Author: Kanayan Tamar

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SARKSYAN PROMISES STABILITY AFTER ELECTION VICTORY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 19 2013

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan promised on Tuesday to make the
country secure and stable after cruising to victory in an election
which international vote monitors said lacked real competition.

But Sarksyan faces a challenge in his second five-year term to prevent
tensions increasing with Azerbaijan over the enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh that could lead to a new war in the South Caucasus,
where pipelines carry Caspian oil and gas to Europe.

Preliminary results showed Sarksyan won 58.6 percent of the votes cast
in Monday’s election, enough to avoid a second-round run-off. His
closest rival, US-born former Foreign Minister Raffi Hovannisian,
trailed on nearly 37 percent.

“Armenia chose the path towards a safe Armenia and I am happy and
proud of the fact that every resident of Armenia will be on that
path,” Sarksyan, 58, told celebrating supporters.

International observers said the vote was an improvement on recent
elections in the former Soviet republic, including the 2008
presidential ballot in which 10 people were killed.

“However, the limited field of candidates meant that the election was
not genuinely competitive,” representatives of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
said in a statement.

“The candidates who did run were able to campaign in a free atmosphere
and to present their views to voters, but the campaign overall failed
to engage the public’s interest.”

Several of Sarksyan’s potential rivals, most notably former President
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, decided not to run because they feared the
election would be skewed in the president’s favor.

A minor candidate was shot and wounded during campaigning, and police
received 70 complaints of voting violations. The result was in line
with opinion polls, however.

One group, the opposition Heritage Party, alleged some ballots cast
for Sarksyan’s opponents had been thrown out and said it planned a
protest in the capital Yerevan later on Tuesday. It was not clear if
other parties would take part.

Armenians had expected Sarksyan to win and there was little
celebrating. “I expect that things will get better in the next five
years. And after that of course we will need to change [the
president]. That’s all,” said Yerevan resident Roza Atovyan.

Another woman in Yerevan, Elana Akapova, said: “The president has a
lot of administrative power. Therefore it’s natural that he received
the majority of the vote.”

The result strengthens Sarksyan’s hold on Armenia, which borders Iran,
Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, after his Republican Party won a
parliamentary election last year.

Sarksyan’s promises of economic recovery went down well with voters in
the country of 3.2 million, where more than 30 percent live below the
poverty line. The average monthly wage is about $300 and unemployment
was 16 percent last year.

Armenia is an important potential ally for the West which is trying to
ensure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons, although tightening
international economic sanctions on its neighbors could affect
Armenia’s trade and economy.

Sarksyan has outlined no big policy changes and investors and foreign
governments are worried by Armenia’s fraught relations with
Azerbaijan.

About 30,000 people were killed in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh in
the 1990s and Azerbaijan uses its diplomatic and economic muscle to
isolate Yerevan. It has vastly increased military spending in the last
few years.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian-majority enclave inside
Azerbaijan, which Armenia-backed rebels wrested from Azeri troops.

Firefights along the border still kill troops on both sides and
experts say a wider conflict is possible.

Sarksyan has accused Azerbaijan of threatening a new conflict.

Azerbaijan denies it is the aggressor and says Armenians should hand
back control of the mountainous enclave.

“In terms of domestic policy, we should expect a continuation of
deepening ties with the West and the European Union,” said Richard
Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center think tank in
Yerevan.

He ruled out a breakthrough over Nagorno-Karabakh, saying: “Both sides
remain too far apart.”

Without a shift in regional politics, durable economic growth will be
difficult for Armenia while its borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey
remain closed. Turkey shut the border in 1993 in solidarity with its
ethnic kin in Azerbaijan.

Most regional pipeline projects between growing regional power Turkey
and the oil and gas-producing Azerbaijan isolate Armenia, making
Yerevan more dependent on ties with its Soviet-era master Moscow,
which has a military base on Armenian soil.

TURKISH AIRLINES STARTS FREE DISTRIBUTION OF ARMENIAN WEEKLY

Hurriyet Daily News
Feb 20 2013

Turkish Airlines (THY) has officially started distributing the
bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, several weeks after the
announcement was first made, Dogan news agency reported.

Passengers set to board international flights will be able to receive
the publication for free after providing officials with their boarding
tickets.

Agos announced the deal on its website. The weekly’s deal with the
airline will soon extend to on-flight publications for international
flights.

February/20/2013

RUSSIAN EXPERT: “THE UNITED STATES IS INTERESTED IN THE OPENING OF KHOJALY AIRPORT”

APA, Azerbaijan
Feb 20 2013

“If interested, Moscow would have started a war in Nagorno Karabakh long ago”

Moscow. Farid Akberov – APA. “Russia may join the Nagorno Karabakh war
on the part of Armenia within special agreements,” said Russian
political scientist, Director General of the Institute for Caspian
Cooperation Sergey Mikheyev in his interview to APA’s Moscow
correspondent. He said Russia should have ground to join the war, in
case of military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh: “However, Moscow has
repeatedly stated that Russia is interested in a peaceful settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

The political scientist said that by increasing military power in
Armenia, Russia is ensuring its geopolitical interests in the region:
“Today Russia is arming not only Armenia. Armenia is not the only
country possessing Russian military base and purchasing its weapons.

Russia is also arming Tajikistan in the Central Asia. This plan is an
integral part of Russia’s geopolitical interests.”

The expert considers that war in Nagorno-Karabakh would be a disaster
for the South Caucasus region. This war can also upset the long-term
energy and transport projects: “Russia is not interested in a war in
Nagorno-Karabakh. If interested, it would have started a war in
Nagorno Karabakh long ago. To start a war in Nagorno-Karabakh is not
difficult for the Moscow. Today the priority for Russia is the absence
of wars and conflicts along its borders.”

Sergey Mikheyev said Russia has nothing to do with Armenia’s intention
to open Khojaly airport. “The US is more interested in the opening of
this airport. Russia considers that Azerbaijan and Armenia must avoid
the steps that will cause a war in Nagorno Karabakh. Russia does not
regard as right the opening of Khojaly airport, while the US is
strongly interested in the operation of the airport. This interest
arises from the possible military operations against Iran. If the war
starts with Iran, Khojaly airport will be favorable for the US,” he
said.

Asked if something new can be expected in the resolution of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during Serzh Sargsyan’s second term, Sergey
Mikheyev said: “Sargsyan’s re-election will have no impact on the
resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The state of the negotiations
on the conflict will remain unchanged. Not a step forward has been
made in the past 20 years, because the positions of the parties are
quite the contrary. The negotiations on the resolution of the conflict
have reached a deadlock. I do not believe there will be an improvement
in the near future,” he said.

EU HAS CONCERNS ABOUT ARMENIAN VOTE

United Press International UPI
Feb 20 2013

BRUSSELS, Feb. 20 (UPI) — The European Union said it expects there
may be outstanding issues following the release of preliminary results
of the Armenian presidential election.

Incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan secured a second term with a
preliminary majority of the vote cast in Monday’s election.

Catherine Ashton, the top foreign policy chief for the European
Union, and EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule issued a statement
Wednesday saying they welcomed the conduct of the elections.

“We expect a number of outstanding concerns to be followed up
appropriately in the future, including reported instances of partiality
by public servants, claims of misuse of administrative resources,
unclear interpretation of campaign financing provisions and cases of
pressure on voters” their statement added.

An international election observation mission expressed similar
concerns, saying that while the election was calm and orderly,
there were signs of interference at the polls, primarily by those
representing Sargsyan.

In 2008, opposition leaders in Armenia called for protests in the
capital city citing irregularities in the presidential elections.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports “several thousand” supporters
of the main challenger, former Foreign Minister Raffi Hovannisian,
called for the latest results to be overturned.

INTL OBSERVERS’ PRESS CONFERENCE IN YEREVAN BROUGHT TO HALT BY HISSES AND SHOUTS

Interfax, Russia
Feb 19 2013

Armenian opposition activists have derailed a press conference by
international election monitors from the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe’ Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights.

As the international observers were presenting a report, young men
broke into the audience and demanded that they leave Armenia and stop
interfering in Armenia’s internal affairs.

The press conference was cut short and the speakers had to leave to
the audience’s shouts and hisses.

No policemen can be seen in the audience, an Interfax correspondent
reported.

The head of the OSCE/ODIHR’s election observation mission, Heidi
Tagliavini, said before the opposition activists appeared in the
audience that abuses had been uncovered, but they could not influence
the outcome of the elections.

The mission is to release its final report in a two months’ time.

Sd

GRYBAUSKAITE CONGRATULATES ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ON HIS RE-ELECTION

LETA, Lithuania
February 19, 2013 Tuesday

President Dalia Grybauskaite extended congratulations to President
Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia on his re-election for the second term in
office, the presidential press service said.

“I sincerely hope that during the second term of your presidency
relations between Lithuania and Armenia will be further consolidated
through the development of economic, cultural and political ties. I
also strongly wish that the process of Armenia’s rapprochement with
Europe, which has already gained momentum, should create a strong and
mutually beneficial bond between our two nations. I have strong hope
that during the EU Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Vilnius
this coming autumn we will be able to highlight the achievements of
Armenia attained in this field,” the President wrote in her message of
congratulations. Dalia Grybauskaite wished the President of Armenia
continued health and strength in his responsible position.

ARMENIA ELECTION MARRED BY LACK OF COMPETITION – OBSERVERS

Financial Mirror
February 19, 2013 Tuesday

Armenia’s presidential election was an improvement on recent elections
in the former Soviet republic but was not genuinely competitive,
international observers said on Tuesday.

Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe said Monday’s election, in which
President Serzh Sarksyan was re-elected, was peaceful and generally
well conducted.

“However, the limited field of candidates meant that the election was
not genuinely competitive,” they said in a written statement. “The
candidates who did run were able to campaign in a free atmosphere and
to present their views to voters, but the campaign overall failed to
engage the public’s interest.” Several of Sarksyan’s potential rivals
decided not to run in the election because they feared the election
would be skewed in the president’s favour.

TURKEY HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS TO ALIYEV: END LYNCHING CAMPAIGN!

February 20, 2013

ISTANBUL, Turkey (A.W.)-Four Turkish human rights and anti-racism
groups sent a letter to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev
urging him “to urgently put an end to the lynching campaign against
Ekrem Eylisli” for his positive portrayal of Armenians.

Ekrem Eylisli The Armenian Weekly publishes the text of the letter
in full.

***

Mr. Ä°lham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, Azerbaijan

Dear Mr. President,

We, the defenders of human rights in Turkey and supporters of fight
against racism, nationalism, and hatred, are appalled by and deeply
concerned with the aggressive campaign and threats of violence
against the writer Ekrem Eylisli in your country. The only crime
committed by your fellow citizen Ekrem Eylisli, whose security is
your responsibility, is to have defended in his recent novel the
solidarity of peoples.

As the Human Rights Watch has declared in its global press release,
Eylisli has been targeted with an increasingly aggressive campaign of
enmity and defamation, further endorsed by official spokespersons and
the media, only because he has written a novel in which he has chosen
not to represent Armenians as an object of hatred. Since January 31st,
the said transgressions have included protests in front of his house,
insults and threats, and book-burning.

Notorious for her racist views, member of Azerbaijani parliament
Melahat İbrahimkızı has accused Eylisli of offending not only
Azerbaijan but the entire Turkish nation, thus sending a message to
Turkey and provoking the same campaign of hatred against Armenians
in Turkey.

Eylisli’s family too has been subjected to retribution: His son
Necep Naibov, employed by the Ministry of Customs, and his wife
Galina Alexandrova, a library director, have been dismissed without
just cause.

The lynching campaign has reached its peak with the pro-government
Moderna Musavat Party leaders putting a reward of ten thousand Manat
on Ekrem Eylisli’s ears.

And you, Mr. President, in your capacity as the higher most leader
of the state of Azerbaijan, have endorsed and even encouraged threats
against Eylisli’s life by signing the presidential decree on Eylisli’s
divestiture of the title “Writer of the People” and on the termination
of his entitlement to pension.

We are the defenders of human rights and opponents of racism,
discrimination, and hate in a country where, throughout its history,
writers have fallen prey to unsolved cases of murder, or left to
rot in prison. Ours is a country where those who express diverse
views remain under constant threat. We know well how the racist,
nationalist, and discriminatory state politics have driven the masses
to the streets and turned individuals into murderers, even of their
own neighbors. We have lost many in such attacks, but we also bear
witness to the fact that the people will not be silenced by oppression.

At the same time, we have seen firsthand how your state and the rulers
of the Republic of Turkey have joined endeavors in inciting enmity
among their peoples against Armenians. The hateful slogans against
Armenians in the “Hocalı Protest” in Taksim Square, Istanbul, are
still ringing in our ears; the banners bearing the words “You are
all Armenians, you are all bastards” are still before our eyes. As
a result of our opposition, those carrying these banners have been
charged and indicted. For us, the defenders of rights and opponents
of racial hatred in Turkey, opposing enmity against Armenians and
diverse ethnic and religious identities is a foremost duty.

As the proponents and defenders of peace, democracy, and justice,
of solidarity of the peoples and equal coexistence, we invite you, Mr.

President, to use your office and enlist all your subordinates to
urgently put an end to the lynching campaign against Ekrem Eylisli.

Leaders who have incited peoples to transgressions of racist hatred,
who have condoned such transgressions or turned a blind eye to them,
have come to be known in history as a disgrace, whereas the memory
of those who strive for peace will forever live to honor humanity.

HELSINKI CITIZENS ASSOCIATION

SAY STOP TO RACISIM AND NATIONALISM INITIATIVE

HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION TURKEY

ASSOCIATION FOR FACING HISTORY

PEOPLE FOUND REAL STRENGTH TO VOTE IN ANOTHER WAY, PUBLIC FIGURE

TERT.AM
16:04 ~U 20.02.13

Public figure, ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan came to the news
conference with high mood saying it is agreed with the unexpected
election outcome.

“I saw and became very proud of our people for finding enough strength
to overcome the alarm and pressures by the authorities and vote in
another way,” she said.

Kharatyan noted that the elections had such outcome despite the
opposition splits, disputes during the election campaign, despite the
circumstance that Raffi Hovhannisian did not have any real or serious
resource and without serious engagement in the election commissions.

“Even if to calculate these votes, it obviously shows that our people
have really found strength to vote in another way,” she said, noting
that it is a psychological victory.

Hranush Kharatyan said she is convinced that at least second round
of elections was to take place.

Kharatyan said she does not know the way Raffi Hovhannisian will
choose but it is obvious that people expect struggle.

“There are x number of people in the square, there are those who are
not in the square but have joined the people. I do not know how Raffi
Hovhannisian will meet these expectations but I think a real struggle
has started,” she said.

ARMENIA OPPOSITION REFUSES TO RECOGNISE PRESIDENT’S WIN

Ahram Online, Egypt
Feb 19 2013

The leading challenger to Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian refused
Tuesday to recognise the incumbent leader’s victory in presidential
elections AFP , Tuesday 19 Feb 2013

Former Armenia foreign minister Raffi Hovannisian, who came second
in Monday’s presidential poll rejected the outcome of the elections
saying the “vote was not fair and the (official) results do not
reflect people’s will.”

Speaking to hundreds of supporters at a rally in Yerevan’s central
Liberty square, Hovannisian insisted that he was the true winner.

“We will not let the authorities to steal the people’s victory,”
he said, adding that he might seek the overturning of the official
results in the Constitutional Court.

Sarkisian won Monday’s poll with 58.64 percent of the votes against
Hovannisian’s 36.75 percent of votes, the central election commission
said after counting results from all the precincts.

Observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said the election was
an improvement on past polls but lacked real competition after two
leading candidates pulled out late last year.