Author: Chilingarian Babken

FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY IS SURE THAT DRAFT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO UNEQUIVOCALLY BE ADOPTED BY CONGRESS

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jan 16 2007

WASHINGTON, JANUARY 16, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Mark Parris, the
former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey stated that the draft on qualifying
the murders of Armenians in Ottaman Turkey as a genocide will be
adopted by the U.S. Congress.

"The possibility of putting the draft on the Congress agenda is
100 per cent. The draft will probably be passed both at House of
Representatives and at Senate. Turkey traditionally relied on the
political figures of Washington, but that assistance weakened for a
number of reasons, particularly, for the Armenian Genocide issue is a
delicate issue for the democrates," the former Ambassador emphasized
in the interview given to the Turkish "Milliyet" daily.

Parris stressed that the draft on the genocide will be adopted:
"Everybody beleives that adoption of the draft will make the
relations (with Turkey: "NT") more difficult, but it does not mean
that the U.S. policy will change. The American policy is not ready
yet to use similar inflexible edges," the former American Ambassador
stated, adding that adoption of the draft will not arise problems
as "U.S. President Bush greatly assists Turkey." Responding the
question if Washington will assist Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan in the coming president’s elections in the case of the
latter’s nomination, the former Ambassador expressed a confidence that
Bush’s administration will not give a signal of agreement to Cankaya
(President’s Palace of Turkey: "NT").

STATE SAVING COUPON BONDS WITH 7% YIELD TO BE ISSUED FROM JANUARY 16

Noyan Tapan
Jan 15 2007

YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. Starting January 16, the RA Ministry
of Finance and Economy will issue state saving coupon bonds with a 7%
annual yield. The amount of the issue is 100 million drams (about
270 thousand USD).

According to a press release of the press service of the RA Ministry
of Finance and Economy, these bonds may be acquired by natural
persons only from the service points of the ministry’s treasury
depository. Free sale will be conducted until April 6. Coupon payments
will be made quarterly. The date of bond bayback is July 16.

On the first day bonds will be paid by their nominal value, then –
also by an additional payment on the nominal value.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenia Should Not Make Statements on US Ambassador Nomination
11.01.2007 14:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia should not express a special attitude
towards the issue of nominating Richard Hoagland as US Ambassador to
Armenia, said Kiro Manoyan the head of `Hay Dat’ office in Yerevan. In
his words, there is no need in it and to make any statements on the
issue of nominating a new ambassador to Armenia is incorrect and
undiplomatic. `This problem must be solved in the USA, especially if
the `Hay Dat’ office has already expressed dissatisfaction in its
message addressed to the Senate. Particularly, it says that Richard
Hoagland cannot present US interests in Armenia in proper way,’ Kiro
Manoyan said. He stressed that Armenia should `wait developments of
events’, `Novosti Armenia’ reports.

KIRO MANOYAN: ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS WOULD NOT BE BETTER IF NOT THE GENOCIDE RECOGNITION ISSUE

ArmRadio.am
11.01.2007 17:55

"By next week the bill on recognition of the Armenian Genocide will
be presented to the House of Representatives. The possibility of its
adoption is great," Head of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF) Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office Kiro Manoyan
said at a press conference today. He mentioned also that Congressmen
will be presented the same bill hat was introduced in 2000 and 2005
(the vote was, however, prevented by House Speaker Denis Hustert.)

Kiro Manoyan assured that the Armenian-Turkish relations would not
be better if the issue of the Armenian Genocide recognition was
not included in Armenia ‘s foreign policy agenda. "In 1991-1998
the Genocide recognition issue was not on our foreign relations
agenda. It was then that Turkey Imposed a blockade on Armenia, refused
to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia and suggested a number
of preconditions. While it was only Armenia that had the moral right
to set preconditions," ARF representative underlined.

BUSH AGAIN SUGGESTS HOAGLAND’S CANDIDACY

ArmRadio.am
10.01.2007 13:08

For the second time US President George W Bush suggested Richard
Hoagland’s candidacy as US Ambassador to Armenia, says the official
statement of the White House, Mediamax agency reports.

Let us remind that in September Democrat Senator Robert Menendez put a
"hold" on Hoagland’s candidacy, who refused the properly qualify the
events of 1915 as genocide.

Early December Robert Menendez and Democratic leader Hurry Reid
addressed letters to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, suggesting
to propose another candidacy for US Ambassador to Armenia.

ARMENIAN COMMISSION FOR REGULATING PUBLIC SERVICES SECURED ARMENTEL CJSC’S EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO VOICE DATA COMMUNICATION SERVICES

Yerevan, January 9. ArmInfo. The Armenian Commission for Regulating
Public Services secured the ArmenTel CJSC’s exclusive right to voice
data communication services by IP and TDM technologies, the Commission
told ArmInfo. Tuesday.

