ISSUES OF COOPERATION DISCUSSED BETWEEN DEFENSE MINISTRIES OF
AZERBAIJAN AND ROMANIA
Azer Tag
April 17, 2004, 13:07:57
On April 16, Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, colonel-general Safar
Abiyev has met the ambassador of Romania in Azerbaijan Nikolay Ureke.
As was informed to AzerTAj from the press-service of the Ministry of
Defense, the Minister has congratulated N. Ureke on new appointment
and has wished, that the Azerbaijani-Romanian relations during his
activity as the ambassador had risen on a new level.
Colonel-general S. Abiyev has noted, that the national leader of
Azerbaijan President Heydar Aliyev and the President of Romania Ion
Iliescu has laid the foundation of the Azerbaijani-Romanian relations,
and now these relations are at a desirable level. Also at a good level
is the Azerbaijani Romanian military cooperation. After visits of the
Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan to Romania and Minister of Defense
of Romania to Azerbaijan this cooperation has even more become
stronger.
Having thanked colonel-general S. Abiyev for warm reception and
congratulations, ambassador N. Ureke has agreed with the idea that
political relations of two states are at a good level. However, the
Ambassador has noted, that our economic links do not correspond the
level of political relations. He told:`The Romanian state already is a
member of the NATO. This membership means the new status for the
Romanian society. Henceforth, Romania more will provide confidently
the national safety. The next desire of people of Romania is
membership of the country in the European Union’.
Having informed then about the stages gone by Romania up to admission
to the NATO, he has told, that to one of primary factors of it was
radical reformsin the Army of Romania.
Ambassador N. Ureke informed Minister of Defense on participation of
divisions of the Armed Forces of Romania in combat against the
international terrorism.
Colonel-general S. Abiyev has congratulated Romanian people and the
state on the occasion of admission of Romania to NATO. He had
comprehensive exchangeof opinions on the existing military-political
situation in region of the Southern Caucasus, the reasons and
sequences of the Armenian -Azerbaijani conflict. The Minister has
noted that having placed on occupied territories of Azerbaijan a
significant amount of military techniques {technical equipment},
weapon and ammunition, Armenia thus breaks the contract `On
conventional armed forces in Europe’. It is serious threat of national
security of Azerbaijanthat creates great danger to realization of
large economic projects. He told:`Azerbaijan opposes terror and
separatism. Azerbaijan participates in antiterrorist
operations. Divisions of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan adequately
carry out and will carry out henceforth the peace-making mission to
Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq ‘.
Then, the parties have discussed questions of cooperation between the
Ministries of Defense of Azerbaijan and Romania.

US CO-CHAIRMAN WILL KEEP POWERS OF ADVISER ON CASPIAN DIPLOMACY
Azer Tag
April 17, 2004, 15:16:31
As correspondent of AzerTAj informs, on April 16, the US State
Department has disseminated a communiqué on the appointment of
ambassador Steven Mann tothe post of special envoy on Nagorny Karabakh
and to the Eurasian conflicts. Stephen Mann will replace on this post
the co-chairman of the Minsk Group from U.S. Rudolph Perina.
It should be reminded that ambassador Mann since May 2001 is the
adviser of the US President on Caspian diplomacy. As informed the
State Department, Steven Mann will keep this post.
Steven Mann, the native of state Pennsylvania, since 1976 works in the
field of foreign policy. Mann, serving in the US diplomatic
representatives in Moscow, Sri Lanka, Mongolia and other places, in
1992 was one of the first diplomats who have opened the American
embassy in Yerevan. And in 1998-2001s worked as the US ambassador in
Turkmenistan. Ambassador Mann knows Russian and German languages.
Under the message received by correspondent of AzerTAj, after
representation in Prague to other co-chairmen of the Minsk Group,
Steven Mann in the beginning of the next week will make visits to
Armenia and Azerbaijan. During these visits of familiarizing
character, he will visit on April 20, Yerevan, and on 21 –
Baku. Predictably, the new co-chairman will meet presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan.

