Author: nina hovnanian

EDWARD NALBANDIAN: ARMENIA STANDS FOR CREATION OF MECHANISMS OF INVESTIGATION OF THE BORDER INCIDENTS

armradio.am
12.06.2012 15:33

Armenia has always stood for the creation of mechanisms of
investigation of the border incidents, and, unlike Azerbaijan, when
we agree on something, we do not backtrack on the following day,”
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a joint press
conference with the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ireland’s Deputy
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore.

“I should recall that corresponding elements of the establishment
of mechanisms are included in the relevant statements made by the
Presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan in March 2011 and January
2012 in Sochi. We respect those agreements and we are for the creation
of the mechanisms,” Minister Nalbandian added.

Recently the Turkish Foreign Minister made a statement where he
expressed his concerns about the loss of Azeri soldiers, and added also
that despite the efforts exerted by the OSCE Minsk Group, the Armenian
side is not yet reacting. Asked to comment on the statement, Edward
Nalbandian said: “The statement of the Turkish Foreign Minister,
according to which as if he mourns the loss of only the Azeri
servicemen as a result of the latest incidents, sounds racist.”

“We have never heard him being concerned about the killings of Armenian
soldiers as a result of subversive acts from the Azeri side.

While the international community condemns the bloody incidents
and urges the sides to refrain from the use of force, these sort of
Turkish statements in fact encourage Azerbaijanis’ new subversive
acts,” the Minister stated.

“While Azerbaijan is not only not reacting, but is continuously
rejecting the Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ proposals on the withdrawal of
snipers from the line of contact, the consolidation of ceasefire, the
creation of investigation mechanisms of the violations of ceasefire,
the Turkish side is attempting to shift this responsibility of the
Azerbaijani side on the others. The Turkish side is pretending as
if it is unaware whether of whose fault a progress was not made in
Kazan on reaching an agreement of the basic principles.

20 years ago Armenia did not oppose Turkey’s inclusion as a member of
the Minsk Group, because some countries expected that Turkey would
be unbiased and would have its input in the peaceful settlement of
the conflict. The past 20 years showed that Turkey is not only biased,
but through its stance harms the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process. A
question arises: is Turkey’s such behavior compatible with its being
a member of the Minsk Group?” Edward Nalbandian concluded.

NALBANDIAN SAYS TURKEY CREATING OBSTACLES IN NEGOTIATING PROCESS

Panorama.am
12/06/2012

Statement of Turkish Foreign Minister smells of racism, Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said today in a joint news
conference with the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Deputy Prime Minister
of Ireland, FM Eamon Gilmore.

After having adopted a declaration on June 8 in Turkish city of
Trapizon, Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia Ahmet
Davutoglu, Elmar Mammadyarov and Grigol Vashadze appeared with a
joint news conference. Turkish FM was asked to comment on the murder
of five Azerbaijani soldiers on the line of contact. “We have been
deeply shocked by the murder of our five Azerbaijani soldiers. It
should be realized that the frozen conflicts may escalate into hot
clashes anytime.”

In the aftermath of Azerbaijan’s attacks Armenian soldiers were
also killed.

Minister Nalbandian stressed that Azerbaijan refused to withdraw
snipers from the line of contact, refused to agree on mechanisms
for investigating incidents on the frontlines, but accuses Armenia
of killing its soldiers with the Turkish side pretending unaware of
the reality.

PARLIAMENT SPEAKER NERVOUS THESE DAY – PAPER

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 12, 2012 – 10:25 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian National Assembly speaker Hovik Abrahamyan
is rather nervous these days over parliament’s discussion and voting
of the government program due on June 20, 168 Zham daily reports.

Abrahamyan’s concerns are conditioned by Prosperous Armenia party’s
voting of the program.

It is noteworthy, that the parliament speaker is said to have
assumed his current post as a result of the agreement reached between
President Serzh Sargsyan and Prosperous Armenia head Gagik Tsarukyan,
the paper says.

For this reason, Abrahamyan keeps stating that Prosperous Armenia is
not opposition and will retain its role in the parliament.

Nevertheless, National Assembly speaker fears that the party may and
vote against the government program.

U.S. SENATE PANEL TO CONSIDER AMBASSADORIAL NOMINEE TO AZERBAIJAN JUNE 13

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 12, 2012 – 12:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will
consider President Obama’s nomination of Richard Morningstar to
serve as Ambassador to Azerbaijan, during a hearing on Wednesday,
June 13 that will be webcast live on the panel’s website, reported
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“Ambassador Morningstar’s confirmation hearing is an opportunity
for the Senate to shed light on the question that’s really at the
heart of U.S.-Azerbaijani relations: ‘Is the Administration ready
to forcefully challenge Baku’s threats and acts of aggression, or
will it simply continue cheerleading for Ilham Aliyev’s military
escalation and march toward war?'” said ANCA Executive Director Aram
Hamparian. “We look forward to members of the Committee giving this
important nomination the attention and scrutiny it clearly deserves.”

The nomination hearing comes just a week after a marked escalation
in Azerbaijani attacks against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh which
led to 8 deaths. The cross-border fighting occurred during Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to the region, prompting Clinton to
once again to urge the end of violence, but stopping short of properly
condemning Azerbaijani aggression.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the Chairwoman of the panel’s
subcommittee dealing with European affairs, is scheduled to lead the
hearing, which affords members the opportunity to exercise their
advise and consent responsibilities by reviewing candidates for
diplomatic posts, conducting oversight of executive branch activities,
and exploring the various policy issues related to their future
responsibilities.

Richard L. Morningstar currently serves as the U.S. Special Envoy
for Eurasian Energy. His experience in the Caucasus includes his
appointment as Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of
State for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy, where he was responsible
for assuring maximum coordination within the Executive Branch and
with other governments and international organizations to promote
United States policies on Caspian Basin energy development and
transportation. From April 1995 to July 1998, he served as Ambassador
and Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on
Assistance for the New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union
where he oversaw all U.S. bilateral assistance and trade investment
activities in the NIS.

Ambassador Morningstar’s nomination follows the ill-fated Senate
consideration of Matthew Bryza for the same post in 2009. Bryza was
never confirmed by the Senate, eventually serving a one-year term as
Ambassador through a recess appointment by President Obama amid Senate
and Armenian American concerns of both bias and conflict of interest
related to his close ties to Azerbaijan’s corrupt Aliyev regime.

“It’s regrettable that Mr. Bryza was allowed, for so long, to use
his senior U.S. government postings as a platform to advance his own
agenda regarding Ankara and Baku,” explained Hamparian. “Mr. Bryza –
with his own words, actions, and choice of employment – has confirmed
the fears of his critics, vindicated those who opposed his nomination,
and embarrassed many in the foreign policy community whose knee-jerk
reaction was to stand in his defense, but who today, upon reflection,
respect and likely even share the very legitimate reasons for the
ANCA’s opposition to his confirmation.”

BYURAKAN OBSERVATORY CALLS UFOS SEEN IN ARMENIA ‘OPTICAL REFLECTIONS’

NEWS.AM
June 13, 2012 | 00:09

YEREVAN. – The two sparkling objects, which were observed in the sky in
Armenia on Monday, were nothing else but optical reflections, head of
the Byurakan Observatory Hayk Harutyunyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“It was just light, no other ‘objects’ were observed in the sky,”
he said adding it was due to the Russian inter-continental missile
Topol, which was successfully tested by the Russian Armed Forces. As
the agency informed earlier, Armenians saw unusual objects on June
7 and 11 in the night sky.

AZERBAIJAN-ARMENIA TENSIONS: REGIONAL RISKS, POLICY CHALLENGES
By Michael Cecire

12 Jun 2012

With U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on a tour of the South
Caucasus last week, hopes that Washington’s top diplomat could use the
visit as an opportunity to push for regional peacemaking and democracy
support were quickly overcome by events on the ground, underscoring
the region’s volatility. Though Clinton’s meetings in Georgia were
mostly low key, the brittle cease-fire between arch-nemeses Azerbaijan
and Armenia was sorely tested by a series of clashes, fueling fears
that another Caucasus war was in the offing.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been rocky since the
two former Soviet republics fought a war in the early 1990s over the
disputed territory of Nargorno-Karabakh, a region largely settled
by ethnic Armenians that is internationally recognized as part of
Azerbaijan. When large-scale fighting ended in 1994, Armenian forces
— with assistance from geopolitical patron Russia — had driven
out Azerbaijani troops as well as ethnic Azeri communities from
the province. Since then, Armenia has supported the unrecognized,
separatist quasi-statelet of Nagorno-Karabakh, and international
efforts to peaceably resolve the conflict have fallen short, leading
to frequent descriptions of the dispute as a “frozen conflict.”

The conflict has been anything but frozen on the ground, however,
and the dispute remains at constant risk of spiraling out of control.

Though clashes are not uncommon along the line of contact, as the
unofficial border between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan is known,
last week’s fighting had all the appearances of a series of escalations
cascading out of control. Notably, skirmishes not only took place along
the line of contact, but also at the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan
proper, a development that raised fears of the conflict heating up.

“The implication is that, on one side or both, there was a degree of
regional-level coordination by military commanders and a willingness to
test the defenses of the other side across a wide swathe of territory,”
wrote regional analyst Alex Jackson. “This expansion of the battlefield
marks a serious escalation.”

For Washington, the situation, difficult enough on its face, also
presents a deeply challenging conundrum to U.S. policy in the region.

Though the U.S. continues to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part
of Azerbaijan, Armenia’s relatively large and politically active
diaspora in the United States has cultivated significant goodwill in
the U.S. Congress and can count on considerable support. Washington
also engages Nagorno-Karabakh through a series of diplomatic and
exchange programs, including a modest but symbolically significant
aid allotment. And until 2001, Section 907 of the Freedom Support
Act banned direct aid to Azerbaijan. The law is still on the books,
but it has been waived annually since 2001.

Despite the growing influence of the Armenian-American lobby in
Washington, it is understood that Armenia itself remains a crucial
component of Russia’s regional alliance system. Russia was a key ally
during the war against Azerbaijan, and it continues to maintain a
significant troop presence on Armenian soil. It also owns approximately
80 percent of the country’s energy system and is the country’s most
important economic partner through trade and remittances.

Though Russia has shrewdly increased its engagement toward Azerbaijan
in recent years, including through energy contracts and arms sales,
the Baku-Moscow relationship remains fragile and more pragmatic
than friendly. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has a powerful friendship with
regional power and NATO member Turkey, which broke relations and
closed its borders with Armenia in 1993 out of solidarity with its
Turkic cousins. (Turkey and Armenia have never established diplomatic
relations.) In 2010, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a mutual defense
treaty, obligating Turkey to intervene should Azerbaijan be attacked.

Further complicating matters for Washington, Armenia maintains strong
economic and political ties with Iran, while relations between Iran
and fellow Shiite-majority Azerbaijan are increasingly tense.

Meanwhile, Baku’s relations with Israel are robust and growing.

Azerbaijan’s poor human rights and democracy record compared to
Armenia’s — which, though poor on its own merits, is consistently
scored better on international assessments — adds the final wrinkle
for U.S. policymakers.

The potential for loss of life and damage in a renewed hot war between
Azerbaijan and Armenia is significant, but the real danger is the
threat of regional escalation. With so many moving parts, any conflict
risks turning into a conflagration with Turkey and Azerbaijan on one
side and Armenia and Russia on the other. Add the wild cards of Iran —
which sees Azerbaijan’s existence as a challenge to its sovereignty
over its own large ethnic-Azeri population — and Israel to the mix
and the prospect of multiple conflicts overlapping and fusing into
a larger regional conflict becomes frighteningly plausible. The
U.S. would be hard-pressed to stay neutral in such a scenario.

Despite the obvious threat such a war poses to Eurasian security,
little has been done to rein in the bellicose rhetoric and border
sparring on both sides. With a population still smarting from the
“shame” of defeat in the 1990s, Azerbaijan’s leaders are under
domestic pressure to resolve the conflict to its advantage, which
explains Baku’s hydrocarbon-fueled military buildup.

With so much at stake, the West must move proactively to prevent what
increasingly seems like an inevitable conflict. Current avenues for
conflict prevention and negotiations, in particular the OSCE’s Minsk
Group, co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France, need to
be empowered to ensure that de-escalation measures such as the 2007
Madrid Principles are fulfilled. With Russia taking a defensive posture
to recent fighting and progress implementing the Madrid Principles
stalled, Azerbaijan may feel it has no choice but to resort to
extreme measures to push the principals to re-engage diplomatically
on the issue. The U.S. should use its influence in Baku and Ankara,
in coordination with Russia, to pull the situation back from the brink.

In 2008, another little-known frozen conflict in the South Caucasus
went hot, resulting in the Russia-Georgia War over South Ossetia
and Abkhazia. Unless tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh can be cooled down
quickly, the world risks another such war, but one with far greater
potential for escalation and great-power intervention.

Michael Hikari Cecire is an independent analyst and Wikistrat
contributing analyst focusing on the South Caucasus and Black Sea
region. He blogs at Evolutsia.Net.

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Azerbaijan, June 6, 2012 (U.S. State
Department photo).

THE OSCE SUPPORTS THE CREATION OF MECHANISMS OF INVESTIGATION OF BORDER INCIDENTS

armradio.am
12.06.2012 17:56

President Serzh Sargsyan received today the delegation headed by
OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
of the Republic of Ireland Eamon Gilmore.

The President congratulated the guest on assuming the OSCE Chairmanship
in 2012. He welcomed the visit of the OSCE delegation to Armenia,
underlining that the visits of the OSCE Chairmen-in-Office provide
a good opportunity to familiarize with the problems and challenges
of the region on the spot and discuss questions connected with OSCE
activity and other issues of reciprocal interest.

The interlocutors referred to the process of implementation of reforms
in Armenia in different spheres, the domestic political developments,
the negotiation process on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,
and the recent incidents at the shared border between Armenia and
Azerbaijan.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office noted that his visit was aimed at
contributing to the peaceful and secure settlement of the Karabakh
conflict. According to him, in order to reach peace, it is necessary
to adhere to the basic principles of settlement.

Eamon Gilmore said that “the OSCE stands behind the principles of
the right of peoples to self-determination, territorial integrity and
non-use of force and supports the OSCE Minsk Group activity targeted
at promoting the settlement process.” He said the OSCE denies the
use of force or the threat of force and considers that there can be
no military solution to the issue.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office expressed his concern over the recent
incidents at the border and the line of contact and noted that “the
OSCE supports all efforts targeted at the creation of mechanisms for
prevention and investigation of the incidents.”

President Sargsyan expressed gratitude to the OSCE Office in Yerevan
for the constant support to our country and the productive cooperation.

MOSCOW INTIMIDATES ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN W. MILITARY FLIGHTS OVER DISPUTED NAGORNO-KARABAKH

National Turk

June 11 2012

Russia shows more presence with training flights over Armenia,
after deadly clashes occurred between Armenia and Azerbaijan over
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute last week.

Baku / NationalTurk – Deadly clashes occurred between Azerbaijan
and Armenia last week only a few days later Russian fighter planes
conduct training flights over Armenian territory in an increasing
number to intimidate.

A Russian military spokesman, Col. Igor Gorbul stated that Russian
fighter jets stationed at a base in Armenia have conducted about 300
training flights since the beginning of 2012, and have increased the
number of flying hours by more than 20 % from 2011.

Violence has flared recently along the border between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, which have been at war over the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-controlled enclave inside Azerbaijan,
for more than 20 years. At least eight soldiers, five Azerbaijanis
and three Armenians, were killed in clashes along the border last week.

Armenia and Azerbaijan : Nagorno Karabakh dispute that never ends

This is seen as sending a clear warning that Russia could intervene
at any moment should violence escalate further in the territorial
dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the NYT article states.

Col. Gorbul said Russian fighter pilots were preparing for combat.

‘The main emphasis in performing aerobatic elements is made on the
ability to apply them in real-life air combat conditions,’ he said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry last week stated it regarded the border
clashes between Armenia and Azarbaijan as ‘ unacceptable ‘ and would
maintain all efforts to try to broker a peaceful settlement between
two eternal enemies. Russia, along with France, the United States and
other countries, has repeatedly urged a peaceful settlement to the
Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russia maintains a
military base in Armenia and regularly sells weapons to Armenia. Both
Armenia and Azerbaijan are former states of USSR.

Russian interest over Armenia and Azerbaijan Karabakh conflict followed
by swift Us warning

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week warned of possible
disastrous consequences after deadly violence between Azarbaijan and
Armenia ignited over Karabakh.

Azerbaijan, which currently holds a seat on the United Nations Security
Council, issued a statement. Azerbaijan was also appealing to the
United Nations for help in hopes that international mediators could
help reach a settlement over Nagorno Karabakh Conflict until the end
of 2012.

VIET NAM VOWS TO DEEPEN FRIENDSHIP WITH ITS TRADITIONAL PARTNER ARMENIA

Asia One

June 11 2012
Singapore

HA NOI – Viet Nam always attaches importance to maintaining,
consolidating and developing ties with traditional friends, including
Armenia in its diplomatic policy of independence, self-reliance,
diversification and multilateralisation.

