Month: June 2005

AMD 812,537 MLN TO BE SPENT TO RESTORE HIGHWAYS HAVING GOVERNMENT
IMPORTANCE AND ASPHALT PARADE -GROUNDS OF RA MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
YEREVAN, June 23. /ARKA/. AMD 812,537 mln will be spent to restore
highways having government importance and asphalt parade -grounds of
RA Ministry of Defense. According to RA Government’s Press Service
Department, the corresponding decision was taken at the session of the
government. The funds will be assigned for the RA Ministry of
Transport and Communications. ($1 = AMD 444,42). A.H. –0–

The former defence minister of Nagornyy Karabakh, Samvel Babayan,
critical of parliamentary elections
Mediamax news agency
24 Jun 05
YEREVAN
The former defence minister of Nagornyy Karabakh, Samvel Babayan, said
today that “only idiots” can talk about democratic elections in an
unrecognized republic “under martial law”.
Samvel Babayan said in Yerevan today that he did not stand in the 19
June parliamentary elections in the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR]
because “issues related to Nagornyy Karabakh are solved in Yerevan,
not in Stepanakert,” Mediamax news agency reports.
“I don’t think that any elections were held in the NKR,” the former
NKR defence minister said in conclusion.

European rapporteur threatens expulsion if Azerbaijan fails to hold fair
polls
Turan news agency, Baku
23 Jun 05
Strasbourg, 23 June: “I welcome certain changes in Azerbaijan and the
president’s desire to change things for the better,” the rapporteur of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] monitoring
committee for Azerbaijan, Andreas Gross, has said in an exclusive
interview with Turan.
Commenting on the discussion of a report on democratic institutions in
Azerbaijan held at PACE yesterday, Gross said the situation in
Azerbaijan was ambiguous – there are both positive and negative
developments.
“On the one hand, there are people trying to change the situation for
the better, but on the other, there are those who kill
[editor-in-chief of Monitor magazine] Elmar Huseynov,” he said. He
added there were people in the government who hamper positive changes.
Gross also touched on pro-government NGOs which are fulfilling certain
“orders”. He said a group of such NGOs had come out against his and
[another rapporteur on Azerbaijan] Andres Herkel’s report in June.
“I wouldn’t have paid attention to that if they hadn’t appeared here
in the Co uncil of Europe so quickly and tried to affect the mood
here. My colleagues are very surprised with such behavior. It is
obvious what objectives they are pursuing. Their behavior and role
leave much to be desired,” Gross said.
Gross said he would visit Azerbaijan on 4-8 July and travel to four
“very important” towns: Ganca, Saki, Qazax and possibly Balakan.
“We want to see firsthand how profound the positive changes are in the
country. I am talking not only about preparations for elections, but
also about how free citizens are and how they are exercising their
basic freedoms. If this is not the case, then free elections are out
of the question,” Gross said.
Speaking about reforms, the rapporteur said that historically oil-rich
countries were not very democratic. Norway is an exception. In
Azerbaijan’s case, democracy is necessary to ensure that oil revenues
are not embezzled. Gross expressed the hope that state governance
reforms in Azerbaijan will bring about positive changes in the
country.
Asked about possible sanctions against Azerbaijan, Gross said if
Azerbaijan does not hold free and fair elections, the Council of
Europe “will simply not renew its mandate for a new Azerbaijani
delegation”.
“We think the opposition should receive at least 25 seats in the
parliament. But this has to be real opposition, not fictitious,”
Gross concluded.

A1plus
| 12:21:30 | 24-06-2005 | Politics | PACE SUMMER SESSION 2005 |
THE NEXT MEETING – IN PARIS
Yesterday in PACE the Ad-hoc Committee on NKR affairs had the first secret
sitting. As it was expected, during its work organization affairs were
discussed, and the day of the following sitting was decided. It will take
place on September 12 in Paris.
As reported by the internet newspaper day.az, member of the Azeri delegation
to PACE Asim Molazade has said, «An agreement has been reached according to
which the representatives of the countries member of the PACE Minsk group
will take part in the meeting.

