Author: Dabaghian Diana

US envoy says Karabakh problem impedes development of Azeri districts

ANS TV, Baku
30 Jun 05

[Presenter in studio] The US ambassador to Azerbaijan, Reno Harnish,
who is visiting the Gancabasar region [western Azerbaijan], has
said that the unresolved status of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is
hampering the development of Azerbaijan’s border districts.

[Correspondent over video of Reno Harnish visiting several towns]
The US ambassador to Azerbaijan, Reno Harnish, who has just completed
his tour of western Azerbaijan, visited the Azerbaijani-Georgian
border today. He met customs employees at the Sinix Korpu border and
customs checkpoints.

Then the diplomat travelled to Samkir. The US ambassador discussed
the election situation in the district in a meeting behind closed
doors with the head of the local executive authorities.

As part of the tour of Azerbaijan’s western districts, Reno Harnish
also attended the opening ceremonies of two marketing centres in
Qazax and Tovuz. The marketing centres have been established with
the financial support of the US Agency for International Development
[USAID].

The diplomat said that the US government and its agencies had allocated
up to 90m dollars to Azerbaijan as part of a business development
programme and five marketing centres are already operating.

During a meeting behind closed doors at the Tovuz customs checkpoint,
the ambassador spoke about the implementation of joint US-Azerbaijani
projects. Reno Harnish held meetings with the head of the Tovuz
district authorities and representatives of the opposition.

The US ambassador’s visit to the Gancabasar region ended at that point.

Esmira Xalilova, Sahla Abdinova, Rafiq Nagiyev, ANS.

Karabakh parliament elects heads of parliamentary commissions

Mediamax news agency
30 Jun 05

Yerevan, 30 June: New chairmen were elected at the first session of
the new National Assembly of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic today.

Vagram Atanesyan was re-elected as chairman of the commission for
foreign relations.

Benik Bakhshiyan was elected chairman of the commission for industry
and production infrastructures, Arpat Avanesyan – chairman of the
commission for social issues, Yuriy Ayrapetyan – chairman of the
commission for financial issues, Araik Arutyunyan – chairman of
the commission for the budget and economic management and Rudolf
Martirosyan – for defence, security and law.

[Passage omitted: minor details]

EU Sweats Blood to Agree on Turkey ‘s Negotiations ‘Road Map’
By Senem Caglayan

The New Anatolian, Turkey
June 30 2005

The New Anatolian / Brussels

The document is expected to draw criticism from Turkey for three main
reasons. The first is the projected length of the EU negotiations,
which signal long, difficult, and exhausting talks. The second is
that the document puts forward issues that Turkey thought would be
disregarded. The document also makes reference to dialogue between
EU communities, which Turkey considers unjust

While Ankara is relieved that no reference is made to ‘privileged
partnership’ in lieu of full membership, it also finds cause for
concern: for the first time ever, a negotiations road map explicitly
mentions that the talks are ‘open ended’

The European Union Commission worked hard to reach an agreement
yesterday on the negotiations “road map” for Turkey , adding meat to
last year’s decision that Ankara ‘s negotiations for full membership
will begin on Oct. 3.

Following a lengthy, comprehensive, and constructive discussion in the
EU Commission, an agreement was reached. According to the framework
document, the aim of the negotiations is Turkey ‘s full membership
in the EU, but full membership will not be realized before 2014.

The main issues in the document are as follows:

– Turkey will begin negotiations on Oct. 3.

– Turkey ‘s full membership will not be realized before 2014.

– The success of negotiations depends on fulfillment of
responsibilities and the application of reforms by Turkey .

The length of the negotiations sent a red flag to Turkish observers,
since it signalled that that its talks could well be long, difficult
and exhausting.

Main aim is full membership

EU Commissioner Responsible for Enlargement Olli Rehn said that the
negotiations will begin on Oct. 3 with the aim of full membership,
but added that the success of the negotiations depends on Turkey
‘s fulfillment of its responsibilities.

Rehn made the remarks during a press conference held after the
discussions. “I think the EU states will approve the ‘road map’ on
Oct. 3 because they had previously determined the main issues of the
document in the June and December [2004] EU summits,” he added.

“The negotiation process is as important as the consequence. But the
negotiations will be long and difficult,” he said.

Rehn’s first remarks will probably be evaluated as a positive
decision by the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, but the
main opposition party is expected to criticize the decision, claiming
that the negotiations will go nowhere.

Negotiations will be open-ended

The road map stated that negotiations will be open-ended, a statement
that again caused concern in the Turkish government, since this is the
first time such a statement has appeared in such a “road map” document.

