Author: Chavushian

Today, Azerbaijan
April 22 2006

Brenda Shaffer: “It is highly unlikely that Iran may provide
Azerbaijan with any assistance in its conflict with Armenia”

22 April 2006 [16:49] – Today.Az

The director of the Caspian Studies Program at Harvard University
Brenda Shaffer says there was a specific objective behind the recent
visit to Baku by Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Muhammad Najjar.

“The Iranians are interested in showing to the world that they have
good relations with neighbors because in the event of [US] sanctions
or military hostilities, the reaction of Iran’s neighbors will have
to be reckoned with. This, however, does not mean that the Iranian
minister has been putting any pressure on Azerbaijan,” Shaffer said.

With regard to the possibility that Azerbaijan may broker a
US-Iranian dialogue, Shaffer said it was possible, albeit not
necessary.

“The point is that Iran already has such relations with Russia and
Europe and there is no need for yet another mediator,” she said.

She said it was highly unlikely that Iran might provide Azerbaijan
with any assistance in its conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno
Karabakh.

“Iran has forged good ties with Armenia and Karabakh. When I was in
Karabakh, I saw a great number of Iranian cars there. Obviously, this
being the case, Iran would not be able to provide any assistance to
Azerbaijan,” Shaffer said.

As far as President Ilham Aliyev’s upcoming visit to the US is
concerned, the researcher said it was a major success of the
Azerbaijani diplomacy. She said it showed the geo-strategic
importance Azerbaijan represents to the USA, AssA-Irada informs.

“In the event of economic sanctions against Iran, Azerbaijan’s
borders will represent special importance to the West. Obviously the
issue will be discussed by Presidents Ilham Aliyev and George Bush.
Under such circumstances, Aliyev may well say to his US counterpart
that while Azerbaijan is actively cooperating with the West in such
important issues, Baku was also in need of the West’s cooperation in
resolving the Garabagh conflict. This meeting could produce tangible
results,” Shaffer said.

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DM OF IRAN: WE ALWAYS MAINTAINED AND WILL KEEP MAINTAINING TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN

Yerevan , April 20. ArmInfo. Iran is always ready to assist Azerbaijan
in the Karabakh conflict settlement. As the Baku “525” newspaper
informs, the Defense Minister of Iran, Major-General Mustafa Muhammed
Najar told about it during the meeting with the Azerbaijan’s DM
Safar Abiev.

“We have always maintained and will keep maintaining the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan”, Najar said. In his turn, Abiev stated that
the Karabakh conflict serves a main source of tension and a main
factor which hampers the development in the region. “The policy,
carried out by the Armenia’s authorities, will finally result in
a collapse of their country. In our opinion, Iran has to assist
Azerbaijan in the fair solution of this problem”, Abiev said.

BAKU-SHUSHA ROUTE IS ONE OF PRIORITY DIRECTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM – SENIOR OFFICIAL OF TOURISM MINISTRY ASSURES
Author: R.Abdullayev

TREND Info, Azerbaijan
April 19 2006

The Baku-Shusha route is one of priority directions for development of
tourism, the statement was sounded by Faik Gurbanov, the head of the
Division on internal tourism development of the Azerbaijani Ministry
of Culture and Tourism, at a news conference held in Baku on 19 April
in connection with the opening of 5th jubilee international exhibition
‘Tourism and Traveling’.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has defined 6 directions for
development of tourism in Azerbaijan, including the Baku-Shusha
direction.

“Upon liberation of the lands from Armenian occupation this direction
will become a priority and there no doubt in this respect,” Gurbanov
underlined. A list of historic and culture monuments located in the
occupied territory of Azerbaijan has been compiled. However, possible
destruction of part of these monuments by Armenians excites deep alarm,
he warned.

WILL THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BE TOUCHED?

Lragir.am
18 April 06

At 18 PM on April 18 the Constitutional Court of Armenia will decide
whether the government treated the residents of Buzand Street lawfully
or unlawfully. The morning sitting of the Constitutional Court, which
was the continuation of the first sitting that took place several weeks
ago, began with the final speeches of the parties. After the first
sitting the Constitutional Court studied the additional material,
for which the hearing was adjourned till April 18. The court had
apparently studied these materials deeply, for no questions were
asked to the parties. The parties did not have questions either,
therefore they started with final speeches.

Ombudsman Armen Harutiunyan, who appealed to the Constitutional Court
on the claims of the residents of Buzand Street, was the first to
speak. The ombudsman announced that the discussion of the question
and the arguments of the defendant once again confirmed his belief
that the alienation of the property of the residents of Buzand Street
by the government was unconstitutional.

