Author: Kalantarian Kevo

AZERIS WOO ARGENTINA BY PLAYING OIL CARD

ARMENPRESS
27 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 27, ARMENPRESS: Today’s visit here by Elmar Mammadyarov,
the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan heading up a delegation of Azeri
officials and businessmen, is part of a Latin American swing whose
motive is to “initiate future economic and political co-operation”
although this word order might well be reversed-surely the political
intentions of this trip outweigh the economic, reports Armenpress
citing Buenios Aires herald.

Simple: kicking off in Colombia, the delegation arrives today in
Argentina, continuing on through Uruguay and Peru to end the month
in Paris, where Mammadyarov will put the icing on the cake by meeting
with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius.

For those unfamiliar with Azerbaijan, it is an oil-rich Islamic
Caucasian country nestling on the Caspian Sea and run by the Aliyev
dynasty, in power for the last 14 years (the president announced
yesterday that he would be seeking a third term in 2013), a former
Soviet Socialist Republic which is today allied to Turkey and at the
same time pampered by Israel in the form of arms co-operation. But
over and above its economic perspectives, Azerbaijan also faces
a historic dispute with its neighbour Armenia over the enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh. It just so happens that the Azeri foreign minister
will be touching down today in Argentina with Latin America’s largest
Armenian community and will end his trip in France with Europe’s
largest. This raises the issues of the intentions of the Ilham Aliyev
government-to dislodge the strong influence of businessmen of Armenian
origin by flaunting Azeri black gold and at the same time install
the notion that Armenia is refusing to negotiate the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, today subject to the pacification efforts under the umbrella
of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, France and United States).

Toward this aim (presenting a counterweight to Armenia) the Aliyev
government began its conquest of Latin America a couple of years ago .

An embassy in Mexico City (the first in North America) was followed
by one in Argentina (late 2010, the first in South America) and
now in Brazil. To which should be added the trips officials and
parliamentarians of Azerbaijan have made to Colombia and Argentina,
as well as Mexico, where they have achieved as a result that
parliamentary foreign affairs committees in Mexico and Colombia
have made declarations in favour of the “territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan.”

Although the Azeri Foreign Ministry assures that the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue will be “discussed separately” in the meeting with Fabius in
Paris, don’t rule out its being raised in Buenos Aires, as it already
has been in Mexico City and Bogota.

AZERBAIJANI OFFICIALS ARE OF UTOPIAN NATURE AND HAVE VIVID IMAGINATION: SHARMAZANOV

ARMENPRESS
27 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 27, ARMENPRESS: Azerbaijani high ranking representatives
continue to come forth with the statements, causing laughter even
in Azerbaijan. At the briefing with Armenpress, Armenian National
Assembly Vice President Edward Sharmazanov dwelled on Azerbaijani
Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov statement, as if Azerbaijan is
going to ” reoccupy occupied territories”.

” I do not think we should seriously take similar statements. Those
calls have become Azerbaijani propaganda machine key points, in other
case they have nothing to do” Sharmazanov underscored. In his words
Armenia’s stance is very clear: Nagorno Karabakh has been and continues
to remain in that status. ” Artsakh people themselves manages their
own destiny”.

” Such statement initiators do not leave an impression of professional
political figure. Instead of registering success in negotiation
process, following encouragements by co-chairs states and international
organizations Azerbaijan goes on coming up utopian nature and vivid
impression statements.

Azerbaiajni Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov noted in the statement
” Armenia has to compensate Azerbaijan by 100 billion dollar for
occupied territories”.

KARABAKH CONFLICT WILL STILL BE WARMED UP – RUSSIAN EXPERT

News.Az
Wed 25 July 2012 05:24 GMT | 6:24 Local Time

News.Az interviews Russian political scientist Grigoriy Trofimchuk.

How real is the military script of the Iranian problem settlement
especially with participation of Azerbaijan, as stated by some
western media?

I think that the plot with Israel, its alleged special role in
the potential war with Iran is generally quite invented and mostly
exaggerated. Israel does not play any independent role. The matter is
that the opportunities of this country are merely used for definite
goals that can be implemented by those who back Israel, and try to
involve such countries as Azerbaijan into this information warfare.

Azerbaijan may become a key point, a key country in the development
of these events, if the situation around Iran will further radicalize.

Therefore, the mass of such information leaks are directed towards
Azerbaijan.

Can Azerbaijan avert the negative impact of this information campaign?

After all, the republic has an uneasy neighborhood.

Azerbaijan should be attentive in assessing it all, show the right
reaction because the matter here is not only about Israel. The main
problems lie in the relations between official Baku and official
Tehran. Here, there are very many scripts that happened on practice, in
particular, the one that occurred in the recent past on the diplomatic
level with the ambassadors of the two countries.

