Author: Kajoyan Gevork

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS A RESOLUTION: AZERBAIJAN CAN NO MORE HIDE BEHIND HIS FINGER AND OIL

11:27 . 25/05

In a plenary session the European Parliament slammed the situation of
human rights protection in Azerbaijan, the violence against citizens
and the level of democracy and a special resolution was adopted.

ANCA Europe Committee office informs about this.

“At this moment, when the singers are preparing for the concert
and we are speaking about human rights, the human right defenders
are silenced in Azerbaijan. The international community will not
be cheated by luxury and propaganda, all the more by “polished”
statements,” Dutch Liberal faction MP Marietje Schaake said.

Touching upon the discussions held and the decision taken at the
session, Deputy Chairman of Hay Dat Committee of Europe Gaspar
Karapetyan stated later: “Azerbaijan slanders Armenia and the Armenian
diaspora at highest state level and by all possible means. But in
this case the European Parliament included this issue in its agenda by
special order and adopted a resolution, which proved that Azerbaijan
can no more hide behind its finger and oil and condemn Armenians”.

HAYATSK: RPA OFFERS HERITAGE TO JOIN COALITION GOVERNMENT

Panorama.am
25/05/2012

Experts say PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan’s statement on inexpediency
of joining the coalition government is the greatest political step in
Armenia’s domestic political life in the last 20 years, Hayatsk says.

Paper’s sources close to RPA say the ruling party is shocked by PAP
leader’s decision.

“Naturally, no decision was made at RPA executive body’s meeting last
evening. According to reliable sources, the ruling party offered
Heritage to join the coalition government, and promised to give
Heritage a ministerial portfolio. However, Heritage followed PAP’s
example and categorically rejected RPA’s offer,” the paper writes.

NO SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, AS ARMENIA MULLS EUROVISION BLACKOUT
Anna Barseghian

Radio Free Europe
May 22, 2012

Say you find yourself in Armenia on May 26 and you fancy a little
Saturday-night TV.

There’s “TV Restaurant,” a competition between local lounge singers,
the “Armenians of the World” documentary series, or the comedy show
“Vitamin Club,” which promises to “heal everyone with healthy humor
and laughter.”

But the one thing that might not be on? The Eurovision Song Contest,
a once-a-year musical megaspectacle that is expected to draw more
than 125 million viewers worldwide as it crowns a new country the
king of frothy, and often forgettable, pop.

Armenia, which first competed in Eurovision in 2006, has shown little
enthusiasm for this year’s contest, which is being hosted by its
neighbor and nemesis, Azerbaijan.

Yerevan in March announced it was pulling out of the competition,
citing the death of an Armenian soldier in an Azerbaijani sniper
attack and rising tensions in its dispute with Baku over the disputed
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The decision meant an end to the Eurovision dreams of Armenian
musicians competing for the right to represent their country, including
the band Dorians with their song “This is Our World:”

Eurovision officials were quick to penalize Armenia for the pullout,
saying it was still obligated to pay its full participation fees as
well as a hefty fine.

They added that Armenia’s H1 public television station, a member of
the European Broadcasting Union which runs Eurovision, must broadcast
the May 26 final “live, with no interruptions,” or be banned outright
from next year’s Eurovision contest.

Playing It Cool

The threat of exclusion from Europe’s biggest party might strike fear
in many countries, but Armenia is playing it cool, saying it has yet
to decide whether or not it will broadcast the final.

When speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service late last week, the head
of Armenia’s delegation to Eurovision, Gohar Gasparyan, declined to
comment on when a decision would be made.

“All I can say is that we’ll probably show the contest,” she said.

“I’d like to state once again that there has been no penalty or
sanction here. These are just points that we are obliged to follow. I
think the winner [of this year’s contest] will be a country that
won’t pose any further problems in terms of our participation.”

Eurovision isn’t the only global event that Armenia is taking a
pass on.

The country also boycotted the May 20-21 NATO summit in Chicago,
protesting a declaration adopted by the group’s 28 member states that
Yerevan said was biased in favor of Azerbaijan.

The declaration, which mentions the breakaway Azerbaijani region
of Nagorno-Karabakh among other unresolved land disputes, appears
to endorse the principle of territorial integrity — a stance that
suits Azerbaijan.

Armenia has long argued that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh — who
are predominantly ethnic Armenians — should be given the right to
self-determination.

Mixed Emotions

Armenians, meanwhile, appear torn about a night without Eurovision.

The Armenian singer Hayko, who represented his country at the 2007
Eurovision contest in Helsinki, said it would be “weak” of the
Armenians not to show it.

“I think that it’s worth showing, because regardless of where
Eurovision is being held, it’s still a celebration of music and is
the best European song contest,” he said. “As a musician, I’m very
interested to see how it will look this year.”

One Yerevan resident agreed, maintaining that he enjoyed watching
Eurovision and hoped the broadcast would proceed.

“Yes, I would definitely watch it even if we don’t have our own
person there,” he said. “Eurovision is still interesting for me. Who
will get what? Who will end up in what place? Which country will win
the contest? That way I know where our participant will go for the
next Eurovision.”

One Yerevan woman claimed she had no interest in watching any event
being hosted by Azerbaijan, whether it was broadcast in Armenia or not:

“Anything that’s connected to Azerbaijan has nothing to do with us,”
she said.

If some Armenians are surviving without Eurovision, it appears
Eurovision is surviving without Armenia as well.

A German DJ performing at an official Eurovision fan club in Baku
earlier this week was interrupted when he attempted to play Armenian
music.

Such music, it was suggested, has no place in a competition that
Yerevan has so roundly rejected.

“Armenia unexpectedly refused to participate in Eurovision 2012 without
apologizing,” said Kamran Agasy, a Eurovision spokesman. “What will
our volunteers think if they suddenly hear Armenian melodies?”

Written in Prague by Daisy Sindelar, based on reporting in Yerevan
by Anna Barseghian from RFE/RL’s Armenian Service

EXPERT DEEMS ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S MISSING NATO SUMMIT LOGICAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 23, 2012 – 20:15 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A senior fellow at the Institute of Political and
Social Studies of the Black Sea and Caspian region deemed Armenian
President’s refusal to participate in NATO summit in Chicago quite
logical.

“Chicago meeting agenda is correlated with Armenian national
interests. Thus, some online publications in vain allude to the link
between Serzh Sargsyan’s refusal to visit Chicago, his departure for
Moscow and Russian leader Putin’s missing the summit,” Andrei Areshev
told PanARMENIAN.Net

According to him, Armenia is guided by own national interests, while
issues on Chicago meeting agenda demand more careful preparation.

“The West builds its geopolitical combinations in the Caucasus
and the Middle East through use of local resources, which don’t
meet the national interests of the micro region states. Hence,
non-participation of Armenian and Russian leaders in the meeting is
balanced and reasonable,” the expert said.

DIFFICULT TO SEPARATE TRADE CONTACTS FROM ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

news.am
May 23, 2012 | 19:04

YEREVAN. – It is very difficult to separate and settle only trade
contacts within Armenian-Turkish relations, head of the Turkish
delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation (PABSEC), MP Ismail Safi said in response to the Armenian
News-NEWS.am question.

“Our relations depend on how successful we can manage to settle
economic issues. We make every effort to settle the issue through
economic organizations,” Safi said.

In his turn, head of the Armenian delegation Areg Ghukasyan said that
they have run quite long talks with Turkish partners on the issue. He
also added the position of the Armenian side, claiming that Armenia
has already signed the protocols and now it is for Turkey to make
some moves.

Besides being political documents, protocols also contain economic
component – opening of borders and free trade, Ghukasyan added.

In October 2009 Armenia and Turkey signed protocols in Zurich to
normalize diplomatic relations between the states. The documents had
to be ratified in both countries’ parliaments.

However, in 2010 the Armenian president suspended the process due to
Turkey’s non-constructive stance. Ankara set preconditions and linked
the reconciliation process to resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

Finally, Turkey decided to remove the protocols from parliament’s
agenda.

BAKU WON’T COOPERATE WITH ARMENIA UNLESS KARABAKH CONFLICT SOLVED ON ITS TERMS

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 23, 2012 – 19:19 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Both cooperation and open borders with Armenia are
out of the question unless Armenia returns liberated territories and
Nagorno Karabakh problem gets resolved in the framework of Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity, head of Azeri delegation in the Parliamentary
Assembly of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) said.

Asaf Gadjiev further commented on Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s
speech addressed to PABSEC plenary session participants, in which he
called attention to the problem of close borders in the region. The
Azeri MP cited non-permanent membership in UN Security Council as a
proof of international community’s support for the country’s foreign
and domestic policy.

On May 21-23, PABSEC plenary sitting is underway in Yerevan, with 70
delegates from 10 countries participating in it.

Azerbaijan became a non-permanent member of UN Security Council in
October, 2011.

AZAD CALLED ON NATO LEADERS TO PAY ATTENTION TO AZERBAIJAN’S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD

CHICAGO. May 21, 2012: Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev is attending
the NATO summit in Chicago. The representative of the Azerbaijani
Americans for Democracy (AZAD) Said Nuri has spread the AZAD statement
among the journalists covering the NATO summit, calling on the leaders
of the NATO countries to raise the issues of the human rights and
democracy with the Azerbaijani leader attending the summit.

Said Nuri told Azerireport that the journalists with whom he had
a conversation on the subject laughed when hearing the name of the
Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, saying he was the only president
attending the NATO summit who refused to hold a press briefing for
the journalists. Below is the text of the AZAD statement disseminated
among the journalists in Chicago:

“Dear NATO Summit Participants,

President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, will be among the world leaders
participating in NATO summit opening today in Chicago.

Azerbaijani-Americans and other friends of democracy in Azerbaijan
consider NATO an important force in safeguarding the global security
and peace among nations. While we support Azerbaijani people’s
aspirations to join the community of free nations and Azerbaijan’s
contributions to NATO missions, we also call your attention to the
incompatibility of policies practiced by the ruling Aliyev regime
with the fundamental values shared by NATO member countries and the
organization’s basic principles.

Established to ensure the freedom of its member nations, NATO has
played an indispensable role in defending the world against threats
from Soviet totalitarianism and other challenges. Criteria for NATO
Membership Action Plan participation include the commitment to the
rule of law and human rights, and democratic control of armed forces.

However, the current government of Azerbaijan is a repressive and
corrupt dynastical regime with a long record of disregard for the
basic tenets of civilized governance and rule of law, violations of
human rights and breach of the country’s international obligations
regarding democracy.

Mr. Aliyev’ is implicated in high-level corruption allegations,
documented by investigative media reports about his family’s secretive
business and property possessions and theft of public funds. Under his
rule Azerbaijan has been consistently ranked by major international
organizations as one of the worst violators of human rights and basic
freedoms of citizens.

Journalists and dissidents have been murdered, blackmailed, beaten,
tortured and jailed on fabricated charges. The authorities ignore
calls to release political prisoners. Peaceful demonstrators are
brutally attacked by police and government agents in civilian clothes.

There is no independent TV or radio stations operating within
Azerbaijan, and remaining free press faces severe restrictions and
attacks at the hands of the regime. All elections under this regime
have been falsified and the government lacks legitimacy stemming from
free will of its people.

We urge you to take account of these facts and convey to Mr. Ilham
Aliyev that his government has to stop violating the rights and
freedoms of Azerbaijani citizens and start respecting the rule of
law and norms of democratic governance.”

(Azerireport).

WORKSHOP ON CYBER SECURITY HELD IN YEREVAN

ARMRADIO.AM
24.05.2012 13:15

Global issues of cyber, and information and communication technology
security are in the focus of a two-day workshop that started today
in Yerevan with the support of the OSCE Office.

The participants will discuss the impact of social networks on the
process of political change, security and privacy issues in social
networks, threats to critical infrastructure, privacy and security
policies, as well as technological and legal aspects of forensics
analysis, such as network forensics, email and internet tracing,
wireless and handheld forensics. A special session on e-passports
will take place, as Armenia will introduce biometric passports from
1 June 2012.

