Author: Navasardian Karapet

SERZH SARGSYAN: WE ARE READY TO COOPERATE AND HOLD OPEN AND DIRECT DISCUSSION WITH ALL THOSE WISHING DEVELOPMENT, STABILITY AND CONSOLIDATION OF ARMENIA

arminfo
2008-03-03 20:22:00

ArmInfo. "We are ready to cooperate and hold open and direct discussion
with all those wishing development, stability and consolidation of
Armenia, as well as welfare of the republic’s citizens", newly-elected
President, Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said at a meeting
with a delegation headed by EU Special Representative for the South
Caucasus Peter Semneby.

The Armenian governmental press-service told ArmInfo that the
members of the delegation were Special Representative of the European
Commission to Armenia Raul de Luzenberger, EU Special Representatives’
political advisers on the South Caucasus Andrei Didenko and Rasa
Ostrauskaite, as well as French Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary to Armenia Serge Smessow.

The sides discussed the post-election situation in Armenia,
particularly, the disorders in Yerevan following unsanctioned rallies
and considered possible solutions to this situation. Semneby said that
all the sides had to express commitment to overcome this situation,
to stop further split of the society and to try to solve the problem
through a political dialogue.

Semneby said that they wished to bring the South Caucasus closer to
the EU and were ready to do all they could towards that end.

Sargsyan pointed that those who had committed crimes had to be
punished. He confirmed that he had urged the demonstrators for
cooperation. The authorities are presently negotiating with some
oppositionists and there is already certain progress. Sargsyan hopes
for tangible results in the coming days.

EIGHT PEOPLE KILLED OVERNIGHT IN ARMENIAN UNREST – SUMMARY

German Press Agency
March 2 2008

Yerevan – Eight people were killed overnight in unrest in Armenia,
police in the capital Yerevan reported Sunday, citing health
officials. Witnesses reported dozens of people wounded during the
clashes between police and supporters of opposition presidential
candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian, while police said 33 officers were
injured.

A 20-day state of emergency declared by outgoing President Robert
Kocharian was confirmed Sunday by the Armenia parliament on Sunday.

Demonstrators loyal to Ter-Petrosian claim the February 19 presidential
election had been rigged.

Official results from the Central Election Committee (CEC) showed
that Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian took 52.86 per cent of the vote
with final ballots counted, while Ter-Petrosian 21.43 per cent.

The results put Sarkisian over the 50 per cent hurdle needed to avoid
a run-off with the second-place finisher.

American Jewish Committee: First Half of 20th Century Was So Long Ago, Who
Knows Whether Genocides Took Place?

committee_first_half_20th_century_
was_so_long_ago _who_knows_whether_genocides_took_place

by Joey Kurtzman, February 22, 2008

TAGS: Armenian Genocide American Jewish Committee I’ve been sent a
recording and transcript of a public exchange that took place yesterday
between Barry Jacobs of the American Jewish Committee and AramBarry Jacobs
of the American Jewish Committee: Don’t talk to him about "genocide denial,"
he’s a pragmatist Hamparian of the Armenian National Committee. It happened
at a Washington, DC lecture on Israeli-Turkish relations.

Hamparian takes Jacobs and the AJC to task for its participation in the
world’s most successful campaign of genocide denial, i.e. Turkey’s campaign
to deny the systematic murder of over a million Armenians during World War
I. (For those tuning in late, The Armenian Genocide was the prototypical
genocide in that it compelled Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish lawyer who
coined the term "genocide," to seek ways to criminalize the mass-slaughter
of whole communities. The AJC has abetted its denial by actively supporting
Turkish efforts to prevent recognition of the genocide.)

Jacobs responds by suggesting that the AJC can’t hope to say whether the
genocide took place, because, jeez, World War I was so long ago! Then he
swiftly non sequiturs to the very different argument that it’s bad to
acknowledge past genocides unless it makes good geopolitical sense. And then
he adds that that’s not just the position of the AJC, but also the position
of "the Jewish community."

Well, all I can say is that whoever Barry Jacobs is talking about when he
refers to "the Jewish community," their positions are morally bankrupt and a
public disgrace to American Jews.

Transcript below.

Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of
America: Your efforts to score points in Ankara at the expense of the
Armenian Genocide issue is a transparent transaction that, I think,
squanders the moral capital of the Jewish community, undermines our
collective efforts to fight Holocaust denial, and, if the ADL
[Anti-Defamation League] experience of the last few months is any
indication, is very far outside of the mainstream of your own community, and
it’s just so painful to come and hear you echo those same themes again. I
just had to share that with you.

Barry Jacobs, Director of Strategic Studies of the American Jewish
Committee:
It’s not about the position of the American Jewish Committee and the
American Jewish community. It’s not about, we are not historians, which is a
polite, bullshit way of saying we’re not going to take responsibility, we
are not going to make a decision on 1915. But the relationship between
United States and Turkey, if we want to, I don’t know where you are, whether
you are right or left, if you’re left in the United States and want to get
out of Iraq, well, look you at the map, Brits have pulled out of Basra,
there are only two ways to get out of Iraq, you have to go south, you have
to go north, and if you go north you got to go through Turkey.

So the argument that finally persuaded Congress, and I know this is not
– I’m looking for a strong enough word – [unintelligible] but, the
message was that the bilateral relationship between the United States and
Turkey will suffer greatly if this resolution is passed. The Jewish
Community believed that also, and that’s been our position. And the world is
not made up of choices between good and bad, at least not in the Foreign
Service when I was in it, it’s made up between choices between bad and
worse. So we take practical positions, and the position of all the Jewish
organizations, including ADL, was not have a position on the facts of what
happened, or not taking a public position on what happened in 1915, we did
not think, do not think, that the United States Congress is the place to
settle this.

And that’s all I can tell you. And that’s the real world and that’s the
position of United States Government and of the Government of Israel.

Eight killed in Armenian protests – police

Sun Mar 2, 2008 7:55am GMT

YEREVAN, March 2 (Reuters) – Eight people were killed during Armenia’s
violent protests overnight and 33 policemen were injured, police said
on Sunday.

The Armenian government declared a state of emergency after the worst
unrest in a decade, sparked by opposition demonstrations against a
Feb. 19 presidential election that opponents said was rigged.

"The circumstances surrounding the deaths are under a military
investigation. We don’t know if they were policemen or protesters,"
the police said in a statement. (Reporting by Margarita Antidze,
writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman)

Troops patrol bruised Yerevan
By Matthew Collin
BBC News, Yerevan

Story from BBC NEWS:
europe/7273713.stm

Published: 2008/03/02 14:30:55 GMT

The day after clashes in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, the streets appear
calm.
But that is not surprising, as the authorities have sent in the army to
prevent further unrest after a night of violence between riot police and
protesters who claim that February’s presidential elections were rigged.

The mood remains tense and many people are still fearful.

Soldiers with automatic weapons and armoured vehicles stand guard outside
government buildings in Yerevan’s Republic Square.

A short walk away, security forces have also been stationed in the square
which the protesters temporarily occupied on Saturday evening, before the
riot police moved in.

The tarmac is still strewn with debris and bricks which appear to have been
used as missiles by the protesters as they fought back against armed
officers who fired gunshots and tear gas.

There are also burnt-out cars and the wrecks of buses which the protesters
had used as barricades.

Casualties

A state of emergency has been declared, mass gatherings have been banned and
restrictions imposed on the media.

A spokesman for Armenian opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian condemned the
police operation.
"It’s hard for me to find words to describe a government which uses force
against its own people," he told the BBC.

That was before officials announced that eight people had died during the
unrest on Saturday, and many more had been injured.

In an interview with the BBC just after the clashes broke out, the Armenian
Foreign Minister, Vardan Oskanian, defended the decision to impose a state
of emergency.

"The president did it with great regret, but I don’t think he was left with
any other option, because the crowd had become so aggressive and out of
control, so it was necessary to ensure public safety," Mr Oskanian said.

He admitted the unrest could damage Armenia’s international image, but
blamed Mr Ter-Petrosian for refusing to negotiate and effectively demanding
regime change.

Tent city

Mr Ter-Petrosian had referred to the 11-day, round-the-clock protests as a
"democratic revolution".

The shooting was constant and very heavy for more than an hour
Lori, a Yerevan resident

His supporters had set up a tent camp on Yerevan’s Freedom Square, which had
become the focus for mass rallies involving tens of thousands of people
every day.

The scene was reminiscent of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004,
although on a much smaller scale.

Protesters lit fires and set up braziers to keep warm amid freezing
temperatures. A photographic exhibition was set up outside one tent; outside
another, there was a bulletin board with the latest news from the opposition
campaign.

Some people had decorated their tents with flowers and slogans calling on
Western governments to recognise what they described as massive fraud in
February’s presidential elections, which gave victory to the prime minister,
Serzh Sarkisian.

International observers gave the polls a largely positive assessment,
although they did point to serious shortcomings.

Law enforcement

Earlier this week, one of the tent-camp organisers, 25-year-old Marine,
vowed they would stay as long as it took to achieve victory.

"People believe that no-one could attack them in Freedom Square, because
that would be a big, big mistake," she told the BBC.

But the authorities repeatedly warned that the protests were unlicensed and
illegal, and said they were disrupting the everyday life of the capital.

Police moved in to clear the tent camp at daybreak on Saturday, just hours
before the city centre descended into chaos.

Early this morning, the Armenian opposition called on its supporters to go
home to avert more violence.

The police have also warned people in Yerevan to obey the state of
emergency.

ROBERT KOCHARYAN: "KOSOVO MAY BECOME A PRECEDENT FOR RECOGNITION OF NAGORNO KARABAKH’S INDEPENDENCE"

Today, Azerbaijan
Feb 29 2008

"Kosovo may become a precedent for recognition of Karabakh’s
independence"

The due announcement was made by Armenian President Robert Kocharyan.

"Recognition of Kosovo’s independence was inevitable. I don’t think
that independence of people, which has long lived independently on
its historical lands, would not be recognized", Kocharyan said at
the meeting with the students of the Yerevan State University.

Another matter is that whether it was necessary to recognize
independence immediately or undertake gradual steps, thus, softening
the reaction of the Serbian side and demonstrate flexibility in
this issue.

"The Kosovo precedent is too important for Armenia. Certainly, this
will have a positive influence for recognition of independence of
"Nagorno Karabakh Republic", but it should be taken into account that
we first declared independence in Nagorno Karabakh in September of
1991 and held referendum in December", Kocharyan noted.

At the same time, the president noted that Kosovo has just started
to fight for its independence and "in this aspect "Nagorno Karabakh
Republic" have as many chances for recognition of its independence
as Kosovo".

However, Kocharyan added that Kosovo’s example differs from Karabakh,
as Kosovo is in the center of Europe and many facts are in favor of
this region.

"But we will be consistent in our fight. Nagorno Karabakh’s
independence is a fact for us and other countries should also recognize
it", the Armenian President noted.

/Novosti-Armenia/

URL:

REPAIR OF SCHOOLS AND "MERRY-GO-ROUND"
Gagik Avanesyan Hadrut

KarabakhOpen
29-02-2008 11:51:06

By announcing the budget 2008 social, the authors of this high-flown
statement perhaps meant investments in the construction and repair of
schools. However, in order to bring about kind intentions conscientious
executives are necessary. And if the government provides funds
for repair of schools, they should not necessarily be "necessarily
spent". As a result of this approach, the schools of the region of
Hadrut have been repaired for three times. For instance, in 1994-1995
the school of the village of Arevshat burned in 1991 was reconstructed,
and the school of the village of Banazur of the region of Hadrut was
reconstructed. In 2000-2001, among other schools damaged during the
war these schools were repaired by the Catholic Relief Society. And
now the repair of the same schools is involved in the budget of 2008.

It is interesting to know whether the previous two repairs were of low
quality or the school administrations cannot use the schools normally.

Perhaps the people who know nothing about the activities of the
governor of Hadrut Valery Gevorgyan would think so. If those were
separate cases, of course. For instance, Valery Gevorgyan together with
notorious Sevak Artsruni launched the "reconstruction" of the school
of the village of Tsamdzor on sponsor money in 2003, which had been
repaired by the CRS in 2001. And offered a report to the sponsors. The
mechanism of simple. From aside nobody will understand what was the
same and what was repaired because (and this is the most important
thing) the sources of funding are different, and their friends in
government will not check.

The list can be continued.

What is the point? Besides personal interest of Valery Gevorgyan (when
the budget is affirmed, it is known who of his friends is in charge of
the given facility), a "merry-go-round" situation has occurred when
once every 6-8 years under the pretext of "improvement of education"
budget outlays are wasted.

I wish it happened only in the region of Hadrut and were the case of
the saying about the "black sheep", although the indulgence toward
Valery Gevorgyan and absolute support to every "initiative", including
selection and appointment of the staff, sometimes through breach,
reminds of the fable of Krilov "The Quartet".

ARONYAN WON TOPALOV

Panorama.am
17:02 29/02/2008

Morelia/Linares supreme tournament second round started. The key point
of the tournament became Levon Aronyan-Wiswanathan Anand competition.

In the eighth round the champion of the "Chorus Chess 2008" Levon
Aronyan took the revenge from Vesselin Topalov and won the game.

Note that our chess player lost the game with Topalov.

Hence, after this round Aronyan has 4.5 scores and is positioned
in the second horizontal. The leader of the competition is Indian
Wiswanathan Anand with 5.5 scores. The third horizontal is occupied
by Norwegian GM 17-year-old Magnus Karlsen with 4.5 scores. Topalov
and Shirov are in the fourth and fifth horizontals.

Taimur Radjabov is in the sixth and Ivanchuk and Leko in the seventh
and eighth horizontals.

AMBASSADOR OF GEORGIA TO ARMENIA: THERE ARE ALMOST NO ISSUES IN POLITICAL ASPECT FOR YEREVAN AND TBILISI NOT TO GET ON WELL

arminfo
2008-02-27 14:41:00

ArmInfo. The level of the present relations between Georgia and Armenia
is rather high, Ambassador of Georgia to Armenia Revaz Gachechiladze
told ArmInfo.

He said that there are almost no issues in a political aspect
for Yerevan and Tbilisi not to get on well. At the same time,
the ambassador emphasized necessity of activating the contacts in
culture: "I have recently talked to the Georgian Minister of Culture
on necessity of speeding-up signing of a protocol on cooperation in
culture, education and sports for 2008-2010. I think that the protocol
will be shortly signed". The ambassador said that Armenia and Georgia
have unfulfilled opportunities in the economic aspect.

"However, it proceeds from the fact that the economies of our countries
are insufficiently developed, unfortunately, and double each other in
much instances, that is, they manufacture similar products. Moreover,
it is necessary to consider that both markets are small, especially
the Armenian market, and this creates some difficulties. However,
if we join our efforts, the markets of our countries may become much
greater, at least, for the third countries", the ambassador said.

Yeni Musavat, Azerbaijan
February 16, 2008

Turkey may enter Karabakh

The PKK camps in the occupied lands will be hit. The
US-Turkey-Azerbaijan alliance is being set up against the terrorist
organization

by Elsad Pasasoy

Washington discusses PKK with Azerbaijan

As part of the large-scaled military operations against the PKK,
which have been under way since autumn of 2007, Turkey may also
strike camps of the terrorist organization in Karabakh. According to
reports obtained from sources in Turkey, this issue was on the agenda
of the mutual discussions between Ankara and Washington to destroy
the PKK facilities. Washington is said not against the discussion of
this option considering the possibility of the PKK growing more
active on territories of Azerbaijan.

As reported, for the first time the USA discussed the issue of the
PKK in the mutual antiterror talks with Azerbaijan. Visiting Baku
after Ankara, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy to the
Coordinator, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Frank
Urbancic had talks with officials to this end.

[Azerbaijani] Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov, who met F.
Urbancic, confirmed that the PKK was also posing a threat to
Azerbaijan. Speaking about the issue, the deputy minister said that
"this organization is coming closer to our country", thereby, hinting
that the discussions were serious.

There are periodically reports in the Turkish and Azerbaijani media
that members of the PKK, driven into a corner in the northern Iraq,
cross Azerbaijan and set up bases there. Obviously, those reports
have been sufficiently proved by evidence, and consequently, official
circles have set the wheels in motion. At the same time, the start of
the discussions between the USA and Azerbaijan over the PKK shows
that the situation is more complex than we expected.

Official recognition of PKK threat

Incidentally, the Azerbaijani authorities have never spoken about the
PKK so openly and fearlessly. A. Azimov’s statement that "the USA and
Azerbaijan are discussing the PKK issue at the antiterror talks"
shows that cardinal changes have taken place with relation to this
problem. We should recall that until recently, the authorities were
deviating from commenting on the PKK under very different pretexts.
Some officials even issued statements on the sidelines saying that
"if we recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization, it may pose a
threat to Azerbaijan".

The fact that the USA has one foot in Turkey and another foot in
Azerbaijan while discussing the PKK problem shows how the process is
serious. Washington has already declared the PKK its enemy and
obviously this is not a mere wordy political statement. The USA seems
resolute to completely crash this terrorist organization.

This state has taken a decision to fight against the PKK after it
stated to target the US interests in Azerbaijan too. Reports that the
PKK would commit acts of terror against the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline and other strategic energy infrastructures were obviously
serious.

It is for sure that the PKK issue topped the meetings at the National
Security and the Interior Ministries with Urbancic. It seems that a
coalition of the USA-Turkey-Azerbaijan is being shaped in the fight
against the PKK.

Intelligence reports confirm PKK presence in Karabakh

In the meantime, the Israeli intelligence has confirmed that the PKK
terrorists have concentrated in Azerbaijani territories under
Armenian occupation. The report says that after the operations of the
Turkish armed forces against the PKK terrorist organization in
regions bordering Iraq, terrorists are coming together in Armenia and
in Azerbaijani territories under the Armenian occupation.

APA news agency quoted Turkish Show TV as reporting that after the
Turkish armed forces pounded PKK camps, terrorists did not head for
Iran but Armenia. This report was also confirmed by the Israeli
intelligence. In conformity with a decision of the PKK leaders, the
occupied Azerbaijani districts of Fuzuli and Lacin have been chosen
camps for terrorists.

We should recall that addressing the latest Munich conference,
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan strictly urged the
Armenians to "leave Karabakh". Some observers believe that such a
strict position of the Turkish officials at the international event
may be an announcement of the brethren country to carry out military
operations against the PKK in Karabakh.

There are solid grounds now to say that the USA does not only
recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization in words. Washington’s
position is now unambiguous in destroying camps of the terrorist
organization which is openly threatening its interests.

In an interview with our paper, the head of the public relations
office of the US embassy to Azerbaijan, Jonathan Henick, once again
confirmed that the issue of PKK was discussed at the talks with
Azerbaijani officials: "I cannot speak about details of the
discussions as I did not attend those meetings. I can only say that
we have no information about the existence of the PKK in Azerbaijan.
We simply hear similar reports. We naturally are ready to have talks
with Azerbaijani officials to this effect. The PKK has
representatives in Turkey, Iraq, European countries and the problem
of the PKK does exist. Naturally, if this problem also surfaces here,
no doubt, we shall cooperate with Azerbaijan."

Can the USA target those camps after reports of the Turkish and
Israeli sources that PKK terrorists have been resettled to occupied
lands? In reply to this question, Henick said that "I cannot exactly
say what might happen", adding that in fight against terrorism,
peace-loving countries and governments should cooperate: "However,
our priority is to fight against the PKK in Iraq and Turkey. If your
reports on the PKK are confirmed, we are ready for talks with the
Azerbaijani government."

Spokesman attests that PKK threat is high

The [Azerbaijani] Foreign Ministry spokesman, Xazar Ibrahim, has
confirmed the existence of the PKK threat: "And this threat is very
high. First, official Baku cannot control the occupied lands now.
Second, the threat is that those territories are controlled by the
occupying state with wide experience in the conduct of terror acts.
For the time being, there are reports that the PKK is resettled
there.

"Bearing in mind that the PKK carries out terror acts in the region,
at the same time, it also issued statements that relevant
infrastructures would be hit in Azerbaijan. The overall threat is
very high. Therefore, this should be reacted properly. Azerbaijan is
in political consultations to this end, at the same time, is in
discussions with both regional and allying states."

As for the prospects of any specific military action, Ibrahim said
that a relevant condition is required for this: "Azerbaijan is
naturally capable of taking relevant steps to repulse all the dangers
and threats."

Information we obtained at the end of the day was very intriguing. A
source (an official editorial staff) on condition of anonymity said
that the PKK’s auxiliary camps had been in existence in Karabakh long
before: "Simply those camps are being reinforced. The military arm of
the PKK is being fully relocated to Karabakh. This is what makes
Turkey and America uneasy. This terrorist organization has come all
of a sudden closer to oil pipelines.

"Moreover, the PKK is bearing a grudge against the USA and this bad
blood might be manifested in a dangerous option of committing acts of
terror. Therefore, the USA wants the PKK be ousted from Karabakh and
they could only be driven out from there by armed intervention. At
present Azerbaijan and Turkey are in discussion over bombing PKK
camps to be located in joint operations. This is very likely to take
place in the months to come. The USA should also participate in this
process closely. Military delegations of both countries have already
stationed in Baku."

Our source also claimed that with the support of the USA, Turkish and
Azerbaijani troops can kick off joint operations under the pretext of
hitting PKK camps: "Both air and ground operations are possible in
spring and the work is under way to work out such a plan. The USA
needs several districts bordering Iran, at least Fuzuli be returned
under Azerbaijan’s control. Due to future-oriented strategic
interests, the control over Azerbaijani occupied lands bordering Iran
by Armenians as well as Russia does not suit the USA…[ellipsis as
published]"

The Azerbaijani government may soon officially appeal to Turkey to
intervene in Karabakh to deal with the PKK camps.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is soon expected to visit Turkey.
The Turkish media report that this is connected with plans to work
out a joint "fatal operation" against the PKK in spring. US Attorney
General Michael B. Mukasey currently in Turkey told the local media
after meetings Turkish officials that the aim of the countries’ are
to end with the PKK.