Author: Emil Lazarian

Russia, Armenia in mourning

Peninsula On-line, Qatar
May 6 2006

A young woman throws flowers into the sea during a mourning ceremony
for victims of the Airbus 320 plane crash in Adler near Russia’s
Black Sea city of Sochi.

SOCHI: As Armenia and Russia marked an official day of mourning
yesterday, grieving relatives cast flowers into the Black Sea at the
spot where an Armenian jet plunged into the waters, killing all 113
on board.

To the sound of mournful music and the boom of a fog horn, they
scattered carnations and roses over the waters six kilometres offshore
from the Russian resort of Sochi, where the Armenian Airbus A320
crashed on Wednesday.

A woman holding a photograph of two young newly-weds who died in the
crash fainted on the deck of the boat that took them to the site.
Several others also passed out.

Transport Minister Igor Levitin, who was in Sochi, said it was
essential to find the corpses of the many victims still lost in the
sea – more than half of the people on the plane. Only 50 bodies have
been recovered so far, according to the emergency situations ministry.

A first plane carrying 26 bodies arrived at the airport in the Armenian
capital, Yerevan, yesterday after an initial delay, apparently due to
a lack of coffins. “The victims’ bodies are unrecognisable, horribly
disfigured. A mother wouldn’t know her own son,” said one young man
who had returned from Sochi after failing to find his brother-in-law,
his eyes red from crying and fatigue.

Flags flew at half mast across Armenia, radio and television channels
played sad music and memorial services were held at churches across
the country.

Russian officials and members of the public also laid flowers at
the Armenian embassy in Moscow for the victims of the accident. The
crash has shocked the two countries, which have long had close ties.
Meanwhile dozens of vessels as well as helicopters continued efforts
to recover from the sea the victims’ corpses and the black box flight
recorders that might help establish why the plane crashed. Bad weather
is thought to be the cause of the crash, according to investigators.

Relatives face the grim task of identifying their dead loved ones
from photographs pinned on a hotel wall in Sochi, many of the bodies
battered and bloated from submersion in the water.

On board were 85 Armenian citizens, 26 Russians, one Georgian and
one Ukrainian, according to a list published at Yerevan airport.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN SPEAKER AT ODDS WITH GOVERNMENT OVER NATO MEMBERSHIP
Emil Danielyan 5/05/06

EurasiaNet, NY
May 5 2006

The ambitious speaker of Armenia’s parliament, Artur Baghdasarian,
has stoked geopolitical controversy in Yerevan by calling for the
country’s eventual withdrawal from the Russian-dominated Collective
Security Treaty Organization and, ultimately, its accession to NATO.

The extraordinary statements, which run counter to one of the main
tenets of Armenian foreign policy, prompted a stern rebuke from
President Robert Kocharian and his close political allies.
Baghdasarian responded by threatening to pull his Orinats Yerkir
(Country of Law) party out of Kocharian’s governing coalition.

The row is widely linked to the parliamentary and presidential
elections scheduled for 2007 and 2008. Some local observers believe
Baghdasarian is courting Western support to bolster his reputed
presidential ambitions. The controversy also provides additional
evidence that the geopolitical mood in Armenia — a country
traditionally oriented toward Russia – is slowly shifting.

The controversy began April 19, when Baghdasarian’s comments were
published by one of Germany’s most prominent daily newspapers, the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “Armenia’s future is the European
Union and NATO,” Baghdasarian said, adding that Russia “must not
stand in our way to Europe.”

Kocharian distanced himself from these remarks, saying they do not
reflect his administration’s policy. “Armenia is not planning to join
NATO,” the Golos Armenii newspaper quoted him as saying in late
April. He also reportedly demanded an “explanation” from
Baghdasarian. The criticism was echoed by the leaders of the two
other parties represented in Kocharian’s cabinet. Baghdasarian’s
comments appear to have also raised eyebrows in Moscow. Senior
Russian lawmakers reportedly raised the matter with Baghdasarian
during a meeting of a Russian-Armenian commission on
inter-parliamentary cooperation that took place in Saint Petersburg
in late April.

However, the 37-year-old speaker struck a defiant note during a
parliament session in Yerevan on May 2, asserting that NATO
membership was essential for Armenia’s “European integration.” “I see
Armenia’s future in the European Union, rather than the
Russia-Belarus union,” he said. Baghdasarian downplayed his
differences with the Armenian government’s position, but warned that
if they are deemed “serious” by Kocharian, Orinats Yerkir will not
hesitate to quit the governing coalition.

The pro-presidential coalition – comprising Orinats Yerkir, the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and Prime Minister Andranik
Markarian’s Republican Party of Armenia — has been beset by
infighting ever since the signing nearly three years ago of a
power-sharing agreement. The squabbles have, until now, centered
solely on domestic issues. But the Yerevan daily Aravot quoted on May
3 ARF leader Vahan Hovannisian as suggesting that the latest row has
exposed “disagreements of a strategic character” within the
pro-Kocharian camp.

Those disagreements may well deepen in advance of next year’s
Armenian parliamentary election. Baghdasarian effectively kicked off
his party’s election campaign in April when he publicly criticized
the Armenian government’s controversial privatization policies,
scoring points with the disgruntled electorate. Such opposition-style
tactic already helped Orinats Yerkir form the second largest faction
in parliament on the basis of the results of the May 2003 election.
The party, which now claims to be the largest in Armenia, was not
implicated in reports of serious irregularities that marred that
vote. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The Orinats Yerkir leader, who is often criticized for employing
populist tactics, is also seen as one of Kocharian’s potential
successors. The incumbent’s second and final term in office expires
in 2008. Observers say Western support would only increase
Baghdasarian’s chances of making a strong run in the next
presidential ballot.

Western policy-makers and analysts seem to be showing growing
interest in Baghdasarian, underscored by the decision by a major
European newspaper to run an extensive interview with him.
Baghdasarian’s comparative youth and stated commitment to democratic
reforms have already earned him comparisons to the revolutionary
leaders of Georgia and Ukraine, Mikheil Saakashvili and Viktor
Yushchenko respectively. Baghdasarian helped foster such an image by
traveling to Kyiv last December to deliver a passionate pro-democracy
speech during the first-anniversary celebrations of Ukraine’s Orange
Revolution. His calls for Armenian membership in NATO may thus
further boost his stock in the United States and Europe.

Those calls also reflect an ongoing broader change in the foreign
policy orientation of Armenia’s political elite, a process that seems
to have accelerated amid Yerevan’s recent gas dispute with Moscow,
and its controversial settlement. [For background see the Eurasia
Insight archive]. The idea of joining NATO, unthinkable in the past,
is increasingly embraced by the country’s mainstream opposition
groups. Some opposition leaders defended the speaker against the
recent political attacks stemming from his NATO remarks.

Even as Kocharian insists that Armenia’s military alliance with
Moscow remains the bedrock of Yerevan’s national security doctrine,
Armenian authorities are enhancing security cooperation with NATO and
the United States in particular. Armenia’s participation in the
US-led alliance’s Partnership for Peace program is currently being
significantly upgraded in accordance an “individual partnership
action plan,” or IPAP, launched last December. The IPAP calls for
sweeping political and military reforms in order to boost civilian
control over the military, as well as to promote the armed forces’
“interoperability” with the armies of NATO member states. The
Armenian military is already involved in the NATO-led peacekeeping
operation in Kosovo, and has small contingent of non-combat troops in
Iraq.

As part of the IPAP, Yerevan also undertook to draft and publicize
its “defense doctrine” as well as a broader “national security
strategy.” An ad hoc government commission headed by Armenian Defense
Minister Serge Sarkisian is working on the two documents. “We are
working hard together to help Armenia to realize its desire to have
stronger relations with the Euro-Atlantic family,” US Deputy
Assistant Secretary Matthew Bryza said during a March visit to
Yerevan. “We are pleased with the considerable progress made in this
regard over the past year.”

According to a senior NATO official, who visited the Armenian capital
recently, the IPAP is “not incompatible” with Armenia’s membership in
the Collective Security Treaty Organization, as it falls one step
short of accession talks with the alliance. “It is up to Armenia to
decide whether it wants to go further,” the official said.

Editor’s Note: Emil Danielyan is a Yerevan-based journalist and
political analyst.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Two Armenian A-320 burn down at Brussels international airport

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 5 2006

YEREVAN, May 5 (Itar-Tass) — Two A-320 jets of the Armenian airline
Armavia burned down in a hangar of Brussels international airport
Zaventem, airline deputy commercial director Andrei Agadzhanov told
Itar-Tass on Friday.

He said the plane was receiving technical maintenance by Sabena
Technics.

According to the preliminary information, the jet cannot be restored,
Agadzhanov said.

Now that the airline lost another A-320 in a Sochi air crash on May 3,
it has two Airbus jets, Yak-42 and Il-86.

Armavia was established in 1996 and made its first flight in 2001. In
2004 the airline had four A-320 planes. It was the regional leader
by the number of operated western-made aircraft.

The fire has been put down. No one is dead, but four technicians were
injured. One of them is in hospital.

There is still smoke in the airport building, and a number of flights
have been delayed. Experts say that the smoke is not toxic.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
May 5 2006

PREMIER OF AZERBAIJAN ARTUR RASIZADE MEETS WITH LITHUANIAN LEADERS
[May 05, 2006, 20:24:29]

Visiting Vilnius the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Artur Rasizade has
met with the President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus, May 5.

The head of the Lithuanian state has thanked the Prime Minister of
Azerbaijan for participation in work of the Vilnius summit of heads
of the state and government of the Baltic and Black Sea, discussions
on which will introduce the positive moments in development of
democratic processes on Southern Caucasus. As Valdas Adamkus has
noted, Lithuania is interested in development of cooperation with
Azerbaijan in all areas. He has expressed hope for a fast meeting
with the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

The Prime Minister of Azerbaijan has told about social and economic
reforms, the global transport and power projects that are carried out
in Azerbaijan, about fast delivery in operation of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The head of Azerbaijan Government has
noted also dynamics of development of the non-oil sector of
Azerbaijan. The President of Lithuania was given detailed information
and on the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The same day, Mr. Rasizade met with the vice-speaker of Lithuanian
Seym Cheslavas Yurshenas. Lithuania is going to expand the ties with
Azerbaijan, as a country-leader in South Caucasian region. Also was
underlined the necessity of development of inter-parliamentary
cooperation, with this purpose, it is planned to open representation
of the Lithuanian Seym.

The Prime Minister of Azerbaijan has met also with the head of the
Lithuanian government Algirdas Brazauskas who has presented Artur
Rasizade the information on process of admission of Lithuania to the
European Union, about the measures undertaken in this connection.
During the meeting, took place exchange of views concerning expansion
of the Lithuanian-Azeri economic cooperation.

On May 5, the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan met with representatives
of business circles of Lithuania. Speaking at the meeting, the
general director of the Confederation of Industrialists of Lithuania
Rimas Varkulyavichus has noted low level of existing links of
commodity circulation between Azerbaijan and Lithuania. The
Lithuanian businessmen show interest to investment in agriculture,
processing industry and other spheres of economy of Azerbaijan, to
adjustment of direct contacts with the Azerbaijani entrepreneurs.

Prime Minister of Azerbaijan has told to participants of meeting
about the level of GDP in Azerbaijan economy growing from year to
year, developing non-oil sector.

