More Armenian News
DECISION ON TURK-ARMENIA GAME RESTS ON DEVELOPMENTS
Hurriyet
July 16 2008
Turkey
Turkish President Abdullah Gul's attendance at a soccer match
in Armenia will depend on developments that occur between the two
countries between now and the match date, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan
said in a televised interview on Wednesday.
"Such participation would depend on the developments between today
and the match date," Babacan told NTV.
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has invited Gul to visit Yerevan
for a soccer match in September, marking "a new start" in relations
between the two states. Turkey is due to play Armenia in a World Cup
qualifier on Sept 6.
"Until now we, as Turkey, took unilateral steps... This (match
invitation) is the result of the one-sided steps we took," Babacan
said.
Turkey is among the first countries that recognized Armenia when it
declared its independency. However there is no diplomatic relations
between two countries, as Armenia presses the international community
to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey's
call to investigate the allegations, and its invasion of 20 percent
of Azerbaijani territory despite the U.N. Security Council resolutions
on the issue.
Babacan also warned that any decision of Washington to accept
the so-called "genocide" claims would "greatly harm bilateral
relations". U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama had declared if
elected, his administration would accept the claims to woo Armenian
voters.
"This is why a thorough assessment needs to made. Such a decision
could lead to serious and negative consequences...We have seen this
in the previous campaign terms. Their approach to issues during the
campaign term differs from that shown after the elections," he added
when asked about Obama's view on the 1915 incidents.
Armenia, with the backing of the Diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million
of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915. Turkey
rejects the claims, saying that 300,000 Armenians along with at least
as many Turks died in civil strife that emerged when the Armenians
took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia.
Hurriyet
July 16 2008
Turkey
Turkish President Abdullah Gul's attendance at a soccer match
in Armenia will depend on developments that occur between the two
countries between now and the match date, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan
said in a televised interview on Wednesday.
"Such participation would depend on the developments between today
and the match date," Babacan told NTV.
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has invited Gul to visit Yerevan
for a soccer match in September, marking "a new start" in relations
between the two states. Turkey is due to play Armenia in a World Cup
qualifier on Sept 6.
"Until now we, as Turkey, took unilateral steps... This (match
invitation) is the result of the one-sided steps we took," Babacan
said.
Turkey is among the first countries that recognized Armenia when it
declared its independency. However there is no diplomatic relations
between two countries, as Armenia presses the international community
to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey's
call to investigate the allegations, and its invasion of 20 percent
of Azerbaijani territory despite the U.N. Security Council resolutions
on the issue.
Babacan also warned that any decision of Washington to accept
the so-called "genocide" claims would "greatly harm bilateral
relations". U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama had declared if
elected, his administration would accept the claims to woo Armenian
voters.
"This is why a thorough assessment needs to made. Such a decision
could lead to serious and negative consequences...We have seen this
in the previous campaign terms. Their approach to issues during the
campaign term differs from that shown after the elections," he added
when asked about Obama's view on the 1915 incidents.
Armenia, with the backing of the Diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million
of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915. Turkey
rejects the claims, saying that 300,000 Armenians along with at least
as many Turks died in civil strife that emerged when the Armenians
took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can Armenia's Football Diplomacy Work?
By Brian Whitmore in Prague
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has decided to try a little "football
diplomacy" to defuse longstanding tensions with neighboring Turkey.
During a recent visit to Moscow, Sarkisian made waves by publicly
announcing that he would like his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, to
come to Yerevan to watch a World Cup qualifying match between the two
countries in September.
The Armenian leader repeated the invitation in a commentary published in
the U.S. daily "The Wall Street Journal" last week (July 9). The Turkish
Foreign Ministry says it is "studying" the proposal.
The sports element lends Sarkisian's overture a tantalizing historical
appeal, evoking memories of the "ping-pong diplomacy" of the 1970s --
when an exchange of table-tennis teams helped set the stage for eventual
rapprochement between the United States and China.
But what caused many observers to wonder aloud whether the current
initiative might just lead to something serious was Russia's apparent
willingness to throw its diplomatic weight behind the idea -- and grab
the mantle on an issue where U.S. diplomats have, until now, played the
leading role. "Russian diplomats have been given the task of moving
beyond the American initiative to normalize Armenian-Turkish relations,"
explains David Hovhannisian, a former Armenian diplomat and
Yerevan-based political analyst.
Hovhannisyan points out that it is highly unlikely that Sarkisian would
have made his dramatic gesture in Moscow without his host's consent.
Moreover, just a week after Sarkisian's visit to Moscow, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov traveled to Istanbul (on July 2), with the
Armenia issue reportedly part of his agenda. Adding to the air of
anticipation, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian flew to
Washington for an official visit this week.
As Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Program at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies in Washington, explains, a
Turkish-Armenian thaw would serve Russia's interests: "Moscow has
developed a good relationship with Ankara, and being able to continue to
develop that relationship, without complications emanating from its
support for Yerevan, would be something that I think the Russian
government would welcome," he says.
Most analysts say it is highly unlikely that Turkey would make any moves
toward rapprochement with Armenia without Azerbaijan's consent -- making
Armenian-Turkish reconciliation tightly bound to a settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Moreover, Yerevan's claim that the mass killings
of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I constitutes
genocide is angrily rejected by Turkey and continues to be a major
roadblock in normalizing relations.
Omer Lutem head of the Armenia department at the Istanbul-based Eurasian
Strategic Research Center tells RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service that Ankara
is unlikely to make any moves toward opening the border unless Armenia
addresses these issues. "It looks like Armenia seriously wants to
negotiate, but as far as we see there is no change in their position on
Karabakh or on questions of Turkey's territorial integrity,' he says.
`Will they give up on their claims of genocide, or will they fight? Will
they make changes or not? It is not clear. If there will not be any
changes, how will the question be resolved?"
Alizira agrees that untangling this web and resolving these issues will
prove to be a complicated task: "There have been a lot of false dawns on
this front. So it's difficult to believe that we are on the verge of a
new opening between Turkey and Armenia because there are many issues
that need to be resolved."
But some observers say that the politics of the region at this
particular time gives Moscow plenty of incentives to try. Russia has
been steadily losing influence in the South Caucasus in recent years.
Relations with Georgia are embroiled in deep hostility over the
pro-Moscow separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and over
Tbilisi's bid to join NATO. Azerbaijan, whose energy wealth grants it a
degree of independence from Moscow, is increasingly looking West as
well. Russia maintains a large degree of influence in Armenia, where it
maintains a military base and has invested heavily -- particularly in
the energy sector.
Alexander Iskandarian, director of Caucasus Media Institute in Yerevan,
calls Armenia "Russia's only trusted partner in the South Caucuses,"
adding that it is not in Russia's interests to have such an ally
isolated, with its borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan closed: "When
Russia was in a different position in the South Caucuses, the fact that
Armenia was so isolated wasn't so troublesome. Since the situation has
changed, Russia is less satisfied with this situation."
Iskandarian adds that Russian firms investing in Armenia badly want the
border opened so they can use the country as a springboard to expand
their markets throughout the region and beyond: "If the road to Turkey
were open, and it will open if there would be normal diplomatic
relations, Russian capital here could use this,' he says. `It could go
to the Turkish market, export goods and services. And Russian capital
and Russian investment in Armenia is not small. This opens possibilities
and makes entry into the southern European and Middle Eastern markets
cheaper."
Total Russian investment in Armenia reached $1.2 billion this year. A
spin-off company of Russia's former electricity monopoly United Energy
Systems operates Armenia's only nuclear power plant and would like to
use Armenia's grid to sell power to Turkey and elsewhere in the region.
The state-controlled natural-gas monopoly Gazprom owns a majority stake
in Armenia's gas-distribution network. Russian investment is also heavy
in the banking and gaming sectors.
Questions remain, however, about whether Russia has enough over Turkey
and Armenia to broker a deal. "I don't think that they have much
leverage on the Turkish side of the fence, and I'm not sure how much
leverage they have on the Armenian side of the fence,' says Aliriza.
`Secondly, the Russian-Turkish relationship, which is so important to
Moscow and to Ankara for so many reasons, is not going to be a function
of the Turkish-Armenian relationship from Moscow's point of view."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
House Panel Blocks Sharp Cut In U.S. Aid To Armenia`
By Emil Danielyan
A key subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives rejected late
Wednesday an almost 60 percent cut in regular U.S. economic assistance
to Armenia which is sought by the administration of President George W.
Bush.
The administration's draft foreign assistance budget for the fiscal year
2009 submitted to Congress in February would cut funding to Armenia to
$24 million from this year's level of $58 million.
In what has been a pattern, the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee
raised the proposed allocation to $52 million at the urging of leading
pro-Armenian lawmakers. It also approved $8 million in separate direct
aid to Nagorno-Karabakh and voted to maintain parity in U.S. military
assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan. The armed forces of the two
warring nations would each continue to receive $3 million worth of aid.
Joe Knollenberg, a Michigan Republican co-chairing the congressional
Armenian Caucus, demanded that U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan be cut
altogether because of its continuing threats to resolve the Karabakh
conflict by force. The motion was narrowly voted down by the
subcommittee.
The two leading Armenian-American lobby groups in Washington commended
Knollenberg for nearly succeeding in pushing the measure through the
panel. "We are confident that Members will be looking at additional
steps to address Azerbaijan's war mongering," Bryan Ardouny, executive
director of the Armenian Assembly of America, said in a statement.
The aid allocations need to be approved by the full House Appropriations
Committee before they can be considered by the full chamber. A
corresponding committee of the U.S. Senate was scheduled to debate the
Senate version of the foreign aid bill late Thursday.
The volume of U.S. aid to Armenia, which has totaled about $2 billion,
has slowly but steadily declined since the 1990s when it averaged over
$100 million per annum. U.S. officials have attributed the drop to an
overall reduction of its foreign aid budgets and Armenia's economic
growth. They have also pointed to the Bush administration's decision in
2005 to provide the country with $236 million in additional assistance
under the Millennium Challenge Account program.
House Panel Blocks Sharp Cut In U.S. Aid To Armenia`
By Emil Danielyan
A key subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives rejected late
Wednesday an almost 60 percent cut in regular U.S. economic assistance
to Armenia which is sought by the administration of President George W.
Bush.
The administration's draft foreign assistance budget for the fiscal year
2009 submitted to Congress in February would cut funding to Armenia to
$24 million from this year's level of $58 million.
In what has been a pattern, the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee
raised the proposed allocation to $52 million at the urging of leading
pro-Armenian lawmakers. It also approved $8 million in separate direct
aid to Nagorno-Karabakh and voted to maintain parity in U.S. military
assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan. The armed forces of the two
warring nations would each continue to receive $3 million worth of aid.
Joe Knollenberg, a Michigan Republican co-chairing the congressional
Armenian Caucus, demanded that U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan be cut
altogether because of its continuing threats to resolve the Karabakh
conflict by force. The motion was narrowly voted down by the
subcommittee.
The two leading Armenian-American lobby groups in Washington commended
Knollenberg for nearly succeeding in pushing the measure through the
panel. "We are confident that Members will be looking at additional
steps to address Azerbaijan's war mongering," Bryan Ardouny, executive
director of the Armenian Assembly of America, said in a statement.
The aid allocations need to be approved by the full House Appropriations
Committee before they can be considered by the full chamber. A
corresponding committee of the U.S. Senate was scheduled to debate the
Senate version of the foreign aid bill late Thursday.
The volume of U.S. aid to Armenia, which has totaled about $2 billion,
has slowly but steadily declined since the 1990s when it averaged over
$100 million per annum. U.S. officials have attributed the drop to an
overall reduction of its foreign aid budgets and Armenia's economic
growth. They have also pointed to the Bush administration's decision in
2005 to provide the country with $236 million in additional assistance
under the Millennium Challenge Account program.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FM OF ARMENIA DRAWS ATTENTION OF OSCE MG US CO-CHAIR
FM OF ARMENIA DRAWS ATTENTION OF OSCE MG US CO-CHAIR
TO ABSENCE OF PROPER RESPONSE TO MILITARY RHETORIC OF AZERBAIJAN
ArmInfo
2008-07-17 13:21:00
Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan met OSCE Minsk Group
Co-chair Matthew Bryza in Washington and outlined the military rhetoric
of Azerbaijan that receives no proper response of the international
community.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry press-service reports E. Nalbandyan said
that Azerbaijan's statement against Armenia containing open territorial
claims and militarist propaganda does no get proper assessment by the
international community which makes formation of mutual confidence in
the negotiations for settlement of Karabakh conflict quite difficult.
The source reports that the parties discussed details of the
negotiation process and the results of the recent visit of OSCE
Minsk Group Co-chairs to the region. Moreover, the sides discussed
the possibility of organizing a meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani
foreign ministers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ArmInfo
2008-07-17 13:21:00
Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan met OSCE Minsk Group
Co-chair Matthew Bryza in Washington and outlined the military rhetoric
of Azerbaijan that receives no proper response of the international
community.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry press-service reports E. Nalbandyan said
that Azerbaijan's statement against Armenia containing open territorial
claims and militarist propaganda does no get proper assessment by the
international community which makes formation of mutual confidence in
the negotiations for settlement of Karabakh conflict quite difficult.
The source reports that the parties discussed details of the
negotiation process and the results of the recent visit of OSCE
Minsk Group Co-chairs to the region. Moreover, the sides discussed
the possibility of organizing a meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani
foreign ministers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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