Author: Karapetian Hovik

Construction of Armenian sector of gas pipeline with Iran to begin by late October

Interfax
Sept 10 2004

Yerevan. (Interfax) – The construction of the Armenian section of its
gas pipeline with Iran is expected to begin by the end of October,
Armenian Ambassador to Iran Geram Garibdzhanian told Interfax.

A contract envisioning an Iranian credit for building the gas
pipeline’s Armenian sector and a treaty on construction works at
this sector by Iran’s Sanir company are only the first steps in
Iran’s assistance to Armenia in this project, the ambassador said,
declining to provide further details.

Three Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental documents were signed during
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s official visit to Yerevan on
Wednesday. They include a memorandum on mutual understanding and
cooperation between the Energy Ministries of Armenia and Iran, an
agreement on a $30 million credit to be issued by Export Development
Bank of Iran to the Armenian Energy Ministry and a treaty making the
Iranian Sanir company subcontractor of the project aimed at building
the Armenian section of the gas pipeline.

ARKA News Agency
Sept 8 2004

Visit of Iranian President in Armenia will be fruitful in the view of
development of bilateral relations – RA NA Speaker

Mankind must give adequate evaluation to all manifestations of
terrorism, Robert Kocharian

Joining of international efforts necessary for fight against
terrorism – Iranian President

Armenian and Iranian President favor peaceful settlement of Karabakh
conflict

Presentation of Armenian culture portal takes place in
Yerevan

Robert Kocharian: sure that realization of Armenian-Iranian energy
projects to obtain regions importance

Dutch Hummel Company to become a sponsor of Armenian national
football teams

Armenian PM receives Head of Mission of IMF in Armenia

Today Armenian and Iranian Presidents sign agreement on fundamentals
and principles of cooperation

RA Prime Minister and President of Iran to discuss issues of economic
and political cooperation

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VISIT OF IRANIAN PRESIDENT IN ARMENIA WILL BE FRUITFUL IN THE VIEW OF
DEVELOPMENT OF BILATERAL RELATIONS – RA NA SPEAKER

YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. Visit of Iranian President Mohammad
Hatami in Armenia will be fruitful in the view of development of
bilateral relations, RA NA Speaker Arthur Baghdasarian stated today
after the speech of Iranian President in Armenian Parliament.
According to the visit of Hatami will give new stimulus to bilateral
relations. L.D. –0—

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MANKIND MUST GIVE ADEQUATE EVALUATION TO ALL MANIFESTATIONS OF
TERRORISM, ROBERT KOCHARIAN

YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. The mankind must give adequate
evaluation to all manifestations of terrorism, as the Armenian
President Robert Kocharian stated on briefing held today in Yerevan.
The Head of the Armenian State also mentioned that “terrorism becomes
harsher and more brutal”. In his words, for the first time their
attacks were targeted at children that just became an instrument in
the hands of the terrorists. “One should not bear such crimes, it is
understandable that there are people that are ready to sacrifice
themselves for some purposes. But it is interesting whether they will
be ready to sacrifice their families and kids for the same purposes.
“I do not think, that they will be ready and if they are, it means
they are no more human beings.”, Kocharian stated. T.M. –0–

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JOINING OF INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS NECESSARY FOR FIGHT AGAINST
TERRORISM – IRANIAN PRESIDENT

YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. Joining of international efforts
necessary for fight against terrorism, the President of Iran Mohammad
Hatami stated today at the briefing in Yerevan, commenting terrorist
act in Beslan. According to him, “many terrorists try to commit a
terror act under cover of religion, which creates dangerous situation
and discredits the religion that promotes peace”. He said that it is
necessary to find and extirpate the very roots of terrorism. L.D.
–0–

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ARMENIAN AND IRANIAN PRESIDENT FAVOR PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH
CONFLICT

YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. Armenia President Robert Kocharian and
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami favor peaceful settlement of the
Karabakh conflict. As the Armenian President Press Service told ARKA
today, this was mentioned in joint statement of the heads of two
states. The sides highly appreciating direct negotiations of Armenian
and Azerbaijani Presidents at the same time expressed a hope that
they will promote prompt and final settlement of the issue that would
consider the current realties and to provide long-term and honorable
peace in the region. The Presidents mentioned that through deepening
and approaching of region’s countries’ interests it would be possible
to create favorable atmosphere for solution of existing conflicts on
Caucasus.
The sides also stressed the importance of continuation of contacts
among state servicemen of two countries around international and
regional issues. They also stressed the importance of UN and other
international structures in strengthening peace and security. T.M.
–0–
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PRESENTATION OF ARMENIAN CULTURE PORTAL TAKES PLACE IN
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. Presentation of Armenian culture portal
took place in Yerevan. According to the Chairman of
Association of Film Journalists and Critics Susanna Harutyunian, the
site is created on the base of Internet page of Arvest magazine.
“During two years of life of this page, we understood that Internet
has a lot of opportunities”, she said. According to Harutyunian today
the site contains news of culture, articles, schedules of seminars
and exhibitions, data base of culture organizations of Armenia, legal
articles and Government’s decisions in given field and forum. “We
hope that soon the number of visitors of our site will grow”, she
said.
The site was created on the initiative of the
Association in assistance with Open Society Institute Armenian
branch. L.D. –0—

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ROBERT KOCHARIAN: SURE THAT REALIZATION OF ARMENIAN-IRANIAN ENERGY
PROJECTS TO OBTAIN REGIONS IMPORTANCE

YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharian is
confident that realization of Armenian-Iranian energy projects will
obtain regions importance, he stated this at the briefing in Yerevan.
According to him, energy is one of the most important spheres of
bilateral cooperation of Armenia with Iran. “In given sphere we
already accumulated certain experience on the base of which we can
develop steps on cooperation of infrastructures in the sphere”,
Kocharian said.
Today the Presidents of Iran and Armenia Mohammad Hatami and Robert
Kocharian signed the agreement on basis and principles of
cooperation.
Iranian delegation headed with the President arrived today in
Yerevan. It is the first visit of Iranian President in Armenia. L.D.
–0—

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DUTCH HUMMEL COMPANY TO BECOME A SPONSOR OF ARMENIAN NATIONAL
FOOTBALL TEAMS

YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. Dutch Hummel Company will become a
sponsor of Armenian national football teams. According to the
President of Armenian Football Federation Ruben Airapetian, the
four-year agreement is signed with the company. He said that Hummel
will sponsor following Armenian football teams – women’s under 17
years, under 19 years, under 21 years and national team. He added
that the agreement was achieved “after long-lasting negotiations with
largest world companies” and the choice was determined with high
quality of company’s products and rich history of the company.
Airapetian called the agreement with Hummel “very successful” and
noted that AFF will do everything for creation of representation of
Hummel in Armenia. Besides, AFF will deal with advertising of the
company. Besides Hummel the sponsors of Armenian National Football
team are Zvartnots Airport, Tramondi Company, SIL-group. At this
Airapetian did not tell concrete sums of sponsor agreements.
The President of Hummel Soren Schriver in his turn added that the
company was founded in 1923 and is the oldest firm to issue sports
wear in the world. He said that sport is actively developing in
Armenia. He said that Hummel cooperates with such teams as Roma,
Benthic, Aston Villa and was a sponsor of Dutch National football
team for 25 years, as well as sponsored Dutch Olympic team. L.D. –0—

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ARMENIAN PM RECEIVES HEAD OF MISSION OF IMF IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. The Armenian PM Andranik Margarian
received today the Head of Mission of IMF Enrique Gelbart and the
Permanent Representative of IMF in Armenia James McHugh. As the
Armenian Government Public and Press Relations Department told ARKA,
the Head of IMF assessed almost 10-year old cooperation of the
foundation with Armenian Government as quite productive, mentioning
that the purpose of the regular visit is continuation of the dialogue
and discussion a number of financial-economic issues of interest with
the executive power. The representatives of the IMF mentioned the
necessity of promotion of entrepreneurship, particularly small and
medium-sized business, relations between relevant state structures
and increasing of exchanged information. At that the PM presented his
approaches and relevant steps undertaken in this direction as well as
the existing problems. He also expressed a hope that “due to
discussions and active cooperation it would be possible to find
efficient solutions of these and other problems”. T.M. –0–

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TODAY ARMENIAN AND IRANIAN PRESIDENTS SIGN AGREEMENT ON FUNDAMENTALS
AND PRINCIPLES OF COOPERATION

YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. Today Armenian President Robert
Kocharian and Iranian President Mohammad Khatami signed agreement on
fundamentals and principles of cooperation. Also, delegations of two
countries signed memorandum on mutual understanding around the 5th
joint sitting of interstate commissions on Armenian-Iranian
relations, agreement on cultural cooperation between two countries
for the years 2004-2007. Also the sides signed memorandum between
Customs Committee at the Armenian Government and Customs Service of
Iran on administrative cooperation in issues related to customs
activity.
Iranian delegation headed by President Mohammad Khatami arrived today
in Yerevan. This is the first visit of the Iranian President to
Armenia.
Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Iran were established on Feb
9 1992. The Iranian Embassy in Armenia was officially inaugurated on
28 April 1992 and on 22 December 1992 Armenia opened its Embassy in
Iran. President of Armenia Robert Kocharian visited Iran with
official visit in December 2001. Economic relations play considerable
role in bilateral relations and energy sector and transport are
considered priorities here. The Armenian community of Iran is among
the largest national minorities in the country. The history of the
Armenian community of Iran traces back 400 years and the number of
Armenians is more than 200 thou. Islamic Republic of Iran allocated
two seats in Iranian Parliament.
As per statistics of provide by the Armenian National Statistical
Service the foreign turnover of Armenia and ran in Jan-Jul 2004 made
USD 52713.2 thou. (export USD 18030.8 thou., import – USD 3468.4
thou. versus USD 45746.8 thou. in the same period of 2003 (export USD
10418.3 thou., import – USD 35328.5 thou.). (I USD – AMD 515.85).
T.M. –0–

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RA PRIME MINISTER AND PRESIDENT OF IRAN TO DISCUSS ISSUES OF ECONOMIC
AND POLITICAL COOPERATION

YEREVAN, September, 8. /ARKA/. The RA Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan and the President of Iran Seyed Mohammad Khatami will
discuss issues of bilateral economic and political cooperation today.
According to the Press Service and Public Relations Department of RA
Government, the sides will also discuss certain projects recently
implemented thanks to joint efforts of the two sides. Besides, the
Head of RA Government and the Iranian President will consider the
expansion of trade and economic relations and implementation of
regional projects.
Seyed Mohammad Khatami, the President of Iran arrived today in
Armenia for a two-day visit. L.V.—0–

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Russian mobile telecom firms target CIS for growth
By Julie Tolkacheva

MOSCOW, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Russia’s top mobile phone firms, fearing
a domestic boom may slow, are looking to grow in other former Soviet
states to add new high-margin business, analysts said on Wednesday.

Analysts and firms believe 2005 will be the last year of strong market
growth in Russia when mobile operators can add 2 to 3 million new
subscribers a month.

Russia’s mobile penetration has almost doubled over the past 12
months to 38 percent, according to the AC&M market research group,
meaning growth rates must slow as the market matures.

Market leader Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) said recently that 30 percent
of Russians will never own mobile phones as they are too poor or live
in such remote areas that operators would lose money by serving them.

Last month Russia’s No.2 operator, Vimpelcom, bought a mobile firm
in neighbouring Kazakhstan and said it was in acquisition talks with
firms in all countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

In July, MTS bought an Uzbek mobile phone firm, adding to its existing
operations in Ukraine and Belarus.

“I will be very much surprised if in a year or two Russian companies
do not cover most of the CIS,” said Alfa Bank telecoms analyst Andrei
Bogdanov.

GOOD MARGINS

Russia is the biggest and wealthiest of the CIS states with a
population of 140 million. Kazakhstan is the CIS’s second wealthiest
state, where gross domestic product per capita is the same as in
Russia. But its population is just 15 million.

Neighbouring Uzbekistan has 26 million and economic reforms there have
been shaky. Ukraine’s economy is now on the rise but its population is
about 48 million while Belarus is one of the CIS’s poorest countries
with a population of 10 million.

But analysts said small economies and population would not discourage
mobile operators.

“In absolute terms these markets will never be comparable with Russia
because their size is smaller. They will never see such penetration
levels as developed states, or even Russia,” said an analyst with a
Western bank.

“But they require little investment, low advertising costs, small
dealers’ commissions, and subscriber acquisition costs are low.”

WIDE MARGINS

MTS reported that its EBITDA margin, a key figure showing a company’s
efficiency, was 57 percent both in Russia and Ukraine in the second
quarter of this
year.

The purchase by Vimpelcom, majority owned by Alfa Group, of KaR-Tel
in Kazakhstan was its first acquisition outside Russia.

“I would note Ukraine as Vimpelcom’s next potential acquisition
target. And there is Belarus,” said Olga Zhilinskaya, a Renaissance
Capital analyst.

Belarus is now holding a tender for a third mobile phone service
licence and a Belarus government official has said Alfa Group planned
to participate.

