BAKU: MP Cites Poor Life In Armenia

MP CITES POOR LIFE IN ARMENIA

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
June 14 2006

An Azeri parliament member who has recently visited Armenia said
there is hardly any population in the countryside and cited poor
living conditions in these areas.

"There is not a living soul in most villages that used to be settled
by Armenians or those Azerbaijanis were ousted from," Musa Guliyev
told AzerNEWS.

An Azeri delegation has visited the Armenian capital to attend a
session of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC)
Parliamentary Assembly.

Guliyev said they had traveled to Yerevan through Georgia by car
and witnessed no amenities being provided or activity to improve the
situation in rural areas.

"Along the way, we saw dilapidated buildings. The same situation was
observed in the towns we passed through. We then learnt that most of
these were built back in the Soviet times."

Guliyev said the only positive development was the good condition
of roads, and the only reason for this was the considerable funding
provided by an Armenian millionaire living in the United States.

The MP said that in the center of Yerevan, however, extensive work
was underway to improve its plight. Foreign nationals visiting the
city often stay at the hotels located in the area. "They are thus
trying to create a vision that everything is great in Armenia."

Guliyev said that along with members of a Turkish delegation, the
Azeri MPs had a conversation with local Armenian residents outside
the hotels they stayed in.

"They complained about their conditions. They said that by making
the downtown area look better, the government is trying to create an
illusion that the living standards in the country are improving."