DAYS OF YEREVAN IN MOSCOW
AZG Armenian Daily
25/08/2006
>From September 9 to 10 days of Yerevan will be celebrated in
Moscow. Novosti agency quoted representatives in Moscow Municipality
as saying that the celebrations are held "for further development of
relations between Moscow and Yerevan." "Golden Pomegranate" exhibition
of Armenian goods will be held on those days.
EXPERT: DIVISION OF KOSOVO PRECEDENT AND KARABAKH’S CHOICE
Viktor Yakubyan – expert on South Caucasus
Regnum, Russia
Aug. 22, 2006
While Lebanon is healing its wounds, the UN is knocking together
an international peacekeeping force for deployment in the south of
that country. In its turn, the international community is trying to
understand the reason for so tough an operation against Lebanon –
a campaign that has nearly wiped that country off the world map. Was
it actually the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers?
Well-known American journalist Seymour Hersh says that Israel’s war
against Hezbollah was "an experiment." He has carried out his own
investigation and has found out that the plan to invade Lebanon was
drafted long before the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. Hersh says
that the whole campaign was nothing but a test of strength before
attacking Iran. Referring to US administration sources, Hersh says
that the Israelis were supposed to test in practice the forms and
methods the Americans are planning to apply against Iran.
There are also some reports that the Pentagon is going to deploy
an interceptor-missile base in Europe. It will be the first US
anti-missile defense land base outside the US territory. Besides,
the US is planning to enlarge its presence in the South Caucasus. To
two radar stations in Azerbaijan, they may add similar facilities on
the Armenian-Iranian border – in Kapan ad Meghri (Armenia).
US block facilities are being actively built in Georgia too.
The process of base and buffer zone deployment in the South Caucasus
got especially active after the NATO Summit in Istanbul and after
the US President proclaimed the EUCOM Transformation plan in the
summer 2004. Under the guise of strengthening the security system in
the Caspian Sea basin (the zone of strategic influence of Iran and
Russia), the US is also unfolding the "Caspian Border Initiative"
program involving Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. In the meantime, the US,
NATO and the EU are showing quite an unprecedented interest in the
"frozen" post-Soviet conflicts.
They in the West believe that those conflicts destabilize the situation
on the new – very close to Russia – NATO and EU borders. In this light,
the West may well be seeking to debar Russia from the peace processes
in the Caucasus and Transdnestr and to finalize them the way it wants,
based on the support of its regional partners from GUAM (Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova). During a recent meeting in Baku GUAM
representatives confirmed their plans to form own peacekeeping troops.
It is exactly in this context that the Georgian government is trying
to fulfill the instruction of its parliament to ensure the withdrawal
of Russian peacekeepers from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while the
parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are showing unprecedented
constructivism. Drastically differing on all the key points of the
Karabakh agenda, Yerevan and Baku are coming to an agreement on one
thing: peacekeeping forces will be deployed in the conflict zone. In
this light, we would like to compare the efficiency of the Russian
peacekeeping operations in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnestr with
the NATO mission in Kosovo. To remind, in Nagorno-Karabakh cease fire
has been preserved for over a decade already due to balance of forces.
Doctor of History Miroslav Jovanovic says that from June 1999 to March
2006 the NATO "peacekeeping operation" in Kosovo gave the following
results: 927 Serbs killed, 230,000 expelled, 156 Orthodox churches
and cathedrals and several thousands of Serbian houses destroyed,
almost 7,000 attacks on Serbian civilians (an average of 1,000 a year
or 3 a day). During this period, 8,000 Serbs got papers for returning
to Kosovo, but only 1,800 returned.
To compare, from 1992 until recently Russia’s peacekeeping operation
in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone was regarded as unique –
no single soldier, not mentioning civilian, was killed in the zone
throughout the period. Only 4 peacekeepers and 1 civilian were blown
up by mines. After the advent of Mikhail Saakashvili in Georgia in 2004
and the deployment of Georgian special purpose troops in the zone, the
situation got much worse. 4 employees of the South Ossetian Interior
Ministry were killed near the Georgian village of Tamarasheni in May
2004. In July-August 2004 Georgian troops attempted a breakthrough in
the Javi region. They shelled Tskhinvali killing three civilians. One
of them was a child.
Serviceman Gennady Sanakoyev was wounded then. He was later killed
(Georgian Ex Minister for Conflict Resolution Georgy Khaindrava
says Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili is to blame
for this murder). Two Ossetian peacekeepers were killed in 2005. 4
Georgians (3 Khachapuridze brothers and their friend) and 11-year-old
Geno Petriashvili were kidnapped last year. With the help of the
peacekeepers, the Ossetian police disclosed all these crimes and
blamed the Georgian side.
Tskhinvali was shelled once again in 2005 during the celebration of
the Day of Independence of the Republic of South Ossetia. 10 people
were wounded, of them two were children. This year the Georgian side
attacked the Ossetian village of Khelchua. One Ossetian was killed,
but before that he had shot two attackers. In May 2006 Georgian special
purpose men captured 60 Ossetians. They beat them and let free. The
secretary of the South Ossetian Security Council Oleg Alborov was
killed in a terrorist act in July 2006. One more terrorist act a week
later killed two teenagers.
Quite strangely the explosions in Tskhinvali were followed by two
terrorist acts in Tiraspol (Tskhinvali). 10 were killed and 25 wounded.
Experts are unanimous that the authors of the terrorist acts sought
to destabilize the peaceful life in the zones guarded by Russian
peacekeepers with a view to create an illusion of poor control –
something that would allow them to lay claims against the peacekeepers.
Russia’s peacekeeping operation on Dniestr started 14 years ago and is
regarded as one of the best in the world. Initially, there were 3,100
peacekeepers but in the following years their number was reduced to
385. From the very first day, the peacekeepers started active demining
of the region (first of all, the areas near Benderi and Dubossari). The
United Headquarters of the Collective Peacekeeping Forces report that
in the past 14 years they have cleared 12,000 explosives. During the
first years after the conflict 1992, the peacekeepers seized lots
of arms: 100 tommy guns and pistols, over 30 hand grenade launchers,
almost 1,200 grenades, 132,000 units of ammunition.
The peacekeepers’ responsibility zone (Security Zone) has become a
kind of dividing line between the conflicting parties. The situation
in Benderi was especially complicated, that’s why that town was
proclaimed a high-security zone. In 1992-2001 it was under curfew.
The Collective Peacekeeping Forces have military commandant’s offices
in Benderi and Dubossari. They control the situation on a daily
basis. There were single cases of death among civilians from the
start of Russia’s peacekeeping in Transdnestr up to the terrorist
acts in Tiraspol.
The CIS Collective Peacekeeping Forces were deployed in the
Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone on June 21 1994 in line with the
May 14 1994 Cease Fire and Disengagement Agreement. 112 Russian
peacekeepers and very few civilians have been killed in the region
since then. Permanent tensions are observed in the mostly-Georgian
Gali region of Abkhazia. Skirmishes and kidnappings are due mostly
to the activities of various groups engaged in walnut and citrus
business. The number of provocations has been growing in the last
years. The Georgian side has repeatedly seized goods and cargoes,
including food, intended for the peacekeeping forces.
The situation there got remarkably more tensed after a Georgian police
contingent under the command of Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili
was deployed in the upper part of Kodori Gorge. Shortly the region will
be monitored. Georgia objects to Russia’s involvement in this process.
Thus, obviously, only certain political motives can force one to say
that Russia’s peacekeeping mission in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and
Transdnestr is inefficient. It is clear that Russia is being gradually
forced out of these formats to give place to wider American-European
maneuvering. It is also clear that the West’s attempts to "unfreeze"
the post-Soviet conflicts may lead to calamities comparable
to the tragedy in Kosovo. That’s exactly why they are trying to
internationalize the conflicts by carrying out an actively propaganda
that the unrecognized republics are instability zones.
If in Abkhazia and South Ossetia the international community will
find it very hard – and almost impossible in the near future – to
push the Russian peacekeepers away, in Nagorno Karabakh they have no
such obstacle.
Here it is for the conflicting parties to choose between the Kosovo
and Abkhazian "peacemaking precedents."
It is noteworthy that during his first meetings in Pristina the
new head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo Joachim
Rucker said that his priority is to get the Kosovo status finalized
by the end of this year. To remind, the US OSCE MG co-chair Matthew
Bryza is as confident in making the same forecast for the Karabakh
conflict. Well, while Rucker is hurrying to legalize the Kosovo
"peacemaking precedent," the Americans are hurrying to prevent
Nagorno-Karabakh from using the Kosovo "legal precedent." Here the
rapture of the Kosovo Albanian leaders will be probably as strong as
the pride of the Armenian leaders for the uniqueness of the Karabakh
factor.
As regards the US, it will gain strategic dominance inside the
Russia-Iran-Turkey triangle – dominance that will give it checks and
balances in the whole regional architecture of security.
MINISTER GAVE A SURPRISE TO U.S.
Lragir.am
23 Aug 06
The sources standing close to the U.S. government say the Bush
administration was surprised by the aspirations of the defense minister
of Armenia to presidency. The United States were especially amazed
by the willingness of Serge Sargsyan to make any concession to reach
his goal. This information worried the Command of the Armed Forces
of Armenia considerably, and some representatives of the Command
are said to have announced in a narrow circle that long before
the standpoint of the United States they had been worried by the
measureless willingness of the defense minister to make concessions
for the sake of his political ambitions.
The Economist
August 19, 2006
U.S. Edition
Too much of a good thing; Azerbaijan and oil
Managing oil revenues
A case study in the perils of being a petro-state
THE beaches near Baku are popular weekend spots. But their view of
the Caspian is spoiled by a rusty oil platform towed close to the
shore years ago. By contrast, an hour’s drive south is the gleaming
Sangachal terminal, the starting-point of the new $3.9 billion
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.
The old and the new, the past and the future, are never far apart in
Azerbaijan, which 100 years ago was briefly the world’s largest oil
producer. Now, after 15 years of independence, Azerbaijan is seeing
another boom. By 2010, oil production is expected to triple, to
1.3m barrels a day, and gas output to quadruple, to 28 billion cubic
metres a year. The first oil was delivered through the BTC pipeline
in June. A Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline will open later this
year. If oil prices average $50 per barrel (they are now over $70),
these two will bring a massive $140 billion into Azerbaijan’s state
coffers over the next 20 years, claims President Ilham Aliev.
Such a gushing of money ought to be a blessing for this impoverished
country. It has just 8m people, but that includes some 800,000 refugees
left from the war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh in the early
1990s. Yet few oil-rich countries have avoided the triple threats
of corruption, competitive rent-seeking or "Dutch disease"-in which,
thanks to exchange-rate appreciation, oil production crowds out other
economic activity.
Azerbaijan is, according to Transparency International, one of the
most corrupt places in the world. Under Mr Aliev, it is a thinly
disguised autocracy. Yet it has taken some steps. A national oil fund,
set up in 1999, holds some $1.6 billion. Azerbaijan has also signed
up to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI),
an anti-corruption scheme established by Britain’s Tony Blair in
2002. Oil companies report payments to the oil fund, which publishes
full details. An independent auditor checks the fund. "I think it
has worked very well," says David Woodward, associate president of
BP Azerbaijan, the biggest foreign investor in the oil industry.
The problem is that, even if revenues are well-monitored, spending is
not-since it is not covered by the EITI. Observers in Baku say the
government is already spending too much money, too quickly and with
too little oversight (needed to stop such things as the awarding of
contracts to close relatives). Inflation has risen and the currency,
the manat, has appreciated, symptoms of a possible outbreak of Dutch
disease.
The model that Azerbaijan, like other oil producers, aspires to is
that of Norway, which has built a huge stabilisation fund without
distorting its economy. Even Russia’s economic management has been
better than some critics feared. But it would be miraculous if a poor
country, under intense social pressure, managed a similar feat. The
risk for Azerbaijanis, as for Venezuelans or Nigerians, is that the
oil bonanza will end up hurting the people it ought to help.
GRAPHIC: Nice beach, shame about the view
AZERBAIJAN TO ATTRACT OVER $1B. TO ROAD BUILDING IN 2006-2008
Author: S. Aliyev
TREND, Azerbaijan
Aug. 17, 2006
A presentation of projects being implemented, and projects to be
implemented in the sector of road building was hold at the Ministry of
Transport of Azerbaijan Republic today.Javid Gurbanov, the Head of the
Department of Road Building of Yolnagliyyatservis of the Ministry of
Transport of Azerbaijan Republic told that at present there are about
30,000 km of highways in Azerbaijan. 17,326 km out of the 18,799 km
highways of common use belong to the Ministry of Transportation,
2,661 km of highways are under of the Armenian occupation on the
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, 1,473 km belong to the State Company
of Nakhavtoyol, and the other highways belong to municipalities,
different transportation managements, and enterprises, Trend reports.
J. Gurbanov also pointed out that at present the indicator of
development of roads in the country is on the lower level. Today
works aimed at changing of this indicator are carried out.
1st category roads (dual-dual highways) make up just 1 per cent
(175 km) out of the total volume of roads of common use in the country.
"About $5 b. are needed for the reconstruction of roads of the
country", pointed out the Head of the Department.
According to the Department, since 1998 till August 2006 $78,04 m
have been spent on the road building of the country as credits of
different international financial institutions. $20,2 m were spent in
2005.$16,93 m had been spend over the seven months of this year. The
share of Azerbaijan in the total volume of means being spent on
the road building since 1998 till August 2006 makes $12,63 m. This
indicator in 2005 was $2,12 m. Over the seven month of this year the
share of Azerbaijan in the road building makes up $3,14 m.
According to forecast in 2006-2008 $1 b. are expected to be invested
as credits to the road building in the country (124,7 m in 2006,
$399,3 in 2007, and $545,4 m in 2008). The share of Azerbaijan in
the road building projects is expected at the volume of $238,887 m.
($20,247 m in 2006, $95,21 m in 2007, and $123,43 in 2008).
AZERBAIJAN RETURNED THREE ARMENIAN CAPTIVES
Author: E.Javadova
TREND, Azerbaijan
Aug. 17, 2006
On August 17, three Armenian captives kept in Azerbaijan were returned
to Armenia, Trend has been told in the State Committee on Captives
and Missing People of Azerbaijani National Security Ministry.
Kept within July 2006, three Armenians – Galumyan Martun Kolyalevich,
Karapetyan Goren Victorovich and Aleksanyan Roman Arkadevich –
were transferred to Armenian side on the border territory between
Balajafarli village of Gazakh district of Azerbaijan and Ijevan
district of Armenia.
The process was realized the State Committee on Captives and Missing
People and the Defense Ministry through the mediation of International
Red Crescent Organization.
HELL ON RAILS: TBILISI-BATUMI TRAIN LIKE ‘TRAVELLING IN A SAUNA’
By Anna Arzanova
The Messenger, Georgia
Aug. 17, 2006
Contrary To Previous Announcements
Georgian holidaymakers are forced to travel to Batumi on trains
like this
As holiday season reaches its peak, travelling by train from Tbilisi
to Batumi is turning into a nightmare.
In an effort to attract more Armenian tourists, Georgian Railways
moved its recently renovated rolling stock from the Tbilisi-Batumi
service to the Yerevan-Makhinjauri (Adjara) route. Eight old,
un-refurbished carriages have made an unwelcome reappearance at
Tbilisi railway station.
The current heat wave makes travelling in these Soviet-era dinosaurs
almost unbearable, and despite the fact that there are not air
conditioners or renovated toilets, the price remains the same:
GEL 20-35.
"It was awful. I could hardly bare such conditions. We knew that
there should have been conditioners and the toilets should also
have been good, but unfortunately there was nothing. We paid GEL 20
per ticket and travelled in a sauna! How can they deceive people in
such a manner?" Maia Gagoshidze, who had just arrived from Batumi,
told The Messenger.
At the beginning of the season, Georgian Railways declared that
carriages newly refurbished in a Dneipropetrovsk factory with TV sets,
DVDs, air conditioners and high-level customer service, would ply
the Tbilisi-Batumi tourist route all summer.
Lika Menteshashvili, who will soon leave for the resort town of
Kobuleti, Adjara, complained that she bought her ticket, but does
not know in what conditions she will travel.
"I want to know why they added eight old carriages and did not warn
anybody. People should have known about this beforehand by and then
to chosen how to travel. Yes, they post up statements in front of the
ticket office but not everybody pays attention, and they also refuse
to refund tickets." Menteshashvili stated.
Georgian Railways say that the notices were put up to protect
passengers’ rights. The notices say that Georgian Railways has been
forced to add un-modernised carriages to the overnight Tbilisi-Batumi
train, and advise passengers to take this into account before
purchasing their tickets.
"In order to avoid misunderstandings, we put up notices at the ticket
office. We warned people that these are old trains and gave them
the possibility to choose whether or not to buy a ticket," head of
Georgian Railways Ltd., Irakli Ezugbaia, stated.
According to cashiers at the railways station however, passengers
have not been inquiring about the conciliations of the carriages,
as the most important thing for holidaymakers is to get a ticket,
and get to the beach.
AZERBAIJANIS TAKE SIDES IN ISRAELI-LEBANESE WAR
By Fariz Ismailzade
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC –
Aug. 14, 2006
The ongoing military operations between Israel and Lebanon have
sparked popular protests and heated debates in Azerbaijan. Although
a predominantly Muslim country, Azerbaijan prides itself on being
a secular country and having strong ties with Israel and the United
States. Nevertheless, the high rate of poverty and the influence of
foreign radical Islamic groups have resulted in the establishment
and gradual growth of Islamic groups in the country.
Right after the launch of the war in Lebanon, the Azerbaijani Islamic
Organization for the Freedom of Religion attempted to stage protest
marches in front of the Israeli and U.S. Embassies in Baku. Similar
action was taken in front of the UN office in Baku. Local police
managed to disperse the crowd of about 200 people, yet this did not
discourage the group’s members from attempting a second rally. This
time, several people were arrested.
The group is headed by Ilgar Ibrahimli, a well-known Shia imam from the
Juma mosque, who made news three years ago for advocating on behalf of
the opposition candidate in the presidential election and subsequently
being evicted from the mosque for using religion in politics. Since
then, Ibrahimli has been a loud critic of the Azerbaijani authorities
and on several occasion has organized mass rallies to protest the
Danish cartoons against the prophet Mohammad, U.S. anti-terror
operations, and the presence of Azerbaijani military personnel in Iraq.
On another occasion, the residents of Nardaran, a village about 19
miles northwest of Baku, staged a protest meeting in the village’s
central square to criticize Israeli policy in the Middle East.
Protestors used slogans such as "Stop aggression! Bush and Israel are
full of blood!" Nardaran is one of the most conservative areas in the
country, where all women cover their heads and the street signs are
in Arabic. Clashes erupted between police forces and the residents of
the village in 2002, and since then Nardaran has remained an Islamic
stronghold on the outskirts of Baku.
Not all voices in the country, however, offer such emotional shows
of support for Muslim solidarity with Lebanon. Several Azerbaijani
newspapers, such as Azadliq, Echo, and Zerkalo, have questioned the
need to support Lebanon due to the close links between Azerbaijan’s
archrival Armenia and official Beirut. In fact, Lebanon has recognized
the 1915 Armenian genocide thanks to the lobbying efforts of the
Armenian diaspora in Lebanon, while Israel has refused to acknowledge
the event for many decades.
