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08/10/2004
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1) Iran Expresses Willingness to Support Azeri Stance on Karabagh
2) Georgia’s South Ossetian Economic Minister Goes Missing Amid Tensions
3) Georgia, Russia Seek Peace Over Rebel Regions
4) Young Armenian Chess Players Return from European Championship With Gold
and
Silver Medals

1) Iran Expresses Willingness to Support Azeri Stance on Karabagh

TEHRAN (AZTAG)–During a recent press conference, Iranian Deputy Foreign
Minister Hamid Reza Asefi confirmed Azeri media reports about Iran’s
willingness to support Azerbaijan’s position on the Mountainous Karabagh
conflict. “[Iranian President] Khatami’s visit to Azerbaijan was very
successful and led to an important stage in the relations of the two
countries,” Asefi noted.
Asefi also noted that President Khatami expressed Iran’s desire for a
peaceful
resolution, which entails the maintenance of Azerbaijan’s territorial control
over the enclave.

2) Georgia’s South Ossetian Economic Minister Goes Missing Amid Tensions

TBILISI (AFP)–The economic minister of Georgia’s separatist region of South
Ossetia, Ruslan Pliyev, is missing after his empty car was found in a river, a
local television news station reported, as cited by Agence France-Presse.
This report comes amid growing tension in the former Soviet republic, with
its
new president, Mikhail Saakashvili, trying to win back control over his
fractured Caucasus state–having toppled the country’s leadership in a
peaceful
“rose revolution” last year. The news station–which has not been
identified–cited undisclosed sources as saying that foul play may have been
involved in the disappearance of Pliyev, who, the station said, is in conflict
with other leaders of the separatist pro-Moscow government in South Ossetia.
Georgian officials have so far made no official comments on the reported
disappearance. Nevertheless, the alleged incident adds to the confusion
surrounding relations between Georgia, the pro-Russian region, and Russia
itself, whose defense minister strongly rejected accusations that Moscow’s
planes are spying on Georgia.
“This is all nonsense and delirium,” Russian defense minister, Sergei Ivanov,
was quoted as saying by Interfax in Moscow. Nevertheless, Georgia’s interior
minister vowed last week to shoot down the next Russian military plane flying
over Georgia. Ivanov’s comments followed a tense meeting with Georgian defense
minister Georgy Baramidze, held in an effort to resolve a growing military
conflict in the corridor between South Ossetia and Georgia, presently guarded
by Russian troops.
The conflict has so far almost totally been reserved to a war of words, but
there has been sporadic gun fire and arrests of various peacekeepers in the
region. The talks in Moscow also focused on Abkhazia, another pro-Moscow
region
in Georgia that serves as a popular summer resort for Russians.
In blistering remarks, Saakashvili threatened last week to sink foreign ships
that enter the region without permission. “Abkhazia is not a place to holiday,
it is a war zone…(Russian) tourists have nothing to do there,” he said,
before leaving for a visit to the US. But, his deputies have since said that
his comments were misinterpreted by reporters, in a move clearly aimed at
appeasing relations with Moscow.
Seen as a young, popular reformer, Saakashvili has vowed to reunify his
fractured republic since toppling the administration of veteran leader Eduard
Shevardnadze in a peaceful revolution last year. He has also developed closer
relations with the West, and his country will soon be home to a key US-backed
oil pipeline that skirts Russian territory, despite being opposed by Moscow.

3) Georgia, Russia Seek Peace Over Rebel Regions

MOSCOW (Reuters)–Russia and Georgia’s defense ministers tried to calm
increasingly shrill rhetoric over two breakaway regions on Tuesday by
promising
to cooperate in the search for a peaceful solution, Russian news agencies
reported. Georgia’s determination to bring South Ossetia and Abkhazia under
central control–spelling the end of a decade of rule by separatists with
support in Moscow–has sparked saber-rattling that over the past few weeks
threatened to turn into bloodshed.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia was ready to hand over two
Soviet-era military bases in Georgia–one in the capital Tbilisi and one in
the
southern town of Akhalkalak.
“In the near future we are prepared to hand them over to the Georgian Defense
Ministry–only the Georgian Defense Ministry–under an agreement,” RIA-Novosti
news agency quoted Ivanov as saying, without giving details of the agreement.
His Georgian counterpart Georgy Baramidze, visiting Moscow for three days,
praised his hosts for their approach.
“Russia’s sincerity in the search for a peaceful solution is very
encouraging,” Itar-Tass quoted him as saying.
“My Russian colleague and I have discussed the situation in the conflict
regions and how to minimize the risks for peacekeepers and peaceful citizens.
No reasonable country could have any interest in inflaming the conflict,”
Baramidze said.
The two also said they hoped to renew contacts between their militaries,
which
Ivanov said “does not need colossal steps–it’s enough just to make an
agreement and stick to it.”
Baramidze said developing Georgia’s air defenses was one potential area of
cooperation.
The apparent thaw comes less than a week after US Secretary of State Colin
Powell called for dialogue between the two sides–despite Moscow warning
Washington not to get involved.
The United States and Russia are rivals for influence in Georgia,
which–despite poverty and a history of ethnic conflict–is strategically
placed as a future conduit for massive Caspian oil resources to the
energy-hungry West.
Georgia’s US-educated President Mikhail Saakashvili, who won a landslide
election in January, has helped to escalate the disputes over the two regions
by insisting they must bow to his rule, surrendering their powers and taxes to
Tbilisi.
He angered Russians last week by saying Georgian forces would sink Russian
tour boats plying the Black Sea coast of breakaway Abkhazia, a popular beach
holiday destination for Russians since Soviet times.
The Vedomosti business daily dubbed him “our Fidel,” comparing him to Cuban
leader Fidel Castro for his hot-headed rhetoric in defiance of the dominant
power in the region.
In a potential twist to the row over one of the regions, Georgian police
found
the economy minister of the unrecognized South Ossetian government dead in a
river on Tuesday. It was not clear if he had crashed his car, found in a
nearby
gully.

4) Young Armenian Chess Players Return from European Championship With Gold
and
Silver Medals

YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–The European Junior Chess Championship, held in the
Turkish city of Urgup, came to a close with 670 representatives from various
countries having participated in ten tournaments held simultaneously in five
age groups. Armenia participated in the Championship with 14 boys and girls
performing in all age groups.
Ten year-old Robert Aghasarian from Yerevan performed successfully, earning
7.5 out of possible 9 points. He placed first for the highest tournament
coefficients, acquiring the title of European champion and won a gold medal.
Samvel Ter-Sahakian from Vanadzor, the European champion of last year, also
had high standings. He performed in the 12-year age group this year, earning
7.5 points. The chess player earned second place, and was awarded with a
silver
medal.
Fourteen year-old Varduhi Kalashian (fourth place) from Gyumri, 16-year-old
Zaven Andreasian from Yerevan (eighth place), and 18-year-old Liana Aghabekian
from Vanadzor (ninth place) also performed successfully in the tournament.

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