The US Azerias Network (USAN), as well as American Azerbaijanis, were on the whole satisfied with results of elections in the United States, said Adil Baghirov, USAN co-founder and general director.
He explained this by the fact that almost all friends of Azerbaijanis in the Congress (both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives), such as co-chairs of Azerbaijani Cocus Congressmen Solomon Ortiz and Bill Schuster, as well as governors and local delegates were re-elected. (more…)
By Emil Danielyan
President Serzh Sarkisian on Wednesday congratulated Barack Obama on his historic victory in the U.S. presidential election and expressed confidence that U.S.-Armenian relations will grow closer during his presidency.
Obama’s election triumph was welcomed by influential Armenian organizations in the United States that expect the new U.S. president to end Washington’s refusal to recognize the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as genocide.
“I am confident that during the years of your presidency Armenian-American relations will gain a new quality and political and economic cooperation between our countries will deepen to the benefit of our friendly peoples,” Sarkisian said in a congratulatory message to Obama.
“The largest structures in the Armenian-American community have repeatedly relayed to me their enthusiasm for the changes promised by you to the American people,” he said. “I highly appreciate your awareness of and approaches to issues facing the Armenian people.”
It was an apparent reference to Obama’s repeated public characterizations of the 1915 massacres as genocide and his support for relevant draft resolutions circulating in the U.S. Congress. As recently as on October 31 the Illinois Democrat reaffirmed his pledges to recognize the genocide if elected president. Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, is known for an even stronger advocacy of genocide recognition.
“The Armenian Genocide, carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulted in the deportation of nearly 2 million Armenians, and approximately 1.5 million of those deported were killed,” his campaign said in a statement sent to the Armenians for Obama pressure group. “Barack Obama strongly supports passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106) and will recognize the Armenian Genocide,” it added.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), which officially endorsed Obama’s presidential bid, praised the statement, saying that it will continue to “work hard” for the Obama-Biden ticket. Both the ANCA and another major lobbying group, the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA), were quick to welcome the election result.
“Given Senator Obama’s and Senator Biden’s strong record with respect to affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey should heed calls to come to terms with its genocidal legacy,” the AAA said in a statement.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, expressed hope that Obama will stick to the outgoing U.S. administration’s policy on the subject that has avoided the use of the word “genocide” with regard to the 1915 killings. “We hope that some theses raised during the election campaign will stay there [in the past] as campaign issues,” Erdogan told reporters in Ankara.
“The relations between Turkey and America are determined not by changing [U.S.] administrations but by the strategic nature of our ties, which we believe will continue,” he said, according to the AFP news agency.
In its October 31 statement, the Obama campaign also called for continued U.S. assistance to Armenia and the expansion of U.S.-Armenian ties. “As president, Obama will maintain our assistance to Armenia, which has been a reliable partner in the fight against terrorism and extremism,” it said. “An Obama administration will help foster Armenia’s growth and development through expanded trade and targeted aid.”
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/1598188.html
The leaders of Turkey and Azerbaijan revived efforts Wednesday to resolve entangled conflicts in the volatile Caucasus region also involving Armenia.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul hailed Azeri-Armenian talks in Russia last week as “the beginning of a new era”, boosting hopes of securing peace and stability in the region.
“Turkey supports this process and hopes that it will continue,” Gul said after talks with Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliev. “We have begun to handle the problems in the Caucasus together and with courage.”
Hosted by Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev, Aliev and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian met near Moscow Sunday and signed a joint declaration asserting their desire to find a political settlement to the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.
Aliev voiced hope the talks with Armenia would result in a settlement “through gradual ways” and thanked Turkey for its peace efforts in the Caucasus, which Ankara wants to crown with a regional cooperation pact, involving also Georgia and Russia.
Turkey is eager for progress on the Nagorny Karabakh conflict in the hope of advancing its own reconciliation bid with Armenia, its eastern neighbor with which it has refused to establish diplomatic ties. In a show of support for Azerbaijan, a close ally with which it shares ethnic roots, Turkey shut its border with Armenia in 1993, dealing a heavy economic blow to the impoverished ex-Soviet nation.
Gul became the first Turkish head of state to visit Armenia when he traveled to Yerevan in September to watch a World Cup qualifying football match between the two countries on the invitation of Sarkisian. Turkish officials have said the reconciliation process with Armenia would be advanced mostly through “silent” diplomacy.
By John C. K. Daly
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
On October 27 Pakistan’s Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani began a four-day official visit to Turkey. In Ankara Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed Gilani with full military honors at the Prime Ministry (Hurriyet, October 28). During meetings with Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, Gilani discussed myriad matters of mutual interest, agreeing to sign framework agreements for cooperation in science and technology. Economic issues were also high on the agenda; the two prime ministers agreed to increase bilateral trade from its current level of around $700 million to $1 billion as soon as possible and to fast-track negotiations for a Preferential Trade Agreement. After three days Gilani flew to Istanbul to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) (www.pakwatan.com, October 30).
Economic issues aside, however, Gilani’s greatest accomplishment was to persuade Erdogan to agree to use the Turkish government’s good offices to endeavor to rein in U.S. aerial raids into Pakistani territory. Gilani’s press secretary, Zahid Bashir, confirmed to the Pakistani media that Turkey had informed Pakistan that it would use its “influence” as a NATO member and U.S. ally to attempt to persuade Washington to stop the U.S. incursions into Pakistan’s territory (The News International, November 2).
Not wanting to lose momentum from the commitment, Gilani dispatched Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to Turkey for further discussions. According to the Pakistani Armed Forces (PAF) Inter Services Public Relations, on November 4 Kayani flew from the PAF’s Chaklala Base, where he was seen off by the Turkish ambassador Engin Soysal, for an official visit to Turkey and Saudi Arabia (Inter Services Public Relations Press Release, No/2008-ISPR, November 4).
While attending the WEF in Istanbul, Gilani used the occasion to press home the fact that Pakistan was, in fact, deeply committed to combating terrorism. He told journalists, “We have the will and ability to control and fight extremist terrorism, but the world should also understand that although it is fighting under NATO with very sophisticated weaponry, in Afghanistan they have not achieved desired results” (Turkish Daily News, Oct.31).
Gilani also continued his discussions in Istanbul with Erdogan, where they joined Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Following the discussions, the three leaders subsequently issued a joint declaration that lauded “their comprehensive, cordial, and useful meeting on regional and international issues” and “reiterated their pledge to cooperate towards promoting peace, security, stability and economic development in the region” as it reinforced their commitment to cooperation in counterterrorism efforts (ARY OneWorld, October 31).
As the three leaders conferred, Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted the 17-article Turkiye-Pakistan Ortak Bildirisi, Ankara, 27-31 Ekim 2008 (“Pakistan-Turkey Joint Statement, Ankara, 27-31 October 2008”) on its website (www.mfa.gov.tr/turkiye-pakistan-ortak-bildirisi_-ankara_-27-31-ekim-2008.tr.mfa). Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also posted the Pakistan-Turkey Joint Statement on its website (“Pakistan-Turkey Joint Statement,” October 31, www.mofa.gov.pk/).
While the joint statement does not explicitly mention the Turkish commitment, Article 12 underlined Turkish support for Pakistani territorial integrity, stating:
“Turkey expressed full solidarity and support for Pakistan’s sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity. Turkey also expressed support for the efforts of Pakistan to combat the menace of terrorism and extremism. Both sides decided to increase their cooperation in security and counterterrorism” (www.mfa.gov.tr/turkiye-pakistan-ortak-bildirisi_-ankara_-27-31-ekim-2008.tr.mfa).
Both Turkey and Pakistan have had significant disagreements with the Bush administration about its actions in the war on terror, while the United States’ NATO allies have been under pressure to accede to U.S. wishes on everything from increasing their troop commitments in Afghanistan to Washington’s insistence during the April NATO summit in Bucharest on admitting Georgia and Ukraine into the alliance.
Ankara’s discreet criticism of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan would carry some weight, inasmuch as Turkey has been involved in efforts to pacify Afghanistan since November 2001, when it sent about 100 troops for International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations. Turkey currently has approximately 750 peacekeepers stationed in and around Kabul.
Nor is Ankara’s intention to use its influence with Washington to ameliorate its “hot pursuit” policy of targeting terrorists in FATA the only international support that Islamabad has received. Another high profile U.S. NATO ally has also recently expressed mounting concern over the U.S. strikes into Pakistan. Britain’s Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw said in an interview with Pakistan’s ARY OneWorld on October 31 that his government opposed any strikes inside Pakistan that did not have the government’s consent, and he urged the U.S. to respect the sovereignty of its allies (Associated Press of Pakistan, October 31).
In the first seven months of this year there were five aerial violations of Pakistani territory by U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Predator aircraft equipped with missiles. It is clear that the tempo has been increasing, as there have been 14 more since July.
In the most recent incident, on October 31, 17 people died and several others were injured in two missile attacks by U.S. UAVs in the North and South Waziristan agencies. Pakistani private television channels put the death toll far higher at 32 (The News International, November 1). The encounters are not without risk: on September 24 Pakistani forces reportedly fired on two U.S. American Kiowa OH-58 reconnaissance helicopters, forcing them away from the frontier. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari strove to downplay the incident, saying that his forces had only fired flares as a way “to make sure that they know that they crossed the border line,” adding, “Sometimes the border is so mixed that they don’t realize they have crossed the border” (Dawn, Sept. 25).
Pakistani objections to the raids have been unavailing. In a recent BBC interview, security correspondent Frank Gardner asked U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates whether Islamabad had authorized the cross-border air strikes. Gates replied, “I wouldn’t go in that direction,” adding, “I would just say that we will take whatever action necessary to protect our troops” (BBC, September 18).
The issue of U.S. military operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq will doubtless be deeply affected by the election of Barack Obama as America’s next President. In contrast to the current administration’s “go it alone” policy, Obama pointedly referred in his victory speech to “alliances to repair.” Such an environment will doubtless allow the concerns of vital allies such as Pakistan and Turkey, as well as NATO, to receive a more sympathetic hearing. Its attempts to promote peace in the NWFP adds another element to Turkey’s efforts to promote diplomacy over conflict, in keeping with the dictum of its first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who said, “Yurtta Sulh, Cihanda Sulh” (“Peace at Home, Peace in the World”).
By Nikolaus von Twickel / Staff Writer
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have signed a declaration on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev in a sign of the Kremlin’s growing role and the importance of energy politics in the South Caucasus.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev signed the largely symbolic document at Medvedev’s Maiendorf residence, just outside Moscow on Saturday.
Armenia has traditionally been a staunch ally of Russia, while energy-rich Azerbaijan has maintained friendly ties with Georgia, but Moscow has been looking for greater cooperation with Azerbaijan on energy issues.
The five-point document, published on the Kremlin’s web site, says both countries will step up efforts to find a peaceful solution over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan that broke away after a bloody conflict in the early 1990s that killed more than 30,000 and displaced more than 1 million.
The declaration is the first such document signed by the heads of the two states since Russia mediated a cease-fire agreement in 1994.
While it stresses the need for a political settlement based on international law, the document does not contain any significant commitments, such as to forego the use of force, nor does it mention the conflicting issues at the heart of the conflict, territorial integrity and national self-determination.
The outcome of the meeting was not as significant as some may have hoped.
“This was not much different than dozens of meetings before,” Svante Cornell, research director at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, a joint U.S.-Swedish think tank, said Tuesday by telephone from Tbilisi, Georgia. “All we have seen is basically two leaders committing themselves to solving the conflict.”
Alexei Malashenko, an analyst with the Moscow Carnegie Center, said the declaration was largely ceremonial.
“The fact that Medvedev [presided over the talks) just means that both sides accept Russia as mediator,” Malashenko said Tuesday. “Russia needed an urgent rehabilitation as peacekeeper in the region.”
Moscow’s relations with the West worsened dramatically after it sent soldiers and tanks deep into Georgia to repel a Georgian military attack to reclaim its breakaway region of South Ossetia in August.
The declaration also says negotiations should continue within the framework of the so-called Minsk Group, a 12-member body headed jointly by Russia, France and the United States, and overseen by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza and French Ambassador Bernard Fassier were at Maiendorf, an OSCE spokesman said by telephone from Vienna.
Bryza, the senior U.S. diplomat overseeing the South Caucasus region, praised the result.
“My country fully supports this document. The declaration shows that both presidents can work seriously towards solving this conflict,” he said, Interfax reported Monday.
Cornell said the declaration was a show of force by the Kremlin capitalizing on the weakness of the West, as the Georgian war in August, the global financial crisis and the leadership change in the United States would all work to cripple Western influence in the region.
“There is a new geopolitical situation now,” he said.
Russia, he said, was offering a solution that would mean a loss of independence for Azerbaijan, possibly through the deployment of a Moscow-sponsored peacekeeping force on its territory.
Cornell said Moscow was probably eyeing a “common state” solution, something that had been on the negotiating table back in the 1990s.
This proposal, which had been rejected by Baku, focuses on bringing Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh together in a confederation.
Carnegie’s Malashenko said that while its influence in the region has grown, Russia would not go it alone.
“To solve this conflict, you need more than one mediator; you need a group of mediators,” he said. “Moscow won’t act outside the format of the Minsk Group.”
Malashenko also denied that the talks might herald a weakening of Moscow’s traditional support for Armenia.
“I cannot imagine that one country will give one-sided support to one party, because this is impossible,” he said.
Both Azerbaijan and Armenia depend on trade routes through Georgia.
Moscow has recently been courting Azerbaijan, which wants to sell more gas to Russia.
Medvedev signed a cooperation agreement with Aliyev in Baku in July, and in Moscow this September both leaders discussed direct talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Europe has also been making overtures to Azerbaijan as a vital supplier to a proposed new gas pipeline, which would reduce Western dependence on Russian energy.
The Nabucco pipeline project has been backed both by the European Union and the United States.
EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs will travel to Turkey and Azerbaijan this Wednesday to show Europe’s commitment to the project, The Associated Press reported.
Moscow has worried the EU by negotiating with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to commit to sending their Caspian Sea gas through Russia.
It is also pushing South Stream, a rival pipeline project by state-controlled Gazprom, which is slated to cost some $13 billion.
Andris Piebalgs heads to Istanbul and Baku to make his case.
BRUSSELS — The fate of the Nabucco pipeline project appears to be hanging by a thread. No EU official would publicly admit this, but the signs tell their own story.
First, as a senior EU official told reporters in Brussels on November 4 on condition of anonymity, transit talks with Turkey have stalled.
Second, Azerbaijan is dithering between competing Russian and EU bids for its gas exports, which are crucial to bringing Nabucco on line in 2012 as planned.
Third, in the long term, Azerbaijani gas alone will not be sufficient. The EU official said that “other countries in the region” must supply most of the 31 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas Nabucco is expected to carry by 2020.
But Iran, with the world’s second-largest reserves, remains off-limits as long as it continues to enrich uranium. And Turkmenistan, with its enormous export potential, has yet to decide whether to invest in a trans-Caspian pipeline linking it to Azerbaijan — and Nabucco.
The common thread for all these countries, and the EU as the ultimate beneficiary of the 3,300-kilometer-long pipeline, is the question of intent and commitment.
EU Makes Its Case
On November 5-7, EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs will visit Turkey and Azerbaijan to demonstrate the bloc’s continued commitment to Nabucco.
“The first objective of this trip is to show the political commitment of the European Commission to the Nabucco project and to reaffirm once more that we are convinced that it is going to be online according to the planned timetable,” says Piebalgs’ spokesman, Ferran Tarradellas.
The Russian-Georgian conflict sent shock waves through the region and among potential investors. But official Brussels remains steadfast in the belief that Nabucco is safe from Moscow’s interference. “Russia would jeopardize its reputation as a reliable supplier” to the EU if it acted in any way to damage Nabucco, said one official.
However, none of Nabucco’s essential building blocks is currently in place. Turkey continues to hold out for a better transit deal while Azerbaijan has yet to formally commit its gas exports to the project.
Tarradellas says that while Piebalgs’ visit is a sign that the EU is upping the ante in its talks with the two countries. “We’re going to discuss also the remaining differences with the Turks and the question of the transit of the gas through Turkey,” he says, “and then we’re going to be visiting Azerbaijan, which will be probably be the first supplier of gas for the Nabucco pipeline.”
The senior EU official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that, apart from charging a transit fee, Turkey wants to divert 15 percent of Nabucco’s gas for cheap domestic use. As Azerbaijan is insisting on selling its gas at European market rates minus transit costs, the Nabucco consortium and its subsidiaries in Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Austria would be left to pick up the tab.
Piebalgs is keen to break the deadlock before the end of the year. In Turkey this week he will meet with the country’s president, prime minister, foreign minister, and economy minister.
Where Will Gas Come From?
Azerbaijan, meanwhile, has yet to decide to whom to sell the estimated 7-9 bcm of gas it is able to export annually in the early years of Nabucco’s operations. The senior Brussels official said EU companies are pitted against Russian competitors. There are fears in the EU that Russian political pressure could clinch the deal for Russian bidders. A decision is expected sometime in 2009.
EU officials say that the fact that Piebalgs has secured a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is a sign of “interest” on the part of Baku in doing business with the EU.
But Azerbaijan’s gas reserves, even if supplemented by the planned expansion of the Shah Deniz field, will not be sufficient to keep Nabucco in business.
And this is where Nabucco currently hits a wall. Iran will remain untouchable in trade terms as long as it refuses to cease uranium enrichment. Like Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan can be swayed by Moscow’s cash — or outright pressure. And even if Turkmenistan’s recently confirmed reserves of 14 trillion bcm dwarf Russia’s own transit capacity, Moscow will be seeking to deny the EU a piece of the pie.
Piebalgs is hoping to soon visit Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, his aides say.
This leaves Iraq and Egypt as the only other viable regional suppliers for Nabucco — with one extremely unstable and the other rather remote.
Meanwhile, EU officials reject suggestions Nabucco could eventually carry Russian gas diverted south. This, they say, would defeat the purpose of Nabucco — which is to diversify supplies. (Competing Russian projects, such as South Stream, are not seen as a problem, however. The EU’s growing demand for gas will make sure it has a market and the diversification of transport routes is a good in itself).
If the degree of insecurity associated with the 8 billion-euro ($10.3 billion) project coupled with the global financial crisis is making potential investors nervous, officials in Brussels remain serene. When pressed, they do point out, however, that should private investors balk, public lenders such as the European Investment Bank and the World Bank stand ready to step in.
