Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

RUSSIAN MAFIA SUSPECTS HELD ACROSS EUROPE
Giles Tremlett in Madrid

guardian.co.uk
Monday 15 March 2010 13.18 GMT

Spanish police confirm operation involving Germans, Swiss and Austrians

Masked members of the Basque regional police escort a suspect arrested
in Algorta as part of a police operation against a Russian mafia
network. Photograph: Miguel Tona/EPA

Police across Europe are carrying out dozens of arrests of suspected
members of a Russian mafia network dedicated to extortion and violent
crime in numerous countries, Spanish police confirmed today.

At least 69 people have been arrested in raids that started over the
weekend, with police claiming that the gang had exported the worst
Russian mafia methods to numerous countries, including Britain. "These
people were prepared to kill if necessary and accepted tasks of that
nature," an anonymous Spanish police source told El País newspaper
this morning.

"The operation is ongoing. There will probably be even more arrests
during the day," a Spanish police spokeswoman said.

Spain’s special organised crime unit was in charge of the operation,
she said, with 24 arrests in Barcelona, Bilbao and in the province
of Valencia. It was not clear where the other 45 arrests were made.

Investigators in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are also involved
in the operation, according to Spanish media.

The arrests were reportedly mostly of low-level foot soldiers in
a mafia network that stretched from Turkey via much of continental
Europe to Ireland and Britain. "This was a group that operated in
various countries," El País’s police source said. The money was
laundered through messenger companies and small businesses set up in
Spain. Those arrested were reportedly from Russia, Georgia and Armenia.

Police have carried out a series of operations against the Russian
mafia and its money-laundering operations in Spain’s corruption-riddled
property sector over the past four years.

Among those to have been detained in recent years is Zakhar Kalashov,
accused of being a senior mafia boss. Kalashov is on bail, awaiting
sentence in a money-laundering trial that was carried out under tight
security and that ended in December.

Spanish investigators complain that courts have been too ready to
grant bail to the numerous alleged Russian mafia members they have
detained. "We had gained a lot of prestige in Europe for our operations
against the Russian mafias and these decisions have thrown part of
that work into the dustbin," the El País source complained.

Alleged leaders of the Malyshevskaya criminal group are among those
to have been released from jail on bail in recent times. Kalashov
himself was released from prison on bail a fortnight ago. Those
arrested today were recorded on phone-taps discussing his potential
release, according to El País.

ERDOGAN TO VISIT UK

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.03.2010 13:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
is traveling to UK on March 15 on the invitation of his British
counterpart Gordon Brown. Mr. Erdogan will be accompanied by Deputy
Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan,
State Minister Egemen Bagis, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and
some members of parliament.

Turkish-British relations, Turkey’s EU bid, Cyprus problem as well
as regional and international issues will be in focus, TRT reported.

United Press International
March 12 2010

Turkish-Swedish row over genocide label

ANKARA, Turkey, March 12 (UPI) — Turkey recalled its ambassador to
Sweden and canceled bilateral meetings after lawmakers in Stockholm
called the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman-era Turks genocide, a
few days after rowing with Washington over the same issue.

Ankara also canceled a March 17 summit between the nations and Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s corresponding visit to Sweden.
The diplomatic crisis comes a week after Ankara recalled its
ambassador to the United States because a congressional committee
approved a similar resolution.

Erdogan’s office strongly condemned the Swedish resolution, which
labels the 1915-23 killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians genocide,
saying in a statement it was "unsubstantiated," and "replete with
immense errors." It added the resolution was adopted to please
domestic voters ahead of the September national elections in Sweden.

"This resolution adopted with domestic political motives does not
befit Turkey-Sweden relations and the close cooperation and friendship
between our peoples," the statement reads. "Those who believe that
historical facts and Turkey’s opinion regarding its own history will
be changed by decisions adopted by foreign Parliaments for political
gains are gravely mistaken."

The Swedish government also criticized the resolution, which passed by
one vote.

"Historical events should not be judged at a political level but
should be left to the parties concerned to discuss on the basis of
current research," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said in a
statement posted on a Swedish government Web site. "The decision will
not help the debate in Turkey, which has become increasingly open and
tolerant as Turkey has developed closer relations with the European
Union and made the democratic reforms these entail."

Observers say Turkey’s recent conflicts with Washington and Stockholm
over the genocide label threatens an already stalled peace process
that hit its high last October when Turkey and Armenia, after decades
of conflict, signed documents to re-establish ties and reopen the
countries’ mutual border.

