Author: Karagyozian Lena

NKR RECOGNITION IS ARMENIA’S NUMBER ONE FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITY

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS: Speaking in the capital of Karabagh,
the Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee
on Foreign Relations, said that the number one priority of Armenia’s
Foreign policy is for Karabagh to gain international recognition.

“That process must never be viewed as something other than the
advancement of democratic principles among the public, specifically
because the starting point in gaining international recognition is
democracy,” said Armen Rustamian during a meeting with ARF youth
organizations and journalists.

He stressed that the will of the people–both in fostering democracy
and safeguarding the principals of self-determination–must be conveyed
in accordance with international standards.

“At the end of the day, the catalyst for both is the public’s
determination; both are so intertwined that to attempt to realize one
without the other is not only unrealistic, but also impossible. To put
it another way, the world will not recognize any republic–no matter
how ‘guaranteed’ its right to self-determination is,” noted Rustamian.

Garabagh Armenians to join talks ‘sooner or later’

AzerNews
6 April 05

The Armenian community of Upper Garabagh will join the negotiating
process sooner or later if peace talks continue, Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists following a meeting with the OSCE
chairman-in-office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel in Baku
on Saturday.

“No steps should be taken without the involvement of the Armenian
community in the negotiating process. However, all issues must be
clarified with official Yerevan first.”

Mammadyarov said that if the talks turn out successful, the Azerbaijani
community and OSCE experts should participate in the process as well.

Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers should meet frequently to
achieve results in the ‘Prague talks’, the Minister said.

“If the talks are suspended or yield no results, a new situation with
the settlement of the Upper Garabagh conflict will emerge.”

The Minister declined to specify whether military operations will be
launched but said Azerbaijan will not pursue military interference
to settle the conflict.

“Armenians of Upper Garabagh should be considered citizens of
Azerbaijan. From this standpoint, maintaining peace in Azerbaijani
territory is important.”

Armenian media reports saying that the OSCE chairman Rupel supports
participation of Upper Garabagh Armenians in peace talks were not
confirmed. Rupel told a news briefing at the Foreign Ministry that
he indeed met with representatives of the Armenian community of Upper
Garabagh in Yerevan and the leader of the Azerbaijani community Nizami
Bahmanov in Baku. The two meetings targeted studying the positions
of all sides involved. ‘This, however, does not imply my support for
the Garabagh Armenians’ involvement in the talks’, Rupel said.

“I am not authorized to change the current format of the talks,
as this is a prerogative of the conflicting sides.”

Bahmanov came out against the statements on changing the current format
of negotiations, saying that this can be done only on the level of
presidents of the countries included in the OSCE Minsk Group. He also
disapproved of the fact that the OSCE MG is co-chaired by the United
States, France and Russia, as these countries are delaying settlement
of the Upper Garabagh conflict. Bahmanov further proposed to draw all
OSCE MG members to the process. “Italy, Turkey, Finland and Sweden,
members of the MG, adhere to an unbiased position on the conflict,”
he said.

Prior to the statements made by Foreign Minister Mammadyarov and the
OSCE chairman Rupel, Russian co-chair of the OSCE MG Yuri Merzlyakov
stated that certain ‘details’ could not be resolved without the
involvement of the separatist Upper Garabagh regime in peace talks.
Merzlyakov said, however, that “the Azeri population of Upper Garabagh
is already represented by Baku”.

The key goal of the OSCE chairman’s visit to the region was to discuss
the Garabagh conflict. Rupel said in a meeting with the Armenian
President Robert Kocharian in Yerevan prior to visiting Azerbaijan
that the OSCE is ready to provide all the needed assistance to settle
the Garabagh conflict peacefully, pointing out the importance of
co-operation of the two countries’ presidents. The OSCE is seriously
concerned over the illegal settlement of Armenians in Upper Garabagh,
he added.

