Month: April 2007

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER CONFIRMED AS NEW PRIME MINISTER

Focus News, Bulgaria
April 4 2007

Yerevan. Armenian President Robert Kocharian on Wednesday confirmed
former defense minister Serge Sarkisian as the country’s new prime
minister, the president’s press office said in a statement, AFP
reported.

The ruling Republican party nominated Sarkisian, a close ally of
Kocharian and a favorite to replace the president in 2008, for the
post on Monday.

He succeeds Andranik Margarian, who died of a heart attack on March
25 after seven years as prime minister.

Like Kocharian, Sarkisian is from the disputed region of Nagorny
Karabakh and fought in the 1988-1994 war in which Armenia seized the
enclave from Azerbaijan.

Sarkisian also chairs the Republican party’s ruling council and
is expected to play a key role in the party’s campaign for May 12
parliamentary elections.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH FM GUL MEETS HIS GERMAN COUNTERPART STEINMEIER

Turkish Press
April 4 2007

BERLIN – "Turkey always appreciated support of Germany, one of Europe`s
engine countries, when Turkey-EU relations are in question," Turkish
Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said, on Tuesday.

Speaking at a joint news conference following his tete-a-tete meeting
with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin, Gul
said negotiations between Turkey and the EU started to be launched
under a second chapter heading, indicating that, "we hope several
other chapters will be opened within this year."

Emphasizing that relations between Turkey and Germany were rooted and
multilateral, Gul pointed to the political, security, economic and
cultural dimensions of the relations. Gul said foreign trade volume
between the two parties reached 20 billion Euro.

Gul said Turkey and Germany have similar views on regional and
international matters as well as many other topics, and stated that
both countries favored resolution of the problems through peaceful
and diplomatic ways.

Responding to a question asking about the role Turkey assumed in
release of 15 British soldiers kept in Iran, Gul said, "as you
know Turkey is a neighbor of Iran. We attach importance to this
neighborhood relationship. Britain is also an ally country. We are
closely interested in the matter in this respect. Recent developments
are positive. This is what I can say at the time being."

When asked about Upper Karabakh problem, Gul said, "We have said
Turkey may cooperate for the solution of the problem."

On the other hand Steinmeier recalled that another chapter heading
was opened in Turkish-EU relations, "We have made a rationalistic
decision in Turkish-EU relations. Negotiations continue although
Ankara protocol was not implemented."

Steinmeier said not only enlargement process was discussed within
the scope of Turkey-EU relations, but at the same time international
matters were in question, and thanked to Turkey`s efforts for the
release of British soldiers in Iran.

"Germany and Turkey support solution of the crisis through diplomatic
ways," he added.

Expressing pleasure over making cooperation with Turkey on Lebanon
and the Middle East issues, Steinmeier said hopes increased that the
Middle East process would be enlivened following the decision made
by Arab League.

"There are approximately 2 million Turks living in Germany, and 65
thousand Turkish enterprises. That is why Turkey is the guest country
of the Hannover Industrial Fair, which is considered the biggest
industry fair in the world," said Steinmeier in the press conference.

German FM said they would like to develop not only political and
economic relations but also cultural relations between Turkey and
Germany. He continued saying that is why Turkey will also be the
guest country of the Frankfurt Book Fair next year.

Upon a question on why Turkey was not invited to EU`s celebrations
for 50th anniversary of its foundation, German FM said this was not
a decision taken against one candidate country. He continued saying,
candidate countries were not invited because this was the celebration
of the 50 year long past of EU member countries.

The German minister stressed the importance of Central Asian countries,
saying these countries are close to regions of crisis, and stability
should be established in these countries so that the crises (around
them) would not affect them.

Prior to his contacts with Steinmeier, Turkish FM Gul had interviews
with journalists from Financial Times Deutschland and Suddeutsche
Zeitung newspapers.

Gul attended to a dinner in his honor following the joint press
conference.

Tomorrow Turkish FM will visit the new consulate general building
in Berlin and move to Cologne. There he will inform the new "e –
consulate general" service of the Ministry and will contact with
representatives of Turkish institutions in the city.

Gul will leave for Turkey tomorrow.

GUL VISITS NEW CONSULATE GENERAL BUILDING IN BERLIN

Turkish Press
April 4 2007

BERLIN – Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Premier Abdullah Gul
said Turkey’s worth is well known by all countries and it does not
need marketing.

