Author: Nadirian Emma

ANOTHER STORY ON ARMENIAN NAVY TRADITIONS

Azg/am
27 July 2004

“Respecting the traditions and the customs of our ancestors, the Human
Rights Declaration, we call for all the nations of the Earth to spare
no efforts to preserve peace in our planet that is fragile like a
highland crystal,” wrote “Cilicia” sailors in their statement,
enclosed it in the bottle of a newly drunk vine. On the very first
moment of the Sochi-Novorossiysk voyage Karen Balayan, the captain,
will throw the bottle into the sea. The statement also runs that the
sailors carry the Armenian state flag with pride. The sailors saidthat
the flags of the countries they will travel to will wave by the side
of the Armenian flag constantly. “By this, we not only follow the
traditions of the international navigation ethics but we also express
our sincere respect to all the nations of the planet,” the
declarations stretches.

“Cilicia” is very likely to continue its voyage. Hmayak Tarakhchian,
Deputy-Chairman of the club, informed Azg Daily that thanks to the
efforts of Stepan Kargosian, head of the Armenian Community
headquarter in Sochi, a new pair of steering oars is being made in one
of Sochi’s graving docks. He said that the sailors would have an
additional pair of steering oars to be on the safe side.

By Tamar Minasian

Tehran Times
July 24 2004

Iran Begins Building 140 Km Gas Pipeline To Armenia: Report

TEHRAN (IRNA) – Iran has begun building a 140-km-long gas pipeline to
Armenia, said the Itar-Tass news agency monitored.

The two countries signed an agreement on the project worth around 120
million US dollars in May, when Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar
Zanganeh visited Yerevan.

Under its provisions, Iran will be supplying 36 billion cubic meters
of natural gas to Armenia annually from 2007 through to 2027.

Itar-Tass, citing OPEC sources in Vienna, said that the pipeline
might be used to ship Iranian gas to Georgia, Ukraine and farther on
to Europe in the future.

The news agency said the sources had got the news from Armenian
ambassador to Tehran, Gegam Garibjian.

To make the whole scheme possible, a 550-kilometer-long section of
the pipeline will be laid at the floor of the Black Sea, stretching
from the Georgian port of Supsa to Feodosiya in the Crimea, it said.

According to the same sources, the project is estimated to cost about
five billion US dollars.

Forecasts suggest that once the project is implemented, the Iranian
gas supplies to Europe may reach 60 billion cubic meters a year, of
which Ukrainian imports will likely account for 10 billion cubic
meters.

Tehran has already a multi-billion-dollar contract with neighboring
Turkey to supply gas for 25 years.

The gas flow was launched in December 2001 via a 2,577-kilometer
pipeline, running from the northeastern city of Tabriz to Ankara,
which supplies gas from southern Iran near the Persian Gulf.

The contract has been a boon to Iran’s bid to become a sustainable
gas supplier to Turkey and Europe.

Looking for alternative markets, Tehran has also held talks with the
Persian Gulf littoral states and the Central Asian nations for the
sale of gas.

The country sits on the second largest proven gas reserves of the
world after Russia, which has been a headache for Iran by getting
into, what is feared to be, an unnecessary and costly competition.

Azer News, Azerbaijan
July 22 2004

President Aliyev satisfied with development of relations with Russia

President Ilham Aliyev received Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russian
Ambassador to the Ukraine, former Prime Minister of Russia on
Thursday.

President Aliyev said he attaches a particular importance to
strengthening the ties with Russia and stressed the dynamics of
developing relations between Azerbaijan and Russia, which are
strategic partners. Chernomyrdin, in turn, voiced a hope for the
strengthening of the Russo-Azeri ties.

Although the purpose of the unexpected visit by Chernomyrdin, who is
one of Russia’s gas tycoons, to Baku is not officially disclosed,
political observers relate this to the issue of the construction of
an Iranian gas pipeline transporting gas to Europe through
Azerbaijan. Russia, which opposes Iranian gas exports to Europe, has
managed to hinder the construction of a pipeline transporting gas via
Armenia.

“TURKEY’S CHAIRMANSHIP AT PACE PRVENTED BY ARMENIA”

Stated Foreign Minister of Cyprus

Azg/AM
17 July 2004

Haruth Sasunian, publisher of “The Californian Curier’ , has informed
in the July 14 issue of Azg about the decision of the Turkish
Government to give up its determination to take up PACE chairmanship,
conditioning it by RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian’s statement
saying that Armenia wil exercise its right for veto against Turkey’s
candidacy.

