Author: Jidarian Alex

AZERBAIJAN’S FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH EU COMMISSIONER BENITA FERRERO-WALDNER

Today.Az
/politics/47625.html
Sept 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov met with EU commissioner
on neighborhood policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner in the framework of
the visit to Brussels on September 17, reported the press service
for the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan.

As is reported, during the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the
implementation of a plan of actions between EU and Azerbaijan in the
framework of the European neighborhood policy, current relations
between EU and Azerbaijan, regional processes, conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan and Energy security.

Speaking of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the Minister announced
that it can be settled only in the framework of the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan. In turn, B.Ferrero-Waldner noted that the
European Union supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Moreover, E.Mamedyarov raised an issue of facilitation of the visa
regime for the citizens of Azerbaijan. The EU representative positively
assessed this issue and promised to work at it.

RA agriculture minister: Economic growth fixed in agriculture

2008-09-13 16:18:00

ArmInfo. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan held a working meeting with
Armenian Minister of Agriculture Aramais Grigoryan, Saturday, the
presidential press-service told ArmInfo.

The minister told the president about the current state of agriculture
in Armenia. According to the minister, 6.9% economic growth is observed
in the sphere of agriculture, 9.8% growth in plant growing and 4.4% in
cattle breeding. Grigoryan also told the president about the process of
harvest. Serzh Sargsyan instructed the minister to pay attention to the
work of processing enterprises and see that villagers get their salary
in time.

President Sargsyan also instructed the minister to continue the
activities related to the import of cattle, as well as to provide
villagers with seeds of elite sorts.

Sunday’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 14 2008

Opening doors and hearts (2)

by DOGU ERGIL

President Abdullah Gül’s recent visit to Armenia was a necessity for a
variety of reasons, among them that Armenian-Turkish relations have
been poisoned by real and political feuds emanating from the dire
conditions of the war years in the second decade of the 20th century.
Large numbers of Armenians were uprooted on the grounds that they had
supported invading Russian troops. But punitive measures went way
beyond securing the eastern front, and massive deportations deprived
the Armenians of their homeland. In return THE Armenians built their
national identity on feelings of injustice and dehumanization, never
ending their grief and mourning since. One reason for the continuation
of the mourning is the lack of acknowledgement of the pain, sorrow and
loss of the Armenians by the children of the people who had placed
such a psychologically heavy burden on the Armenians without remorse
or the rational explanation of a mutual past that had been abruptly
terminated. Demand for acknowledgement and possible apology was the
precondition of the Armenians for initiating any positive engagement
between the two peoples and states.

It seems President Sarksyan and his government have lifted that
precondition, to be discussed later between the peoples when they get
to know each other better and have warmed relations through mutually
gainful cooperation. On the other hand there is a new situation in the
Caucasus where maps could change, following the armed conflict between
Russia and Georgia in early August. The need for a mechanism whereby
common security concerns can be discussed and cooperation in economy
and energy can be planned has become more obvious. There is also a
need for devising mechanisms of crisis management that will operate
with principles of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE).

Reciprocally, the Turkish president’s visit hints at an undeclared
change in the official Turkish attitude that has so far been shaped by
the Armenian occupation of a sizeable chunk of Azerbaijani territory
(including Nagorno-Karabakh), besides Armenia’s backing of its
diaspora’s efforts to win international recognition for Armenian
genocide claims and refusing to officially recognize its present
border with Turkey.

If indeed relations between the countries, which have had no
diplomatic ties for decades, advance with a future perspective
cleansed of past grievances and suspicions, this means both peoples
have the maturity to abandon preconditions to negotiate past
wrongdoings along with unrealistic expectations. This simply means
normalization and healing or simply moving out of the box of
symbolism.

People on the street expect that substantial negotiations will follow
on from Mr. Gül’s visit. Armenians want Turkey to reopen the rail link
with Armenia together with border gates to engage in trade. And the
Turks expect Armenia to stop lobbying foreign parliaments to recognize
their genocide claims. The first test will be a resolution that is
waiting on the floor of the US Congress.

Azerbaijanis are closely watching this unexpected development, but as
Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has said, Azerbaijan will not
intervene and Azerbaijan supports Turkey’s proposal for a Caucasus
Stability and Cooperation Platform that includes both Azerbaijan and
Armenia.

INSTIGATOR OF DINK’S MURDER TO BE RETRIED FOR PREVIOUS CRIME

BIA
Sept 11 2008
Turkey

Supreme Court of Appeals 8th Penal Chamber finds Yasin Hayal’s sentence
in the trial of Trabzon McDonalds bombing case not sufficient. Hayal
will be retried.

Yasin Hayal, who is on trial for instigating the murder of Hrant
Dink and in prison at the moment, will be retried for the bombing of
McDonalds in Trabzon.

8th Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals, which had ratified
the three year and four month sentence given previously to Hayal for
"producing explosives," reversed its judgment since there were six
people who had been injured at the bombing executed on October 24,
2004, and decided for the reopening the case.

Hayal will be retried on September 23 The Supreme Court of Appeals
found the previous sentence inadequate and decided that Hayal should
be punished separately for each victim.

Hayal’s trial will start in Trabzon’s 1st High Criminal Court on
September 23.

Getting caught six days after the Trabzon attack, Hayal was sentenced
to six years and eight months for the crimes of "producing explosives",
"using explosives", and injuring six people. The accused was released
pending trial a year later in October 2005.

Hayal’s "early release" was discussed at the Dink case It was suggested
in Dink’s case that Hayal had been released early in exchange for
Erhan Tuncel’s acceptance to work as an informant for the Trabzon
Police Department. Tuncel is also on trial for instigating the murder
of Hrant Dink and is in prison like Hayal.

The next hearing in the trial of Hrant Dink’s murder will be in
Istanbul’s 14th High Criminal Court at BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ on October
13. Hrant Dink, chief editor and owner of Armenian-Turkish weekly Agos,
was killed on January 19, 2007.

–Boundary_(ID_CEi7qvZLn2+6wVbkMvoXjg)–

PRESIDENT GUL ON HIS VISITS TO AZERBAIJAN

Anatolia News Agency
Sept 11 2008
Turkey

BAKU/ANKARA (A.A) -11.09.2008 -Turkish President Abdullah Gul said
that he observed the same honest and sincere desire for a solution
both in Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Gul told reporters aboard the plane on his way back from Azerbaijan
that the issue of Upper Karabakh [Nagornyy Karabakh] and recent
developments in the Caucasus were high on agenda of his meeting with
President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.

"In Azerbaijan I saw the same frank, honest and sincere desire
for a solution and respect to opponent that I observed in Armenia
earlier. There is a significant opportunity to resolve a long-standing
problem. We need to seize this opportunity. Also, everyone is aware
that if a solution is reached, it paves the way for cooperation in
the region," he said.

Gul said that Armenia had the will to withdraw from the occupied
Azerbaijani territories in case of a final agreement between the
two countries.

"My talks with Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents revealed the
need for exchange of views between the two countries on bilateral,
regional and international developments. Turkey and Azerbaijan have
always advocated that the regional problems should be resolved through
peaceful and diplomatic ways," he said.

Gul said that Azerbaijani authorities welcomed his talks in Armenia.

Asked whether a tripartite summit among the presidents of Turkey,
Azerbaijan and Armenia would take place during the United Nations
General Assembly meetings, Gul said that there was still not a plan
for such a tripartite meeting.

YOUNG ARMENIANS SPLIT OVER "GENOCIDE" ISSUE

Hurriye
Sept 10 2008
Turkey

Young Armenian liberals think the actions and attitudes of Tashnaks,
known for their radical stance against Turkey, damage Armenia, the
Turkish Daily News (TDN) wrote on Wednesday.

The Tashnaks have set ‘genocide’ as precondition for the development
of bilateral relations between Turkey and Armenia.

To what degree Armenians’ claims of genocide should be a determining
factor in Turkish – Armenian relations remains an open debate in
Yerevan, the TDN reported, citing discussions between young Armenians,
both radicals and liberals.

Unless the 1915 incidents are recognized as "genocide" the
Armenian nation would not favor a dialogue with Turkey, according
to Isxhan Saxatelyan, a radical member of the Armenian Revolutionary
Dashnaksutyun Bureau.

Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million
of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915. Turkey
rejects the claims, saying that 300,000 Armenians along with at least
as many Turks died in civil strife that emerged when Armenians took
up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia.

In 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan took a first step
towards resolving the issue by proposing a joint commission of
historians launch an investigation and publish their conclusions,
but the proposal was rejected by Yerevan.

However Aren Manukyan, a liberal Armenian Manukyan disagreed. "I am
an Armenian too. And ‘genocide’ definitely gives me as much pain than
it gives them. Tashnaks should give up using the issue of ‘genocide’
for their own benefit. They have no right to exploit such a sensitive
issue," he said.

Manukyan was critical of the strongly nationalist party the Tashnaks’
current stance.

"Tashnaks do not want the borders between Armenia and Turkey to be
opened because if they are opened they would let loose the chance to
exploit this country – both mentally and materially. They are simply
afraid of losing their comfort."

"TURKEY SETS CONDITIONS" Turkey has turned toward Armenia because
it is seeking regional dialogue after witnessing the most recent
developments in the Caucasus, Saxatelyan said.

"But there is one thing that Turkey forgets as it is searching for a
dialogue: Borders between Armenia and Turkey were closed unilaterally
by Turkey," he said.

Turkey constantly sets various conditions related to the issues of
"genocide," Nagorno-Karabagh and the diaspora and asks Armenia to
comply with them, said Saxatelyan, adding Armenia would not back off
on any of these issues.

"If Gul had not come, no such demonstration would have taken place. As
the world’s attention focused on us, we wanted to take the ball
and remind the world once again about the issue of genocide," he
said regarding the demonstration Tashnaks held during Gul’s arrival
to Yerevan.

TASHNAK NOT REFLECTIVE OF ARMENIANS Manukyan disagreed with Saxatelyan,
saying the Tashnaks’ demonstrations did not reflect Armenian citizens’
general attitude. Even many of those who voted for the Tashnak party
have decided to end their support, he said.

"They organized a demonstration simply for the sake of organizing
a demonstration. Their purpose is just to cause tension. Indeed,
holding demonstrations have become the life and soul of the Tashnak
party," he said.

Manukyan says Armenia should never set recognition of "genocide"
as a condition for Turkish-Armenian relations to develop.

He said historical documents on the "genocide" do exist in libraries
in various parts of the world, but disagreed with the idea that
a commission of Turkish and Armenian historians should conduct
collaborative studies on the issue.

"All archives in different parts of the world can be opened to Turkish
researchers. If they want, they can peruse all of them. And we can
help them in any way possible. If that happens, they will see the
facts. In fact, they are already aware of that," said Manukyan.

Gul paid last week a landmark visit to Yerevan after Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan invited him to watch a 2010 World Cup qualifying match
between the two countries’ national teams.

Turkey is among the first countries that recognized Armenia when it
declared its independency in the early 1990s.

However there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries,
as Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called
"genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey’s call to investigate the
allegations, and its invasion of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory
despite U.N. Security Council resolutions on the issue.

The border between the two countries has remained closed since 1993,
when Turkey protested Armenia’s occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally.

ARMENIA SIGNS POWER SUPPLY DEAL WITH TURKEY

Hurriye
Sept 10 2008
Turkey

Armenia has signed a deal to supply electricity to Turkey from the
beginning of 2009, Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said Wednesday.

Movsisian told reporters that the deal will see electricity from
Armenian thermal power plants supplied to eastern Turkey.

"An agreement on this was reached during the recent visit of the
Turkish President Abdullah Gul," he said.

"Turkey is a new market for Armenia, as Armenia last supplied
electricity to this country during the Soviet period," he added.

Gul’s visit Saturday to attend a football match between the two nations
teams and meet his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan raised hopes
that Turkey and Armenia could help the resolution of conflicts and
establish diplomatic relations.

The deal was signed between Armenias state-owned High Voltage
Electricity Network

company and a privately owned Turkish firm called UNIT, Movsisian said.

He said the infrastructure was in place on the Armenian side to
deliver the electricity but that repairs to transmission lines and
the installation of a new transformer in Turkey would take four to
five months.

He said Armenia would initially supply 1.5 billion kilowatts per
hour of electricity to Turkey and that the amount would eventually
increase to 3.5 billion kilowatts per hour.

Turkey does not have diplomatic relations with its eastern neighbor
Armenia because of Yerevan’s invasion of Azerbaijani territory.

OSCE PA FALL MEETINGS IN TORONTO TO FOCUS ON CAUCASUS

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.09.2008 16:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The OSCE PA’s 2008 Fall Meetings will take place from
18 to 21 September in Toronto, hosted by the Parliament of Canada. The
meetings include a major inter-parliamentary conference focused on
‘The OSCE in an Open World: Trade, Migration, and Security.’

The situation in South Ossetia and Abkhazia will be also discussed,
OSCE PA President Joao Soares told reporters in Moscow.

OSCE PA special representative for Caucasus Goran Lennmarker is
expected organize a report on the region.

WCQ PREVIEW: SPAIN – ARMENIA

Goal.com
aspx?ContenutoId=856817
Sept 10 2008
Switzerland

What: World Cup 2010 Qualifier, Group 5
Who: Spain vs Armenia
When: Wednesday, September 10, 2008, 22:00 CET
Where: Carlos Belmonte, Albacete

The feel good factor surrounding the Spain team was saved on Saturday
evening by a stunning goal from David Villa and victory over Armenia
will see talk about not only qualifying for the World Cup but also
winning it will grow.

Vicente del Bosque took over in the summer from Luis Aragones and
can only better his predecessor by winning the tournament in South
Africa in two years time although even the most staunch Spanish fans
will know that will be a huge task.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were expected to travel to Murcia and defend in
numbers, but they came out and took Spain on at times and that meant
that there was slightly more space at the other end.

That did not change things much though and there were periods when
the home side looked distinctly like they had done under Aragones in
the qualifiers for Euro 2008 when a lack of movement or imagination
meant that goals were always at a premium.

Without Fernando Torres taking defenders away or making his trademark
forward runs into the area, David Villa looked decidedly isolated,
especially in the first half when Spain broke through very rarely.

Diego Capel was named in the starting line-up as the new coach
attempted to show that he was willing to choose his own players
and not just re-employ the exact same squad that won the European
Championships.

More Of The Same

While the Sevilla wideman will certainly be a regular in years to come,
his lack of international experience shone through and highlighted
Spain’s inability to think of any other tactic than to look to the
flanks to send over crosses.

Sergio Ramos was not at his best on the right, meaning that Capel had
the onus placed on him and his headless runs went against la Furia
Roja’s system of pass and move as he looked to take one defenders
too often.

Every team that comes up against another side that is determined not
to let them score can open themselves up to criticism because the
talent on the attacking side means that they are supposed to overcome
the defence.

But that cannot always happen and against Bosnia-Herzegovina it was
only thanks to one moment of vision from Cesc Fabregas that ensured
that Spain were able to prove that negative tactics should not be
encouraged.

Against Armenia, the Spanish can expect to face an even more defensive
outfit but one that may not be as accomplished at keeping out such
an array of attacking talent.

Del Bosque has to make changes and give a more composed player a run
out on the left and leave Capel to gain the experience he needs by
coming off the bench to open teams up when they are flagging and not
from the start.

RECENT FORM

Spain

06/09/08 1-0 WCQ Bosnia-Herzegovina 20/08/08 3-0 Fr Denmark 29/06/08
1-0 EC Germany 26/06/08 3-0 EC Russia 22/06/08 0-0 EC Italy 18/06/08
2-1 EC Greece

Armenia

06/09/08 0-2 WCQ Turkey 26/03/08 1-0 Fr Kazakhstan 30/01/08 0-2 Fr
Iceland 04/02/08 2-1 Fr Belarus 02/02/08 1-0 Fr Malta 21/11/08 0-1
ECQ Kazakhstan

TEAM NEWS

Spain

According to all the reports, Del Bosque is set to name Xabi Alonso,
Santi Cazorla and Dani Guiza as he changes to to two up front, which
should prove to be much more effective than Villa on his own.

Probable Starting XI: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Puyol, Albiol,
Capdevila; Iniesta, Senna o Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Cazorla; Guiza, Villa.

Armenia

Danish coach Jan Poulsen is set to name a very defensive line up that
will feature a 5-4-1 formation. The main absentee is Arzumanyan and
so Arakeyan is set to step into replace him at the back.

Probable Starting XI: Berezovsky; Hovsepyan, Arakeyan, Tateosyan,
Arakelyan, Lazarian; Pachajyan, Voskanyan, Karamyan, Mkhitaryan;
Manucharyan.

PREDICTION

Bosnia held Spain at bay by playing on the break quite successfully,
but Armenia are not as good and should allow their hosts more
chances. Del Bosque will have learnt lessons from the game at the
weekend and is set to try and put things right.

Spain 3 – 0 Armenia

Lucas Brown, Goal.comThe feel good factor surrounding the Spain team
was saved on Saturday evening by a stunning goal from David Villa and
victory over Armenia will see talk about not only qualifying for the
World Cup but also winning it will grow.

Vicente del Bosque took over in the summer from Luis Aragones and
can only better his predecessor by winning the tournament in South
Africa in two years time although even the most staunch Spanish fans
will know that will be a huge task.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were expected to travel to Murcia and defend in
numbers, but they came out and took Spain on at times and that meant
that there was slightly more space at the other end.