The Western bank analyst said mobile firms would primarily look at
states with low penetration: “Penetration shows growth potential,
which is the key criterion for such fast-growing companies as MTS
or Vimpelcom.”

According to data from UFG investment bank, CIS states with the lowest
penetration levels are in Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in
Central Asia and Armenia in the Causasus.

Analysts said that Russia’s third biggest mobile firm, MegaFon, was
unlikely to join the expansion rush as a row between its shareholders
deprived it of credit.

Bogdanov said foreign firms were unlikely to oppose Russian expansion
in the CIS as foreigners would be reluctant to match high acquisition
price levels established by Vimpelcom and MTS.

“For Russians it is natural exposure,” he said. “For international
firms CIS markets are not such a priority.”

09/08/04 02:54 ET

Deputy minister “not happy” about sending Armenian troops to Iraq

Mediamax news agency
8 Sep 04

Yerevan, 8 September: Armenian Deputy Defence Minister Lt-Gen Yuriy
Khachaturov has said that “he was not happy about the idea of sending
Armenian military experts to Iraq”. The general stressed that it was
his “personal opinion”.

Khachaturov did not rule out the possibility that the National Assembly
may yet rescind the agreement to send Armenian military doctors,
drivers and sappers to Iraq as part of the Polish division there.

Khachaturov said that if the mission goes ahead, “both the Armenian
servicemen and Iraq’s Armenian community may face problems”.

POLISH-ARMENIAN TALKS END WITH SIGNING FOUR DOCUMENTS

ArmenPress
Sept 7 2004

WARSAW, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS: Armenian-Polish negotiations
in Warsaw were wrapped up on Monday by sealing four documents
encompassing military defense, crackdown on organized crime and
economic cooperation. Speaking to a joint news conference the visiting
Armenian president Robert Kocharian and his Polish opposite number
Alexander Kwasniewski reconfirmed the two countries’ readiness to
enlarge bilateral cooperation.

Kwasniewski said political relations between the two nations were
on excellent level and what remained to do was to boost trade and
economic contacts, which he said were lagging behind.

According to Kocharian, both nations’ trade regimes, possibilities
for reciprocal investments are the available prerequisites for Polish
and Armenian businessmen to activate ties.

Kwasniewski also said his government was prepared to help regulate
the conflict over Nagorno Karabagh in a peaceful way.

The two presidents also discussed the situation in the North Caucasus
and particularly in North Ossetian Beslan, emphasizing the need for
combined efforts to fight terrorism.

Saying they both were satisfied with the outcome of their negotiations,
the presidents expressed hope that the signed documents would give
a new push to bilateral relations. Kocharian invited Kwasniewski to
visit Armenia, which was accepted.

Le Monde, France
07 septembre 2004

Les oubliés de l’or noir de la Caspienne ;

En Azerbaïdjan, la population ne tire pas encore profit de la manne
pétrolière

par Cécile Bontron

BAKOU de notre envoyée spéciale

La flambée des cours du pétrole, en incitant les pays riches à
rechercher de nouveaux fournisseurs d’or noir, a permis à un petit
pays comme l’Azerbaïdjan d’émerger sur la scène pétrolière
internationale. Mais les espoirs de cette république caucasienne,
présentée à l’époque de la chute de l’URSS comme un nouveau Koweït,
doivent être revus à la baisse. Surtout pour ses habitants, qui
pensaient voir la « manne pétrolière » changer leur vie.

Certes, le pays produit aujourd’hui plus de 300 000 barils/jour, et 1
million sont prévus pour 2008 ; ses réserves prouvées sont estimées
entre 7 et 13 milliards de barils (contre 560 millions au Soudan et
115 milliards en Irak), selon le département américain de l’énergie.
En 2005, les puits les plus prometteurs, appartenant au champ
pétrolifère Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli, vont commencer à produire, à temps
pour profiter du contexte international.

A NZS, quartier de Bakou, la capitale, les habitants connaissent bien
l’or noir. Leurs petites maisons de tôle ou de briques, agglutinées
anarchiquement les unes contre les autres, sont encadrées par les
deux tours de la seule raffinerie du pays. Ils ont observé le
redémarrage de l’activité pétrolière, et l’enrichissement du pays
depuis sept ans.

Mais à NZS, la pauvreté s’est accrue depuis plusieurs mois, depuis
que le vol de pétrole, pratiqué par les deux tiers du quartier, est
sévèrement réprimé. Aujourd’hui, on estime que 49 % des Azéris vivent
en dessous du seuil de pauvreté, et 17 % dans une pauvreté extrême.
Le chômage ne dépasse pas les 13 %, mais les rémunérations sont
faibles : le salaire moyen atteint à peine 70 dollars par mois.

Le « contrat du siècle », signé en 1994 entre l’Etat azerbaïdjanais
et un consortium de compagnies pétrolières dont British Petroleum
(BP), devait inverser le cours des choses. Mais dix ans plus tard,
personne, au café de la minorité talish (Iraniens d’Azerbaïdjan) de
NZS, n’a rien vu venir. « Vous savez où est parti cet argent ?
s’énerve le vieux Ingilab sur sa chaise. Moi non ! ». Devant son thé,
seule boisson disponible dans l’humble établissement, Aya, son voisin
de table, répond, cinglant : « Comment crois-tu qu’ils ont construit
toutes ces belles maisons sur les hauteurs de Bakou ? ». La
corruption ne sera évoquée qu’à demi-mot, même si personne n’ignore
ce fléau. L’une des nièces d’Aya vient de refuser un poste
d’enseignante : on lui demandait 400 dollars pour l’obtenir, alors
que le salaire mensuel n’excède pas 50 dollars. Les Azéris paient des
dessous-de-table pour tout service rendu, de la consultation médicale
à la réparation électrique, en passant par la bonne note scolaire.
Une pratique établie sous le régime soviétique, qui n’a fait
qu’empirer.

L’autre grande plaie du pays, qui le place parmi les quinze plus
corrompus au monde, selon l’ONG Transparency International, qui lutte
contre la corruption, est la pratique massive des détournements de
fonds. Le Comité de protection des droits des travailleurs de
l’industrie pétrolière (CAOIWRP) estime que ces détournements
s’élèvent à 50 ou 60 millions de dollars par an dans la seule
industrie pétrolière.

Mais la corruption n’explique pas toute la déception causée par le «
contrat du siècle » à NZS. Depuis 1994, aucun nouveau gisement n’a
été découvert. Le pays va bien connaître un boom pétrolier, mais sa
production s’apparentera plus à celle de la Norvège qu’à celle du
Koweït. Mais si le royaume nordique a su investir ses revenus pour
développer les autres secteurs de son économie, l’Azerbaïdjan a
négligé les activités non pétrolières, un syndrome que les
spécialistes appellent le « dutch disease » (« la maladie hollandaise
», observée aux Pays-Bas à la suite de la découverte des gisements de
gaz naturel). L’or noir dépasse déjà les 27 % du produit intérieur
brut (PIB) et les économistes prévoient que sa part atteindra les 75
% en 2010, au maximum de la production.

Cette dépendance au pétrole peut s’avérer dangereuse pour le pays,
car non seulement ses revenus sont indexés sur la fluctuation du prix
du baril, mais encore l’industrie pétrolière est peu demandeuse de
main-d’oeuvre. Entre 1995 et 2000, alors que celle-ci fournissait 9
000 emplois supplémentaires en Azerbaïdjan, le secteur non pétrolier
en perdait 110 000. L’économie ne s’est pas relevée de la
désorganisation, de la perte des infrastructures et de
l’hyperinflation du début des années 1990. Un exemple : la production
de textile de 2001 équivalait à 2,2 % de celle de 1990 !

L’Etat a bien promis d’utiliser les revenus du pétrole, accumulés
dans le Sofaz (State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaïdjan), pour
aider la population réfugiée (environ 10 % des Azéris, victimes de la
guerre avec l’Arménie) et relancer le secteur non pétrolier. Mais si
des maisons ont été bâties, l’argent débloqué par le Sofaz a d’abord
servi au BTC (Bakou-Tbilissi-Ceyhan), l’oléoduc qui doit rejoindre la
Turquie en passant par la Géorgie pour éviter la Russie. Il entrera
en fonction en 2005, et devrait à terme transporter un million de
barils/jour.

Aya, l’ancien chauffeur vivotant aujourd’hui avec 1,5 euro à 3,5
euros par jour selon les aléas de son commerce improvisé, n’a aucune
rancoeur pour ces étrangers qui prennent le pétrole azéri. « S’ils en
ont besoin, et qu’ils le paient… », dit-il, gardant toujours
l’espoir que l’or noir l’arrachera un jour à sa misère.

Armenian speaker calls for expanding relations with Iran

IRNA, Iran
Sept 2 2004

Moscow, Sept 2, IRNA — Armenian National Assembly Chairman Arthur
Baqdasaryan on Thursday called for further expansion of mutual
cooperation between his country and Iran in various areas.

