Interfax
April 28 2004

CIS Defense Ministers Council to hold next session in Armenia

Moscow. April 28 (Interfax-AVN) – The CIS Council of Defense
Ministers will hold its next session in the capital of Armenia on May
21, Colonel Alexander Nekrasov, chief of the council’s secretariat,
said on Wednesday.

“The next session of the CIS Defense Ministers Council, to be held in
Yerevan on May 21 under the chairmanship of Russian Defense Minister
Sergei Ivanov, will address more than 20 issues related to further
CIS integration in the military sphere,” Nekrasov told
Interfax-Military News Agency.

The session will focus on military and military-technical cooperation
in the CIS framework. “In particular, participants in the session
will consider the draft purpose-oriented program of comprehensive
counteraction of CIS armed forces to aerial assault forces and
assets, as well as implementation of the CIS Military- Technical
Cooperation Program,” the colonel stressed.

According to him, reports at the session will be delivered by Ivanov,
Colonel General Alexei Moskovsky, Russia’s chief of armament and
deputy defense minister, Army General Vladimir Mikhailov, Russian Air
Force commander-in-chief, Army General Vladimir Yakovlev, chief of
the CIS Military Cooperation Coordination Headquarters, and other
military leaders.

BBC News
Last Updated: Wednesday, 21 April, 2004, 15:34 GMT 16:34 UK

Country profile: Armenia

A landlocked republic with Turkey to the west and Georgia to the north,
Armenia has seen great changes since the break-up of the Soviet Union in
1991.
Once dubbed the Soviet ‘silicon valley’, Armenia’s economy collapsed when
its old markets disappeared.

OVERVIEW

It has since recovered significantly, but job creation and poverty reduction
have not kept pace with growth. Armenia also suffers from a trade blockade,
imposed by neighbouring Turkey and Azerbaijan since the dispute over
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The conflict over the predominantly Armenian-populated region in Azerbaijan
overshadowed Armenia’s return to independence in 1991. Full-scale war broke
out the same year as ethnic Armenians in Karabakh fought for independence,
supported by troops and resources from Armenia proper. A ceasefire in place
since 1994 has failed to deliver any lasting solution.

Armenia has always experienced waves of emigration, but the present exodus
is causing much alarm. It is estimated that Armenia has lost 20% of its
population in recent years, as young families leave for what they hope will
be a better life abroad. The negative consequences for the economy have been
widespread.

Around 50% of Armenians live below the poverty line. Corruption and
political killings add to the sense of a society under threat.

Gunmen who stormed the Yerevan parliament in 1999, killing the prime
minister and other politicians, said the plight of the Armenian people was
the reason for the bloodshed. Analysts believe that there were more complex
political factors involved as well.

The government is trying to promote tourism and technology parks. But
foreign investors are reported to be extremely wary.

FACTS

Population: 3.1 million (UN, 2003)
Capital: Yerevan
Major languages: Armenian, Russian
Major religion: Christianity
Life expectancy: 69 years (men), 75 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 dram = 100 lumas
Main exports: Processed and unprocessed diamonds, machinery, metal products,
foodstuffs
GNI per capita: US $570 (World Bank, 2001)
Internet domain: .am
International dialling code: +374

LEADERS

President: Robert Kocharyan

President Kocharyan
President Kocharyan is a former president of the self-proclaimed
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. He became Armenian prime minister in 1997 and was
elected president the following year on a platform of ensuring the existence
of Karabakh and boosting the Armenian economy.

Mr Kocharyan’s reelection as president in 2003 was followed by widespread
allegations of ballot-rigging.

He went on to propose controversial constitutional amendments on the role of
parliament. These were rejected in a referendum the following May at the
same time as parliamentary elections which left Mr Kocharyan’s party in a
very powerful position in parliament.

There were mounting calls for Mr Kocharyan’s resignation in early 2004 with
thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets in support of demands for a
referendum of confidence in him.

A Communist Party official in Soviet times, Mr Kocharyan is no longer a
member of any political party.

The Armenian president has said he wants to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh
question and has held meetings with his Azerbaijani counterpart. But while
he acknowledges the importance to peace of compromise on both sides, he
insists that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh must be guaranteed the right to
exist within safe borders and that a link with Armenia must be maintained.

Mr Kocharyan was born in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1954 and trained as an
electrical engineer in Yerevan.

Prime minister: Andranik Markaryan
Foreign minister: Vardan Oskanyan
Defence minister: Serzh Sarkisyan

MEDIA

Armenia’s government oversees national TV and radio. The national public TV
service can also be seen in many districts of neighbouring Azerbaijan. The
main Russian TV channels are widely available.

Libel and defamation are punishable by prison terms and journalists have
been sentenced under these laws. All print and broadcast media must register
with the Justice Ministry.

