Month: March 2007

FRENCH ENVOY LOOKS FORWARD TO ARMENIAN-AZERI TALKS
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
March 12 2007

France’s chief Nagorno-Karabakh conflict negotiator, Bernard Fassier,
was again in Yerevan on Monday to prepare for the next round of
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks which he hopes will bring the parties
closer to a peace accord.

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Geneva
on Wednesday to try to build on progress that seems to have been made
in the negotiating process in recent months.

Fassier, who co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group with senior U.S. and
Russian diplomats, already visited the capitals of the two nations
last week to discuss last-minute preparations for the talks. He said
he briefed Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian on the results of his
discussions in Baku.

"The discussions in Yerevan and Baku were useful and constructive,
and I very much hope that the Geneva negotiations will also be
constructive," he told a news conference.

The French envoy also looked satisfied with his separate meeting
in Yerevan with Arkady Ghukasian, president of the unrecognized
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). "We will have to meet again in the
future," he said.

According to Ghukasian, the talks focused on ways of ensuring the
NKR leadership’s involvement in the peace process, which is strongly
opposed by Azerbaijan. "Mr. Fassier clearly understands that this
problem can not be settled without Karabakh, and I’m sure [the three
mediators] are working and will continue to work in that direction,"
he said. "If Azerbaijan wants a settlement it will have to negotiate
with the Karabakh side."

Ghukasian was also more pessimistic about the results of the Geneva
talks. "I don’t expect anything serious from the March 14 meeting,
but think that every meeting is important," he told journalists.

Oskanian said last week that the mediators expect him and his
Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov to set up another
face-to-face meeting of their presidents shortly after the Armenian
parliamentary elections of May 12. The mediators hope that Presidents
Ilham Aliev and Robert Kocharian will agree on the basic principles of
a Karabakh settlement before the start of campaigning for presidential
elections due in both Armenia and Azerbaijan next year.

Under a framework peace deal drafted by the Minsk Group co-chairs,
Karabakh’s future status would be decided in a referendum to be held
years after a gradual Armenian pullout from Azerbaijani districts
surrounding the disputed region.

Ghukasian, who has repeatedly voiced misgivings about this formula,
admitted "slight and more serious differences" in the positions of the
NKR leadership and official Yerevan. He refused to go into details,
saying only those differences can be overcome.
From: Baghdasarian

KARABAKH WAS MENTIONED AS AZERBAIJAN’S OCCUPIED TERRITORY IN REPORT OF U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT THROUGH MISUNDERSTANDING, VARTAN OSKANIAN IS SURE

Noyan Tapan
Mar 12 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 12, NOYAN TAPAN. As RA Foreign Ministry estimates,
the formulation included in the 2006 annual report on human rights
of U.S. State Department, according to which Nagorno Karabakh is
mentioned as an "occupied territory" making part of Azerbaijan, is
the consequence of a mistake. As RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
informed journalists on March 12, after official opening ceremony
of NATO Information Center, the approaches of U.S. in this issue are
well-known to Armenia, which permits to suppose that this formulation
is the result of a mistake. As Noyan Tapan was informed by RA Foreign
Ministry Acting Spokesperson Vladimir Karapetian, Foreign Minister
V. Oskanian during his meeting with Acting U.S. Ambassador to RA
Anthony Godfrey mentioned the above indicated expression included
in the report of the State Department asking to be attentive in
formulations. Currently the Armenian side is waiting for the American
side’s answer, i.e. correction of the formulation.

NKR PRESIDENT: AZERBAIJAN WILL HAVE TO SIT AT NEGOTIATING TABLE

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
March 12 2007

Today a meeting of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic President Arkady
Ghoukassian with OSCE Minsk group French Co-Chair Bernard Fassier
was held at the NKR Permanent Representation in Yerevan. In the
course of the meeting the parties discussed the Karabagh conflict’s
current phase.

"Naturally, Bernard Fassier is aware of the fact that no solution on
the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict can be considered final without the
NKR leadership’s consent. However, unfortunately, not everything
depends on the mediators. There is a factor of Azerbaijan, which
stubbornly does not wish to sit at the negotiating table with the
NKR leadership", the NKR President stated at a briefing held upon the
talks’ completion. However, in the President’s words, if Azerbaijan
is really interested in the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict’s peaceful
settlement, it will have to sit at the negotiating table with the
Karabagh party.

When asked if there were contradictions in the stands of RA and NKR,
Arkady Ghoukassian noted there were really some disagreements, some
of which can be called serious. However, he rejected suppositions
that Armenia and NKR would be unable to elaborate a common viewpoint
on the conflict’s settlement. Answering ITAR-TASS question when,
in the President’s opinion, the conflict may be resolved, Arkady
Ghoukassian stated it would not be serious to speak of the exact terms,
however, the NKR was mostly interested in the rapid solution of the
conflict. Nevertheless, the NKR President stressed there were basic
principles Stepanakert will never deny.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IRAN’S NEW AMBASSADOR CONFERS WITH AZERI FM

Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
March 12 2007

Iran’s new Ambassador to Baku Nasser Hamidi Zare conferred on Monday
with Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mahhadyarov and submitted a copy
of his credentials letter to him.

In the meeting, the Azeri minister welcomed the new Iranian ambassador
and called for broadening of friendly ties between the two countries.

He said that he would pay a visit to Tehran in the near future
to attend Iran-Azerbaijani Joint Economic Commission meeting and
expressed hope to witness further expansion of constructive ties
between the two sides.

The Azeri foreign minister said the international issues should be
resolved through diplomacy and underlined the significant role of
neighboring countries in Karabakh conflict and withdrawal of Armenian
forces from occupied lands.

The new Iranian ambassador, for his part, lauded the stands
of Azerbaijan in dealing with Iran’s developments and voiced the
readiness of the Islamic Republic of Iran to further broaden political
and economic cooperation and help put an end to the current regional
conflicts.

With reliance on political wills of both countries, Iran is to spare no
efforts to promote all-out expansion of ties between the two countries,
he said.

NEW SUSPECT HELD IN YEREVAN CAR BOMBING PROBE
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
March 12 2007

Armenian law-enforcement authorities have arrested a man who they
believe carried out the assassination of a high-ranking tax official
in a car blast last September, it emerged on Monday.

The Office of the Prosecutor-General told RFE/RL that the 32-year-old
man, identified as Hayk Israelian, was arrested last Wednesday and
charged with planting and setting off an explosive device that killed
Shahen Hovasapian, head of a State Tax Service division tasked with
detecting and punishing tax evasion.

The daylight blast rocked Hovasapian’s car moments after he got into
it outside his expensive apartment in downtown Yerevan.

One of the official’s top subordinates, Armen Virabian, and his brother
Gurgen were arrested shortly afterwards on charges of engineering the
apparent contract killing. Both men strongly denied the accusations
and were eventually released from custody pending trial.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Prosecutor-General, Sona Truzian,
said that the detained suspect is unemployed and has a criminal
record. Truzian would not say if he has confessed to the charges or
whether the prosecutors have also identified the mastermind of the
high-profile crime.

According to an unconfirmed report by Yerkir-Media television,
Israelian has close ties with an influential member of Armenia’s
parliament. The TV channel did not give the lawmaker’s name.

It is thus not yet clear if the investigators see any connection
between and Israelian and the Virabians, who own a furniture and
construction materials company. The brothers’ lawyer, Hovik Arsenian,
told RFE/RL that the accusations leveled against his clients have
not been dropped.

The accusations are reportedly based on testimony given by the slain
official’s driver. The latter told the investigators that two days
before the blast the Virabians lured him to an expensive Yerevan
restaurant for a dinner that lasted for two hours and apparently had
an explosive device planted under Hovasapian’s unattended government
car in the process.

President Robert Kocharian personally condemned Hovasapian’s murder,
linking it to tax authorities’ efforts "efforts to tighten tax
administration and create equal taxation conditions for everyone."

‘OLIGARCHIC’ PARTY AGAIN ACCUSED OF VOTE-BUYING
By Irina Hovannisian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
March 12 2007

The Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), a key election contender, faced
more opposition accusations of vote-buying on Monday after lavish
dinner parties thrown by its millionaire leader Gagik Tsarukian for
many women across the country.

Tsarukian’s Kentron television and another major Armenian TV channel
aired over the weekend a 30-minute "special report" on celebrations
of International Women’s Day that were organized by the tycoon in
Yerevan and dozens of small towns. Viewers were shown scores of women
marking the March 8 holiday in restaurants and receiving flowers on
the occasion. The largest of the parties involved live performances
by some of Armenia’s most popular pop singers.

It was the latest in a series of "benevolent actions" that are
thought to have earned Tsarukian’s party a considerable following
over the past year. Representatives of opposition parties were quick
to denounce it as another manifestation of wholesale vote-buying.

"That is no benevolence," said Suren Sureniants of the Hanrapetutyun
party. "That is a process of bribing and humiliating people. A
benefactor is not supposed to pursue political goals."

A BHK spokesman, Baghdasar Mherian, rejected the accusations. "Can
the people who claim that our benevolence is political propaganda
cite one example of a woman being told to vote for Prosperous Armenia
after being handed flowers?" he said. Mherian also argued that the
tycoon close to President Robert Kocharian has engaged in charitable
work since 1992, comparing him to Diaspora Armenian philanthropists
like Kirk Kerkorian and Charles Aznavour.

Armenian law forbids politicians and political parties running for
office from providing any goods and services to people in the hope
of securing their votes. Officially, Tsarukian’s stated benevolence
is done through a charity named after himself, meaning that his party
technically does not violate this restriction.

Tsarukian raised eyebrows last autumn by financing a large-scale
distribution of agricultural relief and provision of free medical
aid and other public services to tens of thousands of impoverished
people. BHK representatives say that the assistance has no connection
with the May 12 parliamentary elections, a claim dismissed by
opposition leaders and some representatives of the governing Republican
and Dashnaktsutyun parties.

