Author: Tumanian Talar

CONGRESSMAN BERMAN URGES TURKEY TO END COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE PRACTICE OF CLOSED BORDERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.06.2008 16:09 GMT+04:00

Between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea lie the countries of the
Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Due to disputes that have
festered over the course of many years, there are enough compelling
questions involving these three countries and their neighbors to occupy
us all day long, Howard L. Berman, chairman of the U.S. House Foreign
Relations Committee said in his opening statement at "The Caucasus:
Frozen Conflicts and Closed Borders" hearing.

"During the course of this hearing I’d like to focus on the frozen
conflicts affecting economic and political integration in the region,
and how U.S.

foreign policy is responding to them.

"I’d like to start with one of the most puzzling and problematic
matters: the Turkish land blockade of Armenia, in place since
1993. It’s a punishing policy that holds the Armenian economy back
and enormously increases the cost of much of Armenia’s trade with
other nations.

"The land blockade is also, quite possibly, illegal, as it seems to
breach Turkey’s undertaking in the 1922 Treaty of Kars to keep its
border-crossings with Armenia open. And it violates the spirit of the
World Trade Organization, of which both Turkey and Armenia are members.

"It’s baffling why Ankara would want to pursue this land blockade,
which also harms the economy of eastern Turkey, and is therefore
clearly contrary to its own interests. It’s no secret that many
Turkish businessmen, especially in the east, have been lobbying for
lifting the land blockade.

"It also seems manifestly contrary to the strategic interests
of Turkey, which purports to be a solid member of the Western
alliance. Without an outlet to Turkey or Azerbaijan, Armenia is forced
to rely on its connections to two of Turkey’s historical rivals,
Russia and Iran – and given how antithetical the Iranian regime is to
the secular, modern Turkish government, it seems odd that Ankara would
want to undertake any actions that will enhance Tehran’s influence
in Yerevan.

"Furthermore, the land blockade has done absolutely nothing to
persuade Armenia to alter its policies on the Nagorno Karabakh issue –
the ostensible cause of the land blockade in the first place. Nor is
there any prospect that it will do so. Armenia has demonstrated its
resolve to support the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. Turkey is more
likely to win influence with the Armenian government if it pursues
a policy of good-neighborliness than if it slams the border closed.

"Why hasn’t the State Department – which opposes the land blockade
– spoken out more forcefully on this matter? Certainly it’s in our
interest to diminish Iran’s influence among its neighbors, not to
enhance it. Ambassador Fried, I’m hoping you’ll lay out for us the
steps our government has taken and is taking to convince our ally
Turkey to end, once and for all, this counter-productive practice of
closed borders," Congressman Berman said.

U.S. CONGRESS OPENS HEARING ON CAUCASUS REGION TODAY

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.06.2008 13:18 GMT+04:00

On June 18, the House Foreign Affairs Committee members will focus,
in an exercise of their oversight responsibilities, on the opportunity
to question State Department officials on U.S. policy regarding Armenia
and the surrounding area, the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) told PanARMENIAN.Net.

Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Dan Fried will testify before
the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday June 18th at 10:00am
EDT regarding U.S.

policy toward the Caucasus region. Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) and
his fellow Committee members will be focusing on a wide range of issues
including the ongoing blockade of Armenia, U.S. policy on the Armenian
Genocide, and foreign aid. Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. Nabi Sensoy
recently denied the existence of a Turkish blockade, arguing that
there are many Armenians who serve as "nannies" to Turkish children.

The World Bank estimates that Turkey and Azerbaijan’s blockades of
Armenia reduce Armenia’s GDP by up to 38% annually.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), along with Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA)
and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ)
and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) recently introduced the "End the Turkish
Blockade of Armenia" Bill (H.R. 6079), which calls upon Turkey to
end its blockade of Armenia and asks the U.S. Department of State to
report on its efforts towards this end.

TURKEY OPENS SECRET ARCHIVES ON 1915 EVENTS

Anatolia News Agency
June 17 2008
Turkey

ANKARA (A.A) -17.06.2008 -Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on
Tuesday that Turkey opened to researchers its most secret archives
regarding the incidents of 1915 .

"Keeping record of history is not a business of politicians and/or
parliaments. It should be a business of historians and scholars,"
Gul told the 11th International Congress on "Social and Economic
History of Turkey" held at Ankara’s Bilkent University.

"That is our government’s stance on Armenian allegations which
constantly remain on the agenda," President Gul said.

Stating that Turkey was proud of its history, Gul said researchers
could take advantage of Turkey’s most secret archives.

-ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS-

Turkey has long been facing a systematic campaign of defamation
carried out by Armenian lobbying groups. The Armenian diaspora has
lately increased its pressure on national and local parliaments for
the recognition of their unfounded allegations in regard to the events
of 1915.

Until today the parliaments of Argentina, Belgium, France, Netherlands,
Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Lebanon, the Russian Federation, Slovakia,
Uruguay, Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration, Poland, Germany,
Lithuania, Chile, Venezuela and the European Parliament passed either
resolutions or issued statements. In addition, some local parliaments
in the USA, Canada, Britain, Australia, Argentina and Switzerland
adopted similar resolutions.

Turkey is of the opinion that parliaments and other political
institutions are not the appropriate fora to debate and pass judgments
on disputed periods of history. Past events and controversial periods
of history should be left to the historians for their dispassionate
study and evaluation.

In 2005, Turkey has officially proposed to the government of Armenia
the establishment of a joint commission composed of historians and
experts from both sides to scrutinize together the events of 1915 not
only in the archives of Turkey and Armenia but also in the archives
of all relevant third countries and to share their findings with the
internetional public opinion. Unfortunately, Armenia has not responded
positively to this initiative. However Turkey’s proposal is still on
the table.

NATO OFFICIAL: AZERBAIJAN’S NATO MEMBERSHIP IS NOT ON THE AGENDA

Azeri Press Agency
June 16 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva -APA. "Azerbaijan’s NATO membership is not
on the agenda", Head of the Planning Section at NATO’s Operations
Division, Diego Ruiz Palmer said, APA reports

Palmer noted that first of all official Baku should appeal for it. The
guest evaluated Azerbaijan as one of the active partner of NATO
and added that there were good relations between NATO and BAKU. He
stressed that Azerbaijan’s NATO membership will include into agenda
in some periods.

Palmer touched upon Nagorno Karabakh conflict and stressed that
NATO supported all efforts of OSCE MG in the settlement of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict.

ACTIVITIES OF FOUR PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES WERE SUSPENDED

KarabakhOpen
17-06-2008 09:35:59

The ministry of education and science discussed the issue of four
private universities in Karabakh. On June 5 and 6 the license
and accreditation commission monitored the representation of the
Yerevan branch of the Russian-Armenian Modern Academy of Humanities,
the Stepanakert branch of the University of Management of Yerevan,
the Stepanakert branch of Yerevan university and Grigor Lusavorich
University.

Six months ago the universities had been monitored, and they were
given six months to make their activities comply with a number of
requirements.

This year admission to the first three universities will be postponed
up to August 11. The rector of Grigor Lusavorich University Georgy
Sahakyan requested transferring students to Grigor Narekatsi
University.

COMMISSION DISCUSSED HOUSING ISSUES

KarabakhOpen
12-06-2008 11:38:10

The issue of construction of 27 houses for the families of killed
soldiers was not discussed in the meeting of the State Commission
for Housing Coordination.

According to the minister of social security Narine Azatyan, the
commission checked the lists submitted by the heads of regional
administrations, and there are also videos and photos. However, the
meeting of the Commission decided to conduct an additional survey
before making a decision.

The members of the commission approved the decision to build a house
for the family of Mikhail Arushanyan in Stepanakert. We wrote about
his eight children growing up in a half-ruined house in the village
of Khachen.

The commission also decided to provide 8 of 18 apartments in an
apartment building which is being renovated in Martakert.

Four houses will be built as part of the program of stimulating the
rate of birth. The family of Samvel Mnatsakanyan who used to live in
the house at 18 Azatamartikneri Street which was demolished will get
an apartment in the house which is being built at 9 Azatamartikneri
Street in Stepanakert.

Two houses will be built in the village of Nor Maragha, Martakert,
for new settlers.

THREE TIMES OLYMPIC CHAMPION ALBERT AZARIAN CUP INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN
NOYAN TAPAN
JUne 11, 2008

T he 6th International Tournament of three times champion of Olympic
Games, best sportsmen of the 20th century Albert Azarian will be held
on June 12-14 at Albert Azarian Specialized Sports School of Young
Gymnasts. National teams of Georgia, Iran, Syria, and Armenia will
take part in the tournament.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BUILD DEMOCRACY AT ONCE IN ARMENIA, RAFIK PETROSIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 6, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 6, NOYAN TAPAN. Before adoption of constitutional
amendments in 2005, there was no clear separation among the three
branches of power, chairman of the NA Standing Committee on State
and Legal Issues Rafik Petrosian said at the June 6 discussion. In
his words, under the current Constitution, the power branches are
separated from each other and have the opportunities to keep each
other in check. One "checking" circumstance is that, for example, the
RA president signs NA-adopted laws and he has the right to disagree
with their contents and put a veto. Besides, the National Assembly
has the right to express no confidence of the government, while the
Ombudsman can "influnce both the legislative and executive bodies if
human rights are neglected during their activities". Rafik Petrosian
stated that establishment of the institution of omudsman was a step
aimed at balancing and checking the authorities.

Member of NA "Heritage" faction Armen Harityunian in his turn said
that there is no balance among the power branches. The constitution
stipulates such balance but it does not exist in reality. As he put it,
today’s "shameful trials" of opposition supporters and persecutions
of many of them show that the judicial system, which represents
the highest power, obeys the instructions of a lower power – the
prosecutor’s office which is part of the government.

In response R. Petrosian admitted that "there are numerous flaws in
Armenia". He added that the government has always tried to "make the
National Assembly the body of its pocket". He expressed an opinion that
the NA’s mistake is that it passes all laws proposed by the executive
body without proper discussions. "It is impossible to build democracy
at once in Armenia," R. Petrosian said.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION TRANSFERS 5 MILLION EURO ASSISTANCE TO ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
June 9, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The European Commission has disbursed
the first instalment of a 16 million package to fight unemployment,
especially among the young workforce, through reforms of the Vocational
Education and Training (VET) sector. The funds are part of the European
Commission’s 2007 Annual Action Programme for Armenia, endowed with
a total of 21 million assistance funds. The programme as a whole aims
at improving the VET institutions as well as the cooperation between
employment and education sectors, and at enhancing the business
climate for boosting job-creation.

This first transfer was made on June 5, 2008. Two further instalments
are foreseen until 2010.

In the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), Armenia
and the European Commission have agreed to focus assistance of the
European Union to Armenia allocated in 2007 on further reforms of
the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector, building on
extensive experience and lessons learned from previous TACIS and
other EU funded projects. EU assistance to VET reforms in Armenia
for 2008 will be delivered through large scale Budget Support of 15
mln EUR, completed by a 1 mln EUR project of technical assistance,
i.e. 16 mln EUR in total.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the Armenian delegation of the European
Commossion, in the period 1992-2006 the European Commission has
provided more than 400 million euro in grants to Armenia through a
wide range of instruments, the most important ones being TACIS, ECHO,
Food Security Programme (FSP), European Initiative for Democracy and
Human Rights (EIDHR) and Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA).

More particularly, since 1999, the EU has spent over 25 mln EUR to
development of the Education sector in Armenia, through support to
VET reforms and TEMPUS programme.

SOME MORE RUSSIAN COMPANIES’ WEBSITES SHOW NAGORNO KARABAKH AS INDEPENDENT STATE

Azeri Press Agency
June 9 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Zaur nurmammadov-APA. APA Information Agency continues to find
out the companies showing Azerbaijan’s Nagorno Karabakh region, as
an independent state, or a part of Armenia. The website of Russia’s
"Rosfoto" photo bank showed Nagorno Karabakh as a part of Armenia.

"This is the most ancient monastery in Nagorno Karabakh that is a
part of Armenia" is written under the photo of one of the temples of
Dadivank monastery. (). Besides,
STREAM internet project, which is engaged in taking, publishing
and keeping the photos, also showed Nagorno Karabakh as an
independent state. Photos of Azerbaijan’s occupied territory
Nagorno Karabakh have been posted on the website. One of them
is the photo of the building knocked down during Karabakh war
( 688cdf111cb527342809e0c0dff38).

"This building is located in the center of Stepanakert, the capital
of Nagorno Karabakh Republic. A part of the building was knocked down
as a result of attack of Azerbaijani aviation, but the facade of the
building is being restored" is written under the photo.

Nagorno Karabakh is shown as an independent state on the website
of Russia’s Zolotaya Korona company producing flags and pennons –