Category: Asia and Pacific

Turkey’s state radio begins broadcasting in Armenian, Kurdish

ISTANBUL – Turkey’s state run Television and Radio Corporation, or TRT, has launched Armenian and Kurdish channels in the latest in a series of planned foreign language broadcasting mediums being launched by the state.

Kurdish radio programs began on April 1, while Armenian radio programs began on April 2.

Radyo 6 will air in Kurdish 24-hours a day, TRT said in a written statement.

Armenian programs would be broadcast everyday between 7.00-7.30 a.m. and 6.00-6.30 p.m. as part of “The Voice of Turkey” radio, the statement added.

The move comes as Ankara and Yerevan continue to engage in a normalization process between the two neighbors that for decades have had no diplomatic relations.

Turkey also recently took steps to boost the cultural and democratic rights of Kurds with the Jan. 1 launch of TRT-6, a TV channel that airs in Kurdish 24-hours a day.

April 2, 2009
Azerbaijani FM expresses concern on Turkey-Armenia relations thaw

ISTANBUL – Azerbaijan’s foreign minister expressed concern on Thursday at the prospect of the border being opened between Armenia and Turkey.

“If the border is opened before the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, it would run counter to Azerbaijan’s national interests,” Reuters quoted Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov as telling Azeri ANS television.

Ankara and Yerevan have agreed on the major parameters of a historic reconciliation in secret talks to start diplomatic relations and re-open their shared border, which Turkey closed in 1993 after Armenia occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh region, sources told Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review earlier.

Mamedyarov said Azerbaijan had conveyed its opinion on the issue to Ankara, adding Turkey accepted his country’s concerns.

April 2, 2009
Outreach to Armenia prompts Azeri threat

by Barçın Yinanç

ISTANBUL -Concerned that the Turkish government might open its border with Armenia before reconciliation is reached, the Azerbaijani government has signaled it might stop selling natural gas to Turkey.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told third parties that Baku would cut gas supplies to Turkey if Ankara reaches an agreement with Yerevan before substantial progress is underway on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review has learned. As a sign of how serious it is, Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia last week for long-term supply of gas at market prices.

Turkey and Armenia have been holding talks to normalize ties, which would involve the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of borders. Although Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia in 1991, Ankara has no diplomatic relations with its neighbor. In 1993, Ankara closed its border with Armenia in an act of solidarity with Azerbaijan after Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey and Armenia are said to have come very close to an agreement on the timetable to normalize relations. As April 24 is approaching, the date each year when the United States issues a presidential statement on the World War I mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, expectations are high that Turkey and Armenia will announce an agreement. U.S. President Barack Obama had pledged to recognize the Armenian killings as “genocide” during his election campaign. A joint statement by Turkish and Armenian officials on the normalization of relations might prevent Obama from using the word “genocide.”

This development in turn has upset the Azerbaijani government, which argues a decision to open Turkey’s borders with Armenia would leave Baku at a disadvantage in negotiating for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territory. The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has been the target of severe criticism in the Azerbaijani press with commentators there accusing the Turkish government of selling out. The Turkish Foreign Ministry has been informed that Aliyev has told third parties that were Turkey to open its borders to Armenia, cooperation on energy supplies would end.

Ankara and Baku have been trying to reach an agreement over the price of natural gas Turkey buys from Azerbaijan through the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline. The agreement to buy natural gas for $120 per 1,000 cubic meters for the duration of the first year following the opening of the pipeline has long ended and the two failed to reach an agreement as Azerbaijan wants to sell its gas at international market prices, which is around $350 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Russia, on the other hand, has been courting Azerbaijan to buy its gas at international market prices in order to undermine the Nabucco project, which aims to bring Central Asian gas to Europe via Turkey. Gazprom and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan last week signed a memorandum of understanding for long-term supplies of Central Asian gas to Russia at market prices, Web site Euractiv.com reported yesterday. According to Gazprom’s press release, the parties committed to massive long-term cooperation after an agreement was reached March 27 to settle the terms of Azerbaijan’s gas sales to Russia.

Pavel K. Baev, a senior researcher from the Oslo International Research Institute, said the project could make Nabucco irrelevant as Azerbaijan is seen as the most likely gas supplier for Nabucco. The Turkish government is under pressure from the Obama administration to finalize and announce the agreement with Yerevan. Turkey and Armenia have agreed on most of the wording of a protocol for normalization but there are still some points where the two need to agree. The Turkish side wants to insert the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh in the protocol, but the Armenian side has not been compromising on the issue.

April 2, 2009
Former foes ‘to tackle militants’

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, have agreed to boost military cooperation against Islamic extremists.

The meeting in Ankara was hosted by the Turkish President, Abdullah Gul.

Afghan officials have previously said that insurgent attacks inside Afghanistan are planned in Pakistan.

A BBC correspondent says relations have improved since President Zardari came to power but Turkey’s role as a broker could further improve ties.

The meeting between the two leaders comes a day after 70 countries committed themselves to more effort in reconstructing Afghanistan at a conference in The Hague.

Mr Gul said the involvement in the meeting of Pakistani and Afghan military and intelligence chiefs had been important.

Mr Karzai picked out Turkey for particular praise in his address to the conference.

The BBC’s international development correspondent, David Loyn, says this Muslim country that looks to the east and the west was a natural place to host the first meeting between Pakistan and Afghanistan since President Obama announced his new strategy for the region last Friday.

Mr Karzai has a much closer working relationship with Mr Zardari than with the previous administration in Islamabad.

Zardari vulnerable

But democratic government in Pakistan is not deep-rooted and Mr Zardari has not yet been able to convince the US that his security services have stopped their former support for militant groups fighting in Afghanistan.

He remains vulnerable to any suggestion that his government is being pressurised to act by Washington.

That is why, our correspondent says, Turkey may prove useful in the role of an honest broker.

The US demand for better regional cooperation on Afghanistan received what US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said was a promising response from Iran.

The head of the Iranian delegation in The Hague, Mehdi Akhundzadeh, had a brief meeting with US regional envoy Richard Holbrooke and offered assistance in stopping drug smuggling across the Afghan border.

In a meeting in Turkey last December, Mr Karzai and Mr Zardari agreed to form a joint strategy to fight militant groups operating in their border regions.

The Afghan-Pakistani border is believed to be a safe haven for the Taleban and al-Qaeda militants.

The US says insurgents use the territory to launch attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7975822.stm

April 1, 2009
“California is not Armenia…”

Our work in line with the tasks set by the leadership is primarily aimed to assist to strengthening of partner relations between Azerbaijan and the United States, said Azerbaijani consul general in Los Angeles Elin Suleymanov, speaking about the work of the consulate.

He said the negative reaction of some Armenian mass medias on the activity of Azerbaijani diplomats in the United States is surprising.

Certainly, there are many Armenians residing in California, the influence of the Armenian lobby is felt here but California is not Armenia and the US interest in our region are not limited with narrow ethic views of some representatives of Armenian diaspora. Therefore, our activity in the framework of bilateral US-Azerbaijani relations should not be perceived so painfully”, noted Suleymanov.

“The US-Azerbaijani partnership includes a wide range of issues including cooperation in spheres of transport of energy sources of the Caspian Sea and international security, creating conditions for intensification of the dialogue of civilizations and fight with different demonstrations of extremism. The United States support Azerbaijan’s efforts in the sphere of regional integration and pragmatic policy of the country leadership for strengthening stability and peace in our region.

In this background, the ethnocentric and sometimes even racist statements of some radical representatives of Armenian side unfortunately stress the tendencies that continue damaging the future of Armenia”, noted the consul.
As for the resolution of the Karabakh conflict and the real changes in the attitude to the conflict in the United States, the consul said:

“I think Washington always understood the importance of the resolution of the conflict for the future of our region, including for the strategic interests of the United States. Practice shows that unsettled conflicts pose a serious threat to regional stability. Therefore, I think the intention to help the resolution is quite sincere, though its too early to judge about the way it will influence the real actions of the co-chairing states”.

Speaking about the work with Azerbaijani diaspora organizations, in particular from Los Angeles, he said the work with compatriots is the integral part of the activity of the general consulate in Los Angeles.

“We are glad to observe the recent intensification of the organizations, representing Azerbaijani diaspora in the United States. Moreover, the activeness of Azerbaijani diaspora becomes more effective and large scale.

I do not consider that we should regard the activity of our diaspora only as confrontation or competitive to Armenian. Interests of US Azerbaijanis are comprehensive in science, culture, regional policy and other issues. For example, the US-Azerbaijani council is actively cooperating with Jewish organizations on interreligious dialogue, while the history of Turkic people was in the center of attention of the scientific conference held by this organization in December of 2008”, noted Suleymanov.

He said in conclusion that Azerbaijani diaspora also reached significant success in the sphere of organization of academic arrangements.

“As for the Armenian diaspora, it continues to be one of the organized and numerous ethnic-political groups in the United States, that have influence on politicians on the spots and on the federal level”, said Suleymanov.

http://www.today.az/news/politics/51246.html

April 1, 2009
Nevada Governor proclaims March 31 as Remembrance Day

The Governor of Nevada, Mr. Jim Gibbons, has issued an official proclamation which commemorates the “deaths of tens of thousands of Azerbaijani civilians”, victims of the genocidal policy pursued by Armenian forces during the “March Massacres” of 1918 in Baku and other cities of Azerbaijan, APA US bureau reports.

This state proclamation marks the first-ever time that any high-ranking U.S. elected official has formally and officially acknowledged the Azerbaijani suffering in the past century and designated March 31 as the Azerbaijani Remembrance Day. To commemorate March 31, the “Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis”, activists from USAN (US Azeris Network) have sought and received the first-ever formal recognition of this special date and the tragedy by any U.S. government authority. The crucial outreach and coordination efforts were spearheaded and led by a USAN activist based in the great State of Nevada, Dr. Bob Guney, USAN Executive Director Adil Bagirov told APA. The proclamation by the Nevada Governor also emphasizes the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan by stipulating that the Karabakh region is a U.S.-recognized part of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Previously, over the years, the U.S. Azeris Network (USAN) and its grassroots activists have sought and received dozens of proclamations from Governors and Mayors across the United States (Washington D.C., State of Virginia, City of Alexandria, Country of Arlington, City of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, State of Wisconsin, State of North Carolina, as well as Texas, California, Missouri and others) on the National Day of Azerbaijan (May 28) and Independence Day of Azerbaijan (October 18), which have always stressed the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by specifically mentioning the Armenia-occupied Karabakh region. To promote greater knowledge and understanding of the March 1918 events, the USAN and its activists have sponsored the re-publication, and its subsequent distribution to the leading public libraries.

http://www.today.az/news/politics/51256.html

April 1, 2009