Author: Kanayan Tamar

US Court rejects claims of Turkish Coalition of America

news.am
May 05, 2012 | 23:56

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Minnesota University
in a closely watched case involving First Amendment and academic
freedom claims.

The plaintiff in the case, Turkish Coalition of America, claimed that
statements on a university department website that suggested that the
Turkish Coalition’s information about the Armenian Genocide was
`unreliable’ violated its free speech rights and were defamatory.

Earlier U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank dismissed a lawsuit
filed by the Turkish Coalition of America against the University of
Minnesota.

The Court of Appeals found that the Turkish Coalition’s defamation
claims failed because the university faculty’s statements were either
true or were statements of opinion, which cannot support a defamation
claim, says the statement posted on university’s website.

The case has been watched closely by scholars around the United States
and the world because of its implications for principles of academic
freedom.

Trend, Azerbaijan
May 5 2012

Azerbaijani FM considers Uruguayan counterpart’s statement

Azerbaijan, Baku, May 5 / Trend S. Agayeva /

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry is considering Uruguayan Foreign
Minister’s statement, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry official
representative Elman Abdullayev told media in Baku today.

Uruguay supports the peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
on the basis of the right of nations to self-determination. According
to the Armenian media, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Luis Almagro said
this at a joint press conference with his Armenian counterpart Edward
Nalbandian in Yerevan on May 4.

“Nagorno Karabakh is closely related to Armenia,” the minister said.
“This is Karabakh’s future, which it can choose for itself, using the
right to self-determination.”

“The Azerbaijani Embassy in Argentina has been charged with
considering the position of Uruguayan Foreign Minister and the
reliability of the information disseminated by the Armenian media,”
Abdullaev said.

He added that afterwards, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry will make
an official statement.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a c
easefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group –
Russia, France and the U.S. – are currently holding 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.

Trend, Azerbaijan
May 5 2012

Section 907 loses relevance to Azerbaijan, top official says

Azerbaijan, Baku, May 5 / Trend E. Mehdiyev /

Azerbaijan has been trying for 20 years to inform the U.S political
planning centers and all bodies carrying out state policy, that
Azerbaijan’s rights were violated in the issue of Section 907,
Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Social and Political
Department Chief Ali Hasanov told media today.

He reminded that Section 907 of the United States Freedom Support Act
was injustice against Azerbaijan

“Section 907 was adopted against Azerbaijan in 1992 under the Armenian
lobby’s pressure and it should be abolished,” he said. “By its
activity over the past period, Azerbaijan proved that this decision
has been indeed taken unjustly. Azerbaijan did not hold Armenia in the
blockade. Armenia has put itself in the blockade. Armenia occupied the
territory between Azerbaijan and Armenia.”

“For now the section has lost its relevance to Azerbaijan,” he stressed.

“We do not expect any financial and economic assistance from the U.S,”
he said. “We do not need it. Azerbaijan and the U.S are equal
partners. If the political planning centers of this country think that
abolishing Section 907 is in the interests of the U.S, they will
cancel it. Otherwise, we will not insist on this. We do not need to
receive any grants from the U.S as part of Section 907.”

The U.S. Congress adopted the Freedom Support Act in October 1992 to
regulate rendering state aid to former Soviet republics. According to
Section 907 of the law, the U.S. government was forbidden to assist
Azerbaijani official bodies. Section 907 has been suspended by the
U.S. president since 2002 on an annual basis in accordance with his
powers given by the Congress in 2001.

Trend, Azerbaijan
May 5 2012

Presidency in UN Security Council to allow Azerbaijan to raise issue
of executing UNSC resolutions on occupation of Azerbaijani
territories, top official says

Azerbaijan, Baku, May 5 / Trend E. Mehdiyev, A. Akhundov /

The presidency in the UN Security Council (UNSC) gives Azerbaijan
additional opportunities to raise the issue of executing the UN
Security Council resolutions on the occupation of Azerbaijani
territories by Armenia which have not been implemented yet,
Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Social and Political
Department Chief Ali Hasanov told media today.

“Azerbaijan’s monthly presidency in the Security Council, chaired by
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, started yesterday,” he said. “The
presidency will pass to Azerbaijan again for a month in accordance
with the schedule in September 2013. First, electing and presidency in
the Security Council is a pleasant fact for Azerbaijan. We perceive
this as an expression of the world community’s confidence in
Azerbaijan.”

“Azerbaijan must justify this confidence,” he said.

