Author: Emil Lazarian

AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA WILL NOT PRESIDE AT GS OF TRACECA INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION

Today, Azerbaijan
April 4 2006

The reason of it was that the sides were against each-other during
election of the Secretary General.

APA was informed about it by the TRACECA national secretary in
Azerbaijan Akif Mustafayev.

Mr.Mustafayev said that the previous date of the 5th conference of the
TRACECA Intergovernmental Commission to be held in Sofia (Bulgaria)
was changed. This conference initially planned to be held early in
April was assigned on May 2.

The Azerbaijani delegation will leave for Sofia on April 29. The reason
why the conference’s date was changed was that in April, series of
official and holiday events would take place in Bulgaria which would
host the conference and preside over the organization next year.

According to Mr.Mustafayev, a meeting of the TRACECA national
secretaries will be held on May 1 and agenda of the conference will
be reviewed there for the last time.

“Reports will be given at the conference and we also plan to
deliver a speech there. Besides, execution of the decisions adopted
at the 4th conference will be reviewed. Approval of the TRACECA
development strategy to 2015, reformation of the organization into
an international organization, projects planned for 2006 will be
discussed and the general secretary and chairman will be elected”,
the national secretary stressed.

TRACECA is currently chaired by Azerbaijan. Next year the chairman
will be Bulgaria.

URL:

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJANI ARMY OFFICER RAMIL SAFAROV’S TRIAL TO START AT 16.30 BY BAKU TIME TODAY

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 4 2006

The trial of Azerbaijani Army officer Ramil Safarov, who is indicted
for murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, will be held in
Budapest, Hungary, at 13.30 by local time (16.30 by Baku time).

Lawyer Adil Ismayilov, who represents Safarov’s family, told APA that
the parties will address the trial. Ramil Safarov will also address
the court with his last statement. “I met Ramil Safarov yesterday,
he is ready to address the court,” Ismayilov said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN CEASEFIRE BREACHES KILL ONE, INJURE ANOTHER

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 4 2006

Baku, April 3, AssA-Irada
The ceasefire breaches on the frontline by Armenia have intensified
over the past day.

An Azerbaijani soldier was killed and another heavily wounded during
a ceasefire violation in the partially-occupied Fuzuli District on
Sunday evening.

In another attack, the Armenian troops, from their positions in the
northwestern Gazakh District, subjected the Azeri positions on the
opposite to sustained machine and sub-machine gunfire, according to
the accounts of local residents.

Some of the bullets shot by Armenians hit a residential house in the
Alkhanli village of Fuzuli.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

US OFFICIAL DENIES PRO-ARMENIA BIAS

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 4 2006

Baku, April 3, AssA-Irada
The allocation of more financial assistance to Armenia than Azerbaijan
does not imply that the United States favors this country on the issue
of settling the long-standing Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict,
said the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza visiting Baku.

Washington backs Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and solving the
dispute on the basis of the United Nations resolutions, said Bryza.

“The UN Security Council resolutions represent worldwide laws and we
support them. We are interested in the continuation of peace talks.

The key issue here is for the sides to reach agreement that would
benefit both of them,” the American official added.

Commenting on the operation of the self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh
republic’s office in the U.S., Bryza said this is in line with American
laws. He said American laws do not ban the opening of any entity’s
representation in his country despite certain restrictions.

“We allow any given organization to operate in the United States and
forbid this only if it runs counter to our laws. There is nothing
illegal about the activity of an organization from the Garabagh region
in the U.S. We see nothing illegal in the activity of the Cyprus Turks’
community there either. But personally, I have not held any officially
meetings with the Upper Garabagh representatives.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MONUMENT TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS OPENS IN FRENCH CITY OF GAP

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 04 2006

PARIS, APRIL 4, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Edvard Nalbandian,
the Ambassador of Armenia to France, and the President of the Council
General of the state of Alpes opened an Armenian tufa-built khachkar
(cross stone) dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide
victims, on the central square of the city of Gap on April 2. In his
speech Ambassador Nalbandian emphasized the necessity of constantly
remembering and condemning the crime conducted against the mankind. “A
man lost his memory has no future. A people lost its memory has
no history. And the mankind without memory will lose its mankind
face,” the Ambassador of Armenia mentioned. The event was followed
by a solemn reception at the Mayor’s Office, during which memory
medal of the honorary citizen of the city of Gap was given to the
Ambassador of Armenia. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign
Ministry’s Press and Information Department, deputies, senators,
heads of local self-government bodies, statesmen and politicians,
hundreds of representatives of the Armenian community arrived from
neighboring regions were present at the ceremony. There are about 5
dozens of monuments dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide
victims in the territory of France which, together with adoption of
the law concerning recognition of the Genocide, are accepted both as
recognition and condemnation of the Genocide by the people of France
and as display of solidarity towards the Armenian people.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIA’S INVESTMENT IN ARMENIA ANNOUNCED

RosBusinessConsulting Database
April 4, 2006 Tuesday 2:12 am, EST

Russia invested $67.57m in Armenia in 2005, $51.48m of which was
direct investment. According to data Armenia’s National Statistics
Service has provided the ARKA news agency, this accounts for 16.88
percent of Armenia’s total foreign investment, and for 2.11 percent
of its direct investment.

Some 75.26 percent ($50.85m) of Russia’s investment went to the
metallurgy sector, $10.03m was invested in construction, and $13.22m
in wholesale and agency trade.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HUNGARIAN COURT TO ISSUE VERDICT APRIL 13 ON AZERBAIJANI CHARGED WITH KILLING ARMENIAN
Palma Benczenleitner

AP Worldstream
Apr 04, 2006

A verdict will be issued April 13 in the case of an Azerbaijani officer
accused of murdering an Armenian classmate at a NATO training course
in Hungary, a court said Tuesday.

Lt. Ramil Safarov of Azerbaijan has confessed to using an ax in
February 2004 to hack Lt. Gurgen Markarian of Armenia to death,
authorities said, in a dormitory that was being used by participants
of a NATO Partnership for Peace English language course in Budapest.

At the time, police said the murder was committed with “unusual
cruelty” and that Safarov had tried, unsuccessfully, to enter the
room of another Armenian with the intention of killing him.

Police said that Safarov confessed to the killing, claiming that the
long-standing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia was at the root
of his act.

The two neighboring, former Soviet republics remain at odds over
the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within
Azerbaijan.

At Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors asked that Safarov be sentenced to
life in prison, with a 30-year minimum before any parole hearings.

The Budapest City Court rejected a defense request for a new expert
opinion to determine Safarov’s mental health. Four earlier examinations
already declared him mentally stable and accountable for his actions.

“(Safarov’s) actions were not guided by hatred, but by the trauma
which remains,” said his lawyer Gyorgy Magyar, referring to the feud
between the two countries.

The court said Safarov would make his final statement on April 13,
the day of his sentencing.

Armenian-backed forces drove Azerbaijan’s army out of the ethnic
Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s.

A 1994 cease-fire ended the six-year war that killed 30,000 people
and left about 1 million homeless and the enclave is now under the
control of ethnic Armenians.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI OFFICIALS, RED CROSS HEAD DISCUSS TIES, POWS

Sources:

MPA news agency, Baku 4 Apr 06
Azartac news agency, Baku 4 Apr 06

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will continue to
cooperate with the Azerbaijani authorities, Azerbaijani news agency
MPA quoted ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger as saying at a meeting
with Defence Minister Safar Abiyev on 4 April.

National Security Minister Eldar Mahmudov, who is also the chairman
of the state commission for POWs, missing people and hostages, met
Kellenberger on the same day, state-run news agency Azartac said.

Mahmudov said that out of 4,617 missing Azerbaijanis, 783 were taken
captive and hostage and are being held in Armenia and Azerbaijan’s
occupied region of Nagornyy Karabakh. Eight Azerbaijanis and 10
Armenians have been freed from captivity through the ICRC in the past
two years, the minister added.

In a separate report, MPA said that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
and Jakob Kellenberger discussed the situation of refugees and IDPs
in the country.

“THERE IS A BAY IN THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE WHERE MONEY LAUNDERED”

A1+
[06:48 pm] 03 April, 2006

Director of the Main Scientific Library, academician Henry Nersisyan
rendered a press conference today for the first time in his life
to speak about the problems between him and the authorities of the
National Academy of Sciences, as well as the committee created in
this connection.

Henry Nersisyan had made a 13-point list of accusations against
the head of the Academy Fadey Sargsyan. “The accusations are not
personal. They are against the policy of the head of the Academy
because of which the Academy has appeared in a terrible situation”,
Henry Nersisyan underlined.

A committee had been created to investigate the accusations put forward
by Henry Nersisyan. It included the RA NAS financial affairs advisor
Hripsime Hovhannisyan, NAS lawyer Yuri Ghazaryan and others.

The Committee finished the work a fortnight ago and unanimously
announced all the accusations by Henry Nersisyan groundless.

On April 5 a session will take place where the accusations will not
be discussed. Scientific secretary Edward Ghazaryan mentioned that it
will be devoted to the resign of Fadey Sargsyan. The Prime Minister
of the country will also attend the session, and according to Henry
Nersisyan, instead of evaluating the 12-year activity of Fadey Sargsyan
and discussing the accusations, only meaningless speeches and thanks
will sound.

He considered the work of the committee illogical, “We ought to have
passed through all this in order to understand what happened in 1937
when the authorities said – this must be so, and a full stop”, Henry
Nersisyan added.

Henry Nersisyan’s accusations referred to legislative and financial
violations, issues about sale of realty and the 10-year illegal
“donation” of the NAS library area to a private shop. “There is a
bay where money is laundered”, he mentioned.

Henry Nersisyan demanded documents for the refutation or confirmation
of all this. He was not only denied, but also blackmailed accusing of
a number of violations in the library. The NAS scientific secretary
Edward Ghazaryan claimed in a press article that Henry Nersisyan
renounced his accusations, which, nevertheless, did not correspond
to reality.

Representing different documents Henry Nersisyan tried to bring ground
for the accusations. For example, he referred to the general meetings
of the NAS which according to the law were to be held twice a year
but are held once a year instead. The elections of the NAS members
are to be held once in three years. Although the last elections took
place in 2000, no elections were held after that. The NAS President
accounted it by the fact that the same happened in 1950a.

Henry Nersisyan also referred to the super-high financing
of the medical genetics center headed by the daughter of Fadey
Sargsyan. According to him, this is thanks to the sums which enter the
NAS and are used illegally. He added that this cannot go on this way,
and he is not for a revolution but for radical changes.

By the way, after the press conference the journalists tried to ask the
NAS President Fadey Sargsyan questions, but he refused to answer them.

250-300 THOUSAND UNIVERSITY GRADUATES LEFT ARMENIA

Lragir.am
04 April 06

Arne Vagen, the head of the International Bureau of the Danish Council,
participating in the conference on migration that opened in Yerevan
on April 4, announced that 250-300 thousand citizens with higher
education left Armenia in 1989-2001. These people mostly move to the
United States, thinks Arne Vagen.

The research of the Danish Council of Refugees shows that part of
these specialists had a permanent job in Armenia and an income above
the average.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress