Author: Kajoyan Gevork

MINISTER NALBANDIAN PARTICIPATED IN THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP MINISTERIAL COUNCIL

On February 12 Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward
Nalbandyan participated in the ministerial council Eastern
Partnership in Tbilisi. European Commissioner for Enlargement and
European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule, deputy secretary of the EU
foreign relations Helda Schmitt and the delegations of the EU Eastern
Partnership member countries attended the meeting.

During the meeting the delegates discussed the results of the
cooperation in frame of the Eastern Partnership and underlined the
plans for future.

Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian presented
Armenian involvement in Eastern Partnership and underlined Armenian
readiness to conclude the negotiations over Free Trade Zone creation
and Association agreement.

Armenian MFA spoke about some other aspects of the cooperation between
Armenia and eastern Partnership.

On the end of the meeting the participants had a joint
press-conference.

13.02.13, 16:00

REUTERS: BOUNTY OFFERED FOR AUTHOR’S EAR IN AZERBAIJAN

by Reuters

A pro-government party in Azerbaijan has offered a bounty to anyone who
slices off the ear of a celebrated writer it says insulted the nation
with his depiction of friendship and violence between Azerbaijanis
and Armenians.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have had no diplomatic ties since a war over
the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s, as
the Soviet Union fell apart, killed 30 000 people.

Human Rights Watch condemned the threat against Akram Aylisli, who held
the title of “People’s Author” in Azerbaijan before being stripped
the honour by the president last week after the story “Stone Dreams”
enraged Azerbaijanis.

The work, which was published in a Russian magazine, in part tells
the story of how some Azerbaijanis tried to protect their Armenian
neighbours when Armenians were being tortured and beaten in Baku
in 1990.

With nearly a million displaced people from the territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh living in Azerbaijan and both states suffering the
economic and social effects of the war, the topic of ethnic relations
is a hornet’s nest.

The leader of Azerbaijani pro-government party Muasir Musavat (Modern
Equality) told Reuters on Tuesday the party was offering 10 000 manats
(nearly $13 000) for anyone who cut off Aylisli’s ear.

“(Aylisli) insulted the entire Azerbaijani nation,” party leader
Hafiz Haciyev said in his party office in Baku. “As he has insulted
us we wanted to respond, and that is why we have decided… That his
ear must be chopped off.”

Even before Haciyev’s threat, officials from the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan
Party called on Aylisli to withdraw the novel from sale and ask for
the nation’s forgiveness. There have been protests outside his home
in Baku.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev last week signed a decree stripping
Aylisli of his title of “People’s Writer”, one of the country’s
highest cultural honours, which he had held since 1998.

New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Azerbaijan on Tuesday to stop
the campaign of intimidation against him.

“The government of Azerbaijan has an obligation to protect safety
and security and investigate any threats against the writer, whose
only fault is that he expressed his mind,” said Georgy Gogia, South
Caucasus researcher for the group.

“In fact, the government is often spearheading this smear campaign,”
he said.

A truce between Azerbaijan and Armenia was signed in 1994, but there
was no peace treaty. Violence still flares sporadically along the
ceasefire line and Azerbaijan’s border with Armenia – underlining
the risk of a conflict in the South Caucasus, where Turkey, Russia
and Iran have interests.

The enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh has about 160 000 people and runs
its own affairs with heavy Armenian military and financial backing
since the war. Oil-producing Azerbaijan often threatens to take it
back by force, though it says it favours diplomacy.

13.02.13, 14:55

US HAS VERY BALANCED APPROACH ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH ISSUE – ARMENIAN POLITICIAN

NEWS.AM
February 13, 2013 | 03:43

YEREVAN. – It is apparent that Azerbaijan’s discontent with the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-Chairs is due to the change in their position with
respect to the settlement issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Giro
Manoyan, Director of the International Secretariat of Armenia’s
opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party Bureau and Head of the Armenian
Cause Office, told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“The US could take some steps toward improving relations with
Azerbaijan, but I do not think the US would contradict itself to [the
point of] abandoning the precept of self-determination of peoples,”
he noted.

In Manoyan’s conviction, even though the US does not often speak
about the peoples’ right to self-determination, mentioning together
the precepts of non-use of force, territorial integrity, and
self-determination of peoples is already is a very balanced approach
by them.

