Author: nina hovnanian

FRANCE’S BILL OF INTOLERANCE: WHAT IT MEANS FOR AZERBAIJAN

Today’s Zaman
Dec 27 2011
Turkey

“We enjoy a positive national image in Azerbaijan; France was the
second country after Turkey to recognize Azerbaijani independence
in 1991,” declares the website of the French foreign ministry
().

However, although France was the second country to open an embassy in
Baku, it was not in fact the second country to recognize Azerbaijan’s
independence. This technical issue aside, the other matter is of
greater concern — current perceptions of France among the Azerbaijani
public following recent developments.

It would be excessively harsh to say that France has already lost
its good reputation in Azerbaijan, but there is risk of this happening.

The National Assembly (lower chamber of the French parliament) passed
a bill criminalizing the denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide”
allegedly committed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Following the
adoption of this bill in the National Assembly, both opposition and
government officials in Azerbaijan have harshly criticized France’s
position. Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Oktay Asadov called the
French National Assembly’s decision unreasonable, ill-conceived and
indicative of a weak foreign policy. Another high ranking official,
Novruz Mammadov, the head of the Foreign Relations Department in
Azerbaijan’s presidential administration, extended the opinion
to the local press that the bill “restricts freedom of expression
and opinion. This step by parliament may affect Azerbaijani-French
relations. We need to wait a while and then we’ll take the necessary
steps.”

Azerbaijani NGOs such as the International Diaspora Center and
the Union of Azerbaijan Patriotic War Veterans staged a protest on
Dec. 22 in front of the French Embassy in Baku. In addition, there are
discussions on public and social media sites about potential boycotts
of French goods and products in protest against this intolerant piece
of legislation. Lawyer Erkin Gadirli stated in his personal blog,
“[I]f this bill is ratified, Azerbaijan must take significant steps
against France,” an opinion that is shared by many in Baku.

The bill has not yet passed into law and, in fact, the Swiss adopted
a similar bill several years ago, but there was not such public
outcry in Azerbaijan. Moreover, many countries around the world have
recognized the 1915 events as genocide. There are three reasons why
the Azerbaijani public is so frustrated and has responded so harshly
to the French parliament’s decision.

Firstly, France is a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, which aims
to achieve peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. On
several occasions, Azerbaijan has openly discussed exchanging the
French seat for an EU representative, with the goal of increasing the
EU’s contribution, which some believe could prove essential. But every
time, EU high representatives respond that France is there to inform
the EU and the change is unnecessary. Now, the Azerbaijani public
is talking about this change not because they are so keen for EU
involvement, but because France has lost its reputation as an “honest
broker”. Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Elman Abdullayev stated via local media outlet APA that as a country
heavily involved in the mediation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
France should not have become a hostage of the Armenian diaspora.

One Armenian expert’s comment demonstrates that Baku is right to
protest this intolerant bill. Anush Hovhannisyan remarked that “for
now, Armenia’s and France’s interests are the same.” Experts agree
that this bill is not a victory of Armenian diplomacy but evidence
of corresponding interests. The personal lobbying on the part of one
or two members of parliament is damaging France’s national interests.

This comes on top of the recent blocking of the reappointment of
US Ambassador to Baku Matthew Bryza by two senators strongly backed
by the Armenian diaspora. These two cases demonstrate the extent to
which small interest groups can affect a country’s national interests.

Second of all, the bill introduced by Member of Parliament Valerie
Boyer proposes a year in jail or a 45,000 euro fine for those who
challenge or minimize the 1915 events as “not genocide.” Ms. Boyer
illegally visited the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is under the
occupation of Armenia. In fact, four members of the French National
Assembly, headed by Guy Teissier, chairman of the French Assembly’s
defense and armed forces committee, illegally visited Nagorno-Karabakh
in August of this year. Four deputies have been blacklisted and
declared persona non grata in Azerbaijan, one of whom is Valerie
Boyer. This background has also contributed to the tension in Baku
surrounding the recently passed bill in France; however, few Turks or
Azerbaijanis are aware of these facts. In this light, one can argue
that not only is the creator of this bill pro-Armenian, she also does
not share the views of the international community on Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity.

Thirdly, the Azerbaijani public feels that France has lost sight of
its strong claim to democracy, “liberty, equality, fraternity” —
a declaration that Azerbaijani intellectuals and liberals held high
during the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in
1918. The Azerbaijani Democratic Republic sent a delegation to the
Paris Peace Conference in 1919 for the recognition of Azerbaijan
by Allied forces. Members of the delegation, including Ahmadbey
Agayev (known in Turkey as Ahmet Agaoglu) and Ceyhun bey Hajibeyli
(publisher of the book “Karabakh folklore” in Paris), are graduates of
the Sorbonne University and Paris School of Political Sciences. The
people of Azerbaijan are proud of this history and this is one of
the reasons they are sympathetic towards France. Thus, people quite
reasonably are asking the question, “Where are liberty and equality?”

Anatole France, the great French novelist, in his “Red Lily” wrote,
“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as
the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets and to steal
bread.” But here we see a law passed in French parliament that entails
inequality, intolerance and discriminatory solidarity.

Right now, Azerbaijan most likely will not take the serious measures
as Turkey is, but Baku has already sent its concerns as a message to
the international community. This message raises specific concerns not
only about support for the Turkish position, but also, and primarily,
on the intolerant character of the bill.

OUTSIDE MEDDLING WOULD WORSEN TURKISH-ARMENIAN TIES: PATRIARCH

Hurriyet Daily News
Dec 27 2011
Turkey

Third-party interference in debates over the events of 1915 will
“freeze” relations between Turkey and Armenia, acting Turkish-Armenian
Patriarch Aram AteÅ~_yan said today.

“We are in favor of solving our problems in our own country,” AteÅ~_yan
told journalists while answering questions on the French Parliament’s
passing of a bill penalizing the denial of 1915 events as genocide.

“Third parties should stay out of this matter. Their interference
would create a chill and freeze ties between Turkey and Armenia.”

AteÅ~_yan said foreign countries were following their own agendas
when they interfere in Turkish-Armenian relations and added that he
did not want to comment on such affairs.

69,500 OFFFICIALLY REGISTERED AS UNEMPLOYED IN ARMENIA…UNOFFICIALLY?
Mаry Mamyan

HETQ
15:02, December 27, 2011

The unemployment rate in Armenia is officially reported at 6%. The
International Labour Organization (ILO) pegs the rate at 19.4%

Artak Simonyan, Deputy Head of the State Employment Service Agency,
argues that the disparity is due to different methodologies used.

The ILO considers those who have looked for work within the past week
as unemployed.

The State Employment Service Agency calculates only those people who
are registered as unemployed at the agency, whereas, landowners are
not considered unemployed by the State Employment Service Agency.

Simonyan said that as of December 1, 2011, 82,800 citizens looked
for work in Armenia and that 69,500 were registered as unemployed.

DES DEPUTES ISRAELIENS DEBATTENT D’UNE RECONNAISSANCE DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN

Liberation

26 dec 2011
France

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Une commission parlementaire israelienne examinait
lundi matin un texte reconnaissant le genocide armenien, une mesure
qui devrait aggraver les tensions deja fortes avec la Turquie.

La commission de l’Education discute d’une proposition de loi faisant
du 24 avril, date du debut des executions en masse d’Armeniens en 1915,
une journee de commemoration du “massacre du peuple armenien”.

Le Parlement avait rejete une proposition similaire en 2007, quand
Israël et la Turquie entretenaient des liens etroits. Mais les
relations se sont tendues depuis que la marine israelienne a tue
neuf Turcs en mai 2010 lors de l’arraisonnement d’une flottille qui
tentait de briser le blocus de Gaza.

En octobre, la Turquie a expulse l’ambassadeur israelien a Ankara et
rompu ses contrats militaires et de defense avec Israël.

“Cela fait des annees que nous travaillons” sur ce projet de journee
commemorative, a declare Georgette Avakian, membre du Comite national
armenien a Jerusalem, a la radio publique. “Nous esperons que le
temps est venu”.

“Pendant des annees, le gouvernement israelien a refuse de reconnaître
le genocide pour des raisons cyniques, strategiques et economiques,
liees a ses relations avec la Turquie”, a regrette Zahava Gal-On, une
depute du parti de gauche Meretz qui soutient la proposition de loi.

Mais le president de la Knesset, Reuven Rivlin, a estime a l’ouverture
de la reunion que la question n’etait pas politique.

“La question n’a pas ete soulevee a cause de ce qui s’est passe entre
Israël et la Turquie, nous ne voulons pas exploiter une situation
politique pour regler des comptes”, a-t-il assure.

Le massacre de centaines de milliers d’Armeniens en 1915 – 1,5
million selon les Armeniens – a ete reconnu en 1985 comme un genocide
par l’ONU, mais la Turquie rejette fermement cette qualification,
evoquant des morts dans les combats et les deportations, mais pas
une volonte d’extermination.

La semaine dernière, Ankara a vivement reagi a l’adoption par
l’Assemblee nationale francaise, qui a deja reconnu le genocide
armenien, d’une proposition de loi penalisant la contestation d’un
genocide, annoncant un gel de sa cooperation militaire avec la France,
rappelant son ambassadeur a Paris et accusant a son tour la France
de genocide en Algerie.

FRENCH SENATOR WARNS AGAINST IMPLICATIONS OF GENOCIDE DENIAL BILL

State Telegraph Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan
December 25, 2011 Sunday

Today, Turkey warns us, reminds us of the Algeria events. People
who lived in Nagorno-Karabakh, Gazza, Iraqis, Algerians will come to
France in the future to seek truth the history did not give them. I
believe the French Senate will put an end to this false step and
leave it to historians, said member of the French Senate Nathalie
Goulet, commenting on the French National Assembly`s decision on
the so-called Armenian genocide. The senator found the need to let
Turkey and Armenia debate the history themselves. France recognized
1915 genocide anyway. Turkey accepted the proposal on establishment
of the commission of experts to study the issue. The step undertaken
by the President hurt unfairly Turkish friends and French citizens of
Turkish origin. What will the French President say if Turkey refuses
to buy 100 Airbus planes?

74 PCT SAY FRANCE WON’T DROP BILL UNDER PRESSURE

Hurriyet Daily News
Dec 26 2011
Turkey

A Hurriyet Daily News poll asking whether Turkey’s recent reaction
toward France would convince the French Senate to drop the genodice
bill resulted with the majority voting “no.”

Seventy-four percent of the voters believed the cutting of contacts
between Turkey and France would not convince the French Senate to
drop the controversial bill, which criminalizes the denial of Armenian
claims of genocide regarding the events of 1915.

Twenty-one percent voted “yes,” claiming Turkey’s reaction will
influence the course of events.

A small group of 5 percent “had no idea” about the possible turnout
of the diplomatic and economic war between France and Turkey.

Last week, the National Assembly of France approved a first step
toward a law that would impose a jail term and a 45,000 euro ($60,000)
fine on anyone in France who denies the Armenian genocide claims. The
bill will now go to France’s Upper House, the Senate, and could become
law next year.

UPCOMING TERM IN FRANCE TO BE EXEMPLARY

Anadolu Agency
December 25, 2011 Sunday
Turkey

Turkish President and Prime Minister were promised about Armenian
resolution, says Deputy PM Babacan ANKARA Turkish Deputy Prime Minister
Ali Babacan said Sunday that “Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan were promised by French officials that
the Armenian resolution would not be adopted at the French Parliament”.

Speaking at the headquarters of his Justice and Development (AK)
Party in Ankara, Babacan said that he personally heard such promises
made to Turkish leaders.

“Yet, what happened last week? Where are the promises? A promise is
very important in politics. If the promise was made by a statesman,
the promise binds the state and the country,” Babacan said.

We will wait and see how the French people react to the decision of
the French Parliament (on the Armenian resolution). The upcoming term
in France will be exemplary, Babacan stressed.

‘NAGORNO-KARABAKH OCCUPATION IMPEDES SOLUTION TO TURKEY-ARMENIA CONTROVERSY’

Today’s Zaman

Dec 26 2011
Turkey

Extending Azerbaijan’s support to Turkey one more time in the wake
of the most recent Armenian genocide allegations, deputy foreign
minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov has stated that his country is
“badly disappointed” by the French Parliament’s decision, and he
reaffirmed that Turkey and Azerbaijan, as with many other issues,
were on the same page regarding the Armenian controversy.

Speaking to Today’s Zaman during a working visit to Ankara, Azimov
raised concerns similar to those of Turkish officials regarding the
French vote. He found the vote “strange” given the fact that France
acted as co-chairs to the Minsk Group, a multipartite platform that
was organized to settle the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia
over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azimov expressed disapproval on
the French lower house vote to criminalize denial of the “Armenian
genocide,” saying that it is, however, possible to understand why
the bill came through given the “political labyrinth of Paris,”
a reference to the pre-election political calculations of rivaling
parties. The experienced deputy minister stressed that the French
vote was “a shady and tricky intrigue” that would widely damage
and compromise the international image of France and deal massive
damage due to the “double standards” reflected in the bill. Turkey
and Azerbaijan vehemently deny genocide allegations regarding the
events of 1915, in which Armenians were killed in massive numbers at
the onset of World War I. It is also claimed that Armenians targeted
Azerbaijani populations after the collapse of the Soviet Union during
their invasions of Azerbaijani territories.

Regarding the latest French lower house vote on penalizing denial of
the “Armenian genocide,” Azimov believes that the bill was based on
“a false history” which Armenians were promoting with “undesirable
vigorousness.” Azimov noted, “Putting my feet in the shoes of my
colleagues in Ankara, I cannot trust a country [Armenia] which
creates genocide initiatives on the one hand and speaks about a
desire to cooperate on the other, not recognizing the territorial
integrity of Turkey and compromising the borders of the country,”
he noted. Turkey and Armenia came to the brink of reopening of their
borders, which were closed by Turkey almost two decades ago in response
to the Armenian invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh, but Armenia’s refusal
to withdraw forces from the occupied territories cut off negotiations.

Although Azerbaijan has been trying for two decades to solve the
territorial disputes and alleged Armenian invasions through the
Minsk Group initiative, there has so far been almost no progress
towards resolving the dispute. “On March 24th, 2012, we shall mark,
with a sense of regret, the 20th anniversary of the founding of the
Minsk Group,” Azimov stated as he expressed his displeasure that
the international platform has reached no tangible results towards
rectifying what Azerbaijan and Turkey both call “an Armenian invasion”
of land that historically belonged to Azerbaijan. Last week, Turkish
President Abdullah Gul also questioned French impartiality in its
responsibility as co-chair of the group that is expected to deliver
results on the dispute that lies as the fundamental barrier to a
fence-mending between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as Turkey.

“Although the awaited conference never took place, throughout the
20 years members of the Minsk Group have tried to negotiate the
withdrawal of forces from occupied territories and other issues,
such as the return of populations, restoration of communication and
roads, rehabilitation of territories and so on … The years went by,
and negotiations were disrupted by Armenian occupations and changes of
representatives,” the deputy foreign minister stated matter-of-factly,
as he expressed his belief that that the Armenian occupation is a most
urgent matter to be resolved before any political discussion will be
possible. “Still, we have not had any breakthroughs, any successes,”
he noted.

The Minsk Group, an Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) initiative, was established in 1992 and a conference was
scheduled to take place for peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue. In it’s almost 20 years of existence, the Minsk process has
failed to produce any conference. “No other parties are as interested
as Turkey and Azerbaijan to find a solution to this conflict and
the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied territories,” Azimov
spoke of the willingness of both Azerbaijan and Turkey to resolve a
major challenge to peace in Caucuses and added, “only then would we
be able to go beyond this situation that is ‘not quite peace and not
quite war,’ but Armenia needs to be sincere in its cooperation.”

Holding the belief that the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute is one of the
largest challenges in Azerbaijani foreign policy, Azimov stated
that the removal of Armenian forces from the disputed region would
be paramount for the start of negotiations, which would benefit
Armenia significantly at a time when the country has lost half of its
population. “Armenia would benefit greatly from an agreement since
its economy does not look promising and its population is continuously
shrinking,” Azimov said and expressed belief that the Armenians were
leaving for a better life outside Armenia. “The Armenian nation is
losing a very good opportunity to create momentum to try and remedy
these issues,” he said, lamenting Armenia’s lack of initiative towards
sincerely working with Azerbaijan and Turkey to find a solution.

“Instead of keeping their level of trust at zero, which risks erupting
into crisis, everything now depends on whether the Armenian leadership
will find the political will, courage, strategic vision and wisdom to
take the hand that has been outstretched to them,” Azimov lamented an
absence of shared perspective between Azerbaijan and Armenia, saying
that it would be best for both countries to “see two communities
living side by side” in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, backed by the Armenian government,
fought a war to overthrow Azerbaijani control of the Nagorno-Karabakh
region in the early 1990s at the time of the collapse of the Soviet
Union. Separatists also seized land surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of
Azerbaijan during the conflict. Turkey backs Azerbaijani claims to
Nagorno-Karabakh, which today has a large number of ethnic Armenian
residents. Azerbaijan claims that most of the region’s Azerbaijani
settlers were expatriated during the Armenian invasion of the land.

“Turkey and Azerbaijan on par with foreign policy” “Turkey was the
first to recognize Azerbaijan when it was founded 20 years ago,”
Azimov said in words that reaffirmed the connection between the two
countries, and described Turkey as “Azerbaijan’s window into Europe,”
referring to Azerbaijanis who traveled through Ä°stanbul on their way
to European destinations back when their country was born anew from
the ashes of the Soviet bloc. “Since then we have been in constant
cooperation, sharing knowledge and experience,” Azimov added, citing
numerous examples where Azerbaijan and Turkey acted as partners
throughout the last 20 years.

“Although we came a bit later [than Turkey], we are now partners
to major international communities and we are members of regional
and global frameworks,” he said of Azerbaijani development in the
last two decades. “The success of these 20 years has proven the
irreversibility of our independence; nothing can turn us back now,”
Azimov said, recalling that Azerbaijan’s sovereignty was disrupted
many decades ago when the Soviet bloc was formed. But this time around,
Azimov believes, the Republic of Azerbaijan has come to stay.

Referring to cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan on foreign
missions, Azimov noted that the countries were working together
in their peacekeeping efforts — under the NATO-led International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, for example. But Azimov
argued that the motivation for both countries goes beyond the sheer
fact that they are a part of ISAF; they were fighting to maintain
stability for the Afghan nation, who they consider a brotherly people.

Sharing a common vision in their relations with Middle Eastern and
African countries, Asimov said that Azerbaijan was not as immediate
a neighbor as Turkey, but has been involved in the developments of
the region “to the best of Azerbaijan’s ability.”

Hopeful for the country’s future, Azimov noted that Azerbaijan’s
foreign policy goal was to “try to develop bridges” between Central
Asia and other parts the world, with awareness that foreign policy
should be supported by economic growth, an area in which Azerbaijan
feels increasingly confident. Predicting an increased spread of
Azerbaijani companies to the farthest corners of the world, Azimov
expressed hope that Azerbaijani businesses would reach farther markets
such as Africa, where Turkey has made heavy economic and diplomatic
investments in the last few years.

“UNSC seat a heavy duty, but Azerbaijan is ready to fulfill it” Having
triumphed at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) elections in
October, Azerbaijan has won one of the 10 temporary seats for the
period of 2012-2013, a development Azerbaijani officials mark as a
victory for their powerful diplomacy and a sign that Azerbaijan has
demonstrated itself as a reliable partner despite its young age.

“This is the biggest victory in Azerbaijani foreign policy that has
come in 20 years of independence. It is a good demonstration of the
results of our policies, and proves that we deserve [the seat]; we are
not there simply by occasion,” Azimov said to hail the victory that
Azerbaijan won over two other European countries in the elections for
the UNSC seat. “It is of course a huge responsibility, a huge duty,
but we are ready to fulfill it,” said Azimov.

“We received 155 votes out of a total of 193, the maximum that
a single country was able to get during this electoral campaign,”
he stressed the overwhelming number of votes Azerbaijan received and
said it was a sign of the desire of countries from all over the world
to see Azerbaijan as a member of the UNSC, thanks to the “consistent
foreign policy Azerbaijan has demonstrated throughout the last 20
years.” Azerbaijan was followed by Morocco, who received 151 votes,
and will be sitting with the UNSC for the first time since the country
was founded. “We are looking forward to realizing this support and
reciprocate by actively contributing, by bridging Azerbaijan to the
rest of the world,” Azimov added.

Azimov also voiced his country’s support for Turkey’s upcoming run
for a UNSC spot in the next electoral term, and reaffirmed that Turkey
and Azerbaijan have been in constant contact and carried out frequent
consultations, which meant that Azerbaijan’s voice in the UNSC would
welcome contributions from Turkey. “We are there and Turkey is not
but Turkey should know that we are together in our efforts,” he added.

Azerbaijan was nominated for the UNSC seat from the Eastern European
group and was elected to the seat for a two year period, based on the
UN Charter election criteria that prioritize a country’s contributions
towards international peace and security.

OPPOSITION FIGURE RAPS ANKARA’S OBEDIENCE TO FRANCE’S POLICY ON SYRIA

FARS News Agency
December 25, 2011 Sunday
Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- A key Turkish opposition party lashed out at Ankara for
its obedience to the West and France’s hostile policies against Syria,
and warned that Paris is not a reliable partner for Turkey.

According to FNA dispatches, Deputy Chairman of Turkish Republican
People’s Party (CHP) Erdogan Toprak blasted the recent bill passed
at the French parliament labeling 1915 mass killings of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks as “genocide”.

The government of Turkey is complying with France’s policies towards
Syria, Toprak said, and cautioned that Ankara is entering a plight
in Syria by obeying Paris.

Toprak dismissed the necessity for a conflict between the two
neighboring states, and raised question about alliance with France
against Syria.

Although Ankara has shown a strong compliance with France’s policies
on Syria, Turkey halted military cooperation with France and suspended
political visits in retaliation for a French bill making it a criminal
offence to deny the 1915 mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
was genocide.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, said the vote,
which received cross-party support in France’s National Assembly –
its lower house – would open “very grave and irreparable wounds”
in bilateral relations.

Turkey, a NATO member, is a key ally of France, and the pair have
worked closely together on different issues from Syria to Afghanistan.

KAJARAN RESIDENTS TO FIGHT TO THE END FOR THEIR LANDS

Tert.am
26.12.11

Residents in Kajaran village in Armenia’s southern province of Syunik
have said they will fight to the last effort and will not give their
copper-rich lands to the government for drilling purposes.

The head of Kajaran village said at a meeting with representatives of
the opposition Armenian party Heritage that copper and molybdenum are
high in the world market but that does not improve living conditions
of locals.

“… However, instead of being the richest, the best well-off
settlement, Kajaran is in grinding poverty and is facing a
life-or-death issue,” said he.

It comes after the Armenian government adopted a decision to give the
territories of four villages in Syunik province to Zangezur Copper
and Molybdenum Combine for mining.

The area is about 600 hectares and includes villages of Artsvanik,
Sevaqar, Achanan and Chapni.