There will be attempts to drag Azerbaijan into this situation to
settle these probably most unpleasant aspects of this supposed (I
have to repeat the word ‘supposed’) war with someones hands.

If Azerbaijan is not involved and shows the right reaction to all
this, the situation will be complicated to those who are eager to
cause clash between countries inside the region. Then Azerbaijan will
get definite trump cars which it will be able to use merely because
it neighbors Iran.

Karabakh conflict is another highly explosive point in our region.

There are many information laws, provocative steps like the recent
‘elections’ in Karabakh here too. Are they dangerous for the resolution
and provocation of a new war?

Karabakh conflict will still be warmed up, again in connection with
the anti-Iranian situation. I think that both Azerbaijan and Armenia
must take these circumstances into account. And in order not to be
dragged into the war, when no one will deal with the contradictions
between Baku and Yerevan over the past two decade, both countries
will be merely put into an unpleasant situation. Considering these
circumstances, the conflict parties should take some nonstandard steps
which do not correspond to the information solutions (and further
probably the military and political ones) which someone invents for
the South Caucasus countries.

It is necessary to realize that on the backdrop of the supposed
global events in all this region- in the Middle East and Greater
Caucasus-these events have to push the conflict parties at least
to some statements with the understanding of the fact that Nagorno
Karabakh will move to a bit different, lower level on this background.

And probably, it is worth trying to find some practical solutions to
this conflict or at least on the contrary, to make some movements in
this sense not only in what has to do with the exchange of prisoners,
but also execution of some part of earlier agreements. That is it is
necessary to show the world that Azerbaijan and Armenia are able to
start the settlement of the problems between them even without Russia.

And when the external world sees that for the first time in a very
long period of time there is such an initiative from Azerbaijan and
Armenia, the world and the forces that back anti-Iranian offensive
will be obliged to analyze this situation. And respectively, in this
case again some trump cards, at least small ones, will remain on the
hands of Azerbaijan and probably Armenia.

That is, the South Caucasus has to demonstrate itself in a different
way in order not to turn into a hostage of policy generated by
someone. The South Caucasus countries should generate their policy
independently. In this case they will settle not only the anti-Iranian
problem but also, I do not rule out, to start the settlement of the
Karabakh conflict.

‘AZERBAIJAN PREPARES TO LIBERATE OCCUPIED AREAS’

News.Az
Fri 27 July 2012

“If Armenia continues its non-constructive position, we will
liberate our lands in near future by the order of the Supreme
Commander-in-Chief”.

“Azerbaijan prepares to liberate the occupied areas. We will not make
any concessions to Armenia in liberation of the lands,” Deputy Prime
Minister, Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Refugees and
IDPs Ali Hasanov told journalists, APA reports.

“If Armenia wakes and settles down to right course today, may be any
agreement will be achieved in the negotiations. The state has respect
for president’s promise. If Armenia continues its non-constructive
position, we will liberate our lands in near future by the order of
the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. At present, the government started
preparations for the next processes. It is return program, calculation
of damage and another issue. We must ready for it.”

SESSION WAS HELD DEVOTED TO THE EVENTS CONCERNING 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN LEBANON

ARMENPRESS
27 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, 27 JULY, ARMENPRESS: Lebanon Central body on the Armenian
Genocide`s 100th anniversary and the intercultural body of the 100th
anniversary jointly held a session in Burj Hamud National primacy on
July 25. The session was chaired by Ashot Kocharyan, ambassador of
Armenia in Lebanon.

The Media, Information and Public Relations Department of Armenian
foreign affairs ministry informed Armenrpess, that the details on
upcoming events for the following weeks were discussed during the
session . The need of work coordination and close collaboration among
the interested institutions was mentioned as well. The development
and implementation mechanisms of all acting cultural union`s joint
programs, which execute their activities in Lebanese -Armenian
community, have also been discussed.

Particularly, the parties put the stress on the cooperation of Armenian
cultural different institutions and groups in the framework of events`
implementation, which are devoted to the Armenian Genocide`s 100th
anniversary.

ARGENTINEAN ARMENIANS PROTEST AZERBAIJANI FM’S VISIT (PHOTOS)

July 27, 2012 | 11:00

Representatives from Argentina’s Armenian community organized a
protest demonstration against Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mammadyarov’s
visit to that country.

The picket was held Thursday in front of Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Buenos
Aires. The protesters held banners that accused Azerbaijan of racism,
nationalism and xenophobia, and of organizing the Armenian pogroms
in the Azerbaijani cities of Sumgait and Baku.

According to Azerbaijani media, along the lines of his visit to
Argentina on Friday, Mammadyarov will meet with his Argentinean
counterpart Hector Timerman. Also, the delegations will attend the
Azerbaijan-Argentina Business Forum, and bilateral meetings will be
held together with the business circles. In addition, the Azerbaijani
FM will meet with several Argentinean ministers as well as with the
secretaries of domestic and foreign trade.

Earlier, Argentinean FM Hector Timerman, together with 200 businessmen
from Argentina, had paid an official visit to Baku.

DELINQUENT DIPLOMAT: LOS ANGELES ARMENIANS DEMAND NEW GENERAL CONSUL

hetq
11:49, July 27, 2012

Hetq has received a letter signed by a “group of diaspora Armenians
taking Grigor Hovhannisyan, the Armenian General Consul in Los Angeles,
to task for three years of ineptitude and failure to perform his
assigned duties.

So frustrated is the group that in their letter they call on Armavia
Airlines to give Hovhannisyan a one way ticket back to Yerevan and
to charge the All Armenian Fund for the cost of the ticket.

The group charges Hovhannisyan with neglecting the local community,
especially RA citizens residing in the Los Angeles area.

They say that the location of the Armenian Consulate has changed
several times over the years and despite the fact that it has moved
closer to the densely populated Armenian community of Glendale,
nothing has changed in terms of community outreach.

The letter writers claim that Hovhannisyan has always avoided contact
with the community, its youth, reporters and writers’ union, and has
only made one appearance on local Armenian TV during his three year
tenure as consul.

During that appearance, Hovhannisyan is said to have urged the
community not to stage protests outside the consulate.

The group reminds Hovhannisyan that they reside in a democratic country
where freedom of expression is a cherished value and that he should
wake up to this reality.

They also accuse Hovhannisyan of failing to meet with community
members at a July 13 protest regarding the murder of military physician
Vahe Avetyan.

The protestors wanted to hand a letter to the consul but he refused
to come outside and instead sent an underling to discuss terms. The
staffer told protestors that only one person would be allowed in to
hand the letter to Hovhannisyan.

The letter writers call on RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan to
immediately recall Hovhannisyan and replace him with a more suitable
and well-meaning diplomat.

NKR PRESIDENT HOLDS CONSULTATIONS WITH THE SUPREME COMMAND STAFF OF THE DEFENSE ARMY

armradio.am
28.07.2012 13:00

On 28 July President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan
held a consultation with the supreme command staff of the Defense
Army headed by Defense Minister Movses Hakobyan.

Issues related to army building, the situation along the line of
contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan
and improvement of social conditions of the servicemen were discussed
at the consultation, Central Information Department of the Office of
the NKR President reported.

AUTHOR SETIAN SPEAKS OF TURKS WHO RESCUED ARMENIANS DURING GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
July 28, 2012 – 12:12 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Armenian Genocide was the topic of a recent
talk at St. Mark Armenian Church on Wilbraham Road in Springfield,
Massachusetts, masslive.com reports.

Hosted by the church, which has its own memorial stone to those who
died in the Genocide, the presentation by Shahkeh Yaylaian Setian
dealt with a little discussed aspect of that genocide – Muslim Turks
who put their lives at risk to rescue Christian Armenians.

Setian grew up in the Whitinsville section of Northbridge and the
Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield, speaking Armenian as her
first language. She moved to Wilbraham after her marriage and now
makes her home on Cape Cod. She holds a doctorate in education from
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is author of the book
“Humanity In The Midst of Inhumanity,” a collection of interviews
with Armenians who were rescued by Turks.

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP CONCERNED OVER KHOSROV RESERVE

tert.am
28.07.12

A new environmental initiative dealing with the protection of
the Khosrov Reserve is calling for proper measures to ensure the
preservation of the fauna and flora of the natural heritage site.

In a statement, the members of the group ask the Ministry of Nature
Protection to dismantle a stone construction built on the territory
of the reserve and suspend the road building, as well as take
accountability measures against all the officials who allowed the
construction of an entertainment site on the territory.

The group demands that the officials, as well as the company carrying
out the construction work, pay for the damages that could be caused
while returning the park to its former appearance. They also call
for bringing Armenia’s relevant legislation in compliance with
international agreements, involving all interested parties in the
process.

The environmentalists are organizing a visit to the Khosrov reserve
on Sunday morning. They are planning to tour the Guilan preserve and
a cafe was built by the construction company, Hovazadzor.

The group informs that anyone wishing to join the initiative can
register until 8:00 pm local time on Saturday, by contacting Hasmik
Grigoryan (098 84 59 80).