On May 5, the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan has left for home. At the
international airport of Vilnius Artur Rasizade was seen off by
members of the Lithuanian government.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 5 2006

EC Human Rights Commissioner to receive full information on refugees
and forced migrants of Azerbaijan – Azeri Ombudsman

Source: “Trend”
Author: S.Agayeva

05.05.2006

CE Human Rights Commissioner will be informed on problems of human
rights protection for refugees and forced migrants of Azerbaijan that
were expelled from

their homeland by Armenians, reportedly said Azeri Ombudsman Elmira
Suleymanova, commenting on new CE Human Rights Commissioner Thomas
Hammerberg’s visit to Azerbaijan.

She said it was Hammerberg’s first visit to Azerbaijan as CE
Commissioner. “It is another chance for us to provide CE Commissioner
additional information on Nagorny Karabakh conflict, its
consequences, over one million of refugees and forced migrants,
losses Azerbaijan suffered in this respect”, – Suleymanova said. She
also expressed her hope for usability of such information for
Commissioner.

Mr Hammerberg arrived in Baku to participate in IV Baku international
conference of Azeri and Russian Ombudsmen. During his visit in Baku,
CE Commissioner is meeting with chairman of Milli Medjlis, Foreign
Minister, Ombudsman, etc.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian foreign minister: “We are coming to the second stage of democratization”

Regnum, Russia
May 5 2006

By present day, Armenia has become a more democratic country than it
was while joining the Council of Europe, Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan has announced at a conference held to honor fifth
anniversary of the Armenian membership in the Council of Europe. By
the way, according to him, Armenia is left to do a lot to become a
fully democratic country.

As a REGNUM correspondent informs, as the minister puts it, Armenia
has fulfilled almost all its obligations taken at joining the Council
of Europe. “We are coming to the second stage of democratization. It
is a very difficult stage, as it envisages reforms that would
directly touch upon the political elite. We should show our political
will,” noted the foreign minister. “We do comprehend that democracy
is a tough way, and it cannot be established in a night. Deciding to
become a member of the Council of Europe, Armenia has chosen the way
for democratization and exact steps have been undertaken in this
direction,” Vardan Oskanyan stressed.

In his turn, Director General of Political Affairs of the Council of
Europe Jean-Louis Laurens has announced that one of Armenia’s
achievements in recent years is the way to Europe chosen by it. “It
is not so important, what steps are taken and where Armenia is on the
way to democracy; the way it chose is important,” the Council of
Europe official noted. “It is very important that Armenia holds
transparent parliamentary and presidential elections,” noted
Jean-Louis Laurens, adding that the Council of Europe and
international institutions would render assistance to Armenia in
carrying out transparent and fair elections. According to him, the
Armenian authorities have elaborated 67 draft laws in accordance with
the new Constitution and a proportion of these laws has been
introduced to the CE for analysis. It is also important for Armenia
to establish the ombudsman institution, noted Jean-Louis Laurens.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 5 2006

Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev: “It is impossible to settle
Nagorno Garabagh conflict out of the international law norms”

[ 05 May 2006 15:30 ]

Azerbaijan is a country suffering from terror. As a result of more
than 30 terror acts of Armenians against Azerbaijanis more than two
million innocent people died.

President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev told these words at the 9th
summit of Organization for Economic Cooperation and called whole
world to join in the struggle against international terrorism.(APA).
President stated that all the Armenian aggression is a great obstacle
in the development of the region and noted that all terror
organizations should be treated on the same way. I.Aliyev stated that
Azerbaijan supports peaceful resolution of Nagorno Garabagh conflict
and noted that patience of Azerbaijan people is not endless.
President noted that the settlement of Nagorno Garabagh conflict on
the basis of international law norms is very important and it’s
possible to settle the conflict by the way of occupied territories of
Azerbaijan to be freed: ” No agreement exists outside of it.” Ilham
Aliyev expressed his gratitude to ECO member countries for supporting
Azerbaijan. /APA/

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

French experts say radio signals are from A-320 black boxes
13:34 | 05/ 05/ 2006

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 5 2006

SOCHI, May 5 (RIA Novosti) – Airbus experts believe that radio
signals they have picked up were coming from flight recorders on
board an Armenian airliner that crashed Wednesday in the Black Sea,
an emergencies official said Friday.

“Experts from France confirmed that these were [signals from] radio
beacons [black boxes],” said Sergei Kudinov, the head of a regional
emergencies ministry center.

The ongoing recovery operation involves more than 700 rescue workers,
23 boats, deep-sea vehicles, a Be-200 amphibious aircraft and a
Ka-32 helicopter.

An experimental rescue boat, Katran, and a new Kalmar deep-sea search
vehicle are expected to arrive at the scene to help locate parts of
the wreckage and flight recorders.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 5 2006

Azeri and Armenian FMs meet in Strasburg to talk of future meeting
of presidents

Source: Trend
Author: A.Mamedov

05.05.2006

Today Vardan Oskanyan, Armenian Foreign Minister, said in Yerevan,
quoting ‘in two weeks Azeri and Armenian FMs are meeting in Strasburg
within session of CE’s Ministers Committee and talk of future meeting
of president of the two countries”.

Mediamax agency reports, Oskanyan said date and location of future
meeting were still uncertain.

Armenian FM called journalists not to seek for ‘strings attached’ in
the fact of last time’s individual visits of Minsk Group cochairmen
to the region. Oskanyan assured that was conditioned by lack of
convergence in arbitrators’ schedules.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A look at key U.S. oil suppliers

By Associated Press
May 6, 2006

The nuclear standoff with Iran and insurgencies in Iraq and Africa
have rattled world energy markets. But the threat to supply extends
far beyond these hotspots.

The United States depends on resources from a number of overseas
markets, which threaten to become more of a risk.

Those suppliers also include:

â~@¢ Russia, whose brief energy conflict with Ukraine last winter
severely hit the European Union. Moscow, which is flexing its energy
muscle for geopolitical leverage, accounts for more than 10 percent
of the world’s daily oil output and a fifth of its natural gas.

President Vladimir Putin’s drive to reassert state influence over
the nation’s oil and gas sectors has spooked consumer nations.

â~@¢ Saudi Arabia, the world’s No. 1 oil producer and a key U.S.

supplier. It has been singled out as a target by Osama bin Laden, and
the country remains on alert after foiling an al-Qaida-linked attack on
its vast Abqaiq oil processing plant in February. That attack prompted
Kuwait to express concern about the security of its own oil facilities.

An additional threat to oil installations is the potential for
insurgency fomented by Tehran among the Saudi Shiite minority –
and those in neighboring oil-producing nations.

â~@¢ Venezuela and Bolivia, where moves by populist leaders to impose
more state control over the gas or oil sectors, gives them growing
leverage to use energy as a political tool. Bolivia, which recently
called out the army to enforce its claims, has South America’s
second-largest natural gas reserves after Venezuela.

Venezuela, whose President Hugo Chavez has threatened to blow up his
country’s oil fields in case of U.S. attack, is the fourth-largest
supplier of crude to the United States – for now. Chavez is
increasingly selling to China and Cuba, and his oil minister has
threatened to stop supplying America.

â~@¢ The Caspian Sea region, which has estimated oil reserves between
17 billion and 44 billion barrels and is potentially a key transit
point for oil to the West. But it is rife with ethnic conflicts in
Chechnya, Georgia and the autonomous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Energy nationalism is also a factor – with Turkmenistan recently
declaring its on-land gas and oil fields off-limits to foreign
companies. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional alliance
led by China and Russia, last year called on the United States to
set a date for withdrawing forces from the region.

â~@¢ The East China Sea, where conflicting claims to rich underwater
gas reserves have added to historical rivalries between Japan and
China.

In the first three months of this year, the Japanese military said it
had scrambled fighter jets 107 times to intercept suspected Chinese
spy planes – most of them over the East China Sea – compared to 13
times in all of 2005.

Copyright 2006, The Albuquerque Tribune. All Rights Reserved.

–Boundary_(ID_p2Kghtz5o4Djw++B2H0KMQ)- –

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress