Author: Hunanian Jack

BAKU’S AUTHORITIES CONCERNED ABOUT DEVELOPING IN-HOUSE PROBLEMS

Panorama.am
14:15 31/08/2009

On 29 August a protest rally, organized by Azerbaijani-Americans
for Democracy (AZAD), was held in front of Azerbaijani Embassy in
Washington, DC, in support of the arrested bloggers Adnan Hajizada
and Emin Milli, foreign media reports.

According to the source representatives from different international
organizations attended the rally having the following slogans uttered:
"Free Azeri Bloggers", "Freedom for Adnan and Emin".

It’s worth mentioning that the rally participants in Washington
announced that the Azerbaijani authorities are not so powerful. They
ensure that all those arrests of bloggers and journalists are the
evidences to the fact that the local authorities are concerned about
the atmosphere of distrust among the local Azeri people and and loss
of international image.

A representative of Reporters Without Borders, Clothilde Le Coz,
attending the rally, has read a statement demanding the immediate
release of Adnan and Emin.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Aug 29 2009

Azerbaijan does not see status of Nagorno-Karabakh outside country’s
territorial integrity: President

Azerbaijan, Baku, August 29 / Trend News /

"All occupied territories will be liberated sequentially, our
compatriots will return to these areas. The entire infrastructure will
be rebuilt there, and in the next stage, the legal status of
Nagorno-Karabakh will be defined. We have always said that
Nagorno-Karabakh, of course, should have the status, but we do not see
this status outside the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the
Azerbaijan state will never agree with it," said the President of
Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, attending an Iftar party on the occasion of
the holy month of Ramadan hosted by Head of the Caucasian Muslims’
Board Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade at his residence on
Friday, AzerTAj state news agency reported.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed
a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia,
France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

The position of State remains unchanged – this issue can be resolved
only within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, said Ilham
Aliyev.

"People in Nagorno-Karabakh can live with a high status of autonomy
within Azerbaijani state. Today these principles are taken as a
basis. The negotiations are conducted on the basis of these
principles, and any agreement can only be based on these
principles. We have always said and say today that the issue can be
resolved only gradually. Proposals that are now the topic of
negotiations envisage step-by-step solution," said the President.

The progress achieved in the negotiation process is the result of
purposeful policy, Azerbaijani President said. "I can say that our
efforts are already yielding first results in the negotiation
process," said President Ilham Aliyev.

Yeni Azarbaycan, Azerbaijan
Aug 29 2009

Azeri leader says Karabakh talks paying off, districts to be vacated

The Azerbaijani president has said that efforts to solve the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict are paying off and that refugees will return home
following the liberation of the occupied districts, the newspaper of
the ruling party Yeni Azarbaycan said on 29 August.

Addressing a fast breaking ceremony in Baku on 28 August, Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev said: "Our efforts [to solve the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict] I would say, are already yielding preliminary
results… We have said before and we are saying now that the issue
[the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict] can only be solved through a
stage-by-stage process. Proposals put forward during negotiations
ensure a stage-by-stage solution. All the occupied districts will be
liberated one by one, and our fellow countrymen will return to those
districts. All the infrastructure will be reconstructed and after that
the legal status of Nagornyy Karabakh will be determined in the future
phase."

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Aug 25 2009

Yerevan levels claims on Garabagh

25-08-2009 22:49:56

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Savarsh Kocharian has claimed that
Azeris driven out of Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, an Azerbaijani region
under Armenian occupation, should recognize the so-called independence
of the separatist regime to be able to return home.
Kocharian told Russian Echo Moskvi radio station that, if holding a
referendum to determine the status of the region is offered as a
compromise in peace talks, the people who lived there before are to
fully participate in the vote. Moreover, Azeris are to exercise their
suffrage from their current places of residence, Kocharian alleged.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the
signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper
Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts. Though the
separatist regime in Upper Garabagh declared so-called independence in
1991, this “independence“, which blatantly tramples on international
law, has not been recognized by the world community to date.
According to Kocharian, Armenia has not recognized the
“independence“ of Upper Garabagh because this could adversely affect
ongoing talks with Azerbaijan.
“Armenia adheres to a stance that, so long as there are co-chairs [of
the OSCE Minsk Group brokering the conflict settlement] and
negotiations continue, we should not resolutely put forth our
position. Second, naturally, our objective is recognition of Upper
Garabagh not by Armenia, but by the world community.“
At the same time, Kocharian did not rule out its possible recognition
by Yerevan in the future. “This can never be ruled out. But we are
proceeding according to the logic of the negotiating process. If
Azerbaijan`s stance causes a deadlock in talks, this is not ruled out
at all,“ he maintained.
He went as far as saying that the Garabagh conflict had emerged due to
what he called Azerbaijan`s militarist policy. He claimed that Baku is
still seeking to resolve the problem through military action.
The deputy minister also alleged that serviceman of the separatist
regime, not Armenia, fought in the Garabagh war.
Further, Kocharian answered inconsistently to a journalist asking
“what step will Armenia take if war erupts?“, saying “the one it
took in the 1990s.“
Also, the Armenian official maintained that no UN resolutions are in
place on Armenian pullout from the occupied Azerbaijani territories,
stressing the alleged importance of drawing the separatist regime to
peace talks.
Elkhan Polukhov, the spokesman for the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry,
has termed the statement as “fiction“, warning that such utterances,
made by Yerevan every now and then, do nothing to move forward peace
talks.
“It appears surprising and curious to us that an individual who has
not been involved in any stage of the negotiating process and is
unaware of the details is making such statements. What is he basing
them upon? Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity is recognized in all
international resolutions and laws, and they call for a withdrawal of
the Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijan`s occupied territories and a
return of the displaced persons to their homes.“

