Author: Nalbandian Albert

TURKEY DRAWS “BRILLIANT CONCLUSIONS” FROM NON-EXISTENT STATEMENTS

PanArmenian News Network
Aug 5 2005

05.08.2005 04:52

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Contrary to the publications of some Azeri media,
head of United Travel Company Nune Mkrtchian did not say that trade
and economic factor lie in the heart of Armenia’s interest towards
Turkey. In a conversation with PanARMENIAN.Net reporter she refuted
placing any kind of information regarding Armenian tourists in
Milliyet Turkish newspaper. In her words, this February by request of
Turkish representatives of the Eurasia Foundation she informed about
the possible increase of the number of tourists visiting Turkey.
However the information was based on real facts, in part, taking
into account the Yerevan-Antalia charter flight and non-visa regime
with Turkey. “Presently Yerevan-Antalia weekly flights are crowded”,
she noted. She also wondered why the information provided in February
appeared in the Turkish newspaper only now. Meanwhile, Turkish and
Azeri media according to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism
over 13 thousand Armenian citizens visited Turkey during the initial
half of 2005 and the number of Armenian tourists visiting Turkey
has grown with 60% since 2003. The 525-th Azeri newspaper writes
that the Turkey has drawn “brilliant conclusions” from the Nune
Mkrtchian’s words. According to the edition, N, Mkrtchian noted that
that the increase of the number of the Armenian tourists can raise
the possibility of launching other flights.

Monitoring on Azeri-Armenian contact line passes off without incidents

Lider TV, Baku
4 Aug 05

Monitoring was held today on the contact line of the [Azerbaijani
and Armenian] troops in the village of Asagi Veysalli in Xocavand
[Martuni] District [of Nagornyy Karabakh] in accordance with the
mandate of the personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office.

Field assistants of the personal representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office conducted the monitoring on the Azerbaijani and
Armenian sides. The monitoring passed off without incidents, the
press service of the [Azerbaijani] Defence Ministry reported.

ARMENIA TO TAKE PART IN TERROR FIGHTING INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

PanArmenian News Network
Aug 4 2005

04.08.2005 03:26

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Special divisions for fighting terror from Belarus,
Russia, Ukraine and Armenia will take part in international competition
to be held in Minsk August 8-14, reported Interfax referring to
the Ministry of Interior of Belarus. The source reported that “on
various areas fighters will demonstrate their physical preparation
when overcoming a special strip of obstacles, shooting accuracy,
tactical skills when storming an object.” The event program also
includes hand-to-hand fight, sniper and engineering and pyrotechnics
competitions.

NKR MFA: KARABAKH CONFLICT SHOULD BE SETTLED IN HUMANITARIAN DIMENSION

PanArmenian News Network
Aug 3 2005

03.08.2005 02:29

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Representatives of the Azerbaijani mass media,
having no idea of the details of the peaceful process on the
Karabakh problem and its political-legal aspects, publish articles,
in which the information of official Stepanakert is misconstrued. As a
result, an atmosphere, hindering the understanding of human values
and considering any alternative means and goals is created in the
Azerbaijani society. It is doubtless that the search of mutually
profitable and fair settlement of the Karabakh conflict is possible
only via establishment of effective communication between the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and the Azerbaijani Republic. In this
connection, it should be re-emphasized that any settlement of the
Karabakh conflict, the current stage of which started with such
humanitarian calamity as mass killings of Armenians in Sumgait and
Baku, as well as further ethnic cleansing, deportation and banishment
of nearly 500 000 Armenian citizens of the former Azerbaijani SSR
in 1988-1990, must, first of all, propose restoration of justice
and reparation of the moral and financial losses to these people,
including recognition of their right for having their Motherland. The
Azerbaijani leadership is entirely responsible for unleashing the
military activities and their results, including the issue of paying
reparations to all the refugees and IDP’s, suffered from these
actions, regardless of their nationality and current citizenship.
Starting with humanitarian calamity, the Karabakh conflict must be
settled just in the humanitarian dimension, in full accordance with
the fundamental principles and goals of international law.

ARMENIAN FLAG DISAPPEARED FROM COUNCIL OF EUROPE AREA IN STRASBOURG

PanArmenian News Network
Aug 2 2005

02.08.2005 02:56

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On July 30 evening the Armenian flag and nameboard
disappeared form the area of the Council of Europe building.
Armenia’s permanent representation in the Council of Europe
immediately informed the Council of Europe Security Services and
demanded the Armenian flag be put the in its place as soon as
possible. As reported by the Armenian Foreign Ministry press service,
Director of the Council of Europe Secretary General’s Personal Office
Jan-Lois Loran was informed about the incident and apologized for it.
At the same time the office officials said that the Council of Europe
Security Services are responsible only for the security of the
entrance of the building and its inside. The cameras placed on the
building follow only the entrance and they do not observe the place
where the flags are hanging. The control of the building’s territory
is implemented by the French police which was informed about the
incident. The Armenian Foreign Ministry has addressed a note of
protest to the Council of Europe General Secretariat condemning the
incident and demanded to find out the circumstances and carry out
relevant measures for punishing the criminals. “The Armenian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs resolutely protests against the incident and
demands to implement necessary steps for preventing vandalism against
the national symbols of the Council of Europe member countries,” the
note says.

Cypriot government hopes Azerbaijan will change decision on direct flights

Cyprus News Agency
1 Aug 05

Nicosia, 1 August: The Cyprus government is looking into the spectrum
of its relations with Azerbaijan, hoping that it will review its
decision for direct flights to the occupied areas and will respect
international law and the sovereignty of the Cyprus government, Cyprus
Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Sotirios Zakhaios has told CNA.

Invited to comment on the illegal landing of an Azerbaijani aircraft
at the airport in Turkish occupied Tymbou, Zackheos noted that
Cyprus President Tasos Papadhopoulos and the Ministers of Foreign
Affairs and Communications and Works Yeoryios Iakovou and Kharis
Thrasou respectively, have sent letters of representation to their
Azerbaijani counterparts.|

The Cyprus government has also informed the International Organization
of Civil Aviation and Eurocontrol on the issue and these organizations
and countries, which are friendly to Cyprus, have made representations
to Baku.

“The Cyprus government is also looking into Baku’s relations with the
EU and has already stated and decided that the EU’s action plan with
Azerbaijan cannot proceed until this country respects international
law,” he added.

Eurocontrol has also postponed a scheduled meeting of regional
cooperation that was due to take place in Ukraine with the
participation of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine because of the
illegal flights to the pseudostate.

Cyprus has also expressed its disagreement with Azerbaijan’s intention
to become member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Asked how the issue of the political conflict between Armenia and
Azerbaijan over the Nagorno [Upper] Karabah region is associated,
Zackheos said “the Cyprus government is examining the whole spectrum
of its relations with Azerbaijan, hoping that this country will review
its decision on the direct flights and will respect international
law and the sovereignty of the Cyprus Republic.”

“The Cyprus government wants the development of relations (with
Baku). The Republic of Cyprus depends its policy on the development of
bilateral relations with all countries on the basis of the respect of
international law and the principles of the UN Charter. At the same
time, the principle of mutuality is taken into consideration at the
countries’ interstate relations,” he concluded.

Schweizerische Depeschenagentur AG (SDA)
SDA – Basisdienst Deutsch
1. August 2005

Feiertagszusammenfassung Tuerkei-Schweiz
Tuerkischer Politiker Perincek kritisiert Antirassismusartikel

Bern

Im Konflikt um die Armenier-Frage hat der tuerkische Politiker Dogu
Perincek den Schweizer Antirassismusartikel als ein
“Inquisitionsgesetz aus dem Mittelalter” bezeichnet. Das Gesetz
muesse “vernichtet” werden, forderte er in einem Interview.

Das Antirassismusgesetz verletze die Grundrechte und widerspreche der
Meinungsfreiheit, kritisierte der Linksnationalist Perincek im
Gespraech mit dem “SonntagsBlick”. Die Schweiz verliere dadurch die
Freundschaft der Tuerkei und den Respekt in der Welt.

Auch der tuerkische Botschafter in Bern, Alev Kilic, warnte vor einer
Beschraenkung der Meinungsfreiheit. “Nur schon die Tatsache, dass die
Schweizer Behoerden solche Untersuchungen eroeffnen, ist ein
gravierendes Signal an die Tuerken (…): Es bedeutet, dass sie ihren
Mund halten sollen”, sagte er in der “NZZ am Sonntag”.

Perincek verteidigt Aussage

Perincek erlaeuterte in dem Interview vom Sonntag weiter, er habe
lediglich “seine wissenschaftliche Ueberzeugung geaeussert”, zu der
er “nach langen Untersuchungen in russischen Archiven” gekommen sei.

Zwar habe er gewusst, dass die Schweiz eine Antirassismus-Strafnorm
habe, seine Auftritte seien gleichwohl nicht als Provokation gemeint
gewesen. Er fuehle sich lediglich der Wahrheit verpflichtet, sagte
Perincek.

Es gebe keinen Voelkermord an den Armeniern, wiederholte der Chef der
linksnationalistischen “Arbeiterpartei” im Interview seine Aeusserung
zu den Massakern vor 90 Jahren im damaligen Osmanischen Reich.
Verschiedene Historiker gehen von Opferzahlen bis zu 1,5 Millionen
aus.

Ermittlungen gegen zwei Tuerken

Aufgrund des Antirassismusartikels laufen in der Schweiz mehrere
Ermittlungen – nebst Perincek auch gegen den Historiker Yusuf
Halacoglu, der ebenfalls den Genozid an den Armeniern geleugnet
hatte. Diese Haltung entspricht auch derjenigen der Regierung in
Ankara.

Die Ermittlungen haben in der Tuerkei heftige Kritik ausgeloest.
Unter anderem wurde letzte Woche der Schweizer Botschafter in Ankara,
Walter Gyger, ins Aussenministerium bestellt.

Ebenfalls letzte Woche traf sich Kilic auf eigenen Wunsch in Bern mit
Vertretern des Eidg. Departement fuer auswaertige Angelegenheiten
(EDA).

Das EDA wies dabei darauf hin, dass der Bundesrat die tragischen
Deportationen und Massaker an Armeniern in der Endphase des
Osmanischen Reiches immer verurteilt habe. Es sei aber vor allem eine
Aufgabe der historischen Forschung, Licht in die damaligen Ereignisse
zu bringen.

Sicht der Schweiz

Der Bundesrat begruesse daher den Vorschlag der tuerkischen
Regierung, dass sich eine gemischte tuerkisch-armenische
Historikerkommission gemeinsam der Frage annimmt. Diese Haltung
kritisierte die Gesellschaft Schweiz-Armenien (GSA) in einem
Communique am Montag.

Der Bundesrat “kriecht damit der tuerkischen Verschleierungsstrategie
auf den Leim”, heisst es in der Mitteilung Die GSA forderte die
Landesregierung auf, den Voelkermord an den Armeniern von 1915
“endlich als solchen” anzuerkennen.

In der Schweiz hat auf Bundesebene nur der Nationalrat den
Armenier-Genozid offiziell anerkannt. Dies hat aber keinen Einfluss
auf die rechtliche Praxis: Gemaess Antirassismusgesetz werden nicht
nur Genozide, sondern allgemein “Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit”
geahndet.

Azeri paper chides president for “second Cyprus disgrace”

Azadliq, Baku
31 Jul 05

Text of unattributed report by Azerbaijani newspaper Azadliq on 31
July headlined “The second Cyprus disgrace” and subheaded “The Ilham
Aliyev administration deals another blow to Azerbaijan’s reputation”.
Subheadings and quotation marks as published.

The [President] Ilham Aliyev’s administration has owned up to another
diplomatic disgrace. The administration declared several days ago
to be at the forefront of a campaign to get the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus [TRNC] out of isolation, and in an effort to promote
its cause, sent the first scheduled flight from Baku to the TRNC.