Gul visited the new consulate general building in German capital
Berlin, accompanied by Turkey’s Ambassador to Germany Mehmet Ali
Irtemcelik. Gul answered questions of Turkish journalists following
his visit.

Upon a question on "why Turkey was not invited to European Union’s
50th anniversary celebration ceremonies" Gul said this has been
discussed a lot, but Turkey looks at its own way, and it has a very
busy schedule. "Everyone is aware of Turkey’s worth" said Gul, adding
"we do not have any intention for marketing ourselves."

Gul said his German counterpart Steinmeier and he discussed bilateral
relations and Turkey-EU relations in their meeting yesterday.

Turkish FM said Armenian draft bill was one of the issues they
discussed. "I talked about this issue during the meeting yesterday
and I assessed it thoroughly. I explained that this issue is open to
exploitation and one has to be very careful about it" said Gul.

On the other hand, Minister Gul called on the Turkish citizens living
in Germany to learn German language. He said this is not only important
for integration with the society, but also this would make life easier
for them.

The new consulate general building, located in the Charlottenburg
district of Berlin, is expected to open into service by the end of
this year.

Following his visit to the consulate building Minister Gul left
for Cologne.

RACIST MURDER IN SAMARA

Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union, DC
April 4 2007

An ethnic Armenian man was killed in Samara, Russia by someone who
painted a racist slogan on the victim’s television set, according to
a March 30, 2007 report by the Sova Information-Analytical Center. On
March 25, Oganes Karapetian was found dead inside his own home. He
had suffered trauma to the head and several knife wounds; there was
no initial evidence of robbery. The killer or killers left the words
"Death to the churka" (a pejorative for people from the Caucasus)
written in the victim’s blood on his television screen. Police are
investigating the death as a murder possibly motivated by ethnic
hatred.

AZERBAIJAN SOCIETY OF AMERICA APPEALS TO US CONGRESS SUBCOMMITTEE

Today, Azerbaijan
April 4 2007

The Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA) is going to appeal to all
members of US Congress Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, And
Related Programs with regard to financial aid to the South Caucasian
countries envisaged in state budget for 2008.

The appeal supports the decision of allocating $18mln as economic aid
to Azerbaijan, $4.8m as foreign military aid and $1mln to training
of our servicemen, ASA president Tomris Azeri told the APA’s US bureau.

Tomris Azeri noted that financial aid allocated by White House
administration for Azerbaijan is not completely adequate to
opportunities created by our country for the US.

She called on the members of the subcommittee to debate amount the
amount of the aid.

The appeal underlines that Azerbaijan is the only Muslim country
cooperating with NATO in the framework of Individual Partnership
Action Plan (IPAP), and both Clinton and Bush administration support
the Contract of the Century signed in 1994 and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline commissioned in 2006.

Tomris Azeri mentioned that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov and US Secretary of State signed understanding memorandum
on March 22.

"Azerbaijan is one of the first states that joined the antiterrorism
coalition. Azerbaijan arrested and extradited terrorists, and US
government welcomed the measures taken for preventing weapons of
mass destruction. Azerbaijani soldiers participated in peacekeeping
operation in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Taking all these into
account, ASA considers it important to annul the Section 907 to
the Freedom Support Act against Azerbaijan, offer financial aid
to Azerbaijani community of Nagorno Karabakh along with Armenian
community. Every tenth Azerbaijani became refugee as a result of
Armenian aggression and US official bodies recognized Nagorno Karabakh
as inseparable part of Azerbaijan," the appeal says.

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OFFICIAL BAKU CONFIDENT FORTHCOMING "PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS"

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 4 2007

Official Baku Confident Forthcoming "Presidential Elections" in Self-Proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh
Separatist Regime Will Not Be Acknowledged by International Community

Azerbaijan, Baku/ Trend , corr. E. Husseynov/ Commenting on a piece
of information concerning the so-called "presidential elections"
scheduled for June 19th, 2007 in the breakway Azerbaijani region of
Nagorno-Karabakh, Khazar Ibrahim, the Chief of the Press Service of
the Azerbaijani Foreign Office Official Baku is confident that the
elections will not be acknowledged by the international community.

The Press Secretary said that the forthcoming "elections" would have
no force either politically or from any other point of view. "Any
so-called "elections" or other similar elections, connected with
polling the opinion of the remaining population of the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan, have been acknowledged by neither any
of the countries nor the entire international community, including
different international organizations."

