Armenian News

RETURNING OF LACHIN AND KELBAJAR REGIONS WILL BE

DISCUSSED NEXT WEEK: MAMMADYAROV
Tert.am
09.07.10

The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers will discuss the
returning Lachin and Kelbajar regions of Azerbaijan at the first stage
under the OSCE Foreign Ministers council to be held in Almaty, Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists today, reported by APA.

"The meeting will be held July 16 or 17. The OSCE Co-Chairs have not
presented us the specific dates yet," he added.

Mammadyarov said the negotiations continue with the Armenian side on
the basis of the updated Madrid Principles.

"We have repeatedly discussed some of these principles in the past six
years and now it makes no sense to get back to them," said Mammadyarov.

At a meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents Ilham Aliyev and
Serzh Sargsyan in January in Sochi, the OSCE Minsk Group presented
the parties an updated version of the Madrid document.

"Historically the Lachin and Kelbajar regions have never been part
of Nagorno-Karabakh. Today, the matter is the return of these two
regions," Mammadyarov said, adding that the return of the remaining
five regions have already been resolved and will be no longer
discussed.

Yerevan will not discuss liberation of two Azerbaijani districts at
Almaty meeting - diplomat
YEREVAN July 9

The Armenian foreign minister does not intend to discuss the
liberation of Kelbejar and Lachi districts of Azerbaijan at the
planned meeting with his Azeri counterpart in Almaty.

"The withdrawal of Karabakh forces from any territory is out of the
question until Azerbaijan agrees to recognize the status of Nagorno-
Karabakh in line with the outcome of the voting by the people of the
Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh and withdraw its troops from occupied
territories in Nagorno-Karabakh," the Armenian Foreign Ministry quoted
Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian.

"Instead of speaking of the understandings reached at the presidential
meeting in St. Petersburg the Azeri foreign minister insists on
demonstrating wishful thinking," he said.

Earlier on Friday Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that
in Almaty the two foreign ministers will discuss the liberation of the
Kelbejar and Lachi districts.

Interfax, Russia

IN A WEEK, IN ALMATY

NAIRA HAYRUMYAN

July 10 2010

In a week, in Almaty, an unofficial meeting of OSCE foreign ministers,
during of which, some actions on the NKR issue settlement are planned,
will be held. The United States forces the process: no accident, a
statement that `Hillary Clinton has expressed a unique idea, saying
that `sometimes the most recent steps towards peace are the most
difficult', was made by the American co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group. EU
special representative for the Southern Caucasus supported the
psychological attack, stating that the status quo in the region brings
about instability. Russia responded with restraint: the Foreign
Minister Lavrov expressed hope that the meeting in Almaty will take
place.

Co-chairs speak about a framework agreement based either on the Madrid
or Helsinki principles (they are quite different). Azerbaijan has
already announced that it will be satisfied with the surrender of 5
regions, while, Aliyev gave to the final status of Karabakh the last
role. Armenia insists on a final status and refuses to surrender any
region without a final status limiting only by a `land link'. So far,
apparently, the issue on the status is not agreed.

There are several options of the solution of the issue: 1. Azerbaijan
voluntarily agrees to the status 2. The international community
recognizes the independence of Karabakh, 3. To `persuade' into peace
the nations in conflict, a short war is carried out, according to the
results of which they draw the final borders; 4. Mediators freeze the
political solution and deploy international forces at the desired
boundaries of international forces.

Time will show which version will be chosen, by now, rumors about an
`accidental war' or `blitzkrieg' keep enhancing. The Armenian
authorities must not allow such a development in order to convince the
society as if they had no other way. There is no one either in Armenia
or in Karabakh to become victims of dirty politics.

Besides, even a final status to the former NKAR does not solve the
issue. Territories solve the issue. NKR can exist only within the
borders formed as a result of the war. The Armenian diplomacy needs to
prove this to the mediators. Otherwise, the analytic center Stratfor
will go on stating that `For Azerbaijan, it is very important from the
standpoint of national security and political strategy, the return of
Nagorno-Karabakh. For Armenia, the retreat is impossible from the
political point of view'. This suggests that according to the
perception of the world community, the power of Armenia keeps the
territories only because it is afraid of political upheavals in the
country. While Azerbaijan needs them `for national security', which
means it has more rights.

Such a perception is to be considered a defeat for our diplomacy,
which, during 16 years failed to prove to the world community not only
the rights and vital interests of the Armenian party, but the lack of
rights of Azerbaijan.

With this logic of events, even the lack of agreement in Almaty will
be only another step to the loss of territories. Armenia does not end
in Karabakh, Armenia begins from Karabakh.


PanARMENIAN.Net -

Claudia Cardinale: I'm happy to be in Armenia
July 11, 2010 - 15:43 AMT 10:43 GMT

Renowned Italian actress Claudia Cardinale starring in Henri
Verneuil's Mayrig arrived in Yerevan on July 10 to attend Golden
Apricot Film Festival.

`I'm happy to be in Armenia,' the actress said in Zvartnots Airport,
where she was welcomed by Italian Ambassador to RA Bruno Scapini.


Journal of Turkish Weekly
July 10 2010
Armenians Fight Uranium Mine Plans
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Source: IWPR

Residents of Armenia's southernmost region are threatening to block a
major highway if the government presses ahead with uranium ore
prospecting in the area.

The hills around Lernadzor, 340 kilometres south of the capital
Yerevan in the Syunik region, bordering on Iran, have been seen as a
potentially rich source of radioactive ore since initial surveys were
done in Soviet times.

Exploration work is expected to continue until 2014, despite the fears
of people living here that the drilling and any subsequent mining will
contaminate ground water and pose a serious risk to human health.

`We will block the sole road that connects Armenia to Iran,' said
Khosrov Harutyunyan, who leads one of several community groups that
recently appealed to the government to halt the work. `We will lie
down on the asphalt and we won't allow it to continue.

`We are the ones who live in this region, and it is we who will have
to suffer the consequences of this uranium,' he said.

The threat to blockade the highway is significant as it is one of only
two land routes out of the country, because of Armenia's ongoing
standoff with neighbouring Azerbaijan. The road south through Syunik
to Iran is seen as a strategic lifeline at a time when the Armenian
economy is already very weak.

Environmentalists and local community members say they are prepared to
take this drastic measure because the government is not taking their
concerns seriously.

`They might at least asked the residents of Lernadzor their opinion¦
It's our lives that are being put at risk,' complained Rafik
Petrosyan, a local resident.

Community groups have held a number of meeting in Kapan, the regional
centre, and last week sent a joint statement to the president,
parliament and cabinet to voice their concerns. A petition calling for
a halt to exploration has so far gathered around 7,000 signatures.

`Any informed person will realise that you can't live here if there's
uranium mining going on, because it will put your own life and that of
future generations at risk,' said Vladik Martirosyan, the head of
Khustup, an environmental group in Kapan.

Armenia has few other natural resources, and the authorities sees the
possibility of exporting uranium to states with nuclear industries as
a valuable opportunity, for geopolitical as well as economic reasons.

`Uranium is a good source of income as it's the only natural resource
whose price has gone up twenty-fold in the last few years,' Energy and
Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisyan said.

Armenia has one nuclear power station, but any ore extracted around
Lernadzor will go to Russia for enrichment. The exploration work is
being carried out by the Armenian-Russian Geological Company, a joint
venture between the government and the Russian state-owned nuclear
energy company Rosatom.

Movsisyan insisted that were mining to go ahead, modern technology
would eliminate safety risks, while radiation would only be an issue
at the enrichment stage in Russia.

He said the initial exploration project posed no dangers, and accused
the media and community groups of overreacting.

`At the moment all that's being done is a survey of the area,' he
said. `First we have to assess whether there's evidence of uranium ore
deposits in the area, and then we'll need to do prospecting to find
out whether the uranium is actually there.'

Hakob Sanasaryan, a prominent Green activist in Armenia, argues that
Armenia is too small to accommodate a uranium mining industry.

`It would be an ecological disaster in a country that covers an area
of only 29,000 to 30,000 square kilometres. You can't open up all the
deposits in such a small country,' he said.

In Syunik region, Martirosyan said he hoped the dispute would be
resolved without residents having to carry out their threat, but
warned, `If they don't take our opinion into account, if they go
against our will, then we will cut the road.'