Author: nina hovnanian

‘ALL OUR DIASPORA STRUCTURES SHOULD UNITE AGAINST ARMENIAN PROVOCATION’

News.Az
Wed 05 September 2012 04:44 GMT | 5:44 Local Time

Goksel Gulbey
Today the Armenian provocation should be and will be responded at
highest level.

Head of Turkish Organization for Fighting Baseless Armenian Allegations
Goksel Gulbey has told the statement to Gun.Az while commenting on
anti-Azerbaijani campaigns of Armenia and Armenia diaspora.

“Today Armenian officials threaten Azerbaijan with terror, and it
happens before the eyes of the world. They proudly talk about killing
political and social figures of the Turkish world and hint to repeat
this method.

If they resort to this step, they should not forget that they will
receive the due response.

Today the Organization for Fighting Baseless Armenian Allegations is
beside Azerbaijan. But I would like all diaspora organizations to
be vigilant and act in a united manner. We should support the fair
struggle of Azerbaijan with full strength,” he said.

Gulbey noted that they plan a range of events in this connection.

“Measures will be taken to tackle Armenian provocation and the struggle
will continue till the end. After all, the struggle against Armenians
lies is the priority of our organization,” Gulbey underlined.

ARMENIAN ENTREPRENEURS FROM SYRIA INTEND TO START PRODUCING IN ARMENIA SOME GOODS IN ARMENIA

/ARKA/
SEPTEMBER 7, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, September 7. /ARKA/. Armenian entrepreneurs from Syria intend
to start producing in Armenia some goods which are now being imported
in Armenia, the press office of Armenian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry reported on Friday after Armenian and Syrian entrepreneurs
met in Yerevan.

Abdo Hayrapetian, a prominent Armenian entrepreneur from Syria,
speaking about Armenian community’s concerns over things in Syria,
pointed out particular goods which can be produced in Armenia instead
of imports.

The two countries’ entrepreneurs also discussed ways for establishing
joint businesses.

The Armenian community in Syria numbers at various estimates 100,000
people. The largest community is in Aleppo (60,000). Armenians also
live in Damascus, Latakia and other cities. Clashes between government
troops and armed opposition in Syria have forced many Armenians to
flee their homes there.

ARMENIA’S RECOGNITION OF NKR WILL TRIGGER PROCESS INTERNATIONALLY – EXPERT

PanARMENIAN.Net
September 7, 2012 – 16:32 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia’s recognition of Nagorno Karabakh will
signal a start to international recognition of the Republic, deputy
chair of Heritage party said.

According to Armen Martirosyan, without Armenia’s recognition, other
countries will not acknowledge Artsakh independence.

The expert refuted the opinion that Armenia’s recognition of Artsakh
could trigger a new war, noting that Baku wouldn’t need a reason to
renew hostilities were it certain of its victory.

“Armenia must put trust in its own strength only,” the expert noted
in conclusion.

RASMUSEN SAYS IN BAKU: “THAT STEP DOESN’T CONTRIBUTE TO THE PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF THE CONFLICT”

13:21 . 07/09

“There is no alternative to peaceful settlement of the Karabakh
conflict, there is no military solution to the issue, talks, mutual
compromise and cooperation are the only way out,” NATO Secretary
General Anders Fogh Rasmusen stated in Baku, today.

Yerkir.am informs citing Azerbaijani sources that Rasmusen has said
NATO is not directly involved in the peaceful settlement process of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, but added that the Alliance supports
the efforts of the OSCE MG.

NATO Secretary General expressed his concern over the pardon and
release of Ramil Safarov.

“That step doesn’t contribute to the peaceful settlement of the issue,”
he has said.

ECRI EXPRESSED ITS CONSTERNATION AT THE PARDONING AND RELEASE OF AZERBAIJANI MURDERER

armradio.am
07.09.2012 15:39

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
expresses has issued a statement on the transfer and pardoning of
Ramil Safarov. The statement reads:

“The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) of the
Council of Europe wishes to express consternation at the pardoning
and release of Ramil Safarov, shortly after he had been transferred
from Hungary to Azerbaijan in order to serve there a sentence of
life imprisonment imposed by a Budapest court for the murder of an
Armenian army officer in 2004.

ECRI’s position has always been that hate crime should be adequately
punished. It is, therefore, concerned that developments such as those
in the Safarov case risk cultivating a sense of impunity for the
perpetrators of racist offences of the most serious nature. This could
undermine in a fundamental manner the fight against racist violence,
which unfortunately continues to plague many European countries.”

ECRI draws the Azerbaijani authorities’ attention to the need to
respect the values it has always promoted and to which they have
subscribed when becoming a member of the Council of Europe. It urges
them to take whatever measures are possible to redress the situation
created by their handling of the Safarov case.

EUFOA WELCOMES THE CONDEMNATION OF AZERBAIJAN’S ANTI-ARMENIAN XENOPHOBIA BY ALL EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS

armradio.am
06.09.2012 14:30

The European Friends of Armenia strongly welcomes the unprecedented
condemnations of Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian xenophobia by all European
institutions and the international community. “We are appalled that
the open provocation and physical threat by Azerbaijan’s President
Ilham Aliyev against Armenia and Armenians around the world has put
the Karabakh conflict to the next level of escalation. This may be
in the short term internal political interest of the President, who
is facing “elections” in 2013. However, given his autocratic and so
far unchallenged power base, the risk for him and his country and
the damage caused stand in no relation to the short-lived political
gain achieved through anti-Armenian nationalism and xenophobia,”
the European Friends of Armenia said in a statement.

In the light of these events and following the repressions which became
apparent during the Eurovision contest in Baku, EuFoA demands that the
EU finally accepts that it must treat Azerbaijan more critically than
Belarus, which is known to have the same internally repressive regime
style, but without Azerbaijan’s militarization or the state-promoted
xenophobia.

We were informed and strongly welcome that the EU’s Foreign Ministers
will debate the issue at their upcoming GYMNICH meeting and that the
European Parliament will debate an urgency resolution next week.

“Why we implement EU funded programmes with the oil-rich and
notoriously anti-democratic government of Azerbaijan and conclude
large-scale energy deals with them, while we apply sanctions against
Belraus cannot be explained to European voters” comments EuFoA
Secretary General Dr Michael Kambeck. “Towards Armenia we can only
direct the warning not to step into the provocation trap which Aliyev
has set up. I share the emotions for calls to now take harsh steps
against Azerbaijan, but Armenia should be like a clever chess-player
and keep an eye on the long-term interests.”

EuFoA also calls for steps to mend the relations with Hungary in time.

“While the extradition decision was at least very naive, Hungary and
Armenia share hundreds of years of historic ties and are both old
Christian countries. Azerbaijan’s dirty game should not be allowed to
destroy such links. Hungary is a bridge between Eastern and Western
Europe and will need Armenia to enlarge this function. Armenia will
need Hungary for the upcoming EU visa-facilitation decision and
later for the Association Agreement. We welcome that the Hungarian
government has quickly issued the strongest condemnation and that the
Armenian President has called for a stop to burn Hungarian flags. Now
some work needs to be done behind the scenes to overcome the problem.”

NATO CHIEF CONCERNED BY THE AZERBAIJANI DECISION TO PARDON AXE-KILLER

armradio.am
06.09.2012 15:08

“Armenia has been an important NATO partner for many years. Your
country’s contributions to our operations in both Kosovo and
Afghanistan are significant – and highly valued,” NATO Secretary
General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, speaking at the Yerevan State
University.

“Your country’s contributions to NATO-led operations mean that
Armenian troops have received valuable training and peacekeeping
experience. This is an important part of developing your country’s own
peacekeeping capabilities, both at home and abroad. NATO is providing
significant support to help you build-up these capabilities,” he said.

“We are also assisting Armenia in other areas, such as border security,
defense reform, and cyber security. This makes Armenia stronger,
safer, and better able to contribute to security elsewhere.

But our partnership also makes sense for Armenians here at home. One
important priority in our partnership has been civil defense and
disaster response,” the Secretary general said.

According to Mr. Rasmussen NATO sees no contradiction between good
NATO-Armenia relations, and good relations with Russia.

He added that unresolved conflicts, closed borders, minefields,
trenches and closed airspace hold back Armenia and the region from
reaching their full potential. “This region has more barriers to
cooperation between neighbors than almost anywhere in the world. We
need to break down those old barriers of mistrust. And we must build
up new bridges of regional reconciliation.”

“A crucial step has to be finding a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. Two things are clear. First, there is no military solution.

And second, the only way forward is through dialogue, compromise,
and cooperation. NATO as an organization is not involved directly
in finding a solution to this conflict. Nor do we take sides. But
we will continue to support the Minsk process and efforts towards a
peaceful settlement,” the NATO Secretary General stated.

“I am deeply concerned by the Azerbaijani decision to pardon the
Azerbaijani army officer Safarov. The act he committed in 2004 was
a terrible crime that should not be glorified. The pardon damages
trust and does not contribute to the peace process. There must be no
return to conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Tensions in this
region must be reduced, and concrete steps must be taken to promote
regional cooperation and reconciliation,” he added.

TIGRAN DAVTYAN SEES SERIOUS PROSPECTS IN ARMENIAN-IRAQI COOPERATION

ARMENPRESS
6 September, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: On September 6 the Armenian Minister
of Economy Tigran Davtyan accepted the Deputy Prime Minister of
the Republic of Iraq Roush Nuri Shavais. As reported by Armenpress,
the Minister mentioned that Armenia accepts such a representative
delegation from Iraq for the first time. “In the framework of the
delegation’s visit the considerable part is given to economy.

Cooperation with Iraq creates quite serious opportunities for us,
as Iraq is our neighbor country and has very significant development
programs and I think that Armenia should use this opportunity”, –
said Davtyan.

He emphasized that Iraq, being a big country and having a huge market,
should raise the interest of our exporters. They should be able to
present our products. According to the Minister, these processes have
already started and this meeting will open new opportunities for the
local organizations and provide our Iraqi partners with the prospect to
get acquainted with the Armenia’s economic potentials. “I am certain
that our cooperation has quite serious prospects and this visit will
largely promote it. We are entering a very serious working phase”,
– said Davtyan.

The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister mentioned that the aim of their visit
is to develop and deepen the relations between the two countries. “We
see that Armenia has an appetence to develop relations with Iraq in
the field of economy in particular. Strengthening and development of
relations will be for benefit for the two countries and their nations”,
– said Shavais. According to him, Armenia and Iraq actively cooperate
in economy, tourism and commerce. The Deputy Prime Minister said that
getting acquainted with the Armenian economy, they understood that
there are quite a lot of potentials and they should use every chance
to use them.

“We, the members of the Iraqi delegation, are sure that we can advance
in this field and with joint efforts we will create the legal field,
where we would feel safe in our countries. We should find the right
directions and work in cooperation”, – said Shavais.

On September 4-7 the Iraqi delegation of 35 delegates headed by the
Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq Roush Nuri Shavais are
in Armenia with official visit. The Ministers of Commerce, Health,
Agriculture, Industry and Natural Resources, Human Rights and other
officials are in the delegation.

NATO SHOULD FOLLOW SAFAROV’S CASE – PROTEST RALLY IN FRONT OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S RESIDENCE (PHOTOS)

06.09.12

A protest rally has been conducted on September 6 in front of the
Armenian president’s residence.

Representatives of Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun
(ARF-D) Nikol Aghbalyan students’ union and ARF-D Armenian youth
organization gathered there to make their voice hear by the NATO
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen who is due to meet with
Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan in a few minutes.

The protestors came with NATO Azerbaijan Cooperation, Oil A New
European Value? NatO-Safarov posters.

Speaking to reporters, head of ARF-D Youth office Sargis Lazarian
said they demand NATO change its stance over the extradition of
Ramil Safarov and give worthy response as Armenian officer Gurgen
Margaryan’s murder was committed during the English training classes
organized by NATO.

“NATO’s unawareness of Azerbaijan-Hungary deal is unacceptable for
us,” Lazarian said, claiming that the extradition of Ramil Safarov
and his release opens new door for murders. “The murderer should get
worthy punishment,” he said, adding that Ramil Safarov should bear
the punishment established by Hungaria’s court.

ARMENIE : VERS L’OUVERTURE DE L’AMBASSADE IRAKIENNE
Stephane

armenews.com
mercredi 5 septembre 2012

L’Irak entend ouvrir son ambassade en Armenie, a appris lundi l’agence
News-Armenia auprès du service de presse du ministère armenien des
Affaires etrangères.

Cette question a ete abordee le 29 août dernier lors d’une rencontre
de l’ambassadeur armenien a Bagdad, Mourad Mouradian, avec le
vice-ministre irakien des Affaires etrangères, Labid Abaoui. Ce dernier
a declare qu’il s’occuperait personnellement de la prochaine ouverture
de l’ambassade irakienne a Erevan.

Deux jours plus tôt, M. Mouradian a ete recu par le vice-premier
ministre irakien Roz Nouri Chaouis pour evoquer sa visite en Armenie
debut septembre. Le jour meme l’ambassadeur armenien a rencontre un
autre vice-premier ministre irakien Saleh Al-Mutlak a discute des
perspectives de cooperation bilaterale.