Author: Kanayan Tamar

AZERBAIJAN DELIVERS NOTE TO HUNGARY

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Sept 6 2012

Azerbaijan has delivered to Hungary a note which stated that Ramil
Safarov was released in accordance with Azerbaijani legislation and
international norms, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman
Abdullayev said at a briefing on Thursday.

The note, according to the spokesman, also noted that the country’s
constitution gives the president of Azerbaijan exclusive right
to pardon.

“Procedure for transfer and pardon of Safarov was made in accordance
with Azerbaijani and international law,” Abdullayev said.

He said Safarov’s matter should be considered in the context of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as Safarov witnessed ethnic cleansing by
Armenia against the Azerbaijani population.

Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov, who was convicted in Hungary,
returned to Azerbaijan on Aug. 31. The same day, under an order of
the head of state, he was pardoned.

Ramil Safarov was born on August 25, 1977 in the Jabrail region
of Azerbaijan. Safarov 34, who participated in NATO exercises in
2004 in Hungary, was charged with the murder of Armenian officer
Gurgen Margaryan, who insulted the Azerbaijani flag. As the result
of the verdict by the Budapest court, Safarov was sentenced to life
imprisonment without the right of pardon during 30 years.

Immediately after the Azerbaijani officer’s release, Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan announced that Armenia suspends diplomatic relations
and all official contacts with Hungary.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia 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.

Thursday, 6 September 2012 Source: Trend AZ

OPENING REMARKS BY NATO SECRETARY GENERAL ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN AT THE JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH THE PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA, MR. SERZH SARGSYAN

NATO

Sept 6 2012

My visit to Armenia shows that NATO is and will remain committed to
the South Caucasus region. And we highly value the relationship we
have developed with Armenia over the years.

We appreciate your constant support for our mission in Afghanistan.

Last year, you have more than doubled your contribution to ISAF. And
recently you have once again joined our operation in Kosovo. Your
troops and your trainers are doing a great job, and you can be proud
of their professionalism.

Your country’s contributions to NATO-led operations mean that Armenian
personnel have received valuable training and peacekeeping experience.

This is important in developing your own peacekeeping capabilities,
an effort in which NATO is providing significant support.

An important priority in our partnership has been civil defence and
disaster response.

We have also established good cooperation and dialogue on defence
reform, and we encourage you to stay the course. NATO is ready to
continue to assist.

NATO and Armenia share many political priorities and security
interests. We have achieved a great deal together, in Afghanistan
and in Kosovo. This is the time to build on our success. To deepen
the practical experience that our military forces have gained in the
years of cooperation. And to explore what more we can do together to
face the security challenges of the 21st century.

So Armenia is a valuable partner for NATO. And NATO is a valuable
partner for Armenia. We now have an opportunity to build an even
stronger partnership for the future. It’s an opportunity we must
seize. Because we all have to gain, and so does the region as a whole.

NATO UPSET BY AZERBAIJAN KILLER’S PARDON

SBS News
Sept 7 2012
Australia

NATO’s head says he is “deeply concerned” about the pardon granted
to an Azerbaijan soldier who hacked an Armenian officer to death.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says he is “deeply
concerned” about the pardoning of a Azerbaijani soldier who axed an
Armenian officer to death during a NATO training course.

“The act he committed in 2004 was a terrible crime and should not be
glorified,” Rasmussen said on Thursday in a speech at Yerevan State
University during a visit to Armenia.

Azerbaijani lieutenant Ramil Safarov was extradited to Baku last week
from Hungary, where he had been serving a life sentence for hacking
the Armenian officer to death.

Safarov was immediately pardoned and promoted to the rank of major
after returning home to a hero’s welcome, in defiance of assurances
from Baku to Budapest that he would serve out his term in Azerbaijan.

The issue has inflamed tensions between ex-Soviet foes Armenia and
Azerbaijan which are locked in an unresolved conflict over the disputed
territory of Nagorny Karabakh where they fought a war in the 1990s.

“The pardon damages trust and doesn’t contribute to the peace process,”
Rasmussen said.

“Tensions must be reduced and concrete steps must be taken to promote
regional co-operation and reconciliation.”

