Author: Kanayan Tamar

VLADIMIR PUTIN: RUSSIA ACTIVELY CONTRIBUTES TO QUICK RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Trend, Azerbaijan
Aug 14 2013

Azerbaijan, Baku, August 14 / Trend /

Azerbaijan is rapidly and energetically changing, becomes a dynamic
country that develops at high rate, the pace of development of
Azerbaijan’s economy is one of the highest in the world, Russian
president Vladimir Putin said at a press conference in Baku.

“That is impressive. And we wish our friends success,” Russian
President said, adding that Azerbaijan is an old and traditional
reliable partner of Russia.

“We are closely cooperating in Caucasus, the Caspian region, within
the framework of the CIS and in the leading international structures.

A strong friendship tradition and mutual respect between our countries,
governments and peoples lies on the basis of such as a cooperation,”
Putin said.

According to Putin, the sides thoroughly discussed the key areas of
strategic partnership between Russia and Azerbaijan, outlined the
plans for further development of this partnership, especially in the
trade and economic spheres.

“In this regard, I can note that, despite the known decline in the
global economy, our trade relations are developing successfully.

According to various estimates, last year the growth ranged from 37 to
47 percent. To date, this is one of the obvious records in relations
between the two countries,” Putin said.

The Russian president also added that Russia traditionally holds one
of the leading places in the trade turnover with Azerbaijan, namely
the second place. The first place is held by Italy.

“But we all know that this is mainly due to the deliveries of
hydrocarbons to the Italian and European market, whereas the trade
turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia is much more balanced, as the
experts say it has a noble nature,” Putin said.

The Russian President added the trade turnover includes machines,
equipment, food, in short, all essential both for the economies of
Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation.

He also said that reaching such high rates is greatly contributed by
intense inter-regional and cross-border ties.

“It’s sufficient to say that the close relations, business relations
with Azerbaijan are supported by more than 70 regions of the Russian
Federation,” the Russian president said.

Over 500 Russian companies operate in Azerbaijan and their activities
cover a wide range of fields that are important for socio-economic
development, he said.

“This includes thermal electric complex, automotive industry, finance,
insurance activity, and healthcare. And it is well known, that this in
fact covers the household level, but indeed it is of great economic
importance,” Putin said. “Everybody knows that quite a large number
of Azerbaijani citizens work in Russia. Their number is counted by
million, and over a million. Plus, considering Azerbaijanis which
have Russian citizenship, this figure amounts to 2 million people.”

Putin went on to add that Russia and Azerbaijan are the major
international players in the energy sector.

“The mutually beneficial cooperation in this sphere is also being
carried out. Now, I will not repeat everything; the scope of works is
very large and has a tendency to expand. Now you were participating
at the signing of corresponding agreements between the Russian
state company Rosneft and Azerbaijani partners,” Putin said. “New
directions and formats of cooperation in fuel and energy complex are
being assimilated.”

“As you know today I have already mentioned, that the agreements
were signed, but they have a prospect for 15 years, maybe even for
20 years. It means that, a good foundation for cooperation for years
to come is being laid,” Putin said.

According to Russian president, humanitarian ties play a special role
in strengthening friendly and neighborly relations.

“An intergovernmental cooperation program in this sphere till 2015
was approved during this visit. We have discussed preparations for
the III Baku International Humanitarian Forum, which will take place
in Baku from October 31 to November 1. It can be said with certainty
that since 2011, in a relatively short period this forum has become
a major social event,” Vladimir Putin said.

According to him, a great attention during the negotiations was also
paid to the resolution of Caspian region’s problems.

“We are interested in this region becoming a region of peace and
cooperation. Many unsolved issues are present in this region. These
are related to the issues of security, border delimitation, as well as
to the conservation of Caspian Sea’s biological diversity and so on,”
Putin said.

He went on to add that Russia is very interested in the resolution
of all these issues, and naturally, with the consideration of the
interests of all Caspian states.

“It is characteristic that the friendly visit of a detachment of
Russia’s Caspian Flotilla to Baku is timed to our negotiations. The
detachment includes the missile ship “Dagestan” and a small artillery
ship “Volgodonsk.” The Azerbaijani sailors are planning to carry out
a return visit to Astrakhan in late 2013,” Vladimir Putin said.

According to him, during the negotiations the sides discussed topical
international issues, including the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.

“I want to underscore that Russia actively contributes to the quick
settlement of the conflict, which is possible only by political means,”
the Russian president said.

“In conclusion, I would like to note that the talks have once again
demonstrated the common attitude to strengthen all-round cooperation
between the two countries. I once again I thank all our Azerbaijani
friends and colleagues for kindness, hospitality, for business mood
in the course of our work today and for the results that have been
already achieved,” Vladimir Putin said.

ARMENIA: POINT PROTESTS

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Aug 14 2013

14 August 2013 – 3:18pm

Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan, exclusive to VK

>From August 1, according to the decision of the Board of Elders
of the previous convocation a new method of payment for parking
on the streets is adopted, where there are red markings and special
indicators. The fee per hour is AMD 100, per day – AMD 500, per week –
AMD 1000 or about three dollars, and for the year – AMD 12,000 or $30.

Free parking is permitted only for 5 minutes, otherwise AMD 5,000
will be charged.

Previously, except for some facilities, 90% of parking in Yerevan
was free. Now it is planned to create 20,000 paid parking places
to be equipped with video cameras. The tender for the organization
of parking spaces was received by Parking City Service, which will
get 70% of the total amount paid for the parking from the budget of
Yerevan. The program aims at the better organization of transport,
but such a high level of deductions in favor of Parking City Service
has caused distrust arisen in the society to the transparency of the
transaction, the mechanism of which can include payments under the
table to the city authorities.

According to some observers, if the municipality lost 70 % of its
earnings in favor of the company, someone powerful rules the Parking
City Service. The experts even mention the name of the brother of
President Serzh Sargsyan, former Member of Parliament Alexander
Sargsyan.

The reflection of lack of confidence for the next decision of the
authorities was the formation of the new civil initiative “We will
not pay for illegal parking” in social networks, the members of which
pledged to conduct consistent struggle with a new initiative of City
Hall. “The decision on paid parking is illegal and does not follow
the public interest. Public areas were provided by a private company,
which will get 70% of the profits from the parking lots. The private
company was provided a database of citizens with cars; the company
plans to carry out videorecords, to apply penalties to citizens of
Armenia, which is a flagrant violation of the Constitution and human
rights”, the statement of the initiative says.

Recently, thanks to the struggle of civil initiatives the decision of
Yerevan Municipality on a 50 per cent increase in tariffs for public
transport was temporarily suspended. The struggle of young activists
against harmful projects from an environmental point of view also
had a success.

Such civic engagement is welcome, but frequent protests, despite
some achievements, did not develop into a powerful protest movement,
although the country has the necessary socio-economic base.

In general, the processes in Armenia gained cyclic form:

– The election of a certain level based on different technologies
aimed at reproduction of the current government

– Protests from citizens about the election

– The futility of struggle and domestic political lull following this
and followed by numerous promises of the authorities on the improvement
of the socio-economic situation, which are usually not performed.

However, all that cycle has not been completed, as public discontent
does not gain an adequate form of protest, and the explosions are
localized, mainly involving the partial solution of a problem,
whether this is the consequences of the disaster, the solution of
social problems of individual groups of people and etc.

Perhaps the reason for this unfinished cycle was the frustration
of people in the absence of results of the fight. The impact on
the mood of society could be provided by the refusal of leaders of
opposition parties, “Armenian National Congress” and “Prosperous
Armenia”, respectively, Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Gagik Tsarukyan,
to participate in the presidential elections.

The second reason was the passivity of the opposition, which has no
control prescriptions characterized by a systemic structure, nor by
the organization of point actions aimed at solving any one problem.

Without this, the people themselves will seek ways out of the current
situation in the country, and one of those ways is migration.

According to the National Statistical Service, for the first 6 months
of 2013 1 million 17,000 people left Armenia, and only 922,000 people
came back. The negative balance – 123 thousand – is a 30% increase over
the same period last year. Until the end of the year the deficit will
decrease to some extent by the return of migrants who left for seasonal
work abroad. But given the above statistics, we can already say that
in 2013 the number of emigrants from Armenia will be about 80,000.

The rate of emigration is rising dramatically. According to official
figures, in the last three years, about 200,000 people left Armenia.

IN BAKU, PUTIN BRINGS GUNBOATS ALONG WITH DIPLOMACY

EurasiaNet.org
Aug 14 2013

August 14, 2013 – 6:46pm, by Joshua Kucera

Russian President Vladimir Putin led a high-powered delegation to Baku
this week, and security issues seemed to be high on the agenda, leading
to renewed speculation about whether the traditional geopolitical
allegiances in the South Caucasus may or may not be shifting.

