Author: Badalian Vardan

SECOND TRAINLOAD OF EQUIPMENT LEAVES RUSSIAN GARRISON IN GEORGIA
RIA Novosti, Russia
Nov 23 2006
TBILISI, November 23 (RIA Novosti) – A second trainload of equipment
and ammunition left a Russian garrison outside the Georgian capital,
Tbilisi, on Thursday, in keeping with Russia’s commitment to withdraw
from its military bases in the post-Soviet Caucasus state by the end
of 2008.
Russia’s South Caucasus Command said the train set off from the suburb
of Vaziani at 5 a.m., and is heading for Russia through Azerbaijan.
The Vaziani garrison will be pulled out before the end of the year,
ahead of the earliest of the withdrawal deadlines for Russian forces in
the South Caucasus state, set for 2007. The defense minister decided
on an early pullout in mid-October, amid a diplomatic feud between
the former Soviet allies.
The Vaziani base had about a hundred items of equipment and 350 metric
tons of ammunition before the first consignment was withdrawn a week
ago for redeployment to a base in neighboring Armenia.
Two more consignments are slated for removal in December, with one to
be sent to Armenia, and the other to Russia. The garrison’s 387 service
personnel will leave once the equipment pullout has been completed.
Russia and Georgia have been locked in a bitter diplomatic dispute
since September, when four Russian army officers were briefly arrested
in Tbilisi on suspicion of espionage.
The move outraged Moscow, which cut transportation and postal links
with its neighbor in response, deported hundreds of Georgian migrants
and shut down Georgian-run businesses for alleged violations of
Russian law.
Georgia’s Western-leaning leadership, which seeks to join NATO, is
uneasy about Russia’s continued military presence, and has repeatedly
urged Moscow to withdraw from its Soviet-era bases.
Under a bilateral agreement signed in March 2006 and ratified by
Russia’s parliament in October, the pullout from the Russian bases in
the southern city of Akhalkalaki and in Batumi, in western Georgia, is
to be completed by October 1, 2007, and October 1, 2008, respectively.

NKR TO JOIN NEGOTIATIONS WHEN AZERBAIJAN SHOWS WILL TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICT, PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER OF NKR
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 21 2006
Matthew Bryza, Minsk Group Co-Chairman of US, will meet with Arkady
Ghoukassyan, President of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), now present
in the USA.
Ashot Ghoulyan, Speaker of the Parliament, said at the Yerevan press
conference, held on work results of the Armenian-Karabakh interstate
commission, that there are no meetings planned for Karabakh MPs,
Russian and French MG OSCE Co-Chairmen who are present in Armenia.
A. Ghoulyan was indefinite about whether NKR is satisfied with the
current results of the negotiations on the conflict solution or not.
“There is lack of information on concerning the negotiations and so
it is too yearly for conclusions”. He said that it is better to be
moderately optimistic about the coming meeting of Armenian and Azeri
Presidents. “The chances for success split 50/50”. A. Ghoulyan said
that NKR will join the negotiations process only when Azerbaijan
reveals political will to settle the conflict. Inclusion of
Stepanakert into the negotiation process will be the evidence of
the negotiations’ transition to an efficient stage. On the whole,
Nagorno-Karabakh’s participation in negotiations is not an end in
itself, as the international community has admitted that the Karabakh
conflict has three parties, he said. Speaking of the constitutional
reforms in Nagorno- Karabakh, A.Ghulyan said that the draft reforms
do not give the right to be elected president for a third term.
Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Tigran Torosyan said that the
country which is constantly coming out with militarist statements
and briskly increasing its military budget, is not at all inclined
to the conflict settlement. He added that Azerbaijan openly rejects
the agreements reached at the twosome meetings. The Speaker said
that achievement of at least small progress during the presidents’
meeting may be qualified as success. But he doesn’t consider that
the year 2006 may be crucial in the peace process. T.Torosyan added
that the final settlement of the Karabakh conflict may be achieved
only with the consent of the two countries’ parliaments and after
holding a referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh. He also noted that the next
meeting of the Armenian-Karabakh inter-parliamentary commission will
take place in Stepanakert in spring 2007.
To note, besides the Karabakh peace process, today’s session covered
also the issues of constitutional reforms in Nagorno-Karabakh and
harmonization of the two countries’ economic legislation.

AMBASSADOR OF AZERBAIJAN HAS SOME MEETINGS IN QUEBEC
AzerTag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Nov 21 2006
According to the Azerbaijan’s embassy to Canada, ambassador Fakhraddin
Gurbanov visited the Quebec and met with the executives of the Quebec’s
Ministries of International Relations, Economic Development, Innovation
and Export Trade to discuss the prospects for development of relations.
The meeting focused on the political and economic situation in
Azerbaijan and region, security issues, trade relations and investment
projects.
Ambassador told of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
and its hard consequences as well as negotiations to settle the
problem.
Later the same day, F. Gurbanov was invite to the local parliament
and introduced to MPs.

70-YEAR OLD JUMPS FROM 3 METER HEIGHT TO SAVE HIS LIFE FROM FIRE
Panorama.am
15:27 20/11/06
An emergency call was made early this morning reporting a fire at
house 75, Kond community of Yerevan. The fire has been on for some
30-40 minutes before the residents could notice it. A 70-year old has
been caught in fire and could not get out of house from the door or
window. He jumped from 3-meter high balcony saving his life and staying
without serious injuries. Houses of several resident were burnt out
when the fire service put the fire down at about 6 a.m.

RAILWAY TRAIN WITH GRTT EQT LEAVES TBILISI FOR ARMENIA
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Nov 16 2006
TBILISI, November 16 (Itar-Tass) – An ahead-of-schedule removal of
the equipment and hardware of the Tbilisi garrison of the Group of
Russian Troops in the Transcaucasus (GRTT) began Thursday, an officer
at the GRTT headquarters here has told Itar-Tass.
The officer said, “The first railway train with hardware and equipment
is heading for Armenia, to the Russian military base at Gyumri”.
Another train will go to Russia via Azerbaijan in one week’s time, on
November 23. Before the year is out, two more trainloads of hardware
and equipment of the Tbilisi garrison of the GRTT will be removed,
one to Armenia and the other one to Russia.
The timetable for the pullout of the Tbilisi garrison of the GRTT has
been fixed with the Georgian side, which, in line with the existing
accords, ensures the safety of the removal of the garrison’s hardware
and servicemen.
“A small group of GRTT staff officers will be set up to stay on in
Georgia next year as well, at the Russian military bases at Akhalkalaki
and Batumi, to finalize the bases’ removal process,” the officer said.
The earlier-than-planned pullout of the Tbilisi garrison of the GRTT,
which is being carried out by a decision of the Russian Ministry of
Defence, is to be completed before the end of this year.
In all, 100 hardware units, 350 tonnes of equipment and ammunition,
as well as 387 servicemen will be relocated.
In keeping with the Georgian-Russian accords, the Akhalkalaki base
will be closed down before October 1, 2007, and the one at Batumi
will be wound up before October 1, 2008.

AMERICAN EMBASSY IN ARMENIA TO PRESENT CARS OF “CHEVROLET” AND “LADA-NIVA” MODEL TO COUNTRY’S FRONTIER TROOPS
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 16 2006
A solemn ceremony of presentation of four cars of “Chevrolet” and nine
cars of “Lada- Niva” model to the frontier troops of RA National
Security Service will be held tomorrow in the American Embassy
in Yerevan . As ArmInfo was told in the USA Embassy in Armenia,
the Charge d’Affaires of the American diplomatic mission, Anthony
Godfrey, the deputy Director of the RA National Security Service,
Major-General Romik Haroutiunyan, the commander of Frontier Troops,
Major-General Armen Abramyan will participate in the event.

Good enough to eat: Georgia hosts international food exhibition
By Christina Tashkevich
The Messenger, Georgia
Nov 17 2006
Twenty-nine companies working in the food industry from Georgia,
Armenia, Poland and Azerbaijan gathered at the Sheraton Metekhi Palace
hotel on Thursday to display everything from pickles to beer.
The organisers of the 3rd food exhibition-the British exhibition
company ITE Group PLC and its partner in Georgia ITECA Kavkasia-stress
the importance of the event for Georgia, which has great potential
in the agricultural sector.
“The interest of foreign companies in gaining positions on the
Georgian market is not accidental. This exhibition has already become
a tradition, and seems to be the mediator in the establishment of
business contacts and in drawing investments,” the organisers said
Thursday.
The general director of Armenian company Echmiadzin Cannery, Zareh
Sargsyan, says that his company plans to gain a foothold in the
Georgian food market.
“Armenian tomato paste was famous in the Soviet Union, and we want
to refresh these memories,” he told The Messenger.
The company produces a broad range of canned products including
tomatoes, pickles, and jams and has already exported several containers
of its products for the Georgian market. It hopes to export more in
the future.
Polish company DGS, which produces various types of seals for
the food and pharmaceutical industries, is also interested in the
Georgian market. “We thought it’s an excellent chance for us to
present our products to the right market here in Georgia. You are
a very well-known producer of wine, so we are here ready to work,”
the company’s technical sales support manager Anna Napiorkowska told
the paper.
Italian company Zanetti Spa can offer Georgian customers the many
different types of cheese it produces. “We export to 50 countries,
why not to Georgia?” the company representative said.
Georgian companies at the exhibition included drinks manufacturers
Natakhtari, Bagrationi 1882 and Kazbegi.
The exhibition will last until November 18, on display are food
products, alcohol and soft drinks, ingredients and food supplements,
packaging equipment, restaurant and bar equipment.

AT THAT TIME SERGE SARGSYAN COULD NOT EVEN THINK
Lragir, Armenia
Nov 15 2006
“… I did not start considering compromise in 2001, I have been
considering it since the early 1990s. I considered compromise when
I persuaded our squads, our guys that it is necessary to destroy
a number of emplacements and the security area never intended to
enlarge the territory of Armenia and Karabakh.” This is a passage
from the address of the defense minister of Karabakh during the
hearings on the Karabakh issue at the National Assembly of Armenia,
when he answered the questions of the participants of the hearings.
Did Serge Sargsyan speak about compromise, in other words, the return
of the liberated territories in the early 90s, during the war when
battles for these territories were going on? On November 15 this
question was asked to Arkady Karapetyan, former commander of the
Karabakh war at the Hayeli Club, who was one of the persons who made
decisions on the military actions.
“If you told a soldier they were going to take something to return
later, he would not fight. He is not a fool. He lives once and he
would not want to die for something which would be returned later by
someone else. This is very simple. As to us, the leaders, the fighers,
and so on, this did not occur to anyone,” says Arkady Karapetyan. He
says the territories were liberated because they belonged to us, and
the Armenian soldiers fought with this idea in their minds, unlike
the Azerbaijanis, who started living in these teritories in the 1940s,
therefore they fled during the war because they thought this territory
did not belong to them, says the leader of the Yerkrapahs of Karabakh.
Arkady Karapetyan says he is unaware of Serge Sargsyan’s likelihood
regarding the compromise “as long ago as in the 90s”. “At that time,
they did not think about these things, they did what they were told
to do from somewhere else. Now he has started thinking in retrospect
what he was doing. At that time he could not say such a thing. At that
time he was too little to say such things,” stated Arkady Karapetyan.

‘ACCORDING TO INFORMATION WE POSSESS THE LANDS WILL BE RETURNED’
By Gohar Gevorgian
AZG Armenian Daily
16/11/2006
Command Board Members of ‘Brotherhood of Freedom Fighters’ Say
Command Board Members of “Brotherhood of Freedom Fighters” stated
yesterday that they possess information about an agreement to return
the liberated lands. “To our knowledge, everything is agreed; the
lands will be handed over. Vartan Oskanian on his part has stated for
the third time that we are ready for concessions,” Arkady Karapetian,
coordinator of the Command Board, head of Karabakh’s Yerkrapah Union,
said. The commanders pointed out that they do not agree to any kind
of concession. “In my opinion, mutual concession is that I don’t want
to attack Baku.
I am serious. That is my concession because this is my country. Many
can call me an extremist, can say that want war. No one who has
ever seen a war will want war. War is an awful thing; I have lost
my children, I know that,” Arkady Karapetian said. “The people of
Karabakh does not believe that the lands can be handed over but if such
a thing happens no one can predict what will be in Karabakh.” Moreover,
Karapetian underscored that no soldier would go to war if he knew
that the lands for which he had fought would be returned.
The Command Board Members of “Brotherhood of Freedom Fighters”
made a statement where it urged everyone to join the movement of
“Civil Disobedience.” “The memory of most of our perished brothers
is blotted out; the history of freedom fight has been falsified.
Everything has been done to break up our brotherhood.
We kept silent because we were afraid of losing our 15 years old
spiritual victory the nation has gained.
Today, the only remaining precious thing – our liberated territories –
is under danger. Let us all unite to save Armenia, to restore justice
in all spheres and not allow that the blood of our brothers be vainly
shed,” the statement reads.

TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN OPT OUT OF NATO DRILLS IN YEREVAN
AZG Armenian Daily
15/11/2006
Turkey and Azerbaijan do not take part in NATO’s Yerevan conference on
planning the Cooperative Effort-2007 drills. The aim of the drills is
the exchange of experience and disclosing common problems connected
with communications facilities. It’s planned to prepare a document
by the end of the conference on the basic principles of combining
communications facilities. 38 countries, representatives of the
NATO and the multinational peacekeeping brigade take part in the
conference. Though Turkey and Azerbaijan had agreed to participate in
the conference along with other 250 participants, they did not show up.