“The arguments of the respondent did not shatter my belief, moreover,
made it deeper,” says the ombudsman. He says the alienation of the
property was not done out of urgent need and with sufficient reason,
which did not allow the residents to appeal against the decisions of
the government. Armen Harutiunyan thinks the alienation of property
must have statutory grounds, unlike what the government has done,
referring to Article 218 of the Civil Code – national and community
needs.

Armen Harutiunyan says this article contradicts to the Constitution
of Armenia, because it transgresses the right for property without
exclusivity. Armen Harutiunyan announced that everything should have
statutory grounds.

“There is nothing we can do for those citizens who have signed a deal,
because there was agreement. However, decisions on enforced alienation
had to have sufficient statutory ground,” says Armen Harutiunyan.

Gevorg Mheryan, the representative of the RA President in the
Constitutional Court, was brief and clear. He announced in his
final speech that the alienation of the property was lawful and did
not violate the Constitution of Armenia. The representative of the
government, Minister of Justice Davit Harutiunyan shares this point
of view. He stated that he could understand the emotional side of the
problem but he would nevertheless try to give legal explanations to
prove the lawfulness of the government’s action.

Davit Harutiunyan says there is not a single point in the RA
Constitution stating that alienation of property must be set down
in the law. The minister of justice says even the general map of the
city is sufficient reason for an enforced alienation, emanating from
the plan of development of the city.

Davit Harutiunyan wonders why Armenia should differ from all the
other countries.

“Yes, we do agree that there are shortcomings in the legislation, and
it is high time to fill in the gaps. Moreover, we even think that human
rights in Armenia must underlie laws in Armenia, but the decisions of
the government are in compliance with the laws and the Constitution,”
announced the minister of justice, adding that the Constitutional
Court might yield to the emotional side of the problem in the judgment.

The members of the Constitutional Court have already come of age,
announced the Chairman of the Constitutional Court Gagik Harutiunyan.

He said they have sufficient experience, knowledge and awareness of
the case being heard to pass an unbiased verdict. And the verdict,
longed for by the cheated residents of Buzand Street and North Avenue,
will be passed in several hours.

UN FAO TO WORK IN ARMENIA IN 2007, 2008

Armenpress
Apr 18 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) said it will continue its Assistance and Rehabilitation Program
in Armenia in 2007 and 2008. FAO Armenia Office representative,
Muzafar Chuder, said the current two-year program was to finish in the
middle of this year, but it was prolonged until the end of the year,
following which a new two-year program will be developed.

“The overall economic situation in Armenia has visibly improved, but
when we speak to individuals they say no matter how much the situation
has improved Armenia still needs humanitarian assistance,’ he said.

He said this program is supported largely by donor countries- such as
Switzerland, USA, Holland and Japan. The ongoing program that started
in 2004 has an $11 million budget to back up Food for Work and Food
for Training projects, as well as helping rural schools.

ARMENIAN TAX COLLECTION ON TRACK
By Atom Markarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep
April 18 2006

Armenian tax authorities reported on Tuesday an almost 23 percent
increase in the amount of taxes collected by them in the first
quarter of this year, putting the government on track to meet its
2006 budgetary targets.

Felix Tsolakian, head of the State Taxation Service (STS), told
President Robert Kocharian that his agency’s January-March revenues
totaled 42.3 billion drams ($94 million).

A statement by Kocharian’s office said that particularly significant
has been a rise in proceeds from the collection of corporate and
individual income taxes which have long been grossly underreported in
Armenia. It cited Tsolakian as saying that STS is currently tracking
suspected delinquent companies whose “paid taxes are not commensurate
with the scale of their activities.” No details were reported.

The Armenian customs similarly said earlier this month that it has met
its first-quarter revenue target. Both the State Customs Committee and
STS are under strong pressure to ensure the successful execution of the
government’s record-high budget for 2006 which is due to pass the $1
billion mark for the first time in Armenia’s post-Soviet history. It
calls for a 22 percent increase in the still modest public spending.

The tax and customs bodies had already boosted their revenues by 22
percent to 304 billion drams last year. The sum is worth only 14.4
percent of Armenia’s 2005 Gross Domestic Product. The proportion is
very low even by ex-Soviet standards and highlights the continuing
large scale of tax evasion in the country.