Hurriyet, Turkey
Feb 13 2013

An informant offers to cooperate in the Dink murder probe: report

ISTANBUL ` DoÄ?an News Agency

The Istanbul prosecutor investigating the murder of the Turkish
journalist of Armenian origin, Hrant Dink received a letter Feb. 13
from an inmate claiming to have information on Dink’s killers, DoÄ?an
news agency has reported. The informant, who is said to currently be
serving a prison sentence in Turkey’s Tokat province in Central
Anatolia, offered documentation relating to Dink’s murder in his
letter and agreed to cooperate in the investigation provided the
protection of his family was guaranteed by authorities.

In the letter, the informant revealed the murder had been planned by a
group he had been a member of along with Erhan Tuncel, a former police
informant and suspect, later released following the trial.

According to DoÄ?an news agency’s report, the informant claimed to have
conducted surveillance in front of the Agos newspaper building with
Tuncel prior to the murder.

The Istanbul prosecutor charged with probing into the case Muammer
AkkaÅ? has taken action over the letter and granted protection to both
the informant and his family, according to DoÄ?an news agency.

Dink was the chief editor of Agos, a newspaper published in Turkish
and Armenian, when he was shot in front of his office in Istanbul on
Jan. 19, 2007. The triggerman, Ogün Samast, was sentenced to 22 years
in prison, but the prosecutors’ inability to bring to the light the
other actors behind the murder has caused widespread anger.

February/13/2013

World Bulletin, Turkey
Feb 13 2013

Azerbaijan says Armenia not to use BTK railway

Attending a meeting in Georgia on Wednesday, Mammadov said that the
railway project was pursued by financial support and initiative of
Azerbaijan.

World Bulletin / News Desk

Azerbaijani Transportation Minister Ziya Mammadov has said that
Armenia would not use Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway until Nagorno Karabakh
problem was solved and its occupation by Armenia ended.

Attending a meeting in Georgia on Wednesday, Mammadov said that the
railway project was pursued by financial support and initiative of
Azerbaijan.

If Armenia does not leave the lands it occupied in Azerbaijan and
Nagorno Karabakh problem is not solved, we will not allow Armenians to
use this railway line, he said.

BTK is a regional rail link project to directly connect Turkey,
Georgia and Azerbaijan. The project was originally to be completed by
2010, but is now scheduled for completion by 2013.

The key objective of the project is to improve trade and economic
relations between the three regions, as well as gaining foreign direct
investment by connecting Europe and Asia. The project will facilitate
transportation of passengers and goods, principally oil.

Quantifying Love Around the World

The Gallup Blog
Thursday, February 14, 2013

By Justin Wolfers, Ph.D., Gallup Senior Scientist and University of
Michigan Professor

It’s hard not to think about love on Valentine’s Day. Fortunately, we
also have data. As part of the World Poll, Gallup spent 2006 and 2007
visiting 136 countries and asked people, “Did you experience the
following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? How about love?”
The result is the most comprehensive global index of love ever
constructed.

On a typical day, around 70% of the world’s population report that
they experienced love the day before. Given the question, this need
not be the romantic kind of love typically celebrated on Valentine’s
Day — it may also be the love of a child, a parent, family, or good
friends. Needless to say, all are worth celebrating.

In the United States, feelings of love were a bit more widespread,
with 81% of Americans experiencing it for a lot of the day. That’s
good enough to be ranked toward the top of the list.

The world leader in love is the Philippines, where fully 93% of the
population reported feeling love; Rwanda isn’t far behind at 92%, and
Puerto Rico is the only other population surveyed where at least nine
in 10 respondents reported feeling love.

At the other end of the scale, we’re predicting a quieter Valentine’s
Day in Armenia, Mongolia, and Uzbekistan, where fewer than one in
three people experienced love. It is important to note that
differences between countries may be due to how cultures define `love’
and not in actual day-to-day experiences. For example, in some
countries, the idea of `love’ is restricted to a romantic partner,
while in others it extends to one’s family members and friends.

View the full ranking here. For further breakdowns of these data, see
my article with, well, my valentine and fellow University of Michigan
Professor Betsey Stevenson. For more on Stevenson, Wolfers, and the
economics of love, see this earlier interview and this New York Times
profile.

A CONTRACT SERVICEMAN INJURED BY AZERBAIJANI BULLET

00:23, 13 February, 2013

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS: A contract serviceman was injured
by shootings of opponent on Armenian-Azerbaijani border.” As a
result of Azerbaijani shootings Armenian contract serviceman Gevorg
Melikbekyan was wounded, yet fortunately, the injury is not serious”
Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan assures. According
to him the situation was peaceful at 22: 00.

