Author: Kanayan Tamar

REGIONAL DIVIDE: SARGSYAN’S GEORGIA VISIT LIKELY TO HAVE FOCUSED ON ABKHAZIA RAILROAD, CUSTOMS ISSUE

ANALYSIS | 20.06.14 | 11:20

Photo:

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan meeting with Georgian Prime Minister
Irakly Garibashvili in Tbilisi, June 19, 2014

By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN ArmeniaNow correspondent

During a two-day visit to Georgia on June 18-19, Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan also addressed the issue of the re-opening of the
Abkhazian section of the railroad connecting Armenia to Russia. But
it does not appear to be a matter for serious consideration yet. This
is approximately how the Armenian leader commented on the issue,
which, according to analysts, was to have become the key one during
Sargsyan’s visiting to the neighboring country.

This means that Armenia will still remain for a long time in the
railroad blockade, which has been imposed on it not only by hostile
Turkey and Azerbaijan, but also by allied Russia. A few hours before
Sargsyan’s visit to Tbilisi the Armenian leader received head of the
Russian Railways company Vladimir Yakunin, who said that Russia does
not intend to build and finance the Iran-Armenia railroad project
because now it is implementing a major railway project with Iran
through Azerbaijan. He advised that Armenia focus on the Abkhazian
railroad.

Russia also blocks offers of Iran and Western countries on the laying
of the Iran-Armenia communications. However, judging by the reaction
of Tbilisi the Abkhaz railway also appears to have little prospects
yet. Its construction is stymied by the status of Abkhazia – Moscow
and Sukhumi are trying to force Tbilisi to recognize the independence
of Abkhazia, and Georgia stubbornly refuses to do so. However, as
Georgian media write, the question of the Abkhazian railway will
soon be brought up for discussions at the National Security Council
of Georgia, but now Tbilisi is preoccupied with solving other problems.

On June 27, Georgia, as well as Moldova and Ukraine, intend to sign an
association agreement with the European Union, while Armenia, also at
the end of the month, may sign the Treaty of Accession to the Customs
(Eurasian) Union. This will mean that the Armenian-Georgian border will
become the customs border between the EU and Russia. This circumstance
may affect both the price of Russian natural gas delivered to Armenia
and the customs duties on other goods.

Apparently, customs duties were the main topic of discussions during
Sargsyan’s meetings with Georgia’s top leadership. Armenia’s gateway
to the Customs Union and Russia lies only through Georgia, and if
Tbilisi does not agree to duty-free or other regimes, the meaning of
Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union is lost.

In the official reports on the meetings of the Armenian president
in Georgia there is no word on the likely arrangements regarding the
railway or duty-free trade. Georgia has no motive to agree, moreover,
becoming part of the European Economic Area, Georgia will be carrying
out European policies. And now these policies are aimed at isolating
Russia and blocking its communications.

The issue of the opening of the railway through Abkhazia became topical
after an unexpected change of power in this breakaway republic earlier
this month. The new government in Sukhumi officially declared its
intention to become associated with the emerging Eurasian Economic
Union. However, Georgia has not shown any ‘enthusiasm’ over this
matter, and the Abkhazian railroad section continues to remain closed
in a region that has already been divided into “Russian and European”
parts. And Armenia remains in a state of an increasingly deepening
isolation.

WWF ARMENIA AND BOTANICS INSTITUTE LAUNCH NURSERY WORTH 20,000 EUROS

YEREVAN, June 20. /ARKA/. Under a WWF Switzerland program, WWF Armenia
and the Institute of Botanics of Armenia’s academy of sciences opened
a nursery worth approximately 20,000 euros, coordinator of WWF Armenia
forest programs Artur Alaverdyan said.

Twenty-two tree species will be presented in the new nursery, eight
of them valuable and extinct. Later on they will be replanted in
various regions across Armenia, Alaverdyan said at the official
opening ceremony.

The nursery with about 200,000 trees is a part of the program of
forestation in northern regions of Armenia aimed at restoring 70
hectares of forests and creating an extra earning for local population.

Director of the World Wildlife Fund Armenia Karen Manvelyan said one of
the main achievements in the last 12 years is that 35,500 hectares of
preserves in Armenia (Khosrov Forest and Shikahogh) are now technically
equipped and new preserves (Zangezur and Khustup) and national parks
(Arevik, Arpi Lake) are created on a total of 91,700 hectares.

The most important achievement is that preserve and national park
area is now 13.1% of Armenia’s territory, Manvelyan said.

The program is implemented supported by Armenia’s ministry of
environment, international organizations and NGOs

Another successful project is forestation of 850 hectares in Lori and
Tavush regions. Programs to develop local communities, protect and
use resources in a correct way, were carried out in 25 communities
in Siunik, Vayots Dzor, Lori, Tavush and Shirak, Manvelyan said.

WWF-Armenia opened in 2006. Its main activities include preserving
biodiversity, ensuring sustainable use of natural resources and
increasing public awareness. -0–

– See more at:

THE HILL BLOGGER REACTS NEGATIVELY TO CA ASSEMBLY DECISION ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Trend Daily News (Azerbaijan)
June 17, 2014 Tuesday 6:46 PM GMT +4

Baku, Azerbaijan, June 17
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:

The California Assembly recently voted to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh
(a region that is internationally recognized as part and parcel of
Azerbaijan) as an independent nation, Mallory Moss blogged on The
Hill website.

“I can explain this in only one of two ways: the Assembly members
were swayed to vote for this by the Armenian community, or they simply
didn’t know any better,” she wrote.

“Wake up, ladies and gentlemen. Would you vote to create a Boko Haram
[a terrorist group] independent nation ensconced within Nigeria? I
think not,” Moss stressed.

