Author: Chmshkian Vicken

LANDS OF AZERBAIJAN SACRED TO TURKEY, TURKISH FM STATES

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Oct 19 2009

The lands of Azerbaijan are as sacred as Turkish lands. Nothing will
change it, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stated at a news
conference jointly with his Czech counterpart, commenting on the
removal of Turkish national flags from the "Shahid lane" in Baku.

The flag of Azerbaijan is as sacred to Turkey as its own national flag,
the Turkish Government-run radio Voice of Turkey reported, quoting the
Minister Davutoglu. He pointed out that the Nagorno-Karabakh problems
is an issue of national importance for Turkey as well. "The flags our
soldiers repose under are under the Azerbaijani people’s protection. We
are sure they will be treated with due respect," Davutoglu said.

NEWS.am points out the fact that, according to Azerbaijani mass media,
the Turkish national flags were taken off pursuant to top-ranking
officials’ order. It happened the day after President Ilham Aliyev
addressed the necessity for raising the prices for gas exported to
Turkey. As we can see, official Baku succeeded in getting Turkey’s
"trademark" declaration of love.

At a press conference today, the Turkish FM touched upon the tension
in the Turkish-Israeli relations. As regards the security of the Jews
in Turkey, he said: "They are our citizens, and we are responsible
for their security."

RA MFA DELEGATION TO VISIT BAKU

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.10.2009 12:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia will participate in Organization of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Foreign Ministers’ summit in Baku. RA
delegation headed by Deputy RA FM Arman Kirakosyan will attend the
21st BSEC summit due on October 22, RA MFA press service reported.

TURKEY WILL NOT UNCONDITIONALLY SUPPORT AZERBAIJAN AND ISRAEL: ZAMAN

News.am
12:12 / 10/17/2009

"We are witnessing exciting developments in Turkish foreign policy.

Openings which could not even have been imagined a few years ago
are now being implemented; historic protocols have been signed with
Armenia, as have good neighborly and strategic relations treaties
with Syria," reads the article by political analyst Beril Dedeoglu
published in Turkish Zaman daily.

"Turkey is trying to abolish deep-rooted psychological barriers with
these countries by establishing diplomatic, economic and commercial
ties. In the past, Turkey had assumed that Syria and Armenia had
followed a similar foreign policy agenda with respect to Turkey. The
peoples of both countries were accused of cooperating with Turkey’s
adversaries during the period leading up to the foundation of the
Turkish Republic. Both countries were considered enemies of Turks
during the Cold War because their presence in or alliance with
the Soviet Union, an archenemy, easily classified them among &’the
others.’ This negative atmosphere was also the result of the fact
that these countries both supported terrorist organizations attacking
Turkey. There was also a general impression that they were both used by
some Western powers, especially France, in its anti-Turkey policies,"
the analyst says.

"Nevertheless, Turkey is today seeking a new partnership and grounds
for cooperation without forgetting historical problems, but at least
putting them aside. The simultaneous radical change in Turkey’s
attitude toward these countries does not only mean Syria and Armenia
are linked to each other, it also means that a real radical change
is happening on the global level and affecting all countries in our
region," the author writes.

Dedeoglu expresses hope that the border opening will "contribute to
an atmosphere in favor of liberal economies and liberal democracy
in Armenia and Syria, as well as in Turkey. In addition, the new
situation will push Syria to rearrange its relations with Israel and
Iran, just like Armenia, which will have to revise its position toward
Azerbaijan and Iran. This reshaping will force Azerbaijan and Israel
to reconsider their domestic and foreign policies, too, because the
conditions are changing for everyone. It is obvious that Turkey will
not unconditionally support Azerbaijan and Israel from now on. Russia
is no longer considered the main threat countries in the region strive
to oppose and the US is seeking to construct new alliances. In brief,
the equation of being with someone against someone else is not as
&’easy’ as it used to be."

"For the moment, the European Union is content with watching these
developments, which are promising for the region’s players, all of
whom are eager to see more stability and prosperity. Furthermore,
this allows the US and Russia to retain their superiority in the
military and energy domains, respectively.

