Author: Ekmekjian Janet

MSNBC
LIVE VOTE

/

Should the United States formally recognize the World War I-era
killing of Armenians as genocide?
Yes. Many scholars agree that the Ottoman Turks
systematically killed up to 1.5 million Armenians. Other countries
have recognized this as genocide. The U.S. should do the same.
No. Historians continue to debate whether the deaths
were genocide. Besides, Turkey is too important an ally to alienate
when the U.S. has troops in the Middle East.
I’m not sure.
VOTE

Armenians praise U.S. genocide vote

U.S. lawmakers approved resolution decrying WWI-era killings by Turks

The Associated Press
Updated: 7:54 p.m. ET Oct 12, 2007

YEREVAN, Armenia – Armenian lawmakers rose to their feet in applause,
and their president urged the United States to go further after a U.S.
House panel approved a resolution labeling the World War I-era
killings of Armenians by Turks genocide.

The decision of the House Foreign Affairs Committee was a triumph for
Armenian-American interest groups who have lobbied Congress for
decades. The resolution is expected to pass a House vote despite the
Bush administration’s concerns about harming relations with Turkey – a
key supply route to U.S. troops in Iraq.

"Historical justice is restored," said the headline Friday in
Respublika Armenia, a pro-government newspaper.

In parliament, opposition deputies joined their pro-government
colleagues Thursday in a prolonged standing ovation for the House
committee’s decision.

"We express our gratitude to our colleagues in Congress who
demonstrated great moral qualities and, not giving into different
pressures, voted for the resolution," said Tigran Torosian, chairman
of the National Assembly.

If Congress recognizes the killings as genocide, it could be a
cathartic moment for this landlocked republic of rugged highlands.
Armenians have been striving for decades to gain recognition of their
stance in a dispute that has poisoned relations with modern Turkey.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks around the time of World War I. Scholars view it as the first
genocide of the 20th century, but Turkey says the toll has been
inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Armenian leader: ‘No doubt’ on events

Armenian President Robert Kocharian called for "a full recognition by
the United States of America of the fact of the Armenian genocide."

"All of our foreign contacts around the world demonstrate that there
is no disagreement or that there is no doubt anywhere in the world
about the events that took place in Turkey in 1915," Kocharian said
Thursday during a trip to Belgium. "The fact that Turkey has adopted a
position of denial of the genocide doesn’t mean it can bind other
states to deny historic truths as well."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the resolution
would hamper efforts to improve ties between Turkey and Armenia, which
have no diplomatic relations.

"Are relations between Turkey and Armenia possible? The way things are
going, no!" Erdogan said.

Some Armenians fear the resolution could bring problems for Armenians
living in Turkey, or the thousands who try to make a living by
traveling there to buy goods for resale back home. Turkey closed its
border with Armenia in 1993 during a war between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, a Muslim ally of Ankara, and maintains a virtual blockade
that hurts Armenia’s economy.

Turkey response feared

Susanna Papikian, a 55-year-old computer programmer, said she was
afraid Turkey might respond harshly, possibly even with military
action.

"As a descendant of refugees from western Armenia, I experience such
negative emotions deep in my genes," she said. "But I’m really happy
that the Foreign Affairs Committee made this decision. I hope the
whole House adopts this resolution."

Many Armenians believe things between the two countries cannot get
much worse. Trade is virtually nonexistent, and Armenia already
considers Turkey’s conditions for establishing diplomatic relations
unacceptable.

"Ankara will be mad for a few more days and then it will calm down,"
was Friday’s headline in the centrist newspaper Azg, the Nation.

Andranik Migranyan, a Russian analyst who focuses on former Soviet
republics, agreed that Turkey was unlikely to take action against
Armenia.

"Turkey is in negotiations to join the European Union," he said in
Yerevan. "The country must conform to certain norms and principles."

Source:

HOUSE PANEL RAISES FUROR ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Steven Lee Myers And Carl Hulse

New york Times, NY
Oct 11 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 – A House committee voted on Wednesday to condemn
the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey in World War I as an act
of genocide, rebuffing an intense campaign by the White House and
warnings from Turkey’s government that the vote would gravely strain
its relations with the United States.

The vote by the House Foreign Relations Committee was nonbinding
and so largely symbolic, but its consequences could reach far beyond
bilateral relations and spill into the war in Iraq.

Turkish officials and lawmakers warned that if the resolution was
approved by the full House, they would reconsider supporting the
American war effort, which includes permission to ship essential
supplies through Turkey and northern Iraq.

President Bush appeared on the South Lawn of the White House before
the vote and implored the House not to take up the issue, only to
have a majority of the committee disregard his warning at the end of
the day, by a vote of 27 to 21.

"We all deeply regret the tragic suffering of the Armenian people that
began in 1915," Mr. Bush said in remarks that, reflecting official
American policy, carefully avoided the use of the word genocide. "This
resolution is not the right response to these historic mass killings,
and its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally
in NATO and in the global war on terror."

The resolution, which was introduced early in the current session
of Congress and which has quietly moved forward over the last few
weeks, provoked a fierce lobbying fight that pitted the politically
influential Armenian-American population against the Turkish
government, which hired equally influential former lawmakers like
Robert L. Livingston, Republican of Louisiana, and Richard A.

Gephardt, the former Democratic House majority leader who backed a
similar resolution when he was in Congress.

Backers of the resolution said Congressional action was overdue.

"Despite President George Bush twisting arms and making deals,
justice prevailed," said Representative Brad Sherman, a Democrat of
California and a sponsor of the resolution. "For if we hope to stop
future genocides we need to admit to those horrific acts of the past."

The issue of the Armenian genocide, beginning in 1915, has perennially
transfixed Congress and bedeviled presidents of both parties. Ronald
Reagan was the only president publicly to call the killings genocide,
but his successors have avoided the term. When the issue last arose in
2000, a similar resolution also won approval by a House committee, but
President Clinton then succeeded in persuading a Republican speaker,
J. Dennis Hastert, to withdraw the measure before the full House could
vote. That time, too, Turkey had warned of canceling arms deals and
withdrawing support for American air forces then patrolling northern
Iraq under the auspices of the United Nations.

The new speaker, Nancy Pelosi, faced pressure from Democrats –
especially colleagues in California, New Jersey and Michigan, with
their large Armenian populations – to revive the resolution again
after her party gained control of the House and Senate this year.

There is Democratic support for the resolution in the Senate, but
it is unlikely to move in the months ahead because of Republican
opposition and a shortage of time. Still, the Turkish government has
made it clear that it would regard House passage alone as a harsh
American indictment.

The sharply worded Turkish warnings against the resolution, especially
the threats to cut off support for the American war in Iraq, seemed
to embolden some of the resolution’s supporters. "If they use this
to destabilize our solders in Iraq, well, then shame on them," said
Representative Joseph Crowley, a Democrat from New York who voted
for it.

The Democratic leadership, however, appeared divided. Representative
Rahm Emanuel, the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, who worked
in the Clinton White House when the issue came up in 2000, opposes
the resolution.

In what appeared to be an effort to temper the anger caused by the
issue, Democrats said they were considering a parallel resolution
that would praise Turkey’s close relations with the United States
even as the full House prepares to consider a resolution that blames
the forerunner of modern Turkey for one of the worst crimes in history.

"Neither of these resolutions is necessary," a White House spokesman,
Gordon D. Johndroe, said Wednesday evening. He said that Mr. Bush was
"very disappointed" with the vote.

A total of 1.5 million Armenians were killed beginning in 1915 in a
systematic campaign by the fraying Ottoman Empire to drive Armenians
out of eastern Turkey. Turks acknowledge that hundreds of thousands of
Armenians died but contend that the deaths, along with thousands of
others, resulted from the war that ended with the creation of modern
Turkey in 1923.

Mr. Bush discussed the issue in the White House on Wednesday with his
senior national security aides. Speaking by secure video from Baghdad,
the senior American officials in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus and
Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, raised the resolution and warned that
its passage could harm the war effort in Iraq, senior Bush aides said.

