Author: Emil Lazarian

SELF-DETERMINATION SET DOWN IN OSCE RESOLUTION

Lragir.am
10 July 06

Vahan Hovanisyan, Deputy Speaker of Armenia, appreciated the work
of the Armenian delegation in the session of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly in Brussels on July 3-8, reports the news agency ARKA. In
a news conference on July 10 Vahan Hovanisyan announced that the
Armenian delegation managed to have all the pro-Armenian initiatives
adopted and anti-Armenian initiatives rejected.

Vahan Hovanisyan particularly mentioned that self-determination was
included in the OSCE documents for the first time, relying on the
referendum on independence in Montenegro.

"The document adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly commended the
civilized and friendly attitude of Serbia towards the referendum on the
independence of Montenegro, it did not respond with tanks, air raids,
and armed force. We assumed it as an excellent model of indivisibility
of borders and balance of rights for self-determination," said Vahan
Hovanisyan.

According to him, this document was disapproved by the delegations of
Georgia and Azerbaijan. Vahan Hovanisyan said the outcome of voting
shows that the principle of self-determination is becoming more and
more dominant.

The head of the Armenian delegation announced that in Brussels
the Armenian delegation also managed to neutralize the proposal
of the Georgian and Azerbaijani delegations on resolving conflicts
by returning disputable areas to the countries they want to become
independent. Vahan Hovanisyan says only three countries voted for
these proposal, the authors and Turkey.

Moreover, one of the resolutions, according to Vahan Hovanisyan,
was rejected thanks to the Russian delegation. "Hence, the future
status of Kosovo may become a precedent, a new key to the resolution
of Karabakh, as well as other conflicts," says Vahan Hovanisyan.

"The second resolution was crushed by the Spanish delegation, stating
that eithnic minorities have the right to dispute over territorial
integrity and secession from a state if it does not protect the rights
of its ethnic minorities," announced Vahan Hovanisyan. He also said
that the Armenian delegation prevented the resolution which defines
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan as a perfect model of regional cooperation.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Georgian minister says Russia closed border in bid to destabilize South Ossetia

Channel 1, Tbilisi
10 Jul 06

[Presenter] After meeting an EU delegation, Minister of State Goga
Khaindrava has commented on the situation at Ergneti [checkpoint on
the South Ossetian border through which mainly Russian and Armenian
citizens have been trying to enter Georgian government-controlled
territory since Russia decided on 8 July to close the only border
crossing between the two countries recognized by Georgia]. He said that
the Russian and Ossetian sides were deliberately whipping up tension.

[Khaindrava] This is a well-thought-out plan. It is clear to everyone
that all these people will then try to come here through Roki [on the
South Ossetian section of the Georgian-Russian border]. Naturally, we
will oppose this because we cannot allow the uncontrolled crossing of
our borders by criminals of all stripes and colours. This will cause
the situation to deteriorate. That is what they have been counting on.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE COCHAIRMEN PROVOKE A WAR
By Anna Israelian

Aravot.am
08 July 06

Vahan Shirkhanian says who has filled different posts in the
governing system of Armenia till 2000, both the deputy Prime minister
and deputy Minister of Defense.

* Only suppositions and doubts in 1997-1998 that the President of
Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian can give back the regions bordering
Nagorno Karabakh cause to accuse him of "selling Karabakh" and
treason. Now the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen elucidate themselves
that Robert Kocharian has negotiated in this whole period round
giving step by step the territories back instead of some conditions,
making unclear the matter of Karabakh status. But people don’t
revolt. Which is the reason?

* We also had the whole picture of settlement in 1998 though it wasn’t
official. And the proposal was almost the same. The positive thing
was that there were positions about status, that is; wide autonomy
in the part of Azerbaijan, by their own armed forces, police, bank,
monetary unit, flag etc. The same version, which was proposed that
time and wasn’t adoptable has worsen up to the present day. Those
powers, which aimed to settle the problem not in favor of Armenia,
managed to form an authority in our country, which disparted the
society, making the part of population emigrate.

* Your accusations refer to Robert Kocharian and Serge Sargsian,
too. Whether those who came to power for settling the NK conflict
would like to settle the conflict in unprofitable way for Armenia?

* The only profitable circumstance is that Karabakh Status-quo has
been kept for 8 years. I don’t see another positive thing in their
activities. Karabakh has been emptied, the public of Armenia has
become hostile towards both the authorities and Karabakh, and the
40-50% of Armenian population has emigrated. And the worse thing
is that the interests of the outside enemies and inside authorities
are general.

* You insist that the offered proposal is almost the same what was done
in 1997. While the representatives of the authority insist that there
is a great difference; it isn’t spoken about the use of the right
of self-determination and holding a referendum in Nagorno Karabakh.

