Publisher

Armenian-Turkish relations have essential importance not only for Armenia, but also for the region of the South Caucasus and beyond. The failure of the attempt to establish an Armenia-Turkey dialogue stagnated the process even further. The window of opportunity closed and the subsequent developments in the larger MENA region dramatically shifted the focus and priorities of the players.

With the Syrian crisis at the door, Ankara is now much more engaged with the possible spillover of the war to its own southern borders and is wary of the Kurdish issue again getting high in domestic agenda. With these plates at hand, Turkey is surely short of paying  attention to the importance of continued efforts to establish proper relations with neighboring Armenia. However, with 2015 quickly approaching Ankara considers doing its homework to counter the worldwide commemoration of centenary of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

This paper is based on the opinions offered by the participants of a roundtable discussion, “Armenia-Turkish relations: 2012 -2015,” which took place on December 19, 2012. The roundtable discussion was attended by independent analysts, government officials, and representatives of international organizations. The event was organized with the framework of a BSPN project.

Publisher

The International Center for Human Development (ICHD) has published a collection of conference speeches organized within the project “The Role of Civil Society in EU Integration Processes: Real Engagement through Effective Involvement.”

The project is led by ICHD  (Armenia) and is being implemented together with project partners from V4 countries: Institute for Public Affairs (Slovakia), Policy Association for an Open Society (Czech Republic), European Center for Non-for-Profit Law (Hungary), Association Integration and Development (Poland) and two EaP countries: Laboratory for Legislative Initiatives (Ukraine) and Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (Georgia).

The project is supported by the International Visegrad Fund Flagship Project within theV4EaP program.

Download: The Role of Civil Society in EU Integration Processes: Real Engagement through Effective Involvement

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PASOS is partnering with the Yerevan-based International Center for Human Development (ICHD), which is leading the project “The Role of Civil Society in EU Integration Processes: Real Engagement through Effective Involvement.” The year-long project is helping civil society actors in three Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries draw on the EU integration experiences of NGOs in the Visegrad (V4) countries.

ICHD organized a November 22-23 conference in Yerevan in which representatives of NGOs based in the V4 and EaP countries, including PASOS members from both regions, gathered to exchange information on best practices, experiences and other data related to the V4 European integration process. Tevan Poghosyan, a member of the Armenian parliament, and Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan delivered keynote speeches.

Representing the three EaP countries involved in the project were:

--Denys Chernikov, Program Director, Agency for Legislative Initiatives, Ukraine.

--George Tarkhan-Mouravi, Co-Director, Institute for Policy Studies (a PASOS member), Georgia.

--Vache Kalashyan, President, Union of Armenian Government Employees, Armenia.

Representing the V4-based NGOs were:

--Eszter Hartay, Legal Advisor, European Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Hungary.

--Ján Bartoš, Project Coordinator, Institute for Public Affairs (a PASOS member), Slovakia.

--Radomír Špok, Executive Director, EUROPEUM Institute for European Studies (a PASOS member), Czech Republic.

--Michal Kowal, Director of the Technical Assistance Projects Department, EPRD Office for Economic Policy and Regional Development Ltd., Poland.

PASOS Communications Manager Alfredo Azula represented PASOS at the event, which was overseen by ICHD Program Manager Astghik Injeyan. The participants also agreed on plans on the themes of the next phase of the project, a series of capacity-building seminars to be held Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine next year.

The project is supported by an International Visegrad Fund Flagship Project, within the V4EaP program.

Publisher

If many countries and superpowers are apprehensive of the crisis in Syria in global terms, for the Republic of Armenia this crisis is first and foremost about the safety of Syrian Armenians, according to this International Center for Human Development analysis. Like many other states Armenia also has its political interests in the Middle East: the Syrian crisis has evoked serious concerns on the horizon of Armenian foreign policy as well, the publication states.

The ICHD paper is based on the opinions passed by the participants of the discussion “Syria: Regional Context and Issues of Armenians,” which took place on 18 July, 2011. The roundtable discussion was attended by independent analysts, government officials, and representatives of international organizations. The round table was organized within the framework of a BSPN project.

Download: The Syrian Crisis and Subsequent Strategic Challenges for Armenia

The PASOS-led project promotes visa liberalisation between the six EaP countries and the European Union.

At the seminar, the following new policy briefs on the progress made, and challenges ahead, were presented by leading think-tank analysts from the Eastern Partnership countries:

Moldova on the visa liberalization path: taking stock of achievements and failures by Leonid Litra, IDIS Viitorul

Ukraine’s progress towards visa liberalisation with the EU by Oleksandr Sushko and Europe without Barriers, Ukraine

Paving the Road towards Visa-free Travel between the Eastern Partnership countries and the EU; Case of Azerbaijan by the Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD), Azerbaijan

Where do we stand with the visa liberalization process? International Center for Human Development (ICHD), Armenia

The project’s recent policy brief on the challenges at the EU level -- by Piotr Kaźmierkiewicz, Migration and visa policy expert, Institute of Public Affairs, Poland, and Nadya Dimitrova, Migration and visa policy expert, European Institute, Bulgaria, is available here: No shortcuts on the road to freedom of movement for the EU’s Eastern neighbours