If everything goes as predicted, countries that insist on keeping
an aggressive tone in their domestic and foreign policies will find
themselves out of the game. That is why readopting a policy based
on disagreements is most undesired. We should follow attentively the
ups and downs between Turkey and Israel and between Iraq and Syria,
or the future of the crises between Iran and Israel, Georgia and
Russia and Azerbaijan and Armenia. These developments will help
expose countries that prefer to remain outside of the new game. It
would be a great mistake to miss the timing and not benefit from the
new configuration," Dedeoglu concludes.

VILLAGE ARENI CELEBRATES WINE FESTIVAL

Aysor.am
October 15, 2009

Areni Wine Festival at Village Areni of Vayots Dzor region will be
held on October 17 organized by Administrations of Vayots Dzor region
and Areni Village.

The fest is sponsored by two village’s Wineries, businessmen, CARD
center and Armenian Ministry of Economy.

Some roads will be blocked during the Fest since it offers great
entertainments on verge: famous Armenian lavash baking, and wine,
lavash and cheese testing.

Head of Areni Village Zhirayr Yegiyan told Aysor that the Festival will
be attended by guests from Yerevan, former Areni residents, Minister
of Territorial Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, as well as
several Ambassadors, in particular, U.S. Ambassador Mary Jovanovich.

Zhirayr Yegiyan also announced some surprising events. During Areni
Wine Festival marriage ceremonies will underway, and all the newlyweds
will receive gifts.

It’s also decided to make Areni Wine Festival an annual Fest.

"The region is rich in culture, our guests will attend Noravank and
the Temple of Holy Virgin," said Zhirayr Yegiyan adding about ongoing
archaeological dig exploring in Areni’s caves.

It’s worth mentioning that Oxford Expert Center agreed the vine branch
found in one of these caves date 6 thousand years BC while the most
ancient Winery found in Areni grot is world’s most ancient center
of winemaking.

PHALANGE, TASHNAG AGREE TO RESOLVE ISSUES THROUGH DIALOGUE
By Elias Sakr

Daily Star staff
Thursday, October 15, 2009

BEIRUT: The Phalange and the Armenian Tashnag Party said Wednesday
they had opened a new page of cooperation in order to overcome the
upcoming difficult political phase and to preserve Lebanon’s best
interests through dialogue. During a meeting between delegations
of the Tashnag and Phalange parties respectively headed by Hovig
Mekhitarian and Amin Gemayel at the latter’s resident in Bikfaya,
the attendants agreed to form a joint committee to promote cooperation
and resolve disagreements.

"The relation between the Tashnag and the Phalange is positive despite
previously going through a difficult period, but we are currently
planning the future foundations of cooperation," Mekhitarian said.

Mekhitarian added that both parties were aware of the need to tackle
conflicting issues, particularly in the current period of uncertainty
which necessitates dialogue among all Lebanese political forces.

Similarly, Gemayel underscored the positivity that characterized ties
between both parties, adding that they long shared several mutual
interests and principles.

"We hope that this meeting would set the basis for a future phase
of cooperation to rebuild Lebanon’s constitutional institutions
and restore national sovereignty as well as promote democracy,"
Gemayel said.

"We turned the page on the negative past for the best interest of
Lebanon’s youth and its future," he added.

However, when asked if the meeting was a step toward a political
alliance, Gemayel denied the fact, saying that each party adopted a
different political position, and adding that the meeting aimed to
solve controversial issues through dialogue.

Gemayel also stressed his party’s openness toward all other political
forces including the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), "but based on
practical steps."

He added that the Phalange party’s dialogue with the Marada Movement
had recently made some progress.

Tensions between the Tashnag and Phalange parties broke out in 2007
as they traded accusations following the Metn 2007 by-elections.

Gemayel accused the Tashnag of fraud and unacceptable practices while
Mekhitarian described Gemayel’s statements as racist.