In 2003 the US-based NGO Freedom House downgraded its assessment of the
media climate in Armenia from “partly free” to “not free”, citing the use of
security and libel laws to silence criticism and the closure of a private TV
station in 2002.

The press

Aravot – private
Ayots Ashkar – private
Ayastani Anrapetutyun – founded by Armenian parliament
Aykakan Zhanamak – founded by opposition Democratic Homeland Party
Azg – founded by Liberal Democratic Party
Golos Armenii – private
Iravunk – founded by Union of Constitutional Law party
Respublika Armenia – founded by Armenian Presidential Executive Staff,
parliament and government
Yerkir – founded by Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun
Television

Public TV of Armenia – national, state-run
Armenia TV – national, commercial
Prometheus TV – national, commercial
Radio

Public Radio of Armenia – national, state-run
Hai FM – first private radio station

Hit FM – private, Yerevan FM station
Radio Alfa – private, Yerevan FM station
Radio Van – private, Yerevan FM station
News agencies

Arka – private
Armenpress – state-run
Noyan Tapan – private
Mediamax – private
Arminfo – private

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
April 28 2004

Azerbaijani, Armenian Presidents Meet

28 April 2004 — The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan today met on
the sidelines of a European economic summit in Warsaw and discussed
their countries’ dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

AFP quoted an unidentified diplomat as saying that Azerbaijan’s
President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian
had a “constructive” discussion on the issue, and agreed to hold
further talks. However, no date was set for those talks.

Armenian-backed forces drove Azerbaijan’s army out of the ethnic
Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s, in a war
that killed 30,000 people and left about 1 million homeless. A
cease-fire was signed in 1994, but no agreement has been reached on
the territory’s final status.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Eurasianet Organization
April 28 2004

GEORGIA STRIVES TO BURNISH IMAGE AMID AJARIA CRISIS
Alex van Oss: 4/28/04

Amid a constitutional crisis involving the renegade region of Ajaria,
Georgian leaders have waged a diplomatic offensive to bolster
Georgia’s international image. In the United States, Georgian Prime
Minister Zurab Zhvania has touted his government as “one of the most
competent” in the former Soviet Union. Meanwhile, President Mikheil
Saakashvili was promoting trade ties during a tour of Ukraine and
Poland.

Since the Soviet collapse in 1991, Georgia has been riven by civil
strife and economic dysfunction. [For additional information see the
Eurasia Insight archive]. At a public appearance in Washington on
April 26, Zhvania emphasized that with Saakashvili’s reform-minded
administration in place, Georgia should no longer be viewed as a
“failed state.” Since January, Georgia has made great strides in
curbing corruption, long seen as the single most daunting obstacle to
Georgia’s stabilization, Zhvania maintained.

“Formerly untouchable gangsters are now in prison, so people now have
physical security. This is just a beginning,” Zhvania said during the
appearance, sponsored by the Center for International and Strategic
Studies. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. “The
Minister of Finance [Zurab Nogaideli] has put an end to absolute
chaos…and, for the first time in Georgia’s history, is paying
refugees their pensions without a single day of delay – though, of
course, these pensions are still miserably low.”

Progress in the battle against corruption is making Georgia a safer
investment risk, Zhvania contended.

“Georgia’s energy sector was unbelievably corrupt,” he said. “They
[energy-sector officials] had ways of seizing money that were almost
state-of-the-art. … Our current interior minister [Giorgi
Baramidze], though only 29, is the most competent we’ve ever had.
Already, he has a 16-month plan in place to reconstruct and make the
energy sector more attractive for investment.”

Zhvania suggested that Georgia was now in position to promote
stabilization in the broader Caucasus region, adding that Tbilisi
could potentially help foster the normalization of relations between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. He added that during recent visits to
Azerbaijan and Armenia, Saakashvili had been “inspired by the
increased pragmatism” shown by the leaders of those nations, along
with a new sense that “all three countries live in one region.” There
had even been requests, Zhvania said, for Georgia to serve as a venue
for regular discussions on improving regional cooperation.

The uncertainty surrounding the Ajaria issue clouded Zhvania’s
generally sunny assessment of Georgian stabilization efforts.
Saakashvili’s efforts to restore the central government’s authority
in all of the country’s constituent entities have brought Tbilisi to
the brink of armed confrontation with Ajaria on several occasions in
recent months. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Tbilisi-Batumi tension is once again spiking. On April 28, Ajarian
leader Aslan Abashidze confirmed that armed forces loyal to his
regional authority had been mobilized to repel a potential attack by
Tbilisi. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Zhvania said the Ajaria issue was “not a dispute between Georgia’s
central and regional governments, or between Saakashvili and
Abashidze. It is Georgia’s attempt to restore democracy.” He insisted
that Abashidze has steadfastly refused to act within Georgia’s new
democratic framework, going on to recount a conversation he had with
Abashidze earlier in April. “I offered to [Abashidze] that if he
began a general disarmament, he could keep a small force for personal
security and stay in office to the end of his elected term. But he
must stop attacking people and journalists,” Zhvania said. “He
refused even to talk about it.”

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Saakashvili indicated that the Ajaria issue
would be resolved quickly. “Aslan Abashidze has no chance,” Imedi TV
quoted Saakashvili as saying April 27. “The time for such people is
over. I think that gradually – not gradually but very soon –
everything will be settled.”

Saakashvili has been away from Georgia during most of the recent
crisis. On April 28 he arrived in Poland, following a three-day stay
in Ukraine. His tour has so far been devoted to boosting commerce. In
Kiev, Saakashvili took action to encourage free trade between Georgia
and Ukraine.

Georgian officials insist that they have no plans to use force to
resolve the Ajaria standoff. In Washington, Zhvania called on the
United States and Russia to exert pressure on Abashidze to
“compromise.” According to White House spokesman Scott McClellan, US
President George W. Bush discussed Georgian domestic developments
with Russian leader Vladimir Putin during an April 26 conversation.

Russian leaders have tended to view Saakashvili’s administration as
the aggressor in the Tbilisi-Batumi standoff. On April 28, the
Russian Duma adopted a statement that expressed concern over the
recent escalation of tension, the Civil Georgia web site reported.
“We have all reasons to suppose that Tbilisi plans to use force for
the conflict resolution,” the Duma statement said. It went on to
recognize that the Ajaria matter was an “internal affair,” but it
stressed that the issue had the potential to adversely impact Russian
national security.

During face-to-face discussions April 27, top Bush administration
officials reportedly pressed Zhvania for assurances that Tbilisi
would do everything possible to avoid violence in Ajaria, Civil
Georgia reported. “Everybody understands that presence of illegal
armed groups in one of Georgia’s regions is inadmissible and the
problem should be solved once and forever through peaceful means,”
Zurab Zhvania told Georgian reporters just before holding talks with
US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Editor’s Note: Alex van Oss is a freelance journalist based in
Washington, DC.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
April 28 2004

PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN ILHAM ALIYEV AND PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA ROBERT
KOCHARYAN MEET IN PRIVATE
[April 28, 2004, 22:56:36]

A one-on-one meeting between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and
President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan was held at `Parkiva’ State
Residence in Warsaw on April 28, AzerTAj correspondent reports.

OSCE Minsk group U.S., French and Russian co-Chairs initially
attended the meeting. Later, the heads of state talked in private.

The 2-hour meeting was focused on ways of peaceful settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

After the meeting, the Presidents made statements for mass media.

STATEMENT OF AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV

The meeting was of constructive character. We last met in December.
It has been some time since then; there have been co-Chairs’ visits
and meetings with them, Foreign Ministers have recently met as well,
and today’s meeting is a continuation of the peace process. The
negotiations are continuing; there is a mutual aspiration for
constructive dialogue. The problems have been discussed. Azerbaijan
wants to settle this problem; Armenia’s wish to do so is also felt.
So, we can advance if there is mutual desire to find way of the
conflict’s resolution.

STATEMENT OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARYAN

I share the opinion expressed by the Azerbaijan President. We have
agreed that meetings between ministers would be continued. The next
one will be held in May. We will try to promote their more active
involvement in the negotiation process. Of course, we will also use
the possibilities of multilateral meetings. We cannot boast of a
result, but I think the atmosphere of the talk was favorable.

ArmenPress
April 28 2004

EUROPEAN ECONOMIC SUMMIT OPENS IN WARSAW

WARSAW, APRIL 28, ARMENPRESS: Armenian president Robert Kocharian
is among some 20 presidents and prime minister, along with 600 other
ministers, central bankers, representatives from the EU and other
international organizations, and 50 companies from 45 countries who
have gathered in the Polish capital at the start of a three-day
European Economic summit devoted to the economic impact of the
European Union’s May 1 enlargement.
Organized by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum, the summit has
been held every year in Salzburg, Austria, since 1996. This year, as
an exception, the meeting is being held in Poland, the biggest of the
10 mainly former communist bloc countries set to join the EU on May
1, along with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia. The summit is taking place
amid tight security, due to the expected presence of thousands of
anti-globalization demonstrators. On the sidelines of the summit
presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian Armenia will discuss ways of settling the Nagorno-Karabagh
conflict today. The meeting is expected to last two-hours today
evening. Both presidents may also meet with co-chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabagh from the US, Russia and France.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
April 28 2004

AUTHORITIES IN KARABAGH SAY MAY 8 MARCH AIMS TO STIR UP PROVOCATIONS

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 28, ARMENPRESS: Authorities in Nagorno Karabagh
responded on Tuesday to purported plans of so-called Azerbaijani
organization Karabagh Liberation Organization (KLO) to march to
Karabagh on May 8, the date of the “occupation” of the second-largest
town of Shushi by Armenian troops.
A statement issued by Karabagh foreign ministry says the march,
portrayed in Azerbaijan as a public initiative, is a propaganda and
populist idea, designed by top authorities of that country. The
statement says this initiative could have been be assessed as a move
aimed at building the climate of confidence should not it have been
plotted by KLO leader Akif Naghi, who has won a notoriety by his
anti-Armenian and racist announcements. The statement also says there
is no doubt that the “peaceful march” has been designed to instigate
provocations on the line of contact between Azeri and Armenian
troops.
Earlier Akif Naghi was quoted by Azeri news media as saying that
the Turkish embassy in Baku and some political parties were
indifferent towards his plans. Naghi said the KLO was going to
determine the route of their planned march. He said 7,150 people are
expected to start action from the Martyrs’ Alley in Baku on May 8 “to
let the world community know about the real truths of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.”

ArmenPress
April 28 2004

MARGARIAN MEETS FESB DELEGATION

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, ARMENPRESS: Armenian prime minister Andranik
Margarian received today a delegation of the Federation of European
Biochemistry Societies (FEBS), led by Professor Guy Dirheimer.
Welcoming members of the delegation, Margarian said he was pleased to
see prominent scientists representing different countries to have
come to Armenia to explore ways for assisting its biochemistry’s
development.. Margarian thanked FEBS for its assistance to several
Armenian research institutes and helping the Armenian Association of
Biochemists to become FEBS member.
Margarian was also quoted by government’s press office as saying
that he expects FEBS’s to identify most perspective achievements of
Armenian biochemists and outline ways for attracting European funds
to support new studies.
Founded in 1964, the Federation of Biochemical Societies is one of
the largest organizations in European life sciences, with nearly
40.000 members distributed among 36 Constituent Societies and 5
Associated Member Societies throughout Europe seeking to promote,
encourage and support biochemistry, molecular cell biology and
molecular biophysics throughout Europe in a variety of different ways
through funding advanced courses, providing various types of
fellowships, publishing primary research through their publications,
facilitating the exchange of information and awarding prizes and
medals in recognition of scientific distinction.

Baku Today

Aliyev meets Kocharyan

Baku Today 28/04/2004 19:46

Azerbaijani president Aliyev has met with his Armenian counterpart Robert
Kocharyan today to consider the ways of settling Karabakh conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to ANS.

The two presidents have hold close meeting which lasted about two hours.
This is the second time Aliyev and Kocharyan have met over Karabakh issue.
Their first meeting was in December 2003 in Geneva of Switzerland.
Aliyev is now meeting with OSCE Minsk group’s chairmen.

Since 1997 United States, Russia and France have been jointly mediating
peaceful solution for Karabakh conflict in a group of three.

United States has recently appointed new chairman to the group.

Chairman of Washington based Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Frederick Starr
said, in interview to Azerbaijan’s Lider TV, new US spokesman at the Minsk
group Steven Mann is quite professional and knowledgeable person to advance
the group’s efforts for settling the conflict.

Yet Minsk group, Starr said, might have solved the problem long ago. As if
three chairmen have agreed orally to meet sometimes, he said, “to talk and
drink some wine.”

“This is cynicism,” said Starr adding “If the United States or Russia or
Europe wanted to solve this problem they could do that 10 years ago. Each
for some reason did not (solve)”.

ArmenPress
April 28 2004

VLADIMIR SPIVAKOV TO VISIT ARMENIA

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, ARMENPRESS: The conductor of Moscow Virtuosi
ensemble, Vlidimir Spivakov, will visit Armenia next month. Spivakov
will perform a solo concert at Aram Khachatrian concert hall on May
5, Armenian association on cultural ties with foreign countries
reported. He will perform Brahms, Shnitke and Straus.
Spivakov is the winner of the International Tchaikovsky
Competition, Paganini International Violin Competition and Montreal
Competition, Vladimir Spivakov enjoys an international career as one
of Russia’s preeminent violinists. He also is a respected conductor
who founded the renowned Moscow Virtuosi, and since 1999 he has been
Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Russian National
Orchestra.
Vladimir Spivakov has been decorated with Russia’s highest prize,
the National Cultural Heritage Award, and is Ambassador of the Arts
at the World Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He established the
International Charity Foundation in 1994 to offer creative and
financial support to talented young people and needy children from
his homeland. He is married to Armenian.