Concerning the issue, Rehn said that entry talks with Turkey don’t
guarantee membership, adding that all the negotiations are open-ended
in nature. “The beginning of negotiations on Oct. 3 aims at giving
Turkey a fair chance for EU membership.”

Meanwhile, the document makes no reference to proposals for “privileged
partnership” in lieu of full membership, a development that brought
relief to Turkey .

Concerning the privileged partnership issue, Rehn said that this issue
was discussed during the EU Commission’s meeting since some EU states
support this status for Turkey , but no reference was made to it in
the document.

Talks could be suspended in case of emergency

The negotiations road map also said that negotiations with Turkey could
be suspended in the case of an emergency. In this article, emergency
refers to the serious violation of human rights or violations of the
rule of law.

The suspension of membership talks with Turkey could only be brought
about by a proposal from the EU Commission or by the approval of
one-third of the EU member states.

Therefore, Turkey sees the the prospect of suspension as distant,
since it considers attaining such a majority within the EU impossible.

Even if talks fail, Turkey ‘s roots with EU should be strengthened

Rehn stressed the importance of the total fulfillment of Turkey
‘s responsibilities and the implementation of reforms necessary for
Turkey to become a full EU member state. He added that even if the
negotiations fail, Turkey ‘s roots with European structures should
be strengthened.

This statement in the document was also a cause for concern for Turkey
, since it seems to aim at making Turkey somehow dependent on Europe .

EU urges Turkey to sign Ankara Protocol, normalize ties with Greek
Cyprus

The document also calls on Turkey to sign the Ankara Protocol, which
would extend the Customs Union agreement to the 10 new members of
the EU, including the Greek Cypriot administration.

Olli Rehn said that he expects Turkey to sign the protocol this summer
before beginning negotiations on Oct. 3.

The document also urged Turkey to further normalize relations with the
Greek Cypriot administration and to continue its constructive manner,
in order to find a permanent solution for Cyprus .

Rehn described Turkey ‘s manner so far as “very constructive” during
his speech.

Meanwhile, the road map document also urges Turkey to open its seaports
to Greek Cypriot ships.

Road map refers to border disputes

The road map document also made a reference to Turkey ‘s border
disputes and urges Ankara to solve all such disputes, and to attain
good neighborly relations.

Rehn also touched on this issue during his speech, saying, “The EU
expects Turkey to respect the EU’s good neighborhood relations and
to obey the United Nations’ rules.”

This statement will probably attract criticism from Turkey , which
has ongoing border disputes with Armenia .

Budget concerns

The document also stated that the EU should approve the budget for
the period that follows the 2007-2013 period when Turkey could become
a member.

On this issue, Rehn said that the capacity for EU members’ acceptance
is determined by the EU budget, and the budget crisis threatens the
enlargement process. “The European financial perspective and its
associations should be strengthened in order to solve future troubles.”

This statement is also critical for Turkey because it’s apparent
that if EU members fail to agree on the EU’s future budget, this will
directly affect Turkey ‘s membership.

Rehn: Civil dialogue will be established between EU citizens

Rehn said that a civil dialogue will be established between the EU’s
citizens, and this dialogue will also include the citizens of the
candidate states.

Following the recent rejection of the proposed EU constitution
by French and Dutch voters, Rehn’s statement will probably catch
the attention of concerned circles since it aims to integrate and
unite all EU communities in order to prevent a possible future EU
constitution crisis, which might also affect Turkey ‘s membership.

But making a reference in the document to dialogue between EU
communities also might bring criticism, since Turkey thinks that it’s
unjust to refer to dialogue in a document that concerns negotiations
with Turkey.

AZERBAIJAN INCLUDES ITS ITEM IN OSCE PA DRAFT RESOLUTION ON NAGORNO
KARABAKH

WASHINGTON, JUNE 30. ARMINFO. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly calls
on the member-states of the OSCE Minsk Conference to step up their
efforts to achieve the peaceful resolution of the conflict, and
invites their national delegations to the Assembly to report annually
to the Assembly on the action of their Governments in this respect,
says the supplementary item on Nagorno Karabakh conflict by Azeri
representative Sattar Safarov.

A source at OSCE PA reports the sponsor of the item as urging Armenia
and Azerbaijan to comply with the resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993),
874 (1993) and 884 (1993) of the United Nations Security Council,
as well as other decisions of the international organizations with
regard to the conflict, in particular by refraining from any armed
hostilities and by withdrawing military forces from all occupied
territories of Azerbaijan.

Safarov calls on the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to speed up their
efforts for the conclusion of a political agreement on the cessation
of the armed conflict, the implementation of which will eliminate
major consequences of the conflict for all parties and establish
conditions for safe return of refugees and internally displaced
persons to their native lands. He also calls upon all OSCE member
states to contribute efficiently to the soonest peaceful settlement
of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,

Besides Safarov calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to make use of the
OSCE Minsk Process and to put forward to each other, via the Minsk
Group, their constructive proposals for the peaceful settlement of
the conflict in accordance with the universally recognized norms and
principles of international law,

Safarov fully supports the activity of the Special Representative
of the OSCE PA Chairman on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and invites
him to submit to the Assembly an objective and comprehensive report
on the conflict as soon as possible,

He urges Armenia to stop the continuation of the settlement of
civilian population in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,
which can impede the peaceful solution of the conflict and urges the
international community not to remain indifferent to the deplorable
living conditions of the refugees and IDPs and continue rendering
humanitarian assistance to them,

Finally Safarov appeals to the international organizations, parliaments
and governments of the world countries to enhance their efforts
in order to facilitate the conclusion of a just peace agreement
between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on the norms and principles
of international law and to continue monitoring on a regular basis
the peaceful resolution of this conflict and decides to revert to
considering this issue at its 2006 Annual Session.

The draft resolution will be discussed during the OSCE PA session in
Washington July 1-6.

GOOD ELECTORAL CODE NOT NEEDED FOR FAIR ELECTIONS?

A1plus

| 13:17:56 | 27-06-2005 | Social |

According to the readers of the “A1+” internet site, the most necessary
condition for free and fair elections is the national control. This
is the opinion of the 41.5% of the voters. And only 30.2% of the
readers see the necessity of the will of the authorities.

14.3% of the voters finds the presence of the organized and united
opposition necessary, and the Proper Electoral Code can contribute
to the organization of fair elections according to the 14.0% of
the voters.

258 people took part in the poll.

The internet site “A1+” continues the polls on the Constitutional
theme. The question of this week’s poll is “Who should appoint the
Prime Minister? “. We call everyone to actively take part in the poll.

Turkish Press
June 27 2005

Orange Handkerchiefs are in Pockets Already

Ferai Tinc

Source: Hurriyet via BYEGM, 27 June 2005

Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on her meeting with Azerbaijani
politician Isa Gamber. A summary of her column is as follows:

“I recently met with Azerbaijani opposition leader Isa Gamber
in Istanbul. He was in Istanbul to participate in the meeting on
Democratization and Security in the Wider Middle East, organized by
the ARI movement last week. Gamber has been carrying the mantle of
Azerbaijan’s opposition leader for the longest time in Azerbaijan. He
believes the general elections set for this November are very important
for democratization in his country. It seems Azerbaijan will be
the next stop of the velvet revolutions. They have already put
orange handkerchiefs in their pockets. However, I didn’t talk about
these issues with Gamber. We discussed mostly Turkish-Azerbaijani
relations. ‘Turkey shouldn’t shrink from dealing with the Armenian
issue,’ he said. ‘If it’s going to take steps about this issue, it
should talk with the Azerbaijani government.’ Maybe Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan will talk about this issue with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev during his visit this week to Baku, but
Gamber means that Turkey shouldn’t discuss the border gate problem
with Armenia separate from the Nagorno-Karabagh issue. He asked,
‘Would establishing good relations with the Armenian government save
Turkey from the pressure of the “genocide” claims?’ Then he answered
himself. ‘It’s a mistake to think that if concessions are made, the
Armenian government would soften its stance. When Turkey opened its
airspace, what changed? Genocide allegations are still the backbone of
Armenian state policy. It won’t stop these allegations. If Turkey is
going to open its borders, it should firstly talk to the Azerbaijani
government and tell it the reasons for doing this and the sums to be
earned in return.” Because the Azerbaijani government, 20% of whose
land is under Armenian occupation, should know what Turkey’s change
of policy will bring.

I wanted to know if Turkey’s relations with Armenia would always
be like this. He replied, ‘We believe that relations with Armenia
should be improved. When we come to power, we will try to do this,
but problems in Caucasia should also be solved. Democracy should
come not only to Azerbaijan, but also to Armenia.’ So many things
have slowed down in Turkish-Azerbaijani relations, compared to 15
years ago. There’s nothing concrete except mutual interest in the
Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. Now nobody is taking creative steps to develop
the humanitarian or cultural aspects of relations. Gamber said,
‘We should discuss such subjects as the Armenian or Cyprus issue with
Turkey and draw up plans together.’ It’s our responsibility to start
with Azerbaijan to develop a common basis of action covering Georgia
and Armenia.”

