ASBAREZ Online [01-11-2005]

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01/11/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1. Armenia Demands Corrections to Atkinson Report on Karabagh Conflict 2. Russia Ready to Act as Intermediary in South Caucasus Conflicts 3. Oskanian, Mammadyarov Meeting in Prague 4. Armenia Hails New Russian-Georgian Ferry Link 1. Armenia Demands Corrections to Atkinson Report on Karabagh Conflict In a letter to the President and Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, (PACE), Armenia has requested that several corrections be made to the January 26 PACE report on the Mountainous Karabagh conflict, reports the Trend news agency. In their letter to PACE president Peter Schieder and secretary general Terry Davis, Armenia's parliamentary leadership accuses the European Commission of one-sidedly supporting Azerbaijan's position [in the conflict], and demands the removal of the term "separatist forces," among others. Armenia also expresses serious concern that the report fails to reflect issues tied to the regions of Ketashen and Shahumian. Overall, the Armenian side requests changes in 14 articles of the report that deal with the status of Mountainous Karabagh, format of negotiations, and the history of that conflict. Authored by PACE rapporteur David Atkinson, the report will be reviewed on January 22 PACE's Political Committee during a Council of Europe leadership summit. 2. Russia Ready to Act as Intermediary in South Caucasus Conflicts MOSCOW (Combined Sources)--Russian president Vladimir Putin affirmed his readiness to act only as an intermediary in the settlement of the Karabagh conflict. "Russia will do everything possible to settle the conflicts remaining on post-Soviet space, including the long-lasting Karabagh conflict," Putin announced. "However, we will do it only as an intermediary and guarantor of agreements which are going to be reached by conflicting sides." Meeting with Turkish businessmen in Moscow, Putin said that although the Karabagh conflict was not discussed specifically, general issues of relations between countries in the region were on the agenda. Both sides, he stated, expressed the desire to establish friendly relations among neighbors. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan again ruled out an unconditional reopening of his country's border with Armenia, saying that official Yerevan should first take unspecified "positive" steps. Putin, meanwhile, pledged to assist in the normalization of relations between the two historical foes. "If we see positive approaches from Armenia's government, we will open the border. But we don't see such approaches now," Erdogan said at a joint news conference with Putin during an official visit to Moscow. He did not elaborate. The Turkish premier's stance contrasted with Putin's positive assessment of the Armenian leadership's efforts to improve relations with Turkey. Putin said Moscow is holding "constant consultations" with Ankara on the normalization of Turkish-Armenian ties. "Armenia is looking for ways of improving relations with Turkey," he said. "Russia will assist in this process as much as possible." Putin was also pleased with the current state of Russian-Turkish relations, pointing in particular to the booming trade between the two nations seen as longtime geopolitical rivals. "Our most optimistic forecasts about economic cooperation have come true," he told Erdogan. According to Putin, Russia and Turkey need to "continue developing an effective infrastructure of bilateral trade." Erdogan, in his turn, promised to support Russia's admission to the World Trade Organization. "Turkey is expected to demonstrate its full support for Russia's membership in the WTO at a meeting of the working group on Russia's admission to the WTO in Geneva on January 24," he said. He highly commended the high level of trade and economic relations between the two countries. "We couldn't even dream about this 10-15 years ago," Erdogan said. Ways to broaden cooperation will be discussed by the Business Council on Wednesday, which will be attended by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. Putin thanked the Turkish businessmen for their concrete proposals, assuring them that "all those proposals will be thoroughly studied by Russian experts and ministry officials." 3. Oskanian, Mammadyarov Meeting in Prague PRAGUE (RFE/RL)--After three-hour talks with his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian revealed that no specific agreement for a resolution to the Mountainous Karabagh conflict had been reached. "I wish I could say that there is a full agreement on the principles [of the settlement]," he said. "But we are still not there. There is a general framework of issues [discussed by the parties], but as this meeting showed, they need to be further consolidated." The meeting took place in Prague on Tuesday, in the presence of French, Russian, and US mediators; it marked the start of the second stage of "the Prague process." Oskanian refused to go into details of the discussions, saying that much remains to be done for hammering out a compromise agreement acceptable to both parties. "This is a fairly difficult and complex process and it will continue to be like this during further meetings," he said. "On the whole, I consider the overall mood and the atmosphere positive. "It is still too early too disclose any details. Once we have agreements on concrete issues, I think we will be able to talk about them little by little." Asked about chances of a breakthrough in the peace process this year, Oskanian said, "We are working toward achieving that goal. But it is still too early to make definite statements to that effect." 4. Armenia Hails New Russian-Georgian Ferry Link YEREVAN (RFE/RL--Armenian government officials and businessmen said on Monday that they are looking forward to the impending launch of a Russian-Georgian ferry link that will effectively restore Armenia's rail communication with Russia disrupted more than a decade ago. A relevant agreement was due to be signed in Tbilisi by Russia's Transport Minister Igor Levitin and Georgia's Minister of Economic Development Alexi Alexishvili. The planned regular service between the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti and Russia's Port Kavkaz is designed for cargos shipped in train cars. It is expected to become operational by the end of this month. Senior officials from Armenia and Azerbaijan were also in the Georgian capital to discuss final preparations for the launch of the service. Transport and Communications Minister Andranik Manukian, who headed the Armenian delegation, was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as welcoming the Russian-Georgian agreement. Armenian businessmen involved in external trade were also confident about its positive impact on landlocked Armenia's economy. "It will have considerable effects on the cost of goods shipped from Armenia to Russia and vice versa," said Arsen Ghazarian, chairman of the Armenian Union of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists. He said the high transportation costs in Russian-Armenian trade could go down by 30 percent as a result. Ferries capable of carrying heavy train cars have until now operated between Poti and Ukrainian and Bulgarian ports. Armenia has relied on them heavily in its commercial exchange with the rest of the world. The Armenian government has long been pushing for the opening of the Poti-Kavkaz service and has financially contributed to the scheme. Among the costs involved was the purchase of a ferryboat that can carry up to 28 rails during a single journey. The service is expected to operate twice a week. "The volume of our cargo turnover [with Russia] is great," said Vladimir Badalian, co-chairman of the Armenian-Georgian Business Association. "According to our calculations, we need four or even more ferries." But Ghazarian disagreed. "I don't think there is a need for a second ferry right now," he said. "What we need is that the existing ferry operates at full capacity in both directions so that we have a reasonable transportation cost." Levitin's trip to Tbilisi, the second in two months, is also likely to have involved discussions on ways of reopening direct rail communication between Russia and Georgia that used to run through the breakaway region of Abkhazia. Speaking to reporters in Moscow on December 28, Levitin sounded upbeat about the possibility of doing that as early as this year. He said he believes that it is now possible to restore the rail link, once vital for the Armenian economy, before a full resolution of the Abkhaz conflict. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress