Author: Tamamian Anna

THESE ARE GAMES, IT WILL ONLY TAKE SOME TIME

Lragir.am
12 July 06

Elections give rise to disagreement, and they should not be conducted
in Karabakh, announced Jirayr Sefilyan, the commander of the battalion
of Shushi July 12 at the National Press Club. The reporter of the
Lragir tried to find out the attitude of Jirayr Sefilyan as a former
soldier of the liberation war towards the situation in Karabakh where
there are increasing doubts that Arkady Ghukasyan is likely to run
a third term.

"Generally I am against holding elections in Karabakh. Besides,
I am against Armenians viewing Karabakh as a separate state. It is
self-deception. Karabakh is a front. It is wrong to conduct elections
on the front, it gives rise to disagreement," says Jirayr Sefilyan. He
mentions that if everything had depended on him, Karabakh would have
united with Armenia long ago.

"For holding elections there, nothing can be expected there as long as
the situation here does not change. It will be decided in Yerevan. In
other words, the government of Artsakh is not independent to do
something good there and bring it here. No. They obey the ones that are
here. The famous pair, their pageboys," says Jirayr Sefilyan. Jirayr
Sefilyan evaluates Seyran Ohanyan’s statement in this context, who
said, in fact, that the liberated territories should be returned.

"Seyran Ohanyan repeats what Serge Sargsyan says. He carries out
Serge’s orders because it was beyond him to resign on these days.

If he does not resign, he has to obey the orders of the minister. I
would say so. But Seyran Ohanyan, ministers or presidents do not
matter. And Seyran knows this, everybody knows, and time will prove
this. Simply I am sorry for Seyran because Seyran is one of the few
commissioned officers who, I felt, are true Armenians." Jirayr Sefilyan
believes that Ohanyan knows he is going along the wrong way, at the
same time he thinks that these are games, it will only take some time.

Paper warns of "war of regions" in Azerbaijan

Zerkalo website, Baku
17 Jun 06

Azerbaijan is coming under threat from radical movements in both the
north and the south of the country because of the rise in radical
Islamic groups, an Azeri newspaper has reported. In the north,
anti-Shiite fundamentalist organizations are gaining strength and Iran
is using anti-US propaganda to win support in the south. The paper
says residents in the Lerik district regard Iran as their Motherland
and say that if the Americans attack Iran they will fight them. The
following is an excerpt from the report by I. Abbasov and A. Rasidoglu
entitled "War of the regions" published on Azerbaijani newspaper
Zerkalo website on 17 June; subheadings have been inserted editorially:

"Non-believers and servants of the devil have managed to a large
extent to bury the true religion of God. Only in Iran could Muslims
preserve Islam."

[passage omitted: Islam still being preserved in Iran]

Iran "Motherland" to people in south

A Zerkalo correspondent became personally convinced that there is a
sense of a "successful Iranian war of propaganda", which has begun in
the southern regions of our country, and, it seems, Teheran is again
gambling on being one step ahead. Some people in the villages of Lerik
[close to the Iranian border in Azerbaijan] have made it clear that
they consider Iran to be their Motherland. It goes without saying
that they know who Iran’s enemies are, that is those who oppose it,
in other words "the Zionists and servants of the devil".

In Lerik, some of the people we spoke to wanted to prove to us that
the Almighty is summoning Muslims to fight against the non-believers.

In over 100 ayats [chapters] of the Holy Koran they are instructed
to fight on God’s path. "God knows best what is good for us," some
of the people of Lerik said. We should point out straightaway that it
is not a question that in this region orthodox Muslims have begun to
hold on to the canons of Islam. That is not the point. Even with the
naked eye one can see that, hiding behind religion, certain circles
have started to play a political game.