* This is simply a cynicism for naive people. What does referendum
mean even in 5 years and especially in 10-15 years if you resettle
the Azerbaijanis in Karabakh, if Azerbaijan doesn’t have a law about
holding referendum? They must adopt that law, make amendments in
the Constitution. And even if they adopt, no Armenian will remain in
Karabakh till that time, only the Azerbaijanis will remain. Should
they hold a referendum?

* If this version is so profitable for Azerbaijan why do they oppose
to this version of settlement? The Foreign Minister of Armenia and
the Press Secretary of the President stress that just Azerbaijan
has refused this and previous proposals, but our country has agreed.

* I don’t think it is so. Why must Azerbaijan refuse? Perhaps the
only reason for refusal is that peace-making powers will be settled
and a passage through Lachin will be given to Armenia, which isn’t
profitable for them and certainly they don’t want.

* There were interpretations that the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen
provoke to changeover of political powers, as it was supposed that
the declassified positions would make a noise in the counteracting
countries. But the head of the ruling majority, the RPA group
leader Galust Sahakian insists, "anyone’s declaration can’t have
its influence on our political situation. Which standpoint is more
basic for you?

* I exclude that the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen or superpowers have
aimed to realize changeover of political powers. Nobody needs in
it. They won’t have more guided authority than this is. They held
everything they needed in Armenia; a new Constitution, laws about
sects, sexual minorities, removal of death penalty etc. And they can
hold again without any difficulty. It’s another matter that Key-West,
Rambuye, Bucharest and other meetings were held, proposals were
made but they all were round a focus, round territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan.

* One of them, Mathew Brayza, speaks. After cochairmen’s declaration
that "we have got tired, decide yourself, knowing very well that
nowadays Azerbaijan is much more ready than Armenia to settle the
conflict itself. I think they provoke a war. It’s all the same;
they will settle the conflict, as it is profitable for them.

* You insist that the Armenian authorities are very profitable for
the OSCE Minsk Group. While the cochairmen also blame Robert
Kocharian for the lack of political will for signing an
agreement. Mathew Brayza considered responsible both presidents
for the failure of proposals.

* In my opinion Aliev sees another danger even in the most profitable
version of settlement. If peacemaking powers will be replaced in the
region and immigration and emigration will be realized under their
control, so he loses the possibility of personal leadership. The
authoritarian leader is afraid of that prospect. As regards the
accusations addressed to Robert Kocharian, I must remind that the
policy is a game. And such accusations are also the part of the game.

* I also should mention that it is inappropriate to turn to the
societies of both countries as presidents both in Azerbaijan and
Armenia have been elected without the participation of the society,
by the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen’s countries. And
today, they must work together with their elected presidents.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MODELLING OF A-320 CRASHED PLANE FINISHES

YEREVAN, JULY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The modelling of the flight of A-320
plane crashed on May 3 finished in the French city of Tuluz. Gagik
Galstian, Deputy Head of the Flight Security Inspection of the Civil
Aviation Chief Department, took part in them. The modelling results
will be discussed on July 10 in Sochi, at the International Aviation
Organization’s Sub-committee. Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed
about it by Gayane Davtian, Spokeswoman of RA Civil Aviation Chief
Department.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSCE PA NEWLY ELECTED CHAIRMAN EXACTLY SEES FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN
DIRECTION OF NAGORNO KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

YEREVAN, JULY 10, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Swedish deputy Goran
Lenmarker, reporter on the issue of Nagorno Karabakh, was elected new
Chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly during the secret ballot
at the OSCE PA summer session convened on July 3-7 in Brussels. 5
candidates, including Georgian Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze,
pretented to the post of the chairman. As Vahan Hovhannisian, head
of the Armenian delegation, RA NA Speaker, who was also included in
the Assembly’s electoral commission, assured at the July 10 press
conference, the elections were held "in accordance with the high
European standards, without stuffing ballot-papers, without switching
off the light and stealing the ballot-box at the end." As a result,
G.Lenmarker succeeded at the second stage. The Armenian delegation had
a short meeting with the latter, during which the further cooperation
prospects were outlined.

In response to journalists’ questions, the speaker said that the newly
appointed Assembly Chairman exactly sees the further developments in
the direction of the Nagorno Karabakh settlement and thinks that,
nevertheless, some work will be done by the end of 2006. According
to Vahan Hovhannisian, in the American, Canadian, Swedish and French
delegations they are also convinced that OSCE Minsk Group American
Co-chair Matthew Bryza with his statements makes an attempt to
"directly notify the societies and to do some spade-work among them
by evading the executive level." "At that, everybody realizes very
well, what side took a step towards concessions and what side declined
this step.