Armenia says Turks killed up to 1.5 million Armenians when the Ottoman
Empire collapsed during World War I. Many historians say the killings
amount to genocide, a charge Turkey strongly denies by pointing to the
chaotic circumstances during the breakup of the empire.

Ankara is also critical of Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh,
an enclave in neighboring Azerbaijan. Turkey in 1993 severed ties with
Armenia when it fought a war with Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally.

The "genocide" label is important to Armenians scattered around the
world. An estimated 5.7 million Armenians live abroad, including 1.4
million in the United States, significantly outnumbering the 3.2
million living in the small, landlocked country itself.

ANS TV, Azerbaijan
March 12 2010

Azeri police thwart rally against US, Swedish vote on Armenian bill

A group of activists of the [opposition] Hope Party held a rally
outside the Turkish embassy in Baku to support Turkey and to protest
against the so-called Armenian genocide bill passed by the Foreign
Affairs Committee of the [House of Representatives of the] US Congress
and the Swedish parliament.

This was an unauthorized rally and it was therefore thwarted by
[Baku’s] Nasimi district police. Even though protesters voiced their
slogans, some of them were detained and taken to the police
department. They were later released after giving explanations.

Ahmet Davutoglu: Turkey will not allow anyone else to evaluate its history

13.03.2010 15:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ahmet Davutoglu, who is currently in Lapland city of
Finland to attend the informal meeting of foreign ministers, met with
his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt.

Davutoglu told reporters following the meeting, "we regret that
Swedish parliament decided to approve the resolution. First of all, we
think that parliaments should not evaluate such historical events
since most of parliamentarians do not have adequate information about
those events. Politicization of the history leads to serious problems
for our societies. We consider this decision of the Swedish parliament
as a big mistake. It is impossible to accept it."

"Secondly, there were perfect relations between Turkey and Sweden.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to pay a visit to
Sweden next week to further improve our bilateral relations which we
described as a kind of strategic partnership. Under the light of
recent developments, we had to cancel Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit.
Also, we recalled our ambassador in Stockholm for consultations. We
did not expect such a decision from the parliament of a friendly
country," he said.

Davutoglu said, "I conveyed our views to Bildt. We hope that such
decisions which provoke developments in the region would not be made
in the future. Turkey will not allow anyone else to evaluate its
history."

Carl Bildt, on his part, said that it was not rightful to politicize
historical issues with decisions made by parliaments. He said that
such decisions seriously damage rapprochement processes, and expressed
his sorrow.

Bildt said that Sweden, despite the decision of the parliament, would
continue extending full support to Turkey’s EU membership process.

We consider Turkey as an important part of the future Europe, he said.

Bildt added they tried hard to persuade parliamentarians that such a
decision would be a serious mistake, Anatolian News agency reported.

ANSAmed – Italy
March 12, 2010 Friday 7:04 PM CET

TURKEY: AMBASSADOR, ITALY NOT ACKNOWLEDGING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

ANKARA

(ANSAmed) Italy is not joining those countries that acknowledge the
massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917
as "genocide".

The announcement comes in a memo circulated today by the Italian
Ambassador in Ankara, correcting reports on a Turkish television
channel which had placed Italy on the list of countries that
officially considered it an act of genocide. The communiqué went on to
specify that what the TV station had said "did not correspond to the
truth" and it pointed out that Italy’s Parliament, in a resolution
passed on November 17 2000, committed the country’s government to
"exerting its influence to completely overcoming any friction between
peoples and minorities in the area in order to create the conditions
for the respecting of the territorial integrity of the two states
(Turkey and Armenia), for their peaceful coexistence and the
safeguarding of human rights as part of a more rapid integration of
Turkey into the European Union".

Turkish TV broadcast this denial immediately, thus closing the affair.

Azg, Armenia
March 12 2010

LE FIGARO INTERVIEW WITH SERZH SARGSYAN

By Hovik Afyan

Within the framework of his visit to France, President Serzh Sargsyan
gave an interview to well-known French newspaper Le Figaro. In the
interview, the President touched upon the Armenian-Turkish processes
and Karabakh conflict negotiations. Speaking of Armenian-Turkish
relations, the President once again underlined that Armenia would
ratify the protocols only after Turkish Mejlis. Serzh Sargsyan said,
"Ankara is speaking in language of preconditions that mainly refers to
Karabakh, while there is a bilateral agreement to establish relations
without preconditions". "The international community should also play
a decisive role in the process", the President said. The President
also underlined, "If we make sure that Turkey uses the process for
other purposes, Armenia will disown its signature".

What about Karabakh conflict, the President said that everything
should be done to lift the blockade on Armenia, as the latter first of
all suffers from it. "In this case, Azerbaijan is in a different
situation; they cherish hopes for their oil dollars to buy armaments
and solve the conflict militarily", Serzh Sargsyan said.

To the question whether Armenia is afraid of a war, the Armenian
President answered, "War is always undesirable and people should
always avoid conduction of wars. At the same time, we are not afraid
of fighting a war, if it is necessary. Nevertheless, our position is
to solve the conflict by peaceful means based on mutual compromises".

news.az, Azerbaijan
March 13 2010

Recognition of massacres as genocide provides additional stumbling block
Sat 13 March 2010 | 05:16 GMT Text size:

Niklas Nilsson News.Az interviews Niklas Nilsson, Research Fellow, The
Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and the Silk Road Studies Program.

How would you comment on the resolution of the House of
Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee recognizing the killings of
Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as ‘genocide’?

This is problematic for the US government and comes at a time when the
vote could seriously damage the US role in the normalization process
between Turkey and Armenia.

Secretary of state H.Clinton condemned this decision. Anyway how this
decision might harm Turkey-US relation? And how it will influence an
approaching process between Turkey and Armenia?

It reinforces those opinions in Turkey critical of warmer relations
with Armenia and undermines the US role as a mediator.

Do you believe in ratification of Turkish-Armenian protocols after that?

Difficult to say. The resolution on the genocide is just one issue of
many. But I think the way the process has developed over the last
months (Turkey connecting it to the Karabakh issue fex), plus the
resolution, makes it unlikely that the protocols can be ratified by
Turkey.

Do you expect any impact from this to the settlement of the Karabagh
problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia, taking into account that there
is a direct link between Turkish-Armenian normalization and the
settlement of this conflict?

Well, if the normalization process is connected to Karabakh, it
becomes impossible for Armenia, if not, then impossible for Turkey.
The recognition of the massacres as genocide provides an additional
stumbling block, as it undermines the US in the process and reinforces
Turkish opposition to the process.

Aliyah Fridman
News.Az

ELMAR MAMMADYAROV: THE RESOLUTION ON THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PASSED BY THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HAS NEGATIVE INFLUENCE ON THE SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT

Azerbaijan.az
March 12 2010

"If the members of the U.S. Congress discuss the events that happened
100 years ago, then they should also assess Khojaly genocide that
was committed 20 years ago," Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
told journalists.

Minister does not believe that the decision passed by the House
Committee on Foreign Affairs will cause peace and stability between
Azerbaijan and Armenia, or generally in the South Caucasus.

"Such decisions have negative influence on the settlement of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. Occupation of 20 percent of the Azerbaijani
territories by Armenia, displacement of about one million people pose
great threat to the security in the region. Therefore, we consider
that if the Congress holds any discussions on the South Caucasus,
it should not be from historical aspect, but should be connected with
the present situation," he said.

ARMENIA AND POLAND TO ESTABLISH INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION ON ECONOMIC COOPERATION

ARKA
March 12, 2010

YEREVAN, March 12, /ARKA/. Armenia and Poland will establish a
bilateral intergovernmental commission, Armenian prime minister Tigran
Srakisian said today after talks with visiting Polish counterpart
Donald Tusk.

Donald Tusk has arrived in Yerevan today morning on a one-day working
visit and was scheduled to meet also with president Serzh Sargsyan,
parliament speaker and head of the Armenian Church

Tigran Sarkisian said the intergovernmental commission will be
addressing political, economic, financial, cultural and other issues.

"We have reached agreement on specific business projects which will
be on the commission’s agenda,’ Sarkisian said.

According to the Armenian National Statistical Service, Armenia’s
trade with Poland dropped last year by 6.3% from 2008 to $34.6
million. Armenian exports to Poland totaled $656,800 ( (0.1% of all
exports). But import of Polish goods grew by 8.3% to $34 million.

Armenia sells to Poland synthetic rubber, iron and molybdenum and
imports foodstuff, beverages, tobacco goods, furniture, chemical
goods and equipmen.