Tehran Times
Feb 2 2005
Physical education supremo to honor Armenians
TEHRAN (IRNA) — Physical Education Organization head Mohsen
Mehralizadeh will extend his appreciation to Iranian Armenians here
Wednesday night.
Mehralizadeh, who is also vice-president, is to honor the minority
Armenians in a ceremony on the occasion of Ten-Day Dawn in Ararat
Sports-Cultural Club in western Tehran.
He will meet Armenian athletes and club directorate officials.
AZERI OPPOSITION ACTIVIST ACCUSES RUSSIA, FRANCE OF PRO-ARMENIAN STAND
Yeni Musavat, Baku
29 Jan 05
Text of Kanan report by Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Musavat on 29
January headlined “The mediators are trying to dodge responsibility”
and subheaded “Qabil Huseynli: ‘Great powers have complicated the
conception to resolve the problem'”
The French co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Bernard Fassier, made
an interesting statement during his familiarization visit to Baku. The
French diplomat said that the resolution of the conflict depends on
the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Noting that the Minsk Group
can only give support to the sides in building dialogue and peace,
Fassier said on the question of the liberation of Azerbaijan’s
occupied territories in 2005: “The presidents, not the co-chairman,
can order the pull-out of troops from those territories.” Like some of
his colleagues, the diplomat also gave a hint that concessions are
expected from Azerbaijan.
The French diplomat’s statement is not the first one of this
kind. Russian co-chairman Yuriy Merzlyakov has also made similar
statements recently. The resolution passed by the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe on Nagornyy Karabakh several days
ago stressed that the resolution of the conflict by and large depends
on the parties.
Can Fassier’s statement be regarded as a sign that the Minsk Group is
disavowing its responsibility? A deputy leader of the Musavat party,
Qabil Huseynli, told us that the French and Russian representatives
put forward the proposals, which contradict Azerbaijan’s interests,
under a strange scenario.
“First, Russia makes a proposal, then France starts supporting it. The
fact that the Russian diplomat insists on Nagornyy Karabakh being
recognized as a party (to negotiations) is clearly indicative of that
country’s pro-Armenian position, whereas the new French co-chairman
says that the resolution of the problem depends on the parties.”
The countries which are directly interested in deadlocking the
Karabakh conflict are trying to insure themselves by making such
statements, he said.
“Today, the great powers have complicated the resolution of the
problem so much, allowed so many double standards and made so many
ideological and political mistakes that finding a solution has become
even more difficult. These countries refuse to accept the notions of
the occupier and of the country under occupation despite this being
the ABC of any conflict. Today, they do not want to accept the fact
that Azerbaijani territories were occupied by the Armenian armed
forces and the entity called Nagornyy Karabakh functions as part of
Armenia and under the influence of its authorities. They are still
saying that there is no separatist regime, but a national liberation
movement in Karabakh. They are openly saying that the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict cannot be compared with Dniester, Abkhaz and other
conflicts. In other words, there are enough double standards in their
approach. In this case, there must be a mistake in the very approach
to a solution to the problem. Those states have intentionally made
mistakes in their approach to the problem. Now they are saying that
the parties themselves should find a common language.”
The expert regards the statement by the new co-chairman as a call for
Azerbaijan to make concessions.
“Armenia does not accept any concessions and faces no pressure, while
Azerbaijan is being persuaded to make concessions over the launch of
some projects and pressure. France and Russia have not recognized
Armenia as an occupying country so far. They stress the importance of
self-determination of nations when it comes to Azerbaijan, but when it
comes to other states they underline the importance of territorial
integrity. This insincerity brings the problem to deadlock.”
It is not right to implicate the OSCE Minsk Group, because the
co-chairing countries have the ultimate responsibility, he said.
“We need to look at the policy of the countries in the group. The
French co-chairman implements the instructions of his state. France
and its nationalist president Jacques Chirac blatantly support the
Armenians and Russia backs Armenia with which it has a strategic
cooperation treaty in every possible way. In other words, these
countries have made so many mistakes testifying to their pro-Armenian
position that these statements sound hypocritical.”
Russian foreign minister to discuss Karabakh conflict in Azerbaijan
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
30 Jan 05
MOSCOW
The problems of settling the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict will be one of
the main topics of discussion during Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov’s official visit to Baku on 1-2 February.
According to official Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr
Yakovenko, “Russia welcomes the continuation of the dialogue between
Azerbaijan and Armenia on various different levels and first and
foremost between the presidents of the two countries.” Moscow believes
that “the participants in the conflict must themselves find a mutually
acceptable solution to the conflict”. “Russia is ready to offer them
its most active assistance in this matter, both on a bilateral basis
and in its role as co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, and to act as a
guarantor for the agreement that is reached,” the diplomat said.
During the talks in Baku particular attention will be paid “to
agreeing future steps for increasing the effectiveness of cooperation
in combating terrorism”. The main item on the agenda will be
“increasing the level of economic cooperation in the fuel and energy
sector”. The ministers will touch upon the problems of the Caspian Sea
and exchange opinions on “the potential for holding a second Caspian
summit”.
Also under discussion will be “issues linked to the development of the
regional and international situation, strengthening the central role
played by the UN, increasing cooperation within the CIS and ways to
increase cooperation between the Russian and Azeri foreign ministries
in the Caucasus and on the world stage and the coordination of their
activities within international organizations”.
“In recent years relations with Azerbaijan have taken on the
characteristics of a strategic partnership and have shown positive
trends,” Yakovenko said. “It is symbolic,” he noted, “that Sergey
Lavrov’s first official visit to Baku is taking place at the start of
2005, which has been declared the Year of Azerbaijan in Russia.”
UN RURAL AID AGENCY ISSUES 20M-DOLLAR LOAN TO ARMENIA
Mediamax news agency, Yerevan
28 Jan 05
YEREVAN
The (UN) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has
allocated a 20m-dollar loan to Armenia.
An appropriate agreement was signed by IFAD Chairman Lennart Bage and
Armenian Minister of Agriculture David Lokyan in the capital of Italy
today, Mediamax’s special correspondent reports from Rome. Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan also attended the ceremony of signing the
document.
David Lokyan said that 10m dollars would be spent on issuing loans to
farmers in Armenia via the republic’s commercial banks. The remaining
10m dollars will be channelled into the projects of modernization of
Armenia’s agricultural infrastructure.
The IFAD chairman highly assessed Armenia’s success in the sphere of
agricultural reforms at the meeting with Robert Kocharyan. Lennart
Bage stressed that the loans issued to Armenia were used with high
efficiency.
Armenian Minister of Agriculture David Lokyan said today that the
credit programme was designed for four years and its realization would
begin in a few months.
Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
Jan 28 2005
PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV RECEIVES MEMBERS OF FC NEFTCHI
[January 28, 2005, 12:11:43]
On 27 January, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev
received at the Presidential Palace members of the Baku football club
Neftchi.
Congratulating them on successful performance in the Commonwealth Cup
in Moscow, President Ilham Aliyev noted that Neftchi represented
Azerbaijan in a worthy manner: it gained victory over all of their
group rivals, showed beautiful playing in the next round and reaching
final, scored the first goal in the match against very strong team
`Locomotive’, although failed to win the game. `Nevertheless, it is a
great success, which demonstrates again that sport is on a high level
in Azerbaijan,’ he said. The Head of State pointed out that `to win
victory over such teams as `Locomotive’ and `Dynamo Kiev’ is a really
great success. `Of course, reaching final is a great victory, but I
think, that over Armenian team is more valuable for us. It was really
historical victory,’ he said.
The President continued that, Azerbaijani athletes have always been
better that Armenians in other kinds of sport as well. `In the Athens
games, our sportsmen won 5 medals while Armenians not a single one.
In the previous Games, Azerbaijan won 2 gold and 1 bronze medal, and
Armenia – 2 bronze medals, but lost one of them because of doping
offence. This convincing victory over Armenians is not only a spot
victory, this is a victory of all of us,’ the President said.
Veteran of the FC `Neftchi’ Vidadi Rzayev expressed deep gratitude to
the Head of State for receiving them and said: before the match with
Armenia, Chief of our club Rovneg Abdullayev said it is our President
Ilham Aliyev and the people of Azerbaijan who first of all are
waiting for your victory. We were very much inspired with these
words, and did our best to gladden You and our nation.
LasVegas Sun, NV
Jan 26 2005
Editorial: Don’t break family apart
LAS VEGAS SUN
Two Las Vegas girls, whose only crime was to have been brought to the
United States by their father when they were 4 and 3, are being
detained in a federal holding cell in Los Angeles, awaiting
deportation. They’ve been there 11 days now. It’s up to a federal
magistrate to decide whether they should be separated from their
family, including three other sisters, or be sent to Armenia. That is
their country of birth, but, to them, it’s an alien land where they
have no friends or family, no language skills, no means of supporting
themselves.
Only some desperate calls by their family’s attorney on Jan. 17
prevented them from being forcibly boarded onto a plane. On Jan. 18
they received a reprieve when the one flight to Moscow was full. On
Jan. 19, just three hours before their scheduled flight, their lawyer
was successful in appealing to a federal magistrate, who granted the
girls a stay while he reviewed the facts of the case.
The girls are Emma Sarkisian, 18, who graduated last June from Palo
Verde High School, and her sister, Mariam, 17, a student at Palo
Verde. Their parents, Rouben and Anoush Sarkisian, brought them to
the U.S. in 1991. The couple had three more daughters, who, having
been born here, are legal citizens. The marriage broke up and Rouben
married a U.S. citizen, automatically making him a U.S. “resident”
under immigration law. That marriage also broke up and the residency
status of the two girls remained in limbo until last July. That month
Rouben took the girls to immigration officials, hoping to confirm
their status as residents. Instead, officials determined they weren’t
legal citizens and ordered the girls to check in with them once a
month. They also began negotiating with Armenia to receive them.
As Armenia was a republic of the Soviet Union at the time of the
girls’ birth, officials of the now-independent republic at first
disclaimed any responsibility for them. But on Jan. 14, during their
monthly visit to the immigration office, the girls were told that
Armenia had decided to accept them and they were whisked away to the
cell in Los Angeles.
In our view, the girls should be immediately released from custody
and returned to their family while awaiting the magistrate’s
decision. We also believe it would be a miscarriage of justice for
the girls to be deported. This is the only country they’ve ever
known. Their father erred in not applying for their residency years
ago. But by any humanitarian standard, that is no reason for the
girls to be traumatized by tearing them away from their family, their
friends and the lives they’ve been living here.
KARABAKH SIDE ARTIFICIALLY ISOLATED FROM NEGOTIATIONS
Arkady Ghukasian’s Interview to Regnum Agency
Azg/arm
26 Jan 05
Arkady Ghukasian, NKR President, said in the interview to the Russian
Regnum agency that the consequent meetings between the Azeri and the
Armenian foreign ministers “are useful, certainly.” On the other hand,
he added that these meetings can’t replace the full negotiation
process with the full-right participation of NKR. “One shouldn’t
forget that the Nagorno Karabakh issue was risen by the people of
Karabakh and it concerns the status of NKR. The rest is the result of
the war Azerbaijan forced us to fight,” Ghukasian said.
In response to the question whether Yerevan and Stepanakert make
sufficient efforts to avert discussing of formulae unfavorable for NKR
at various international instances, Ghukasian said that the
unfavorable characteristics for the Armenian side in the documents of
the international instances are conditioned by the absence of Nagorno
Karabakh in the negotiation process. “The negations and discussions of
the Nagorno Karabakh issue are carried out on the level the relations
between Armenia and Azerbaijan. They are supposed to cause such
characteristics time after time. Here, we don’t mean the volume of
efforts, but the principles and the conceptual approaches in the
settlement mechanisms,”NKR president said.
As for the question whether it is time for Yerevan to put forward the
issue of NKR participation in the negotiations, Ghukasian said: “First
of all, the addressee is not right, secondly, the issue will have no
peaceful settlement if we continue issuing ultimatums. It will not be
settled without NKR’s participation in the negotiation process,
either. Make your own conclusions.”
