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RIA Novosti, Russia
Dec 3 2004

IRAN PROMOTES ALL-ROUND CONTACTS WITH ARMENIA

YEREVAN, December 3 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia’s stability and economic
development are highly important for Iran, Iranian ambassador to
Armenia Ali Reza Haqiqyan said on Friday at the meeting with Armenian
Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan, Secretary of the National Security
Council under the president.

A serious progress was reached within the framework of
Iranian-Armenian economic cooperation, particularly just-begun
construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline and commissioning of
the second high-power transmission line, the minister’s press
secretary Seiran Shakhsuvaryan said.

The ambassador noted that the latest meetings at the official level
have generated new ideas for economic cooperation, such as the
building of a railway between Iran and Armenia, as well as the supply
of Iranian oil products (it is crucial for Armenia in view of its no
simple relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey).

The Iranian ambassador has promised assistance in arranging Farsi
classes at Armenia’s Vazgen Sarkisyan Military Institute.

The Armenian defence minister noted that, if this project would be
implemented, the Military Institute would be Armenia’s second
advanced-Farsi centre after the Yerevan State University.

As regards programmes intended under the Armenia-NATO partnership,
Sarkisyan reiterated that membership in the North Atlantic Alliance
is not on the foreign policy agenda of Armenia.

The sides also discussed matters of regional security, peaceful
settlement of the Nagorny-Karabakh conflict.

Georgia initiates economic union of Caucasus republics – Armenian report

Arminfo
2 Dec 04

YEREVAN

“At present, there are certain business relations between the
Armenian, Azerbaijani and Turkish sides, and Armenia, on its side,
agrees to consolidate these relations within the framework of an
economic organization,” Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan
told reporters after the first sitting of the Armenian-Georgian
business association in Yerevan today.

The prime minister spoke highly about the level of the
Armenian-Georgian economic relations. He particularly said that
Georgia had submitted to Armenia a list of its enterprises which could
be privatized with Armenian investments.

The establishment of a similar Georgian-Azerbaijani business
association will be the next phase to form a single Caucasian business
space, Georgian MP Beso Jugheli told the sitting. After that, Georgia
is planning to set up a tripartite Armenia-Georgia-Azerbaijan
association on the basis of the two associations.

The Georgian MP thinks that this will allow to form a single economic
space and a single consumer market with 15m residents in the
Caucasus. “This is our major dream, and business circles should be one
jump ahead of politicians,” Jugheli said.

[Passage omitted: Georgian president’s message to the sitting; other
details]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NATO admission not on agenda, Armenian minister tells Iranian envoy

Mediamax news agency
3 Dec 04

YEREVAN

“An issue of NATO admission is not on the agenda of the republic’s
foreign policy,” Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan has said at
a meeting with Iranian ambassador to Armenia Ali Reza Haqiqian.

The Armenian defence minister’s press secretary, Col Seyran
Shakhsuvaryan, has told Mediamax news agency that “Serzh Sarkisyan
said this commenting on Armenia’s intention to sign the Individual
Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO”.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the issues related to the
Armenian defence minister’s forthcoming visit to Tehran, the problems
of regional security and the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict.

The Iranian ambassador suggested to open the Persian language courses
in the Vazgen Sarkisyan Military Institute. Serzh Sarkisyan welcomed
this proposal saying that the military institute could be the second
centre for deepening study of the Persian language in Armenia after
Yerevan State University.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Reuters
Dec 3 2004

The Caucasus at a Crossroads
03 Dec 2004 14:34:00 GMT

Source: NGO latest
Elaine Baker

Oxfam GB – UK
Website:
The Caucasus at a Crossroads

Governments across the Southern Caucasus must take firm steps towards
improving the lives of poor people in the region, according to the
international aid agency Oxfam.

On Monday 6 December, the organisation is launching a campaign,
called the Caucasus at a Crossroads, to mark its 10th anniversary of
working in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

The campaign aims to highlight the needs for governments to work with
civil-society organisations and the international community to help
tackle poverty levels of more than 50 per cent in Armenia, Georgia
and Azerbaijan.

In 2000, the three countries signed up to the United Nations’
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – international targets for
reducing global poverty by the year 2015. The aid agency says that
now is a crucial moment for governments across the region to take
action in order for the delivery of the MDGs by the 2015 deadline.

Oxfam is organising a top-level conference to look at the future of
the Southern Caucasus. The event, to be held on 6 December, will be
opened by the Georgian First Lady Sandra Roelofs, at the Marriott
Hotel, in Tblisi.

Representatives from the three governments as well as members of
civil society organisations will be attending the event, due to take
place at the Marriott Hotel, in Tblisi.

Regional Director for the Commonwealth of Independent States Adam
Leach says: `The people of the Southern Caucasus are coming to a
Crossroads and a moment for choices.

`Thirteen years after gaining independence from the Soviet Union,
nearly half of the population of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia is
still living below national poverty lines but the clock is now
ticking in the race to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by
2015.

`Oxfam is calling on national governments, the international
community, and civil-society organisations to work together to make
the best decisions and choices in order to improve the lives of poor
and vulnerable people in the region.’

Oxfam has been working in the Southern Caucasus for 10 years, helping
provide basic primary healthcare to poor people in rural areas and
also improve economic opportunities for poor people by helping them
set up their own businesses. The organisation also works with local
organisations to monitor government spending and make institutions
more accountable.

The aid agency is marking its anniversary by holding a string of
events across the Southern Caucasus looking forward to the next 10
years and the achievement of the United Nations MDGs.

Notes to editors:

1. For more information about the Caucasus at a Crossroads campaign
or if you would like to register to attend the conference on December
6 call 00 995 32 252 881 (Oxfam Georgia office) or call Media Officer
Zahra Akkerhuys on +44 7974 313566.

2. Oxfam’s new briefing note, called Taking Stock for the Future: the
southern Caucasus at a Crossroads, is available (embargoed until
00:01am UK-time, on December 6).

3. Video News Releases in Armenian, Azeri and Georgian are available
with footage of Oxfam programmes in each of the three countries.

4. Oxfam’s Regional Director for the Commonwealth of Independent
States Adam Leach will be available for interview at the conference.
Interview times will be arranged on the day.

5. Also available for interview will be Oxfam’s Georgian Country
Programme Managers Keti Getiashvili; Azeri Country Programme Manager
Shovcat Alizadeh; and Armenian Country Programme Manager Margarita
Hakobyan.

6. Oxfam’s partners in the Southern Caucasus include:

Armenia: Future Generation; Kamk and Korov; Bridge of Hope; NGO’s
Union of Shirak region; Support to Communities; Hask-96; Kapan
Entrepreneurship Development Centre; Economic Development Research
Centre; Institute of Democracy and Human Rights; Fund Against
Violation of Law; Centre for Regional Development/ Transparency
International Armenia; Democracy Today.

Azerbaijan: Aran; Expert Economic Magazine; Analytic Information and
Research Centre; Blind People’s Association; Healthy World; Finance
for Development.

Georgia: Small Business Development Foundation; Green Alternative;
Strategic Research Institute; Association of Young Economists of
Georgia; Sakhli; Georgian Health Law and Bioethics society; Civil
Society Institute; Grassroots Support Centre; The Welfare Foundation;
International Telecommunications and Information Centre; Georgian
Association of Young Lawyers; Association of Disabled Women and
Mothers of Disabled Children.

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not
of Reuters. ]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Dec 3 2004

PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN ILHAM ALIYEV RECEIVES DIRECTOR OF CENTER FOR
HIGH DEFENSE STUDIES (CASD) PIETRO ERCOLE AGO
[December 03, 2004, 21:39:57]

President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev has received at the
Presidential Palace the director of the Center for High Defense
Studies (CASD) of the Republic of Italy, ambassador Pietro Ercole
Ago, December 3.

Warmly having welcomed the visitor, the Head of State has noted that
is pleased to see again him in Azerbaijan.

Having expressed to President Ilham Aliyev deep gratitude for warm
reception, the visitor has noted that the purpose of his visit
consists in carrying out in the country of seminars, and various
discussions connected to local conflicts. Mr. Pietro Ercole Ago has
emphasized that as the head of Ago Group of Committee of Ministers of
the Council of Europe directly watches process of the negotiations
carried out in the field of settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorny Karabakh conflict, and wishes quick peace settlement of the
said problem.

