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ArmenPress
Sept 20 2004

PRIME MINISTER ANDRANIK MARGARIAN’S ADDRESS ON THE OCCASION OF
INDEPENDENCE DAY

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS: Armenian prime minister
Andranik Margarian addressed today a complimentary message to his
country fellows on the occasion of Independence Day, marked on
September 21. It runs as follows:
“Dear country fellows, I extend my congratulations to you on the
occasion of Armenia’s Independence Day. After making their choice
thirteen years ago our people set to the devoted work of building and
strengthening an independent and democratic state. The road to it was
not easy and at different periods we faced numerous difficulties,
which are not few now, but our unbending will and the ability to
unite our efforts at crucial times for solving out national problems,
and the desire to live freely in our homeland have helped us to
surmount them. The civilized nations are faced today by new
challenges in the restless world, which threaten to escalate further
the situation, to stir up new clashes among nations and states. By
showing our intolerance towards such phenomena and in close
cooperation with all interested nations we have to be at the same
time as prudent as possible to keep our newly independent state
immune from such dangers.
I am confident that by joining our efforts in Armenia, Nagorno
Karabagh and Diaspora we shall be able to withstand all ordeals and
challenges. By strengthening our state we pay respect to our
dedicated heroes, who sacrificed their lives to pave the way for our
independence.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanArmenian News
Sept 20 2004

HEIKKI TALVITIE DISCUSSED KARABAKH SETTLEMENT WITH RUSSIAN DEPUTY
FOREIGN MINISTER

20.09.2004 18:25

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ First Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Valery
Loshchin received EU Special Representative to the South Caucasus
Heikki Talvitie last weekend. As the Press Service of the Russian
foreign department told Regnum news agency, in the course of the
conversation the parties exchanged views on the situation in the
South Caucasian region, specifically discussing the settlement
process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Thereupon, the parties
confirmed their devotion to development of cooperation with the
countries of the region and peaceful political resolution of
conflicts.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

UP THE MOUNT ARARAT

Azg/am
21 Sept 04

Vahagn Gurzadian and Sver Aarset Repeated the Route of Parrot and
Abovian

On August 10 two members of the British Royal Astrological
Association, Vahagn Gurzadian and Sver Aarset, climbed the Biblical
mount of Ararat. Aarset managed to reach 3.800 m whereas Gurzadian
reached the top. They repeated the scientific expedition of professor
Parrot and Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian made 175 years ago in
1829.

The Northern slope of the mount has been a closed military zone since
1920, no foreigner was permitted. But the Turkish authorities gave
permission to the Aarset-Gurzadian expedition in view of their
scientific researches.

The English scientist, Sver Aarset is a prominent specialist in the
field of modeling the dynamics of the galaxies.

Vahagn Gurzadian is professor of the University of Rome, head of the
“Cosmologia” group in the Institute of Physics in Yerevan, board
member of “Euroscience”, organization elaborating the European
science. He is an editor of the US International Journal of Modern
Physics D and the British Advances in Astronomy and Astrophysics book
series.

The scientists had some experience of mountain climbing but the idea
of Ararat expedition came to them during Aarset’s visit to Yerevan
forcooperation with Gurzadian and his group.

During our short meeting Vahagn Gurzadian shared some interesting
details of the expedition with us.

“It was not an easy journey, there were several problems mainly at the
foot of the mount not up there”.

Before climbing Ararat we were on Aragats and then we left for
Kars. When we approached Ararat, the territory facing Armenia turned
to be a military zone with lot of armors and helicopters circling
above. At first they were very suspicious about us but in a while,
after finding out who we were and what our mission was, they suggested
to stay and set off the next day.

We chose the Abovian-Parrott route because it is the most natural one
from the Armenian side. Abovian and Parrott managed to climb just
after the 3-d try because of problems with aclimization. Our second
try was successful. The night before the climb we were wondering
whether our equipments would stand the glacier. Parrott’s diary that I
had with me helped me much, we could see that we were following their
route. I left Aarset on the height of 3000 m and continued up to 4.800
m. Even the professional mountaineers don’t take the risk of climbing
so up high at one stroke because the so-called mountain sickness
starts. I felt dizzy and decided to go back. It was not an easy
decision as I was not sure to make the second try.

Next morning we set off at 4.15. On 3.800 m Aarset decided not to
continue feeling that he is holding us back. He knew that Ararat was a
special symbol for me.

I feel kind of guilty that most of my friends in Armenia didn’t have
this chance. Even if they were here no one would let them join us. I
could never imagine that the climb to Ararat would be possible only
due to my scientific activity. I am very thankful to all those
contributing to our expedition, especially to Arax Gold company.

Besides the fact that we were on Ararat I think that our materials on
ancient monuments are not less important. We took the pictures of an
Armenian church situated at the altitude of 2.100 m, an Armenian
castle and other monumentsof archeology and architecture.

On our way back through Etchmiadzin we told His Holiness Karekin II
about our journey. By the way, Parrott also visited Etchmiadzin but
before the climb, and there the Catholicos presented the 20-year-old
interpreter, Khachatur Abovian.

By Melania Badalian

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EU: Caucasus states cannot join Europe before rows settled

20.09.2004

Yerevan. (Interfax) – The South Caucasus states cannot integrate into Europe
before they resolve disputes between them, European Commission President
Romano Prodi said on Sunday.

Prodi told a news conference in Yerevan that was unclear today whether any of
the South Caucasus countries had a chance of ever becoming a full European
Union member.

But he said that six months ago he could not even dream of the possibility of
Azerbaijan, Armenia, or Georgia being invited to join the EU New Neighbours
program.

He said the extent to which the EU would carry its relations with each of the
three countries would depend on the nation’s economic and democratic
development.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian agency chides Azeri leader for going back on promises

Mediamax news agency, Yerevan
20 Sep 04

The most important event of the last week was undoubtedly NATO’s
decision to cancel the Cooperative Best Effort 2004 exercises
scheduled to be held in Azerbaijan on 14-26 September.

[Passage omitted: agency predicted this course of events]

If we trace Baku’s steps taken in January and September, it becomes
obvious that the Azerbaijani leadership acted in accord with the same
tactics – to make as much contradictory statements as possible, to
drag out time, to make promises to NATO and not to keep them. And this
testifies to an obvious lack of political will with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev who twice in the course of the year let
marginal and extremist forces to push himself around. If in this way
the Azerbaijani leader was trying to show his “closeness with the
people” he achieved the contrary effect – from now on both inside the
country and outside it he will be perceived as a leader who can be
influenced and manipulated to achieve the necessary result. Thus,
holding quite a doubtful victory in a short-term perspective, Ilham
Aliyev has lost in a long-term perspective.

[Passage omitted: chronology of events]

The inability to keep promises played a mean trick with Ilham
Aliyev. He hoped till last that NATO would resign itself to the fact
that Azerbaijan would not let the Armenian military to take part in
the exercises. Either because of the absence of political experience
or because of some other reasons, the Azerbaijani president did not
understand that one could not openly lie to NATO and US generals. The
cancellation of the exercises at the very last moment when 200
military had already arrived in Baku became a real disgrace for
Azerbaijan. And the point is not in Azerbaijan’s “defeat” or Armenia’s
“victory” – NATO took a decisive step to defend its reputation and
credibility in the first place. The Alliance could not reconcile
itself to the fact that for the first time in the 10 years’ history of
the PfP’s [Partnership for Peace] existence one of the partner-states
had twice violated the rules of the game.

[Passage omitted: background information]

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s statement in relation to the
cancellation of the exercises once more demonstrated the weakness of
Baku’s arguments: “While 20 per cent of Azerbaijani territories are
still under Armenian occupation and there are over 1m refugees and
displaced persons, the Armenian leadership pursues harsher and more
unconstructive policy. Given these conditions, the participation of
Armenian servicemen in the military exercises on the territory of the
country would be impossible for Azerbaijan,” the statement read.

First, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was pleased with the
dialogue between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, which
has been going on for several months already and on the basis of which
he held talks with his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharyan in Astana
on 15 September. So, what “harsh and unconstructive position” is the
talk about?

Second, the Azerbaijani leadership knew perfectly well that the
Armenian side was going to send its military to take part in the
Cooperative Best Effort 2004 exercises, and Azerbaijan should have
refused to host the war games if it considered as unacceptable their
presence on its territory. Third, what can be said about the visit to
Baku in 2001 by Armenian officers who took part in the planning
conference of computer training under the PfP?

Everything is quite clear – in 2001 Azerbaijan was headed not by Ilham
Aliyev but by [Ilham’s father and the late President] Heydar Aliyev
who could perfectly well define political priorities. The sooner his
son learns this, the better it will be both for Azerbaijan and the
region as a whole. But if Ilham Aliyev and his entourage are going to
continue the policy of not keeping their promises and rejecting
international commitments, this will not bode well.

Calcutta Telegraph, India
Sept 20 2004

Shakuntala misses out on a foreign groom
– Govt sits on rash of requests for trained elephants as animal count
goes up
SWATI SENGUPTA

Captive trained elephants taking tourists around a reserve forest.
File picture

Calcutta, Sept. 19: Shakuntala could have lived happily ever after
with Grandik in Armenia. But Komala will.

The six-year-old from Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary lost out to Komala
from Mysore Zoo because matchmaker Bengal took longer than the
elephants to rise from slumber.

Shakuntala is among 76 elephants bred and being reared in captivity
in the reserves of Bengal.

They are breeding fast and the government is finding it increasingly
difficult to afford so many. A forest department official said: `We
have to spend a lot of money on the elephants, and cannot use them
effectively unless they are about eight to 10 years old and around
six-foot tall. A lot of manpower is also essential to grow and train
them.’

The elephants live in Jaldapara, Buxa Tiger Reserve and Gorumara
National Park. Jhargram has two specially trained kunki elephants.
These are used for patrolling forests, taking tourists around and
capturing wild animals.

The forest department official said at least 14 out of the 76 in its
custody `can be sent elsewhere’.

But the Bengal government, which is flooded with requests from other
states and abroad to hand over some of them, is yet to take a
decision.

The official said: `Individuals are not allowed to exchange animals
against money, but governments can. The idea is to sell some of the
baby elephants and use the money for the others.’ But proposals from
several states and abroad are `pending’ with Writers’ Buildings.

The Central Zoo Authority wrote to the chief wildlife wardens of
Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Jharkhand saying
Delhi had decided to gift an elephant to Armenian President Robert
Kocharian and sought to know the possibility of `gifting a captive
born female’ between six and eight years old.

During his visit to India when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime
Minister, Kocharian had apparently discussed the possibility of
taking a female companion for Grandik, a resident male of Yerevan Zoo
in Armenia.

A senior official of the forest department said the Bengal government
had been told about the availability of such elephants in the state.
Shakuntala was named among the most eligible. `However, we did not
receive any response,’ the official said.

Komala, who is seven-and-a-half years old, would be in Armenia next
month. Bipul Chakrabarty, the scientific officer of the Central Zoo
Authority, told The Telegraph: `The Karnataka government responded
faster than Bengal, and so we are happy to send Komala to Armenia.
She will be airlifted from Bangalore by October 15.’

Four officials from the Mysore zoo – a vet, a range officer, a
supervisor and an animal keeper – will accompany Komala to her new
home and stay there for a month, by when she is expected to get
acclimatised.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Baku wants close integration with European institutions – premier
By Sevindzh Abdullayeva, Viktor Shulman

ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 17, 2004 Friday 12:21 PM Eastern Time

BAKU, September 17 — Baku wants close integration with European
institutions, Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasi-zade said at a
Friday meeting with European Commission President Romano Prodi.

Azerbaijan is the only South Caucasian country, which has repaid $57
million in EU loans in full, he said.

The European Union is implementing over 25 joint projects in
Azerbaijan, primarily in the sphere of transport, telecommunications,
energy and foods.

Azerbaijan’s affiliation to the EU Neighbors programs began a new
phase in the integration of the Transcaucasian republic with the
European political and economic space, Prodi said.

The European Commission President also met with Azerbaijani
Parliament Speaker Murtuz Aleskerov. He touched upon peace
settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh and expressed the hope that parties
to the conflict will not allow a third party to interfere with the
peacemaking process and resolve the problem unaided. He promised EU
comprehensive assistance to rehabilitation of Azerbaijan and Armenia
after the achievement of peace.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ceasefire breach by Armenians wounds Azeri soldier

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 17 2004

Ismayil Nabiyev, a soldier in the Azerbaijan Army, was wounded after
the Armenian military units located in the occupied Shykhlar village
of Aghdam District fired at the positions of the Azerbaijani military
troops in Ortagishlag village at about 18:00 on Thursday. The wounded
soldier was hospitalized in Sarijali village of Aghjabadi District.
Armenians also fired at the Gapanli village of Terter District by
machine guns on Wednesday.

The Defense Ministry has not confirmed the report yet.*

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri, Armenian presidents meet in Astana

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 17 2004

The Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents held a four-hour meeting
in Astana, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, following a trilateral meeting
attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

President Ilham Aliyev gave a positive assessment to the meeting.
“I believe that the meetings of the two countries’ foreign ministers
held on a permanent basis with participation of the (OSCE) Minsk
Group are positive.”

Aliyev admitted that the two presidents cannot say anything specific
as to what they had discussed behind closed doors.

“We always have to confine ourselves to very general phrases, and
there will be no exception today, because the process is extremely
important.”

The Armenian leader Robert Kocharian told journalists that the
presidents have clarified certain positions and standpoints.

“Now we have to take time to find out where we stand”, he said.
The process of negotiations concerning the resolution of the Upper
Garabagh conflict is “underway,” Kocharian said. He admitted, however,
that “we can’t boast of anything special.”

The Armenian President said that the two sides approach the dialogue
“with patience”.

“We are discussing complex problems that we have inherited”, he said.

Assessing the meeting as a step forward, Russian President Vladimir
Putin expressed his confidence that the two countries’ presidents
will arrive at common decision on the issue.*

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DARFUR: ACTION NOT WORDS

Azg/am
18 Sept 04

America’s declaration that genocide is taking place in Sudan has
injected fresh urgency – and controversy – into the international
debate about what the UN unhesitatingly calls the world’s worst
humanitarian crisis. It was only to be expected that the Khartoum
government would reject the charge, but there has also been a lukewarm
response elsewhere to Colin Powell’s statement to the Senate foreign
relations committee. The US secretary of state says genocide is
taking place on the basis of evidence that black African villagers
in Darfur are being targeted with the specific intent of destroying
“a group in whole or part”. Human rights organizations have welcomed
the shift. Britain’s official response is that grave crimes are
being committed by the government-backed Janjaweed Arab militias and
that the UN should mount an urgent investigation. Is this a case of
diplomatic sensibilities masking a brutal truth? Is it right to have
reservations about using the G word?

Situations previously characterized as genocide include the Turkish
massacre of 1.5 million Armenians during the first world war and,
less controversially, the Nazis’ extermination of six million Jews
in the second world war, when the term was coined from the Greek
word genos (race or tribe) with the Latin word cide (to kill). It
has been widely applied to Pol Pot’s Cambodia of the 1970s and made
bloody reappearances in Rwanda in 1994 and in the aftermath of the
wars of the Yugoslavian succession. Slobodan Milosevic, the former
Serbian president, is facing a genocide charge at the Hague war crimes
tribunal. Radislav Krstic, a Bosnian Serb general, was convicted of
genocide for his role in the Srebrenica massacre of 7,000 Muslim men
and boys.

Sudanese officials will admit to nothing more than a humanitarian
crisis created by ethnic strife and have contemptuously accused
Mr. Powell of seeking black votes in the forthcoming US presidential
election. Khartoum also argues that the intervention will undermine
delicate peace negotiations with Darfur rebel groups in Nigeria. Most
of the facts, though, are indisputable: 50,000 people have died since
February 2003 and over a million have been displaced. Aid workers
yesterday reported a new mass influx of refugees into one camp in
southern Darfur. Harrowing images have been on our TV screens for
long enough to fuel demands for something that goes beyond agonized
handwringing and ineffective quiet diplomacy

It is true that behind the debate in the US lies guilt about
the shameful failure to act when the first reports of genocide
emerged from Rwanda a decade ago. That is only natural. The genocide
characterization may also be intended to galvanise the international
community-though targeted sanctions such as an assets freeze and a
travel ban on senior Sudanese officials would be more effective than
the oil embargo currently being proposed by Washington. That is opposed
by China, an importer of Sudanese oil and a security council member,
as well as by Pakistan and Algeria. And there is the familiar dilemma
that such sanctions are a notoriously blunt instrument, as the Iraqi
experience taught. But urgent though the crisis is, Washington and
London are still not trying the sort of heavy-duty arm-twisting they
tried when seeking a second UN resolution authorizing war on Saddam.

Mr. Powell’s intervention puts the US a step ahead of the EU, which
says it wants a UN investigation. But the real question is not about
a dictionary definition of genocide. No one can claim that Sudan
is not experiencing a terrible human tragedy. As Oxfam has been
warning in appeals for help to save lives: time is short and people
are dying. Recognizing the scale of human suffering is a prerequisite
to action. Words, however resonant, are not enough.

The Guardian/UK, 11 Sept. 2004