The fact that the delegation included such a large number of
heavyweights spoke to the significance of the visit. In addition to
Putin, it included Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister
Sergey Shoigu, Energy Minister Alexander Novak and the heads of
Russia’s biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. Also along for
the visit were some ships from Russia’s Caspian Flotilla and the
fleet’s commander, Vice Admiral Sergey Alekminsky. Putin’s remarks
after his meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev focused
mainly on economics and business ties, but also touched on security:

During our talks we paid a great deal of attention to resolving
problems in the Caspian region. We are interested in seeing this region
become one in which peace and cooperation reign. There are still many
unresolved issues here, relating to security, border delimitation,
conserving biological diversity in the Caspian Sea and so on. We have
a vested interest in resolving all these problems, naturally taking
into account the interests of all littoral states.

It is symbolic that our talks coincide with a friendly visit of a
detachment of the Russian Caspian Flotilla to Baku. The Dagestan
missile ship and the Volgodonsk small artillery ship are among the
vessels. At the end of 2013 Azerbaijani sailors plan to make a return
visit to Astrakhan.

Naturally, during our talks we touched on current international issues,
including the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. I would like to emphasise that
Russia is actively facilitating the conflict’s accelerated settlement,
which is only possible through political means.

For his part, Aliyev noted that the “defense industry collaboration”
between Azerbaijan and Russia totals $4 billion and continues to grow,
though it’s not clear what that figure represents and Azerbaijan
has been known to exaggerate the scale of its military activity for
PR purposes.

But what the two men discussed when the cameras were off was the
subject of much curiosity in Moscow, Baku and of course Yerevan,
as Armenians wondered what all this meant for them. While Armenia is
a close ally of Russia, hosting a Russian military base and being a
loyal member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, there
has been some concern between the two partners, as Armenia is being
wooed by the European Union and Russia has been selling some big-ticket
military hardware to Azerbaijan, which would likely use the equipment
against Armenia.

Naturally, much speculation about the visit centered around
Azerbaijan’s upcoming presidential elections, since the main opposition
candidate, Rustam Ibraghimbekov, lives in Russia and will depend on
Russian governmental help to get his paperwork in order to run. Might
Russia be dangling Ibraghimbekov’s fate in front of Baku for some
sort of concession in foreign policy? It certainly seems possible.

While Russia billed its naval deployment to Baku as a “friendly visit,”
it’s not clear that Aliyev saw it that way. Azerbaijan is developing
its navy in large part because it fears Russia’s ability to bully
it militarily. So Azerbaijan is caught in the same dilemma as many
post-Soviet states, where military “cooperation” with Russia serves
to bind those countries’ foreign policies closer to the Kremlin’s.

Rasim Musabekov, a member of parliament and political analyst, told
reporters that one aim of Putin’s visit was to give Baku a warning not
to cooperate too closely with the U.S. Baku has become a significant
logistics center for the U.S. shipping military equipment in and out
of Afghanistan, a situation that apparently makes Russia uncomfortable,
Musabekov said:

As for the inclusion of the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu in the
delegation, according to the analyst, “there are questions in the
military sphere which should be discussed.

“This is not just military-technical cooperation. It’s very important
to discuss questions which can affect Azerbaijan. For example, the
situation in the Caspian, where military activity is increasing, there
is the context of Iran, developing events in the Middle East, plus
the most important — settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,”
Musabekov told journalists.

According to him, Russia cannot but have a certain wariness toward
Baku becoming an important logistics center, through which Afghanistan
transit is conducted. For that reason, Moscow needs a strong guarantee
that American armed forces will not appear here [in Baku] tomorrow.

As for Armenia, the consensus was that the Kremlin seemed to be giving
Yerevan a warning about its growing closeness with the European Union.

But it could also have been the same warning to Baku, for its military
cooperation with the U.S., noted Tom de Waal:

There was no mention of the Gabala radar station, which the Russians
were forced to abandon last year. The very fact of the Putin visit
meant that Russia considered that episode closed. Putin uttered
only a one-line reference to resolution of the Karabakh conflict,
which for a while was the Number One foreign policy initiative of
his predecessor, Dmitry Medvedev-making it obvious once again that
this is an issue that does not especially interest him….

A few other important words did not get uttered in the meetings.

One was “America.” The very fact of a Russian head of state arriving
in Baku with half a dozen ministers in tow reminded the Azerbaijanis
where they should put their priorities. A second was “Armenia.” One
reason for the visit, with all its talk of Azerbaijani-Russian
military cooperation, was to make the Armenians nervous and think more
seriously about joining Putin’s Customs Union. (One prominent face
in the Russian delegation was the head of Russia’s defense export
company Rosoboronexport, Anatoly Isaykin. Aliev said publicly that
military cooperation with Russia is worth four billion dollars.)

So to sum up, it’s hard to know what to make of all this. It remains
unclear whether we are seeing a tectonic shift underway in the
geopolitics of the South Caucasus, or (excuse the mixed metaphor)
whether this choppiness on the surface hides a deep, stable sea
underneath.

ARMENIAN UNIVERSITIES EXPLAIN TUITION POLICIES AS STUDENT PROTESTS CONTINUE

18:07 14.08.13

The Armenian State Agrarian University, which is one of the
government-funded higher educational institutions that hasn’t raised
its tuition fees, is said to have made such a decision to meet the
students half-way.

Speaking to Tert.am, a vice rector of the University, Yuri Marmaryan,
said they left the tuition unchanged, considering the social conditions
of most students who often come from villages.

“How can we raise the fees, when we know our students are guys from
villages. They come here from villages to study. This is why we are
not among the five universities that increase the fees,” he explained.

Marmaryan noted at the same time that the decision doesn’t mean
the university has no problems to solve. “They haven’t raised
[the tuition], but that doesn’t mean we are doing well; just on
the contrary,” he said, not ruling out the possibility of a future
decision to revise the tuition policies.

Marmaryan added their tuition, which is in the range of 250,000-400
000 Drams (approx. $515-$980), is the lowest in Armenia.

Mher Melik-Bakhshyan, a deputy rector at the Armenian State Teachers’
Training University, also confirmed that they haven’t changed the
tuition amount.

“We haven’t raised the tuition; what’s more, our tuition has remained
the same for two or three years, probably,” he told our correspondent.

The vice rector said that despite the unchanged tuition fees, they
still manage to raise the salaries of the professir. “The salaries
increased almost by 100 percent in the past couple of years,” he said.

The rector of the State Engineering University, where the tuition has
increased by 26,000 to 75,000 Drams (approx. $65-$185), said their
salaries are almost the same as at the Teachers’ training University.

“We too, had increases in the past two years, but they are neither
higher nor lower than at the Teachers’ Training [University],” Ara
Avetisyan said.

The rector considered the recent student protests absolutely
unnecessary and absurd. “I think those are unjustified and pointless
threats or expressions,” he said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

DEFENSE MINISTRY URGES ICRC TO ACTIVATE EFFORTS FOR VISITING HAKOB INJIGHULYAN

17:08, 14 August, 2013

YEREVAN, AUGUST 14, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense of the
Republic of Armenia urged the International Committee of the Red
Cross to activate their efforts to visit Hakob Injighulyan, who was
found in the area of protection of Azerbaijani troops having lost his
bearings on the terrain. As reports “Armenpress” the statement issued
by the Information and Public Relations Department of the Ministry
of Defense of the Republic of Armenia in particular runs as follows:

“Citizen of the Republic of Armenia Hakob Injighulyan was found in
the area of protection of Azerbaijani troops having lost his bearings
on the terrain and taken captive.

The Baku Office of the International Committee of the Red Cross
had no opportunity to pay a visit to the citizen of the Republic of
Armenia, who was taken captive by the Azerbaijanis. We are at least
very concerned with the fact that an organization exercising such
mandate and influence has not met the captive soldier till now.

The International Committee of the Red Cross told the Armenian
authorities that the Baku Office continues its efforts aimed at paying
a visit to the captive conscript via the dialogue with Azerbaijan. We
are hopeful that the efforts made by the International Committee of
the Red Cross will be successful and it will be possible to avoid
all the undesirable consequences.

Taking into consideration all the abovementioned the State Commission
on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons of the Republic of
Armenia expresses its anxiety about the present situation and urges
the International Committee of the Red Cross to activate its efforts
for visiting Hakob Injighulyan.”

EMPLOYEE ROBS YEREVAN CASINO: TRYS TO PIN IT ON MYSTERY GUNMAN

13:26, August 14, 2013

It turns out that a young employee, who reported to police that the
Yerevan casino where he worked had been robbed, had actually committed
the crime himself.

On August 13, one Minas V. called the cops, stating that a gaming
house on the outskirts of Yerevan had been robbed.

When investigators arrived, they found out that Minas V. had also
called the casino director, telling him that a man in a mask had
pulled a gun and demanded cash.

The alleged gunman got away with 168,000 AMD according to Minas V.

Later on, however, Minas V. confessed that no such stick-up had
taken place and that he had disarmed the security cameras and stole
the money.

SHARMAZANOV: PUTIN’S STATEMENT ON KARABAKH CONFLICT IS LIKE A COLD SHOWER FOR THE AUTHORITIES OF AZERBAIJAN

by Ashot Safaryan

ARMINFO
Wednesday, August 14, 16:23

The statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Karabakh conflict
has become as a cold shower for the authorities of Azerbaijan,
vice-speaker of the Armenian parliament, press-secretary of the
ruling Republican Party of Armenia, Eduard Sharmazanov, told ArmInfo
correspondent.

He also added that by his statement Putin again emphasized that it
is impossible to fulfill militaristic plans of Baku in settlement of
the Karabakh conflict.

To recall, during his visit to Baku, on 13 August Putin said that
Russia has been actively supporting resolving of the Karabakh conflict
as soon as possible which “is possible only by political means”.

ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN COOPERATION IN DEFENSE SECTOR DISCUSSED IN YEREVAN

August 14, 2013 – 14:49 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met with the
Director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical
Cooperation (FSMTC), Alexander Fomin.

The two men hailed the high level of cooperation between Armenia and
Russia and discussed the programs aimed at its further strengthening.

They also dwelled on ways to expand collaboration in the defense
sector.

GIRO MANOYAN, “ALIEV NEEDED PUTIN’S SUPPORT MORE THAN ANY OTHER POLITICAL FIGURE IN ARMENIA”

August 14 2013

“No. I think Aliev needed Putin’s support more than any other political
figure in Armenia. Putin understood it and tries, so to speak, sell
at a high price to Aliyev, and generally Azerbaijan”, – so answered
the head of Armenian Cause Office, ARF Giro Manoyan to the question
of Aravot.am, responding to the observation whether based on the
demonstrative aspects of the visit of RF President to Azerbaijan, it
is possible to say that Aliev was more successful than Serzh Sargsyan,
as he received Putin’s support. We noticed that the presidents of
Armenia have always received the baptism of the political leadership
of Russia, and they did not even hide it, moreover, at the time of
the presidential elections in Armenia, rumors were spread about the
visit of the President of Russia to Armenia, Mr.

Manoyan countered that this is the evidence of the fact that the
President of Russia is more obligated to Armenia and the Armenian
people than Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani people. “This should be
considered as a direct intervention if he had done something like
that with us. I think it would have more negative consequences than
positive.” To our question whether this visit is a message in terms
of Karabakh conflict settlement, Giro Manoyan answered, “I still do
not know what they will speak or what they will publish from their
conversations, at least with regard to Karabakh, or what they will
sign. I do not think that they will sign something with regard to
Karabakh. But, to my thinking, this visit will not have real effect,
real outcome on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. I do not
think that RF is willing to see Karabakh issue settled as of today. RF
wants itself to have an impact on the region, and this visit should
be looked at in this frame, although this is not a conduct expected
from the strategic ally. Although there is no violation of the legal
provisions of the strategic alliance, but as a conduct, it is not
expected. However, we must not make a tragedy out of it.”

Nelly GRIGORYAN

Read more at:

ZHOGHOVURD: PM SARGSYAN THOUGHT TO BE ARMENIA’S FUTURE LEADER

10:25 14.08.13

Armenia’s incumbent prime minister is thought to be the politician
with the highest influence on President Serzh Sargysan, the leader
of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, says the paper.

Any statement of his is said to be taken for granted in the upper
governing circles. According to the paper, sources close to Premier
Tigran Sargsyan openly speak about his future presidency plans.

Sargsyan himself has not reportedly ruled out such a possibility. He
has repeatedly said – at meetings with different officials – that he
is going to be the incumbent authorities’ inheritor, says the paper,
adding that the premier has also demanded a corresponding attitude
towards him.

Armenian News – Tert.am