Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

Los Angeles Times, CA
April 28 2006

L.A. Band Presses Congress to Recognize Armenian Genocide
System of a Down, whose members are Armenian American, steps up its
campaign.

By Nick Timiraos, Times Staff Writer
April 28, 2006

WASHINGTON – System of a Down lead singer Serj Tankian and drummer
John Dolmayan sit on a black leather couch, signing autographs,
chatting about their favorite local venues and waiting to take the
stage.

But this isn’t their ordinary tour – it’s no Roxy, Astoria or House
of Blues. Their fans here are congressional staffers, who ask the
rockers to autograph copies of a political magazine while waiting for
a congressman to arrive for a political strategy meeting.

The L.A.-based alternative-metal band spent the week in Washington
to lobby for congressional recognition of the Armenian genocide of
1915 to 1918, in which an estimated 1.2 million Armenians died at the
hands of the Ottoman Empire, which became the modern republic of
Turkey. The Turkish government disputes that a genocide took place.

The band members, who all are Armenian American, each had
grandparents who survived the genocide and have adopted the cause of
winning worldwide recognition and acknowledgment from Turkey.

“My grandfather’s 96, and I know he’s not going to be around
forever,” Tankian said at a meeting with Rep. Adam B. Schiff
(D-Burbank) on Tuesday. “I’d like to be the one to say to him that
Americans have recognized the genocide.”

Musicians often express themselves politically in their songs, and
have made frequent appearances at rallies and on Capitol Hill. But
most of their direct lobbying efforts here tend to focus more on the
music business itself – calling for an end to illegal music
downloading, for example. Fewer get actively involved in the
political process, as has the successful California group which has
won a Grammy and is playing to ever larger audiences worldwide.

In the hurried marble corridors of Capitol Hill, the band members
offered a marked contrast. Dolmayan’s mohawk haircut topped his
sweater and jeans, while Tankian wore a blazer to go with long curls
and goatee.

“I’m usually a little more comfortable behind the drum set,” a
somewhat sheepish Dolmayan said at a Capitol Hill gathering Wednesday
as he reached for a microphone and surveyed his unfamiliar
surroundings.

The rock band’s Washington tour included an annual Capitol Hill
observance of the genocide and a protest at the Turkish Embassy on
Monday that organizers say drew more than 700.

The band was presented with the Voice of Justice Award by the
Armenian National Committee, an Armenian political group, on
Wednesday. A day earlier, the band attended a screening of
“Screamers,” a new documentary detailing System of a Down’s campaign
for genocide recognition.

Relaxed and laid back, they met Tuesday with sponsors of two
resolutions that would officially recognize the genocide, Schiff and
Rep. George P. Radanovich (R-Mariposa), and other lawmakers. Though
both resolutions received broad support in the House International
Relations Committee, they face an uphill battle. Congressional
leaders, following appeals from the White House, do not want to pass
the resolutions because they would upset Turkey.

The Turkish government insists that the deaths resulted from ethnic
insurrection and wartime clashes with Turks.

“Armenian allegations of genocide have never been historically or
legally substantiated,” Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy said in a
statement in response to a PBS documentary aired last week.

Schiff remains optimistic that this year supporters will win the
right to a floor vote.

“With System of a Down coming, with the pressure around the country
on the speaker [of the House] … we’ve never had this kind of strong
support,” says Schiff, whose district includes Glendale, a city of
210,000 that is 40% Armenian American.

The issue is prominent in System of a Down’s performances. The band
has played an annual “Souls” benefit concert since 2000 to benefit
genocide recognition efforts. They’ve also talked about the genocide
at their concerts and in song lyrics. “P.L.U.C.K.” (“Politically
Lying, Unholy, Cowardly Killers,”) from their 1998 debut album,
addresses “whole race genocide.”

It’s not the only political issue the band takes on. They won this
year’s Grammy for best hard rock performance of their song,
“B.Y.O.B.” (“Bring Your Own Bombs”), which asks: “Why don’t
presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?”

System of a Down formed in Hollywood in 1995 and released its first
album in 1998. Its second album, Toxicity, debuted at the top of
American and Canadian charts in 2001. It has sold more than 6 million
copies worldwide.

For Dolmayan, it’s not a question of if the resolution will pass, but
when. He said the resolution was more than a symbolic act, and would
protect the right to teach the Armenian genocide in schools. “It
forces Turkey’s hand, and that’s very important,” he said. “If
America doesn’t recognize it, how can we expect it from Turkey?”