Azerbaijan wants OSCE mission to inspect seven occupied districts
ANS TV, Baku
24 Jan 05
[Presenter] Will the OSCE fact-finding mission which is to investigate
settlement of Armenians in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan
visit all the occupied districts? The Azerbaijani deputy foreign
minister has dispelled doubts which emerged in the wake of the latest
statement by Yuriy Merzlyakov, Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk
Group.
[Correspondent over archive footage] The OSCE fact-finding mission
which is to investigate the settlement of Armenians in the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan will not monitor the situation in Agdam and
Fuzuli districts. The mission will only inspect Lacin, Kalbacar,
Cabrayil, Qubadli and Zangilan districts. This is what Merzlyakov has
told the Armenian-owned Regnum news agency.
In an interview with ANS, Merzlyakov cited the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry’s statement that it had no information as to whether Armenian
families were settled in Agdam and Fuzuli districts. He said that the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry does not insist on inspecting the two
districts. However, there is so far no change in the plans of the
mission.
[Merzlyakov speaking on telephone in Russian with Azeri voice-over]
Everything depends on the briefing held by the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry for us. We will be given all the information there.
Azerbaijan will say which areas should be inspected first.
[Correspondent] Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Araz
Azimov said that the fact-finding mission should monitor all the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan. This means that the mission should
visit Agdam and Fuzuli districts. As to Merzlyakov’s remarks regarding
the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Azimov said that although they did
not possess information on the settlement of Armenian families in
Agdam and Fuzuli districts at the time, they do have it now.
[Passage omitted: Mission to visit Baku on 28 January]
Caucaz europenews
01/23/2005
Who’s Who
Robert Simmons [SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE – NATO]
By Marie ANDERSON in Tbilisi
On 18/01/2005
NATO Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia
June 2004. During the summit in Istanbul, NATO Heads of State and Government
decided to create the new position of Special Representative for the
Caucasus and Central Asia. Robert F. Simmons Jr. was appointed to this
position.
Objectives
declared objective : to develop the cooperation with partner countries,
notably by supporting their military reform. To fulfill this objective, a
Partnership Action Plan on Defense Institution Building, also so-called
Democratic institutions, was implemented in those very countries.
In addition, there are also three other programs on NATO’s agenda :
– NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP)
– Planning and Review Process (PARP)
– Individual Partnership Action Plans (IPAP), only for the Central Asia
countries, so as to prepare their Forces for joint military exercises.
Robert Simmons, appointed on September 15th 2004, has his office in Brussels
and should frequently visit the Caucasus and Central Asia countries. For
this mission to be successfull, NATO has also assigned two liaison officers
both in Central Asia and in Caucasus.
First visit as the newly appointed Representative: in October-November 2004,
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and Robert Simmons visited the
partner countries in Central Asia (Kyrghyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan), and in Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan),
so as to meet the regional political leasders, and to demonstrate the
Atlantic Alliance’s willingness to expand its relations with the partner
countries of those two regions.
Political profile
July 2002. During a visit to Washington of NATO sub-committees on
Transatlantic Relations and on the Proliferation of Military Technology,
Robert Simmons, then Deputy Director of the Office of European Security and
Political Affairs at the US Department of State, reminded the concerns
raised among his administration about the countries on the “axis of evil”
(Iran, Iraq, and North Corea). He also mentioned that even if the Iranian
reformers were to have the upper hand in the struggle against the
conservative clerics, Tehran would still try to develop weapons of mass
destruction and missile capabilities.
It is important to remind that, with his new NATO prerogatives, Robert
Simmons occupies a key position as regards the relations between Iran and
the Central Asian, as well as South-Caucasian countries.
Besides, during last November official visit of Jaap de Hoop and Robert
Simmons to Turkmenistan, President Niyazov made a quite diplomatic point as
he stated that« he was not worried about the expansion of NATO », adding
that « in this complex region, by the very presence of Afghanistan and Iran,
[…], NATO has a big role to play. ».
Personal profile
A former US Department of State official, Robert F. Simmons Jr. occupied
several positions where he dealt with Eurasian security and arms control
policy issues.
He then becomes a Senior Advisor to the US Assistant Secretary of State for
European and Eurasian Affairs.