In his meeting with the Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian,
Rupel called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to end aggressive statements,
saying that the sides should aspire to creating the environment of
‘mutual trust’.

The conflict was also discussed at the OSCE chairman’s meeting with
President Ilham Aliyev, along with the parliamentary election due in
the country in November.

President Aliyev said Azerbaijan attaches great importance to its
co-operation with the OSCE.

“The Upper Garabagh conflict is the most serious obstacle for regional
development, stability and security,” said Aliyev, reiterating that
Baku supports a settlement exclusively within international legal
norms.

The President added that the OSCE MG has considerably stepped up its
activity at settling the conflict of late.

Among other issues discussed during the OSCE chairman’s visit to Baku
was the upcoming parliamentary election and the democratic processes
ongoing in Azerbaijan.

Rupel said following his meeting with Foreign Minister Mammadyarov
that he made some proposals with regard to the elections. He declined
to elaborate but said the parties agreed to interact in this respect.

“There are very strong authorities and weak opposition in Azerbaijan,”
said Rupel. The OSCE will equally approach both the authorities and
opposition and work to achieve a conduct of fair and free elections,
he said.

The OSCE chairman also met with leaders of eight opposition parties
to discuss the current socio-political situation in the country and
the parliamentary elections.

The OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
Director Christian Strohal, who visited Baku a while ago, presented
some proposals on the conduct of the elections to Azeri officials.
Afterwards, the issue of introducing changes and additions to the
Election Code was discussed by representatives of OSCE ODIHR, the
Council of Europe Venice Commission and the Azerbaijani government in
Strasbourg. Although the results of discussions have not been made
public yet, it is common knowledge that the OSCE proposed to change
the make-up of electoral commissions and allow representatives of
NGOs to observe the voting, regardless of their source of funding.

Official stresses economic problems in Armenian-populated Georgian districts

Ayots Ashkar, Yerevan
6 Apr 05 p 4

Excerpt from Vaan Vardanyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Ayots
Ashkar on 6 April headlined “Tension in Javakhk will not be defused
only by means of statements”

An interview with an advisor to the Armenian prime minister, Stepan
Markaryan.

[Ayots Ashkar correspondent] Mr Markaryan, after the recent protest
actions in Akhalkalaki [Armenian-populated Georgian district], some
Georgian and Armenian circles said that Russia has initiated this
“process” so that the military base deployed in Akhalkalaki is not
withdrawn.

[Stepan Markaryan] Naturally, the local residents cannot decide
on the Russian base withdrawal. This problem should be settled
through Russian-Georgian negotiations. Georgia’s position is
very clear cut. Georgia has brought forward the deadline for the
withdrawal. Incidentally, Russia too does not rule out that the base
could be withdrawn over the next three years.

But the social and economic situation should not be linked to the
existence of the Russian base. The number of ethnic Armenians working
at the base was reduced earlier. Today there are several hundreds of
them. For this reason, several hundred people could have hardly staged
rallies, if not for the whole mixture of social and economic problems
which have not been settled in Javakhk [Georgia’s Armenian-populated
Javakheti region] for many years. Another problem is that this reality
has taken on a different meaning at present.

[Correspondent] What do you mean?

[Markaryan] I do not know why but they have raised the issue of
visas for local Armenians to enter Russia, whereas 20,000-30,000
people leave Javakhk annually to go to work abroad. This has become
a tradition since the Soviet times because there is nothing to do in
Javakhk. At least one person from every family works abroad.

It is clear that if the local residents do not go to work abroad,
the social situation in the two Armenian-populated regions will worsen
sharply. This is the problem which may not be settled by the Georgian
authorities at present by providing jobs to the people.

[Correspondent] The first rally was followed by the second one. Can one
say that this was the result of the Georgian authorities’ indifference?

[Markaryan] No, it was not because after the first rally, the
organizers met the Georgian interior minister. He gave clear answers
to the raised problems and said that some problems could be settled
quickly. For instance, there were some problems connected with issuing
passports and they seem to have been settled.

Incidentally, the second rally did not have specific slogans. Its
organizers said that the authorities had promised to settle the
problems raised by them but they simply did not trust them.

[Passage omitted: on schools in Javakheti]

[Correspondent] What role may Armenia play in defusing the situation
in Javakhk?

[Markaryan] These rallies are not anti-state demonstrations of
ethnic Armenians in Georgia, their main problem is the social and
economic situation. Undoubtedly, Armenia should continue working
together with Georgia to resolve the existing problems. Armenia has
moral obligations regarding ethnic Armenians living in Georgia and,
in particular, in Javakhk. Simply, we have to act jointly with the
Georgian side. The tension will not be relieved if we just say:
Stop worsening the situation.

AKHTAMAR SURB KHACH CHURCH TO BE RENOVATED
By Hakob Chakrian

Azg/arm
7 April 05

Turkish Radikal newspaper informed in its April 5 issue that Akhtamar
Surb Khach Church is being renovated. Nijazi Taneler, governor
of Van, said about this, emphasizing that the Turkish Tourism
and Culture Ministry allocated 2,4 million Turkish liras for this
aim. Considering this step as an important one against the statements
about the Armenian Genocide, Radikal wrote that this church built
“in 915-921, in the reign of the Armenian king Gagik the 1st” is one
the verge of annihilation.

90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN JEWISH UNIVERSITY
By Hakob Tsulikian

Azg/arm
7 April 05

The Armenian Mirror Spectator weekly informed that on May 2, the
Center for the Armenian Studies at the Jerusalem University is going to
commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Professor
Israel Charni, executive director of Jerusalem Genocide Museum, will
be the main speaker of the day. Tsolak Momchian, consul of the Republic
of Armenia, Torgom Manukian, Armenian Archbishop of Jerusalem, as well
as professor Michael Stone, head of the Center for Armenian Studies,
will be present at the arrangement.

The NKR foreign minister upbeat on international recognition of Karabakh

Nagornyy Karabakh Foreign Ministry, Stepanakert
6 Apr 05

Excerpt from press release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic on 6 April headlined “The NKR foreign
minister: Nagornyy Karabakh will obtain international recognition of
its independence”

6 April 2005

Delivering a speech at the 29-30 March hearings on “The problem of
Nagornyy Karabakh. The ways of settlement” at the Armenian parliament,
the NKR [Nagornyy Karabakh Republic] foreign minister [Arman Melikyan]
stated the NKR’s intention to consecutively obtain its international
recognition.

The minister stressed the impeccability of the legal basis and the
procedure of declaring the NKR independence, on the basis of which
Stepanakert was constructing its foreign policy. At the same time,
Arman Melikyan noted that the NKR leadership deferred the goal of
achieving international recognition of the NKR for the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict settlement. “The goal of the settlement comes from
the one of liquidation of the consequences of the war unleashed by
Azerbaijan, and cannot follow the goal of achieving international
recognition of the NKR. We conduct this process separately and we
intend to lead it to its logic end,” he noted. According to the
NKR foreign minister, the Karabakh leadership found the necessary
prerequisites for international recognition of the NKR and aspired
to create them in its practical policy for achieving the aim.

Speaking on the current situation in the negotiation process on the
Karabakh settlement, Arman Melikyan noted the presence of the elements
in it causing Stepanakert’s definite anxiety. Nagornyy Karabakh was
actually ousted of the frames of the negotiation process in the period
of the so-called Paris process, when, as it was confirmed, the parties
were very close to the mutual understanding and compromises. However,
via the denial of the compromise variant, the Azerbaijani party tried
to present Armenia as an aggressor and has conducted this policy up
to this day. “It causes our anxiety. We think it necessary to take
effective steps to overcome the Azerbaijani policy consequences which
become more noticeable,” Melikyan said.

At the same time, the NKR foreign minister stated that he could not
affirm that the situation developed negatively for international
recognition of the NKR. “There are changes that can actually lead
to international recognition of the NKR in future and we will try to
quicken this process,” Melikyan said. In this connection, he noted that
on 29 March at the session of the NKR government a package of draft
laws had been discussed which were aimed at organizing the activity
in the foreign policy sphere. This package includes also draft laws on
the NKR joining two international conventions on diplomatic relations
and on consular relations.

[Passage omitted: details of documents]

He considered necessary to recall one more important factor
which “being fundamental, for some reason is withdrawn from the
negotiations process”. The issue regards the Armenians who once lived
in Azerbaijan. When the talk touches upon refugees, as a rule, they
usually mean Azerbaijani displaced from Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh
to Azerbaijan, and partly – the Armenians who escaped from the NKR
Shaumyan , Mardakert Districts and other Karabakh territories,
which are fully or partly occupied by Azerbaijan. “We constantly
forget about a great number of people, who found themselves out of
the process and whose interests are not protected by anybody at the
international stage. The NKR authorities consider it their duty,”
the head of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed.

Trying to follow these people’s destiny, the Karabakh leadership held
a monitoring in one of the regions of Russia, where many Armenians
lived. According to the data received, about 45,000 Armenians
from Azerbaijan have found refuge in that Russian region since the
beginning of the Karabakh events. Almost half of them got Russian
citizenship. A small part of them about 1,000-1,500 people – became
citizens of Armenia. The rest have no citizenship yet.

Melikyan noted that such was the situation only in one region of
Russia. He pointed out the necessity of consecutive dealing with
this problem, like Azerbaijan did, and the ability to present
the interests of the Armenian refugees at the international stage
including the restoration of the material and other losses suffered
by them. “It is a very important goal at the resolution of which the
law on citizenship worked out in the NKR is directed. It is almost
ready. After the experts’ examination, in the nearest 10-15 days,
the draft law will be discussed,” Melikyan said.

Melikyan called the development of democracy and democratic
institutions in the republic the most important part of the NKR
policy. The minister called the upcoming June elections to the
NKR National Assembly a regular test on this way. “We expect that
representatives of political forces of Armenia will attend the
elections as observers. Observers from other states will also be
invited but Armenia’s attitude to this event is very important for us”,
the head of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The minister pointed out also the necessity of taking into
consideration the international situation and the development of world
processes. Melikyan said that various international organizations
with the ulterior motive observed the development of the events
around Nagornyy Karabakh and tried to affect them proceeding mainly
from good intentions, though sometimes negative influence also took
place. “But that is not the point. We must clearly realize that
we are not alone in the world, and be able to correlate our steps
with serious international interests which become apparent today in
serious changes in the world. It is both the expansion of Europe and
the idea of Greater Middle East, as well as the processes taking place
in more remote regions. If we cannot correlate the processes taking
place in our country, with the ones which have global international
implication, we can face quite serious difficulties,” Melikyan said.

Answering the questions of the participants in the hearings, Melikyan
said that the recently exaggerated idea of conducting a referendum
in Nagornyy Karabakh was regarded in the NKR as recognition of
the Nagornyy Karabakh people’s decisive voice in the issue of
its self-determination. At the same time, the minister stressed
the necessity of concrete defining the region of conducting the
referendum and Azerbaijan’s readiness to admit its results. Only if
these issues found their answers, it would be possible to talk about
the prerequisites for conducting a referendum, he said.

Answering the question on the current border between Nagornyy Karabakh
and Azerbaijan, Arman Melikyan said that the actual border of the
NKR and Azerbaijan passed along the contact line of the NKR and the
Azerbaijani armed forces.

