Author: Topchian Jane

Medvedev sworn in as Russia’s third President

armradio.am
07.05.2008 15:07

Dmitry Medvedev has been sworn in as Russia’s third president since the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The inauguration ceremony was held in the Kremlin front of 2,400
guests. Mr. Medvedev, 42, won a landslide victory in the March
elections.

The inauguration ceremony was held in the Kremlin’s magnificent St
Andrew’s Hall.

It began with an honour guard bringing in the symbols of the
presidential office.

Vladimir Putin then made a short speech, describing the handover of
power as "a hugely important stage" for Russia.

"It’s extremely important… to continue the course that has already
been taken and has justified itself," said Mr. Putin, referring to his
eight years in power.

Mr. Medvedev then took an oath on a red-bound copy of the Russian
constitution.
In a brief speech, he pledged to work for "a better" Russia, ensuring
"civil and economic freedom."

Mr. Medvedev also stressed he would "pay special attention to the
fundamental role of the law".
He also thanked Mr Putin for his personal support, saying he hoped he
would enjoy such backing in the future.

A 30-gun salute was then fired from the Kremlin embankment to mark Mr.
Medvedev’s inauguration.

Passions around the Karabakh settlement

D. Karabekyan, independent analyst
05-05-2008 10:35:53 – KarabakhOpen

The parliaments of the two Armenian states held recurrent hearings on
the settlement of the Karabakh issue. This time they were held in the
context of the passage of the UN GA resolution on the
Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict which was drafted and lobbied by
Azerbaijan and other members of GUAM. The hearings were held in the
context of the Armenian presidential election, the upcoming
presidential election in Azerbaijan and the statements by the
Azerbaijani leadership about likelihood to boost the military budget.

In our opinion, despite the skeptical-reassuring evaluations of the
passage of the UN resolution which are heard in Yerevan and
Stepanakert, the fact that Baku reached its goal makes think about a
lot of things: a) the Azerbaijani government increased their assets
before the election, b) provided guarantees that the precedent of
Kosovo will not reoccur in Karabakh, c) the possibility to justify
their aggressive stance and readiness to return the talks back to the
times when Nagorno-Karabakh did not participate in the talks as a
conflict side, and Azerbaijan could in fact offer ultimatums to the
mediator and sides.

Despite the different evaluations of the strategy adopted by
Azerbaijan, it is beyond doubt that the attempts of Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh to protect their interests in the Karabakh settlement
and in general are highly passive, inconsistent and ineffective, and
the clearance of the diplomatic corps during the presidential election
was belated.

The stereotypes that the United States sets the rules in the world
politics, France represents the 25 EU states to the Minsk Group, and
Russia is influential enough underwent a serious trial. About 140
states disagreed with the United States partly or fully, and the stance
of France (which voted against the abovementioned resolution) was
supported by only 4 states of the EU, and only Armenia agreed with the
stance of Russia.

The readiness to revise the policy of Armenia on the Karabakh issue is
felt from the speeches of the Armenian parliament members and the
statement passed after the hearings. However, the tendency to wait
until the presidential election in Azerbaijan, and the inability to
change the former passive `behavior’ with heavy reliance on the EU, the
United States and even Azerbaijan still persist¦ It turns out that
Armenia will not recognize NKR and will not take any other steps unless
Baku makes sudden moves, and the statement of the parliament is only
the result of the aggressiveness of Baku.

However, most of all the inconsistency of Armenia and NKR regarding the
priorities marked by the decision of the joint session of the Supreme
Soviets of Soviet Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region on
December 1, 1989 worries. This is already a separate topic, which
requires great and serious study. We would not like the Armenian and
Karabakh politicians to remember about the necessity to follow the
decision and priorities set by the historic joint session only after
another demarche of the Azerbaijani government.

KENTUCKY STATE RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

LOUISVILLE, MAY 6, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN.

U.S. Kentucky Governor Steven L. Beshear issued a proclamation
recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The proclamation brings the number
of states to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide to forty-one, the
Armenian National Committee of America reported. The proclamation
designated April 24 as "Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide" in
the state of Kentucky, noting that "recognition of the ninety-third
anniversary of this genocide is paramount to guarding against the
repetition of future genocides and educating people across the
Commonwealth about the atrocities of these horrific events."

American Chronicle, CA
May 6 2008

Derek Adie Flower author of The Shores of Wisdom, The Tuscany Trilogy

Norm Goldman
May 05, 2008

Today, Lily Azerad-Goldman, one of Bookpleasures’ reviewers is
pleased to have as our guest, novelist Derek Adie Flower author of The
Shores of Wisdom, The Tuscany Trilogy, Inquest On IMHOTEP (Beyond The
White Walls), Ransomed, and his most recent tome, Farewell
Alexandria. Farewell Alexandria is of particular interest to Lily as
she was born in Egypt and lived there for seventeen years before
migrating to Canada in the early 60s.

Good day Derek and thanks for participating in our interview.

Lily:

Were you born in Egypt? Why and when did you leave Egypt and where do
you live now?

Derek:

Thank you, Lily, I’m delighted to be interviewed by you. I was born in
Geneva – my parents had a house there – but was brought up between
Alexandria and Cairo , where our family resided principally. I left
Egypt in 1956 after the Suez crisis, and after livingsuccessively in
London, Cannes, Milan, Florence and Rome, I now live with my wife at
Nettuno, some 60 kms. on the coast south of Rome. Curiously it reminds
me a lot of Alex with its palm trees, and we’re fortunate enough to
live in the centre of a park with private way down to the beach.

Lily:

What motivated you to write Farewell Alexandria?

Derek:

Probably through a form of nostalgia, the wish to recall the happy
days spent, both by me and may parents, in what was once one of the
glittering centres of the Mediterranean.

Lily

Is Farewell Alexandria an autobiography or the story of your relatives
and friends?

Derek:

I was asked the same question when interviewed by the B.B.C. in
London. No it is not an autobiography though Julius may represent some
of my aspirations, nor is it the story of my family or relatives of
mine, but all the principal characters are based on people I had
either met or heard about.

Lily:

You know how to reflect the diversity of various ethnicities that
existed in Egypt in the timeframe of your story. But why is your main
protagonist an Armenian?

Derek:

There were a lot of Armenians in Egypt who, persecuted in their own
country, had gone there to start a new life. Also the carpenter who
did our house at Agami, was Armenian, so it came naturally to me to
make Antor Caspardian of Armenian descent.

Lily:

Did the incident with the poor Jewish man really happen during a riot?
Personally, when I lived in Egypt, I remember huddling with my family
in a first floor building listening to the screams and invectives of
the mob running past our doors. Thank G-d they did not penetrate our
building!

Derek:

Yes, I was told about it by my parents. In fact my Mother was caught
in a riot when her car broke down just as the mob came charging down
the street. Luckily her chauffeur managed to keep the rioters at bay,
so no harm was done.

Lily:

How did Antor Caspardian become such a good businessman? His story is
quite plausible and is the dream of all Egyptians, especially my
dad’s. Did you have any wheeling and dealing in such businesses?

Derek:

As I explain in the book, he was bright, single minded and a go-getter
who learnt the tricks of the trade while an apprentice in the various
companies he worked for, including the bank. He then simply grasped
the opportunities offered him. As for me, not only was I involved in
oil brokerage in the 80s and 90s as well as insurance and banking, but
my father had controlled companies which imported many of the cars
imported into Egypt, from Rolls Royces to Mini Minors, as well as
refrigerators etc. So I had a certain experience as a youngster on how
businesses operated.

Lily:

How did you know about King Farouk’s weakness for playing and winning
at cards? And how did you know about the money evasion schemes (which
are all true stories!)

Derek:

The father of my best friend, Norman Ades, played poker regularly with
Farouk, so we had first hand knowledge of what happened at those
sessions, and how losing gracefully could turn into an advantage when
wanting to export funds. A word from the king and the problem was
solved!

Lily:

You included many stories that make your book quite a saga. Did you
remember these stories or did you have references? For example the
stories on the luxurious Yacht bring back to mind Onassis and his
lavish lifestyle.

Derek:

Some of the episodes I recount I remembered, others refer to people I
knew or my friends knew. The luxurious yacht was actually based on
that of the billionaire Kashogi, onto which I was invited when it
berthed at Porto Santo Stefano, on the Tuscan coast. I actually owned
a yacht at one time with a friend, a converted motor torpedo boat, but
of course it was no way as luxurious as the one I describe.

Lily:

How did you develop the plot and characters? Did you use any set
formula?As a follow up, did you know anyone who was paralysed like
George? Did you make any research into that state of mind?

Derek:

Like in other novels I have written, I develop the plot and characters
as I write, so have no set formula., which maybe explains why my
novels are all different.

The only one which maybe resembles Farewell Alexandria is another
‘saga’ called The Tuscan Trilogy. However, I do research carefully the
facts and events around which the characters evolve. Where George’s
paralysis is concerned, I did question a specialist as to what can
happen when a person has a ‘stroke’ like George, or a cancer like
Cecily, but their states of mind are my diagnosis, following the
characters I have given them.

Incidentally, George’s business success story is based on that of a a
person I knew, though his character was my invention.

Lily:

A.J. is a typical terrorist mind. I learned a few new things on the
civil war in Lebanon and the different factions vying for power and
murder. Were you in Lebanon at that time? And why do you call Lebanon,
The Lebanon?

Derek:

No, I was not, but my wife spent her early childhood in Beyrout and
was very close to the then President Chamoun’s family and
children. His young son, Danny, used to consider her his kid sister.

I met him in Paris, many years later, and he gave me a lot of
background information on the

events which took place there. He was at the head of one of the
factions in the Lebanese civil war, and was subsequently killed by a
rival faction, together with his wife and two of his three children. A
terrible tragedy.

Why do I call it the Lebanon? Good question. Possibly because in
French it was always known as le Liban, a throwback, maybe, to when it
was a province of Syria, but also because maybe erroneously, we have
always referred to it as such.

Lily:

I loved your ending and will not ask you any questions other than say
this was a fitting one.

Derek:

Thank you.

Lily:

How did you know when your book was finished?

Derek:

When all the principal characters had said and done what I wanted them
to.

Lily:

In fiction as well as in non-fiction, writers very often take
liberties with their material to tell

a good story or make a point. But how much is too much?

Derek:

A difficult question where fiction is concerned, In non-fiction,
however, I reckon one cannot take liberties and must recount only
facts, otherwise it becomes the so-called ‘faction’.

In fiction, my view is that it is up to the author, and the public
will then decide how much is too much.

Lily:

Has your environment and/or upbringing influenced your writing?

Derek:

Certainly.

Lily:

Do you still go back to Alexandria?

Derek:

Yes. In 2002 I was invited to the opening of the new Alexandrian
Library ` a remarkable building ` which put Alexandria back on the map
culturally, and since then I have been back twice. I am planning to go
there this winter as I still have friends there also.

Lily:

Are you working on any books/projects that you would like to share
with us?

(We would love to hear all about them!)

Derek:

Yes. I have just finished my second ‘saga’ The Tuscan Trilogy ` if you
go to my website: www. derekflower.com you can see what it is about,
and I have also just finished a series of adventures for young adults,
entitled, ‘The Weird and Wonderful Adventures of Tim Wessurp, ‘TWERP.’
Again, details can be seen on my website.

Lily:

Where can our readers find out more about you and your book and is
there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

Derek:

Probably by visiting my website, where there is quite a lot about my
books and me.

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

Derek. It is I who thank you.

814

Ch ance meeting
A Freeno State professor recalls his long-ago visit with the Dalai Lama.
By Doug Hoagland / The Fresno Bee
05/02/08 16:59:26
Quick Job Search

Retiring professor Dickran Kouymjian met the Dalai Lama almost
50 years ago, when both men were in their 20s.

Fresno State professor Dickran Kouymjian met with the exiled Dalai
Lama of Tibet long before the famous spiritual leader rocketed into
the news on the shouts of protestors worldwide.

Thousands of angry people, including many in San Francisco last month,
have railed against China’s crackdown in Tibet.

These events stirred memories for Kouymjian, whose trek across the
Middle East in green Bermuda shorts brought him face to face with the
Dalai Lama nearly 50 years ago. The young Armenian-American carried in
his rucksack a blue-and-white seersucker suit that he would wear
during their brief meeting in 1959 in India. The Dalai Lama, a
Buddhist monk who is both the exiled political and spiritual leader of
Tibet, wore burgundy robes.

Both men were in their 20s. "It was an adventure, and yes, yes, yes, I
wanted it," Kouymjian said of his trip. "I wanted to see things. I
wanted to be in the action."

The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet a few months before Kouymjian met him,
had taken up exile in India, where he lives today. He had yet to
become a figure who regularly confers with popes and presidents and a
Nobel Peace Prize winner.

But even in 1959, the Dalai Lama emanated a peace and tranquillity
that today is associated with his public persona, Kouymjian said. "I
thought to myself, ‘This is what they mean when they say
idealist. This man is either a true spiritualist or terribly nalai
Lama’s Web site. Tibetans believe the Dalai Lamas are "enlightened
beings" who choose reincarnation to serve humanity, according to the
Web site. Dalai means "ocean" in Mongolian, and lama in Tibetan often
is translated as "spiritual teacher." The title means a teacher who is
as spiritually deep as an ocean.

After China’s invasion of Tibet in 1949, the current Dalai Lama
assumed political power and negotiated with Chinese leaders, but fled
to India in 1959 when China put down a Tibetan uprising, the Web site
says.

Chinese authorities blame the Dalai Lama for recent protests in
Tibet. He says a "cultural genocide" is occurring in his homeland.

The Dalai Lama’s nonviolent philosophy is at odds with some youthful
followers, Kouymjian said. "He’s trying to control all these young
Tibetans who expect him to be as militant as they are. They’re not
talking about peace and Buddhist messages of love and
brotherhood. They want action."

Protests in San Francisco — and London and Paris, before that, which
were tied to the upcoming Olympics in China — have helped focus world
attention on the plight of the Tibetans, Kouymjian said: "It is
important for Western leaders to know people are concerned about
this."

Kouymjian, who grew up in the Midwest, was working as a freelance
journalist when he met the Dalai Lama. After graduating from college,
he had gone to Europe in 1958 to report on the World’s Fair in
Belgium. Next stop: Lebanon, where he worked on a master’s degree. He
later earned a doctorate. While living in Lebanon, he and his friend
Andre Dirlik, now a retired professor from Canada’s Royal Military
College, made an overland trip to India.

The two men hitchhiked and rode buses and trains from Lebanon across
Syria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India. Officials in the Indian
capital of Delhi didn’t give Kouymjian much hope of meeting with the
Dalai Lama, but he persisted.

Kouymjian said he called the Dalai Lama’s representative and was
granted an appointment after saying he had a friend who knew the Dalai
Lama’s childhood tutor — an Austrian.

The Dalai Lama told Kouymjian that despite China’s occupation of
Tibet, he could not hate the Chinese because he needed to love his
fellow man: "The long and short of it, he was trying to give me a
moral lesson about love."

Kouymjian’s traveling companion remembers the meeting with the Dalai
Lama less significantly, calling it a lark.

"You just try your luck, and it worked," Dirlik said. The Dalai Lama
was courteous but not terribly charismatic, and the conversation
wasn’t profound, Dirlik said from his Montreal home. The meeting
lasted about an hour. Dirlik said he took a photo of Kouymjian and the
Dalai Lama.

Kouymjian, 73, found a copy of that photo as he recently packed up his
office. Thirty-two years after starting the Armenian Studies Program
at California State University, Fresno, Kouymjian is retiring and
returning to Paris, where he has lived part time since the mid-1970s.

He savors his memory of the Dalai Lama.

"I thought it was a great privilege to see him," Kouymjian said, "and
he let us believe he had passed a very pleasant hour with us."

Behind Kouymjian is a sample of the documents, books, and
artwork the Armenian studies department has acquired.

Kouymjian’s traveling companion took a photo of Kouymjian and
the Dalai Lama during the 1959 meeting that took place in
India.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or (559) 441-6354.

MAKING AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLE 301 INSUFFICIENT STEP OF TURKEY TOWARDS EUROPEAN DEMOCRATIC STANDARDS: EXPERTS

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
May 2 2008

Azerbaijan, Baku, 1 May/corr. Trend News E.Tanriverdiyeva, R.Hafizoglu
/ Making amendments to the article 301, which had been a "stumbling
block" for freedom of expression in Turkey, testified that the
Country has moved towards the standards of the European democracy,
but it may be insufficient step in light of the European Union. "The
new law is certainly an improvement over the old law, which has been
heavily criticized internationally. However, in the minds of many
observers it still does not go far enough," English political analyst
James Ker-Lindsay said.

On 30 April, the Parliament of Turkey made changes to article 301 of
the Criminal Code. According to the changes, the people being accused
of insulting the national dignity of the Turks shall be sentenced
to three years imprisonment. The new variant changed formulation and
shortened the period of imprisonment.