President Truong Tan Sang made the statement at talks with Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan in Ha Noi yesterday.

Sang hailed President Sargsyan’s visit as an important milestone
in strengthening friendship and traditional cooperation between the
two countries, especially at a time when Viet Nam and Armenia were
preparing activities to celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic
ties.

President Sargsyan expressed his delight at visiting Viet Nam for the
first time. He praised its renewal achievements, which have raised
the country’s position and prestige in the region and the world.

The two sides agreed to further increase the exchanges of delegations
at all levels, particularly the high-ranking, and boost collaboration
between the two countries’ ministries and departments, towards laying a
solid foundation for expanding bilateral economic, trade and investment
ties, among others.

They agreed to create a legal framework for economic and trade
cooperation. An Inter-Governmental Committee for economic-trade and
science – technology cooperation should be established as early as
possible, they said.

The leaders also stressed the need to resume cooperation in education
and training, and increase cultural exchanges between the two peoples
in the new period.

Sang thanked Armenia for supporting Viet Nam in running for membership
of the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2014 – 16 tenure.

He said he believed the two countries would continue supporting and
closely working with each other at multilateral forums.

President Sang and his Armenia counterpart witnessed the signing of
agreements on cooperation in economics, trade and science-technology,
visa waiver for official and diplomatic passport holders, and
cooperation between the two foreign ministries.

Following the talks, the two leaders adopted a Joint Statement on
the outcomes of President Sargsyan’s visit to Viet Nam, which says
the two sides acknowledged each other’s full market economy status.

The two sides will also negotiate the signing of agreements on plant
and animal quarantine, and on mutual recognition of each other’s
quality certification of products, culture, sports and customs to
support bilateral trade in the coming time.

On the same day, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong met the Armenian
President.

Trong affirmed that Viet Nam always attached importance to relations
with traditional friendly countries such as Armenia. He expressed his
pleasure over the development of political relations between the two
countries in recent years and desired to develop good relations and
bilateral co-operation in the near future for the mutual benefit of
the two countries.

For his part, Sargsyan said Armenia considered Viet Nam a close and
reliable partner in Southeast Asia and stressed the promotion of
multifaceted co-operation with Viet Nam, especially in the fields of
economics, trade, education and training.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has affirmed that the Vietnamese
Government would actively implement agreements reached during Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan’s visit to further develop the two countries’
relations.

At a meeting with President Sargsyan in Ha Noi yesterday, Dung proposed
the two sides continue to complete legal foundations for bilateral
cooperation to facilitate two-way trade, increase the exchange of
delegations at all levels, and organise trade promotion activities.

He also suggested that both sides quickly set up bilateral cooperation
mechanisms to effectively implement cooperation in economics, trade,
science-technology, education and training, and tourism.

Dung said he hoped the two countries would closely cooperate and
assist each other at international forums, particularly the UN.

For his part, President Sargsyan affirmed that Armenia wanted
to further boost economic, trade and investment cooperation with
Viet Nam, calling for the quick establishment of an Inter-Government
Committee and increased information exchange between the two countries’
businesses.

He also said Armenia was willing to receive Vietnamese students to
study in the country.

Also yesterday, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung said the
National Assembly of the two countries should strengthen high-level
delegation visits for information and legislative experience exchange,
and enhance co-operation in multilateral parliaments and international
organisations.

He added that the National Assembly of the two countries should
actively co-operate in urging and supervising the Governments
and ministries to implement the signed agreements between the two
countries.

He took the occasion to congratulate Armenia for the success of its
National Assembly election last month.

President Sargsyan proposed to establish a Parliamentary Friendship
Group to promote co-operation in education, trade and economy.

At the meeting, the two sides agreed to establish an Intergovernmental
Committee to further increase co-operative programs between the
two countries.

ARFD YOUTH UNION MEMBERS VISIT CHINAR BORDER VILLAGE

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 11, 2012 – 19:55 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – ARF Dashnaktsutyun Youth Union, concerned over recent
developments, in which Armenian soldiers were killed and wounded,
visited Chinar village in Armenian province of Tavush.

They further met with local residents and youth representatives.

ARF Dashnaktsutyun members organized dancing, singing and drawing
courses for the local kindergarten and school students, followed by
a concert featuring patriotic songs.

A computer and certain amount to cover the needs of the local school
were donated to the kindergarten.