Author: Kalantarian Kevo

BITS OF THE ARMENIAN CAVALRY WERE FOUND IN IJEVAN

August 2, 2012 17:40

Shahvalad Evanesyan, a resident of Ijevan from the village of Koti,
found items of scientific value in a crack of one of the cliffs around
Ijevan a few years ago – metal parts of a horse’s bridle, bits. Sargis
Ter-Hakobyan, a resident of the town of Ijevan and a former worker of
the historic museum, informed that bridles with such a tight bit had
been mainly used for war horses; they are genealogically connected with
the Eastern countries. One of them is small in size; one can assume
that horses with such bridles were ridden since young age. The bit of
the bridle was put in the horse’s mouth, the double check pieces that
were of leather were placed on the horse’s tongue and the rear part
of the big round ring attached to the check piece was in the horse’s
teeth. The bit was attached to the jaw with a throat lash through two
front rings. The reins of the bridle were attached to the big round
ring. Maneuvering was made easier by pushing the ring to the nostrils.

Probably this kind of bridles were brought to Armenia in the first
part of the second century from China through Persia and starting from
as early as the fourth century, it was the main type of bits of the
Armenian cavalry in the early Middle Ages. Those bits gave horses a
set of advantages – they couldn’t neigh while riding and reveal their
whereabouts, they could trot longer distances without getting tired,
they couldn’t bite other riders while riding and during a battle
or impede each other. Sargis Ter-Hakobyan informed that he kept the
finds of high historic value.

Voskan SARGSYAN

STATEMENT OF THE NKR MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON THE NOTE SPREAD BY AZERBAIJAN’S PERMANENT MISSION TO THE OSCE

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
2012-08-02 16:34

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs in connection
with the note spread by Azerbaijan’s Permanent Mission to the OSCE,
concerning the alleged resettlement of the NKR territories, draws the
OSCE and its country-members’ attention to the propagandistic character
of the given document, which aims to deceive the international
community and destabilize the negotiation process and the situation
in the region.

In spite of the obvious fact that the NKR has its sovereign right
to receive migrants in its territory, the spread misinformation
is absolutely groundless, and the results of the monitoring
on the situation in these territories, carried out by the OSCE
Assessment Mission in 2010, can proof it. As for the report by the
OSCE Fact-Finding Mission in 2005, which the Permanent Mission of
Azerbaijan refers to, we consider necessary to remind that according
to the statement by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen, the mission
did not find out “any clear organized resettlement” and “did not
determine that the resettlement resulted from a deliberate policy”.

In this context, we consider necessary to once more draw the attention
of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe to the fact
that Azerbaijan continues the policy of resettlement in the Shahumyan
region, Getashen subregion and the other NKR regions, being under
the occupation of Azerbaijan. Moreover, Azerbaijan has over the years
withheld its consent to carry out such a monitoring in these regions,
which testifies to the unquestionable fact of their resettling and
cannot but provoke the OSCE and other international organizations’
serious anxiety.

As for the attacks of the official Baku concerning the July 19
presidential elections in the NKR, attended by representatives from
22 countries as international observers, including the OSCE, members
of European Parliament, and recognized as free, just, transparent
and meeting the international standards, similar attitude is another
proof of the fact that Azerbaijan with its totalitarian regime, where
the power passes from father to son, where “the elections” – are just
a show and farce, cannot respect democratic values, human rights and
freedom, as well as the principle of electiveness of authorities on
the basis of real expression of citizen’s will.

SOME ASPECTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MILITARY AND POLITICAL SITUATION ROUND THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

02.08.2012

Sergei Sargsyan
Deputy Head of the Center for Political Studies,
“Noravank” Foundation; Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.)

Currently military and political situation round Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is mainly characterized by a general influence of the
following factors:

– Combat readiness and fighting capacity of the armed forces of the
conflicting parties, sustaining of the acceptable balance of
offensive/defensive arms between them;

– Availability of a sufficient level of mobilization resources,
including Diaspora potential by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan;

– Military and technical, military and political cooperation of
Armenia and Azerbaijan with neighboring states; their direct
involvement in military and political blocks;

– Tendency of development and availabilityabsence of threats to the
domestic political situation in all three states;

– Level of interest in the conflict on behalf of the regional and
global powers;

– Dynamics and efficiency of the negotiations process;

– Condition and dynamics of economic development of Armenia, NKR and
Azerbaijan;

– Development of military and political situation in the Black Sea,
Caspian and Middle East regions in general.

