ARMENIA’S FM: INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO
CONTRIBUTE TO PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE IN THE WORLD
Yerevan, April 20. ArmInfo. Armenia and the Armenian people, as a
people, which underwent genocide, bears a moral responsibility in the
issue of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, thus,
to contribute to the further prevention of genocides in the world, The
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told at today’s joint press-
conference with the State Secretary of the Austria’s MFA Hans Winkler.
According to Oskanyan, entering of the Armenian Genocide’s
international recognition issue in the order paper of the Armenia’s
foreign policy is a natural process and it could not be otherwise.
“The Armenia’s authorities bear moral responsibility before the
Armenian people, previous generations, Genocide victims and the world
community, since Genocide is an actual phenomenon for the world”,
Oskanyan said, having reminded that Genocide, by the UN assessment,
is considered of one of the challenges of the XXI century.
At the same time, Oskanyan noted that the results of issue entering
in the republic’s foreign policy order paper are evident. According
to him, the Armenian Genocide has already been recognized by a host
of countries and their number is growing day by day. Besides, this
led to positive shearings even in Turkey, as more representatives of
intelligentsia talked about this issue. The Minister also noted the
connection of this issue with negotiations about Turkey’s membership
in the EC. In response to the question, if the publications in
the Turkish press about contacts at different levels between the
representatives of Armenia and Turkey represent the facts, Oskanyan
said that some publications relative to the contents of meetings are
overestimated grossly, however, the FM confirmed the fact of such
meetings. According to him, the Armenian-Turkish contacts exist and
they were not interrupted even in a “hopeless time”.

ARMENIA’S DEFENSE MINISTER: ANY INCOMPLETE CONFLICT IN CAUCASUS CAN
PLAY ROLE OF DETONATOR
Yerevan, April 20. ArmInfo. Any Incomplete Conflict In The Caucasus
Can Play A Role Of Detonator , The Armenia’S Defense Minister Serzh
Sarkissyan Told In The Interview To The “Krasnaya Zvezda” Newspaper.
“The South Caucasus Is Very Small And All The Countries Here Depend
On Each Other. Thus, Resumption Of Operations May Have Negative
Consequences, For Us As Well. If Talk About The Instability In Georgia,
It Is In No Way Convenient To Armenia, As Georgia Is The Only Country
Which Connects Us With The Outer World. On The Other Hand, Resumption
Of Operations Means A Definite Temptation For Other Countries To Get
Twisted In The Conflict”, Sarkissyan Said.
In Response To The Question Of Possibility Of A Peacemaking
Operation In Nagorny Karabakh, The Minister Expressed Doubt That
“Anyone Is seriously engaged in the preparation of a peacemaking
operation”. As Sarkissyan noted, agreement of parties or, at least,
reference points of the agreement are necessary for this. We can
talk about it only when the parties will come to an agreement and
of course, peacemakers will be necessary after that. Unfortunately,
there is no agreement between Azerbaijan and us so far. Therefore, it
is also early to talk about peacemakers, Sarkissyan stressed. Talking
about the situation around Nagorny Karabakh, the DM noted that the
Karabakh question is being constantly raised in Azerbaijan, thus,
trying to solve other domestic issues. “You probably know that both
the President of Azerbaijan and the Defense Minister talked time and
again, that if we do not agree with their conditions, Baku will have
to solve the issue in a military way. Moreover, we have doubled the
military budget and Azerbaijan has recently stated that it will reduce
it to $1 bln. But I think, there is a blackmail. We are not afraid
of war but we don’t want it either. In 1994, through the mediation
of Russia, an agreement was reached about operations cessation. Today
our forces are in a favorable defensive position and we equipped well
our positions within 12 years. Billion of dollars will not help us
in this case. If fighting efficiency and readiness could be defined
by great military budgets, all the oil states, I think, would have
the most efficient armies. But it is not so.”, Sarkissyan said.

KARABAKH CONFLICT MUST BE RESOLVED ACCORDING TO SELF-DETERMINATION PRINCIPLE
Yerevan, April 19. ArmInfo. The international community should
accept the position of the Armenian side that the Karabakh
problem should be resolved in accordance with the principle of a
nation’s self-determination, says the co-chair of the Armenia-EU
inter-parliamentary cooperation commission Marie-Anne Isler Beguin.
Beguin says that Azerbaijan should recognize the right of the Karabakh
people to self-determination as this is a primary principle in the
international law. Beguin also notes the importance of the problem of
refugees. Refugees should be taken back to the seven districts around
Karabakh. The Karabakh conflict should be resolved in the accordance
with two principles: the right of a nation to self-determination
and the respect of the rights of national minorities. The return of
refugees is exactly the latter principle.
Beguin also notes the necessity of early resolution of the Karabakh
conflict and says that the EU will support the sides in the matter.
She regrets that the EU special representative to Armenia has no
specific directives for the Karabakh conflict settlement. She says that
the international community has undertaken to resolve the conflict as
soon as possible. She notes that the two peoples should be prepared
for compromises. Beguin regrets that the Armenian and Azeri presidents
failed to agree in Rambouillet but hopes that they will agree soon.

RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Czech Republic
April 20 2006
Ethnic-Armenian Forces End Military Exercises in Karabakh
The Nagorno-Karabakh army in training, 2005
(Photolur)
April 20, 2006 — Ethnic-Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh
concluded a week of military exercises today in the disputed enclave.
About 1,500 soldiers took part in the exercises, which took place
mainly around the central Agdam region. The area is near the
so-called line of control that separates ethnic-Armenian and
Azerbaijani forces.
The drills were observed by the defense minister and chief of general
staff from Armenia.
Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan but is populated mostly by
ethnic Armenians. Clashes regularly break out between the two sides.
At least 30,000 people have been killed and 1 million made refugees
during six years of open conflict that
ended with a ceasefire in 1994.

HANS WINKLER: WE BELIEVE IN CLOSE COOPERATION WITH ARMENIA
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The joint press
conference of RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and head of the
delegation of EU Troika, State Secretary of Austrian Foreign Ministry
Hans Winkler was dedicated to issues of development of cooperation
between Armenia and European Union, as well as to summing up of the
results of the delegation’s visit to Armenia.
The participants of the press conference gave a high estimation
to the results of Troyka’s visit to Armenia, as well as to current
negotiations between Armenia and EU dedicated to discussion of the
Actions Plan. The work at the latter will be over soon as the third
stage of the negotiations will start already in early May. Vartan
Oskanian estimated cooperation between RA and EU as “extensive
and deep” and expressed the hope that further discussion of issues
regarding Armenia’s integration to European structures will bring
effective results. In his turn, Hans Winkler emphasized that the
South Caucasus is a very important region for EU. “EU is interested
in close cooperation with the South Caucasus and considers that the
negotiations on the Actions Plan are a basis for further development
of cooperation between EU and the South Caucasus.
We also believe in close cooperation with Armenia”. According to
him, EU attaches great importance to human rights and development
of democratic processes in Armenia. As for the fact why EU is so
reserved in its reaction towards the violations during the elections
in Armenia and whether EU has a differentiated approach to Armenia
in this issue, Hans Winkler answered: “EU applies general approaches
towards all countries. I think it is clear what we expect from the
elections and there should not be incomprehension here”. Issues
regarding the sphere of energy, including diversification of energy
sources, took a special place at the press conference. Hans Winkler
confirmed the interest of EU in closing the Armenian Nuclear Power
Plant as provision of security on it does not correspond to the
current international standards. Meanwhile, he mentioned that each
country has its strategy in this sphere and has the right to solve
its problems itself. As for the possible consequences for Armenia
of the fact that almost all entities appeared in RF’s hands, Vartan
Oskanian said that diversification does not depend on the circumstance
in whose hands the energy entities are, the most important here is
diversification of sources of energy production and ways of supply
of energy carriers. “Of course, we would like diversification to
be in the issue of countries, too, but it came so that none of the
countries except Russia expressed interest in this issue,” Oskanian
declared. He admitted that indeed the most part of the Armenian energy
entities appeared in the hands of one state, whereas, in his opinion,
everything depends on the clauses of these agreements: “I think these
agreements completely protect our energy security”.

CONCESSIONS CANNOT BE ONE-SIDED, NKR PRESIDENT SAYS
STEPANAKERT, APRIL 20, NOYAN TAPAN. It is impossible to solve any issue
without NKR and everybody understands this. The more NKR takes part
in the negotiations process the more efficient these negotiations
will be”. NKR President Arkadi Ghukasian declared this on April
19. Meanwhile he said that the Karabakh party’s participation in
the negotiations does not depend on NKR. Touching upon the issue
of concessions, NKR President said that “they should be spoken
about at the negotiations table”. But, according to A.Ghukasian,
NKR’s concessions depend on those of Azerbaijan. “There will not be
one-sided concessions. We are ready for concessions and this means
concessions on both sides,” he emphasized. In connection with possible
holding of a new referendum on Nagorno Karabakh’s self-determination
A.Ghukasian said that NKR has established its self-determination
long ago. According to him, Karabakh has held a referendum but the
world did not recognize the results of this referendum. “If today
we have an opportunity for the world and Azerbaijan to recognize the
referendum results, I think that this is a subject for discussion,”
NKR President said.

PARLIAMENTARIANS OF ARMENIA ALSO TO PARTICIPATE IN HEARINGS TO BE
HELD AT NKR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ON APRIL 21
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On the initiative of
the NKR National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations,
parliamentary hearings dedicated to prospects of settlement of
the Karabakh problem will be held on April 21. The goal is to
define positions of all the political forces representated at the
Parliament of Nagorno Karabakh. In the case of reaching a common
agreement concerning the principles, most probably, parliamentary
forces will make a joint statement. At the request of the initiator,
the delegation of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations,
headed by Committee Chairman Armen Rustamian will participate in
the discussion. The latter informed the Noyan Tapan correspondent,
that Aram Sargsian, a representative of the “Ardarutiun” (Justice)
faction, the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Armenia, independent
deputy Hmayak Hovhannisian as well as Shavarsh Kocharian, a member of
the Standing Committee on Social, Health Care and Nature Protectional
Issues, a representative of the “Ardarutiun” faction, the Chairman
of the National Democratic Party will leave for Karabakh from the
Commission members.

POSSIBILITY TO TAKE UNAWARES NKR DEFENCE ARMY BY AZERBAIJAN IS
EXCLUDED, SEYRAN OHANIAN ASSURES
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, NOYAN TAPAN. “We have the respective intelligence
services and the possibility to take unawares our army by Azeris
is excluded”. NKR Defence Minister Seyran Ohanian informed about at
the meeting with journalists. According to him, “if even they manage
to occupy our trenches, they do not know what they can expect from
the NKR Defence Army”. S.Ohanian also emphasized that the engineer
constructions and barriers are perfected year by year.
As S.Ohanian affirmed, in order to have long-term peace we should be
first of all ready for a war. According to him, the preferable variant
of settlement of the problem is a way of negotiations. S.Ohanian
considers that though RA leadership carries on this process rather
consistently, it would be desirable that NKR leadership also take
part in the negotiations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA FOREIGN MINISTER AND DELEGATION OF EU TROIKA DISCUSS CURRENT STATE
AND PROSPECT OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Issues regarding
the third stage of the negotiations on EU-Armenia Actions Plan within
the framework of the EU New Neighborhood policy were discussed at
RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian’s April 20 meeting with the
delegation of EU Troika that arrived in Armenia within the framework
of the regional visit. Emphasizing that Armenia shares the same values
with EU, head of the delegation, State Secretary of Austrian Foreign
Ministry Hans Winkler said that EU attaches importance to progress in
the Caucasian region and especially to democratic processes. As Noyan
Tapan was informed from RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information
Department, the interlocutors exchanged thoughts about regional
problems, energy issues and development of democracy. They especially
stressed the necessity of holding free and fair parliamentary and
presidential elections in the future. RA Foreign Minister and the
members of the European delegation also touched upon the current
state and prospect of Armenian-Turlish relations in the light of the
negotiations on Turkey’s membership to EU. They exchanged thoughts
about the current state and prospects of the Nagorno Karabakh
settlement.
Ambassadors of Austria and Finland to Armenia, EU Special
Representative to the South Caucasus, representatives of the European
Commission and EU Council were also included in the delegation.

VAHAN HOVHANNISIAN: IN KARABAKH PROCESS NEGOTIATIONS WITH AZERBAIJAN
SHOULD BE NO LONGER CONSIDERED AS FIRST AND FOREMOST
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The official Yerevan is not going
to make more concessions that those being spoken about for already
several years. Vahan Hovhannisian, RA NA Vice-Speaker, member of the
ARF Dashnaktsutiun Bureau, declared this at the April 20 meeting at the
National Press Club. “I think that the negotiations strategy, as well
as statements made for the purpose of presenting Armenia in a more
beneficial position in the negotiations process for making progress
in the negotiations should not be mixed with the ultimate aim,”
he mentioned commenting upon RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian’s
statement that the Armenian side is ready to delay the discussion
of the issue of Nagorno Karabakh status for some time. Oskanian, in
particular, had declared that “if Azerbaijan agrees to the reality
that the Nagorno Karabakh people has the right of self-determination,
that can be used not immediately but in the future, the Armenian
side is ready to immediately discuss the issues connected with
liquidation of the consequences of the conflict – territories,
refugees, other issues connected with security”. “After all, if
Azerbaijan once admits that it recognizes the Nagorno Karabakh’s right
of self-determination, it can retract its words with difficulty in
the future”, Vahan Hovhannisian emphasized. According to the speaker,
such statements voiced by the Armenian side show that henceforth not
such a great importance is attached to what Azerbaijan will do or
will say. According to him, today the negotiations with Azerbaijan
should be no longer considered as the first and foremost issue on
the agenda. The first and foremost should be the efforts of Armenians
aimed at Nagorno Karabakh recognition in the international sphere in
this or that way, which will contribute to Azerbaijan’s taking more
conciliatory position.