EU REP URGES ARMENIA TO PULL OUT OF OCCUPIED AZERI TERRITORIES

Noyan Tapan news agency
12 May 04

Yerevan, 12 May: “I believe that Armenia should be ready for the
partial withdrawal of its troops from the occupied territories, having
received something instead of course,” the European Parliament’s
special rapporteur on the South Caucasus, Per Gahrton, said on 12 May
during discussions on the EU’s enlargement in Yerevan. He said that
there had been numerous proposals for the settlement of the Karabakh
problem, however, no concrete moves have been taken to this end yet.

Gahrton advised the Armenian side to refrain from Armenizing the
occupied territories. “I know that Lacin (district in western
Azerbaijan) is not Armenia. But when I was there, I saw that
everything was written in Armenian letters. It is quite clear that
Armenization is under way. International law bans this and it is
unfavourable for the future,” Gahrton said.

In reply to Gahrton’s statement, Armenian Deputy Speaker Tigran
Torosyan said that the Republic of Armenia has no troops in Nagornyy
Karabakh: “Yes, these are Armenian forces, but they belong to Nagornyy
Karabakh, not to Armenia”.

Torosyan also said that when there were no troops in Nagornyy Karabakh,
Azerbaijanis attacked and bombed it every day. These forces are there
for self-defence. According to Torosyan, control over the territories
around Nagornyy Karabakh is of double importance because it has helped
establish the truce along with self-defence.

KARABAKH SEPARATISTS WARN AGAINST “UNBALANCED SUPPORT” FOR REGIONAL COUNTRIES

Mediamax news agency
12 May 04

Yerevan, 12 May: The Nagornyy Karabakh Republic (NKR) Foreign Ministry
has issued a statement in connection with the 10th anniversary of
the cease-fire in the conflict zone.

According to Mediamax news agency, the statement particularly reads:

“The cease-fire agreement concluded between Nagornyy Karabakh,
Azerbaijan and Armenia with the mediatory efforts of the Russian
Federation came into force on 12 May 1994. The NKR Foreign Ministry
views the signing of this agreement as one of the serious achievements
in the process of the Nagornyy Karabakh settlement. The legalization
and preservation of the cease-fire for 10 years became possible
because all three conflicting sides took equal responsibility for
ending military operations”.

The NKR Foreign Ministry statement emphasizes that “the observance
of the cease-fire regime without the involvement of international
peacekeepers testifies to the fact that the sides have potential
required for transforming the cease-fire into a lasting peace”.

At the same time, “the NKR Foreign Ministry believes that the
cease-fire regime is first of all due to the current political-military
balance of forces in the conflict zone.”

“In this connection, we draw the attention of all the interested states
and organizations to the circumstance that any unbalanced support
for the countries of the region is fraught with a violation of the
established balance and may seriously destabilize the situation in
the whole of the South Caucasus. The NKR Foreign Ministry confirms
once again that the NKR authorities adhere to the cease-fire regime
and are ready to settle the conflict with Azerbaijan exclusively in
a peaceful way,” the NKR Foreign Ministry statement reads.

KARABAKH CEASE-FIRE MARKS TIME – PRESS

Sources: as listed
12 May 2004

Ten years after the signing of the Nagornyy Karabakh cease-fire
agreement, the press in Armenia and Azerbaijan wonders if there is
now any real desire to reach a final settlement.

“Ten years of cease-fire but not peace,” says Armenia’s Aravot.

Armenia failed to gain victory over Azerbaijan, the paper charges,
because Azerbaijan did not specify its defeat in a legal document.

The paper runs an interview with Grigor Babayan, a combatant in the
Karabakh war, who said Azerbaijan’s need for a cease-fire was greater
than Armenia’s, “since we were the attackers and in that sense,
we had the upper hand.”

“In terms of the war strategy,” Babayants said, “the cease-fire
was nonsense. We stopped just at the moment when we had begun to
annihilate the enemy”.

But Azeri newspapers did not agree.

“A cease-fire in favour of the enemy” said the opposition paper
Yeni Musavat.

The Azeri independent paper Uc Noqta was equally strident.

“Azerbaijan will not wait another decade”, it warned.

Diplomatic failure

According to the Azeri opposition Yeni Musavat, the Azeri authorities
are at fault for failing to capitalise on the 10-year ceasefire to
press for a political resolution.

“Karabakh has been completely lost in our foreign policy because there
has been no policy over Karabakh at all,” it alleged, “and there is
still no policy.”

Armenia’s Aravot also pondered the continuing failure to tackle
the impasse.

“Do we really need peace today?” the paper asked. “Judging from the
public mood both in Armenia and Azerbaijan, the answer is ‘no’.

The Armenian authorities had many more pressing concerns, the paper
suggested, and “the Karabakh issue ranks in 10th place in the political
life of Armenia.”

Armenia’s Ayots Ashkar said the ceasefire also seemed to have given
the world’s superpowers the opportunity to kick the conflict into
the long grass.

“In a sense,” it said, “the greatest achievement of these past years
is that the USA, which was always in a hurry to settle the conflict,
has become slow and closer to Russia’s position, which is in no hurry
at all.”

Some Azeri newspapers argued that the ceasefire had gained Azerbaijan
political credit on the international stage.

“Azerbaijan turned into a leading state in the Caucasus during the
cease-fire”, said the pro-government Yeni Azarbaycan.

The independent Palitra said the cease-fire was “a necessary step”
which “gave Azerbaijan the opportunity to raise the Karabakh problem
to the international level.”

” It also gave us the opportunity to find Azerbaijan’s supporters among
international organizations and foreign states,” the paper said, “and
an excellent chance to present Azerbaijan as a peace-loving state.”

Azerbaijan threatens renewed war

BBC News
Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 May, 2004, 16:59 GMT 17:59 UK

Wednesday marks the 10th anniversary of the ceasefire

Azerbaijan’s president has warned the country is ready to return to war
with Armenia – on the 10th anniversary of a ceasefire between the two.
Ilham Aliyev said he was trying to find a peaceful solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but the Azeri army was prepared to “free”
the territory.

Ministers from both sides are reportedly meeting to try to agree a
peace settlement.

But our correspondent says relations are, if anything, worse than ever.

‘Right to war’

“We are trying to resolve this problem by peaceful means but so far
we have not been able to achieve that,” Mr Aliyev said at a military
base just a few miles from the border with Armenia.

“We must increase our military potential. Our army is able at any
moment to free our territory,” he said, according to the AFP news
agency.

“We have every right to do that, to restore our territorial integrity,
and international law is on our side since Armenia violated all
international norms.”

Mr Aliyev added that government expenditure on Azerbaijan’s military
was increasing each year, “and it will keep increasing in the future”.

The leaders of the two countries signed a ceasefire in May 1994,
but there is sporadic fighting along the ceasefire line.

The foreign ministers of both countries were meeting in Strasbourg,
and were expected to discuss Armenia returning some of the Karabakh
regions to Azeri control, in exchange for reopening transport links.

But the peace process appears to be going nowhere, says the BBC’s
Chloe Arnold in the capital Baku.

The ceasefire ended five years of hostilities which erupted when
the Soviet Union collapsed, and Armenians living in the mountainous
territory of Karabakh demanded independence from Soviet Azerbaijan.

Thousands died and one million were forced out of their homes in
the conflict.

Our correspondent says there is growing impatience with the peace
process in Azerbaijan, where many ordinary people here now say the
only way to resolve the dispute is to go back to war.

Protocol reforming the European Court of Human Rights open for signature by
member states

Strasbourg, 13.05.2004 – The Ministers for Foreign Affairs and
Representatives of 17 member states (*) of the Council of Europe, present in
Strasbourg on the occasion of the 114th Session of the Organisation’s
Committee of Ministers, today signed Protocol No. 14 to the European
Convention on Human Rights.

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Walter Schwimmer, welcomed
the adoption yesterday of the Protocol (see our press release 237b04 of
12.05.2004). He expressed his satisfaction that such an important number of
countries had signed the text despite the very short period since its
adoption. The new Protocol amends the Convention in order to maintain and
reinforce the effectiveness of the Court of Human Rights.

(*) 17 signatory states: Armenia, Croatia, Estonia, Denmark, France,
Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands,
Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland.

Further information available at:

Le Protocole réformant la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme ouvert à la
signature des Etats membres

Strasbourg, 13.05.2004 – Les Ministres des Affaires étrangères et les
représentants de 17 Etats (*) membres du Conseil de l’Europe, réunis à
Strasbourg à l’occasion de la 114ème session du Comité des Ministres de
l’Organisation, ont signé aujourd’hui le Protocole n° 14 à la Convention
européenne des droits de l’homme.

Le Secrétaire Général du Conseil de l’Europe, Walter Schwimmer, a exprimé sa
satisfaction après l’adoption hier du Protocole 14 (voir notre communiqué
237b04 du 12.05.2004) et s’est félicité du fait que, malgré le très court
délai qui a suivi son adoption, un nombre si important de pays aient déjà pu
le signer. Le nouveau Protocole modifie la Convention afin de maintenir et
renforcer l’efficacité de la Cour des droits de l’homme.

(*) 17 Etats signataires: Arménie, Croatie, Estonie, Danemark, France,
Géorgie, Grèce, Islande, Irlande, Italie, Lettonie, Luxembourg, Pays-Bas,
Norvège, Roumanie, Slovénie, Suisse.

Plus d’informations disponibles sur:
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1

Press Release
Council of Europe Spokesperson and Press Division
Ref: 238b04
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11
[email protected]
internet:

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[email protected]

A political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe works to
promote democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops common
responses to social, cultural and legal challenges in its 45 member states.

OSCE IS NOT INDIFFERENT

A1 Plus | 21:32:48 | 12-05-2004 | Politics |

The Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin,
today welcomed the resumption of contacts between the authorities
and the opposition in Armenia.

“I encourage both sides to engage in a meaningful and genuine
dialogue in order to resolve, within the constitutional framework,
the continuing difficulties,” Ambassador Pryakhin said.

He said the participating States of the 55-nation OSCE were following
political developments in Armenia closely: “Dialogue is the best
means to achieve a common understanding, settle differences and
promote political stability.”

Vladimir Pryakhin called on the Armenian authorities to review the
cases of all those detained during recent demonstrations.

He also urged the authorities to continue their efforts to reform
the Administrative Code in order to eliminate the practice of
administrative detentions.

“This practice is incompatible with European human rights standards,”
he said.

The Head of the OSCE Office noted that other international
organizations were also very concerned about this practice, as
reflected in a Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution
of 28 April.

TURKEY SHOULD ALLEVIATE BURDEN OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, EP MEMBER CONSIDERS

12.05.2004 15:16

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide
and alleviate the burden at last, European Parliament rapporteur
for the South Caucasus Per Gahrton stated in Yerevan at the
conference on the subject of “Enlarged Europe – New Neighbors:
Armenia’s expectations”. In his words, this year the EU confirmed
its commitment and again urged Turkey to recognize the Armenian
Genocide. It is naive of Ankara to deny the Genocide as the Istanbul
courts at their time sentenced to death the Turkish politicians, who
had organized the genocide of Armenians, EP member said. “Where would
today’s Germany find itself if hadn’t acknowledged the Holocaust? Not
in European structures anyway”, Per Gahrton noted. At the same time
the parliamentarian spoke for Turkey’s admission to EU, what, in
his words, will contribute to the settlement of regional problems,
the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border, in part.

Troops Dispatched to Tsalka

Civil Georgia, Georgia
May 12 2004

100-strong unit of Interior Troops were dispatched on May 11 to
Georgia’s southern multi-ethnic district of Tsalka.

The move follows clashes between the local ethnic Armenians and
Georgians on May 9. Several people were reportedly injured.

Ethnic Armenians comprise 57% of population of Tsalka district in
Kvemo Kartli region with population around 20,000, according to the
Georgian department of statistics.

4,500 ethnic Greeks, 2,500 ethnic Georgians, up to 2,000 Azerbaijanis
also live in the Tsalka district.

Local officials describe clashes between ethnic Georgians and
Armenians, which have been reported sporadically for several years,
as “a communal violence.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
May 12 2004

PACE RAPPORTEUR SATISFIED WITH REFORMS IN AZERBAIJAN
[May 12, 2004, 16:07:33]

Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on
political prisoners Malcolm Bruce met the delegation of Azerbaijan
Parliament at PACE on 11 May.

Noting that this visit is of great significance, the head of
the Azerbaijan parliamentary delegation at PACE, chairman of the
international relations and inter-parliamentary links standing
committee Samad Seyidov said that on 10 May, the people of Azerbaijan
marked the 81st anniversary of the national leader of Azerbaijan
Heydar Aliyev, who is the only personality in the national history
that made known Azerbaijan in Europe and provided its integration to
the international community.

On the occasion of birthday of the national leader, President of
Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a Decree on pardoning. The Decree
shows the policy of humanism of the Azerbaijani state. Recently,
President of Azerbaijan made a large speech in the Council of Europe,
underlining that Azerbaijan positively regards the European and
world values. Human rights in Azerbaijan are protected at highest
level. We are pleased that you watch these processes in Azerbaijan
and highly assess.

According to Samad Seyidov, the amnesty Decrees are not directly
connected to the Council of Europe. These Decrees show how the
Azerbaijani state adheres the principles of democracy, human rights
protection and civil society building.

You are the PACE Rapporteur on political prisoners. We know you as
unbiased man and consider that the hardest problem of Azerbaijan – the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict is at your attention. You
are aware of Azerbaijan’s position. We hope, you will tell in your
report on the positive steps Azerbaijan makes in the field of human
rights protection, democratic state building and this will be evidence
to peace intention of Azerbaijan.

Expressing his gratitude for provided information and warm reception,
Mr. Malcolm Bruce said we are having very constructive dialogue with
the Azerbaijan parliamentary delegation at PACE. This dialogue is
important for both sides.

I have been in Azerbaijan six months ago. In the passed period, great
changes took place. Statement of the Azerbaijan President at PACE
made a deep impression on us. The President makes real steps and we
welcome them. We know that solution of the problem needs long time.
And continuation of the processes in similar direction pleases us and
makes us optimists. Last Decree on amnesty of Azerbaijan President
will give a new impetus to the Azerbaijan-COE relations.

At the meeting, also was held exchange of views on a number of issues
of mutual interest.

Anti-Mines Training Will Be Launched Saving Azeri Lives

Baku Today
May 12 2004

About 40,000 secondary school students will be trained in anti-mine
precautions in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan Education Ministry, Azerbaijani Anti-mines agency and
UNICEF have agreed to launch an educative project for schoolchildren
of bordering with the Armenian occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

The project has been allocated for the students from Agdam, Fizuli
and Khanlar regions.

The project would aim at raising mines awareness among youngsters to
preventing their lives from becoming mine targeted.

Anti-mines agency’s direcor Nazim Ismayilov said, the statistics of
the past years has shown that 16 per cent of those killed in mine
explosions were children aged 14.

Roughly 500 specialists will train the students

The project is worth $ 70,000.