CSTO & Armenia

[Federate]

Re: CSTO & Armenia

Serbia PA was granted observer status at the CSTO

SAINT PETERSBURG – The Serbian delegation has been granted observer status at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (PA CSTO), President of the PA CSTO and Chairman of the Russian Duma Sergey Naryshkin said on Thursday.

The PA CSTO council reviewed the applications by their Serbian and Afghan colleagues and decided to grant them observer status, Naryshkin noted.

Serbian Parliament Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic said Serbia was interested in cooperation with the CSTO, Itar-Tass reported.

This is another confirmation that the PA CSTO has weight and is taken seriously on the international stage, Naryshkin pointed out.

The CSTO was formed based on the Collective Security Treaty between the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States on May 15, 1992.

Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan are members of the CSTO.

http://inserbia.info/news/2013/04/serbia-has-been-granted-to-become-pa-csto-observer/

[Vrej1915]

Re: CSTO & Armenia

GEORGE TARKHAN-MOURAVI: ARMENIA SIMPLY HAS NO ALTERNATIVE TO BEING PART OF CSTO AND IS NO LESS EAGER TO BE PART OF THE WEST

ArmInfo's interview with George Tarkhan-Mouravi, Director of the
Institute for Policy Studies (Tbilisi)

by David Stepanyan

Tuesday, April 16, 15:08

Judging by meetings of Russian Deputy FM Grigory Karasin and Georgian
Special Representative for Russia Zurab Abashidze, Moscow is currently
trying to build relations with new authorities in Tbilisi. Do you
see any risks for the Georgian Dream and Georgia in this cooperation?

Everything depends on the extent of that cooperation. There are red
lines nobody is going to cross, such as diplomatic relations or the
recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia, and this is
exactly what may pose some risks for our country.

Is Georgian Dream free in decision-making and from the pressure of
Washington and Brussels on Saakashvili?

No one is free from pressure. Today Georgian Dream is less dependent
on the West than Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is, but
dependence is not always bad, especially when things are moving in
the right direction.

Minister for Reintegration of Georgia Paata Zakareishvili characterized
the perspectives of restoration of the Abkhazian section of the railway
as an idea that was not negotiated for. He cast doubt on readiness of
Moscow to study the railway issue and directly linked it to revision
of Russia's policy on Abkhazia's independence. Can one suppose that
restoration of the Abkhazian railway is not on agenda of Tbilisi but
'a bait' for Moscow?

I think the issue was raised seriously, but without necessary
preliminary processing. It has become clear that Georgia does not need
the restart of the Abkhazian railway for the moment but may well need
additional transportation lines in the near future.

At a glance, change of power in Georgia seems to open new opportunities
for total change of the dividing lines in the region. In Georgia
they are seriously concerned over the country's dependence on the
Turkish-Azerbaijani transit and influence of those countries on
Georgia. Now, Georgia together with Russia, Armenia and Iran can
theoretically make a geopolitical breach of the situation in the
region forming a new north-south axis and get rid of that dependence.

Why doesn't Tbilisi display interest in such large-scale project?

The Georgian authorities are not very much concerned over their
dependence on the Turkish-Azeri transit and do not seem to be very
much interested in the project to form a north-south axis from Russia
through Georgia and Armenia to Iran. I think these are just hopes. And
Tbilisi thinks in the same way judging by the low interest it displays
in the project.

NATO represented by Turkey influences Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Armenia is a CSTO member. Georgia strives for NATO. Is it right to say
that Russia's influence on the South Caucasus is maintained only at the
expense of Armenia, while the balance of forces is in favor of NATO?

Armenia is also active in cooperating with NATO, and nobody there
seems to be eager to join the newly formed Eurasian structures.

Armenia simply has no alternative to being part of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization and is no less eager to be part of the
West. Armenia is one of the ways for Russia to realize its influence
on our region, but let's not forget that Russia's key friends are
the army and the navy.

All regional projects involving Turkey and Azerbaijan aim to even more
oust Armenia. Is Georgia interested in Armenia's isolation given that
it is the key transit country for those projects?

I think you overestimate Armenia's role in the plans and interests of
Georgia. I do not think that Armenia's isolation - something Georgia's
key partners Turkey and Azerbaijan are trying to realize - is not a
priority or even a goal for Georgia - even though this process might
give the country certain benefits.

One should not overestimate Armenia's role in Georgia's plans and
priorities. Just like Armenia, Georgia pursues its own goals, and
these goals have western rather than northern orientation. I would
rather not advise Armenia on how to overcome this isolation, but the
roots of this problem are certainly not in Georgia.

http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=581759D0-A686-11E2-A3F0F6327207157C

[Vrej1915]

Re: CSTO & Armenia

Belarus is pro-Azeri now. Here is a good article.



http://belarusdigest.com/story/why-b...t-armenia-5924

Azerbaijan: Italian Newspaper Provokes Rage in Baku
December 14, 2010 - 2:53pm Azerbaijan Belarus US Aliyev Family WikiLeaks

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/62572

Italian newspaper Il Foglio has romantically linked Azerbaijan First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. (Photo: mehriban-aliyeva.org)
Azerbaijan is grappling to come to terms with a fresh Internet news scandal. This one doesn’t concern pesky domestic bloggers who tweak government sensitivities. And it is not about media rights. Rather, it covers a topic generally given a wide berth in Baku, even by Azerbaijan’s political opposition -- First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva.

Aliyeva over the past few weeks has become the subject of unprecedented coverage in foreign newspapers. First, the right-wing Italian daily Il Foglio published an article December 3, using unnamed diplomats as sources, alleging “informal meetings” of a possibly romantic nature occurred in Berlin between Aliyeva and Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko. Then, on December 12, a British daily, The Guardian, published a story about a WikiLeaks cable, reportedly prepared by a US Embassy staffer in Baku, describing the political influence and business interests of Aliyeva’s family, and speculating about the First Lady’s possible use of plastic surgery.

The Il Foglio allegations, accompanied by a photo gallery entitled “Too Beautiful for a First Lady,” seem tabloidish in making a preposterous claim. Among foreign readers the report appeared to inspire no more than a shrug of the shoulders. But in Azerbaijan, where the First Lady’s image is sacrosanct, it has struck a raw nerve.

Azeri culture does not tolerate public discussions of a man’s wife; that rule takes on even greater weight where the glamorous 46-year-old wife of President Ilham Aliyev is concerned. While opposition media outlets may daily criticize the president and government, very rarely do they dare write anything negative about the First Lady.

That means the Italian newspaper report shocked many Azerbaijanis. Even though no Azerbaijani media outlet has reprinted or written about the Il Foglio article, the story’s publication has become one of the hottest topics of discussion in the Azerbaijani capital. Baku residents have been able to slake their thirst for rumor and innuendo by accessing Russian-language translations that have appeared in Russian and Armenian online media since December 8.

The government was quick to respond. In a December 9 statement about the Il Foglio story, the First Lady’s protocol service expressed “extreme indignation with the slanderous insinuations published in Il Foglio, which discredit Mehriban Aliyeva’s honor and dignity.” Calling the report libelous, the service speculated that “some forces which are not interested in the growing prestige of our country and the international authority of Azerbaijan’s first lady” had planted the article. It has demanded a public apology and a full retraction by Il Foglio. Italy, it should be noted, has strong energy ties to Russia, while Moscow and Baku are backing competing energy-export pipeline projects in the Caspian Basin.

Representatives of Il Foglio, based in Milan, did not respond to requests from EurasiaNet.org for comment.

While many Azerbaijanis -- regardless of their political loyalties -- dismiss the allegations as “a dirty load of rubbish” or “simply impossible,” only a few media outlets have even published the statement from Aliyeva’s protocol service. Those that did, published it without any reference to the article in question.

As a member of parliament, deputy chairperson of the governing Yeni Azerbaijan Party, a goodwill ambassador for UNESCO and the Organization of Islamic States, and head of the charitable Heydar Aliyev Foundation – no other woman in Azerbaijan has such a prominent -- and uniformly positive -- public image.

To suggest otherwise is to risk incurring the wrath of President Aliyev, who is known among Azerbaijani journalists for having greater tolerance for public criticism of himself than of his family. A 2010 story by The Washington Post about multi-million-dollar property in Dubai allegedly owned by the president’s 13-year-old son, Heydar, has been cited as contributing to a flare-up of tension in Azerbaijani-US relations.

While Il Foglio has caused a stir for touching on what is seen as President Aliyev’s personal honor, the WikiLeaks information, provided via The Guardian, has not.

The alleged 2010 US embassy cable, which has been republished in some Azerbaijani media outlets, names the First Lady’s family, the Pashayevs, as “the single most powerful family in Azerbaijan,” with holdings in construction/real estate and the financial and telecommunications sectors. The family, it claims, uses “government mechanisms” to keep out business competitors, while maintaining de facto control of certain ministries -- including Culture and Tourism, Youth and Sport, Health, and Education -- that are seen as under the First Lady’s domain.

It describes the First Lady as an MP never seen in parliament and a person “poorly informed about political issues.” It also ventures into criticism of her appearance. A fashionista who has been photographed for Russian Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, Aliyeva, the cable reported, “appears to have had substantial cosmetic surgery” and cannot display “a full range of facial expression.” Her dresses were deemed “provocative even in the Western world.”

The Azerbaijani government has earlier dismissed the WikiLeaks releases as untruthful, and is expected to raise the matter privately with US officials. As with the Il Foglio article, any allegation made against the First Lady herself is not considered a matter appropriate for public debate in Baku.

The public focus on the Il Foglio report is continuing. Explanations for why the article appeared vary from Russian revenge for previous WikiLeaks disclosures about President Aliyev’s criticism of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, to a “provocation” from “the Armenian lobby.”

Individuals asked about their reactions to the article declined to be named. One Baku-based political analyst, who also requested anonymity, believes that the government will use all possible official and unofficial means to make Il Foglio apologize publicly. “It is known that Ilham Aliyev hates when the media writes negatively about his family, but, in this case, it is really a personal offense, which is inexcusable in Azerbaijan,” the analyst said.

[Vrej1915]

Re: CSTO & Armenia

Belarus is pro-Azeri now. Here is a good article.



http://belarusdigest.com/story/why-b...t-armenia-5924

http://vozni.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/italians-suspected-of-having-ties-with-lukashenko-aliyeva/