Saturday 4 October 2008

Armenian News


NATO Kicks Off Armenia Drills
By Emil Danielyan

Armenia hosted on Monday the first NATO-led military exercises in the South Caucasus since the recent Russian-Georgian war, underlining its intention to continue to deepen security ties with the West despite the
latter's confrontation with Russia.

About one thousand troops from 17 nations, eight of them NATO members, will practice in the next three weeks joint military and humanitarian operations at the training ground of Armenia's main military academy
located on the northern outskirts of Yerevan. An opening ceremony there was led by Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and Lieutenant General John Gardner, the U.S. deputy commander of NATO's Land Component Command in Heidelberg, Germany.

The drills, codenamed `Cooperative Longbow / Lancer -2008,' will follow a NATO-drawn scenario involving the evacuation of non-combatant civilians, counter-terrorist activities and stabilization operations. `This cooperative exercise provides Alliance and Partner Nations with the opportunity to build relationships, share experiences and techniques, and enhance the professionalism of all our forces,' Gardner said in a speech at the opening ceremony.

`The exercises will include a command post exercise employing a multinational brigade headquarters and a field exercise involving a multinational battalion,' read a separate statement issued by NATO. `Over the past year the Government and Armed Forces of Armenia have done a superb job in preparing to serve as this year's host, and NATO looks forward to a great exercise.'

Addressing the participants, Ohanian portrayed the drills as further proof of Yerevan's readiness to `fulfill our commitments to ensure international security.' He regretted the fact that Turkey and other neighboring states involved in NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) program are not participating. `Unfortunately, this once again
demonstrates that security in the South Caucasus is shaky,' said Ohanian.

Turkey had taken part in NATO's first-ever military exercise held on Armenian soil in 2003, as had Russia, Armenia's closest military ally. The Russian absence from the latest drills is a measure of its strained relations with the U.S.-led alliance in the wake of its military campaign against NATO aspirant Georgia.

The Armenian military has made clear that it will not halt growing cooperation with NATO despite the Russia-West tensions that have made it harder for Yerevan to stick to its `complementary' foreign and security policies. In particular, it said Armenian peace-keeping troops will continue to serve in Kosovo and Iraq as part of multinational forces led by NATO and the United States respectively. Armenia is also considering joining the NATO-led force in Afghanistan.

Still, Armenian leaders have repeatedly stated that they are not seeking NATO membership and will remain part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-dominated alliance of six ex-Soviet
states. As recently as this summer Armenia played host to a CSTO military exercise. It assumed the alliance's rotating presidency during a CSTO summit in Moscow earlier this month.


Dynamics of Azeri-Armenian-Turkish Relations: A Three-Legged
Chair
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

All indications are that Armenian and Turkish leaders have agreed in recent weeks to improve their long frozen relations based on the following terms: Turkey will open its border with Armenia, establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan, and set up several inter-governmental commissions, one of which would deal with Ottoman-Armenian relations, including the issue of the Armenian Genocide.

Many Armenians both in Armenia and the Diaspora have serious problems with the apparent willingness of Armenian authorities to participate in a historical commission specifically devoted to the Genocide. Turkish
officials have repeatedly stated that their intent in involving Armenians in a joint commission is to discourage other countries from adopting resolutions on the Armenian Genocide.

Another serious obstacle to Armenian-Turkish rapprochement is the Artsakh (Karabagh) conflict. For years, Ankara had made the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Artsakh a pre-condition for normalizing relations with Armenia.

Last week, the Presidents of Armenia and Turkey as well as the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey were in New York to attend the General Assembly of the United Nations. While it is not known what the three Foreign Ministers discussed in their private meeting, one can gain an insight into their discussions from remarks delivered at the U.N. by Turkish, Armenian and Azeri officials.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul addressed the General Assembly on Sept. 23 and gave a glowing report on Turkey's recent diplomatic initiatives. His aim was to lure U.N. members into supporting Turkey's candidacy for a non-permanent seat at the Security Council next month, as well as facilitating his country's eventual entry into the European Union. In contrast to previous U.N. appearances, when Armenian and Turkish officials would get involved in acrimonious debates, Pres. Gul concentrated on his visits in early September to Armenia and Azerbaijan and expressed the hope that frozen conflicts in the region, "including the occupied Nagorno Karabakh," would be resolved, "on the basis of respect for the principle of territorial integrity."

Pres. Serzh Sargsyan addressed the General Assembly two days later, recalling his invitation of Pres. Gul to Yerevan to watch with him a football match between the national teams of the two countries. Pres. Sargsyan stated that he was "pleased with the Turkish President's bold decision to accept my invitation which made him the co-author of my 'football diplomacy' initiative." The President also said, "I am confident that the time has come to solve Armenian-Turkish problems, and on that issue I observed a similar determination by Pres. Gul. I am convinced that it is necessary to move fast and resolutely in that direction."

In contrast to his courteous words toward Pres. Gul, Mr. Sargsyan was very critical of Azerbaijan. He discussed at length the status of Artsakh and its right to self-determination, even independence. He castigated the 39 U.N. members who had voted earlier this year for a pro-Azerbaijan resolution on Artsakh which encouraged Azeri leaders to become more belligerent. Pres. Sargsyan concluded his statement by describing Armenians as "a people who had survived genocide."

Interestingly, Pres. Sargsyan delivered his remarks in Armenian - a first in U.N. history. Despite his fluency in Russian, he chose to speak in Armenian, not one of the six international languages spoken at the U.N. Unfortunately, the circulated English text of the President's remarks, while generally well translated by Armenian personnel, deviated occasionally from the Armenian original, altering the meaning of some of his words.

Two days later, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, addressed the General Assembly and called for "the withdrawal of Armenian troops from occupied lands and restoration of full sovereignty of Azerbaijan over these territories." Devoting a major portion of his remarks to the Artsakh conflict, Mammadyarov praised the states that had sided with Azerbaijan in the earlier General Assembly vote.

It is abundantly clear that while Armenian and Turkish leaders are treating each other with courtesy and respect in their U.N. remarks -- indicating that they are making headway in their rapprochement, this does not seem to be the case between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The officials of the two countries used the U.N. podium to publicize their disagreements.

Since Turkey has made the resolution of the Artsakh conflict a pre-condition to normalizing relations with Armenia, it remains to be seen how the ongoing war of words between Armenia and Azerbaijan would impact the improvement of Armenian-Turkish relations.

Here is a possible scenario for regional developments in the upcoming weeks or months: After Turkey de-links the Artsakh conflict from Armenian-Turkish relations, it would open the border with Armenia and establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan. In return, Armenia would participate in a historical commission with Turkey and the government of Artsakh may make a face-saving gesture to Turkey and Azerbaijan by withdrawing from a small portion of the buffer zone that has no particular historic or strategic significance for
Armenians. However, when Turks and Azeris realize that Armenians are unwilling to make further territorial concessions on Artsakh, Turkey could then break its newly established relations with Yerevan and once again close its border with Armenia.

It is difficult to predict if such a scenario would actually materialize. Would Turkey's leaders be willing to place their country's interests ahead of those of Azerbaijan? Would Armenians accept to withdraw from some of the
buffer zones around Artsakh?

After the upcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan and parliamentary elections in Turkey, it would be more apparent if the budding relationship between Armenia and Turkey survives the lack of progress in the resolution of the Artsakh conflict.


Council Of Europe Official Again Slams Yerevan
By Emil Danielyan

The Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights has again expressed serious concern at the continuing imprisonment of dozens of Armenian opposition members and supporters on what he considers dubious
charges.

`The situation with respect to the persons deprived of their liberty in connection with the 1-2 March events continues to be a source of serious concern. There is an urgent need to deploy the requisite political will to achieve a solution,' Thomas Hammarberg said in a report issued ahead of Tuesday's meeting of a key Council of Europe body monitoring the fulfillment of Armenia's membership commitments to the organization.

The Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) was due to discuss Yerevan's compliance with PACE resolutions demanding the immediate release of all opposition members arrested on `seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges.' The resolutions, adopted in April and June, also urged the Armenian authorities to restore civil liberties and allow an independent inquiry into the post-election unrest.

Visiting Yerevan in late July, PACE President Lluis Maria de Puig warned that Armenia's continued membership in the Strasbourg-based watchdog will be at serious risk if the authorities fail to free all political
prisoners by next October. Only a handful of oppositionists have been set freed since then. Despite that, the political situation in Armenia was not included on the agenda of the PACE's autumn session, which began
its work in Strasbourg on Monday.

Contrary to expectations, the Monitoring Committee did not discuss the issue in detail when it last met in Paris on September 11. The committee was expected to look into Hammarberg's report on Tuesday.

`The Commissioner wishes to underline that it is unacceptable to continue to hold in detention or to convict - even to non-custodial sentences - anyone solely because of their political beliefs or non-violent activities,' reads the reports based on Hammarberg's July fact-finding trip to Armenia.

Hammarberg said he is `particularly concerned' about the fate of seven prominent opposition figures, among them three members of the Armenian parliament, remaining in pre-trial detention on charges of plotting to
overthrow the government in the wake of the February 19 presidential election. `The Commissioner's concern is exacerbated by the fact that in several of those cases, the relevant court ordered further two-month extensions as recently as early September 2008,' he said.

Hammarberg also questioned the credibility of these and other grave accusations that have underpinned the Armenian government's post-election crackdown on the opposition. He cited a controversial directive that was issued by the head of Armenia's Special Investigative Service, Andranik Mirzoyan, in March and subsequently made public by the opposition. Mirzoyan ordered regional prosecutors to round up local
participants of the post-election rallies in Yerevan, wiretap their phones and interrogate their neighbors.

Hammarberg said the fact that the prosecutors were told to collect information on opposition supporters, rather than specific acts, `raises questions about the nature and the intent of the investigation.'

The Council of Europe official at the same time praised the authorities in Yerevan for seemingly accepting his proposal to set up an independent body tasked with investigating circumstances of the March 1 clashes that
left ten people dead. `The establishment of a group of experts tasked with carrying out a comprehensive, independent, impartial, transparent inquiry, which would be perceived as credible by the whole population of
Armenia, appears to be within reach,' he said.

A senior pro-government lawmaker said last week that the government camp and the opposition will be equally represented in the body. International experts will also participate in the inquiry, he said.


ARMENIA 67TH AMONG 141 COUNTRIES IN ECONOMIC FREEDOM
OF THE WORLD 2008 RATINGS
ARKA
Oct 1, 2008

YEREVAN, October 1. /ARKA/. Armenia ranks the 67th among 141 countries in ratings of Economic Freedom of the World 2008 published by Cato Institute.

Armenia got 6.83 on 10-point scale, Washington ProFile international news agency reports referring to the results of the study.

The ratings of other CIS countries are as follows: Estonia (11th, 7.89 points), Lithuania (31 and 7.40 respectively), Georgia (39 and 7.29), Latvia (40 and 7.27), Kazakhstan (42 and 7.23), Kyrgyzstan (60
and 6.96), Moldova (78 and 6.51), Azerbaijan (118 and 5.73), Ukraine (121 and 5.64). Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have not been covered in the study.

The first ten most free in terms of economy countries are Hong Kong (special administrative region of China - 8.94 points), Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Great Britain, Chili, Canada, USA (8.04 points each), Australia and Ireland (7.92 each).

Ratings of other major world economies are as follows: Germany - 17th (7.64 points), Japan - 27th , France - 45th, Italy - 49th, Mexico - 58th, India - 77th, China - 93rd, Brazil - 96th, Russia - 101st (6.12 points).

The worst situation has been recorded in Zimbabwe (141st, 2.67 points), Angola, Myanmar (Burma), Congo and Niger. Eight out of ten countries with the lowest level of economic freedo m are in Africa (apart from
Myanmar and Venezuela).

The USA has appeared among the countries where the steepest reduction in economic freedom level was recorded (Zimbabwe, Argentina, Niger, Venezuela and Guiana). In 2000 the USA was the second in terms of
economic freedom after Hong Kong.

A record high progress in economic freedom was achieved in Ghana, Uganda, Israel, Peru and Jamaica.

Five main criteria have been assessed during the study - first, government dimensions (i.e. number of public servants not involved in economic process directly, share of government involvement in economy,
volume of government investments, and etc.); second, protection of property rights; third, accessibility of monetary funds (inflation rates, accessibility of currency account control, and etc.); fourth, level of freedom of international trade and fifth, level of business, labor market and loan market regulation.

The ratings' authors mention that the highest annual economic growth rates are recorded in countries of the first ¼ of the ratings list - 2.31% against 0.50% in countries of the last forth of the ratings. More economic freedom goes together with higher life expectancy (79 against 58 years), greater political rights and personal freedoms, the report says.


The government will ask Western donors to provide more than $38 million for its new plan to rehabilitate Armenia's border regions severely damaged during the war with Azerbaijan, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Gagik Yeganian, head of the State Migration Agency, said the government has drawn up a three-year program that envisages the reconstruction and repair of more than 18,000 homes and the resettlement of more than a
thousand internally displaced persons (IDPs) in those areas. `This is a rather ambitious but substantiated program,' he told a news conference.

The 1991-1994 war in Nagorno-Karabakh rapidly spread to Armenia's long border with Azerbaijan. The fighting inflicted serious damage on villages and towns on either side of the heavily militarized frontier,
forcing thousands of their residents to flee their homes. Regular exchanges of automatic and sniper fire between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have kept many of them from returning home after a Russian - mediated truce halted the large-scale fighting in May 1994. Thousands of hectares of scarce agricultural land remain uncultivated in the border regions for the same reason.

According to Yeganian, more than 2,000 Armenian IDPs are now ready to return to their pre-war homes. Under the government program, each returning family would get a one-time payment, equivalent to more than $700, to buy crop seeds and farming equipment, he said.

Yeganian added that those families whose houses were completely destroyed by shelling would be paid $7,700 each to rebuild them. There are almost 1,700 such houses across the country, he said.

Yeganian said another 16,500 homes were damaged to varying degrees during the fighting. The government wants to pay their owners $1,500 each. `This will be done not only for the returnees but those who actually live there,' the official said.

Yeganian did not specify which concrete donor agency would be approached for funding. Negotiations with potential donors have yet to begin, he said.


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