That did not change thing smuch though and there were periods when
the home side looked distinctly like they had done under Aragones in
the qualifiers for Euro 2008 when a lack of movement or imagination
meant that goals were always at a premium.

Without Fernando Torres taking defenders away or making his trademark
forward runs into the area, David Villa looked decidedly isolated,
especially in the first half when Spain broke through very rarely.

Diego Capel was named in the starting line-up as the new coach
attempted to show that he was willing to choose his own players and not
just reemply the exact same squad that won the European Championships.

While the Sevilla wideman will certainly be a regular in years to come,
his lack of international experience shone through and highlighted
Spain’s inability to think of any other tactic than to look to the
flanks to send over crosses.

Sergio Ramos was not at his best on the right, meaning that Capel had
the onus placed on him and his headless runs went against la Furia
Roja’s system of pass and move as he looked to take one defenders
too often.

Every team that comes up against another side that is determined not
to let them score can open themselves up to criticism because the
talent on the attacking side means that they are supposed to overcome
the defence.

But that cannot always happen and against Bosnia-Herzegovina it was
only thanks to one moment of vision from Cesc Fabregas that ensured
that Spain were able to prove that negative tactics should not be
encouraged.

Against Armenia, the Spanish can expect to face an even more defensive
outfit but one that may not be as accomplished at keeping out such
an array of attacking talent.

Del Bosque has to make changes and give a more composed player a run
out on the left and leave Capel to gain the experience he needs by
coming off the bench to open teams up when they are flagging and not
from the start.

RECENT FORM

Spain

06/09/08 1-0 WCQ Bosnia-Herzegovina 20/08/08 3-0 Fr Denmark 29/06/08
1-0 EC Germany 26/06/08 3-0 EC Russia 22/06/08 0-0 EC Italy 18/06/08
2-1 EC Greece

Armenia

06/09/08 0-2 WCQ Turkey 26/03/08 1-0 Fr Kazakhstan 30/01/08 0-2 Fr
Iceland 04/02/08 2-1 Fr Belarus 02/02/08 1-0 Fr Malta 21/11/08 0-1
ECQ Kazakhstan

TEAM NEWS

Spain

According to all the reports, Del Bosque is set to name Xabi Alonso,
Santi Cazorla and Dani Guiza as he changes to to two up front, which
should prove to be much more effective than Villa on his own.

Probable Starting XI: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Puyol, Albiol,
Capdevila; Iniesta, Senna o Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Cazorla; Guiza, Villa.

Armenia

Danish coach Jan Poulsen is set to name a very defensive line up that
will feature a 5-4-1 formation. The main absentee is Arzumanyan and
so Arakeyan is set to step into replace him at the back.

Probable Starting XI: Berezovsky; Hovsepyan, Arakeyan, Tateosyan,
Arakelyan, Lazarian; Pachajyan, Voskanyan, Karamyan, Mkhitaryan;
Manucharyan.

PREDICTION

Bosnia held Spain at bay by playing on the break quite successfully,
but Armenia are not as good and should allow their hosts more
chances. Del Bosque will have learnt lessons from the game at the
weekend and is set to try and put things right.

Spain 3 – 0 Armenia

Merinews, India
Sept 7 2008

Protest over Turkish president’s visit to Armenia

Hundreds of Armenians carrying placards condemned the visit of Turkish
president to Armenia. The two countries pledged to overcome decades of
enmity over the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces after Turkish
president’s path breaking visit..

IN HIS first visit to Armenia to watch a football match on Saturday
(September 6), Abdullah Gul, the Turkish President, was greeted by
vehement protests by the Armenian citizens. The football match was an
attempt by the concerned authorities in order to improve the relations
between the two neighbouring countries.

The football match was scheduled to be held on Saturday (September 6),
between Turkey and Armenia at the Hrazdan stadium in Yerevan. It was
also a first visit to Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia by a
Turkish head of the state since Armenia gained independence in 1991.

There has been a political controversy between the two countries for a
long period over the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks during the First World War.

At least hundreds of Armenians stood with placards in the route of
Gul’s motorcade and demonstrated a vehement protest against the
Turkish premiere. This protest-march took place as Ankara denied to
consider the atrocities as crimes against humanity during 1915 to
1917. Later, Gul met Serzh Sarkisian, the Armenian president and
offered the Armenian head to watch a return football match between the
two countries in Turkey next month. Gul even stated at a press
conference in Yerevan that all possible efforts would be taken to
maintain an amicable relationship between the two states despite
protest from Armenian civilians.

ticleID=140807