KARABAKH SETTLEMENT WITHIN INTERNATIONAL LAW MATTER OF TIME: VAFA
GHULUZADE
YEREVAN, June 23. /ARKA/. The settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict with international law and by the principle of respecting the
rights of citizens of all nationalities is a matter of time, the
political scientist, former state advisor for Azerbaijan’s foreign
policy Vafa Ghuluzade stated in his interview to the Caucasus
Journalist Network organization. Pointing out his commitment to a
peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ghuluzade stated
that “it is most likely to be so.” “Irreversible processes are going
on in the south Caucasus, and everything depends on how soon dominants
will change. As regards the finding of mutually acceptable solutions
to the problem, I will say what is far from being new: history does
not any cases of permanent war,” Ghuluzade said. According to him,
sooner or later the conflicting parties not only sit down at the
negotiating table, but also find variants acceptable both for them and
for the mediators, including influential neighbors in the region.
P.T. -0–

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
June 24, 2005 Friday 4:42 AM Eastern Time
Armenia advised to build one more power plant reactor
By Vitaly Matarykin
KIEV
Western experts consider it is expedient for Armenia to build one
more nuclear power plant unit to meet the country’s power needs for
the period till 2025, the head of the Armenian Energy Ministry’s
atomic energy department, Aram Gevorkyan, told reporters. In Kiev on
June 23, he participated in the meeting of the CIS commission on
peaceful atomic energy use.
It is a conclusion of specialists of the PA Consulting Group
international company.
In the Armenian Energy Ministry this week, they presented the atomic
energy part of their report on development of the country’s energy
sector.
Construction of a new reactor is advantageous, with the oil and gas
price increase forecast taken into consideration.
At the same time, the reactor construction cost is estimated at one
billion dollars, and it is a highly costly project for the country’s
budget.
The Armenian legislation envisages any kind of nuclear power plant
ownership, including private, and so, investments of companies and
banks for the project are not ruled out.
It is expedient to build the reactor on the Armenian power plant
ground designed for four reactors, Gevorkyan said.
PA Consulting Group won the tender of the USA ID agency to study
possibilities to develop Armenia’s energy sector with a minimum cost
till 2025.
Projects to build hydroelectric, thermo and other stations are also
under consideration.
The report will be ready by 2006.
The Armenian nuclear power plant began working in 1979, and its work
was halted in 1989 after the devastating earthquake. With Russian
specialists’ assistance, the plant resumed operating in 1996 as its
second unit was restarted.
The plant accounts for about 40 percent of the electricity produced
in Armenia.
Management of the financial and economic activates of the station was
transferred in 2002 to Inter UES, a subsidiary of the Russian Unified
Energy Systems company.

Saudi Press Agency, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
June 24, 2005 Friday 8:46 PM EST
Armenia to close only nuclear plant
Riyadh
Armenia plans to close its only nuclear power plant, which supplies
nearly 40 percent of the country’s power, by 2016, Deputy Energy
Minister Areg Galstyan said on Friday.
By this date, the impoverished Caucasus state aims to have developed
alternative electricity sources, he told reporters.
However, the deputy minister said that Armenia wanted to preserve its
nuclear power industry as it had experts in the sector and
infrastructure, according to AP..
The former Soviet republic has been under international pressure from
the European Union and others to shut the plant down due to safety
concerns; it was taken out of operation after a devastating 1988
earthquake..
In 1995, it returned to service amid a severe energy shortage.
Armenia has since resisted shutting down the plant, which has one
working Soviet-made reactor, fearing that alternative sources of
power may be hard to come by..
Armenian officials say the European Union is ready to provide up to
?100 million (US$120 million) for Yerevan to close the plant.
However, building a new nuclear power plant could cost up to US$1
billion (?1.2 billion), Armenian officials say.

Agence France Presse — English
June 24, 2005 Friday 1:58 PM GMT
Turkish PM to visit Azerbaijan
ANKARA
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit close ally
Azerbaijan next week to discuss regional developments, his office
said Friday.
Erdogan will have talks with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and other
senior officials on Wednesday and Thursday over “recent developments
in the southern Caucasus” and bilateral issues, the statement said.
Both Turkey and Azerbaijan are at loggerheads with their common
neighbor Armenia.
Turkey is under European Union pressure to normalize ties with
Armenia, but worries that reconciliatory moves sought by the bloc may
damage its alliance with Azerbaijan, with which it also has close
ethnic bonds.
Ankara has refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia and
has kept its border with the country closed, out of solidarity with
Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh
enclave.
Turkish-Armenian ties have also been poisoned by Yerevan’s camapign
to have the World War I massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman
Empire internationally recognized as genocide.

