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Category: Azerbaijan

US urges EU to diversify energy supplies

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Russia’s fight with Georgia has added new urgency to the Europe Union’s need to find alternatives to Russian oil and gas imports, the new U.S. ambassador to the EU said Monday.

“Russia’s willingness to defy the international community, act in violation of international law, (and) be threatening in its neighborhood is a reminder of why progress on this issue is so important,” ambassador Kristen Silverberg said.

At an emergency summit on the Georgia conflict early this month, EU leaders called for a study into how the 27-nation body can find alternative energy sources to diminish growing dependence on Russia, which currently supplies a third of EU oil imports and more than 40 percent of the natural gas European Union countries buy from abroad.

Silverberg told reporters the EU should work with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and other nations to diversify sources of energy and supply routes for oil and gas from the Caspian and Central Asian regions.

“We hope that Europe will engage with active outreach with some of the supplier countries, the Azeris for example,” she said. “We have always thought that it was in Europe’s interest to diversify its supply routes generally.”

In particular, the EU should work closely with Turkey to develop pipelines and other infrastructure to ensure oil and gas can flow westward through routes not controlled by Moscow, she told reporters Monday.

“We hope that Europe will work closely with Turkey to help make sure that Turkey is a viable and active transit route for Caspian gas,” Silverberg added.

“That involves negotiating with Turkey over reasonable terms for a transit agreement. It means working with Turkey on helping to improve its infrastructure so helping to make sure its an efficient transit route.”

One project under consideration is the so-called Nabucco pipeline, which would deliver gas from Turkmenistan and other Central Asian and Caspian countries westward through Turkey while bypassing Russia.

The project, however, has been slowed by high costs and uncertainty over sources of supply, and Russia is promoting rival routes through its territory as a cheaper and safer alternative.

International Herald Tribune 22 September 2008

September 22, 2008
Armenian FM Upbeat on Prospects for Karabakh Solution

Armenia’s foreign minister sounded optimistic about the prospects of a solution in the long-running dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, saying that such a solution would open up new possibilities for regional cooperation.

But Edward Nalbandian denied that Turkey will gain influence over Armenia as a result of what the two hitherto estranged nations see as an opportunity for rapprochement.

The top Armenian diplomat called it an ‘obvious exaggeration’ to speak about possible Turkish influence on Armenia as he commented on Azerbaijani media reports suggesting that Turkey is keen on increasing its role in the settlement of the long-running conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic-Armenian enclave that declared its independence from Baku following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

A number of media in Azerbaijan recently quoted Matthew Bryza, the United States cochairman of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that advances a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as saying in Baku that “Turkey may have its contribution to the Karabakh settlement process and help Armenia appear from a more flexible position.”

“If we believe the citations of the Azerbaijani media, then Mr. Bryza must have mistakenly used the name of Armenia instead of Azerbaijan, since Turkey may use its influence to make Azerbaijan’s position more flexible, proceeding from the reality that the leaders of both Turkey and Azerbaijan, speaking of Turkish-Azerbaijani relations, have repeatedly described them using the “one nation, two states” formula,” Nalbandian underscored.

According to the press office of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, speaking about the veracity of the reports about a meeting of Armenian and Turkish diplomats in Switzerland, Nalbandian said: “There have always been contacts between Armenian and Turkish diplomats, and there is nothing extraordinary about these meetings.”

Commenting on the possibility of a trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey in New York with the mediation of Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, the top Armenian diplomat reminded that he agreed with Babacan in Yerevan still in early September to have a meeting in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

“Mr. Babacan also proposed that a meeting should be organized in a tripartite format. I am not against the organization of such a meeting,” Nalbandian said.

Regarding the reports in the Turkish press about a possible signing of some documents during the New York meeting, Nalbandian said: “Upon the instructions of the presidents of Armenia and Turkey, as a result of the negotiations held with Turkish Foreign Minister Babacan, we, the two foreign ministers, expressed our complete resolve to achieve a full normalization of bilateral relations, and we are trying to make steps in this direction. I hope that we will go that way without raising artificial obstacles to each other.”

Nalbandian reiterated Armenia’s position that the OSCE Minsk Group is the current format of negotiations, which “has proved its viability and enjoys the support of the international community.”

“The negotiating process is continuing in this format, on the basis of the proposals made by the cochairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group. I think that today there are good prerequisites for the settlement of the problem, which may create new opportunities for regional cooperation for all countries,” Nalbandian concluded.

September 21, 2008
Whither Turkish-Armenian relations?

By Nicholas Birch in Istanbul

As symbolic gestures go, Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s attendance at an Armenia-Turkey football match in Yerevan on September 6 could not have been bettered.

