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However, press secretary of the Armenian National Congress Arman Musinyan told us yesterday that they do not have such information yet. Let us add also that news is circulating that in Armenia Clinton will meet with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, who on July 3 will be in Yerevan and will leave for Baku on July 5. Before arriving in Yerevan, according to press secretary of the NKR President David Babayan, on July 2 the Co-Chairs will be in Stepanakert where they will meet NKR President Bako Sahakyan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Georgi Petrosyan.

Armenia’s traditional, socio-political thinking sometimes shocks me in its brevity. In many cases, brevity should be understood in its literal sense. Either because well-known figures, while interpreting developments are often unable to look ahead or back from, a given point, or the radii of these types of interpretations is unbelievably short, almost to the point of non-existence. This fact became obvious again following the recent statement made by Medvedev-Obama-Sarkozy. Known and unknown circles again and again accused the Armenian National Congress of presenting the negotiation process of the Karabakh conflict in а pessimistic light and raising alarms about the possible (disproportionate) return of the liberated territories, especially since these territories remain under the control of Armenia’s armed forces, as they were before.

It is in these types of interpretations that the shortness of Armenian traditional, socio-political thinking lays. It is not able to understand processes, its comprehension of developments is often delayed, it is not capable of noticing changes in a given situation that, albeit insignificant at the moment, become significant in time, even transformative. For instance, being familiar with a person’s psychological makeup, you insist that he is going to commit suicide. You can’t prove it. And all those who consider your assertion to be inane think so based on the argument that the man whom you deem suicidal is alive. Then you hear that the man is going up to the roof of his multistory building. You analyze the situation you insist that he is about to jump off the building. But you still can’t prove it, because those who deny your suicide version have an argument—the man is still alive. There may even be someone who will insist that the man is going up to find a location for his new TV set and antenna. He might really meet some people who are placing antennas or doing something else on the roof, and go back down with them. At that point they will really laugh at your suicide theory. And they would be “right” because they would have an argument—the argument that the man is alive—while you can’t prove that psychologically and morally he has said farewell to his life long ago. And when the potential suicide realizes that a great deal of interest is focused on him, he will go up to the roof at night and throw himself down without anyone’s knowledge. Up until the moment when he throws himself down, all those who did not want to believe in your assumption would be right, but from the moment when he jumps to the moment of his death you would be right. As a result, you would be right but only for a few seconds, because those who did not believe your assumption would have been right for hours, days, months and maybe years.

Going back to the issue of Karabakh, I cannot but notice that some literate Armenians treat the situation in a similar way—some because of self-interest, others with no self-interest. Sometimes I think that this technical problem in reality has a genetic origin. We, Armenians, do not hurry to see a doctor when we feel pain in some part of our body but we rely on the fact that the pain just keeps recurring and doesn’t last that long. Meaning that we are alive, we don’t feel bad in general and we can eat, drink, rejoice and have fun. As for the pains, well, everybody has pains and there is nothing strange in that. The logical extension here is that the average Armenian sees the doctor only when the pain has deprived him of the ability to eat, drink, hear and perceive. Meaning that there’s nothing left to do but order a coffin. It seems that many people want to disseminate this type of perception of the Karabakh conflict in the consciousness of the Armenian public; or, at the very least they themselves grasp the situation along those lines, starting with the statement made by the presidential trio and ending up with numerous documents approved by PACE, UNO and the European Parliament. Those who perceive the situation in this way are right for the moment; they were right yesterday; and they may be right tomorrow, or for a long time to come. But they will be wrong for a split-second and it is in that split-second that everything will be decided.

If privatization of the gas pipeline were to occur, the most likely buyer is considered to be Azerbaijan. According to the intergovernmental agreement between Azerbaijan and Georgia signed in December of 2008, almost the entire gas distribution system (with the exception of the section in Tbilisi, which belongs to a Kazakh organization) has been given to the concessionary management of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan for 5 years. And if the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan also buys that section, the gas which enters Armenia will be under Azerbaijan’s control. In regards to this worrisome fact, “ArmRusGasArd” representatives told “HZH” that it is up to Georgia to decide.