The accusations followed the loss by Gemayel in the polls in which
the Armenian vote, dominated by supporters of the opposition-allied
Tashnag party, was seen as playing the role of kingmaker, swinging
the election in favor of FPM candidate Camille Khoury.

Gemayel demanded a rerun in Bourj Hammoud, on account of what he
called voter fraud, adding that nonresidents of the area as well as
deceased had cast votes.

Armenia, Turkey pursue ‘soccer diplomacy’

The Associated Press
October 14,2009

By SUZAN FRASER (AP)

BURSA, Turkey ? Turkey defeated longtime foe Armenia on a soccer field
Wednesday ? an event that had little significance in the world of sports but
meant a lot in the arena of international politics.

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian arrived in Turkey to attend the World Cup
qualifier after a dinner hosted by Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Bursa,
a former Ottoman imperial capital. Gul attended an initial game in Armenia
in a goodwill gesture last year, kicking off a round of "football diplomacy"
that led to the signing last weekend of an agreement to establish diplomatic
ties and open their border within two months.

Turkey’s Halil Altintop scored with a header in the 16th minute, and Servet
Cetin fired the ball into the Armenian net in the 28th minute to make it
2-0, a lead that held until the end. After the first goal, Sarkisian shook
Gul’s hand to congratulate him.

The game, televised live in both countries, began after Turkish fans booed
and whistled as an announcer read out the Armenian lineup, and cheered the
Turkish players. Some fans released white doves in a gesture of peace that
drew applause in the stadium.

The announcer urged fans to show "traditional Turkish hospitality" to the
visiting team and not to jeer or whistle during the playing of the Armenian
national anthem. His appeal was mostly ignored. Police in riot gear stood
outside the stadium.

A bus taking Armenian journalists to the stadium was pelted with stones by
Turkish fans, but there were no injuries or broken windows.

After the game, Sarkisian told reporters: "Both sides have achieved a lot
and this is the evidence."

He also said Armenia was taking all opinions into account but was pressing
ahead with its reconciliation agenda. He was referring to fierce opposition
from some Armenian groups, including sectors of the powerful Diaspora.
Gul sounded a similar note.

"Try and remember two years ago and you will see the distance that we have
covered in relations," Gul said. "What’s important here is to make the
region into a region of cooperation."

Earlier, Turkish diplomats who attended a meeting between Gul and Sarkisian
quoted the Turkish president as saying: "We’re not writing history, we’re
making history."

Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey of Switzerland, along with the foreign
ministers of Turkey and Armenia, also attended the match. All three
participated in last weekend’s signing in Switzerland of the agreement,
which needs to be approved by the parliaments of both countries.

The deepest dispute is over history and has yet to be resolved: Armenia and
many historians allege that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against
Armenians early in the last century, a charge that Turkey denies. The
countries have agreed to set up a commission to study the issue, though they
are unlikely to give much ground on their positions.

Police intensified security ahead of Wednesday night’s match for fear of
protests from Turkish nationalists who oppose reconciliation with the
country’s eastern neighbor. Both teams have already been knocked out of the
World Cup qualifying, so neither can deliver a killer blow to the other’s
athletic hopes. Turkey won the first game against Armenia 2-0 in Yerevan in
September 2008.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned against "provocations
that might come from people who desire to abuse the process between Turkey
and Armenia."

The agreement has strong support in the two countries’ parliaments but faces
stiff opposition from nationalists. Turkey has said it would send the
agreement to parliament next week. It was signed only after U.S. diplomats
helped to resolve a last-minute hitch.

A day after the deal was signed on Saturday, Erdogan repeated a demand that
Armenia withdraw from the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia
controls the enclave in Azerbaijan, which is inhabited mainly by ethnic
Armenians. Turkey, in a show of solidarity with ally Azerbaijan, sealed its
border with Armenia in response to the country’s invasion of
Nagorno-Karabakh in 1993.

Azerbaijan, a regional oil and gas power, has criticized the
Turkish-Armenian deal, saying it aggravates the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. A
group of Azeri lawmakers were to meet Erdogan on Wednesday to express their
concerns.

