Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ARMENIA WELCOMES TURKEY’S FOREIGN MINISTER WITH PROTESTS

Focus News, Bulgaria
Dec 12 2013

12 December 2013 | 14:13 | FOCUS News Agency
Home / World
Yerevan. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was welcomed with
wild protests in the Armenian capital city Yerevan yet from the very
beginning of his surprise visit to the country on Thursday, Turkish
Dogu Haber Ajansi reported.

The official purpose of the visit is participation in the ministerial
meeting of the member states in the Organization of Black Sea Economic
Cooperation (BSEC).

The Turkish minister is also scheduled to meet with the Armenian
Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan.

Since the early morning the hotel, which hosts the BSEC event, was
surrounded by protesters, who required Turkey to immediately recognise
the Armenian Genocide.

ARMENIAN POLICE TO CHANGE SOVIET UNIFORM

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Dec 12 2013

12 December 2013 – 4:09pm

Armenian Police intends to change the Soviet-style uniform and design
a new one, the head of the police, Vladimir Gasparyan said.

“The Soviet uniform takes into account the climatic features of the
whole Soviet Union, but after all we have different ones. We will
adapt the new form to them,” News-Armenia quotes him as saying.

AHMET DAVUTOGLU AND EDWARD NALBANDIAN MEET IN YEREVAN

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Dec 12 2013

12 December 2013 – 5:20pm

A meeting between Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and
his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu took place in Yerevan.

The meeting was held behind closed doors, Arminfo reports.

The meeting took place in the framework of the 29th session of the
Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Black Sea Economic
Cooperation, which opened today in Yerevan.

It is expected that after the meeting the foreign ministers of Armenia
and Turkey will hold a joint press conference.

A vital link for US interests and allies ` Azerbaijan ` needs more support
By Nancy Soderberg, Commentary contributor / December 11, 2013

The US must take a stronger role in addressing three key challenges in
Azerbaijan: energy development, with support for a new natural gas
pipeline to Europe; democratic reforms, especially those that ensure
free speech; and peace with Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh
region.

Oil and natural gas often drive world politics, for better and for
worse. Such is the case today with natural gas in a little-watched
nation, Azerbaijan. This former Soviet Republic is still in a
transition to democracy ` and what happens there matters very much to
US interests, particularly when it comes to Russia. The United States
must take a stronger role in addressing three key challenges in
Azerbaijan: energy development, democracy, and peace.

Since the early 1990s, a key goal of the US has been to promote
diversification of Europe’s natural gas supplies, especially
developing an alternative to Russian natural gas. Today, a recently
announced deal to develop a southern corridor of gas from the Caspian
Sea region will do just that with the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline.

The $100 billion deal is between the Azerbaijani state oil company
SOCAR and a consortium of companies from other countries, including
BP, Statoil, Lukoil, NICO, and TPAO. Over the next quarter century, it
will unlock new reserves in the Shah Deniz field off the Azerbaijani
coast and ship them through a massive network of three new pipelines
to move gas through Georgia, Greece, and under the Adriatic Sea to
Italy.

In 2012, Russia accounted for 34 percent of European natural gas
imports, and it may well surpass Norway next year as the lead
supplier. Yet, that supply has repeatedly suffered cutoffs stemming
from disagreements between Russia and its neighbors over the past
decade. For instance, in 2009, Russian company Gazprom stopped natural
gas supplies transiting Ukraine over payment disputes, disrupting
supplies to 15 countries in Europe. Similar problems have occurred
with Belarus, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Moldova.

The new Azerbaijani pipeline will free much of Europe from the threat
of unstable supplies dependent on Russia. This good news is the
culmination of decades of hard work by US and European officials. Some
had hoped the pipeline would have stretched further to Eastern Europe
to further ease dependency on an increasingly autocratic Russia.
Perhaps that’s to come.

But Azerbaijan serves US strategic interests beyond energy
diversification and supply. Bordered by both Iran and Russia,
Azerbaijan is a reliable American ally that provides logistical
support to our military commanders in Afghanistan, including important
over-flight clearance that saves American lives. Azerbaijan provides
more than 40 percent of Israel’s oil and provides a vital
counterweight to rising Russian influence in the Caspian.

Yet, Azerbaijan is an imperfect place. As the most recent elections
demonstrated, its government needs to be more transparent, open, and
inclusive, and it needs to take bolder steps toward democracy. As a
close friend and ally of Azerbaijan, the US needs to push the country
harder on democratic reforms, including support for the opposition’s
access to media, the right to organize, and broader access to the
country’s vast wealth of natural resources. But, without US support,
Azerbaijan will be increasingly vulnerable to its powerful neighbors,
Russia in particular.

The US also must become more involved in trying to solve the festering
crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh ` the disputed region claimed by both
Azerbaijan and Armenia ` a conflict that threatens stability and US
interests in the South Caucasus. This bitter dispute between
Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia dates from the collapse of the
Soviet Union when ethnic Armenian forces took control of the area,
along with considerable Azeri territory before a shaky peace took
effect in 1994. Three thousand have died since that ceasefire.
Azerbaijan insists that the region is part of its territory, a
position shared by the United Nations. Armenia argues that the
Armenian majority living in Nagorno-Karabakh has the right to
self-determination and independence.

Peace remains elusive as the two sides build up their weapons arsenal,
preparing for more conflict. Displaced persons and refugees continue
to flee the violence. The conflict not only threatens regional
stability but threatens to pull in other players like Iran and Russia
and destabilize the important flow of Azerbaijani gas, further
undermining future economic stability in Europe.

Only the United States has the trust of both sides to push for peace.
The longer this issue goes unresolved, the more the region ` and US
interests ` are at risk. If we can achieve peace, promote democracy,
and further develop Azerbaijan’s vast oil reserves, Azerbaijanis,
Europeans, and Americans will be safer and more prosperous.

Nancy Soderberg served as US Ambassador to the United Nations from
1997 to 2001 and deputy national security adviser in the Clinton White
House from 1993 to 1997. She is a member of the Council on Foreign
Relations.

NIZHNY NOVGOROD AND ARMENIA AGREE TO COOPERATE

PRAVDA, Russia
Dec 11 2013

Pravda.Ru

The Delegation of the Nizhny Novgorod region, headed by Governor
Valery Shantsev, visited Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, to take
part in the third Russian-Armenian interregional forum. A number of
cooperation agreements were signed after the event.

“The development of trade and economic relations between Russia and
Armenia is based on historically strong and multilateral industrial and
scientific- technical ties, joint strategic interests and cultural
connections between our peoples. In this context, I positively
estimate the prospects for the development of relations between our
region and Vayots Dzor region and Armenia on the whole,” said Shantsev.

Representatives of Armenia share the position of the Nizhny Novgorod
governor. Sales representative of the Republic of Armenia in the
Russian Federation, Karen Asoyan, told Pravda.Ru:

“The Nizhny Novgorod region is one of the regions of the Russian
Federation, with which Armenia is interested not only to build,
but also to develop partnerships. This is an economically developed
region; there are many educational institutions there that train highly
qualified professionals. Within the scope of the Russian-Armenian forum
that was held in early December in Armenia, a number of agreements were
signed between the region of the Russian Federation and Vayots Dzor
region of Armenia. Now Armenia and the Nizhny Novgorod region will
cooperate in several areas: scientific, technical, trade, economic
and humanitarian. This once again shows how important relations with
Russian regions are for Armenia, especially with such industrially
developed ones as the Nizhny Novgorod region,” said Asoyan.

According to Governor Shantsev, the volumes of trade and economic
cooperation between Armenia and the Nizhny Novgorod region are not
too high yet.

“In foreign trade turnover of the Nizhny Novgorod region with foreign
countries in 2012, Armenia took the 50th place among 140 countries.

The turnover for 2012 amounted to $12 million, but it was the first
time after the crisis when the turnover began to grow. The same trend
can be seen this year too,” said Shantsev.

ARMENIA-TURKEY BORDER AS DEPICTED ON AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN MAPS OF 1922-1925

By MassisPost
Updated: December 10, 2013

YEREVAN – The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI) collection
has been enriched by new cartographic materials issued in the first
half of the 1920s stated AGMI Press Service.

The American, British and German cartographic materials are of utmost
interest because they include the borders of the already declared
Republic of Turkey. Based on those maps the Eastern border of the
Turkey coincided with the one defined in the Arbitrary Decision of
US President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924).

These cartographic materials are the best evidence that even after
the sovietization of the Republic of Armenia and the declaration of
the Republic of Turkey, the borderline between Armenia and Turkey
was the one defined by the American President in November 1920, which
was not amended or voided by any international agreement thereafter.

DAVUTOGLU’S YEREVAN VISIT

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 10 2013

SEMÄ°H Ä°DÄ°Z

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s visit to Yerevan on Thursday for
a meeting of the Organization for Black Sea Economic Cooperation has
stirred quite a debate in Armenia, judging by Vercihan Ziflioglu’s
article in Monday’s Hurriyet Daily News.

Many in that country say this visit is part of Turkey’s “2015
maneuvers.”

The reference is to the anniversary of the 1915 events, which
Armenians and many in the West and elsewhere consider to be the year
when Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks. Turks
deny this saying they suffered as much during World War One, the
difference being that they ultimately came out victorious in Anatolia.

The belief among hardline Armenians is that 2015 is going to be the
watershed year when Turkey is finally put in the dock and made to
atone for systematically denying the genocide. Those who believe this
say that anything Turkey does today that may appear positive vis-a-vis
Turkish-Armenian ties is merely a ploy to ensure that Armenian plans
for 2015 fail.

Born in the 1950s my generation has lived with the “Armenian problem”
since an old Armenian gunned down the Turkish consul and his young
deputy in Los Angeles in 1973. We knew nothing about what happened
in 1915 before that. The killing of the Turkish diplomats in 1973,
however, changed all that.

It also marked the start of a campaign of terrorism by Armenians that
left a large number of Turkish diplomats or members of their families
dead. Seeing Armenians hammering their point home with bullets also
killed off any chance of empathy among Turks for Armenian suffering
in the past, making “the blood feud of the century,” as one Turkish
historian has called it, even more intractable.

Many Turks continue to see that campaign of terror as confirmation
that whatever Armenians may have suffered in the past, this did not
transpire in a vacuum. Some even see divine retribution in the fact
that Turks ultimately came out victorious in Anatolia against all odds,
the country having ended World War One on its knees.

Nearly a century later Turks and Armenians remain locked in a zero-sum
game. For one side to win the other must lose. In the meantime, all
international efforts to force Turkey into the corner on this score
have also failed, notwithstanding the diplomatic headaches these have
caused for Ankara.

Turkey withstood these pressures in the 1980s and 1990s mainly
due to its strategic placing during the Cold War, which it used as
counter-pressure against countries that were coming down on it over
the Armenian issue. The Cold War is over but Turkey’s importance for
the West has not diminished.

Landlocked and resource-poor Armenia, on the other hand, has generated
little strategic and economic value since gaining independence from
the Soviet Union. Armenia’s war with oil-rich Azerbaijan, whose
regional clout continues to grow, has not helped. This problem is
preventing the activation of the Zurich Protocols signed between
Ankara and Yerevan in 2009, although this is not the only reason why
these protocols remain dead letters.

Armenians are a proud people, no less so than the Turks, and will
refuse to bow to pressures that leave them looking as if they have
caved into Turkey. There has to be a way to break this cycle if these
two nations are to be reconciled, if indeed they want to be.

One hopes (against hope unfortunately) that Davutoglu’s visit will
produce some positive results on the bilateral level. Judging by what
some in that country are saying, however, and the continuing cultural
animosity among Turks towards Armenians, which has increased due to
the Karabakh issue, it is hard to be optimistic.

It seems 2015 will have to pass before anything new can even be
considered between these two estranged nations, even if daily contacts
between ordinary Turks and Armenians are increasing, and a growing
number of Turks are coming around to realizing that genocidal events
did occur in 1915.

December/10/2013

WILL KARABAKH “JOIN” RUSSIA’S CUSTOMS UNION?

EurasiaNet.org
dec 10 2013

December 10, 2013 – 7:28am, by Giorgi Lomsadze

Armenia has made its choice between the two EUs — the European Union
and the Eurasian Union– but will it bring its de-facto addendum,
the breakaway territory of Nagorno Karabakh along with it into the
Russia-plus trade space? Some analysts believe that Karabakh will
indirectly end up enjoying the benefits of the Kremlin’s economic
promised land.

Bent on taking the territory back, Azerbaijan poses a stumbling block
for the predominantly ethnic Armenian territory to reach out to the
outside world; meaning that Armenia is essentially the only friend
and trade partner Karabakh has.

In turn, since Russia is the main economic partner for semi-boycotted
Armenia, Karabakh by default is expected to gain access to the economic
zone coalesced around Moscow, some Armenians believe.

“Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh form one economic space,” Alexander
Iskanderian, director of the Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute, told
Russia’s Gazeta.ru. “Armenian money works in Stepanakert, the banking
system and laws are closely integrated.”

Officially, of course, it will not be a union of Russia, Belarus
Kazakhstan, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Not even Armenia has
recognized Karabakh as an independent state.

Nor, with all members of the union, Russia included, wary of angering
Azerbaijan, the formation of the Eurasian Union is not going to change
the diplomatic status quo for Karabakh.

But, as often happens in the Caucasus, it’s what happens apart from
what’s written that counts. Some observers expect that Karabakh’s
produce, be it mulberry brandy or construction materials, could be
sold customs-free within the union as products of Armenia.

“Nobody is going to put customs checkpoints between Karabakh and
Armenia,” said Viktor Yadukha, a Russian commentator. “Karabakh
will de-facto join the customs union,” he told Azerbaijan’s Vesti.az
news site.

LETTERS: URGE MASS. GOV. PATRICK TO DROP JUDICIAL NOMINEE

Tuesday, December 10th, 2013 | Posted by Contributor

To the Editor:

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has blundered in nominating Joseph
S. Berman to be a Superior Court judge. Mr. Berman is a long-time
member of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and has been a National
Commissioner of that organization since 2006.

The ADL has, of course, worked directly with Turkey to defeat
Congressional resolutions on the Armenian genocide and still refuses to
unambiguously acknowledge that genocide. The ADL qualifies, therefore,
as an anti-human rights organization.

Before and during the height of Armenian Americans’ battle against
the genocide denials of the ADL in 2007, National Commissioner Berman
apparently never issued a public statement disagreeing with national
ADL policies towards Armenians.

Moreover, there’s no evidence that he modified the national ADL’s
policies, which remain unchanged.

As a National Commissioner, Mr. Berman must bear responsibility for the
ADL’s anti-Armenian stance, even if he claims otherwise. It’s unclear
if he understands the human rights issues that judges must deal with.

However, powerful forces, including Boston media, are supporting Mr.

Berman and misleading the public about Armenian issues.

Fortunately, the Governor’s Council – eight elected officials who
must confirm judicial nominations – is leaning against Mr. Berman’s
nomination. Among its reasons is his ADL record.

Armenian Americans should write to Governor Deval Patrick and ask
him to withdraw Mr. Berman’s nomination.

They should also ask the Governor’s Councilors to vote against
Mr. Berman.

In 2007-2008, Armenian Americans mobilized against the ADL. As a
result, over a dozen Massachusetts cities, as well as the Massachusetts
Municipal Association, severed ties with the ADL’s so-called No Place
for Hate program. This made international headlines.

With the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide approaching,
and the ADL still lobbying against our genocide resolution, Armenian
Americans must now mobilize against Mr. Berman’s nomination.

David Boyajian Belmont, Mass.

YEREVAN SLAMS DAVUTOGLU

Monday, December 9th, 2013

Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart
Ahmet Davutoglu shake hands after signing the dangerous Protocols in
Zurich in 2009

Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister says Davutoglu should visit
Dzidzernagapert instead of making divisive statements.

YEREVAN-The Armenian government slammed Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu for undermining the peace process in the South Caucasus by
continuing to precondition the resolution of the Karabakh conflict
with normalizing of Turkey-Armenia relations.

Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Savarsh Kocharyan responded to
Davutoglu, who announced last week that he would visit Yerevan for the
December 12 meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization
and hinted, over the weekend, that he might broach Turkey-Armenia
relations while in Yerevan.

“Instead of making provocative statements, the Turkish foreign minister
would do right by taking the chance to visit the Armenian Genocide
Memorial to pay tribute to the memory of the [Armenian Genocide]
victims,” Kocharyan told Armenpress Saturday.

“Turkey can contribute to the normalization of relations with
Armenia by ratifying and implementing, without any preconditions,
the Armenian-Turkish Protocols,” added Kocharyan

“If Turkey wishes to further accelerate the establishment of civilized
relations between the countries of the region, it must recognize the
Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire, and open the
Armenian-Turkish border which it closed,” added Kocharyan stated.

Kocharyan’s comments came in response to Turkish press reports
indicating that while in Armenia, Davutoglu would propose the opening
of the Armenian-Turkish border if Armenia “cede(s) from at least
two of the seven regions Armenia has been occupying since 1993,”
reported the Hurriyet Daily News.

While there has been no official indication about a meeting between
Dovutoglu and Armenia’s Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian, the
Turkish foreign ministry told Hurriyet that such a meeting is
“highly possible.”

Turkey has refused to ratify the dangerous Turkey-Armenia protocols,
which were signed in 2009, saying that Turkey will sign the accord
only after the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in favor
of Azerbaijan.

Davutoglu recently re-visited the Turkey-Armenia normalizations
process, when in October he visited Switzerland and brought up the
matter with Swiss leaders.

“We are now looking to develop it and advance with creative ideas and
new ways of thinking. We will increase our works in the coming period.

When relations between Turkey and Armenia are normalized, most of
the issues between Azerbaijan and Armenia will also be within the
framework of a solution,” Davutoglu said during his visit to Bern
in October, when he also sought Switzerland’s support for steps in
developing ties with Armenia.

Protest awaits Davutoglu

Protests Awaits Davutoglu The Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Nigol Aghabalian Student Organization announced that it would protest
Davutoglu’s visit to Armenia Thursday.

The organization’s chairman Gerasim Vardanyan said the protesters
will demand recognition of the Armenian Genocide and reparations to
its victims.

“One thing is clear,” said Vardanyan, “We will remind Turkey, once
again, that owes a debt to Armenia and that there are unresolved
issues.”

ANCA Issues Statement on Davutoglu Visit Armenian National Committee
of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian issued the following
statement Friday on Davutolglu’s visit.

Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu’s upcoming visit to Armenia for
a December 12th regional conference shines a spotlight on Ankara’s
continued use of its Protocols to escape liability for mass murder,
vast theft, and the wholesale dispossession of a nation of its
ancestral homeland.

The Armenian nation and all peoples should use this visit by a
leading official of a perpetrator state to the land of its surviving
victims to strengthen our call for a truthful, just, and comprehensive
international resolution of the Armenian Genocide. In coming to terms
with its responsibilities, Turkey must not only end its denials and
stop its obstruction of justice, but also cease its century-long policy
of anti-Armenian aggression, strangulation, and coercion rooted in
the legacy of this still unpunished crime.

The United States and our partners in the international community,
rather than abetting Ankara by arm-twisting Yerevan into a politically
untenable and morally unacceptable policy of “normalization without
justice,” should be pressing Turkey to forfeit its genocidal gains,
to fully return all it has stolen, and to fairly compensate the
Armenian nation for its vast and ongoing losses.

The Armenian Genocide-an act of premeditated mass murder and national
dispossession-is not a bilateral “conflict” to be reconciled, but
rather an ongoing international crime that all nations, not Armenia
alone, have a moral and legal responsibility to punish.