Iran Negotiating Contracts to Construct Gas Pipelines to Azerbaijan, Armenia,
and Kuwait
17 April 04
TEHRAN (MNA) — Iran is prepared to supply natural gas to the
Azerbaijan Republic through a gas pipeline if the two countries agree
to a contract guaranteeing the purchases, a senior Oil Ministry
official said here Friday.
The managing director of the state-owned National Iran Gas Export Co.
(NIGEC), Roknoaddin Javadi, said that there is no formidable obstacle
in the way of the plan and Iran is only waiting for the Azeri side to
agree to the guarantees.
However, the guarantees must be acceptable for Iran, he stressed.
Iran has also reached preliminary agreements with Armenia and Kuwait
on the construction of gas pipelines to those countries.
It is expected that the deal with Armenia will be finalized soon, the
official added.
On Monday, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh announced that a
draft contract for gas exports to Armenia has been prepared, adding
that Iran’s exports to Armenia will start at 500 million cu. m. per
year and could be increased to 1.5 billion cu. m. per year.
The minister said that Armenian officials would be signing the
contract in the near future, according to PIN.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

News in brief Compiled and written by Zulfugar Agayev
ANS
Billions to flow into Azeri budget from oil revenues
Azerbaijan’s State Oil Fund has prognosticated the amount of money the
country may make from oil revenues in the next 20 years.
According to the calculations of the oil fund, Azerbaijan will earn $15.2
billion by 2024 if the price for one barrel of oil equals $16. That figure
could rise up to $33 billion if the oil price is $20.
In the case of one barrel of oil costing $24, the oil fund said Azerbaijan
would make $48.5 billion in the 20 years to come. The money allocated from
the Azerbaijan State Oil Company (SOCAR) to the state budget is not included
in the prognostications.
At present, the world market prices for Azerbaijan’s oil ranges between $33
and $34 per barrel.
Azerbaijan may recognize Turkish Cyprus
President Ilham Aliyev, who is on an official visit to Turkey, said on
Thursday that Azerbaijan would recognize the North Cyprus Turkish Republic
if the Turkish Cypriots say yes and the Greeks say no to the Kofi Annan plan
in the upcoming referendum, which is set for 24 April.”We will support the
position of Turkey whatever it will be. The citizens of North Cyprus are our
brothers,” President Aliyev said, adding, “We don’t want tragic events to be
repeated again.”
“We will evaluate the results of the referendum from an international
perspective. Azerbaijan will be among the first to recognize the
independence of the North Cyprus Turkish Republic,” Aliyev said.
The President said it was up to the Turkish Cypriots to determine their own
destiny, adding that he would respect their decision.
525 NEWSPAPER
U.S. insists on lifting embargo
The U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan, Reno Harnish, said that his country would
insist on Turkey ending its blockade of Armenia. In his meeting with a group
of local reporters on Wednesday, Harnish said that lifting of the blockade
would be beneficial both for Turkey as well as for the region as a whole.
However, the ambassador said his country’s position on the Nagorno
(Daghig)-Karabakh problem should also be taken into account on thus issue.
Harnish said that the U.S. government would not be supportive of Azerbaijan
if the latter were to resort to military means to liberate its territories.
“Azerbaijan is on the way to prosperity,” he said, explaining that the
resumption of warfare would be a stumbling block on the way to prosperity
and it also would lead to a tense situation in the region.
Harnish pointed out that the U.S. is interested in finding a fair solution
to the Karabakh problem and that peace negotiations are the best way to
reach a solution.
Burchard to leave
Peter Burchard, head of the OSCE’s Baku office, is due to finish his
diplomatic mission in Azerbaijan in mid-May. The OSCE’s Baku office told
Turan that the mandates of the body’s representative are prolonged every six
months. Since Burchard is going to head one of Sweden’s diplomatic missions,
he has asked not to protract his term at the Baku office.
Burchard has been heading the Baku office since December 2001.
ECHO
New stadium in Khankendi
The Mayor’s office of Marcel, France, along with the ministry of education,
culture and sports of the so-called republic of Nagorno (Daghig)-Karabakh is
planning to build a stadium in Khankendi, the center of the breakaway former
autonomous region within Azerbaijan.
Also the money that will be made from 4 September friendly football match
between Marcel’s Olympic club and the Armenian national team is going to be
allotted to the construction of the stadium, according to Azad Artsakh
newspaper of the Karabakh separatists.
The stadium will cost about $350 million.
YENI MUSAVAT
Opposition party sues Mayor’s office
The opposition Azerbaijan National Independence Party (AMIP) has sued the
Baku Mayor’s office, Turan reported. AMIP accuses the Mayor’s office for its
reluctance to meet the party’s repeated requests for permission to hold
protest actions. The plaintiff believes that the city authorities’ failure
to let them hold protest actions goes against the law on political parties
and also against the Constitution.
A statement by AMIP says that the planned actions were to protest against
the Economic Development Ministry’s refusal to provide the party with an
office.
Programming by Ayten Alizadeh. Copyight by IntraNS.

No reason to close Armenian nuclear plant – director
Azg, Yerevan
17 Apr 04
By Tatul Akopyan
The chief director of the Armenian Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant (NPP),
Gagik Markosyan, said yesterday that he sees no reason for shutting
down the plant in the near future. Saying that even the most modern
nuclear plants will be shut down one day, he added that as long as the
Metsamor plant is functioning, Armenia should derive the most possible
economic benefit from it.
Talking about alternative sources of energy in Armenia, Markosyan said
that it is desirable to develop them, but no country can “live” only
on alternative sources of energy. The director of the Metsamor NPP
said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessed the
current technical condition of the plant as positive.
Markosyan could not say for sure to what extent the safety of the
Metsamor plant corresponds to that of European nuclear power plants,
for safety mostly depends on the age of the plant. The Armenian
government, with the assistance of the United States and the European
Union, is taking measures to increase the safety of the Metsamor NPP
every year. Despite the increasing security measures, both the USA and
the EU continue to demand the closure of the NPP, failing to indicate
an alternative source of energy for Armenia.
The Atomic Energy Safety Council (AESC) under the Armenian president
yesterday held its 7th regular session which was attended by [Armenian
President] Robert Kocharyan, the chairman of the council, Adolf
Birkhofer, and members of the council from Russia, Germany, France,
Britain, Slovakia and Armenia.
Addressing the session of the AESC, an independent consultancy agency
set up in 1996 to deal exclusively with the affairs of the Metsamor
plant, President Kocharyan said that a lot of work had been done to
boost the safety of the nuclear power plant, and assured them that the
Armenian government is guided by the principle of the consistent
strengthening of the nuclear plant’s safety.

Spring call-up begins in Armenia
Arminfo, Yerevan
16 Apr 04

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has signed a regular decree
calling up citizens who have turned 18 for active military service,
Arminfo news agency reported on 16 April.
Under the decree, servicemen who have completed their active service
will be discharged.

Current crisis results from ballot-rigging – Armenian opposition leader
Noyan Tapan news agency
15 Apr 04
YEREVAN
“The closure of the office of the Republican Party of Armenia was an
illegal step by the authorities,” the leader of the Justice bloc,
Stepan Demirchyan, has told Noyan Tapan.
Congratulating the party leaders on the resumption of the work of the
party, he noted that “the authorities have presumably sobered up now
and have decided not to create obstacles” any more.
Demirchyan explained that the international reaction to the
developments in the republic and on the other hand, what is more
important, people’s pressure sober up the authorities.
Demirchyan said that “those who committed violence and rigged the
presidential elections should be brought to account”. He believes that
today’s developments are a consequence of the presidential elections.

Georgian minister complains of fuel smuggling from Azerbaijan
Ekho, Baku
14 Apr 04

Text of M. Bagirov’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 14 April
headlined “Contraband from Azerbaijan may be delivered to Armenia”
Large-scale contraband of various goods, including oil products,
through the Azerbaijani-Georgian border represents a serious threat to
economic development both in Georgia and Azerbaijan, Georgian Minister
of State for Small and Medium Enterprise Jambul Bakuradze has told
Ekho. He drew attention to the fact that the main flow of contraband
goods leave Azerbaijan via the checkpoint on the Red Bridge.
The minister said that 80-90 per cent of all smuggled oil products in
Georgia come from Azerbaijan, adding that only a small amount of the
fuel arriving on the Georgian market comes with customs clearance,
most of it is brought in via the smuggling routes. The minister did
not rule out that this fuel is subsequently supplied via illegal
channels to Armenia as well. This is linked to another aspect of
contraband production.
“I do not rule out that goods which are brought from Azerbaijan by
smuggling routes, then go to Armenia through another checkpoint in
Sadakhlo [Armenian-Georgian border],” the state minister said.
Let us not forget that only a few days ago, the financial police from
the Georgian Ministry of Finance sealed up the warehouse and papers of
the Viva limited liability company engaged in oil refinery, which was
preparing to export seven 450-tonne tanks of oil to Armenia. The tax
police say that the oil is in fact a contraband cargo from Azerbaijan.
Yesterday Ekho was told by the press service of the Ministry of
Finance tax police that the investigation into the Viva affair
continues. According to a press service employee, Tei Rusitashvili,
the Armenian company Exim Petrol Group was supposed to receive the
cargo. Rusitashvili said that according to her information, the fuel
was smuggled in by rail from Azerbaijan. As for the cargo sender in
Azerbaijan, Rusitashvili noted that it was still early to talk about
this, since the investigation has just started. The press official of
the tax police of the Ministry of Finance also said that it was a long
way from being the first case of contraband fuel from Azerbaijan.
“The tax police only appeared recently and in all have been working
for one and a half months. In this time they have uncovered about 50
cases of contraband of various goods from Azerbaijan, of which
approximately half are linked to the illegal import of fuel to
Georgia,” said Rusitashvili.
In turn, Georgian Minister Jambul Bakuradze said that attempts by
officials of the appropriate bodies in Georgia to stop the entry of
contraband goods in the border area of the Red Bridge were running up
against serious counterattack from a group of smugglers operating on
both sides of the border. “Very often they play the national card,
announcing oppression by the Georgian customs,” noted the
minister. Bakuradze said that the Georgian authorities were expecting
in the next few days another breach of the border by smugglers in that
area.
He said that there is always a long queue of cars laden with various
goods, including fuel, which “storm through the checkpoint”. “It
sometimes reaches the point of a shoot-out. There is practically a
daily skirmish,” said Bakuradze and added that the question of the
wave of criminality in the border area of the Red Bridge must be
decided as quickly as possible at a government level. The minister
regretfully announced that Azerbaijan’s interest in resolving this
problem was not yet evident and that this substantially hindered the
work of the Georgian law-enforcement bodies.
In the meantime, Bakuradze said that he had recently had the
opportunity to discuss this matter with Azerbaijani Deputy Prime
Minister Abbas Abbasov, who promised the Georgian minister to discuss
the matter in a government session.