wimbledon.org
D. Nalbandian – Day 4
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Q. How did that go for you today? How did you feel?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Pretty good. I mean, I think I played very good match, and
I feel every time more confidence on the court. Feeling very good.
Q. Do you feel you’re playing as well now as you were in the year that you
reached the final?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: It’s really tough to compare, but I’m think I’m starting
the matches with more confidence than 2002. So I think I feel a little bit
better now.
Q. Does it still feel kind of strange coming on to grass after so long on
clay, or are you quite used to it by now?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Yeah, it’s difficult. It’s a big difference of surface,
but we have enough days to adapt to these courts. So it’s not that bad.
Q. What do you know about your next opponent, Andrew Murray?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: I didn’t know him, so I can’t tell you too much.
Q. You haven’t heard of him at all?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: A little bit, but…
I know I have to be careful. I mean, he’s in the third round, so he must be
playing good.
Q. Have you seen any of his games here? You haven’t seen any clips?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Just two, three. Not big deal.
Q. He’s obviously got a lot of support behind him, being one of the home
players. Does that make any difference to you when the crowd are backing the
other player?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: No. Of course gonna be everybody with him. I think he’s
the only one left, so should be a lot of people support him.
But I’m gonna feel okay.
Q. You’ve come across this situation before, haven’t you, with Tim Henman, I
think?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Yeah, but is gonna be different. All match are different,
so…
All years are different so…
Q. In terms of the support.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it’s gonna be almost the
same, I don’t know.
Q. Does it kind of fire you up? Does it motivate you more?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: You mean for the people, for the support, the crowd?
Q. When everybody appears to be almost against you.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Everybody – not almost everybody (laughing).
But, no, Davis Cup is gonna be almost the same so…
Q. But that gives you a little bit extra?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Yeah, a little motivation extra, yeah.
Q. Because some players would wilt under the kind of pressure.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: No, I like to play like this.
Q. I ask you just about Davis Cup. You won today, Guillermo Coria won today.
Does that boost your chances, do you think, of winning in Australia on
grass?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Even if we do a good tournament, both, it’s gonna be very
tough in Australia. They have a very good players, very good doubles. So
either way it’s gonna be tough. So we know that for grass court they have a
better team than us, but we still believe that we have a chance.
Q. How big a loss is it for you not having Guillermo Canas available for the
team?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: Well, of course not a good news for him, first of all, and
for the Davis Cup.
But, I don’t know, of course gonna be a little bit more tough, but we still
having a good players left.
Q. He’s the fourth Argentinian guy to have a positive test. Do you worry
about how that might affect the reputation of Argentinian tennis?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: No. I mean, I don’t know too deep the case. I mean, I
don’t know exactly what is going on, so I can’t tell you too much.
I think is gonna be very tough for him. Was — I think was unlucky for all
the Argentinians, but I don’t know, I don’t know why.
Q. Assuming this match against Murray is on Centre Court where he hasn’t
played before, how difficult was it for you when you played your first match
on Centre in a final to get used to the special atmosphere of the place?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: I don’t know. You have to ask him.
Q. But I mean for you.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: I can’t tell you for him.
Q. For you.
DAVID NALBANDIAN: For me, was tough because I was in the final and I never
played before. So was two thing: the final and the Centre Court.
But, I mean, you must be nervous in the first few games, and then everything
is going natural.
Q. Will you take any pleasure out of being the guy who beats the last Briton
at Wimbledon?
DAVID NALBANDIAN: I have to play first and then I’m gonna ask you the
question after that (smiling).

A1plus
17:04:21 | 24-06-2005 | Politics |
`WE MUST UNITE’
«The Armenian won the Karabakh war because they left aside individual
interests and united together. If we want to win today, we must unite. The
society thinks that each party has its interests, that’s why they do not
unite», said secretary of the Social powers and Intelligentsia Union Ashot
Manoucharyan during the National Democratic Union 16th session and added,
«If you can unite, do it, and if you cannot, you are to blame for the
situation».
Leader of the Republican party Aram Sargsyan did not agree with the idea and
announced that not the parties but the society must be united. `The parties
will never be more united than they are’, he said and added that every party
and every person may have committed mistakes and must confess them, the best
way of which is to organize a revolution.
Let us also mention that the National Democratic Union session as one of the
unique sessions at which representatives of almost all the political parties
were present.
Arshak Sadoyan, who was also present, greeted the participants and referring
to the revolution theme said that the present authorities will not resign by
their own will.
As for the governing parties, member of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Levon Lazarian and Orinats Yerkir Party Artak Araqelyan greeted
the participants. The latter agreed with the ideas of the oppositional
bodies and said that he feels their concern about the country.
Announcing that in past they were allies with the National Democratic Union,
Levon Lazarian highly appreciated the political past of their leader Vazgen
Manoukyan considering him one of the most experienced political bodies.