“I have also seen the passion in which the Azerbaijani citizens
continue to fight the international community for not only remembrance
but recognition that the genocidal acts in Khojaly during the
Nagorno-Karabakh war even happened,” she added.

On February 25-26, 1992 Armenian occupation forces together with
the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops stationed in Khankendi
committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani
town of Khojaly.

Some 613 people were killed, including 63 children, 106 women and 70
old people. Some 487 civilians were disabled during the genocide.

Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent
and 25 children lost both.

Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostages, while the fate of
150 people remains unknown.

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

The two countries signed a ceasefire 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.

UNIVERSAL PERIORDIC REVIEW: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH SUBMISSION ON ARMENIA

Human Rights Watch
June 18 2014

June 17, 2014

Summary

Armenia’s human rights record has remained problematic since its UPR
in 2010, leaving many of the accepted recommendations unfulfilled,
casting some doubts on the government’s willingness to abide
by its commitments. Although the 2012 and 2013 parliamentary and
presidential elections were generally better administered than past
votes, they were marred by reports of voter harassment, vote-buying,
misuse of administrative resources to favor incumbents, and police
unresponsiveness to citizens’ complaints. Ill-treatment in police
custody persists. The authorities do not adequately investigate a
troubling number of noncombat deaths in the military. There have been
no effective investigations into violent attacks against peaceful
protesters by unidentified assailants. Broadcast media continues
to lack pluralism, and instances of violence and harassment against
journalists and media workers continue to occur with impunity.

Violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender
identity by both state and non-state actors are serious problems.

Bureaucratic restrictions prevent people with terminal illnesses from
accessing adequate pain medications in violation of their human rights.

Elections

During the previous UPR in 2010, Armenia accepted to “implement
recommendations issued by the Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights of OSCE” to improve the conduct of future elections.

Despite some reforms to the electoral code, 2012 parliamentary and
2013 presidential elections fell short of OSCE standards.

According to the OSCE’s election monitoring report, the May 6, 2012
parliamentary election, although competitive and largely peaceful, was
marred by “an unequal playing field” due to misuse of administrative
resources, and party representatives and local authorities pressuring
voters, interfering in voting, and hindering the work of journalists.

Several violent incidents occurred during the campaign period in
the capital Yerevan, including assaults on opposition party Armenian
National Congress (ANC) candidates and members. The ANC members were
distributing campaign information at the time of the attack. Police
failed to effectively investigate.

The OSCE also concluded that the February 2013 presidential election
“was generally well-administered” but noted “some serious violations”
of OSCE and Council of Europe standards. The observers also noted
other breaches, including public administration bias in favor of
incumbents, misuse of administrative resources, and undue interference
by the incumbent’s proxies. Local observers reported the presence of
unauthorized persons at polling stations, numerous attempts to pressure
observers and journalists by political parties and election commission
members, and widespread ballot stuffing for the incumbent candidate.

Freedom of Assembly and Association

Armenia accepted several recommendations related to freedom of assembly
and association, and in a positive move the government lifted the
blanket ban on public rallies at Yerevan’s Freedom Square.

However, in several instances police used violence against people
who had participated in peaceful protests. Authorities also failed to
effectively investigate a spate of attacks against peaceful protesters
by unidentified assailants.

For example, in August 2013, police used force to disperse a crowd
of local residents and civic activists in central Yerevan, who were
protesting against the construction of a high-rise apartment building
in the city center. Police briefly detained some 26 protesters and beat
at least one as he was transported to a police station; he required
brief hospitalization. In October 2013, the Armenian ombudsman’s
office also found that the police had used disproportionate force
but the authorities failed to take effective measures to investigate.

September 2013 saw a spate of attacks against peaceful protesters
in Yerevan, apparently intended to discourage participation in two
peaceful protests. On September 5, about six unidentified assailants
attacked Haykak Arshamyan and Suren Saghatelyan, well-known civil
society activists, as they returned from a peaceful demonstration
in front of the Republican Party headquarters where they were
protesting President Sargsyan’s announcement that Armenia would
join the Russia-led Eurasian Customs Union. Saghatelyan suffered a
broken nose, requiring surgery and hospitalization, and Arshamyan was
treated for multiple bruises. On September 4, about 10 unidentified
assailants attacked activist Arman Alexanyan after he left a sit-in
at the municipal building to protest a temporary price increase in
municipal transport fares. He was hospitalized briefly for bruises
and head trauma. On August 25, about six unidentified assailants
attacked two activists, Babken Der Grigoryan and Mihran Margaryan,
shortly after they left the municipal building protest. Police failed
to conduct effective investigations.

In 2012 and 2013, the Women’s Resource Center, a nongovernmental
women’s rights organization working in the areas of reproductive
health and rights of victims of sexual violence, has faced an
increasing number of threats by nationalist groups, including Facebook
comments by users who threatened to blow it up and slit the throats
of its activists. While these threats have been reported to the
police,authorities had yet to investigate at time of writing.

Freedom of Expression

Armenia accepted a number of recommendations to ensure full respect
for the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including by
“ensuring that no persons are deprived of their liberty solely
for having exercised their freedom of expression, their right to
peaceful assembly or their right to take part in the Government of
their country” and “issuing broadcasting licences and guaranteeing

the independence of broadcasting regulatory bodies.” However
problems remain. Armenia has diverse print and online media, but
broadcast media lacks pluralism; for example, only 1 of Armenia’s
13 television stations carries live political talk shows. Despite a
2008 European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment that Armenia had
violated freedom of expression by repeatedly and arbitrarily denying
the station a license to the independent television station A1+,
it still remains off air.

On May 22, 2014 Armenia’s prosecutor’s office made a broad statement
threatening to prosecute media outlets and journalists that report
details of ongoing criminal investigations, citing a criminal code
article, which makes publication of such information a crime punishable
by heavy fines or a one-month arrest. The statement raised concern
among many media outlets, which feared the authorities would use
the criminal code arbitrarily to silence journalists exposing their
failures and corruption in the system.

Following the 2013 presidential elections, OSCE observers noted the
media’s “selective approach” to covering post-presidential election
developments, notably limiting views critical of the conduct of the
election. Also, a June 2012 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe (PACE) report on media freedom in Europe found Armenian
journalists’ capacity to report was “hampered by pressures of
self-censorship” and expressed concern about television stations’
use of material from political advertisements in news coverage.

The Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression, a local media
monitoring group, reported six instances of physical violence against
journalists during the first half of 2013. In one case, several young
men forcibly prevented Artak Hambardzumyan, of the group Journalists
for Human Rights, from documenting alleged ballot box stuffing
in Artashat during the presidential election. The committee had
documented 34 instances of pressure on media outlets and journalists
in the first half of 2013.

At least two journalists suffered attacks while covering the May
2012 parliamentary elections. In Yerevan, a man punched Elina
Chilingaryan as she filmed a bus arriving at a polling station,
knocking her camera to the ground. Police brought charges against the
assailant for interfering with the professional duties of a journalist,
but later dropped the charges, claiming that Chilingaryan was not
performing her professional duties at the time of the attack since
she was not wearing her press badge. The authorities did not bring
separate assault charges.

Torture and Ill-treatment in Custody

Armenia accepted a number of recommendations related to the fight
against torture and ill-treatment, including to “ensure that all
allegations of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment are
investigated promptly and that perpetrators are brought to justice.”

However, according to local human rights defenders, torture and
ill-treatment in police custody persist, and the definition of torture
in Armenian law does not meet international standards, as it does
not include crimes committed by public officials. Authorities often
refuse to investigate allegations of ill-treatment or pressure victims
to retract complaints. Police use torture to coerce confessions and
incriminating statements from suspects and witnesses.

For example, Artur Karapetyan, detained in October 2012 on charges
of illegal drug distribution, complained of police abuse in custody.

According to his lawyer, Karapetyan showed him wounds on his feet that
he said were from a beating. Karapetyan was subsequently released,
in December 2012, and the charges against him were dropped in April
2013, but police failed to conduct an effective investigation into
his ill-treatment allegations.

In November 2012, Mger Andreasyan testified in a local court that
Yerevan police officers severely beat him after his arrest on robbery
charges. Andreasyan stated that, unable to bear sustained beatings,
he attempted suicide by using his head to break a window in the
investigator’s office and trying to jump out, but police prevented
him. Although a Yerevan court dropped escape charges against Andreasyan
in March 2013, there was no investigation into his ill-treatment
allegations.

An October 2012 report of the European Committee for the Prevention
of Torture (CPT) on its follow-up visit in December 2011 noted
overcrowding, unhygienic conditions, and inadequate medical care in
two prison facilities. CPT also noted that it received no new cases
of ill-treatment from these facilities in 2012.

Army Abuses

Violence, noncombat deaths, and ineffective investigations into these
issues remain persistent problems in Armenia. In 2013, the Helsinki
Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor office had reported 29 noncombat army
deaths, including 7 suicides. The authorities fail to investigate
adequately and expose the circumstances of noncombat deaths and to
account for evidence of violence in cases where the death is ruled
a suicide.

In June 2013, in a positive move, parliament amended the law on
alternative military service to remove military supervision from
alternative labor service and reduce it from 42 to 36 months. However,
local activists voiced concerns about the amendments, including the
Defense Ministry’s continued decisive role in application decisions,
vague eligibility requirements, and length of service, which would
still be longer than regular military service. By the end of 2013,
33 Jehovah’s Witnesses who had been convicted and held for refusing
to perform alternative service were released but were still required
to perform alternative service.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights activists in
Armenia have expressed concern for the alarming level of homophobia
in the country. According to PINK Armenia, a local rights group,
transgender women who engage in sex work are frequently assaulted and
receive no police protection when they report abuse. PINK Armenia
also reported that the LGBT population continues to experience
discrimination in employment, obstacles to accessing health care,
and physical and psychological abuse in the army, in public, and from
their families.

According to an August 2013 Amnesty International report, government
officials frequently condone violent attacks against LGBT people,
characterizing the violence as an expression of “traditional values.”

In July 2013, the Armenian police proposed to amend the code of
administrative offenses to establish a fine of up to US$4,000 for
promoting “nontraditional sexual relationships.” The proposal was
subsequently withdrawn.

Also in July 2013, a Yerevan court convicted two people for damage to
property stemming from a bomb attack in May 2012 against DIY, a bar
frequented by LGBT and women’s rights activists. The two perpetrators
wrote graffiti ???where???, which indicated that GBT people were
the intended targets of the attack. One attacker was sentenced to 19
months in prison and the other received a two-year suspended sentence.

They were both amnestied in October. Local human rights groups
expressed frustration that the sentence was too lenient.

Palliative Care

In 2010 Armenia also accepted several recommendations on enhancing
and expanding access to and the affordability of health-care services.

Human Rights Watch research documented Armenia’s complicated and
time-consuming prescription and procurement procedures for opioid
medications obstructing the delivery of adequate palliative care,
condemning most terminally ill patients to unnecessary suffering.

Although morphine is a safe, effective, and inexpensive way to improve
the lives of terminally ill people, Armenia’s current consumption
levels of morphine and alternative strong opioid medicines are
insufficient to provide care to all terminally ill cancer patients,
leaving many without adequate pain relief during the last stages of
their illness.