“Azerbaijanis have fired towards Aygepar, Movses, Chianry villages,
Tavush region. Azerbaijani sniper fired towards Chianry village on
February 12, on a car transporting children. “The most terrible thing
is the car was transporting small children and by God’s will they
managed to leave the car. The shootings were numerous. They fired
towards gas tube and gates of an house as well “Chinary province
village head Samvel Saghoyan told Armenpress.

Azerbaijani armed forces have been repeatedly shooting fires towards
peaceful population. Previous year the opponent was targeting Aygepar,
Nerkin Karmiraghbyur and Movses village population. Resultedly
kindergarden and a farm of the village , besides car of an
international organization on a humanitarian mission in the village
have suffered. The heads of the villages have turned to OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Andrzey Kasprzyk (Poland) his Field Assistants
Irji Aberle (Czech Republic) and Antal Hedrich.

PLUS DE 843300 TOURISTES ONT VISITE L’ARMENIE EN 2012

Le taux de croissance du tourisme a ete de 11,3% en Armenie a la fin
de 2012, selon le vice-ministre armenien de l’economie Ara Petrosyan.

Le nombre de touristes visitant l’Armenie a augmente de 85000 personnes
pour atteindre 843330 en 2012 par rapport a 2011.

Par consequent, l’objectif a ete atteint et le taux de croissance a
ete de deux chiffres a indique le vice-ministre ajoutant que le taux
de croissance du tourisme mondial etait de 4% pour 2012.

Les touristes qui sont venus en Armenie en 2012 venaient principalement
des pays europeens, de l’Allemagne et de la France en particulier,
les touristes espagnols sont devenus plus actifs a precise M.Petrosyan.

” Cette annee, une legère diminution a ete enregistree dans le nombre
de touristes en provenance d’Iran, qui a ete liee a des problèmes
internes de l’Iran ” a declare M. Petrossian sans fournir de chiffres
precis.

mercredi 13 fevrier 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

ARMENIA’S CEC TESTS INK STAMPS TO PREVENT MULTIPLE VOTING

YEREVAN, February 12. / ARKA /. Armenia’s Central Election Commission
(CEC) invited today journalists, representatives of local and
foreign election watching organizations as well as representatives
of presidential candidates to see how CEC chairman, Tigran Mukuchyan,
would test the ink stamps which election officials will put in voters’
passports to prevent multiple voting.

During the May 2012 parliamentary elections the opposition parties
complained that the stamps disappeared from passports very fast,
although they were supposed to disappear no sooner than 12 hours later.

Mukuchyan argued today that the problems in the May parliamentary
elections were caused by incorrect use of ink, not by its quality. He
said the CEC had nonetheless conveyed the problem to the ink-producing
company.

“We bought the ink for this election from the same British company,
because we do not know other companies producing this special ink. The
company had taken into account all the circumstances, even asked for
information about weather conditions in Armenia in February for the
last 10 years,” he said.

Mukuchyan assured that no problems will arise with the ink during
the February 18 election, because the members of all electoral
commissions – 16 thousand people – had special courses, and besides
the CEC published a special guide about how to use the ink stamps.

He said some 2,200 bottles of ink were imported; each polling station
will be provided with one bottle. Polling stations with portable
ballot boxes will have tow bottles.

As for the cost of ink, Mukuchyan said CEC will provide all information
later in its financial report.

REVISITING THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH RECONCILIATION

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
February 12, 2013 Tuesday 10:02 AM EST

By: Yelena Osipova and Fevzi Bilgin

The dispute between Turkey and Armenia is multidimensional and
there are major stumbling blocks on the way of rapprochement and
reconciliation between the two countries. The most prominent issue is
the nature of the particular actions by the Ottoman government in 1915
regarding Armenians and whether they should be designated as genocide.

This historical conflict feeds into the existing strategic and
geopolitical context of the region. The ongoing conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh has further
complicated Armenian-Turkish relations.

Regarding the events of 1915, Armenia and Turkey subscribed to
competing and irreconcilable narratives. While the Armenian side
claims there was a genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman government
during World War I, the Turkish side denies this claim, and considers
the events of 1915 within the context of World War I, a conflict that
brought a tremendous cost to Ottoman Armenians and Muslims alike. We
do not argue for or against any of these narratives, but acknowledges
the importance of both sides adopting a more pragmatic approach to
the issue and dealing with its present ramifications, all the while
being sensitive to painful historical memories.

