Author: Kanayan Tamar

BUNDESPRASIDENT FISCHER TRIFFT ARMENISCHEN KATHOLIKOS KAREKIN II

Kathweb

22 Juni 2012
Osterreich

Offizieller Besuch des Staatsoberhauptes in der Republik Armenien von

Wien, 22.06.2012 (KAP) Bundesprasident Heinz Fischer wird zum
Abschluss eines dreitagigen Staatsbesuchs in Armenien in der kommenden
Woche auch mit dem Oberhaupt der armenisch-apostolischen Kirche,
Katholikos-Patriarch Karekin II., zusammentreffen. Laut dem am Freitag
von der Prasidentschaftskanzlei veroffentlichten Besuchsprogramm
besichtigt Fischer am Mittwoch das Felsenkloster Geghard und reist
anschließend fur die Begegnung mit Karekin II. in die alte armenische
Hauptstadt Etschmiadzin weiter. Die Stadt ist historisches Zentrum der
armenischen Kirche und Sitz des Katholikos-Patriarchen. Die dortigen
Kirchen gehoren zum UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe.

Karekin II. ist mit Osterreich, u.a. mit der Stiftung “Pro Oriente”,
besonders verbunden. In den 1970er Jahren studierte der heutige
Katholikos-Patriarch auf Einladung von Kardinal Franz Konig in Wien
katholische Theologie und wohnte im Wiener Priesterseminar. Zuletzt
absolvierte er 2005 auf Einladung von Kardinal Christoph Schonborn
einen zehntagigen Osterreichbesuch. Bei einem Treffen in Wien lud
Karekin II. damals Bundesprasident Fischer zum Besuch von Etschmiadzin
ein.

Der armenisch-apostolischen Kirche gehort die Mehrheit der rund 3,2
Millionen Einwohner des Landes im sudlichen Kaukasus an. Sie gehort
zu den so genannten altorientalischen Kirchen, die sich bereits in
der Spatantike, nach den Beschlussen des Konzils von Chalkedon, von
Rom und Konstantinopel trennten. Die romisch-katholische Gemeinde
ist in Armenien mit 120.000 Mitgliedern eine Minderheit.

Neben dem Treffen mit Karekin II. sind wahrend des Staatsbesuchs von
25. bis 27. Juni u.a. Begegnungen mit dem armenischen Prasidenten
Serzh Sargsyan sowie Premierminister Tigran Sargsyan vorgesehen. Dabei
durfte auch das Massaker an den Armeniern im Osmanischen Reich,
deren Anerkennung als Volkermord von Armenien gefordert wird, zur
Sprache kommen. Am Dienstagnachmittag wird Fischer beim Denkmal der
Opfer des Volkermords an den Armeniern einen Kranz niederlegen.

AZERBAIJAN AGGRESSOR BEYOND ANY DOUBT – SENIOR PARLIAMENTARIAN

tert.am
27.06.12

A country which used military force in protest against the
Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic’s right to independence cannot
but be termed an aggressor, the vice speaker of the National Assembly
has said.

Edward Sharmazanov voiced disapproval of Azerbaijan’s policies in
response to a statement by Novruz Mamedov, the head of the Foreign
Relations Department at the Azerbaijani Presidential Office. The
Azerbaijani official said recently that his country will be ready
to grant Karabakh a high status of independence, provided it calls
Armenia an aggressor.

“There are internationally accepted norms, the UN Charter, which
stipulate that the right to self-determination is among the United
Nations objectives, with territorial integrity being only a principle.

Hence principles should serve for the implementation of objectives.

Secondly, the Republic of Artsakh declared its independence in
accordance with the USSR’s acting legislation and the norms and
principles of international law, and enshrined it through a universal
referendum. What’s even more, NKR did not enjoy independence for a
single day or a single hour while being part of Azerbaijan,” said
the Armenian parliamentarian, opposing to the Azerbaijani official.

Sharmazanov, who is also the spokesperson of the ruling republican
Party of Armenia (RPA), further condemned Azerbaijan for desecrating
the historical monuments of New Julfa and committing a cultural
genocide.

“Mr. Mamedov, how would you name a country which opposed to the
Nagorno-Karabakh people’s peaceful right to independence by military
force, bombing the peaceful civilians – including women and children
– and keeping them under the [threat] of fire. [What name would you
give] to the officials of a country who declare across the globe that
they must wash themselves in Lake Sevan. I think it is time for the
society to call things by their names and term [the country] as an
aggressor. It is beyond doubt that Azerbaijan fits that definition.”

IT’S GOOD BAKU REFUSES
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 17:47:31 – 27/06/2012

Levon Ter-Petrosyan began his speech in the rally of the Armenian
National Congress on June 26 with the Karabakh issue. He thinks that
the presidents of the United States, Russia and France are indignant
because Aliyev and Sargsyan did not take deciding steps and keep to
radical positions.

In fact, their patience is wearing thin, and they are likely to talk
to the presidents in another language.

Referring to experts, Ter-Petrosyan suggested that the other language
might by the disbanding of the Minsk Group, work with the societies,
otherwise a war. In any case, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev now
have smaller room for maneuvers.

By the end of the year Armenia and Azerbaijan must complete the
preparations for signing the Association Agreement with the EU. The
German Ambassador Hans-Jochen Schmidt told Lragir.am that the preamble
of the document has not been agreed yet. No wording for the definition
of the Karabakh issue has been found that would be acceptable to both
Armenia and Azerbaijan.

A definition would be found if the situation of the Karabakh settlement
changed. And it is not ruled out that Levon Ter-Petrosyan has learned
about the intention to “correct” the configuration in Karabakh to
sign the Association Agreement. Of course, this time Ter-Petrosyan
did not accuse the Armenian government of selling Karabakh in return
for legitimacy.

It is beyond doubt that both Europe and Armenia are pushing for
signing the Association Agreement. It is also obvious that there will
be no success as long as the European Union will conduct negotiations
with Armenia and Azerbaijan on a synchrony and parity basis because
Azerbaijan will torpedo the process with new pre-conditions.

The EU must end this artificial parity and establish separate agendas
and schedules for Armenia and Azerbaijan and first of all identify
priorities of its interaction with Yerevan and Baku. After all,
nothing happened after Georgia’s promotion of its relations with NATO
ahead of Armenia and Azerbaijan and now each of these countries has
its action plan.

The Western leaders are genuinely indignant about the position of
Azerbaijan. Ambassador Schmidt shared his surprise that no document was
signed in Kazan though even the issue of referendum had been agreed. In
addition, nobody except Armenia publicly criticized Azerbaijan for the
failure of the talks. Again calls for parity were made to both sides.

In fact, this is even good that Azerbaijan rejected the results of
talks. At least because the ongoing talks do not match the vital
interests of Armenia and presuppose unacceptable concessions.

TURKEY RESTORES MILITARY TIES WITH FRANCE

tert.am
27.06.12

Turkey has agreed to restore all military ties with France, Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, and a senior procurement
official said that the restored relations covers all arms deals
between the two countries, The Defense News reports.

The deal effectively means that Eurosam, the European missile maker
whose members include major French companies, may compete for Turkey’s
Long-Range Air and Missile Defense Systems (Loramids) contract,
worth about $4 billion.

Eurosam had never been officially excluded from that competition,
but the earlier legislation made it unlikely the European missile
would be selected.

Ankara canceled all economic, political and military meetings with
Paris in December after France’s lower house of parliament voted
overwhelmingly in favor of a draft law to make it illegal to deny
that the Armenian Genocide.

ARMENIAN-AUSTRIAN BUSINESS FORUM HOSTS PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA AND AUSTRALIA

ARMENPRESS
26 June, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS: President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
and Austrian President Heinz Fischer attended the Armenian-Austrian
business forum June 26. As Armenpress reports, Serzh Sargsyan noted
that the economic relations of the two countries were thoroughly
referred during the meeting with his counterpart. “Analogical meetings
are a good opportunity for businessmen to indicate new spheres of
cooperation,” said the President. According to him, there is quite
a full potential between the two countries, there is a legal and
contractual field. Serzh Sargsyan highly assessed the circumstance that
by the Development Bank of Austria Armenia has been involved in the
list of the primary countries for cooperation. The President voiced
hope that in the spheres of agriculture and energy the cooperation
will have success. “Both spheres are of strategical significance to
our country,” said the President, stressing that till 2020 Armenia
wants to amount consumption of renewable energy to 35%.

The head of the republic also pointed out the sphere of tourism as
prospective ibe. “We would like to see a tangible presence of the
Austrian capital in this sphere,” said Serzh Sargsyan. Austrian
President Heinz Fischer noted with pity that the global economic
crisis has had its negative impact on economies of the two countries.

“Despite that, Armenia and Austria soon took the path of development.

We hope that improvement of global economic environment will promote
development of the business and economy in our countries,” said
Fisher, assuring that Austria will continue making investments in
Armenia’s economy, promoting the country’s economic growth. A number
of memorandums and agreements were signed in presence of the Presidents
of Armenia and Austria.

PACE COMMITTEE ACCEPTS THE REPORT ON “PRESENCE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN AZERBAIJAN”

ARMENPRESS
26 June, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS: Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe has had quite a full agenda June 26, especially in the
committees, member of the Armenian delegation to PACE Naira Zohrabyan
told Armenpress.

According to her, 2 reports have been under discussion in the PACE
Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights from the morning, first
of which concerned the formulation of “political prisoner”, and the
second concerned presence of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

“The Azerbaijani delegation exerted unprecedented efforts to unite its
lobbyist MPs at PACE under one rough, to bring them to the committee,
so that the two reports were thrown down and especially the second
one. They had brought a great number of lobbyists, who shamelessly
lied and tried to present the current situation in Azerbaijan with
other groundings, and even their partner MPs called on not to be
dishonest and leave the PACE, if they cannot resist pressures,”
said Naira Zohrabyan. She also noted that nevertheless, both reports
were accepted at the committee. PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and
Human Rights accepted the second report, which concerned presence of
political prisoners in Azerbaijan, with ratio of 25 yes votes to no
23 votes.

“It is strange that Pedro Agramunt, who has been appointed co-reporter
in Azerbaijan by the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly
of Council of Europe (PACE) was actively resisting these reports,
whereas the PACE Charter bans the MPs who have clash of profits to
become a reporter on that issue. I think our partners represented
at the PACE Monitoring Committee should consider the purposefulness
of Agramunt’s being a reporter, as that official is not impartial,”
noted Naira Zohrabyan. According to her, Agramunt is also involved in
“caviar diplomacy” list, that is, in the list of the MPs, who have
been corrupted by Azerbaijan.

GENOCIDE SCHOLAR UGUR UNGOR WINS YOUNG SCIENTISTS AWARD

Armenian Weekly

June 24, 2012

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has
selected five outstanding young scientists to receive the Heineken
Young Scientists Awards on Sept. 27. This is the second time this
biennial prize has been awarded.

The winners are the biologist Geert van den Bogaart, the medical
specialist Linda van Laake, the sociologist/historian Ugur Umit Ungör,
the environmental scientist Tjisse van der Heide, and the cognitive
scientist Floris de Lange. Each winner receives EUR 10,000 and a
specially commissioned work of art.

Sociologist and historian Dr. Ugur Umit Ungör, 31, is receiving
the Heineken Young Scientists Award for History for his
historical-sociological research on mass violence, nationalism,
and the creation of states. Ungör has already received a number of
prizes for his PhD research on the creation of the Turkish nation
state in the period from 1913 to 1950, a politically sensitive
issue. He has an impressive list of publications that includes three
monographs, and has become an international authority in the field
of genocide studies. Ungör is now a lecturer at Utrecht University
and a lecturer/researcher with the Netherlands Institute for War
Documentation (NIOD). He also writes satirical columns and essays on
cosmopolitan life and on political and cultural boundaries. The jury
calls Ungör an outstanding, dedicated researcher who has already
achieved a great deal. Amongst other things, it praises his ability
to preserve a balance as regards the politically troublesome research
topic of genocide.

The Heineken Young Scientists Awards are intended for promising young
scientists whose outstanding research means that they set an example
for other young scientists. The Academy’s aim with the awards is
to provide an additional incentive for talented researchers of the
up-and-coming generation.

To read Dr. Ungör’s articles published in the Armenian Weekly
magazines, click here.

AUSTRIAN LEADER SAYS VISIT TO ARMENIA MET EXPECTATIONS

news.am
June 26, 2012 | 14:02

YEREVAN.- President of Austria Heinz Fischer said his official visit
to Armenia met expectations.

During a press conference in Yerevan, Fischer said he had interest
in Armenia long ago. Being a schoolchild Fischer read Franz Werfel’s
“The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” novel (dedicated to the Armenian Genocide
– ed.).

Austrian leader said at the university he got familiar with the
history of Armenia, pointing out the role of Anastas Mikoyan in the
government of the USSR.

Fischer said he is happy to have a chance to get familiarized with
Armenia’s cultural heritage tomorrow.

“Austria has good skiers, while Armenia – good chess players,”
he emphasized.

RA AMBASSADOR TO U.N. RAISES ISSUE OF AZERBAIJANI OCCUPATION OF ARTZVASHEN, NORTHERN ARTSAKH

hetq
15:24, June 26, 2012

Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the U.N., Karen Nazaryan, raised
the issue of the Azerbaijani occupation of Artzvashen, Shahoumyan
and Getashen during his speech yesterday at the Security Council.

U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki moon and over 50 reps of U.N. member
states were present at the discussion regarding the protection of
civilian populations in conflict zones.

Ambassador Nazaryan also underscored the responsibility of Azerbaijan
of engaging in violations directed at civilians in the Karabakh
conflict and trampling the rights of hundreds of thousands of Armenian
refugees.

Nazaryan said that as a result of the conflict entire Armenian
communities had been destroyed, including Artzvashen and the northern
Artsakh Republic communities of Shahoumyan, Getashen and 18 other
villages which remain under Azerbaijani occupation.

ARMENIA AND AUSTRIA TO COOPERATE MORE CLOSELY IN THE FRAMEWORK OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

ARMENPRESS
26 June, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS: Armenia and Austria will continue the
cooperation in the framework of European institutions. Armenpress
reports that about this declared the President of Austria Heinz
Fischer during the joint press conference with the President of
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

“We try to see the picture of the whole Europe. At present there are
difficult issues in Euro zone. At the coming session of European
Council the heads of states and Governments will have difficult
negotiations but the results of them can have great influence on
global development” mentioned Heinz Fischer.

Austrian President expressed his wish to deepen the cooperation in
Air transport sphere. “Austria gives great importance to the dialogue
between cultures, civilizations and religions” summarized the President
of Austria.

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan mentioned that Austrian side
reconfirmed his full readiness to support Armenian efforts of Euro
integration particularly the reforms which are implemented in Armenia.