Briefly: Russian displeasure on U.S.-Armenia nuclear proposal, Fried on Karabakh, GUAM issues a new draft resolution, Dink honored in Austria

This was originally published in December 15, 2007 Armenian Reporter.

by Emil Sanamyan

Russia displeased with U.S. role in Armenia’s nuclear energy plans
Russia’s former minister of nuclear energy Viktor Mikhailov expressed hope that “Armenia would accept Russia’s proposal and decline U.S. assistance” in the effort to build a new nuclear power plant, the Regnum news agency reported on December 6.

On November 21, the United States agreed to fund a $2 million feasibility study that would help determine the best technical solutions to replacing the aging reactor at the Metsamor power plant with a new nuclear energy-generating capacity. (See the story on page A1 of the November 24 Armenian Reporter.)

Armenia’s government has made building a new nuclear energy plant in the next several years a top priority and has reached out to the United States as well as Russia and other states for potential assistance.

Russia was first to react positively. During a visit to Armenia last April, Russian nuclear energy director Sergei Kirienko offered assistance with both construction and funding for the new plant, which is estimated to cost up to $2 billion. Since then U.S. officials have also expressed interest, resulting in the feasibility agreement.

Speaking on November 29, Armenia’s energy minister, Armen Movsisian, expressed confidence that several countries would be ultimately involved in the project.

Mr. Mikhailov, who currently holds a senior position at the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, was the nuclear energy minister at the time when Russia assisted Armenia in reactivating the Metsamor plant in the mid-1990s.

“When someone is playing a double game, it is difficult to make predictions,” Mr. Mikhailov said, but expressed hope that Armenia would stick with Russia on nuclear energy. He agreed with a suggestion that U.S. assistance was part of an effort to “strengthen political influence in Armenia.”


Senior U.S. diplomat takes issue with Azerbaijani policies, urges deal on Karabakh
“It is time to wrap up agreement on the Basic Principles of a Nagorno Karabakh settlement,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried speaking at an Azerbaijani-government organized conference in Washington on December 10.

Mr. Fried was referring to the joint proposal made by U.S., Russian, and French diplomats during the November 28 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Madrid. (See this page in the December 1 and 8 Armenian Reporter.)

Speaking at that meeting, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, broadly welcomed the proposal. Azerbaijani officials did not react immediately with President Ilham Aliyev taking a two-week vacation. On December 10, they requested additional time to study it, local media reported.

“The South Caucasus cannot achieve its full potential in the absence of a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement,” Mr. Fried said, according to a transcript released by the State Department. “As long as Armenia remains isolated in its region, a common vision of prosperity and freedom, and therefore stability, will not be attainable.”

Speaking with regional journalists last April, Mr. Fried addressed Azerbaijani military threats against Armenians, warning that “war will destroy everything Azerbaijan is trying to do.”

This week, the State Department official was also blunt about the continued crackdown on dissent in Azerbaijan, saying that the United States was “deeply disturbed” by it. Mr. Fried referred to Azerbaijan’s growing oil revenues and urged democratization, arguing that “sudden wealth unchecked by strong, honest institutions to handle it can fatten a small group of well-placed leaders rather than strengthen a nation.”

The conference on “The Azerbaijan-Turkey-U.S. Relationship,” which Mr. Fried addressed, continued in Los Angeles on December 13. According to the Azerbaijani consulate there, in addition to Azerbaijani and Turkish speakers, it also featured Beverly Hills, Calif., mayor Jimmy Jamshid Delshad.

GUAM states introduce a new UN draft resolution on post-Soviet conflicts
The governments of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova (GUAM) have again requested that the United National General Assembly express support for Soviet-era administrative borders as the basis for their territorial integrity.

The four-state grouping formally introduced the draft on December 4. The draft resolution’s text refers to Nagorno-Karabakh as a “region of the Republic of Azerbaijan” and calls for “support to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova and the inviolability of their internationally recognized borders.”

It is so far unclear when and if the UN General Assembly may consider the draft resolution. GUAM states had introduced a similar resolution last year, but then withdrew it prior to a vote being scheduled. (See this page in September 8 and November 3 Armenian Reporter.)

Unlike UN Security Council resolutions, those by the UN General Assembly are nonbinding, but they carry symbolic and political significance.

Armenia has already expressed its opposition to the most recent proposal. Speaking on November 28, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian noted Azerbaijan’s “active and aggressive search for alternative international forums in which to present their case” among the factors that undermine the peace process.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vladimir Karapetian told Regnum news agency on December 10 that Armenia will work to prevent the proposal’s passage.


Late Hrant Dink recognized as “World Press Freedom Hero”
The Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) – a network of journalists, editors, and others who work in the media – this week honored Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian editor who was killed in Istanbul last January, as one of its World Press Freedom Heroes.

The award was presented to Mrs. Rakel Dink on December 10. Mr. Dink worked to improve Turkish-Armenian relations and opposed the Turkish government’s censorship of topics such as the Armenian Genocide and continued discrimination against the remaining members of the Armenian community. (http://www.freemedia.at)


Minority Rights Group issues new report on Turkey
Also this week, the Minority Rights Group International, a Britain-based charity, issued a report that highlighted the Turkish government’s continued repression of minority groups.

The report “A Quest for Equality: Minorities in Turkey” noted that “instead of celebrating diversity, the history of the Republic of Turkey is one of severe and sometimes violent repression of minorities in the name of nationalism.”
(www.minorityrights.org)

Nareg Seferian contributed to this week’s column.

Briefly: Spanish FM on Karabakh, Azerbaijan ups anti-Armenian diplomacy, Georgia vs. Abkhazia, new Turkish FM and Israel vs. Syria

First published in the September 8, 2007 Armenian Reporter

From Washington, in brief
by Emil Sanamyan

Senior European official calls for “new initiatives” toward Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization

Spain’s Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), under whose aegis talks on the Karabakh settlement have been held since 1992, reportedly called for expanding the existing efforts to deal with the conflict.

The Azerbaijani Trend news agency reported that during a September 4 visit to Georgia, Mr. Moratinos revealed that while meeting with Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers the previous day, he had told them that “the time has come to launch a new dialogue and find a way out of the present-day situation.” He went on to say that “the situation now is such that we need new cooperation frameworks, and I believe that that will serve as a catalyst for development of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.” He expressed hope that “some progress” in that direction would be made before the end of the year.

Several recent developments suggest that Azerbaijan may be dropping its past policy of refusing or discouraging all contacts with Armenians, whether official or informal.

Last June, Azerbaijan for the first time ever sent an official delegation to Karabakh in an apparent effort to “build bridges.” Over the past decade and a half, senior Armenian officials and individual visitors were kept out of Azerbaijan, and even out of most international events organized there.

But this week, Armenia’s Chief of Police, Gen. Hayk Harutiunian, attended a Commonwealth of Independent States ministerial meeting hosted by Azerbaijan, becoming the second most senior Armenian official ever to visit Azerbaijan (then–
Prime Minister Armen Darbinian attended a regional trade summit in Baku in September 1998.) And starting next week Armenian wrestlers are due in Baku to compete in the world championship.

Azerbaijan continues to seek international endorsement for its claim on Karabakh

A draft resolution endorsing Azerbaijan’s claim on Karabakh is likely to be again introduced at the United Nations General Assembly following consultations with other interested states later this month, Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov told the Trend news agency on September 5.

General Assembly resolutions, unlike those of the Security Council, are nonbinding and frequently ignored by member states. Still, Azerbaijan has sought an alliance in the General Assembly with members of the Organization of Islamic Conference and other states to bring up a resolution.

Most recently the effort took the form of a more watered-down draft resolution floated jointly by Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova – the members of the Baku-initiated GUAM organization – that addressed four post-Soviet conflicts, including Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transdnistria. But past efforts to have the General Assembly pass a resolution with pro-Azerbaijani wording have run into opposition from the U.S. and France. In addition, Russia objects to a GUAM resolution that would criticize its policies in Moldova and Georgia.

The Americans, French, and Russians have led Karabakh conflict mediation efforts for the past decade, and believe that the Armenian entity’s final status should be determined through negotiations.

On August 17, Armenia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Armen Martirossian, told Armenpress news agency that U.S. and French officials continue to support amendments to the GUAM draft that would be acceptable to Armenia. GUAM states have pulled the most recent draft they introduced at the end of 2006, following apparent internal disagreements and a failure to garner sufficient support in the General Assembly.

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As part of a strategy to expand its foreign political reach – in large part to secure international support on the Karabakh issue – Azerbaijan has since 2004 nearly doubled the number of its diplomatic representations around the world to 46, with new embassies established as far afield as Argentina and Malaysia and, most recently over the summer, in Lithuania and Tajikistan.

By contrast, Armenia has 36 diplomatic representations.

Georgia defies UN call for restraint, promises further military buildup

President Mikhail Saakashvili expressed unhappiness with the United Nations’ recent calls for restraint over Georgia’s unresolved conflicts, www.civil.ge reported this week. In July, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a report calling on Tbilisi to remove a militarized youth camp from the Abkhazia conflict zone.

Speaking at the camp on September 6, Mr. Saakashvili said: “I want to tell bureaucrats in the international organizations: we do not need amoral and meager recommendations and friendly advice about removing this camp from the Abkhaz border.” Instead, he called on the UN to “undo the results” of the 1992–93 war in Abkhazia, which forced most ethnic Georgians from the area.

Outlining the Georgian government’s program on September 5, Mr. Saakashvili noted a further boost to the military, bringing the 2007 defense budget to $783 million (more than a quarter of the total $2.9 billion projected budget). He said the increase was “badly needed” and that “in the nearest future we will be fully ready to repel any type of foreign aggression based on our combat readiness and resources.”

Georgia has repeatedly accused Russia of such aggression. But it is still unclear whether Georgia – with its 30,000-strong active-duty military and 100,000 reservists, trained and aided by the U.S. and other Western states – would be able to counter a much larger and better-equipped Russian military. The military buildup is part of a strategy of regaining control over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where Tbilisi has for years sought Western help in limiting Russian support for the two de facto entities.

Also on September 5, the Georgian Defense Ministry announced the launch of a new military-run television channel with the aim of boosting Georgia’s “patriotic spirit,” Agence France Presse reported.

Next week, Georgia’s Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili will be in Washington to raise his country’s concerns with U.S. officials. On September 4, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met with the U.S. ambassador to Russia, William Burns, to brief him on Moscow’s position regarding developments in Georgia, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

Turkey’s Europe negotiator appointed foreign minister

A businessman-turned-politician who has been credited with Turkey’s economic successes in the last five years was appointed Turkey’s Foreign Minister on August 29.

Born in 1967, Ali Babacan became Turkey’s youngest foreign minister ever. Since May 2005, Mr. Babacan has served as the chief negotiator in Turkey’s talks with the European Union, and from 2002 he was economics minister. He is a founding member of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), having previously worked in the private sector in Turkey and the U.S., where he earned a master’s in business administration degree from Northwestern University in 1992.

Syria accuses Israel of aerial raid

Several Israeli fighter jets entered Syrian airspace, dropping munitions and coming under air defense fire shortly after midnight on September 6, officials in Damascus reported later in the day, according to Reuters and other news agencies.

Israeli and U.S. officials have so far refused comment. The U.S.–made F-16s reportedly flew in from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea near the Syrian-Turkish border and dropped “ammunition” in a desert area in northern Syria, northeast of the city of Ar-Raqqah causing no casualties or damage. A Syrian official claimed its military’s air defense repulsed the raid.

For months increased tensions have been reported between Syria and Israel. Israeli officials have warned that a “miscalculation” due to heightened alert might lead to fighting. The two countries have no formal relations, after fighting three full-scale wars in 1948, 1967, and 1973 that left Israel in control of the strategic Golan Heights, within striking distance of Damascus. They have since engaged in proxy fighting in Lebanon.

The last time Israeli aircraft were reported to have bombed Syrian territory was in 2003. According to Stratfor, since the summer of 2006 war with Hizbollah Israeli jets have flown regularly over Syria, “since the country’s air defense is ill-equipped to respond in time.”

The last time Israeli jets came under Syrian fire was when they flew over the Syrian president’s Latakia residence in June 2006.