Author: nina hovnanian

AZERBAIJAN WANTS COMPENSATION FROM ARMENIA

The Messenger, Georgia
June 14 2013

Azerbaijan plans to launch a case against Armenia in the international
courts to force the latter to pay reparations for damage Azerbaijan
received as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh War between the two
countries. Ali Hassanov, Vice Prime Minister of Azerbaijan and the
head of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, stated that
international experts have estimated the approximate amount of
losses at $500 billion. Hasanov mentioned that the evaluation was
done by international experts and Azerbaijan did not participate in
the process. It seems unlikely that Armenia will agree to such claims
and the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is still in deep deadlock.

THE FLARE STAR WX UMA BECOMES 15 TIMES BRIGHTER IN LESS THAN THREE MINUTES

Phys.org
June 14 2013

Astrophysicists at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
and the Byurakan Observatory (Armenia) have detected a star of low
luminosity which within a matter of moments gave off a flare so strong
that it became almost 15 times brighter. The star in question is the
flare star WX UMa.

“We recorded a strong flare of the star WX UMa, which became almost
15 times brighter in a matter of 160 seconds,” explains to SINC
the astrophysicist Vakhtang Tamazian, professor at the University
of Santiago de Compostela. The finding has been published in the
‘Astrophysics’ journal.

This star is in the Ursa Major constellation, around 15.6 light
years from the Earth, and it forms part of a binary system. Its
companion shines almost 100 times brighter, except at times such as
that observed, in which the WX UMa gives off its flares. This can
happen several times a year, but not as strongly as that which was
recorded in this instance.

Dr Tamazian and other researchers detected this exceptional brightness
from the Byurakan Observatory in Armenia. “Furthermore, during this
period of less than three minutes the star underwent an abrupt change
from spectral type M to B; in other words, it went from a temperature
of 2,800 kelvin (K) to six or seven times more than that.”

Based on their spectral absorption lines, stars are classified using
letters. Type M stars have a surface temperature of between 2,000
and 3,700 K; Type B between 10,000 and 33,000 K.

WX UMa belongs to the limited group of “flare stars”, a class of
variable stars which exhibit increases in brightness of up to 100
factors or more within a matter of seconds or minutes. These increases
are sudden and irregular – practically random, in fact. They then
return to their normal state within tens of minutes.

Scientists do not know how this flaring arises, but they know how it
develops: “For some reason a small focus of instability arises within
the plasma of the star, which causes turbulence in its magnetic
field,” explains Tamazian. “A magnetic reconnection then occurs,
a conversion of energy from the magnetic field into kinetic energy,
in order to recover the stability of the flow, much like what happens
in an electric discharge.”

PUBLICIST: KARABAKH PEOPLE CAN’T BE FORCED TO LIVE IN AZERBAIJAN

June 14, 2013 – 21:39 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Karabakh conflict is a very complicated issue
linked to geopolitical situation and interests of not only Armenia and
Azerbaijan, but of neighboring countries as well, Azerbaijani-American
screenwriter, dramatist, producer and public figure Rustam Ibragimbekov
told BBC.

As the dramatist noted, the situation in Azerbaijan hampers solution
of the issue.

“When I’m trying to explain that Nagorno Karabakh Armenians must have
the same rights as Azerbaijanis and they mustn’t be called enemies
under any conditions, I get accused of pro-Armenian moods.”

“Seeing as human rights are blatantly neglected in Azerbaijan, with
corruption prevalent throughout the country, it’s clear why Nagorno
Karabakh people have no wish to be part of it. The only solution would
be normalization of conditions in Azerbaijan – there’s no other way
to persuade people,” he said.

As he noted, nothing can induce Karabakh people to live in Azerbaijan
unless the attitude of Azeri authorities changes and the poepl’s safety
is guaranteed. “The remaining issues have to do with geopolitical
problems which can’t be solved without interference of superpowers,”
he said.

