Author: Khoyetsian Rose

ISNA, Iran
Iranian Students News Network
Feb 16 2008

Armenia calls for boosting ties with Iran

ISNA – Tehran

TEHRAN, Feb. 16 (ISNA)-The Armenian national assembly speaker Tigran
Torosian called for boosting ties with Iran.

Visiting the Iranian ambassador to Armenia, Torosian said there seem
to be satisfactory ties between the two countries not affected by
global developments.

Iran and Armenia have held seven joint economic cooperation
commissions so far.

The last one held in Yerevan was chaired by Iranian foreign minister
Manouchehr Mottaki and the Armenian energy minister Armen Movsisyan.

The commission examined cooperation in fields including trade,
energy, health and culture.

Mottaki had said ties between the two countries have drastically
boosted over the last few years.

The national assembly speaker also said it is any country’s certain
right to achieve peaceful nuclear energy and expressed hope that all
countries would respect established international rules.

The ambassador for his part said Iran will always stand by Armenia.

Lragir, Armenia
Feb 15 2008

DISPLAY POLITICAL WILL AT LEAST ONCE

The spokesman for the presidential candidate Arthur Baghdasaryan,
Member of Parliament Artashes Avoyan stated February 15 in a
discussion at the National Press Club, using the opportunity provided
by the National Press Club and the U.S. National Democratic Institute
to appeal to voters three days before the voting, that he first wants
to appeal to the government.

Artashes Avoyan said the government should display political will at
least once and hold a truly free and fair election. The
representative of the presidential candidate voiced concern about
vast election fraud, which causes preoccupation and doubt about the
election day. Artashes Avoyan urged the members of all the election
commissions and proxies to reject election bribes, to be unbiased and
committed to the law, and urged voters to vote out of their
conscience.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
Feb 14 2008

Karabakh Issue Colours Armenia Poll

Return of former president breaks political consensus on resolving
the conflict.

By Tatul Hakopian in Yerevan (CRS No. 431 14-Feb-08)

The future of Nagorny Karabakh has not previously been a contentious
issue in the domestic politics of Armenia in recent years, but now it
is being bitterly debated in the presidential election campaign,
thanks to the return of the stage of former president Levon
Ter-Petrosian.

On the campaign trail, supporters of Ter-Petrosian and his rival, the
official candidate Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, are trading
accusations of `sell-outs’ in their respective negotiations with
Azerbaijan to resolve the disputed territory’s status.

Former president Ter-Petrosyan stepped down in 1998 after coming
under pressure from a group of ministers including his successor as
president, Robert Kocharian, and Sarkisian, who opposed his tactics
for resolving the conflict with Azerbaijan.

There is normally an almost full consensus on the Karabakh issue in
Armenian politics, and election campaigns focus instead on domestic
issues such as the economy and corruption.

This campaign has proved to be the exception.

Vahan Hovannisian, who is running as a candidate for the nationalist
Dashnaktsutiun party, diverges from the other eight contenders by
asserting that there can be no negotiations with Azerbaijan until it
signs a non-aggression pact with Armenia .

The main difference between the others is that Ter-Petrosian says
that time is working against Armenia in the Karabakh dispute and
settling it needs to be a priority.

Kocharian and Sarkisian have accused Ter-Petrosian of wanting to
`surrender’ Karabakh in 1998. These allegations have not been
precisely worded, but the implication is that Ter-Petrosian was
willing to compromise on the sovereignty claimed by Nagorny Karabakh.

Opposition member of parliament Shavarsh Kocharian (no relation of
the president), a critic of Ter-Petrosian, said the former
president’s return to the political scene had rekindled the debate on
Karabakh.

`The defeatist attitudes which were characteristic of the previous
governing regime and which were the reason why it left office in 1998
have led to the issue of conflict resolution coming to the fore
again, as this same administration is rearing its head again and is
has not changed its position on Karabakh,’ he said.

Ter-Petrosian’s supporters would vigorously deny that he has a
`defeatist’ attitude. At one rally, the candidate spoke in detail
about the need to make a deal with Azerbaijan and change the status
quo. He has said that time is not on Armenia’s side in the dispute.

Political analyst Aghasi Yenokian said, `It’s natural that with the
return [of Ter-Petrosian] to politics, the issue is being raised
again. It’s only Ter-Petrosian who expresses a real readiness to
settle the Karabakh conflict. All the other candidates would, if
elected, continue the current policy and postpone a resolution.’

On February 9, Ter-Petrosian raised the stakes with his opponents by
directly linking the Karabakh issue with the most traumatic event in
recent domestic political history, the murder of eight prominent
politicians in parliament in October 1999.

At a rally on Yerevan’s Freedom Square, Ter-Petrosian claimed that in
autumn 1999, Kocharian, Sarkisian and current foreign minister Vardan
Oskanian had been ready to sign a deal to exchange the southern
Meghri region of Armenia for Nagorny Karabakh and the adjoining
Lachin district.

Meghri stands between Azerbaijan to its exclave territory
Nakhichevan, while Lachin connects Armenia and Karabakh. The idea of
a swap has been dubbed the `Goble Plan’ after the American scholar
Paul Goble who first suggested it.

On the same day, the Haikakan Zhamanak newspaper which is supporting
Ter-Petrosian’s election bid published the text of an unofficial
document produced by the American, French and Russian co-chairs of
the Minsk Group – the mediators in the dispute – in autumn 1999, in
which the first point states that Meghri should be exchanged for
Lachin.

`I am making public a fact that has been hidden for ten years – a
great conspiracy against Armenia – which Kocharian, Sarkisian and
Oskanian have always denied,’ Ter-Petrosian told the crowd which
listened in absolute silence. `This is the question of exchanging of
Meghri for Lachin, through which Armenia would have lost its
35-kilometre border with Iran. Today this conspiracy has been
exposed.’

The candidate then went on to make an even more explosive allegation,
linking this plan with the attack of October 27, 1999, in which eight
leading politicians including the then prime minister Vazgen
Sarkisian and speaker of parliament Karen Demirchian, were killed.

`This document will be the most important clue to solving the October
27 [murders],’ said Ter-Petrosian.

`This conspiracy failed thanks to two people – Karen Demirchian and
Vazgen Sarkisian, who exposed the plot at a session of the security
council, and paid the highest price for it, their lives.’

The Kocharian administration moved quickly to dismiss Ter-Petrosian’s
allegations, with presidential press secretary Viktor Soghomonian
calling the claims `an electoral gambit’.

`The radical opposition, having exhausted all attempts to discredit
the authorities, has begun talking about this alleged peace plan,’
said Soghomonian. `This started in 2002. In actual fact we are
talking about the so-called `Goble Plan’ which was never a topic for
discussion in the negotiations over Karabakh. It’s obvious that
today’s publication has the aim of heading off a new discussion about
the very peculiar approach that ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosian took
to resolving the conflict.’

Following the shootings in parliament, Kocharian said he had rejected
the idea of a territorial exchange. Speaking on television in
February 2000, he said there had indeed been a plan to exchange land
but `this was not accepted by me’.

Foreign minister Oskanian angrily rejected Ter-Petrosian’s statements
on the Karabakh issue.

`What Ter-Petrosyan is doing is a cheap pre-election trick, this is
immoral. And when he tries to relate his statements to the terrorist
act in the Armenian parliament, it becomes clear to me that
Ter-Petrosyan will stop at nothing,’ said the minister.

Tatul Hakopian is a commentator on Public Radio in Armenia and
correspondent for the New York newspaper The Armenian Reporter.

EU AGAINST MENTIONING NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT IN CONTEXT OF KOSOVO’S RECOGNITION

Trend News Agency
Feb 13 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 13 February / corr Trend News K.Ramazanova / The
European Union (EU), which may recognize the independence of Kosovo
unilaterally, considers that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict cannot be
mentioned in this context.

"It is good that in unlike Abkhazia and South Osetia, the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not mentioned in the context of
recognition of Kosovo," Peter Semneby, the EU special representative
for South Caucasus, said in an interview with the Russian newspaper
Kommersant on 13 February.

A declaration on independence of the Serb Province of Kosovo is likely
to be signed at the end of this week, Jakup Krasnichi, the Speaker
of the Kosovo Parliament stated on 12 February.

No politician from Kosovo spoke about the date of the meeting of
local parliament where the relevant decision will be made. However,
the Kosovo media mentioned 17 February as the possible day for issuing
autonomy for the region and even the sum of money to be spent for
celebrations – approximately ~@1mln.

Leaders of the South Serb Province with the support of the United
States, the UK and most US countries have been reaching for an
independent status over several years. Russia is against the unilateral
issue of independence for Kosovo.

Semneby voiced his disappointment that despite extensive dialogue no
solution has been found to the Karabakh problem. "However, definite
tranquility reigns there and that is encouraging," the special
representative said.

Semneby said that the negotiation process held within the framework
of the OSCE Minsk Group, restrains Armenia and Azerbaijan from taking
any dramatic actions.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began
in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.

The special representative said that after relaxation of tension
around Kosovo, talks over Abkhazia and South Osetia can be restored.

RA FM: SPECULATIONS ON TOPIC OF MEGHRI IS A CHEAP TRICK

arminfo
2008-02-13 12:56:00

ArmInfo. The version of the territorial exchange of Karabakh to Meghri
is no more than a proposal, put in requisition by American political
expert Paul Goble, RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told "Shant"
TV channel.

The minister said that Paul Goble’s plan was presented in early 1990s
and remained in circulation till 2000. ‘I will speak in details for
our compatriots to understand the situation. Let’s start with what
Levon Ter-Petrosyan (RA first President, now presidential contender
-ed.) is doing now – this is a cheap trick. There is no matter of
confidentiality, it is just incorrect. These are speculations. I
have no such estimations in my vocabulary, however, this is immoral
in fact. These are speculations on one of the most important issues
for us, especially when it is associated with October 27 events
(terrorist act in the Armenian parliament in October, 1999 – ed.)’,
V. Oskanyan said. He expressed opinion that the present situation
gives grounds to think that L. Ter-Petrosyan will stick at nothing:
‘If he could speculate in this issue, I am sure that he will stick
at nothing to fulfill his political programme, that is, to become
the president of Armenia. I would like to be mistaken in this matter,
but I think that we shall still make sure of what I have told’. RA FM
categorically denied the version that such a document (about Meghri
exchange) had ever been on the table of negotiations. ‘I bindingly
claim that three documents were officially or semi-officially presented
by OSCE MG co-chairmen during Robert Kocharyan’s presidency: a document
about the ‘common state’ in 1998, the ‘key-west document> in 2001 and
the one being presently on the table of negotiations. There is no word
‘Meghri’ there’, V. Oskanyan said. He recalled that two documents,
"package" and "stage-by-stage" versions, were presented in a period,
preceding to R. Kocharyan’s coming to the power, i.e. during
L. Ter-Petrosyan’s presidency.

‘What L. Ter-Petrosyan claims at the meetings, saying that ‘this is
a version of Meghri’s surrender’, is Paul Goble’s plan and it has
never been on the table of negotiations’, the minister emphasized. At
the same time, he said that Goble’s proposal has always been in
circulation. V. Oskanyan added that in 1994, this proposal was
discussed with Levon Ter-Petrosyan. The discussion was held with
no third-party present. There were only people from Ter-Petrosyan’s
circle present. V. Oskanyan himself took the post of RA deputy Foreign
Minister at that time. ‘L. Ter- Petrosyan expressed his opinion
regarding this plan. He said that Goble’s plan was a good version
for Armenia, if the northern part of Nakhchivan is added to it ‘,
Oskanyan said. Responding to the commentator’s question, the minister
said that this was just discussion of Goble’s plan in circulation:
‘However, I would not consider myself a moral man if I claimed that
L. Ter-Petrosyan wanted to give Meghri to Azerbaijan. It would be
absurd and incorrect. L. Ter-Petrosyan would not do that. However,
an opinion was nevertheless expressed and the issue was discussed’.

As V. Oskanyan said, the document L. Ter-Petrosyan is talking about,
contains the above-indicated idea. However, the point is that such
a document has never been officially presented. "I have now many
documents of such content in my table, however, none of them is
official and the OSCE MG co-chairs are unaware of them. Such proposals
were multiply received over the past years.

At the same time, the minister expressed hope that though
speculations on the topic of Meghri have began now, the document
was in someone’s hands long ago: ‘Now, when the people’s passions
have been heated, they thought that the moment has come. Therefore,
I consider this immoral’. Having touched upon the document, not
signed by L. Ter-Petrosyan, about the package version of settlement,
which envisages a status of autonomy for the NKR in AR structure,
the minister emphasized that though the document was unsigned,
Ter-Petrosyan’s share of guilt is that there were such formulations in
this document. ‘I cannot blame Levon Ter-Petrosyan for an intention
to give Karabakh because he did not sign the document and did not
present it for the people’s discussion. We can blame him for ‘phasing’,
that is, a readiness to give the territories of the security belt
without specifying the NKR status’, the minister said and added that
though Ter-Petrosyan did not sign up the ‘stage-by-stage’ version,
however, he submitted it to the people’s approval in his interview
and article. ‘It means that he agreed with the document and considered
the negotiations completed, moreover, he thought this way right. The
negotiations are headed by the people’s elect, and when there is a
discrepancy between the president’s and the people’s opinion, the
president’s resignation is a logical consequence’, V. Oskanyan said.

FLORENCE AVAKIAN DISCUSSES THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ON AL JAZEERA TELEVISION
By Harry Koundakjian

AZG Armenian Daily
13/02/2008

Armenian Genocide

UNITED NATIONS, NY – Florence Avakian, an accredited United Nations
journalist, and free lance writer based in New York, recently was
interviewed on Al Jazeera television which has a worldwide audience
of over 70 million. The interview which took place at United Nations
headquarters in New York, focused on the Armenian Genocide, and its
prospects for recognition by the United States Congress.

She emphasized that the issue was one of moral and human rights,
and should not be compromised because of political expediency. This
first genocide of the 20th century was a catalyst in persuading Rafael
Lemkin to call the mass slaughter of a people a "genocide", she said.

Ms. Avakian pointed out that early United States administrations
had recognized the magnitude of the Armenian tragedy perpetrated by
Ottoman Turkey, and that The New York Times during that period, had
run front page articles about the horrific events. This accentuated
the plight of the refugees, and resulted in American efforts to help
the survivors. Even Hitler, she reiterated, had chillingly stated,
"Who remembers the extermination of the Armenians", before he started
his own plan.

When asked about Turkey’s intention to close the American base in
Turkey, as well as other such threats, she said the issue must not be
one of "callous political expediency", As an influential world power,
the United States should stand up as a beacon of justice. Even today,
the world is seeing genocides and ethnic cleansing continue, with
virtually no action taken to prevent them, a precursor to future
genocides, she noted.

With huge military and industrial corporations joining the
well-financed Turkish lobby and the Bush administration to stop the
Genocide bill, several members of Congress caved in, causing the bill
to be tabled indefinitely, she pointed out.

While a freshman student at Hunter College High School in New York,
Ms. Avakian had represented her school on the NBC television series
"The New York Times Youth Forum" on the topic of genocide. At that
time, she was privileged to meet Rafael Lemkin who was the moderator
of the program.

Florence Avakian received a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in Political
Science on a Falk Fellowship at Michigan State University. She was
also awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowship
in Journalism to Cornell University, and an English Union Speaking
Fellowship to Oxford University in England.

At the United Nations, she has interviewed several world leaders
including India’s Indira Gandhi, Georgia’s President Edward
Schevardnadze, Turkey’s President Bulent Ecevit, and Cypriot Presidents
Archbishop Makarios, Glafkos Clerides, and Spyros Kyprianou, among
others. She is a regular member of the United Nations Correspondents
Association (UNCA).

In the last several years, Ms. Avakian has had her Op Ed articles
on the Armenian Genocide and Armenian issues published in The New
York Times, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco
Chronicle, Los Angeles Examiner, Baltimore Sun, and the Hearst Feature
Service Ms. Avakian is a frequent contributor to The Armenian Reporter,
and to Ararat Magazine. She is also the news reporter in English
every week on the Armenian Radio Hour of New Jersey.

ARMENIAN CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT LEVON TER-PETROSYAN MET VICE-PREMIER OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT DMITRIY MEDVEDEV IN MOSCOW

arminfo
2008-02-12 13:37:00

ArmInfo. Armenian first president, candidate for president Levon
Ter-Petrosyan met vice-premier of Russian government, official
successor of Vladimir Putin Dmitriy Medvedev in Moscow, which he
visited yesterday with a two-day visit, a trustworthy source told
ArmInfo correspondent.

Ter-Petrosyan gave an interview to one of the Russian state TV channels
which will be broadcast soon.

RPA’S FORMULA IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IS "IDEOLOGICAL STRUGGLE, PROGRAM STRUGGLE AND NOT STRUGGLE AMONG PERSONALITIES"

Noyan Tapan
Feb 11, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. "Beating and hooliganism are not
political and political scientific categories and in any case, no
matter what force instigates it, it should receive a legal response
and be condemned," Mkrtich Minasian, a member of the National Assembly
RPA faction, said at the February 8 press briefing, touching upon the
information published in press, according to which the representatives
of RA presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian’s preelection
headquarters the day before were attacked by the supporters of
presidential candidate from RPA, Serge Sargsian in Yerevan’s Nor
Nork community.

The deputy affirmed that every one should realize that after the
February 19 presidential elections "the Armenian people is obliged to
live a normal life: nothing will be achieved by beating, by showing
force, the force is in reason, the force is in ideas and in the
struggle of ideas." He also said that their team has been warned by
the party and by S. Sargsian personally that they "need only and only
transparent, fair, free elections inspiring confidence." At the same
time, M. Minasian did not exclude that "some people from this or that
side do disservice."

Hermine Naghdalian, a NA deputy from RPA, in her turn, stated that
RPA’s formula in the presidential elections is "ideological struggle,
program struggle and not struggle among personalities." She also
mentioned that when carrying out preelection agitation they do not
proceed from the fact who are their "rivals or opponents."

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Feb 9 2008

Premier says no such things as genocide in Turkish culture

Munich, 9 February: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
on Saturday [9 February] there was no such thing like genocide in
Turkish culture and civilization.

Erdogan replied to questions on several matters after his speech at
the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy in Germany.

In regard to Armenian allegations regarding the incidents of 1915,
Erdogan said, "There is no such thing like genocide in our culture.
We cannot accept it. We are ready to discuss the matter by the means
of documents."

Replying to a question, he said, "We are holding talks with (Iraqi
President Jalal) Talabani because he is president. Our cross-border
operation continues in a tripartite mechanism (USA, Turkey and
Iraq)."

Upon questions on the Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code, Erdogan
said, "We earlier made a legal arrangement on it but it was not liked
by the EU. We are preparing another one now. It will be ready soon."

REPRESENTATIVES OF TROIKA OF EUROPEAN UNION HOPE TO HOLD DEMOCRATIC
ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, NOYAN TAPAN. "We hope to hold democratic elections
in Armenia, which will give an opportunity to successively continue the
process of the regulation of the Karabakh conflict," Benita
Ferrero-Waldner, the European Commissioner for External Relations and
European Neighbourhood Policy, stated.

In her words, the development of democratic processes and, first of
all, the holding of free and fair elections, in conformity with
international standards are very important for the European Union.

Dimitrij Rupel, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, which is
currently presiding over the European Union, also expressed hope to
hold democratic elections in Armenia and mentioned: "The latest
elections in Armenia, which were held on May 12 last year, were, in
essence, a step forward in comparison with the other elections, we hope
that the forthcoming presidential elections will as well record
progress in the plan of the development of democracy in Armenia."