Author: Karapetian Hovik

PROSPECT FOR TURKISH-ARMENIAN RAPPROCHEMENT: A NEW BEGINNING OR A DEAD END? (1/2)
By Guner Ozkan

Journal of Turkish Weekly
/prospect-for-turkish-armenian-rapprochement-a-new -beginning-or-a-dead-end-1-2-.html
Oct 23 2009

The Turkish-Armenian Protocols, concurrently announced by Turkey and
Armenia on 31 August on the establishment of diplomatic relations and
the development of relations, were signed on October 10 in Zurich by
the foreign ministers of the respective countries. Few days later,
on October 14, the Presidents of two countries, Abdullah Gul of Turkey
and Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia, watched their national football teams
in Bursa in Turkey in the World Cup group qualification game.

Unfortunately, there was not a man of the match on the pitch (the best
player in a game chosen by viewers for his outstanding performance)
as both teams had already lost their chances for going to South Africa
next summer. There were, indeed, not one but two best players of the
game, this time not on the pitch but among the spectators; they were
Gul and Sargsyan. Inside and outside the stadium all eyes were on
the two of them. How did they look one another? How did they shake
each other’s hands? Did they talk? Did they make any jokes? These
were the evaluation criteria for choosing the man of the match, and,
‘according to votes’, they performed very successfully.

But, when the time soon comes to talk over the hard topics, just
like the agreed Protocols and disagreed NK issue, this serenity on
the faces will likely be replaced with moody feelings, accusations
and quarrels. Such acts of mutual disfavour between Turkey and
Armenia seem to be evident. As a matter of fact, a last minute
squabble over what the parties would say after the signature of the
Protocols entails that discussions, legalizations and applications
of these documents will face great challenges in and between Turkey
and Armenia. Nevertheless, there are a lot at hand to be optimistic
for the success of the Protocols and removal of the NK problem from
the agendas of the states involved one way or another. For instance,
just looking at the picture frame of the signing ceremony in Zurich
signifies how important the international dimension of the Protocols
is. Certainly, there are a lot of pros and cons of the reconciliation
effort of Turkey and Armenia for all major actors. Thus, in order to
test the prospect for the new Turkish-Armenian rapprochement attempt,
one needs to look at who understands what and who wants what from
these Protocols.

Armenia’s Expectations

Armenian government’s expectations from the Protocols are mainly based
on economic reasons. Armenia has been suffering greatly from being a
landlocked country leaving it to the mercy of limited economic and
financial opportunities offered by Russia and Iran. At the time of
global economic crisis, Armenian economy is predicted to shrink up to
15 per cent by the end of 2009. There are already 60 to 70 thousands
Armenians from Armenia and Georgia currently living in Turkey as
migrant workers and indirect trade level between the two countries
is around $270 million.

Though not known who will benefit how much, and whether the Armenian
economy will be able to compete with the Turkish goods, are open
to debate when the borders are opened, Yerevan government has no
longer wanted to be isolated from regional energy and transportation
corridors in the direction of East to West. Last war between Georgia
and Russia has further hardened the economic situation in the country,
and Armenian government has no longer wanted to be too much dependent
on unpredictable and volatile political and military risks along its
northern border between Tbilisi and Moscow. It is also mainly the
economic problem of the country that Armenia has faced a serious
demography problem as the people leave their home to abroad for
seeking jobs.

On the issue of alleged Armenian Genocide issue, Sargsyan government
appears to leave the effort of its international recognition to
the Armenian Diaspora. On the other hand, at the same time, Yerevan
government thinks that it can defend the ‘Genocide’ claims in the
proposed sub-commission on history to be established after diplomatic
relation and border opening are accomplished. Perhaps, for soothing
Diaspora’s protest against Armenian government’s acceptance to sign
the Protocols or pointing out his real intention, Sargsyan expressed
during his recent visits to Diaspora communities that he would
never allow the dilution of the reality of the ‘Armenian Genocide’
by accepting the re-examination of the facts of ‘the Genocide’ in
the sub-commission in the Protocols.

As he should be found accountable about what he is saying rather than
what he has in his mind, it can be said that, as he reiterated to the
Armenian Diaspora, Sargsyan only sees the sub-commission on history
as a platform "to discuss the steps necessary for the removal of the
consequences of the Genocide"…and "educate the Turkish public about
the Armenian Genocide". So, Sargsyan’s view on the alleged Armenian
Genocide regarding the Protocols is that he will not give up his
efforts for further international recognition of ‘the Genocide’,
and even ask Turkey to recognize it and to pay compensation. Also,
Sargsyan has seen the sub-commission to be set up as an opportunity
to reveal all the details of ‘the Armenian Genocide’ for the wider
Turkish public.

The other problem is Nagorno-Karabakh, what Armenians call it
‘Artsakh’ so as to emphasize that it historically belongs to the
Armenian people. As known, Armenian government separates opening up
the relationship with Turkey from the NK issue and strongly objects
Turkish view on the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied
Azerbaijani territories. Obviously, as well as the alleged Armenian
Genocide, the NK problem seems to be the most challenging issue to
force Yerevan in the discussions in Armenia and later on with Turkey.

What Turkey Wants

Obviously, Turkey has fed up with ‘the Armenian Genocide’ issue being
put in front of her every year on the 24th of April. Ankara, as anyone
else, knows well that Sub-Commission on History in the Protocols will
not stop Diaspora Armenians’ effort to seek recognition of ‘Genocide’
at the US Congress and many other international platforms alongside
those which have already done so. Then, what is the objective of Turkey
to discuss the ‘Genocide’ issue in the expected history commission
if she is not going to get the desired aim of the drop of it from
the agendas of various important country’s legislative organs and
platforms?

Turkey seems to get two objectives to be realized by doing that:
first, she can now say to any government, legislative organs abroad
and authority dealing with ‘the Genocide’ issue that her counterpart
on this matter is the Armenian government and working with Yerevan in
tandem to reach a judgment. Also, discussing the issue with Yerevan
will ease the pressure the American governments feel from Armenian
Diaspora on the mentioning of the word of ‘Genocide’ each year on the
24th of April. Obama and his successors may now tell to the Armenian
Diaspora that they had great progress on the issue and the parties
were discussing ‘the Genocide’ matter.

Some governments in the EU may also be told by Turkey that ‘the
Genocide’ is being discussed with the Armenian government and wait the
findings of the history commission. Whether the US government and some
EU states will satisfy with Turkey’s responses cannot be said now,
at least for those pro-Turkey governments can use the progress as a
reason for not pressurizing Ankara in the EU accession process.

Turkey also hopes that the Protocols help resolve the NK dispute. The
Turkish government insists that without ending the occupation of the
Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, the border with the latter will
not be opened. Although the Protocols do not include any reference
to the NK problem, Turkey has its own condition. This can be all
along seen in the speeches of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu since the Protocols were announced
to the public. How this impasse will be overcome by the sides is a
big question waiting an answer.

If both Armenia and Turkey stick on their arguments on the NK issue
in weeks ahead, both sides may not be able to move on from the point
where they are now in the implementation of the Protocols. If this
is the likely scenario, then both Turkey and Armenia will use their
diplomatic muscles abroad to exert pressure against one another or
directly face the same pressure from the same centres, which are of
great interests in the Caucasus and Caspian region. This then means
either to go back to the same point of pre-Protocols situation or
to give up some of the conditions both sides have insisted on the
NK problem.

*Dr. GUNER OZKAN is an expert on the Caucasus Region at the
Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organisation (ISRO)
and a Lecturer at Mugla University

WCO SECRETARY GENERAL PERSONALLY GOT FAMILIARIZED WITH CUSTOMS SERVICES’ OPERATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2009 19:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ World Customs Organization (WCO) Secretary General
Kunio Mikuriya is carrying out a two-day visit to Armenia to get
personally familiarized with custom services’ operations and current
reforms, RA State Income Committee’s press service reports.

Secretary General’s visit is accounted for Armenia’s considerable
progress which received WCO’s high assessment, Committee says in
a release.

Kunio Mikuriya met with RA State Income Committee Chair Gagik
Khachatryan. Parties discussed possibilities of introducing "Columbus"
program in Armenia.

"We intend to make Armenia a customs transformation model in entire
region and introduce its experience to other states," WCO Secretary
General said.

World Customs Organization is presently the only international
structure dealing purely with customs issues. It currently has 174
member states which are offered to join various conventions and other
international instruments. Armenia has been a WCO member since 1992.

NEW RURAL HEALTH POST OPENS IN FERIK VILLAGE

armradio.am
23.10.2009 12:33

On October 23, 2009, USAID/Armenia Social Reform Office Director
Sangita Patel and the Governor of Armavir Marz Ashot Ghahramanyan
marked the opening of a new rural health post in the Ferik village.

The health post emerged as the result of a four-month collaboration
between the community, USAID’s NOVA and Primary Healthcare Reform
(PHCR) projects.

Project NOVA started its Community Partnership for Health activities
in Ferik with the identification of existing problems and the creation
of an action plan with community members. As a result, premises were
assigned for the new health post, which Project NOVA and active members
of the village community renovated together. Ferik provided about
one third of the total renovation costs through financial and in-kind
contributions, while Project NOVA covered the remaining expenses. As
a result, Ferik’s health post now has two newly renovated rooms with
a separate entrance, tiled floors, running water, electricity, and is
ready to greet its patients. In addition, health education materials
are available at the health post, and the facility nurse will conduct
health talks to community members.

As part of the joint efforts to improve healthcare services offered
in the Ferik community, USAID’s PHCR Project provided a standard
set of furniture, equipment and supplies to the health post. To
compliment the improved physical conditions of the facility with
enhanced performance of rural healthcare workers, PHCR ensured that
the nurse serving the Ferik community was enrolled in the unified
family nursing training program provided by the National Institute
of Health through USAID support.

With a new health post, a skilled and knowledgeable nurse, basic
furniture, equipment and supplies, and a more educated and mobilized
community, the utilization of primary healthcare services at the
community level will increase. These enhancements will lead to the
overall improvement of health in Armenian rural communities like Ferik.

TURKISH PARLIAMENT’S OPPOSITION FORCES TO VOTE AGAINST ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS

NOYAN TAPAN
OCTOBER 22, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The day before Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu submitted the protocols on normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations to country’s parliament. As Radio Liberty
reported referring to the Anatolia Turkish agency, before submitting
the protocols to the parliament the Turkish government did not expect
the voting to be held immediately.

The opposition forces represented in the Turkish parliament have
already declared that they will vote against the ratification of the
Armenian-Turkish protocols.

According to Devlet Bahcheli, the leader of the Nationalist
Movement party, in particular, official Ankara by making a decision
on normalizing the relations with Armenia "disregarded brotherly
Azerbaijan’s interests." "By signing the protocols with Armenia and
later, during the Armenia-Turkey football match by prohibiting to
bring Azerbaijan’s flags to the stadium the government formed by
the Justice and Development party deeply insulted the Azeris," the
Turkish Nationalists’ leader declared.

The other opposition force represented in the Turkish parliament,
People’s-Republican Party, which has 112 deputies in the 550-seat
Grand National Assembly of Turkey, is also going to vote against the
ratification of the protocols.

The final approach of the Justice and Development party representatives
having the majority of mandates in the parliament is not clear
yet. Many of Turkish analysts do not exclude that ruling party’s
deputies will only vote for the ratification of the protocol on
establishment of diplomatic relations with Armenia. "Ruling party’s
deputies can link protocols envisaging opening of the border with the
process of Nagorno Karabakh settlement," Barcin Yinanc, the editor
of the English version of Turkish Hurriyet newspaper asserts.

PRESIDENT’S PRESS SERVICE: TURKISH PRESIDENT SAYS NORMALIZATION OF THE TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS IS IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT SOLUTION TO ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT

APA
Oct 21 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. President of Turkey Abdullah Gul phoned to President
of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday, said press service of the
Azerbaijani president, APA reports.

The presidents discussed the Azerbaijani-Turkish bilateral relations,
ways of solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno Karabakh conflict
and Turkish-Armenian relations during the phone conversation.

Turkish president Abdullah Gul said normalization of the
Turkish-Armenian relations was impossible without the solution to
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The Azerbaijani leader thanked him for this position.

SOUREN’S STORY: A VOICE RECOVERED FROM ARMENIA’S BITTER PAST

ABC News
09/2719972.htm
Oct 21 2009
Australia

Armenian genocide and Australia

In 1921, when he was six years old, Souren Antoyan was sent from
his occupied homeland of Armenia to spend the next eight years in an
Australian-run orphanage in Lebanon.

Souren Antoyan’s story is testimony to the enduring legacy of Armenia’s
bitter and unresolved 20th century history, and sheds new light on
the little-known role that Australia played in the international
relief effort that emerged in the wake of the Armenian genocide.

Producer Cara Rosehope travelled to Lebanon, where a chance meeting
with 93-year-old Souren Antoyan uncovered this antipodean connection
— in Souren’s own life but also within the wider play of history in
the period after World War One.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER: "NEITHER ARMENIA NOR ANY OTHER COUNTRY COULD DARE TO CLAIM ANY PART OF TURKISH TERRITORIES"

Anadolu Agency
Oct 21 2009
Turkey

ANKARA (A.A) – 21.10.2009 – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
said that neither Armenia nor any other country could dare to claim
any part of Turkish territories.

Davutoglu addressed the parliament and gave information about the
protocols signed by Turkey and Armenia on October 10 to establish
diplomatic ties and develop bilateral relations.

"Turkey’s foreign policy is based on a sound ground. The most
fundamental element is to create a zone of peace, prosperity and
stability around our country. This is the most important target of our
foreign policy. We will maintain our efforts to ensure permanent peace,
prosperity and stability in all adjacent areas including the Balkans,
the Caucasus and the Mediterranean," we said.

"We pursue a quite principled policy to this end. We are trying to put
into practice four main principles to develop such an understanding
in those areas. The first of those principles is to create and ensure
an order of security and stability for everyone in the adjacent areas.

The second is to consolidate a ground of political dialogue to resolve
all problems through dialogue. The third is to create mutual economic
dependencies and to remove all obstacles in front of a peaceful
atmosphere through such an economic order. And the last one is to
pave the way for co-existence of different religious, ethnic, and
ideological elements by internalizing those differences of countries
and societies," he said.

"The current status quo in the Caucasus does not correspond to our
vision. Because there are frozen crises which can emerge and lead
to a security problem in the region. Those crises are just like bomb
which are ready to blow. If we fail to resolve them through peaceful
methods, they can pose risks. And there is not a sound ground of
political dialogue based on mutual confidence among the countries
in the southern Caucasus to remove those crises. Except from the
trilateral projects among Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia, there are
not sufficient economic projects in the region. It is impossible to
ensure a lasting peace in the region without providing mutual economic
dependency and an area of economic prosperity," he said.

"Because of the current status quo in the Caucasus, some part of
Azerbaijani territories have been under occupation for the last 17
years. Armenia, on the other hand, is getting poorer and poorer and
its population has already begun leaving the country. And Turkey
cannot act efficiently because of the current status quo. Therefore,
we must change it. We have three important targets to this end: First
of all, we need to establish good neighborly relations with Armenia.

Secondly, we want to set up a channel of healthy communication between
Turkish and Armenian peoples. And thirdly, we aim at accelerating the
process to resolve the Upper Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and
Armenia," he said.

Davutoglu added, "neither Armenia nor any other country could dare
to claim any part of Turkish territories. And the protocols we signed
with Armenia ensure this."

AS GENOCIDE CONTINUES TO SHAPE WORLD HISTORY, LANDMARK CONFERENCE WILL SEEK ANSWERS AND UNDERSTANDING

Reuters
Oct 21 2009
UK

International Group of Scholars Gather to Focus Lens on Genocide
through Examination of Raphael Lemkin, Advocate and Initiator of
United Nations Genocide Convention in 1948

NEW YORK, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ — Current news headlines are a sad
reminder that genocide has been, and continues to be, a stain on
human existence in all corners of the world, from Rwanda to Armenia,
to Darfur and beyond. Those headlines also underscore the urgency
of addressing every instance of the crime, particularly in light
of a statement made by Adolf Hitler before invading Poland in 1939:
"… I put ready my Death’s Head units, with orders to send to death,
mercilessly and without compassion, all men, women, and children of
the Polish race or language. … Who, after all, still talks nowadays
of the extermination of the Armenians?"

Inscribed on the wall of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.,
that quote illustrates that Hitler was emboldened by the lack of
international response to Turkey’s killing of more than a million
ethnic Armenians during World War I. By contrast, however, that episode
in human history was also the spark that led to the tireless efforts
of one man to define the crime of genocide under international law
and enable perpetrators, such as a recently arrested suspect in the
Rwandan genocide, to be charged and brought to justice. That man was
Raphael Lemkin, whose life-long devotion to the cause not only coined
and defined the word "genocide," but led to the 1948 United Nations
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The invaluable contributions of Lemkin will be the focus of an
international public conference, "Genocide and Human Experience:
Raphael Lemkin’s Thought and Vision," to be held Sunday, November
15, from 9:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m., at the Center for Jewish History, 15
West 16th Street in New York City. Bringing together for the first
time an international group of historians, political scientists,
anthropologists, philosophers, philanthropists, and legal authorities
to explore the tremendous legacy and impact of Lemkin’s work,
the landmark conference will also delve into perpetually relevant
questions of human rights and the nature of human behavior.

"Raphael Lemkin died in 1959, and while few people today may recognize
his name, most feel the impact of his work," said Michael Glickman,
Center for Jewish History COO. "As a young Jewish lawyer in Warsaw
almost 90 years ago, Lemkin could not understand why it was a crime for
an Armenian youth to murder the Turkish official responsible for the
attempted destruction of the Armenian community in the Ottoman Empire,
but not a crime for the government to murder more than a million
Armenians. That question inspired Lemkin to devote the rest of his life
to fight against such horrors and to wage a campaign of international
advocacy that led to the United Nations Genocide Convention."

A wealth of Lemkin’s correspondence, along with papers documenting
Lemkin’s work as an activist, are housed in the archives of
the American Jewish Historical Society at the Center for Jewish
History. The documents include correspondences with public figures
such as Eleanor Roosevelt, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Pearl
S. Buck; Lemkin’s unfinished manuscript History of Genocide; and
archival footage of interviews from the 1950s. The Lemkin archives
will also be the subject of a special exhibition at the Center for
Jewish History in partnership with Yeshiva University Museum scheduled
to run from November 16, 2009, to March 19, 2010.

Even though the crime of genocide is often understood as mass murder
alone, Lemkin viewed genocide as a nuanced concept, which shapes
and is determined by the spheres of economics, law, society, and
culture. Through Lemkin’s archival writings, the conference will
focus on these gradations of genocide, as Lemkin understood them.

Opening the conference will be an historical overview and brief
biographical account of Lemkin’s life, legal and other accomplishments,
and perspectives on the human condition, setting the context for the
panel discussions to follow.

Topics to be explored by three different panels fall under the broad
subjects of Lemkin’s perspective on cultural genocide, the complex
economic and social issues surrounding genocide, and the challenging
relationship between international law and genocide.

Among the distinguished list of presenters are Vartan Gregorian,
President, Carnegie Corporation of New York; Peter Balakian,
Colgate College; Donna-Lee Frieze, Deakin University, Melbourne,
Australia; Alexander Laban Hinton, Rutgers University; Jim Fussell,
PreventGenocide.org; Tanya Elder, American Jewish Historical Society;
Berel Lang, Wesleyan University; Benjamin Valentino, Dartmouth College;
Lawrence Woocher, US Institute of Peace; Hilary Earl, Nipissing
University, North Bay, Ontario; Benedict F. Kiernan, Yale University;
Muhamed Mesic, Bosnia; William A. Schabas, National University of
Ireland; and Steven Leonard Jacobs, University of Alabama.

"It is the hope of the Center and the conference sponsors that this
historic gathering will not only provide some clearer understandings of
both the extraordinary courage and dynamic intellect of one individual,
but will also clarify the challenges that lie ahead in confronting the
evil of genocide in the modern world," continued Mr. Glickman. "It is
said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat
it. ‘Genocide and Human Experience: Raphael Lemkin’s Thought and
Vision’ represents one small step to teach the lessons humankind
so desperately needs, as history continues to repeat itself in the
21st century."

The conference is open to the general public. For more information,
visit ; or to register, log on to
or call 212-868-4444.

RUSSIAN GAS WILL COST ARMENIA 180$ FROM 2010
Hasmik Dilanyan

"Radiolur"
20.10.2009 16:26

Armenia’s natural gas company said Russia’s Gazprom is set to decrease
the price it charges for gas supplied to Armenia. Karen Karapetyan,
the Chief Executive Director of the Russian-Armenian joint venture
ArmRosGazProm (ARG) said today the price for Armenia will be $180 as
of April 2010, down from the originally planned $200.

The price of Russian gas for Armenia rose from $110 to $154 per
one thousand cubic meters in April and was expected to rise to
$200. The new price for Armenia, VAT not included, will be $169.5,
Karen Karapetyan said.

Reports in some Russian newspapers claimed that Russia will reduce
the price in return for being granted the right to build a new reactor
for Armenian nuclear power plant. However, Karen Karapetyan rejected
these reports, saying construction of a new reactor has nothing to
do with gas price.

Gazprom is the main supplier of gas to Armenian households and
provides about one-third of Armenia’s electricity. According to
Karen Karapetyan, "intensive negotiations are still under way with
the Russian side over the new price," but he added that ARG will
build its next year strategy based on $180 price. According to him,
this is the best price that Gazprom can offer Armenia.

"We need to shift gradually to building our relations on economic
categories," he said, adding that 12 years is quite a long time
period for Armenia to get prepared for shifting to market relations
in dealing with Russian counterparts. Despite this, he said, even
under market conditions Armenia will have a privileged price next year.

The fifth energy bloc of Hrazdan-5 thermal power plant will be launched
in July 2010, ArmRosGazProm Chief Executive Director Karen Karapetyan
told journalists. "That’s a unique station, with a new 180 MGWT modern
power bloc being built next to the one inherited from Soviet times,"
he said, adding that the two blocs will be operated jointly as a new
know-how project not implemented by anyone so far.

Despite financial crisis, ArmRosGazProm CJSC continues modernization
of the 5th energy bloc of Hrazdan-5 thermal power plant. Within the
framework of the project the plant has signed relevant contracts with
49 local and 109 foreign organizations.

Construction of 5th energy bloc is due to be completed in 2010. Upon
launching production, company intends to start energy export.

AZERBAIJAN GRAVELY CONCERNED OVER REGIONAL POWER BALANCE SHIFT

Panorama.am
19:00 19/10/2009

Armenian-Turkish normalization protocols are due to be discussed
at Azerbaijan’s Mili Majlis session. "Having returned from Turkey,
my colleagues and I are intent to submit a suggestion over the steps
to be taken so that the protocols aren’t discussed in the Turkish
Parliament," Zahid Oruc, a member of the Parliamentary Committee for
Security and Defense, told Trend News.

"The Azerbaijani party is going to undertake some diplomatic actions.

I think, different pressure leverages may be applied," the deputy
said. According to him, not only the policy implemented over the
Armenian-Turkish normalization, but the other regional processes
should be discussed.

"The regional power balance shift is going to be of great significance
to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani parliament should hold an opinion exchange
over the issues," he highlighted.