Zaman, Turkey
April 30 2004

Chirac Supports Turkey’s E.U. Membership in the ‘Long Run’

French President, Jacques Chirac, said Thursday that Turkey was not
ready for full membership in the European Union (EU) under the
present circumstances, but said that he thinks positively about
Ankara’s membership in the long run.

The French leader said that the membership of Turkey, which he
defined as a ‘secular, strong and democratic country’, would be for
the good of the E.U. He stressed that this would end the clash of
civilizations theory, which pits the West against Islamic
civilization. Chirac noted that the Turkish government has passed
reform laws and said the E.U. would care about the implementation as
well as the reforms.

In a press conference held at the Elysee Palace to announce his
opinions on E.U.’s enlargement, Chirac noted that although talks with
Ankara start next year, the process could take a long time and said,
“talks will last for 10 years or more.”

Using England as an example, Chirac acknowledged that during the
membership period, the European public’s attitude towards Turkey
could change as well.

The French leader said if Turkey’s efforts to join the Union are
ignored for religious or ethnic reasons, then Ankara would be alone
and this would cause the feared clash of civilizations to occur. The
President stated that Turkey’s membership was not an issue of debate.
The E.U. state and government presidents accepted its candidacy at
the Helsinki Summit held in 1999.

When asked whether the recognition of the alleged Armenian genocide
would be taken as a precondition for Turkey’s E.U. membership, Chirac
said this was an issue between Turkey and Armenia and it would not be
a condition for E.U. membership.

Support for Enlargement

Chirac stressed May 1, 2004 is an important date in E.U. history and
said enlargement was a chance for both France and Europe. Noting the
significance of enlargement in providing democracy and stability to
Europe, Chirac acknowledged that the E.U. with its 450-million
population would emerge as the world’s most important economic power.

Chirac argued that the European Constitution, which will be taken up
at the European Council to be held in Brussels in June, was an
assertive and faithful text and said that for the E.U. to advance
effectively, a compromise should be reached on the Constitution.

04.30.2004
Ali Ihsan Aydin
Paris

ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 30 2004

Armenian villager contracts anthrax

YEREVAN, April 30 (Itar-Tass) – A case of anthrax has been
registered in Armenia, the republic’s chief state sanitary doctor
Vladimir Davidyants said.

Arutyun Khachatrian, 41, contracted the skin variant of the disease
while butchering a dead cow in the village of Aigabats, Shirak
region.

Doctors in the hospital in the regional administrative centre of
Gyumry, former Leninakan, where the patient is undergoing a course of
treatment see his condition as satisfactory.

Anthrax killed nearly 40 heads of cattle in the village of Aigabats
in the middle of April. According to preliminary data, the animals
had contracted the diseases as a result of injection of non-standard
vaccine made in Armenia.

The hotbed of disease has been localized, said an official at the
Chief veterinary inspectorate of Armenia.

Baku Sun, Azerbaijan
April 30 2004

Aliyev meets Kocharian

by Vanessa Gera

Photo: Presidents Robert Kocharian of
Armenia, left, Mikhail Saakashvili
of Georgia, center, and Ilham
Aliyev of Azerbaijan, during
the first day of the European
Economic Forum im Warsaw,
Poland, Wednesday. (AP)

WARSAW, Poland – Hundreds of business and political leaders opened a
summit amid heavy security in the Polish capital Wednesday to explore
the challenges facing the European Union after eight former Soviet
bloc countries join this week.

The European Economic Summit brings together dignitaries from across
the continent, including 20 presidents and prime ministers and
representatives from leading corporations.

The 650 participants will `scope out what the major challenges and
opportunities’ of EU enlargement are by focusing on Europe’s economic
competitiveness as well as social and environmental issues, said
World Economic Forum head Jose Maria Figueres.

`All of those are vital components of a better – of a more
sophisticated – Europe as we move forward with enlargement,’ Figueres
said.

Anti-globalization groups have mobilized against the meeting, viewing
the forum funded by many leading corporations as an exclusive club
for the rich. About 5,000 protesters are expected to march Thursday,
organizers say.

The three-day summit – organized by Figueres’ Geneva-based
organization, which is best known for its annual summit in Davos,
Switzerland – concludes Friday only hours before midnight
celebrations in Warsaw and other cities usher in the historic May 1
expansion to take in eight former communist and two other nations.

As a precaution for handling protests, police were visibly out in
force – a kind of presence they have generally avoided since the fall
of communism 15 years ago.

Downtown Warsaw shops – from elegant boutiques to fast-food chains –
boarded up their windows with slabs of wood, corrugated tin and
cardboard and police in riot gear guarded a barricaded perimeter of
several blocks around a hotel hosting the conference.

Government leaders also can expect criticism from other quarters.

Daniel Gros, director of the Center for European Policy Studies in
Brussels, said economic dialogue in Europe has been reduced to `a
charade’ as countries pay lip service to limiting their budget
deficits and economic reform, but then do little to measure up.

`In economic terms they don’t have to talk to each other a lot – they
just have to go home and do their homework,’ said Gros, who will also
be participating.

Alongside workshops on the benefits of adopting the euro currency and
the competitiveness of the EU countries, one-on-one talks between
political leaders also feature at the forum.

These include a planned meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia, which have been locked in a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh,
an ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan.

Ethnic Armenian forces drove out Azerbaijan’s army from the region in
the 1990s and ethnic Azeris fled. Though a cease-fire was established
in 1994, the two sides periodically exchange fire.

President Johannes Rau of Germany, President Ion Iliescu of Romania
and President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia also were expected to
address the meeting.

The 10 states joining the EU are Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta and Cyprus.

Scotland on Sunday, UK
April 30 2004

Eu’s Outsiders Look in with Envy and Bitterness

“PA”

While new EU members celebrated, their left-out neighbours stood
outside the rope and watched the party today, wondering when – or if
– they will join Europe’s exclusive club of the stable and
prosperous.

An entire swathe of countries, from Belarus and Russia in the north
to Albania in southern Europe, are seeing their relative poverty and
outsider status reinforced with the eastward push of the union’s
borders at the stroke of midnight.

Some, like Croatia and Romania, have a chance to get in the next
several years. Others, burdened by shrivelled economies and
international concern about human rights, can only dream of meeting
the tough requirements for economic reform and democracy.

Ukraine’s president Leonid Kuchma, leader of one of the biggest
outsider nations, testily accused the EU of erecting a new wall to
replace the ones torn down at the end of the Cold War in the late
1980s and early 1990s.

`We regard it as historically unjust that we are outside this
system,’ he told a Warsaw conference this week. `We are not asking
for charity, we are simply announcing to Europe that there is such a
country as Ukraine.’

Kuchma’s emotional reproach was greeted with a bland thank-you from
EU enlargement commissioner Guenter Verheugen, sitting on stage a few
feet away at the European Economic Summit.

He left no doubt where Kuchma stands, however.

`For the time being, accession of the Eastern European countries –
Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine – is not on our agenda,’ Verheugen
said. `It makes no sense to make promises which are not realistic.’

The newcomers are Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic Latvia,
Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta, and Cyprus. And
there’s a clear pecking order for outsiders.

The former Yugoslav republics of Croatia and Macedonia and former
Soviet satellites Romania and Bulgaria have applied for EU membership
and could start getting in as early as 2007. Turkey is awaiting a
decision on whether it will be able to start negotiations with the
EU.

In the Balkans, Serbia and Montenegro – even impoverished Albania –
have a theoretical chance to get in years down the road.

Others have no real chance for now. Russia has dismissed the prospect
of getting in, and its view of Caucasus nations such as Georgia and
Armenia as belonging in its sphere of influence may place a long-term
lid on any faint hopes there.

Then there’s isolated, authoritarian Belarus, which refused
permission for an EU enlargement ceremony in the capital Minsk and
cancelled a visit to the Warsaw economic summit by Prime Minister
Sergei Sidorsky.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has struggled economically since becoming
independent with the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. European
officials have expressed concern about the pace of democratic
progress, most recently criticising local elections won by a
pro-presidential party this month amid accusations of widespread vote
fraud.

However, Ukraine and Belarus may be able to get more aid and sympathy
at the urging of Poland, which shares a border with both.

Interfax
April 30 2004

COGNAC AND WINEMAKING IN ARMENIA

Armenia is one of the oldest winemaking regions, but it is better
known for its cognac, which it began producing in the late 19th
century. Today cognac is a symbol of Armenia and an important export
product.

Armenian cognac has always been in high demand in Russia but it is
now becoming popular on new markets and is sold in 25 countries.

Armenian wine is not as popular. After the crisis in the industry
that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union Armenian producers
lost their key market – Russia, but in the wine later began appearing
on the Russian and international markets.

Armenia has 24 winemaking and cognac enterprises.

VINEYARDS SHRANK THREE TIMES IN 10 YEARS

Winemaking began in Armenia more than 3,000 years ago. The country is
located in the southern Caucasus in a subtropical region. Armenia’s
climate is defined by its mountains. Summers are hot and dry in the
valleys surrounded by mountains and winters are harsh with little
snow. Although Armenia is one of the few winemaking regions where
vines must be protected in the winter, its advantages are that the
air is dry and it has a large number of sunny days during the year
(300 on average). This lends special qualities to Armenian varietals.
The Armenian varietals have a high sugar content and thus high
alcohol, which facilitates the production of fortified wines and
cognac.

Armenia grows more than 200 kinds of grapes, most of them native to
the region. There are about 30 that are the most popular, including
Mskhali, Garan, Dmak, Voskeat, Muscat, Areni, Kahet, Rkatsiteli,
Adisi, Azateni, Anait, Karmrayut, Nerkeni, Tokun, and Megrabuir.

Armenia has six wine regions: Ararat Marz, Armavir, Tavush,
Aragotsoton, Syunik, and Vaiondzor.

The Ararat Valley is the main winegrowing region where up to 60% of
the country’s grapes are grown. The region is divided into the Ararat
and Armavir districts. Six varietals are grown here – five Armenian
grapes (Mskhali, Garan, Dmak, Voskeat, Kangun) and one Georgian grape
(Rkatsiteli) are grown here and are used to produce cognac and
dessert wines.

Tavush and Aragotsoton regions, where 25% of the vineyards are found,
produce wine materials for cognac production and for light table
wines and sparkling wines. Syunik region on the border with Iran also
produces these wines. Vaiots Dzor produces the traditional Areni
wines.

Armenia’s vineyards were largest in the mid-1980s when they covered
36,500 hectares, but this dropped to 22,000 hectares following the
collapse of the Soviet Union. Growers were forced to cut down the
vineyards to grow vegetables, since local wine and cognac makers
bought little raw material up until 1998 and vegetables brought high
profits.

As of the end of October 2003, vineyards covered 12,000 hectares.
Most are very old and in need of renewal. But this is a costly
process. It costs up to $2,000 a year to cultivate one hectare of
vineyards, and the new vines will produce a harvest only in the
fourth year.

Heavy freezes damaged 50% of Armenia’s grapes in the winter of 2002 –
2003 and as much as 70% in Ararat and Armavir regions. The
Agriculture Ministry and wineries were forced to pay higher prices
for grapes to prevent growers from cutting down the damaged vines.
Analysts said only about 10% of the damaged vines died and the rest
will produce a harvest again this year.

Deep freezes resulted in a smaller harvest of 75,180 tonnes of grapes
last year, compared with 103,000 tonnes in 2002. Producers were
forced to buy elsewhere. Winemakers bought grapes from Nagorny
Karabakh, whose grapes had never been used to produce cognac. Some
producers planned to buy from Azerbaijan, but many were opposed. They
said using imported grapes to produce Armenian cognac would go
against national standards and result in a lower quality product.

According to national standards, Armenian cognac (technically brandy)
must be produced from Armenian grapes using the prescribed method and
bottled exclusively in Armenia. But due to last year’s small harvest,
the list of grapes allowed for use in cognac was expanded to include
grapes grown in Nagorny Karabakh. Armenian cognac is normally
produced from indigenous white grapes, mostly Mskhali, Garan Dmak,
and Voskeat.

HISTORY OF COGNAC PRODUCTION

Armenia began producing cognac in 1887. Neress Tairian, a Yerevan
merchant, founded Armenia’s first winemaking enterprise in 1877 and
10 years later the plant began producing cognac. It initially
produced about 1,200 buckets (one bucket equals 12 liters) a year.

Russian industrialist Nikolai Shustov acquired the enterprise in 1898
and after reconstructing and expanding it, increased cognac
production.

Three more cognac plants were built in Yerevan in 1893 – 1894, and by
1914 there were 15 cognac plants. The Shustov plant was the largest,
however. Yerevan region produced 181,000 buckets of cognac in 1913,
including 81,500 at the Shustov plant. The Shustov cognac was sold in
Moscow, Odessa, Warsaw, Smolensk, and Nizhny Novgorod.

Armenia’s wineries and cognac plants were nationalized in 1920 and
the Ararat cognac plant was formed at the Shustov plant in 1922. When
the Yerevan winery was reorganized in 1948 the cognac and cognac
alcohol plants were merged to become an independent plant. A new
building was opened in 1954 and the Yerevan Cognac Plant was formed
within the Ararat trust.

Cognac production grew the fastest in Armenia during the Soviet
regime. Cognac production soared by 17 times from 1940 – 1985.
Armenia had 42 producers by the end of the 1980s with affiliates in
Moscow, Saratov, and Leningrad that produced a quarter of the cognac
consumed in the Soviet Union.

Tight restrictions on the production of Armenian cognac resulted in
numerous conflicts with Ararat plants in Moscow, Saratov, and St
Petersburg. The plant in Saratov was switched to joint production of
cognac drinks, the St Petersburg plant was sold for $300,000 on
condition it no longer produce cognac, and the Moscow plant was
transferred in trust to creditors, which it owed $1.3 million as of
the start of 2002.

The winemaking industry fell into decline after the collapse of the
Soviet Union. The grape harvest dropped from 270,000 tonnes to
105,000 tonnes and many wine and cognac plants stood idle.

The industry began to revive in 1998 when France’s Pernod Ricard
purchased the Yerevan Cognac Plant and formed the Great Valley joint
venture. These two enterprises are currently the biggest producers of
cognac in Armenia. The country has seven or eight cognac producers,
which in addition to the two mentioned are the Ararat Cognac Plant,
Proschian Cognac Plant, Avshar Winery, Aregak, and the Yegvard Winery
and Cognac Plant.

Armenian cognac has become popular in many countries and is exported
to 25 countries, but Russia remains its main market, accounting for
80% – 85% of sales. Analysts expect demand for the cognac in Russia
to continue growing.

Yerevan Cognac Plant and Great Valley are the biggest suppliers of
Armenian cognac, but other Armenian producers are also beginning to
sell in Russia.

Naturally, there are imitations in Russia and Armenia, but most
producers try to protect their product by using special bottles and
markings.

YEREVAN COGNAC PLANT

The Yerevan Cognac Plant is one of the biggest enterprises in the
food industry and a leading producer of Armenian cognac with the
exclusive right to use the Ararat name.

Pernod Ricard invested in the plant in 1998. The company paid $30
million for the plant, along with the Armavir and Aigevan plants.
This was the biggest privatization deal in Armenia and triggered
numerous disputes. Some parliamentarians argued the deal should be
contested because the plant was sold too cheap.

In addition to paying $30 million, Pernod Ricard agreed to invest 30
million francs over five years to develop the business.

The company accepted all of the conditions set by Armenia. It agreed
to maintain production at 425,000 decaliters a year and bottle only
in Armenia. The cognac must be produced from local grapes and Pernod
Ricard promised to maintain cognac alcohol reserves of at least 1.660
million decaliters.

In the five years since purchasing the plant Pernod Ricard has
invested about $50 million in the plant and will invest another $10
million this year. The money was used to buy new equipment, improve
technology, repair production facilities, train personnel, expand
product range, grow grapes, and for marketing.

The Yerevan Cognac Plant conducted the Legend of Ararat advertising
campaign in the CIS from September 1999 – 2003 to promote the cognac.
The company spent $2 million a year on the ad campaign.

It spent 44% of this in Russia, 13% in Ukraine, 16% in Armenia, and
11% in Belarus. About 45% was spent on advertising in the press, 20%
on working with consumers in stores, bars, and through distributors,
and 35% on exhibits and production of related products.

The aggressive ad campaign resulted in increased sales. The company
sold 1 million liters of cognac in 1999, 1.7 million in 2000, 3.085
million liters in 2001, 3.486 million liters in 2002, and 4.22
million liters in 2003. It expects a 5% sales increase this year.

Turnover last year totaled $31.4 million, up 17.16% from 2002.

The Yerevan Cognac Plant exports 91% of its product. It sells to 25
countries, with the CIS accounting for 97% of sales and Russian being
the biggest market. The company shipped 2.997 million liters of
cognac to Russia last year, up 10.26% from 2002. Ukraine was the
second biggest consumer at 490,000 liters, up 78.23% from 2002.

The plant sold 360,000 liters in Armenia last year, up 52.68% from
2002.

Yerevan Cognac Plant also wells to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Germany, China, the United States, and other countries.

The company is working to strengthen its position on existing
markets. Further expansion is limited by production capacity, which
depends on the harvest.

Yerevan Cognac Plant does not have its own vineyards but works with
more than 5,000 growers in four regions – Ararat, Aragotsoton,
Armavir, and Tavush. The growers have 2,100 hectares of vineyards and
can produce 20,000 – 22,000 tonnes of grapes a year. The plant has
been buying $3 million – $4 million worth of grapes a year since
1998. It bought 18,768 tonnes at 146 drams per tonne last year.

Yerevan Cognac Plant offers free advice to farmers and helps them buy
pesticides and get loans from the ACBA bank. It also works with
growers on a long-term basis. The company signs five-year contracts
with growers and will sign contracts for 10 years with growers that
are planting new vineyards. The company said its purchase prices and
long-term contracts motivate growers to expand.

Yerevan Cognac Plant produces 19 exclusive brands and offers five
kinds of regular cognac (aged three to five years), three kinds of
Ararat (three, four, and five stars), Ani, and Aik, 14 fine cognacs –
a seven-year cognac, 10-year (Armenia, Akhtamar, Dvin, Yerevan, and
Yubileiny), a 15-year cognac (Prazdnichny, Urartu), and 18-year
(Vaspurakan), a 20-year cognac (Nairi), a 25-year cognac (Erebuni), a
30-year (Kilikiya), a 40-year cognac (Sparanet), and a 70-year cognac
(Noah’s Ark).

Sales of fine cognacs grew nearly 24% last year. The plant plans to
expand sales of fine cognac this year while maintaining sales of
lower-end products.

GREAT VALLEY

Great Valley, an Armenian-Cyprus joint venture, is the main
competitor for Yerevan Cognac Plant. The company was formed in 1998
by local businessman Tigran Arzakantsian and Cyprus-based Domeravo
Trading.

Competition for the market escalated into a serious conflict in 2000.
After signing a deal with major Russian distributor Rusimport, Great
Valley began working on the Russian market. Great Ararat was its main
product on the Russian market and during its first year the joint
venture captured 3.5% of the Russian cognac market.

But Yerevan Cognac Plant in August 2000 accused Great Valley of
illegally using the Great Ararat brand and said when the deal for the
Yerevan plant was signed, it included its trademarks, one of which is
Ararat. Yerevan Cognac Plant filed a complaint with the Armenian
patent bureau Armpatent in September 2000, and the Great Ararat brand
was cancelled. The decision to give Yerevan Cognac Plant the
exclusive right to the Ararat name cost Great Valley $1 million.

Great Valley is one of the biggest producers of wine products in
Armenia and has six enterprises, including the Yerevan winery Ararat,
the Artashat Wine and Cognac Plant, the Ashtarak Winery, and a winery
in Karmir Shuka (Nagorny Karabakh). It formed the Great Artsakh
subsidiary in Stepanakert in 2000. Great Valley has several growing
centers, one of which is in southern Nagorny Karabakh.

Great Valley exports all of its product, selling mostly to Russia and
the CIS, which accounts for 80% of sales. The company is the second
biggest seller of Armenian cognac in Russia and has a 3.4% market
share there (Yerevan Cognac Plant has 11.4%).

Beverages & Trading, owned by Bacardi-Martini Group, became the
exclusive importer and distributor for Great Valley in Russia in
September 2003.

Great Valley produces three-five year cognac (Armenian three, four
and five star), Great Valley (six years), Kars (seven years), Gavar
(eight years), Sevan (10 years), Akhtanak (12 years), Yerevan (15
years), Collectors (18 years), Arin Verd (25 years), and premium
cognac Tsar Tigran (12 – 30 years or more).

Like the Yerevan Cognac Plant, Great Valley buys grapes from growers.
It bought 5,272 tonnes of grapes last year, but plans to grow its own
as well. Chairman of the Board Tigran Arzakatsian said a group of
private investors representing the Armenian community in France
bought 24% of the company last year. The company will use the
proceeds to plant 2,000 hectares of vineyards.

WINEMAKING

Winemaking dates back further in Armenia than cognac production, but
Armenian wines are far less popular than its cognac. Georgia and
Moldova were the biggest wine producing regions in the Soviet Union,
but Armenian wineries were at their peak under the Soviet Union. Wine
production soared by nine times in 1940 – 1985 and champagne
production grew 10 times in 1960 – 1986. The wine business generated
about 37.4% of earnings in the food industry in the 1980s. about 3%
of the wine produced in the Soviet Union came from Armenia during
this time and three quarters of Armenia’s wine was exported to
Russia.

The crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union took with
it large vineyards and winemaking traditions. Wineries stood idle and
gradually deteriorated and the loss of the Russian market was also a
problem.

But winemaking has begun to pick up again in recent years. Foreign
and local investors have committed large sums to the industry. Small
producers have been formed, mostly in Yekhegnadzor region where the
Areni grape is grown.

Armenian wines are gradually returning to Russia, but faced with
competition from the more popular French, Georgian, and Moldovan
wines, and wines from Argentina and Chile, they are having a hard
time finding a niche on the Russian market. The USDA marketing
assistance program (MAP) has helped promote Armenian wines and gave
five producers the opportunity to conduct an aggressive marketing
campaign on the Russian and foreign markets.

Armenia’s climate enables it to produce a full range of wines, but
the country has long been known for its fortified and dessert wines
similar to Heres, Madeira or port. Armenian wineries expanded their
product range to accommodate the consumer preference for dry or
semi-dry wines and offer a large assortment of table and fine wines.

Areni, the exclusive distributor in Russia for Armenia’s Areni,
Ginetas, Kimle, Maran, Van-777, and Idzhevan wineries, offers more
than 25 Armenian wines, including the dry reds Gandzak, Vaiots Dzor,
and Areni Marani.

Other producers include Vedi-Alko, Yegvard Wine and Cognac Plant,
Aigezard Wine and Cognac Plant, Avshar Winery, Ararat Winery, and
other companies.

Vedi-Alko is one of the biggest producers of wine and vodka in
Armenia. Annual sales total 4 million – 5 million liters of vodka and
about 1 million liters of wine. The company includes the Getap and
Vedi wineries and Vedi Company. Vedi Alko produces 70 products, 30 –
35 different wines, vodka, and champagne. It exports to Russia, the
United States, the Baltic countries, Belarus, and Europe.

The Idzhevan Winery was founded in 1976 and produces nine wines and
one sparkling wine. It has its own vineyards.

Van-777 was formed in 1996 with the support of the USDA MAP program.
It produces five different wines – sweet, Muscat, semi-dry,
semi-sweet, and dry and sells domestically and in Russia and Belarus.

Ginetas was formed in 1998 also with the support of the USDA marking
program. It produces the Gandzak dry red wine and has its own
vineyards. The plant has facilities to process 20 tonnes of grapes
per hour and produces 60,000 – 80,000 bottles of wine a year that it
ages in oak barrels for one to three years.

Areni Winery specializes in the production of premium dry red Vaiots
Dzor wines from the Areni grape. It produces 80,000 – 100,000 bottles
of wine a year and also ages its wines in oak barrels for one to
three years.

This article was written by the Interfax Center for Economic
Analysis.

Pan Armenian Network, Armenia
April 30 2004

ILHAM ALIYEV ASSURES ARMENIAN MILITARY OFFICERS WILL ARRIVE IN BAKU

President of Azerbaijan secures the participation of Armenian
soldiers in NATO trainings.

The Deputy Commander of the European Commandership of the U.S. armed
forces Charles Wold, while in Yerevan said on April 26 that nothing
will impede the Armenian military officers to participate in the
”Cooperative Best Effort 2004” trainings to be held in autumn 2004
in Azerbaijan within the frames of the ”Partnership for Peace” NATO
Program.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The General said this was guaranteed by President
Aliyev personally. In Baku, however, the ”Organization of Karabakh
liberation” radical group declared it would not allow the Armenian
officers to enter the territory of Azerbaijan. The guarantees of
Ilham Aliyev became the result of the attempts of the U.S. Ambassador
to Baku Rino Harnish and Permanent representative of the Washington
administration in NATO Nikolas Berns. In Baku they understood that
Brussels might change the place of the upcoming trainings. Recent
statements of the head of the Defense Ministry’s press service Ramiz
Melikov prove it: ”If Armenians want they can participate in the
maneuvers,” the Azeri colonel said.

However, there is another viewpoint in the military circles of
Azerbaijan. Military expert, Colonel Uzeir Jafarov said that the
Azerbaijani government does not have to promise anything to anybody.
”It has to be taken into account that we are in a situation of war
with Armenia,” Jafarov says. But the harshest statements belong to
Akif Nagi, leader of the radical group ”Organization of Karabakh
Liberation”. He hints that he will organize terrorist acts in the
airport if the Armenians arrive in Baku.

No doubts that Nagi’s behavior is approved by the authorities.
According to the available information, Aliyev has agreed with
participation of Armenians only in case if Yerevan sends one or two
officers. So, it is evident that the Azerbaijani authorities want to
deprive Armenians of the real possibilities of cooperation with the
NATO partners. In this situation, participation of Armenia in a farce
to be used by the Azeris for propaganda goals seems extremely
doubtful.

29.04.2004, “PanARMENIAN Network” analytical department

Islam Online, UK
April 30 2004

Azeri Muslims Call For Hijab Photos

Hijab is banned in photographs used in Azeri official documents

By Damir Ahmad, IOL Correspondent

BAKU, April 30 (IslamOnline.net) – The Islamic Party in Azerbaijan
appealed to President Ilham Aliyev to allow Muslim women to wear
hijab in photographs taken for official documents.

“We presented an urgent appeal to the President to that effect, as
the female party members see the matter as part of preserving their
personal freedom,” Erada Goliefa, the party’s Women Committee
chairman, said Thursday, April 29.

The Russian NTV said security officials have refused to issue
passports and IDs to women photographed with their head covered,
forcing the women and human rights groups to file lawsuits against
the government.

Goliefa said that the wife of the country’s mufti and his daughter
only are allowed to get ID photos with hijab.

“While the rest of Muslim women are not permitted to do so,” she
lamented.

The government has recently approved a personal freedom law, which
allows any Muslim woman to choose the form of their photographs
attached to official documents.

Goliefa hoped the move should go further for hijab to appear in these
photographs, which dissuaded 2000 Muslim women from casting ballots
in the recent 2003 Presidential elections as they have no IDs.

Islam deems hijab a religious obligation which has nothing to do with
portraying any political affiliation.

Goliefa called on the government to leave Muslim women meet this
obligation.

Permanent Suffering

The hijab is a nagging issue for Muslim women in the former Soviet
Union republic.

“It causes several problems for women here while they try to get
permits for hajj and Umrah,” Goliefa complained.

University officials have warned students against wearing the gear in
campus – much to the consternation of Muslim females who considered
dropping out.

Female students at three schools in Baku, the medical institute, the
pedagogical institute and Baku State University, had said that their
lecturers ordered them to remove the hijab.

Chequered Record

Azerbaijan has a remarkably chequered record on religious freedoms.

The government is frequently accused of violating religious freedoms
in its desire to shore up the country’s secular principles.

In 2002, over a hundred Muslim women have applied for political
asylum in German and French Embassies in protest at the law banning
them from wearing hijab in their passport photographs.

The women then said that the move is an affront to their honor and
dignity.

The government had also imposed on the same year compulsory
registration of religious groups, in a move considered as a new bid
to clamp down on minority faiths.

Earlier in January, Azeri security forces detained four Islamic
activists on suspicion of attempting to cross the border into
Chechnya to join independence-seekers fighting Russian forces.

Nearly 93.4 % of the population in Azerbaijan is Muslim, nearly 2.5 %
are Russian Orthodox, 2.3 % Armenian Orthodox and the other sects
have 1.8% adherents.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 30 2004

Azerbaijani, Armenian foreign ministers may meet on May 12

BAKU, April 30 (Itar-Tass) — The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and
Armenia are likely to meet again on May 12, during a ministerial
session of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mamedyarov said on Friday.

Asked by Itar-Tass about the sides’ readiness for compromises, the
minister said, `this is a subject of the negotiations.’ `We are
considering some ideas,’ including the liberation of seven districts
of Azerbaijan in exchange to the restoration of transport routes to
Armenia, he said.

The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia had a useful exchange of
opinions in Warsaw on April 28 during the European Economic Forum, he
said. Baku has approved the Turkish initiative of a meeting of the
Azerbaijani, Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers, he added.

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
April 30 2004

Council Of Europe Scrutinizes Rights Violations In Belarus, Political
Situation In Armenia, Azerbaijan

By Jean-Christophe Peuch

Azerbaijani President Aliyev is under pressure over political
prisoners

The Strasbourg-based Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
today wraps up the second part of its 2004 spring session. The main
highlights of this week’s session included hearings on human rights
abuses in Belarus, an urgent debate on the political situation in
Armenia, and an address by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Prague, 30 April 2004 (RFE/RL) — The 45-member Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted this week to recommend
that the council’s Committee of Ministers considers suspending all
contacts with the Belarusian leadership until an independent
investigation is conducted into the disappearances of journalists and
political opponents.