IN JAN-JUL 2009 FIXED DEPOSITS OF AMERIABANK GREW BY 185%

ArmInfo
2009-08-27 20:00:00

ArmInfo. Fixed deposits of Ameriabank demonstrate a stable growth,
particularly, in Jan-Jul 2009 the fixed deposits grew by 185%, and by
34% in July alone. The Ameriabank press-service told ArmInfo that 82%
of deposits attracted in Jan-Jul are deposits of legal entities.

According to the source, in Jan-Jul the growth of individuals’
deposits made up 316%, and the fixed deposits of legal entities in
July grew by 35% and amounted to 35 bln AMD by 1 August 2009.

To note, according to the results of the first half year of 2009,
Ameriabank held the first position in the Armenian banking system by
fixed deposits of legal entities, having secured 26 bln AMD by 1 July.

ELKHAN POLUKHOV: DEPLOYMENT OF PEACEKEEPING FORCES IN THE REGION IS NOT DISCUSSED IN THE NEGOTIATIONS ON THE SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT

APA
Aug 27 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. "Deployment of peacekeeping forces in
the region is not discussed in the negotiations on the settlement
of Nagorno Karabakh conflict," spokesman for Foreign Ministry Elkhan
Polukhov told APA.

He said the parties are negotiating basing on common principles.

"The next stage of the negotiations will begin after agreement is
reached on common principles. Deployment of the peacekeepers in the
conflict zone is a part of the execution of the agreements. This is
a very big issue, therefore it can be discussed as the next stage. A
number of issues concerning the deployment of peacekeepers in the
conflict zone should be solved. The question is the composition, number
of the peacekeepers, the countries involved, place of deployment,
their mandate etc. That’s why this issue is not being discussed at
present," he said.

Taking a stance on Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh
Kocharian’s statement "Armenia may recognize the independence of
Nagorno Karabakh", Polukhov said such statements of the Deputy Foreign
Minister do not have positive influence on the process of negotiations.

"This shows again that Armenia’s position is not constructive,"
he said.

CASTRO REVIEWS OBAMA’S PERFORMANCE

AZG DAILY #153
28-08-2009

International

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro criticized President Obama for
expanding the war effort in Afghanistan, but Castro also mildly
praised Obama’s domestic initiatives, such as health care reform.

In an essay published Tuesday in Cuba’s state-run newspaper, Granma,
Castro said drawing American troops away from Iraq to fight the Taliban
in Afghanistan is a mistake, saying the Taliban in Afghanistan "sank
the Soviet Union."

Still, Castro said he was astonished by U.S. news reports of declining
popularity for Obama. Castro blamed "traditional [U.S.] racism"
for dampening reform efforts, including health care revisions.

The former Cuban leader commonly writes "reflections" in state media,
using them to comment on international issues, and he often condemns
U.S. foreign policy.

This weeks’ commentary coincides with the visit of former U.S.

presidential candidate New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Richardson, who was nominated for commerce secretary in the Obama
administration but withdrew, is in the Cuban capital this week on a
trade mission "designed to capitalize on potential agricultural and
cultural partnerships between Cuba and New Mexico," according to the
governor’s Web site.

Despite the near half-century trade embargo, the U.S. Treasury
Department permits U.S. states to sell agricultural, medical and IT
products in Cuba on a cash basis, it said.

Richardson, who has already met the former Cuban president —
negotiating the release of three political prisoners in Cuba in 1996 –
is known for his diplomatic resume, including high-level talks with
North Korea, Sudan, Iraq and others.