"Here we may refer to the OCSE Minsk Group Chairs on the resolution
of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," resumed
Mr. Ibrahim.

The decision taken by the self-proclaimed "National Assembly of
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" concerning the fact that the "presidential
elections" is to be held on June, 19, 2007, has been publicized today
by the Armenian Agency – "Mediamax". The nomination of "candidates"
to the "Presidency" is to begin 90 days prior to the "elections"
themselves. Arkady Gukasian, the Acting Head of the "Republic", who
has held this post since 1997, previously stated that despite the
possibility and right to nominate his candidacy for the "presidency"
for the third term, which was confirmed by the recently-approved
"Constitution", he will not take part in the "election campaign"
this time.

GUL CONVEYS ANKARA’S CONCERNS OVER ARMENIAN BILL TO GERMAN FM

Turkish Press
Sabah
April 4 2007

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, currently in Germany for an official
visit, yesterday met with his German counterpart Frank-Walter
Steinmeier to discuss a number of issues, including a bill introduced
by Germany to the European Parliament which would criminalize denial
of the so-called Armenian genocide. Gul briefed Steinmeier on Ankara’s
concerns about the bill, saying that it should refer to the United
Nations. He further stressed that the bill, in its current form,
worried Ankara. Commenting on Turkey’s European Union membership
bid, Gul said that he appreciated Germany’s support for Turkey’s EU
aspirations.

ARMENIA IN TALKS WITH IRAN OVER RAILROAD

RosBusinessConsulting, Russia
April 4 2007

RBC, 04.04.2007, Yerevan 16:25:27.It will take around $1bn to build
a railway between Armenia and Iran, the former Soviet republic’s
acting Transport and Communication Minister Andranik Manukian told
journalists in Yerevan. Armenia has a strong desire to implement this
project, but it is too early to speak of its feasibility. Steps are
currently being taken to seek investors, the minister was quoted by
the Armenian news agency ARKA as saying.

Manukian stressed the particular need for this project making it
possible to set up railway service with Iran. In the long run,
Armenia will have the chance to become a transit country in terms
of railway transportation and enter the European market via Russia,
the minister stated.

The construction of a railway between Armenia and Iran is currently
being actively discussed and is on the agenda of top-priority
Armenian-Iranian economic cooperation projects.

RUSSIA INTERESTED IN STABLE SOUTH CAUCASUS – LAVROV

The Messenger, Georgia
April 4 2007

Russia is interested in a stable, secure and flourishing South
Caucasus, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at a joint
press conference together with his Armenian Counterpart Vardan Oskanyan
in Yerevan.

"Many players, including the European Union express their interest
in the South Caucasian region. This interest is incomprehensible. We
believe that interests should be realized through taking into account
the mutual cooperation on issues and stability in the region",
Lavrov said.

As to the security issues, Oskanyan pointed out that frontier troops
of Russia protect the Turkish-Armenian border in accordance to the will
of the two states – Armenia and Russia, RIA Novosti agency reports.

"Indeed, each state protects its own interests. This is of much
importance for Armenia from the state security point of view",
Oskanyan said.

UNITED FRONT OF STRUGGLE AGAINST XENOPHOBIA, VIOLENCE SHOULD BE FORMED IN EUROPE

Arka News Agency, Armenia
April 3 2007

YEREVAN, April 3. /ARKA/. A united front should be formed in all the
Europe to struggle against demonstration of xenophobia and violence,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at his joint press
conference with Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian.

Lavrov pointed out his extremely negative attitude toward any
demonstration of violence connected with xenophobia. "President Putin
repeatedly stated that this is the official stance of Russia and gave
particular instructions to maximally toughen the struggle against
those phenomena," he said.

Lavrov pointed out that unfortunately, this kind of cases is recorded
in all over the world. "It’s our common trouble, and each society
should fight against it in itself," he said.

In his turn, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian reported that
the issue was discussed at the meeting of the Russian and Armenian
Foreign Ministers.

The sides agreed on the seriousness of the problem and the necessity
to take certain steps to suppress such developments, Oskanian resumed.

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Armenia for
two-day official visit on April 3. During his visit, Lavrov is to
meet Armenia’s President Robert Kocharian, Catholicos of All Armenians
Garegin the Second and Acing Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian.

The Russian Foreign Ministry delegation will pay floral tribute to
the memory of victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide.

Lavrov is to visit the Yerevan State University on April 4.