One of the ways of combating the practice was supposed to be the
mandatory declaration by state officials of their incomes and
other assets, which was introduced several years ago. According to
Tsolakian’s deputy Armen Alaverdian, as many as 49,000 of them filed
income declaration to STS before the April 15 deadline.

Alaverdian admitted that the procedure has made little difference as
many of the high-level officials grossly underreport their assets. He
complained that Armenia’s law on financial disclosure does not envisage
tough sanctions against such individuals.

The problem was also discussed during Kocharian’s meeting with
Tsolakian. The presidential statement said Kocharian stressed the
need to “further clarify mechanisms” for punishing those officials
who file false financial statements.

‘KURDS ARE FALLING INTO THE SAME TRAP ARMENIANS FELL INTO’
By Osman Asilturk, Istanbul

Zaman, Turkey
April 17 2006

The Agos daily’s Editor in Chief, Hrant Dink, said some Kurds are now
being deceived by the same Western trick that Armenians fell into in
the past.

Armenians made the mistake in the past of believing the British,
German, French, and Russians, claimed Dink, who asked the Kurds not
to believe the promises made by the US to set up a Kurdish state in
Northern Iraq.

A conference on Malatya, an eastern Turkish province, was held with
the participation of famous people from the city as part of the Malatya
Businessmen Association’s (MIAD) 3rd Intellectual Platform meeting.

Dink, noting that he is from Malatya, maintained that the Armenians
fell into a trap when they tried to get rid of the Ottoman State in
the 1915s.

“The British, French, Russians and Germans are repeating the same
game they played on this territory in the past. The Armenian people
believed in them in the past. They thought they would be rescued
them from Ottoman persecution. However, they were deceived because
the superpowers made their own calculations, they encouraged brothers
to kill each other on this territory and then left,” Dink said.

The Editor in Chief claimed that Kurds are now being deceived using
the same trick, and defended that America uses Kurds on the pretext
of establishing a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq.

“The US came in order to set up a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq”
the Armenian origin journalist said, “and we are reminded of the
games of the past that are being played out again today”.

“Political calculations and party differences must be put aside. This
is the US. It will come, deal with its own initiatives and leave as
soon as its job is over. In the aftermath, those left behind will
fight against each other,” Dink said.

PanARMENIAN.Net

NKR MOD Content with Command and Staff Exercises of Karabakh Defense
Army

15.04.2006 21:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Ministry of Defense (MOD) of Nagorno Karabakh is
content with the course of the command and staff exercises of the NKR
Defense Army. «The outcomes of the initial phase of the exercises
showed the personnel and mobilization resources are able to fulfill
their tasks at a proper level,» head of the Press Service of the NKR
MOD, lieutenant colonel Senor Hasratyan told journalists.

In his words, the exercises are held in compliance with 2006 army
training plan. «The measure aims at determining the level of combat
training of the Armed Forces when bringing them to full alertness,
enhancing control of troops and coordination of their actions in
defense and counter-attack operations,» said head of the Press Service
of the NKR MOD.

He also emphasized that during the exercise it is important to check
the readiness of the mobilization resource for additional staff within
the necessary time period, Novosti-Armenia reports.

RA CITIZENS RETURNING FATHERLAND TO BE GIVEN FREE CONSULTATION FROM NOW ON

YEREVAN, APRIL 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The Migration Agency of the RA
Ministry of Territorial Administration created a new service which
will give free consultation to RA citizens returned the Fatherland. As
Gagik Yeganian, the acting Chief of the agency informed the Noyan
Tapan correspondent, those citizens of the RA who has lived out of the
republic for few years, returning the place of permanent residence,
have problems of different characters. According to him, many of
those returned are not acquainted with changes taken place in the
country, or have distorted information. In G.Yeganian’s opinion, the
service that will function from April 17, will assist re-integration
of those returning the Fatherland.

“MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE FUND – ARMENIA” STATE NONCOMMERCIAL ORGANIZATION TO BE CREATED

Noyan Tapan
Apr 13 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 13, NOYAN TAPAN. At the April 13 sitting, the Armenian
government made a decision to create Millennium Challenge Fund –
Armenia (MCF- Armenia) state noncommercial organization and to
approve its regulations. According to the RA Government Information
and PR Department, the decision was made in compliance with the RA
Law on State Noncommercial Organizations and the requirements of the
Millennium Challenge Compact signed between the RA government and the
US (the Millennium Challenge Corporation) on March 27, 2006. Under
the decision, the main objective of MCF – Armenia activities is to
carry out work on implementation of this program. It is stipulated
that the RA Ministry of Finance and Economy is the authorized state
body to govern the organization.