Currently working at NATO International Staff, Robert Simmons serves both as
NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security
Policy, his first position in NATO, and as the Special Representative for
the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Pan Armenian Network, Armenia
Jan 23 2005
TO PLEASE THE FIANCE AT THE EXPENSE OF BRIDE
The essence of this Armenian saying is quite in line with the
behavior of Talish separatist leaders who strive to win the trust of
Azerbaijan by means of anti-Armenian propaganda.
On Friday, the underground Talish information agency “Talishpress”
announced that a number of Baku high-ranking officials sponsor shadow
trade between Azerbaijan and Armenia. According to the source, oil
supplied to Armenian market is provided by companies controlled by
Azeri Economic Development Minister Farkhad Aliev and the chairman of
State Committee on Securities Heidar Babayev. They also say that the
supplies of tea, vegetable oil and fish are supplied to Armenia under
the sponsorship of Kamalladin Heidarov, the chairman of the State
Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. As for the grain supply, it is
sponsored by the head of president’s administration Ramiz Mekhtiev.
The source doesn’t point to any facts that could prove those
conclusions. The attempt to discredit Azeri leaders by means of
exposing their links with Armenians is quite typical for the
ideologists of Talish separatism.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Of course the information spread by the Talish
information agency should not be taken seriously. Shadow commercial
contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan are not on a high level and
do not need influential patrons. Baku leaders on their turn do their
best to prevent any attempts of establishing contacts between the
businessmen of the two countries. In that case what is the purpose of
“Talishpress” agency’s announcement? Those who are aware of that
structure and know what its aims are know the answer to that
question. In reality, it is of course not an information agency. It
is the “propaganda department” of the underground Talish national
movement. The movement is mostly aimed at leading information war
against the government of Azerbaijan. It should be underlined that
the war is led against the government and not against the country.
The recent activities of Talish leaders give the impression that they
have given up the struggle for the national self-determination and
have focused their attention to the struggle for “a piece of power”
in Azerbaijan. Currently their aim is to appear in the role of
radical oppositionists of Ilham Aliev’s regime and to demonstrate
patriotism at the same time.
For achieving their goal, Talish ideologists often afford themselves
to carry on anti-Aliev and anti-Armenian propaganda simultaneously.
In order to win the sympathy of Azeris, they try to prove that it
were the Talish leaders who stood at the forefront of the fights
against Karabakh Armenians. One of the key points of Talish
propaganda is the necessity of Karabakh conflict’s military
resolution and the creation of a federal state in Azerbaijan.
According to the scenario Talishstan in that case will gain an
autonomous status. Thus, Talish leaders strive to achieve welfare at
the expense of Karabakh. The higher the status of Karabakh is, the
more they can snatch from the center. But to achieve that they need
to gain the control of Azerbaijan over Karabakh at any price. This is
the essence of the doubtful idea which is brightly seen in all the
recent interviews of the head of Talish movement Alikram Gumbatov.
The Lenkoran separatists have made a habit of making someone else do
the work. It is worth mentioning that the so called “Talish-Mughan
Republic” in the south-east of Azerbaijan was proclaimed just when
Karabakh Armenians passed to the offensive and directed to themselves
all the military and political resources of Azerbaijan. It is
interesting that now also the “governments in exile” try to gain
influence in Europe using the large-scale abilities of Armenian
lobby. The dethroned “president” of the self-proclaimed republic
Alikram Gumbatov who has spent 10 years in prison in Azerbaijan and
was considered a political prisoner by the west currently lives in
Holland. His attempts to establish contacts with the leadership of
the local Armenian community and Armenian social-political structures
in Europe were very unexpected. Last week he came to the presentation
of a documentary about Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey and even
made a short speech condemning the murderous deeds of the Young Turk
government. It is Gumbatov who led a detachment and went to Karabakh
to fight for the “territorial integrity of Azerbaijan”. It is
surprising that today he affords to give a helpful hand to Holland
Armenians.
There is an Armenian proverb. As translated to English, it sounds
approximately like this: “To please the fiancé at the expense of
bride”. What the Talish leaders are trying to do is quite alike the
proverb.