Author: Kanayan Tamar

PERMANENT MISSION OF AZERBAIJAN TO THE UN: UN SECRETARY-GENERAL ALSO AFFIRMS THAT THERE CAN NOT BE ANY REGIONAL COOPERATION UNTIL ARMENIA STOPS ITS OCCUPATION

APA
Oct 4 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku-APA. Published a supplement to the report “of conventional
arms control at the regional and sub-regional level” and
“confidence-building measures in the regional and subregional context”,
which produce annual UN General Secretary and submitted to the court
of world public, APA reports.

The Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN told APA that in these
reports, which are prepared on the basis of the annual UN General
Assembly resolutions, are reflected mite States to international peace
and security, particularly in the implementation of international
commitments on conventional arms control, confidence-building measures
regional and sub-regional level, the policies pursued in this regard,
bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

In the reports, the information about Azerbaijan noted that the
country has maintained a consistent activity at different levels for
the implementation of international commitments on conventional arms
control and confidence-building measures, and actively involved in
the various mechanisms used by the UN, the OSCE, and in the other
international formats. In addition, Azerbaijan’s participation on a
voluntary basis in multilateral mechanisms, in which he is a party,
it is a valuable small contribution to safety.

The reports have not gone unnoticed and obstacles to the effective
implementation of conventional arms control confidence-building
measures in the regional and sub regional levels. Thus, over the
years continuing territorial claims, the policy of occupation and
ethnic cleansing of Armenia against Azerbaijan, is regarded as a
major obstacle to the realization of the conventional arms control,
confidence-building measures in the South Caucasus. It is noted that
Armenia occupied Azerbaijani territories by military force, carried
out ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis and establishing itself
controlled separatist regime, openly violating its international legal
obligations. The fact of the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh
and seven adjacent districts, which are the territories of Azerbaijan,
has repeatedly recognized at the international level, including the
General Assembly and the UN Security Council.

Then emphasized that Armenia to save the results of occupation
and ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijan regularly performs various
provocations, including violating ceasefire on the contact line,
killing civilians living near the contact line and shelled
civilian targets. Particularly noted that such provocations by
Armenia intensified at a time when the intensity is planned in the
negotiations to resolve the conflict. Armenia also consistent violation
of its international obligations under the conventional arms control,
confidence-building measures is analyzed from a legal and political
point of view, and based on the specific facts. Provides information on
the number placed on the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, weapons and
military equipment, which was left out of the international control,
as well as a variety of military activities in Armenia, which it
carries out in defiance of international obligations.

The report claims that unless Armenia stops occupation of the
internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, will not
give up the policy of territorial claims, occupation and ethnic
cleansing against their neighbors, and will respect their sovereignty,
conventional arms control, confidence-building measures, and inclusive
regional cooperation in the South Caucasus will be impossible.

THE BATTLE OVER RED LINES AND DEADLINES

Today’s Zaman
Oct 4 2012
Turkey

“The red line must be drawn on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program,”
declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the general
debate of the 67th Session of the General Assembly of the UN, demanding
that the international community take concrete action in response to
the growing nuclear threat from Tehran.

As discussions about the Iranian nuclear program continue in the
media, it is becoming clear that some experts are trying to locate
the fuse to this ticking “bomb” in the South Caucasus region, notably
Azerbaijan, which they believe may have plans to assist Israel in
its military intervention.

It is clear that Israel’s present strategy on Iran is to tell other
states what they should feel threatened by and what policies they
should implement to counter that threat. After international media
speculation restarted over Azerbaijan having promised to let Israel
use its territory, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reiterated that
Baku “will not allow its territory to be used by third countries.”

Over the past month, the situation in the South Caucasus has become
more complicated: The lines for peace are weakening, becoming red
lines of hostility. The controversial release of convicted army
lieutenant Ramil Safarov (jailed in Hungary for killing an Armenian
officer during a NATO-sponsored training course and given a hero’s
welcome upon his return to Baku) demonstrates once again that when
deadlines for peace are unreasonably postponed, hostilities may
simmer for years. Such conditions make conflicting parties more
likely to accept third-party perceptions of threats as their own,
rendering them more open to playing “threat perception” games with
one another on the international stage.

Within the complex and complicated dynamics of the South Caucasus,
experts and politicians have sometimes misunderstood the dual risks of
“red lines” and “deadlines.” The actors and factors may be unchanging,
but threat perception compels players to re-examine the conditions
of the game.

First of all, it is not Israeli rhetoric but the facts of Iranian
foreign policy that cause Azerbaijan to be wary of Tehran’s
regional policy, which sometimes manifests as angry enmity. Clearly,
Azerbaijan’s closeness to Israel angers Iran, which since the Iranian
Revolution has identified the Jewish state as “Little Satan.” The
moniker of “Great Satan” is assigned to the US, and Iran identifies
Azerbaijan as “a friend of the Satans.” Additionally, Iran’s support
for the fundamental Islamist movement in Azerbaijan, along with
several attempted terrorist attacks, have weakened trust in Tehran.

