Author: Zaminian Bedik

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 30 2005

Interior Ministry representatives visit Yerevan

A 4-member delegation of the Interior Ministry headed by deputy
minister Asgar Alakbarov left for Yerevan on Thursday to attend a
regular meeting of the CIS Council of Interior Ministers.
The Azerbaijani representatives are not expected to hold discussions
with their Armenian counterparts during the visit, the Ministry said.

Delegations from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have also arrived in Yerevan, according to
Armenian press reports. Ways of fighting organized crime will be
discussed at the two-day meeting attended by CIS executive director
Vladimir Rushaylo and Secretary General of Interpol Ronald Noble.*

INTERPOL SEC. GEN. HIGHLY ASSESSED PROFESSIONALISM OF ARMENIAN POLICE

Pan Armenian News
28.09.2005 07:10

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian met with
Interpol Secretary General Ronald Kenneth Noble, RA President’s press
service reported. Noting Interpol’s important role in combating
international crime Robert Kocharian said that Mr. Noble’s visit
to contribute to the cooperation between Armenia and Interpol. The
Armenian leader named technical retrofitting and training of skilled
personnel as the main task of the police system. In his turn Ronald
Noble highly assessed the professionalism of the Armenian police
adding that the new system of passport control introduced by Interpol
in Armenia will considerably simplify the problem.

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Sept 28 2005

KARABAKH SPECIALIST IN POLITICAL STUDIES CALLS REPORTS OF
INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP ONE-SIDED

STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 28. ARMINFO. A well-known Karabakhi specialist
in political studies David Babayan thinks one-sided the report of the
International Crisis Group “Nagorny Karabakh: on the spot of the
conflict.”

He emphasized that the references to Azerbaijani sources (officials,
refugees, resettled-people, publications etc..) in the report trice
exceeded similar sources from Nagorny Karabakh and Armenia. The
report presents the conflict as a territorial dispute between Armenia
and Azerbaijan. Moreover, Nagorny Karabakh is presented here as a
fully militarized formation depending on Armenia. Meanwhile,
Azerbaijan is presented as a victim. The number of Armenian refugees
is reduced and that of the Azerbaijani refugees is stressed. All
these approaches are the official position of Baku. Babayan thinks
senseless mentioning all the other one-sided provision of the report.

“While in NKR, the representatives of the International Crisis Group
spoke of quite another philosophy of the report,” Babayan says. The
specialist thinks the greatest part of the provisions were included
in the report as a result of a strong pressure on the group after it
had visited Azerbaijan.

For conclusion, David Babayan calls it naive thinking such an
approach a diplomatic victory of Azerbaijan. “It could only “comfort”
official Baku, making no contribution to settlement of the conflict.”

EXPENSES INCREASED

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| 20:04:53 | 28-09-2005 | Politics |

By the budget of the coming year the Government will allot 270 million
ARMD more to the city transport. 462 million AMRD has also been
allotted as compensation to those who had deposits in the unfinished
buildings’ construction.

this information was given by the Finance and Economy deputy Minister
Pavel Safaryan during today’s Governmental briefing. He also mentioned
that there is not much chance for getting financing from the USA by
the program “Millennium Challenges” till the end of next year.

On the whole, the 2006 budget expects grants of about 9 billion,
but is will also take credits of about 56 billion.

The military expenses will also be expanded by 13 billion ARMD and
will form about 150 million USD. In connection with the announcements
of Azerbaijan to equal their military budget to that of our whole
country, Pavel Safaryan said, “We also have the desire of equaling
our military budget to the budget of Azerbaijan”.

EU PARLIAMENT SLAPS TURKEY OVER ARMENIANS
By Jeremy Smith

Reuters, UK
Sept 28 2005

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) – EU lawmakers gave only a grudging
blessing on Wednesday to membership talks with Turkey starting next
week and said Ankara must recognise a 1915 massacre of Armenians as
genocide before it joins the bloc.

They also criticised Turkey’s human rights record and held up a vote
to ratify an extended customs union with the 25-state European Union
in a bid to pressure Ankara to open its ports and airports to traffic
from EU member Cyprus.

The European Parliament’s non-binding resolution on the Armenians
was a political slap in the face for predominantly Muslim Turkey,
which insists the killings were not genocide.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan played down the moves, telling
reporters: “The European Parliament’s decision will not affect the
EU process. It has no power of sanction,” according to NTV television.

The Turkish lira and stock market lost ground on the events, although
traders said they did not believe the October 3 opening of accession
talks was at risk.

The EU legislature has no say over the start or conduct of the talks
but its assent is needed before Turkey can join, which is at least
a decade away.

DEADLOCK ON MANDATE

EU governments meanwhile remained deadlocked on the mandate for the
talks, with Austria seeking a more explicit mention of an alternative
to full membership.

EU foreign ministers will have to hold an emergency meeting on Sunday
in Luxembourg, hours before negotiations are to start, unless their
ambassadors clinch a deal earlier in Brussels.

