Author: Chmshkian Vicken

MOSCOW DECLARATION FACILITATES KARABAKH SETTLEMENT – U.S. DIPLOMAT

Interfax
Nov 14 2008
Russia

BAKU. Nov 13 (Interfax) – The Moscow Declaration signed by Azerbaijan,
Armenia and Russia helps settle the Karabakh problem, said Matthew
Bryza, the U.S. co-chairman of the Minsk Group, brokering the
settlement. Bryza told reporters in Baku on Thursday that Russia
had played a positive role [in settling the conflict], while the
declaration signed on November 1 in Moscow facilitates the Minsk
Group’s activities.

The co-chairmen handed their proposals to the conflicting parties in
Madrid a year ago and now they must be coordinated, he said.

Regarding the basic principles, they are balanced and, hopefully,
the territories will be returned to Azerbaijan, so refugees could
return to their homes, Bryza said.

A corridor could be formed between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh as part
of the settlement, and peacekeepers could be deployed in this zone,
he said. The issue of a future vote on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh
will depend on an agreement between the Azeri and Armenian presidents,
he said. Bryza noted, that a level of trust and respect exists between
the two presidents.

The U.S. diplomat also welcomed Turkey’s growing role in ensuring
peace and stability in the South Caucasus. Turkey is a very important
country and a NATO ally, and it must play a significant role in the
Caucasus. This is happening now, he said.

38TH CHESS OLYMPIAD TO OPEN IN DRESDEN
By Robert Huntington

Associated Press

en/main.htm
Saturday November 15 2008

DRESDEN, Germany (AP) – The highly rated Russian team led by former
world champion Vladimir Kramnik will enter the 38th Chess Olympiad
in Dresden as the clear favorite, but one American grandmaster says
the U.S. is fielding its strongest ever team.

The 13-day tournament starting Thursday includes 154 teams in the
open division often referred to as the men’s division although it
includes a few women and 116 in a separate women’s division.

Ukraine is ranked second behind Russia in the open division, with China
third, Azerbaijan fourth and Hungary fifth. The next five teams are,
in order, Bulgaria, France, Israel, Armenia, and the United States.

Yet some believe the U.S.’s No. 10 ranking is misleading and the open
division team almost identical to the one that took the bronze behind
Armenia and China at the last Olympiad, in Turin, Italy, in 2006 is
actually much stronger.

American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan called the U.S. open team "the
strongest team that America has ever fielded."

While he did not favor them for a medal, Seirawan said that first board
Gata Kamsky of Brooklyn, New York, and second board 20-year-old Hikaru
Nakamura of White Plains, New York, "are brimming with confidence
and are dangerous players who ca n beat anyone on a given day."

American grandmaster Larry Christiansen said the "Americans are
underrated in general compared to the Europeans. If they avoid jet lag,
they can finish in the top five."

The Russian team is led by former world champion Kramnik and is the
highest-rated team ever to participate in an Olympiad.

Seirawan predicted that Russia would win the Olympiad, with Armenia
and Azerbaijan taking silver and bronze.

On the women’s side, Russia is also seeded first, and Ukraine and
China are tied for second and third place.

A number of changes have been introduced for this Olympiad. The number
of rounds has been reduced from 14 to 11; the number of reserves on
each team has been reduced from two to one; and it will be scored by
match points instead of game points.

The World Chess Federation will also hold its annual congress during
the Olympiad.

FAKE DRAM BILL TO BE COMPENSATED MONTHS LATER

A1+
[01:50 pm] 13 November, 2008

Anahit, 53, was given a fake 1000 dram bill in one of the stores in
Yerevan, but Anahit recognized it hours later.

"I felt that the quality of the dram is different and that there was no
"spiral"," says Anahit.

She doesn’t remember which store gave her a fake dram because she had
done shopping in a couple of stores. Was Anahit getting ready to show
the fake dram to police?

"It’s not my fault. I’m not the one who falsified it. Will they give
me my 1000 drams if I take it to the police?"

The press service of the Central Bank replied to "A1+" that no
state body compensates the woman for the fake dram. According to the
press service of the Central Bank, the bank is preparing new defense
mechanisms against the printing of fake drams. Citizens may check
the transparent images, holograms, colors and lines. Treasurers with
ultraviolet light or microscopes may also check the nominal value
and the small letters on the dram.

ACCORDING TO ANDRANIK TEVANIAN, EVEN IF ONE VILLAGE IS CEDED TO AZERBAIJAN KARABAKH WILL GO TO RUIN

Noyan Tapan

Nov 12, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. "The political forces, who expect a
quick solution to the Nagorno Karabakh settlement, will be disappointed
deeply," Andranik Tevanian, the Director of the Politeconomia Institute
of Political Studies, stated at the November 12 press conference. He
affirmed that the active stage of the negotiations over the Nagorno
Karabakh settlement has finished, and the negotiations will not be
resumed by the end of the year.

The RA authorities, according to A. Tevanian, are inclined to delay
the real settlement to the conflict thinking that if former President
Robert Kocharian managed to delay the issue for 10 years, they will
also manage to.

According to A. Tevanian, before signing Moscow declaration
Armenia’s pro-governmental press and "court intellectuals" studied
society and prepared them for it by saying that "we do not need the
liberated territories, we need peace." According to the political
scientist, they wanted to convince society that ceding the above
mentioned territories is a necessary step. "However, when Ilham
Aliyev stated that besides those territories he also wants Karabakh,
they gave up the idea of ceding the territories and ran to Karabakh
for exercises to show that we have a battle-worthy army," Andranik
Tevanian mentioned. The political scientist stated that even if one
village is ceded to Azerbaijan, Karabakh will go to ruin.

According to A. Tevanian, it causes bewilderment that on the one
hand, the Armenians declare that they have a mighty army and on
the other hand, they are glad that allegedly the necessity to solve
the Nagorno Karabakh problem peacefully has been stipulated by the
Declaration. Indeed, as the political scientist emphasized, there
is no expression "not to use force" in the Declaration: it is just
mentioned that the sides should solve the problem politically. And
besides, as the political scientist affirmed, a country having a
mighty and non-corrupted army should not be afraid of a war.

KYRGYZ ENVOY PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO ARMENIAN LEADER

AKIpress news agency
Nov 10 2008

Bishkek, 10 November: A ceremony to present Kyrgyz Ambassador [to
Russia] Raimkul Attakurov’s credentials to Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan was held in Yerevan today.

During the talks held after the completion of the official part of the
ceremony, the sides discussed Kyrgyz-Armenian cooperation and noted
a need for expanding and boosting both bilateral and multilateral
relations, the press service of the Kyrgyz embassy in Russia said
today.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan congratulated the ambassador on his
new appointment and expressed hope that as an ambassador Attakurov
would direct his efforts on stepping up Kyrgyz-Armenian relations.

UZBEKISTAN SUSPENDS EURASEC MEMBERSHIP, MOSCOW UNRUFFLED

RIA Novosti
12:49 | 12/ 11/ 2008

MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) – Uzbekistan has officially announced
it is temporarily withdrawing from the Eurasian Economic Community
(Eurasec), the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Eurasec, established in 2000, is an international economic
organization comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and
Tajikistan. Three other former Soviet republics, Armenia, Moldova,
and Ukraine have observer status.

"This is the sovereign right of any member state," the ministry said.

A Russian business daily said earlier on Wednesday that the reasons
for the move were still unknown. However, the announcement came
days after the EU lifted sanctions imposed on the republic in 2005,
following the violent suppression of an uprising in the country that
came to be known as the Andizhan massacre.

"Tashkent announced in mid-October that it was putting its membership
on hold. They did not explain the reasons to us, but the Uzbek
leadership has of late been often critical of Eurasec’s performance,
considering it an ineffective organization," Kommersant quoted an
unidentified Russian Foreign Ministry official as saying.

He added that Uzbekistan was "extremely envious" of a customs union
created by Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus within the Eurasec framework.