And then, the day before yesterday [on 29 July], it issued a denial
[of this policy]. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated that our
ambassador to Greece, Mirhamza Afandiyev, visited the Greek Foreign
Ministry on the instructions from Baku where he said that Azerbaijan
regards Greece as its reliable political and economic partner. The
statement also says that the opening of regular flights from Baku
to Northern Cyprus “is not a government policy, but a commercial
initiative of a private company”.

This was the second time that the Aliyev administration got plunged
into uncertainty over the TRNC. For the second time, the government
issues lofty statements about relations with Northern Cyprus and then
denies them later on. Of course, this is mainly because of Aliyev’s
inexperience in international politics. The unsuccessful graduate from
“the faculty of international relations” believes it is possible to
make an irresponsible statement to please the opposite side and then
deny that statement to smooth out someone else’s displeasure.

The reputation and the image of the country can be disregarded. It is
with this idea that Ilham Aliyev and his numskull administration gave
solid promises on relations with Northern Cyprus to please Turkey for
a second time and reneged on those promises because of inability to
keep them.

The same disgrace happened before – Mistake made a year and half
ago repeated

Ilham Aliyev made his first statement, which was also denied later,
about a year and half ago. In order to win the sympathy of the
Turkish government and the public, Aliyev declared in Ankara that
Azerbaijan might recognize the independence of Northern Cyprus.
Seeing that he was stirring up an international scandal following an
irresponsibility on such a scale, Aliyev then told the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg that he had never made
such a statement. Moreover, in a joint news conference with the Greek
president in Baku he answered a question on this subject so vaguely,
that it felt as if he was wriggling out of an awkward situation. The
Aliyev administration thought no more about relations with Northern
Cyprus for 18 months.

Aliyev’s “sagacious” team remembered Northern Cyprus again as soon
as it saw that Ankara would play a serious role in the political
processes in the run-up to the election in Azerbaijan and when the
Turkish government started to demand a democratic election from Baku.
The Aliyev administration drew up a unique plan for the visit of
Turkish Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, who came to Baku to talk
about democratic election. The Azerbaijani leadership made another
populist statement pledging direct relations with the TRNC in order
to mitigate the discussions on this subject. Standing next to Erdogan,
Aliyev declared that Azerbaijan will champion the move to get Northern
Cyprus out of isolation, that regular flights will be opened from Baku
to the TRNC, and that “other required measures” would be taken as well.

However, attempts by the Aliyev administration to win Ankara’s sympathy
by showing good relations with Northern Cyprus did not stop the Turkish
prime minister from advising Baku to hold a democratic election.

We can say it without reservations that following the denial
of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, the latest attempt of the
Aliyev administration has also failed. Aliyev’s reneging on the
promise regarding TRNC for a second time resulted in his reputation
deteriorating in the eyes of the governments and the public of Turkey
and Northern Cyprus.

Azeri foreign minister in Washington to discuss Karabakh – TV

ANS TV, Baku
1 Aug 05

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who is paying a visit
to the USA, will focus on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict at meetings
to be held in Washington today.

Other issues to be discussed by Mr Mammadyarov with US officials
include regional problems.

PEOPLE ELECTS MPs NOT FOR BOYCOTTING THEIR DUTIES: ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT
SPEAKER

YEREVAN, JULY 30. ARMINFO. The people has elected the MPs not for
boycotting their duties but for working, Armenian Parliament speaker
Artur Bagdassaryan says in an interview to Golos Armenii.

He says that his consultations with the opposition factions have
prevented internal political aggravation in the country. Any political
party should determine its tactics and strategy itself. “As Parliament
Speaker I have always urged the opposition to come back to their
legislative activities,” says Bagdassaryan.

There are all conditions for the opposition factions to decide
themselves if they take part in the preparation for the constitutional
referendum. The forces who keep talking about the necessity of
democratic reforms in Armenia should show real concern and consistency
for putting these reforms into practice, says Bagdassaryan.