This gave Sasunian to make conclusions about the Armenian diplomatic
victory and the failure of Turkey and the U.S. in their attempts to
exert pressure on Armenia. His conclusion was affirmed by Hathem
Jabbarlu, employee of te Eurasian Center for Strategic Researches in
Ankara, in his article “ArmeniaConducts More Dynamic and Succesful
Policy, Particularly against Turkey andAzerbaijan” that was published
in translation in the previous issue of Azg.

As for the conclusion made by Haruth Sasunian, it is also affirmed by
Yorgo Yakovo, Foreign Minister of Cyprus. According to data provided
by Anatolu agency, he denied the statements of the Greek press that
“Cyprus prevented Turkey’s candidacy for Chairmanship at PACE”, saying
that “though we were not going to support a country that refuses to
compline its commitments, cyprus has done nothing to prevent Turkey’s
candidacy for Chairmanship at PACE.” Then he added the Turkey’s
candidacy for chairmanship at PACe was prevented by Armenia’s threat
to excersise its right for veto.

By Hakob Chaqrian

BBC News
July 17 2004

Moscow magazine editor murdered

The body of a Moscow magazine editor has been found dead on a city
ring road, Russian media reports.

Prosecutors are treating the death of Payl Peloyan, editor of
Armyanski Pereulok (Armenian Lane), as murder, according to RIA
Novosti news agency.

He was found with knife wounds to his chest and bruises on his face,
a police spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Earlier this month, editor of Russian Forbes magazine, Paul
Klebnikov, was shot dead in northern Moscow.

Mr Klebnikov was an outspoken critic of Russia’s oligarchs
Russian police said the body of Mr Peloyan was found at the side of
the MKAD highway encircling Moscow at 0700 (0300GMT) on Saturday.

They were reportedly not ruling out the possibility his death was
linked to his work at the Russian-language arts and literature
magazine serving the Armenian community.

On July 9, Mr Klebnikov – a US citizen – was shot four times as he
left his office in the north of the Russian capital.

He had been an outspoken critic of Russia’s wealthy oligarchs.

US-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Mr Klebnikov was the
15th journalist to be killed in connection with his work in Russia
since 2000.

The group called on President Vladimir Putin to address what it calls
the “climate of lawlessness and impunity” that has led to the
killings.

PRESS RELEASE
HALO USA
Humanitarian Landmine Clearance
850 Seventh Avenue, Suite 506
New York, NY 10019
212 581 0099 (tel)
212 581 2029 (fax)

HALO Trust Continues Progress in Heavily Mined Karabakh

So far this year, The HALO Trust has destroyed 240 antipersonnel
landmines, 230 antitank mines and 718 items of unexploded ordnance in
Nagorno Karabakh Some 2,400 acres of land have been cleared by the
organization in 2004 alone.

Nagorno Karabakh is one of the most mine-affected areas in the world and
accidents continue to plague the region. The per capita accident rate is
higher in Karabakh than in more publicized countries like Afghanistan
and Cambodia. As people are repatriated into uncharted, potentially
mined territory, landmine accidents continue to occur. In June, HALO
reported three accidents during the month causing injury to four
civilians.

HALO provides employment for 199 local people in Nagorno Karabakh. At
present manning levels, clearance will take from five to seven years.

For more information please visit HALO’s website at

Armenian citizens affected by sharp increase in fruit and veg prices

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
8 Jul 04

[Presenter] High prices in the Armenian fruit and vegetable markets,
unusual in the summer, continue to shock citizens. Fruit prices
increased 20 per cent in the republic last month. The cheapest price
for one kilo of apricots is 1000 drams [about 2 dollars]. The
government has no means of halting the jump in prices. It is
impossible to stop the frost and hailstorms which are the reasons for
the high prices.

[Correspondent over video of market] The sensational price of apricots
this year in the fields is 1000 drams, in the shops 3000 drams.

[Unidentified woman, captioned in the market] I think that we won’t be
able to make jam this year.

[Correspondent] There are people in the motherland of apricots who
have not yet tasted apricots because of the high prices, let alone can
think of making winter preserves. It is better value to enrich the
ration with oranges and bananas, which are imported to Armenia, than
with the expensive apricot. About 215 tonnes of apricot which were
cultivated this year were exported, and when the fruits of the
mountainous areas ripen this will also have an influence on market
prices.

