Armenian News

ALIYEV INSULTS ARMENIAN DELEGATES AT EURONEST PLENARY 

SESSION

Tert.am

03.04.12

In his speech at the EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly's plenary session

earlier today, Azerbaijani President Ilhan Aliyev voiced insulting

remarks against Armenians, calling the nation fascists.

The Armenian delegates attending the summit have characterized the

Azeri leader's speech as violating the norms of correctness and

diplomatic ethics.

According to Naira Zohrabyan, a member of the Armenian delegation,

Aliyev predominantly addressed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in his

hour-long speech, without failing even to give the etymology of the

word Karabakh.

Zohrabyan told Tert.am that Aliyev had again reiterated his remarks

on the so-called 20% occupied lands and ethnic cleansings.

"He not only reproduced their propaganda package, but also voiced

insults to the Armenian representatives and Armenia, calling Armenians

fascists who desecrated their ancestors' graves," she said.

The Armenian delegates immediately issued an open letter which

was distributed among the European Parliament members and the

representatives of the European Partnership countries.

The letter particularly refers to an earlier address to the

Parliamentary Assembly, explaining the reasons why Armenia cannot

attend the EuraNest plenary session in Baku.

"And Aliyev's speech here and now came to confirm our concerns over

the impossibility of conducting a session here," reads the letter.

The Armenian delegation also ask the EuroNest leadership to be careful

about the decisions on selecting venues for the organization's

meetings. The delegates also urge EuroNest not to give the floor

to participants inclined to preach violence and xenophobia in their

speeches.

AZERBAIJAN ACCUSES DELEGATION OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT 

IN MAKING A CHAOS IN II SESSION OF EURONEST PARLIAMENTARY 

ASSEMBLY

Azerbaijan Business Center

April 3 2012

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The Armenian Parliament delegation's demarche

at the II session of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly in Baku has

been rebuffed by the host country.

At the session MP Fuad Muradov has stated that unfortunately the

Armenian side continues to make a chaos in work of Euronest.

"We, as the Azerbaijani delegation, have already expressed our opinion

to the Armenian delegation at the time of work of the committees and

other meetings held in the capitals of the world. We have already

stated our positions, which we continue to adhere to. We appeal to

the European representatives not to go on this way," Mammadov said.

In turn, Armenian delegation's representative Naira Zohrabyan said

that today's speech by President Ilham Aliyev at the opening session

of Euronest creates a new line of isolating in the process of work,

sows distrust among the Euronest participating countries, and also

calls into question the future of Euronest.

Azerbaijani MP Malahat Ibragimgizi urged members of the Armenian

parliament to hold emotions and appeal to the documents of

international organizations for more detailed information.

"I CANNOT ACCEPT BEING TREATED AS FASCIST BY ANYBODY 

WHATEVER HIS RANK IS IN HIS COUNTRY"

hetq

13:04, April 4, 2012

Dear Colleagues,

We are going to adopt a report, which emphasizes the importance of

democratic values and democratic systems.

Armenia joint Euronest family with the confidence that Eastern

Partnership is a community where all members share equal

responsibilities, principles, values, and which is most important

respect fundamental principles of international law and fundamental

freedoms.

We entered the Euronest family with the hope that jointly we can

create a political climate where fruitful and constructive dialogue

would be held based on understanding and respect.

Unfortunately, the morning session started with statements that not

only didn´t provide the objective evaluation of the situation, but

damages the negotiation process on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well

as the efforts of Euronest Parliamentary Assembly to create a political

framework for cooperation and democratization of member countries.

As a member of Dashnak party, founding member of Socialist, I cannot

accept being treated as fascist by anybody whatever his rank is in

his country, especially in a country where our socialist friends are

arrested for their political views.

However, I hope that the report prepared by the co-rapporteurs will

enhance the future democratization of the partner countries and bring

all partners to the new stage of cooperation.

Lilit Galstyan, Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Session, Baku

ARMENIA, GRENADA ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

armradio.am

03.04.2012 11:08

[following diplomatic relations with Tuvalu that has troubled the Azeris]

The Permanent Representatives of Armenia and Grenada at the UN,

Karen Nazaryan and Desima Williams, signed a joint communique on the

establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries.

During a meeting at the Permanent Representation of the Republic

of Armenia in New York the Ambassadors attached importance to the

promotion of bilateral cooperation and agreed to intensify the contacts

within the framework of the UN and other international organizations.

Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth realm consisting of the

island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the

Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea.

Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of

Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Its size

is 344 square kilometres (133 sq mi), with an estimated population

of 110,000.

DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY SAVES GENOCIDE DENIER BAGIS FROM 

CRIMINAL PROBE

PanARMENIAN.Net

April 3, 2012 - 13:08 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Swiss prosecutors will drop a criminal probe

against Turkey's EU Affairs Minister, instigated after he denied

Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians, because he is

protected by diplomatic immunity, Reuters reported.

Zurich prosecutors began investigating Turkey EU Minister Egemen Bagis

after comments he made at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January,

and also at a concert in Zurich. Swiss anti-racism legislation outlaws

genocide denial.

Turkey summoned the Swiss ambassador in Ankara to complain after the

investigation was launched.

"After consulting with the Swiss foreign ministry, the prosecutor

has concluded that criminal charges against Egemen Bagis cannot be

pursued because, as a Turkish EU Minister, he enjoyed immunity during

his entire stay in Switzerland," the prosecutor said in a statement

on Monday, April 2.

Swiss authorities have taken legal action against several people who

have denied the Armenian Genocide. The most prominent case is the

conviction of Turkish politician Dogu Perincek, who was fined 3,000

Swiss francs in 2007.

In January, the French Senate approved similar legislation, prompting

an angry response from Turkey.

ARMENIAN RULING COALITION PARTY DISTRIBUTES CELL PHONES 

AS ELECTION BRIBE? - NEWSPAPER

news.am

April 03, 2012 | 06:45

YEREVAN. - There was a huge crowd last week in front of Armenia's

ruling coalition's Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) Party (RLP) Central

Office, Zhamanaki Mitk weekly writes.

"We asked what the reason was. [But] Everyone refused to give any

comments, and only one [person] specified why they had gathered.

According to his information, the RLP was giving out mobile phones as

election bribe [for the upcoming parliamentary elections]. We asked

[him] to show it. He took it out from his pocket; it was a small

phone with a contract.

We noticed that it [the contract] is signed for one month. That is,

the RLP is paying solely for the one-month subscription fee-which

will go into force on April 10 and the validity period will end on

May 10-after which the citizen will be required to pay the fees for

the next eleven months, only after which the phone will belong to

the citizen who received election bribe," Zhamanaki Mitk writes.

GAS PRICE TO REMAIN UNCHANGED IN ARMENIA

Tert.am

03.04.12

The gas price will remain unchanged in Armenia, AMD 180 per 1,000

cubic meters.

"We will go on purchasing gas at the same price. Armenia's minister

of energy and chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission

discussed the issue," Shushan Sardaryan, Head of the Press Service,

ArmRusGasProm company, told Tert.am.

According to media reports, Armenia's authorities are not informing

the public of the planned rise in the gas price for Armenia on the

threshold of elections.

mirrorspectator.com

COMMENTARY: HANNIBAL AT THE GATES

By Edmond Y. Azadian

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Editor

The Latin expression, "Hannibal ante portas" (Hannibal at the Gates),

was a warning to each citizen of the Roman Republic, from child to

senator, inducing fear and anxiety. Hannibal was a Carthaginian general

(247-182/3 BC) who waged the second Punic War against Rome, occupied

many of its territories and remained a constant threat to the Romans

for many decades, as his armies closed in the city of Rome itself,

although never able to destroy it. As his armies camped on Roman

territories, the Romans were under constant fear of a final assault,

and they expressed their fear to each other by warning that "Hannibal

[is] at the Gates." He was one of the greatest generals and strategists

of the ancient world to be ranked with Alexander the Great and Julius

Cesar. (Incidentally, he was at one point in Armenia advising one of

Artaxias kings).

Hannibal's comparison with Armenia's archenemy, Azeri President Ilham

Aliyev, is not very adequate but the fear induced by the latter

into the lives of Armenia's citizens is very much in synch. It is

incumbent upon Armenia's citizens to sound the alarm at every waking

hour that Hannibal is at the gates, that Azeris are before the gates,

arming themselves at an alarming rate.

Indeed, the Stockholm-based International Peace Institute (SIPRI)

reports that "Azerbaijan's imports of major conventional weapons

increased by 164 percent between 2002-6 and 2007-11, making it the

38th largest importer of weapons." Azerbaijan's military budget in

2012 is $1.77 billion, 15 percent more than last year.

Oil-rich Azerbaijan is investing its wealth in armaments, leaving

700,000 internal refugees in squalid quarters to beg for international

charity.

Azerbaijan was beaten once in Karabagh by the Armenians, but the

military equation is changing in the region.

The Azeri government - and Aliyev himself - has not been making any

secret that the arms build-up has targeted Armenia. Even if the major

powers do not tolerate another war in the Caucasus, the arms race,

in the long run, may squeeze Armenia out of existence.

Azeri belligerence is boosted by neighboring Turkey, which besides

armaments, is providing technical know-how to the Azeri army.

In recent years, the situation has been further complicated with the

strategic interjection of Israel in the complex relationship of the

regional nations.

Certainly the Israeli government does not harbor any hostile intensions

against Armenia, nor does it have any reason to, but its alliance

with Azerbaijan and the arms procurement may eventually translate

into the loss of Armenian lives.

Azerbaijan uses Israel to settle scores with Armenia and Israel uses

Azerbaijan to neutralize "Iran as a major, even existential security

threat." Israel buys 30 percent of the Azeri oil, contributing to

the latter's war chest. According to President Aliyev, his country's

relationship with Israel is "nine-tenths...below the surface."

Whatever is "above the surface" is enough to threaten Armenia. Thus,

in 2008, Azerbaijan signed an agreement worth hundreds of millions

of dollars with three Israeli companies to buy mortars, ammunitions,

rocket artillery and radio equipment. The cooperation will also help

the Baku government to upgrade Soviet SU-25 Scorpion aircraft. To

top it all, Israel will help Azerbaijan to manufacture 60 drones,

in addition to the supply of weapons to the tune of $1.6 billion.

To reciprocate this massive assistance of weapons, the Baku government

has offered its military airfields to Israel to launch an attack on

Iran's nuclear facilities.

Of course, the Azeri army is no match for Iran, therefore, its military

might is directed toward Armenia.

One wonders at Tehran's neutral stand on the Karabagh issue and its

insistence on Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, when the latter is

threatening its own territorial integrity.

No one has proven yet that Iran has produced - or intends to produce

-nuclear weapons. Also no one pays any attention to Iran's counter

proposal that the entire region of the Middle East needs to be

converted into a nuclear free zone, hinting at Israel's 200-300

nuclear warheads.

Israeli meddling in the Caucasus region poses two major threats to

Armenia: if Iran is attacked, one of Armenia's lifelines with the

outside world will be disrupted for a long period, with tremendous

economic loss, since Iran has become a major trading partner for

Armenia. The second threat will come from a fully-armed Azerbaijan.

Russia is the major power in the region, but its intentions are not

clear if and when Israel attacks Iran. It seems that Moscow will be

satisfied with some harsh rhetoric as long as its vital interests in

the region are not touched.

Although Russia has a base agreement with Armenia, a nation that

Russian leaders call a "strategic ally," but it is one of the arms

suppliers to Azerbaijan, also. We have learned a long time ago that

concepts of morality and justice have nothing in common with the

political interests of major countries.

The recently-published book by David Phillips, Unsilencing the Past,

quotes a very ominous statement by President Aliyev. He says that

Azerbaijan's economy is booming, and its population is growing.

Armenia, on the other hand, is losing its population and pretty soon

will be reduced down to 1 million, and then we will take over. Like the

French saying goes, nothing hurts more than the truth. It is an honest,

albeit painful prediction from a determined enemy "at the gates."

There is very little that the diaspora can do to reverse the trend.

The government and the opposition in Armenia have to take this threat

very seriously and make a priority to retain and increase Armenia's

population. Oligarchs may tame their opulent and arrogant lifestyle

and the opposition may soften its stand to a more realistic level to

save the most essential prize; Armenia's population.

All the diaspora can do is to warn Armenia that "Aliyev [is] at

the gates."

ARMENIA: BEYOND THE SILK ROAD

Easier Travel

April 3 2012

Following a successful 'reconnaissance' trip with some adventurous

hikers in 2011 (and no other trekkers were encountered on the entire

trail), this unusual group trip is now a firm part of the Walks

Worldwide programme for 2012.

This is a trekking and cultural journey through Armenia's landscapes

and history and includes a straightforward ascent of Aragats South

peak, Armenia's highest mountain.

Armenia lies on the crossroads between East and West and for a

relatively small country has more than its fair share of diverse

landscapes watched over by mighty Mount Ararat just across the border

in eastern Turkey (once within the borders of Armenia, and lost during

the war).

Dramatic canyons, volcanic formations, turquoise lakes, lush forests,

expansive highlands and spectacular mountains rising to over 4000m

all help to create unique ecosystems and varied climatic zones.

The country is home to a rich abundance of flora and fauna too

including the Caucasian leopard, wolf, lynx, bear and Asian wild

sheep. Here amongst these wild landscapes nomadic Armenian shepherds

and Yezidi Kurds can still be encountered. Armenia has always been a

place of collisions between the great empires of antiquity and middle

ages. Rome, Persia, Byzantium, Arabs, Seljuks and Mongols have all

passed through and left their mark.

Armenia possesses a wealth of UNESCO World Heritage sites too

including ancient monasteries and churches. The Silk Road passed

through Armenia and Marco Polo is known to have travelled over

Armenia's Sulema Mountains describing how the locals lived amongst

the rugged landscapes.

This is a trekking and cultural journey through Armenia's landscapes

and history.

The trips depart on 3 June, 8 July & 9 September & cost from £1245 pp.

This includes all transportation, 9 nights' accommodation (3 & 4 star

hotels), all meals, baggage transfers and an English speaking guide.

Fully-bonded, Walks Worldwide can book flights on request.

For more information, visit walksworldwide.com.