The BHK claims to have recruited 370,000 members, or more than
all other Armenian parties taken together. The party, widely
regarded as Kocharian’s new power base, is expected to do well in
the forthcoming elections. But whether or not its real popularity
matches the staggering membership figure remains unknown due to a
lack of credible opinion polls in Armenia.

NATO OFFICIAL PRAISES GROWING TIES WITH ARMENIA
By Hovannes Shoghikian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
March 12 2007

Armenia has made considerable progress in developing its relations
with NATO under the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) launched
more than a year ago, a visiting senior NATO official said on Monday.

"Quite recently I was looking into different documents, the assessment
which is conducted on a periodic basis, and I was really struck by the
dedication of your country to implementing the general framework of
this IPAP and its different components," Jean Fournet, NATO’s assistant
secretary general for public diplomacy, told reporters in Yerevan.

"I was also impressed by a report drafted by my colleagues from
different departments of NATO who visited your country recently,"
he added. "They came back from here with this very positive sign that
you are on the right track."

Fournet was speaking at a joint news conference with Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian that followed a meeting between the two men.

Implementation of Armenia’s IPAP was high on the agenda of the talks.

The policy framework, which was launched in December 2005, aims
to step up Armenia’s political and military cooperation with the
U.S.-led alliance. In particular, Yerevan undertook to embark on a
major reform of its armed forces that should bring their structure
into greater conformity with NATO armies and thereby boost their
interoperability with the latter. Another stated aim of the IPAP is
the democratization of Armenia’s political structure, strengthening
of its judiciary and a fight against corruption.

"Within one year a lot has been already achieved," said Fournet. The
NATO official is scheduled to meet with other Armenian leaders
on Tuesday.

Oskanian, for his part, reiterated that membership in NATO is
not on his government’s foreign policy agenda. "[The IPAP’s] full
implementation will probably take a lot of time," her said. "So we
concentrate on that document in developing our relations with NATO."

The two men also officially inaugurated on Monday a NATO information
center in Yerevan which is supposed to increase Armenians’ awareness
of the alliance and its goals. Oskanian said the center will also
seek to explain to the local public that there is no contradiction
between Armenia’s drive to strengthen security ties with the West
and its continued membership in the Russian-led Collective Security
Treaty Organization.

"Our policies of recent years have proved that there is no such
contradiction," he said. "By means of this office we will be able to
spread correct information about the mission of NATO and the essence
of its cooperation with Armenia."

WORKS ON TREE PLANTATION TO BE HELD IN KARABAGH MARCH 15-APRIL 15

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
March 12 2007

March 15-April 15 a month of tree plantation, sanitary cleaning and
improvement will be held in the NKR in line with the Nagorno-Karabagh
Republic PM Anoushavan Danielian’s resolution.

According to the information DE FACTO received at the NKR government’s
Press Office, the heads of ministries, departments and the Stepanakert
city hall and regional administrations and rural communities had been
commissioned to elaborate and implement a complex of measures on the
resolution’s fulfillment, in part, guarantee wide participation of the
employees of various organizations, pupils, students and citizens. The
heads of ministries and departments, territorial and local organs of
executive powers are to submit reports on the results of the work to
the NKR National Statistic Service till current May 1.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NATO STANDS FOR THE PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT

armradio.am
12.03.2007 16:01

NATO stands for the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict. NATO
Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Jean Fournet said at a
press conference today that NATO’s position is clear: the negotiations
on the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict take place in the
framework of another structure.

He appreciated the fact that under the Armenia-NATO Individual
Partnership Action Plan the Armenian authorities will inform the
Alliance about the developments in the negotiation process.

Asked whether Azerbaijan’s possible accession to NATO won’t create
imbalance of the security system in the South Caucasus, Fournet
responded the issue of Azerbaijan’s accession is not on the agenda.

"Azerbaijan is a good partner of the Alliance and has an IPAP.

Partnership is already a very important concept," he said.

FRENCH CO-CHAIR OF OSCE MG DESCRIBED NEGOTIATIONS IN YEREVAN AND BAKU AS "VERY CONSTRUCTIVE"

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
March 12 2007

The French Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Bernard Fassier, described
his negotiations with the Heads of Azerbaijan and Armenia over the
recent several days in Baku and Yerevan as "very constructive".

Presenting a speech at the briefing in Yerevan on 12 March, Bernard
Fassier stated that co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group will hold
a meeting in Geneva on 13 March to finally form the agenda of
negotiations of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia
scheduled for 14 March, Mediamax reports.

"If the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia
in Geneva is successful to formalize the key principles of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, one or two more meetings
of the Foreign Ministers will take place, the results of which
will be presented to the Presidents of the two countries for their
consideration," Fassier said, adding that in any case, the meeting
of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia will not take place until
parliamentary elections in Armenia on 12 May.