Appearing outside the West Wing after that meeting, Defense Secretary
Robert M. Gates noted that about 70 percent of all air cargo sent to
Iraq passed through or came from Turkey, as did 30 percent of fuel
and virtually all the new armored vehicles designed to withstand
mines and bombs.

"They believe clearly that access to airfields and to the roads and so
on in Turkey would be very much put at risk if this resolution passes
and the Turks react as strongly as we believe they will," Mr. Gates
said, referring to the remarks of General Petraeus and Mr. Crocker.

Turkey severed military ties with France after its Parliament voted
in 2006 to make the denial of the Armenian genocide a crime.

As the committee prepared to vote Wednesday, Mr. Bush, the American
ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, and other officials cajoled
lawmakers by phone.

Representative Mike Pence, a conservative Republican from Indiana
who has backed the resolution in the past, said Mr. Bush persuaded
him to change his position and vote no. He described the decision as
gut-wrenching, underscoring the emotions stirred in American politics
by a 92-year-old question.

"While this is still the right position," Mr. Pence said, referring
to the use of the term genocide, "it is not the right time."

The House Democratic leadership met Wednesday morning with Turkey’s
ambassador to Washington, Nabi Sensoy, and other Turkish officials,
who argued against moving ahead with a vote. But Representative
Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, who now holds Mr. Gephardt’s old job as
majority leader, said he and Ms. Pelosi would bring the resolution
to the floor before Congress adjourned this year.

In Turkey, a fresh wave of violence raised the specter of a Turkish
raid into northern Iraq, something the United States is strongly
urging against. A policeman was killed and six others were wounded
in a bomb attack in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in southeastern
Turkey on Wednesday, the state-run Anatolian News Agency reported.

The Associated Press reported from the town of Sirnak that Turkish
warplanes and helicopters were attacking positions along the southern
border with Iraq that are suspected of belonging to Kurdish rebels
who have been fighting Turkish forces for years.

The Turkish government continued to prepare to request Parliament’s
permission for an offensive into Iraq, with Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan suggesting that a vote could be held after the end
of Ramadan. Parliamentary approval would bring Turkey the closest it
has been since 2003 to a full-scale military offensive into Iraq.

Sedat Laciner, from the International Strategic Research Institution,
said that the Turkish public felt betrayed by what was perceived as
a lack of American support for Turkey in its battle against the Kurds.

"American officials could think that Turkish people would ultimately
forget about the lack of U.S. support in this struggle," Mr. Laciner
said, using words that could apply equally to views about the Armenian
genocide. "Memories of Turks, however, are not that easy to erase
once it hits sensitive spots."

Sebnem Arsu contributed reporting from Istanbul, and Sabrina Tavernise
from Baghdad.

PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 53.69.13
Fax: (+374 – 10) 53.26.97
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:

October 10, 2007

RAFFI HOVANNISIAN AT NATO PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

Reykjavik, Iceland–Raffi K. Hovannisian, leader of the Heritage Party and
Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended the 53rd annual
session of NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly here between October 5 and 9.

Hovannisian took the floor several times, speaking at the Plenary Session
and at meetings of the Assembly’s Political Committee, the Defense and
Security Committee, and the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security.
His topics included Armenia and its role in the new era; Mountainous
Karabagh and its quest for liberty and decolonization; Turkey, Armenia, and
the future of NATO based on contemporary standards of democracy and a full
assumption of history; NATO-Iran relations and the need for a pacific
resolution of disputes; Azerbaijan’s obligations under the Conventional
Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty; and gender-based challenges in security and
conflict situations. He also responded to distortions of the historical
record by certain delegates from Azerbaijan.

In the framework of the conclave, Raffi Hovannisian met separately with
President Jose Lello of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly; NATO Secretary
General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer; Speaker Sturla Bodvarsson of the Icelandic
Parliament; Icelandic Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir;
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha; representatives of the US Congress and
the Russian State Duma; and heads and members of several parliamentary
delegations.

The Armenian delegation was led by General Artur Aghabekyan of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, who addressed the Defense and Security Committee
on NATO-Armenia cooperation, and included Karen Avagyan of the Republican
Party of Armenia.

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its
central office is located at 31 Moscovian Street, Yerevan 0002, Armenia,
with telephone contact at (374-10) 536.913, fax at (374-10) 532.697, email
at [email protected] or [email protected], and website at

TURKEY: IF ARMENIANS WIN IN CONGRESS, THE U.S. MAY LOSE; CARDS TURKEY CAN PLAY

Source: CNN-Turk TV and all Turkish dailies, October 8, 2007
MEMRI, DC
Oct 9 2007

Most Turkish dailies published a CNN-Turk TV report that lists Turkey’s
trump cards that it might use to deter the Congress from passing the
Armenian Genocide resolution based on historical allegations that
Turkey categorically rejects.

According to the report last March Pentagon’s Deputy Under-Secretary
Dan Fata had also presented a similar list to the House Committee
of Foreign Relations, of what Turkey might do in case the resolution
was adopted.

Turkey may cut or restrict the logistical support to U.S. military
in Iraq. 60% of all supplies to U.S. units in Iraq go from Incirlik
airbase.

25% of the fuel used in Iraq by coalition forces goes through the
Habur border gate in Turkey.

U.S. fighter planes that are based in Incirlik airbase also train in
Turkish airspace.

16 U.S. fleet ships that participated in the war in Iraq, refueled
in Turkish seaports.

American economy may lose billions of dollars in arms sales if Turkey
changes its suppliers.

Turkey committed to buy 106 of the new generation F-35s. There are
also plans to purchase 30 F-16s for 1.65 billion dollars.

200 F-16s are to be modernized by the U.S. for 1.6 billion dollars.

There is an upcoming tender for the purchase of air defense systems
with the U.S. Patriot system being preferred – despite Russia’s
eager competition.

U.S. makers are the top players in the tender for the purchase of
training helicopters, valued at 50 million dollars.

Turkey plays an important role, at the request of the U.S., among
NATO and U.N forces stationed at different places in the world.

Turkish military commanded the peace forces in Afghanistan for two
terms; and is on duty in Lebanon and Kosovo.

Turkey is being considered by U.S. as a safe route for withdrawal
of its troops from Iraq – which may all be jeopardized if Armenian
resolution passes.

Turkish parliamentary delegation that will conduct meetings in
Washington this week, might bring up all of the above issues.

KIRO MANOYAN: AGHDAM IS PART OF ARTSAKH

Lragir
Oct 8 2007
Armenia

Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan has stated in Moscow the Karabakh issue
will be solved if Azerbaijan recognizes the right of Karabakh for
self-determination and Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan. The reporters asked Kiro Manoyan, in charge of Hay
Dat and Political Affairs of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau, hosted
at the Hayatsk club on October 8, to comment on the prime minister’s
statement on the recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

"We know that Artsakh is not part of the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan. We are not occupying any territory. We have liberated
territories. The territories are Artsakh. Mountainous Karabakh and
the Lowlands are all Artsakh. Artsakh is not part of the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan. And the legal grounds are that the borders
of Azerbaijan have not been defined. The administrative borders of an
empire are not sufficient ground for the recognition of the territorial
integrity of a state. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan had
been discussed by the Nations League which did not recognize because
it has a territorial dispute, the Karabakh issue.

We think Artsakh is not part of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,"
Kiro Manoyan says.

Even the international organizations which say to recognize
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity do not recognize it saying that
there is a dispute over Karabakh, Kiro Manoyan says. "If they said
not to recognize the territorial integrity, it would mean that they
recognize the independence of Karabakh. Armenia is not saying that
we recognize the territorial integrity and there is no Karabakh issue.

The Karabakh issue is the core issue," says the ARF Bureau member in
charge of Hay Dat and Political Affairs.

According to him, what is not under Armenian control is ours, as well
as the Armenian regions, part of Martakert, Shahumyan, Getashen, which
are now occupied by Azerbaijan. Kiro Manoyan considers Aghdam as part
of Artsakh as well. Although Kiro Manoyan has heard about statements
by Vardan Oskanyan and Serge Sargsyan on returning the territories,
he says we won’t let them return the lands. "The resolution of the
issue of Artsakh should be based on a referendum among the people of
Armenia," Kiro Manoyan says, adding that the referendum in Karabakh
is not enough. He thinks that no president of Armenia would return
those territories if people did not back him.

"We have stated that our statements do not compare to, are not adequate
to Azerbaijan’s militaristic statements. And it seems that we have
already given it away, without getting anything in return.

Therefore, we have nothing else to give away except for peace,"
Kiro Manoyan says.

ARCHBISHOP SPEAKS OUT AGAINST GENOCIDE
By: Matthew Cresswell

Religious Intelligence Ltd, UK
Oct 3 2007

THE Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Dr Rowan Williams, has
said that violence targeted against whole communities is ‘one of the
greatest disgraces of the twentieth century’.

Speaking during a ceremony this week at the Genocide Memorial at
Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan, during his visit to Armenia, he described
such atrocities as having scarred the international community.

He said: "This ceremony reminds us of one of the greatest disgraces of
the 20th century … the history of brutal massacres of whole peoples
on ethnic and religious grounds; the turning away of the rest of the
world and the denial of the suffering of the victims throughout the
20th century – this has been one of the most regular and terrible
features of international conflict."

During the ceremony, which included commemoration of the victims of
Darfur, Dr Williams said that the world needed to understand the past
and to face up to unpleasant realities of the present.

Pictured with the Archbishop is Catholicos Karekin II and Rabbi
Gersh Meir Burshtein, taken after the Archbishop planted a tree in
the Genocide Memorial garden.

Fridtjof Nansen Institute News
26.09.2007

Improving Environmental Management in Armenia

In cooperation with Armenian authorities and organizations, FNI on 18-21
September organized a seminar on international environmental obligations,
domestic implementation and public participation in Armenia. The seminar
followed-up a seminar FNI co-hosted with the Armenian Ministry of Nature
Protection in 2006.

Since Armenia’s independence in 1991, the republic has signed and ratified a
number of international environmental treaties (16), but there are substantial
obstacles in the implementation process. As Armenia is struggling to recover
>From the economic crisis and general hardships following independence, the war
over Nagorno-Karabagh and the blockade from neighbouring Turkey and Azerbaijan,
the authorities’ main priority is economic growth, and environment has a
relatively lower priority.

"However, in our dialogue with Armenian governmental bodies and civil society,
we have tried to encourage a change towards the need for political will as well
as political feasability in the ongoing implementation process," tells FNI
Project Leader Pål Skedsmo.

The seminar discussed the implementation process, significance and efficiency of
multilateral environmental treaties (MEAs) against a backdrop of introductory
lectures on MEAs ratified by the Republic of Armenia. Among those presented
were the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Cartagena protocol on
Biosafety, the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in
Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the Aarhus
Convention), and the Convention of the Conservation of European Wildlife and
Natural Habitats (the Berne Convention). The development of a second National
Environmental Action Plan (NEAP-2) in Armenia was also discussed.

International and Norwegian experiences with environmental management and good
governance were presented and discussed. In particular the need for horizontal
as well as vertical co-operation in environmental management was stressed, and
the following discussions revealed that the need for this is considerable in
Armenia. The various ministries, agencies and other government bodies need to
enhance their horizontal co-operation and sharing of information. Regarding
vertical co-operation, delegation of power and responsibilities from the
national to the local level should be improved.

The final section at the seminar included presentations and discussions on the
role of civil society in general and environmental NGOs in particular. Civil
society in Armenia is getting stronger and more assertive, but is nevertheless
riddled by many of the challenges facing civil society in post-Soviet states
such as weak support from the state, limited public participation and a too
great reliance on international donors. Several participants at the seminar
called for closer co-operation between the local communities and civil society.

"It is our impression that these seminars, where a broad range of civil servants
as well as civil society representatives participate, facilitate and improves
dialogue between various sectors in Armenia. Several of the participants indeed
said they would bring the discussions at the seminar back to their various
ministries in order to continue the work with enhancing cross-sectorial
co-operation there. Feedback FNI has received after last year’s seminar, from
representatives of both the authorities, civil society and international
organizations, has also been positive in this respect," says Skedsmo.

Approximately 30 representatives from the civil service, environmental NGOs and
the scientific sector participated. The project is funded by the Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A number of the presentations given in English can be found below, as well as
the seminar program.

More information:

Environmental management and civil society in Armenia (project homepage)
onmental_management.html

Seminar programme
;pdf/armenia-se minar-schedule.doc

Seminar speeches, lectures, and presentations:

International environmental institutions: An overview of development and
significance (Steinar Andresen)
;pdf/Internatio nal_Environmental_Institutions.ppt

Mainstreaming and horizontal cooperation in environmental management (focus
biodiversity) (Peter Johan Schei)
;pdf/Mainstreaming _Environmental_Management.ppt

Norwegian environmental policy. Good governance: Ambitions and realities?
(Steinar Andresen)
;pdf/Norway_Goo d_Governance.ppt

Vertical cooperation and risk analysis/EIAs in nature management (Peter Johan
Schei)
;pdf/Vertica l_Nature_Management_EIAs.ppt

Development of protected areas in Armenia (Karen Manvelyan, WWF Armenian Branch)
;pdf/Development_ Protected_Areas_Armenia.ppt

The role of ‘NGO’s: Lessons from the international arena (Steinar Andresen)
;pdf/Role_of_NG Os.ppt

Civil society and public participation. The Norwegian and Russian cases (Pål
Skedsmo)
;pdf/C ivil_Society_Public_Participation.ppt

Environment al NGOs in Armenia: Their relations to authorities and international
donors (Anna Jenderedjian, REC Caucasus)
;pdf/Environmen tal_NGOs_Armenia.ppt

TURKISH PARLIAMENT FORMS SUB-COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE DINK MURDER

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.10.2007 17:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Human Rights Commission of the Parliament
decided to form a sub-commission to work on the assassinations of
Agos editor-in-chief Hrant Dink and Nigerian migrant Festus Okey,
who was shot to death by a policeman.

The sub-commission will go to Istanbul and Trabzon, the hometown of
the confessed gunman of Dink, and will make some inquiries careful
not to affect the legal procedure, because the issues are handed
to judiciary bodies, and will submit its report to the Parliament
Speaker’s Office. The commission will be able to intervene on both
issues if deemed necessary, reported the Anatolia news agency.

The commission is chaired by ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP) deputy Zafer Usluk.

Washington Times, DC
Sept 30 2007

Breakaway state still struggling for recognition

By Levon Sevunts
September 30, 2007

STEPANAKERT, Nagorno-Karabakh

Even if a draft law forcing the government of Armenia to recognize
the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is rejected by the
Armenian parliament, residents of this breakaway republic say they
will continue their struggle for international recognition.

Populated mostly by Armenians this lush mountainous region, slightly
larger than Rhode Island, broke away from Azerbaijan after a bitter
war between 1990 and 1994.

Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, supported by their brethren in Armenia,
emerged victorious from a bloody conflict that killed more than
35,000 people on both sides.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic formally declared its independence in
1992. At the time, many critics dismissed the move as a shrewd
political maneuver by Armenians – who were starting to win the war –
to deflect international criticism from Armenia proper.

Today, Karabakh possesses almost all the trappings of a state. It has
its own flag and its own army. It issues entry visas to foreign
visitors and its residents regularly vote in elections to all levels
of government.

But Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto independence hasn’t been recognized
by any country, not even its closest ally: Armenia.

And Armenian authorities have made it clear they have no plans to
recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as an independent state
despite pressure from a major opposition party.

"The recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia has always been and
remains in Armenia’s diplomatic arsenal," Vladimir Karapetian, a
spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Affairs Ministry, told Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty. "That must come at a time when it can be
maximally effective and can help achieve a lasting resolution. That
time has not yet come," he said.

These comments came in response to a draft law circulated in late
August by Raffi Hovannisian, the U.S.-born leader of the opposition
Zharangutyun (Heritage) party and Armenia’s former foreign affairs
minister. The bill would have forced the Armenian government to
officially recognize Karabakh’s independence. However, fearing that
such a drastic move could derail the fragile peace process, the
pro-government factions in the parliament and another opposition
party rejected the bill.

