Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

Interfax, Russia
April 17 2009

Soldiers accused of contacts with Armenia’s special services go on
trial in Azerbaijan

BAKU April 17

Azerbaijan’s military tribunal has begun trying a group of Armed
Forces servicemen suspected of cooperation with Armenian special
services, a tribunal spokesman told Interfax on Friday.

"Today, the military tribunal for cases opened into grave crimes held
a preliminary session related to the case of four servicemen of
Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces who are accused of cooperation with
Armenia’s special services," the spokesman said.

Presiding Judge Rashida Guseinova ordered the court proceedings to
start on April 27.

The Azeri authorities accuse servicemen Orkhan Ismailov, Mushvig
Bagirov, Elchin Mamedov and Shamo Dashdemirov of high treason and
violations of military service rules.

Hürriyet, ANKARA
April 18 2009

No clue on what ‘model partnership’ means

ANKARA – Turkey is uncertain what the U.S. president referred to when
describing the relationship as a ‘model partnership.’ The Foreign
Ministry penned a wide-ranging memo on the outcomes of Obama’s visit
that stated ‘no information on the substance of a model partnership’

Turkey is still uncertain to what U.S. President Barack Obama
referred to when he described relations between Turkey and the United
States as a "model partnership."

The Foreign Ministry has just completed a broad memo on the outcomes
of Obama’s visit to Turkey on April 6 and 7, after analyzing the full
records of his meetings with President Abdullah Gül and Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an. One interesting point is that
Obama did not actually use "model partnership" during the talks but
mentioned it in the joint press conference with Gül. American
diplomats both in Ankara and Washington prefer to use the concept of
"strategic partnership," according to the memo. It also noted "there
was no information on the substance of a model partnership."

On the possibility of recognizing the 1915 Armenian killings as
"genocide" in the presidential statement expected to be issue on April
24, the ministry believes Obama will not risk losing Turkey and thus
will not categorize the killings as genocide. Obama’s emphasis on the
mutual efforts of Turkey and Armenia to normalize ties is evident to
this end, the ministry believes.

The ministry said it was not thinking that Obama’s much-criticized
description of the Kurdish minority was on purpose. On Iran, Obama
said the U.S. intention to talk to Tehran does not mean that
Washington would ignore current problems stemming from Iran’s
potential nuclear work.

Meanwhile, the U.S. top general Micheal Mullen is planned to visit
Turkey next month to discuss the fight against terrorism. The visit
would be coupled with that of Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, who
would raise Washington’s request to use Turkish territory during the
withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Obama assured Turkey that "the
intelligence sharing mechanism" will go along and that utmost
cooperation will be provided to Turkish military.

GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DENIES THE STATEMENT ‘ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER WILL NOT BE OPENED’ ASCRIBED TO HIM

ArmInfo
2009-04-17 17:46:00

The Georgian Foreign Ministry has denied the statement
"Armenian-Turkish border will not be opened" ascribed to Georgian
Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze.

As the Armenian Foreign Ministry told ArmInfo, during a recent phone
conversation with Armenian Ambassador to Georgia Hrach Silvanyan,
Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia Alexander Nalbandov said on
behalf and by instruction of Minister Grigol Vashadze: "The statement
disseminated by some mass media that Grigol Vashadze allegedly said
the Armenian-Turkish border wouldn’t be opened is false. He only said
that the border is still closed".

The Georgian Foreign Ministry qualifies these statements as provocative
information.

EDWARD NALBANDIAN: AGREEMENT ON NORMALIZATION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS WILL BE SIGNED SOON

NOYAN TAPAN
APRIL 16, 2009
YEREVAN

Today there is no intention to sign a document on normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations. Negotiations between Armenia and Turkey
continue, there is progress. "I think soon we will be able to come
to an agreement," RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated at
the April 16 press briefing in Yerevan held within the framework of
a regular meeting of Foreign Ministers of BSEC country-members.

In connection with various statements on the possibility of Turkey’s
influencing the Nagorno Karabakh settlement E. Nalbandian said:
"Negotiations are conducted within the framework of OSCE Minsk
Group. It is the very format of negotiations, and there is no other
format. Turkey is not a mediator in the Nagorno Karabakh settlement,"
E. Nalbandian stated.

Answering the same question, Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud
Mahmudkuliyev said: "We welcome efforts of any state aimed at
settlement of this conflict. Conflict’s continuation does not give
advantages to any of the sides," he stated. The Azeri Foreign Ministry
representative also noted that Turkey is a member of OSCE Minsk
Group and if Turkey has serious proposals on conflict settlement,
Azerbaijan is ready to consider them.

As to activation of contacts between Yerevan and Ankara
M. Mahmudkuliyev said that Azerbaijan considers these contacts as the
affairs of these two countries. At the same time he added: "However,
there are also issues here connected with the Armenian-Azeri relations,
and we attentively follow development of relations between Armenia
and Turkey. Restoration of contacts between these two countries can
be connected only with settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict."

In his words, the Armenian-Turkish relations were broken off because of
this conflict and the main reason of it was "Armenian side’s occupying
Azeri regions." Therefore Azerbaijan considers that normalization
of relations between Turkey and Armenia should be connected with the
Nagorno Karabakh settlement.

It should be mentioned that Turkish Foreign Minister Ali
Babacan takes part in the meeting of Foreign Ministers of BSEC
country-members. However, the latter refused to answer journalists’
questions.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER DUE IN YEREVAN

498_4/16/2009_1
Wednesday, April 15, 2009

ANKARA (RFE/RL)–Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan was expected to
arrive in Yerevan to participate in Thursday’s high-level meeting of
the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) organization and possibly
hold fresh fence-mending talks with his Armenian counterpart.

The visit was still not officially confirmed by the Armenian and
Turkish governments as of Wednesday evening. "We don’t have any
information about that so far," a spokeswoman for the Turkish Foreign
Ministry told RFE/RL from Ankara.

Armenian officials seemed confident that Babacan will make what would
be his second trip to Armenia in eight months. "The likelihood of
his arrival is high," a diplomatic source in Yerevan told RFE/RL.

Babacan and Armenia’s Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian held a
group meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Istanbul on April
7. Reports in Turkish and Western media had said that they might
announce an agreement on a gradual normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations on the sidelines of the BSEC ministerial meeting in Yerevan.

However, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has poured cold
water on the speculation, repeatedly stating this month that Ankara
will not establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan and reopen the
Turkish-Armenian border before a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. Erdogan’s statements came amid an
uproar in Azerbaijan over the possible lifting of the 16-year Turkish
economic blockade of Armenia.

That a breakthrough in Turkish-Armenian relations is not on the cards
was reportedly echoed by Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze late
Tuesday. "The opening of the Turkish-Armenian border is not expected,"
the Azerbaijani APA news agency quoted Vashadze as saying after talks
with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington.

The BSEC meeting in Yerevan is also due to be attended by Azerbaijan’s
Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mamedguliev. Azerbaijan will assume
the organization’s rotating presidency from Armenia at the meeting.

NO LESS THAN $1.5MLN TO BE SPENT ON ESTABLISHMENT OF MICROSOFT INNOVATIVE CENTER IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-04-14 19:28:00

ArmInfo. No less than $1.5mln will be spent on the establishment of
Microsoft Innovative Center in Armenia, says Director of the Microsoft
Armenia Office Grigor Barsegyan.

Presently, the Office is negotiating with the companies wishing to take
part in the project. The negotiations will take some 1-2 months. The
official opening of the center is scheduled for the end of this year.

"One of our partners under this project is the Government of
Armenia. They are ready to provide necessary territory," says
Barsegyan. The Innovative Center should be situated not far away
from universities.

Presently, the Office is negotiating with the representations of
such big companies as Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Cisco, CAPS/USAID and
Armenian universities, particularly, State Engineering University.

Barsegyan says that the key mission of the center is to help local
componies to use knowledge of advanced technologies, to demonstrate
modern products, to organize training courses. The center will also act
as a mini MBA center and will offer an opportunity to learn marketing.

The Microsoft Armenia Office was opened in 2006.

WORLD BANK EXPERT: AS A RESULT OF THE GLOBAL CRISIS POVERTY LEVEL IN ARMENIA IN 2010 MAY RETURN TO THAT OF MID 2006

ArmInfo
2009-04-14 22:28:00

ArmInfo. As a result of the global crisis, the poverty level
in Armenia in 2010 may total 27,9% (as against 22,7% in 2008 ),
or 906 thsd people, World Bank expert Lire Ersado said at today’s
press-conference dedicated to the social impact of the global crisis
on Armenia. The extreme poverty level may increase from 3,2% in 2008
to 8,7% (297 thsd people). The possible growth of the poverty level
is conditioned by 21,6% risks connected with increase in transfers,
16,4% – exchange fluctuations, and 61,9% – labor market conditions.

The risks in the sphere of transfers are that most transfers come
from Russia, considerable part of them is sent by remote relatives
or friends whose motivation is lower and may completely disappear
under the crisis conditions, Ersado said.

Under present conditions it is necessary to be more careful in
distributing family benefits so as to ensure that the money goes to
really needy families. The paid public work programs must be enlarged
(especially in communities with low incomes).

Earlier the Ministry of Labor and Social Security said that it was
necessary to optimize the benefit distribution system and not to
give allowances to families whose incomes were higher than the level
stipulated by the law. In Mar 2009 as compared with 2008 the number
of families receiving benefits dropped from 121,000 to 105,000.

According to the WB’s surveys, in 2004 the poverty level in Armenia
was 34.6%, in 2005 – 29.8%, in 2006 – 26.5%, in 2007 – 24.9%, in 2008 –
22.7%, 2009 and 2010 – 27.1% and 27.9%.

PRESIDENT STRESSES EXPANSION OF IRAN-ARMENIA RELATIONS

Fars News Agency
April 14 2009
Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a meeting
with his Armenian counterpart, stressed expansion of Tehran-Yerevan
bilateral ties.

"Iran and Armenia should promote relations in different areas,
including trade, energy and transportation," Ahmadinejad said in a
Monday meeting with his visiting Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan.

"An advanced and sustainable Armenia will be beneficial to the entire
region," Ahmadinejad said.

Armenian President, for his part, called for bolstering of relations
with Iran.

The two sides also agreed to finalize an agreement on the construction
of a railway that will connect the two countries and enhance economic
cooperation.

The Armenian president arrived in Tehran on Monday at the head of
a high ranking delegation and was officially welcomed by President
Ahmadinejad.

Earlier this month, the two neighboring countries agreed to implement
a joint project on the construction of a 470-kilometer railway, the
bulk of it passing through Armenian territory. The project will take
at least five years and cost up to $1.2 billion.

The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have so far expressed
interest in contributing to the project.

Armenia’s Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian said last month that the
construction of Iran-Armenia railway holds a strategic importance
for his country.

The railway, which will amount to a restoration of the historic Silk
Road, is specially important to Yerevan as it will connect the northern
lake city of Sevan to the southern city of Meghri, which borders Iran.

NEW RADIO GIVES OUT DIVERSE VOICES

Hurriyet
April 10 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – Young people from different ethnic identities who found
the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, or TRT’s,
initiative to broadcast in various languages insufficient have come
together and founded a radio station.

"Nor Radyo" (New Radio) is available online and broadcasts in Armenian,
Kurdish and Homshetsi, an Armenian dialect, for now. Broadcasts
in Syriac and Greek are expected to follow soon. Nor Radyo, at
, started broadcasting on Jan. 17 and is aired
every evening between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. The Jan. 17 launch date was
symbolic as it was the day Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist
and editor-in-chief of daily Agos, was assassinated.

Due to financial constraints, the station’s organizers haven’t been
able to rent a studio for the shows and the broadcasts are done from
homes. Radio show hosts Sayat Tekir, Oyku Ozcinik, Sevan Garabetoglu
and Bercan AktaÅ~_ spoke to Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review
and said they do not accept guests at their homes during broadcast
hours and communicate with each other on MSN messenger during those
times. AktaÅ~_, the youngest of the radio hosts, is a 16-year-old
student of Kurdish origin. AktaÅ~_ does a weekly news review every
Friday from 9 to 11 p.m. AktaÅ~_ said he does not follow the broadcasts
of TRT 6, a recently launched channel that broadcasts in Kurdish.

"I do not believe in the TRT’s sincerity," he said. All of the shows
on Nor Radyo have different formats.

Ozcinik, an anthropologist, produces and hosts a show called
"Topluigne" (Pin). Although she is an ethnic Turk, Ozcinik got
involved in the project to support her friends from different ethnic
backgrounds. "I have discovered the richness I was forcibly torn apart
from as a Turk; that is why I have preferred to be with them here,"
she said.

Ozcinik said mentions of ethnic cultures in Turkey are only based on
cuisine. "When we mention the Armenians, we talk about appetizers;
when we mention Greeks, we talk about stuffed vegetables. The colors
of Turkey are not just appetizers and stuffed vegetables," she said.

Tekir’s show, "AnuÅ~_abur," is rather different from the
others. "AÅ~_ure" in Turkish, is wheat pudding with various dried
nuts and fruits, known in English as Noah’s pudding. "AnuÅ~_abur,
hence the name, features all of the diversities and tastes in it,"
Tekir said and added that he is hosting his show in Turkish because
he is not fluent in Armenian. "It is hard to find someone to host the
show in Armenian because, although we attend schools in the Armenian
community, the amount of education received in the mother tongue is
insufficient," he said. "We cannot express ourselves."

Computer, microphone suffice for broadcast

Garabetoglu hosts his show, "Sevani Yerki Tzank" (Sevan’s Music
List), in Armenian, unlike Tekir. The show features Armenian folk
and classical music. The hosts are happy with broadcasting over
the Web. A microphone and a computer are enough for us, they said,
adding that they, as the youth of Turkey, came together to raise a
free voice and to walk toward the future with steps of peace.

THE UNITED STATES OF APOLOGY
By Christine M. Flowers

Philadelphia Inquirer
410_Christine_M__Flowers__The_United_States_of_Apo logy.html
April 10 2009

PRESIDENT Obama, can you please stop apologizing for me?

The mea culpas – actually "nostra" culpas – are getting a bit stale. I
know that some revel in this national self-abasement, but many of
us are getting tired of being dragged into this vast diplomatic
therapy session.

You’re now officially Apologizer in Chief, making sure the rest of
the world has yet a few more reasons to feel smugly superior to the
country you’ve been elected to lead.

It started from day one, when you signed an order authorizing the
closure of Guantanamo, with the clear implication we’d done something
horribly wrong there.

The truth is, most of our Gitmo guests hate the U.S., and would be
all too happy to do serious damage to this country.

That was nowhere more clear than when a National Geographic crew
filmed the inmates. Did you see that documentary? The guards were
restrained and professional while the scruffy guys in the orange suits,
the ones your administration seems to feel so sorry for, were spitting,
cursing and acting out.

The thought of our beating our breasts for "mistreating" these
upstanding gents rankles. Truth is, we bent over backward to operate
within the law, but when 3,000 of your countrymen are murdered in
cold blood, Emily Post doesn’t always apply. (Just look at the two
guys you like to compare yourself to. Lincoln knew it. And so did FDR.)

And if that wasn’t enough, then you had us apologizing to the whole
Muslim world, most recently on your trip to Turkey, where you said,
"I know that the trust that binds us has been strained, and I know
that strain is shared in many places where the Muslim faith is
practiced. Let me say this as clearly as I can: The United States is
not at war with Islam."

Uh, really? They mistrust us? Funny, but I don’t recall any Americans
flying planes into buildings in Istanbul, while I do remember when we
actually mobilized our military to protect the interests of Muslims,
including protecting the Bosnians against the Serbs when those morally
superior folks in Europe wouldn’t lift a finger.

Then there’s our foreign aid to predominantly Muslim countries in
Africa. And we were also the big kahuna when the tsunami nearly wiped
a majority Muslim nation off the map. Yet we have to apologize because
"the trust that binds us" has been strained?

Well, perhaps the stress fracture occurred when Americans saw rabid
Palestinians marching in the streets and cheering as they watched
film of the burning Trade Center. (Did they ever apologize for that?)

Why, all of a sudden, this special concern for Muslim
sensibilities? Sure, there’s a big difference between fundamental
Islamists and the more westernized fellows that greeted you in
Ankara last week. They, at least, don’t believe that beating a woman
into unconsciousness is a reasonable response to chatting with a
man-not-your-husband.

But there’s actually a growing, and dangerous, fundamentalist shift
in Turkey’s direction, led by its government, characterized by the
return of head scarves for women, a blurring of the lines between the
religious and the secular, and a prime minister who is only slightly
less anti-Western than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

This is also a country that has never admitted (let alone apologizing
for) exterminating a generation of Christian Armenians. So the fact
that you’ve actually lobbied for Turkey’s inclusion in the EU when
even our so-called European allies are opposed to it, is troubling.

And speaking of those "allies," I almost lost my breakfast when I heard
you tell the crowds in Strasbourg, France, that "there have been times
where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive."

That so? Just how arrogant were we when we sent our boys to storm the
beaches of Normandy, at the cost of thousands of American lives? How
dismissive were our diplomats when they brilliantly executed the
Marshall Plan, which rebuilt Europe with Americans’ money? How
derisive were our citizens as they entered the Peace Corps, sent
money to foreign charities, adopted foreign children?

Mr. President, it’s OK if you have a guilt complex.

Just leave me out of it. *

Christine M. Flowers is a lawyer. See her on Channel 6’s "Inside Story"
Sunday at 11:30 a.m. E-mail [email protected].