"There is a general feeling that a law of this kind has no real place
in a modern, European democracy," the Professor of Kingston University,
James Ker-Lindsay, reported to TrendNews via e-mail on 1 May.

"People will still face a very real threat of prosecution for raising
issues and questions that many feel can only be addressed through
frank and open discussion in society. In this sense, the amendment
falls short of the democratic standards Turkey should really be trying
to meet," the political analyst said.

According to him, there is no doubt that many in Europe will welcome
the news. "However, it will not be seen as a major change for the
better. Instead, it will be regarded as just another small step
towards democratization," stated.

"I fully expect that in a few years, the Turkish Government will
come under pressure to repeal the article altogether. However, at
this stage there is a feeling that all progress, no matter how small,
should be welcomed," the political analyst stated.

"In this sense, I don’t think that the amendment will have any major
effect on Turkish-EU relations, nor will it be enough to ease the
general feeling in Europe that Turkey needs to make significant
changes to its political system if it ants to join the EU," the
political analyst said.

"All-in-all, it is a welcome move. However, I don’t think that it
will end the pressure on Turkey on this issue," Ker-Lindsay said.

Turkish political analyst Ozjan Tikit considers that making
amendments to article 301, bringing harms to the political image and
international authority of Turkey, shows that the Country is moving
towards democracy. "The issue of liquidating the article 301 became
urgent during discussions on Turkey’s entrance to the European Union,"
the leading expert of Turkish Aksham newspaper, Tikit, reported to
TrendNews via e-mail from Istanbul on 1 May.

However, the political analyst thinks that the article 301
article leads to several problems in Turkey. "This law has been
directed towards opinions and views of people," political analyst
said. According to Tikit, prosecuting people in Turkey for their
opinions and views contradicts the democratic and human values,
and loses trust of people in the State.

"The article like 301 exists in Italy as well, but in this country,
the people are not prosecuted for the opinions and views like Turkey,"
Tikit said.

According to the politician, misusing this law, several forces in
the country took more radical steps. It is possible to set an example
from Armenian lobby’s using murdering Grant Dink against Turkey.

The opinions that making amendments to article 301 contradicts the
values and principles of Ataturk are wrong, Tikit said. According to
him, if the nationalism of Ataturk would be fanatical, but not civic,
the co-existence of multilateral peoples in Turkey for a period of 80
years would be impossible. " Turkey should use not national values,
but existing strategic potential in the country," he said.

The EU positively assess the amendments to article 301 in Turkey
and describes this step as a move towards the democracy, the
Press-Secretary of the European Commission, Amadeu Altafaj Tardio,
said to a press-conference.

The amendments to the article 301 of the Criminal Code of Turkey,
according to which people accused of insulting the national dignity
of the Turks shall be sentenced to three years imprisonment, were
made according to suggestions of the ruling Justice and Development
Party of Turkey. In the new version, the expression ‘insulting national
dignity of the Turks’ was replaced by the expression ‘insulting Turkish
people’, and the maximal period of imprisonment was shortened from
three to two years and it also provides an opportunity to replace
prison with conditional period with delay of implementation of
sentence.

Jerusalem Post
May 2 2008

NGO accuses HRW of Israel obsession

By ABE SELIG

Human Rights Watch has systematically condemned Israel for "collective
punishment" in the Gaza Strip, undermining its stated agenda of
promoting human rights universally, according to a report released
this week by the Jerusalem-based watchdog NGO Monitor.

The report, which provides a detailed analysis of HRW’s publications
and statements in 2007, compares the group’s coverage of Israel with
the way it treats other countries in similar situations, and concludes
that its continued condemnations of Israeli actions are
disproportionate and reflect a "clear, identifiable political bias."

"This report shows, yet again, that any claim of even-handedness by
Human Rights Watch is hollow," said NGO Monitor’s executive director,
Bar-Ilan University Prof. Gerald Steinberg. "Their exclusive
condemnation of Israeli ‘collective punishment’ is discriminatory, and
should end immediately. HRW’s continued disproportionate focus on
Israel is not only an injustice, but it also allows some of the worst
human rights abusers in the Middle East, countries like Syria and
Libya, to escape serious scrutiny."

"The idea that we exclusively condemn Israel is absurd," said HRW
Middle East Division Deputy Director Joe Stork. "We do criticize the
Israeli blockade of Gaza as collective punishment, and solidly so. But
I haven’t seen this report from Mr. Steinberg, and he seldom has
anything useful or truthful to say – you can quote me on that."

But citing Russia’s 1999 policy of denying power, water, food or any
humanitarian assistance to Chechnya – an action NGO Monitor says was
far more widespread than Israel’s blockade of Gaza – the report says
that situation was not described as "collective punishment" by Human
Rights Watch. Furthermore, the report points out that Azerbaijan’s
1994 blockade of Armenia was supported by HRW, on the grounds that
Armenia was "financing a war."

The report also mentions that while HRW condemns IDF actions against
Hamas-sponsored rocket attacks from Gaza, the attacks themselves are
labeled as "retaliatory," thus faulting Israel for the violence on
both sides.

"That’s absolutely false," said Stork. "We do not characterize these
attacks as such, and if it’s quoted in the report, it’s been taken out
of context. I’d be surprised if they’re quoted at all."

While Stork could not point out any other country HRW had accused of
"collective punishment," he stood by his organization’s use of the
term, and its application to Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip.

"When that’s what the crime is, that’s what we call it," he
said. "When the shoe fits. Collective punishment is completely
appropriate to describe the Israeli blockade of Gaza."

e?cid=1209626989868&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle %2FShowFull

66 COMBINE HARVESTERS AND TRACTORS TO BE IMPORTED INTO ARMENIA FROM JAPAN AND CHINA IN MAY

Noyan Tapan
April 30, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, NOYAN TAPAN. 66 tractors and combine harvesters
of grain and corn will be imported into Armenia in May with grants
provided by the governments of Japan and China. The RA deputy minister
of agriculture Samvel Galstian said at the April 30 press conference
that the lack of such machinery in the country results in 12-17%
loss of harvests annually.

According to S. Galstian, under an agreement signed between the
RA ministry of agriculture and the Polish government, tractors of
various capacities will be brought to Armenia at a low interest rate
by leasing.

In the period of 2004 to January 1, 2008, 519 units of machinery were
imported into the country.

CITIZENS SUGGESTIONS ON GOVERNMENT PROGRAM POSTED ON OFFICIAL SITE

ARKA
April 29, 2008

YEREVAN, April 29. /ARKA/. Views and proposals made by citizens on
the draft government program approved by the government yesterday
have been posted on the official website of the Armenian Government –
, the government press service reported.

The suggestions are posted under "Programs" section of the site,
the Press Service said.

The draft government program is currently under consideration of the
country’s parliament.

Under the draft government program, 8-10% GDP growth is to be provided
in 2008-2012. The draft program provides also for 10% increase in
annual investments and substantial reduction in disproportionate
development of the regions. The poverty level is expected to be
reduced down below 11.2% and the extreme poverty below 1.6%.

The provisions of Armenia’s National Security Strategy and Poverty
Reduction Strategic program are taken into account in developing
the government program. The government program includes also election
campaign provisions of the country’s president and the basic provisions
of coalition parties – Republican Party of Armenia, Prospering Armenia,
Orinats Yerkir and Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutiun.

AZERBAIJAN DETAINS ARMENIAN SABOTAGE GROUP

ANS TV, Azerbaijan
April 29 2008

As has been reported, plans of a military group, made up of special
purpose troops of the Armenian armed forces, to commit acts of sabotage
on Azerbaijani territory have been thwarted. All the members of the
four-men group have been detained in a counter-operation. Col Seyran
Shakhsuvaryan, the spokesman for the [Armenian] Defence Ministry,
has already confirmed this fact. He said that the incident occurred in
[Azerbaijani exclave of] Naxcivan.

However, the Armenian side claims that the men detained by the
Azerbaijani law-enforcement agencies, were not a military group made
up of special force troops but are civilians. In the meantime, the
Azerbaijani Defence Ministry in a statement issued today said that
they are special purpose troops of the Armenian army.

The head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry,
Eldar Sabiroglu, told ANS that the group was rendered harmless by
the military units of the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry while plotting
acts of sabotage on Azerbaijani territory. All the four members of the
group were arrested. They confessed to a number of aspects during the
preliminary questioning and it emerged that the men were the members
of a sabotage group of the Armenian army.