Turkish and Azerbaijani flag stickers were pasted on dustbins, electricity
poles and billboards surrounding the stadium in Bursa. Street peddlers sold
Turkish and Azerbaijani flags.

Virtually all flags inside the stadium were Turkish. One fan unfolded an
Azeri flag and briefly held it up.

FIFA ? world football’s Zurich-based governing body ? earlier contacted
Turkey’s Football Association and asked it to ensure that Azeri flags were
not flown inside the stadium, in line with FIFA’s stance against political
interference and provocative acts.

"The governor was ordered to prevent fans from entering the stadium with
Azeri flags," said Mahmut Ozgener, head of Turkey’s football association.
"FIFA is very sensitive about political issues."

Ozgener also said that football is instrumental in "opening a new era
between Turkey and Armenia."

The Turkish-Armenian deal also faces opposition from groups in the powerful
Armenian Diaspora, which insists that Turkey accept that the killing of up
to 1.5 million Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire amounts
to genocide. Turkey says the number is inflated and that many died on both
sides during a chaotic period.

Still, the agreement could benefit Turkey in its long-standing bid to become
a member of the European Union.

In its annual progress report on that effort Wednesday, the bloc urged
Turkey to boost its chances by speeding up reforms, but EU Enlargement
Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed the accord.

"I’m encouraged by the historic steps Turkey and Armenia have just taken
toward normalizing their relations. This process should now lead to full
normalization as soon as possible," Rehn said.

Associated Press Writer Avet Demourian in Bursa contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

ARMENIAN PEOPLE COULD BE SURPRISED IF THEY SAW ARCHIVES OF BOTH TURKEY AND ARMENIA?

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.10.2009 19:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A Turkish historian said that Armenian people could
be surprised if they saw World War I-era archives of both Turkey
and Armenia.

Professor Kemal Cicek, head of Armenian Researches Desk of Turkish
Historical Society, said Turkey had nothing to fear and Turkish
historians were ready to discuss anything regarding the incidents
of 1915.

"Mr. Prime Minister said in his letter that Turkey would not oppose
to outcomes of studies conducted by this commission even if they
could support Armenian allegations," Cicek said.

"This commission would be the only place that Turkey could defend
itself," he said.

Turkey sees it as a chance, said Cicek, adding that Armenian officials
were unaware of archives neither in Turkey nor in Armenia. "I am sure
that they will see very significant documents that could surprise
them," he said. "Armenians can bring to table anything that could
justify their views. We are ready to discuss everything including the
period before and after the incidents of 1915 or abandoned Armenian
assets", Anatolian news agency reported.

RA AND TURKISH PRESIDENTS HAVE MET IN BURSA

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.10.2009 19:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting between RA President Serzh Sargsyan
and Turkish President Abdullah Gul has launched, PanARMENIAN.Net
correspondent reported from Bursa. Tet-a-tet meeting will be followed
by meetings between Turkish and Armenian delegations. President
Gul will host a luncheon and reception in honor of his Armenian
counterpart. After the football match, RA President-headed delegation
will return to Yerevan.

ARMENIA-TURKEY WORLD CUP REMATCH TODAY IN BURSA

2009/10/14 | 14:50

Sport

The national football team of Armenia, presently in last place in Group
5 World Cup Round 1 qualifiers, will play the national squad of Turkey
in a match to be held in Bursa (9 p.m. local, 11 p.m. Yerevan time).

Turkey beat Armenia 2-0 in their opening match on September 6,
2008. This signalled the start of the much ballyhooed "football
diplomacy" when Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan invited Turkish
President Abdullah Gul to Armenia to watch the match. President
Sargsyan has said that he will be traveling to Turkey to support the
Armenian side.

Neither team has a chance to make it to Round 2. Armenia presently
sits at the bottom of the group with just one win out of 9 games
played. Turkey is presently in third place with three wins but has
been bumped out of the World Cup by powerhouse Spain and a surprising
effort from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Turkey is ranked 27 in world standings while Armenia comes in at the
125 spot.

