Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

Zaman, Turkey
Jan 25 2005

‘Yerevan Must Take 3 Concrete Steps to Compromise’
By Suleyman Kurt
Published: Tuesday 25, 2005
zaman.com

Ankara described an announcement by Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanyan that they would recognize the Kars Agreement as
“opportunism.”

A Turkish Foreign Ministry diplomat said yesterday: “There are some
expressions used in the Armenian Constitution and the Declaration of
Independence. They use the expression “Western Armenia” to describe
Turkey’s eastern regions and the Agri Mountain is registered as the
national emblem. Secondly, they are not working on any concrete steps
to withdraw from the Azerbaijani territories they occupy. They blame
Turkey for the alleged ‘genocide’ through the diaspora. If we are
talking about compromise, concrete steps should be made in those
three areas.”

Tehran Times
Jan 25 2005

Iranian, Azeri presidents call for expansion of ties

Tehran Times Political Desk
TEHRAN — Immediately after the formal ceremony to welcome Azeri
President Ilham Aliyev to Tehran, Iranian president Mohammad Khatami
and his Azeri counterpart talked to reporters at a joint press
conference in which they called for the expansion of Tehran-Baku
relations.

President Khatami said that Iran is keen on the further development
of relations with the Azerbaijan Republic.

Responding to an Azeri reporter about what Iran will do to help
resolve the Karabakh crisis, President Khatami said that Iran is
among the few countries which supports Azerbaijani national
sovereignty and territorial integrity. “Iran believes that the
Karabakh crisis can be resolved with logic and understanding between
the two parties without resorting to force.”

“I believe that the Karabakh conflict will be resolved if the two
sides seriously decide to do so,” IRNA quoted President Khatami as
saying.

He said that Iran has friendly relations with both Azerbaijan and
Armenia and is ready to mediate between them to help resolve the
crisis and also hopes for an immediate settlement of the Karabakh
conflict.

Another Azeri reporter asked Khatami whether there is any similarity
between occupation of the Arab lands by the Zionist regime and
occupation of Karabakh by Armenia, the Iranian president said that
Iran condemns occupation with the use of force by any country.

“Still, there is a difference. I believe Israel has occupied the
entirety of Palestine and has also established an illegitimate
existence, but Armenia is a country itself. But at the same time,
occupation and seizure of even an inch of another country’s territory
should be condemned, and the international community should help end
that occupation,” President Khatami said.

President Aliyev told reporters that his visit to Iran is aimed at
developing relations in all fields including the economy.

He pointed to the accords President Khatami has signed during his
visit to Baku and said the Azerbaijan Republic calls for
implementation of these accords.

The Azeri president added that Tehran-Baku relations are developing
rapidly and political and economic cooperation is excellent.

“The exchange of visits by the presidents of both countries indicates
the great extent of relations that we both enjoy,” President Aliyev
said. MS/DJ

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Jan 20 2005

OSCE mission to travel to occupied territories through Armenia

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs (Russia, USA and France), due to
arrive in Baku on January 28 as part of the OSCE fact-finding
mission, will head for Azerbaijan’s Khankandi region under Armenian
occupation passing through Armenia, Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov
said.
The mission representatives will gather in Yerevan, and then leave
for Khankandi, along with the OSCE chairman’s special envoy Anjei
Kaspshik, Merzlyakov said. The mission’s credentials include looking
into the illegal settlement of Armenians in the occupied Azerbaijani
lands, but not giving any political assessments.
Deputy Foreign Minister, President’s special envoy on Upper Garabagh
Araz Azimov regarded the fact the mission will enter occupied Azeri
territories from Armenia as `a technical and temporary step’, as
there is no other alternative.
Azimov added that the mission must guarantee that relocation of
Armenians to the occupied Azerbaijani land will stop.
The mission is expected to will visit five Azerbaijani regions –
Kalbajar, Lachin, Jabrayil, Gubadly and Zangilan – where Armenians
were purposefully settled.*

Viktor Yushchenko and Mikheil Saakashvili to address PACE winter session

Strasbourg, 19.01.2005 – Addresses by Ukrainian President-elect Viktor
Yushchenko and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili are among highlights
of the winter session of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
(PACE), which takes place in Strasbourg from 24 to 28 January 2005.

Another highlight is a debate during which the Assembly will put forward its
proposals for the coming Third Summit of the Council of Europe. At the
summit, which takes place in Warsaw on 16-17 May, the heads of state and
government of the Organisation’s 46 member states are due to take stock of
its role as the guarantor of human rights across the continent and map out a
plan of action for the years ahead. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier
will take part in the debate.