JAVAKHK MARKS 91ST ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 27 2006

AKHALKALAK, APRIL 27, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The 91st
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was marked in Javakhk on April
23-24. A torch-light procession took place in the cities of Akhaltskha
and Ninotsminda on late April 23. The procession was organized on the
initiative of the “Zori Zorian” youth union. According to the “A-Info”
agency, the liturgy dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide
victims was celebrated on early April 24 in all acting churches of
Javakhk. Representatives of the local self-government bodies of the
region and public organizations laid wreaths to the memorial stone
dedicated to the Armenian Genocide victims.

BUSH COURTS AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT AS PART OF BUILD-UP AGAINST IRAN
By Simon Whelan

World Socialist Web Site, MI
April 27 2006

Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev is to meet President George W.
Bush on April 28 in Washington. The surprise invitation extended to
Aliyev is wholly due to Azerbaijan’s geographical proximity to Iran,
Washington’s next likely military target.

Aliyev presides over one of the most corrupt economies in the world.

An ongoing fraud trial in New York has provided evidence of enormous
bribes and shakedowns at SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state oil company, in
the late 1990s. Aliyev was the vice president of SOCAR at the time
of these alleged scandals.

The ruling Aliyev clan, first under the presidency of Heidar Aliyev,
and then since 2003 his son Ilham, has yet to preside over a free and
fair election. Since their failure to win the corrupt 2003 election,
Azerbaijan’s political opposition has hoped the Aliyev regime would
be weakened by its international pariah status. By inviting Aliyev to
Washington the Bush administration has burst these presumptions. The
invite was extended just one month after a US State Department report
strongly criticised the suppression of human rights in Azerbaijan
under Aliyev.

Whilst the Azerbaijani ruling elite has rejoiced at the invite,
some commentators in Baku have suggested that Aliyev is less than
delighted-not least because he is likely to be told in no uncertain
terms that his government must side with Washington in hostile
actions against Iran. The Eurasia Daily Monitor posed the question,
“Aliyev’s Invitation to the White House: A Blessing or a Curse?”

whilst C.J. Chivers suggested in the New York Times that the visit
meant that for Washington “Oil and location trump all other concerns.”

Since it came to power in the early 1990s the Aliyev clan has been
courted by both the Clinton and Bush administrations. Not only does
the country possess considerable reserves of oil and gas, but its
proximity to the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caspian Sea makes
it especially valuable. The recently opened Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline which transports Caspian oil to Western markets
circumnavigates both Russia and Iran at the insistence of Washington.

A similar route is followed by a gas pipeline currently in construction
and close to completion.

Domestically, Azerbaijani government officials have sought to ridicule
suggestions of their recruitment into a military coalition against
Iran. Azeri Foreign Minister Araz Hasanov recently told television
reporters, “The reports are untrue. Moreover, how can this happen in
the absence of such a coalition?”

But Azerbaijan has little room for manoeuvre. Aliyev’s ministers speak
reassuringly of the Azerbaijani and Iranian peoples sharing a common
Shia Muslim culture, but regional political analyst Zafar Guliyev
told the Day.az web site just after the invite was made public, “I
think they [the Americans] will try to get Azerbaijan’s approval for
using their territory against Iran. To get Azerbaijan’s participation
in the coalition is as important as it was during the Iraq campaign.”

Guliyev explained, “For the time being, the Azerbaijani government
did well balancing in its foreign policy, but there are moments when
choice is inevitable.”

In March, Assistant US Secretary of State Daniel Fried stated
that Washington was feeding the Azerbaijani government information
concerning their plans for Iran “because Azerbaijan has the right
to be aware about it.” Fried added that he looked forward to the two
countries reaching consensus on the issue.

The Azerbaijani government already cooperates with Washington’s
so-called war against terror by providing troops for the occupation
of Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. The Aliyev regime has supported the
military encirclement of Iran by granting US forces over-flight rights
above Azeri territory. The Azerbaijani authorities are also assisting
American armed forces with a Pentagon-sponsored modernisation of a
former Soviet airfield that could be used by the US when completed.

Former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter suggested in an
article for Al Jazeera last summer that the US military is setting up
the infrastructure for an enormous military presence in Azerbaijan
that will be utilised for a land-based campaign designed to capture
Tehran. He believes CIA paramilitary operatives and US Special Forces
are training Azerbaijani forces into special force units capable of
operating within Iran and mobilising the large Azeri ethnic minority
within Iran.

