Author: Mamian George

MEDVEDEV VISITS YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY

armradio.am
21.10.2008 17:00

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accompanied by the President of
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan visited the Yerevan Brandy Company.

The leaders of Armenia and Russia walked about the company, and
familiarized with the history and the process of production of the
most favorite Armenian brandies.

Being the President of a Minsk Group Co-Chair country, Dmitry
Medvedev stopped at the "Peace barrel," which contains brandy spirits
symbolizing the ceasefire of 1994. It is called a "Peace barrel,"
since it will be opened the day the Karabakh conflict is finally
solved. The President of Russia left his signature in the book of
memories of the Brandy Company.

According to tradition, the Yerevan Brandy Company gifted a barrel
of personalized cognac to Dmitry Medvedev.

IRAN UNIVERSITY TO HOLD NANOSCIENCE CONGRESS

Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
Oct 7 2008
Iran

Tabriz, East Azarbaijan Province, 7 October: The Second International
Congress on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICNN2008) will be held
in Tabriz University from 28-30 October.

Announcing this, secretary of the congress underlined that some 1,200
articles from home and abroad have been submitted to the secretariat
of which 23 top articles have been selected.

Abdolreza Mirhoseyni added the some foreign researchers from Denmark,
Spain, the USA, Russia, Australia, Malaysia, South Korea, Canada,
China, Azerbaijan Republic, Italy, UK and Armenia will take part in
the gathering.

Topics for discussion in the congress include nano-biotechnology,
nano-structured materials, nano-composites, nano-electronics,
nano-mechanics, nano-medicine, nano-sensors, nano-biosensors,
nano-photonics and nano-magnetism, nano-scale fabrications, green
nanotechnology and etc.

RA MINISTER OF ECONOMY RECEIVED UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR

RIA Oreanda
Economic News
October 8, 2008 Wednesday
Russia

Yerevan. OREANDA-NEWS On 08 October was announced, that the RA Minister
of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan received Oleksandr Bojko, the Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Armenia.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Ambassador thanked Mr. Minister
for worm welcome and said that the current relations between Armenia
and Ukraine are based on dynamically developing trade and economic
cooperation.

Mr. Bojko stressed the main purpose of his visit – which was the
preliminary discussion for the arrangement of the Armenian presidents
first official visit to Ukraine and formation of Armenia-Ukrainian
intergovernmental commission. He also mentioned that it is possible to
use the opportunity and organize the Armenian-Ukrainian Business Forum.

The Ambassador informed the Minister Yeritsyan, that Ukraine is
interested in development of comprehensive relations with neighbourly
countries, as well as the establishment of the climate of trust and
mutual understanding.

During the meeting Minister Yeritsyan presented to Mr. Bojko the
five governmental wide-national programmes and informed about the
first steps on the way of realization of these programmes. During
the meeting the sides focused there attention on the development of
bilateral mutual advantageous cooperation. Nerses Yeritsyan marked
the IT, agriculture, mining and chemical spheres.

At the end of the meeting both sides expressed willingness to lift
up the level of the Armenian-Ukrainian relations on the new, more
active level of the commercial and economic ties.

"JOINT LANCE-BEARER 2008" MILITARY EXERCISES FINISHED

Panorama.am
19:26 20/10/2008

The closing ceremony of "Joint Lance-Bearer 2008" military exercises
has been conducted in military institute named after V. Sargsyan.

Representatives of 14 countries participating in NATO "Partnership
for Peace" project were present at the official ceremony, as well as
observers, who were taking part in the exercises from 8-20 October.

Some officers who took part in the exercises have been awarded by
NATO European headquarters and the Ministry of Defense of Armenia.

Concluding the achievements of the military exercises it is visible
that the goals are met and that it is a success that all the
participants from various countries passed the experience, said the
Minister of Defense of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan.

