Author: Torgomian Varazdat

DAVUTOGLU OFFERS TURKEY TO MEDIATE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT PROCESS

Tert.am
11:20 â~@¢ 19.03.10

Turkey can co-habit with Armenia, said Turkish Minister of Foreign
Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu to reporters, while on a plane to Bulgaria,
reports Turkish news source Sabah.

"Our conflict with the Serbs has a thousand-year history, while our
issues with the Armenians, one century. And if we were able to change
the nature of Turkish-Serbian relationships in one year, to co-habit
with them, why won’t we do the same in Armenia’s case?" said Davutoglu.

"Over a period of six months, I met with my Serbian counterpart
11 times. The Armenians don’t discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh issue
with us, saying ‘You side with Azerbaijan.’ However, we say, ‘If
by talking to Serbia we settled the issue, we will resolve it with
you, as well.’ Thanks to us, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
were able to live side-by-side, as a result of which Bosnia and
Herzegovina sent an ambassador to Bosnia. The pain and suffering were
greater in the conflict between the Serbs and Bosnians than in the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

"After speaking with the president of Bosnia and Herzegovina at
the airport for two hours in the middle of the night, the issue
with the Serbs was resolved. Now it’s the Serbs turn to apologize
for Srebrenica. And if we can talk with the Serbs, with whom we’ve
struggled against for a thousand years, why won’t we talk with the
Armenians? It’s been six months since we’ve been holding trilateral
meetings with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Why wouldn’t we do
the same for Armenia and Azerbaijan?" said Davutoglu.

According to Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review, in recent months,
Davutoglu has engaged in intense diplomatic talks between Serbia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries in the region in an effort
to end potential strife between the neighboring nations.

Earlier, Turkey-mediated talks had prompted Serbia and Bosnia and
Herzegovina to appoint ambassadors to each others’ capitals.

ARMENIA TO PARTICIPATE IN WOMEN’S HANDBALL TOURNAMENT IN ISRAEL

Tert.am
16:45 ~U 18.03.10

On March 19-21 and April 2-4, 2010, eight teams will convene
in two regions to play the 2010 IHF/EHF (International Handball
Federation/European Handball Federation) Women’s Challenge Trophy. The
sixth edition of the competition will be hosted by the National
Federations of Estonia and Israel, according to the official EHF
website.

This edition of the competition is a cooperation event between
the International Handball Federation and the European Handball
Federation. Teams from Cyprus, Israel, Malta and Armenia will be
participating in the March tournament (which will be held in Israel).

EBRD PRESIDENT THOMAS MIROW VISITS ARMENIA

ARKA
March 18, 2010

YEREVAN, March 18, /ARKA/. EBRD President Thomas Mirow has arrived
today in Armenia as part of his three-day trip to the South Caucasus.

This will be Mr. Mirow’s first official visit to Armenia since taking
office in July 2008.

EBRD President will meet the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan,
as well as other senior officials including Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan, Minister of Economy and EBRD Governor from Armenia Nerses
Yeritsian, Minister of Finance Tigran Davtian and Governor of the
Central Bank Artur Javadian.

He will also meet the heads of local partner banks as well as the
representatives from the diplomatic community.

During his visit, Mr. Mirow will underline the EBRD’s continued
commitment to Armenia, promote the continuation of the reform process
in the country, as well as further growth and development of the
region.

The EBRD has stepped up its support to Armenia in light of the global
financial crisis. The Bank has committed [email protected] million to Armenia
in 2009, which is a record high number. Most of the EBRD’s portfolio
in Armenia is in the private sector.

The EBRD is one of the largest investor in Armenia, with more than
~@393 million committed in over 77 projects in many sectors of the
Armenian economy.

MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS: THE TALKS WITH ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WERE CONSTRUCTIVE

Armradio.am
18.03.2010 11:09

PARIS, 17 March 2010 – The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,
Ambassadors Yuri Merzlyakov of Russia, Bernard Fassier of France,
and Robert Bradtke of the United States, released the following
statement today:

"The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs (Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov,
the Russian Federation; Ambassador Bernard Fassier, France; and
Ambassador Robert Bradtke, United States) met with Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian March 16 in Paris, where they held a working
session. They discussed the Armenian comments on the Co-Chairs’ latest
formulations of the Basic Principles for the peaceful settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The talks were held in a constructive
spirit, and will be continued during the forthcoming travel of the
Co-Chairs to Yerevan and Nagorno-Karabakh."

ROMANIA SUPPORTS SOLUTION TO NAGORNO KARABAKH BASING ON COUNTRIES’ TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND INVIOLABILITY OF BORDERS

APA
March 18 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku. Viktoria Dementieva – APA. Romania supports peaceful solution
to Nagorno Karabakh conflict basing on the territorial integrity.

APA reports that Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi, who is
paying official visit to Azerbaijan, said this at the press conference
held with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov.

"We want the conflict to be solved within the international law,
basing on the principles of the countries’ territorial integrity and
inviolability of the borders," Minister underlined.

He noted that he was optimistic of the prospects of the solution to
the conflict.

TWO ARMENIAN – SLOVAKIAN DOCUMENTS SIGNED

Aysor
March 18 2010
Armenia

The Foreign Minister of Slovakia, Miroslav Laychak, is now in Armenia
by the invitation of the Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

During the visit he had to have meetings with the Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan and RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

As the journalist of Aysor.am reports in the frameworks of the meeting
of the two Foreign Ministers have been signed an agreement on Air
communication and a memorandum on Mutual understanding.

Document signing will be followed by a joint press conference.

There will be launched an Armenian – Slovakian business forum in
Yerevan in the frameworks of the Slovakian visit.

WASHINGTON ‘INTERESTED’ IN AZERBAIJAN’S COMPREHENSIVE SUPPORT TO TURKEY

news.az
March 17 2010
Azerbaijan

STRATFOR STRATFOR says that Azerbaijan’s place in this situation is an
interesting one, especially the US view of Baku’s support for Ankara.

The resolution that passed the House Foreign Relations Committee was
designed by a handful of Congressmen [Representatives Adam Schiff
(D-Calif.), George Radanovich (R-Calif.), and Congressional Armenian
Caucus co-chairs Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill)] and
Senators [Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.). The
Senators and Congressmen did consult the Armenian National Committee
of America (ANCA) on the draft.

It was not prepared by the White House, who is against the vote taking
place in Congress, knowing it will harm current relations with Turkey.

Also, this is simply a non-binding resolution that will be voted
on by Congress in May, according to the report of STRATFOR global
intelligence company.

There are forces in the US government–mainly the handful of Senators
and Congressmen–who are using this resolution as an excuse to put
pressure on Turkey for a number of things: the Armenian protocols,
strengthening relations with Russia and keeping Ankara in line in
negotiations over Iran and Afghanistan. But the White House knows
this is not the way to go about applying such pressure and wants to
try to block the vote actually going to Congress in May.

Turkey’s response has been more symbolic than anything.

It has recalled its ambassador to the US and is rumored to be
re-thinking a few economic deals with the US. But Ankara has not
done much else. There has been the belief that this resolution will
kill the protocols between Ankara and Yerevan, however, STRATFOR had
seen no sign that the protocols were going to pass Turkish parliament
anyway. Any tie between the resolution and the protocols is then

Azerbaijan’s place in this situation is an interesting one, especially
the US view of Baku’s support for Ankara. It is a mixed bag of
responses to Azerbaijan. On the one hand, the US is annoyed that Baku
is supporting the delay on the protocols ratification between Ankara
and Yerevan.

But on the other hand, Washington wants Turkey and Azerbaijan to
re-form their ties which have been broken since Armenia and Turkey
started their talk of the protocols. Turkey is the US’s best response
to a resurging Russia in the Caucasus, so having Baku and Ankara on
the same page is key, even if it means sacrificing any progress with
Armenia. The US is in a tough spot when it comes to keeping Russia
contained in the Caucasus.