Azeri daily says president’s Cyprus remarks success of diplomacy
Zerkalo, Baku
17 Apr 04

The sensational statement of President Ilham Aliyev, who said that if
the Greek Cypriot side votes against the unification of the island in
the forthcoming referendum, Azerbaijan will be one of the first
countries to recognize the independence of the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus, has caused a mixed reaction precisely in our country,
as was expected.
[Passage omitted: Minor details]
It cannot be ruled out that the statement of the Azerbaijani president
was a logical continuation of the involvement of the Turkish public in
a campaign against the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border. The
campaign was launched by [the Azerbaijani TV company] ANS with the
approval of our authorities at the highest level. Since this statement
of Aliyev demonstrated his firm position to almost the whole of the
Western world, it will be difficult for the [Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip] Erdogan government to explain to the Turkish public,
which has strong nationalistic moods in a good sense, the necessity of
opening the border with Armenia for the sake of Turkey’s membership of
the EU.
We believe that after this statement by Aliyev, Erdogan practically
cannot make further concessions on the Cyprus issue for the sake of
Turkey’s membership of the EU. The opposition is waiting for such a
mistake by Erdogan. The army, which is gradually losing its political
influence due to the reforms carried out at the request of the
European Union, will not remain indifferent. Erdogan can be simply
accused of betraying national interests, as was the case with [former
Prime Minister Necmettin] Erbakan who was accused of an attempt to
abolish secularism in Turkey. In a word, it cannot be ruled out that
the statement was an attempt to force the Erdogan government to show
more respect.
The aforesaid gives analysts grounds to believe that the Azerbaijani
president’s statement meets the country’s interests and shows that
Baku can take effective steps on the diplomatic front.

Man sentenced to life for Armenia parliament attack commits suicide
Associated Press Worldstream
April 16, 2004 Friday
YEREVAN, Armenia — One of the six men sentenced to life for a 1999
attack on parliament that killed Armenia’s prime minister and seven
other people committed suicide in prison on Friday, officials said.
A guard looked into Vram Galstian’s cell in the morning and saw
him hanging from a bedsheet, said Justice Ministry spokesman Ara
Sagatelian.
Attackers who claimed they were saving Armenia from economic collapse
and official corruption stormed into the parliament on Oct. 27, 1999,
killing Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, Parliament Speaker Karen
Demirchian and six other officials and lawmakers.
Galstian was one of six men sentenced to life in prison last December
for the attack after being convicted of murdering state official or
public figures, terrorism and other charges. Galstian was an uncle
of two of the others sentenced, including the alleged leader of the
group, Nairi Unanian.
Galstian had seemed fine during a check of prisoners earlier in the
morning, but the guard decided to look in on him after noticing that
no noise had come from his cell in some time, Sagatelian said. He
had been moved into a single-person cell a few days ago at his own
request, Sagatelian said.
Armenia abolished the death penalty last year but passed a law
preventing people sentenced to life in prison for terrorist attacks
or assassinations from winning early release.