[Agriculture Minister David Lokyan, captioned] We have created
opportunities for the farmers to sell their products at high prices,
this is regarding cherries and other fruits, and even grain. This
satisfies me.

[Correspondent] The main reason for the high prices in the
agricultural markets was the frost and hail at the beginning of the
year. The prices in the markets in the morning are more expensive than
in the evening. You can learn from the farmers who are selling their
products not in the markets but outside, the reasons why they are
selling their products at such expensive prices. They are complaining
about the high prices of fuel, the parking prices near the markets and
bribes. It is impossible to regulate the price policy in the markets.
In cases where ecologically-pure agricultural products are exported
abroad at high prices the same products cannot be sold cheaply inside
the country.

[David Lokyan] The farmer must produce and sell in his village, in his
field at high prices. Special trade organizations or people must work
on this problem.

[Correspondent] The cheapest produce in the agricultural markets today
are green vegetables and potatoes.

Hermine Bagdasaryan, “Aylur”.

ARMENIA FOREIGN MINISTER COMMENTS ON NATO SUMMIT, OSCE MEDIATION AND ARMY
BASES

Golos Armenii, Yerevan
8 Jul 04

Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has said that Armenia is guided “by a
principle of complementarity” in its foreign policy and its
cooperation with NATO is not in conflict with its membership of the
CIS Collective Security Treaty. In a wide-ranging interview with an
Armenian newspaper carried by De-Facto news agency on 8 July, he
commented on the recent Istanbul-hosted NATO summit and hailed NATO
for its statement describing the South Caucasus as “a zone of its
special attention”. The following is the text of report by Armenian
newspaper Golos Armenii on 8 July entitled “The co-chairmen will come
to learn approaches of the parties” as published by De-Facto agency;
subheadings have been inserted editorially:

(De Facto correspondent) You headed the Armenian delegation at the
Istanbul NATO summit. What did Yerevan expect from the summit? To what
extent was this expectation justified? In this sense, what was of most
significance to you? Did you discuss any important issues?

(Vardan Oskanyan) Usually no documents or programmes are discussed at
the summits of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC). The
documents submitted for approval from the country leaders are
discussed beforehand and are agreed at monthly meetings of the EAPC.

The agenda was also known beforehand; therefore nothing special was
expected from the EAPC session. The same can be said about NATO, that
is, we did not expect anything unusual. NATO’s statement that the
South Caucasus is a zone of its special attention was the most
significant one as far as were concerned. It may be said that there is
a certain displacement in NATO’s priorities as regards our region. But
we were aware of this six months ago when the problem was discussed
within the EAPC framework.

In the course of the summit Armenia was not going to raise any special
problems. At the same time we officially announced that we were going
to deepen cooperation with NATO.

CIS versus NATO ties

(Correspondent) In view of Armenia’s membership of the CIS Collective
Security Treaty (CST), how expedient is its cooperation with NATO?
What does NATO mean to Armenia?

(Oskanyan) I see no contradiction here. We are not alone in this
matter. Other member states of the CST, Russia, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan, are also actively developing their cooperation with
NATO. In particular, Russia is actively implementing this by means of
the NATO-Russia council.

As is known, in its foreign policy Armenia is guided by a principle of
complementarity. Stemming from this, we aspire to establish relations
at the necessary level with all the main centres that are interested
in our region and have a certain effect on the processes taking place
in the South Caucasus. For this reason we are aspiring to be involved
in all the processes, programmes and projects in the region.

Russian bases and Georgian scenario

(Correspondent) Some experts think that after the withdrawal of
Russian bases from Georgia, the problem of the expediency of the
Russian military presence in Armenia will arise. Do you see this
happening?

(Oskanyan) In terms of politics the matter of the Russian military
deployment in Armenia is not directly linked with the preservation or
withdrawal of similar bases from the territory of Georgia. We have a
long-term agreement with Russia, I see no reason for annulling it in
the near future.

(Correspondent) Do you notice new tendencies in the process of the
Karabakh settlement in connection with the stepped up efforts of the
European structures in this process?

(Oskanyan) The OSCE Minsk Group is still dealing with the Karabakh
issue settlement. The Minsk Group cochairmen have recently initiated
meetings of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The
cochairmen are expected to pay a regular visit to the region in
July. They will discuss the current approaches of the parties to the
settlement.

On the other hand, Armenia has a positive attitude towards the
initiatives of the European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CE),
expressed during regular visits of the EU special envoy for the South
Caucasus, Heike Talvitie, and the CE rapporteur on Nagornyy Karabakh,
Terry Devis, who has recently been elected as secretary-general of the
CE.