TURKEY THREATENS TO DEPORT 100,000 ARMENIANS

MSNBC
247/ns/world_news-europe/
March 17 2010

‘I don’t have to keep them in my country,’ Turkish premier says

ANKARA – Turkey’s prime minister has warned that he might deport
up to 100,000 Armenians living in Turkey without citizenship after
resolutions passed by U.S. and Swedish lawmakers defining World War
One-era killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

Earlier this month, Turkey withdrew its ambassadors to Washington
and Stockholm after a U.S. congressional committee and the Swedish
parliament passed the non-binding resolutions.

It also warned that the resolutions could affect progress in fragile
reconciliation process between Turkey and Armenia.

Asked during an interview with the BBC Turkish service in London
on Tuesday what he thought about the resolutions, Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan said: "There are currently 170,000 Armenians living
in our country. Only 70,000 of them are Turkish citizens, but we are
tolerating the remaining 100,000."

He added: "If necessary, I may have to tell these 100,000 to go back
to their country because they are not my citizens. I don’t have to
keep them in my country."

The majority of Armenians in Turkey live and work in Istanbul. Many
came after an earthquake in their homeland in 1988 and work illegally
and send remittances home.

‘Important decision’ for Armenia Erdogan accused the Armenian diaspora
of being behind the resolutions in foreign parliaments, and called
on Armenia and other foreign governments to avoid being swayed by
their lobbying.

"Armenia has an important decision to make. It should free itself from
its attachment to the diaspora. Any country which cares for Armenia,
namely the U.S., France and Russia, should primarily help Armenia to
free itself from the influence of the diaspora."

Erdogan’s comments threaten to strain Turkish-Armenian ties, which
are traumatized by the deportation and killing of Armenians during
the chaotic end of the Ottoman empire nearly a century ago.

Click for related content House panel OKs Armenian genocide measure

The issue of the Armenian massacres is deeply sensitive in Turkey,
which accepts that many Christian Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks but vehemently denies that up to 1.5 million died and that it
amounted to genocide — a term employed by many Western historians
and some foreign parliaments.

Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia agreed last year to establish
diplomatic ties and open their border if their parliaments approved
peace accords, but the votes have not taken place and the governments
have accused each other of trying to rewrite the texts.

HEAD OF OSCE OFFICE IN YEREVAN CALLS DOMESTIC POLITICAL SITUATION IN ARMENIA STABLE

ArmInfo
2010-03-15 18:05:00

ArmInfo. The domestic political situation in Armenia is rather stable
and there are no threats of destabilization, Ambassador Sergey Kapinos,
Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, told media when commenting on
the statement by the first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan
who predicted extraordinary parliamentary and presidential elections.

The diplomat believes that economic crisis seriously affected Armenia,
first of all, because of the slump of money transfers from abroad,
where many Armenians work. S. Kapinos believes that economy of Armenia
proved not so effective, modern and dynamics as one could think
on the basis of the GDP growth. "All this, indeed, creates certain
social tension. There are also other factors creating tension, for
instance, normalization of relations with Turkey. However, I do not
predict any high tension that could lead to extraordinary elections,"
Sergey Kapinos said.

Speaker of Armenian Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan thanks Sweden for
Genocide recognition

13.03.2010 13:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Speaker of the RA Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan
addressed a letter of thanks to Per Erik Gunnar Westerberg, Speaker of
the Swedish Riksdag in connection with the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide by the Swedish Parliament.

In the letter Speaker Abrahamyan, on behalf of the Armenian
Parliament, expressed profound gratitude to the Swedish Parliament for
approving a just resolution on the Armenian Genocide.

`By recognizing the Armenian Genocide you contributed to the
prevention of similar crimes in the future…By its historic decision
the Swedish Parliament also contributed to peace and stability in the
South Caucasus,’ the letter says.

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic
destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during
and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to
lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths
reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the
Genocide survivors.

To date, twenty countries and 44 U.S. states have officially
recognized the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide
scholars and historians accept this view.