Author: Kajoyan Gevork

US CONCERNED BY AZERI-ARMENIAN TENSIONS

Newsday

June 4 2012

By The Associated Press BRADLELY KLAPPER (Associated Press)

YEREVAN, Armenia – (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
on Monday kicked off three days of diplomacy in Europe’s Caucasus,
expressing concern about recent clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan
as she hopes to mediate progress on a slew of trade and territorial
disputes.

In the middle of a weeklong European tour, Clinton decried the
“senseless deaths of young soldiers and innocent civilians” as part
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict — just hours after the latest border
clash. Armenia said three of its soldiers died and five were wounded.

It wasn’t clear if any Azeri soldiers died.

“I am very concerned about the danger of escalation of tensions and the
senseless deaths of young soldiers and innocent civilians,” Clinton
told reporters after a dinner with Armenia’s president and foreign
minister. “The use of force will not resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict,” she said, urging the sides to refrain from violence.

The border clash underscored the instability of a region with
long-simmering problems and surrounded by powerful neighbors Russia,
Turkey and Iran. She left Armenia Monday night for neighboring Georgia,
looking to strengthen security ties with a stalwart U.S. ally that
was crushed in its 2008 war against Russia and hopes to regain control
over two lost provinces. She visits Azerbaijan Wednesday.

Warning that Azeri-Armenian tensions could escalate into a broader
conflict with terrible consequences, she said the U.S. would continue
to press with France, Russia and others on mediation efforts.

The mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh enclave is within ex-Soviet
Azerbaijan, but was taken over by Armenia during a six-year separatist
war that killed about 30,000 people and displaced 1 million. Since
the war’s end in 1994, it has remained under the control of Armenian
troops and ethnic Armenian forces.

Violations of the cease-fire have been frequent, and diplomatic efforts
to solve the conflict have failed. The U.S. hopes that at the least
Armenia and Azerbaijan can agree to a set of basic principles that
might lead toward peace. These include the return of territories
and uprooted people to their homes, and an eventual vote on the
area’s future.

Washington also wants to normalize relations between Armenia and
Turkey, whose enmity reflects the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the
Ottoman Empire-era killing of some 1.5 million Armenians.

The Obama administration has tried hard to help Armenia improve its
economy, not least as a nod to the influential Armenian-American
community, which is particularly strong in the Los Angeles area.

Clinton, making her second trip to the region as secretary of state,
helped Armenia and Turkey reach an agreement in 2009 that would have
opened up their borders and normalized relations.

But the deal stalled back as Turkey’s parliament refused to ratify it.

“The ball remains in Turkey’s court,” Clinton lamented.

Armenia’s problems are compounded by its geography. Cut off from trade
with its booming neighbor Azerbaijan on one side and Azerbaijan’s ally
Turkey on the other, it must conduct all its international commerce
through Georgia and Russia to the north. It is heavily dependent on
Moscow for fuel.

In Georgia, Clinton will underscore America’s commitment to its
pro-Western partner’s defense and its hope of regaining control of
breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Both declared independence
after Russian troops routed the Georgian military over five days of
fighting. Few governments beside Moscow have recognized them.

In Azerbaijan, America’s top diplomat will continue efforts toward a
breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, while addressing democracy
and media freedom shortcomings. But she’ll also underline oil-rich
Azerbaijan’s close cooperation with the U.S. on counterterrorism
and its booming economy, which has expanded fourfold since 2004,
attending an energy industry gathering in the capital of Baku to
promote American companies and future investments.

She will likely speak to officials as well about Azerbaijan’s southern
neighbor, Iran.

Azerbaijan has arrested dozens of people it claims were hired by the
Islamic republic to carry out attacks against the U.S. and Israeli
embassies, as well as Western-linked groups and companies.

___ Associated Press writer Avet Demuryan contributed to this report.

HILLARY CLINTON ARRIVES IN YEREVAN

Vestnik Kavkaza
June 4 2012
Russia

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Yerevan. She
was met at the airport by the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Edward
Nalbandian, News.am reports.

Hillary Clinton is touring in the countries of Europe and South
Caucasus. In Armenia, she will hold a meeting with Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

The agenda of the talks in Yerevan will be a wide range of issues
concerning the development and deepening of the the Armenian-American
cooperation and settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The sides
will discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest.

In Armenia, Clinton will also meet with representatives of civil
society.

CLINTON IN ARMENIA, PUSHING FOR ACTION ON SYRIA

Business Recorder

June 4 2012

YEREVAN: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Yerevan
Monday for talks with Armenian leaders as she pushed diplomatically for
a political transition in Syria amid fears of a full-blown civil war.

Clinton spoke by telephone earlier with UN and Arab League envoy Kofi
Annan, who agreed to travel to Washington on Friday “to discuss next
steps in his six point plan and in particular political transition”
in Syria, a senior State Department spokeswoman said.

Annan’s April 12 peace plan for Syria has been in tatters since more
than 100 civilians, many of them women and children, were massacred
in the Syrian city of Houla, allegedly by pro-government militias.

They also discussed a conversation Clinton had Saturday with Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in which she urged Moscow to get behind
a political transition that ultimately would remove Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad from power.

Russia has so far resisted pressure to impose UN Security Council
sanctions against its longtime ally.

Clinton also gave Annan a preview of talks she plans to hold later this
week in Istanbul with a group of countries with a direct interest in
the unfolding drama in Syria, the official said, speaking on condition
of anonymity.

These were expected to include France, Britain, Germany, Qatar,
United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Fears that Syria is on the brink of a civil war have mounted sharply
since the Houla massacre, which set off a storm of condemnation but
no concerted international response as yet in the form of sanctions
or stronger action.

In a speech Sunday, Assad said the massacre was part of a foreign
plot to destroy Syria.

Clinton has been particularly critical of Russia, accusing it of
propping up the Assad regime with continuing arms shipments.

In Armenia, she was scheduled to meet with President Serzh Sarkisian
and Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian.

A senior US official said Clinton is seeking to strengthen relations
with the land-locked former Soviet Republic, which borders Iran and
remains heavily dependent on Russia for energy and on remittances
from Armenians abroad.

Clinton also will travel to Georgia and Azerbaijan over the next two
days before winding up her trip in Istanbul Wednesday and Thursday.

THREE KILLED IN ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN BORDER CLASH

Hurriyet

June 4 2012
Turkey

Azerbaijani troops killed three Armenian soldiers on Monday during an
alleged incursion attempt on the border between the enemy ex-Soviet
states, the defense ministry in Yerevan said.

“On June 4, the Azerbaijani side once again roughly violated the
ceasefire, attempting to penetrate Armenian positions,” a ministry
statement said.

“Their diversionary offensive was stopped and the enemy was forced
to retreat, suffering losses,” it said.

The ministry said six Armenian soldiers had also been wounded in the
border skirmish. There were no details on any Azerbaijani losses.

Azerbaijani media reported however that the three deaths were caused
by an Armenian army “provocation” that was repelled.

The clash erupted in Armenia’s northeastern Tavush region, where three
other servicemen died during an alleged Azerbaijani attack in April.

The two neighbours are locked in a bitter dispute over the region
of Nagorny Karabakh, which Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan
seized from Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s that left some 30,000
people dead.

Despite years of negotiations since the 1994 ceasefire, the two sides
have not yet signed a final peace deal, and there are still frequent
exchanges of gunfire between the opposing armies.

Baku has threatened to use force to win back Karabakh if peace
talks fail to yield satisfactory results, but Yerevan has warned of
large-scale retaliation against any military action.

HILLARY CLINTON: USE OF FORCE IN KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT UNACCEPTABLE

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 4, 2012 – 21:40 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – U.S. Secretary of State said the use of force in
Karabakh conflict is unacceptable, urging the conflicting parties to
settle the issue through negotiations.

As Hillary Clinton told reporters in Yerevan, U.S. supports Karabakh
conflict settlement based on Madrid principles, including non-use of
force, peoples’ right for self-determination and territorial integrity.

The U.S. official also commented on June 4 deadly Azeri subversion
on the line of contact, once again noting that the use of force won’t
promote conflict settlement.

As the Secretary of State noted, she’ll stress the issue at the
upcoming meeting with Azeri leader Ilham Aliyev.

However, the Secretary of State failed to comment on Armenian
reporter’s question concerning a possibility of re-adoption of the
amendment to Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act banning U.S. aid
to Azerbaijan following Baku provocations at contact line.