The need for reconciliation: Given the challenges experienced during
the failed rapprochement talks between Armenia and Turkey in 2009-2010,
we offer a multi-tiered approach to reconciliation. The borders are
closed and both sides but especially Armenia are losing out, while
economic and geopolitical interests of various actors involved in the
region are playing out. In order to participate in and be able to
influence these processes, both Armenia and Turkey need to resolve
the conflict between them and at least achieve a point where viable
diplomatic relations can be established. There are other actors and
processes beyond their immediate control that have an interest (even
if non-obvious) in seeing the conflict prolonged. That is why it is
important for the two sides to step up to the challenge and attempt
to achieve a resolution within their own reach.

2015 as an opportunity: Reconciliation is especially important
given the fast approaching centennial of the 1915 events, which
Armenians have chosen to commemorate for all those who perished. With
a government in Turkey that is more open to dialogue, and with Armenia
being increasingly squeezed in between the greater geopolitical games
taking place in the region, this approaching centennial provides an
invaluable opportunity to find a political opening and the will to get
back to the negotiating table and engage civil society and interested
individuals on both sides to take serious action toward reconciliation.

Public engagement as an essential element: As the failed 2009-2010
rapprochement talks vividly demonstrated, the involvement
and engagement of the population on both sides is absolutely
indispensable. Without it, any solution imposed from above is bound
to meet intense opposition, and possibly ultimate failure. This is
not to say that the role of the government is not important in the
process; however, instead of making decisions first and then opening
them up to the public later, both governments need to take the lead in
establishing dialogue and bringing their respective societies together,
whether directly or indirectly.

Proactive steps toward agreement: Active steps on both sides can
demonstrate goodwill and willingness to reach a compromise, also
putting a start to the long and difficult process of constructing
a shared narrative. As 2015 is approaching, the governments of both
countries have indicated that they want to see reconciliation happen.

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu has even started
talking about a ‘just memory.’ And although it might be difficult
for Armenians to get to a point of openness without the recognition
of the 1915 events as genocide, a formal and sincere acknowledgement
by the Turkish government of their suffering will go a long way in
demonstrating goodwill. Armenians, on the other hand, will have to
recognize that lands cannot be ‘returned’ and reparations cannot be
paid where official documentation and insurance are absent. After all,
compromise means proactive steps toward agreement by both sides.

Academic and professional exchanges: Frequent cultural and long-term
academic exchanges can provide an initial step in laying the ground
for wider public diplomatic initiatives, along with the more exclusive
engagement of civil society leaders and media professionals. The
establishment of relatability recognition that the two sides have
a lot in common and goodwill is perhaps the most important building
block in this process.

Importance of social media: Once these initial points of contact
are established in person, they can then be extended and expanded
online after the participants of exchange programs return to their
respective countries. This expansion and consolidation of the ‘trust
base’ can, in turn, help change the outright negative attitudes among
greater society, contributing to a more positive and less biased
perception of media reports, information coming from the other side
and reconciliation initiatives undertaken by various groups.

Collaborative projects/initiatives: There have been several prominent
collaborative projects already established and carried out among
civil society activists and journalists on both sides of the border.

However, the number and extent of reach of such projects can never be
sufficient, as long as there is an ongoing conflict or a perception
thereof. Thus, it would be useful for the various international actors,
as well as those within the respective countries, to learn from and
build on the past programs and come up with creative innovations that
would bring people together.

Involvement of the diaspora: It is imperative to keep in mind that
these initiatives and projects will have to involve the Armenian and
Turkish diasporas as well, given that their concerns are much more
immediate, their perceptions of each other are much more hostile, the
issues are more sensitive, while at the same time the incentives for
reconciliation within their respective communities are practically
non-existent. Inviting members of the diasporas to participate in
exchange and collaborative programs will not only help them understand
each other much better and establish unconditional and less hostile
contact, but can also provide them with the opportunity to understand
their respective counterparts from the ‘homeland’ much better.

Involvement of Azerbaijan: Given the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the strong political, economic
and cultural ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey, it is important to
involve Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people in the reconciliation
process, too. There are already some ongoing projects between certain
civil society activists from Armenia and Azerbaijan, usually based in
Georgia and involving Georgian representatives, as well. Bringing them
all to Turkey to establish a wider regional dialogue will not only
contribute to the improvement of Turkish-Armenian relations but also
lead to a broader-based stability and peace in the region as a whole.

Recognizing that the issues involved in the Turkish-Armenian dispute
are much wider and multi-faceted will, therefore, help design more
applicable and viable projects aimed at bringing about reconciliation
and resolution.