"We are not afraid of the USA. We are expecting the Americans to
attack the sacred land of Iran. And then we shall rise against
the non-believers. We cannot wait for our spiritual leader Seyyed
Ali Khamene’i or some other member of the mojahedin to declare the
beginning of a Jihad. As soon as it happens, like true Muslims we shall
defend our religion from the Zionists," the father of two children
told a Zerkalo correspondent. In a word, they tried to convince us that
defending the Muslims is not politics. Those people who are prepared to
die for Iran’s integrity have not even allowed themselves to believe
that Karabakh is our land, it is occupied, and that we are committed
before God and before our Motherland to liberate it. In other words,
the occupation of Iran by the USA is more important to them than the
liberation of Karabakh. "Islam is the main thing. We shall gladly die
for our religion, and everything else has no particular significance
for us," some people in the southern region tried to convince us.

Whatever the situation, there is no doubt that Iran’s positions in
the southern regions of Azerbaijan are very strong. But this is not
the most terrible thing. Some people are trying to sow hatred in the
conscience of our citizens for our own brothers in faith, the Sunnis.

For some reason, the "Islamists" of Lerik believe that it is the
Sunnis, and especially the Wahhabis, who are to blame for all
our misfortunes, because they are a "black stain" in the history
of Islam. [passage omitted: those who damage Islamic unity are
considered pagans]

Boycott of US goods

"The anti-American war in the southern regions has already begun,
albeit at the moment only in the form of a boycott of American goods.

Here people do not buy products and other goods imported from the
States. The young people in Lerik are awaiting the Imam Mehdi (the
12th Imam, whom the Shi’ites believe to be their saviour). But this –
this "awaiting" – is based on Iran’s policy. It is only there that
they know when and how it will happen. "If they tell us that our
president is a despot, then we shall rise against him," says Ali,
21, who believes that personal opinions are unimportant – the main
thing is the fatwah of the mojahedin.

A resume of the conversations we had with a separate section of the
people of Lerik amounts to the following: "Our time will soon come.

And then there will be days of hell for those non-believers who do
not follow the canons of Islam."

Anti-Shi’ite book circulated

One could have paid no particular attention to the views of certain
people in Lerik, but everything the correspondent saw in this region
speaks of the beginning of a major plan with which the Zerkalo
newspaper has already acquainted its readers. Thus, yesterday the
APA agency published a report in its bulletins which says that in the
northern regions of Azerbaijan copies of a book by anonymous authors
entitled "How I came under oppression" are being distributed. The book
is directed against the Shi’ites. In it a number of serious indignities
are used. "We have information that this book was written by members of
certain radical groups of the Abu-Bakr mosque [in Baku]. Every believer
who has received this book is obliged to copy it and re-distribute
it. The book is a response to the existing anti-Sunni direction of
the three-volume work ‘How I started to believe’," the source told APA.

We will note that some time ago al-Tijani’s book "How I started to
believe" was distributed in the northern regions. It was reported that
it was published in Iran. The book which was sold in front of the holy
place Khizir-Zinda in Siyazan District, and was later confiscated by
members of the law-enforcement bodies. Now in the northern regions
the third volume of al-Tijani’s book is being distributed underground.

In the northern regions of Azerbaijan religious fundamentalism,
aimed against Shi’ism, is manifest in acute forms. Clearly, the
special services of our northern neighbour are by no means averse to
exacerbating the situation in the regions bordering on Azerbaijan.

For example, in Qusar, Quba, Xacmaz, Siyazan and Balakan districts
radically minded religious organizations are being created, whose
activity is directed against the Shi’ites. Wahhabi and other extremist
organizations of a religious hue which are being created there are
virtually a pillar of Russia’s "sinister" designs against our country.

Extremist threats in north and south

In a word, Russia from the north and Iran from the south are slowly but
surely closing the ring around Azerbaijan. Zerkalo has already more
than once warned the public about the threat of the strengthening
positions of Wahhabism in the northern regions of the country and
the Iranization of the southern regions. Both currents have fairly
strong roots in the northern and central regions of Azerbaijan,
and also in Baku. In the absence of democracy and normal laws which
provide freedom of conscience and give a full guarantee to believers,
nobody should be surprised at such a phenomenon.