ARMED BANDIT KILLS POLCEMAN IN VAYK, ARMENIA

YEREVAN, JUNE 24. ARMINFO. An armed bandit robbed a shop, killed a
policeman and escaped in Vayk, Vayots Dzor region, Armenia.

The press service of Armenia’s police reports that the bandit was in
mask and had a gun. He first broke into a shop and firing into the
ceiling took 50,000 AMD, cigarettes and sweets. But when coming out of
the shop he came across police sergeant Vahe Dovlatyan and fired at
him. Dovlatyan was killed on the spot.

The criminal is being hunted.

Pan Armenian News

NEXT SITTING OF PACE COMMITTEE ON KARABAKH SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 12 IN
PARIS

24.06.2005 03:01

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The first sitting of the PACE Committee on Nagorno
Karabakh was held in Strasbourg June 23. As member of the Azeri
parliamentary delegation Asim Mollazade stated, various organizational
issues were discussed and terms of the next meeting were fixed during the
sitting, Trend new agency reported. `The next sitting of the PACE Committee
on Nagorno Karabakh is scheduled for September 12 in Paris. It was agreed
that the representatives of the states serving on the OSCE Minsk Group will
take part in the sitting’, Mollazade informed.

ARF ARTSAKH CENTRAL COMMITTEE DEMANDS THAT HIGH-RANKING OFFICIALS
HAVING BEATEN MP CANDIDATE BE DISMISSED

STEPENAKERT, JUNE 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The ARF Dashnaktsutiun Artsakh
Central Committee demanded that NKR President dismiss the high-ranking
officials having beaten Pavel Manukian. In the June 22 press release
the the ARF Dashnaktsutiun Artsakh Central Committee also applies to
the President, military prosecutor and state bodies of the Republic of
Armenia with a demand about unbiassed investigation. To recap,
yesterday well-known freedom-fighter Pavel Manukian, ARFD member
nominated by the ARF Movement-88 bloc’s proportional list in the June
19 parliamentary elections, was taken to Stepanakert military
hospital. Manukian was beaten and had injuries dangerous for his
life. Regaining consciousness, the latter declared that he was beaten
in the building of NKR Ministry of Defence, in the Minister’s
cabinet. “He was confidently emphasizing that the first blows were
struck to him by NKR Defence Minister Seyran Ohanian and Deputy
Minister Samvel Karapetian and after he fell down the other generals
who were in the cabinet continued beating him by their feet.” Late in
the evening Grisha Hayrapetian, representative of the ARFD Artsakh
Central Committee, and Vitaly Balasanian, Chairman of ARF
Dashnaktsutiun – Movement-88 pre-election bloc, met with NKR President
Arkadi Ghukasian. The President of the republic declared to the party
representatives that the incident will be investigated by
law-enforcement bodies and those guilty will be punished in an order
fixed by the law. But, according to the report of ARFD Artsakh Central
Committee, the day after the incident some sources spread information
that Pavel Manukian, allegedly, declared to the investigators that he
got the traumas when falling down from a tree. Meanwhile, according to
information provided by Manukian’s wife, Marina Manukian, no
investigation measures were taken with Pavel Manukian’s participation,
even no forensic expertise was conducted. Pavel Manukian continues to
insist that he was beaten in the Defence Minister’s cabinet. The ARFD
Artsakh Central Committee demanded that Pavel Manukian be moved to a
hospital not subordinate to NKR Defence Ministry but the hospital’s
management refused them motivating this by the fact that the patient
not only mustn’t be moved within at least 4 days, but even sitting or
moving is contraindicated to him. Meanwhile, Stepanakert military
hospital is remaining under a strict control. By the order of Samvel
Gevorgian, head of NKR Defence Army’s Medical Service, a group of
journalists wasn’t allowed to see Pavel Manukian at hospital in the
afternoon of June 22.

2005 PROGRAM OF ACTION OF IT PROMOTION COUNCIL APPROVED IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, June 22. /ARKA/. The RA Council for IT Promotion has held a
meeting inn Yerevan. The meeting was chaired by Council Chairman, RA
Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan. The meeting discussed and generally
approved the Council’s program of action for 2005. Under the program,
as well as simultaneously with preparations for the Tunis IT Summit,
the Council will continue its activities in 2005. The Councils
functions are to reveal and remove obstacles to IT development in
Armenia, promote IT application in various economic sectors, draft
stable legislation, raise public awareness of the IT potential.

The meeting also discussed the execution of instructions issued at the
Council’s previous meeting, a draft of the Council’s activities for
2005, Armenian-English electronic translation system developed by the
ISMA Ltd and other issues. P.T. -0–