The visit comes after the recent release of a new video and photo of
Fidel Castro, revealing an apparently healthier-looking man than in
previous images.

It was the first video of Castro broadcast in 14 months.

Castro, who came to power in 1959, underwent abdominal surgery in 2006.

The Cuban leader ceded the presidency to his younger brother, Raul,
but has retained leadership of the Communist Party, the only legal
political party in Cuba.

Earlier this month, Cuban President Raul Castro said in a speech to
parliament that Havana is ready and willing to start a dialogue with
Washington, but warned that political and regime change are not up
for negotiation, CNN reports

MAYOR OF IJEVAN VS. INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS: PLAINTIFF TO APPEAL LOWER COURT DECISION
Kristine Aghalaryan

200 9/08/24 | 16:31

Feature Stories court media

Ijevan Mayor Varuzhan Nersisyan is unhappy with a lower court’s
decision that found in favor of the "Investigative Journalists
NGO", the defendant in a slander case initiated by the Ijevan
Municipality. Mayor Nersisyan plans to appeal to a higher court.

Why is the Ijevan Mayor Nersisyan so upset?

In its May 5, 2008 edition, "Hetq" published an article written by
Tavush correspondent Voskan Sargsyan entitled "Who is Pocketing the
Profits of the Sand Mine?" In the article, Mr. Sargsyan described
the illegal sand mining operation taking place at the "White Water"
reservoir on the Aghstev River along the southern entrance to
Ijevan. The article was also published in an "Azg" newspaper insert
on May 20, 2008.

The reporter checked his facts on site and photographed the mining
operation and trucks transporting the sand. Mr. Sargsyan spoke with
workers at the sand mine and attempted to get answers in writing from
operation management.

According to a 1997 government decision, "White Water" was designated
Ijevan public property. However, the Ijevan Municipality, tasked with
overseeing the property, failed to respond to a written inquiry sent
back on October 27, 2007. The RoA Ministry of Nature Protection had
stated that "the right to utilize the reservoir’s sand hadn’t been
granted to any physical or legal entity given that a resource study
of the area hadn’t been carried out and a licensing agreement hadn’t
been issued." The General Prosecutor’s Office, instead of verifying
the evidence presented in the article, questioned the municipality
and reported that only river silt had been transported out of the
reservoir; effectively refuting evidence to the contrary. In the
meanwhile, the reporter traveled to Dilijan, uncovering the fat that
"White Water" sand was being trucked in for use during construction
work on the amphitheater in June.

Based on the ample evidence before him, the "Hetq" reporter concluded
that the illegal sand mining was being carried out with the full
knowledge and permission of Ijevan Mayor Varuzhan Nersisyan. This
conclusion didn’t meet with the approval of the mayor.

In the suit brought by the Ijevan Municipality to the Court of First
Instance, Gevorg Davtyan, attorney for the plaintiff, claimed that,
"…The information published by the defendant in the newspaper and
website is baseless and contains slander that not only blemishes the
honor of the mayor but his dignity and good name as well and harms
the legal activities of the municipality."

On June 19, attorney Davtyan initiated a suit at the Yerevan Civil
Court demanding that the court compel the "Investigative Journalists
NGO" to publish a retraction of the baseless information and slander
defaming the honor and dignity of Mayor Nersisyan and to fine the
"Investigative Journalists" in the amount of 930,000 to compensate
the municipality for legal fees incurred.

On May 23, the Ijevan Municipal Council voted to allocate 930,000
AMD from the budget for legal fees aimed at "bringing the author of
the slanderous article to account before the law".

At the session, Councilman Vahe Ghalumyan asked whether it was correct
to allocate such an amount from the municipal budget. Mayor Varuzhan
Nersisyan responded that an attorney with special credentials was
needed to initiate such a case and promised that the 930,000 AMD
would be returned to the budget.

The "Investigative Journalists" wrote to the Ijevan mayor, requesting
that it make the minutes of the council session available along with
the decision permitting 930,000 AMD to be spent from the municipal
budget for legal fees for a suit against it seeking redress of the
slanderous charges.

Mayor Varuzhan Nersisyan refused to hand over the documents, arguing
that he wished to "avoid any possible manipulation of the documents",
saying that they would be made available after court proceedings
had ended.

"Investigative Journalists" counter-sue

The "Investigative Journalists" then counter-sued, demanding that
the mayor make the documents in question available. On November
26, the RoA Administrative Court partially found in favor of the
"Investigative Journalists" counter-suit against the Ijevan mayor. The
court demanded that the Ijevan mayor hand over copies of the decisions
passed by the council to the "Investigative Journalists" within a five
day period; that is by December 1, 2008. The countersuit brought by
the "Investigative Journalists" NGO had also sought 114,000 drams
in damages and legal expenses from the Ijevan Mayor. In addition,
the Court decided to have 8,000 drams appropriated from the Ijevan
Municipality’s budget to go to the Investigative Journalists NGO
as compensation.

The additional 106,000 drams sought by the "IJ" was rejected by
the Court.

The Ijevan Municipality never acted on the court’s decision, prompting
the "Investigative Journalists" to petition the Compulsory Enforcement
Service of Judicial Decrees. This proved fruitless as well.

Court throws out Ijevan slander suit as baseless

Simultaneously, the suit brought by the Ijevan Municipality against the
"Investigative Journalists" continued at the Kentron and Nork-Marash
District Court, Judge Ruben Apinyan presiding. During the hearing,
the plaintiff was not able to specify what information contained in
the original article was unfounded, slanderous and had defamed the
good name of the mayor. The plaintiff merely cited two articles that
had appeared as complete defamation of the mayor; "Who is Pocketing
the Profits from the Sand Mine?" and "Mayor of Ijevan Seeks to Sue
Reporter Over "Slander" in Illegal Sand Mine article".

In an attempt to refute the evidence contained in these articles,
the plaintiff’s suit claimed that the Ijevan Municipality had always
been interested in exposing illegal mining operations and that it
had petitioned T. Baghdasaryan and S. Galstyan, heads of the Ijevan
Internal Affairs Division, on numerous occasions with this objective
in mind.

The "Investigative Journalists" made the counter-claim that illegal
mining of sand from the lake bed had taken place and that the
accompanying photos were proof of same.

Voskan Sargsyan, the article’s author, was called as a primary witness
and a representative from the newspaper "Azg" was called in as a
third-party. As a result of the motion of attorney Karen Mezhlumyan,
who represented the "Investigative Journalists", Ijevan Mayor Nersisyan
was also subpoenaed and questioned by the court.

In court, reporter Sargsyan proved that all the evidence and facts
listed in his article were based on responses to written inquiries he
had addressed to "responsible" parties and on his own investigative
work. He added that based on the evidence he had amassed he went ahead
and expressed a set of observations and opinions in the article and
that he had the right to do so as a journalist.

On July 10, 2009, Judge Ruben Apinyan threw out the slander suit
brought by the Ijevan Municipality threw out the suit it filed charging
the "Investigative Journalists NGO" with slander and publishing false
information, arguing that the article in question contained nothing
that defamed the working reputation of the Ijevan Municipality and
thus there was no justification to demand a retraction.

The court also recognized the fact that the photos offered in evidence
verified the allegations made by the "Investigative Journalists",
in particular, that sand was being removed from the "White Water"
reservoir located on the Aghstev River.

Furthermore, the court found that reports contained in the article
that the sand mining operation was conducted under the supervision of
Ijevan Mayor Varuzhan Nersisyan were never presented as "fact", but
rather that "certain information exists that the reporter attempted
to verify and made written inquiries to government bodies".

On August 7, the Ijevan Municipality and Ijevan Mayor Nersisyan filed
a protest appeal to the Civil Court of Appeals, demanding that the
decision of the Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court be overturned
and that their original slander suit demands be sustained.

The plaintiff, in its appeals petition, notes that the following
sentence in the reporter’s article is particularly offensive and a
direct insult to the mayor – The scores of Ijevan cabbies who ply
their trade along the pot-holed roads of the regional district center
always have a few "choice words" to remember the Mayor by.

INTERNATIONAL MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT IN MEMORY OF BRUCE LEE HELD IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.08.2009 12:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ International tournament in memory of the legendary
martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was held on August 21 in Yerevan
in the "Dinamo" gym. The tournament was attended by athletes from
Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Iran.

The tournament was organized by the JKD Federation of Armenia,
headed by the President of the Armenia’s JKD Federation Artyusha
Khandoyan. The latter told the PanARMENIAN.Net t about the idea of
organizing this event and explained to the reason why the delegations
of Sri Lanka, Nigeria and India haven’t come.

"Since July 20 is a day of the death of Bruce Lee, we have organized
international tournaments in his memory since 2004. This year,
countries whose athletes were supposed to attend, asked us to postpone
the tournament because they were unable to come in July. We’ ve sent
invitations to the Nigerian Academy of Martial Arts and the Academy
of Kung Fu Sri Lanka, the Association of Shotokan Karate-India and
Iran. Sri Lanka refused to participate, while Nigeria and India was not
able to come on time , they had problems with visas, " Khandoyan said.

There will be many styles of martial arts, including the style JKD,
established by Bruce Lee himself, in the tournament. 84 sportsmen
to take part in the tournament from Armenia, and 13 athletes from
Iran. Armenian athletes will present 9 styles of martial arts.

According Khandoyana this tournament is also important in respect to
cooperation between federations of martial arts of different countries.

"We rarely participate in international tournaments due to shortage
of resources, and therefore international tournaments in Yerevan,
organized 1-2 times a year are of great importance for us, in terms
of gaining experience and cooperation with martial arts federations
of different countries ", Khandoyan said.

Tournament results will be summarized on Sunday 22 August.

Sunday’s Zaman

DOGU ERGIL

Turkish-Armenian relations and others

23.08.2009

The Turkish press is rife with news that Armenia is backpedaling in
its commitment to realize the expected Armenian-Turkish rapprochement,
for President Serzh Sarksyan of Armenia declared that he will not
visit Turkey during the next World Cup qualifying game to return
Turkish President Abdullah Gül’s visit to Armenia back in 2008. The
Turkish position that may have led to the opening of borders between
the two countries has been fundamentally altered with the opposition
of its close ally, Azerbaijan, which protested the normalization of
Turkish-Armenian relations until the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is solved
and Armenia returns the 20 percent of Azeri territory that it has
occupied since the war that took place between the two countries in
the early 1990s. In May, Ankara, under pressure from Baku, linked the
reopening of its border with Armenia with a comprehensive solution to
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Turkey had closed its Armenian border
in 1993 in support of Azerbaija!
n, which it called a `kin country’ in official and popular
parlance. Needless to say, Azerbaijan holds the key to Turkey’s bid to
be an energy hub for petroleum and gas pipelines that will extend from
Asia to Europe.
American lawmakers claim that normalization talks between Ankara and
Yerevan were supposed to evolve over a `road map.’ However, Turkey
stalled the process, which was supposed to take place without
preconditions. Indeed, Turkey and Armenia signed a document on April
22, pledging to work to normalize their relations. Although their road
map has not been made public, sources said it includes the setting up
of full diplomatic relations, and, more importantly, the reopening of
the two neighbors’ land border, which has been closed for 16 years.
Over 80 pro-Armenian members of the US House of Representatives
recently sent a letter to President Barack Obama complaining that
Turkey is failing to keep its pledge. The congressmen said in the
letter that Turkey was in violation of the April deal with
Yerevan. Their impression is that even though `the government of
Armenia remains committed to this road map and has long offered to
establish ties with Turkey without preconditions, Turkey’s public
statements and actions since April 24 stand in sharp contrast to this
agreement and undermine US policy that normalization take place
without preconditions’ and `within a reasonable timeframe.’
Eighty-one of the 435 members of the House of Representatives known to
be pro-Armenian signed the letter sent to President Obama in July. It
is these lawmakers that want to pass an `Armenian genocide resolution’
pending in the House after Congress reopens in September.
On the home front, relations between Ankara and Yerevan are not
getting better. The `soccer diplomacy’ initiative appears to have lost
momentum. Yerevan seems to be preparing to get `tough’ with
Ankara. The first sign came with President Sarksyan’s declaration on
July 28 that he would travel to Ýstanbul for an Oct. 14 World Cup
qualifying match between Turkey and Armenia only if agreements are
observed and border gates between the two countries are opened. The
Armenian opposition and the critical Armenian diaspora, which has
effective leverage on Yerevan, loved this statement. They believe that
reconciliation with Ankara is against Armenian interests and will not
provide the diplomatic impetus to open up the borders. They believe
that President Sarksyan had made every effort to re-establish
diplomatic ties with Turkey and have the border reopened, without
insisting on conditions for rapprochement. But the Turks have
declined.
Opposition spokespersons are bold, for they have nothing to lose,
making statements such as `Armenia should have ceased talks
immediately after Turkey’s statement about Nagorno-Karabakh’ or
`President Sarksyan’s declaration is better late than never.’ Yet more
balanced commentators say, `Sarksyan seems to be lost in a trap as the
soccer diplomacy is coming to an end.’ Considering that the framework
for a Nagorno-Karabakh resolution is to be handled in October, it is
unlikely that any real changes will take place between the two
countries’ relations before October. Most likely, the Armenian
president will not go to Turkey for the soccer match. However, Turkey
will take some small steps again, which will prevent Armenia from
drifting away while trying not to annoy Azerbaijan. The process will
require able diplomats and moderation on the part of politicians.