The Azeri minority is based predominately in the country’s northwest,
what is called the Northern Tier of the Middle East, where Iran shares
borders with Turkey and with the South Caucasus states of Azerbaijan
and Armenia. The term Azerbaijan was the name given to the geographical
area on either side of the Araxes River long before the designation
of a distinct Azeri ethnic group.

While estimates vary, it is widely believed that the number of ethnic
Azeris living in Iran is at least double the population of Azerbaijan
itself, which numbers approximately 8 million. Sources close to Tehran
speak of 15 million, while Azeri separatists claim 30 million.

Azerbaijanis are easily the largest ethnic minority inside Iran,
outnumbering Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and Baluchis. They are also
considered by regional commentators to be the best integrated ethnic
minority in Iran, sharing with ethnic Persians Islamic Shia beliefs.

Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni was born in
Khamenah, a city in the Iranian West Azerbaijan province. Khameni is
half Azeri by birth and speaks the language.

Large sections of the Tehran bazaar are controlled by Iranian Azeris
and in the upper ranks of the military ethnic Azeris are numerous.

However, nationalist and separatist sentiment was given a large boost
by the formation of an Azerbaijani nation state in 1991 when capitalism
was restored in the former Soviet Union. Not wishing to see an Azeri
state flourish and thereby bolster separatist Azeri tendencies within
Iran, Tehran set out to destabilise Azerbaijan by supporting Armenia
and maintaining the war of attrition in Nagorno-Karabakh.

This tilting towards Yerevan by Tehran pushed the government in Baku to
more firmly move into Turkey’s orbit and encouraged both anti-Russian
and anti-Iranian policies. The Popular Front administration of
Abulfaz Elcibey which ruled briefly between 1992 and 1993 pushed
Tehran further in an anti-Azerbaijani direction by making pan-Azeri
noises and claiming that Iran was a “doomed state.”

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran improved somewhat when Ilham’s
father, Heidar Aliyev, pushed out Elcibey. However, recent altercations
between the two states over the carve-up of Caspian oil and gas have
set relations back once again.

An Azeri separatist movement exists in Iran in the shape of the
National Liberation Movement of South Azerbaijan (NLMSA). But it is
unclear just how much influence or support it has.

A further advantage of using Azerbaijan for an assault upon Iran is
the short flight distances for US military aircraft. Ritter believes
that by flying out of Azerbaijani bases, American military forces
can maintain a round-the-clock dominance of Iranian airspace.

A coastal road running alongside the Caspian Sea extends all the
way from Azerbaijan to Tehran. In this regard, Ritter explained how
US military planners have already begun war games calling for the
deployment of multi-divisional forces into Azerbaijan. In addition
logistical planning is at a well advanced stage regarding basing US
air and ground forces within Azerbaijan.

From: Fr Ktrij Devejian <[email protected]>
Subject: HH Karekin II Presides During April 24 Commemoration in Armenia

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address:  Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact:  Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel:  (374 10) 517 163
Fax:  (374 10) 517 301
E-Mail:  [email protected]
Website: 
April 27, 2006

His Holiness Karekin II Presides During April 24 Commemoration in Armenia

On the morning of April 24, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, visited the National Memorial to the Armenian
Genocide, located on Tsitsernakaberd Hill in Yerevan.  His Holiness was
accompanied by high-ranking members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin.

After the laying of floral wreaths before the eternal flame of the monument,
His Holiness presided during a solemn Requiem Service offered in memory of
the 1.5 million innocent victims of the first genocide of the 20th century.

Present for the service were President of the Republic of Armenia Robert
Kocharian, Prime Minister Andranik Margarian, President of the
Constitutional Court Gagik Haroutiunian, Government Ministers and Members of
the National Assembly (Parliament).

Although a steady rain was falling throughout the day and well into the
evening, hundreds of thousands of people visited the Armenian Genocide
Memorial to bring their noble participation to the 91st commemoration of the
events of 1915.