The opening ceremony could slip to Monday evening because Turkish
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will not board a plane until the
EU ministers have formally endorsed a framework for negotiations,
diplomats said.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose country holds the revolving
EU presidency, said it would be “a huge betrayal of the hopes and
expectations of the Turkish people and of Prime Minister Erdogan’s
programme of reform if, at the crucial time, we turned our back
on Turkey”.

The EU legislature demanded that Turkey recognise EU member Cyprus
soon and said negotiations could be suspended unless it granted access
to Cypriot aircraft and shipping by next year.

Turkey, which invaded Cyprus in 1974 in response to a short- lived
Greek Cypriot coup, has some 35,000 troops in the north of the island
and refuses to recognise the Greek Cypriot government in the south,
which is recognised by the European Union.

The vote by the parliament followed an emotional debate in which many
deputies attacked Turkey’s record on human rights, religious freedom
and minorities, reflecting widespread public hostility to the poor,
populous nation ever joining the bloc.

Greens party leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit caused an uproar by accusing
some right-wing critics of Turkey of “surfing on a wave of racism”.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn regretted the decision to delay
ratification of the customs union, saying it would weaken Brussels’
hand with the Turks, but stressed it would have no impact on the
start of negotiations.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Rehn warned Turkey it would have to amend a new penal code, adopted
to meet EU criteria, if hardline judges were still able to prosecute
Turkey’s leading novelist for expressing his views on the killings
of Armenians under Ottoman rule.

An Istanbul judge is prosecuting writer Orhan Pamuk for “denigrating
Turkish identity” by endorsing the term genocide. He faces up to
three years in jail if convicted.

Other judges tried in vain to halt an academic conference in Istanbul
on the Armenian issue last week.

Opinion polls show a majority of EU citizens, especially in France,
Germany and Austria, oppose Turkish membership.

(Additional reporting by Marcin Grajewski in Brussels; Zerin Elci in
Ankara and Mike Peacock in Brighton, England)

GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT ARMENIA

Pan Armenian News
26.09.2005 09:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ September 29 Georgian delegation headed by
Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli will arrive in Armenia on a 2-day
visit to participate in the 4-th sitting of the Armenian-Georgian
intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation. Energy Minister
Nikoloz Gilauri, Deputy Foreign Minister Georgi Gugunishvili, Deputy
Minister of Finance Dmitry Gvindadze, Deputies to the Minister
of Economic development David Tsiklauri and Genrikh Muradian,
Deputy Minister of Labor, Health and Social Protection Levan Judeli,
Deputy Minister of Agriculture Mirian Dekonoidze, Deputy Minister of
Environment and Natural Resources Jaal Lomtadze, Deputy Minister of
Education and Science Teymuraz Samadashvili, Head of Customs Department
Zurab Antelidze, Commercial Director of Georgian Railways Ramaz
Giorgadze, Head of the Transport Department Alexander Chkhikvadze,
Advisors to the Georgian Prime Minister and other officials will
serve on the delegation.

Before the opening of the meeting the Prime Ministers of Georgia
and Armenia will hold a tete-a-tete meeting. Separate meetings
of the working commissions will be also held. The agenda includes
issues referring to the contractual-legal basis, trade and economic
relations, tourism, etc. After the final sitting the participants will
sign documents and render a joint press conference. During the visit
Zurab Nogaideli will attend the depository of ancient manuscripts
of Matenadaran and meet with Armenian President Robert Kocharian and
Chairman of the National Assembly Artur Baghdassaryan.

FIRST HATAY MEETING OF CIVILIZATIONS

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Sept 26 2005

ANTAKYA – Turkish Armenians Patriarch Mesrob II stated today that
the road to love, peace and brotherhood is only one.

Mesrob was a guest speaker in a panel discussion titled “Contributions
of Religions to Civilizations” organized as part of the First Hatay
Meeting of Civilizations.

“The city of Antakya has been the witness of countless historical
events. There is only one road to peace and brotherhood. Despite such
reality, our world today is full of disagreements, wars, international
hatred campaigns and eye drops. Ask anyone and he will talk about
love and peace,” noted Mesrob II.

Mesrob indicated that there is a lot of misunderstanding of Turkey and
its people in foreign lands. “Turkey is not properly known in many
countries. Most of the misunderstanding on Turkey is experienced by
academicians and politicians,” said Mesrob II.

Mesrob II added that Turkey must continue to preserve its minorities
and help them with their problems.

Greek Orthodox Church Patriarch Bartholomew indicated in southern
city of Hatay today that Turkey is a country with contemporary values,
secular government and predominantly Muslim population.

“Since the period of reforms during the Ottoman era, Turkey has been
looking westward in shaping its future,” said Bartholomew.

The presence of our church in Turkey makes Turkey an important bridge
between religions, civilizations and east and west, noted Bartholomew.

According to Bartholomew, the Republic established by Kemal Ataturk
has been a role model for many new states. “Turkey has the potential
to become a role model for dialogue among religions,” commented
Bartholomew.

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message to Hatay on the
occasion of Meeting of Civilizations. The Pope said in his message that
humans can get rich by noticing the permanent impact of multi-cultures.

“The world of peace requires the cooperation of all humans,” stressed
the Pope.

euobserver.com
23.09.2005 – 17:42 CET
By Mark Beunderman

Brussels clashes with Turks on free speech and Cyprus

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Harsh words were fired from Brussels on Friday as
the commission reacted strongly to a Turkish court’s suspension of a
conference on the Armenian massacre. Meanwhile Turkey has slammed an EU
counter declaration on Cyprus.

The decision yesterday (22 September) by an Istanbul court to cancel a
conference on the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman empire in 1915,
sparked a commission spokeswoman to speak of “yet another provocation”.

The term “provocation” was also used last week by enlargement commissioner
Olli Rehn when criticising a separate Turkish court decision on the filing
of charges against the author Orhan Pamuk – who had also raised the Armenian
issue.

Both the Turkish prime minister and the Turkish foreign minister were quick
to condemn Istanbul’s court decision to cancel the conference.

“To prevent a meeting which has not yet happened and where it is not clear
what is to be discussed has got nothing to do with democracy”, prime
minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul referred to the scheduled opening of accession
talks by Ankara in just over a week (3 October), by saying “There is no one
better than us when it comes to harming ourselves”.

Until recently it was illegal in Turkey to publicly talk about the tabu
topic of the massacre of the Armenians, which most international historians
have classified as genocide.

The new penal code which Ankara had to adopt following pressure from
Brussels ended this restriction on free speech.

But prosecutors in Turkey are still repressing debate on the Armenian
massacre under the reformed penal code.

The commission signalled on Friday that the “provocations” by Turkish
prosecutors will not interfere with Ankara’s bid to start entry talks on 3
October.

But the commission will raise the issue in a “progress report” on Turkey,
due in November.

Turkey blasts counter declaration
The atmosphere between Brussels and Ankara was already tense on Thursday, as
the Turkish foreign ministry rebuked the EU for issuing a “counter
statement” earlier this week in response to Ankara’s refusal to recognise
Cyprus.

The EU in its counter declaration stated that “recognition of all member
states is a necessary component of the accession process” – meaning that
Ankara should recognise Nicosia before Turkey can itself enter the bloc.

According to press reports, a Turkish foreign ministry spokesman said “we
regret the counter-declaration that the EU issued on September 21”.

“This declaration contains some unfair approaches and some new elements that
do not conform to the traditional spirit of cooperation that has been
continuing between Turkey and the EU for more than 40 years”, he stated.

The spokesman added that the statement ignored the “rights and expectations
of the Turkish Cypriot people” which he termed as a “serious injustice”.

Turkey says the EU should end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots in the
North of the island as quickly as possible.

A commission proposal to open trade with the North, linked to a financial
aid package, is being blocked by the Cypriot government.

Direct trade with the north of the island would, in Nicosia’s view, mean the
de facto recognition of the North as a separate state.

Abdullah Gul said “There is no one better than us when it comes to harming
ourselves”

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| 18:19:22 | 23-09-2005 | Regions |

MINES STILL THREATENING

`Watch out, mine clearing’ – this noticeboard is put up in an area of the
highway Goris-Yerevan which is separated by special tapes. The mine clearing
detachment in Echmiadzin has been working in the Syunik region village
Shournukh for the last year.

In this village which was once inhabited by Azeris there were heated battles
during the days of the Artsakh wars. Seeing that they are about the leave
their houses, the Azeris have mined the area.

15 years have passed; Shournukh has been reconstructed and inhabited,
naturally, with Armenians. What is surprising is that the mine clearing
operations started only a year ago.

The RA Defense Ministry public links department informed that there have
been no accidents. As for the delay of the operations, they said, `The field
is not regulated, and the detachments themselves decide which areas to clear
and when’.

AZERBAIJAN MAY WIN IF GARABAGH WAR STARTS IN 10 YEARS – SURVEY

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 22 2005

Baku, September 21, AssA-Irada
Azerbaijan may get victory if military action with Armenia resumes
in ten years, but stands no chance at winning now, says a survey
held among 24 American and European experts by the association of
American Armenians.

40% of the respondents said Azerbaijan may be victorious owing to the
increase in its oil revenues if the hostilities are launched in 10
years. The experts involved in the survey said it will be impossible
to turn Upper Garabagh into an autonomy within Azerbaijan.

20% of the respondents said Upper Garabagh will gain independence or
be annexed to Armenia, while 15 experts said the status of the region
will remain uncertain for many years to come.

The experts unanimously stated that the ‘velvet revolutions’ staged
in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan will not take place in Armenia
and Azerbaijan.*