Amid the situation when a process of accumulation of an experience of
appearance of new states – from East Timor and Kosovo to Abkhazia,
South Ossetia, Eritrea and South Sudan – with different levels of
recognition, the Armenian sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are
sure that Azerbaijan will not manage to attain its separate
advantages, and that time is not on Azerbaijan’s side either.

This is also proved by drastic changes in the attitude towards NKC of
a wide range of international organizations which previously gave
absolute preference to the principle of a territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan and did not go into judicial details of appearance of
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which proceeded in compliance with the
existing laws in the period of collapse of the USSR.

Such a tendency is among other factors which are conditioned by the
dynamics of the development of domestic political situation in
Azerbaijan which is on the one hand characterized by the public
discontent by the authoritarian state control methods and on the
other hand by the intensification of the process of Islamization of
the society.

The latter factor make Azerbaijan more vulnerable to the influence of
the “wave of revolutions” coming from the Muslim
countries of Africa and Middle East, because these states, under the
availability of definite social and cultural, ethnic-national,
social-economic and public and political differences, are united by
the practice of using the mobilization potential of the so-called
“Muslim street” – most socially unprotected part of the
population which is more exposed to the reception of the Islamist
propaganda as an alternative to the ideology of the ruling regime.

The current interests of the key actors of the global politics, which
are in variance to a large extent, due to a number of reasons
objectively promote non-admission of initiating a force solution of
the conflict by Azerbaijan.

For the EU Azerbaijan is of some interest first of all as a source of
energy carriers which can be alternative to the Russian, and as a
corridor for gas and oil supply from the countries of Central Asia
by-passing the territory of Russia. Its role has become even more
important against the background of increasing instability in the
countries of North Africa and Middle East and especially in the
context of developments round Iran which was manifested in the form
of imposing and gradual strengthening of economic and political
sanctions, not to speak of a possibility of carrying out military
operation against the Islamic Republic.

The interest of the United States (and Israel) is supplemented by
assigning a minor but important role to Azerbaijan in case of
carrying out military operation against Iran.

Russia is interested in close partner relations with Azerbaijan first
of all in the context of mutually advantageous cooperation on the
Caspian Sea, not-allowing the warships of non-Caspian states in its
water zone, as well as prolonging the lease agreement of
“Daryal” Information-analytical center (phased-array
early warning radar) dislocated near the population center of Gabala,
which expires in 2012 (it is rather of military and political than
military and technical interest).

But the prospects of such economic cooperation with the EU and
military cooperation with the USA and Russia, directly depends on
preservation of at least relative stability in the zone of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, maintaining of current status-quo and
continuation of negotiation process within the framework of the OSCE
Minks Group, which has been stated for many times on different levels
and from different political grounds. It means that it depends on an
absolute exclusion of military and political risks connected with
escalation of the military actions in the zone of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Consequently, resumption of military actions by Azerbaijan may be
initiated exclusively under the influence of growing threatening
tendencies of the development of domestic political situation in the
country, prospects of loosing a control over the country by the
political elite of the Azerbaijani Republic and fear for their
political, and may be even physical survival.

It should be mentioned here that the scenario of escalation of
tension in the zone of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be triggered
only by Azerbaijani party as resumption of military actions by
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic:

– firstly, will bring to the loss of a whole political and diplomatic
groundwork and all the achievements of the Armenian diplomacy for
recent 20 years on explanation, prospects and historical background
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict;

– secondly, is irrational from the military and political viewpoints.

There is no practical sense in changing current and established
configuration of a confrontation line by the Armenian parties – today
it is the most optimal for the minimization of the defense expenses –
mobilization and technical. The balance of strength today is mainly
provided due to the modern and consistent engineering infrastructure
of deep layer in depth defense. Going beyond this line will cause
undesirable and may be even catastrophic for Armenia and NKR
rebalancing in favour of Azerbaijan.

– thirdly, it differs drastically from the purpose of Yerevan and
Stepanakert to obtain recognition of the independence of the NKR
through a wide democratization of authorities and society, which sets
the NKR apart from Azerbaijan with its tendency to strengthen
authoritarian methods of control.

– fourthly, resumption of military actions by Armenian parties will
put a pressure on the economies of the Republic of Armenia and NKR,
bring to a breakdown of social and economic and moral and
psychological condition of the population. In order not to allow
resulting of this situation in uncontrollable political processes,
very forcible arguments of resumption of war should be presented;
objective and real goals and tasks should be set, meanwhile today
there are no such goals, tasks and motivation.

Real distribution of political forces in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic, free functioning of oppositional parties and movements,
democratic way of transition of authority by means of elections (in
contrast to dynastic moves, like in Azerbaijan), does not threaten
domestic destabilization, create necessity of artificial shift of the
attention of the Armenian society to the situation in the conflict
zone or demand an occasion for strengthening of the control over the
public and political life in the country under the precise of
“being at war”.

Besides, the Azerbaijani authorities need softening of the critics –
on behalf of both nominal secular opposition and real gaining in
weight Islamic or Islamist opposition – of their actions taken in the
direction of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution by any means –
both diplomatic and military – concerning not keeping their promises
and factual useless embezzlement/spending of budget funds directed to
the strengthening of the force structures of the state.

Absence of any tangible results from the armaments race carried out
for many years, sounding of numerous threats of using the armed
forces for returning “20% of occupied territories”,
without substantiating it by real strengthening of combating activity
in the conflict zone, is considered by opposition as a direct
indicator of non-efficiency of the incumbent authorities, large-scale
plundering of the military budget on the state level and
strengthening of the security agencies only for the reason of
self-preservation of a ruling elite.

At the same time escalation of tension in the conflict zone against
the background of a continuing race of armaments, supplemented by the
policy of promising a military revenge and enrooting of the image of
the enemy-Armenian, is dangerous because very soon it may come out of
control and spin up autonomously.

According to the statement of the Minister of Defence of
Nagorno-Karabakh Movses Hakobyan, Azerbaijani side mounts tension at
the front line year after year: in the first six months of this year
the number of cease fire regime violation cases by Azerbaijan has
doubled as compared to the same period of last year and the number of
diversions has quadrupled. In the first six months of the last year
enemy arranged two diversions and this year four diversions have been
registered1.

Such provocations tend to obtain some military and political goals
for both domestic and foreign political purposes, such as:

– exposure of

* a level of battle readiness and combat effectiveness of the units
of the Armed Forces of the NKR and Republic of Armenia;
* system of defence of the Army of Defence of the NKR, mode of the
protection of the state frontier of the RA; density of firepower
at lines of engineering facilities;
* tactics and operational flexibility of the units of the Army of
Defence of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armed Forces of the RA;

– writing off non-combat losses among the personnel of the armed
forces of Azerbaijan for the sporadic minor actions and mutual
exchange of fire;

– presenting such combat activities to the Azerbaijani society as an
indicator of military build-up and justification of mismatch of the
stated rates of the economic growth of Azerbaijan with the real
improvement of the social and economic condition of broad layers of
population;

– sustaining in the society of Azerbaijan a psychological
“state of war”- revanchist organizations and individual
activists state about the reduction of its level among the modern
Azerbaijani youth;

– justification of authoritarianism in domestic policy, restriction
of the activity of the public and political, human rights
organizations, freedom of expression as well as their possible
stiffening in the future;

– attraction/retention of the attention of the international
community at the issue of pendency of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

At the same time the ruling elite in Azerbaijan should realize that
the escalation of the military situation in the zone of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict plays into hand of the Islamic and Islamist
opposition, because, first of all almost any scenario of development
of the military actions, excluding a “Blitzkrieg”, will
affect the stability of the ruling regime, and secondly, it will
become a convenient occasion to turn for help to the Islamic
countries, receiving financial support from them (in some cases
bypassing official state structures) as well as recruitment for
military actions human resources, which mostly adhere Islamist
ideology and proved their mobility during the events in Libya and
Syria in 2011-20122.

The appeals of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan to declare martial law
in the country and declare jihad3 prove that the Islamist opposition
in Azerbaijan has stirred up for recent years; in August it
established the “Organization of Karabakh Resistance”4,
which acts alongside with “secular” organizations of the
same kind, and the most active and odious among them is the
“Organization of Liberation of Karabakh”.

Increase in number of the revanchist statements by the
representatives of the Azerbaijani authorities, threats to withdraw
from the negotiations process which is held through the intermediary
of the OSCE Minsk group and to solve the conflict by military means
caused the correction of the mode of military and technical
cooperation not only with Azerbaijan but with Armenia either. Despite
the concern expressed by Baku regarding fomenting tension in
Azerbaijani-Iranian relations and using it as a pretext for strike
heavy arms build up, a tendency of tightening of control over the
stock-list of the arms and military equipments tap to Azerbaijan can
be observed. The latest example is the decision of the Department of
State of the United States to remove Azerbaijan from the list of
countries eligible to purchase American military equipment, which was
taken on the assumption of justified anxiety that it might be used
against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh5.

And alternatively, possible negative aftermaths in case of increasing
military and technical imbalance between Armenian and Azerbaijani
conflicting parties resulted in reconsideration of the restrictions
to the stock list of heavy attacking arms tap to Armenia by Russia
within the framework of Military and Technical partnership of the
CSTO member countries and increasing of the level of military and
political cooperation by two parties.

Formation of deceptive feeling of military dominance in the
atmosphere of military euphoria in isolation from the realities and
tendencies of the regional and global policy should not tempt
Azerbaijan to use power in the zone of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, at
least taking into consideration a negative experience of the
authorities of the neighboring Georgia which went through such
psycho-emotional condition on the eve of war in August 2008.

1 , 9 EÀÌÑ
2012C.

2 ðÒÅÄÓÅÄÁÔÅÌØ eÓÌÁÍÓËÏÊ ÐÁÒÔEE aÚÅÒÂÁÊÄOÁÎÁ: ÷ ÓÌÕÞÁÅ ×ÏÊÎÙ ×
ëÁÒÁÂÁÈÅ ÄOEÈÁÄ ÏÂÑÚÁÔÅÌÅÎ ÄÌÑ ËÁOÄÏCÏ ÍÕÓÕÌØÍÁÎEÎÁ.

news/read/8421/eksklyuziv-predsedatel-islamskoy-partii-azerbaydana-v-sluchae-voyn
i-v-karabaxe-dixad-obyazatelen-dlya-kajdogo-musulmanina/, 20 ÍÁÑ
2010C.

3 , ÐÒEÚÙ×ÁÅÔ eÓÌÁÍÓËÁÑ ÐÁÒÔEÑ
aÚÅÒÂÁÊÄOÁÎÁ. , 17 EÀÌÑ
2009C.

4Azeri Press Agency, 02 Á×CÕÓÔÁ 2010C.,

5 , 29 EÀÎÑ 2012C.

“Globus” analytical journal, #8, 2012

Return

____________________________________________________________________________
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EXPERT: THE WEST TRYING “TO SNEAK INTO” RUSSIA AND CHINA VIA MIDDLE EAST

arminfo
Friday, August 3, 12:45

Failing to take control over the underground radical-Islamic forces
in the Middle East, the West is currently implementing in the Middle
East countries the same scenario as in Palestine i.e. establishes
governments under its control through bringing Islamists to power,
Vardan Voskanyan, Assistant Professor at the Iranian Studies
Department, Yerevan State Univeristy, told ArmInfo.

“Coming to power with the help of the West, radical Islamists, as a
rule, discredit themselves and lose the public confidence, for they
have no experience of state governance. As a result, they become fully
dependant on the western superpowers that keep them in power. In the
same way, western superpowers gradually take control on the Middle
East countries. Now, Syria is the target,” the expert explained.

Nevertheless, he said, Assad will manage to stay in power unless the
opposition gets foreign support. Voskanyan thinks that it is not just
oil resources that attract Western superpowers to the Middle East.

“Extension of influence in the Middle East will make it possible for
the West to ‘sneak into’ Russia and China,” he said.

TURQUIE : INTERDICTION D’ACHAT DE BIENS IMMOBILIERS AUX CITOYENS DE SIX PAYS

Publie le : 02-08-2012

Info Collectif VAN – – ” Le conseil des ministres
de Turquie est en train de finaliser une loi adoptee par le Parlement
en mai dernier, qui interdit aux citoyens de six pays – l’Armenie,
Cuba, le Nigeria, la Coree du Nord, la Syrie et le Yemen – d’acheter
des biens immobiliers en Turquie, rapporte le journal Sabah. Aucune
raison n’a ete donnee pour la mise sur liste noire de ces pays. La loi
demontre l’hostilite persistante des officiels turcs, contredisant
leurs annonces mielleuses de desir de normalisation des relations
avec l’Armenie. ” Le Collectif VAN vous livre la traduction de
l’editorial du journaliste armeno-americain Harut Sassounian, paru
dans The California Courier le 2 août 2012.