Turkey’s Guilty Conscience

One of the world’s thorniest historical conflicts is on the verge of
being solved.
But long-term peace between Turkey and Armenia might be as hard to
achieve as a lasting Middle East truce.

Foreign Policy Magazine
October 9, 2009

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL

Pop quiz: Can you name one part of the world where the United States
and the Russian Federation have been making common cause? Correct
answer: in Turkey and Armenia, where the two powers have been
collaborating of late.

And that’s only one of the many remarkable twists to emerge from a
diplomatic quest that, for sheer complexity and emotional
explosiveness, is likely rivaled only by the search for peace in the
Middle East. It has been a wild ride, and it’s not over yet. Ankara
and Yerevan are signing two historic agreements that could pave the
way toward a major diplomatic rapprochement and an opening of the two
countries’ common 325-kilometer border, which has been closed for the
past 16 years.

"I think we’re seeing a series of high-water marks in a long process,"
says the International Crisis Group’s Hugh Pope. "Considering where
we’ve come from 10 years ago to where we are today, it’s nothing short
of amazing."

But there’s still a long way to go. Like the Israelis and
Palestinians, the Turks and Armenians share a lot of history, and
that’s not always a good thing. As in the Middle East, the Turks and
the Armenians are separated by religion, harshly felt territorial
disputes, and the poisonous legacy of killing on a scale so vast that
it boggles the mind. Small wonder that the two peoples have spent most
of the past 100 years locked in mutual antipathy.

The issue that looms over all else is 1915’s "Great Calamity," when
more than 1 million overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian Armenians met
their deaths at the hands of mostly Muslim Ottoman Turks during the
turmoil of World War I. Armenians, and most non-Turkish historians,
say it was genocide. The Turks, for their part, have long denied that
it ever happened — perhaps becau
ay Republic of Turkey, which was established in the aftermath of the
war. A controversial Turkish law that prohibits insults to
"Turkishness" has sometimes been used as a basis for prosecuting those
who would dare refer to the events of 1915 as genocide.

Understandably, many Armenians have insisted that a clear Turkish
acknowledgment of the 1915 massacres precede any diplomatic opening
between the two countries — and that’s precisely what hasn’t
happened. Instead the two governments have agreed to sidestep the
issue by appointing an independent historical commission to discuss
it. Armen Ayvazyan, director of the Ararat Center for Strategic
Research in Yerevan, speaks for many Armenian nationalists when he
denounces this move as "outrageous." Imagine, he says, that an
unrepentant Nazi Germany had called for a "historical commission" to
debate the Holocaust. Politically, the move has also enabled the Turks
to argue that countries that have been considering parliamentary
resolutions officially condemning Ottoman actions in 1915 as genocide
— read "the United States" — should postpone doing so, at risk of
derailing the current rapprochement.

And yet, as Pope insists, merely denouncing the current normalization
process as a sellout to an unrepentant Turkey misses a key point. He
notes that, since 2000, a growing number of Turkish intellectuals have
been steadily challenging the traditional taboos, openly challenging
the official version that downplays the 1915 massacres as a few random
atrocities rather than a systematic state-orchestrated campaign of
killing. (Among the dissenters: Nobel Prize-winning novelist Orhan
Pamuk.) They’ve been organizing academic conferences and pushing for
the publication of long-suppressed documents, such as the diaries of
senior Ottoman official Talat Pasha, which clearly show his intimate
involvement in the killings. Last December, a group of 200 Turks even
organized a petition expressing a Turkish apology for 1915, and it’s
since been signed by some 30,000 people.

