Agence France Presse
March 27, 2004 Saturday

US deputy secretary criticises Azerbaijan rights record

BAKU, March 27

US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Saturday that
Azerbaijan’s human rights record needed improvement, during a visit
to the oil-rich former Soviet republic.

Speaking to reporters after talks with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham
Aliyev, and with opposition leaders, the senior US diplomat said:
“The situation with human rights could be much better. We hope that
it will improve.”

He added that he had told the Azeri president that the country’s
press and television should be allowed to operate free from
restrictions.

Human rights groups allege that Azerbaijan is illegally detaining
dozens of opposition activists — subjecting some of them to torture
— and that the government is suppressing freedom of expression.

Some critics say that the United States has muted its criticism in
light of Azerbaijan’s formidable Caspian Sea oil reserves, which will
soon be exported to international markets along a US-backed pipeline.

Armitage arrived in Azerbaijan late Friday from the neighbouring
republic of Armenia, where he also met officials. He left the Azeri
capital Saturday to return to Washington.

The Azeri president said he and Armitage had talked about energy
projects, military cooperation and Azerbaijan’s contribution to the
US-led war against international terrorism.

Azerbaijan is the only majority Muslim state to have so far sent
combat troops to Iraq to help the US occupation force there.

The Economist
March 27 2004

An historical heroine; Turkey and the Armenians

Sabiha Gokcen, a Turkish aviator

A row over the ethnicity of a Turkish icon

WAS she Armenian? The question was on the minds of generals marking
the third anniversary, on March 22nd, of the death of Sabiha Gokcen,
Turkey’s first woman pilot and the adopted daughter of modern
Turkey’s founder, Kemal Ataturk. The generals denounced claims that
Turkey’s feminist icon was an Armenian by birth when they appeared
last month in Agos, a Turkish-Armenian paper in Istanbul.

Any such debate mocked national values and was not conducive to
social peace, fumed the top brass. Hrant Dink, Agos’s managing
editor, counters that it shows that Turks cannot confront their
identity and past. He has been deluged with death threats and mobbed
by ultra-nationalists ever since publishing claims by Hripsime
Sebilciyan Gazalyan, an Armenian, that Miss Gokcen was her aunt. The
official version is that she was an orphan from Bursa, in western
Turkey, who was adopted by Ataturk in 1925. Mrs Gazalyan says that
Ataturk plucked her from an orphanage in the south-eastern town of
Sanliurfa, where she was dumped after losing her father in the mass
slaughter of Armenians in 1915.

Armenians insist that as many as 1.5m of their kin were murdered by
Ottoman forces in what they term genocide. The Turks say at most
300,000 Armenians perished, in a conflict Armenians instigated by
allying with invading Russian troops. The few Turkish scholars who
have challenged the official line have been called traitors. Taner
Akcam, the only Turkish historian to have talked of genocide, had to
seek refuge in America after a string of Turkish universities refused
to hire him.

Despite the row over Miss Gokcen, Mr Dink argues that attitudes to
Turkey’s 80,000 Armenians are changing. The mildly Islamist
government led by the Justice and Development Party has nominated
several Armenians for local elections on March 28th. Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, the prime minister, vows to restore an exquisite Armenian
church in the eastern province of Van. There is talk of resuming
diplomatic ties with Armenia – so long as the Armenians drop demands
that Turkey admit to genocide.

GRAPHIC: A magnificent Turk – or Armenian?

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 27, 2004 Saturday

US Dep State Secretary says US uninterested in bases in Azerbaijan

By Sevindj Abdullayeva, Viktor Shulman

BAKU

U.S. Administration has no interest in placing its military bases in
Azerbaijan, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told a news
conference here Saturday.

The U.S. does not have any such intentions, he indicated.

As he mentioned the problem of the 16 year-old ethnic conflict in
Nagorno-Karabakh, Armitage said the problem could not be solved upon
orders from above and the sides would have to reach agreement on
their own.

The Minsk group on Nagorno-Karabakh, set under the auspices of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is just a
mediator in a search for solution, Armitage said.

Had it been so easy to settle the Karabakh dispute, it would have
long been settled, he said.

Armitage did not rule out that conflict there might see new relapses
in the future.

Recent events in Kosovo show that the situation may change at any
moment, and that is why early settlement of the issue would
definitely meet the interests of all the sides, Armitage said, adding
that more efforts to reach peace in the Karabakh area would follow.

He stressed the U.S. Administration’s conviction that Turkey and
Armenia would do a good thing if they opened their common border.

This was one of the issues he had discussed with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev, who believes, however, that the
Turkish-Armenian border opening might impair progress the talks on
the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Armitage said.

He underlined the reassuring changes that had taken place in
Azerbaijan since 1992, but said the country could have done better in
the field of human rights.

Armitage also insisted that more freedom must be given to the mass
media here.

CIS security chief due in Kyrgyzstan around 29 March

Kyrgyz Radio first programme, Bishkek
27 Mar 04

Secretary-General of the CSTO Collective Security Treaty Organization;
members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Russia Nikolay Bordyuzha will come to Bishkek on a working visit early
next week.

He is expected to meet Kyrgyzstan President Askar Akayev, Kyrgyz
Security Council Secretary Misir Ashirkulov, and the heads of the
Interior Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Defence Ministry and the
Drugs Control Agency as part of the visit.

Preparations for the forthcoming session of the CSTO and the
coordination of efforts aimed at ensuring stability and security in
the CSTO area will be discussed at the meetings.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 27, 2004 Saturday

US diplomat says Caucasus may be America’s good partner

By Viktor Shulman, Sevindj Abdullayeva

BAKU

Countries of the Caucasus may become good partners of the U.S. once
they eliminate the conflicts smoldering in this region, Richard
Armitage, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, said here Saturday when
meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

He stressed the Americans’ support to a peaceful solution of the
Karabakh conflict.

Armitage thanked the Azerbaijani government for supporting the U.S.
war on international terrorism and for the courage that Azerbaijani
peacekeepers were displaying in Afghanistan and Iraq.

President Aliyev pointed out the high level of Azerbaijan’s
cooperation with the U.S., saying a number of large-scale energy
projects, like the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline would have been
unfeasible without U.S. assistance.

He also underlined the high level of military cooperation and said it
would continue developing.

As he mentioned the problems of regional security, Aliyev said the
Azerbaijanis hoped that the Minsk group of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, of which the U.S. is a
co-founder, would play a good role in the solution of the Karabakh
conflict between the Azerbaijanis and ethnic Armenians that has been
dragging on since 1988.

The Nation (Thailand)
March 27, 2004, Saturday

STATE OF THE ARTS: Lucky seven and guests

[parts omitted]

“Bliss” is in the Orient

Danish-Armenian Elizabeth Romhild holds her 12th solo exhibition,
Bliss, at H Gallery from April 5 to May 1.

The show comprises 15 bold and figurative oil paintings of Asian
women that examine stereotypes of oriental beauty and sensuality.

The gallery, located at 201 Sathorn Soi 12 (next to Bangkok Bible
College), is open Thursday to Saturday from noon to 6pm.</P>For more
information, call (01) 310 4428.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 26, 2004 Friday

Armenian president satisfied by level of relations with US

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

President Robert Kocharian, of Armenia, has said he is satisfied by
the level of Armenian-U.S. relations. He was speaking on Friday as he
received U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Kocharian and Armitage noted the importance of wider bilateral
cooperation, the presidential press-service has told Tass.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and the visiting U.S.
diplomat were unanimous that all-round development of bilateral
contacts was called to bring about a deeper political dialogue.

Speaking at a news conference following the meeting with the Armenian
president Armitage said that in his opinion the opening of Armenia’s
border with Turkey would greatly benefit both countries. He discussed
this possibility with Turkish diplomats earlier.

Turkey, he said, is currently focused on North Iraq and negotiations
over Cyprus, but the issue of opening the border with Armenia will be
certainly brought up again later.

Armitage said the Armenian foreign minister pointed out that the
amount of U.S. military assistance to Baku differed from that
extended to Yerevan. In reply he recalled that Azerbaijani military
were involved in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Besides,
Azerbaijan fueled U.S. military planes flying to Iraq. This is a
heavy burden on Azerbaijan and our assistance is called to compensate
the country’s efforts, Armitage said.

Associated Press Worldstream
March 27, 2004 Saturday 10:22 AM Eastern Time

U.S. Deputy secretary of state praises Azerbaijan cooperation

by AIDA SULTANOVA; Associated Press Writer

BAKU, Azerbaijan

A top U.S. official thanked Azerbaijan on Saturday for its support in
Iraq and Afghanistan, and reiterated that the United States has no
plans to establish military bases in the Caucasus Mountain nation.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said cooperation in Iraq
and Afghanistan, where Azerbaijan has sent peacekeepers, was proof of
a good military relationship between the United States and the mostly
Muslim former Soviet republic.

Armitage, who met with President Ilham Aliev, said in comments before
leaving the country that they had not discussed military bases
because the United States has “no desire” to establish bases in
Azerbaijan.

The visit came amid continued planning for a global realignment of
U.S. forces that could result in more U.S. military activity in
former republics and satellites of the Soviet Union.

Armitage, who also met with opposition leaders, reiterated U.S.
concerns about what they say is a crackdown on dissent and
independent media. But he did not play up the problems, saying that
Aliev agrees there must be independent media.

He said that “the human rights situation is certainly not as good as
it could or should be. But it’s not a permanent situation and we have
no doubt that it will change, change for the better.”

Armitage, who arrived in Azerbaijan late Friday from neighboring
Armenia, said that a settlement of the persistent conflict between
the two countries over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave cannot be imposed
from above by outside forces.

“It has to be a lasting and durable solution, and it has to be
something the two sides agree on,” he said. He said an international
mediating group that includes Russia and the United States “has some
new ideas” on the issue, but did not reveal them.

In the early 1990s, Armenian-backed forces drove Azerbaijan’s army
out of Nagorno-Karabakh, a mostly ethnic Armenian enclave within
Azerbaijan, 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 and the uneasy truce is broken by
sporadic bursts of gunfire and marred by mutual recriminations.

Azat Artsakh – Repubic of Nagorno Karabakh
March 24, 2004

PUNISHMENT IN GEORGIAN MANNER

Bahatur Jobova will have to apologize to Azerbaijan; this is the
decision of the chess federation of Georgia for the participation of
the chess-player in the tournament held in Nagorni Karabakh. Besides,
according to the Baku newspapers, the chess federation of Azerbaijan
managed to compel the chess-player from Iran Haem Mahami to stop his
participation in the last rounds of the tournament. Recently the
meeting of the chairmanship of the chess federation of Georgia
discussed the question of participation of Jobova in the Karabakh
tournament. The latter arrived in Nagorni Karabakh in spite of the
instructions of the federation. The co-chairman of the federation
Azmayparashvili mentioned in his interview, `It is not easy for us to
handle the fate of this chess-player as he is one of the most talented
players of our country and our only hope.’ The father of the player
Alexander Jobova was also invited to the meeting of the chairmen of
the federation, who allegedly said that it was him `to sent the
chess-player to Stepanakert’ but at the same time behaved in a `non
correct’ manner. According to the vice-chairman of FIDE, the chairmen
had different opinions concerning the punishment of Jobova. They
consider either to deprive him of the state scholarship and forbid him
to participate in the Chess Olympiad or deprive his of the right to
participate in the local, as well as international tournaments for a
year. After long discussions the participants of the meeting came to
the conclusion to postpone the discussion of the problem to
Sunday. `Jobava must acknowledge his actions and officially apologize
to the chess federations of Georgia and Azerbaijan in press and by
television for by his actions he does not respect the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan,’ said Azmayparashvili. If he does not
apologize, he will be deprived of the scholarship and will not have
the right to participate in the local and international competitions
for a year. An ultimatum was extended to the Georgian player. If he
apologizes, he will be deprived of only material supply and a
suspended disqualification for two years. Judging by such a reaction
of Georgia and the joy of Azerbaijan for this, if Jobava became a
prizewinner of the championship the inquisitors would make a fire for
him as a lesson for others.

NAIRA HAYRUMIAN

Azat Artsakh – Repubic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
March 25 2004

NO BREAKING OF CEASE-FIRE

On March 23 the OSCE mission held a planned monitoring of the
borderline between the armed forces of Karabakh and Azerbaijan near
the village Talish, region of Martakert. On the Karabakh side the
monitoring was conducted by the field assistants of the personal
representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Kenneth Pikles (Great
Britain) and Genady Korzh (Ukraine). During the monitoring no cases of
breaking the cease-fire were reported. The monitoring mission was
accompanied by the representatives of the NKR ministries of defence
and foreign affairs. After the monitoring the representatives of the
OSCE mission visited the soldier of the NKR armed forces who was
wounded by the Azerbaijani sniper on March 19.

AA.