The first visit by a senior Turkish politician since Armenia became independent 17 years ago, it has sparked an upsurge of fraternal feeling on both sides of a border closed since 1993. And the signs are that there is more to come. If Armenia agrees to renounce territorial claims on eastern Turkey implicit in its founding charter, one senior Turkish diplomat says: “We could see diplomatic relations begun and rail links restarted within six months.”

“The two sides are in agreement over a surprising number of issues,” agrees Richard Giragosian, a Yerevan-based analyst, describing Armenia’s invitation of Gul as “a vital foreign policy victory” for the Caucasian state’s embattled government. Armenia stands to benefit enormously from the rapprochement. With its Azeri and Turkish borders closed, Georgia has been its only window on the West. When Russia wrecked Georgian infrastructure in August, it was Armenians, not Georgians, who suffered from food shortages.

It is no coincidence either that the two Turkish provinces bordering Armenia are the country’s poorest. For years, politicians in Kars and Igdir have been calling for the border to be opened. Trade between the two countries “would slow rapid population movement away from eastern Turkey,” says former Turkish ambassador to Russia, Volkan Vural. “It would provide Central Asia-bound exporters with a good new route. Plus energy security would be improved if Armenia joins current energy projects.”

Though Turkey has increasingly used its key position on the “East-West” corridor connecting Europe to the Caspian as a card in its stumbling EU negotiations, such optimism seems premature, for three reasons.

Reasons not to be cheerful

First, it ignores the fact that Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan has been closed since the 1988-1994 armed conflict that took place in the small ethnic enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the predominantly ethnic Armenians and Azeri forces. Azerbaijan showed considerable statesmanship in backing the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement. But there is no sign of progress on Nagorno-Karabakh. Instead, enriched with oil and gas money, Baku now spends $1bn annually on military rearmament. Belligerent rhetoric about re-taking lost territories is, if anything, on the up.

Second, and much more importantly, Turkey’s talk of a new Caucasian pact appears to ignore the key lesson of August’s conflict in South Ossetia; in today’s Caucasus, Russia is boss. The August bust-up “was clearly not about Ossetia, only a little about Georgia, only a little about Nato, and a huge amount about geopolitics,” says David Smith, director of the Georgian Security Analysis Center in Tbilisi. “It was a shot fired at the East-West corridor, a warning to BP, ExxonMobil, anybody hoping to loosen Gazprom’s hold on Central Asia.”

With Russian bombs falling within 200 metres of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, Georgia’s neighbours seem to have got the message. Azerbaijan recently upped oil exports via Russian pipelines when BTC flow was interrupted by a Turkish Kurdish separatist sabotage attack on the pipeline on August 6. And when US Vice-President Dick Cheney visited Baku on September 3 to drum up local support for a trans-Caspian gas line, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev turned him down.

With the future of Nabucco, a hugely expensive EU-backed gas pipeline due to bring Caspian gas direct to Europe by 2013, looking increasingly doubtful, some analysts hint at the possibility of rerouting the East-West corridor through Armenia. But this talk of Armenia offering new energy security possibilities misses another point: Georgia earned its position on the East-West corridor thanks to its staunch pro-American stance; Armenia, meanwhile, to cite Richard Giragosian, is little better than “a Russian garrison state.”

Visitors to Yerevan have their passports stamped by Russian border guards. Armenia’s energy and telecommunication sectors have been in Russian hands since 2005 and 2006 respectively. Russian Railways bought Armenian railways this January. In that context, Giragosian argues, opening the Turkish-Armenian border risks abetting Russian efforts to sideline Georgia. “The key question Turkey needs to ask itself over Armenia,” he says, “is do we have a partner on the other side.”

September 21, 2008
“IRAN SHARES ARMENIAN STANCE OF KARABAKH AND GENOCIDE”

DERENIK MELIKYAN: IRAN SHARES ARMENIAN STANCE OF KARABAKH AND GENOCIDE

Kaynak: armtown.com
Yer: Türkiye
Tarih: 20.9.2008

There are two Hay Dat offices in Iran. One is in Tehran and the other is in Nor-Jugha, Derenik Melikyan, editor of Aliq Tehran-based Armenian-language newspaper, told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. “We organize April evenings, seminars on genocide studies, including the Armenian Genocide. Books dedicated to Armenian-Iranian, Turkish-Iranian and Armenian-Turkish relations are published,” he said. “Iran has tensed relations with Turkey and, moreover, with Azerbaijan. Tehran doesn’t welcome Baku’s yearning for the Turkic world. Panturanism is inadmissible for Iran. Maybe this is the reason why it shares the Armenian stance of Karabakh and Genocide. Moreover, thanks to the NKR security belt, the Armenian-Iranian border became longer,” Melikyan said.

Source: www.hyetert.com, 20.09.2008

September 20, 2008
Matthew Bryza: The US is paying more attention to the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict now than ever before

[ 18 Sep 2008 19:36 ]
Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva – APA. American co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza held a press conference on the outcomes of his visit to Baku. APA reports that the co-chair said Azerbaijan and the Unites States continued active cooperation.

“The main aspect of this cooperation is the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” he said.
Matthew Bryza said the Unites States supported Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

“We intend to help the conflicting parties to reach an agreement. This agreement should be based on the countries’ territorial integrity, later we should use other practice of the international law. We should find a way satisfying both sides, then a deal should be signed as in business. Our leadership is paying more attention to the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict now than ever before,” he said.

Matthew Bryza said he planned to meet with other co-chair Bernard Fassier in Baku and hoped to continue cooperation with Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov.

The co-chair also took a stance on the Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Pact initiated by Turkey.
“Any step serving to establish peace in the region is praiseworthy. Turkey is the ally of both the United States and Azerbaijan. It is good if this country wants to contribute to the establishment of peace. Some countries of the region ask why the US and European Union do not participate in this platform, why only Turkey and Russia are represented in the new format. And Georgia says that it is not ready to participate in this project together with Russia, which violated the country’s territorial integrity. Turkey is not the co-chair of OSCE Minsk group, but this country knows more about Azerbaijan and Armenia,” he said.

Matthew Bryza appreciated the steps taken to normalize the relations between Turkey and Armenia.
“Both countries have made steps important from political aspect. This is a new direction, there is a need for new directions after the happenings in Georgia,” he said.

Taking a stance on the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents American co-chair said the heads of states determine when they should meet.

“We, diplomats only give recommendations,” he said.

Speaking about the attitude of GUAM countries towards the happenings in Georgia, Matthew Bryza said the organization openly supported official Tbilisi.

“For example, Viktor Yushchenko openly expressed this support. Sometimes this support was silent, but too important,” he said.

Matthew Bryza said the policy of the United States on the region would not change.
“We will be more active in the region,” he said.

Source: en.apa.az, 18 Sep 2008

September 19, 2008
Karabakh Leader Defends Current Negotiations Format

Bako Sahakian, the head of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, has called for preserving the current format of negotiations over the protracted conflict with Azerbaijan, with the United States, France and Russia continuing to lead international efforts to resolve the dispute.

At the same time, Sahakian stressed the need for restoring Nagorno-Karabakh’s status as a full party to the negotiating process.

The Karabakh leader made the remarks while receiving the French negotiator in Stepanakert Tuesday evening.

Bernard Fassier, the French cochairman of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), was in the Karabakh capital to discuss the recent developments in the region and their impact on the negotiating process around Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the Nagorno-Karabakh president’s press office, during the meeting, Sahakian and Fassier also pointed out the need for taking concrete steps towards forming an atmosphere of trust between the parties to the conflict.

Fassier’s visit followed his U.S. counterpart’s regional tour, including a trip to Stepanakert late last week. The intensified diplomatic efforts of the international negotiators proceed against the background of a thaw in Armenian-Turkish relations following Turkish leader Abdullah Gul’s visit to Armenian capital Yerevan on September 6.

The Armenian president last Friday publicly appreciated Turkey’s offer of assistance in the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. But Serzh Sarkisian told media that he differentiated between ‘assistance’ and ‘mediation’.

However, the statement was construed by some observers as an approval of Turkey’s plans to increase its role in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is viewed by many as a threat to the current format of the peace process.

Sarkisian’s most vocal political opponent in Armenia, ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosian later voiced his concerns over intensified efforts of Turkey to supplant the Minsk Group, which he implied would bolster Azerbaijan’s stance in the long-running dispute with Armenia.

“The Minsk Group format is the most correct format, because it has provided the balance of superpowers and allowed us to ensure the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is not solved due to unilateral efforts of any of the superpowers,” Ter-Petrosian told an opposition rally in Yerevan Monday.

At a news briefing following his meeting with Karabakh leadership on Tuesday, Fassier hailed the efforts of Armenia and Turkey to improve their historically strained relations.

“Armenia’s president acted wisely by inviting Turkish President Abdullah Gul to Yerevan, although many in Azerbaijan and Turkey had thought such a meeting was impossible,” Fassier said, as quoted by the Russian news agency Regnum.

“Any efforts of goodwill that could prove useful for the negotiating process should be welcomed,” the French mediator added. “Turkey is a significant member of the OSCE Minsk Group. As a member of the Minsk Group it has long supported the process and the efforts of the cochairmen… All these efforts, if concentrated, may prove useful.”

On Wednesday, Fassier was in Yerevan where he was received by President Serzh Sarkisian.

In a brief statement the presidential press service reported that the main subject on the meeting agenda was “the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the latest developments in the region.”

The French diplomat was scheduled to give a press conference in Yerevan later on Wednesday.

September 17, 2008