesday. Armenia will probably wait for Turkey to act on the treaty,
said Nairi Petrosyan, a spokesman for the parliament in Yerevan.

Many Armenians are concerned the treaty could lead to a compromise
on Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia’s demand that Turkey recognize the
events of 1915 as genocide.

"The Armenian public is confused because of a lack of information,"
Richard Giragosian, director of the Armenian Center for National and
International Studies, said by telephone from Yerevan on Monday in
an interview with Bloomberg. "The vast majority supports opening the
border and normalizing relations, but the question is: At what price?

What we’re seeing is a rather mistaken trade-off," he said.

"I don’t see any real problems on passage in the Armenian parliament.

The real test will come from the Turkish side," Giragosian said.

He said Turkish lawmakers are likely to postpone voting on the
protocols until next February or March to coincide with the 95th
anniversary of the 1915 events. Giragosian said Turkey is trying to
maximize the political benefits. Turkey hopes normalizing ties with
Armenia will assuage European Union opponents of Turkish membership.

Events of 1915

In the Oct. 10 agreement, Turkey and Armenia pledged to create a joint
commission of historians to investigate the events of 1915. Armenia
says as many as 1.5 million Armenian people were systematically
killed. Turkey cites a lower figure and says the deaths were the
result of civil strife in which many Turks were also killed.

Armenia’s political opposition has criticized the government for moving
too fast to repair relations with Turkey before first resolving the
disputes. "The opposition has never said we don’t want normalized
ties," Arman Mysinian, a leader of the opposition National Congress
of Armenia, told Bloomberg. "But the genocide and Karabakh should
not have been included in the foreign policy agenda."

Samvel Farmanyan, a spokesman for Serge Sarkisian, said the agreement
does not call into question the legitimacy of Armenia’s position on
the events of 1915 or Nagorno-Karabakh and that the government would
never compromise.