Yet many residents of Nagorno-Karabakh say they’ll persevere, hoping
the international community will one day recognize their
independence.

"You know a lot of countries haven’t been recognized but people still
live in these countries," said Karina Sarkissian, a retired
accountant. "But still we’re hoping that one day the international
community will recognize us. We are peaceful people, like every
normal people anywhere else in the world we want peace, we want to
raise our children in peace."

Fifteen years of de facto sovereignty have also produced a tectonic
shift in popular attitudes toward independence of Nagorno-Karabakh,
both from Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Twenty years ago, Karlen Avanessian dreamed of reunification with
Armenia.

In February of 1988, he was one of the activists who went door to
door to gather signatures for a petition asking the Soviet Politburo
to transfer authority over the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh
from Azerbaijan to Armenia.

Two years later, when the confrontation with Azerbaijan degenerated
into a vicious war, he picked up a gun to defend his family and fight
for his dream, said Mr. Avanessian, a 66-year-old former
welder-turned-shopkeeper at Stepanakert’s main bazaar.

But if a referendum on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh were held
today, Mr. Avanessian said he’d vote for full independence, not a
union with Armenia.

"We want to have our own, separate Armenian state, a small state, but
our own state," said Mr. Avanessian as neighboring shopkeepers nodded
in agreement. "For seventy years, thanks to a decree by Lenin,
Karabakh was made part of Azerbaijan. But for centuries Karabakh was
an independent state. Now the international community wants to
remember those 70 years and forget about the centuries we were
independent."

Only his neighbor to the right, a settler from Armenia proper,
disagreed.

"Uncle Karlen, you can’t say things like that, we have to have one
unified Armenian state," she said. But she was in the minority. As
the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has dragged on for
almost two decades, many in this breakaway republic have come to
realize their dream of reunification with "Mother Armenia" might
never happen.

But independence is a different matter. It’s seen by many as more
acceptable to the international community. And Western designs for
Kosovo’s independence are seen as setting a precedent for Karabakh’s
eventual international recognition.

Thus, despite close political, economic and military ties with
Armenia – Nagorno-Karabakh uses Armenian currency, the dram,
Armenia’s current president, Robert Kocharian, is the former
president of Nagorno-Karabakh – independence has become the preferred
option for many Karabakh Armenians.

And they see democracy as the ticket to international recognition of
Karabakh’s de facto independence.

Sergei Markedonov, a prominent Caucasus specialist from the Institute
of Political and Military Analysis, an independent Russian think
tank, said promoting democracy in Nagorno-Karabakh provides not only
for a sustainable and self-sufficient form of government, but also an
effective instrument for its campaign of international recognition.

Since Nagorno-Karabakh started its campaign of independence in the
late eighties, Mr. Markedonov said, it has conducted three successful
presidential election campaigns, parliamentary elections, and three
campaigns of local self-government elections.

These elections have been officially rejected as illegitimate by the
international community, which stresses that without the
participation of the Azeri population of Nagorno-Karabakh, driven out
during the war, no election can be considered fully democratic.

Despite this international criticism, Nagorno-Karabakh compares
favorably to Azerbaijan, where the current president, Ilham Aliev,
"inherited" power from his late father Geidar Aliev, Mr. Markedonov
said.

"I think those democratic tendencies could not be ignored by the
West," he said. "Now Azerbaijan can be characterized as a ‘soft
sultanate,’ where power was passed from father to son. In many cases
Azeri leaders appeal to Nagorno-Karabakh as the primordial territory
of Azerbaijan, but are they ready to guarantee high standards of
democracy for the Armenian population?" Mr. Markedonov said the
question of "democracy gap" between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh
will be raised during any final-status negotiations and be used by
the Armenian side as another argument against the rebel territory’s
reintegration with Azerbaijan.

"We have to compare democratic standards in Nagorno-Karabakh and in
Azerbaijan," Mr. Markedonov said. "And we have to understand that the
liquidation of Nagorno-Karabakh would mean the liquidation of
democracy here."

Photos at
EIGN/109300034/1003