In a separate resolution, PACE warned that failure to comply would
lead to maintaining sanctions against Belarus, or barring the
country’s parliamentarians from attending the assembly’s sessions
even informally.

The warning came just two weeks after the UN’s Human Rights
Commission censured Belarus over the disappearances and other rights
abuses.

Belarus had its special guest status in the Council of Europe
suspended in 1997, amid claims that its constitution was falling
short of democratic standards and handing too much power to President
Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Since then, Belarus has been regularly criticized in Strasbourg for
its poor human rights record, including harassment of nongovernmental
media, restrictions of religious freedom, and reports of random
arrests.

“As a criminal lawyer, I have no doubt that these disappearances were
ordered at the highest possible level in the establishment of
Belarus.”This week’s PACE recommendation and resolution refer to the
disappearance and feared extra-judiciary execution of former Interior
Minister Yury Zakharanka, former parliament speaker Viktar Hanchar,
businessman Anatol Krasouski, and Dmitri Zavadsky, a cameraman for
the Russian private television channel NTV.

All four disappearances, which occurred in 1999 and 2000, are
believed to be politically motivated. Although Belarusian authorities
deny any wrongdoing, they have persistently ignored calls to conduct
independent investigations into the cases.

Greek Cypriot delegate Christos Pourgourides, who authored a report
on Belarus that was debated at the assembly before the 28 April vote,
said the people responsible for these disappearances should be
searched for among the country’s top leadership.

“As a criminal lawyer, I have no doubt that these disappearances were
ordered at the highest possible level in the establishment of
Belarus. I cannot be certain that the order was given by President
[Lukashenka] himself, but I am absolutely certain that the order for
their abduction was given by people very, very close to the
president,” Pourgourides said.

In another resolution adopted this week, the Strasbourg-based
assembly severely criticized Belarus for the “systematic harassment
and intimidations carried out by state officials…against
journalists, editors, and media outlets which are critical of the
president” or the government.

Russia, which is linked to Belarus by a union treaty, expressed its
disagreement over the resolutions and recommendations adopted by the
assembly.

Talking to journalists after the vote, Konstantin Kosachev, the
chairman of the State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized
the documents for being “too emotional.”

Russia itself has been criticized in the past in Strasbourg for human
rights violations in Chechnya.

Although the situation in the breakaway Northern Caucasus republic
was not on the assembly’s agenda this week, it was nonetheless
debated among members of PACE’s Political Affairs Committee.

In comments made to RFE/RL’s North Caucasus Service, PACE’s
rapporteur on Chechnya, Andreas Gross, said he plans to visit the
region in early June with other members of the Political Affairs
Committee. He said he will prepare a report to be debated at the
assembly’s next plenary session later that month.

“Since I was appointed rapporteur last July, I [have never been]
allowed to visit Chechnya, and [there] is no use to make a report
based only on journalists’ [accounts]. You have to go on a
[fact-finding] mission yourself. But now, after one year, I have the
impression that the Russian authorities — and especially the new
Russian delegation [here] — are much more cooperative, and we agreed
on a mission [so that] we could make a report,” Gross said.

Whether Russian authorities will allow the Swiss delegate to meet
Chechen separatist President Aslan Maskhadov — as he says he intends
to — remains unclear, however.

The situation in Armenia, where President Robert Kocharian and his
coalition cabinet are engaged in a bitter standoff with opponents,
was also debated this week in Strasbourg.

Armenia’s parliamentary opposition accuses Kocharian of rigging last
year’s presidential and legislative polls and insists his leadership
should to be put to a vote of national confidence.

The Armenian capital, Yerevan, has witnessed daily opposition rallies
for nearly three weeks now. Tensions bubbled over on 13 April when
police rounded up dozens of opposition activists and raided
opposition party offices.

The crackdown was strongly criticized by Council of Europe
Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer, who regretted the absence of
democratic debate in Armenia.

In a resolution adopted this week, PACE urged the Armenian leadership
to refrain from any actions that could be seen as attempts at
curtailing freedom of expression and movement. It also called for an
investigation into the recent incidents.

While reiterating its “profound disappointment” at last year’s
“flawed” elections, the assembly also urged Kocharian’s opponents to
strive to achieve their goals “within the constitutional framework”
and called upon both sides to enter into a dialogue “without
preconditions.”

Armenia was admitted into the Council of Europe in January 2001,
along with its neighbor Azerbaijan.

Although neither country met democracy standards, the
Strasbourg-based body hoped that opening its ranks simultaneously to
the rival nations would help them reach a solution to their
territorial dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Despite a 1994 cease-fire, Yerevan and Baku remain technically at war
over the predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave. For various reasons,
both sides have rejected successive settlement blueprints drafted by
the Minsk Group, the 13-member group of nations mandated by the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to mediate in the
talks.