BUSH SAYS WORLD MUST NOT FORGET, AVOIDS USING PROPER TERM OF GENOCIDE IN ANNUAL APRIL 24 STATEMENT

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006

WASHINGTON, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. In his annual
April 24th commemoration statement, President Bush described the
“mass killings” and “exile” of 1.5 million Armenians noting that
this was a “tragedy for all humanity and one that we and the world
must never forget.” The statement was delivered following strongly
worded letters from more than 200 House and Senate leaders last week,
asking the President to properly acknowledge the genocide in his annual
statement. “While the President once again employed the dictionary
definition of Genocide, we are deeply disappointed that he did not
properly characterize the attempted annihilation of our people as
genocide,” said the Armenian Assembly of America Board of Trustees
Chairman Hirair Hovnanian. “The President had an opportunity to build
on his 2000 campaign statement as well as the words of President Ronald
Reagan who properly acknowledged the Armenian Genocide,” Hovnanian
continued. “Today, as we mark the 91st anniversary of these crimes,
genocide deniers continue their morally bankrupt campaign against
the truth as evidenced by the recent federal lawsuit initiated in the
state of Massachusetts,” said AAA Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. “In
the face of this ongoing denial, the United States must make a firm
stand for the truth,” Ardouny continued. Bush’s statement, as in years
past, encourages dialogue between Turks and Armenians and states that
“The analysis by the International Center for Transitional Justice
(ICTJ), while not the final word, has made a significant contribution
toward deepening our understanding of these Events.” The ICTJ report,
issued in 2003, reached the conclusion that: “The Events, viewed
collectively, can thus be said to include all of the elements of the
crime of genocide as defined in the Convention, and legal scholars as
well as historians, politicians, journalists and other people would
be justified in continuing to so describe them.” The President’s
reference to ICTJ serves as an implicit acknowledgment of the Armenian
Genocide. The Administration has clarified its policy on the crime
of genocide and recently stated its views on the need to prevent
its repetition. The President’s National Security Strategy (NSS),
which was released last month, notes that “the world needs to start
honoring a principle that many believe has lost its force in parts
of the international community in recent years: genocide must not be
tolerated. It is a moral imperative that states take action to prevent
and punish genocide. History teaches that sometimes other states will
not act unless America does it part.” “America did act in response to
the first genocide of the twentieth century and Armenian-Americans
are forever grateful for the leading role of the United States in
attempting to stop the Armenian Genocide and for aiding those who
survived,” Hovnanian added. “It is now time for the U.S. to continue
this proud chapter of American history and formally and irrevocably
reaffirm the Armenian Genocide,” he continued. “By so doing, the
U.S. will articulate the same message it has already sent to the
public – that genocide must not be tolerated.”

CANADA’S MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS REAFFIRMS GOVERNMENT POLICY ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, HOUSE OF COMMONS OBSERVES A MINUTE OF SILENCE

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006

OTTAWA, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Canada’s Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Peter Mackay, in response to Liberal MP Jim
Karygiannis’ (Scarborough-Agincourt) question, reaffirmed on April
24 Canadian Government’s policy on the Armenian Genocide. According
to the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC), last Friday the
Prime Minister of Canada issued a policy statement, recognizing the
Armenian Genocide. During April 24 debate, Mackay stated that the
Government reaffirmed the motions of the Senate of Canada and the
House of Commons, recognizing the Armenian Genocide. At the end of
the Question Period the Speaker of the House invited the members of
the House to observe a minute of silence in memory of the victims of
the Armenian Genocide. All four party leaders were present during the
minute of silence observance. Earlier in the day a delegation from the
Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) and its regional chapters,
headed by Hagop Der Khachadourian, ANCC International, and Archbishop
Khajak Hagopian, prelate of the Armenian Church of Canada, visited
the Armenian Embassy to lay a wreath at the monument dedicated to the
victims of the Armenian Genocide. Later the charge de’ affaires of the
embassy, Michael Vartanyan, joined Armenian community leaders to attend
the House of Commons session where Genocide affirmation statements were
made by the representative of all political parties. MP Gary Goodyear
(Cambridge) spoke on behalf of the governing Conservative party;
Raymonde Folco (Laval-Les Iles) spoke on behalf of the Liberal Party,
and Nicole Demers(Laval) on behalf of Bloc Quebecois. The successes
of the past few weeks were attained largely due to the tireless
efforts of the ANCC and its regional chapters. In the passed month
ANCC delegates met with representatives of the Government and other
parties to co-ordinate the commemoration of the 91st anniversary of
the Genocide. April 24 affirmation by the Minister of Foreign
Affairs was the third declaration, within a week by the Government,
acknowledging the historical reality of the Armenian Genocide.

DATE OSCE MG VISIT TO KARABAKH CONFLICT REGION NOT KNOWN YET

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.04.2006 00:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The exact date of the visit of co-chairmen of OSCE
Minsk Group to the region of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is still
unknown, said Bernard Fassier, the French co-chair of OSCE MG. He
said OSCE Minsk group mediators are going to meet early May in Moscow
to discuss the current stage of the conflict resolution and further
actions. Following Moscow meeting, the co-chairs will probably visit
the region, Fassier added. He said also the date of consultation and
visit would be disclosed in a few days, reports Trend.

GEORGIA TRIES TO KEEP LID ON RUSSIAN WATER ROW

Lloyds List
Apr 25, 2006

Tensions fizz between countries over exports ranging from citrus
fruit to mineral water, writes James Brewer.

AS IF fears over Gazprom’s grip on gas prices were not enough, a
bubbling dispute over bottles of mineral water that everyone these
days loves to tote, or to sip at table, could turn relations toxic
between Russia and its neighbour Georgia.

Russia seems to be sending its messages in rejected bottles of wine,
brandy and potentially of water.

Tbilisi is already quavering over the head of steam built up by the
giant Russian energy company in raising its charges. Just a short
time after Gazprom almost doubled its price to $110 per 1,000 cu m,
there are fears in Georgia, as there are in several other countries,
that worse is to come.

It is possible that Russia’s next move will be to take the fizz
out of the huge import trade in Borjomi mineral water, produced by
a renowned spa in central Georgia, after centuries in which it has
been gulped in quantity byRussians of all walks of life. They enjoy
its taste and detoxicant powers.

Trade rows have been escalating since the beginning of 2006, and the
speaker of the Georgian parliament, Mrs Nino Burjanadze, has been
raising her country’s concerns in European capitals, most recently
in London, where she discussed them, alongside seeking support for
Georgia’s application to join NATO, with defence secretary John Reid,
foreign office minister Douglas Alexander, and many other politicians
during more than a dozen meetings.

Bottled water worries have bubbled to the surface following three
serious blows to the Georgian economy. In September 2005, Russia
introduced phytosanitary measures against imports of fruit and
vegetables.

In January 2006, at the height of winter, the gas and electricity
supply to Georgia was briefly cut off. Then on March 7, Russia banned
the import of wine from the mountainous Black Sea republic on the
grounds of ‘violation of health norms’ by wines containing pesticide.

Russia’s federal consumer protection inspectorate has impounded
more than 9,000 bottles of Nabeghlavi-brand mineral water in Moscow
district, to the outrage of producer Tsqali Margebeli.

Earlier the directorate announced that it had found a large quantity
of counterfeit and low-quality Borjomi mineral water. Georgia says the
ban on wine, and the fuss over mineral water Borjomi and Nabeghlavi
have licences from Russian laboratories is political, and a reprisal
for its pro-Western stance.

Mrs Burjanadze stressed that Georgia had offered dialogue with
the Russian Federation, but she said that Moscow had cancelled and
refused top level meetings. She said: ‘We appeal to the international
community to give adequate evaluation to Russia’s actions and ability
to behave as a reliable trade and energy partner in good faith, and
to honour its participation and commitments in the various agreements
and international organisations through predictable and transparent
trade policy.’

She added that lack of progress during bilateral and multilateral
talks created serious difficulties for Georgia’s support for Russia
joining the World Trade Organisation.

Action over gas ‘shows that Russia is trying to use its gas and oil
resources as the major mechanism for political pressure,’ warned
Mrs Burjanadze.

Such fears were underlined both by the dramatic shutdown of supplies
to Ukraine at the turn of the year, and more recently when Gazprom
executive Alexander Medvedev declined to rule out a further rise in
prices for Armenia and Georgia (pricing is similar for both countries)
towards European levels.

Representatives of European Union member states who were given a verbal
reminder of the power of Gazprom by its leader Alexei Miller recently,
will have had an ear to its attitude toward Georgia and other former
Soviet republics, given that the huge company controls almost all
the gas needs of central and eastern Europe.

Mrs Burjanadze has been at the centre of political life for the last
few years; she came to international attention when she was acting
president of Georgia after the downfall of Eduard Sheverdnadze,
welcoming what was known as the Rose Revolution. She is a law
graduate who studied in Tbilisi and Moscow, where her thesis was on
international maritime law, organisations such as Inmarsat, and the
export of oil. She told Lloyd’s List that part of her mission in
London was to inform the UK government about the way Georgia was
strengthening reforms and democracy, and striving for a peaceful
solution to the conflicts in the separatist influenced regions of
South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The future of these regions is highly sensitive, and both Russia and
Georgia are keen to maximise leverage.

