BAKU: OSCE Minsk Group meets with Azeri foreign minister

OSCE Minsk Group meets with Azeri foreign minister

16.07.2004 12:04:00 GMT

Baku. (Interfax-Azerbaijan) – The co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group
for settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict met with Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov in Baku on Friday.

“We held excellent negotiations with the Azerbaijani foreign
minister,” French Minsk Group co-chairman Henry Jacolen told Interfax
following the meeting.

Jacolen and the other co-chairmen, Yury Merzlyakov of Russia and
Stephen Mann of the U.S., arrived in Baku to offer new proposals on
settling the Nagorno-Karabakh problem to the Azerbaijani
leadership. The international mediators had earlier visited Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh for the same purpose.

Merzlyakov earlier told the press: “There are new ideas, but we have
to negotiate with the Azerbaijani leadership first.” Commenting on
proposals that Nagorno-Karabakh’s representatives be involved in the
talks, he said this issue is up to the negotiating parties to
decide. “In my view, all parties should take part in the
negotiations,” he said.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an Azerbaijani province populated mostly by ethnic
Armenians. Baku lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other
districts adjacent to it after a bloody conflict with Armenia in the
1990s.

The UN Security Council has issued a number of resolutions condemning
the occupation of Azerbaijani territory and demanded that Armenian
units be pulled out of the territory. The OSCE Minsk Group, which is
composed of representatives from the U.S., Russia, and France, is
mediating to help resolve the conflict.

Les pierres du Symposium =?UNKNOWN?Q?pr=EAtes_=E0_=EAtre_sculpt=E9es

La Nouvelle République du Centre Ouest
13 juillet 2004

Les pierres du Symposium prêtes à être sculptées

Telles de véritables vedettes, elles ont fait l’objet de toutes les
attentions vendredi matin à leur arrivée au chteau. Pas de tapis
rouge pour les accueillir, juste l’émerveillement de Michelle Boutet
et de Francis Pollet.

Elles, ce sont les pierres de Lavoux qui vont imprimer l’inspiration
des artistes du 4e Symposium de sculpture. Ils seront huit
privilégiés à pouvoir sculpter ces blocs, les Français Christine
Aubert, Frédéric Neau, Eric Stambirowski, la Vietnamienne Mari Fang,
la Polonaise Dominika Griesgraber, l’Arménien Harutyun Yekmalyan, le
Néo-Zélandais Renate Verbrugge et Kaija Kontulainen, une Finlandaise
qui va marier la pierre à l’acier.

« La pierre de Lavoux est une pierre calcaire plus dure que celle de
Chauvigny qui peut toutefois se travailler en huit jours. Elle a la
particularité de ne pas comporter de fossiles qui provoqueraient des
trous en la sculptant, c’est une pierre pure », explique Michelle
Boutet. En attendant de devenir des oeuvres d’art, ces blocs en
provenance de Jardres dans la Vienne, d’un poids total de 22 tonnes,
ne sont que des cubes qu’il a bien fallu transporter. L’entreprise
bressuiraise Molema a été sollicitée pour acheminer les blocs
jusqu’au chteau avant de les déposer devant les futurs ateliers des
sculpteurs. Un travail qui a nécessité précision et réflexion pour
organiser ces pierres au pied de la forteresse médiévale.

– Le quatrième symposium de sculpture, aura lieu du 17 au 25 juillet
au chteau de Bressuire.

BAKU: Azerbaijani pupils in America

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
July 13 2004

AZERBAIJANI PUPILS IN AMERICA
[July 13, 2004, 20:54:05]

Press conference has taken place in the International Press Center
with participation of 55 pupils who have come back after end of
training in the USA in 2003/2004 educational year within the
framework of the Program of Exchange of Future Leaders of the Freedom
Support Act (FLEX).

As correspondent of AzerTAj reports, opening the conference, director
of the American International Council of Education (ÀÑÑÅLS) on the
country Jeremy Tash has told about essence of the carried out
program, has congratulated the pupils who rounded education, and also
sent in the USA in the next educational year, has wished them
successes. He has told: `Financed by the US State Department the
program FLEX functions more than 10 years and for this time more than
450 pupils from Azerbaijan within one year were trained in high
schools of the United State, having placed in the American families,
directly got acquainted with culture, traditions, customs of this
people. It is pleasant, that as against the last years in the
competition of this year, which has been lead among 9-10-11 grades of
Azerbaijan, schools, have taken part more than 2 thousand pupils.

Congratulating pupils, Minister of Education Misir Mardanov has told:
`Realization of this program is a part of the American – Azerbaijan
cooperation. It is very glad and proud of that we have youth of so
high intellectual level. They have adequately presented the country
in such state as the USA, and have come back with the big successes.’

The Minister also has recommended to the pupils sent in the USA in
the next educational year, to take with them materials, cassettes
about our Republic, its history, geography, culture, customs,
traditions, about our hardest problem – the Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorny Karabakh conflict and more than one million refugees and
IDPs, and bring all this to the notice of public the USA which is not
having wide information on Azerbaijan.

The pupils have told about the impressions during their training in
America, residing at the American families, the won successes, about
similarity and the distinctive sides of education systems of two
countries.

At the meeting, there was the representative of US embassy in our
country on public relations Nile ÌcGertty.

New Iraqi Census Officially Recognizes Chaldo Assyrians

Assyrian International News Agency, Iraq
July 9 2004

New Iraqi Census Officially Recognizes ChaldoAssyrians

With the handover of sovereignty by the Coalition Provisional
Authority (CPA) now complete, the new interim government in Iraq has
begun to prepare the groundwork for nationwide elections now set for
2005. Reports have surfaced that in preparation for a nationwide
census, a new draft census form including the various Iraqi
constituent groups has been prepared. The draft survey form
reportedly includes Arabs, Turkoman, Armenians, Kurds, and Assyrians.
The inclusion of Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs)
marks a historic milestone in that under the former regime Assyrians
were deliberately classified as Arabs, despite their protestations.
As a direct result, past Iraqi censuses have resulted in Assyrian
under representation.

The initial draft version of the census form caused some concern and
confusion within the Assyrian community. Reportedly, the new draft
form originally included the term “Ashori” — the Arabic version of
Assyrian. For Iraqi Assyrians, the preferred term for official
governmental business is “ChaldoAssyrian.” This term was
overwhelmingly adopted by Iraqi Assyrians during the Chaldean Syriac
Assyrian General Conference in Baghdad in October of 2003. The
Baghdad conference, sponsored by the Assyrian Democratic Movement
(ADM) and the Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO), was
unimaginable just a few months earlier under the past Baathist
regime. During a very critical period, the ChaldoAssyrian community
of Iraq convened the meeting to formally adopt the official name to
be included in any future Iraqi constitution as well as to press for
recognition of an Assyrian self-administered area in the Nineveh
Plain. The adoption of ChaldoAssyrian is broadly seen as the best way
to avoid external threats to exacerbate internal tensions over the
name issue that might otherwise result in fragmentation of the third
largest demographic group in Iraq.

Formal complaints by various groups within the community to the
census bureau have, according to insiders, led to the census bureau
acknowledging that ChaldoAssyrian will indeed be the term utilized in
the census form. Prior to the anticipated reversal, Assyrian leaders
had feared that the draft version represented an affront to the
Assyrian community’s political expression as well as potential
fragmentation of the community in the upcoming census. As one leader
noted, “there was concern that the resulting tension and confusion
might lead to another undercounting of our people in Iraq.” Another
analyst added, “It remains critical at this time to not deviate from
the agreed upon formula of the Baghdad conference in order to not
hand our adversaries the victory of under representation of our
people there once again.”

The inclusion of “Ashori” in any form has itself been seen as highly
significant on another count as well. During the previous regime,
there was a deliberate distinction made in Arabic between “Ashoris”
and “Athoris.” As part of the Arabization campaign of the Baath
regime, Ashori referred to ancient Assyrians while Athori referred to
today’s Assyrians as a Christian Arab religious minority. By making
such a distinction, the government deemed today’s Assyrians unrelated
to the ancient Assyrians in order to deny Assyrians their legitimate
ethnic, historical, cultural and indigenous status within Iraq. In
the Assyrian language (Syriac), there is no distinction between the
two terms and both are used interchangeably. Appropriately, the new
proposed census form uses the term Ashori (or ChaldoAshori)
acknowledging the historical continuity of the Assyrians of Iraq.

One of the greatest challenges facing Assyrians in Iraq today remains
a proper accounting of numbers. Community estimates outside Iraq have
put the numbers at between 6-10%, while in Iraq Assyrians are given
only 4% representation. No real hard facts are known since Assyrians
have never been included in official Iraqi censuses, they were
fragmented as separate religious minorities along Church
denominations. One Assyrian observer bitterly noted “We constituted
just over 10% of the casualties of the Iran-Iraq War. How is it,
then, that we are ‘allowed’ to die for our country proportionately,
but not allowed to be represented politically fairly to the same
extent?”

Some of the responsibility of seeing that all Assyrians are counted
in the upcoming census will fall on the shoulders of the new
ChaldoAssyrian Minister of Immigration and Refugees, Ms. Pascale
Warda Eshoo. Although Assyrians continue to protest only one
ministerial position, the new ministerial level appointment of Ms.
Eshoo is seen as highly significant because through that position she
may be able to contend with the two most vexing issues for Assyrians
in Iraq. First, she will be able to assist with displaced Assyrians
within Iraq. Secondly, from the perspective of representation, she
will be able to assist with properly registering Assyrians in the
diaspora. One analyst noted, “In the US alone, 80-90% of
Iraqi-Americans are Assyrian. Even if , pending a fair census, we are
only 1.5 million in Iraq, there are at least hundreds of thousands
outside Iraq that need to be counted.” Another observer explained the
discrepancy of 6-10% of a nation’s population contributing 80-90% of
its diaspora by simply summarizing “disproportionate persecution has
led to disproportionate emigration.”

Despite the climate of fear and intimidation that the horrendous
security situation has engendered, there have been some recent
hopeful signs for Assyrians. The new Iraqi interim President recently
acknowledged the importance of the Assyrian diaspora community.
Speaking in Washington to an audience of Iraqi expatriates, Sheikh
Ghazi al-Yawer stated that the Assyrians are the indigenous people of
Iraq and are an important and integral part of government. Their fair
representation will be ensured in the new political makeup inside and
outside of Iraq, where they represent a majority of the Iraqi
Diaspora communities.

http://www.aina.org/releases/2004079004216.htm

Ukraine demonstrates multi-purpose aircraft in Azerbaijan

Ukraine demonstrates multi-purpose aircraft in Azerbaijan

MPA news agency
9 Jul 04

BAKU

A demonstration flight of An-76 TK200 aircraft produced by the Kharkiv
aviation plant was organized at an airfield near Baku yesterday (8
July). This model aircraft is intended for passenger transportation
and combat tasks, the plant’s director-general, Pavel Naumenko, told
reporters. In particular, the aircraft can be used to transport
military hardware and airborne troops. It can carry up to 52 people as
published or 10 tonnes of cargo. It’s flying speed is 124-700
km/h. Talks will be held with the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry about
possible purchase of the aircraft, Naumenko said.

India: Situation in Kashmir similar to Nagorno Karabak:Musharraf

New Kerala, India
July 10 2004

Situation in Kashmir similar to Nagorno Karabak:Musharraf
Islamabad |

The situation prevailing in the Kashmir Valley is almost similar to
what is prevailing in the Armenian conclave of Nagorno Karabak,
claimed Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Friday.

Reports reaching here from the Azerbaijan capital of Baku quoted
Musharraf as saying that Pakistan’s “lingering” dispute with India
over Kashmir was similar to the conflict between the Armenian
Government and its neighbouring enclave of Nagorno Karabakh and the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The News further quoted him as saying that all of these issues needed
to be addressed and resolved in just manner, and countries perceived
as aggressors needed to be aware of ground realities.

“If we are able to put this into practice, the world will be able to
root out extremism, militarism and terrorism. If the status quo
remains, that will not lead to the resolution of these problems,”
Musharraf was quoted as saying.

He also claimed that “Islamic terrorism” was holding the Muslim world
hostage, and that the West must also change its attitude to the
Islamic world.

“It is unfortunate that terrorism does harm to Muslim countries…
The tactics they use, terrorism, car bombs, executions and other
dirty methods, damage our great religion. Today they are holding our
societies hostage. They must understand that they cannot solve the
problems of the Islamic world this way…I call on them to return to
the true path,” he said. (ANI)

Armenian border is open to Turkey – foreign minister

Armenian border is open to Turkey – foreign minister

Arminfo, Yerevan
6 Jul 04

MOSCOW

The Turkish-Armenian border is open from the Armenian side, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said during his official visit to
Moscow, answering a question from an Arminfo news agency
correspondent.

Asked what conditions Armenia intended to set over opening the border,
Oskanyan said that any conditions were out of the question. “The
border is open from our side and we would like Turkey to open the
border as well and for the beginning of our relations not to require
preconditions from either side,” Oskanyan said.

Junior Achievement of Armenia Seeks a Director

PRESS RELEASE
Junior Achievement of Armenia
1102 N. Brand #61
Glendale, CA 91202
Email: [email protected]
Web:

US Director, Junior Achievement of Armenia

Junior Achievement of Armenia, a California based 501c3 with
operations in Armenia, is looking to fill a full-time US Director
position. This position, based in the US, with extended stays in
Armenia and extensive travel through out the US, would report directly
to the board of directors while in the US and report to the Executive
Director while in Armenia. This person would fill a key position for
the organization with responsibilities that include, but are not
limited to fundraising, program oversight, financial reporting and
program development. This individual must have at least an
undergraduate college degree, fluency in Armenian a plus, strong
written and verbal communication skills, strong organizational and
leadership skills, and a successful track record in sales and/or
fundraising. Interested candidates should forward their resume to
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . For information on Junior
Achievement of Armenia, please visit our website at

http://www.jaarmenia.org/
http://www.jaarmenia.org

Oskanian meets Lavrov

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +3741.562543
Fax: +3741.543925
Email: [email protected]:

PRESS RELEASE

06 July 2004

Minister of Foreign Affairs Oskanian Meets with Russian Foreign
Minister Lavrov

Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian is on a two-day official
visit to Moscow. On the first day, the Minister met with Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The two colleagues began by expressing their satisfaction at the fact
that economic relations between the two countries is on the upswing.
They noted that the Armenian and Russian presidents had also noted
this positive development during their recent meeting. They also
suggested that the recent creation of a Russian-Armenian Business
Cooperation Association may result in an increase in this
cooperation. Minister Oskanian stressed that economic ties between
Russia’s various regions and Armenia’s regions are also very
encouraging developments and can only lead to further productivity and
positive results. Further, the Minister noted that Russian businesses
and the Armenian economy will reap greater benefits as soon as those
factories which Russian companies had recently acquired in the
assets-for-debt agreements concluded earlier this year, become
operational. The two ministers also focused on the need to revive
certain transportation links to enhance economic development and
regional cooperation.

Armenian-Russian collaboration in the scientific, educational and
cultural spheres was also on the agenda. They noted the role of the
growing Russian Diaspora in the growing number of exchange and
cooperative programs.

Ministers Oskanian and Lavrov agreed to continue to work together in
various international organizations, including the UN, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as the
Council of Europe, the CIS and the Collective Security Organization.

Minister Oskanian informed his colleague about the process of Nagorno
Karabakh negotiations. Russia, as a co-chair country of the Minsk
Group, agreed that only a political resolution, achieved through
mutual compromise, will lead to an acceptable resolution. The sides
agreed that all parties will have to demonstrate maximal flexibility
and political will.

They also dealt with issues pertaining to President Putin’s official
visit to Armenia in the near future. Minister Oskanian invited
Minister Lavrov to visit Armenia as soon as his schedule allows.

This first official meeting between the two colleagues lasted one and
a half hours and was followed by an official lunch. The head of the
Russian-Armenian business cooperation association, Nikolai Rizhkov, as
well as Andrei Kakoshin, head of the Russian Duma Committee on the CIS
joined the ministers and other officials for lunch.

Immediately following their discussions, the ministers responded to
questions from the press.

Immediately prior the meeting with the meeting between foreign
ministers, Minister Oskanian placed a wreath at the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier.

www.armeniaforeignministry.am