This proceeds from the decision on classification of voice services
taken on January 8. The voice services had not been classified before,
therefore the ArmenTel company couldn’t legally protect its exclusive
rights, secured by the new edition of the licence No 60.

The Commission defined what exactly the voice service is. The company’s
monopoly doesn’t concern the voice messages sent from the personal
computer situated on the territory of Armenia and the messages for
private use.

To note, in September 2007, 137 enterprises and individuals who
rendered voice data communication were disconnected from the network
by the ArmenTel company. In October 2006, the Commission permitted
ArmenTel to temporarily renew these services to enterprises and
individuals until the results of the investigation of the situation
are received. The Commission instituted administrative proceedings,
and, as a result, took this decision.

Earlier, answering an ArmInfo correspondent’s question, Oleg Bliznyuk,
the director general of the ArmenTel CJSC, couldn’t say precisely
how many companies and individuals render IP and TDM services and
what capacity this market has. According to experts’ data, there are
over 300 items engaged in these services. ArmenTel finds difficulty to
evaluate the damage inflicted on the company as a result of violation
of its monopoly licensing rights.

OMBUDSWOMAN ASKS ICRC TO HELP RELEASE AZERBAIJAN POW FROM CAPTIVITY

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Dec 28 2006

Soldier of the Azerbaijan National Army Samid Mammadov was taken
captive December 24 by Armenian armed forces.

To protect Azerbaijan POW’s rights, commissioner for human rights of
Azerbaijan wrote a letter to Susanna Lopes, head of the Baku office
of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

In her letter, ombudswoman asked S. Lopes to help repatriate
S. Mammadov to Azerbaijan within short time, and ensure that he is
not tortured, humiliated and punished.

TURKISH FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY ANALYSIS IN 2006 (I)
Huseyin Bagci

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Dec 25 2006

Turkish Foreign policy was experiencing another exciting year in terms
of regional as well as global developments. Turkey’s domestic debate
concerning foreign policy issues showed also a very high quality,
proving that Turkey is a democratic country which has greatly advanced
in comparison to many other countries of the world.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul as "perfect duo" travelled extensively in the world,
participating in several summits abroad, organizing several summits in
Turkey. They have also invited some of the radical Islamist groups,
as well as visiting nearly all the neighboring countries in order
to show that Turkey pursues a "pro-active policy" to play a role
as a regional soft power. At least in the eyes of Turkish public,
the year 2006 is considered as success because it was economically
and politically stable.

Now, let’s make a retrospective view to some foreign policy issues.

Turkish-American relations have greatly improved this year. US
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice visited Turkey and Turkish prime
minister and foreign minister met their counterparts in Washington in
order to develop a new strategic vision paper. Turkey is still not a
"strategic partner " of the US but bilateral relations indeed improved
immensely. In Iraq, the situation at the end of the year is still
not stable and Turkey’s strategic value is now higher and the Kurdish
groups in Northern Iraq feel that US returned to its ""real ally" which
is Turkey. The Kurdish leaders Talabani and Barzani are now no longer
as strong as they used to be and their tone now appears more careful
concerning Turkey. The appointment of the "terrorism coordinators" in
order to control the activities of PKK in particular, General Ralston
as well General Edip Başer have done an important job. It does
not mean that PKK is not active but this coordination showed that PKK
is more under control and the Northern Iraq will not a "base" for it.

Turkey’s relations with Iran and Syria are also in important from
Iraq’s neighbors perspective. Then, all three countries have great
interest on the developments in Iraq. These countries’ interests are
on not changing the Iraqi borders as well as its unitary structure.

However, Iran and Syria have also their influence on certain groups
there. In particular Iran is now more a strategic player in the
region. First time since 26 years, an Iraqi president, Mr. Talabani
visited Iran. Iran’s influence on Shiaite groups is stronger ever.

Turkish-Iranian relations showed also great stability and both sides
were sending high level delegations to each other and President
Ahmedimejad and PM Erdogan met on several occasions. Interestingly,
there is also a positive image of Iran in Turkey compared ten years
ago. Iran’s nuclear program was also supported by the Turkish public
as some survey showed and Iran became one of the most important trade
partners of Turkey in recent years. The visit of the former Iranian
President Khatemi in Istanbul and in Ankara proved how Iran’s image
positively changed. No doubt, the increasing anti-American feelings
in Turkey contributed for this change.

