Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:34:20 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Azerbaijan: Going Sour On Moscow?

AZERBAIJAN: GOING SOUR ON MOSCOW?
Shahin Abbasov

EurasiaNet
Feb 13 2009
NY

Azerbaijani trust in Russia as an unbiased mediator for the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is melting away amid lingering outrage
over a suspected arms transfer to Armenia, and growing interest in
the Western-backed Nabucco gas pipeline project. But with an eye
to Russia’s regional weight, Baku is avoiding outright challenges
to Moscow.

The scandal surrounding an alleged Russian transfer of tanks, armored
combat vehicles, artillery and other materiel to Armenia drives
Baku’s concerns about Moscow’s reliability as a co-chair of the Minsk
Group, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The Minsk group is the
body that oversees the Karabakh peace process. [For background see
the Eurasia Insight archive].

"Russia would seriously undermine its image as an unbiased mediator" if
allegations about the arms transfer are accurate, said Novruz Mammadov,
head of the administration’s international affairs department, Turan
news agency reported. "[S[uch actions do not correspond with Russia’s
Minsk Group co-chair status."

Debate about the arms scandal is expected during the current session
of Azerbaijan’s parliament. In petitioning for such a discussion,
15 pro-government members of parliament also noted that the alleged
transfer raises "doubts about Russia’s sincerity and its impartiality
as a Minsk Group co-chair."

A spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stressed to
EurasiaNet that the government plans to "keep the issue in its
focus." Nonetheless, the government has refrained from publicly
questioning Russia’s role in the Minsk Group. "It would be impossible
while everyone understands how important Russia’s role in the Karabakh
peace process is," commented political analyst Hikmet Hajizade.

Azerbaijani officials likewise avoided creating any public scandals
at the January Minsk Group meetings, which took place weeks after
the arms scandal story broke. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan instructed their foreign ministers
to continue negotiations, in cooperation with Minsk Group co-chairs
Russia, France and the United States.

But memories die hard inside Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry. "The fact
that there was a gratuitous, $1 billion arms transfer by Russia to
Armenia in 1996 is forcing us to do it," spokesperson Khazar Ibrahim
commented in reference to the ministry’s ongoing attention to the
arms transfer allegations. (The Russian government denied making the
1996 transfer, just as it has rejected the recent allegations).

Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev reportedly discussed the
alleged transfer with his Russian counterpart, Anatoly Serdukov,
during a visit to Moscow in late January, but the Defense Ministry
has not released any details.

The criticism of Moscow contrasts sharply with Baku’s behavior
following Russia’s August 2008 war with Georgia, when Azerbaijan
pointedly avoided offending the Kremlin. After the November signing
of the Moscow Declaration, a document that binds Azerbaijan to the
non-use of force in resolving the Karabakh conflict, an "atmosphere
of trust" in Russia was said to prevail within the government. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The current changes in position take place against the backdrop
of increased Azerbaijani support for a project that poses another
challenge to Moscow — Nabucco, a heavily Western-promoted pipeline
that would offer an alternative delivery route to Europe for Caspian
Sea gas supplies. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The
project is believed to have been addressed during a February 13 visit
to Baku by the Czech Republic’s prime minister, Mirek TopolÃ~C¡nek,
to discuss energy cooperation. TopolÃ~C¡nek is currently serving as
the president of the European Union Council.

While the head of the Russian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee
has stated that Moscow does not oppose the Nabucco project, one
January 30 comment published in Kommersant-Vlast predicted that
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin might consider war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh as a way "to prevent
strong competitors from emerging in the European market" for gas.

Russian nationalist Alexander Dugin, thought to be close to the
Kremlin, has asserted that "Nabucco has to be wrecked at any cost
because we are talking about gas geopolitics."

"If we need to initiate new military conflict for this purpose,
we should do it without hesitation," he told Russian journalists on
January 31, RIA-Novosti news agency reported.

The Kremlin has not commented on these allegations, although
Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin in a January 28 interview with
the television channel Euronews stated that Russia does not believe
Nabucco is viable.

Nothing, however, indicates that the Azerbaijani government
is concerned about a Russian military tactic to scuttle
Nabucco. Meanwhile, it continues to play its energy cards
carefully. Even as President Aliyev actively promotes Nabucco, the
State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) is continuing
to talk with Gazprom about the possible sale of all gas from the
Shah Deniz field to the Russian energy giant. SOCAR and BP-Azerbaijan
recently inspected a pipeline near the Russian border "to define the
prospects of exporting gas from Shah Deniz through the pipeline,"
the Ekspress newspaper reported on February 10.

Baku-based energy expert Ilham Shaban, however, noted that while
SOCAR has small amounts of its own gas to sell Russia for use in
neighboring Dagestan, the government wants to sell the big-ticket item
— Shah Deniz gas — "to Europe via Nabucco and the Interconnector
(Turkey-Greece-Italy) pipelines."

The ongoing talks with Russia about gas sales are just part of Baku’s
constant balancing act, agreed Elhan Shahinoglu, an expert at the
Atlas research center. "Baku has limited capacity to be anti-Russian
because this country [Russia] still, in fact, controls the Karabakh
peace process, while the European energy plans remains quite unclear,"
Shahinoglu said. "Therefore, the government has to keep playing
with Russia."

Editor’s Note: Shahin Abbasov is a freelance correspondent
based in Baku. He is also a board member of the Open Society
Institute-Azerbaijan.

SITTING OF THE WORKING GROUP FOR DRAFTING THE RELEVANT LAW ON MAKING AMENDMENTS AND ADDENDA IN ARTICLES 225 AND 300 OF RA CRIMINAL CODE HELD

National Assembly of RA
Feb 11 2009
Armenia

On February 10 the second sitting of the working group for drafting
the law on making amendments and addenda in Articles 225 and 300 of
RA Criminal Code was held presided over by the Chairman of the RA NA
Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Mr Davit Harutyunyan.

The head of the working group Mr Davit Harutyunyan presented the
recommendations made by him and the NA deputy Mr Artsvik Minasyan
on making amendments and addenda in Articles 225 and 300 of the RA
Criminal Code. Mr Harutyunyan presented the international legislation
on constitutional right and usurpation of power.

The members of the working group and the Ad-hoc Inquiry Committee into
the Events Occurred on 1-2 March 2008 in Yerevan and Their Reasons
of the National Assembly and the experts presented recommendations
and opinions on the amendments envisaging in the relevant articles.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT HAS WORKING CONSULTATION WITH ARMAVIR GOVERNOR

ARMENPRESS
Feb 9, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 9, : Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had today a
working meeting with the governor of the Armenian province of Armavir
Ashot Ghahramian.

Presidential press service told Armenpress that the president was
reported about the pace of implementation of works directed towards
the solution of the issues of the residents of the province.

The president of the republic tasked to pay serious attention and
undertake relevant steps towards ensuring irrigation water, and
realization of agricultural products. The governor of the province
informed that soon he is going to leave for Russian Sverdlovsk province
for signing relevant agreements connected with the realization of
agricultural products.

Armavir governor also said that the delegation from the mentioned
Russian province on its turn is planning to visit Armenia and sign
relevant agreement with producers. The president of the country also
was reported that works are being carried out for building a branch
of Sverdlovsk tractor factory in Armavir province.

ISRAEL VAZQUEZ: I AM INTERESTED IN A FIGHT WITH DARCHINYAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.02.2009 18:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Fresh from his eleven round stoppage of Jorge Arce,
WBC/IBF/WBA super flight champion Vic Darchinyan is looking at big
challenges in the higher weight divisions. One name that Darchinyan
has mentioned in a few interviews is Israel Vazquez.

Gary Shaw, who promotes Darchinyan, said his fighter continues to ask
for a fight with Vazquez. "So, we have a lot of opportunities and we
will talk about it as a team," he said.

Vazquez, who hopes to be medically cleared to fight in June, is very
interested in a fight with Darchinyan.

"Vic is a great fighter. A good champion, strong, and I look forward
to it. If we can do it, let’s do it," Vazquez said, boxingscene.com
reports.

WHO WILL REPRESENT ARMENIA IN EUROVISION 2009?

A1+
[02:11 pm] 09 February, 2009

Twenty Armenian singers have submitted applications for the 2009
Eurovision Song Contest. Inga and Anush Arshakyans, Shprot, Arame
and Mher are among the candidates.

Remind that applications were to be submitted by February 7. On
February 14 the Armenian Public Television (H1) will air the draw
for the Armenian participant. The song must be of three minutes’
duration and must have no political colouring. The 2009 Eurovision Song
Contest will take place in Moscow on May 12, 14, 16. The Semi-Finals
is scheduled for May 12 and 14, and the Finals – for May 16. The
Armenian participant will sing on May 12.

Note that Mher Mesropyan was awarded "Audience sympathy" during the
"New Wave 2008" song contest in Urmala.

AZERBAIJANI PARTY STILL FIRING AT KARABAKH POSITIONS

ArmInfo
2009-02-06 11:33:00

ArmInfo. Nagorny Karabakh Republic press-service reported that
Azerbaijani party keeps on violating ceasefire on the contact-line
of the NKR and Azerbaijani armed forces.

The source reported to ArmInfo that on February 5 early in the morning
and within daytime Azerbaijani armed forces fired at the positions
of the NKR Defense Army in various directions. The Azerbaijani party
fired in the direction of Mekhdili, Karakhanbeyli, Kuropatkino,
Yusifjanlu, Jraberd, Karmiravan and Shotlanlu also at nighttime on
Feb 5 and early in the morning on Feb 6. The source reported that
after response by the NKR Defense Army, the rival ceased fire. No
casualties were reported on the Karabakh party.

A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY ON LIZ CHATER AN ARMENIAN FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCHER SPECIALIZING IN ARMENIANS IN INDIA

AZG Armenian Daily
06/02/2009

Diaspora

Liz Chater, who is based in the UK, has been researching the Armenians
in India for the last nine years. Her interest in the Armenians
came about because she knew very little about her father’s family,
and so started looking into her family history. She soon discovered
that she had Armenian ancestry. At the time, there was very little
information available on the Armenians in India, and so as she
discovered information she shared it with others interested in the
India connection.

Four years ago, she decided to start an ambitious project to photograph
and transcribe all the Armenian graves in India and to make that
information freely available to other interested researchers. Following
many trips to India she was able to place approximately 3000 pictures
of the Armenian graves on her extremely popular website. However,
due to lack of funding she has had to close her website for the
foreseeable future, but is hopeful that a benefactor will be found
to help fund the website and her unique research so that she can once
again resume her research and complete the project. Liz’s genealogical
database has over 5,500 Armenians who once lived, worked and died in
Asia and it is hoped that she will be able to get this information
published and into the wider arena for others to benefit from.

During her research Liz also took time to look into the life of a
distant ancestor of hers, Sir Catchick Paul Chater who was born in
Calcutta in 1846 and, by all accounts, lived a most remarkable and
successful life in the Far East. At the kind invitation of Bishop
Armash Nalbandian, of the primate of the Armenian Diocese in Damascus,
Liz will be visiting Damascus from the 1st February and during that
time she hopes to be able to meet as many of the community in Damascus
and talk about this most unique Armenian who lived in the 19th and
early 20th centuries in Hong Kong and share some of his life and
successes with you.

Poulsen not cowed by Armenian challenge

Tuesday 3 February 2009
by Khachik Chakhoyan from Yerevan

Armenia coach Jan B. Poulsen admits his side have "nothing to lose"
after opening their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with four
defeats as hopes of a place in South Africa vanished.

Big Task
Appointed a year ago with the goal of leading Armenia to the World Cup
finals in South Africa, Poulsen received few favours from the draw
which pitched his side into a fiercely competitive Group 5. "We
started the campaign against Turkey and reigning European champions
Spain," he said. "We did our best. We showed total commitment and a
will to fight, but unfortunately the guys who are playing abroad
lacked match fitness and were far from their best condition.

Limited opportunities
"As with every national-team coach I don’t have much time with my
squad," added the 62-year-old, who spent much of his career with BK
Frem but also coached the Denmark Under-21 team, Singapore and
Jordan’s U20 side. "I last saw the team in November before the
Bosnia-Herzegovina match [a 4-1 away defeat]. It’s hard to produce
anything impressive in such conditions. Everybody is doing their best,
but we still suffer from lack of coordination in our play."

Next generation
Armenia take on Latvia in a friendly on 11 February as they look to
build up confidence ahead of the resumption of their Group 5 campaign
in March. "The main thing for us is to get together once again," said
Poulsen. "Three months have passed since our last training
camp. Despite being without some key players, the Latvia game is very
important. It will give me a chance to test several young
prospects. We have to see who can strengthen the team in the future."

‘Nothing to lose’
Conceding that his side "definitely have problems up front" and a
"shortage of tall players with good aerial ability", Poulsen accepts
that the World Cup is now beyond Armenia, but is happy to battle
on. "We’ve got nothing to lose now," he said. "I believe that
Armenia’s results will. Last year we were successful against
Kazakhstan, Belarus and Malta, but I hope we’ll achieve more in
clashes with top teams. At least, we promise to put all our efforts
into doing so."

American Thinker, WA
Feb 1 2009

Turkish Prime Minister redefines ‘outrage’

Jack Kemp

Days ago, the Turkish Prime Minister walked off a stage in Davos,
Switzerland when he was engaged in a heated argument with Israeli
President Shimon Peres. Prime Minister Edrogan angrily stated to Peres
that "You are killing people" and "A finger-pointing Peres told
Erdogan at Thursday’s panel that he would have done the same if
rockets had been falling on Istanbul."

Since the Turkish Prime Minister is so incensed about civilian
casualties caused largely by Hamas using human shields, forced or
otherwise, perhaps he should consider the glass house whose door he
has just opened.

Samantha Power’s Pulitzer Prize winning 2002 book, "A Problem From
Hell, America and the Age of Genocide," points out, on page one, that
in 1921 the former Turkish Interior Minister Mehmet Talaat, was shot
on a street in Berlin by an Armenian. This was an organized revenge
killing for the Turkish genocide of one million Armenian civilians in
World War I. Years later, Ms. Power states, on page 23 that, "In 1942,
Hitler restored Talaat’s ashes to Turkey, where the Turkish government
enshrined the fallen hero’s remains in a mausoleum on the Hill of
Liberty in Istanbul.

Page eight of Ms. Power’s book informs us in further detail exactly of
what type of "hero" Interior Minister Talaat was by the indirect open
admission of the liquidation of the Armenian population of Turkey he
made to an American diplomat at that time:

Talaat once asked (then American Ambassador) Morganthau whether the
United States could get the New York Life Insurance Company and
Equitable Life of New York, which for years had done business with the
Armenians, to send a complete list of the Armenians policy holders to
Turkish authorities. "They are practically all dead and have left no
heirs," Talaat said, "The government is the beneficiary now."

So we have the current prime minister of a country that killed one
million unarmed Armenians and honors, to this day, one of the chief
architects of that genocide with a hero’s grave at a national cemetery
in his nation’s capitol. This prime minister now states that he is
outraged by Israel waging war against an actual rocket-launching enemy
which resulted in some civilian casualties in Gaza, an area allowed
food and water to its’ civilian population by the Israelis. There
still are approximately one million civilians living in Gaza.

Well, at least we all can better understand the origins of Prime
Minister Edrogan’s mindset by seeing who his government honors. I
would like to know at what point (in terms of body count) and by what
means one becomes a hero rather than a murderer in Mr. Edrogan’s
opinion.

Jack Kemp is not the politician of the same name.

/turkish_prime_minister_redefin.html

Presidents of Armenia, Czechia discuss bilateral relations

armradio.am
31.01.2009 15:28

Within the framework of the visit to the Swiss Confederation, President
Serzh Sargsyan had a meeting with his Czech counterpart Václav Klaus.

The Presidents discussed a broad framework of issues related to both
bilateral and Armenia-EU relations. Václav Klaus stressed the
importance of the South Caucasus region for the European Union and
underlined that the Eastern Partnership initiative is an important tool
for the consistent development of EU’s relations with the countries of
the region.

Emphasizing the importance of the initiative, President Sargsyan
stressed the willingness of our country to move forward on the path of
deepening the reforms and promoting the democratic tools in line with
the Armenia-EU Action Plan. Václav Klaus invited Serzh Sargsyan to
participate in the summit of the Eastern Partnership to be held in
Prague.

During the meeting President Sargsyan appreciated the opportunity to
use the GSP+ trade regime, which will contribute to the deepening of
the Armenia-EU trade-economic relations and cooperation.

At the request of the Czech President, Serzh Sargsyan presented the
latest developments in the negotiations on the peaceful settlement of
the Karabakh issue and the Armenian-Turkish relations.