Rasmussen said he would convey the same message to Azerbaijan when
he visits Baku on Friday.

More than 1000 young Armenians demonstrated outside the university
where Rasmussen was speaking, chanting “Shame” and “We demand justice”.

Armenia has broken off diplomatic links with Hungary over the
extradition and subsequent pardon, which has also sparked concern in
Washington, Brussels and Moscow.

At a press conference with Rasmussen later on Thursday, Armenian
President Serzh Sarkisian said: “Azerbaijan’s shameful act seriously
endangers the security of the entire south Caucasus.”

Armenia and Azerbaijan have not signed a peace deal since the 1994
Karabakh ceasefire and there are still frequent gun battles along
the frontline.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT BREAKS TIES WITH HUNGARY

Sydney Morning Herald
Sept 7 2012
Australia

Armenia’s Parliament has terminated all ties with Hungary’s legislators
to protest the country’s decision to repatriate an Azerbaijani military
officer who murdered an Armenian soldier in 2004.

The officer, Lt. Ramil Safarov, was sentenced to life for killing the
Armenian while both were attending a NATO course in Hungary. After
being freed, the officer was pardoned upon returning home Friday.

Hours later, Armenia broke diplomatic relations with Hungary.

Armenia’s Parliament voted 96-1 on Wednesday night to end ties with
Hungary’s Parliament, saying in a statement that Hungarian authorities
“are also responsible” for the pardoning.

Tensions are strong between Armenia and Azerbaijan over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan controlled by Armenian troops
and ethnic Armenian forces since 1994. International negotiators said
the pardoning harms peace efforts there.

On Thursday U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon implicitly criticized
Azerbaijan for pardoning and freeing Safarov, despite having promised
Hungary that his life sentence would be enforced. U.N. spokesman
Martin Nesirky expressed Ban’s concern in New York. Nesirky quoted
Ban as saying all U.N. members have a responsibility “to adhere to
international standards and principles of rule of law in criminal
cases in order to ensure accountability and fight impunity.”

The spokesman said the U.N. hopes the incident won’t damage the peace
process regarding Nagorno-Karabakh.

Meanwhile, an Armenian security expert said that Armenia’s government
and media websites were under cyber-attacks Thursday that originated
from thousands of infected computers located outside the country.

Ruben Muradian said the DDoS, or Denial of Service, attacks came from
some 80,000 computers located “in Asia.”

Armenian political analyst Samwel Martirosian claimed that Azeri
authorities “undoubtedly” were behind the attacks conducted by hackers
hired in Turkey, Pakistan, India and Vietnam.

DDoS attacks occur when a website is overwhelmed by malicious messages
carried out by thousands of followers, usually with easily downloadable
software.

___

Edith M. Lederer contributed from the United Nations.

SOLE ARMENIAN-AMERICAN CALIFORNIA DELEGATE TO DNC IS FROM GLENDALE

Glendale News Press
,0,313721.story
Sept 6 2012
CA

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With hundreds of delegates and alternates in
attendance, the California delegation to the Democratic National
Convention takes up a big piece of real estate inside Time Warner Cable
Arena. Sitting enthusiastically among them Wednesday night was delegate
Juliet Minassian of Glendale, attending her first political convention.

“The convention is very educational,” said Minassian, who came to
Glendale from Iran about 15 years ago. “You can learn very much,
and I have been thrilled to see all these people in here. For me it’s
more than I imagined.”

Minassian, 50, a self-employed accountant, said she is the only
Armenian-American in the state delegation, but is hopeful she can
get others from her community involved.

“They are not as active as they should be,” said Minassian,
vice-president of the Glendale Democratic Club. “I think this comes
from our culture, because we are coming from countries in the Middle
East, and they are not very active in politics in their countries. For
myself, coming from Iran, it was very hard as a woman to get involved
in politics, especially as a Christian. I know this is the same with
other Armenians. This culture has been with us and it will take some
time to get everybody involved with the politics here.”

Wearing a green jacket and wide-brimmed hat covered in Obama buttons,
she carried a handmade sign that read, “Armenian American 4 Obama”
while watching speeches by former President Bill Clinton and
Massachusetts U.S. senate candidate Elizabeth Warren. Minassian said
she was hopeful that she could bring attention there to the plight
of Christian Armenian refugees from Syria and Iraq.

“They have been tremendously under pressure. They have been pushed
out of the country. There is nowhere for them to go. They have been
living on the mountains,” she said. “I was trying to get that as part
of the platform. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to, but I will try to
do my best to get attention to that.”

— Steve Appleford, Times Community News

ARMENIAN CENTRAL BANK LEAVES INTEREST RATES STABLE AS INFLATION REACHES LOWER END OF TARGET RANGE
by: Venla Sipila

Global Insight
September 5, 2012

The Central Bank of Armenia has announced that it will keep its key
policy interest rate unchanged at 8.0% in August, ARKA News reports.

The refinancing rate has now remained stable since September 2011. The
decision follows August inflation data from the National Statistics
Agency showing that consumer prices last month increased by 2.5%
year-on-year (y/y), the annual inflation rate thus just reaching
the lower boundary of the CBA’s target range. In July, prices had
climbed by 2.3% y/y, following a gain of just 0.7% y/y in June. In
month-on-month (m/m) comparison, prices fell by 0.4% in August. Food
prices, in particular, increased by 1.7% y/y, while they fell by 0.9%
m/m. The CBA noted that inflation pressures continue to be suppressed
by weak global demand, whereas, on the other hand, rising grain prices
have the opposite impact. The central bank expects inflation to remain
within target for the next 12 months.

Significance:Armenian inflation has finally returned to the target
range, set at 2.5 percentage points on either side of the central
rate of 4%. Although food price inflation only returned to positive
territory in annual terms in July, and the cost of food still fell
m/m in August, the clearest inflation risks at present originate
from this source, as is typical in Armenia. Food price inflation
is indeed expected to strengthen in the coming quarters. Regional
harvests play a large role in determining food prices, and weakness
of these marks higher inflation pressures. Armenia also imports food
products, and any major increase in the cost of these would show in
headline inflation rates. Import price developments are subject to
risks also related to exchange rate developments. In particular,
the uncertain outlook for remittance inflows signals significant
exchange rate risks, and any marked dram deprecation would fairly
quickly transfer further to inflation.

COOPERATION WITH NATO USEFUL FOR ARMENIA – PRESIDENT SARGSYAN

news.am
September 06, 2012 | 15:12

YEREVAN. – Cooperation with NATO is useful for Armenia, President
Serzh Sargsyan stated Thursday during his joint briefing with NATO
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

“I believe we are successfully combining the cooperation with CSTO
[Collective Security Treaty Organization] and NATO,” the President
said, and added that he does not consider NATO and CSTO to be competing
organizations.

“I don’t consider that the member countries should not cooperate. On
the contrary, we should achieve stability by this cooperation. Our
actions should not result in damaging relations. And our cooperation
with NATO is useful for us, and cooperation with NATO is important
for us. And cooperation with NATO stems from our country’s interest,”
Armenia’s President stated.

In his turn, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen noted that
there is no competition between NATO and Russia, and, what is more,
NATO cooperates with Russia.

MILAN CABRNOCH EXPRESSES HIS DEEP CONCERN ABOUT AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT’S DECISION TO PARDON SAFAROV

armradio.am
06.09.2012 18:24

The European Union-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (PCC)
Co-Chair Milan Cabrnoch released a statement on Ramil Safarov release,
which reads, in part:

“In my capacity as Chairman of the European Parliament Delegation to
the EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation
Committees, I express my deep concern about the Azerbaijani President’s
decision to pardon Ramil Safarov, who was supposed to serve a life
sentence for brutally murdering Gurgen Margaryan, an Armenian military
officer, in Hungary in 2004.

For a number of years, the Members of our Delegation have redoubled
their efforts in order to contribute to the improvement of relations
between Armenia and Azerbaijan through the parliamentary dialogue and,
most recently, also through the Euronest PA.