But, on the other hand, Iran’s close cooperation with Armenia has
troubled bilateral relations since the early 1990s. By the mid-1990s,
however, Azerbaijan had largely accepted this situation. But because
there is no economic benefit or logic to the deepening Iranian-Armenian
ties in the energy sector, the mutual benefits of this cooperation
raise questions. Even though Iran’s main gas reserves are concentrated
in the south of the country, the northern part is more industrially
developed because, due to sanctions, it cannot develop infrastructure
(due to a lack of technology and capacity).

Thus, Iran cannot meet its domestic natural gas demands; however,
it can buy natural gas from Azerbaijan without any additional
investment and supply it to its northern regions rather than invest in
infrastructure that would also transport a limited volume of natural
gas to Armenia. In this sense, Azerbaijan is gradually turning away
from Iran, but not by allowing Israel to use its territory in a
possible military intervention; rather, it is doing so by demanding
the rights of the more than 20 million ethnic Azerbaijanis who live
in northern Iran. This was Iran’s fear in the 1990s, and now this
red line is rapidly heating up.

Azerbaijan’s calculations about Iran, and its attendant political
positions, are aligning it increasingly with the US. In July, US
Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher sent a letter to Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton urging the United States to back freedom for
ethnic Azeris in Iran, and, on Sept. 12, the congressman presented a
draft text stating that the Azeri people, currently divided between
Azerbaijan and Iran, have the right to self-determination and to
their own sovereign country if they so choose. Given that Congressman
Rohrabacher supported the Armenian genocide resolution in 2010 and
is one of the members of the Friends of Israel in Congress, this move
cannot be dismissed out of hand as non-objective.

Israel’s intentions are also clear; Netanyahu is increasingly diverging
from the US’s current stance on Iran and is therefore unilaterally
developing Israel’s alliance profile in the South Caucasus. Israel
long ago presented itself as the security guarantor of Azerbaijan and
Georgia in the absence of the US in the region, warning that the Obama
administration will not see the Caucasus as a priority. There may also
be hope on the part of some Israelis that Iranian-Azerbaijani tensions
could provide its casus belli if Iran — openly or “accidentally” —
uses military force against Azerbaijan.

This thinking may not be shared by many experts and officials in
Azerbaijan and Israel, but both sides are aware that in the event of
any possible military intervention in Iran, Tehran will likely attack
Azerbaijan’s main energy fields.

In such circumstances, Iran’s misguided policy on Azerbaijan has
inflamed the lines of conflict and made the Azerbaijani public more
eager to defend the rights of Azerbaijanis living in Iran; in the
meantime, the deadlines for conflict resolution have passed. Countries
in the Caucasus are suspended by a “balance of threat” perception.

HUNDREDS HONOUR LATE PRIMATE OF ARMENIAN CHURCH AGHAN BALIOZIAN LOCAL NEWS

Cumberland Courier Newspapers
Oct 4 2012
Australia

CROWDS packed into the Armenian Apostolic Church of Holy Resurrection
in Chatswood on Thursday morning for the Episcopal funeral of the
late Primate of the Armenian Church of Australia and New Zealand.

His Eminence, Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, died suddenly of a heart
attack on September 22, aged 66.

A special requiem service was held at the Macquarie St church on
Wednesday at 7pm, before Thursday’s open casket viewing funeral
service and final consecration, which began at 10am.

The late Primate was laid to rest in a designated plot behind the
Armenian Section of Macquarie Park Cemetery.

HAVE YOUR SAY: What did His Eminence mean to the Armenian community
in Willoughby? COMMENT BELOW.

Distinguished guests from Australia and New Zealand and three
Archbishops from Jerusalem, India and Armenia, were among more than
600 people who turned out to farewell the Archbishop.

Member for North Sydney, Joe Hockey, member for Willoughby, Gladys
Berejiklian, and member for Berowra, Philip Ruddock, were all in
attendance.

His Emincence resided on the northern beaches but had made Willoughby
and Chatswood his home for a number of years.

View our gallery of the service here.

A moment’s silence was held at Willoughby council chambers last week.

Willoughby mayor Pat Reilly said His Eminence was a man of great
humour and great wisdom.

He was labelled an extraordinary man by deputy mayor Stuart Coppock.

YEREVAN TO HOST ARMENIAN-TURKISH BUSINESS FORUM

Vestnik Kavkaza
Oct 4 2012
Russia

The Yerevan Hotel “Ani Plaza” will host a forum of Armenian and Turkish
businessmen from October 5-6. The event is organized by the Union of
Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Armenia in the framework of the
program “Promotion of the normalization of relations between Armenia
and Turkey”, with the assistance of USAid, the “Eurasia” Foundation and
the International Center for Human Development, Armenia Today reports.

More than 50 Turkish businessmen from eastern Turkey, who represent
a variety of business areas, including light industry, construction,
restaurants, healthcare, jewellery, etc were invited to participate
in the event.

TURKEY TO TAKE LOCAL INVASION IN SYRIA – EXPERT

news.am
October 04, 2012 | 22:14

MOSCOW. – The U.S. will not support Turkey in its invasion in Syria
by jeopardizing Obama’s rating a month prior to the presidential
elections, Russian expert Iosif Diskin told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Invasion in Syria by Turkey will only deteriorate the humanitarian
situation and the Pentagon has declared about it directly.

At the same time, the expert did not rule out that despite Pentagon’s
warnings, Turkey will hold military actions against Syria.

“I do not rule out military actions, as Turkey desires to be a leader
in the Muslim world and cooperates with some aggressive Arab states,”
he said adding Syrian army controls over the whole territory except for
Aleppo and some other regions, but Turkish Armed Forces are powerful
and trained.

Azeri Report
Oct 3 2012

Azerbaijani-Americans: Heydar Aliyev Mexico Monument Insult to
Azerbaijani and Mexican People

WASHINGTON. DC. October 3, 2012. Azerbaijani-Americans for Democracy
(AZAD) has written a letter to the government of Mexico City regarding
the recent media reports about the monument to the late Azerbaijani
dictator Heydar Aliyev that was erected in return for the millions of
dollars the Azerbaijani government paid for renovation of parks in
Mexico City.

Below is the text of AZAD’s letter:

“Dear Honorable Head of Government Mr. Ebrard,
Honorable Members of the Government of Federal District of Mexico,

Our organization has learned from the recent news articles in major
international media outlets about the monument to the late Azerbaijani
dictator and former communist chief and KGB General Heydar Aliyev
erected in one of the Mexico City’s parks.

Mexican public would benefit from knowing that Heydar Aliyev was not a
founder, but a demolisher of modern Azerbaijani democracy. By the time
he came to power in 1993 in a Russian-backed military coup,
overthrowing the democratically elected government of the country,
Azerbaijan was already an independent state for two years. By that
time, Azerbaijan’s independence had long been recognized by the UN and
all major world powers, including Mexico.

What Heydar Aliyev and his cronies have built instead is neo-feudal,
corrupt petro-dictatorship where the throne (`presidency’) after his
death was passed to his son Ilham Aliyev.

Under Aliyev dynasty, rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens are
trampled. Journalists, bloggers, dissidents, and civic activists are
regularly beaten, jailed and tortured, some are murdered. Peaceful
protests are violently suppressed by police and plain-clothed
government agents. All elections are falsified. Just last week, a
secret cam video released online revealed how the seats in the
national parliament are not only selected by the President, instead of
being elected by voters, but also are sold by the regime leadership
for million dollar bribes.

While the vast majority of the population, in spite of Azerbaijan’s
enormous oil revenues, is still poor, Ilham Aliyev’s eleven years old
son owns a $40 million dollar luxury mansion in a Dubai resort.
President Aliyev’s family, through secretive off-shore firms, has
taken control of the country’s largest banks, gold mines, phone
companies, and other enterprises.

These and many other shameful facts about the Aliyev dictatorship are
well-documented in reports by the international media, human rights
organizations and foreign governments, and can be discovered by a
simple Google search. This corrupt, repressive system is the real
legacy of Heydar Aliyev. What he founded is hardly worth of
commemoration in a free society governed by basic moral norms.

Perhaps the government of Mexico City feels obliged to show an
appreciation for the multi-million dollars help provided by the
Azerbaijani authorities. As generous as it may be, that donation is
but a small drop in the bucket of billions stolen by the Aliyev regime
from regular citizens. Therefore, as a sign of gratitude to the
Azerbaijani people, whose money given was given for the renovation of
your parks, I humbly suggest that a simple pole with Azerbaijani flag
along with the statement of appreciation of Mexican-Azerbaijani
friendship would suffice.

Heydar Aliyev was not a noble man that deserves to be honored in
public parks and squares. Having his monument erected in Mexico City
is an affront to the Azerbaijanis that suffer at the hands of his
corrupt dictatorship and it can only be an insult to Mexicans who
value their own nation’s long-established traditions of freedom, human
rights and dignity, and justice.” (Azeri Report)

Organized Crime Plagues Logging Industry

00:15, October 3, 2012

Illegal logging is on the rise, as organized crime groups develop more
advanced systems of stealing or forging permits, concealing criminal
activities, and even `laundering timber,’ according to a new report.

The report, “Green Carbon, Black Trade,” which comes as a joint effort
of Interpol and the United Nations Environment Program, estimates that
illegal logging now accounts for 50-90 percent of the volume of all
forestry in key producer countries in the Amazon Basin and Indonesia
and is worth between US$30 and $100 billion annually.

Most methods of illegal logging fall into three categories: forging
documents of authorization, laundering illegal wood – in other words,
obscuring its origins, or bribing officials to ignore a blatantly
illegal operation.

One other strategy the report mentioned involves constructing roads in
protected areas under the guise of an authorized operation like
mining, and deliberately targeting high-value timber in planning the
route for that road’s construction. That happened in 2008 in Sumatra,
Indonesia, and when a local mayor complained, the local timber mafia
put a price on his head, according to the UNEP’s report.

This booming criminal industry wreaks havoc on local economies as well
as the environment, the report said. It leeches at least $10 billion
in revenue and tax income per year from the legitimate economy,
according to the World Bank, and much of that comes out of
compensation owed to the communities indigenous to foresting regions.
Those communities don’t have many options for alternatives income
sources.

Meanwhile, the environmental impact is clear. Advances in regulating
foresting and carbon emissions are of little use if such a robust
shadow economy exists to undermine them. As the report stated, “if
illegal logging cannot be controlled, it is inevitable that the global
community’s efforts to reduce and offset carbon emissions will be
undone.”

To address the phenomenon, the UNEP and INTERPOL in their report
advocated creating multidisciplinary law enforcement teams,
centralizing national licensing and permiting processes, and
implementing an international system of rating companies based on the
likelihood of their complicity in illegal logging activities.

At the same time, the organizations noted that enforcement could be
counter-productive, as stricter regulation sometimes only enhances the
power, influence, and profitability of corrupt officials. This has
already come to pass in Romania, Albania, and Vietnam where
politicians have taken bribes to circumvent or ignore recently
strengthened environmental regulations, the report said.

MP Samvel Aleksanyan has serious credits to cover – paper

October 2, 2012 – 16:23 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – According to Chorrord Inkishkhanutyun daily, MP
Samvel Aleksanyan was rumored to have put up for sale a large share of
his lands purchased in Armenia.

`The matter is, the new taxation rules aren’t much to Aleksanyan’s
liking. The MP has earlier voiced concern over the need to cover some
serious credits, while he has hardly enough to pay off the interest
rate,’ the daily said.

Armenia’s PM instructs sending school construction violations cases to
prosecutor’s office

tert.am
20:05 – 06.10.12

Within the framework of his visit to the Armenian province of Shirak,
Armenia’s Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan visited Mets Mantash
secondary school which has been reconstructed with a number of
violations, government’s website reports.

At the consultation held in the school, head of the Financial
Oversight Inspection of the Finance Ministry Sona Gharibyan reported
that the contract on reconstruction of the school has been signed
still in July 2009 and the contractor was `Parvana Montage’ company
renamed in 2012 to N.M. Ohanyan company.

The total contractual cost of the reconstruction was 479,4 million
drams and the works were intended to be accomplished in November 2012.

Gharibyan said as a result of the studies they have disclosed
violations amounting to 207 million drams, flaws, inefficient
expenditures.

She said the Seismicity service of the Emergency Situations Ministry
assessed the technical condition of the building as three-degree
unsatisfactory. She said the building should be strengthened.

`The interior works amounting to about 165 million drams have almost
been completed, while if taking into consideration that the revealed
flaws are widespread and the fortification works have not been
conducted yet, these expenditures will again be senseless,’ the head
of the inspection said.

Gharibyan said the same flaws have been registered in Masis N5 school.
Some 212,1 million drams have been allocated for the reconstruction of
the school. Violations amounting to 80 million have been registered.

Prime Minister was also reported that no alarms or negative
assessments have been voiced by organizations or bodies conducting
construction oversight.

The head of the government instructed to immediately hand the
materials to the prosecutor’s office and bring the cases to their
logical end. He said all the people responsible will be hold
accountable for the violations.

PM Sargsyan said the cases should be made public to show all the
construction companies what happens in case of violations. The head of
the government instructed to periodically report him about the working
process.

Russia to transform Gabala radar station into military base?

tert.am
18:24 – 05.10.12

Russia has plans to transform the Gabala radar station into a military
base, APA News Agency reports, citing military sources.

The Azerbaijani authorities are reportedly unwilling to extend the
rent agreement as they do not accept several proposals “conflicting
with the country’s constitution”.

The country is said to be concerned that the station might lose its
status of an information and analytical center in case of turning into
a military base. The Azerbaijani Constitution prohibits the operation
of a foreign state’s military base on the country’s territory.

But the military sources said Azerbaijan wishes to prolong the tenancy
period in by bringing the prices in conformity with the current state
of affairs.