We think that active efforts and initiatives of such authoritative
European structures may supplement but not substitute the efforts of
the Minsk Group cochairmen on the conflict settlement.

OSCE Minsk Group

(Correspondent) As a rule Azerbaijan blames the OSCE Minsk Group
cochairmen from Russia, the USA, France for failing to settle the
Karabakh conflict. How qualified are this kind of charges?

(Oskanyan) Really the Azeri party sometimes accuses the OSCE Minsk
Group and says that the conflict is not settled because of the
cochairmen’s inaction. The Azeris can only see and estimate only what
is advantageous to them this very minute. Whereas over the past few
years the mediators put forward several proposals. The last two were
accepted by Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh but rejected by
Azerbaijan. At high-level meetings the cochairmen are now discussing
outlines of and prospects for a settlement on the basis of which it
will be possible to work out new suggestions which would become the
basis of the settlement negotiations.

US envoy

(Correspondent) The US ambassador to Armenia, John Ordway, expressed
the hope that the conflict will be settled within the next couple of
years. Some experts think that it would take next 20 to 25 years to
reach a settlement. Which of these two views is more realistic?

(Oskanyan) The Armenian-Azeri negotiations conducted at the initiative
of the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen are aimed at working out an
agreement as soon as possible and bringing the positions of the two
parties on the Karabakh conflict settlement closer. Certainly we would
have preferred the US ambassador’s optimistic approach to come
true. It will enable all the regional countries to engage in
comprehensive cooperation.

(Correspondent) The mediators often reiterate that the settlement
fully depends on the political will and desire of the sides. Do you
think that Russia, the USA and France will accept any option of the
conflict settlement on which the parties agree?

(Oskanyan) I have already mentioned that the cochairmen make efforts
to organize meetings between the parties to the conflict, in the
course of which it would be possible to find general approaches and
outlines of a settlement. I think that in this context any suggestion
acceptable for the conflict parties, will be acceptable for the
mediators as well.

(Correspondent) The Azerbaijani leaders have started to add the phrase
“Nagornyy Karabakh” to the “Armenian-Azeri conflict” term which they
use. We did not notice this at first. How can you explain that?

(Oskanyan) We have said many times that the conflict is between
Azerbaijan and Nagornyy Karabakh. I think that the Azeri wording aims
at presenting the conflict in an advantageous light for Azerbaijan. I
would like to remind you that international organizations, in
particular the OSCE Minsk Group, use the expression “Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict”.

BBC News
July 8 2004

Musharraf seeks Azerbaijan deals

By Chloe Arnold
BBC correspondent in Baku

Musharraf will be looking for agreements on oil and gas
The president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, is beginning a two-day
visit to the oil-rich former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan on
Thursday.
The countries have signed military accords in the past, and the visit
is likely to result in closer ties between the two mainly Muslim
nations.

The leaders of Azerbaijan and Pakistan make unusual partners.

Historically, the two countries have had little to do with each
other. But General Musharraf’s visit will put the seal on a
burgeoning relationship.

Oil and gas deals

In the past year, the two countries have already signed a defence
co-operation deal under which Pakistan is helping to train officers
from Azerbaijan.

This week’s visit, the first by a Pakistani leader to Azerbaijan, is
expected to produce further accords on economic co-operation, which
would enable Pakistan to buy oil and gas from Azerbaijan’s vast
offshore fields.

With its eight million population, Azerbaijan is tiny compared to
Pakistan, home to more than 150 million people.

But officials from the two countries say they have much in common.

Both have a majority Muslim population, and both have big issues to
resolve with their neighbours. Pakistan is in conflict with India
over Kashmir, while Azerbaijan is in dispute with Armenia over the
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

A spokesman for Pakistan’s embassy in Azerbaijan said General
Musharraf’s visit was an opportunity for the two partners to deepen
their friendship.

Russian interior minister arrives in Armenia to discuss joint crime
prevention

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
1 Jul 04

[Presenter] Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev has arrived in
Armenia on a one-day visit. He will participate in an annual meeting
of the Armenian-Russian law-enforcement bodies. The meeting should
have taken place on 24 June, but was postponed because of the recent
Ingush events.

[Rashid Nurgaliyev, shown speaking at airport in Russian] We will
discuss the economic security of our states. Our main task is to
develop the joint legal basis of the two states. Only through joint
efforts, we will be able to tackle the problem of organized crime
which has become transnational and is now widely spread.