Author: Torosian Aram

GORAN LENNMARKER: "US AMBASSADOR’S STATEMENT ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT IS NOT WIDE OF THE TRUTH"

APA
Feb 10 2009
Azerbaijan

Yerevan-APA. "I am very optimist and I think that the conflicting
parties can reach agreement by the end of the year.

It is important that leaders of both countries take responsibility for
the settlement of the conflict", said OSCE PA Special Representative
for Nagorno Karabakh and the South Caucasian conflicts Goran
Lennmarker in his interview with Panarmenian.net, APA reports.He said
the settlement opportunities were missed for several times. "There
are opportunities for the settlement every time, but how long we are
playing for time, it is worse for the people living in Nagorno Karabakh
at first. I consider US ambassador to Armenia was not wide of the truth
while speaking about the possibility of framework agreement". Goran
Lenmarker said the Nagorno Karabakh Armenian community could join
the negotiations in one of the phases. "Armenia is representing
the Nagorno Karabakh’s interests in the negotiations now. I hope
Azerbaijan and Armenia will reach the agreement, because it is too
important. The presidents and foreign ministers of both countries
met in Zurich recently. I don’t know the details of the talks, but
even their meeting is a positive signal".

Goran Lennmarker stressed the impossibility of military solution to
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"We observed military solution to the conflict during developments
in South Ossetia in August. The core principles should be based
on peaceful solution to the conflict. Both parties, Azerbaijan and
Armenia should be coordinated respecting the core principles. And of
course, OSCE MG should participate in the process. The settlement of
Nagorno Karabakh conflict will have impact on South Caucasus. The
event will be beginning of dialogue between the countries and EU
Eastern Partnership Initiative will play an important role within the
framework of the context. The countries, which chose the way towards
integration into EU, should take step in this direction," he added.

Lennmarker took stance on Iranian influence on the settlement of
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"We should positively approach towards any assistance directed for
the solution to the conflict. But we do not have to forget that Iran
has own problems with international community. Methinks, if Mohammad
Khatami is elected as the President of Iran, it will cause changes
in the region. Hatemi is more loyal politician in comparison with
current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad," he said.

ARMENIANS RETRACT APOLOGY

Hurriyet
Feb 10 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – An Armenian academic has retracted a planned campaign to
apologize to Turks for the killings conducted by his countrymen after
drawing fierce criticism from the Armenian diaspora, daily Hurriyet
reported on Monday.

Dr. Armen Gavakian from the Macquarie University in Sydney, inspired
by a similar Turkish initiative apologizing to Armenians, decided
last month to launch a campaign to apologize from Turks for murders
committed by the Asala organization in the 1980s.

Gakavian retracted the campaign after fierce criticism from the
Armenian diaspora, Hurriyet wrote.

Prof. Baskin Oran, one of the academics who initiated the Turkish
apology campaign, wrote in daily Agos that they were also exposed to
similar criticism from fellow citizens.

"His campaign resembles ours. Attacks from the Workshop for
Armenian/Turkish Scholarship started immediately. They asked if it
was the Turks who made him write it," Oran wrote.

Around 200 Turkish academics, writers and journalists launched a Web
site issuing an apology to Armenians "for ignoring the tragedy that
the Armenians faced in 1915." The efforts of Turkish intellectuals have
also been criticized in Turkey and incited counter Web site campaigns,
exhibitions and photographs from studies conducted into the events.

The statement prepared by Gavakian was expected to be opened for
signature this week. "I apologize to the Ottomans and Turks for
murders committed in the name of the Armenian people and I empathize
with the feelings and pain of the Ottomans and Turks," the statement
read, according to media reports. He later denied that the statement
included an apology.

Gavakian earlier told daily Radikal that Turks’ "I apologize"
campaign inspired him to launch a similar effort. "This was a great
initiative that was proof of nobility since it is hard to face one’s
past, whether as an individual or a nation. I hope the Armenians can
show the same courage as the Turks and face the skeletons in their
own closet," he said.

CLOUDS GATHERING OVER TURKISH-US RELATIONS

Hurriyet
lish/domestic/10964914.asp?gid=244
Feb 10 2009
Turkey

ANKARA – Two serious threats are on the horizon to relations between
NATO allies Turkey and the United States during the period of the new
Obama administration in Washington: a resolution recognizing Armenian
claims and the fallout from the Turkish prime minister’s encounter
with Israeli President Shimon Peres at Davos, according to a veteran
U.S. diplomat.

"The style of leadership in Washington now has changed and is quite
different from the Bush style. I am optimistic about the future of
bilateral ties but there are two very serious problems on the horizon,"
retired Ambassador James Holmes, president of the American-Turkish
Council, told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an interview
yesterday.

One issue is the negative repercussions in Washington from a public
confrontation between Peres and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan at the now-infamous Davos panel that ended when the latter
walked off stage, he said.

"As popular as that was in Turkey and in much of the Arab world it
was received very negatively in the United States and particularly
in the American-Jewish community, which has always been a supporter
and ally of Turkey," said Holmes.

"The American-Jewish community’s support for Turkey’s position on
the Armenian genocide resolution, for example, is gone. They will not
expend any political energy in blocking a resolution or a presidential
proclamation."

Holmes said he watched the full panel debate.

‘Mediator role blown away’ "I could see what happened, I could see
who raised his voice first, I could see who pointed fingers, but in
the United States we got 30 seconds in which Erdogan lost his temper
with Peres and stalked off stage. That was it and all the blame was
put on Erdogan’s shoulders," he said. "That is not a fair presentation
but is a fact of media life in the United States. I don’t think it
is permanent, I don’t think it is terribly serious but it does need
to be addressed."

Turkey has expended energy in positioning itself as peace broker in
the Middle East and according to Holmes, the mediation role has been
undertaken successfully for the better part of the year with a lot
credit going to Turkey for this.

"And in the minds of most in Washington this has been blown away now
by what happened in Davos," he said.

Holmes illustrated what he said was "the inconsistency of Turkey’s
policy of inclusiveness," in the case of Gaza when Erdogan skipped
Israel on his regional tour following the Israeli offensive and his
rhetoric excluded recognition of some of the initiatives that were
taken by Hamas and had led to violence.

As another example of inconsistency, Holmes said many in Washington
questioned the visit by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, whose
regime stands accused of genocide in Darfur.

"Turkey has shown an independent foreign policy streak over the last
three or four years, much of that was appreciated or well-received in
the United States. Over time people have begun to understand there
was value in Turkey’s ability to speak with Hamas, there was value
in its ability to work with the leadership of Syria," Holmes said.

Anti-Semitism "But this is certainly not the case with
al-Bashir. Turkey received al-Bashir and his deputy was recently here
(in Ankara), so many people have scratched their heads and asked what
is going on here."

While the government’s strong rhetoric against Israel raised questions
over Turkey’s regional role, it also awakened grave distress among
Turkish Jews over rising anti-Semitism.

Holmes said some instances, particularly in Istanbul, had frightened
the Turkish-Jewish community and led to the emergence of a feeling in
Washington that Turkey and the government were moving in the direction
of anti-Semitic behavior. "This is another sign of anti-Western
behavior on the part of Turkey that has to be addressed," he added.

"It is all loss, no gain. This is the message that we need to get
across in Washington," he said referring to Armenians’ efforts to make
their claims regarding the 1915 incidents recognized as "genocide".

Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million
of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915.

Turkey rejects the claims saying that 300,000 Armenians, along with at
least as many Turks, died in civil strife that emerged when Armenians
took up arms, backed by Russia, for independence in eastern Anatolia.

The issue remains unsolved as Armenia drags its feet on accepting
Turkey’s proposal to form an independent commission to investigate
the claims.

HEAD OF PACE SUBCOMMITTEE: "WE WILL CLEARLY NEED TO STUDY AND UNDERSTAND EXISTING (AND PAST) FROZEN AND LIVE CONFLICTS, INCLUDING NAGORNO KARABAKH"

Today.Az
politics/50574.html
Feb 9 2009
Azerbaijan

According to head of the newly created subcommittee David Wilshire,
the subcommittee will study Nagorno Karabakh and other conflicts to
prevent wars in Europe.

He said the subcommittee was set up in response to one of the
preliminary conclusions reached when thinking about lessons that could
be learned from the Russia-Georgia war. This preliminary conclusion
was that warning signs and comments by Russians and Georgians were
not taken as seriously as they could have been over a considerable
period of time by Member States of the Council of Europe.

The subcommittee has two tasks: "to organise a conference for all
those invited in monitoring and /or assisting with issues that might
lead to an outbreak of violence between countries. The aims for the
conference will be to learn about what is currently being done by
various organisations (such as the UN, OSCE, NATO, CIS, CofE, EU,
etc)explore whether working together is a possibility and discuss
how we might all do more to prevent further wars in Europe.

At the same time, the head of the subcommittee noted that working to
resolve ‘frozen conflicts’ and/or become involved in the consequences
of a ‘live conflict’ are not part of our terms of reference. "However,
we will clearly need to study and understand existing (and past)
frozen and live conflicts. This will of course include Nagorno
Karabakh. If our work is successful it would seek to play a part in
drawing the attention of Member States to the risk of this ‘frozen
conflict’ being in danger of thawing out and becoming a new war –
so that steps could be taken to alert Member States and thus help
prevent an outbreak of fighting".

CHARLES AZNAVOUR REFUSES TO BECOME ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO SWITZERLAND

APA
Feb 9 2009
Azerbaijan

Paris-APA. French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour refused to become
Armenian Ambassador to Switzerland, Aznavour said while giving an
interview to Spanish El Pais newspaper, APA reports.

He said that he did not want to loose his freedom.

"Armenian president has proposed me to be Ambassador to Switzerland
recently. I was proud of it and rejoiced. I think that if I accept
proposal, I will lose my independence," he said.

Aznavour received Armenian citizenship in December, 2008.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Russia’s proposals on European security should be taken seriously
07.02.2009 15:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana welcomed
Medvedev’s European security proposals as a starting point for further
discussion.

"The president of the Russian Federation has made some proposals. They
are still to be made more precise, but I would like to say that for me
they are the right ideas, they should be taken seriously," Solana
said. "Engagement in a debate is in itself a road to build trust."

"Cooperation between the EU, the US and Russia on some of most
difficult issues has been very positive: Iran, the Middle East,
non-proliferation, terrorism … I hope that will continue and be
expanded to the financial crisis and climate change," Solana said.

MEHMET EROL: CSTO RAPID REACTION FORCE SECOND WARSAW PACT

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.02.2009 18:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Kyrgyzstan’s decision is as noteworthy as Russia’s
move to create a bloc because this is another concrete act showing
us that Russia is returning to the Caucasus in order to establish a
military bloc, a Turkish expert said.

"While doing this, Moscow is also trying to influence certain countries
which have distanced themselves from the idea of becoming part of such
a bloc. This situation may take us back to the conditions similar to
those of the Cold War era, when there was a bipolar world – centered
on Washington and Moscow. This time, we will not see a bipolar, but we
will see a multipolar system; but yet again, tensions between Russia
and the West will be the determining factor within this multi-polar
system," associate Professor Kasim Kamer said.

"Turkey took great advantage of the bipolar system. It became a NATO
member although it didn’t take part in World War II. Now, the new
tension will be positively reflected on Turkey’s relationship with
the West. Of course, Turkey should also outline some new strategies,
for example it can improve military cooperation with Azerbaijan," said
Kamer, an expert on the Caucasus from the Ankara-based International
Strategic Research Organization (ISRO/ USAK).

"The West is facing powerful competition from Russia both in the
fields of energy and the military. Turkey’s importance will increase
through the Black Sea to Central Asia and Ankara will use this to
its advantage in this new era," Kamer said.

According to Dr. Mehmet Seyfettin Erol, this is basically a new or a
second Warsaw Pact and another great game has begun. What triggered
this new game is Obama’s decision to focus on Afghanistan.

