Author: Khoyetsian Rose

Taipei Times
Mon, August 2, 2004

Iraqi chaos starting to breed sectarian strife

`PROMOTION OF VIRTUE’: The radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his army of
devotees have been blamed for a campaign of intimidation and violence
against Iraqi Christians

THE OBSERVER , LONDON
Monday, Aug 02, 2004,Page 7

“The al-Sadr tide is the only active tide in the country.”

Sheikh Raed al-Kadhimi, one of Moqtada al-Sadr’s aides

First came the warning: a sheet of paper stuck to the door of Na’aman
Khalil’s shop ordering him to close his off-license.

“You are corrupting the people of the Earth and you should stop,” said the
message, signed by a group calling itself the Monotheistic Movement of
Jihad.

Five days later, a parcel of and gutting the shop. Four other alcohol stores
along the same street in Baghdad’s largely Christian al-Ghadir district were
bombed that same night.

No one was injured, but the message was clear. After the bombings and a
spate of other attacks across Baghdad, most of the city’s alcohol shops
closed.

“They have achieved their aim. Whatever they wanted, they have got it,” said
Khalil, 24, who says the bombing cost him 7 million dinars in destroyed
stock. “If I open the shop again I don’t know what action they would take.
Probably they would kill me.”

There have been no arrests, but police and many Iraqis blame the attacks and
explosions on supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric.

A few days before the warning letter arrived, several of al-Sadr’s followers
met around 30 Shiite tribal leaders in the al-Hekma mosque in Sadr City, the
slum area in eastern Baghdad which forms the cleric’s powerbase.

They produced an edict in which they listed nine crimes punishable by death.
These included theft, kidnapping, robbery, spying “for the Wahabis, al-Qaeda
and Saddamists,” trafficking in women, and selling alcohol, pornographic CDs
and drugs.

The edict, it states, was drawn up because of the “critical and sorrowful
situation and lack of security and to serve the common good.” Most of the
tribal leaders who signed were from Amara, Kut and Nasiriyah, towns in
southern Iraq where a Shiite uprising in April was strongest.

“After the end of the dispute between our army and the Americans, our army
is working on stability and controlling the looters and other violent
groups,” said Sheikh Raed al-Kadhimi, one of al-Sadr’s aides in Baghdad. He
boasted of a number of checkpoints and patrols in Sadr City, and said one
had captured several hundred tonnes of stolen sugar, which he said were
returned to the government.

The movement, made up largely of young, unemployed urban men, has easily
moved into the power vacuum left by the absence of properly trained and
equipped Iraqi police and security forces.

“Neither the government nor the police are controlling the situation,” said
al-Kadhimi. “The al-Sadr tide is the only active tide in the country.”

Much of the movement’s strength is in its organization. The group has its
own religious police, the al-Amur bil Ma’arouf, or Promotion of Virtue.

They have divided Baghdad into three areas: east, west and the central
Kadhimiya area, home to the biggest Shiite shrine in the city. Each area has
its own unit. In Kadhimiya it numbers around 40; in the eastern sector,
around Sadr City, it is at least 100 according to Sayed Adnan al-Safi, an
al-Sadr official and editor of one of the movement’s newspapers.

“In Kadhimiya we have minimized and controlled places where alcohol is sold.
We have controlled the sale of immoral CDs and we have stopped fraud,” said
al-Safi. “People have begun to understand and are co-operating with us to
control the general violence. We are not issuing any punishments ourselves,
otherwise we would be considered a state within a state. We pass cases on to
the police for punishment.”

There is little doubt that the movement is about more than controlling
crime. In the past week al-Sadr’s followers have proselytized among Iraq’s
minority faiths. A group of them delivered a video of speeches by al-Sadr to
the Armenian Orthodox church in Baghdad. A priest, who asked not to be
named, said the speeches criticized the Christian faith.

“We have been living in Iraq for 100 years and have never had a problem
between Muslim and Christian,” he said.

Baghdad, 6 July 2004 (RFE/RL)

Iraq: Tiny Ethnic-Armenian Community Survived Hussein, Making It In Postwar
Times
By Valentinas Mite

The ethnic Armenian community is one of the smallest in Iraq. It is not
involved in the country’s political life and is doing its best to survive
the country’s postwar hardships. The community has learned the art of
survival and keeps a low profile amid the strife engulfing Iraq’s other
ethnic and religious groups. RFE/RL correspondent Valentinas Mite visited
with members of the ethnic Armenian community in Baghdad and filed this
report.

Baghdad, 6 July 2004 (RFE/RL) — The Armenian Apostolic Church in Baghdad’s
Al-Jadirya district is full of worshippers on a recent Friday morning. The
faithful pray to God to bring them peace and security and to give them
strength to survive these difficult times.

Nareg Ishkhanian is a pastor at the church. He tells RFE/RL that the
Armenian community in Iraq is small and spread across the country.

“We are more than 20,000 Armenians, starting from Zakhu [a town on the
border between Turkey and Iraq] to Al-Basrah. Zakhu, Mosul, Baghdad,
Al-Basrah, and Kirkuk — in each place, we have a priest. Most of the
Armenians are living in Baghdad — about 10,000 to 12,000 Armenians [are]
living in Baghdad.”
Armenians began arriving in Iraq several centuries ago from Iran, first
settling in the south and gradually moving to Baghdad.

Armenians began arriving in Iraq several centuries ago from Iran, first
settling in the south of the country and gradually moving to the capital,
Baghdad. The biggest wave came at the start of the 20th century when ethnic
Armenians fled Turkey after a massacre by Turkish soldiers in the final
years of the Ottoman Empire. Armenia claims as many as 1.5 million people
were killed, a figure that Turkey disputes.

Now, many ethnic Armenians in Iraq work as — among other professions —
merchants, doctors, engineers, goldsmiths, and photographers. The tiny
Christian community is not involved in Iraqi politics.

Says Ishkhanian: “We, as a small community, agree with everything, and we
say to everybody, ‘Salam Alaikum’ (Peace be upon you).”

He says Armenians do not suffer from sectarian problems in predominately
Muslim Iraq. However, they suffered under the regime of Saddam Hussein, as
he says all Iraqis did.

Two decades ago, Karabed Agoub Gidigain — who is in his 80s — was one of
the richest traders in Baghdad. His company imported timber, plastics, and
clothing. In 1992, after the regime ran out of money after the first Gulf
War, Gidigain says he was ordered to give all of the money he had in his
foreign accounts to the Hussein government. When he refused, he says he was
tortured and that most of his company’s assets were confiscated.

Gidigain says he is too afraid and too old now to start everything anew.

Making even one rich man poor is a blow to such a small community. However,
behind the low profile the community keeps there is a variety of activity.

Ishkhanian says the Armenians in Baghdad have four cultural and sport clubs.
But he says such activities as singing folk songs and dancing or theater
performances have temporarily stopped because of security concerns.

Other activities — such as teaching the Armenian language — have never
stopped. Ishkhanian says every Armenian in Iraq learns the native language
from early childhood.

He notes that Armenia itself offers little assistance to the Iraqi
community. The community hopes to receive aid from Yerevan, but nothing is
available at the moment.

“We had good contacts with Armenia. [Armenia] had an embassy in Baghdad, and
they left in March 2003. Until now, they are not back. And the house of the
embassy belongs to the Armenian church. We gave it [to Yerevan] free of
charge.”

Ishkhanian says it is a pity the ethnic Armenian community in Iraq does not
enjoy more support from Yerevan. He says some financial support trickles in
from Armenians living in the West — in the United States, Britain, or
Germany.

Ishkhanian says the main achievement of the ethnic Armenian community in
Iraq is that it has managed to keep its language alive and maintain strong
solidarity. He says the community never leaves its members in trouble.

Gladys Boghossian is the president of the Armenian Women’s Association for
the Relief of the Poor in Iraq, an organization that works closely with the
Armenian Apostolic Church. The association was founded in 1927.

Boghossian says the numbers of those in need in Iraq is greater now than
ever before: “Now, we have too much [work] to do because of this war. We
started to give them food and medical treatment.”

She says the association is taking care of some 300 families — almost 1,000
people. Among the benefits, Boghossian notes that every poor Armenian can
get free medicine in pharmacies serving the community.

Eglantine Simon Geloian works for the association. She says that when her
own family was in need, it received significant assistance from the
association.

“We are a very poor family,” she said. “The church has provided work for my
husband. He works in the church. Not only me — any person who asks the
church for help is given help. The church never hesitates to give help.”

On the surface, life in the ethnic Armenian community in postwar Iraq seems
fairly comfortable. However, some members of the community — speaking on
condition of anonymity — say it is only a facade that hides deep divisions.

They say some Armenians cooperated with the former regime and lost trust
among the people but remain in leading positions. Armenians in Iraq also
bitterly accuse their leaders of corruption, especially in dealing with
financial help coming from abroad.

FUND FOR ARMENIAN RELIEF IMPLEMENTS “HUMANITARIAN AID TO NAGORNO
KARABAKH” PROGRAM AT EXPENSE OF $15 MLN ALLOCATED BY USAID

YEREVAN, July 30 (Noyan Tapan). The Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR)
should implement the “Humanitarian Aid to Nagorno Karabakh” program of
large-scale construction and restoration at the expense of $15 mln
allocated by USAID starting in 2003 during five years. Levon
Lachikian, the Spokesman of FAR, told NT’s correspondent that FAR
offices have already been opened in Artsakh within the framework of
the program, and the entities, where construction work should be
carried out, are being selected and studied now. The program involves
water systems, the educational, health and other spheres.

Insurance Day
July 30, 2004

Armenian case enters final hearing

A hearing is being held today to give final approval for a $20m
settlement between New York Life Insurance and descendants of
Armenians killed almost 90 years ago in the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
The settlement relates to an estimated 2,300 policies sold by the
insurer to Armenians living in the Ottoman Empre in the late 1800s
and early 1900s.

>From April 1915 onwards, many of these policyholders were among the
1.5m slaughtered in attacks on Armenians within the empire.
California insurance commissioner John Garamendi, a leading figure in
the campaign to earn the settlement for descendants of those killed,
described the action as a “deliberate, systematic and
government-controlled genocide”. The settlement was given preliminary
approval at a hearing in January, and final approval is expected to
be given in today’s hearing.

Brian Kabateck, an attorney representing the plaintiffs and who is of
Armenian descent and lost family in the genocide, explained: “This is
the first time a court anywhere in the US or possibly the world has
formally recognised the Armenian genocide and the trauma and turmoil
that resulted.

“While this settlement is not repatriation for the genocide, as
lawyers, we can help bring recognition that further recognises the
Armenian genocide something the US and Turkey still refuse to do.”

Armenians have always maintained 1.5m people were executed by Turkish
authorities between 1915 and 1919 on accusations of helping the
invading Russian army. Although France and Russia have already
recognised the genocide, Turkey and the US have always rejected the
claims, saying Armenians were killed in civil unrest associated with
the collapse of the empire.

Mr Kabateck has said the settlement will mark a significant step in
the campaign towards getting the US to acknowledge the act as
genocide. Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry has promised to
formally recognise the Armenian genocide if he is elected.

Mr Garamendi is set to continue his prominent role in the process, as
he will be responsible for appointing a three-member settlement fund
board which will oversee the approval of claims. This board will also
be responsible for distributing £3m ($5.45m) of the settlement to
nine Armenian charitable organisations.

PanArmenian News
July 29 2004

AZERI OFFICER DISAPPEARED IN BRUSSELS

ONE KILLED, 12 WOUNDED IN CRASH IN YEREVAN

ARMENIA SUGGESTED THAT CONFLICTING PARTIES HAVE DIRECT CONTACTS
DURING OSCE MONITORING

GEORGIAN ENERGY SYSTEM TRANSFERS TO PARALLEL WORK WITH ENERGY SYSTEM
OF ARMENIA

GERMAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS DEMAND POSTPONING TALKS ON TURKEY
ACCESSION TO EU

CE CRITICIZES TREATMENT OF DETAINED PERSONS IN ARMENIA

ARMENIAN AND RUSSIAN PRESIDENTS DISCUSSED BILATERAL RELATIONS

ARMENIAN AMERICANS HOPE KERRY WILL NOT FOLLOW HIS PREDECESSORS IN
GENOCIDE ISSUE IN CASE OF BEING ELECTED

EDUARDO ERNEKIAN INTENDS TO ASSUME MANAGEMENT OF TUNIS MAIN AIRPORT

*********************************************************************

AZERI OFFICER DISAPPEARED IN BRUSSELS

29.07.2004 18:09

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Union Police is searching for officer
of the armed forces of Azerbaijan Firuz Gasimov, who was attending
retraining courses at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels. As Azeri
Defense Minister Safar Abiyev told journalists, the 35-year-old
officer was to return to Baku June 7, however he has not appeared so
far. “Searching for F. Gasimov resulted in nothing. We do not know
ourselves what has happened,” the Minister said. At that he denied
rumor that the Azeri officer had asked for asylum in one of the
European countries.

