Month: June 2005

Russian, Armenian police call for joint fight against crime
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
23 Jun 05
KRASNODAR
The Russian and Armenian police should step up their joint fight
against organized crime, Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev
said at a joint meeting of high-ranking police officials of the two
countries here on Thursday [23 June].
“The level of coordination of the two departments in this sphere
leaves much to be desired,” Nurgaliyev said.
“The remaining dissociation in the activities of law-enforcement
bodies negatively affects the effectiveness of the struggle against
organized criminal groups with international links, and hampers the
search and detention of their leaders and active members,” he noted.
There remain to be considerable gaps in the legislative regulation of
this work, according to the Russian minister.
On Thursday, the Russian and Armenian police officials met to discuss
interaction in seeking out and detaining wanted criminals.
Much has been done in this field, but unresolved problems remain. “The
share of repeat requests for search for the accused remains
impermissibly high, which is foremost explained by the delays in the
arrival of the necessary documents on extradition,” Nurgaliyev said.
In addition, the formation of an inter-state information databank
encountered problems because the control over the quality of input
documents is not effected in full measure, he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkish MP says Armenia must recognize common border
Anatolia news agency, Ankara
23 Jun 05
STRASBOURG
Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) Turkish delegation
chairman and Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy from Eskisehir
Murat Mercan has indicated today that “Armenia must recognize its
border with Turkey”.
A report on the reform process in Armenia was discussed at the
parliamentary assembly meeting.
Mercan brought up the part of the Armenian constitution that talks
about “western Armenia” openly calling and demanding for territory
from Turkey. “While Armenia wishes for international laws and good
neighbourhood, it refuses to recognize its border with Turkey,” said
Mercan.
Mercan wanted support on a voting to take place today that calls on
Armenia to recognize and respect its current borders and modify its
constitution accordingly.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani parliamentarians criticized Armenia for its
occupation of Nagornyy Karabakh.
A parliamentarian, speaking on behalf of the Armenian delegation,
stated that Turkey should start diplomatic relations with Yerevan.
In a recommendation voting at the Parliamentary Assembly, Armenia will
be requested to not delay its constitutional reforms.

Turkish press 24 June 05
BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom; Jun 24, 2005

Turkey and the EU
Hurriyet [centre-right, largest circulation] “The EU countries which
saw Turkey’s EU membership ‘possible’ back in 1963, have now started
to say, ‘Let us discuss’. What will you discuss? Is this a new style –
taking a decision and then entering discussions later?… Thank god
that this atmosphere has not spread to all EU countries yet. It has
not, but this does not mean that it will not. That is why we have to
see that we are being pushed towards an open and honest confrontation
with the EU, and make our preparations accordingly.” (Commentary by
Oktay Eksi)
Milliyet [centrist] “Europe is discussing its models. On the one hand
there is a model led by the UK: it highlights such concepts as
‘competitive economy, globalization, economic modernization’, and by
the same logic supports EU enlargement as well as Turkey’s full
membership. On the other hand, there is the ‘social model’ led by
France. It is fond of the public sector and is deeply doubtful about
concepts like ‘competitive economy and globalization’. By the same
logic, it is against EU enlargement and Turkey’s membership.”
(Commentary by Taha Akyol)
Blair’s speech in European Parliament
Aksam [centre-right] “A historical call was made by Blair who set out
the presidency’s programme yesterday in the European Parliament. Blair
reminded people of the existence of new roads towards a new European
democracy with his emphasis on the EU’s ‘need to learn to
compete’… As Blair said regarding the referenda, ‘this is neither a
crisis of EU institutions nor a crisis of the institutions of the
states concerned. This is a crisis of political leadership’… The
French referendum result was caused by the lack of leadership by
French politicians.” (Commentary by Nuray Basaran)
Radikal [centre-left] “…Blair did the right thing by putting the
blame on European leaders for the fiasco that took place in the [EU]
constitution referenda in France and Holland. He openly admitted there
was a leadership problem within the EU and said, ‘the people will
support us on the issue of enlargement if we explain to them the truth
in the right way’… His statement ‘we will fulfil our obligations
towards Turkey and Croatia’ was placed in one paragraph of his speech
in such a way as to cause no reaction.” (Commentary by Murat Yetkin)
US-Turkey relations
Cumhuriyet [secular, Kemalist] “In order for Turkey to be a strategic
partner of the US, there should be a unity of interest between the two
countries and they should act together on every issue… In our
country, there is no opposition to the US people. What we are against
is US policies and their implementation by the current US
administration.” (Commentary by Zekeriya Temizel)
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline
Zaman [moderate, pro-Islamic] “After the pumping of the first oil into
the BTC [Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan] the Armenian prime minister… said:
‘Armenia is searching for alternative solutions to re-establish the
balance that has been upset’, stating that the pipeline would
negatively affect the regional balance of power. It is obvious that
the change in this balance of power is not in Armenia’s favour… It
is true that the pipeline has greatly bothered Yerevan.” (Commentary
by Kadir Dikbas)
Kurdish issue
Milliyet [centrist] “The Turkish armed and security forces have lost
nearly a brigade in their armed struggle with the PKK [Kurdistan
Workers’ Party]… The total number of deaths is 30,000. Just as it
was thought that this bloody episode in history was closed, doubts
such as ‘was this merely an interlude, is the second act beginning
now’ are intensifying… The bloody fingerprints of the issue
increasingly turning into a Turkish-Kurdish polarization are being
perceived.” (Commentary by Guneri Civaoglu)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian government approves energy development programme for 2005-2025
Mediamax news agency
23 Jun 05
YEREVAN
The government of Armenia has approved a strategic energy development
programme for 2005-2025.
The programme envisages three stages of implementation, Armenian
Deputy Energy Minister Areg Galstyan said.
During the first stage (2005-2010), it is expected to provide reliable
energy supplies to the republic, complete the construction of the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline and the project of gas supplies to the
country. During the second stage (2011-2016), the safe exploitation of
the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant will be ensured until the republic
has alternative energy sources.
The third and final stage of the strategic programme envisages the
restoration of the heating systems and creation of the necessary
infrastructure, Galstyan said.

Armenian court seeks to arrest three Azeris on espionage charges
Arminfo, Yerevan
23 Jun 05
YEREVAN
The Armenian Prosecutor-General’s Office has put on the wanted list an
agent of the Azerbaijani intelligence bodies, Faiq Samilov, who is the
deputy head of the Qazax district department of the Azerbaijani
National Security Ministry. Armenian Prosecutor-General Agvan Ovsepyan
made this statement at the trial of Andrey Maziyev who is accused of
spying for Azerbaijan.
Part of the criminal case against Maziyev was singled out as a
separate case in April 2005, Ovsepyan said. It was then that Samilov
and Mahmud and Zaur Hasan (there is still no complete information
about them) were implicated in the case and accused of breaching
Article 38-35-217 and Article 38-35-305 of the Armenian Criminal
Code. It was decided to put Samilov on the wanted list on 14 June. The
court of first instance of Yerevan’s Kentron and Nork-Marash
communities decided to arrest the three of them on 15 June. Today’s
trial also investigated the written evidence, including the
defendant’s testimony, which is part of the case and the conclusion of
the expert who confirmed that the testimony was valid.
To recap, Maziyev faces charges under three articles of the Armenian
Criminal Code: part one of Article 299, part one of Article 38-35-217
and Article 38-35-305, which concern national treason through
espionage, acting as an accessory to the preparation of a terrorist
attack and acting as an accessory to the assassination of a state or
political leader. According to the conclusion of the prosecution, he
cooperated with the security agencies of Azerbaijan, gave them
information about the domestic political situation in Armenia and some
information of military nature. As a staff member at [Yerevan’s]
Zvartnots airport, Maziyev handed over to the Azerbaijani intelligence
bodies photographs and information about the Armenian president’s
plane and the route of the president’s motorcade through the airport.
Maziyev was arrested on 3 February 2005. Judge Tigran Petrosyan
presides over the trial. Armenian Prosecutor-General Agvan Ovsepyan
and prosecutor Aram Amirzadyan represent the prosecution. The next
session of the trial is to take place on 24 June.

FINAL SITTING OF STILL ACTING NKR NA FAILS BECAUSE OF ABSENCE OF
QUORUM
STEPANAKERT, JUNE 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The final sitting of NKR National
Assembly with the former staff was to be convened on June 22. But the
sitting failed because of absence of quorum. The convocation of the
final sitting was postponed for a week. According to the Liberty radio
station, there were members of ARF faction among those who were
absent. Their absence is conditioned by the incident connected with
former freedom-fighter Pavel Manukian, member of their party nominated
by the ARF Movement-88 bloc’s proportional list in the June 19
parliamentary elections. According to eye-witnesses, on June 21, at
about 2 pm, two servicemen took P.Manukian, holder of the “Combat
Cross” order of second degree, to city hospital. Manukian was beaten
and had injuries dangerous for his life. According to some
information, he was beaten at the Ministry of Defence. According to
the radio station, journalists are still prohibited to enter the
hospital but the victim’s relatives said that the doctors registered
concussion of the brain, now P.Manukian has regained consciousness and
is able to testify about the incident to the investigators of the
Prosecutor’s Office. Vahan Badasian, member of ARF faction, assured
that they will do their best “to solve the issue within the framework
of the law.” “The criminal must be found sooner or later,” the ARF
member said.

Pan Armenian News
NEXT SITTING OF PACE COMMITTEE ON KARABAKH SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 12 IN
PARIS
24.06.2005 03:01
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The first sitting of the PACE Committee on Nagorno
Karabakh was held in Strasbourg June 23. As member of the Azeri
parliamentary delegation Asim Mollazade stated, various organizational
issues were discussed and terms of the next meeting were fixed during the
sitting, Trend new agency reported. `The next sitting of the PACE Committee
on Nagorno Karabakh is scheduled for September 12 in Paris. It was agreed
that the representatives of the states serving on the OSCE Minsk Group will
take part in the sitting’, Mollazade informed.

OLYMPIC YOUTH CHESS AND CHECKERS SPORT SCHOOL OF ARMENIA TO BE NAMED
AFTER THE FAMOUS CHESS PLAYER OF THE 20TH CENTURY HENRY GASPARYAN
YEREVAN, June 23. /ARKA/. Olympic youth chess and checkers sport
school of Armenia will be named after the famous chess player of the
20th century Henry Gasparyan. According to RA Government’s Press
Service Department, the corresponding decision was taken at the
government session.
Chess player, chess problems maker Henty Gasaryan (Kasparyan) was born
in 1910. In 1950 he was conferred the ranks of an Honored Master of
Sport and International Master and in 1956 he became the judge of
all-union category, repeated chess champion of Armenia. In 1946 he was
conferred the rank of a Master of the USSR Chess Composition Sport. In
1956 he became an international arbiter, in 1972 -International Grand
Master. A.H.–0-

ANONYMOUS PERSON WARNING ABOUT BOMB ALLEGEDLY PLACED UNDER
GOVERNMENTAL BUILDING IN ARMENIA ARRESTED
YEREVAN, JUNE 24. ARMINFO. The author of a false call warning about a
bomb allegedly placed under the Armenian Government building yesterday
proved to be an “unbalanced female” having two previous convictions.
The press-service of the Aremnian National Security Service informs
ARMINFO that due to joint operative measures of the NSS and Police,
the anonymous person was detained. A criminal case has been initiated
on he case, with investigations being underway. The source reports.
To note, June 23 approximately at 14:00 the prime minister’s reception
hall received the aforementioned call, which proved to be false.

ARMENIA AGAINST KAZAKHSTAN’S CHAIRMANSHIP OF OSCE IN 2009
MOSCOW, JUNE 24. ARMINFO. Armenia is against transfer of the status of
OSCE chairing-state to Kazakhstan in 2009.
According to the Russian newspaper “Kommersant,” yesterday a sitting
of CSTO took place at Kremlin, which was to result in adoption of a
statement on OSCE, wherein CSTO member-states were to express their
opinion on reformation of the organization. Russia was looking forward
to adopt this statement, but Kazakhstan was against, as it had no
intention to have disputes with western colleagues. On the other hand,
the last passage in the draft was a proposal to provide OSCE
chairmanship in 2009 to Kazakhstan. Armenia immediately came out
against as “it cannot forgive Kazakhstan its repeated votes for
anti-Armenian resolutions connected with Nagorny Karabakh,” the
newspaper writes. As a result, CSTO members could not present either
the statement on OSCE or the other interesting document – the
provision on CSTO observers to elections to journalists. Thus, the
sitting resulted in adoption of only an Agreement on preparation of
military cadres for CSTO i.e. preferential education of students from
CSTO member-states at Russian universities, the source reports.