ASBAREZ Online [06-09-2005]

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06/09/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Trial of Armenian Citizen Charged with Spying for Azerbaijan Underway 2) Association Withdraws Award to US Envoy 3) Ex-Minsk Group Official Takes Verbal Beating in Baku 1) Trial of Armenian Citizen Charged with Spying for Azerbaijan Underway YEREVAN (Arminfo)--The trial of an Armenian citizen charged with spying for Azerbaijan has begun in Yerevan. Andrey Maziyev is charged with high treason through espionage, plotting a terrorist act, and plotting the murder of a state political figure. Maziyev worked as en engineer at Zvartnots airport at the time of his arrest. He is Russian by nationality. In October 1999, Maziyev was enlisted by Azeri special services while in that country. On the whole, he met with representatives of Azerbaijan's special services 17 times and received approximately $2.5 thousand for his services. He allegedly collected and disseminated information about domestic political and economic developments in Armenia, information on Armenia's military, defense, and armed forces, as well as Mountainous Karabagh Republic. In the autumn of 2000, Maziyev was instructed to photograph President Kocharian's plane landing at the airport, helicopters protecting the territory of the airport, and the president and bodyguards passing by the building where Maziyev lives. He also took photos of the president in the hangar and building of the airport. He handed over the photos to the special services and recommended locations for snipers. The special services were also interested in whether Maziyev had contacts with relatives of Nairi Hunanyan who spearheaded the 1999 shooting in the Armenian Parliament, killing the prime minister, parliamentary speaker, and six other officials. Maziyev pleaded guilty to the charges at Thursday's trial that included the interrogation of seven witnesses. The trial is chaired by the judge Tigran Petrosyan. The prosecution is represented by Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan and Prosecutor Aram Amirzadyan. The trial will continue on June 13. He has two previous convictions for hooliganism (1994 and 1999). 2) Association Withdraws Award to US Envoy Ambassador Was to Be Honored for Dissent By Glenn Kessler (Washington Post)--The American Foreign Service Association recently announced that John M. Evans, the US ambassador to Armenia, was to receive a prestigious award for "constructive dissent" for characterizing as genocide the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. His comments stirred such a diplomatic tempest that Evans not only had to retract his remarks, but also had to later clarify his retraction. Earlier this week, however, the selection committee met again and decided to withdraw the honor, known as the Christian A. Herter Award. They decided not to offer any award in the category, reserved for a senior foreign service officer. Other awards are issued for officers at lower levels. The timing of the association's decision appeared curious, given it came just before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Washington for a meeting with President Bush to bolster strained US-Turkish relations. John W. Limbert, president of the association, said that no one at the organization can remember an award being withdrawn after it had been announced. "It is not something we do easily," he said. The award is intended to foster creative thinking and intellectual courage within the State Department bureaucracy, and the secretary of state usually attends the award ceremony. One of last year's awards, for instance, went to a mid-level foreign service officer who sent a cable challenging the administration's policy in Iraq. "Dissent is supposed to be controversial," Limbert said. Speaking to an Armenian group in California, Evans referred to the "Armenian genocide" and said that the US government owes "you, our fellow citizens, a more frank and honest way of discussing the problem." He added that "there is no doubt in my mind what happened" and it was "unbecoming of us, as Americans, to play word games here." Armenian groups hailed his comment, noting Evans was the first US official since President Ronald Reagan in 1981 to refer to the Armenian deaths as genocide. But the comments infuriated Turkey. Evans issued a statement saying US policy, in which the United States "acknowledges the tragedy" and encourages "scholarly, civil society and diplomatic discussion" of the event, had not changed. Evans said he used the term "genocide" in "my personal capacity" during "informal meetings" and "this was inappropriate." After more complaints from Turkey, Evans corrected the statement a day later and removed a reference to genocide, instead calling it "the Armenian tragedy." Limbert said the committee, made up of current and former State Department officials, concluded that the award to Evans did not meet the selection criteria. He declined to comment further, saying State Department officials would have to explain their concerns. L. Bruce Laingen, who chaired the selection committee, said "very serious people from the State Department in particular" expressed concern about the award to Evans. But he said they did not raise political issues. Instead, he said, they focused on the fact that the award criteria specifically says the actions must be taken while "working in the system"; Evans made his comments in speeches. "Dissent has to be within the system," Laingen said. He said the committee did not focus on that fact until it was reminded by the State Department. But when the committee decided to withdraw the award, it was faced with a dilemma. The committee had received only two nominations, and it had already concluded the other nominee did not meet the criteria. So no award could be offered. Laingen said the committee generally receives few examples of dissent at senior levels of the agency. "That is regrettable," he said. "It does not reflect well on the foreign service broadly at that level for dissent within the system." 3) Ex-Minsk Group Official Takes Verbal Beating in Baku BAKU (PanARMENIAN.Net)--The former Russian Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Vladimir Kazimirov, was verbally accosted by the chairman and members of the Azeri Karabagh Liberation Organization (KLO), who told Kazimirov to either recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan or get out of the country. Kazimirov was attending a seminar on the "Strategic Importance of Azerbaijan." The event, organized the British LINKS Organization and the Yesterday Civilization NGO, was being held at the International Press Center in Baku. In his address on the Mountainous Karabagh settlement, Kazimirov recommended strengthening the cease fire agreement in the region and promoted reconciliation as opposed to the "self-deception," practiced by both the Armenians and Azeris. Though organizers tried to quell the KLO members, they shouted that he leave Azerbaijan instead of supporting Armenians. Azeri President Aliyev's Chief of Staff Novruz Mamedov's words to Kazimirov were equally harsh. "All those who were Co-chairs, [of the OSCE Minsk Group] along with you, have forgotten the issue and have personal interests. You, again have departed from the issue--either due to too much love for Armenia or some other reason. Every time, I just get the feeling you are very close to Armenians morally and politically because of personal interests." 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