According to the ANC report, Armenian-Turkish relations and the situation of the Karabakh conflict resolution process were also discussed.

According to the official announcement, the key issues to be discussed will be the Karabakh conflict and Armenian-Turkish relations. Azerbaijani media sources reported yesterday that during the days that Clinton will be in Yerevan and Baku (July 4), the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will also be in the region; a meeting between the Co-Chairs and the US Secretary of State has not been ruled out. The Co-Chairs will visit the region to prepare for the meeting between the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The meeting is to take place within the framework of the informal meeting of the OSCE Foreign Ministers in Almaty, on July 16-17.

According to the acknowledgment, the information has been registered and will be considered in accordance with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Yesterday, the authoritative human rights organization “Freedom House” released the annual report “Nations in Transit 2010,” which examines the democratic performance of 29 post-soviet and post-communist European countries during the last ten years. In the report, Armenia is presented as a semi-free, semi-dictatorial country. It is stated that the democratic index of Armenia has not improved, as since the events of March 1 following the presidential elections of 2008, the Armenian public is still in shock and polarized, and 15 oppositionists arrested for the events of March 1-2 are still in prison. It is noted that the 16 percent economic downturn has further deepened the atmosphere of distrust and pessimism in Armenia. The report also states that in the spheres of transparency of elections, freedom of media, free juridical structure and democratic governing, no progress has been recorded during the last ten years in Armenia. As proof, the fact that the election of Yerevan’s Council of Aldermen held on May 31, 2009 was accompanied by mass violations and falsifications, election bribes and pressures, is presented.

Head of the RA DM central military hospital Michael Michaelyan said so yesterday and added that despite that, doctors struggle for his life. As to the other three soldiers, they are safe. Serzh Sargsyan, who was in Karabakh on June 24, had also visited the military hospital in Stepanakert and met the two soldiers injured on June 18. On June 27, Serzh Sargsyan returned to Yerevan. His visit to Karabakh was related to the incident that occurred on June 18 at the contact line.

On June 26, the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group’s Co-Chair countries, USA, Russia and France, issued a joint statement on the Karabakh conflict within the framework of the G8 Summit, held in Huntsville, Canada. The statement posted on the official website of the White House reads:

“We, the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group's Co-Chair countries, France, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America, reaffirm our commitment to support the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan as they finalize the Basic Principles for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

We welcome as a significant step the recognition by both sides that a lasting settlement must be based upon the Helsinki Principles and the elements that we proposed in connection with our statement at the L’Aquila Summit of the Eight on July 10, 2009, relating to: the return of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh guaranteeing security and self-governance, a corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh; final status of Nagorno-Karabakh to be determined in the future by a legally-binding expression of will, the right of all internally-displaced persons and refugees to return, and international security guarantees, including a peacekeeping operation.

There was a time when asphalting was considered the best work to get abroad. But time changes the traditional way of thinking, and now every citizen of the RA knows that the best work abroad is to be a PACE co-rapporteur on Armenia. The French co-rapporteur on Armenia Georges Colombier, for instance, in the course of his work in that position should have had serious achievements, and thus fully ensured the well-being of his successors. It is said, though, that because of his recent car accident, he has had to undergo a few extremely expensive surgeries. Such is life, and all jobs carry their own share of risk. In 1993, for instance, Valer, who was asphalting in Tyumen, fell under a road roller. Because of this incident, the wedding ceremony of Valer’s sister was postponed for an indefinite time, and it is still postponed even to this day. It’s true, it has not been cancelled, but it is being postponed from September to November, then from November to February and from February to April. In May, as you know, weddings are not performed, and this summer hails hinder the performance of any weddings. The PACE resolutions on Armenia have actually reached the state of Valer’s sister situation. Their marriage (through implementation) is being postponed from January to April, then from April to June, from June to September and from September to January. But what is important is that there is a respectable reason for that postponement. Co-rapporteur Colombier was in a car accident and as a result both of his legs were broken: it is exactly the same story with Valer’s sister. But recently it is being said that the wedding of Valer’s sister is being postponed not because of Valer’s legs and his resultant disability, but because her fiancé has learned that Valer’s sister is in intimate relations with several others. In fact, I am putting mildly. What we’re really talking about here is prostitution. But Valer surely cannot admit that his sister is a whore. It is almost the same as if PACE were to declare that the Co- Rapporteur on Armenia is a whore. How can something like that happen? It can’t, as there is no provision for anything like that in the PACE legislation. But now when Valer is being asked what has happened with his sister’s wedding, he says, “I’ve gotta’ just quickly solve this problem with my legs, and then I’ll get on with the wedding.” And recently in order to get rid of the extra headache caused by all of this, Valer says that he will definitely hold the wedding next spring. But it is said that Valer regrets that he didn’t figure out beforehand that the best work abroad is not asphalting, but being the PACE co-rapporteur on Armenia or as a last resort, an OSCE/ODIHR observer in Armenian elections or even the head of the Yerevan office of any international organization. If Valer had picked up any job like that, he would have gotten his whoring sister married off a long time ago.

NIKOL PASHINYAN
www.nikolpashinyan.com
From “Kosh” penitentiary

stated the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan Safar Abiyev yesterday. The young wing of the ruling party “New Azerbaijan” yesterday addressed Ilham Aliyev stating, “the youth are waiting for the President’s call to liberate the holy lands from the enemy”.

Secretary of the National Security Council Arthur Baghdasaryan mentioned at the press conference yesterday that a special interdepartmental commission has been created that deals with the issues of improving the RA border security. It is expected that by year-end they will have a complex package of measures to improve border security. Recording that the border security is not on a proper level, Baghdasaryan tried to convince those present that “Today we are ready for any scenario that might develop.” “We have an unsolved conflict and this means that as long as this state of relative peace prevails, our armed forces should be ready to withstand any aggression,” said NSC Secretary.

Current and former co-rapporteurs John Prescott and Georges Colombier yesterday circulated an announcement according to which they will visit Armenia in the spring of next year.

Yesterday Serzh Sargsyan unexpectedly left for NKR. Attempts were made for a while to keep his visit a secret. As early as yesterday morning an official statement was released that RA Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan had left for Stepanakert, where together with NKR President Bako Sahakyan and NKR Defense Minister Movses Hakobyan he would discuss issues relating to army-building and the processes taking place in the region. But there was no word in the official statement that S. Sargsyan had also left for NKR. And this, despite the fact that according to our sources in Stepanakert, Serzh Sargsyan was present at that meeting. It is not clear why the visit was kept secret. According to the information circulating, Serzh Sargsyan left for Stepanakert to present to the authorities in NKR the results of the trilateral meeting with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia in St. Petersburg on June 17, or rather, to discuss the new proposals presented to the sides by the Russian President that relate to the resolution of the Karabakh conflict and are based on the Madrid principles.

Is it true that the Armenian army is the strongest in the region? If by region we mean the South Caucasus, i.e. Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, it is. However, if we also mean Turkey and Iran, that same statement becomes doubtful. The fact that at the present time the Armenian army is stronger than the Azerbaijani and Georgian armies can be confirmed by analysis. The Georgian army was demoralized after the scandalous Georgian-Russian war of August 2008; before that, in the early nineties, Georgia had again lost the Abkhazian and South Ossetian wars. Then, in 2003, Mikheil Saakashvili came to power and wasted billions of dollars to rearm and reform the army, all the while combining the process with martial rhetoric. In August 2008, Saakashvili believed that the wasted billions and martial rhetoric had improved the fighting ability of his army, but the Georgian army got its ass kicked in South Ossetia. While it’s true that the kicker was the Russian army, one of the strongest in the world, the immediate demoralization of the Georgian army and the shameful chaos that seized them came to prove that the Georgian army, having military hardware, weapons and uniforms, was weak and helpless—above all, morally.

This is a good indicator for Ilham Aliyev and the best proof for the fact that billions never guarantee the fighting ability of an army. After the victorious war of Karabakh by the Armenian army, the Azerbaijani army has been psychologically depressed. Ilham Aliyev understands this and the diversionary activities carried out time after time are aimed at weakening the psychological advantage the Armenian army has.