*********************************************************************

ONE KILLED, 12 WOUNDED IN CRASH IN YEREVAN

29.07.2004 17:28

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A person was killed, 12 got injuries of various
degrees of heaviness resulting from a traffic accident in the center
of Yerevan today. As reported by the Department of Emergency
Situations under the Armenian Government, in one of the avenues a
refuse collection car run into a passenger car, then bumped into a
route taxi. According to the data of the republican Ambulance
service, 7 were delivered to hospitals, one of them – Boris Babloyan
– died on the way. The state of the rest of the victims is still
grave. The investigation group is holds an inquiry of the details of
the occurrence.

*********************************************************************

ARMENIA SUGGESTED THAT CONFLICTING PARTIES HAVE DIRECT CONTACTS
DURING OSCE MONITORING

29.07.2004 16:27

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian party has suggested turning from radio
communication to direct intercourse of the parties during of the OSCE
monitoring of the contact line between the armed forces of Armenia
and Azerbaijan. As reported by the Press Service of the Defense
Ministry of Armenia, the proposal in question was made July 28 during
a planned OSCE monitoring in the area of Berkaber village of Tavush
region of Armenia and Mizamlu settlement of Gazakh region of
Azerbaijan, held with the participation of personal representative of
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk. Mr.
Kasprzyk welcomed the suggestion and expressed hope that the OSCE
will soon intercede for holding such a meeting. It should be noted
that the third monitoring of the part of border in question was due
to the exacerbation of the situation there. In the course of the
monitoring OSCE representatives were informed that at present the
situation at the lot of border in question is relatively calm.
Meanwhile, a release of the Press Service of the Defense Ministry of
Azerbaijan says July 27 evening the Armenian party fired upon the
positions of Azeri forces.

*********************************************************************

GEORGIAN ENERGY SYSTEM TRANSFERS TO PARALLEL WORK WITH ENERGY SYSTEM
OF ARMENIA

29.07.2004 14:16

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The energy system of Georgia will soon be
transferred to parallel work with the energy system of Armenia, which
will allow it to join the energy exchange between Armenia and Iran.
As Energy Minister of Georgia Nika Gilauri has told journalists, the
agreement was achieved in the course of a sitting of the
intergovernmental Armenian-Georgian Commission on Economic
Cooperation, held in Tbilisi this week. In his words, Interfax news
agency reported, in the course of the implementation of the project
in summer electric power surplus will be exported to Iran from
Georgia via the energy system of Armenia. By means of the Armenian
energy system electricity will be supplied to Georgia from Iran in
winter.

*********************************************************************

GERMAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS DEMAND POSTPONING TALKS ON TURKEY
ACCESSION TO EU

29.07.2004 13:51

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Members of the Christian Democratic Union of
Germany demand postponing the adoption of a decision on the beginning
of talks on Turkey’s accession to the European Union. As reported by
NTV Turkish channel, Chairman of the EU Foreign Affairs Commission
Elmar Brok and Chairman of the Commission for EU Affairs of the
German Federal Council Mathias Visman have stated that no decision
should be made in December on Turkey’s accession to the EU and the
prerogative of deciding the issue should be left to the EU Council,
which will have new composition after the election. Brok and Visman
demand “privileged partnership” for Turkey instead of full EU
membership. They stated that “there is much to be done” by Turkey to
realize reforms launched.

*********************************************************************

CE CRITICIZES TREATMENT OF DETAINED PERSONS IN ARMENIA

29.07.2004 13:28

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Council of Europe (CE) anti-Torture Committee
has made public its first report on Armenia. According to the CE
Yerevan representation, the report notes cases of mistreatment of
detained people at police departments of Armenia. Thereupon the
Committee recommends that policemen attend professional trainings,
including study of contemporary investigation methods. The report
pays attention to the prisons being packed. In the experts’ opinion,
urgent steps should be taken to improve the conditions life prisoners
are kept under in the Nubarashen prison.

*********************************************************************

ARMENIAN AND RUSSIAN PRESIDENTS DISCUSSED BILATERAL RELATIONS

29.07.2004 13:27

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ July 28 Armenian President Robert Kocharian and
Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation, the
Press Service of the Russian leader reported. In the course of the
conversation, which took place on the initiative of the Armenian
party, the presidents “discussed some questions of bilateral
relations,” ITAR-TASS Russian news agency reported.

*********************************************************************

ARMENIAN AMERICANS HOPE KERRY WILL NOT FOLLOW HIS PREDECESSORS IN
GENOCIDE ISSUE IN CASE OF BEING ELECTED

29.07.2004 17:08

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ US presidential candidate from the Republican Party
John Kerry has pledged that in case of winning the election this
November he will recognize the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey,
Arminfo news agency reported referring to Pasadena Star-News.
Meanwhile, as reminded by the source, such pledges were also made by
previous presidents, when they were candidates. These are Bush Sr.,
Clinton and the incumbent President. However, having found themselves
in the While House they hampered introduction of any resolutions
recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

*********************************************************************

EDUARDO ERNEKIAN INTENDS TO ASSUME MANAGEMENT OF TUNIS MAIN AIRPORT

29.07.2004 14:07

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Argentinean air magnate of Armenian origin Eduardo
Ernekian participates in tender for management of Tunis main airport.
As reported by RFE/RL, in the opinion of specialists, Ernekian’s
chances to win are high. It should be reminded that Aeroportos
Argentina company, Ernekian is in charge, manages 37 airports of the
world, including the Yerevan airport of Zvartnots.

Italian daily: Turkey links Airbus order to country’s EU membership quest

Il Sole 24 Ore, Milan
23 Jul 04

Text of editorial: “A closer Turkey”, published by Italian newspaper
Il Sole 24 Ore on 23 July

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan is a politician who is
capable of looking very far ahead. The Ankara prime minister, a
moderate Muslim leading a single-party government which has achieved a
number of successes in the economic sphere to date by giving a fresh
boost to growth and by slashing inflation, knows that his country’s
future is going to have to include membership of the European Union.

Erdogan also knows full well that in order to achieve that target, it
will be necessary to be patient and to wait a few decades. In the
short term, on the other hand, Ankara is looking at a far closer
deadline, namely 17 December when the Commission and the Council,
under the Netherlands duty presidency, will be deciding whether or not
to set in motion negotiations for Turkey’s membership of the European
Union. Beginning negotiations does not mean joining, but it would be
an important start and a diplomatic success for Ankara.

Erdogan has realized that to join Europe he is going to have to win
over France, which has so far been the main opponent of the Islamic
country’s entering into European negotiations. That is why, in the
course of a recent three-day visit to Paris, the Turkish prime
minister met all of the country’s highest authorities, from the Elysee
Palace [president’s official residence], to Matignon [prime minister’s
office], the speakers of both houses of parliament, the leaders of the
Socialist opposition and businesspeople. These contacts were intended
to illustrate the progress the country has made in terms of respect
for human rights and bringing itself into line with the criteria set
for joining the EU.

In the course of his French mission the Turkish prime minister won
President Jacques Chirac’s personal support, the friendship of Prime
Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and the approval of [French Socialist
Party leader] Francois Hollande’s Socialists (although they linked
their approval to recognition of the Armenian genocide), but he also
attracted the outspoken opposition of the UDF [Union for French
Democracy] and the UMP [governing Union for a Popular Movement,
President Chirac’s party], the two centre Right parties, and of
grassroots opinion. So in order to overcome these final barriers
Erdogan played the business card, signing a massive contract for the
purchase of 36 Airbus planes from the French-German consortium. It is
a ticket that cost him 2bn euros, but it might well be worth an option
on membership of Europe.

Agence France Presse — English
July 21, 2004 Wednesday 5:51 AM Eastern Time

No compromises on Karabakh: Azerbaijan’s president

KHUDAT DISTRICT, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan will make no compromises in its negotiations with Armenia
over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, President Ilham Aliyev
said Wednesday.

The statement appeared to mark a hardening of Azerbaijan’s stance
over the conflict, which remains unresolved after a war in the early
1990s that displaced a million civilians and left some 35,000 people
dead.

“We cannot react positively to calls on us to make compromises. On
questions of our territorial integrity we will never make any
compromises,” Aliyev said on a visit to northern Azerbaijan.

“Certain calls on us (to make compromises on Nagorno-Karabakh) are
without foundation,” the Azeri leader added.

“All international norms, the economic situation, are on our side.
Large resources are being given to the army and we will continue to
make available these resources.”

Since large-scale fighting ceased in 1994 Nagorno-Karabakh — which
is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan — and several
surrounding Azeri regions have been under the control of Armenian
forces.

Azerbaijan has insisted that Armenian troops relinquish the
territory, and has said it reserves the right to use force to settle
the dispute.

In the past, Azerbaijan has signalled that it might make concessions
in order to reach a lasting peace settlement with Armenia over the
enclage. One possibility that has been mooted is an exchange of
territory.

But Aliyev’s comments Wednesday, to a unit of border guards on
Azerbaijan’s frontier with Russia, seemed to indicate that this
option has now been ruled out.

Armenian arrested for “hooliganism” in Azeri capital

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
20 Jul 04

[Presenter Etibar Mammadov] An Armenian has been detained in Baku. It
became known that Igor Bagiyan, who had received years in prison for
misappropriating state property, lived in the capital under the
patronage of [Director of the Human Rights Centre of Azerbaijan] Eldar
Zeynalov who is famous for protecting the rights of Armenians.
Zeynalov supplied Bagiyan with money and even helped him to obtain his
ID.

[Correspondent over video of beach and streets of Baku] Employees of
the Azizbayov district police department [Baku] have arrested an
Armenian for hooliganism on the Mardakan beach [suburbs of Baku]. The
Baku City Main Police Department reports that ethnic Armenian Igor
Rubenovich Bagiyan had brawled with ethnic Russian Ivan Borisovich
Demin on the beach. A resident of Sabuncu district [Baku], Elcin
Eldarov, intervened in their dispute and was stabbed by Demin.

The investigation found out that Bagiyan had been jailed for
misappropriating state property in the past. After his release, he
lived in a house bought for him at Basir Safaroglu Street in Yasamal
District [Baku]. Another interesting detail was revealed as
well. Eldar Zeynalov created conditions for Bagiyan to live in
Azerbaijan. He protected Bagiyan’s rights when he was in prison.
Eldar Zeynalov helped him to get his ID with an Armenian name and
surname. Zeynalov constantly supplied Bagiyan with money after his
release from prison.

Legal proceedings have been instituted against Bagiyan and Demin at
the moment. The law-enforcement agencies will examine the reasons why
Zeynalov protects Bagiyan.

Fuzuli Hasanli for “Son Xabar”.

Armenia favours cooperation with CIS bloc and NATO – minister

Arminfo
20 Jul 04

YEREVAN

For Armenia, activities within the framework of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization and the deepening of ties with NATO do
not contradict, but supplement each other, Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan has told Armenian Public Television.

Armenia pursues a policy of complementarity, both organizations and
their members, including the USA and Russia, are aware of this and
this policy applies to security tasks, the minister recalled.

The minister said that NATO’s expansion is inevitable, and the task
here is whether Armenia will voluntarily remain outside these
processes or will be involved in them and defends its interests. “At
present, our decision is to deepen relations with NATO without joining
the alliance,” the minister said.

GEO Pakistan
July 9 2004

Pakistan, Azerbaijan sign four accords

BAKU: Pakistan and Azerbaijan have signed four agreements for
enhancing cooperation in political, economic and cultural fields.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev ensured support to Pakistan for
seeking just resolution of the Kashmir issue.
President Musharraf and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev signed a
joint declaration for boosting cooperation in various fields.
During the formal talks, the two sides explored ways of broadening
their economic relations. They signed four agreements at Presidential
Palace in Baku including cooperation in anti terrorism drive,
eradication of drugs, customs related issues and agreements for
enhancing relations in culture and politics.
Federal Minister for Industries and Production Liaquat Jatoi,
Petroleum Minister Chaudhry Nauraiz Shakoor and Foreign Secretary
Riaz Khokhar signed agreements for Pakistan. Azeri Minister of
Interior, head of the customs committee and minister for youth
affairs and culture signed agreements on behalf of their country.
Azeri President Aliyev in a banquet in the honor of President
Musharraf said the visit would promote mutual cooperation and
bilateral relations between the two countries. He also ensured
support to Pakistan for just resolution of the Kashmir issue.

President Musharraf said “In international questions our positions
are close and on issues of the Islamic world, like the Palestine
question, questions of Iraq and Afghanistan, we have agreed to
coordinate our actions in the future.”

General Musharraf reciprocated Azerbaijan’s backing for Pakistan over
Kashmir by saying that his country backed Baku’s efforts to regain
control over Karabakh, which is under Armenian control.

After talks between the Pakistani and Azeri heads of state, the two
leaders and their officials signed a series of agreements covering
tourism, customs and combating the drugs trade and international
terrorism.

Earlier, the two leaders held one-to-one meeting during which they
expressed the desire to strengthen Pakistan-Azerbaijan relations.
They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of
common interest.