Addressing the PACE assembly yesterday, Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev reiterated his country’s traditional stance, which consists of
demanding that ethnic Armenian troops withdraw from all Azerbaijani
lands they have been occupying since 1993, prior to any discussion on
the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Aliyev succeeded his then ailing father last October following a
controversial presidential election marred by irregularities, street
violence and the subsequent arrest of opposition activists.

During his three-year tenure as his country’s chief PACE delegate,
Aliyev often had to adopt a defensive position amid criticism of
Baku’s poor human rights record. Yesterday, however, his first
address to the assembly as Azerbaijani president was delivered in a
much more cordial atmosphere.

Aliyev hinted that he might release all inmates that the Council of
Europe insists are political prisoners. However, when asked whether
he thought he could do so before PACE’s September session, the
Azerbaijani leader remained noncommittal.

“When I was elected, in my first speech after my inauguration, I said
I would be the president of all Azerbaijanis — and that is what I am
doing. The policy of putting an end to the dramatic history of the
past will continue, but it is very difficult to do that alone. All
political forces must take an active part in doing that. The steps
that I have taken in pardoning prisoners show that intention and that
policy, and I think that that policy will continue,” Aliyev said.

Last month, Aliyev signed a decree amnestying nearly 130 prisoners,
including Suret Huseynov, a former prime minister who had been
sentenced to life imprisonment in 1999 on charges of plotting against
the state.

Huseynov’s release brought down to five the number of political
prisoners that the Council of Europe wants Azerbaijan to release in
the coming months.

In the meantime, an estimated 100 opposition activists detained last
October have been charged over their alleged participation in
postelection violence. Some of them have already been convicted,
while others are still awaiting trial.

Aliyev yesterday justified the crackdown on the opposition,
describing it as protection against the “hostility” that he says
continues to exist in Azerbaijani society.

Watertown TAB & Press, MA
April 30 2004

‘You are proud to remember’

By Brian Johnson / Correspondent
Young and old commemorate the Armenian Genocide

While it is doubtful that even their grandparents were alive in 1915,
young people well represented them last weekend, during commemoration
services for the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

>From the 40 or so members of Scout Troop 290, who led a processional
into Hovanian Hall at the Armenian Cultural and Educational Center,
to the members of the Armenian Youth Federation who organized a
candlelight vigil on Saturday night, the younger generations of
Armenian-Americans seem to have their priorities in order.

“We are happy to be here,” said Tamar Kanarian, 21, a junior at
Bentley College in Waltham. “It’s a nice day, but it’s more important
to be here to commemorate.”

For 15-year-old Garineh Ashjian of Belmont, paying homage to her
ancestors was something “you are taught to remember, you want to
remember and you are proud to remember.”

The event Sunday, sponsored by Greater Boston Armenian Genocide
Commemoration Committee, was one of eight major events held
throughout greater Boston to honor the victims of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915-1923 by the Ottoman Turkish government. This year
marks the 89th anniversary of the start of that genocide.

Each April 24, commemorations are held by members of the Armenian
community to recognize the death of 1.5 million and deportation of
600,000 Armenians that started with the arrest of 250 intellectuals
by Ottoman authorities in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul,
Turkey).

However, while France, Switzerland and most recently, Canada (which
passed a motion in Parliament April 21) recognize the events of 89
years ago as genocide, the United States government still does not.

Congressman Barney Frank, D-4th, touched on the reasons for this snub
during his remarks at the service.

Calling it a bipartisan failure, Frank blamed both Republicans and
Democrats alike of giving in to the wishes of Turkey, a key U.S ally
in the Middle East, as a reason for not recognizing the genocide.

However, said Frank, we are doing it for the wrong reasons.

“I believe there is a strong common interest for Turkey to fight
fanaticism and radical fundamentalism, because it’s in their
neighborhood,” said Frank. “We shouldn’t be asked to pay for that, to
sacrifice our principles over it.

“Your determination as a people to keep the fight alive is important,
not only to Armenians, but to the world as a whole,” said Frank, who
kept his remarks brief but received a standing ovation.

Armenian Women’s Welfare Association president Janet Jeghelian
introduced the speakers, who included keynote speaker Gerard
Chaliand, a political scientist and strategist from France.

According to Ara Basoumian, chapter head for Homenetem Boston,
attendance was significantly lower this year – there were about 200
to 300 people present.

However, according to Basoumian, 42, the candlelight vigil held
Saturday night was a resounding success. Basoumian said the event was
broadcast via the Internet and viewed throughout the world.

Keeping the youth involved was key for Basoumian.

“We are trying to do these things to encourage the youth to not to
forget their history,” he said.

Basoumian added that the inability to recognize the Armenian Genocide
was one of the motivating factors for Adolph Hitler to follow through
on his “final solution” in Europe during the 1940s.

“Hitler said to Himmler, ‘Who remembers the Armenian Genocide?'” said
Basoumian. “‘No one speaks of it.'”

According to preventgenocide.org, April also marks other nefarious
anniversaries, such as the 29th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge
‘Killing Fields’ in Cambodia, and the 10th anniversary of the
genocide in Rwanda.
From: Baghdasarian