Armenian Political News

YEREVAN PLEASED WITH KARABAKH STATEMENT OF RUSSIA,
U.S., FRANCE
Interfax
June 28 2010
Russia

Armenia welcomes the Karabakh settlement statement of the leaders
of Russia, the United States and France, Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian said.

"We highly value the wish and tireless efforts of the OSCE Minsk
Group intermediaries to assist rapprochement of positions of the
Karabakh conflict sides and to spur on negotiations," the ministry
cited Nalbandian to Interfax.

"Importantly, the statement made on the sidelines of the G8 summit
in Canada with the reference to the L'Aquila statement 2009, once
again confirmed the settlement principles accepted by Armenia. The
principles include the definition of the Karabakh legal status through
the expression of people's will, i.e. the recognition of Karabakh
people's right to self-determination; constant link between Armenia
and Karabakh; and international security guarantees," he said.

It will be clear soon whether Azerbaijan is ready to advance towards
settlement or "it continues to pursue the militarist policy and tries
to thwart the peace process with provocative and unconstructive steps,"
the minister said.

The presidents of Russia, the United States and France posted the
statement at the G8 summit on Saturday. They urged the leaders of
Armenia and Azerbaijan to intensify work on the fundamental settlement
principles so that they could start drafting the peace agreement.


a1plus.am
NALBANDYAN WELCOMED THE EFFORTS
09:13 pm | June 29, 2010

The statement by the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing
countries was a constructive statement that contained positive
elements," said deputy of the HHK (Republican Party) Edward Sharmazanov
as he expressed his party's position and praised the presidents'
efforts for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

"The positive elements were the inclusion of the Armenian side's
three most important proposals and principles in the statement,"
says the deputy and stated the principles one by one.

"The first principle is the issue of giving Nagorno-Karabakh a specific
interim status; secondly, the importance of having a land border
between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh and thirdly, the guarantee of
security," said Sharmazanov, though in the statement it is stated that
"the settlement must be based on the Helsinki Concluding Act and the
announcement made in July 2009 in L'Aquila which include the return
of territories adjunct to Nagorno-Karabakh."

Edward Sharmazanov believes that nobody can say that the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has entered the final stage and is sure of
the opposite, that is, it has entered a new stage.

"It is clear to everybody that the negotiations will enter the final
stage only when Nagorno-Karabakh will be a full-fledged side of the
negotiations," said Sharmazanov.

Touching upon the criticism according to which the Armenian
side received the joint statement by Obama, Medvedev and Sarkozy
with "open arms", the Republican deputy clarified that Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan didn't say he welcomed the
statement. He simply welcomed the three presidents' efforts aimed
at a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

"Should we complain about everything and everybody and enter a
labyrinth like Azerbaijan?" says Sharmazanov.

Setting aside separate elements of the statement, Sharmazanov says they
are not against the issues of refugees and other issues and as far as
the formulation "occupied territories" is concerned, the deputy noted
that it is not specifically stated that they are Azerbaijan's occupied
territories. "If they referred to Shahumyan, a part of Martakert,
Martunashen and Getashen as occupied territories, of course they are,
but there are no other occupied territories," said Edward Sharmazanov.


FREEDOM HOUSE: REPORT NOTES NO PROGRESS IN ARMENIA'S
DEMOCRACY
30.06.10 | 11:08
Human rights

A global watchdog continues to rate Armenia as a country with a
'semi-consolidated authoritarian regime', which is reflected in its
latest annual review of progress in democracy.

In an 18-page report on Armenia published on Tuesday, Freedom House
(www.freedomhouse.org) notes no particular progress made by the
country in such spheres as electoral, civil society, independent
media, governance, judicial framework and independence, corruption,
and others.

The bottom-line Democracy Score for Armenia presented by the "Nations
in Transit 2010" report (which focuses on about three dozen countries
and covers the period of 2009) is thus identical with that given
for the previous year of review, 5.39 (on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1
representing the highest level of democratic progress).

Armenia's regional neighbor Georgia is doing a little better, according
to Freedom House, although it too fails to show year-on-year progress
with its Democracy Score standing at 4.93. Azerbaijan has a lower
score than Armenia (6.39, which is a slight regression from the 2009
score of 6.25).

In its executive summary the report authored by Aleksander Iskandaryan,
an analyst and Director of the Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute,
notes that "polarization of the society as a result of the 2008
post-election unrest gradually subsided and transformed into public
apathy" and that "the negative aftermath of the 2008 political crisis
and global economic recession was offset somewhat by the moderate
success in regional politics."

"Armenia's legislation provides for democracy and rule of law, but
executive authorities continue to dominate in governance," notes the
report on National Democratic Governance and continues on Judiciary
Independence: "The constitution of Armenia provides for an independent
judiciary, but in practice, courts are vulnerable to pressure from
executive powers."

"The global economic crisis touched almost every sphere of public
life and further aggravated the country's atmosphere of insecurity
and pessimism," it adds.

The report notes lack of progress in Armenia in the conduct of
elections, but says the perception of corruption in Armenia slightly
improved in 2009. Even so, it stresses that "corruption still remains
a major deterrent to the country's democratic development."

The report's Outlook for 2010 predicts that "Armenia will continue
to work toward neutralizing the consequences of the global economic
crisis" but "can expect poorer economic prospects" unless relations
with Turkey are normalized and the border with it opens.

"Rapprochement with Europe will continue in the framework of
the Eastern Partnership project. The unresolved conflict over
the breakaway region Nagorno-Karabakh is likely to stagnate while
stakeholders continue to make optimistic statements regarding progress
in negotiations," it says. "In domestic politics, the main challenge
for Armenia is the creation of a level playing field in politics and
the emergence of a viable opposition... Given the absence of national
elections in 2010, this goal will probably not be achieved during
the coming year."

The full report on Armenia is available here:
http://www.freedomhouse.eu/images/nit2010/NIT-2010-Armenia-proof-Il.pdf


TURKISH PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN, PART II: EXPLOITING
AKHTAMAR CHURCH ONCE AGAIN
Harut Sassounian
Noyan Tapan
JUNE 29

Readers may recall that the Turkish government embarked on a
worldwide publicity stunt in 2007 when it renovated and reopened as
a museum the Armenian Holy Cross Church on Akhtamar Island in Lake
Van. ã~@~@ At the time, Turkey had gone to great lengths to lure
to the opening ceremonies Armenians from around the world. Turkish
officials did not conceal that their real purpose was to exploit this
event for propaganda purposes. Even before the "Holy Cross Museum"
was inaugurated, a Turkish Parliamentary delegation had arrived in
Washington with a bulky photo album. Mehmet Dulger, then Chairman of
the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission, relayed the following
message to Members of the U.S. Congress: "See, the Turks, whom you
accuse of genocide, have renovated an Armenian Church with taxes
collected from Turks. And those photos are the evidence." The photo
album was distributed worldwide to all organizations advocating
"Armenian genocide claims," according to the Turkish newspaper Zaman.

Furthermore, Turkey invited to the opening of the "Holy Cross Museum"
the culture ministers of all countries that had adopted or were
considering to adopt resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

In my column of March 22, 2007, I had asked that the Turkish government
designate Holy Cross, not as a museum, but a Church with a cross on its
dome, and place it under the jurisdiction of the Armenian Patriarchate
in Turkey. If not, I had urged Armenians to boycott the opening
ceremonies, in order to avoid being used as tools for Turkey's campaign
of genocide denial. In the end, the Turkish propaganda effort failed,
as only a handful of Armenians from overseas traveled to Lake Van to
attend the event. ã~@~@ Now that Turkish officials have grudgingly
allowed church services to be performed for one day only -- on Sept.

19, 2010 -- and a cross to be placed on the dome of this 10th Century
Church, they have embarked on Part II of their publicity campaign. All
Turkish Embassies and Consulates worldwide have been instructed to
invite large numbers of Armenians to this one-time church service in
order to accomplish three objectives: 1) Earn millions of dollars
in revenue from 5,000 tourists expected on Sept. 19 and another
million visitors during the next year; 2) secure concessions from
Armenians in return for Ankara's "magnanimous gesture"; and 3)
score propaganda points with Europeans and Americans by presenting
the image of a tolerant Turkish society. ã~@~@ Hakan Tekin, Turkey's
energetic Consul General in Los Angeles, told "Today's Zaman" that
California's "one million Armenians" are looking forward to take part
in the upcoming religious worship. To impress his bosses in Ankara,
Tekin proudly announced that the "one-day church service" has caused
"a stir" among the Armenian community in Los Angeles -- no doubt the
result of his hard work! He expressed the wish that Armenia would take
"reciprocal steps" in return for Turkey's "constructive policy." Tekin
also hoped that such a "normalization process" would have a significant
impact on Turkey's relations with the Armenian Diaspora, "especially
with Armenians living in California who are hard-liners." ã~@~@
In sparing no efforts to publicize the planned "one-day worship,"
the Turkish government has undertaken the following preparations: --
Special solar panels are being installed on Akhtamar Island, so that
tourists can visit the Holy Cross Church by day and night.

-- Since hotels are supposedly fully booked, plans are being made to
house tourists in school dormitories and private homes in Van.

-- Large video screens are to be placed outside the Church so the
thousands of expected visitors can follow the services, as the building
can only accommodate 50 worshipers.

-- A 90-page guidebook will be published in the Armenian language.

-- A 10-day Turkish-Armenian Cultural Festival is planned in Van.

-- The border may be opened for a few days, so that tourists can
directly travel from Armenia to Van, rather than spending a dozen
hours to get there via Georgia, according to the President of Van
Chamber of Commerce. ã~@~@ I urge all Armenians to boycott this new
propaganda ploy, unless Turkish officials take the following steps: 1.

Officially designate Holy Cross as a Church, not a museum, opening
it for year-round worship services, rather than for one day only.

2. Place the Church under the jurisdiction of the Armenian Patriarchate
of Turkey, not the Ministry of Tourism.

3. Allow Divine Liturgy to be celebrated regularly, after Holy Cross
Church is properly consecrated in accordance with Armenian religious
rites. Archbishop Aram Ateshian, Locum Tenens of the Armenian
Patriarchate in Istanbul, is the appropriate religious official to
present these demands to the Turkish authorities, without whose
participation they would be unable to carry out the September 19
church services and propaganda campaign. It is doubtful, however,
that such demands would be met by the Turkish government, given its
traditional policy of callous disregard for the rights of the Armenian
community in Turkey.