TURKEY AND SECULARISM: MYTH OR REALITY?
Lee J. Walker

Assyrian International News Agency
htm
10-20-2008 6:31:9

(AINA) — The nation of Turkey is often praised for being a secular
role model for other Islamic societies. It is claimed that the land of
Turkey is a beacon of hope and that democracy and secularism can exist
within a mainly Muslim nation state. But is this based on reality?

If we concentrate on the founding father of modern day Turkey,
Ataturk, then it is clear that he himself supported the destruction of
Christianity via the Assyrian, Armenian and Greek Christian genocide
of 1915. Turkish nationalism was the potent force behind modern
day Turkey and secularism is tainted by its anti-Christian nature,
and also by its anti-Kurdish nature. Turkey was founded on Turkish
nationalism and secularism and it did not protect the Christians of
or give them equal rights.

Despite this the myth of modernity and secularism remains and Western
nations stick to this mantra. Yes, Ataturk faced many difficulties and
from a Turkish point of view he was very astute because he preserved
a Turkish state when it was threatened by others. Yet in order to do
this he crushed millions of Christians via massacres, starvation, and
by destroying countless numbers of Christian villages and communities.

Ataturk did implement many reforms in order to modernize Turkey
and he did lay the foundation for a secular state. In this sense he
crushed thoughts of a Sharia Islamic state and he gave more rights
to females. But his legacy of modernity and secularism is tainted by
the events of history and by overt nationalism. Therefore, we must
never forget the Assyrian, Greek and Armenian genocide of 1915 and
the continuing legacy of anti-Christian forces in modern day Turkey.

So if secularism means having the right to crush Christian minorities,
moderate Muslim minorities like the Alevi, and ethnic minorities like
the Assyrians Armenians, and Kurds, in modern day Turkey, then it
is not the secularism which I support. Turkish secularism is tainted
by this overt nationalism and the Sunni orthodox mindset means that
religious inequality is the norm.

The rights of Christians and the Alevi Muslims are not equal in today’s
Turkey. In recent times many Christians have been murdered. For
the more numerous Alevi Muslims, it is clear that they face huge
discrimination. Secular Turkey is a myth because under the surface we
find a different Turkey based on preserving the dominance of orthodox
Sunni Islam.

So why do democrats and secularists praise Turkey for being a shining
example and evidence that democracy and Islam can work together? Turkey
favors Islam over any other religion and religious equality does
not exist. On the contrary, modern day Turkey supports Sunni orthodox
Islam and persecution of minorities is endemic. Given this, Islam still
controls society and Christians and other minorities face harsh times.

It is apparent that many Western democrats and secularists are ignoring
the reality of Turkey. Turkey is tainted by Sunni Islamic thought,
which are based on mass discrimination. If Turkey is secular and
moderate, what does this say about the rest of the Islamic world
and equality?

Lee Jay Walker serves as Tokyo Corrsepondent of The Seoul Times. He
specializes in international relations and geopolitics. He is also
involved in analyst work and research on business. After finishing BA
degree in East European Studies at the University of London, He earned
MA degree in Asia Pacific Studies in Nottingham Trent University. He
also studied business at London Institute.

Hürriyet, Turkey
Sunday, October 19, 2008 13:30

Elections ease tensions in Baku over Turkish trip to Armenia

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, set for a second term after
Wednesday’s election, will make his first official visit to turkey, a
sign that shows he has no bitter feelings for the visit of Turkish
President Abdullah Gul to Armenia, the Turkish Daily News (TDN) wrote
on Saturday.

But this stance does not reflect the sour of feeling of the people on
the street about the Turkish-armenian rapprocment, the newspaper
added.

Azerbaijan’s presidential election resulted in an easy and expected
victory for the incumbent candidate of the ruling New Azerbaijan
Party, Ilham Aliyev, who begins his second term in office.

Extensive efforts by the central election committee to prove to the
world that voting would be democratic, which included measures such as
using transparent ballot boxes and the use of cameras in polling
stations, resulted in a calm and quiet process.

However, this did not prevent observers from international
organizations criticizing the credibility of the election due to an
opposition boycott. This came as no surprise in the land of "black
gold," where political power is defined and redefined according to a
leader’s charisma and capability to play the game at home and
overseas.

Six low-key candidates, who ran against Aliyev, were a long way from
winning the hearts and minds of Azerbaijanis, who apparently still
believed the son of the founder of the Republic, Haydar Aliyev,
remained the right man for the job.

Six deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the
opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), and the Nationalist Action
Party (MHP), headed to the Turkish observation mission in Baku to
monitor the election in a four-day trip organized by think-tank, the
Marmara Group Foundation.

The Turkish mission was impressed with the transparency of the
process.

Initial concerns about the possible implications of President
Abddullah Gul’s visit to Yerevan over Turkish-Azerbaijani relations,
faded after the Turkish mission became the first international
delegation received by President Aliyev on Thursday, while a long list
of other delegations from the world were queuing outside the
presidential palace to congratulate his victory.

Other positive news was President Aliyev’s message that he would not
break with tradition and would pay his first official visit to
Ankara. However, these gestures exchanged at the political level do
not completely reflect the emotional fatigue caused by the football
diplomacy between Ankara and Yerevan despite the ongoing occupation of
Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia.

"When we made mistakes our leader Haydar Aliyev first listened to our
defense and then forgave us, what he never forgave was treason," a
government minister told the TDN.

When these words are put within the relevant context of Ankara’s move
towards Armenia, the implication is that Turkey has made a mistake,
but not yet betrayed Azerbaijan. "In the end we have nothing to
loose. We lost our land. Turkey has a lot more to loose with a faulty
policy. It is up to Turkey to evaluate the pros and cons," he added,
while still refraining from open criticism.

It was striking to see a similar approach from men in the street, who
generally tried to hide their real feelings over Gul’s visit but each
concluded the conversation with the sentence "Turkey is a big
country."

Looking through the eyes of a 17-year-old republic with a population
of almost eight million, which still lingers between one-man rule and
democracy and still feels the cold breathe of Russia on its neck,
Turkey stands out as the big brother they want to trust. In fact
Azerbaijanis believe the real power that occupied Nagorno-Karabakh is
not Armenia, but Russia.

Following the Georgian conflict in August and Russian recognition of
South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the United States has moved to speed up
the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Efforts are expected
to intensify soon, now that the presidential election in Azerbaijan is
completed.

When the Azerbaijani government minister was asked whether there was a
chance to reach a solution to the conflict in the short-term, he
replied with a joke the belied the full reality of the situation,
"This issue can only be resolved if we buy out Armenia."

Diplomatic sources claim this attitude was reflected, somehow, in the
negotiations carried out by the Minsk Group of the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe (the OSCE). Baku is said to be
trying to secure the return of displaced Azerbaijanis and create a
basis for economic dependency on Azerbaijan even if Nagorno-Karabakh
takes a path towards independence.

Observers believe that the position of Ankara will be crucial at this
stage of negotiations and that Ankara’s dialogue with Yerevan could
assist with the process.

Turkey however, will need to find a balance between pro-active
politics and its brotherly ties with Azerbaijan. Even a television
show can hurt the feelings of Azerbaijanis, said MHP deputy, Tugrul
Turkes, while speaking about political complaints they received during
meetings in Baku.

DEMOCRACY IN AZERBAIJAN SURRENDERS OIL PRESSURE
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.10.2008 GMT+04:00

In the held Presidential Elections of Azerbaijan the six opponents
of Aliyev were just an accompaniment necessary for the normal course
of elections.

Azerbaijani Presidential Elections that were quite correctly described
by western media as a referendum ended successfully. Ilham Aliyev got
90% of votes; his opponents acknowledged defeat and even congratulated
the re-elected president. All this happened in spite of the fact that
Ilham Aliyev first came to power in 2003 following an off-standard
"democratic" election, which, nevertheless, legalized the advent
of the family dynasty, whose forefather was Heydar Aliyev, Soviet
leader that was able to keep afloat after the USSR breakdown. In fact,
the Azerbaijani people had no other choice.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ For absence of necessity let us leave out the
reports and assessments of international observers on Â"fair and
democratic elections in stable AzerbaijanÂ". In fact, the international
community recognized the domination of oil over democracy, putting
as a foundation-stone, as usual, the right of the strongest and the
richest. In the held elections the six opponents of Aliyev were just
an accompaniment necessary for the normal course of elections. At
the time of the Presidential Elections of Armenia our country could
offer nothing of this sort; that was why the elections had the results
they had. However, this is not what we are going to discuss. The only
problem of the Azerbaijani authorities was the delivery of voters
to the polling stations, a task they managed successfully. There
was no election rush and everything proceeded steadily, properly,
and quite characteristic of Europe. However, they were especially
the European observers that Â"did not noticeÂ" the electoral boycott
imposed by opposition parties. It turns out that no opposition exists
in Azerbaijan. Most probably, it is indeed so. With totalitarianism in
the country, opposition is at best allowed to hold one minor piquet,
after which no one can even think of opposing the authorities.

As a number of media sources inform, the Azerbaijani opposition
that boycotted the elections observed serious cases of law violation
during the voting process of the Presidential Elections. The Center
for Cooperation of Opposition (CCO), whose representatives watched
the election process in different regions of the country, has this
fact mentioned in its latest statement. The Center includes the
Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, the "Musavat" party, the Civil
Development Party, the Liberal Party, and the Public Forum "In the
name of Azerbaijan", who had all boycotted the elections.

As the CCO statement says, in some of the polling stations
ballot-papers were not counted at the presence of observers before
the voting began. In a number of cases ballot-papers were provided
without an ID card. The openings of some ballot boxes did not meet
international norms, which allowed several ballots to be dropped at
a time. At the polling stations of the Divichinskiy and Surakhanskiy
districts the method of "carousel" was used, i.e. one and the same
person voted several times in different polling stations. The method
was actively applied after midday so that by 3:00 p.m. they would
be able to report 50% of participation in the elections, the CCO
observers believe. According to official data 53% of voters had taken
part in the elections by 3:00 p.m. In majority of regions autobuses
and taxis carried voters to polling stations under the control of
executive structures. The malls "Sharg" and "Bollug" were closed
and the sellers were made to go voting. A similar case could also be
observed in the local fair ad in other shopping centers of Ganja.

"At the time of Heydar Aliyev the Azerbaijani budget was about USD
1 billion against today’s USD 10 billion, but all the petrodollars
are now spent on satisfying the appetite of the Aliyev family and
on projects that give the impression of economic development. Ten
years ago TV channels regularly invited opposition representatives
to interviews, whereas today they never do it. There were several
serious oppositional publications ten years ago, while we have only
a couple of them left today. Ten years ago attack on a journalist
was considered a serious offense, while journalists are imprisoned
for their articles today. Journalists have been killed, arrested
and assaulted recently," says Ex-Speaker of Parliament Isa Gambar,
who was a Presidential candidate in 2003 and, according to official
data, got 12% of votes.

For the past years the number of influential economic groups has
decreased, whereas corruption has gained force in Azerbaijan. In the
Transparency International rating Azerbaijan has the 158th standing,
falling behind of its neighbours Georgia (67th standing) and Armenia
(109th standing). Every day the Azeri media "boasts" such headlines as
"Hanged Himself", "Slaughtered", "Committed Suicide", not to mention
hundreds of cases of trafficking and narcobusiness.

The flattered Azerbaijani economy almost fully depends on crude oil,
which formed 97 per cent of national export for the first half of the
current year. Distribution of oil resources is out of the question;
everything sinks in the Aliyev clan. Any kind of democratic reforms
are unfeasible in Azerbaijan.

Be that as it may, Azerbaijan is condemned to govern the clan for
another 5 years and then… Then anyone else from the clan may become
the President of Azerbaijan, for instance Mehriban, the wife of Ilham
Aliyev or Aliyev’s son Heydar II. However, all this is possible in one
case only – if ten years later Azerbaijani oil resources do not expire.

–Boundary_(ID_Qlc9p0X7r2qtg/QaIhLHFQ)–

WHY DO WE NEED EXTRAORDINARY ELECTIONS?

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
14 Oct 2008
Armenia

"I am against the idea of holding extraordinary elections. Each
election becomes a kind of disgrace for us. Each time society makes
uproar, and unpleasant practices become common. Why do we need
extraordinary elections?

And besides, why should we hold extraordinary elections? Yes, I am
dissatisfied both with the National Assemblies existing at present
and the ones that existed before (with the exception of the Supreme
Council). Their staff is really disgraceful. Among more than 100 MPs,
only 20 people are respectable individuals. The rest are not active
members; they are just statuettes. The quality is low, whereas the
Parliament has to be the ‘brain’ of the country. Notwithstanding
all this, I consider the idea of holding extraordinary elections
inappropriate."

IS RUSSIA ESTABLISHING A NEW MILITARY BASE IN AZERBAIJAN
by Casur Sumarinli

Ayna
Sept 13 2008
Azerbaijan

The Kremlin drawing up new military plans about Azerbaijan. The format
of negotiations over the Qabala radar station changes

There have been noteworthy aspects in Russia’s political and military
priorities in the South Caucasus after the Georgian events. The
Kremlin has an intention of promoting its political and military
interests in another South Caucasus country after Georgia.

Ayna received exclusive information from a source close to the
Russian Defence Ministry that the Kremlin considers ways of including
Azerbaijan into Moscow’s sphere of political and military influence
along with Georgia.

Now Russian strategists think of three major objectives

First, to closely participate in Azerbaijan’s economy and impact
Azerbaijan’s increasing role in regional economic projects; second,
the possibility of restoring Russian military presence in Azerbaijan;
third, to protect Moscow’s dominant role in negotiations over the
Caspian security.

The Russian Defence Ministry is working now on ways of restoring
Moscow’s military presence in Azerbaijan, Ayna has learnt. The Kremlin
considers several points to this end. Russian military circles
think that though minor, there is a Russian military presence in
Azerbaijan. This is approximately 4,000 Russian armed forces personnel
serving at the Qabala radar station.

Information we have received is shocking. The Russian military
leadership’s plans in these reports attract attention. We present
to your attention the following unconfirmed by Azerbaijani and
Russian officials. This information foresees expansion of the
Russian-Azerbaijani political and military negotiations during
next months:

First, the sides are to accept Russia’s role as a leading arbiter in
negotiations over the Karabakh problem;

Second, the postponement of the US-Russia-Azerbaijani talks over the
Qabala analytical-information centre (The Russian Defence Ministry’s
military base No 03366) that has been leased from Azerbaijan for
10 years. Instead, negotiations are to be continued in the format
of bilateral Russian-Azerbaijani negotiations. The purpose is to
prolong the lease term of the Qabala station and increase the number
of the Russian military personnel in Qabala and establish a real
military base.

Third, to intensify the military, energy, political and security
talks between Russia and Azerbaijan and put them into concrete frames
(obviously, Moscow will try to copy the format of the existing
cooperation between the USA and Azerbaijan);

Fourth, to intensify negotiations between Russia and Azerbaijan over
the security in the Caspian Sea;

Fifth, Russia’s active support to Azerbaijan over training of military
officers;

Sixth, Russia’s close involvement in forming and developing
Azerbaijan’s strategy and military infrastructure and Moscow’s
intensive support to the Azerbaijani armed forces, (in particular,
the anti-aircraft defence, the Air Forces and the Naval Forces). We
should note that when the contract on the status of Qabala radar
station was signed in 2002, Russia pledged to assist Azerbaijan
to upgrade the Air Forces and the Anti-Aircraft Forces, to train
Azerbaijani military personnel in Russia, to help with the repairs
of military equipment and these all were included in the agreement.

Seventh, to closely participate in drafting documents related to
security sphere (in particular, the National Security Concept, the
Military Doctrine and the Strategic Defence Review).

Eighth, to establish a political and military cooperation format
between Russia and Azerbaijan within the framework of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). This will resemble NATO’s
Partnership for Peace programme established by the alliance with
partner countries. Moscow may raise the issue of membership of
post-Soviet countries as well as other states in the region and
worldwide which seek political and military cooperation with Russia,
(Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua).

CSTO versus NATO?

We should say that after the 8 August events there have been statements
and official opinions that the CSTO has emerged as an alternative
force against NATO. The Russian and world press consider the final
form of the CSTO as "cloning" of the North Atlantic Treaty. According
to an agreement reached at the latest summit, the CSTO will establish
a permanent headquarters in Moscow. According to one of the signed
agreements, if a CSTO member country is subjected to an aggression,
troops of the alliance help it at request;

Ninth, to convince the public opinion in Azerbaijan that the country’s
security can be secured in cooperation with Russia and work closely
with civil societies to this end. In this respect, to establish close
relations with Azerbaijani NGOs and the media.

Official Baku is already aware that Russia has military plans about
Azerbaijan. According to Azerbaijani experts, the latest processes
show the Azerbaijani leadership is in a difficult position. It is not
easy indeed to change the strategic policy that was declared in 1992.

Many people have considered yesterday’s event ordinary. The issue
in question is the appointment of a new military attache. The
Russian Defence Ministry appointed its new military attache to
Azerbaijan. Captain First Rank Aleksey Moiseyev has served in Russia’s
Northern Fleet before his appointment to Baku. Experts think that the
Kremlin gives a start to promotion of Russia’s military interests
in Azerbaijan, particularly on the Caspian basin. Experts consider
Russia’s military plans on Azerbaijan as very dangerous. They are
particularly concerned over transformation of the Qabala radar station
into a military base. Observers consider that restoration of Russia’s
military presence in Azerbaijan will become a serious threat to our
country’s independence and territorial integrity.

By the way, the CSTO led by Russia plans to establish a huge military
unit in the Central Asia. This formation will consist of Russian,
Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik and Kyrgyz military units, the CSTO’s Secretary
General, Nikolay Bordyuzha, has said this. According to him, the
decision to strengthen the military composition of the CSTO was
adopted at the recent summit in Moscow.

Bordyuzha has stated that the military unit will protest stability
in the region. "This formation should repel all potential threats to
sovereignty of our states," stated Bordyuzha, saying that the CSTO will
deploy a rapid reaction forces consisting of ten battalions. According
to Secretary General, a joint anti-aircraft defence forces will also
be established.

Bordyuzha has said that the CSTO members will expand military
trainings. The next training will be held at the end of September in
Kazakhstan. Bordyuzha has stated that Russia will expand privileged
military aid and sales of weapons to the CSTO members.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF FRANCOPHONE COUNTRIES TO DISCUSS MEMBERSHIP OF ARMENIA

Panorama.am
15:53 14/10/2008

Today the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan will leave
for Quebec to take part in the Ministerial Conference of Francophone
International Organizations, reported the press and information
department of the Foreign Ministry.

According to the source, Minister Nalbandyan will take part in the
Summit of leaders of Francophone International Organization countries
and Government.

During the Summit the participants will discuss the associated
membership of Armenia to the organization.

Minister Nalbandyan will have a meeting with the Foreign Minister of
Monaco and a memorandum will be assigned between the Foreign Ministers
to establish diplomatic relationship between the countries.