On Tuesday 25th at noon, there will be a ceremony to commemorate the 60th
anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, with the participation of the
Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council and former Knesset Speaker Szewach Weiss
and Auschwitz survivor Jean Samuel.

There will be possible urgent debates on the Asian Tsunami disaster and on
the prospects for Middle East peace. Other reports to be discussed include
relations between Europe and the United States, the circumstances
surrounding the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos executives, and the
conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Kosovo’s Ombudsman Marek Antoni Nowicki will take part in a debate on the
protection of human rights in Kosovo and there will be the first assessment
since “the Rose Revolution” of Georgia’s honouring of its obligations and
commitments towards the Council of Europe.

The opening day of the session sees the election of a new Assembly President
as well as addresses from OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Alcee L.
Hastings, Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis – who will give
the annual communication on “the state of the Council of Europe” – and
Claude Frey, chairman of the Executive Council of the North-South Centre. On
Wednesday, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Jan Truszczynski, representing
the Polish chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, will address the
Assembly.

The parliamentarians will also debate how European governments should
respond to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), put forward a proposal to
establish a European remembrance centre for victims of forced population
movements and ethnic cleansing, and consider Europe’s response to
unemployment.

The Assembly will adopt opinions on new draft Council of Europe conventions
on trafficking in human beings and on the prevention of terrorism, including
terrorist financing.

An updated list of scheduled press conferences is available on the
Assembly’s website.

The following is a provisional order of business which may be altered by the
Assembly on the first day of the session.

Monday 24 January
* Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of the Assembly
* Progress report of the Bureau of the Assembly and the Standing Committee
* Statement by Claude Frey, Chairman of the Executive Council of the
North-South Centre
* Statement by Alcee L. Hastings, President of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly
* Communication from Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of
Europe, on the state of the Council of Europe
* Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Tuesday 25 January
* The conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region dealt with by the OSCE Minsk
Conference
* Ceremony to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz
* Address by Viktor Yushchenko, President-elect of Ukraine
* Protection of human rights in Kosovo
* Statement by Marek Antoni Nowicki, Ombudsperson in Kosovo
* The circumstances surrounding the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos
executives

Wednesday 26 January
* Election of a judge to the European Court of Human Rights with respect to
Serbia and Montenegro
* Possible urgent debate: prospects for peace in the Middle East
* Address by Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia
* Communication from the Committee of Ministers to the Parliamentary
Assembly presented by Jan Truszczynski, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs
of Poland, representing the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers
* The Third Summit
* Statement by Michel Barnier, Minister for Foreign Affairs of France
* Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia

Thursday 27 January
* Election of a judge to the European Court of Human Rights with respect to
Serbia and Montenegro (possible second round)
* Relations between Europe and the United States
* Possible urgent debate: Europe and the Tsunami disaster
* Establishment of a European remembrance centre for victims of forced
population movements and ethnic cleansing
* Opinion on the Draft Convention on laundering, the financing of terrorism,
search, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds from crime
* Opinion on the Draft Convention for the prevention of terrorism

Friday 28 January
* What solutions to Europe’s unemployment?
* Boosting social cohesion and employment: more and better jobs
* Opinion on the Draft Council of Europe Convention on action against
trafficking in human beings
* Revision of the terms of reference of Assembly committees
* Constitution of the Standing Committee

See the Assembly’s website, , for further details.

Additional information may also be found on the Council of Europe web
portal,

Contact:
Communication Unit of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
Tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93 Fax +33 3 90 21 41 34; e-mail: [email protected]

2

Press Release
Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit
Ref: 015a04
Tel: +33 3 88 41 31 93
Fax :+33 3 90 21 41 34
[email protected]
internet:

The Parliamentary Assembly brings together 630 members from the national
parliaments of the 46 member states.
President: Peter Schieder (Austria, SOC); Secretary General of the Assembly:
Bruno Haller.
Political Groups: SOC (Socialist Group); EPP/CD (Group of the European
People’s Party); LDR (Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group);
EDG (European Democratic Group); UEL (Group of the Unified European Left).

Azeri politician says forthcoming elections to be democratic

Yeni Musavat, Baku
17 Jan 05

I can see no progress in Azerbaijani-Armenian talks on the Nagornyy
Karabakh settlement, Eldar Namazov, president of the public forum For
Azerbaijan, has said.

“I believe that the continuing negotiations are a well-thought-out
game of the authorities of the two sides. Azerbaijan and Armenia have
always intensified talks ahead of elections,” Namazov said in an
interview with Azerbaijani Yeni Musavat newspaper.

They want others to believe that they are close to striking a peace
deal. But after elections are rigged, it emerges that there was no
deal whatsoever, the politician said.