Turkish -Syrian relations also visibly improved. Syria is a key
player in the Middle East peace process as well as developments in
Lebanon. The bombing of Lebanon in summer by Israel was also watched
by Syria and like all the other Arab countries because Hizbollah
is also a problem for Syria. Therefore, Syrian-Israeli relations
remained calm and President Basher Esad taken sometimes strong
positions against Israel but there is not any military action by both
sides. In this respect, Turkey further appeared as "problem solver"
in the region. Turkey’s economic presence certainly welcomed in the
region but not necessarily political presence. However, Turkey’s
"Arab friendly policy" under Premier Erdogan was rewarded when he
was guest of honor during the Arab Summit in Sudan. Turkey’s Middle
East policy and involvement in 2006 was also remarkable and the
governments decision to send troops to Lebanon was despite heavy
domestic opposition showed Turkey’s willingness to contribute for
the peace in the Middle East. Also the EU considers Turkey as a
partner in the Middle East and Lebanon became also a test case for
the EU involvement in the Middle East. Syria is also again there as
an important player and it seems that even Israel discovered EU and
tries to see the EU in the Middle East beside the U.S. presence. No
doubt, the EU is more welcomed in the Middle East now than the U.S.

In this respect, Turkish- Israeli relations have also a further
interesting process. Before Lebanon bombing, the Israeli foreign
minister visited Turkey and tried to improve the misunderstandings
between two states concerning Hamas visit to Turkey. The most
critised foreign policy issue was the invitation of the Hamas
leaders to Turkey and it created also a big problem between some
state institutions. Therefore, PM Erdogan statements concerning
the Palestinian issue created some debate and the recent early
elections call by president Abbas rejected by Erdogan as the only
western politician. Hamas issue remains a thorny issue for Turkish
government and there is no consensus inside of Turkey in this respect.

Turkish-Israeli relations were harmed because of this visit. But,
Israel remains further for Turkey as important as before in particular
in defence sector cooperation as well as in fight against terrorism.

In the 2006 the relations to Caucasian and Central Asian Republic were
also improved slightly. In this respect, Turkish-Russian relations got
another quality and Russia became the most important trade partner
for Turkey. The "chemistry" between Putin and Erdogan continued and
Russia supported Turkish negotiation process with the EU and signal
led to the EU that this process has direct implications on Russian-EU
relations. Indeed, the Russian energy lines made Turkey also an
"energy corridor" and Black Sea became a region of political stability.

Caucasia is still facing some problems and Azerbaijan-Armenian
relations remained unresolved concerning Nagorno-Karabakh bag.

Turkish attitude has been further supporting Armenian view.

Turkish-Armenian relations could not make improvements because of
the Diaspora Armenians who further insist on so-called Genocide issue.

Turkish governments gestures were not perceived enough and the borders
remains closed. No doubt, there was a window of opportunity but not
used by Armenia.

In May 2007 Turkey takes the chair of Black Sea Economic Cooperation
where Armenia is also member. May be there could be some steps further
but Armenia seems to be stubborn in this respect. However, the Minsk
Group was not able to settle the conflict between Azerbaijan and
Armenia. Could Turkey play a role in it? It looks also very difficult.

Georgia is another Caucasian country where Turkey has economically
strong presence. The visit of Georgian president to Ankara last
week was another sign that Turkey tries to play an arbitrary role
between Georgia and Russia in some issues. This region remains still
problematic but Turkey’s good relations to Russia and Georgia makes
it more careful not to harm one side.Turkey pursues a "balance"
policy in this region.

To sum it up; Turkey’s active policies in the Middle East and in
Caucasia were in general successful in 2006 and Turkey’s presence
felt there strongly. Turkey was indeed a regional player with soft
power. One can debate to which degree Turkey was successful. But no
one could say that Turkey failed there.

(TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK)

AZERBAIJANI ARMY SERVICEMAN SURRENDERS HIMSELF TO CAPTIVITY IN IJEVAN

Noyan Tapan
Dec 25 2006

IJEVAN, DECEMBER 25, NOYAN TAPAN. On December 24, at about 14:10,
private soldier of Azerbaijani armed forces, 19-year-old Samid Mamedov
approached one of strong points of Ijevan military unit without arms
and ammunition and surrendered himself to captivity. As NT was informed
from RA Defence Ministry Press Service, he explained his action by
the circumstance of periodically being mocked and beaten by officers.

On CSTO FM’ Council Session A. Kirakossian Introduced Karabakh Negotiation Process

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.12.2006 13:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A CSTO Foreign Ministers’ Council session was
held in Minsk December 22. The Armenian delegation on the session
was heading RA Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakossian. During
the meeting in narrow circle the issue of military and political
situation in CSTO responsibility zone was discussed. In his speech
A. Kirakossian presented the situation in the South Caucasian region,
particularly the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process and
Armenia’s relations with neighboring countries. The RA Deputy Foreign
Minister also touched upon the issue of cooperation in international
organizations between CSTO member states. CSTO Secretary General was
charged to coordinate and sign a ‘Memorandum on mutual understanding
between SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Executive Secretary
and CSTO Secretariat’. Financial-economic questions were also discussed
and CSTO Budget of 2007 was approved.