Recommendations

Ensure full implementation of all OSCE/ODIHR election monitoring
report recommendations:

Implement effective measures to eradicate any improper use of
administrative resources in future elections; Ensure an equal playing
field for all contestants, the free expression of the will of the
voters, and the integrity of electoral process.

Ensure that there are no impediments to freedom of assembly and
association:

Promptly, thoroughly and effectively investigate all incidents of use
of force by law enforcement officers, and attacks against peaceful
protesters by unidentified assailants.

Promptly and effectively investigate the threats against the Women’s
Resource Center and ensure the safety of its staff.

Ensure freedom of expression and media pluralism:

Review the licensing process to allow greater media diversity; Fully
implement the European Court decision on A1+ television station and
allow it back on air; Ensure thorough and effective investigations
into attacks and threats against journalists; such investigations
should be capable of identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators.

Thoroughly investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment
of detainees and hold perpetrators accountable:

Make a statement at the highest level condemning torture and
ill-treatment; Ensure that the definition of torture in domestic
legislation is fully in line with international standards.

Promptly, thoroughly, effectively, and transparently investigate all
cases of noncombat deaths and ill-treatment in the army, and hold
perpetrators accountable:

Ensure that conscientious objectors are provided with a genuine
alternative to military service, which is not discriminatory.

Uphold the government’s international obligations on non-discrimination
on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, whether in a
public or private sectors:

Thoroughly and effectively investigate all attacks and threats against
individuals on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Take immediate steps to ensure an effective supply and distribution
system of strong pain medications:

Reform excessively onerous drug control regulations that interfere
with opioids availability.

A DIFFERENT NARRATIVE FOR THE ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI CONFLICT

The Christian Science Monitor
June 18, 2014 Wednesday

We take issue with Svante E. Cornell’s characterization of the
Nagorno-Karabakh (Artaskh in Armenian) conflict in his June 10 op-ed
“Why America must step up its role in resolving Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict.”

by Vilen Khlgatyan Op-ed contributor, Armen Sahakyan Op-ed contributor

With the recent developments happening in and around Ukraine, Svante
E. Cornell’s June 10 op-ed “Why America must step up its role in
resolving Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict” attempts to compare the
Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh in Armenian) conflict with Crimea. This
attempted comparison disregards important historical, geographic,
legal, and political differences that exist between the two conflicts.

The Artsakh conflict has deep historical and legal roots with various
junctures along the way. The most recent phase of the conflict began in
February of 1988, when the citizens of the Armenian Soviet Socialist
Republic and Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) began peaceful
demonstrations to once again petition the Soviet authorities in Moscow
for re-unification of NKAO with the Armenian SSR. Tensions rose rapidly
after the anti-Armenian pogroms in the Azerbaijani cities of Baku
(the capital), Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Maragha, among others.

Tensions spilled eventually turned into a full-scale war that lasted
until 1994.

Shortly after the Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement (signed by the
representatives of Azerbaijan, Artsakh, and Armenia) came into force
in 1994, the OSCE Minsk Group began its operations with the task of
mediating the conflict. France, Russia, and the United States are the
co-chairs of the Minsk Group and work hand-in-hand attempting to help
the parties to the conflict reach a lasting peace agreement.

Moscow’s role (both under the USSR and the Russian Federation) in the
Artsakh conflict mediation is usually overemphasized. At the same
time, the genuine desire of the people of Artsakh Republic to live
in a state and society of their own choosing is often disregarded.

Although Russia has been active in the Artsakh peace process, their
motivation is not nearly as nefarious as Dr. Cornell claims.

During the Artsakh-Azerbaijan war, Baku recruited Afghan mujahideen and
Chechen insurgents to fight on its side, many of whom would end up in
Russia’s North Caucasus region in pursuit of jihad, thus presenting
a direct national security threat to Russia. Given its geographic
proximity and Russia’s own problems in its North Caucasus region,
Moscow could not and cannot disregard the Artsakh peace process.

The US has also been active in the mediation process of the Artsakh
conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship,
which is the only agreed upon international format for the peace
talks. One notable example was the US-organized talks in Key West
in the summer of 2001, which was the closest the parties had ever
come to reaching a peace deal since the ceasefire agreement seven
years earlier.

A number of targeted public relations stunts have attempted to present
Azerbaijan as a model partner for the West. However, Azerbaijan’s
allegiance to the Western international order is dubious, especially
when it comes to democratic norms, rule of law, and respect for human
rights. In recent times, experienced analysts of the South Caucasus
and government officials, such as Richard Kauzlarich, Thomas De Waal,
Eric Rubin, and others have criticized Azerbaijan’s faulty human
rights track record, its attempt to lead on both the West and Russia,
and its waning importance as a US ally.

Recent examples of Baku’s crackdown on critics both foreign and
domestic include: criticism of the US ambassador to Baku, Richard
Morningstar; criticism of OSCE Minsk Group US co-chairman James
Warlick; and government jailings of and crackdowns on representatives
of the National Democratic Institute, Radio Free Europe, and other
organizations operating in Azerbaijan, etc.

Human Right Watch periodically reports on egregious arrests of bloggers
and journalists, including the recent airport detainment of prominent
human rights defender Leyla Yunus and her husband. Another example
is the extradition of Rauf Mirkadirov, a Turkey-based Azerbaijani
journalist, who, due to his critical stance against the Baku regime,
is now potentially facing a life-imprisonment based on questionable
espionage charges.

Another factor that presents a challenge to the premise that Azerbaijan
is a reliable Western ally is its recent major arms acquisitions from
Russia, valued at $4 billion. Moreover, the geopolitical significance
of the country is blown out of proportion.