Given the hi
st surprising things about the normalization process is how much
support it has managed to find. When Turkish President Abdullah Gül
launched the present initiative by heading to a September 2008 soccer
match in Yerevan, a poll in Turkey found that 69.6 percent approved,
while some 62.8 percent thought Turkey should develop economic and
political ties with Armenia. "The more they [Turks and Armenians]
meet, the more they realize how similar they are," notes Diba Nigar
Göksel of the European Stability Initiative, pointing out that there
are already some 70,000 Armenian guest workers in Turkey. (At the same
time she bemoans the lack of the myriad exchanges and contacts of the
kind that have considerably enlivened relations between Turkey and
Greece over the past two decades). Still, she notes, public opinion in
Armenia itself predictably remains more complicated: Ask Armenians if
they support opening the
border, and they overwhelmingly approve; ask them if the border
should be opened if Turkey doesn’t acknowledge the 1915 genocide, and
they overwhelmingly don’t.

There’s another complicating factor waiting in the wings: the status
of the "frozen conflict" between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azeris
are ethnic Turks and have been viewed with corresponding suspicion by
the Armenians, even when both groups were living in their own titular
republics back in the old Soviet Union. In 1988, fighting broke out
when the majority Armenian inhabitants of the enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh inside Azerbaijan insisted on joining their brethren
in Armenia proper.

The war ended in 1994 with Armenian forces in tight control of
Nagorno-Karabakh and the two republics — which became independent
countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union — locked in a state
of mutual hostility that remains to this day. At first the Turkish
push for normal relations with Armenia didn’t make resolving the
Azeri-Armenian logjam a precondition. But an outcry in Baku, as well
as harsh criticism from the powerful nationalist opposition in the
parliament in Ankara, forced the government of Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdo?an to put Nagorno-Karabakh back on the agenda —
despite apparent promises he’d made to the Armenians on that
score. Lately Erdogan’s government has reaffirmed that the
rapprochement with Yerevan will go ahead regardless of progress on the
Azeri-Armenian peace talks.

The stakes are enormous for both sides. The Turks closed their border
with Armenia in 1993 as a rebuke for Armenia’s seizure of
Nagorno-Karabakh, and since then Armenia’s only land link with the
rest of the Caucasus has been through Georgia. Opening the border
would give a huge boost to the Armenian economy. The Turks would
benefit from vastly expanded geopolitical influence in the
strategically sensitive Caucasus. Over the long term, say analysts,
the Erdogan government would also be able to demonstrate much greater
diplomatic credibility in its dealings wit
at, with the European Union (which maintains reservations about
Turkey’s human rights record and democratic bona fides). Ankara would
also, potentially, be able to counter the chronic bad publicity it has
received around the world for its persistent denial of the genocide —
no small thing given the enormous political traction of the Armenian
diaspora in Europe and the
United States.

Moscow and Washington apparently think they have something to gain,
too — even if they hold that belief "for very different reasons,"
Pope notes. Washington wants to see a reduction of conflict in the
Caucasus that would enable energy from the region (and the neighboring
countries of Central Asia) to find alternate routes to the West (a
desire shared, if less assertively, by many in Brussels). Moscow,
meanwhile, thinks that bringing its old ally Armenia and its new
friend Turkey closer together will diminish the pull of "extraregional
actors" (i.e., the Americans and the Europeans) in the Caucasus. And
the fact that lifting the iron curtain between Turkey and Armenia will
substantially reduce the geopolitical weight of Georgia, Moscow’s
declared enemy, probably contributes as well.

Yet the deal is still a long way from done. The protocols that will be
presented by the two governments this month still have to be approved
by the Turkish and Armenian parliaments. "The crucial point is
ratification," says Sinan Ülgen of the Centre for Economics and
Foreign Policy Studies in Istanbul. "This is going to be ratified if,
and only if, Azerbaijan and Armenia can come to agreement on
Karabakh." And that is far from a sure thing, given the long legacy of
mistrust. Laurence Broers of the London-based nonprofit Conciliation
Resources points out that there are precedents from Turkish and
Armenian leaders who tried to build rapprochement without sufficient
backing from their own peoples — they failed. "So I am not very
optimistic."

Let’s see what happens next.

Christian Caryl is a contributing editor to Foreign Policy. His
column, "Reality Check," appears weekly on ForeignPolicy.com.

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