VAZGEN SAFARYAN: APPRECIATION OF US DOLLAR A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL PRODUCTION
Liana Yeghiazaryan

“Radiolur”
04.06.2012 19:06

Appreciation of the US dollar in Armenia is a good opportunity for
boosting the development of local production and promoting exports,
Chairman of the Union of Native Producers of Armenia Vazgen Safaryan
told a press conference today.

However, this creates tension among importers, who are trying to keep
their revenues without raising the prices of goods, he added.

At the same time, Vazgen Safaryan considers that the new government
should set a task of establishing a Ministry of Production and
Foreign Trade.

According to the Chairman of the Union of Native Producers of Armenia,
the primary direction of economic development in Armenia should
include ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy and chemical industry.

GYUMRI’S RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE SNIPERS TO TAKE TRAINING COURSES

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 4, 2012 – 20:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A new batch of small arms, including Vintorez special
sniper rifles, was delivered to Gyumri-based Russian military base
to be used in sniper training program.

During their training, the snipers will take a special theoretical
course on ballistics basics, technical characteristics of rifle
armament to be followed by practical lessons at Kamkhud training
center, ITAR TASS reported.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MUST GIVE PROPER ASSESSMENT OF AZERBAIJANI AGGRESSION – FREE DEMOCRATS

news.am
June 04, 2012 | 17:51

YEREVAN. – Free Democrats party condemns the ceasefire violation case
which occurred on Monday on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border-line and
claimed the lives of three Armenian soldiers and wounded six others.

“We believe that peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
has no alternative and we demand that international community
should estimate properly the UN Security Council member Azerbaijan’s
aggressive moves violating international law,” the statement reads.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, an Azerbaijani diversion
operation claimed the lives of three Armenian soldiers and wounded
six others in the early morning hours on Monday.

The killed soldiers are: Hrach Sargsyan, Zohrab Balabekyan, and
Karen Davtyan.

And the wounded military servicemen are: Senior Lieutenant Mushegh
Nurbekyan, and conscripts Igit Hovhannisyan, Maxim Melkonyan, Sedrak
Shahbazyan, Artak Mnatsakanyan and Koryun Iritsyan.

And the MOD issued a statement and noted that on Monday and according
to preliminary data, the Azerbaijani side yet again violated the
ceasefire at the line of contact between the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border, and this time in the northeastern sector. It attempted to
infiltrate to the Armenian military bases stationed in the direction
of Berdavan and Chinari villages of the Tavush Region.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN TO VISIT JAPAN AND VIETNAM

armradio.am
04.06.2012 17:56

President Serzh Sargsyan will pay an official visit to Japan June 5-7.

President Sargsyan will have meetings with the top leadership
of the country to discuss issues related to the development of
Armenian-Japanese relations. Serzh Sargsyan will meet also with
representatives of the business community of Japan.

In the city of Sendai Serzh Sargsyan will visit the Yuriage Shrine
at Hiyoriyama to pay tribute to the memory of tornado victims.

On June 8 President Sargsyan will leave Japan for the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam. The Armenian President is expected to have
meetings with the leaders of Vietnam. A number of documents targeted
at the development of bilateral relations between Armenia and Vietnam
will be signed within the framework of the visit.

In Hanoi President Sargsyan will meet with alumnae of Armenian higher
educational establishments.

BLACKMAIL BEFORE CLINTON’S VISIT
Anna Nazaryan

“Radiolur”
04.06.2012 18:33

The violation of the ceasefire regime at the line of contact hours
before US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s visit, which left three
killed and several wounded, was blackmail, political scientist Yervand
Bozoyan told a press conference today.

This is not new. The rival takes harsh steps before every important
visit, thus trying to blackmail the international community, he added.

How will Hilary Clinton react to the incident? This will become clear
after her meetings in Armenia. Before that political scientists prefer
to speak about domestic political issues.

Expert of public administration Harutyun Mesrobyan says he has no
expectations form the new parliament. According to him, the new
National Assembly has no new qualities.

He said one should not worry about the fact that Prosperous Armenia
Party did not join the coalition. Mesrobyan reminded that the former
coalition was formed after the presidential elections. He advised to
wait for the next presidential elections to see what will happen.