Interested circles are striving to shape in the public conscience
the assumption that various radical groups pose a serious threat of
instability in Azerbaijan. Clearly, they are doing this to divert
the attention of the population from the democratic and economic
processes. According to some reports, in the event of political
cataclysms in our country, the radically minded religious organizations
in the northern parts of Azerbaijan may be put on combat readiness.

Without doubt, the Iranian special services are taking advantage of
this to take control of those regions where the Shi’ite Muslims are
in the majority. We said earlier that the southern regions are being
turned into a proving ground for the Iranian special services; but
similar processes are occurring also in Abseron, Naxcivan and other
parts of the country. In other words, the way is being prepared for
an artificial confrontation between separate regions of Azerbaijan
under the camouflage of religious differences. Furthermore, according
to some media reports, if Baku joins the anti-Iranian coalition at
another "convenient moment" for themselves, some groups might start
to carry out terrorist acts in the capital. This could lead to the
beginning of a "war of the regions" in Azerbaijan, a war between the
north and south, which could lead to the dismemberment of the country.

In other words, it is clearly the feeble activity of the state
committee for work with religious structures and the Board of
Muslims of the Caucasus [BMC] which has brought all this about. At
the present moment it is only intelligent religious figures, who
are constantly subjected to persecution from the BMC, together with
the state structures, who are capable of preventing undesirable
processes. Educational work among the religiously minded electorate
might quench the passions of the foreign special services.

I would like to bring to the notice of the executive powers of the
southern and northern regions that allegiance to the state does
not just mean prostrating oneself to the ground but also the proper
management of the processes in one’s own "ancestral lands".

TREND, Azerbaijan
July 11 2006

Armenian Foreign Ministry shall remember OSCE Mission report on
illegal settling occupied Azeri grounds – Azeri Foreign Ministry

Source: Trend
Author: E.Huseynov

11.07.2006

Armenian officials from their Foreign Ministry shall remember OSCE
Mission report on illegal settling occupied Azeri grounds, reportedly
said Tahir Tagizadeh, chief of press and information policy with
Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan, commenting Armenian Foreign
Ministry’s reaction to Azerbaijan’s comments on words of expert with
Armenian Caucasus Analytical Center Manvel Sarkisyan that ‘Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh implement the program of settling released areas
around Nagorno-Karabkh’.

"As to the results of the work of OSCE mission on revealing the
facts, Armenian side should know the policy it implements to settle
Azeri grounds. Such actions contradict international legislation
norms, including Geneva Convention and its additional protocols, and
like regulatory", Tagizadeh said.

Tagizadeh outlined that last time he had commented on some tiny
detail, in particular that Armenian experts confirm implementation
and financing such programs from the budget of Republic of Armenia.

"Thus, if our respected colleagues of Armenian Foreign Ministry are
trying to have international community react only to official policy
it is their own problem. But I think it does not make any sense",
Tagizadeh concluded.

Consequences of Montenegro referendum

Yerkir.am
July 07, 2006

Armen Rustamian, chairman of the Armenian National Assembly’s Foreign
Relations Committee and Armenian Revolutionary Federation Armenia
Supreme Body representative, delivered a speech at the Council of
Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly summer session.

Below is the text of the speech.

First, I would like to congratulate the peoples of Serbia and
Montenegro for their ability to settle their issue in a civilized and
peaceful manner. It is not hard to imagine what could have happened
if the will of people was ignored, if people were denied the right
to determine their fate on their own, if conducting a referendum was
obstructed or its results were not recognized.

Fortunately, it didn’t happen in Montenegro, it is worthy example to
follow. But sadly, there are many other negative examples. One of them
is the Karabakh conflict. The history of that conflict demonstrates
that efforts to silence a people’s voice and imposing others’ will from
outside result in large-scale humanitarian catastrophe and bloodshed.

This is exactly how, 15 years ago, Azerbaijan responded to the Nagorno
Karabakh people’s legitimate independence referendum conducted in
line with the USSR laws. It was then that an opportunity to settle
the conflict in civilized and peaceful manner was missed.

In those terms, the key conclusion stemming from the Montenegro
referendum is as follows: On the one hand, it is more than apparent
that in the modern world it is impossible to apply the obsolete
mechanisms to complex conflicts and settle them by means of arbitrary
methods.