Then, informing the President of Azerbaijan about activity of
structure supervised by him, he informed that the Center being a
higher educational institution of the Armed Forces of Italy is
engaged in preparation of the local personnel in the field of policy
in military sphere. The Center carries out worldwide together with
the international organizations of conference, seminars, on these
actions are discussed ways of settlement of local conflicts. In this
context, the major task, Mr. Ago said, is settlement of one of the
heaviest for Southern Caucasus problems – the Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorny Karabakh conflict. Mr. Ago has noted that the Center
supervised by him aims at studying the questions connected to the
settlement of the mentioned conflict, and wishes to promote process
of settlement.

The Head of Azerbaijan State has regarded carrying out of any
discussions, seminars directed on the resolution to conflicts, as a
positive fact. President Ilham Aliyev has recollected the meetings,
which have been carried out with Pietro Ercole Ago when he was the
head of group. Informing the visitor in connection with settlement of
the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict, President of
Azerbaijan has touched the position of Azerbaijan and has once again
emphasized, that due to carried out successful internal and foreign
policy the authority of Azerbaijan has increased, its position has
become stronger. The efforts directed on the resolution of conflict
by negotiations within the framework of norms and principles of
international law, territorial integrity of Azerbaijan also continue.
Having noted that alternatives to this are not present, President
Ilham Aliyev has stated that only destructive position of Armenia
impedes settlement of the conflict.

Pietro Ercole Ago has expressed to the President of Azerbaijan
gratitude for a resolute and concrete statement of the position and
has assured him that the resolution of conflict would constantly be
in the center of attention of the structure supervised by him.

Head of the foreign relations department of President Administration
Novruz Mammadov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
Italy to Azerbaijan Margarita Kosta attended the reception.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Messenger, Georgia
Dec 3 2004

Stronger economy may lead to reintegration
Italian analyst hopes that stronger Georgian economy will facilitate
peaceful resolution of conflicts
By Keti Sikharulidze

Political Advisor to the Italian Center for High Defense (CASD),
Pietro Ecole Ago, was in Georgia on December 1-2 to study the
situation in Georgia’s frozen conflict zones in preparation for a
round table seminar on frozen conflicts in the territories of the
former Soviet Union to be held by CASD’s diplomatic committee in Rome
in January.

Speaking at a press conference on December 2, Ago stressed the need
for a peaceful resolution of the conflicts, and his belief that this
could be brought about by strengthening the Georgian economy.

This was Ago’s fifth visit to Georgia, and his fourth since the Rose
Revolution, and he stressed the changes he has seen during the past
year. “There have been lots of changes of course. There have been
good changes from the economic side, but they must intensify the
reorganization of the economy and should cooperate with international
economic organizations in order to strengthen the economy, because
this will also affect the separatist regions.”

He described those regions as among Georgia’s poorest and expressed
his hope that spreading economic prosperity will help strengthen
relations with the separatist regions in a peaceful manner.

Ago stressed that he supports only the peaceful resolution of the
conflict. “We should push settlement through as soon as possible
because conflict resolution is very important for the development of
the region, but from the international point of view, the settlement
of the conflict must be peaceful.”

Ago noted the role played by Russia in the zones of conflict, and
said that official Russia has formally always maintained that these
territories belong to Georgia and admitted the territorial integrity
of Georgia, and said that a solution must be found which satisfies
both reintegration and the desires of the local populations of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia.

“It is very important for Russia to retain this official position,
because Russian has Chechnya, which is their territory, and if they
annex Abkhazia then how could they explain their position on
Chechnya? We hope that the electoral revolution in Abkhazia will open
a greater possibility of discussion of this problem,” stated Ago.

While in Georgia, Ago met with Minster for Conflict Resolution Goga
Khaindrava, Minister of Defense Giorgi Baramidze, and Gocha
Lortkipanidze from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as
parliamentarians and representatives of the OSCE.

Ago visited not only South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but also frozen
conflict zones in other post-Soviet countries, including neighboring
Armenia and Azerbaijan. He will present his findings at the CASD
seminar in January.

He told The Messenger that the seminar would be attended by embassies
of several countries, although they would not formally participate in
it.

“They will be able to ask questions, but they will not debate the
questions. Only Italian politicians and journalists will debate the
questions that will be asked there,” Ago stated.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Messenger, Georgia
Dec 3 2004

Aliev’s accuses Armenia of stymieing negotiations

According to the Azeri newspaper 525 Gazeta, during a visit by the
OSCE’s special representative on the Karabakh conflict Goran
Lennmarker, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev stated that despite
negotiations between leaders of the two countries, attempts to settle
the Karabakh conflict still have no results. Aliev blamed Armenia for
not taking serious steps to solve the conflict and for repeatedly
trying to postpone talks.

“The Azeri side wants the quickest possible settlement of this issue
through peaceful means, however, the conflict can be solved only
adhering to international standards, on the basis of the principles
of territorial integrity and the inviolability of countries’
borders,” Aliev stressed, adding that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
will still be resolved in the near future.

Aliev welcomed the involvement of the Council of Europe and other
international organizations in the settlement of the conflict.
Simultaneously, Aliev said that the OSCE’s Minsk group has the
mandate to settle this problem and he expressed his hope that the
Minsk Group will become more active in this direction.

On his part, Goran Lennmarker said that after meeting with many
people in Karabakh as well as with the people of other occupied
regions of Azerbaijan, he is sure that this conflict will be solved
in the near future by all means. He thinks that the international
community and organizations should strengthen their attention so to
resolve the conflict peacefully as soon as possible.

Aliev also met with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers.
According to Aliev, his government is doing its best to completely
close refugee and IDP camps and locate new homes for them. Aliev
stressed that this issue is a humanitarian crisis that has serious
economic and social consequences.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian court considers sending contingent to Iraq

.c The Associated Press

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – Armenia’s Constitutional Court has begun
considering the president’s plan to send non-combat troops to Iraq, an
initiative that has been sharply criticized by the opposition groups
in the Caucasus Mountain nation.

The court opened a session to consider the request Tuesday, but
adjourned almost immediately because Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian,
who was to speak in favor of the plan, could not attend. He was
hosting security talks with officials from other former Soviet
republics.

President Robert Kocharian pledged 50 troops in September, but the
decision requires the approval of the Constitutional Court and the
parliament. The troops include bomb disposal experts, doctors and
transport specialists.

Last week, opposition parties said they would interrupt their boycott
of parliamentary sessions to oppose sending the troops in parliament,
arguing the move would endanger the 25,000-strong Armenian community
in Iraq.

The leader of a pro-government faction in parliament also expressed
opposition to the proposal last week, saying it would not be backed by
the Armenian people. Kocharian has sought to portray the decision to
send troops to Iraq as a way to boost ties with Europe.

12/02/04 01:09 EST

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Dec 2 2004

OSCE expert group may be set up to disclose Armenians’ illegal
settlement

Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Deputy Araz Azimov held a
private meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Steven Mann, Yuri
Merzlyakov and Henry Jacolin in New York last Wednesday.

The present-day situation with the talks on the settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh was in focus of the
meeting.
The Azerbaijani side expressed concerns over the settlement of
Armenians in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan. 13,000 Armenians have
been settled in the Lachin District alone, Minister Mammadyarov said.

“Armenia is violating relevant resolutions adopted by the UN Security
Council and international humanitarian laws and jeopardizes the
OSCE-mediated peace talks.”
The Minister said that an independent expert group should be set up
within the OSCE to disclose the facts related to Armenia’s policy of
settlement in the occupied Azeri lands.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 2 2004

Slovakian parliament recognizes `Armenian genocide’

The Slovakian parliament in its meeting on November 30 adopted a
decision to recognize the `Armenian genocide’, Armenian news agencies
reported on Wednesday.
The issue was approved by 69 votes and with one parliament member
abstaining, according to the reports.
The Armenian society in Slovakia stated in October that the country’s
parliament Speaker Pavol Hrusovsky is preparing a report on rejecting
Turkey’s admission to the European Union (EU).
In his report the Slovakian Speaker will urge all EU legislative
bodies to put pressure on Turkey to recognize the `Armenian
genocide’.*

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress