Author: Kanayan Tamar

AZERBAIJAN TURNS FROM INTERNATIONAL BORROWER TO LENDER

EurasiaNet.org, NY
June 19 2013

June 19, 2013 – 5:35am, by Giorgi Lomsadze

Energy-rich Baku could end up lending a helping hand to next-door
enemy, Armenia, via a World Bank program which gives loans to the
world’s neediest nations, including Armenia.

Last week, Azerbaijan’s Central Bank Governor Elman Rustamov told
World Bank Vice President Joachim von Amsberg that the South Caucasus
state is interested in contributing as a donor, Azerbaijani news
outlets reported.

Azerbaijan this year shed all of its $300 million debt to the
International Development Association (IDA), a World Bank mechanism
offering the poor a chance to borrow their way to prosperity via low
or no-interest loans. Armenia along with fellow Soviet alumni Georgia,
Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are on the list of
IDA aid recipients.

Just yesterday, Azerbaijan, too, was one of that crowd, but it has
now gone middle-class with a per-capita GDP of $10,700, an indicator
far above it ex-Soviet comrades in the neighborhood, bar Russia.

Among the various signs of its newfound wealth, Azerbaijan has
contributed $5 million to a fund-raising project for the Palestinian
territories, purchases weapons from Israel, and is witnessing the
make-over of Baku into a glittering, skyscraper-studded metropolis.

With Azerbaijan’s international prominence growing, overseas
development funds might seem a natural next-step. At this stage,
though, the possibility of such funds indirectly aiding Armenia is
only theoretical.

With Armenia and Azerbaijan essentially at war over the disputed
territory of Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan may, perhaps, not necessarily
be eager to lend a helping hand to Armenia. Although the State Oil
Company of the Azerbaijani Republic recently offered to send gas
to Armenia (to relieve pressure from a price hike in the cost of
Russian gas), the offer was largely interpreted as more about PR
than substance.

It was not immediately clear whether Azerbaijan could track where
any donations to the IDA would go.

That said, nothing in Armenia’s recent history suggests that it would
be willing to let bygones be bygones and receive such assistance. Even
though saddled with roughly $4.2 billion in debt.

AZERBAIJAN APPROVES DECLARATION ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH MADE AT G8 SUMMIT

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
June 19 2013

The declaration made by Presidents Vladimir Putin (Russia), Barack
Obama (US) and Francois Hollande (France) on Nagorno-Karabakh at the
G8 summit reflects the position of Azerbaijan, News Azerbaijan cites
Elman Abdullayev, spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Leaders of the states co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group want a fair
settlement of the conflict with respect to Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity. The international community recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh
as part of Azerbaijan and demands the territory to be de-occupied
for refugees to return.

The presidents note that use of military force to settle the dispute
is unacceptable. Armenian Armed Forces must leave the territory in
order to end confrontation, instability and the security threat,
Abdullayev said.

The official emphasized that Armenia should stop the policy of
occupying the land if it wanted to live in peace. Abdullayev pointed
out that Yerevan wanted to maintain the status quo of the situation and
refused to fulfil the updated Madrid Principles of 2009. The spokesman
concluded that the co-chairs should put pressure on Armenia to take
a more constructive approach and that Azerbaijan would not accept a
dragging out of the peace process.

WHY DO PEOPLE DIE NEAR AN ARMENIAN GOVERNOR’S HOUSE?

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
June 20 2013

David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

A shootout took place near the house of the Syunik Region’s governor,
Suren Khachatryan, in the south of Armenia on June 2nd. As a result
one person was killed, the other fall into a coma in hospital, the
third one was injured.

One side of the fire-fight included the former candidate to mayor of
the city of Goris, Avetik Budagyan, and his brother, a commander of
a military unite, Colonel Artak Budagyan; another side consisted of
the governor’s son Tigran Khachatryan and bodyguards of his father.

The conflict began at a festive dinner where Suren Khachatryan and
the brothers Budagyan were present. They had tense relations because
Khachatryan didn’t want Avetik Budagyan to be a candidate to the mayor
position. At the dinner the governor publicly insulted the brothers,
after that they decided to sort things out near Khachatryan’s house,
using guns. By the way, the governor told the investigation that he
knew nothing about the shootout because “he was sleeping tightly”
at home.

To figure it out, we should look at the personality of the governor
who got a whole region for management. Having a prior conviction,
Khachatryan has many times got into scandals, but due to the support
of top authorities he has always managed to avoid responsibility.

A couple of years ago the Special Investigation Service of Armenia
initiated a criminal case against Khachatryan, when he publicly
hit businesswoman Silva Ambartsumyan for she demanded return her
money which the governor lent for buying an equipment for the mining
and concentrating complex – several thousand dollars. However, the
investigation found no evidence against him and as always Khachatryan
avoided responsibility.

There were four criminal cases initiated against the governor and
his brothers. The whole region feared him and few dared to oppose the
criminal governor. Nevertheless, this time the situation has changed
because the population seems to be over Khachatryan’s permissiveness.

Residents of Syunik wrote a letter to President Serge Sargsyan and
demanded immediate dismissal of the governor-cutthroat.

The reaction of top officials confirmed that the situation had
changed. They decided to deal with Khachatryan seriously. A criminal
case was initiated over the shootout by the investigation service
of the Internal Ministry of Armenia. The court delivered a sanction
for a two-month arrest of Khachatryan’s son and one of his guards,
Zarzabd Nikogosyan. After this, the government of Armenia made a
decision to dismiss Khachatryan from the position of the governor.

The press secretary of the President promised the population that “the
investigation will be independent and detailed; fair legal evaluation
will be given to behavior of all people involved in the incident.”

Khachatryan fell and everybody began to criticize him heavily.

Considering the “rich” biography of Khachatryan, it appears that
his former sponsors are interested in his dismissal now. In the
context of criminal rules accepted in the so-called political elite,
the campaign against Khachatryan and his resignation surprise us
because Khachatryan has always been a guarantee for victory of RPA’s
candidates in all elections in Syunik. Probably, Kachatryan appeared
to be useless or almost useless for President, considering the fact
Sargsyan is being President for his last term. Today the authorities
need a whipping boy, and they have found him in Khachatryan.

GAZPROM’S TAKEOVER OF ARMENIA

EurasiaNet.org, NY
June 20 2013

June 20, 2013 – 8:32am, by Giorgi Lomsadze

Russian energy behemoth Gazprom plans to gobble up all of the shares in
its majority-owned Armenian natural gas distribution company and with
it, observers fear, whatever little political and economic wiggle-room
that Yerevan has in its ties with Moscow.

Giving up its share in the national gas supplies company,
ArmRosGazProm, could be the price Armenia needs to pay to keep its
gas bills down. The takeover talks (the Armenian government owns the
minority 20-percent share) were confirmed on June 19 after Armenia’s
energy minister, Armen Movisisian returned from discussions in Moscow.

Russia, which wants Yerevan to join its proposed antithesis of
the European Union, got Armenia’s attention after Gazprom announced
plans for a hike in gas fees that would have resulted in a 60-percent
increase in the price that Armenians pay for gas. Armenian regulators
eventually agreed to a roughly 18-percent increase, but, though lower,
the price still could put Armenia in a bind.

Its friendly, energy-rich neighbors limited to Iran, the country gets
1.7- billion cubic meters of gas it burns annually from Russia. Iran
is the only regional alternative, but there is no infrastructure
in place yet to pipe in large volumes. The State Oil Company of the
Azerbaijani Republic offered to take care of Armenia’s energy woes
in exchange for it recognizing Azerbaijan’s right to Nagorno-Karabakh
and other Armenian-occupied territory.

But keeping Karabakh ethnically Armenian is seen as part and parcel
of Armenia’s national identity, and Yerevan would not give up its
backing for the separatist region.

As it is running out of options, fully conceding its national gas
distributions to Moscow could shape up as the most straightforward
way for Armenia to avoid gas crisis at home. Any such deal, though,
is sowing worry about the implications of such a sale for Armenia’s
sovereign decision-making.

The EU repeatedly warned Armenia against joining Moscow’s proposed
Eurasian Union if it wants to continue toward trade integration with
the EU. So far, Armenia has managed to maintain a certain balance
between its pro-Western aspirations and, the economic and military
partnership with Russia. But Moscow could be about to get another
trump card.

The regular disinformation campaign of Azerbaijan

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 15:58

Press secretary of the NKR General Prosecutor’s Office Kim Gabrielyan
touched upon the information recently placed on the Azerbaijani
1NEWS.AZ website which alleges that `the employees of the Ministry of
National Security of Azerbaijan revealed 12 people who through the
Republic of Iran transported to Azerbaijan narcotic drugs grown in
Karabakh’ and said that the news item did not note who these people
were and what nationality they represented as well as how much drugs
they had detected and how the detected drugs had passed from the NKR
to the IRI, later to Azerbaijan.

According to him this indicates that the information is aimed at
political speculation, especially considering the fact that it was
presented through the `AzerTAJ’ news agency on behalf of the chairman
of the Azerbaijani youth organization of integration with Europe.

Reminding about the fact collecting mission realized in the NKR
frontier regions by the OSCE in 2005 and in 2010 the press secretary
stated that the mediators did not hint at the existence of any
uncontrolled areas there or at the cultivation and export of drug
containing plants from the NKR frontier zones. `One should not forget
also the fact that such world famous international organizations as
the Red Cross and `THE HALLO TRUST’ mine clearing organization have
been carrying humanitarian activities in Artsakh for quite a long
time. If during the past years they had even once noticed drug
plantations here, they would have surely given an alarm about it. And
finally, quite recently the US ambassador in Azerbaijan in answer to
one of the news agency’s question in this connection said that he had
no information about the growth and export of narcotic drugs from
Nagorno Karabakh. Thus, the announcement of chairman of the
Azerbaijani youth organization of integration with Europe Gyulsel
Safarova about Nagorno Karabakh as an area spreading terrorism and
drugs is at least groundless and senseless,’ said Kim Gabrielyan and
pointed out on the opinions of the international observers who after
their visit to the NKR claimed that the criminality rate in Artsakh is
lower even in comparison with a number of European countries. `By the
data of 2012 which reflect back the main indices of the previous years
the average crime rate in the NKR formed 27.2 crimes per 10.000
inhabitants. No cases of terrorism were recorded during at least the
past 13 years,’ the press secretary emphasized.

`There is no illegal circulation of heavy drugs /heroin, cocaine,
hashish/ in Artsakh, yet, however few they are, we still have cases of
growing drug containing poppy and hemp plants. From 2008 to 2012 the
rate of crimes connected with growing, realizing and using drug
containing plants in the NKR varied between 39 to 44 cases. This means
that not only the drug circulation is at quite a low rate here but it
is also consistently controlled by the law enforcement bodies,’ the
press secretary assured and reminded about the data of the Azerbaijani
`Harm reduction networks’ according to which the number of injecting
drug users in Azerbaijan exceeds 90.000. `If we add the marijuana
smokers who several times exceed in number those in Karabakh it will
become clear how disastrous the drug addiction situation in Azerbaijan
is’, he said and pointed out on the international narcotics control
strategy report 2010 of the US state department according to which
Azerbaijan is considered to transport narcotic drugs from Afghanistan,
Central Asia and Iran to Russia and Europe. The same report notes that
the number of drug addicts has increased in the country and heroin has
got an active circulation there.

The Daily Star, Bangladesh
June 21 2013

The trading diaspora

The East India Company’s observation in 1699 about the Armenians that
`most certainly they are the most ancient merchants of the world’ was
perhaps no exaggeration.

From the beginning to the end of the pre-modern era, Armenian
merchants ventured out of their homeland to different parts of Asia
and Europe. They settled in important cities and ports far away from
home.

And thus they created an efficient long-distance trade network with a
strong link with their main centre at New Julfa, a large settlement
established by Armenian refugees in Isfahan, Iran.
This `trading diaspora’ of the Armenians was a unique feature of the
business world of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Armenian traders took the overland route to travel to India through
Afghanistan and Tibet in the 12th century. They became the first
merchants to carry back from India spices, muslin and precious stones
to Europe and the Middle East.

Aware of the Armenian merchants’ integrity and shrewd nose for
business, Mughal Emperor Akbar invited them to settle in Agra, the
imperial capital. In 1562, he married an Armenian, referred to as
Mariam Zamani Begum in Abul Fazal’s Ain-I-Akbari.

Some records show Armenian traders came to Dhaka around 1613, soon
after it became the capital of Mughal Bengal. In the beginning,
textile trade was their main prop of the city.

The Armenians were the first, not the Europeans or other Asians to
foresee the bright prospects of jute in Dhaka. They are reputed to be
the pioneers of jute trade here in the second half of the 19th
century.

Some Armenians in Dhaka shifted to landholding in the late 18th
century in the wake of the decline in textile trade following the
British conquest of Bengal in 1757.

The Armenian community contributed a lot to the civic life of Dhaka.
It was Nicholas Pogose, an Armenian Zaminder, who founded the first
private school, Dhaka Pogose School, in 1848. The school is still
running.

Armenian merchant Shircore, the founder of GM Shircore & Sons,
pioneered transport `revolution’ by introducing hackney carriage. The
business house was probably responsible for popularising tea in Dhaka.

The Armenians were also pioneers in introducing European and British
goods in Dhaka and in setting up western-style departmental stores. CJ
Manook, GM Shircore, JA Minas, and Anania were some of the prominent
Armenians to open big stores in the city.

Sources: armeniancollege.in, indiaprofile.com and works of Sushil Chaudhury

Compiled by Wide Angle Desk

APA, Azerbaijan
June 21 2013

Ramiz Mehdiyev: `The Armenian authorities should understand that
Azerbaijan will not step back from its right way’

[ 21 Juny 2013 16:34 ]

`Time is not working for Armenia’

Baku. Mubariz Aslanov – APA. `Large financial means required for
elimination of the consequences of the aggression faced by the
Azerbaijani state restrict our opportunities to contribute to the UN
global challenges more,’ said Head of the Azerbaijani Presidential
Administration, academician Ramiz Mehdiyev addressing the discussions
dedicated to the national consultations on post-2015 Sustainable
Development Goals, APA reports.

Mehdiyev stated that the 4 resolutions of the United Nations, the most
comprehensive and influential organization of the world, demanding the
unconditional withdrawal of troops from the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan have not been implemented yet: `The joint statement issued
by the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states Vladimir
Putin, Barack Obama and François Hollande is almost in line with the
updated Madrid principles put forward by Azerbaijan and OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairs. But Armenia doesn’t accept this. Its current policy
strains the regional situation and Armenia is trying to maintain the
status quo.

The Armenian authorities should understand that the Azerbaijani state
will not step back from its right way. Time is not working for
Armenia.

The restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity would especially
open wide horizons for the realization of Sustainable Development
Goals in the South Caucasus and create more favorable opportunities
for Armenia, which is in the humanitarian crisis, to integrate into
the civilized world. The state, which has no strong economic
foundation and is living on financial aid of the Diaspora, can not
speak about perspectives. In order to develop, Armenia strongly needs
peaceful neighborhood policy and regional cooperation. The status quo
keeps Armenia aside from great regional projects, accelerates economic
recession and keeps it as a source of threat to the Sustainable
Development.

The UN should take into account this truth and for the sake of the
Sustainable Development of the South Caucasus should have its say for
the invaders are withdrawn from the Azerbaijani territories and four
resolutions, peace and security are ensured.’

Press TV, Iran
June 21 2013

Iran ready to mediate in Nagorno-Karabakh dispute: Lawmaker

A senior Iranian lawmaker says Tehran is ready to help resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia given the
Islamic Republic’s influential role in the region and the world.

Iran has defended the Azerbaijan Republic’s territorial integrity in
all international bodies, including the United Nations, the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Inter-Parliamentary
Union (IPU), Member of Iran’s Majlis Kazem Jalali told reporters in
Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday.

Iran will continue to defend Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity in the
future as well, said Jalali who sits on the National Security and
Foreign Policy Committee of the Majlis.

He noted that Tehran’s involvement in the Karabakh dispute would be
subject to a request by and the approval of both sides.

`We believe that the Karabakh dispute has a political solution and
this problem should be resolved by the regional countries and
neighbors close to the disputed region,’ the Iranian legislator added.

Jalali further urged all OIC member countries to play a more active
role in resolving issues facing the Muslim world, including the
Karabakh dispute, and defending the rights of Muslim minorities in
Islamic nations.

Both Azerbaijan and Armenia claim the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,
which is largely populated by Armenians but located in Azerbaijan.

Ethnic Armenian forces took control of the enclave, which accounts for
16 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, in the early 1990s during a
six-year war from February 1988 to May 1994.

The conflict left an estimated 30,000 people dead and one million
others displaced before the two sides agreed to a cease-fire in 1994.
However, a peace accord has never been signed and the dispute still
remains unsettled.

Iran has on several occasions offered to mediate in the dispute.

SF/NN/HJL

296,407 people left Armenia via Zvartnots Airport in January-May

296,407 people left Armenia via Zvartnots Airport of Yerevan in
January-May 2013 as compared 313,598 passengers in the same period of
last year.

According to the Main Department of Civil Aviation, 252,020 people
arrived via Zvartnost in January-May 2013 as compared with 250,063
passengers in the same period of 2012.

A total of 548,427 passengers arrived and left via Zvartnots in the
reporting period.

16,933 people left via Shirak Airport of the city of Gyumri in
January-May 2013 (15,822 in the same period of 2012). 9,683 passengers
(10,585 last year) arrived via Shirak Airport in the reporting period.
TODAY, 13:53

Armenian environmentalist critical of government’s bio-toilets’ plan

17:15 – 22.06.13

The Armenian Government’s tourism development initiatives do not meet
specific targets, an environmentalist has said, considering the plan
for launching bio-toilets absolutely pointless.

Karine Danielyan, a former minister of nature who now heads the NGO
For Sustainable Human Development, told a news conference on Saturday
the money envisaged for bio-toilets could be spent on other, more
useful projects.

`Bio-toilets, per se, are a positive phenomenon all around the world,
that’s undeniable. But they are mostly used in country places, in
nature and next to historical-cultural sites, as the towns operate
sewage channels. I don’t know a case about the towns; that happens
rarely, in places of special significance. I later searched the
Internet, but didn’t find [a toilet] worth more than $1,500.

`Those expenses are inexpedient, of course. So, let us speak of where
we can spend them,’ she said.

Under the plan, the Ministry of Finance allocated a total of 150,000
US Dollars for building two toilets.

Armenian News – Tert.am