On the other hand, the necessity to establish situations that would
allow a people to apply its right of self-determination under
international law and through democratic means is becoming more
apparent.

This is the exact key to the Karabakh conflict settlement —
to respect the natural right of the Nagorno Karabakh people to
self-determination. There are no legal, political or historic
alternatives to such settlement.

I would also advise my Azeri colleagues to refrain from abusing the
Karabakh conflict unnecessarily just to justify domestic problems.
I realize that it is necessary for propaganda reasons but it becomes
absurd sometimes.

For example, Azerbaijan’s stance could not be considered constructive
when it declares no cooperation with Armenia in regional projects is
possible until the Karabakh conflict has been settled.

It is absurd when Azerbaijan says no fundamental democratic reforms
are possible in that country unless the conflict has been resolved.
This is either self-deception or an effort to render an ultimatum
to the Council of Europe in order to either force it help settle
the conflict in its favor or stop criticizing Azerbaijan for
democracy-related issues.

But the European experience — and particularly the Serbia and
Montenegro case — proves the contrary: the more democratic the
countries engaged in conflict are the more their people are tolerant
and the more efficient the negotiations.

The Montenegro referendum proved once again the known truth: there
are no democracy, common security and stability without the respect
for a people’s right to express its will freely.

Only when conflicts are resolved without victors and losers there is
a common victory of democracy as is the case with Montenegro.

President Robert Kocharyan sent a telegram of condolence to RF President
connected with the air crash in Irkutsk

ArmRadio.am
10.07.2006 17:55

RA President Robert Kocharyan sent a telegram of condolence to RF
President Vladimir Putin connected with the air crash in Irkutsk.

"Dear Vladimir Putin, I deeply mourn and share with you the sorrow
connected with the air crash in Irkutsk, which took lives of numerous
people.

Let me express sincere sympathy on behalf of the whole Armenian
nation and myself to relatives and friends of the victims and wish
rapid recovery to the wounded."

Zaman Online, Turkey
July 7 2006

FM Gul Blames EU Leaders for Plunge in Turkish Support for EU
By Cihan News Agency
Published: Friday, July 07, 2006
zaman.com

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul blamed some European leaders for the
plunge in Turkish public support for the European Union (EU).

Gul told a press conference on Friday after his US visit that the
remarks of some EU leaders, who cater to their domestic politics
without considering the impact of these remarks in Turkey, are
responsible for the drop in support for the EU.

A Eurobarometer poll, carried in April over 1000 people in Turkey,
found that only 43 percent of Turks have a positive image of the
union. The recent figure shows a plunge in Turkish support for the EU
over a six-month period, as the corresponding figure was 60 percent
six months earlier.

FM Gul stated that the European side should act responsibly to
prepare the Turkish public. Gul noted; however, that the exaggeration
of certain issues in Turkey was partly responsible for the fall in
Turkish support for EU membership. Foreign Minister Gul pledged that
the ruling AKP would take measures to tackle the fall in Turkish
support for the union.

Most of the Turkish people are unhappy with the EU stance on Cyprus,
PKK terrorism, the so-called Armenian issue and the Greek Orthodox
Patriarchy. Remarkable numbers of Turks believe that the EU the
cynical intention to divide Turkey.

Unceasing EU demands on the Turkish government and increasing
pressure over Cyprus are seen as the main reasons why Turkish people
have begun to turn their back to the European Union. The more EU
leaders criticize Turkey, the more nationalist sentiment gains ground
in Turkey.

Turkey commenced actual accession talks with the European Union in
mid-June, following its eight-month screening process.

Turkey’s EU accession process is expected to be long, arduous and
susceptible to crises, especially on Cyprus. Optimistic analysts
predict that Turkey, with its large population, may enter the wealthy
bloc by 2014 at the earliest.