“The importance of cyber security management continues to grow in the
light of the development of information technologies and the states’
increasing dependence on them,” said Ambassador Andrey Sorokin, the
Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. “Each country – and Armenia is not
an exception- needs to determine relevant state behavior in cyberspace,
invest in skills and education to build capacity of people working in
information security area, and ensure co-operation among the public,
private and academic sectors. With this event, we seek to contribute
to Armenia’s efforts on this.”

The event brought together representatives from the Armenian
State Tax Administration, Armenian Police Department of Visa and
Registration, the Vienna-based OSCE Secretariat’s Department of
Addressing Transnational Threats, private institutions, civil society
organizations and academia.

Artashes Avoyan, the Chief of Staff of the Armenian National Security
Council, emphasized the importance of expanding educational contacts
with other universities: “Such discussions and exchange of experience
will contribute to improving information security in Armenia’s state
and private institutions, as well as, strengthening the fight against
cyber crime”.

Organized by the Armenia’s European Regional Educational Academy and
the University at Albany of the State University of New York with
the support of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the event aims to expand
co-operation between various national bodies and international actors
dealing with cyber and ICT security and cyber crime.

The OSCE Office in Yerevan plans to support a three-week course
on information security for the Academy’s students and government
officials in August 2012.

SARDARAPAT REP: “IT’S SENSELESS TO SPEAK OF IDEAS IN A CASINO”
Mаry Mamyan

hetq.am
14:54, May 23, 2012

According to Garegin Chougaszyan of the Sardarapat Movement, regime
change in Armenia necessitates an alternative electoral approach
since regimes in power have been adept at perfecting the mechanisms
of election fraud with each new election.

Chougaszyan today presented reporters with such a roadmap that he
argued with facilitate the establishment of a new system of power
in Armenia.

He spoke about two fundamental stages, the first being the creation
of an assembly of forces and supporters tasked with the formation
of a pre-parliament whose aim would be the drafting of a vision of
a new Armenia.

This would be followed by the establishment of an executive legislature
with the legitimacy to achieve the passage to regime change.

The process would require a compact between citizens and the executive
legislature. Importance would be placed on the pan-Armenian principle
and a guiding factor would be the repopulation of the country.

Chougaszyan believes that after the first stage, those involved in
the process would create a countervailing base to the parliament and
would obtain clout throughout society.

When the idea spreads, other resources would be added.

He said that this must not be the desire of one or another group but
rather reflect the will of the people. The Sardarapat representative
noted that what is needed are responsible individuals who are ready
to voluntarily take on such work and to create an intellectual front,
followed by presenting the people with a vision of the future.

There must be an alternative election that would incorporate ideas. He
argued that the present electoral process precludes such a principle
since, “It’s senseless to speak of ideas in a casino.”

AZERBAIJAN STUBBORNLY TRIES TO ISOLATE ARMENIA – EXPERT

news.am
May 24, 2012 | 06:10

YEREVAN. – Azerbaijan runs stubbornly a policy to remove Armenia from
regional projects and isolate the country, expert Andrei Areshev told
Armenian News-NEWS.am commenting on the Azerbaijani MP Asef Hajiyev’s
recent statement that Baku will not cooperate with Yerevan.

“The Azerbaijani position has for many times been voiced on the highest
level, including the President Ilham Aliyev. It is not news anymore,”
the expert said.

Asked why the highest administration of Azerbaijan voices
periodically controversial statements by claiming readiness to
establish humanitarian contacts and at the same time rejecting any
cooperation with Armenia, the expert said that it is due to the
inactive reaction by the international community, experts, analysts,
who give it an opportunity to act like that.

In order to balance the situation and establish equality in the South
Caucasus, Armenia is better to promote more initiative in the formation
of the regional agenda, Areshev believes. As the agency has earlier
informed, the Azerbaijani MP Asef Hajiyev, who is in Armenian capital
city, said on Wednesday that Azerbaijan is ready to cooperate with
everyone except for Armenia, until Azerbaijani lands “are occupied.”

Azerbaijani delegation is in Armenia within the frameworks of the
39th plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation (PABSEC).