But Namazov said he could see very serious positive changes in
society. I am confident that democratic forces will unite ahead of the
parliamentary elections this year, he noted.

“Opposition parties, NGOs, business people and the intelligentsia
agree that democratic changes are inevitable. Everyone understands
that the only way out of the current situation in the country is to
establish democratic principles and hold free and fair elections,” the
politician told the newspaper.

Namazov stressed that the processes in Georgia and Ukraine were not
accidental. He said he believed that democratic elections would be
eventually conducted in all former Soviet republics, including
Azerbaijan.

Whitehouse.gov (press release)
Jan 14 2005

Memorandum for the Secretary of State
Presidential Determination
No. 2005-18

SUBJECT: Extension of Waiver of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support
Act with respect to Assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan

Pursuant to the authority contained in title II of the Kenneth M.
Ludden Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs
Appropriations Act, 2002 (Public Law 107-115), I hereby determine and
certify that extending the waiver of section 907 of the FREEDOM
Support Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-511):

is necessary to support United States efforts to counter
international terrorism;

is necessary to support the operational readiness of United States
Armed Forces or coalition partners to counter international
terrorism;

is important to Azerbaijan’s border security; and will not undermine
or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement between
Armenia and Azerbaijan or be used for offensive purposes against
Armenia.

Accordingly, I hereby extend the waiver of section 907 of the FREEDOM
Support Act.

You are authorized and directed to notify the Congress of this
determination and to arrange for its publication in the Federal
Register.

GEORGE W. BUSH

RIA Novosti. Russia
Jan 13 2005

DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA IN 2004 WAS A PRIORITY IN
ARMENIAN FOREIGN POLICY

YEREVAN, January 13 (RIA Novosti, Gamlet Matevosyan) – Last year,
development and strengthening of relations with the Russian
Federation was a priority in Armenian foreign policy, says the 2004
final report of Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan.

According to the department of information and press under the
Armenian foreign ministry the document noted that Russia and Armenia
continued to develop and expand bilateral cooperation in the
military-technical, economic and humanitarian spheres, and in the
framework of CIS and CSTO.

2004 was marked by three working visits of Armenian president Robert
Kocharyan to Russia, an official visit of Armenian prime minister
Andranik Markaryan to the Russian Federation, visits of the Russian
State Duma and Federation Council chairmen Sergei Mironov and Boris
Gryzlov to Armenia.

Armenian Foreign Minister Oskanyan was in Moscow in July 2004 on an
official visit. The sides discussed mutual cooperation on the global
arena and the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

During the sixth meeting of the Russian-Armenian intergovernmental
committee, the participants discussed issues of bilateral economic
cooperation. They reached an agreement on Armenia’s participation in
the construction of the international transportation corridor
North-South, which has strategic importance for Armenia as an
alternative route to the outside world through the territory of Iran.

A railroad ferry between the ports of Poti (Georgia) and Kavkaz
(Russia) will also play an important role in the increase of trade
turnover between Armenia and Russia. The implementation of this
project will decrease significantly the cost of transportation.

In order to expand economic cooperation between the two countries,
the Armenian-Russian Business Association was created. It has about
100 members at present.

Issues of military-technical cooperation between the two countries
were discussed during the visit of Russian defense minister Sergei
Ivanov to Armenia, and also during the first meeting of the
Russian-Armenian intergovernmental committee on military-technical
cooperation held in September 2004.

In April last year, Armenia hosted Culture Days of the Russian
Federation, and Moscow hosted the Week of Armenian cinema in March.
The two countries agreed to announce 2005 – the Year of Russia in
Armenia and 2006 – the Year of Armenia in Russia.

In 2004, Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov and Mayor of Yerevan Ervand
Zakharyan exchanged visits.

About 50 subjects of the Russian Federation actively cooperate with a
number of Armenian regions in the economic sphere.

Armenian minister praises ties with Arab countries

Arminfo
12 Jan 05

YEREVAN

The tense atmosphere that emerged in the region as a result of the
Iraqi war in 2004 had a negative effect on Armenia’s cooperation with
Arab countries, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told a news
conference today while reporting on the results of 2004.

The minister noted that the situation in Iraq caused Armenia’s concern
due to the presence of an Armenian community in this
country. Therefore, Armenia decided to take part in restoration
programmes in Iraq, sending a peacekeeping contingent there. At the
same time, the minister noted that Armenia’s relations with Arab
countries and Israel were dynamic.