"HERITAGE" PROMISES TO GO OUT ON A MARCH

A1+
[07:26 pm] 11 November, 2008

"Heritage" party is not going to give attributive evaluations to the
steps of the RA authorities concerning the Karabakh conflict and at the
moment is only demands the "Madrid principles" to be revealed. "The
Madrid principles, of which we are aware from non-official sources,
are not acceptable for "Heritage", and the authorities of the country
must not accept them are basis for negotiations".

Head of the administration of the party Anahit Bakhshyan also said,
"Our party considers the one-sided giveaway of territories, the
one-sided return of refugees and the delay in deciding upon the status
of Nagorno Karabakh". By saying "compromise" Mrs. Bakhshyan means
‘territories for territories’, for instance, Aghdam in return for
Shahumian, and by saying return of refugees, she means repatriation
of Armenians of Azerbaijan not in the liberated areas, but where they
used to live…

"…in Baku, Sumgayit, etc. Let them go and live in their houses,
or sell them and come back," she said.

Press speaker of "Heritage" Hovsep Khurshudyan also said, "The
issue of the refugees needs a complex solution. We want people
to return to their houses, but people cannot be divided into two
classes: Azerbaijani refugees as first-class, and Armenians from
Nakhijevan, Shahumian and Baku as second-class. We do not understand
why international forces are located in order to provide security of
the Azeri refugees while none are allotted to provide security for
Armenian refugees from Nakhijevan."

"Heritage" warns the authorities that their style of action can lead
to irreparable processes which are unacceptable from the point of
view of the interests of Armenia and NKR. Mrs. Bakhshyan claimed that
everyone is aware of the fact that the fragile peace in the region
since 1994 is result of the three-party agreement which was signed by
RA, Azerbaijan and NKR through the mediation of Russia. "Heritage"
party calls on the RA authorities to realize all the dangers and to
put the issue to public discussion.

Otherwise, "Heritage" promises to join with the other forces concerned
in the Karabakh conflict, and the people, and to get out on a march.

"We agree with the style of the opposition: of external challenges
threaten us, internal problems can be put aside for a while. If the
authorities cannot use the opportunity given by the opposition and face
external challenges, they put the interests of RA and NKR in danger. In
the latter, case, "Heritage" will take steps", Hovsep Khurshudyan
said. Mrs. Bakhshyan clarified that there will be no terror, "Do not
forget that the October 27 terrorist act followed the crisis in the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict, but that is no solution."

"Heritage" also informed that they have on their agenda the draft
about the settlement of the Karabakh conflict which was not included
in the NA agenda in 2007.

AZERI RULING PARTY SET TO CHANGE CONSTITUTION TO REMOVE BAN FOR PRESIDENT

Regnum
Nov 7 2008
Russia

The article in the Azerbaijani constitution banning Ilham Aliyev to
stand for a third term will be removed

The ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) is proposing to hold a referendum
on removing the article of the constitution banning the election of
a person to the post of president more than two terms. "The article
of the constitution, banning a person to be elected a president more
than two terms, does not correspond to democratic principles and
restricts democracy," the deputy executive secretary of the NAP,
MP Siyavus Novruzov, told Trend news on Thursday.

In line with Point 5 of Article 101 of the Azerbaijani constitution,
no-one can be elected to the post of president more than two terms. The
term in office of the president is five years. Yesterday, in his
address to the Federal Council, Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev
proposed to extend the term in office of the president from four to
six years and the parliament from four to five years.

Some experts assume that there is a need for extension of the term
in office of the president in Azerbaijan and eliminating a ban on a
person to be elected more than two terms. A representative of the NAP
considers that the constitution should not contain such a restriction.

"The constitution allows an individual to be elected a parliamentarian
for several times. However, a ban is in place for the president
to this end. We believe that this [ban] should not be in the
constitution. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce changes to
the constitution and we shall come up with such an initiative,"
Novruzov said.

There is no need for extending the term in office of the president
in Azerbaijan, considers Novruzov. The chairman of the parliamentary
standing commission on agrarian policy, MP Eldar Ibrahimov, of the
ruling party, told Trend news on Thursday that there is a need in
Azerbaijan for extending the terms in office of both the parliament
and the president.

"Azerbaijan is in a state of war with Armenia. Therefore, the longer
be the term in office of the president, the greater amount of work
can be performed. I am a member of parliament for 20 years and can
say that the five-year term is a very short period," the chairman of
the commission said.

One cannot restrict election of a person to the presidency for two
terms, Ibrahimov believes. "How can it be that I can become an MP for
four times, however, the president, who copes with his obligations,
justifies confidence of the people in him and is healthy physically,
cannot be a president more than two terms?

This ban tramples upon human rights and the right of the
president. Paying heed to requirements of the time, we have to again
review such issues," said Ibrahimov.

The NAP was set up in 1992 by [former president] Heydar Aliyev. At
present the chairman of the ruling for over 15-year party is President
Ilham Aliyev.

SHOUSHI FOUNDATION CALLS ON INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO ACKNOWLEDGE KARABAKH AS SIDE IN TALKS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.11.2008 15:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Shoushi Foundation calls on the Armenian authorities,
OSCE Minsk Group, United Nations, European Parliament and other
international structures to restore the rights of Nagorno Karabakh
people and to acknowledge NKR as side in talks.

Movement for Justice was established for the purpose, said Bakur
Karapetyan, director of the Foundation, told a news conference today.

"In 1998, Azerbaijan levied war upon Karabakh. Once a party to talks,
Karabakh is now represented by Armenia, what makes the international
community eye the RA as an aggressor. Armenian political elite is in
a diplomatic trap set by Azerbaijan and Turkey," he said.

"The right of nations to self-determination is a vital principle of
the Helsinki Final Act. Knowing this, Baku and Ankara purposefully
removed Karabakh from talks. Moreover, Moscow declaration affirmed
this position," Karapetyan said.

HEAD OF "SHUSHI" FOUNDATION: "THE MOSCOW DECLARATION MADE IT CLEAR THAT THE KARABAKH PARTY IS EXCLUDED FROM THE SETTLEMENT PROCESS"

Today.Az
olitics/48872.html
Nov 10 2008
Azerbaijan

The "Shushi" foundation (Shushi-the name for the Azerbaijani city of
Shusha occupied by Armenians) calls on the world community to recognize
"Nagorno Karabakh" as a party for negotiations.

The "Shushi" charity foundation calls on the powers of Armenia and
"NKR", as well as the OSCE Minsk group, UN, European parliament and
other international structures to promote restoration of the violated
right of the "Nagorno karabakh people" and recognize "NKR" as a
party to the negotiation process on the Karabakh conflict settlement,
said head of the "Shushi" foundation Bakur Karapetyan.

He said the "Movement for Justice" has been created by initiative of
the "Shushi" foundation for the purpose.

"In 1988 Azerbaijan declared war to "Nagorno Karabakh" and it turns
out that after the war Karabakh is a party for the conflict. At the
initial stage, this was like that but now Nagorno karabakh is not
involved into the negotiation process and Armenia is a party.

It all creates an impression of the world community that Armenia is an
aggressor and it occupied the Azerbaijani lands", said Karapetyan and
added that considering this situation, official Baku is setting itself
up for a victim and demands from Yerevan to restore the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan.

According to the head of the "Shushi" foundation, the Armenian
political elite, speaking as a party in the conflict, is now in a
diplomatic trap, set by Azerbaijan and Turkey.

"Article 8 of the Helsinki final act, adopted in 1975, says that
"the right of people for self-determination is a vitally important
principle".

In fact, the right of people for self-determination is a common
international law. Taking this into account, Baku and Ankara have
deliberately excluded Karabakh from the negotiation process and
replaced it with Armenia. In fact, Armenia must speak only as a
mediator and guarantor of security of its people", noted Karapetyan
and added that today they do not demand from official Yerevan to
recognize independence of "NKR" as it will cause new problems.

"We just want "Nagorno Karabakh" to restore its right and take part
in the talks on the conflict settlement, but the Moscow declaration
made it clear that the Karabakh side has been completely excluded
from this process", noted Karapetyan.