“Azerbaijan must take part in objective resolving the global problems,
and objectively relate to the events taking place in the world,” he
said. “The country must strive for the UN to choose the best way,
adhere to the norms of international law. One of the examples of
violating these rules is the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Azerbaijan
continues making its efforts to resolve more than 20 years. The
presidency in the UN Security Council gives Azerbaijan additional
opportunities to raise the issue of executing the UN unfulfilled
resolutions concerning the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by
Armenia and to develop the mechanisms to prevent these incidents in
the future.”

AzeriReport
May 4 2012

Matthew Bryza: President Aliyev is Popular Beyond of Anyone Else

WASHINGTON, DC. May 4, 2012: Is Matthew Bryza too optimistic about Azerbaijan?

On May 2, just three days after the US Senate received White House
notification that President Obama has withdrawn the nomination of
Matthew Bryza for the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan position, the
Illinois diplomat, who moved to Turkey right after returning from
Baku, showed-up in Washington DC- based Jamestown Foundation and
criticized the Administration’s current South Caucasus policy, TURAN’s
Washington, DC correspondent Alakbar Raufoglu reports.

`I know that everybody here in the US Government thinks that we’re
focusing on the South Caucasus issues and all of our priorities, but
the countries in the region don’t feel that. They feel very much
drift’, Bryza said in front of Washington’s think-tank and diplomatic
community.

Especially, he slammed the Administration’s latest efforts on ignoring
Azerbaijan, while implementing the rapprochement policy between Turkey
and Armenia.

`This (Turkey-Armenia) normalization would be great if it’s
achievable. But it’s not achievable and plus it negatively influences
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process’, he mentioned adding, `No matter how
much we wanted Armenia-Turkey rapprochement, instead we’ve got
nothing’.

On Nagorno-Karabakh, Bryza emphasized that no peace agreement is
expected until the US government takes this process at `very senior
level’.

The Azeri government `will not launch military operations until it
fully loses its confidence to the peace process’.
In the meanwhile, he emphasized that the risks of the military
conflict are increases.

For years, he added, `we’ve talked about three senses of strategic
interests in South Caucasus: Security, energy and the internal
reforms. They all are important to be followed if the US doesn’t want
to lose this region’.

At the same time, while speaking about democracy in Azerbaijan, Mr.
Bryza mentioned that `the situation is not as bad as many things. `But
it’s certainly not so bad so to write it off’.

`There is no chance for any Arab uprisings in Azerbaijan now.
President Aliyev is popular beyond of anyone else’, he stressed.
According to Bryza, there are lots of senior people and young people
in Azerbaijan who are ready to make the system better, There are
efforts on the way’.

The current president, he adds, `intends to develop the country by
using the oil incomes’. Therefore, unlike the Arab spring countries,
youth in Azerbaijan `thinks that if they go to the streets, they will
lose everything, especially the current opportunity that the country
achieves’.

Bryza’s statement on democracy came while answering the question of
Daniel Fried, his former boss at the State Department, who is
currently leading the Obama Administration’s Guantanamo Bay policy at
the State Department. In his question, Mr. Fried mentioned the
oligarchs in Azerbaijan, asking whether the US Administration
addresses the democratic reforms in Azerbaijan.
Mr. Bryza also talked about the regional threats, mentioning the
Iranian government `up to terrible things towards Azerbaijan’. He
said, the Azeri government is `totally against the Iranian war, it
will bring a huge humanitarian and social “destroy to Azerbaijan’.
`There is a huge gap in the US Administration now regarding what is
happening between Iran and South Caucasus’, he added.
After the Jamestown event, TURAN’s Washington DC correspondent
interviewed Ambassador Bryza regarding his speech.

Question: I assume after your today’s speech, many democrats in Baku
will question whether Ambassador Bryza is trying to advocate for Azeri
government’s policy in Washington DC, or as a former senior diplomat,
is trying to pressure the Democrat Administration not to let
relationship with Azerbaijan to get out of track? Which of these is
true?

Answer: None of them. I’m an independent person. I exist on my own
right now, Im a private business person, and Im an independent
academic heading a think-tank in Tallinn, Estonia, The International
center for Defense Studies, so these sorts of events are new for me,
and it’s amazing that I can just say what I think (laugh).

So I’m saying what I think. I was very proud to develop a US policy
towards Azerbaijan that reflected our government’s views, but my views
too, I believe in them, so if my views sound similar to the US policy;
this is because I believe in them.

Question: You called on the US administration to take the Karabakh
negotiations on a very senior level. Does that mean that we should
expect meetings on the presidents level hosted by the White House,
just same as the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations?

Answer: No, not at all. I don’t think that’s realistic. I don’t think
we are ever going to get that sort of level top participation, like
President Clinton offered in the case of Middle East peace process. I
think, number one, it’s not healthy if the Minsk group Co-Chairs has
the president involved at that level, it just creates an imbalance.
And, number two, I think we are stuck in the process now unless the
two presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia feel trust toward each other.
And I don’t believe trust will evolve organically, I think that has to
be generated somehow. And I think that’s a natural role for the United
States, and if the US doesn’t do that, Russia won’t do that, France
won’t do that, and so who else is going to do that within the Minsk
group co-chair countries? Nobody. So I think it’s up to us to do that.

Question: Truly, why President Medvedev, or years ago then-President
Shirak can do it and president Obama can’t? Is that what you expect
from him?

Answer: I don’t believe President Obama will get involved, I don’t
anticipate that. But Secretary Clinton is ready to be involved more,
and in our bilateral diplomacy with Russia the issue of facilitating
and not manipulating Nagorno-Karabakh peace process should be an
agenda item. In other words, the profile of Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement process needs to be elevated on our diplomatic agenda, on
the level of the Secretary of State, and sometimes, the President.

Question: I want to take you back to the Congressional hearings on
your Ambassador nomination two years ago, when some here in
Washington, DC were concerned if Ambassador Bryza, being a close
friend to the Azeri government, will be ignored in Baku when it comes
to addressing issues like democracy, human rights and other problems
in the country. Do you think the Azeri government was listening to
you?

Answer: I do think they did because of the initiatives that we
launched. My approach is not to lecture to them; my approach is to try
to look at the situation the way it is, to identify what the real
obstacles are, which to me the oligarchy concentration of power is,
and then figure out the realistic ways to change that situation.

It’s impossible to do by flipping a switch or releasing a statement,
it’s only possible by working day after day with people with authority
to win their trust. And to convince them that our goal is not to
overthrow the government of Azerbaijan, and to convince them that we
didn’t launch the uprisings in the broader Middle East and we don’t
want them in Azerbaijan. And also to convince them that they need,
they must move forward on these reforms, or else in the long run they
can’t succeed.

And so with that least to them is the opportunity to define success
jointly with the government of Azerbaijan through realistic,
achievable steps, and there are many ways for doing that. I started up
a dialog forum between society leaders or presidential administration,
or was about to start it and I had to go. We were working in other
spheres, attempting legal reforms; advancing electronic government to
fight corruption, new code for fighting corruption as well,
competition code to make sure economy is more open. There are many
specific ways to do it, and they are listening!

Question: It will be unfair if I don’t ask you about Ambassador
Richard Morningstar, what do you think of President Obama’s
nomination?

Answer: He is fantastic; he is unbelievably the best possible choice.
He knows the country, he knows the region, he is a strategic thinker,
and he cares very much about Azerbaijan.

Question: And what are the main challenges in front of him?

Answer: You know what they are. They are the same ones I’ve been
working on, the whole reform agenda we were just talking about,
helping the government of Azerbaijan work with its allies and friends
in Turkey and Europe to finalize the gas transit through Turkey, and
help the parties figure out what the next export directions are going
to be. Also to support the Minsk Group and advance our work in
fighting proliferation, security in the Caspian Sea, sustain the
transportation from Afghanistan as well.
Question: Some argue that Morningstar is energy oriented…

Answer: Well, I was told to be energy oriented as well

(Contact.az).

Khaleej Times, UAE
May 5 2012

Balloon blasts injure 140 at Armenia rally

(AFP) / 5 May 2012

More than 140 people were injured on Friday when gas-filled balloons
exploded at a governing party campaign concert in the Armenian capital
ahead of parliamentary polls.
The emergencies ministry said 144 people suffered burns when scores of
promotional balloons burst into flames at a concert staged by
President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican party in Yerevan’s central
Republic Square.

Armenian Internet sites showed a fireball rising into the air and
chaotic images of people screaming in confusion and anger.

`The balloons exploded and caught fire after people holding the
bunches released them from their hands into the air,’ a witness told
AFP.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosions although
police said they were looking into various potential reasons including
the `improper storage of flammable substances’.

`All the victims had either medium or light injuries. Now doctors are
trying to revive them from shock,’ Health Minister Harutiun Kushkian
told reporters.

The promotional balloons were decorated with the governing party’s
election slogan `Let’s believe in change’.

The incident marred a largely calm election campaign and President
Sarkisian promised a full investigation.

`I urge everyone to keep calm. Let us pray for all the victims and
wish them a quick recovery,’ he said in a statement.

Sarkisian’s party has been tipped by opinion polls to triumph in
Sunday’s election ahead of its ruling coalition rival, the Prosperous
Armenia party led by a wealthy former arm wrestling champion.

The vote is the biggest test of the ex-Soviet state’s democratic
credentials since disputed presidential elections in 2008, when mass
rallies ended in bloody clashes between riot police and opposition
supporters that left 10 people dead, casting a shadow over Sarkisian’s
administration.

The authorities in the mountainous country of 3.3 million people have
promised an unprecedentedly clean contest for the 131-seat National
Assembly in the hope of avoiding further political turmoil.

Opposition parties however have questioned the validity of the opinion
polls and threatened demonstrations if there are mass falsifications.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 4, 2012 Friday 11:18 PM GMT+4

CIS election observers satisfied with Armenian canvassing campaign

YEREVAN May 4

The CIS election observation mission is satisfied with preparations
for the Armenian parliamentary election due on Sunday, May 6, says a
report posted by the mission staff on Friday. A total of 173 CIS
election observers will be monitoring the ballot in all the Armenian
electoral districts.

Meanwhile, mission chief Vladimir Garkun continues to meet with
Armenian officials. He discussed the upcoming ballot with Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan on Thursday. Garkun lauded the work of the
Armenian Central Elections Commission and affirmed a quiet election
campaign.

The endorsement of the new Armenian Election Code, on whose basis the
election will be held, “aims to upgrade the national electoral system
through creating additional guarantees of fair political competition,
intensifying the activity of political parties and their engagement in
the electoral process, and ensuring maximal openness, liberalization
and democracy of the electoral procedures,” the mission said. The
Armenian Central Elections Commission explained the new Code to the
voters by the media. There were also conferences, seminars and
roundtables attended by representatives of civil society institutes
and foreign experts.
An analysis of the new Election Code done by the mission staff and the
International Institute for Monitoring of the Development of
Democracy, Parliamentarianism and Observation of Civil Rights of the
CIS Parliamentary Assembly, showed that the document met the
provisions of the CIS Convention on Standards of Democratic Elections,
Electoral Rights and Freedoms in Member States. “The Code enables the
holding of free and democratic elections with universal, equal and
direct voting rights and secret ballot governed by independent
electoral bodies,” the mission said.

The mission also declared an active canvassing campaign in Armenia.
“The political parties, the block and candidates use diverse methods
in their rivalry for votes,” the mission said. It highlighted as a
peculiar feature of the election campaign the activeness of civil
society institutes, the holding of numerous rallies and meetings with
voters, and appeals to regional electorates.

The media is broadly covering the electoral process, including the
canvassing of parties and the block, the work of electoral commissions
and international observers. The mission said that political parties
and the block had a basically equal access to the media.

Meanwhile, CIS short-term observers are arriving in Armenia. The
mission said it would draw its final conclusions when the ballot is
over.

Azerbaijani President’s speech at UN Security Council based on untrue,
false and unjustified manipulations – Armenian MFA

news.am
May 05, 2012 | 19:13

YEREVAN. – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s speech based on
untrue, false and unjustified manipulations at the UN Security Council
on Friday brings forth a deep regret that such a high arena is used
for such a low quality speeches, Armenian MFA’s statement released on
Saturday reads.

`Instead of re-confirming Azerbaijan’s loyalty to the peace process of
settling the Karabakh conflict, Aliyev abuses the UN arena by
repeating the boring lies of anti-Armenian propaganda.

Continuous threats against the regional stability and security,
militant and hostile statements by the Azerbaijani authorities, which
contradict to the UN Charter principles and objectives, do not fit the
UN member-state and are a blow to the authority of the Security
Council,’ the release reads further.

KARABAKH IS KEEPING THE KEY TO ITS OWN FUTURE

Saturday, 05 May 2012 11:04

For the recent two years, as we know, the European Parliament has
periodically held discussions on the direct involvement of the
European Union in the process of the Karabakh conflict peaceful
settlement.
In their statements, senior EU officials constantly emphasize the
necessity of enhancing the role of this structure in the South
Caucasus.

In one of the resolutions adopted by the European Parliament’s Foreign
Affairs Committee, it was noted that France should be replaced by the
European Union in the OSCE Minsk Group, which, however, was not
supported by European officials. On the contrary, they stated once
again that the negotiations on the Karabakh settlement must be
continued in the format of the Minsk Group, and the European Union,
obviously, must assist in this process and intensify its cooperation
with all the states of the South Caucasus region.

Though relative calm on the subject is established now, however, a
question occurs: what is the goal of such statements and why is the
issue periodically raised by the European Parliament members?

“It is clear that the European Union wants to play a greater role in
the region. It is also seeking new ways to engage in the process of
peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict. The current efforts of the
EU are aimed at promoting the peaceful solution to the issue, as well
as its encouragement. But, they are not aimed at replacing any state
in the Minsk Group. France will remain a co-chair of the Minsk Group’,
said Director of the Armenian Center for Regional Studies Richard
Kirakosian.

When asked by the Azat Artsakh correspondent whether the EU can play
any role in the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, the
political scientist answered that the EU was facing a new opportunity
and the imperative of greater involvement in the processes in the
South Caucasus. He recalled the positive result of the European
intervention in the Georgian-Ossetian war. On the other hand,
according to R. Kirakosian, for greater involvement in the regional
processes and, consequently, for consolidation of its successful role,
the EU must overcome the seemingly contradictory nature of its own
strategy: each of the leading states of this structure tends to follow
its own national policy, in some cases differing from the policy of
other states. These differences are clearly seen in its relations with
Russia, particularly in the field of energy policy.

What does the political scientist think of the view that the decisive
role in resolving the Karabakh issue belongs to Russia and the United
States, which cannot be said about France? Is it possible that these
two great powers come to an agreement in the future to replace France
with the European Union? `The U.S. and Russia support France, although
Washington supports also the European Union, but there are no talks on
replacing France’, said R. Kirakosian. `Nevertheless, the future of
the EU in the region depends on itself. Today, it faces a serious
challenge – to reconcile the competing national policies and to
elaborate a common policy of strategic involvement’, he noted.

Then, Mr. Kirakosian noted that the European Union would implement its
plans for deeper involvement in the regional processes, since we
cannot continue to ignore or underestimate the task that has become
the imperative for this structure – specifically, to play a key role
in the South Caucasus, a region that is considered risky in terms of
establishing comprehensive security and stability. Consequently, he
said, it is clear that the leaders of the three states in the region –
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, as well as Nagorno-Karabakh, which
hasn’t achieved its legal recognition yet, will keep the key to their
future in their hands. And though overcoming the isolation of the
South Caucasus has become an imperative for the EU, however, in the
political scientist’s opinion, the real stability and security are
conditioned by the legitimacy of the authorities in the regional
states, the level of local economic development, and the conducted
policy. Geopolitics, perhaps, plays a minor role in this plane.

Continuing his comments, R. Kirakosian noted that the EU would
intensify its involvement in the regional processes by supporting two
leaders of the Eastern Partnership program – Sweden and Poland.

The goal of this prestigious European structure is more than clear –
to expand its activities in the South Caucasus, in particular, to
intensify its efforts on the Karabakh conflict settlement.

What does the analyst think about the view exaggerated in the
international media that in the negotiation process on the Karabakh
settlement a certain role can be played by Turkey and Iran, which are
considered influential states in the Middle East region? According to
Mr. Kirakosian, the West in general, and in particular, the EU and the
OSCE are against any role of Turkey and Iran, and it is unlikely that
any of these countries will be involved in the process. Karabakh
became a touchstone for the EU in terms of commitments and
manifestation of determination, and in a broader sense it became also
the “last chance” for the OSCE Minsk Group and the European Union.
Ultimately, the Karabakh conflict is the only conflict in large
Europe, where the EU does not play any role.

Ruzan ISHKHANIAN

CYPRUS DEMANDS EU STOP TURKEY BUILDING NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Vestnik Kavkaza
May 4 2012
Russia

Cypriot Speaker of Parliament Yiannakis Omirou has urged the European
Parliament to stop Turkey developing its nuclear power plant at Akkuyu
on the southern coast, not far from the Cyprus, Armenia Today reports.

Omirou met officials of the European Parliament and its committee
for environment, healthcare and security of food at Nicosia, on the
eve of Cypriot chairmanship at the EU starting in June.

The speaker said that the republic cannot realize its ecological
policy when 37% of its territory is occupied by Turkey. He described
the prospects of nuclear-free Mediterranean Sea with account of the
Fukushima nuclear catastrophe of 2011.

Deputies of the European Parliament urged Cyprus to use its
chairmanship in the EU with full efficiency, adding that the state
could use experience of other members, instruments, foundations and
opportunities to increase EU expenses for ecological purposes.