In a meeting with Iran`s Ambassador to Yerevan, Ali-Reza Haqiqiyan,
Baqdasaryan said the forthcoming visit by Iran`s President

Mohammad Khatami to Armenia is considered as a significant factor to
promote bilateral ties.

He also attached significance to Iran-Armenia mutual cooperation,
parliamentary relations and further communication between parliamentary
friendship groups of the two countries.

The Iranian diplomat, for his part, attached significance to
Khatami`s visit to Yerevan and parliamentary cooperation between the
two countries.

“The Republic of Armenia enjoys special status in Iranian foreign
policy. Tehran calls for strengthening stability and security and
economy of Armenia, said Haqiqiyan.

President Mohammad Khatami is scheduled to pay an official visit to
the Republic of Armenia in near future.

Azerbaijani President: Nagorno-Karabakh Talks Should Continue VOA News

Voice of America, DC
Sept 2 2004

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev says he believes negotiations on
settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should continue. He told
reporters Thursday if he ever determines that negotiations on the
conflict are ineffective, Azerbaijan will withdraw.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan that
declared independence in 1988. A six-year conflict over the area
claimed some 35,000 lives.

On another issue, Mr. Aliyev says Azerbaijan will not join a call by
Russia and eight other former Soviet republics for reform of Europe’s
largest security organization.

In July, the nine countries agreed to seek changes in the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe. They accused the organization
of using a double standard in criticizing the human rights situation
in some countries, while ignoring rights in others.

Armenia to take part in Baku-hosted NATO exercises – minister

Mediamax news agency
31 Aug 04

Yerevan, 31 August: The newly-appointed German ambassador to Armenia,
Heike-Renate Peitsch, asked Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan
at a meeting today about Armenian servicemen’s participation in
the Cooperative Best Effort-04 exercises which will be held in Baku
in September within the framework of NATO’s Partnership for Peace
programme.

The government press service quoted Andranik Markaryan as saying that
Armenia had announced that it wishes and is ready to take part in the
exercises but that some political forces in Azerbaijan were attempting
to hinder this. The prime minister said that reports from Azerbaijan
suggested that the Azerbaijani authorities were undertaking measures to
bring the offenders to book [presumably, reference to prison sentences
to six members of the Karabakh Liberation Organization handed down
by an Azeri court on 30 August].

“This testifies that Azerbaijan is interested in participation of the
Armenian side in the Cooperative Best Effort-04 exercises,” Andranik
Markaryan said.

noticias.info (Comunicados de prensa), Spain
Aug 27 2004

Relations between Azerbaijan and Germany looking good

Germany and Azerbaijan want to continue to expand their mutual trade
relations. This was announced by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Heydar Oglu Aleyev, in
Berlin on Wednesday.

Speaking on August 25 after his meeting with Aleyev, Schröder noted
that relations between Germany and Azerbaijan are very good, adding
that reforms in Azerbaijan have spurred economic growth.

President Aleyev’s efforts to strengthen the rule of law deserve our
respect, Schröder commented. He encouraged German industry to invest
more in Azerbaijan in view of the progress being made there.

Schröder said President Aleyev has made it clear that German
companies are highly welcome. He announced that a conference of
German and Azerbaijani companies will be held in Berlin late this
year or early next year with a view to expanding economic cooperation
between the two countries.

Schröder and Aleyev witnessed the signing of two agreements in the
Chancellery, one on avoidance of double taxation and the other for
the delivery of four Airbus passenger planes to Azerbaijan’s national
airlines, three A 319s and one A 319 Corporate Jet. The order is
worth 169 million dollars.

Schröder noted that the Airbus contract is symbolic of the closer
relations that now exist between Azerbaijan and the European Union.
Resolving the conflict with Armenia peacefully.

In reference to the Nagoro-Karabakh* conflict Schröder assured Aleyev
that Germany supports the Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. They
both stressed that the conflict needs to be resolved politically,
i.e. by peaceful means. Schröder noted that Germany is working to
help achieve a settlement of the conflict in the framework of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

*Nagoro-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan where the majority of
the population is Armenian. Azerbaijan’s declaration of independence
from the Soviet Union in 1991 was followed by outbreaks of violence
and armed conflict in this region. Armenian insurgents brought parts
of Nagoro-Karabakh and access routes to Armenia under their control.
A ceasefire has been in effect there since 1994.