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Sent:	Sun 10/18/09 11:54 AM

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lragir.am

WHY WAS NALBANDYAN NOT SMILING?
11:42:07 - 14/10/2009

According to the assessment of the Republican press speaker Edward
Sharmazanov, after the signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols
the Turkish foreign minister Davutoglu was smiling form anger. If we
follow Sharmazanov's logic, so the dark and cold face of the Armenian
foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan expressed his happiness. Moreover,
if we follow this logic, we may presume that Edward Nalbandyan seeing
that Davutoglu was smiling from anger decided that he had to have an
angry face expression to express his happiness for people thinking
like Sharmazanov not to think that he was as angry as Davutoglu. It
is not ruled out either that Davutoglu saw the darkened face from
happiness of Nalbandyan and started smiling from anger. No doubt,
Chouchner, Clinton and a little Lavrov were angry too who were smiling
like Davutoglu. And the CoE commissioner Javier Solana apparently was
in stress and wanted to feel some happiness on Nalbandyan's cold and
dark face.

The question is that there are people looking at whose faces you are
able to understand something though wrongly, but there are others
looking at whose faces you cannot even understand anything wrongly
because their thoughts are quite understandable. In addition, within
the Armenian government, such people are the complete majority. This
is the reason why a normal and grounded explanation of their own steps
is from the sphere of fantasy for the Armenian government which is
the reason why so important situations are explained with such simple
words like if Azeris are dissatisfied so we have to be content. But if
Davutoglu is smiling from anger, Aliyev is not smiling from happiness
just like Edward Nalbandyan.

Hurdles to Turkey-Armenia Pact
The Wall Street Journal
OCTOBER 12, 2009
Territorial Dispute Is One Problem on Path to Ratification by Both
Parliaments
By SAMANTHA SHIELDS in Yerevan, Armenia, NICHOLAS BIRCH in Bursa, Turkey,
and MARC CHAMPION in Brussels

Just a day after Turkey and Armenia signed a historic accord aimed at
opening their borders and normalizing relations soured for generations by a
dispute over genocide, Turkey made clear that significant hurdles remain to
getting the deal implemented.

Saturday's long-awaited signing in Switzerland almost didn't happen due to
disagreements over what each side would say at the ceremony. U.S. Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton and Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
intervened with dramatic last-minute mediation. The signing in Zurich went
ahead three hours late. Diplomats said the compromise to get the accord
approved was that neither side made any statement.

But suspicions in Armenia were strong Sunday that Turkey had wanted to make
clear a linkage between implementing the accord and movement from Armenia to
resolve a territorial conflict with its neighbor, Turkic-speaking
Azerbaijan.

On Sunday, Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, confirmed the
linkage, though he remained vague on what Armenia would have to do. "We want
all the borders to be opened ... but as long as Armenia has not withdrawn
from Azerbaijani territory that it is occupying, Turkey cannot have a
positive attitude on this subject," Mr. Erdogan told members of his ruling
Justice and Development party, according to news-agency reports.

Mr. Erdogan underlined that the agreement still needs to be ratified by the
parliaments of Armenia and Turkey to take effect. He said Turkish
ratification is more likely if it becomes clear that Armenia and Azerbaijan
have begun "to look for a resolution to their problems."

Armenia has controlled Azeri territory in and around Azerbaijan's mainly
ethnic-Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh since a war in the early 1990s.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993, in protest at what it viewed
as an Armenian occupation of Azeri territory.

Mr. Erdogan faces significant pressure from Azerbaijan and at home over the
deal. "This issue is very sensitive for Armenian society, but on the Turkish
side you have opposition not just in society but inside the state
apparatus," said Alexander Iskandaryan, a Yerevan-based political analyst.

"Surrender to the Armenians," read the headline in Turkey's nationalist Yeni
Cag newspaper, though pro-government dailies were more supportive. The
foreign ministry of Azerbaijan said in a statement that the deal "casts a
shadow over the spirit of brotherly relations between Azerbaijan and
Turkey."

David Babayan, adviser to Nagorno-Karabakh's de facto president, said people
in the enclave worry Turkey will link the accord to a deal on Karabakh that
could weaken the position of Armenians there. "Officially there is no
mention of Karabakh in the protocols, but some people think a covert deal
has been done," he said by phone from Stepanakert, the Nagorno-Karabakh
capital.

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian reiterated in a televised address to the
nation before the protocols were signed Saturday his position that the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unrelated to the Turkey accord.

Both sides stand to gain if the border opens. For Armenia, it could reduce
the landlocked nation's economic isolation, and bring new trade and trade
routes. For Turkey, it could remove an irritant in relations with the U.S.
and in its accession talks with the European Union.

But Saturday's accord is highly sensitive in Armenia and among the large
Armenian diaspora because it would establish a joint history commission to
look into the issue of up to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians massacred around
1915 in what was then the Ottoman Empire. Most Western historians agree with
Armenia that the killings amounted to genocide. But Turkey strongly refutes
the label, and some Armenians worry Turkey will use the history commission
to push its case that both sides committed atrocities in what amounted to
civil war.

The accord also would affirm the current border Turkey-Armenia border, set
in a 1921 treaty between Turkey and Russia.

TURKISH MEDIA: PARLIAMENT APPROVAL DEPENDS ON NAGORNO

-KARABAKH DISPUTE
ArmInfo
2009-10-13 11:38:00

ArmInfo. Following the signing of a protocol on Saturday between
Turkey and Armenia to establish diplomatic relations, the approval
process of the protocol in the Turkish Parliament will begin after
Armenia withdraws from Nagorno- Karabakh, an Azerbaijani territory,
government sources told Today's Zaman.

Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary group deputy
chairman Bekir Bozdag said the approval process of the agreement will
depend on Armenia's withdrawal from the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Stressing that the entire world wants the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
to be settled, parliamentary foreign affairs committee spokesman
and AK Party deputy Suat Kiniklloglu said: "The internal process
in Parliament is, of course, clearly defined in the regulations of
Parliament. It will first come to the foreign affairs committee and
will be debated there. If it passes the committee, then it will be
sent to the advisory council of the speaker's office and from there
it would be sent to the floor of the general assembly.

When and how this process will fare is dependent on parallel
processes. Here the political will and courage of the Azerbaijani
and Armenian leadership is key. The Minsk Group demonstrated its
support during and before the signing ceremony. Not only Turkey and
our Parliament but the whole world is expecting positive movement
on Karabakh."

Kiniklloglu said a significant step has been taken toward
normalization in the southern Caucasus, as he added: "This is a
historic process. We welcome the overall optimism and encourage the
parties to take appropriate steps to further strengthen the ongoing
process of normalization in the South Caucasus. We always maintained
that Turkish-Armenian normalization is forcing the South Caucasus to
be transformed into a stable and predictable neighborhood of Turkey."

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) accused the government of taking a "backward
step" in Turkish foreign policy by signing the deal with Armenia and
say the protocol will place Azerbaijan in a difficult situation and
should not be approved by Parliament. CHP deputy leader Onur Oymen
said the protocol, which he said included the demands of Armenia,
does not have any chance of being approved by Parliament, while MHP
group deputy chairman Oktay Vural called on the entire nation to stand
up against the approval of the protocol in the Turkish Parliament.

IN ZURICH ARMENIAN DELEGATION PREVENTED THE STEPS OF

TURKEY UNACCEPTABLE FOR ARMENIA
ArmInfo
2009-10-13 16:24:00

ArmInfo. In Zurich Armenian delegation has prevented the steps of
Turkey unacceptable for Armenia, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister
Shavarsh Kocharyan told journalists today.

'We were assured that the Turkish party has already prepared the text
with oral statements which had to be sounded by the foreign ministers
after the ceremony of the protocols signing. Our delegation also had
the similar ready text. But the Turks did not submit their text to
us before the ceremony. This made us seriously doubt', - he said.

Kocharyan said this was the reason why the Armenian delegation did
not go to the university where the signing ceremony should take place,
demanding the mentioned text. Instead of giving the text the Armenian
delegation was informed about its content by telephone. After that
it became clear that it contains the points unacceptable for the
Armenian party.

'All those points, which the Turkish party did not manage to include
in the protocols over the talks, were in the text of Davutoglu's oral
speech. Thus, at this respectable meeting Turkey made an attempt to
sound the demands unacceptable for us regarding recognition of the
Armenian genocide as well as Karabakh settlement. But thanks to our
alertness and the efforts of the intermediaries, after long lasting
talks the Turkish party did not manage to sound and fulfill what they
decided', - Kocharyan concluded.

IWPR

TURKEY'S CAUCASUS ALLIES PONDER ARMENIA DEAL
Azeris say Turkey's border accord with Armenia is a betrayal

of their alliance.
By Kenan Guluzade in Baku

The Turkey-Armenia peace deal has angered Azeris, who accuse

Ankara of betraying them by not tying its signature to a resolution of

the Karabakh conflict.

Turkey and Azerbaijan, whose people are close ethnic kin, have been

allies since the end of the Soviet period, and Turkey broke off ties with

Armenia in 1993 to support Azerbaijan over the Karabakh conflict.

Now, 15 years after the war ended with a ceasefire, Armenians still

rule Nagorny Karabakh as a self-proclaimed state - in defiance of the

international community, which considers it part of Azerbaijan - and

Armenian forces hold around a seventh of Azerbaijan's internationally

recognised territory.

"Sometimes the opinion is expressed that the normalisation of Turkish

-Armenian relations, the opening of the border, could in future help the

regulation of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict. I do not support these

opinions," said President Ilham Aliev on the eve of the signing ceremony.

"I think that if Turkish-Armenian relations normalise before the Karabakh

problem is resolved, then the position of Armenia in the talks process

will toughen. I am absolutely convinced that these two processes - the

regulation of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict and the opening of the

Turkish-Armenian border - should move in parallel. Maybe there is no

official connection between these processes, but there is an unofficial one."

The day after the October 10 signing ceremony, Azerbaijan's newspaper

headlines made clear the country's reaction to the move. "Everyone agrees,

except Azerbaijan," said the Mirror. "The Armenian-Turkish protocols are

signed. Will Turkey keep its promise to Azerbaijan?" asked the Echo.

On October 13, activists from the Organisation for the Liberation of Karabakh

protested outside the Turkish embassy. The next day, they held another

protests, with about 40 people taking part - a large number for an unsanctioned

demonstration in Baku. The police broke up both protests, and detained

several participants, but not before the protesters had shouted their slogans.

The protesters shouted "Shame on the Turkish government", "No ratification"

and "Turkey, don't betray Azerbaijan" and burned portraits of the Turkish

president, prime minister and foreign minister.

Analysts doubted the protest would change much, however, and said direct

pressure should be put on the Turkish government.

"To hold this protest in Azerbaijan is ineffective. Only large protests in Turkey

can affect the process. And we must act in solidarity with the Turkish opponents

of the protocols' ratification," said Boyukaga Agayev, an expert on the South

Caucasus.

Large protests in Turkey have not materialised, however, although opposition

parties have pledged to disrupt the ratification process, and pro-Azerbaijan

activists have distributed anti-Armenian stickers and Azerbaijani flags.

Not everyone in Azerbaijan thinks they should. Ilgar Mammadov, co-founder of

the opposition Republican Alternative Civic Union movement, said he hoped

Turkey and Armenia would sign their peace deal, thus giving Turkey a chance

to counteract Russian influence in the South Caucasus. Armenia is currently a

close Russian ally, and Moscow has military bases there.

"If the border is opened, over time Turkey and its western partners will be able

to build a solid and legitimate economic and political presence in Armenia.

That presence would allow them to drag Armenia out of the hands of the

decision-makers in the Kremlin when Baku and Yerevan are close to a deal

next time," he said.

But his opinion is a rare one. Most opposition politicians in Azerbaijan, no

matter how fierce their criticism of the government on other questions, line up

behind Aliev when it comes to Karabakh.

"I think it is necessary to hold talks with the Turkish government and appeal to

the Turkish people. In Turkey, the government cannot take a step on this without

the support of the nation. The will of the Turkish nation could force the government

to refrain from taking this step," said Ali Kerimli, chairman of the opposition

Party of the National Front of Azerbaijan.

Turkey's parliament is due to vote on ratifying the deal on October 21,

according to officials in Ankara, and Azeri politicians still hope the deal might be

avoided.

"We hope that during the discussion of the protocols in the Turkish parliament,

the deputies will unanimously tell Armenia and the world that ratification of these

documents is possible only after the liberation of the occupied territories of

Azerbaijan," said Ganira Pashayeva, who also singled out France, Russia and

America, which attended the signing ceremony , as possible friends of Azerbaijan.

"First of all, they must put pressure on Yerevan, so Armenia frees the Azerbaijani

lands. Peace and cooperation in the region are possible only after Armenia leaves

the occupied territories."
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