L’Armenie devrait exercer des represailles contre l’interdiction
turque d’achat de biens immobiliers

De : Harut Sassounian Editeur de : The California Courier Editorial
de Sassounian du 2 août 2012

Le conseil des ministres de Turquie est en train de finaliser une loi
adoptee par le Parlement en mai dernier, qui interdit aux citoyens de
six pays – l’Armenie, Cuba, le Nigeria, la Coree du Nord, la Syrie
et le Yemen – d’acheter des biens immobiliers en Turquie, rapporte
le journal Sabah. Aucune raison n’a ete donnee pour la mise sur liste
noire de ces pays.

La loi demontre l’hostilite persistante des officiels turcs,
contredisant leurs annonces mielleuses de desir de normalisation des
relations avec l’Armenie. Après examen des restrictions imposees a
ses citoyens, le Parlement armenien devrait envisager d’adopter des
mesures de represailles contre les citoyens de la Turquie, interesses
par l’achat de proprietes armeniennes.

La loi turque proposee est doublement provocatrice puisqu’elle impose
une interdiction aux citoyens de l’Armenie, tout en etendant de 53 a
129 la liste des pays autorises a investir en Turquie, et elle permet
aussi aux citoyens de 52 autres pays d’investir, moyennant quelques
limitations. La nouvelle loi permet meme a des ressortissants dont
les gouvernements interdisent les investissements turcs d’acheter
une propriete en Turquie. Alleger les restrictions d’investissements
etrangers sur le marche immobilier turc rapporterait 300 milliards
de dollars supplementaires de revenus pour les 10 annees a venir,
ecrit le journal Sabah.

Voici les restrictions que la nouvelle loi impose a certains pays :
les citoyens de la Chine, du Danemark, du Timor Oriental, de Fidji
et d’Israël peuvent acheter uniquement une seule residence en Turquie.

Les Jordaniens, pour leur part, peuvent acheter deux maisons et un
lieu d’affaires. Les Russes et les Ukrainiens peuvent acheter un bien
immobilier n’importe où en Turquie, sauf sur la côte de la mer Noire,
tandis que les Georgiens ne peuvent pas acquerir des biens immobiliers
dans les zones frontalières et côtières. On ne permet pas aux citoyens
grecs d’acheter une propriete près de la mer Egee et dans les zones
frontalières, sauf ceux qui sont d’origine turque. Les citoyens
d’Afghanistan, d’Egypte, de Lettonie, du Maroc et d’autres pays
africains ne peuvent acheter des terrains agricoles, des vignobles ou
des vergers. Les Albanais peuvent acheter une residence ou un commerce,
mais pas de terre. Les citoyens de 16 autres pays, y compris l’Iran,
la Palestine et l’Inde, ont besoin de l’autorisation du ministère
de l’Interieur avant d’acquerir un bien immobilier en Turquie. Les
Irakiens, d’autre part, ont besoin d’un permis emis par le ministère
turc des Affaires etrangères. Un individu etranger ou une societe ne
peuvent pas acheter plus de 10 % de terre dans un quartier particulier
ou un total de 30 hectares dans toute la Turquie. La loi interdit
aussi a des etrangers d’acheter ou de louer un bien immobilier dans
les zones militaires et de securite.

Parmi les 129 pays autorises a acheter une propriete en Turquie sans
conditions ou restrictions on retrouve : l’Azerbaïdjan, le Bangladesh,
la Bielorussie, Brunei, le Kazakhstan, le Kosovo, le Koweït, le
Kirghizstan, le Liban, la Libye, le Maroc, le Sultanat d’Oman, le
Pakistan, le Qatar, l’Arabie Saoudite, le Soudan, le Tadjikistan,
le Turkmenistan, les Emirats Arabes Unis et l’Ouzbekistan.

Quelles mesures l’Armenie devrait-elle prendre en represailles de cette
nouvelle loi turque ? L’article 31 de la Constitution de la Republique
d’Armenie stipule : ” Des citoyens etrangers et des personnes apatrides
ne pourront jouir du droit a la propriete foncière, excepte dans des
cas prescrits par la loi. ” Selon un rapport soumis par le gouvernement
armenien a l’Organisation Mondiale du Commerce (OMC) : ” Les etrangers
sont autorises a utiliser la terre en signant des contrats de bail
avec un homologue armenien. En outre, les etrangers ont le droit
de posseder des proprietes immobilières construites sur la terre
armenienne et d’exploiter des ressources naturelles renouvelables et
non-renouvelables sur la base de contrats de concession accordes par
le gouvernement. ” Le rapport de l’Armenie a l’OMC declarait aussi
que ” La legislation accorde au gouvernement le pouvoir de limiter
et d’interdire tout investissement etranger pour des questions de
securite nationale. ”

Il serait important de connaître le nombre de societes et d’individus
etrangers qui louent une terre ou qui possèdent des bâtiments et des
activites commerciales en Armenie, leurs noms, leur citoyennete,
les lieux, leur taille et leur valeur marchande. Combien de ces
contrats relèvent de citoyens turcs ? Il est pertinent de soulever
ces questions, car, dans le passe, les responsables armeniens avaient
declare qu’il n’y avait aucun besoin d’imposer des restrictions aux
etrangers interesses par un placement dans l’immobilier armenien.

S’il est comprehensible que l’Armenie encourage les investissements
etrangers, on ignore si certaines zones frontalières sensibles sont
interdites de location a des etrangers, tels que des Azeris et des
Turcs, pour des raisons de securite nationale. Il existe egalement des
terres qui contiennent des reserves strategiques de certains metaux
precieux et de mineraux. Elles ne devraient pas non plus etre louees
aux etrangers qui sont des citoyens de nations hostiles.

En represailles de la nouvelle loi turque interdisant aux citoyens
armeniens d’acheter de l’immobilier en Turquie, l’Armenie devrait
immediatement passer une loi interdisant aux citoyens turcs toute
acquisition ou tout bail dans le marche de l’immobilier. Aucune
exception ne devrait etre faite !

Les Armeniens ne devraient pas s’inquieter de ne pouvoir acheter des
terres en Turquie. On espère qu’un jour ou l’autre, ils recupereront
les leurs sans avoir a les payer !

©Traduction de l’anglais C.Gardon pour le Collectif VAN – 2 août 2012 –
09:00 –

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RUSSIA INTENSIFIES PRESSURE ON ARMENIA

Trend
Aug 2 2012
Azerbaijan

Moscow begins to realize that the two phased policy of Armenia has
an anti-Russian character and begins to struggle with it, increasing
the pressure on Yerevan in all forms, the director of the Center of
Political Innovations and Technologies, a political scientist Mubariz
Ahmedoglu said press conference on Thursday.

The political scientist pointed out that Russia is beginning to take
more and more segments of the economy of Armenia under its influence,
the Russian military is much more active in Armenia and Russia is
moving away from the position of Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

“Pro-Armenian, Russian political analysts, along with comments in
favor of Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, noted that Armenia’s
withdrawal from Russia would be dangerous to Yerevan,” he said.

He noted that the results of the so-called “elections” in
Nagorno-Karabakh exposed the Karabakh policy of Armenia and the
Armenians of the world.

“The figures show that the population is in an entirely different
mood,” said the analyst.

Ahmedoglu also noted the influence of the Syrian crisis to Armenia. In
his view, the situation in Syria creates a political problem to
Armenia.

“The Syrian Armenians who fled from fighting in their country and
arrived in Armenia, now do not want to stay there. But they need an
Armenian visa or Armenian citizenship for emigration to the West,”
he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

COPTIC CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS CLASH IN EGYPT

PanARMENIAN.Net
August 2, 2012 – 20:10 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – At least 16 people have been wounded after Muslims
attacked a church and Christian homes in a village near the Egyptian
capital, Cairo, officials say, according to BBC News.

The unrest in Dahshur, about 40km (25 miles) south of Cairo, started
after a Muslim man died of wounds sustained in an earlier clash
on Friday.

Violence frequently flares between Egypt’s Muslim majority and its
Coptic Christian minority.

It is the first instance since Mohammed Mursi took over as president
in June.

Last October, a suicide attack on a church in Alexandria killed
24 people.

Police in Dahshur early on Wednesday fired teargas to stop a Muslim
mob from setting fire to a church, but the rioters instead torched
several Christian properties and three police cars, officials said.

Ten policemen were among the 16 injured, according to the authorities.

The office of the local Coptic archbishop of Giza said the entire
Christian population of Dahshur had now fled, according to the
Associated Press.

The rioters “looted and torched shops, including a jewellery shop…

and terrorised the local community, forcing them to leave their homes”,
the agency quoted the statement as saying.

Tension first erupted on Friday after a Christian laundry worker was
accused by a Muslim client of singeing his shirt while ironing it.

Villagers from both sides threw fire-bombs at each other, fatally
wounding a Muslim.

The man died of his injuries on Tuesday and was buried overnight,
sparking the latest unrest.

About 10% of Egyptians are Coptic Christians.

They fear that more radical forms of Islam, resurgent since the fall
of former President Hosni Mubarak, could imperil their safety in Egypt.

COMMUNICATIONS NOT SWITCHED OFF IN SYRIA – ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

news.am
August 02, 2012 | 18:25

DAMASCUS. – Neither phone nor internet were switched off,
representative of the Armenian community in Syria, Damascus resident
Nazaret Ekmajian told Armenian News-NEWS.am. He claims communication
was temporarily lost due to technical reasons on Wednesday.

“It was resumed again on Thursday, while no other special intervention
was made,” he emphasized adding the country’s situation is still
unchanged.

To note, several media outlets circulated news about the complete
switch off of the country’s cell and landline phones. In addition,
Syria allegedly had no internet. Thus, RIA Novosti was informed that
Syria’s state communication and internet is switched off throughout
the country.

NKR MFA: AZERBAIJAN CONTINUES THE POLICY OF RESETTLEMENT IN THE SHAHUMYAN REGION, GETASHEN SUBREGION AND OTHER NKR REGIONS

armradio.am
02.08.2012 17:32

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs in connection
with the note spread by Azerbaijan’s Permanent Mission to the OSCE,
concerning the alleged resettlement of the NKR territories, draws the
OSCE and its country-members’ attention to the propagandistic character
of the given document, which aims to deceive the international
community and destabilize the negotiation process and the situation
in the region.

“In spite of the obvious fact that the NKR has its sovereign right
to receive migrants in its territory, the spread misinformation
is absolutely groundless, and the results of the monitoring
on the situation in these territories, carried out by the OSCE
Assessment Mission in 2010, can proof it. As for the report by the
OSCE Fact-Finding Mission in 2005, which the Permanent Mission of
Azerbaijan refers to, we consider necessary to remind that according
to the statement by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen, the mission
did not find out “any clear organized resettlement” and “did not
determine that the resettlement resulted from a deliberate policy”.

In this context, we consider necessary to once more draw the attention
of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe to the fact
that Azerbaijan continues the policy of resettlement in the Shahumyan
region, Getashen subregion and the other NKR regions, being under
the occupation of Azerbaijan. Moreover, Azerbaijan has over the years
withheld its consent to carry out such a monitoring in these regions,
which testifies to the unquestionable fact of their resettling and
cannot but provoke the OSCE and other international organizations’
serious anxiety.

As for the attacks of the official Baku concerning the July 19
presidential elections in the NKR, attended by representatives from 22
countries as international observers, including the OSCE, members of
European Parliament, and recognized as free, just, transparent and
meeting the international standards, similar attitude is another
proof of the fact that Azerbaijan with its totalitarian regime,
where the power passes from father to son, where “the elections” –
are just a show and farce, cannot respect democratic values, human
rights and freedom, as well as the principle of the electiveness of
the authorities on the basis of real expression of citizen’s will,”
the Ministry said in a statement.

Turkey trains rebels near Armenian-populated city

tert.am
20:29 – 04.08.12

The Turkish armed forced have launched military exercises in Qamishli,
an Armenian-populated Syrian city lying 1km off the country’s
north-eastern border.

According to Svobodanews.ru, the trainings involve 30 tanks, armored
cars and missile stations. The Turkish forces are reportedly active at
night hours too. They are deployed along the borders of the Qamishli
and Nusaybin. Both cities are said to be under Kurdish control.

The Russian radio channel reports that the trainings aim to
demonstrate force to the Kurdish rebels. Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan had earlier said that his country is ready to launch
military operations on Syria’s territory in case of facing a threat.
Qamishli is among Syria’s top ten biggest cities. Its Armenian
population is estimated to be 6,000-7,000 million at present. The city
also has an Armenian church.