Author: Hambardsumian Paul

AZERI FM SAYS ARMENIA READY TO GIVE BACK “OCCUPIED” REGIONS
Armenpress
BAKU, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS: Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar
Mamedyarov told ATV on Monday that Armenia was ready to give up seven
regions of Azerbaijan it occupied during an early 1990s war for the
Nagorno Karabagh.
“They have agreed to give up all the regions, but they are thinking
when” they should do this, Mamedyarov told the network in Warsaw, where
the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenian held talks Sunday. However,
an Armenian foreign ministry official in Yerevan was quoted by some
Armenian news media as saying that he had no information about such
a agreement.
Referring to Mamedyarov’s statement, foreign ministry spokesman Hamlet
Gasparian said, “we have no such information. I am highly doubtful
that it corresponds to the real situation.”
Meantime Turkish media reported that deputy Azeri foreign minister
Araz Azimov who was in Turkey ahead of the Warsaw Council of Europe
summit, informed Turkish officials about the pace of peaceful talks
with Armenia, which, according to Turkish media, came as a big surprise
to Ankara.
Turkish media quoted Azimov as saying that Armenia agreed to give
back five of the seven Armenian-controlled regions, making the
return contingent on lifting Azerbaijan’s blockade and normalization
of Yerevan-Baku relations. According to Turkish media, Azerbaijan
rejected Armenian proposals, insisting that all seven regions must
be handed back. This position was reportedly endorsed by Ankara.

KOCHARIAN: ARMENIA TO ATTRACT NKR TO EUROINTEGRATION PROCESS
Pan Armenian News
16.05.2005 06:02
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ When addressing the Council of Europe Third Summit
today Armenian President Robert Kocharian stated that he sees the
prospects of the Karabakh conflict settlement in the context of
respect towards the European values, Mediamax agency reports. “Armenia
believes Europe with open borders, without blockades, violence and
refugees. Europe, where human rights and the rights of people for free
choice are respected, where the present is built on the impartial
assessment of the past. In this very context we do see the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement. To be more precise we seek for the format
of attracting de-facto Nagorno Karabakh Republic to the integration
into the European structures”, the Armenian President stated.

NEW BODY TO BE CREATED IN STRUCTURE OF ARMENIA’s CRIMINAL-EXECUTIVE SERVICE
YEREVAN, MAY 12. ARMINFO. During today’s sitting, Armenia’s
Government approved a bill on amendments to the Law on
criminal-executive service (CES).
As ARMINFO was informed in the governmental press-service, the bill is
directed to the formation of a new sub-unit in the CES structure of
Justice Ministry which will exercise control of CES central body,
subdivision of alternative punishments, as well as criminal-executive
institutions and special branches. Besides, the executive power
approved bills on amendments to both civil and criminal legal
proceedings’ Codes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #084, 11/05/2005
Home
A YOUTH WING TO ATTACH TO YEREVAN MUNICIPALITY
Yerevan mayor Yervand Zakharian is going to sign a decree this week on
creating Municipality-affiliated Youth Council. Municipality undertakes the
commitment to subsidize coming projects of the Council.
The Council will include representatives of student councils of Yerevan
universities, representatives of NGOs as well as TV and radio companies.
The initiative for creating the Youth Council may well be viewed as a
preparation for pending elections in bodies of local self-governance.
By Karine Danielian

Pan Armenian News
08.05.2005
Shushi: The Symbol of the Strength of the Armenian Spirit
By S. Krikorian
When asked about the three necessities for a nation to win a war, the
Chinese philosopher Confucius replied, “food, weapons, and spirit.” And what
are the two most important necessities? “Weapons and spirit.” And what’s the
single most necessary thing for a nation to win a war? “The spirit,” replied
Confucius.
The liberation of Shushi in May 1992 provides ample proof that Confucius was
right. The Azerbaijani forces barricaded inside the fortress-city
outnumbered the Armenian freedom fighters, had huge stocks of arms and
ammunitions that they later left to the freedom fighters, their position was
impregnable, and militarily it’s always easier to defend than to attack.
With all these advantages for the Azerbaijani side, how did the Armenian
fighters emerge victorious from the battle of Shushi? It was undoubtedly
their spirit. That spirit that the Turks could never understand,
consequently they were and still are looking for the reasons for their
defeat in all the wrong places, by blaming the Russians for assisting the
Armenians, or by blaming the internal feuds within the Azerbaijani
leadership.
But on May 8-9, 1992, the Armenian spirit was winning and was sending the
first signals that the war in Artsakh was going to be won by the Armenians,
sooner or later. We suffered heavy losses after the battle of Shushi. We
lost Shahumian, Mardakert, and other regions, but the drive toward final
victory in Artsakh began on the walls of Shushi.
The liberation of Shushi was the most important page of the war in Karabagh.
It became a symbol of the invincibility of the Armenian spirit. The
liberation of Shushi will surely have a ominent place in the textbooks of
Armenian History. All Armenian children should see the steep hill that Ashod
Ghoulian and his battalion climbed. It is difficult even to imagine how a
person can climb that rock carrying more than 50 pounds of military gear. It
is unimaginable, but it is a historical fact.
The liberation of Shushi must continue. We must repopulate Shushi with
thirty to forty thousand Armenians, creating the necessary jobs and adequate
living conditions for them, organizing the spiritual and cultural aspects of
their daily life, transforming Shushi into the strongest area of our land
and once again making this impregnable city inaccessible to our enemies.
Shushi must become the capital city of the Armenian spirit.

Azerbaijan News Service
May 9 2005
MR. MAMMADYAROV CONSIDERS NECESSARY FOR FOREIGN MINISTERS TO MEET
OVER QARABAQ CONFLICT
Foreign minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov says there is a need
for meeting between foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia ahead
of scheduled Warsaw meeting of Presidents. However Armenian foreign
minister Vardan Oscanian told earlier there was no topic for
discussion to make it necessary for minister to meet. The negotiation
process carried on the base of so-called Prague process. We are
holding discussions with co-chairs. We have determined in which
direction we need to continue. I think there is a need for foreign
ministers to meet ahead of Warsaw meeting. It willhelp us to see the
situation. Azerbaijani side supports negotiation process though
mediation of the co-chairs. Co-chairs also propose to continue one on
one negotiations.

Azeri leader addresses nation on 60th anniversary of Victory Day
ANS TV, Baku
7 May 05
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev today addressed the nation in
connection with the 60th anniversary of the victory over fascism. The
address says that this war was the most horrible war in the history
of mankind by its scale, the number of losses, countries and armies
involved and the amount of damage caused.
World War II showed that the policy of violence, occupation, aggression
and the ideology of hatred and hostility against other ethnic groups
leads to defeat and destruction. The Azerbaijani authorities hope that
the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty will be restored.

Armenia violates ceasefire during OSCE monitoring
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
May 7 2005
Baku, May 6, AssA-Irada — Armenian military units breached ceasefire
during the monitoring held on the contact line between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani military troops under the mandate of the OSCE chairman’s
special envoy.
The shooting came four minutes after the monitoring started in the
Gapanly village of Terter District Friday morning, the Ministry of
Defense said.*

The New Anatolian, Turkey
May 5 2005
Switzerland’s Turkey ambassador: Allegations should be left to historians
The New Anatolian / Ankara
News of a Swiss public prosecutor conducting an inquiry into Turkish
Historical Society (TTK) head Yusuf Halacoglu due to his denial of
the Armenian genocide claims was addressed by the Swiss ambassador
yesterday.
Switzerland’s Ankara Ambassador Walter Gyger stated that his
country’s judicial authority is free and that the Swiss government
can’t interfere with their investigation.
Speaking to journalists at the Swiss Embassy, Gyger said that his
country’s policy regarding the so-called Armenian genocide is the
same as Turkey’s.
“Like Turkey, our government thinks that the issue should be left to
historians,” said Gyger. “Our government supports the idea of
establishing a commission between Turkey and Armenia to study the
so-called Armenian genocide.”
Gyger didn’t answer a question on whether the same public prosecutor
would conduct an inquiry on him or the Swiss government for using the
term “so-called Armenian genocide.”
Gyger stated that there are no arrest warrants for Halacoglu. Gyger
declined to say whether reports that Public Prosecutor Andrej Gnehm
would move to arrest the Turkish professor were true. Gnehm has
previously stated that he would execute an arrest warrant for
Halacoglu if he fails to make a deposition.
“The only thing I can say now as an ambassador is that such a warrant
does not presently exist,” said Gyger. “You should ask such questions
to the public prosecutor himself.”

India PM congratulates Russian people on 60th anniversary of Victory
By Yuri Sidorov
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 4, 2005 Wednesday 3:05 PM Eastern Time
NEW DELHI, May 4 — A solemn meeting devoted to the 60th anniversary
of the Victory in World War II was held at the Russian Science and
Culture Centre in New Delhi on Wednesday.
An address by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was read out at the
meeting. Mr Singh expressed best wishes to the Russians in connection
with this remarkable event.
Everybody knows very well about heroism, courage and sacrifices of the
Russian people during the World War II, the prime minister said in the
address, adding that India had also made a due share of contribution
to the defeat of fascism.
An exhibition of photographs entitled The People Who Won the War
opened in the lobby of the Centre. It showed episodes from the key
battles and phases of the War.
Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany marked a pivotal point in world
history and brought forward the moment of national liberation, the
president of the Indian-Russian Friendship Society, Bali Ram Bhagat,
told Itar-Tass.
The 60th anniversary of Victory became a noticeable event in the
Indian memorial dates calendar, Mr Bali Ram Bhagat said.
The forthcoming trip of the country’s prime minister to Russia
for joining festivities on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of
the Great Victory will promote further strengthening of strategic
partnership between the two countries, he said.
Russian ambassador to India Vyacheslav Trubnikov took part in the
meeting.
The list of invitees included Indian government officials, members
of national parliament, heads of Armenian, Belarussian, Bulgarian,
Ukrainian, Uzbekistan diplomatic missions, and others.