Author: Vardanian Garo

ARFD SOUTH AMERICA HAY DAT MEMBER: BRAZIL SHOULD FOLLOW URUGUAY’S AND ARGENTINA’S EXAMPLE AND RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Noyan Tapan
Dec 1, 2009

BRAZIL, DECEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The third Manuel
Gonsales Latin American seminar on amnesty and human rights has taken
place lately in the capital city of Brazil on the initiative of the
Brazil parliament Committee on Human Rights. At the invitation of
Committee Chairman, Labor Party deputy Luis Gouto, lecturer of San
Andres University of Argentina and American University of Armenia,
member of ARFD South America Hay Dat (Armenian Cause) Committee
Khachik Ter-Ghukasian, as well as representative of ARFD South
America Hay Dat Committee Sao Paulo Simon Khrimian participated
in the seminar. According to Azat Or, seminar’s opening took place
on November 22 at the Republic Museum and the seminar proceeded in
parliament’s N. Ramos auditorium, with participation of specialists
from all Latin American countries, renowned intellectuals, official
representatives and human rights organizations.

Khachik Ter-Ghukasian in his speech, in particular, emphasized
that South America’s peoples, which suffered much during military
usurpations, cannot permit denial of any genocide and should struggle
to confirm all truths by the law. Uruguay and Argentina have adopted
such laws on the Armenian Genocide, the Senate of Chile has published
a statement, a respective event has been organized at the parliament
of Venesuela.

"Brazil, the most important country in South America, which is today
a mighty world power and keeps high the reputation of a defender of
moral principles, should follow the example of those countries.

Moreover, South American countries today should prevent attempts of
denying genocides. History should cease to be the monopoly of the
strong forces, it is the fair forces that should write it," Khachik
Ter-Ghukasian concluded his speech.

GERMAN EMBASSY TO COOPERATE WITH YEREVAN UNIVERSITIES

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.12.2009 14:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ German Ambassador to Armenia Hans-Jochen Schmidt
met Tuesday with Yerevan State Linguistic University (YSLU) students.

During the meeting, rector Suren Zolyan introduced the guest to the
problems concerning German language teaching at university.

The Ambassador, for his part, informed about the Embassy’s plans to
establish a German club which will cooperate with several universities
of Yerevan.

Touching on the ongoing Armenian-Turkish process, the German diplomat
voiced hope for opening of the border in the near future.

YSLU rector honored the guest with a commemorative medal dedicated
to the 70th anniversary of University establishment.

ROUND TABLE ON RESOLUTION OF CONFLICTS IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS HELD IN ATHENS

news.az
Dec 1 2009
Azerbaijan

A round table discussion on the topic "The Corfu Process, European
Security and the resolution of conflicts in the South Caucasus" was
organized by LINKS at the offices of the Foreign Press Association
of Greece in Athens on Monday 30 November 2009 on the margins of
the 17th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The panel consisted of Ambassador Unal Cevikoz, Deputy Under Secretary
for Political Affairs at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Peter Semneby
(European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus)
and Dennis Sammut (Executive Director, LINKS). Attending the event
where diplomats accredited to Greece and to the OSCE in Vienna led
by the Doyen of the Diplomatic Corps in Athens, HE Ambassador of
Chile Senora Sofia Prats, and including representatives of Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as other guests.

Dennis Sammut welcomed participants and said that LINKS was organizing
this event on the margins of the 17 Ministerial Council of the OSCE
as part of its efforts to promote better understanding of the current
debate on European security and its impact on the Caucasus region. It
was important that a wider constituency of think tanks, NGOs and civil
society engage with this debate Europe wide and in the Caucasus region
itself and LINKS was committed to contribute to this process.

In his opening remarks Ambassador Unal Cevikoz said that over the
last eighteen months the Caucasus region has seen three important
developments: the Georgia-Russia War in August 2008 and fallout from
that crisis, including the Russian recognition of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, the signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols and a new
momentum in the negotiations on the Karabakh conflict. Turkey had
reacted to the Georgia-Russia war by launching the Caucasus Security
and Co-operation Platform initiative. This initiative is not meant
to replace already existing mechanisms for resolving the conflicts
in the region but rather to be an instrument that would address the
lack of trust and dialogue between the countries of the region. Turkey
also pushed forward the process for normalizing relations with Armenia.

Turkey always felt that this would add momentum to the Karabakh peace
negotiations. The speaker said that the Georgia-Russia war showed
that the use of force fails to resolve conflicts. The subsequent
recognition by Russia of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has also changed
the parameters in the region. Turkey’s policy is not to recognize
these entities however we have a new situation on the ground.

Ambassador Cevikoz said that OSCE Ministerial meeting was discussing
a text that would emphasis the importance of establishing trust and
confidence in the conduct of relations on the European continent. This
was what the Turkish CSCP initiative sought to do. There was a very
direct relationship between European Security and the situation in
the South Caucasus and Turkey was ready to contribute to the processes
that are ongoing for further enhancing European security, as well as
to the resolution of the conflicts in the South Caucasus.

Peter Semneby said that the European Union response to the
Georgia-Russia War at the strategic level was to improve the
instruments at its disposal to engage with the South Caucasus region.

Together with the European Neighbourhood Policy instrument, the new
Eastern Partnership initiative responds to the desire of the Union’s
neighbours to the east for ever closer relations. The European Union
welcomed the process for normalization of relations between Turkey
and Armenia. This was a very delicate process and the EU needs
to continue supporting it whilst also listening to the concerns
that have been raised by Azerbaijan and in this regard the EU will
work with Azerbaijan and with the people of Azerbaijan. Whilst we
accept that there is no formal link between the developments in
Armenia-Turkish relations and the negotiations between Armenia and
Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh it was impossible to ignore the impact
of one on the other. The EU was now looking at ways in which it could
support the Karabakh peace process, including through work with civil
society and this will be build on the experience that the EU has from
work in other conflict regions. In this regard we must accept that
we don’t have unlimited time. Societies in each country have become
increasingly alienated and perceive each other through stereotypical
lenses. Speaking on the situation in Georgia EUSR Semneby said that
there were regular incidents on the administrative boundaries with
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Russian recognition of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia had created certain new difficulties. In the South
Caucasus the longest borders remain closed and this in itself creates
tensions. It was important that the Sarkozy Plan agreed at the end of
the Georgia-Russia war be fully implemented, including on the level
of Russian forces. Peter Semneby said that he hoped that more contacts
would be possible across the administrative boundaries between Georgia
and the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and that the EU had
advised the Georgian government to be open minded in its approach to
this issue. This without prejudice to the EU’s continued support for
the territorial integrity of Georgia. The speaker said that the EU
supports the work of the OSCE and regrets that in the case of Georgia
the organization was not able to fulfill its full potential. The
OSCE Mission to Georgia had been an important instrument for support
to Georgia’s fragile democracy. For the EU the OSCE is the partner
of choice in the Georgia context and the organization was uniquely
placed to contribute to that country’s democratic development.

The Chairman, Dennis Sammut, opened the floor to questions. Mark
Fawcett (Council of the European Union) asked Unal Cevikoz if there
was concern that delays in the ratification of the Turkish-Armenian
protocols might lead to a loss of the historical momentum, especially
since there have been some negative statement by Turkish MPs and
the ratification process may be delayed due to upcoming elections in
Turkey. In reply Ambassador Cevikoz said that the historic moment was
10 October 2009 because this was the day that Armenia and Turkey had
for the first time agreed on their bilateral relations since the time
of the Kars Treaty. It happened because the leaderships of the two
countries had taken a courageous decision. Ofcourse in Turkey there
was separation of power and parliament also needs to make up its mind.

Elections are not due until 2011 but before that each Turkish
parliamentarian would have to make up their mind. What they will
decide will depend also on the situation around the Karabakh conflict,
because if there are encouraging developments on that front it would
be much easier for the Turkish parliament to ratify the agreements.

Ambassador Cevikoz pointed out that in Armenia there was also some
resistance to the agreements and that the problem was not unique
to Turkey.

Ashot Grigorian (Armenian Embassy, Athens) said that the Turkish
side should not connect its bilateral relations with Armenia with
Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, in the same way that it does not
connect its relations with Georgia with Georgia-Russian relations.

This connection was not correct and would harm the development of
relations. Unal Cevikoz said the reality of the situation was that
all the processes in the South Caucasus were interlinked. The region
needs genuine dialogue and good multilateral relations. This was not
possible to achieve only through a Turkish-Armenian rapproachment.

"Our understanding is that these are two separate processes but they
impact each other. The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have met
six times this year and this is because of the momentum that has
been created by the Turkish-Armenian discussions. We have ignited
the process" said Ambassador Cevikoz.

Vugar Imamaliev (Azerbaijan Mission to the OSCE in Vienna) said that
he wanted to remind everybody that Turkey had closed its borders with
Armenia in 1994 after Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory. It
was therefore not possible to separate the re-opening of the border
from the Karabakh issue.

Ambassador Rytis Paulauskas (Ambassador-at-Large, Lithuanian Foreign
Ministry) said that Lithuania will assume the chairmanship of the
OSCE in 2011 and they are already exploring what issues should be
the priorities of the Lithuanian Chairmanship. He asked for the
views of the panel on sub regional co-operation and how this could
fit within the process of resolving conflicts in the region. Unal
Cevikoz said that it was important to find configurations that would
allow for co-operation between the countries of the South Caucasus,
as well as between the countries of the region and other states. The
Eastern Partnership also offered interesting new frameworks and there
were synergies with other initiatives and processes. He emphasised
that these initiatives should target the people of the region and
they should be encouraged to find common ground and identify issues
that are of mutual interest. The region needs a pool of confidence
building measures and these can focus on issues that are of concern
to everybody. Peter Semneby said that this was a good time to look at
sub regional co-operation, and the EU was also interested in seeing
how external partners could be brought in, for example Norway and
Switizerland who had already shown a commitment to the region. For the
EU energy, transport, and environment are priority issues but the EU
was also keen on people to people contacts and co-operation between
municipalities. Dennis Sammut agreed on the need for co-operation in
the South Caucasus and said that the importance of having Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia working together should not be underestimated.

Whatever other formations can emerge the trilateral contacts
will always remain necessary given the overlaps between the three
countries. Georgia should be encouraged to reclaim its role as a
regional actor and to make use of its good relations with Armenia
and Azerbaijan, as well as the fact that it is a multiethnic country
with large Armenian and Azerbaijani minorities in order to promote
co-operation between the three countries.

Vugar Imamaliev (Azerbaijan Mission to the OSCE) asked the panel
to comment on the proposal of President Medvedev for the adoption
of a European Security Treaty. The panel agreed that this was an
elaboration of previous Russian Initiatives that had already been
tabled by President Medvedev and Foreign Minister Lavrov. The Russian
Federation was as yet unconvinced that the Corfu Process was an
adequate response to its previous calls for a new European security
debate, but the OSCE Ministerial Council will be discussing this
in Athens in these days. Peter Semneby said that the EU considered
it important for the OSCE to take a leading role in the process to
develop the debate on European security.

Dennis Sammut said that Kazakhstan will take over the Chairmanship
of the OSCE in 2009 and that this will be a defining moment for the
organization. For the first time a CIS country and also Central Asian
country will be the head of the organization. This was initially a
controversial decision but many now think that Kazakhstan may bring
a new perspective to the OSCE. He asked the panel what were their
wishes to and from the Kazakh Chairmanship. Ambassador Cevikoz said
that he wished them luck but also he was happy with this development
because the OSCE could now truly say that it is an organization
representing the space from Vancouver to Vladivsotok and it was
important to have a Central Asian country for the first time heading
the OSCE. Kazakhstan was taking over the chairmanship at a time when
the OSCE member states were trying to redefine their security needs and
Kazakhstan could play an important role in this debate, and can bring
to it a different perspective. The speaker said that Kazakhstan was
also the initiator of the Conference on Confidence building measures
in Central Asia (CICA). Turkey will take the chairmanship of this
initiative in 2010 and this will allow it to work closely with the
Kazakh OSCE Chairmanship. Peter Semneby agreed that Kazakhstan can
play an important role, also in the South Caucasus where it has good
relations with all the countries of the region. It represents another
pole for security in the region and can make a useful contribution
to the region during the time of its chairmanship.

Dennis Sammut thanked the panel and participants and the Foreign
Press Association of Greece for providing the venue for the meeting
and closed the meeting.

VENTURE CONFERENCE TO HELP TO INCREASE INVESTMENT IN HIGH TECHNOLOGY ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.11.2009 20:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Press conference devoted to the program "Integration
of Science, Technology and Business" held in Yerevan today. As a part
of the program the Venture conference will be held on December 2 this
year. According to Bagrat Yengibaryan, EIF director, 14 projects have
been selected out of 22 applications submitted to the contest this
year. The purpose of the program is to identify the best projects of
Armenian scientists elaborated with private companies’ support. This
year 5 projects will receive investment of USD 15 thousand.

NA SPEAKER-LED DELEGATION TO PAY OFFICIAL VISIT TO KOREA

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.11.2009 22:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ By the invitation of Korean Parliament Speaker Kim
Hyong-o, Armenia’s parliamentary delegation, under the leadership of
Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan, will carry out a four-day official visit
to Korea starting from December 2. Delegation consists of Head of
National Assembly staff Gegham Garibjanyan and MPs Hovhannes Margaryan,
Armen Abrahamyan and Ara Nranyan.

Armenian delegation will have meetings with Korean Parliament Speaker
Kim Hyong-o, Prime Minister Chung Un-chan and members of Korea-Armenia
parliamentary friendship group.

During the meeting in Korean Parliament, Armenian Speaker and his
colleague will sign a memorandum of understanding.

Delegation is scheduled to meet with "GS Holdings" President Go Chan
Su and Head of Korean International Development Agency Pak Dae Uno. It
will also visit Samsung Electronics.

Armenian officials will also leave for Jeju to meet with
representatives of local self-government bodies.

news.am, Armenia
Nov 28 2009

ARFD welcomes President’s words

16:44 / 11/28/2009RA President Serzh Sargsyan’ statement at the 12th
congress of ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) can be only
welcomed, ARF Dashnaktsutyun member Hrant Margaryan told the
journalists. He underlined that President’s words bring hope that
Armenia will be more prudent further, while exposing with Turkey.

Speaking at the RPA congress, Sargsyan said that `Armenia is
consistent in its stance on relations’ establishment with Turkey,
which does not imply oblivion of Genocide issue.’ RA president pointed
out that the Protocols should be ratified within a reasonable time,
`their protraction by Turkey leads to Armenia’s accurate response in
accordance with norms of international law.’

ALL ARMENIAN TELETHON 2009 RAISES DONATIONS AND PLEDGES OF 15 MILLION 875 THOUSAND DOLLARS

Noyan Tapan
Nov 27, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s
12th annual Telethon broadcast live from Los Angeles for 12 hours
has finished. Summing up the results of the fundraising activities
this year, the Fund announced donations and pledges of 15 million 875
thousand 043 dollars. The raised sum will spent on reconstruction of
social and economic infrastructure in Shushi: water pipes, schools,
roads, apartment buildings, thus initiating the revival of Shushi. In
parallel with this work, the Fund will continue rural community
development projects in Armenia and Artsakh.

The Telethon was attended by guests from Armenia and Artsakh, including
the Fund’s Executive Director Ara Vardanian, Prime Minister of the
NKR Arayik Harutyunian. Head of the Artsakh Diocese Bishop Pargev
Martirosian, Spokesman for NKR President David Babayan, Representative
of the NKR to the U.S. Robert Avetisian, other guests and benefactors
participated in the Telethon.

One of the important fundraising events held prior to the Telethon was
the fundraising gala in Moscow where Russia-based Armenian businessmen
gave pledges of 5.29 million dollars which were also included in the
results of this year’s Telethon.

Another important fundraising event was the annual pan European
Phoneathon. Its results were donations and pledges of 1.8 million
dollars, which exceeds by 10% last year’s index of 1.5 million
dollars. More than 12,400 families participated in the Pan European
Phoneathon 2009.

According to the Fund, the Telethon 2009 was the most efficient
out of those held so far in terms of the number of participants and
considerably exceeds the indices of the previous years. The results
of the national fundraising were especially impressive in Armenia:
more than 20 thousand people made donations. Over 13 thousand people
made donations in post offices. One innovation of this year included
donations through SMS messages – thanks to VivaCell MTS, the main
sponsor of the Telethon 2009. Among sponsors were also ACBA Credit
Agricole Bank, Ameria Bank, Ardshininvestbank, and ArmPost.

The fundraising activities in Armenia and Artsakh are continuing. The
results of this year’s fundraising will be summarized in late 2009
when the Fund will sum up the donations and announce the names of
the donors.

ALIYEV AND SARGSIAN CANNOT REACH A COMPROMISE
by Yury Simonyan

WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
November 25, 2009 Wednesday
Russia

The President of Azerbaijan threatened to regain Nagorno-Karabakh
by force

HIGHLIGHT: ILKHAM ALIYEV THREATENS OPPONENTS WITH A NEW WAR FOR
NAGORNO-KARABAKH; A new meeting of the Minsk OSCE group for the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem took place in Munich. Negotiations of
presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia Ilkham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsian
were conducted in the framework of the meeting. These were the sixth
negotiations this year dedicated to the Madrid principles of conflict
resolving.

A new meeting of the Minsk OSCE group for the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem took place in Munich. Negotiations of presidents of Azerbaijan
and Armenia Ilkham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsian were conducted in the
framework of the meeting. These were the sixth negotiations this year
dedicated to the Madrid principles of conflict resolving.

The meeting in Munich like the previous meetings did not promise
a breakthrough: stances of the parties regarding the problem of
Nagorno-Karabakh remain opposite. Multi-move theoretical configurations
offered by the intermediaries finally encounter the status of
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and fragile constructions fall apart.

Baku considers the self-declared republic an integral part of
Azerbaijan and is ready to give broad autonomy to it within the united
state. Return of the "security belt" in the form of seven districts
(Kelbadzharsky, Lachinsky, Gubadlinsky, Fizulinsky, Zangelansky,
Agdamsky and Dzhabrailsky) around Nagorno-Karabakh) is demanded as a
matter of fact. The Azerbaijani party proposes establishment of joint
control over the Lachinsky Corridor that connects Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic with Armenia. The following procedure is proposed: return
of the occupied seven districts, return of all Azerbaijani refuges,
organization of a referendum about the status of Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic in the future to determine the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh once
and for all.

There is a serious problem in the latter item. According to the
constitution of Azerbaijan, organization of a referendum is allowed
in the framework of the entire Azerbaijani state but not in its
separate part or district. The authorities are not going to revise
this paragraph of the constitution. That is why it is easy to forecast
results of the common voting about the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh
in Azerbaijan.

The Armenian party considers return of some districts from the
"security belt" to Azerbaijan at the present stage, as well as
return of refugees but in exchange for recognition of independence
of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and firm guarantees of non-restarting
of hostilities. Along with this, the Armenian party reminded that
parts of Shaumyanovsky, Martakertsky and Martuninsky districts of
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic turned out to be under jurisdiction of Baku,
a referendum about the status was already organized in Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic and 99% of the population voted for independence.

These serious contradictions between Yerevan and Baku were aggravated
by hard statements of the Azerbaijani President at a meeting with
refugees at the end of the last week. Aliyev announced, "This meeting
should play the decisive role in the process of negotiations because
several meetings took place this year but they did not provide
any result. If this meeting has no result too, then our hopes for
negotiations will come to an end." Aliyev emphasized that only the
military way of restoration of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan
would remain after that. He said, "We spend billions, reinforce our
army and buy new armament and military hardware. We have a full right
to liberate our lands by the military way. If Armenia believes that
we will participate in these negotiations permanently, this is a
mistake." According to Aliyev, whereas 10-15 years ago there was a
balance both in the military and economic fields, this balance was
broken a long time ago.

Official Yerevan reacted to the verbal attack of Baku quietly. A
top-raking source said, "We have already got used to threats of
Azerbaijani politicians who ignore recommendations of international
institutions to avid aggressive rhetoric. Any conflict is resolved
by a way of compromises. In our case the Azerbaijani party does not
wish to make any concessions."

Having received rejection of the submitted bill "On recognition
of independence of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" by the government,
opposition parliamentary faction Heritage is considering a possibility
of organization of a referendum dedicated to this issue. Deputy Foreign
Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan announced, "Recognition of
independence of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic by Armenia at the current
stage is not expedient and passing of such bill is untimely."

THERE IS REASON TO TALK ABOUT NOT AN IMAGINARY, BUT TANGIBLE BREAKTHROUGH IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH TALKS: POLITICAL EXPERT

Today
730.html
Nov 24 2009
Azerbaijan

Day.Az interview with expert at Azerbaijan-based Lider TV Tofiq
Abbasov.

Day.Az: What are your views about the Munich meeting between
Azerbaijani and Armenian president?

Tofiq Abbasov: Western press widely highlighted the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict prior to the Munich meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents. Some articles and comments even discussed likelihood of
Azerbaijan’s conducting operation to compel Armenia to peace.

It is not accidenal at all. Most recently, at a meeting with a group of
refugees and internally displaced persons Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev said that the negotiations to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh must have not a formal, but specific
nature. The Azerbaijani president once again demonstrated commitment
to assertion the just position of his country which implies that the
conflict can be settled only within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

On the other hand, the Azerbaijani leader made it clear that he aims
to secure tangible steps towards resolving the problem. Apparently,
Munich meeting is seen as effective as a result of the unambiguous
and clear position. Because there is every reason to speak not about
an imaginary, but tangible breakthrough.

Q: What concrete steps can be taken in order to turn this breakthrough
into actual steps for a just settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict?

A: The peace process has been delayed by Armenia which has always
demonstrated a commitment to outright obstruction. Suffice it to
recall how Armenian negotiators made a fuss, protracted discussions
on agenda of negotiations and repeatedly returned to the previously
negotiated issues under various pretexts. Of course, such an imitation
of the talks can not last forever. It is high time for the Armenian
side to decide on fundamental matters.

The solution of the conflict should begin with withdrawal of Armenian
armed forces from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories. Only after this,
follow-up questions, including the status can be decided.

Q: Is the Armenian leadership able to explain to citizens that it is no
longer possible to protract negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

A: I think that not only the Armenia leadership, but also Armenian
society understands that the negotiations have been overly protracted.

Maybe, Armenia has certain hopes and illusions that Turkish-Armenian
rapprochement will postpone the Karabakh issue for long term or
powerful countries will maintain their incompliance constantly. But
this will not happen.

Diplomatic pressure by Azerbaijan undermines fundamental basis
of Armenia’s platform. Arguments of the Armenian diplomacy is no
longer tenable. This was possible due to the fact that Azerbaijan’s
leadership took a wise stance in negotiations and succeeded to
combine the Karabakh problems and Turkish-Armenian reconciliation in
a single context.

President Ilham Aliyev at a recent meeting with the displaced persons
noted Azerbaijan’s obvious superiority in defense and economic spheres
and country’s demographic potential, which meant at the right moment
that Azerbaijan is able to tip the scales in its favor not only in
the negotiating table. I believe not only Yerevan appreciated this
imperative in a duly manner…

This also shows that Azerbaijan is not just ready for a forceful
solution to the conflict, but also to a long war, which is the not
the same case with Armenia. Therefore, if we exclude possibility
of repetition of 1999 events which saw shooting in the Armenian
parliament, one can expect that the Armenian leadership simply have
to accept conditions referred to by the Azerbaijani leader. The reason
is realities, that is lack of alternative which Armenia faces today.

AZERBAIJANI, ARMENIAN FMS MAY SIGN DOCUMENT IN UPCOMING MEETING: RUSSIAN EXPERT

Today
743.html
Nov 24 2009
Azerbaijan

"Optimism of some of the mediators demonstrated in the negotiations
is not yet based on concrete facts," said Alexei Vlasov, Head of
the expert group at information-analytical center of Moscow State
University named after Lomonosov.

"Statements by representatives of the Minsk Group on the outcome of
the sixth round contain a reference to some significant progress in the
negotiations. The progress implies that parties touched upon issued on
which there is an apparent divergence of positions. One might ask what
was discussed in earlier meetings and on what the entire negotiation
process focused since inception of the Minsk Group," he said.

"I believe the reaction is more optimistic than the progress that has
actually been achieved in negotiations between the presidents. I think
the only and main achievement is continuation of the negotiations. It
remains unknown when and in what format Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan
will have the next meeting," Vlasov said.

Vlasov believes work session of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign
ministers prior to the OSCE Ministerial Council which will be held
on Dec. 1-2 in Athens may be effective.

"It is possible that the foreign ministers will sign some documents at
the upcoming meeting if any agreement that parties deem it necessary
not to announce in a special statements had been reached during
Sunday’s meeting," the political expert said.