Author: Antonian Lara

Journal of Turkish Weekly
July 8 2006

New Allies?: Iran-Armenia ink 7 Aggrements Print

Saturday , 08 July 2006

* Armenia and Iran close each other. Both states signed many
aggrements last week. Iran is the only neigbouring country that
Armenia has good relations. Ironically Armenia seeks to develop its
relations with the US as well."

* Within Armenian President Robert Kocharyan’s official visit to
Iran, the two countries signed 7 documents.

* The sides also signed documents on funding construction of power
mains between Iran and Armenia

TEHRAN – Iranian and Armenian officials signed up seven Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) in the fields of energy, economic and industrial
infrastructures, legal and cultural heritage cooperation, Iranian
news agency IRNA reported.

The MoUs were signed by officials in the presence of President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian.

For one document, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his
Armenian counterpart Vartan Oskanian signed an MoU concerning Iran’s
development aids in the field of industrial and economic
infrastructure for Armenia.

In another MoU, Energy Minister Parviz Fattah and Armen Movsisyan
signed a cooperation agreement in the field of energy.

The two countries agreed in another document to cooperate in the
field of legal issues.

Iran’s Justice Minister Jamal Karimi-rad and Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian inked an agreement about extraditing
criminals.

Dissemination of information in the field of cultural heritage was
another MoU signed up by officials from Iran’s Cultural Heritage
Organization and Armenian Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs.

Also agreement about financing electricity power line project was
signed.

In the last MoU, the two countries agreed on the implementing program
of the third electricity power line between Iran and Armenia.

Armenia is located in the Caucasus region and borders with Georgia in
the north, Azerbaijan east, Turkey west and Iran south and it does
not have access to the open sea.

Armenia does not have any oil or gas resources, but has rich mines of
gold, copper, zinc and lead.

The country achieved its independence on September 21, 1991 from the
former Soviet Union. Armenian forces occupied about 20 percent of
neigbouring Azerbaijan. Ironically ‘Islamic’ Iran did not support
Azerbaijan but ‘Christian’ Armenia. Iran has currently good relations
with Armenia though the relations with Azerbijan is not at the level
of as expected. Armenia has serious problems with Azerbaijan, Georgia
and Turkey.

JTW and News agencies
8 July 2006

STATEMENT BY OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS SPARKS DEBATE IN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN
By Taleh Ziyadov

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
July 7 2006

Friday, July 7, 2006

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian
Affairs Matthew Bryza On June 22, during a meeting of the OSCE
Permanent Council in Vienna, the Minsk Group co-chairs announced
the main principles of the Karabakh peace process. The accompanying
statement described these principles as "a set of core principles that
[the co-chairs] believe are fair, balanced, workable, and that could
pave the way for the two sides to draft a far-reaching settlement
agreement" (Regnum, June 29).

The same day, the newly appointed U.S. co-chair, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza,
gave an interview to RFE/RL. In the interview, Bryza elaborated on
these principles, which have emerged over the last two years.

The decision to go public about the details of the peace talks
sparked debates in both Armenia and Azerbaijan. While some of the
topics discussed during the negotiations had been leaked to the
media in Armenia and Azerbaijan, this was the first time that the
OSCE Minsk group co-chairs publicly confirmed the basic principles
of the current negotiations.

In his interview, Bryza said, "It’s really up to the presidents now
to decide whether or not they want to take the politically difficult
and challenging decisions…We want [the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan] to demonstrate that they really do have the political
will to take these next difficult steps" (RFE/RL, June 23).

The OSCE Minsk Group proposal suggests a gradual pull out of Armenian
troops from the occupied districts of Azerbaijan surrounding Karabakh
region accompanied with "special modalities for Kelbajar and Lachin
districts," the demilitarization of these territories, the return of
internally displaced persons, deployment of peacekeeping forces to the
conflict zone, reopening the communication links between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, and "a referendum or population vote — at a date and in a
manner to be decided through further negotiations — to determine the
final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh" (OSCE Press Release, July 3).

Officials in Armenia and Azerbaijan were quick to react to the OSCE
statement and tried to use it to their advantage.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry issued a press release stating,
"The co-chairs have only partially revealed the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict resolution principles; they have left out references to a
corridor linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, and issues relating
to Nagorno-Karabakh’s status before a referendum" (Panarmenian.net,
June 27).

The statement also declared, "Those items over which the presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan continue to disagree do not include a
referendum. That concept has been agreed to by the presidents"
(Panarmenian.net, June 27).

Meanwhile in Azerbaijan, Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov noted,
"It is incorrect to make statements half-way through the peace process,
as it may cause confusion. As seen, the opposite side has already
tried to make use of such statements" (Trend, July 3).

Azimov "unequivocally dismissed statements that the [Azerbaijani]
government had agreed to a referendum to be held in [Karabakh] in the
future." He added that there could be only a nationwide referendum
that would include not only the Karabakh region, but also the whole
of Azerbaijan (AzerNews, July 6).

"The Azerbaijani leadership will never step back from its position
on the referendum issue. Any speculation to that end is false,"
concluded Azimov (AzerNews, July 6).

Yet, despite the diplomatic disagreement, the foreign ministers of
Armenia and Azerbaijan expressed their countries’ readiness to continue
the negotiations (Panarmenian.net, June 28; Today.az, June 27).

There is still room for maneuvering and creativity with respect to
the principles currently under discussion. However, the task of the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, as well as for the presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan, is extremely difficult, given the fact that they will
have to find a compromise solution to issues that are interlinked.

Without an agreement on the final status of Karabakh, Yerevan will
be reluctant to pull its troops out of the occupied districts around
the enclave, particularly from Kalbajar and Lachin. Baku, however,
will insist on the return of all seven districts around Karabakh and
reject calls for an explicit referendum within the region.

Starting from September, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will try to
expedite the peace process in hope that the presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan could at least agree on the main principles of the
settlement. If the parties fail to do so, the conflict will likely
re-freeze for another three years. During this period, there will be
a series of elections in both Armenia and Azerbaijan, and both states
will try to change the political and military balance of power in
the region to their favor.

PROSECUTORS CLASSIFY ATTACKS IN MOSCOW AS HATE CRIMES
By Anton Troianovski

Concord Monitor, NH
July 4 2006

Stabbings Initially Were Labeled ‘Hooliganism’

Prosecutors in Russia said yesterday that they are investigating the
weekend stabbings of five ethnic minorities as hate crimes.

Four ethnic Armenians and one Azerbaijani were attacked by about
15 assailants at a subway station Saturday, said Sergei Marchenko,
a spokesman for the Moscow prosecutor’s office. The office initially
said only two people were hurt in the attack and that it was being
investigated as "hooliganism," not a hate crime.

Russia has seen a wave of hate crimes in recent years, with hundreds
of attacks reported, including many on dark-skinned immigrants from
former Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus Mountains region.

Rights activists say hate groups are emboldened by authorities’ mild
approach to prosecuting hate crimes, with neo-Nazi and extremist
literature sold freely.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian condemned the attacks
and urged Russia to do more to head off a rising tide of violent
xenophobia.

"This is a widespread and continuing phenomenon in Russia,"Oskanian
said. "The Russian authorities need to take serious steps to thwart it,
otherwise such incidents will be a serious threat to Russia itself."

Meanwhile, three suspects in the Saturday stabbing of a Kazakh
citizen were arrested for a racially motivated crime, the Interfax
news agency reported.

Also Saturday, two Uzbek citizens were hospitalized with multiple
stab wounds after being attacked in southwest Moscow, Interfax said.

Alexander Brod, who heads the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, said
the surge in attacks might be tied to two high-profile conferences
that opened in the capital yesterday before a summit of the Group of
Eight major industrialized nations that begins next week in St.
Petersburg.

"On the eve of two such important events, it’s quite possible that
Moscow’s nationalist radicals demonstrated their aggressiveness to
announce their presence," Brod said.

Interfax quoted an Armenian community leader, Ara Abramian, as saying
the attacks were "a direct provocation before the G-8 meeting,"
and sharply criticized Moscow law enforcement for failing to prevent
such assaults.

"I can’t understand how big groups of skinheads can walk around the
Moscow metro and freely attack people with (knives) in the center of
Moscow in broad daylight," he said.

AMERICAN CO-CHAIR OF OSCE MG TO PAY VISIT TO TURKEY
Author: E.Huseynov

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 4 2006

The date of the visit of American co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Matthew
Bryza to the region of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict hasn’t been defined
yet, the head of the press-service of the USA Embassy in Azerbaijan
Jonathan Henik told Trend.

Bryza is planning to visit the region in the person of the new USA
co-chair, but the date of the visit hasn’t been announced yet.

Besides, Henik stressed that Bryza is expected to participate in the
opening ceremony of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The ceremony will
be held on July 12-13 in Istanbul and Adana.

According to information of diplomatic sources, during his first visit
in the person of co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group, Bryza will visit to
Azerbaijan and Armenia where he will hold talks with the heads of
the two countries.

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS ISSUE ANOTHER STATEMENT

ArmRadio.am
04.07.2006 18:05

"OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs continue to believe that the suggestions
developed during the last two years of negotiations provide the
best opportunity to reach a fair and long-term settlement," says the
statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, issued July 3.

Once again presenting the principles mentioned in the report
introduced to the OSCE Permanent Council, the mediators express the
confidence that "time has come that taking these principles as a basis,
Presidents of the two countries should aspire to achieve progress in
the settlement process." "In case the Presidents show willingness,
the Co-Chairs are ready to assist the parties in concluding a treaty,"
the statement says.

"Although no meetings of the parties with mediation of the Co-Chairs
are envisaged, they are ready to engage in the matter again if the
parties decide to continue the talks with the political will, which
was missing up to now," the Co-Chairs mention.

JINR DIRECTOR ALEXEY SISAKYAN AWARDED MEMORIAL GOLD MEDAL OF YEREVAN STATE UNIVERSITY

ArmRadio.am
03.07.2006 16:40

Memorial gold medal of the Yerevan State University was awarded
today to Director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR),
correspondent-member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor
Alexey Sisakyan during the scientific conference dedicated to the
100th anniversary of establishment of the Institute.

During the 12th scientific conference that on the "Methods of
Symmetry in Physics" that started today in Yerevan Professor Sisakyan
delivered a report on "JINR yesterday, today and tomorrow," turning
to the preconditions and history of establishment of the Institute,
reminding that Alikhanyan brothers had particularly great contribution
in founding it.

In his words, the Institute has great authority in the scientific
word. 18 countries are member to the organization, including Armenia,
Belarus, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Korea. "For 50
years the Institute has been a bridge between the East and the West,
promoting the development of international scientific and technical
cooperation," he said, adding that the Institute cooperates with
about 700 research centers from 60 countries of the world.

It should be noted that more than 40 scientists from different
countries of the world are participating in the seven-day scientific
conference in Yerevan.

MINORITIES STABBED OVER WEEKEND

The Moscow Times, Russia
July 3 2006

Assailants stabbed two ethnic Armenian students, a Kazakh student
and two Uzbeks in three separate incidents in Moscow over the weekend.

It was unclear whether any of the attacks would be classified as hate
crimes or were at all connected. But they all occurred amid growing
fears of racism and xenophobia and a sharp uptick in skinhead activity
in Russia.

Two Armenian teenagers were stabbed during a fight on the platform
of the Kuznetsky Most metro station around 5 p.m. Saturday, Interfax
reported. The two were hospitalized with various stab wounds; the
attackers fled the scene.

The attack was being investigated as hooliganism, city prosecutors’
spokesman Sergei Marchenko said.

Meanwhile, a Kazakh man studying at Moscow’s Military Engineering
Academy was attacked by a group of 10 teenagers, including four women,
Interfax said. He was also hospitalized and was reportedly in stable
condition.

Also Saturday, two Uzbek citizens were hospitalized with multiple stab
wounds after being attacked in southwestern Moscow, Interfax said. The
two were hospitalized in serious condition, police officials said.

PRESS RELEASE
American University of Armenia
300 Lakeside Drive, 5th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Contact: Maggie Mead
Tel: 510-987-9125
Fax: 510-208-3576
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

WebFeat & American University of Armenia Launch First Demonstration of
Federated Search Services in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Yerevan- The first demonstration of a customized federated search service in
the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an alliance of 11 former
Soviet Republics, has been launched by WebFeat, developer of the WEBFEATT
and WebFeat ExpressT Search Prisms, and the Papazian Library at the American
University of Armenia (AUA). Library users can now simultaneously search
the Library’s catalog and selected popular databases from a quick search
box.

WebFeat is used by over 5,000 leading public, academic, government, ‘Global
1000’ libraries, and information centers-including over half of the 20
largest U.S. public libraries, 9 statewide library systems, and one out of
every 10 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions.