Everybody understands that Armenia shows an extremely pliable position
and Azerbaijan not," the NA Vice-Speaker assured. He also stated
that some countries’ activity in the direction of being involved
in the format of the Minsk Group Co-chairs engaged in the Nagorno
Karabakh settlement is obvious. He also sees some activity in the
issue of moving the discussion of the Nagorno Karabakh problem to
different parliamentary assemblies. As Vahan Hovhannisian assured,
involvement of new countries and new instances can prolong the process
of conflict settlement.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NKR DEFENSE MINISTER: KARABAKH SOLELY FOR PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 10 2006

STEPANAKERT, July 10. /ARKA – Novosti-Armenia/. In Stepanakert the NKR
Minster of Defense, Lieutenant-General Seyran Ohanyan told journalists
Karabakh is solely for peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

He said territories, which are under the control of Karabakh, are
not an end in itself, but serve as a security zone for safe vital
activity of the republic.

Ohanyan emphasized that issues relating to territories, as well as
quartering of peacemakers may be considered only on the last stage
of settlement of the conflict, after solution of the main problem –
legal status of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

"If the main problem is not solved, giving back territories will be
out of the question", Ohanyan stated.

Speaking of possibility of resumption of military actions in the
context of bellicose statements of the Azerbaijani President, Ohanyan
expressed an opinion that "Azerbaijan does not want to initiate a war".

He finds the bellicose rhetoric is aimed at probing into the public
opinion and has its home policy objects.

At the same time Ohanyan said the NKR Defence Army has a plan of
effective countermeasures aimed at protecting the republic, and in
case of an emergency "life will show who’s capable of what". S.P.

-0–

Those who have known genocide work to save Darfur
Published July 9, 2006

Sun-Sentinel.com, FL
July 9 2006

Fran Steinmark is used to puzzlement over her T-shirt.

The shirt reads, "Save Darfur."

"People ask me, `Is that a person in jail?’" she said. "They really
do not know."

Darfur is not a person in jail.

It is more like a country in hell.

It’s a parched section of western Sudan, about the size of Texas,
where a 3-year-old rebellion has mutated into a horrific conflict
pitting Arab Africans against black Africans.

Several hundred thousand people are dead. Some 2 million are
refugees.

It is a crisis on the periphery of the news — way down the pecking
order from Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Brad and Angelina. We’re
talking about African Muslims dying in a place with murky and
confusing politics, far away from obvious American interests.

No wonder people don’t always get the message of Steinmark’s shirt.

And yet, hearteningly, many people do understand and do share her
convictions.

"It’s genocide. Period," says Steinmark, a lawyer and artist from
Boca Raton. "And if you’re functioning as a human being in today’s
world, you cannot allow a genocide to occur in our lifetime."

Steinmark is a leader of the Save Darfur Coalition of South Palm
Beach, a year-old collection of churches, synagogues, student and
advocacy groups and plain citizens who just can’t sit by.

"The atrocities are so egregious, so horrendous: slavery, gang rape,
torture," Steinmark says. "Cruelty and violence of this magnitude
demand that we stop it — otherwise there is something fundamentally
wrong with us as human beings."

The group helped lead a drive this year to send 1 million postcards
to the White House. The cards urged President Bush to do his utmost
to support a stronger multinational force to halt the bloodshed.

Florida produced 50,000 postcards. Only California, Pennsylvania, New
York and New Jersey generated more.

A rally in April at Boca Raton’s First United Methodist Church drew
more than 700 people, an overflow house. Police had to be called to
manage the traffic.

"We wondered who was going to come," said Andrea Schuver, another
leader of the south-county coalition, "and it was a full range of
ages. Not just retirees with time on their hands. We had student
organizations from high schools and colleges — a whole cross-section
of the community."

Jewish groups make up a large segment of the coalition. The St. David
Armenian Church in Boca Raton is active, too. Jews and Armenians have
had their own tragic intimacies with genocide.

But many others in the movement are Catholic, Protestant, agnostic.

"If you’re a moral human being, you have to care about this,"
Steinmark says. "I don’t care what religion you are."

Steinmark is Jewish, born after World War II. It galls her to think
that the world stood by while the Nazis killed millions.

With Darfur, important leaders are saying the right things. Bush has
said the killings constitute genocide. UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan said it’s "the worst humanitarian crisis gripping the planet."

And yet, despite a peace treaty on paper and 7,000 monitors sent by
the African Union, the slaughter goes on.

Two weeks ago, Schuver and Steinmark went to Washington, D.C., for a
meeting of the national Darfur movement.

The first night they met some Sudanese refugees who told of losing
their homes and families.

Schuver, who also is Jewish, was reminded of her own grandparents.

How they’d lost track of European relatives after the Nazis came to
power and never heard from them again.

"When I heard someone say, `I lost 50 members from my extended
family, I have no idea where everyone is, except one sister,’ it was
just like the stories I was told," Schuver said.

The coalition’s motto speaks to this connection: "Never again means
never again for anyone."

Unfortunately, a world that was too late in discovering the
death-camp ovens has seen it happen again. In Cambodia. Bosnia.

Rwanda.

Wouldn’t it be something if citizen pressure created a better outcome
for Darfur?

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Georgian PM: "Armenia to suffer with Russia’s closure of border"

Civil Georgia, Georgia
July 9 2006

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said on July 8 that Russia
has unilaterally closed down border crossing point in Zemo Larsi
without prior notification of the Georgian side.

"Georgia actually has not been exporting to Russia anything and
Armenia will be the one which will suffer most from this decision,"
PM Nogaideli told reporters in Batumi, where he is hosting his Armenian
counterpart Andranik Margaryan.

He also said that the Armenian PM is already informed about the
Russia’s decision.

The Russian side closed the Zemo Larsi border checkpoint, citing the
necessity of carrying out repair works.

But Vasil Maglaperidze, the Governor of Mtskheta-Mtianeti region,
alleged that the decision is politically-motivated.

"Repair jobs cannot be a real reason for closing down the major
highway," he told reporters on July 8.

The Zemo Larsi is the only legally operating border checkpoint with
Russia. Two others are located in breakaway regions of South Ossetia
and Abkhazia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Paper debates pros and cons of selling Armenian-Iran gas pipeline to Russia

Ayots Ashkar, Yerevan
8 Jul 06

Excerpt from K.Beglaryan’s report by Armenian newspaper Ayots Ashkar
on 8 July headlined "What will be the destiny of the gas pipeline?"

The construction of a gas pipeline between Iran and Armenia is expected
to be finished by the end of the year. And the exploitation of it
will begin from next year, at best. We have recently noticed a flurry
of activity around this issue. It began after the deputy chairman of
Russia’s gas giant, Gazprom, Aleksandr Ryazanov, announced plans to
acquire the Iran-Armenia pipeline. This is not new. But the Armenian
party officially denies this. It is only natural that Gazprom wants
to buy the gas pipeline as it provides Armenia with gas and is a
co-owner of the local Armenian gas distribution network. Moreover, the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is of an important strategic significance. By
this, Armenia would first of all settle the problem of an alternative
gas supply route.

It is very important to our state given that the situation in the
region is unstable. On the other hand the gas pipeline has serious
prospects. In this context it seems illogical to hand over the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline to a third party taking into account the
fact that Armenia managed to get an agreement for its construction
with difficulty.

[Passage omitted: reported details on expected volume]

Russia’s interest in this gas pipeline is only natural as it is
anxious not to lose the Armenian market. Armenia is expected to barter
electricity for Iranian gas. That is to say, in this way Armenia
would settle part of its problem with the exploitation of the Armenian
energy system, the production of extra electricity and its sale. This
would give a serious boost to the energy sphere. Finally, it is not
so important whether the gas pipeline will be controlled by the state
or will be sold. In fact, not much will change because of that. The
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline should be used as effectively as possible.

Naturally, there is no sense in selling the Armenian section of that
[pipeline] to a third party.

[Passage omitted: reiterates the point]

This does not at all mean that the sale of the gas pipeline should
be completely ruled out. Armenia might have to think about its sale
if that would open up serious prospects for the country, i.e., the
gas pipeline would be turned from a local into a regional one. The
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline has such potential and it should not be lost.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Georgian, Armenian premiers discuss economic cooperation, Javakheti

Imedi TV, Tbilisi
7 Jul 06

A session of the Georgian-Armenian intergovernmental commission on
economic cooperation opened today in the office of the president’s
administration in Batumi. The session was preceded by a face-to-face
meeting between the Georgian and Armenian prime ministers [Zurab
Noghaideli and Andranik Markaryan], which lasted a few minutes.

The prime ministers discussed cooperation in the energy, tourism and
construction sectors. It was noted that a new Georgian-Armenian
university would soon open in Tbilisi. The discussion also
touched on railway projects, including the construction of the
[Baku-]Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki-Kars railway and the resumption of rail
traffic through Abkhazia.

The Armenian prime minister spoke about the situation in Javakheti
[predominantly Armenian region in southern Georgia]. He said that
the single concern of the Armenians living there was economic problems.

He expressed the hope that the Georgian government would deal with
these problems in the near future.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress