Author: Zaminian Bedik

THE SHOW IS OVER… THE PROTOCOLS ARE DEAD!
By Harut Sassounian

Panorama.am
17:53 26/01/2010

The show is finally over! The international community is no
longer buying the endless Turkish excuses for refusing to ratify
the Protocols. Armenian officials, who naively believed that Turkey
would open its border and establish diplomatic relations with Armenia,
are beginning to question the Turks’ sincerity and contemplating the
possibility of the Protocols’ collapse.

Now the blame game starts! Whose fault is it that the Protocols are
not being ratified? In my view, the Turks are the ones to be blamed
for deceiving the international community all along. It was never the
intention of the Turkish leaders to carry out their publicly stated
plans to normalize relations with Armenia. They were simply engaged
in a ploy to obstruct what they believed to be Pres. Obama’s solemn
pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide, and to facilitate Turkey’s
admission to the European Union (EU), since open borders are one of
the key prerequisites for EU membership.

Without taking a single positive step, Turkey created the false
impression of reconciling with Armenia, thereby dissuading Pres. Obama
from using the term "Genocide" in his April 24 statement. Turkish
leaders also succeeded in exploiting the Protocols to generate
favorable worldwide publicity for their country.

During long and difficult negotiations, Turkey demanded that in return
for opening the border and establishing diplomatic relations, Armenia
withdraw from Karabagh (Artsakh), set up an international commission
to study the facts of the Genocide, and acknowledge the territorial
integrity of Turkey.

After Russia, the United States, and Europe applied intense pressure
on both sides, Armenia and Turkey made a series of compromises.

Armenia reluctantly agreed to establish an ambiguous "historical
commission," which was not explicitly linked to the Genocide. Armenia
also had to accept a reference in the Protocols to prior international
treaties that confirmed Armenian territorial concessions to Turkey,
but did not specifically mention the capitulatory Treaty of Kars.

Furthermore, the Protocols included a clause that called for
non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states, implying
that Armenia could no longer support Artsakh, because that would be
construed as interference in Azerbaijan’s domestic issues.

Since the Protocols signed on October 10 did not fulfill all of
Turkey’s demands, its leaders started threatening not to ratify the
Protocols or open the border with Armenia until the Artsakh conflict
is resolved in Azerbaijan’s favor. In other words, Turkey was trying
to make up for any deficiencies in the Protocols by holding their
ratification hostage to its precondition on Artsakh.

The ratification of the Protocols became even more complicated when
Azerbaijan began to threaten its "Big Brother" Turkey for considering
the opening of the border with its archenemy — Armenia. The Azeris
wanted the Turkish blockade to continue until Armenia is forced to
acknowledge Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction over Artsakh. The Azeri threat
of raising natural gas prices to Turkey and redirecting some of its
oil to Russia made Turkish leaders even more reticent to consummate
their agreement with Armenia.

To appease Azerbaijan, Turkey demanded that Russia, Europe and the
United States pressure Armenia into making concessions on Artsakh.

This Turkish request, however, fell on deaf ears. The international
community realized that the attempt to simultaneously resolve two
thorny issues — the Artsakh conflict and Armenia-Turkey Protocols —
would lead to solving neither one!

Realizing that hardly anyone outside Turkey and Azerbaijan was
supporting their demands on Artsakh, Turkish leaders set their sights
on another convenient scapegoat: The Constitutional Court of Armenia.

Although the Court decided on January 12 that the obligations
stipulated in the Protocols complied with the constitution, it also
issued several clarifications and limitations that restricted the
Turkish government’s loose interpretation of the Protocols.

Prime Minister Erdogan and Foreign Minister Davutoglu brazenly
threatened to abandon the Protocols outright, unless the Armenian
Constitutional Court "corrected" its decision — an impossible task
under Armenian laws! The State Dept. quickly sided with Armenia,
rejecting the Turkish claim that the Constitutional Court’s ruling
contradicted the "letter and spirit" of the agreement. Of course,
the State Department’s true intent was to forestall the Armenian
Parliament from adding any reservations on the Protocols at the time
of ratification.

Since the Chairman of the Armenian Parliament had already announced
that he would not take any action until the Turkish Parliament ratified
the Protocols first, the ball is now in Turkey’s court. The Protocols
have been collecting dust in Ankara ever since they were submitted
to the Parliament on October 21, 2009. The Foreign Ministers of
Armenia and Turkey had stated in their joint announcement of last
August that the Protocols should be ratified "within a reasonable
timeframe." Armenian officials recently reminded Turkey of that loose
deadline, adding that Armenia would be forced to take unspecified
counter-actions should Turkey not ratify the Protocols by February
or March, at the latest!

At this juncture, neither Armenia nor Turkey is willing to back down
from its recalcitrant position. Should Turkey’s leaders remove Artsakh
and the Constitutional Court as preconditions, they would risk not
only losing Azerbaijan as an ally, but seriously jeopardize their
party’s majority in next year’s parliamentary election. Similarly,
Armenia’s leaders can neither give up Artsakh nor "correct" the
ruling of the Constitutional Court. No amount of outside pressure
can therefore force the two governments to reverse course. That is
why I believe the Protocols cannot be resuscitated!

Turkey came very close to deceiving Armenia and the rest of the world
with these infamous Protocols. Fortunately, they failed before causing
lasting damage to Armenia’s national interests.

LEBANESE MINISTER: PILOT IN CRASH OFF BEIRUT COAST DID NOT HEED CONTROL TOWER’S RECOMMENDATION

AZG DAILY
27-01-2010

International

The pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed into the sea
minutes after takeoff flew in the opposite direction from the path
recommended by the Beirut control tower, Lebanon’s transportation
minister said Tuesday, according to AP.

The source reports that all 90 people on board were feared dead after
the plane went down in flames around at 2:30 a.m. Monday, during a
night of lightning and thunderstorms.

Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi told The Associated Press that
the tower had asked the pilot "to correct his path but he did a very
fast and strange turn before disappearing completely from the radar."

It was not clear why that happened or whether it was beyond the pilot’s
control. Like most other airliners, the Boeing 737 is equipped with
its own onboard weather radar which the pilot may have used to avoid
flying into thunderheads.

Lebanese officials have ruled out terrorism or "sabotage." The plane
was headed to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

ROUND 5: SIRANUSH ANDRIASIAN TOPS CHESS WOMEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Aysor.am
Wednesday, January 27

In round five of the Armenian Chess Women Championship, Siranush
Andriasian is the top-seeded at 4 points followed by Ani Khanamiryan
and Lia Martirosian with 3,5 points each.

Lia Martirosian played in draw with Narine Gasparian; Ani Khanamiryan
won over Ani Kharatian; Marianne Gasparian won over Lusine Karapetian;
Siranush Andriasian won over Anne Hairapetian; and Naira Movsesian
won over Varduhi Kalashian.

Narine Gasparian and Marianne Gasparian earned 3 points each; Lusine
Karapetian is at 2,5 points; Naira Movsesian and Anahit Kharatian are
at 2 points. Anne Hairapetian earned a point. The tournament table
is closed by last-seeded Varduhi Kalashian.

MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU SAYS WISHES FOR A VISIT TO ARMENIA

Aysor.am
Wednesday, January 27

Newly-elected PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu in his interview with
Azerbaijan’s APA Agency said it is the OSCE mostly involved in the
Karabakh talks.

When asked about the further settlement of the Karabakh conflict,
Mevlut Cavusoglu said: "We wish OSCE activities in the process of
settlement of the Karabakh conflict to speed up. The process has been
seriously activated recently. The Co-Chairs must act more intensively.

We will support them for our part," APA Agency quotes PACE President
Cavusoglu.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said of plans related to the South Caucasus region,
mentioning reports on three region’s states and Russia. "There are
serious tensions between Georgia and Russia. The Council of Europe
gives its attention to this issue which is, in contrast to the
Karabakh, conflict, a new one. I can’t say now what successes PACE
can reach in solving this issue. But we are doing the best to make
away this war’s effects in sense of the human catastrophe. We must
continue our activities in this direction," said Cavusoglu.

Referring to visits and meeting in the framework of PACE projects,
Mevlut Cavusoglu said is going to meet with Armenian and Azerbaijani
delegations to PACE and to pay visits to both countries.

"Sure, I wish for not only meetings with Azerbaijani and Armenian
delegations, but I want to visit both countries, because we are
dialogue’s supporters, and the constructive dialogue is necessary. We
will move towards this. I am not still sure if I can meet with
delegations this first week as I have a very tight schedule. If we
don’t meet at this plenary session, then we’ll meet at next sessions.

Besides, we’ve held meetings before. So we will continue bilateral
meetings in future," he said.

MANOUCHEHR MOTTAKI ARRIVES IN ARMENIA

News.am
13:20 / 01/26/2010

January 26, 2010 delegation headed by Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki arrives in Armenia to participate in 9th session
of Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental commission.

In the course of the visit Mottaki will meet with RA President
Serzh Sargsyan, Premier Tigran Sargsyan, RA Parliament Speaker Hovik
Abrahamyan, RA National Security Council Secretary Artur Baghdasaryan
and RA FM Edward Nalbandian.

In the course of the talks the parties will exchange views on bilateral
cooperation issues, as well as international and regional developments,
ISNA reports. Under the Iranian MFA annual report, bilateral economic
cooperation between Armenia and Iran implies expansion of collaboration
in oil and petrochemical spheres, including building of liquid fuel
unit in Armenia.

"The projects on Armenia-Iran railway building, as well as high-voltage
power line and joint construction of hydropower plant are on the
agenda of bilateral economic cooperation," the report reads.

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT CLARIFIES STATEMENTS OF PHILIP GORDON

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Tuesday, 26 January 2010

U.S. State Department Spokesman, Philip Crowley, has clarified
statements made by a high level official of the U.S. State Department,
Philip Gordon, on the recent decision of the Armenian Constitutional
Court regarding the protocols signed by Turkey and Armenia.

In reference to a question "Can we confirm reports that U.S. Assistant
Secretary Philip Gordon made remarks that the U.S. considers the
decision of the Armenian Constitutional Court as a positive step
in the ratification process of the normalization protocols between
Turkey and Armenia?", Crowley said that Gordon was on the record with
the following information:

"We view the court decision as a positive step forward in the
ratification process of the normalization protocols between Turkey
and Armenia. The court decision permits the protocols, as they
were negotiated and signed, to move forward towards parliamentary
ratification, and does not appear to limit or qualify them in any way.

We are confident that both Turkey and Armenia take their commitment
to the protocols seriously, and we urge timely ratification of the
protocols by both countries.

Our position remains the same. We support the normalization process,
which we believe contributes to peace and stability in the Caucasus.

What is critical is to keep the parties focused on the vital importance
of moving ahead."

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN MEETS GEORGIA’S PRIME MINISTER

armradio.am
26.01.2010 18:04

President Serzh Sargsyan today received Georgian Prime Minister
Nika Gilauri, who has arrived in Yerevan to participate in the 8th
sitting of the Armenian-Georgian Intergovernmental Commission on
Economic Cooperation.

Greeting the Georgian Prime Minister’s visit to our country, President
Sargsyan said: "We are good neighbors and we must communicate more
frequently to discuss the issues that emerge from time to time. We
view Georgia as a brotherly and friendly country and we are ready to
further deepen our relations."

Prime Minister Nika Gilauri conveyed to President Sargsyan the warm
greetings of his Georgian counterpart Mikhail Saakashvili and an
invitation to visit Georgia.

The interlocutors exchanged views on the economic situation and the
anti-crisis measures taken in the two countries. Reference was made
to regional issues, as well.

New Turkish Military Coup Plot Exposed
Asbarez
Jan 21st, 2010

5000-Page Plan Calls for Inciting Chaos and Violence To Overthrow Government

ANKARA (Combined Sources) – Turkish media Thursday revealed a new coup
plot by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) that seeks to overthrow the
Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) government by creating
chaos through violence in society.

The alleged plan, dubbed Balyoz (Sledgehammer), called for the Turkish
military to plant bombs in mosques, attack museums with Molotov
cocktails and make it appear that a Turkish jet was downed by a Greek
jet, the Daily Taraf reported.

Taraf claimed on Wednesday that the coup plan-a nearly 5,000-page
document, hatched between 2002-2003-was agreed upon at a military
meeting attended by 162 active TSK members, including 29 generals.
According to the plan, the military was to systematically foment chaos
in society through violent acts that would lead to a military
takeover.

The plot is believed to be the brainchild of the former Commander of
the 1st Army, Gen. Cetin Dogan, former Air Forces Commander Gen.
Ibrahim Firtina and retired Gen. Ergin Saygun. According to Taraf,
the plan sought to secure key posts in public and private sector to
active and retired members of the military to eliminate `threats to
secularism.’

According to Taraf, It’s aim is to return the country back to the
early days of the Republic.

According to Today’s Zaman, which reported on the plot Thursday, a
return to 1923 would mean almost paralyzing daily life in Turkey,
according the plan. The document suggested that the armed forces would
take full control of state institutions, private hospitals, drugs
warehouses, customs houses and shopping centers after the military
takeover. The headquarters of some newspapers would also be raided by
the security forces.

`No rights or freedoms are absolute or limitless. When the case is the
survival of the secular state, the right to inform the public and
freedom of the press is not without limit, either. All written and
visual press organs will be taken under control, and the publications
of press organs that side with the AKP will immediately be halted,’
the document said.

The armed forces also planned to take into custody and then arrest at
least 200,000 individuals accused of reactionary activities in
Istanbul after the coup. The total number of detainees around Turkey
was estimated to reach 16 million, the plan stated. According to the
document, individuals who stood against the coup would be taken into
custody and brought to large sports facilities for interrogation.
Among those facilities were the Burhan Felek sports complex and
Fenerbahce Stadium. The suspects would be questioned by security
forces there and then would be sent to prisons. If the prisons were
unable to accommodate all the arrestees, then military barracks would
temporarily be turned into jails.

The Sledgehammer action plan suggested detaining dissidents at sport
facilities such as the Burhan Felek Sports Complex and the Fenerbahce
Stadium and aimed to provoke chaos in the society through attacks
blamed on al-Qaeda and the PKK.

The coup plan stated its objective very clearly: `The AKP government
will immediately be thrown out of government and the existing
structure of reactionaryism will be destroyed. A previously determined
group will be swept to power, and the authority of the secular state
will be restored.’ The plan also said all `official and unofficial
patriots’ would be used to overthrow the AKP government. `Those who
resist the detentions and arrests and those who resort to plunder and
damage the national wealth will face the harshest practices of the
armed forces,’ noted the plan.

Among the `official patriots,’ the document cited a long list of
jurists, bureaucrats and civil servants who would cooperate with the
TSK in the event of a military coup. Among the `unofficial patriots’
were journalists and members of civil society organizations.

The document also revealed that all key state posts would be occupied
by members of the military. `Members of the military will be
responsible for the implementation of civil services until the state
structure is restored. For this reason, all key state posts will be
occupied by military staff. Those staff will be active members of the
military. If they are not adequate in number to fill the state posts,
then retired members of the military will be called to duty,’ the plan
stated.

The names of former Naval Forces Commander Adm. Ozden Ornek – the
author of controversial diaries which revealed that four force
commanders devised plans in 2004 to stage two military coups – retired
Brig. Gen. Suha Tanyeri and retired Col. Fikri Karadag are also
frequently mentioned in the plan.

The mystery of the large caches of munitions that were unearthed
during excavations as part of the probe into Ergenekon, a criminal
organization accused of working to topple the AKP, is most probably
related to the Sledgehammer coup plan, Today’s Zaman said.

The plan read that munitions buried underground would be distributed
to members of the military in accordance with the plan to stage the
coup. Many types of munitions have been unearthed since the start of
the Ergenekon probe in June 2007, when hand grenades were discovered
at a house in Istanbul’s Umraniye district.

Ergenekon is accused of intending to create chaos in the country by
using the munitions, which would result in the overthrow of the
government.

Ergenekon’s munitions are not restricted to those unearthed during
excavations. Unidentified individuals have been abandoning weapons and
munitions in isolated locations throughout the country since the
discovery of munitions buried underground in 2007 after raids on
Ergenekon suspects’ homes revealed maps and other evidence pointing to
weapons caches.

The coup plan also suggested that public pressure on the AKP would be
increased through economic problems and a financial crisis.

`Economic operations to be carried out by friends of the TSK will
drive the country into a financial bottleneck in the national and
international arena. Massive protests and rallies will be organized
against the AKP government. Public opinion will be shaped in such a
way that it will expect the armed forces to do the necessary [a coup]
after news of acts of reactionaryism, student protests, soldiers
killed in clashes, economic crisis and unsolved murders,’ stated the
document.

According to the subversive plan, bloody and shocking acts by al-Qaeda
and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) would trigger massive protests
by civil society groups and universities that would accuse the AKP of
failing to provide security for the people of Turkey.

The plan showed that the TSK was to use the terrorist acts not only as
a `means’ but also as a `guarantee’ of achieving its objectives.

The massive protests would lead to the declaration of martial law in
the country, which would topple the AKP government. The plan has
raised the question of whether the TSK had a hand in the simultaneous
bombings in Istanbul in 2003 that killed more than 50 people and
injured as many as 700. The bombings targeted the HSBC Bank
headquarters and a nearby synagogue. Al-Qaeda terrorists claimed
responsibility for the attacks.

The Sledgehammer coup plan also mentioned the TSK’s plans to establish
an administration that would replace the AKP government.

The existing government would be replaced by a `National Agreement
Government,’ which would include a large number of active and retired
members of the military. Taraf made public the names of those members
of the military in Thursday’s edition of the newspaper.

`The vacant positions [in the Cabinet] will be occupied by our fellow
soldiers. Our retired colleagues will take over state posts and
bureaucratic positions after the overthrow of the AKP government. …
All civil servants who are known to support movements of
reactionaryism and separatist activities and who are known to be
implicated in corrupt activities will be replaced, with no exceptions,
by retired or active military staff who are trustworthy and loyal to
contemporary values,’ noted the document.

The document also suggested that the police force was to be brought
under the control of the military, that the National Intelligence
Organization (MIT) would be restructured and that the new organization
would be headed by an army general on active duty.
The coup plan in addition aimed to replace the recitation of the call
to prayer (adhan) in Arabic with the Turkish version: `All gains of
the republic, which have been eroded till now, will be restored once
again. The adhan will be recited in Turkish and the damage to Turkish
culture caused by Arabs and Kurds will be repaired.’

The call to prayer was first recited in Turkish in 1932 upon a
circular by the Directorate of Religious Affairs and continued through
1950. The adhan returned to its original version after the Democrat
Party’s (DP) victory in the 1950 general elections.

The TSK denied the plot on Thursday, the Turkish Hurriyet Daily
reported. A statement on its website said the scenario was created for
a seminar from March 5-7, 2003, and that it was used in the Turkish
military’s exercise program between 2003 and 2006.

But in its statement, the military claimed the goal of the plan was to
expand the reaction plan for foreign threats and to educate related
personnel about scenarios that might arise during a `highly tense
period.’ It also said that included within the plan are measures that
need to be implemented in case of war.

`No one who has any mind or any conscience can believe in the
allegations put forth based on this plan,’ the TSK stated. `Taking the
allegations seriously, commenting on them and creating knowledge
pollution will especially serve the purposes of those whose aim is to
create tension in society.’

$4.8 will be allocated for obtaining new textbooks for Armenian high schools

YEREVAN, January 22. /ARKA/. `$4.8 million will be allocated for
obtaining special textbooks for Armenian high schools’, said Armen
Ashotyan, Armenian Minister of Education.

Money will be allocated by Circular Fund of textbooks and another $1.9
million – from state budget for obtaining textbooks for elementary
classes. `We plan to finalize the competition of textbooks for high
schools and elementary classes till February.

This year we changed a bit the order of competition and included
representatives of Armenian National Academy of Sciences in subject
commissions’, said Ashotyan. The Ministry will pay special attention
to the quality of textbooks.

`If one textbook will be presented in the competition and it will not
be of high quality, it will not win. It’s better the children have no
textbooks than bad ones’, he said. Special textbooks for high school
will be prepared in Armenia for the first time as this system was
introduced in Armenia recently. `In 2009 another 30 high schools were
opened. Their number is already 48′, said Ashotyan. -0–

AZERBAIJAN NOT TO BUDGE ON TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY – PRESIDENTIAL OFFICIAL

news.az
Jan 22 2010
Azerbaijan

Novruz Mammadov Azerbaijan is committed to a Karabakh resolution that
keeps the territory as part of Armenia, presidential official Novruz
Mammadov said today.

The head of the international relations department at the Presidential
Administration was talking to journalists on the sidelines of the
Azerbaijan-Russia cultural forum.

"We want the Nagorno Karabakh conflict to be solved only within the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev also said
at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers recently that the conflict
will be solved within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. We
will not a single step back from this position," Mammadov said.

He said he had no information about the signing of a document at the
meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia in Sochi
next Monday.

Despite the best efforts of Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev previous
meetings with his mediation produced no result, Mammadov said.

"I think the Armenian leadership may now have the common sense to
create the right conditions for steps towards a solution to the
conflict."

Asked about the Armenian Constitutional Court’s ruling on the
protocols with Turkey, Mammdov said Turkey already understood that the
Azerbaijani president had been right about negotiations with Armenia.

"Turkey can see who it is dealing with. They are convinced that the
the Armenian leadership thinks it can make any demand and Turkey will
fulfill it."

Mammadov went on to praise relations between Azerbaijan and Russia.

"Cooperation is successfully developing in many spheres. This event
is called the Azerbaijan-Russia Humanitarian Forum. We think that we
have been together for around 200 years as part of Russia or the USSR.

Therefore, there is a background to our cooperation in the humanitarian
sphere. The leaders of our countries made a proposal to develop
cooperation more. It is a unique format."