“THE HEAD OF EPP IS IN DEEP MISUNDERSTANDING”. STYOPA SAFARYAN

June 12 2013

The Secretary of the “Heritage” Party Styopa Safaryan is a letter to be
surprised from the letter sent to them by the President of European
People’s Party Wilfred Martens. “When have we written to them to
invite us that they send an answer to us? It’s a little bit strange,
because we have not applied with such a request to invite us to the
EPP Summit. Mr. Martens apparently confuses a few things. First, if
we participate, we take part in political assemblies and congress. We
have never participated in the EPP Summit and we never applied to
be part of it.”, – said Mr. Safaryan to Aravot.am referring to the
letter sent to them by W. Martens, which states that the leader of
the “Heritage” party can not take part in the European People’s Party
(EPP) Extended Summit, which will be launched in Vienna on June 20.

Referring to the part of Martens’s letter, which indicates that
the Republican Party is EPP’s faithful partner, and we have full
confidence in Serge Sargsyan and his leadership, Mr. Safaryan said, –
“We do not grab the Republican Party from their hands. It is obvious
that the reason for such statement is not more than estimates
made after the presidential elections. The Head of EPP is in deep
misunderstanding.” Arpine SIMNOYAN

Read more at:

© 1998 – 2013 Aravot – News from Armenia

OPPOSITION MP: AUTHORITIES DEMONSTRATED A SHOW

05:30 PM | TODAY | POLITICS

Parliament speaker’s reaction to the report of Control Chamber
President Ishkhan Zakaryan presented at yesterday’s parliament session
was “confession without repentance,” says Armen Rustamyan, head of
the parliamentary faction of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
-Dashnaktsutyun.

“But are they going to repent for their crime,” he said adding that
confession without repentance is a cynical act.

“Their self-criticism attempts are not something new, and they
completely fit the logic behind their policies. The Republicans want
to monopolize the entire political domain,” he stressed.

“Once the authorities started self-criticism, it means something
is wrong with them,” says the head of the opposition Heritage
parliamentary group, Ruben Hakobyan.

He does not exclude that some intrigues have been plotted in the
ranks of the ruling party.

Head of the Republican faction Galust Sahakyan says parliament
speaker’s reaction was quite understandable given the inactivity
of the opposition. “All these drawbacks and kickbacks were to be
presented by the opposition and not by us,” he said.

Aram Manukyan, a member of the opposition Armenian National Congress,
says it is not right to put the entire blame on the government led
by Tigran Sargsyan. “Let us not forget the sins committed by Serzh
Sargsyan.”

The opposition lawmaker believes that all abuses were actually agreed
with Serzh Sargsyan and the findings presented by the Control Chamber
were nothing but a show.

in his report presented at the National Assembly on Thursday, Control
Chamber President Ishkhan Zakaryan said widespread abuses still exist
in the sectors of state purchases and construction. After Zakaryan
finished his speech, Parliament Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan expressed
his astonishment at the findings and said that all those responsible
must be sacked.

ACTION GROUP ‘FOR THE MUSEUMS OF ARMENIA’ FORMED

18:53 ~U 14.06.13

An action group for Armenia’s museums has been formed to foster visits
to museums and galleries and support Armenia’s museums.

Talking to journalists on Friday, author of the action group Karine
Vardanyan noted that the group has organized trade exhibitions in
front of the Sergey Parajanov Museum and the Avetik Isahakyan Museum.

“Those days proved to be holidays for all the participants. They
could tear themselves away from everyday problems and satisfy their
spiritual needs,” she said.

The first exhibition displayed collages by Karine Vardanyan, and the
second different works by eight artists.

Action group coordinator Yevgenya Kazunyan noted that “from now on
we are not going to offer exhibitions to museums because some think
we are seeking PR. I would like to assure all of you that we are just
helping museums.”

The action group has its Facebook page for all the museums to know
about their activities.

“I want people to develop a habit of visiting museums and taking their
children to museums. This is important for our society and children’s
development,” Vardanyan said.

She informed the journalists that the third exhibition and sale was
to take place in front of the Yeghishe Charents Museum.

However, this morning the director of the museum called the action
group and told them she had heard the group is seeking PR.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Journal of Turkish Weekly
June 15 2013

Azeri-Iranian relations: A sibling rivalry in the global family

15 June 2013
JTW

Despite visa free travel for Azeri citizens and dynamic trade, long
mutual borders and some shared interests, Iran and Azerbaijan do not
seem to be able to get along. Good Azeri-Israeli relations, political
and criminal intrigue, Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the West, and the
fact that Azerbaijan, due to its Soviet legacy is more secular than
the Islamic Republic of Iran are often cited as the roots of the two
countries issues with each other. But perhaps the true root of trouble
lies in geography; whether it be physical, cultural or political which
has allowed for these other problems to ferment.

In many cases, a common religion, shared history and a like language
can help two states build diplomatic relations; even Azerbaijan and
Iran have used such cultural links to build closer ties with other
states. But when it comes to Azeri-Iranian ties, shared heritage
(something usually cherished between states), becomes the problem.

Being a small, landlocked and very new country that had never before
existed, Azerbaijan wants to assure that it is given due legitimacy by
all. The fact that modern Azerbaijan was once part of its much older
and larger Iranian neighbor only complicates this task for the
developing state wedged in a no man’s land of sorts between the back
ends of three world powers who see it as in their sphere of influence.
Just under a third of Iran’s population is of Azeri descent and along
with Persian, speaks the Turkic Azerbaijani language. Iran’s
Azerbaijanis live in the `Batis Azerbaijan’ province, or `West
Azerbaijan’ which the Republic of Azerbaijan’s entire Southern border
is shared with, leaving room for the question `why isn’t Azerbaijan
just part of Iran’ to be asked.

Iran, an Islamic republic which because of its fundamentalist nature
views itself as morally superior, has both the 18th largest land area
and population in the world. This, combined with the fact that
economically challenged Iran’s largest minority is Azerbaijanis leaves
Iran in a strange position where it both feels threatened by little
Azerbaijan and like it has a rightful sphere of influence that
includes Azerbaijan and therefore more of a right to secure its
interests there than elsewhere. At a late 2012 hearing in front of the
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, expert
witnesses testified that in order to preserve its territorial
integrity, Iran had been taking actions aimed at destabilizing the
titular states of its minorities in hopes that such actions will
prevent emigration or the formation of separatist groups. It is
believed that Iran supports Armenia in its attempts to maintain
control over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh in hopes of achieving this
supremacy over Azerbaijan, a foreign policy choice that is most
certainly not appreciated by Baku. Iran’s hulking size and population
make Azerbaijan extra uneasy about Iran’s intentions and what it can
potentially do.

Geography is not the only thing laying strain on Azerbaijan and Iran’s
relations. Western sanctions against Iran have encouraged Tehran to
turn to the international criminal underworld for revenue. In recent
years, domestic Azerbaijani law enforcement have caught Iranians
engaged in drug trafficking and collusion with terrorist
organizations, according to the experts that spoke in front of the US
House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Afghan Heroin
now not only flows through Central Asia and Russia to Europe, but also
through Iran and the Caucasus.

Western sanctions against Iran have made Azerbaijan somewhat reluctant
to open up to its southern neighbor and have made Iran more likely to
be `insistent’ in pursuing bilateral opportunities, even if they are
not something that Azerbaijan is interested in. Azerbaijan was
recently in talks with Turkey on a visa free regime. Having caught
wind of the negotiations, Iran then threatened to cut off critical
supply routes to the Azerbaijani exclave of Naxchivan if Azerbaijan
did not consider a like visa regime with Tehran. Much to its
frustration and dismay, Azerbaijan canceled visa negotiations with
Turkey as a result of the Iranian threats, leaving all three neighbors
in a losing situation.

Geographic conditions, a cultural divide and economic despair have
done great harm to Azerbaijani-Iranian relations, and through analysis
of recent Iranian actions towards Azerbaijan, one could deduce that
Iran may see the relationship as beyond repair. In 2012, three men
accused of planning to attack a Jewish school in Baku were found to
have received the arms to do so from Iranian intelligence officers. In
recent months, the Azerbaijani Communications Ministry blamed recent
cyber-attacks against the country on Iran and also arrested 22 people
who had received extensive intelligence training in Iran who were
conspiring to attack the US and Israeli embassies. The fact that the
diplomatically `rude’ Iranian disruption of Azeri-Turkish visa
negotiations, two attempted Iranian backed physical attacks and
Iranian cyber-attacks against Azerbaijan all occurred within such a
short period of time shows that Iran no longer feels that the effort
it takes to foster fruitful relations with Azerbaijan is worth what is
being returned and perhaps a point of no return has been crossed with
Ilham Aliyev’s Azerbaijani government.
However, harsh treatment towards Baku could be Tehran’s way of showing
Azerbaijan that a good relationship with Iran is something that
Azerbaijan does not want to throw away or take for granted. After all,
while Iran was behaving in a somewhat civil manner towards Azerbaijan,
Azerbaijan buddied up to the West, did not follow suit when Tehran
waived the visa regime for Azerbaijani citizens, was found to be
discussing the possibility of hosting Israeli warplanes capable of
striking Iran with Jerusalem and continued to fall deeper into
`Jahalliyah’. It could be argued that Tehran has always been somewhat
`anti-Azerbaijan’ and it is therefore factually incorrect to say that
Iran’s harsh actions towards Azerbaijan is a way of showing
dissatisfaction with Azerbaijan’s choice of allies and a
recommendation that it should work to get on Iran’s good side.

Although there is dialogue on the issue, and more states (that get
along with each other) than just Iran and Azerbaijan are involved in
the issue, questions surrounding the demarcation of the hydrocarbon
rich Caspian Sea strain relations between the two nations. As boundary
negotiations flounder, Caspian littoral states fish for maritime
defense solutions in case politics bring the water in the world’s
largest lake (the Caspian) to a boil. Iran’s general approach is to
militarize its share of the sea, while Russia’s is to seek out
cooperation with other Caspian littorals such as Kazakhstan who is
preparing for an Iranian strike on Western oil rigs in its waters in
the event of armed conflict between the West and Iran. Azerbaijan and
Turkmenistan have been very open to negotiations and have both
accepted American aid and advising services on military maritime
matters.

It does not look like Azeri-Iranian relations are going to change.
Poor bilateral relations aren’t producing any red hot conflict that
needs immediate addressing, the West is only strengthening sanctions,
the two governments have very solidified ways of doing things and
tensions have geographical and historical roots which give them a
chronic nature. However, there are presidential elections in Iran
today. Perhaps the results will bring change to how Baku and Tehran do
business. Even if no great change is to come, Baku is watching the
polls as closely as Tehran and the new government will have a chance
to write the future of Azerbaijani-Iranian relations.

By John Storey
15 June 2013
Journal of Turkish Weekly

The Times (London), UK
June 14 2013

Revealed: the Indian ancestry of William

William’s Indian ancestry is revealed by DNA analysis

by David Brown

The Duke of Cambridge will be Britain’s first king to have proven
Indian ancestry, DNA analysis has revealed.

Tests on saliva samples taken from Prince William’s relatives have
established a direct lineage between the second in line to the throne
and a woman now known to have been at least half-Indian.

The discovery means that the Duke will become the first Head of the
Commonwealth with a clear genetic link to its most populous nation. It
is his only non-European DNA.

The Duke has yet to visit India but will be encouraged to make an
official tour after the birth of his first child next month. His wife,
the Duchess of Cambridge, completed her final solo engagement before
the birth at a ship-naming ceremony in Southampton yesterday.

The revelation of the Duke’s Asian ancestry is sure to boost his
popularity among India’s 1.1 billion population.

His parents visited India in 1992 but a photograph of Diana, Princess
of Wales sitting alone in front of the TaJ Mahal came to symbolise the
disintegration of their marriage.

Now researchers have uncovered the details of the similarly doomed
relationship of the Duke’s Indian great-great-great-great grandmother.
It has long been known that Eliza Kewark lived in western India but
she is usually described as Armenian. However, analysis of DNA passed
down the female line confirms that she was at least half-Indian.

The revelation explains why the Scottish father of her children
suddenly deserted her and sent their daughter, Katherine, to Britain
at the age of 6. Researchers have discovered letters from Eliza to her
children’s father, Theodore Forbes, pleading for her to be allowed to
see him.

When Mr Forbes died on a ship back to Britain in 1820 his will
referred to Eliza as his “housekeeper” and the mother of his “reputed
natural daughter” Katherine.

Jim Wilson, a genetics expert at the University of Edinburgh and
BritainsDNA, who carried out the tests, said that Eliza’s descendants
had an incredibly rare type of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), inherited
only from a mother. It has so far been recorded in Continued on page
5, col 1 While his Duchess baptises a Princess The Duchess of
Cambridge named a cruise ship in Southampton yesterday on her last
solo engagement before she is due to give birth next month. In keeping
with tradition she broke a bottle of champagne against the hull of the
Royal Princess

Continued from page 1 only 14 other people, 13 Indian and one
Nepalese. This DNA will have been inherited by the Duke and Prince
Harry but will not be passed on to their children, although it is
likely that their descendants will have some of Eliza’s Asian genetic
material.

Dr Wilson, a senior lecturer in population and disease genetics, said
that results of the mtDNA combined with the findings of South Asian
DNA in the rest of the genome meant that the evidence of the Duke’s
Indian heritage was “unassailable”.

Indians will seize on the revelation that a woman who appears to have
been shunned by colonial society because of her race is an ancestor of
the future King.

The news delighted the two distant cousins who provided the DNA
samples for the experiment.

Mary Roach, Princess Diana’s maternal aunt, said: “I always assumed
that I was part-Armenian so I am delighted that I also have an Indian
background.”

Alistair Moffat, the founder of BritainsDNA, said: “Knowing something
about your DNA and its origins in prehistory definitely changes your
sense of yourself, and one way that it does that is to make you feel
part of a world community.”

It is the second stunning discovery involving royal DNA this year. In
February a skeleton found beneath a Leicester car park was confirmed
as that of Richard III after DNA from the bones matched that of
descendants of the monarch’s family.

Discover Magazine
June 15 2013

Prince William may have little to no Indian ancestry

By Razib Khan | June 14, 2013 5:33 pm

The British media is blowing up today about Prince William’s Indian
ancestry. Here’s a representative headline: Hunt is on in Gujarat for
a distant cousin who shares Prince William’s Indian blood. The science
here is straightforward. Apparently some British researchers found
third cousins of Lady Diana Spencer. These individuals, like Diana,
are descended from a woman named Eliza Kewark. This woman, William’s
great, great, great, great, great grandmother was an ethnic Armenian
who was resident in India. She was also the housekeeper of William’s
ancestor Theodore Forbes, a Scottish merchant. At some point he sent
his children by this woman to be educated in England, and there
William’s ancestress married into native British lineages. Since
Diana’s cousins share the same unbroken matriline as she does they by
definition share an mtDNA lineage. As it happens these individuals
carry haplgroup R30b, a very rare lineage found only in South Asia.
But that’s not all. Diana’s cousins also are 0.3% and 0.8% South Asian
on their autosomal genome. The intersection of these two facts does
convince me that William’s genealogical ancestress, Eliza Kewark, did
have South Asian ancestry (not totally surprising even in notionally
ethnically distinct groups like Armenians or Parsis who have been long
resident in India). But please note that I said genealogical
ancestress.

Observe the large variance in ancestry of Diana’s two third cousins
presumably derived from Eliza Kewark (though there is always the
chance that these segments come from different South Asian ancestors,
the typically South Asian mtDNA match across the two reduces the
probability of that being the answer in this case). Beyond eight
generations the chance of a genetic segment being passed from an
ancestor down to a descendant is small. Diana’s cousins are seven
generations down from Eliza Kewark, so it isn’t totally implausible
that a segment should get passed down. But William at eight is at the
boundary, and he may carry no segments (in fact, Diana may have
carried no segments). Of course I did note that their mtDNA is likely
to be passed down, because there is no element of chance in that. You
have your mother’s mtDNA. But one can debate whether mtDNA, which is
not present in the nucleus, really counts as ancestry. I believe that
heritable genetic material is heritable genetic material. Assuming the
lines of descent are as they are recorded I accept that we know for a
fact that William likely has South Asian mtDNA. But we most certainly
do not know if he has any South Asian autosomal DNA.