Thus, in 2004 agreement was reached on granting Armenia observer
status in the Arab League. The minister noted that apart from Saudi
Arabia, which is abstaining from establishing diplomatic relations
with Armenia as before, Armenia’s relations with Lebanon, Egypt and
Syria are developing more dynamically.

Vardan Oskanyan also noted that the United Arab Emirates’ interest in
Armenia had increased recently. Vardan Oskanyan said that in 2004
Armenia successfully cooperated with Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Sudan
in international organizations. Certain progress was also achieved in
Armenian-Israeli relations.

Pravda Ru

Russians go to Thailand despite the earthquake

12/28/2004 11:32

The majority of the killed foreign tourists were staying in a popular resort
in Phuket Island

The number of victims of the monstrous earthquake and tsunamis that rocked
the coasts of Southeast Asia and Africa is still growing. News agencies
report that tidal waters and quakes have killed approximately 25 thousand
people. The figure is most likely not final. Nothing is known about the
number of victims in the countries of East Africa. Red Cross specialists
believe that over a million people in total (it goes about the wounded and
the killed) have suffered as a result of the natural disaster.

The quake epicenter in the Indian Ocean measured 8.7-8.9 on the Richter
scale. Specialists say that the latest earthquake in Asia was one of the
strongest Earth shocks over the recent 100 years. Another powerful
earthquake of the past, which leveled several towns in Armenia in 1988, was
measured 7.0 on the Richter scale, which could be a comparison to picture
the scale of the catastrophe.

Tsunamis and earthquakes have caused the most considerable damage to Sri
Lanka, where over 11,500 people were killed. The civil war in the country
exacerbates the situation even more, for it is hard to render necessary help
to the victims of the quake because of the war.

The following number of victims is reported in the below-listed countries:
India – 6279
Indonesia – 4912
Malaysia – 44
Myanmar – 36
Thailand – 839 were killed and, 5000 were wounded
The Maldives – 32
Somalia – 9
Bangladesh – 2

The disaster has caused damage not only to local citizens, but to numerous
foreign tourists, who were spending their vacations in the region,
especially in Thailand. Spokespeople for Thai authorities say that the
majority of the killed foreign tourists were staying in a popular resort on
Phuket Island. There were Russian tourists among the holiday-makers too.
Eight Russian citizens were slightly wounded in the disaster, previous
reports said. Four other tourists from Russia are missing. The catastrophe
has caused chaos in the countries of the quake-damaged region, which makes
it very hard to obtain the precise information. Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov said the number of Russian tourists in Thailand totaled 1,500.

Russian Emergency Ministry sent two Il-76 planes of humanitarian aid to Sri
Lanka. Official spokespeople for the Russian Foreign Ministry in their turn
recommended Russian citizens to cancel their trips to the countries of
Southeast Asia on account of new possible earthquakes. The majority of
Russian tourists, who planned to visit Thailand and other countries of the
region for New Year celebrations, have already turned down their plans.
There are some people, however, who are still determined to visit Southeast
Asia for the holidays despite the monstrous earthquake.

Read the original in Russian:
(Translated by:
Dmitry Sudakov)

Millions of dollars spent on construction in Armenian capital in 2004 – mayor

Arminfo
27 Dec 04

YEREVAN

A total of 15.5bn drams 32m dollars have been spent on Yerevan’s
architectural and city construction works instead of the planned
15.4bn drams 31.8m dollars during 2004, Yerevan’s mayor, Yervand
Zakharyan, told reporters today.

Zakharyan said that 14bn drams were allocated only to the preparation
of Yerevan’s general plan and the construction of the Northern Avenue
complex. Apart from that, the Diakonia fund constructed 11 private
houses and their external supply lines during the outgoing year. It
must be mentioned that land works are already under way on the
Northern Avenue, which is being constructed in Yerevan. The
construction is due to end in 2006.

During 2004, over 340 agreements were reached on the implementation of
the Northern Avenue project and 46,000 sq.m. of land were allotted for
this purpose.

It is planned to construct residential buildings and business centres
in the Northern Avenue first. This part of the project costs 12m
dollars. Russia’s Nord Island company has won the tender for the
construction. The subcontractor is Armenia’s Aykopal company.

The Northern Avenue, which will connect Yerevan’s two main squares,
Theatre and Republic squares, costs a total of 150m dollars. The
construction of the Northern Avenue was started in March 2003 and is
due to end in 2006.

As for the capital’s general plan, work on blueprints to prepare the
plan is already over. The general plan will be submitted to the
appropriate Armenian ministries for inspection in 2005 and under a
government decision it will take effect in 2006.

The general plan is expected to be valid until 2020, when Yerevan’s
population will reach 1.2m people. The general plan will cover nearly
22,000 ha of land.