Author: Zaminian Bedik

ARF AND ANM AGREE TO AVOID MUTUAL SMEARING

ARMENPRESS
Oct 1, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 1, ARMENPRESS: Lop leaders of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosian’s
Armenian National Movement (ANM) have reached an agreement to avoid
smearing one another during the campaign for presidential election,
slated for early 2008.

The news was announced today by Spartak Seyranian, a senior member
of the ARF in a comment on a surprise September 29 meeting between
top ARF leaders Hrant Margarian and Armen Rustamian with ex-president
Ter-Petrosian.

According to Spartak Seyranian, the two sides have agreed that
campaigning should be only ideologically based.

Hovhannes Hovhanesian, head of a small opposition Liberal Progressive
party, joined the ARF official saying at a joint news conference
that ideologically-based political straggle will benefit all, but he
rebuked political groups in Armenia for failing to understand that
politics should not be mixed with emotions.

According to him, Levon Ter-Petrosian’s visit to the ARF Center has
showed that the ex-president is serious about ongoing political
processes, while the ARF has showed, by welcoming him, that its
position on political process does not depend on emotions.

"We remember out political differences, but our campaign will be
ideology-based. We shall not do anything to the ANM which we would
not like to be done to us,’ Spartak Seyranian said.

Seyranian further divulged that Ter-Petrosian and top ARF leaders,
Hrant Margarian and Armen Rustamian, avoided talking about the
stand-off between the ARF and the ANM in early 90-s, ‘because today is
not the right time for it," although, Seyranian added that the ARF does
not suffer from amnesia, implicating Ter-Petrosian’s ban of the ARF
and arrests of its leaders back in 1994 on charges of plotting coup.

Seyranian disagreed with Ter-Petrosian’s comments that "Azerbaijan
is less and less prepared to make concessions to the Armenian side
because of its mounting oil revenues." He said Armenia is now much
more stronger than in early 1990-s and has therefore more chances to
press for Nagorno-Karabakh’s international recognition.

WORK OF ARMENIAN SCIENTIST ABOUT GENOCIDE PUBLISHED IN HUNGARIAN

AZG Armenian Daily
27/09/2007

The Hungarian translation of "The Armenian Genocide", a work by a
renowned Armenian scientist, member of the National Science Academy
of Armenia, prof. Nikolay Hovhannisian, was recently published in
Budapest. The publication was undertaken by the "Armenian Roots
of Transylvania" culture center. The translation was made from the
publication of 2005, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Genocide.

President of the "Armenian Roots of Transylvania" company and the
editor of the Hungarian version of the book Charlotte Iszekutz said
that the translation of the book was aimed at representing a rich
material on the first Genocide of the XX century to the wide public
and the political circles of Hungary. She also said that their company
is striving for the official recognition of the Armenian Genocide by
the Parliament of Hungary.

The book is richly illustrated by photographs, provided by the
Museum-Institute of the Genocide, Yerevan.

Professor Nikolay Hovhannisian has been engaged in the studies of
the Genocide for a very long time. He is the author of 45 works
dedicated to the matter, 5 of which are well known and accepted
among the international science circles. One of his works in English,
entitled "The Armenian Genocide. Armenicide" was fully translated into
Turkish and published in Istanbul, 2005. Parts of that work were also
published in the "Marko Polo" journal of Venice.

MINISTER OSKANIAN, ROBERT SIMMONS DISCUSSED EXECUTION OF ARMENIA-NATO IPAP

Public Radio of Armenia. ArmRadio
Sept 25 2007

September 25 RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian received the Special
Representative of the NATO Secretary General for the South Caucasus
Robert Simmons.

Mr. Simmons informed that the main objective of the visit is to present
Zbigniew Rybacki, the recently appointed Cooperation Officer of NATO.

Later the interlocutors exchanged opinions on the execution of the
Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP). Ambassador
Simmons highly assessed the active work of all Armenian agencies
involved in the implementation of IPAP.

Mr. Simmons turned to the developments related to regional security,
NATO-Russia dialogue, the peacekeeping missions carried out by the
alliance, the forthcoming events to be organized by NATO.

At the request of the Ambassador, Minister Oskanian presented the
latest developments in the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh
conflict.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIATORS DISCUSS KARABAKH SETTLEMENT IN AZERI CAPITAL

ITV, Baku,
18 Sep 07

[Presenter] The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, who are visiting
Baku, held a meeting at the Foreign Ministry today. The co-chairmen,
who arrived on a special plane from Yerevan to Baku this morning,
made a statement for journalists at Heydar Aliyev international
airport and said that the talks held in Xankandi [Stepanakert] and
Yerevan were important.

The co-chairmen also commented on statements made in Yerevan regarding
the involvement of the Armenian community of Nagornyy Karabakh in
the negotiations.

[Bernard Fassier, French co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, in
Russian with superimposed translation into Azeri] We have reached
a very important stage in the negotiations. We will soon be working
under new conditions – election campaigns that are to be started in
the countries. The Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagornyy
Karabakh were once involved in the negotiations as part of the
delegations. But after Robert Kocharyan [who is native of Nagornyy
Karabakh] became president, we decided that he would be representing
both Armenia and the Armenian community of Nagornyy Karabakh in the
negotiations. Sooner or later there will be a need for the involvement
of the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagornyy Karabakh. We
are keeping in contact with the leaders of both communities, [Bako]
Sahakyan and [Nizami] Bahmanov. Although they do not participate in
talks, they are being kept abreast of the course of the negotiations.

[Matthew Bryza, US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, in Russian
with superimposed translation into Azeri] Before arriving in Baku,
we had visited Yerevan and Xankandi. We held important meetings there.

The goal of our Baku visit is to discuss prospects of the settlement
of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. It would be early to speak about
the next meeting between the [Azerbaijani and Armenian] presidents.

But irrespective of whether this meeting takes place or not, the
negotiations are proceeding in a normal way.

[Presenter] President Ilham Aliyev today met the co-chairmen of the
OSCE Minsk Group for the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Nagornyy Karabakh, Matthew Bryza, Bernard Fassier
and Yuriy Merzlyakov. The personal representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, also attended the meeting.

The meeting discussed the current state of the negotiations on the
settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagornyy Karabakh
and settlement prospects.

Eurasia Daily Monitor

September 21, 2007 — Volume 4, Issue 175

MOSCOW HINTS AT ITS NUISANCE VALUE TO ALLIED OPERATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN

by Vladimir Socor

Russia abstained in the UN Security Council’s September 20 vote to
prolong the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in
Afghanistan, a NATO-led operation. This is the first time since 2001 that
Russia withheld its approval from an allied operation (U.S.-led Enduring
Freedom and NATO’s ISAF) in Afghanistan. Concurrently, Moscow indicated
again that it tolerates the U.S.-led air base in Kyrgyzstan — that supports
operations in Afghanistan — conditionally and temporarily.

Moscow’s abstention in the Security Council has no significant
consequences on the practical level. Symbolically, however, it hits at what
the United States and NATO define as a core interest and top operational
priority. Politically, it signifies yet another warning that Russia is
prepared to challenge U.S. and NATO interests and hinder their policies
almost anywhere in Eurasia to the maximum feasible extent.

Thus, obstructionism in Afghanistan is only the latest in the series
of recent Russian moves against anti-missile defense in Europe, the Treaty
on Conventional Forces, conflict resolution in Kosovo (where Russia now
opposes what it calls `a NATO state’), U.S. military installations in
Romania and Bulgaria, sovereignty and integrity of Georgia and Moldova, and
other geopolitical issues, all amid the challenge to Western energy
interests and energy security. By stepping up the obstructions or pressures
and multiplying the disputed points, Moscow seeks to extract concessions on
some issues in return for relenting on other disputes that it has itself
created.

Russia was the only country that did not support the Security Council’
s resolution to prolong ISAF’s mandate by another year. As a pretext for its
abstention, Moscow raised questions about the ongoing Japanese naval
operation in the Indian Ocean. The Russians objected to the draft resolution
that linked Japan’s naval operation with the ISAF and Enduring Freedom
ground operations in Afghanistan.

The Japanese operation is designed to supply allied forces in
Afghanistan, via the Indian Ocean and Pakistan, with fuel and other critical
materiel. It is also intended to intercept and board vessels suspected of
carrying arms or reinforcements destined for terror groups that operate in
Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas. Russia obliquely sought a voice in
defining the parameters of the Japanese naval operations. Furthermore,
Moscow objected to the resolution’s wording that commended Japan for its
role.

The naval operation is highly controversial in Japan. It became one of
the factors behind prime minister Shinzo Abe’s resignation earlier this
month, following the opposition’s victory in the Senate elections.
Opposition parties call for termination of this naval operation. The
governing Liberal-Democratic Party wants to continue it and has welcomed the
Security Council’s resolution for praising this Japanese contribution to
anti-terror efforts.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin objected to what he
described as improper interference in Japan’s internal affairs through this
resolution. Churkin argued almost explicitly that the resolution’s wording
would help the government and hinder the opposition in the Japanese
political debate over the naval operation. Thus, Moscow evidenced an
interest in curbing Japan’s emergent role in international security in Asia,
even on the anti-terror front in this case. With this move, Russia seems to
be positioning itself more broadly against NATO’s intentions to develop
closer links with countries like Australia and Japan for enhancing security
in the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Also on September 20, the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) proposed assuming a political and security role in
Afghanistan. Citing an urgent need to stabilize the country and the region,
CSTO General Secretary Nikolai Bordyuzha offered the organization’s
assistance to train Afghan military and security personnel, combat drug
trafficking, coordinate economic aid projects by Central Asian countries
through the CSTO in Afghanistan, and help `normalize’ the political
situation there through legislative assistance.

Moscow is airing this set of proposals through the CSTO, so as to make
it look `multilateral’ and regional, rather than Russian. It first unveiled
this agenda in March of this year during a Russian-led CSTO delegation’s
visit to Afghanistan (see EDM, March 16). The goal is to re-introduce
Russian political and security influence in Afghanistan through means short
of a military presence. Moscow could not fail to see opportunity in the
recent setbacks and dysfunctionalities of NATO and U.S. operations there. It
seeks to capitalize on this situation for re-entry in Afghanistan, primarily
through soft-power instruments, for a strategic payoff that eludes the
hard-power wielding Western forces.

Bordyuzha was addressing a two-day meeting in Bishkek of the Security
Council Secretaries of CSTO member countries (Russia, Belarus, Armenia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan). At that session, Bordyuzha
reaffirmed Russia’s position that U.S. access to the Manas air base is
time-limited to the duration of operations in Afghanistan. Moreover, while
Kyrgyzstan’s agreement with the United States on this issue is a matter for
Bishkek to decide, he said, nevertheless Kyrgyzstan is `actively consulting
with its allies on this issue.’ This is a clear hint that Moscow reserves
the options to allow, disallow, or set conditions to the continuation of
Kyrgyzstan’s basing arrangements with the United States.

(Interfax, Itar-Tass, September 19, 20)

–Vladimir Socor

United Press International

Energy – Analysis

Atlantic Eye: Taking Aliyev at his word

Published: Sept. 22, 2007 at 6:01 PM

By MARC S. ELLENBOGEN

UPI International Columnist

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 21 (UPI) — The delegation
moved through security and up the elevators to a grand
foyer. From the window, Gen. Constantin Degeratu, the
Romanian national security adviser, and Eduard Kukan,
who recently left his post after eight years as Slovak
foreign minister, peered out to the Caspian Sea. I too
was at the window looking at the massive building
projects in Baku. I turned to Hassan Abouyoub, the
chief adviser to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, and Seffi
Bodansky, a senior adviser to the U.S. Congress, as
the door opened.

President Ilham Aliyev greeted his guests, all part of
Global Panel’s Black Sea Initiative. A tall man with a
big mustache, he pointed us to a massive conference
table that filled the large room. The president sat
down with his foreign policy adviser on the other side
of the delegation. Polish Special Envoy Richard
Schnepf, sitting to my right, nudged me to begin. I
started by describing our meetings and interactions of
the previous days.

In the late morning we had flown to the
Russian-proposed joint U.S.-Russian radar site in the
northern portion of Azerbaijan near Russia. The
40-minute helicopter ride had shown us the vast oil
fields below. Azerbaijan is known for its oil springs
and natural gas.

Only recently has the oil market helped pour wealth
upon Azerbaijan. The largest of three south Caucasus
states, it is bordered by the Caspian Sea to the east,
Iran to the south, Armenia to the west and Georgia and
Russia to the north. Armenia and Azerbaijan have had a
long-simmering dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region.

A delegation representing the regional governor met us
as we landed. We were taken by entourage to a local
restaurant overlooking an enormous bluff.

There the governor greeted us. As is Azerbaijani
custom, a large table of food awaited us. This ritual
would be repeated four times that day, showing us
great respect. Respect or not, these sessions are not
for the light-hearted, and the ability to stay focused
and fit after numerous toasts of vodka is a
prerequisite for doing business.

We proceeded to a modern bottling plant, a European
Union-Azerbaijan joint venture. We were struck by the
generosity of our guests at every turn. A visit to a
museum commemorating the late President Haider Aliyev,
the founder of modern Azerbaijan, rounded out the
afternoon. We returned to the helicopter for our ride
back.

As I began to brief Aliyev of our meetings, I sensed
shyness. Somewhere in the middle of our briefing,
after a good laugh, the rest of the delegation began
to interact with the president. The conversation was
forthright and interactive.

Aliyev spoke of the vast work that lies ahead for his
country. He explained that he knew he was being
measured by his progress in economic development. He
noted that poverty had decreased from 49 percent to 20
percent, but that there was still some way to go to
include all citizens of Azerbaijan in the upswing. He
pointed to the massive housing projects that we could
all see as we passed through Baku that were being
built to improve living conditions.

The president spoke of the discrepancies between the
main cities and the rural areas.

"I am committed to dispersing the wealth of our
country to all of our citizens."

He spoke of press freedoms, religious rights and
democracy. These did not seem like political
platitudes, but the genuine desire of a youngish
president to move his country forward.

We spoke of the necessity for direct negotiations with
Nagorno-Karabakh. Global Panel and the Prague Society
see a role in facilitating direct contacts and
negotiations about this frozen conflict. We expressed
this to the president, who seemed interested in this
role. Later he would confirm his commitment to a
Global Panel-led initiative. The Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict has been subject to a great deal of external
interference, rendering it not so much "frozen" but
distorted. Either way, it must be resolved.

Earlier in the day we had spoken to Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov and Industry and Energy Minister
Natiq Aliyev (not related to the president). The
question of energy security was a pre-eminent theme.
Also the expansion of the GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan and Moldova) states’ initiative, which
deals with regional security and stability, was
addressed. The second GUAM summit held earlier this
year in Baku brought together the original members
plus the presidents of Poland, Romania, Lithuania and
Bulgaria — an expression of the growing international
importance of Azerbaijan. Energy diplomacy and summits
are another area where Global Panel already plays an
active role.

At a final dinner, on the banks of the Caspian Sea,
with Col. Gen. Kamaladdin Heydarov, the minister for
emergency situations, it became clear that a long-term
rapport and strategy was being developed with
Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has a long list of tasks ahead of it.
Human-rights groups have been exceptionally critical
of its record. But its young people are very focused
on Europe and Turkey, and very European indeed.

I liked Aliyev and believe him when he says he is
committed to change.

His actions will speak louder than his words.

—

(UPI Columnist Marc S. Ellenbogen is chairman of the
Global Panel Foundation and president of the Prague
Society. A venture capitalist with seats in Berlin and
Prague, he sits on the National Advisory Board of the
U.S. Democratic Party.)

—

(e-mail: [email protected])

INDEPENDENCE -AN ABSOLUTE VALUE

Hayoc Ashkharh
21 Sept 2007

Begun with the Karabakh movement, the newest history of our nation is
first of all outstanding in that it marked the beginning of an era of
developing the state mentality of the Armenian people who were
deprived of their statehood and had led a semi-independent life for at
least the last millennium of their chronology. And today, we can
proudly state that as a nation, we have the highest level of our
organization.
It is already an accomplished fact that Armenia, as an independent
state, is capable of ensuring the prospects of our nation’s survival
on their native land in case of all kinds of possible geopolitical
developments, and even in the worst and most hazardous situations. And
that means the danger that threatens the Armenians scattered all over
the world is no longer a complete and comprehensive mechanism.
Nothing can force an Armenian to waive his independence, his past
and his origins. In this respect, statehood is something more than a
principal tool and goal for the nation’s survival. It has become an
absolute value – the pledge of eternity.
The present-day world has its clear-cut logic: if you cannot live
independently, you cannot live at all as a nation, as a collectivity.
Therefore, the organism of your nation will sooner or later become
absorbed and dissipated into strange atmospheres, and everything
preserved on your own land will change into a museum and grave.
As shown by the recent years’ experience, the new form of existence
of our nation involves both positive and negative signals equally.
Indepndence is both a political status and a relevant economic basis,
as well as a new system of moral-psychological perceptions in addition
to the perception of one’s own place and role in the world and the
integrity of the security means and guarantees deriving thereof.
We have voted in favor of independence as a whole nation; therefore
we all bear a nationwide responsibility for it. And if we are unable
to master our fortune independently, we will be deprived of our
prospects and our future as a nation and statehood.
At last, fortune smiled on us and gave as the chance to recover the
capacity of responding to all-Armenian issues and directing all our
efforts at strengthening what we have received by a stroke of good
fortune.
On the regular anniversaries of independence we should state that
it is the Armenian statehood that has consolidated its nationals for
realizing the same goals and objectives with the purpose of mastering
our fortune, i.e. the independence. In psychological terms, we are now
facing the most decisive moment: as a scattered and massacred nation,
we must realize that the hopeless and desperate dreams born on strange
lands as well as the times of living on one’s native land without
having a motherland have long ago fallen to the bosoms of history.
There is a wide gap between dreaming about independence and taking
pride in the responsibility for independence. And we must bridge that
gap as quickly as possible, since independence is our destiny, and we
cannot have the Armenian statehood march on the same spot.
Even though the difficulties faced by our country throughout these
years have not been completely overcome, we must be proud to mention
that we have never lost faith in the idea of freedom and independence.

CHANGES IN RA GOVERNMENT

amradio.am
20.09.2007 12:12

According to Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan’s decision, Nikolay
Arustamyan was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic
of Armenia, Press and Public Relations Department of RA Government
informs.

According to another decision of RA prime Minister, Ashot Petrosyan
was dismissed form the position of Deputy Marzpet of Shirak marz.

ACCUSERS NOT READY TO QUESTION

Panorama.am
21:35 19/09/2007

The court case against the leaders of "Royal Armenia" continued today,
with testimony from the organization’s vice-president, Aram Ghazaryan,
starting. Beginning his testimony, Ghazaryan pointed out that he was
not a part owner, but merely a paid employee. This fact had not been
noted until today, in regard to his being rated as an equal to Gagik
Hakopyan, Royal Armenia’s director.

Ghazaryan’s testimony basically said that he had falsified no
documents, that he never used an "obviously falsified" document, and
that no falsification was ever done in his presence. "Is there in fact
an organization who prepares seals whose workers can certify that they
saw Aram Ghazaryan order or receive seals? Of course not." Ghazaryan
added that not one of the charge against him have been proved, and
are based on the conflicting testimony of Vatche Petrosyan.

After Ghazaryan’s testimony, his accusers were to present him
questions, but more time was requested from the court to prepare
their questions.

The next court session is scheduled for October 3.

We remind that Gagik Hakopyan and Aram Ghazaryan were cleared of tax
evasion charges in the Nork-Marash first-instance court on July 16
and set free.

NEW SEASON WITH NEW PROGRAMS
Lena Badeyan – "Radiolur"

armradio.am
17.09.2007 18:10

No changes are expected in the leadership of the Public Radio and
Public Television either before or after the presidential elections,
the President of the Council of Public Television and Radio Company
of Armenia Alexan Harutyunyan declared today in response to rumors. He
also refuted the possibility of closure of some TV Companies.

Nevertheless, the working style of the Public Television will change
during the elections. Steps have already been taken in this direction.

"We are improving our regional network and the regional structures,
thus increasing the opportunities for live broadcasts from there. I
think we shall cover the elections so as it has never been the case in
Armenia. The question refers to volume and efficiency, live broadcasts
and use of technical resources," Mr. Harutyunyan said.

The President of the Council of Public Television and Radio Company
is assured that there will be no cause for discontent as regards the
coverage of the election campaign and the elections. "Of course the
viewers and international structures will be the judges. I think the
assessment of the international structures was normal, and the opinion
about the Public Radio and the Public Television was, on the whole,
positive. I mean the OSCE observers. I think the evaluation will not
be worse after the presidential elections."

The Public Television is preparing surprises in the new season. The
viewers will have the opportunity to watch the most popular films.

Attempts will be made to increase the production of Armenian films.

For example, as a result of negotiations with a Russian company,
we shall have a new Armenian-Russian film next year. In 2-3 years
there will be no Latin American soup operas on the Public TV. These
will be replaced by Armenian serials.

As for the long-term programs, revolution is expected in 3-4 years in
the Public TV and the Public Radio connected with the digitalization
of broadcasting. The digital package envisages the creation of a
new 24-hour "Culture" TV Channel. It will be the only Channel to air
no advertisements.