But in the end how much does this matter? People will make of it what
they will. And yet there is an important aspect to note: this seems
like another instance of the firm BritainsDNA hyping genetic findings
to increase their profile. You see that the screenshot of their
website shows that they’re promoting the story about William’s
ancestry, and, they’re also claiming that they are offering the
world’s most advanced genetic ancestry test. First, I have to observe
that their price points are very high, and second, if they are going
to claim the most advanced test in the world they should actually do a
point-by-point comparison with other services, which they don’t seem
to do.

Perhaps more importantly this outfit now has a history of getting
caught up in, and frankly stoking, hype. I don’t begrudge anyone their
livelihood, or financial success, but scientists do have an implicit
and explicit honor code. Jim Wilson has been involved in some
interesting work, which is what I knew him from. But a third time will
be a trend, and Wilson shouldn’t be surprised if rather soon he
becomes thought of as a `tabloid geneticist,’ rather than a scholar
who popularizes serious science to the broader public.

Addendum: For American readers I should make it clear that it isn’t
totally surprising that the British upper classes and gentry have some
Indian ancestry, because so many of them have had ancestors associated
with the British Raj. The book White Mughals explores this period and
people in extensive detail. For some specifics, recall that Robert
Jenkins, later Lord Liverpool, and Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom for 10 years, 1817-1827, was 1/8th Indian by ancestry. The
British actress Nicollette Sheridan is also 1/8th Indian. And finally,
my friend Dan MacArthur clearly has South Asian ancestry, due to the
same historical circumstances as the individuals above. This is
perhaps the British equivalent of `Native American ancestry.’

Related Stories:

Mediamax, Armenia
June 12 2013

Matthew Bryza: `We need constructive ambiguity’

The exclusive interview of former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State and former OSCE Minsk Group U.S. Co-chair Matthew Bryza to
Mediamax

– During a lecture in Baku on June 7 you have reportedly said that
West made a mistake when it decided to separate the Turkish-Armenian
process from the Nagorno Karabakh settlement. This statement created a
lot of heated discussions in Armenian political circles and media.

– Well, actually I said the following – it was a mistake for the
United States government to end the constructive ambiguity stipulating
around whether or not the NK peace process and the Turkey-Armenia
reconciliation process were explicitly linked or de-inked.

By explicitly disconnecting both processes, the U.S. offered one of
the key benefits Armenia hoped to receive from the NK peace process –
reopening the borders with Turkey. Once it was clear, Armenia would
receive this benefit without the need to make compromises on other
issues in the Minsk Group process. Armenia naturally hardened its
negotiating position on NK (and in fact drew off some of the key
concessions it had already made).

At the same time, I also said it would be a mistake to explicitly link
two processes and to say there can only be Turkey-Armenia
normalization if there is a settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
This is an equally destructive position. A much better thing to do is
to recognize the truth, the logical truth, which is to inexplicitly
link these two processes. If you make progress on one that may mean
direct or indirect progress on the other, because progress on one
process will improve the mood and decrease the anger and emotionality.

A better policy, which the U.S. government followed until August 2009,
was to maintain ambiguity regarding the connectivity of the two
processes and to state publicly that progress on one track will
reinforce progress on the other track, even though the two processes
are not directly connected.

So, don’t explicitly link or de-link the two processes. Let
constructive ambiguity work to the advantage of the peaceful
settlement.

– When politicians try to link two processes in this or other way,
everybody expects compromises from Armenia and not from Azerbaijan or
Turkey. And if we talk about Turkish-Armenian relations, Yerevan’s
position is clear – let’s open the border and establish relations
without preconditions. What else do you expect from Armenia?

– I think that it’s not a helpful approach. All issues that you have
just described are handled as an organic whole, and each progress, or
each step over that one side gains have to be brought into an
appropriate negotiating process by making a concession on the other
side, let’s say – return of territories. And so, at any negotiation
all of the factors are interrelated. And it’s not easy for either side
to pull out one set of factors and focus on those.

I think it won’t be helpful if, let’s say the Azerbaijanis say we are
not going to negotiate any further, unless all the 7 territories are
returned: return the territories and then we will negotiate further,
or return the territories and then we’ll accept the Turkey-Armenia
border re-opening.

I think the only way you get to a final settlement is to negotiate all
the aspects of Basic Principles at the same time as part of one big
deal.

– But the Turkish-Armenian process is not part of Basic Principles at all.

– That’s right. It’s not. It’s a negotiation between two countries.
But restoring all the trade links between Armenia and Turkey and
Armenia and Azerbaijan – that is part of the Basic Principles. Armenia
and Turkey have a right to pursue whatever they want to pursue. What I
am saying is that it was a mistake when the United States said
explicitly there is no link between Turkey-Armenia normalization and
NK settlement.

– So, you say that if there is a progress on NK issue, Turkey will be
more interested and motivated to establish relations with Armenia. But
there is another opinion, which was voiced by Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian still in 2001. `If Turkey opened the border
with Armenia or re-established the relations, that would make Yerevan
more constructive on NK issue, because Yerevan would soften a lot of
demands in terms of security’, he said then.

– This is another argument that many of us, including myself, has made
during the Minsk process. I myself have made this argument in Baku.
But Baku says `no’.

– Turkey openly took a pro-Azeri position at the very beginning of the
conflict and closed its border with Armenia during the NK war.
Obviously, the Turkish government made a mistake about 20 years ago
and when today you talk about any linkage between the processes, it
looks like you are trying to legitimize that mistake.

– When I was a Minsk Group Co-Chair I was against any attempts to
explicitly link the two processes. And I myself discussed these issues
with Turkey’s President, Turkey’s opposition leaders and parliamentary
leaders saying `please don’t explicitly link the NK process with
Turkey-Armenia normalization’. At the same time, I am saying that it’s
also unhelpful explicitly to de-link them. So, it’s better just to not
even talk about whether they are linked or de-linked. See the reality,
the logical reality which is at the heart of what Vartan Oskanian was
saying: that if you make progress on one, you’ll make progress on the
other one. That’s the reality.

– Do you think that Turkish-Armenian protocols signed in 2009 are
still alive, or one day Armenia or Turkey will formally withdraw from
this process?

– I think neither Armenia nor Turkey will withdraw from that process.
There was a very difficult constructive negotiation between the
Armenian and Turkish sides, and in the end it was Prime Minister
Erdogan who himself came out in the end and said that these two
processes must be explicitly linked, and the Turkish parliament agreed
with him.

I hope and I believe that as focus is restored over the Nagorno
Karabakh peace process, we will see the political mood in Turkey
change, and I hope for Armenia’s perspective to improve, so that we’ll
get to a point when we see those protocols ratified. But the political
reality right now in Turkey is that unless there is progress on NK,
the mood is going to remain negative. So, what we have to do is to
keep working and re-invigorate the Karabakh peace process.

– In your remarks you stressed that there will never be an NK
settlement as long as Azerbaijanis treat Armenians, and Azerbaijanis
who engage with Armenians, as enemies. Don’t you think that the
problem is that nobody is telling this to Ilham Aliyev publicly – I
mean officials from EU and U.S. As a result, we have the Ramil Safarov
case, the Aykram Aylisli case and we have a generation growing in
Azerbaijan, which is every day being fed with anti-Armenian
propaganda.

– Certainly I agree with that. As long as the Azerbaijanis can’t even
perceive Armenians as a friend there is no way to resolve the
conflict. And the reality is that the President of Azerbaijan, I
believe, has gone quite a bit further in negotiations with the
President of Armenia than the society is ready for in Azerbaijan.
Let’s say there are other political forces in Azerbaijan, who are not
ready to go as far as the President of Azerbaijan.

– But it was the President of Azerbaijan who personally pardoned Ramil
Safarov and made him a hero. Don’t you think that this is a bad
example for the young generation in Azerbaijan to make a hero of
someone who has killed an Armenian?

– This case has actually really upset the Armenians. I think now is
really the time for the leadership of both countries, but more in
Azerbaijan of course, to come forward. And if we are serious about
having a negotiated settlement we have to talk to each other. There
will be results if the two Presidents trust each other and take
actions not to treat each other as enemies.

Ara Tadevosyan talked to Matthew Bryza.