Moreover, we have intensified the bilateral contacts with Armenia
and Azerbaijan, by making use of the instruments of parliamentary
diplomacy, in the hope to reduce regional tensions, promote
reconciliation and contribute to finding a viable solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Our Delegation has made it clear to its Armenian and Azerbaijani
counterparts that respect for human rights, the rule of law and
European values should always be at the heart of their European
integration aspirations. In this context, the decision of Mr Aliyev
might be seen as a dangerous misuse of judicial proceedings.

I urge the authorities of Azerbaijan to show their commitment to the
values I mentioned and strongly encourage Azerbaijan and Armenia to
remain engaged in a reconciliation process.”

POLITICIAN: ARMENIA SHOULD START INTN’L CAMPAIGN FOR ARTSAKH RECOGNITION

PanARMENIAN.Net
September 6, 2012 – 17:21 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia has gained nothing from Azeri assassin Ramil
Safarov extradition, but now is the time to use the incident to restore
Artsakh people’s right to self-determination, ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s
Armenian Cause Political Affairs Office Director said.

“Armenia shouldn’t halt Karabakh settlement talks, instead announcing
the start of a campaign for international recognition of Artsakh,”
Kiro Manoyan said.

LA OTAN DICE QUE INDULTO A OFICIAL AZERBAIYANO SOCAVA LA CONFIANZA EN LA REGION
Vladimir Fedorenko

Secretario general de al OTAN, Anders Fogh Rasmussen

RIA Novosti
06/09/2012

El secretario general de al OTAN, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, declaro
hoy que el indulto del oficial azerbaiyano Ramil Safarov, hecho que
provoco la ruptura de relaciones entre Armenia y Hungría, perjudica
la confianza en la region.

“Esta decision de Azerbaiyan (indultar a Safarov) perjudica la
confianza y el proceso de paz. Es la postura de la OTAN que yo
expreso”, dijo Rasmussen en una reunion con estudiantes y profesores
de la Universidad de Erevan.

El viernes pasado, Armenia suspendio las relaciones diplomaticas con
Hungría tras la polemica extradicion del teniente azerbaiyano Ramil
Safarov, sentenciado a cadena perpetua por el asesinato del militar
armenio Gurguen Margarian, en 2004, e indultado nada mas pisar el
suelo patrio.

El presidente de Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, califico de “grave error”
la decision de Hungría y la acuso de pactar una componenda con
Azerbaiyan. Según la prensa, Azerbaiyan planea invertir hasta 3.000
millones de euros en la compra de bonos soberanos de Hungría.

Safarov y Margarian asistían en Budapest a un curso de ingles en
el marco del programa Asociacion para la Paz de la OTAN. En febrero
de 2004, el militar azerbaiyano mato a hachazos a su colega armenio
mientras dormía. En el juicio se puso de manifiesto la connotacion
política del crimen: el odio que azerbaiyanos y armenios mantienen a
raíz del antiguo conflicto de Alto Karabaj. Safarov fue condenado en
Hungría a cadena perpetua sin derecho al indulto durante 30 años. Sin
embargo, el presidente de Azerbaiyan, Ilham Aliev, lo indulto
inmediatamente despues de la repatriacion; mas aún, lo ascendio al
grado de mayor.

“Me preocupa sobremanera la actitud de Azerbaiyan y mañana (viernes),
durante mi visita a Bakú, hare llegar mi mensaje a Azerbaiyan de la
misma manera que lo hice hoy en Erevan”, manifesto Rasmussen citado
por la agencia Novosti-Armenia.

Armenia y Azerbaiyan llevan mas de dos decadas enfrentadas por Alto
Karabaj, zona de poblacion mayoritariamente armenia que en 1988 se
separo de la entonces República Socialista Sovietica de Azerbaiyan
para proclamar tres años mas tarde la independencia.

La secesion dio origen a una guerra entre Bakú y Erevan que se prolongo
hasta el mes de mayo de 1994 y a raíz de la cual Azerbaiyan perdio
el control sobre Alto Karabaj y siete distritos adyacentes.

Desde 1992, el arreglo en Karabaj es objeto de negociaciones en el
marco del Grupo de Minsk de la OSCE copresidido por EEUU, Francia
y Rusia. Azerbaiyan insiste en recuperar su integridad territorial
y Armenia defiende los intereses de la república rebelde de Karabaj
que no es parte del proceso negociador.