"WebFeat is pleased to team with the American University of Armenia (AUA)
and SEFLIN, the Southeast Florida Library Information Network, to
demonstrate federated search services for the AUA community. (SEFLIN is a
membership organization of libraries dedicated to working cooperatively to
advance library services). WebFeat is used by over 5,000 leading libraries
and we are delighted to contribute our services to this demonstration
project at the Papazian Library," stated Todd Miller, President of WebFeat.

"We are grateful to Todd Miller, Founder & CEO WebFeat, and to SEFLIN, the
Southeast Florida Library Information Network, for partnering with the
American University of Armenia (AUA) in providing this valuable service,"
stated Satenik Avakian, AUA Library Director. "WebFeat enables patrons to
search the online database resources and the library catalog simultaneously
with a single search interface," said Avakian.

"WebFeat has already become an indispensable topic-oriented tool for AUA
students. "It provides us with a unique opportunity to search the library’s
entire collection alongside many other articles and catalogs in a very
organized manner" says Lena Hovivyan, 2nd year student in the AUA Political
Science and International Relations graduate program.

"Through the generous support of Todd Miller and WebFeat, federated search
services are being demonstrated for the first time in Armenia and the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)," said Tom Sloan, SEFLIN Executive
Director. "We are pleased to have brought these partners together and
congratulate WebFeat and the American University of Armenia in demonstrating
innovative technology to search digital content," stated Sloan.

**************************************** **********

AUA’s Papazian Library currently holds 30,000 volumes and serves over 10,000
library patrons. What began as a single library facility has now evolved to
include the Legal Research Center and the Krikor Soghikian Public Health
Reference Room.The Library’s WebFeat search service is located at

The Standard, Kenya
June 30 2006

Raila and Nyong’o demand minister’s sacking

By David Ohito

Legislators Raila Odinga and Anyang’ Nyong’o have challenged the
Government to sack Cabinet ministers John Michuki and Gideon
Konchella over their roles in the Armenian brothers saga.

Raila said the Government would only redeem itself and prove it was
genuine in its investigations by sacking the ministers mentioned in
the saga. He said Kenyans had lost confidence in the ministers.

Said Nyong’o: "It confirms President Kibaki’s government needs an
external force to keep it in power, having lost the political support
of the people of Kenya".

Michuki is the Internal Security minister and Konchella is his
Immigration counterpart. Raila, who is Lang’ata MP, said when he
raised the flag on the bogus Artur Margaryan and Artur Sargasyan,
Michuki accused him of being a self-seeker who wanted political
mileage out of the saga.

"Michuki and Konchella have no business holding ministerial positions
after protecting criminals and aiding them in their activities, they
should have quit long ago," said Raila.

Criminal record

"Michuki defended the Arturs as investors and asked me to keep off.
Now the truth is coming out and the Government is merely engaging in
a public relations exercise to blackmail Kenyans," added Raila.

He wondered why the Government had decided to investigate the saga
long after Interpol informed it that Margaryan had a criminal record.

"The brothers committed crimes and breached security at the Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport, but they were still escorted by
Government details. What moral authority do they have to investigate
the Armenians?" he asked.

He said the duo should have been put on the dock to face criminal
charges in Kenya before being deported. The MPs were attending an
education conference in Kisumu.

Raila challenged Michuki and Konchella to resign to pave way for
investigations.

"The Government is on a desperate cosmetic attempt to clean itself
from the revelations that the brothers were criminals," Raila said.

SECESSIONIST CONFLICTS DISCUSSED AT G8 MINISTERIAL

Civil Georgia, Georgia
June 29 2006

After discussing global and regional issues of top priorities, Foreign
Ministers from the G8 member states discussed Abkhaz, South Ossetian
and Transdnestrian conflicts at the summit in Moscow on June 29, the
Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued after the meeting.

After listing issues put into the agenda of the session (Iran; fight
against terrorism and drug trafficking; Middle East; western Balkans;
Korean peninsula; boosting efforts for maintaining peace in Africa;
cooperating in stabilization and rehabilitation; Iraq; Afghanistan;
Sudan; Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process; North Uganda; Haiti; East
Timor) the statement notes that "discussions also took place in regard
of situation in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transdnestria and Belarus,
which were pushed by some Ministers."