The minister noted that the regions of Nagornyy Karabakh Shaumyan,
Shankhor , Xanlar etc, which were occupied by Azerbaijan, were actively
settled, and according to the present data, not only by refugees
from the territories which had passed under the control of Nagornyy
Karabakh in the course of the war, but also other Azerbaijanis. At
the same time, Arman Melikyan expressed his dissatisfaction with the
process of settling by the Armenians the territories controlled by
the Karabakh party. “There are definite omissions in this process”,
Melikyan said.

SERGE SARGSIAN: ASPIRED TO INTEGRATE INTO EUROPEAN FAMILY ARMENIA
SHOULD CLOSELY COOPERATE WITH NATO

06.04.2005 08:41

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Purposing the objective to integrate into the
European family Armenia must have close ties with NATO, Secretary
of the Security Council under the RA President, Armenian Defense
Minister Serge Sargsian stated during the joint press conference
with Lithuanian Minister of National Defense Gediminas Kirkilas. “Of
course, we will strengthen relations with NATO, however it should not
damage the relations within the CSTO as well as the Armenian-Russian
relationships”, the RA Defense Minister noted. He added that Armenia
does not discussed the start of military-technical cooperation
either with NATO or separate member-states, the reason being the
member-states’ disinterest in this cooperation. “As it is known our
military equipment is produced either in Russia or in the Soviet
Union. To replace the acting structure would be incorrect both from
economic and political viewpoint”, he noted. In his turn Gediminas
Kirkilas said that Lithuania welcomes the development of Armenia-NATO
relations and Armenia’s decision to participate in peacekeeping
operations in Iraq. “Lithuania will assist Armenia to integrate into
European structures, however the final decision should be made by
the people and government of the republic”, the Lithuanian Minister
of National Defense stated.

Pravda Ru

Putin and Lukashenko certain CIS must exist

04/06/2005 11:48

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko believes there are no
problems in the relations with Russia

Negotiations between the presidents of Russia and Belarus took place
in the resort city of Sochi on April 4, 2005. Vladimir Putin and
Alexander Lukashenko’s meetings cannot be referred to as “frequent”
in spite of the fact that Russia and Belarus comprise the Unified
State. The previous meeting took place during the work of the CIS
Summit in October of 2004. The political life of the Commonwealth
of Independent States has experienced considerable changes over the
recent six months. The revolutions in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan have
cast doubts on further existence of the Commonwealth. Lukashenko and
Putin did have a lot of subjects for discussion.

Vladimir Putin stated in the beginning of the meeting that they could
discuss the suggestion from the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan
Nazarbayev, who suggested cutting the administrative personnel of
the Commonwealth, abolishing some of its departments and setting up
the CIS Security Council. The problem of reforming the Commonwealth
of Independent States will most likely be given more attention in
the near future, taking into consideration a not-very-CIS-friendly
attitude of Ukraine and Georgia.

There is no clarity on the issue of joint currency for the
time being. When Vladimir Putin visited Armenia at the end of
March, he stated that the CIS did not have a goal of the economic
integration. The Commonwealth was established to make the break-up of
the USSR happen in a civilized way. The Russian president believes,
however, that one should not give up the Commonwealth as a bad job,
for it is still a perfect organization to exchange opinions between
administrations of its members. “We came to conclusion that the CIS
must exist. If it cannot solve principal issues, it must exist as
an agency for top talks,” Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko
stated at the conference with Putin.

The joint economic space, which incorporates Russia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan and Ukraine, serves the purpose of the economic integration
between the countries of the former USSR. Putin and Lukashenko believe
that Russia and Belarus do not have any outstanding problems of the
economic cooperation. “There are no big problems on the matter,
and I can’t distinguish small ones either,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

However, Russia and Belarus do not have a common approach to the
question of the joint currency. The currency of the Unified State
was originally planned to be introduced in the very beginning of the
current year. The date was pushed back for a year, till January 2006,
according to the request from the Belarussian government. The joint
currency issue is the key aspect of further development of cooperation
between Russia and Belarus, RIA Novosti quoted an anonymous source
in the Kremlin. In addition, the two countries have not achieved
an agreement regarding the establishment of the joint gas-transport
enterprise.