Paradoxically, Georgia is pleased with the progress made by Russia in
withdrawing from its military bases, but Mrs Burjanadze is concerned
the instability that could be caused by trade difficulties might
deter Western investors, at a time when a 12% uniform tax and more
liberal licensing has brought in growing foreign money.

BP has been the leading investor for the past few years, and is
expected to be so again in 2006, to the tune of $195m.

Mamuka Khazaradze, chief executive and owner of Georgian Mineral
Water ‘ Glass Co, told Lloyd’s List by telephone that he welcomed
the presence of Russian inspectors at his warehouses, but was anxious
about a potential ban.

His company is planning to export a total of 250m bottles of water
in 2006, of which it was planned to send 40% or 50% to Russia.

He pointed out that his company was one of the biggest taxpayers
in Russia.

In an attempt to strengthen energy supply security, meanwhile,
president Mikheil Saakashvili and his government are pressing for
the opening of new gas pipelines to transport Azerbaijaniangas from
Shah Deniz field via Georgia to Turkey, which will run parallel to
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

This is likely to prove just as political as the Russian decision a
short time ago to suspend entry visas for Georgian nationals.

Earlier this year, Russian president Vladimir Putin had something to
say about the crisis. It was this: ‘I feel very sorry, very sorry,
for the Georgians. This beautiful people to whom we feel close are
currently in a difficult situation,’ he told journalists.

‘Georgia is experiencing great economic difficulties and if some
people deem it possible to solve these kinds of problems by diverting
people’s attention into looking for external enemies, I think they
are on the wrong track.’

EU REP SAYS AZERBAIJAN HAS “SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE” FOR EUROPEAN ENERGY POLICY

MPA news agency
24 Apr 06

Baku, 24 April: Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has
received a delegation of the EU troika led by Austrian Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs Hans Winkler, MPA has learnt from the press
centre of the Foreign Ministry.

The EU attaches special importance to developing ties with the South
Caucasus countries and it is interested in further development of
relations with Azerbaijan in energy and other spheres, Winkler said.

Mammadyarov said that EU assistance to the resolution of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagornyy Karabakh on the basis of
the principles of international law is important and that the conflict
has a negative influence on the development of the region.

He said that the documents adopted by the international community on
the conflict must reflect the real situation. Emphasizing that it is
crucial to comply with norms of international law, sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Mammadyarov said that otherwise
the negotiations will face difficulties.

At a briefing on the results of the meeting with the Azerbaijani
leadership, Winkler said that the EU views Azerbaijan as a potential
partner in supplying energy resources to Europe. The EU would like
to conduct an energy policy of its own and as it searches for ways to
diversify the sources and routes of the supplies of energy resources,
Azerbaijan assumes special significance.

The EU representative said that the recent controversy between Russia
and Ukraine over gas “was an alarm call for Europe” which is interested
in stable supplies of energy resources. “In this connection, it is
obvious that oil-producing and transit countries, like Azerbaijan,
start playing a special role for Europe,” he said.

The individual action plan of partnership between Azerbaijan and the
EU within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy is about
to be completed and its implementation will start soon. As part of
this cooperation, Azerbaijan will receive 20m euros annually from
the EU to support political, economic and social reforms, he said.

Armenpress

KARABAKH PARLIAMENT HOLDS HEARINGS ON THE CONFLICT
RESOLUTION PROSPECTS

YEREVAN, APRIL 21, ARMENPRESS: Parliamentary
hearings on prospects for settling the Karabakh
conflict began today in the National Assembly of the
Nagorno-Karabakh republic. The hearings are attended
also by parliament members from Armenia.
Parliament chairman Ashot Ghulian said the presence
of counterparts from Armenia signified the importance
of the hearings. Foreign minister of Karabakh Georgy
Petrosian said this were the first hearings of that
type and they were important as they would allow
lawmakers to shape a clear-cut position on the ongoing
related process. He said the core of this problem is
that Azerbaijan did not respect the right of the
people of Karabakh to self-determination and
retaliated in 1988 by ethnic cleansing.
Petrosian said the international community’s
position on this issue is wrong because it did not
acknowledge so far the outcome of the 1991 referendum
in Karabakh that decided to separate from Azerbaijan.
Armen Rustamian from the Armenian parliament, said
Armenians have to foil Baku’s efforts to shift the
conflict resolution efforts from the OSCE to other
international organizations. He said the conflict
should be solved through diplomacy and peaceful means
and slammed Azeri leaders for their incessant war
rhetoric.