"How can ASALA [the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia,
which targets Turkish diplomats and citizens] and Hezbollah co-exist
in one town?" exclaims the popular news portal Day.az, referring to
the fact that ASALA is headquartered in Beirut and gets a significant
amount of funding from Lebanon.
Similarly, some political experts and analysts believe that Azerbaijan
should not take an open stance in the Israeli-Lebanese war due to
the strategic importance of Israel to Azerbaijan. Both nations have
a long history of warm relations, and there are some 8,900 Jews in
Azerbaijan. Israel can serve as a vitally needed voice for Azerbaijan
in the United States and Europe by explaining Azerbaijani national
interests to foreign policy leaders. Israel’s military and economic
expertise could also be very useful for Azerbaijan’s rapidly growing
economy.
For these very reasons the Azerbaijani ruling elite has taken a very
cautious approach toward the latest conflict. The Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry has issued a very mild statement about the Israeli-Lebanese
war and President Ilham Aliyev decided not to travel to Malaysia to
participate in the August 3 emergency session of the heads of state
of members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Instead, the
lower profile prime minister, Arthur Rasizadeh, was sent to the event.
Similarly, Sheikh Allahshukur Pashazade, head of Muslim clergy in
the country, has been criticizing Arab unity since his return from a
conference in Tehran, and has reminded the Azerbaijani public that
not all Islamic nations have supported Azerbaijan in the ongoing
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
Instead of loud diplomatic statements and openly taking sides,
Azerbaijan has so far preferred to send humanitarian assistance to
the suffering people of Lebanon. With images of victims, especially
children, broadcast on television daily, the people of Azerbaijan are
not likely to remain indifferent. Yet the more pragmatic analysts in
Azerbaijan believe that Israel is more important to secular Azerbaijan
than is Lebanon.
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CONSTRUCTION OF KAPAN-TSAV-SHVANIDZOR-MEGHRI ROAD TO BE FINISHED BY THE END OF THE YEAR
Armenpress
Aug 14 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 14, ARMENPRESS: Construction of
Kapan-Tsav-Shvanidzor-Meghri inter-state road is expected to be
finished by the end of the year. The road, which is of strategic
importance, will serve as an alternative to the Kapan-Kajaran-Meghri
inter-state highway and will be 94 km long.
Armenian Transport and Communication Ministry public relations
department official informed Armenpress that the reconstruction
launched in 2005 and is being carried out by 4 contractor companies.
Overall, 230 km-long roads of inter-state, republic and
provincial importance will be reconstructed, 36 road sectors, 25
bridges. Martuni-Vardenis 38 km road is also going to be repaired.
The Armenian government has released 14.3 billion drams from the 2006
state budget for the restoration and development of the country’s
road network.
DGMC and Dundee Precious Metals signed an agreement on a new $10mln
investment program
ArmRadio.am
11.08.2006 16:58
Armenian `Deno Gold Mining Company’ (DGMC) and
Canadian Dundee Precious Metals signed an agreement on new $10mln
investment program in Kapan ore-dressing plant in Yerevan, Mediamax
reported.
As the DGMC Public Relations Officer Vahe Mkhitaryan stated at the
press conference today, the investment program will create the
necessary prerequisites for the large-scale examination of the Kapan
mine area reserves.
The investment package envisages a transfer of 80% shares of Dundee
Precious Metals to DGMC, the exclusive owner of which is the
`Vatrin Investment’ company.
As the President and the General Director of Dundee Precious Metals
Jonattan Goodman stated, the company took upon itself the
responsibility to gain crediting of the Kapan ore-dressing plant by
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the
increase of the production of the plant to 1mln tons a year. At
present the annual volume of the production makes 300 000 tons of
production.