There are definitely a lot of problems that Russia and Belarus have to
deal with. However, if Russia’s relations with Belarus are compared
to the ones with Georgia, the state of things in the Unified State
seems to be almost perfect indeed. Alexander Lukashenko is known for
his harsh and resolute statements, especially when it goes about
gas prices, but he definitely can’t match his Georgian colleague,
Mikhail Saakashvili.

As far as the series of political crises in the Commonwealth is
concerned, one should say that Vladimir Putin’s meetings with his CIS
colleagues will inevitably be viewed from the angle of a possible
revolution in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, etc, and
Russia’s actions in response.

According to the results of the meeting between Lukashenko and Putin,
the Russian administration intends to give the first priority to the
development of economic links. However, it would not be correct for
the two presidents to talk about the economic part of the relations
between Russia and Belarus. Politics is the continuation of economics,
whereas economics is the ground of politics.

Vasily Bubnov

ARMENIA’S CHESS TEAM RANKED THIRD BY FIDE

Armenpress

YEREVAN, APRIL 4, ARMENPRESS: According to FIDE 2005, April 1 rating
list, five Armenian chess players are among the world’s top 100
players. They are Vladimir Hakobian, Levon Aronian, Smbat Lputian,
Rafael Vahanian and Gabriel Sarkisian.

Armenia’s top ranked player, Vladimir Hakobian, is the seventieth
top player with more 2,700. He is a 3-time former world champion –
u/16, u/18 and u/20. Levon Aronian is in the 21-st position with 2,693.

Armenia’s national team has moved from the sixth position last year
to the third coming after Russia and Ukraine.

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Article Published: Sunday, April 03, 2005 – 12:00:00 AM PST

Democracy in action

Glendale shows L.A. how it’s done

For residents of Los Angeles, it’s easy to despair about the state of our
democracy. Few of our voters bother to turn out to the polls. Prominent
politicians go unchallenged in municipal elections. Deep-pocketed special
interests determine who runs and, by extension, who wins.
But there are real signs of democracy in action right next door in Glendale,
which is holding city elections this Tuesday.

On the Glendale ballot there are more than 40 candidates seeking eight
offices. That’s as many candidates as ran for more than twice as many
offices in Los Angeles’ March mayoral primary.

In four Glendale City Council races, there are a whopping 19 candidates.
Compare that with the 17 candidates who ran for eight council seats in L.A.
Three L.A. City Council incumbents – Alex Padilla, Eric Garcetti and Janice
Hahn – actually went unopposed.

In Glendale, nine candidates are seeking three spots on the school board. In
L.A., the three school board races all featured incumbents who faced no
opposition whatsoever, as did City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. In Glendale,
nine candidates are running for city clerk.

Why the enormous discrepancy?

In part, it’s Glendale’s strong immigrant communities. This year’s ballot
includes candidates from Cuba, Iran, England, the Philippines, Lebanon,
Germany, Armenia, Nicaragua and Hong Kong. Foreign-born Americans tend to
appreciate the openness of this country’s political institutions far more
than native-born citizens who have come to take it for granted.

Another part of the explanation is the institutions themselves.

In Los Angeles, where council districts are enormous and the city is larger
than several states, seeking municipal office is untenable to anyone without
vast resources. And because political favors and lucrative deals are readily
sold in City Hall, unions, developers and other special interests gladly
bankroll the campaigns of the well-connected. The result is that
citizen-populists are forced to run pointless gadfly campaigns, or, as is
more often the case, sit out the process altogether.

No wonder voters feel disenfranchised and cynical.

Yet in watching Glendale’s democracy thrive, we can get an idea of how to
make democracy work in L.A., starting with devolving power down to the most
local level and ending the corrupt system of “pay-to-play” politics.

Voters in L.A. ought to learn from Glendale’s experience and follow their
neighbor’s example.