PanARMENIAN.Net
Oskanian and OSCE Ambassadors Discussed Karabakh
Settlement

26.05.2006 16:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ May 26 Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian met
with Spanish Ambassador to the OSCE Carlos Sanchez De Boado
accompanied by permanent representatives of Germany, Norway and
Liechtenstein in the OSCE. Mr. De Boado said his visit bears a
familiarization nature in view of Spain’s upcoming presidency in the
OSCE. The parties discussed the implementation of the OSCE programs in
Armenia and the further activities. Voicing content with the opening
of the OSCE office in the Syunik region they said it will promote the
socio-economic development of the region and solution of environment
problems. Besides, the interlocutors touched upon the possible
perfection of the electoral legislation. By the guests’ request Vartan
Oskanian briefed on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process
and the Armenia-Turkey relations.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Serge Sargsyan Not to Participate in CIS Defense Ministers’ Meeting in
Baku

26.05.2006 17:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sagsyan will not
participate in the meeting of the CIS Defense Ministers to be held in
Baku, RA Defense Minister’s Spokesman, Colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
To note, earlier, the Azeri Defense Ministry confirmed that the
Armenian MOD head will not take part in the summit, which will be in
all attended by Defense Ministers of 10 states.
The agenda has not been ratified yet, though the target is to
strengthen cooperation and exchange of experience between the Defense
Ministries of the CIS member states.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Peter Burdykin: Vladimir Zhirinovsky `Expresses His Personal
Viewpoint’
26.05.2006 17:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Acting Charge d’Affaires of Russia in Azerbaijan
Peter Burdykin said the statement by Russian State Duma Vice-speaker
Vladimir Zhirinovsky on the possibility of Nagorno Karabakh’s
independence `doesn’t reflect the position of the RF leadership.’
Burdykin remarked that `a parliamentarian expressing his personal
viewpoint does not express the position of the state.’
He said the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement is a very subtle
issue and even mature members of the Russian and U.S. foreign
departments read their statement from paper, reported Day.az.
To remind, Russian State Duma Vice-speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky stated
that unrecognized republics, which were formed in the territory of the
former Soviet Union, will follow the path of Montenegro, Russian State
Duma Vice-Speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky had stated. `Abkhazia,
Transnistria and Karabakh will follow the path of Montenegro.
Referendum on declaring independence in Montenegro is a precedent in
the international law,’ he told journalists in Moscow before the third
congress of the Union of Armenians of Russia. `Time will come and
resolutions on referendums will be adopted in the South Caucasus,
e.g. Karabakh will acquire independence,’ Zhirinovsky added.
`Karabakh is fully entitled to become an independent state and for
Baku not to feel hurt, it may not join Armenia, having allied
relations with it,’ the Russian State Duma Vice-Speaker said.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Peter Semneby: Priority of My Work to Engage As Far As Possible with
Conflict Resolution

26.05.2006 18:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `I see an enhanced role for the EU in conflict
resolution in the South Caucasus,’ European Union’s new special
representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby stated in an
interview with Thomas de Waal, the Caucasus Project Coordinator and
Editor at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Mr. Semneby has
suggested that the EU could in future lead a peacekeeping mission if a
solution to the Nagorno Karabakh dispute is found. `I want to use his
mandate to work on the region’s unresolved conflicts,’ he said.
`It’s no surprise that the main priority of my work is to engage as
far as possible with conflict resolution,’ he said.
Semneby emphasized that the European Union has no formal role in the
detailed negotiations over Abkhazia – where the United Nations plays a
mediating role – and in South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh, where that
role is played by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, OSCE.
However, the idea of an international peacekeeping force is known to
be under discussion in the current Karabakh talks, and should there be
a breakthrough, an international body will be asked to lead it. This
is where the EU could step in.
`We will be expected to make a major contribution when a solution is
found, and we are looking into the possibilities we have, both in
terms of post-conflict rehabilitation and also – if the parties should
so desire – in terms of contributing peacekeepers. And possibly even
leading a peacekeeping operation,’ said Semneby. `I should mention
that this is very hypothetical at this stage. This is only one of
several options, but it’s one that is being considered.’
A recent report by the International Crisis Group entitled `Conflict
Resolution in the South Caucasus: The EU’s Role’ was scathing about
the low profile the European Union has adopted on conflict resolution
in the Caucasus until now.
`[The EU] does not participate directly in negotiations on Nagorno
Karabakh, Abkhazia or South Ossetia,’ said the report, published in
March. `In and around Nagorno Karabakh, it has done little for
conflict resolution. It has rarely raised the South Caucasus conflicts
in its high-level discussions with partners and has employed few
sanctions or incentives to advance peace.’
A subtle change in language in the mandate assigned to Semneby,
compared with that of his predecessor Heikki Talvitie, means the EU
special representative is no longer asked to `assist the resolution of
conflicts’ but to `contribute to the resolution of conflicts’.
Semneby said this linguistic change was small but important, calling
it `a political signal that the conflicts are very high on the
agenda’.

PanARMENIAN.Net
EU Lacks Knowledge about South Caucasus, Peter Semneby
Says
26.05.2006 18:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are
all members of the EU’s European Neighborhood Policy,
a development that Semneby said was deepening their
relationship with Brussels and would also entitle them
to increased aid. `We’re talking about hundreds of
millions of euros for each country. The EU will also
step up its representation in the countries, which
will mean there will be a larger degree of visibility
in the South Caucasus,’ European Union’s new special
representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby
stated in an interview with Thomas de Waal, the
Caucasus Project Coordinator and Editor at the
Institute for War and Peace Reporting.
`I will also spend some time trying to explain to the
public in the South Caucasus what the EU is about.
There is not a whole lot of knowledge to begin with.
To the extent that the EU is known, there are still a
lot of misunderstandings about what [it] is about.’
`I think there is also lack of knowledge in the EU
about the south Caucasus and its particular problems
and about the importance of this region for the EU,
and if possible this is something I would like to
engage on.’
Asked about the hopes of many people in the region who
dream of joining the EU one day, the special
representative was careful to reiterate that the
European Neighborhood Policy `does not contain a
membership perspective’.
`It does mean that the countries can achieve a lot of
the benefits of EU membership by working on the
implementation of the European Neighborhood Policy,’
he went on.
`There is a problem – and I am the first to admit that
– that since the membership perspective is not there
as a big carrot at the end, this deprives us of one of
the most powerful levers we had in encouraging the
countries of Central Europe to carry out painful reforms.’

PanARMENIAN.Net
Turkey Laid Basis of Karabakh Conflict, Armenian Historian Considers
26.05.2006 18:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Presentation of monograph `Turkey and the Karabakh
Conflict in late 20th and early 21st century’ by candidate of
historical sciences Hayk Demoyan. According to the author, the work
leads t two major conclusions. Turkey has laid the basis of the
Karabakh conflict and the Ankara’s formal position on Karabakh makes
it a party to conflict and doesn’t give a right for mediation.
The monograph is dedicated to the analysis of Turkey’s official
position on the Nagorno Karabakh settlement. For the first time
materials about using of the Turkish and Azeri territories by the
international terrorism network, attraction of thousands of hirelings
from Chechnya and Afghanistan to the Karabakh conflict zone and role
of official structures in these processes.
`Armenian, Russia, English, French and Turkish sources were used for
the monograph. These documents proved that Turkey rendered military
and political assistance to Azerbaijan during the Karabakh war,
Demoyan said.
The book `Turkey and Karabakh Conflict’ was published in the Russian
language with the assistance of the Armenian Defense Ministry. In the
words of Armenian Deputy Defense Minister Artur Aghabekyan, Hayk
Demoyan’s monograph will become a handbook for the Armenian military,
reported Yerkir.

A1+
2-MINUTE FIRE IS NOT A VIOLATION OF CEASEFIRE
[04:13 pm] 26 May, 2006
`The death of a soldier is already too much for us, especially if the
soldier on temporary military service died from the shot of a sniper,’
Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, personal representative of the OSCE CiO
said in an interview to the agency `Trend’. He also mentioned that
periodically tension is noted on the border.
The interesting thing about the interview is the way the OSCE
representatives record the facts about the violation of ceasefire,
that is to say, the criteria of violation. `We do not have clear facts
about the violation of ceasefire. We take the figures made public by
the Ministries of Defense. The fact of violation of ceasefire is
recorded if there are victims or if the fire lasts at least 20
minutes,’ Andrzej Kasprzyk mentioned.
He voiced confidence that the current year can be that of the
settlement of the conflict as there are no elections in either country
this year.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1+
OSCE FUTURE PRESIDING COUNTRY GETS ACQUAINTED WITH
ARMENIA
[04:45 pm] 26 May, 2006
RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan received permanent
representative of Spain to OSCE Ambassador Carlos
Sanchez de Boado accompanied by the permanents
representatives of Germany, Norway and Lichtenstein.
During the meeting Ambassador de Boado mentioned that
the visit to Armenia aims at recognizing the country
better and preparing the presidency of Spain in the
OCSE.
During the conversation the sides discussed the
activity of the OSCE in Armenia and the future plans.
The sides expressed their content with the opening of
the Syunik region department of the OSCE Yerevan
office and voiced confidence that it will contribute
to the social-economic development and to the solution
of the ecological problems of the region.
Issues about improving the electoral legislation and
the OSCE support in this connection were also
discussed.
At the request of the guest the RA Foreign Minister
briefed him on the negotiation process of the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict and the
perspectives, as well as the present state of the
Armenian-Turkish relations.

A1+
THERE WILL BE NO FORTH REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
[05:35 pm] 26 May, 2006
It happened so that the first three republics of
Armenia were created «by chance». The first one was
created as Georgia and Azerbaijan has already left the
Transcaucasian Seyma, the second one was created
because of the arrival of the communists, and the
third one was created after the collapse of the Soviet
Union.
At least this is what can be concluded from the speech
of the guests of club «Pastark». Kiro Manoyan from the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation, communist Kiro
Manoyan and member of the Armenian Pan-National
Movement Hovhannes Igityan discussed today the effect
of the creation of the First Republic of Armenia on
May 28, 1918 on the Armenian nation. «It wasn’t really
by chance», Kiro Manoyan said. According to him,
although the ARF did not plan the creation of the
republic, it was done as a result of the 10-year
liberation war.
«Do you accept that if it weren’t for the Russian
Bolsheviks, the Armenian communists would never come
to power? » we asked Yuri Manoukyan. `In 1920 maybe
not, but a few years later they would by all means,’
Comrade communist said. And Hovhannes Igityan does not
accept that the third Republic of Armenia was created
as a result of the collapse of the USSR as it was
created on the judicial ground of the Soviet Union.
`The Soviet Union did not collapse, it was destroyed,’
Yuri Manoukyan claimed. He complained that in 1920 the
communists inherited a poor country full of refugees
and made it a `ready country’ with their hard work,
and now `there is something wrong about it’.
By the way, although the ARF is member of the
coalition, Kiro Manoyan does not consider it fair to
blame them for all the mistakes of the authorities,
`Being part of the authorities does not mean to be
responsible for something for which the President id
authorized for,’ Kiro Manoyan said. He refereed to the
incidents on April 12 and 13, 2004 when peaceful
demonstrators were beaten on the Baghramyan avenue. He
noted it in answer to the question of one of the
journalists why they allowed the April incidents if
they claim they left the power peacefully in 1920 in
order to avoid bloodshed.
By the way, Kiro Manoyan claimed that if they weren’t
in the opposition the incidents would continue still
further.

A1+
AMBASSADORS IN THE PARLIAMENT
[08:48 pm] 26 May, 2006
NA deputy Speaker Vahan Hovhannisyan accepted the OSCE
delegation including Ambassadors Carlos Sanchez de
Boado (Spain), Mette Kongshem (Norway), Alex Berg
(Germany) and Maria-Pin Kotbauer (Lichtenstein).
Mr. Hovhannisyan highly appreciated the activity of
the OSCE mission in Armenia and found the realization
of different programs important. He also briefly
referred to the events in the inner political life of
the country.
Referring to the settlement of the Karabakh conflict
and the relations between Armenia and Turkey the
Ambassadors mentioned that the relations with Turkey
will be easier if the conflict is settled. Mr.
Hovhannisyan answered that the Karabakh issue has
nothing to do with the conditions put to Turkey for
their membership in the EU and it wouldn’t be normal
if the relations between Turkey and the EU were
conditioned by two other countries which are not
members of the EU.
During the meeting other issues of mutual interest
were also discussed.