Author: Dabaghian Diana

Prime News Agency, Georgia
March 11 2006

Ombudsman Urges Police Of Tsalka Region To Activate Work

Tbilisi. March 11 (Prime-News) – Sozar Subari, Public Defender of
Georgia, urges law enforcement bodies of Tsalka region to activate
work owing to recent events.

Sozar Subari stated at the briefing on Saturday that a quarrel
between Georgian and Armenian citizens of Georgia occurred in Tsalka
on March 09, which ended with death of Armenian citizen and injury of
four people.

Representatives of Ombudsman’s office arrived in Tsalka on March 10
to get familiar with situation on the spot.

It turned out that the quarrel happened because of life conditions
and not on ethnic base.

Police detained several suspects on the same day.

Armenian population of Tsalka held a protest action outside the
building of local administration.

About 300 people gathered outside the Police building demanding
punishment of all guilty by Lunch law.

About 200 people entered administrative building, raided studies and
burned down documentation.

Sozar Subari stated that the Lynch law is not civil method.

Sozar Subari appealed to everybody to refrain from any groundless
statements and allow law enforcement bodies to investigate the case.

MAMMEDOV: WE CAN’T ESTABLISH AN ELECTORAL COMMISSION IN THE THIRD COUNTRY FOR ARMENIANS WILLING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN AZERBAIJAN
Author: S. Ilhamgizi

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
March 13 2006

There is no chance for Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin living
in Armenia or in any other country to participate in the second round
of parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, the Secretary of the Central
Electoral Commission (CEC), Natig Mammedov, told Trend.

The Armenian agency Arka, linking to other Armenian mass media
sources reports that a number of Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian
origin living in Armenia have showed interest in participating in
the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan and even put forward their
candidatures for nomination. They have contacted CEC and the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan with the same intentions. In case if
it is not possible for them to participate in elections in Azerbaijan,
they have suggested opening electoral commission in the third country.

Mammedov has noted that they [CEC] do not possess this sort
of information. He also added that according to the Azerbaijani
legislature it is not possible for persons living in other countries
to participate in elections. To do so, they first have to prove their
citizenship. On the other hand, both nominations for elections and
subscription lists submission stages have already finished on March
13. This means, that no citizen, irrespective of nationality can
participate in the electoral process at this stage.

The Azerbaijani legislature does not have regulations providing
creation of the electoral commissions in the third countries and
holding parliamentary elections there, the head of CEC also added.

“The Azerbaijani Constitution identifies rights of every citizen,
irrespective of his/her nationality to elect and be elected, even if
they are Armenians. These rights are accepted and protected by the
state. However, at this stage it is too late to register those Azeri
citizens of Armenian origin willing to participate in elections. They
had to address CEC in the identified by the law legitimate for
elections time span,” CEC Secretary said.

ARMENIAN MINISTER SAYS KARABAKH SETTLEMENT HINGES ON AZERI CONCESSIONS

Noyan Tapan news agency
14 Mar 06

Yerevan, 14 March: Armenia cannot sit idle while Azerbaijan is
making official statements that if it does not get what it wants
at negotiations it will make no concessions and get what it wants
militarily, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has told
the Azg newspaper website, commenting on the Armenian president’s
statement that should the negotiations fail, Armenia will recognize
the independence of Artsakh [Nagornyy Karabakh].

“Azerbaijan must understand that if Armenia sees that Azerbaijan
has made a conclusion like this, Armenia will also take steps which
may have negative consequences for Azerbaijan – from recognizing
Karabakh to drawing up a new defence doctrine which will permanently
put Azerbaijan on the defensive,” Oskanyan said.

Asked about “the criteria for the failure of the negotiations”,
Oskanyan said: “Today the negotiations are at a stage when Azerbaijan’s
position will be crucial, i.e. we can start making decisions only after
we know whether Azerbaijan is ready for concessions. If Azerbaijan
does not make a concession on the issue discussed at Rambouillet,
it will mean that Azerbaijan continues to stick to its maximalist
position, which will not resolve the problem.

Therefore, the main criterion depends on Azerbaijan.”

Asked about what this step [recognition of independence] would give
Armenia and Artsakh, Oskanyan said: “The recognition, of course,
is a political instrument, which I think will be used on time, and
the president meant precisely this. If you remember, the president
said clearly in his interview – when Azerbaijan finally decides to
resolve the problem militarily, Armenia will reserve the right to
make changes both in the political and defence spheres.”

50 MILLION VICTIMS OF BIRD FLU

A1+
| 20:21:05 | 17-10-2005 | Social |

In 1918 50 million people died of bird flu. Today the doctors have
fears that the same will be repeated.

RA Health Minister Norayr Davidyan said that there is no danger of
the illness in Armenia, but in any case there are vaccinations. The
Ministry of Agriculture and the Tax Committee are also on the alert:
the latter has recently forbidden the import of bird meat into the
country.

Pan Armenian

Hrant Dink: I Will Alarm the Whole World

14.10.2005 22:54 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Editor-in-Chief of Akos newspaper Hrant Dinksentenced to 6
months of conditional imprisonment appealed to the Turkish Supreme Court.
Last week Hrant Dink stated, `If the stigma attached to me is not removed I
will be forced to abandon this country like my ancestors did. But I will not
leave silently like them. I will alarm the whole world.’ Hrant Dink informed
that he received a great number of supporting phone calls and letters from
intellectuals and even political figures. To remind, last week the Istanbul
court sentenced Hrant Dink to 6 months of conditional imprisonment for
demonstrating disregard towards Turks. In his article Dink called upon
Armenians not to poison their blood with hatred towards Turks but think
about Armenia’s future. However the court thought that Dink meant `the
poisonous blood of Turks.’ `I have never outraged any nation. An Armenian
will never do such a thing. We do not offend but are searching for our right
like I am doing now. I am searching for my right and the right of my
ancestors’, Dink said. Term genocide was mentioned for several times in his
article and this fact, in Dink’s opinion has become the reason of his
sentence. `However I am not punished and not sent to prison, since it will
stir up an international scandal’, he said adding that the court examination
had the purpose of making him silent. In case Dink fails to justify himself
in the Supreme Court he is going to appeal to the European Court of Human
Rights. A similar court session is expected as regards writer Orhan Pamuk
for statements on the Armenian Genocide. The well-known writer could receive
Nobel Prize in Literature, RFE/RL reported.

PRE-ELECTION VIOLATIONS IN STEPANAVAN

A1+
| 17:44:00 | 13-10-2005 | Politics |

October 16 the election of the Mayor of Stepanavan will be held. Two
candidates – the incumbent Mayor Sargis Karakeshishyan and 29-year-old
Artak Alexanyan. Several days are left before the election but the
situation is becoming more and more tensed.

October 3 election posters of Artak Alexanyan were stuck to the walls
of the town buildings. The nest morning the posters were found torn.

8 members of the election commissions took part in Sargis
Karakeshishyan’s election campaign. Artak Alexanyan’s staff produced
a complaint to the Stepanavan central commission, then to the Couth
of First Instance on Vanadzor. Violations by the passport departments
were as well fixed.

October 11 Artak Alexanyan’s made some video shots, which show how
the potential voters receive bribe on the form of wheat. There are
also rumors that on the initiative of Karakeshishyan money is being
delivered (10 000 AMD for each vote).

This information was provided by the election headquarters of Artak
Alexanyan. A1+ did not succeed in finding out the originality of the
material. However we possess some data that the incumbent Mayor not
only gives bribes but also exerts pressure upon the voters saying
that he is supported by Robert Kocharian and Serge Sargsyan.

ARMENIANS OF GEORGIA ASK MAYOR OF TBILISI TO ERECT A KHACHKAR IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 13 2005

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13. ARMINFO. On the initiative of the Association
of Georgian Georgian Armenians, the “Nor Serund” (New Generation)
organization has prepared a petition to the Mayor of Tbilisi Gigi
Ugulava for erecting a khachkar (cross-stone memorial) in memory of
the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

According to the report of the Assocuiation, a symbolic number of
1915 signatures has been gathered. The Association also reports that
over 1,5 million Armenians were assassinated in the Ottoman Empire in
1915, and thousands of refugees were accepted by the friendly people
of Georgia. The descendants of the refugees of 1915 now reside in
various regions of Georgia.

TURKISH GOVERNMENT CAN’T INTERVENE IN PAMUK CASE: PM

Reuters
Indian Express, India
Oct 13 2005

PARIS, OCTOBER12: The Turkish government cannot intervene to help
a writer of world repute who could face prison for his views on the
massacres of Armenians 90 years ago, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
said in comments published on Wednesday.

Orhan Pamuk has been charged with insulting Turkish identity for
supporting claims that Armenians suffered a genocide under Ottoman
Turks in 1915. He faces three years in jail if convicted.

Pamuk further upset the establishment and nationalists by saying
that Turkish forces shared responsibility for the death of more than
30,000 Kurds in southeast Turkey during separatist fighting there in
the 1980s and 1990s.

Erdogan told the French Le Monde newspaper that ” the law is
independent from the executive or the legislative authorities … the
executive authorities cannot interfere with the judiciary”.

Pamuk, best known for historical novels such as My Name is Red and The
White Castle, goes on trial on December 16. His prosecution provided
the European Union a focus for its concerns over whether Turkey’s
human rights record is compatible with the EU membership Ankara seeks.

ARMENIAN ENTERPRISES TRANSFERRED TO RUSSIA WILL BE ACTIVATED

ARMINFO News Agency
October 11, 2005

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11. ARMINFO. ‘The Armenian enterprises transferred
to Russia in return for the country’s state debt will be activated.’
Armenian Presidential Security Council, Defense Minister of Armenia,
Co-Chairmen of the Armenian- Russian Intergovernmental Commission
for Economic Cooperation Serge Sargsyan told journalists, Tuesday.

He said Russian representatives of the Intergovernmental Commission for
Economic Cooperation have arrived in Armenia to take first hand view
of the problem. ‘I think, some progress is expected in the sphere,’
Serge Sargsyan said.

To note, to repay its $100 million debt to Russia, the Armenian
party transferred Hrazdan TPP, National Research Institution of
Mathematical Machines, NRI of Automatic Control Systems, “Mars” plant,
Institution of Materials Study. Factually, except Hrazdan TPP, none
of the enterprises has been activated during the last two years.

AZERI COUP PLOTTER FEARS CIVIL WAR IF ELECTIONS RIGGED
Mahir Cavadov, Salzburg, Austria

Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency
Oct 8 2005

The exiled Azerbaijani politician, Mahir Cavadov, who was implicated
in the 1995 attempt to seize power, has said that he fears a civil
war may be possible if the forthcoming election is rigged. In the
interview, published on a Chechen rebel website, he said his original
interview with an Azerbaijani publication was distorted and that the
attack on his brother was provoked by former Azerbaijani President
Heydar Aliyev. Whereas the West has a vested interest in the election
being legal, Russia wants to keep the incumbent President Ilham Aliyev
in power, he says. Cavadov, who hopes to return home from Austria,
says he supports the exiled former speaker Rasul Quliyev and would
like to see him tried in an open court, but it will be difficult for
him to return as he would be in danger of his life. The following
is the text of the interview headlined “Mahir Cavadov: ‘My interview
was distorted'” carried on the Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency website on
8 October. Subheadings have been inserted editorially:

Rovsan Cavadov’s murder “provoked by former Azerbaijani leader”

The well-known Azerbaijani opposition MP Mahir Cavadov has approached
the Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency because he claims that the Azerbaijani
Day.az publication had distorted an interview he gave to journalists.

Kavkaz-Tsentr has received the full text of the original interview.

It will be recalled that Mahir Cavadov is the brother of the former
Azerbaijani Deputy Interior Minister Rovsan Cavadov who commanded
an OMON [special-purpose police detachment] regiment. Accused by
[former Azerbaijani President] Heydar Aliyev in 1995 of attempts to
seize power, Rovsan Cavadov was murdered, and Mahir fled to Austria
where he obtained political asylum. Mahir Cavadov himself believes
that the armed attack by the OMON regiment in 1995 was provoked by
Heydar Aliyev himself so as to take care of the real and powerful, as
he described it, force which was standing in the way of establishing
Aliyev’s regime of personal dictatorial power.

Here is the text of Mahir Cavadov’s letter as sent to the Kavkaz-Tsentr
editorial office:

>>From Mahir Cavadov, Salzburg, Austria, 28 September 2005. Mahir
Cavadov’s replies to questions put by Day.az in Azerbaijan, which
were forwarded by the journalist Zaur Rasulzada by e-mail.

Hello, Zaur bay [mode of address]! In accordance with our agreement,
I am sending you my replies to your nine questions. Respectfully yours,
Mahir Cavadov.

[Day.az agency] How do you assess the pre-election situation in
Azerbaijan?

Authorities preparing to rig the election

[Cavadov] The point about the current parliamentary election is that on
this occasion the administration cannot afford to behave in the coarse
and destructive way it did before when drawing up the documentation for
the registration of candidates. The fact is, the tactics are different,
but the plan of the authorities remains the same – they are preparing
to rig these elections, too. Whereas before the administration allowed
only its own people to participate in the elections, it now suits
their purpose that anyone who wants to can register. Why is this?

So it is easier for the administration to camouflage its candidates
under cover of “independent” and “opposition”, for example, [Milli
Maclis deputy] Asim Mollazada and the administration’s own people
grouped around him. But, in view of the fact that the authorities have
managed to keep the old electoral commission team, which rigged the
last elections, then the “independents” and “opposition” will enter
parliament not through the choice of the electorate, but because the
election was rigged.

But these crude actions are having a negative effect for the
administration, which to some extent is in the interests of the
opposition. Moreover, the current pre-election situation in Azerbaijan
is such that evident opponents of Russia and the West, who were not so
evident at the last elections, have been allowed to take part in them.

They are following these elections closely because whereas the
West now has a vested interest in these elections being legal, then
[Russian President Vladimir] Putin will strive to keep Ilham Aliyev
in power, which Iran also has a vested interest in. His value for
them lies in the fact that for many reasons he has not been able to
resolve Azerbaijan’s Karabakh problem which, in the opinion of Putin
and the Iranian leaders, based on the arguments of the Armenian side,
allegedly allows their states to avoid geopolitical processes which
they find undesirable.

These facts have been very clearly shown in Moldova and Georgia. In
these countries Putin’s Russia also took part in the elections, but
against their current leaders, because they, unlike Ilham Aliyev,
are really trying to restore their countries’ territorial integrity.

[Day.az] What are your predictions regarding the standoff between
the authorities and the opposition?

[Cavadov] Everyone knows that the previous elections in Azerbaijan
were rigged by the Aliyevs. The present opposition leaders lost these
elections to them. After every setback the opposition leaders promise
our people that at the next elections they will definitely get their
revenge. So these leaders have held out in the political arena until
the current elections which will be, as it were, the moment of truth
for them. The opposition leaders must win at this election, i.e. get
a decisive majority in parliament, otherwise the people will send
them packing whatever they say. They are obviously aware of this
fact. If they lose, they will resign, because these are the rules
of the political game adopted throughout the civilized world. It is
probable that these circumstances will force them to take radical
action against the authorities if the forthcoming election is rigged.

[Day.az] What is your position at these elections?

[Cavadov] I am on the side of the opposition. I will support them
with all my strength!

[Day.az] What do you think will be the West’s position on the results
of the elections?

[Cavadov] If the opposition leaders operate as in Georgia, Ukraine
and Kyrgyzstan and oppose election rigging, then I think the West
will support them. If not, then as in the past, the West will be
congratulating the authorities on their victory.

[Day.az] Do you plan to return to your Motherland?

[Cavadov] Yes!

[Day.az] What is your attitude to [the chairman of opposition
Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, ex-speaker in exile in the USA]
Rasul Quliyev?

Former speaker should be tried in open court

[Cavadov] I base my attitude to Rasul Quliyev by looking at the way
things are politically. In any event his struggle against the Aliyev
clan is part of the common struggle against tyranny. Therefore, I
will resolve the question of his involvement in the murder of Rovsan
Cavadov and the OMON affair not by way of mob law, but in an open
Azerbaijani court. And this will probably only be after the Aliyev
clan is removed from power. Although this is a very difficult task,
it is a possible one, so long as we – those who very much want this –
can sort out the relations between us!

I know what Quliyev is like and how he thinks. We all know that in
1993-96 the Aliyevs, using Quliyev against the opposition, were able to
disturb the political equilibrium in Azerbaijan in their own interests
– they removed [ex-President Abulfaz] Elcibay, [ex-Prime Minister]
Surat Huseynov, Rovsan Cavadov and many others from the political
arena. And when they were no longer there, Quliyev was no longer
of any use to them. Because he was weak in his strategic thinking,
at that time Quliyev failed to foresee the negative consequences of
his actions. After all, if these people had remained in the political
arena, the Aliyevs would not have been able to treat him in the way
they did. Quliyev was on his own against them.

At that time I tried to explain this to Quliyev, but he could
not understand it. Unfortunately, the Quliyev of 2005 is not very
different from the Quliyev of 1993-96. But still I support him, and
in this way I am trying to help restore the political equilibrium in
Azerbaijan. At the same time, we have to realize that the authorities
have created and deployed more than a hundred people like Quliyev in
the Azerbaijani political arena. But they, unlike the real Quliyev,
have been programmed in such a way that they consider the opposition
– and, therefore Quliyev himself – and not the authorities, to be
their opponents.

[Day.az] Do you think Quliyev will come back to take part in the
elections?

[Cavadov] I suspect that at so long as the Aliyevs are in power in
Azerbaijan it will be difficult for him to do this. But if in some way
he manages to get back to Azerbaijan, then it will be hard for him to
survive there, because the authorities do not intend to deal with him
in an official way. Ilham Aliyev has already issued an order to have
Quliyev killed if he sets foot on Azerbaijani territory, and then he
intends to accuse the OMON of this. In turn, I will try to help save
Quliyev because I have a vested political interest in his mission.

[Day.az] What do you think about Ilham Aliyev?

Ilham Aliyev’s “crimes”

[Cavadov] As you probably know, when Ilham Aliyev became president,
in the name of establishing civil peace in Azerbaijan, I acknowledged
his accession, and in return I proposed that he reject the criminal
past and disgraceful legacy of his father. However, he did not accept
such a proposal and when he started his direct rule the litany of all
these political murders and arrests of opposition members continued.

The continuation of his father’s policy automatically means he has
no interest in solving the Karabakh problem. His actions and talks
on this question can only be described as a fiction!

Thus, Ilham Aliyev has stooped to carrying out new crimes. Once a
person who has committed a crime remains unpunished, he will commit
further crimes in order to avoid punishment. My attitude to Ilham
Aliyev can be deduced by taking into account the above-mentioned
facts. I have no personal claims against him.

Fears of civil war

[Day.az] Do you think a revolution is possible in the country and
what will its consequences be for Azerbaijan?

[Cavadov] The state of our people and the biography of the people in
power in Azerbaijan is such that after the rigging of the current
parliamentary election, it is probable that there will not be
a revolution but a civil war! The consequences of such a war for
Azerbaijan as a state may be positive, but any civil war is accompanied
by human sacrifice, tragedy and destruction.