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief

========================================== =======

Friday 7 July 2006
AZERBAIJAN: CRIMINAL TRIAL RESUMES FOR JEHOVAH’S WITNESS

Mushfiq Mammedov, a 23-year-old Jehovah’s Witness who wants to be allowed
to do alternative service in line with Azerbaijan’s constitution and
international obligations rather than compulsory military service, faces
up to two years in prison if convicted. His trial at Baku’s Sabail
District Court, which began on 30 June, resumes on 12 July. "We don’t know
how the hearing will go – nor how long the case will last," his mother
Sevil Najafova told Forum 18 News Service. "Azerbaijan undertook the
obligation to the Council of Europe to adopt a law on alternative service,
and not granting alternative service is a clear violation of this
commitment," Krzysztof Zyman of the Council of Europe told Forum 18. But
Adil Gadjiev of the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office in Baku insists
Azerbaijan is doing nothing wrong. "Signing such commitments doesn’t mean
we have to accept these rights without a corresponding law."

AZERBAIJAN: CRIMINAL TRIAL RESUMES FOR JEHOVAH’S WITNESS

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service <;

The criminal trial of 23-year-old Jehovah’s Witness, Mushfiq Mammedov, for
refusing military service on grounds of religious conscience resumes in
Baku on 12 July. "We don’t know how the hearing will go – nor how long the
case will last," his mother Sevil Najafova told Forum 18 News Service from
the Azerbaijani capital on 7 July. "Mushfiq is ready to do alternative
service in line with his religious convictions – indeed, he wrote to the
military commissariat to tell them he wants to do so."

Article 76 part 2 of Azerbaijan’s Constitution states: "If beliefs of
citizens come into conflict with service in the army then in some cases
envisaged by legislation alternative service instead of regular army
service is permitted." However, in defiance of its commitments to the
Council of Europe, Azerbaijan does not have a law allowing exemption from
military service on grounds of conscience.

Adil Gadjiev, who works on alternative service cases at the Human Rights
Ombudsperson’s office, insisted that without a law on alternative service
this constitutional right cannot apply. "This doesn’t mean we’re against
alternative service," he told Forum 18 from Baku on 7 July. "But there’s
an undeclared war going on with Armenia and millions of refugees from that
conflict. Signing such commitments doesn’t mean we have to accept these
rights without a corresponding law." (Most estimates put the number of
ethnic Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia itself and parts of Azerbaijan
under the control of ethnic Armenians at 700,000.)

"Azerbaijan undertook the obligation to the Council of Europe to adopt a
law on alternative service, and not granting alternative service is a
clear violation of this commitment," Krzysztof Zyman, an official of the
Council of Europe’s Directorate General of Human Rights who has been
handling this issue, told Forum 18 from Strasbourg on 7 July.

However, under international pressure, a law is belatedly being prepared.
"The Council of Europe has been informed that a law on alternative service
is being prepared in Azerbaijan," he told Forum 18. "We are looking forward
to having the chance to study the text of the proposed law in the near
future to ensure that all European standards on alternative service are
met."

Urging the authorities to implement promptly Azerbaijan’s obligation to
establish alternative service and to end prosecutions based on
individuals’ religious beliefs is Eldar Zeynalov, the director of the
Baku-based Human Rights Centre of Azerbaijan. He has taken up Mammedov’s
case, stressing to Forum 18 in May that his beliefs "coincide with
obligations which Azerbaijan has undertaken to the Council of Europe and
in its Constitution".

Mammedov was arrested on 28 April, nine months after telling Sabail
District Military Commissariat in Baku that he was unable to perform
compulsory military service on grounds of his religious conviction. He
demanded instead to be allowed to perform alternative service guaranteed
by Article 76 part 2 of the Constitution, which states: "If beliefs of
citizens come into conflict with service in the army then in some cases
envisaged by legislation alternative service instead of regular army
service is permitted." This was refused.

On the day of his arrest he was also formally charged under Article 321.1
of the Criminal Code, which punishes evasion of military service with a
sentence of up to two years’ imprisonment (see F18News 12 May 2006
< e_id=779>).

Najafova said her son was held in Baku’s Bayil investigation prison, but
was freed by a court decision on 26 May and placed instead under house
arrest as he awaited trial. The trial began at Sabail District Court after
several postponements with a preliminary hearing on 30 June, which was
attended by Najafova. "The hearing was conducted correctly and
honourably," she told Forum 18. She said witnesses from the Military
Commissariat told the court they had not intended to follow through on
their threats to have her son imprisoned, but had merely intended to
intimidate him into signing up for military service.

Gadjiev told Forum 18 that the ombudsperson’s office had issued an
"official appeal" to the court on Mammedov’s behalf, urging a "just
consideration of the case in line with all our laws". He declined to
explain what that meant. "Our law on the ombudsperson’s office says we
cannot interfere in court decisions," Gadjiev told Forum 18. "This is
already more than we could do." He also claimed that officials of his
office had met Mammedov since his release from Bayil prison and he had
agreed to serve in the army.

However, Mammedov’s family reject this. They told Forum 18 that such
pressure was put on him while in prison that he signed a paper that he
would serve in the army. "He was in shock and signed. But he wants to
serve his country by doing alternative service," they insisted. "We are
under such pressure."

Another Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objector, Mahir Bagirov, faced
criminal prosecution for refusing military service (see F18News 10
February 2005 < 507>). He
lost all cases in court, and left Azerbaijan in 2005 to avoid further
legal moves against him.

The authorities have long regarded the Jehovah’s Witnesses with suspicion.
Press attacks remain frequent and in 2005 a number of their meetings were
raided by police, while individual Jehovah’s Witnesses were questioned,
detained and threatened. A number of Protestant communities faced similar
police raids (see F18News 16 November 2005
< e_id=689>).

Although far fewer police raids on Protestants and Jehovah’s Witnesses
have been reported this year, in late April police raided a Protestant
house church in Baku.

Azerbaijan already has tight restrictions on religious activity which
violate the country’s international human rights obligations. However
Rafik Aliev, until recently the head of the State Committee for Work with
Religious Organisations, was determined to tighten government controls
still further. With Aliev’s removal by President Ilham Aliev (no relation)
at the end of June, religious minorities have told Forum 18 that they hope
the situation will become easier for them.

An official of the State Committee, who would not give his name, told
Forum 18 on 7 July that the deputy chairman, Elchin Askerov, is the
committee’s temporary acting head. The official said it is not yet known
who will take over as head, nor when the appointment will be made. He said
he did not know why Rafik Aliev had been removed from the post. (END)

For a personal commentary, by an Azeri Protestant, on how the
international community can help establish religious freedom in
Azerbaijan, see < 482>

For more background information see Forum 18’s Azerbaijan religious
freedom survey at < 92>

A printer-friendly map of Azerbaijan is available at
< s/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=azerba& gt;
(END)

© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855
You may reproduce or quote this article provided that credit is given to
F18News

Past and current Forum 18 information can be found at

–Boundary_(ID_cUIFnrD NkHrcYlGPqu4SNA)–

FIRST SUMMER CALL-UP IN ARMENIA
Hakob Badalyan

Lragir.am
07 July 06

In the modern history of Armenia we have witnessed for a number of
times how the government resource is shaped into a noose and this
noose is tightened around the neck of the society. In this sense the
ongoing mobilization of functionaries in the Republican Party is not
a novelty for the Armenian society. Perhaps, therefore, the society
is not worried by this "call-up", it seems less worried than the
"conscripts". This is the first summer call-up in Armenia. Moreover,
for the first time the republican military commission is led by the
minister of defense. Therefore, those affiliating with the Republican
Party have every reason to be confused.

This is an emergency case, and quick mobilization is urgent for future
political battles and may be even more than political battles.

And the class, which has now appeared in the Republican Party, usually
adheres to a power group to enjoy, not to fight, be it for power or
for property. They are not used to struggling for something, even
for their property, for they are not the master of their property –
the government guards it. Therefore, this class will prefer agreement
with the force, which will be the most likely candidate to take power
to fighting with the Republican Party.

Therefore the "trumpeters", who declare admittance to the Republican
without examination, are mistaken. If the Republican Party and Serge
Sargsyan are pursuing quantity or resource, it means they need it. And
for the official-oligarchic criminal it is strange that Serge Sargsyan
needs something, especially quantity or resource.

Consequently, they affiliate with the Republican Party without knowing
whether they will be defended or used for defending others.

If Serge Sargsyan is rounding them up to defend them rather than
to defend himself, a logical question occurs at once from whom the
"almighty" defense minister is going to protect them and why inside
the Republican Party by all means.

Before "taking the army to battle" Serge Sargsyan and Andranik
Margaryan may have to answer the questions of "conscripts" to bolster
up their morale. On the other hand, if they answer this question,
considering the intellect of this "enlisted mass", we may suppose
that they will not go to battle for the simple reason that under
this circumstance idea does not work, instinct works. In that case,
there can be no self-defense.

There can be only self-protection. Why do you think the rats are
deserting the ship? Are they aware that the ship is sinking? Of course,
not. They simply feel that they may die out though the captain might
be skillful and experienced. And if the ship is sinking, forcing the
rats on board the ship does not mean that it will be saved. Simply the
same fate will befell to rats and the skillful and experienced captain.

Happy voyage?

BAKU WILLING TO RESOLVE KARABAKH PROBLEM BY STAGE AND PACKAGE OPTION

Armenpress
Jul 4 2006

BAKU, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS: A senior Azerbaijani official has reaffirmed
the official Baku’s willingness to continue talks with Armenia on a
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution option based on the so-called
‘stage and package’ approach.

Head of Azerbaijani foreign affairs ministry’s press office, Tair
Tagizade, told the Russian Itar-Tass news agency that Azerbaijan
perceives that the first stage should comprise from 8 to 10 elements
which include particularly the pullout of Armenian troops from all
regions surrounding the administrative borders of Nagorno-Karabakh,
demining of the frontline, return of refugees, ensuring their security
and restoration of communications.

The talks in second stage, he said, must center on defining the
legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh within the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan, which is possible only after restoration of the ethnic
composition of Nagorno-Karabakh before 1988, ensuring the security
of Armenian and Azeri communities of Nagorno-Karabakh in line with
Azerbaijani constitution.

On Monday deputy foreign minister of Azerbaijan, Araz Azimov was
quoted by the Turan news agency as saying that Baku has never said
it agrees to such a solution of the conflict that would culminate in
a referendum on Nagorno-Karabakh status.

"DAYS OF BAZE IN ARTSAKH" ALL ARMENIAN YOUTH FESTIVAL TO BE HELD ON JUNE 26-AUGUST 1 IN NKR

Noyan Tapan
Jul 4 2006

YEREVAN, JULY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. Nearly 200 young people (18-30-year-old)
from Armenia, Artsakh, Javakhk and Diaspora will take part in "Days
of Baze in Artsakh" All Armenian Youth Festival which will be held
in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic from July 26 to August 1. It is
organized by the All-Armenian Youth Foundation.

Baze (Hawk) is the symbol of All Armenian Youth Festiavals organized
twice a year in Armenia. Their participants are also named "Bazes".

As Armen Aleksanian, Deputy Director of the festival informed at
the July 4 press conference, 11-12 mln drams (nearly 28 thousand
U.S. dollars) will be allocated from the state budget, and nearly 5
mln drams will be allocated by the Foundation.

9 detachments will be formed during the Festival, which will be divided
into 3 fronts according to the colours symbolizing the tricolor flag
of Republic of Armenia: red, blue and orange. 2 of the detachments
are formed from the winners of "Baze" all Armenian gatherings’
song, dance, recitation, painting, fashion, intellectual and sport
competitions held in 2002-2006. According to the organizers, Artsakh
will represent 5 detachments and Diaspora and Javakhk, 1 detachment
each. Each detachment will include 12 young people.

Cultural, intellectual and sport competitions will be organized within
the framework of the festival, as well as "Baze" sculpture competition
will be held for the first time. Meetings with the NKR President,
NA President, Prime Minister and with other high-ranking officials
of Artsakh will also be held.