With turning its attention to the Collective Security Treaty
Organization, Russia wants to assume an integrationist policy in "its
Near Abroad," Erol said, adding that Russia will soon force former
Soviet Union countries and Soviet satellite countries in the Balkans,
Eastern Europe and the Baltic to join this new bloc.

"In the past, Washington was using political, economical and
security-related interventions to keep Turkey on side, but since
Turkey has tried hard to overcome its weaknesses related to these
issues with its multi-dimensional diplomacy, now the U.S. will have
to take Turkey’s interests and concerns into consideration if it
wants Turkey to help. Russia meanwhile doesn’t want to intimidate
Turkey as bilateral relations has been based on cooperation but not
on competition since the signing of the Eurasia Agreement in New
York in 2001. Thus, the step which will be taken by Turkey will be
decisive in this big game and with this step; Ankara will not openly
side with any of the parties, trying to balance the situation with
collective regional efforts," Erol said, Today’s Zaman reports.

RUSSIA DISAPPROVES OF EU EASTERN PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM: RUSSIAN MP

ARKA
Feb 6, 2009

YEREVAN, February 6. /ARKA/. Russia disapproves of the EU Eastern
Partnership Program, said Sergei Markov, Russian MP, member of Russia’s
delegation in PACE.

"We consider the Eastern Partnership an attempt to turn post-soviet
states of Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova,
into a near abroad, a kind of a colony," he said during a space
bridge between Yerevan and Moscow on the impact of the integration
of sovereign states into international organizations.

According to Markov, Russia has long established friendly relations
with East European countries that have been linked to each other
since Soviet times.

The Russian MP hailed collaboration and friendly relations with
East European countries, saying the Eastern Partnership Program
aims at strengthening one-way influence of the European Union on
those countries.

The expert underlined that propagating democratic principles in
Estonia and Latvia aroused a Nazi movement and deprive one third of
the population from the right to vote.

"This is why, we consider the Eastern Partnership policy to be an
element of the so-called zero-sum policy, with EU being hostile
towards the Russian influence," he added.

Markov urged Eastern Europe to give up the EU policy and cooperate
both with Russia and Europe.

In his turn, Deputy Director of the Institute of the CIS States
Vladimir Zharikhin said the Eastern Partnership Program implies
cooperation, not social responsibilities boiling down to cheap
manpower.

Approved by 27 EU member-states at the December 2008 summit in
Brussels, the initiators of the Eastern Partnership were Poland
and Sweden. The program aims at bringing together Ukraine, Armenia,
Moldavia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and, possibly, Belarus.

The program’s objective is to boost political cooperation and
integrate ex-soviet states into EU economy, as well as extend financial
assistance to these countries and ensure energy safety in post-soviet
space.

"MOTHER MORTALITY RATE HIGH IN ARMENIA"

Panorama.am
16:31 02/02/2009

The development speed of cutting down the rate of children and
mother mortality in Armenia shows that Armenia will not be able to
shortcut the mortality rate by 2/3% till 2015, said Laily Moshiri,
the representative of UN children’s office in Armenia.

According to the UNICEF report the mother mortality rate in Armenia
is rather serious. Mother mortality rate in Armenia is 1 to 180 and
in developed countries 1 to 8000.

According to the UN representative insufficient prenatal and birth
care, lack of professional staff and equipments are the basic reasons
to high rate of mortality.

AGAINST ANTI-SCIENTIFIC AND ANTI-ARMENIAN MANUALS

Panorama.am
20:00 02/02/2009

A group of Armenian students from Brussels spread a message expressing
their concern over the fact that the manuals and books on Armenian
History in the schools should be the same for Armenians abroad and
in Armenia.

The message says: "There is only one history of Armenia. Our demand
is to provide Armenian schoolchildren and students the same books on
Armenian history abroad and in Armenia. Armenia should be the center
to confirm any book.

Our demand is that the scientific centers of the US universities
stop teaching the students "Armenians from ancient times to our days"
antiscientific and anti-Armenian books."