National, International, Armenia, and Community News and Opinion

16 The Armenian Reporter | April 4, 2009
Armenia
Coup charges against jailed opposition dropped
by Karine Kalantarian
YEREVAN (RFE/RL) – An Armenian
judge on Wednesday ended
the controversial collective trial of
seven opposition figures arrested
following last year’s post-election
clashes in Yerevan after prosecutors
dropped coup charges leveled
against them.
The new twist in the so-called
“Case of the Seven” resulted from
the newly enacted amendments to
Articles 225 and 300 of the Armenian
Criminal Code used against
the prominent supporters of opposition
leader Levon Ter-Petrosian.
The articles deal with provocation
of street violence and “usurpation
of state authority by force” respectively.
One of the amendments
passed by the Armenian parliament
on March 18 divided Article
300 into three sections detailing
various forms of power usurpation
and toughening punishment for
some of them.
Citing the amendments, the chief
trial prosecutor, Koryun Piloyan,
said during a chaotic court session
on Wednesday that the defendants,
among them three parliament
deputies and a former foreign minister,
will now face no accusations
stemming from Article 300 but
must continue to be tried for organizing
the March 1, 2008 “mass
disturbances” in Yerevan. Two of
them, Miasnik Malkhasian and Sasun
Mikaelian, also remain accused
of resisting police and illegally possessing
weapons respectively, said
Piloyan. The prosecutor’s speech
was drowned out by furious shouts
from defendants.
Sasun Mikaelian’s case will be
sent to Kotayk regional court,
while the others will be heard at
Yerevan’s Central and Nork Marash
district courts, presided over by
different judges. Judge Mnatsakan
Martirosian will be presiding over
Alexander Arzumanian’s and Suren
Sirunyan’s case.
Presently, it is not clear, which
courts will be examining the remaining
cases. This means that their
trials will be prolonged because the
presiding judges will have to become
acquainted with their cases.
The judge in the case, Mnatsakan
Martirosian, responded by ruling
that the seven oppositionists
should stand fresh and separate
trials for orchestrating the vicious
clashes between Ter-Petrosian supporters
and security forces that left
ten people dead and more than 200
others injured. Justifying the surprise
decision, Martirosian cited
the complexity of the case involving
about 400 witnesses and “victims”
as well as the need to speed
up judicial proceedings.
With the riot charge punishable
by between four to ten years in
prison under the amended Article
225, Martirosian declined to free
the defendants pending further
trial. It is therefore unlikely that
any of them will be set free before
this month’s session of the Council
of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
(PACE) which is due to discuss
Yerevan’s compliance with its January
resolution on Armenia.
The resolution deplored the continuing
imprisonment of dozens
of Armenian opposition members.
Still, the Strasbourg-based assembly
backed down on its threats to
suspend the voting rights of its Armenian
members, citing the Armenian
authorities’ pledge to amend
the Criminal Code. It interpreted
the pledge as an indication that the
authorities will finally free all oppositionists
jailed on “seemingly
artificial or politically motivated
charges.”
Meanwhile, the defense lawyers
in the trial criticized Martirosian’s
decision and said they will likely
appeal against it. “The court made
a decision that took both the defense
lawyers and prosecutors by
surprise,” one of them, Melanya
Arustamian, told RFE/RL.
“They have split up the case because
it was having too much public
resonance,” said Vartuhi Elbakian.
According to another attorney,
Hovik Abrahamian, the judge
Turkey signals that it might open the border
Ankara’s blockade
of Armenia officially
began 16 years ago
News analysis by Tatul
Hakobyan
YEREVAN – One of the most talked
about issues in Yerevan today is
Armenian-Turkish relations. More
specifically the two components of
that relationship: (1) Will Turkey
finally lift the blockade of Armenia
In other words will it open
the border (2) Will Barack Obama
in his message to the Armenian
people on April 24 use the word
“genocide” as he had promised
during his election campaign. Mr.
Obama, along with Vice President
Joe Biden and Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, have in the past
supported Armenian Genocide
resolutions.
It is expected that the president
of the United States will be visiting
Ankara and Istanbul April
5-7. Mr. Obama’s visit to Turkey
will be his first European visit.
(He will also visit Great Britain,
France, and the Czech Republic.)
The visit will be his first to
a Moslem-majority country. Mr.
Obama has decided to go to Turkey,
which illustrates the importance
of the U.S.-Turkey relationship
and the role Turkey plays for
the United States in the Black Sea,
the Middle East, and Europe.
The overriding opinion of politicians
and analysts in Armenia
is that if Turkey doesn’t open the
border with Armenia – or at least
one of the check points – before
April 24, then Mr. Obama will honor
his pledge and be the first U.S.
president since 1981 to say the word
“genocide.”
Statements have been published
in the Turkish press which
say that there is a possibility that
Turkey will open the border before
April 24.
Abdullah Gül and Serge Sargsian in Yerevan. Photo: Photolure.
An anniversary
Exactly 16 years earlier, on April 4,
1993, in solidarity with Baku, the
Turkish government decided to
close the border with Armenia and
announced that as long as Karabakh
forces had not left the region
of Kelbajar, the borders would remain
closed.
By December 1991 Ankara had
recognized the independence
of the three Caucasus countries.
However, while it established diplomatic
relations with Georgia and
Azerbaijan, Ankara refused to establish
diplomatic relations with
Armenia, stating that Armenia had
territorial claims on Turkey. Turkish
authorities referred to Armenia’s
declaration of independence
in 1990 – where there are no direct
territorial claims, however.
Until April 1993, the two Armenia-Turkey
check-points, the
Kars-Gyumri railroad, and the land
crossing at Alijan-Markara were
open, even though there were no
diplomatic relations between the
two countries.
After the events at Kelbajar, Turkey
closed the border. That does not
Journalists following the court proceedings. Photo: Photolure.
necessarily mean, however, that
the Turkish authorities adopted a
hostile policy against Armenia in
the name of or for the sake of Azerbaijan.
We should not discount that
Turkey was looking for an excuse to
close its border with Armenia, and
it would have been hard pressed
to find a better opportunity than
the Karabakh conflict. By placing
Armenia in a blockade, Turkey satisfied
the wishes of Azerbaijan, its
ally, on the one hand, and on the
other hand, it found new ways to
place pressure on Armenia, citing
the unresolved issue of Karabakh.
The leaders of the newly independent
Armenia, especially those
who were negotiating with Turkey,
insist that until in the spring of
1993, the two countries were very
close to establishing diplomatic relations;
there was even a draft report
based upon which diplomatic
relations would be established.
Two months before the events
at Kelbajar, on January 31, 1993,
Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel
met with Gerard Libaridian, advisor
to the Armenian president, and
special negotiator Davit Shahnazarian.
During that meeting, Mr.
Demirel promised that Armenia
would continue to receive Turkish
wheat.
Armenia, blockaded by its neighbors,
was receiving Turkish wheat
during those very difficult years, a
reality that was causing Azerbaijan
discomfort. Mr. Demirel assured
Mr. Libaridian and Mr. Shahnazarian
that Armenia would receive the
promised 100,000 tons of wheat
and recommended continuing bilateral
talks for the establishment
of diplomatic relations until they
saw if a cease fire could really be put
into place in Karabakh.
When Karabakh forces entered
Kelbajar in the end of March, Turkey’s
reaction was swift. On April 2,
Turkey closed the border and two
days later passed a government
decision about the blockade of Armenia.
Instead of 100,000 tons of
wheat, Armenia received 52,000
tons.
Some in Armenia
believe that if Turkey
doesn’t open the
border with Armenia
before April 24, then
Mr. Obama will honor
his pledge and say the
word “genocide.”
dealt a serious blow to government
claims that the deadly unrest in
Yerevan was the result of an opposition
conspiracy to seize power
by violent means. He said the implication
is that there was never
a concerted opposition effort to
trigger the worst street violence in
Armenia’s history. “The court has
proved that … the whole thing is a
fabrication,” claimed Arsenian.
As a result of the judge’s decision,
the relatives of the 10 victims
of the March 1 clashes have been
excluded from the criminal court
proceedings. “We don’t know what
will happen. Who should we apply
to Where shall we go Will there
be a new investigation This is not
clear to us,” Sarkis Kloyan, the father
of Gor Kloyan, one of the 10
victims told RFE/RL. “But we have
our own initiative and we will apply
to the courts to hold responsible
four police officers for applying
special methods of the Chermukha-7.”
During the events of March 1,
three people were killed because
of the Chermukha-7 (tear gas gun),
they were Tigran Khachatryan, 23;
Gor Kloyan, 29; Armen Farmanyan,
35.
f
Copyright (c) 2009 RFE/RL, Inc.
Reprinted with the permission of
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201
Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC
20036. www.rferl.org
If Turkey puts an end to its
blockade of Armenia, this will be
seen as the success of the Armenian
authorities. However, what
is important is what Turkey is demanding
in return for opening the
border. If that price is expensive,
then the opening of the border
could be meaningless. It appears
that the authorities are no longer
focusing on the international recognition
of the Armenian Genocide.
Neither President Serge
Sargsian nor Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian – in contrast
to their predecessors Robert Kocharian
and Vartan Oskanian,
are touching upon or stressing the
theme of the Armenian Genocide
in international forums. And Turkey,
in turn, is no longer stressing
or placing the Karabakh conflict
on its agenda of normalizing
Armenian-Turkish relations as it
once did.
Is no longer stressing the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide a
satisfactory concession for Turkey
to put an end to its blockade It
is difficult to say because the details
of the Armenian-Turkish negotiations
are being kept secret. It
is even difficult to say whether or
not there is even a proposal that
the two sides are working on, or
if Armenia and Turkey are simply
negotiating for the sake of negotiating.
There is a sentiment in Yerevan,
which is not so far-fetched,
that the final result of the negotiations
is not what is important for
Ankara, but only the negotiations
themselves. In other words, Turkey
simply wants to overcome Mr.
Obama’s and April 24th’s danger.
Turkey today is using threatening
words and blackmail, saying that
if the “Genocide” word is uttered,
then that will strike a heavy blow
against Armenian-Turkish bilateral
talks and the registered successes.
The Armenian side is not responding
to all of this. It is simply
remaining silent, perhaps thinking
that a breakthrough in Armenian-
Turkish relations is imminent, and
every indiscreet statement could
strike a bitter blow to Armenian-
Turkish bilateral talks.
Certainly, by opening the borders
Turkey is not doing us a great favor.
It is simply putting an end to 16
years of a continual hostile policy.
Internationally, placing a neighbor
in a blockade is considered to be
aggression, in other words, Turkey,
for the last 16 years has realized
a policy of “peaceful” aggression
against Armenia.
f