For instance its gas supplies to Europe are negligible in the larger
picture (only 2 percent of EU demand) and could not replace Russia’s
volumes. And within the context of improving relations between the
West and Iran, Azerbaijan’s role will likely shrink further. The
US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the recent shale gas revolution,
and the general pivot to Asia add additional reasons why the South
Caucasus will lose its strategic significance for the US and the West
in general.

A related aspect of Azerbaijan’s PR campaign has been to conflate the
Artsakh conflict with the separate issue of Armenia-Turkey bilateral
relations. This is yet another attempt at misdirection that some
observers have tried to make. Turkey and Azerbaijan are separate
states, with different ethnic identities, divergent strains of Islam,
and do not have identical national interests. It took Azerbaijani
threats of raising the price of natural gas it supplies to Turkey
as well as a fierce public diplomacy campaign to rally support among
Turks for their “little brother” Azerbaijan in order to place Turkey’s
peace protocols with Armenia in limbo.

Several events, including the pardon and promotion of the axe-murderer
Ramil Safarov, the destruction of Armenian cultural sites in
Azerbaijan, the declaration by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev
that “Armenians of the world” are the number one enemy of Azerbaijan,
the regular cross border sniper shootings on civilian populations,
and many other incidents are not properly condemned by the US and
other OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states.

Convincing Baku to remove the snipers from the line of contact (to
which they do not agree) and to establish an international monitoring
system for ceasefire violations (both of which Armenia and Artsakh have
repeatedly agreed to) would be a positive step forward, and the US can
spearhead those initiatives within the Minsk Group co-chairmanship
framework. Reinstatement of the Artsakh Republic representation at
the negotiations table is also imperative, as no durable peace is
possible without the involvement of the people affected the most.

The US needs to play an active role in the mediation process, together
with the other co-chair countries. But a final agreement to end
the Artsakh conflict cannot be imposed from the outside and needs
to be reached by the three parties themselves exclusively through
peaceful means.

Vilen Khlgatyan is vice-chairman of Political Developments Research
Center (PDRC), a virtual think tank based in Yerevan, Armenia.

Armen Sahakyan is executive director of the Eurasian Research and
Analysis (ERA) Institute (Washington, D.C. branch) and an analyst
of Eurasian Affairs at PDRC. He previously served as an adviser to
the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the UN in
New York.

THERE IS NO AL-SHAM

Foreign Policy Magazine
June 18 2014

Militants in Iraq and Syria are trying to re-create a nation that
never existed.

BY Nick Danforth, a doctoral candidate in Turkish history at Georgetown
University. He writes about Middle Eastern history, politics, and
maps at midafternoonmap.com.

Over the past few years, as Syria has dissolved into warring fiefdoms
and Iraq has struggled to emerge from its disastrous civil war,
American commentators have listed the many failings of the Sykes-Picot
Agreement, upon which the Middle East’s state system was based. The
1916 arrangement divided the Ottoman Empire’s dominions in the
Arab world into British and French “zones of influence,” laying the
foundation for the region’s modern borders. The intense criticism of
Sykes-Picot has provoked a backlash of sorts, as some analysts have
suggested that piling blame on the agreement has distracted from what
has really ailed the Middle East in the post-colonial period.

After capturing Mosul, Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham
(ISIS) announced “the beginning of the end of the Sykes Picot
agreement,” as the Guardian put it. The arrival of better-armed critics
of the agreement seemed to herald a fundamental transformation of
the Middle East’s borders — but behind ISIS’s recent success lie a
number of ironies inherent in both the group’s rhetoric and our own
assumptions about the Middle East.

For all the imagination with which we’ve mentally remapped the region,
we remain strangely wedded to the notion that political upheaval
could reveal a new, more authentic set of Middle Eastern borders —
based on ethnic and sectarian divisions, perhaps, or the re-emergence
of some pre-imperialist geography. But recent developments suggest
that if things do change dramatically, force and chance will play
a greater role in determining what happens next than demography,
geography, or history.

Consider the moniker “Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.” Both Iraq
and al-Sham are place names with their own historical and political
cachet, but it’s telling that ISIS’s leadership couldn’t come up with
a single geographical term to describe its current area of operations.

Al-Sham — which has sometimes been translated as Syria, though
perhaps “Greater Syria” or “the Levant” gives a clearer sense of the
geography — was most recently the name of an Ottoman province based
in Damascus. Iraq, by contrast, was a geographical term that came
into its own with the arrival of the British in the 1920s.

Operating on the sound logic of opportunism, ISIS is claiming to
unite two regions that even the first opponents of the European
mandate system were content to treat as separate.

Operating on the sound logic of opportunism, ISIS is claiming to
unite two regions that even the first opponents of the European
mandate system were content to treat as separate. In the immediate
aftermath of World War I, some of the earliest Arab nationalists came
together in defense of a state covering the entire Levant. When Faisal,
champion of the Arab revolt and later king of Iraq, proclaimed in
1920 a short-lived Arab Kingdom based in Damascus, he imagined its
territory stretching from the Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey to
the Sinai Peninsula, but not east into Iraq.

The fate of subsequent plans to bring together Iraq and Syria is also
telling. After World War II, the Hashemite rulers of Jordan and Iraq
expressed interest in various schemes for uniting the region. Syria’s
leaders, unsurprisingly, thought that they would lose out in this
arrangement, which came to naught anyway when Iraq’s army ousted its
Hashemite king, alleging among other things that he was a British
puppet.

Subsequently, the rise of secular-socialist Baath parties in both
Iraq and Syria seemed to offer grounds for unification — but power
politics and the intricacies of Baathist ideology almost immediately
created a newfound hostility between Damascus and Baghdad.

Syria’s attempt to unite with Egypt under the banner of Arab
nationalism was no more successful.

ISIS, which now finds itself allied with Sunni Baathists in Iraq while
fighting to the death against Alawite Baathists in Syria, is no more
likely to triumph over regional particularism than the regimes that
came before it. Instead, the most enduring link between Iraq and Syria
today might be the millions of refugees who, over the past decade, have
crossed and recrossed the border fleeing violence in both directions.

Dreams of transnational unification aside, one of the most striking
historical precedents for the area ISIS controlled before last week
was the far older division between the settled and nomadic parts of
the Middle East. A fascinating Ottoman map from World War I describes
as “Syrian” the inhabitants of the western agricultural region that
includes all of Syria’s major cities, while those living farther east
in the desert are “Arabs.” British geography texts from the same period
show the same division, in this case between settled “Ottomans” and
wandering Arabs who lived in the empty space between Iraq and Syria.

As a result, the territory separating Iraq and Syria was never of
much importance to the creators of the Sykes-Picot system. At its
southern end, this border crosses a stretch of desert that Ottoman and
Western cartographers often left blank. The relatively more populous
stretch of the border that ISIS’s new pseudo-state straddles made up
the Ottoman province of Deir ez-Zor, best known today as the place
Ottoman Armenians were sent to die of thirst in 1915.

Subsequently, when the British and French carved up the region,
it was at least a decade before they bothered to properly demarcate
this border. The matter was seemingly of so little consequence that
the European powers left it up to a League of Nations commission. The
result, complete with thalwegs, trigonometric points, and boundary
stones, must have seemed particularly arbitrary to the tribes whose
territory spread across it — but it also might not have mattered
that much. Throughout the colonial period, the tribes’ transborder
grazing and watering practices continued unchanged.

In short, ISIS has so far succeeded not by remaking the state system
but by operating, like many guerrilla groups before it, from the
ungoverned areas between existing states.

In short, ISIS has so far succeeded not by remaking the state system
but by operating, like many guerrilla groups before it, from the
ungoverned areas between existing states.

The backlash provoked by ISIS’s brutal tactics and rapid success also
reveals the limits of conceiving of the Middle East along ethnic and
sectarian lines. The group’s religious extremism has alienated even
its most radical Sunni allies in the fight against Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad and has driven half a million Iraqis out of Mosul.

Syrians and Iraqis alike have deployed the language of nationalism
to denounce ISIS fighters as foreign interlopers in their territory,
while Iraqi Shiites are now all the more likely to see Iranian troops
on their soil as coreligionists instead of Persian invaders.

Indeed, ISIS has inspired an unprecedented degree of consensus between
Turks, Kurds, Iraqis, and Iranians on the need to defeat the jihadi
group. With ISIS taking 49 people hostage after overrunning Turkey’s
consulate in Mosul, Turkish commentators reminded readers that their
prime minister’s piety would not keep Turkey on the group’s good side.

Violent chaos on Turkey’s southern border has also been an added factor
behind the Turkish government’s ongoing effort to make peace with the
country’s Kurdish minority. Although agonizingly slow and beset with
false steps, this initiative has nonetheless brought Turkey closer
than ever before to ending decades of internal violence and securing
its territorial integrity.

At the same time, ISIS’s rise has strengthened the hand of Iraq’s
Kurds. The Kurdish Peshmerga has taken control of Kirkuk, but rather
than trigger a civil war with Iraq’s central government — as it
likely would have in the past — Baghdad remains at least temporarily
dependent on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s cooperation. Of
all the region’s actors, the KRG now stands perhaps the best chance
of having its independence recognized.

Yes, this is a tribute to the power of Kurdish nationalism in
overcoming intra-Kurdish political differences. But it’s also a tribute
to the KRG’s pragmatism. For over a decade, it has built a functioning
state by, among other things, cooperating with Turkey instead of making
any effort to liberate what, in the Kurdish post-Sykes-Picot fantasy,
would be Northern Kurdistan.

The KRG’s coming challenges, however, offer one more testament to
why redrawing borders along ethnic lines remains an ugly, impractical
business. If Kurdish forces hope to maintain a firm hold on Kirkuk,
they will have to show they can provide security for all the city’s
inhabitants — not just ethnic Kurds. Once again, the prevailing
approach to drawing the borders of modern states — basing them on
ethnic identity or historical claims – will be shown to make little
sense. It’s an old story: Try to figure out how to adjudicate between
proponents of Kurdistan and Greater Armenia, say, with reference to
these maximalist maps of Armenian- and Kurdish-inhabited territory
in Anatolia. (Too easy? Try it with Assyrian claims as well.)

Of course, the alternative of simply deferring to precedent and
affirming existing borders is often just as illogical. There are plenty
of excellent reasons for defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity
against Russian aggression — but it’s still awkward that the country
took on its present shape when Joseph Stalin gave it a large chunk of
what was once Poland. Or consider Saddam Hussein’s selectivity when he
justified his invasion of Kuwait by accusing the British of stealing it
from Iraq — without ever thanking them for putting together the rest
of his country. More recently, efforts to determine the exact frontier
between Sudan and South Sudan stumbled when, after searching libraries
in Khartoum, Cairo, and London, no one could find any maps showing
in detail the provincial borders that the British drew a century ago.

Ironically, the most successful effort yet at eliminating outdated
borders drawn by 19th-century Europeans remains the European Union.

And that consensus only emerged from the belated realization that
a century of fighting over the continent’s true borders hadn’t done
anyone any good.

Sadly, the EU’s gilded dysfunction remains more than the Middle East
can hope for in the near future. But the EU’s fundamental insight
remains sound: If we are going to discuss the end of Sykes-Picot,
let’s first recognize that — no matter how little sense those borders
make — none of the alternatives are intrinsically more sensible.

GEORGIAN, ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS AGREE TO STEP UP TRADE, ECONOMIC COOPERATION

ITAR-TASS, Russia
June 18, 2014 Wednesday 07:29 PM GMT+4

TBILISI June 18

– Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili and his Armenian counterpart
Serzh Sargsyan have agreed to step up the work of the intergovernmental
commission on trade and economic cooperation.

The presidents of both countries “called for using the potential
of trade and economic cooperation”, Sargsyan told a news briefing
on Wednesday.

“Armenia and Georgia develop active cooperation in transport, energy,
tourism, agriculture and other fields,” he said.

“We believe that there is the potential for using the existing
possibilities in the sphere,” Sargsyan said.

As part of the two-day visit to Tbilisi Sargsyan met with Georgian
parliament speaker David Usupashvili. He will confer with Georgian
Prime Minister Irakly Garibashvili on Thursday, June 19.

Armenia attaches much importance to strengthening good-neighbourly
relations with Georgia.

Armenia has no common border with Russia and it has no access to the
sea. Russia and other countries supply grain, petroleum and other
cargoes to Georgia’s Black Sea ports of Poti and Batumi. Then cargoes
are delivered to Armenia by railways or by motor transport via Georgia.

Tourism is the major sphere of cooperation between Armenia and
Georgia. Georgia’s geographical location and accessible prices attract
Armenian citizens for holidaying on the Black Sea coast. Over 1.2
million Armenian citizens visited Georgia in 2013.

CALIFORNIA: AB-1915 PUPIL INSTRUCTION: SOCIAL SCIENCES: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.

US Official News
June 18, 2014 Wednesday

Sacramento

Office of the Senate, The State of California has issued the following
news release:

AB 1915, as amended, Nazarian. Pupil instruction: social sciences:
Armenian Genocide.

Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12,
inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including
social sciences. Existing law requires the instruction in social
studies to provide instruction in, among other things, human rights
issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of
genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust.

This bill would enact the Armenian Genocide Education Act and would
require the instruction in human rights issues to also include
particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of the Armenian
Genocide, as defined. To the extent this bill would increase the
level of service required to be provided by school districts, the
bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to incorporate
materials relating to civil rights, human rights violations, genocide,
slavery, and the Holocaust into publications that provide examples
of curriculum resources, consistent with the subject frameworks on
history and social science and other requirements. Under existing law,
the Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer,
liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching of human rights,
genocide, and the Holocaust. Existing law establishes the Instructional
Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things,
recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education.

This bill would also encourage the department to incorporate materials
related to the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides into
those publications, and would require the commission to consider the
Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides for inclusion in the
history-social science curriculum framework when the history-social
science curriculum framework is revised as required by law. The bill
would also specify that the Legislature encourages the incorporation of
survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching
of human rights, the Holocaust, and genocide, including the Armenian,
Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.

Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory
provisions.

Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES
Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California
do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Armenian Genocide
Education Act.

SEC. 2.

Section 51220 of the Education Code is amended to read:

51220.

The adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive,
shall offer courses in the following areas of study: (a) English,
including knowledge of and appreciation for literature, language,
and composition, and the skills of reading, listening, and speaking.

(b) Social sciences, drawing upon the disciplines of anthropology,
economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, and
sociology, designed to fit the maturity of the pupils. Instruction
shall provide a foundation for understanding the history, resources,
development, and government of California and the United States of
America; instruction in our American legal system, the operation of
the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems, and the rights and
duties of citizens under the criminal and civil law and the State and
Federal Constitutions; the development of the American economic system,
including the role of the entrepreneur and labor; the relations of
persons to their human and natural environment; eastern and western
cultures and civilizations; human rights issues, with particular
attention to the study of the inhumanity of genocide, slavery, the
Armenian Genocide, and the Holocaust, and contemporary issues.

(c) Foreign language or languages, beginning not later than grade 7,
designed to develop a facility for understanding, speaking, reading,
and writing the particular language.

(d) Physical education, with emphasis given to physical activities
that are conducive to health and to vigor of body and mind, as required
by Section 51222.

(e) Science, including the physical and biological aspects, with
emphasis on basic concepts, theories, and processes of scientific
investigation and on the place of humans in ecological systems, and
with appropriate applications of the interrelation and interdependence
of the sciences.

(f) Mathematics, including instruction designed to develop mathematical
understandings, operational skills, and insight into problem-solving
procedures.

(g) Visual and performing arts, including dance, music, theater, and
visual arts, with emphasis upon development of aesthetic appreciation
and the skills of creative expression.

(h) Applied arts, including instruction in the areas of consumer and
homemaking education, industrial arts, general business education,
or general agriculture.

(i) Career technical education designed and conducted for the purpose
of preparing youth for gainful employment in the occupations and in
the numbers that are appropriate to the personnel needs of the state
and the community served and relevant to the career desires and needs
of the pupils.

(j) Automobile driver education, designed to develop a knowledge
of the provisions of the Vehicle Code and other laws of this state
relating to the operation of motor vehicles, a proper acceptance
of personal responsibility in traffic, a true appreciation of the
causes, seriousness, and consequences of traffic accidents, and to
develop the knowledge and attitudes necessary for the safe operation
of motor vehicles. A course in automobile driver education shall
include education in the safe operation of motorcycles.

(k) Other studies as may be prescribed by the governing board.

SEC. 3.

Section 51226.3 of the Education Code is amended to read:

51226.3.

(a) (1) The department shall incorporate into publications that
provide examples of curriculum resources for teacher use those
materials developed by publishers of nonfiction, trade books, and
primary sources, or other public or private organizations, that
are age-appropriate and consistent with the subject frameworks on
history and social science that deal with civil rights, human rights
violations, genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust.

(2) The Legislature encourages the department to incorporate into
publications that provide examples of curriculum resources for teacher
use those materials developed by publishers of nonfiction, trade books,
and primary sources, or other public or private organizations, that
are age-appropriate and consistent with the subject frameworks on
history and social science that deal with the Armenian, Cambodian,
Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.

(b) The Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer,
liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching of human rights, the
Holocaust, and genocide, including, but not limited to, the Armenian,
Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.

(c) The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
development activities to provide teachers with content background
and resources to assist them in teaching about civil rights, human
rights violations, genocide, slavery, the Armenian Genocide, and
the Holocaust.

(d) The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
development activities to provide teachers with content background
and resources to assist them in teaching about the Great Irish Famine
of 1845-50.

(e) The Great Irish Famine of 1845-50 shall be considered in the next
cycle in which the history-social science curriculum framework and
its accompanying instructional materials are adopted.

(f) When the history-social science curriculum framework is revised as
required by law, the Instructional Quality Commission shall consider
including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides in
the history-social science curriculum framework.

(g) The Model Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide adopted by the
state board, pursuant to Section 51226, shall be made available to
schools in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, as soon as funding is available
for this purpose. In addition, the department shall make the curriculum
available on its Internet Web site.

(h) For purposes of this article, “Armenian Genocide” means the
torture, starvation, and murder of 1,500,000 Armenians, which included
death marches into the Syrian desert, by the rulers of the Ottoman
Turkish Empire and the exile of more than 500,000 innocent people
during the period from 1915 to 1923, inclusive.

SEC. 4.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school
districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing
with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

For further information please visit:

RUSSIA ASSURES AZERBAIJAN ON EXCLUSION OF ARTSAKH IN CUSTOMS UNION

Wednesday, June 18th, 2014

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov (left) and Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference in Baku

BAKU–Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is on an official visit
to Baku to discuss bilateral relations.

Lavrov met his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov on Wednesday.

Addressing a briefing held after the meeting, Lavrov said cooperation
between Azerbaijan and Russia is developing intensively not only on
a bilateral but also on a regional level.

“The talks were useful,” the Russian foreign minister said. “We
develop relationships based on friendship and mutual understanding.

During the past year, our most intense exchange of delegations has
taken place with Azerbaijan.”

Lavrov said the Russian-Azerbaijani forum will be held in the near
future with the participation of over 200 representatives of Russian
businessmen. He noted that the humanitarian forum will also be held
under the patronage of the two countries’ presidents in October, 2014.

Mammadyarov, in turn, said relations between Azerbaijan and Russia
are strategic. He also added that the trade turnover between the two
countries is increasing.

Touching upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Lavrov said the OSCE Minsk
Group is trying to promote the initiatives that have been previously
reached by the presidents of the two countries.

Lavrov also emphasized that Armenia will join the Eurasian Economic
Union according to borders recognized by the UN. Earlier, Armenian
President Serzh Sarkisian told local media that the country will
join the organization within the borders recognized by Armenia. He
made the remarks in response to recent statements by Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev.

“Integration processes are carried out on the territory of the member
countries of the Customs Union. Nagorno-Karabakh is not one of them,
but is the subject of negotiations, which are being held on the basis
of agreed principles,” the Russian minister added.

Lavrov added that Armenia has previously stated that it is involved
in the integration processes within the UN-recognized borders.

“The same thing will happen within the Eurasian process,” he said,
adding that Russia as the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group will
continue to facilitate the resolution of the conflict in a peaceful
way.

Touching upon the prospects of Azerbaijan’s accession to the Eurasian
Union, Lavrov said Azerbaijan had not received an official invitation
to join the organization. He added however that Moscow has always
been glad to see its partners showing interest in the Eurasian space.

Mammadyarov, in turn, commented on a meeting of the presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia in the near future.

“There is a proposal from French President Francois Hollande for
holding a meeting between presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. We
are now waiting for a response from France on the organization of
this meeting,” Azerbaijan’s foreign minister said.

Mammadyarov further said Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin
and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin will visit Azerbaijan
by the end of the year, adding that relations between Russia and
Azerbaijan are developing in a positive way.

“We consider Azerbaijan as a serious partner in the South Caucasus.

The country is interested in deepening bilateral relations. After
last year’s visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Azerbaijan,
the relations have expanded,” Lavrov underscored.

ACTIVISTS FROM “OUT OF OUR POCKET” CIVIC INITIATIVE DEMAND CANCELLATION OF PAID STREET PARKING SYSTEM

YEREVAN, June 18. / ARKA /. Young activists from a new civic initiative
called “Out of Our Pocket” staged a protest today in front of the
government demanding that the authorities cancel paid street parking
system in the capital city.

“We believe that paid street parking is illegal and we demand that the
government cancels it,” Artashes Misakyan, one of the young activists,
told reporters.

He downplayed a municipality decision to extend the free parking time
in Yerevan from 5 to 15 minutes, saying the system must be eliminated
altogether.

He said they demand also that the authorities cut the sizes of
fines for various traffic rules violations recorded by speed cameras
installed along the roads in the city and outside it as well as an
amnesty for all previously fined drivers. He said on June 19 the
civic initiative will reiterate its demands.

Fees from parking spaces on busy streets across the Armenian capital
are collected by Parking City Service, which together with Lokator
company won a tender announced by the municipality. Parking City
Service pledged to invest $10 million in preparing paid parking spaces
for 20,000 cars.

It is also installing surveillance cameras that are used for charging
drivers 100 drams (25 U.S. cents) per hour, 500 drams per day, 1000
drams per week, 2000 drams per month and 12,000 drams per year. Thirty
percent of the revenues go to the municipality. ($ 1 – 410.61 drams).

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