Author: Hunanian Jack

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Feb 3 2005
Settlement depends on conflicting sides

OSCE Minsk Group may only foster dialogue – French co-chair
The OSCE Minsk Group cannot settle the Upper Garabagh conflict
instead of Azerbaijan and Armenia, the new French co-chair of the
OSCE Minsk Group, Bernard Fassier, said. He stated that the co-chairs
may assist the sides only in fostering dialogue.
First of all, trust should be established between the two presidents
and afterwards, between the two peoples, Fassier told a news
conference during his two-day familiarization visit to Baku last
week.
The co-chair said the OSCE MG does not have considerable resources to
assist in resolving the problem. “The Minsk Group is a political
forum and it may put forth political ideas. However, it has no
financial resources to implement them”.
As for Armenia’s withdrawing its armed forces from the occupied Azeri
land, Fassier said that the “the co-chairs are unlikely to say
anything specific in this respect, as a relevant decision should be
made by the conflicting sides”.
President Ilham Aliyev, in a meeting with Fassier on Thursday, stated
that the OSCE-mediated talks on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Upper Garabagh, carried out over the last ten years, had been
fruitless.
Aliyev said, however, that the active work carried out by the OSCE MG
of late and the ongoing talks between the two countries’ foreign
ministers “allow us to hope for certain progress in the settlement
process”.
The President emphasized that Upper Garabagh and the adjacent seven
regions, which are historically Azerbaijani territories, are occupied
by Armenian armed forces and that Azerbaijan entered the United
Nations with these areas included within its boundaries. Azerbaijan’s
position on the conflict resolution, based on the principles of the
country’s territorial integrity, remains unchanged, he said.
Fassier said that the unresolved status of the conflict is impeding
not only peace and stability in the South Caucasus, but also the
implementation of global economic projects in a wider area, including
Central Asia. He also voiced confidence that his meeting with
President Aliyev would provide him with broader information on this
‘sensitive’ conflict.
The new co-chair acted as the French ambassador to Georgia in
1993-1997 and to Belarus in 1997-2002. He succeeded the previous
co-chair Henry Jacolin late in 2004.

Associated Press
Jan 28 2005
Nevada sisters facing possible deportation to be released from LA
center
LOS ANGELES – Immigration officials agreed late Thursday to release
into their father’s custody two Armenian teenage sisters facing
possible deportation, overriding a federal judge’s ruling that the
two must remain at a Los Angeles immigration facility.
Earlier Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Johnston in Las Vegas
said he could find no legal basis to return Emma Sarkisian, 18, and
her sister Mariam, 17, to their family while their deportation case
is pending.
“I have to have the law, have to have some authority” to issue such
an order, Johnston said. “As I read the law, I don’t have any
authority.”
Late Thursday, however, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
spokeswoman Virginia Kice confirmed that officials had agreed to
release the girls to their father, who is a legal resident. She said
they would be handed over on Friday.
“We’ve thoroughly reviewed the case and have decided based on
humanitarian reasons to release them,” Kice told The Associated
Press. “This doesn’t convey any legal immigration status on them.”
Kice said the girls would be allowed to return to Las Vegas but had
not been given permanent authorization to remain in the United
States.
“ICE will continue to review the case,” she said. It was unclear
whether the two would be able to work while they awaited a final
decision on their status.
Their father, who runs the Tropicana Pizza restaurant in Henderson,
Nev., said after the decision the process is keeping him on an
emotional roller-coaster.
“It’s like life – one time up, one time down,” Rouben Sarkisian told
the Las Vegas Sun.
Johnston said he’ll schedule a hearing to determine if the girls will
be deported after lawyers file additional arguments on Tuesday.
The federal government had threatened to deport the sisters to
Armenia, the country in which they were born but barely know. In
1991, the sisters moved to the United States with their parents, who
later divorced. Although their father became a legal resident, his
ex-wife did not. The girls were ordered deported in 1993 and attempts
to make their status legal were blocked when the order was
discovered.
They have since become involved in a lengthy appeals process.
If their father becomes a U.S. citizen he could petition for their
residency.
On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and asked for “personal
attention” in the Sarkisian case.
Tessa Hafen, spokeswoman for Reid, said the senator “is fairly
confident this will reach resolution,” with the girls being allowed
to stay in the country.

Hurriyet, Turkey
Jan 27 2005
GERMAN STATE TAKES OUT THE TERM ARMENIAN GENOCIDE FROM ITS HISTORY
BOOKS
Brandenburg, which was the first German state that included the term
`Armenian genocide’ into its history books used in the 9th and 10th
classes since 2002, decided to take out the term from the curriculum
of the schools. State’s Spokesman of the Education Ministry Thomas
Hainz said that they found improper to give the so-called Armenian
genocide as the only historic example in the massacres and genocides
section in their history books, and therefore decided to take the
term out. Turkey’s Chief Consul Aydin Durusoy had sent a letter to
the state of Brandenburg, giving a harsh reaction to the use of the
term. As a result of the diplomatic initiatives of the Turkish
Foreign Ministry, Durusoy, state’s Premier Matthias Platzeck and
Education Minister Holger Rupprecht two weeks ago had agreed to take
out the term from the schools’ syllabus. /Hurriyet/

PRESS RELEASE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia & New Zealand
10 Macquarie Street
Chatswood NSW 2067
AUSTRALIA
Contact: Laura Artinian
Tel: (02) 9419-8056
Fax: (02) 9413-1709
Email: [email protected]
24 January 2005
REMEMBERING THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VICTIMS OF BAKU & AZERBAIJAN
Sydney, Australia – On Sunday, 23 January, 2005, a solemn requiem service
was held during the Divine Liturgy in memory of the many hundreds of
Armenians killed in the course of the pogroms in Baku, Sumgait and other
regions of Azerbaijan in January 1990. The commemoration of the victims was
observed by Armenian churches worldwide at the call of His Holiness Karekin
II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
In his sermon, His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of the
Diocese of Australia and New Zealand remembered the tragic events that led
to the campaign of persecution directed at the Armenians of Baku. As
history shows, the sacrifice of life is not uncommon for the Armenian people
but the memorial of Armenian martyrs will remain forever in the fibre of the
Armenian identity. Archbishop Aghan called on the voices of power to
condemn and remedy the injustices that were executed upon the Armenian
victims of Azerbaijan.
The congregation was led in prayer for the repose of the souls of these
victims.

“HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY” PARTY ESTABLISHES PUBLIC-POLITICAL
COUNCIL ON STRUGGLE AGAINST POLITICAL CORRUPTION
YEREVAN, January 20 (Noyan Tapan). The “Human Rights and Democracy”
party is declaring about its initiative to establish a public-political
council on struggle against political corruption in Armenia and calls
on all the political organizations and NGOs anxious about this problem
to participate in formation of the council. In the January 19
statement the party grounds its initiative by the fact that “struggle
against corruption is of formal character in Armenia.” “It is limited
by the document called “Anti-corruption Strategy and Program of Events
of Its Implementation,” which wasn’t discussed with participation of
subjects of civil society as a result of the unsuccessive activity of
the Armenian Office of World Bank and, perhaps, because it has nothing
in common with the corruption processes existing in the country.”
Moreover, according to the organization, the council established by RA
President for the purpose of “allegedly, complete and efficient
implementation of the program” has jested its activity away
contributing to further development of corruption in the republic, in
particular, it registered no results during a year since its
establishment, distorted the notion of “corruption” turning the abuse
of governing authorities into displays of bribe, including the
non-state sector, abstained from monitoring of corruption in the
“upper links” envisaged by the very program and the Commission on
Monitoring even hasn’t established a working group in connection with
political corruption.” It’s obvious, the party declares, that “the
subjects of the country’s civil society are to head the struggle
against corruption and first of all against its cornerstone, political
corruption, in the republic.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EurasiaNet Organization
Jan 21 2005
ARMENIAN TROOPS DEPLOY TO IRAQ
Samvel Martirosyan 1/21/05
Despite widespread popular opposition, Armenia has dispatched troops
to Iraq on a humanitarian mission apparently designed to strengthen
the South Caucasus state’s ties with the United States.
Forty-six troops including 30 truck drivers, 10 bomb detonation
experts, three doctors and three officers will serve under Polish
command in the Shiite city of Karbala and the nearby town of al-Hila.
The troops could serve in Iraq for up to a year and would only carry
out humanitarian operations.
“This day is very important for Armenian armed forces. We cannot stay
away from international processes geared toward promoting stability
and peace in our region, particularly in Iraq,” Defense Minister
Serge Sarkissian stated at a January 18 departure ceremony in
Yerevan.
The decision to send the platoon comes amidst rising concerns that
Armenia may lose out to Azerbaijan, and Georgia, in the competition
for US assistance. The Bush Administration’s proposed budget for 2005
would have originally granted $6 million more in military aid to
Azerbaijan than to Armenia. Congress, under pressure from the
influential US Armenian diaspora, later restored the traditional
parity in military assistance to the two countries with an allocation
of $5 million to each for 2005.
In a statement to reporters in December about the deployment of
Armenian troops, Sarkissian touched on that influence, stating that
“After the Armenian military specialists have been sent to Iraq,
international organizations and states that are involved in combating
terrorism will take a more objective attitude to all three South
Caucasus states . . . Armenia cannot have stayed aside from actions
by other states that are aimed at peace and stability, and at
combating terrorism,” Interfax reported.
Yerevan played a waiting game during the 2003 invasion of Iraq,
neither explicitly supporting nor opposing the operation. But now,
with other Commonwealth of Independent States members contributing to
the US-led reconstruction campaign, President Robert Kocharian’s
government has no wish to be left behind. Both of Armenia’s neighbors
in the Caucasus outrank it for troop deployments to Iraq. Azerbaijan
has committed 150 troops, and Georgia recently increased projected
troop numbers to 850, the highest number for the Caucasus. At the
same time, the country is benefiting from an extensive US military
training program.
Nonetheless, opposition to the deployment, even within the defense
ministry, appears to run strong.
“I am not delighted with the decision to send our troops there and
the war in general,” the English-language weekly ArmeniaNow quoted
Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Khachaturov as saying after the Armenian
National Assembly’s December 24 vote to dispatch troops. “Because of
that the Armenian community [in Iraq] and Armenians in general could
have problems in the future.”
Parliament’s decision to proceed with the troop deployment was
fiercely opposed by opposition parties and led to an alliance between
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnakcutyun, a member of the
ruling coalition, and Armenia’s main opposition bloc, Adrarutyn
(Justice). Opposition parties, which have been boycotting the
National Assembly for nearly 11 months, came to parliament for an
eight-hour, closed-door debate on the question. In the end, 91
deputies voted in favor of the proposal with 23 against and one
abstention.
The consequences of Armenian troops in Iraq for the Armenian diaspora
there spurred much of the criticism. Fear of retaliatory actions by
Islamic terrorist groups prompted Iraq’s 20,000-member Armenian
community, in fact, to ask Yerevan not to send the troops. In August
2004, a Baghdad Armenian Apostolic church was attacked as part of a
wave of assaults on Iraqi Christians that left 11 people dead.
“The situation is very tense now,” Father Garegin, a leader of Iraq’s
Armenian religious community, told the news agency Yekir.am. “People
do not leave their houses because they are scared. They can’t even go
to church . . . Our children can’t go to school.”
Any sign that it has discounted the concerns of a diaspora group
could put the government in an awkward situation given emigres’
investment in and economic support for Armenia in recent years. To
show that it understands the Iraqi group’s concerns, the government
has described the deployment as a strictly humanitarian mission.
Commenting on parliament’s decision, Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian told the newspaper Haiastani Hanrapetutiun on December 25
that “Armenia’s presence is primarily symbolic and for political
purposes.”
Public opinion has reflected this unease. A recent poll conducted by
the Armenian Center for National and International Studies reported
that 70.5 percent of Armenians opposed the deployment of troops to
Iraq. Only 15.6 percent, the poll found, supported the move.
Editor’s Note: Samvel Martirosyan is a Yerevan-based journalist and
political analyst.

RosBusinessConsulting Database
January 13, 2005 Thursday 1:54 am, EST
Armenian minister comments on relations with Russia
In 2004, Russian-Armenian relations were focused on maintaining
economic ties and on cooperation in the transportation sector,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said at a news conference
devoted to the 2004 results. According to him, the sides managed to
solve many economic problems. In particular, they agreed on Armenia’s
participation in organizing an international transportation route
North-South, which is of strategic importance for Armenia as an
alternative transportation link through Iran, the ARKA news agency
quoted him as saying.
Among other important issues of Russian-Armenian economic
cooperation, Oskanian mentioned the necessity to increase cargo
transportation between the two states and promote Russia’s
investments in Armenia’s economy as well as use Armenia’s energy
generating facilities in full volume.
Oskanian pointed out that last year, bilateral relations continued
developing and strengthening in the military, political and
humanitarian spheres. The Armenian-Russian association of business
cooperation that unites some 100 companies in both countries was
created in 2004. Officials also agreed to declare the year 2005 as
the Year of Russia in Armenia and 2006 as the Year of Armenia in
Russia.

The Times (London)
January 11, 2005, Tuesday
Knight, surgeon, author and porter
by Anjana Ahuja
Professor Sir Ara Darzi: a pioneer of minimally invasive surgery ARA
DARZI once received a memorable phone call from a colleague. There
was a rumour going around, the colleague explained worriedly, that
one of the hospital porters had masqueraded as a doctor and, during
the night, had operated on one of Darzi’s patients.
Any other surgeon might have been speechless with horror but Darzi’s
response was to chuckle. His colleague was right about the charade
but had nobbled the wrong man. It was, in fact, Darzi who had
perpetrated the deception.
The professor of surgery at Imperial College had worked a night shift
as a hospital porter before returning at 6am as a smartly dressed
surgeon to perform the life-saving operation. The undercover
experiment – conducted with the full knowledge of the management of
St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, just in case colleagues thought he
had taken leave of his senses – confirmed Sir Ara’s suspicion that
porters are undervalued and ignored by clinicians, despite being in
the front line. As soon as the suave, softly spoken professor had
swapped his dapper suit for a blue shirt, he became invisible, even
to his own students and trainees: “They wouldn’t look you in the eye.
Once the uniform was there, there was no eye contact. I was just a
porter.”
It was another display of the restless, rebellious streak that pushed
Sir Ara into medicine in the first place. His father, an engineer who
roamed the globe with his family, expected his son to follow his lead
but Darzi Jr didn’t bite. “I was brought up in an engineering way of
thinking,” he explains, of his decision to defy his father. “I’d
lived it, and seen it, and felt like I’d done it. Why do the same? I
just wanted to do something different. Medicine was so strange to me.
I’d never really been to a hospital.”
Sir Ara, 44, was born in Armenia but spent much of his childhood in
Ireland – the accent is still audible, especially when he is being
lighthearted – and he applied for medicine there. When he arrived at
university, it seemed to him that medical students, with their late
nights and fondness for alcohol, had so much more fun than anyone
else. He loved it.
It was equally obvious during training that his future lay in
surgery, with its rewarding blend of practicality and immediacy.
Since then, engineering’s loss – he still describes himself as a
“failed engineer” – has been a coup for British surgery. He has spent
the last decade applying an engineer’s eye to making surgery less
physically and psychologically traumatic, pioneering minimally
invasive surgery. When Sir Ara started his surgical career in earnest
in London at the end of the Eighties, the term “minimally invasive
surgery” barely existed. Simply, it was about making cuts smaller,
and shortening patient stays. “I was very much in the right place at
the right time,” he reflects. “There were reports of gall bladder
surgery being done the keyhole way in Lyons.”
The young academic quickly progressed, developing robotic surgery and
image guided surgery. In 1995 he was appointed professor of surgery
at Imperial College; by this time, he had became a world leader in
minimally invasive colorectal surgery.
He has also authored patents and published several textbooks.
Today he sits on a committee charged with modernising the NHS: “I
really, truly believe that you can throw as much money as you like at
anything in life, but if you don’t keep up and try to modernise, the
value of it is not the same.” That is why he dressed up as a porter,
to “stimulate the thinking within hospitals that porters do make a
big contribution to hospital care. And I can tell you one thing: they
are undervalued.”
In 2002, his achievements were rewarded with an honorary knighthood.
It crystallised his decision to become a British citizen. Why change
nationality? “I got (the knighthood) for services to medicine in this
country – I’ve made it here, and I got it because of the
opportunities here that allowed me to serve this country. I wanted to
acknowledge that.”
Just like in any profession, he says, the recognition of one person
can provoke the jealousy of many, but colleagues have generally been
delighted, as the honour recognises a field as much as an individual.
And, Sir Ara laughs, being a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent
Order of the British Empire means that his views are taken a little
more seriously.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Putin says isolation of Turkish Cypriots “not fair”
NTV television, Istanbul
11 Jan 05
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he supports the efforts of
the UN secretary-general and the Annan Plan in connection with the
solution of the Cyprus problem.
On the second day of his Moscow visit, together with Putin, Prime
Minister Erdogan called on businessmen. Pointing out that bilateral
relations have reached the level of multilateral partnership, Erdogan
expressed support for Russia’s membership in the World Trade
Organization. Putin, in turn, said that the volume of bilateral trade
can be increased to 15bn dollars, adding that political dialogue lies
at the bottom of commercial and economic partnership.
The Cyprus problem was also on Putin’s agenda. Noting that the
developments pertaining to Cyprus were discussed, Putin expressed
support for the efforts of the UN secretary-general and the Annan
Plan. The isolation imposed on the [self-declared] Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus is not fair, the Russian president stressed, adding
that the matter is sensitive and one must act delicately. Putin also
remarked that Russia’s stand with regard to the report to be submitted
to the UN Security Council will depend on the document to be submitted
to the council.
In reply to a question, Putin also commented on the Armenian
issue. Pointing out that Russia could act as a mediator or a guarantor
with regard to Armenia’s problems with Azerbaijan and Turkey, Putin
said: We are ready to do our utmost.

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Jan 4 2005
NKR and RA Ministers of Foreign Affairs discuss the issues of
deepening bilateral relations
Robert Kocharyan: The year of 2004 was peaceful, stable and fruitful
for Armenia
Arkadi Ghukasian: the year of 2004 was successful for NKR
Ambassador of Iraq to Azerbaijan: Sending Armenian peacekeeping
forces to Iraq not to change the position of official Baghdad
regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
*********************************************************************
NKR AND RA MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS DISCUSS THE ISSUES OF
DEEPENING BILATERAL RELATIONS
YEREVAN, January 4. /ARKA/. NKR and RA Ministers of Foreign Affairs
Armen Melikyan and Vartan Oskanian discussed the issues of deepening
relations between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs. According to
RA MFA Press Service Department, the parties exchanges opinions about
the issues of bilateral interest. Taking the protocol on cooperation
between the MFAs of NKR and RA as the basis, the Ministers discussed
the issues of even more profound development of relations. Melikyan
who has taken the positions recently, introduced the main directions
and tasks of NKR MFA emphasizing that their activity will mainly
target at achieving international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh. In
particular, the necessity of activation of mutual contacts was
emphasized. The Ministers drew the attention to the current situation
around the conflict settlement and the negotiations process in the
framework of OSCE group. It was noted that the attention of the
international community to the issue enables to more profoundly
introduce tasks targeting at realization of rights to
self-determination of NKR people. A.H. -0–
*********************************************************************
ROBERT KOCHARYAN: THE YEAR OF 2004 WAS PEACEFUL, STABLE AND FRUITFUL
FOR ARMENIA
YEREVAN, January 4. /ARKA/. The year of 2004 was peaceful, stable and
fruitful for Armenia, as stated in the RA President Robert
Kocharyan’s New Year greeting, according to RA President’s Press
Service Department. Accomplished works provided for significant
economic growth, which translates into new jobs, according to the
president. This is a difficult but the shortest road toward
prosperity for our country and our people. Kocharyan noted that to
have a qualitatively new country we must work hard. `Social
polarization in our country is still deep. The number of our citizens
living in poverty is still large. It means that the process of
reforms must continue, and the cornerstone of this process is the
rise of living standards and fight against poverty. To achieve these
goals we have developed a mid-term plan of action, which is being
implemented persistently’, he said. According to Kocharyan, results
of the accomplished works in this passing year will be noticeable
already in 2005. In a number of areas we plan a significant increase
of salaries. The state budget has a qualitatively new structure,
where shares allocated to health care and education are substantially
augmented. In the sphere of foreign affairs important has been
involvement of Armenia in the European `New Neighborhood’ initiative,
as the President stated. This fact underlined the readiness of the
European Union to build special relations with our country.
Cooperation with our partner-foreign states has been enhanced, and
Armenia has continued active participation in international
processes.
According to Kocharyan, Armenia-Spjurk relations have been further
advanced and he distinguished `One Nation-One Culture’ first Armenian
festival, which was performed enthusiastically. `Allying with the
`Hayastan’ All-Armenian Fund the Armenians of Diaspora managed to
collect a considerable amount of money to conclude construction of
the Karabagh’s North-South highway. This is an important step in
strengthening the factual independence of Karabagh – independence,
which is nonnegotiable’, he said. The President also emphasized that
our Armed Forces in the passing year have become even stronger and
assured that the year of 2005 will be more productive for Armenia
`and there are all the preconditions for it’. A.H. –0–
*********************************************************************
ARKADI GHUKASIAN: THE YEAR OF 2004 WAS SUCCESSFUL FOR NKR
STEPANAKERT, January 4. /ARKA/. The year of 2004 was successful for
NKR, as stated NKR President Arkadi Ghukasian in his New Year
greeting. `We were not affected by political and social upheavals.
Due to the reforms conducted, a stable economic growth is recorded in
the country, and the volume of production has grown’, he noted.
Ghukasian drew the attention to the fact that the economic growth
brought to gradual increase of the welfare of NKR people and to
improvement of their social conditions. Ghukasian reminded that in
2004 the government of NKR managed to increase the salary of
personnel working in budgetary funded organizations and to increase
the volume of aid to most needing strata of the society: families of
missing soldiers and those perished in the Karabakh war, invalids,
war veterans, and large families.
As it was particularly stated in the greeting of the President,
beginning from the next year the government will begin building
apartment blocks for socially unsecured families. `The size of
pensions will increase as well as that of other social payments.
Also, salary of the personnel working in the sphere of healthcare,
education, culture and sport will increase’, he noted.
The state budget of NKR for 2005 envisages 30% growth of expenditures
for social purposes. Ghhukasian noted that in 2004 the basis was put
for rapid completion of the construction of the North -South highway,
which is of high strategic importance for Artsakh for strengthening
its military, economic and national security. `The unprecedented
success of the TV marathon is considered by me as a disposition of
trust by Diaspora in the reforms introduced in social-political and
social-economic spheres, and in the measures taken to build civil
society in Artsakh’, he said.
Ghukasian noted that `for the last year our army became even stronger
and its military efficiency increased’. `The problems of the NKR Army
of Defense, including those of social character, have been and will
remain in the center of attention of the government. The power of our
army enables us to pursue successful foreign policy to advocate our
interests in the international arena. I assure you that any attempts
of Azerbaijan to break the rhythm of our people will be repulsed by
the NKR Army of Defense’, as stated in the greeting of the President.
A.H. -0 –
*********************************************************************
AMBASSADOR OF IRAQ TO AZERBAIJAN: SENDING ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPING
FORCES TO IRAQ NOT TO CHANGE THE POSITION OF OFFICIAL BAGHDAD
REGARDING THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
YEREVAN, January 4. /ARKA/. Sending Armenian peacekeeping forces to
Iraq will not change the position of official Baghdad regarding the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as stated by the new Ambassador of Iraq to
Azerbaijan Arshad Omar Ishmael when commenting the decision of the RA
NA to send military contingent to Iraq, according to TREND. “Many
peacekeeping forces may arrive in our country, but it will not
influence of our general policy’, he said. According to him, the
decision of RA NA to send 50 peacekeepers to Iraq was taken after the
military operations. `Armenia is willing to participate only current
processes to restore peace. There is a Surah in the Koran stating
that `those who declare Jihad for the sake of conquesting Mecca are
above those who did it later’. I do not believe that those who got
involved in the struggle to save Iraq and those who did it later
would be treated simultaneously. In any case, those who came first
are important for us’, he said. The diplomat drew the attention to
Iraq’s always supporting the position of Baku in the issue of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. Official Baghdad is for the
solution of the problem only `in the framework of the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan’. `During the last discussions in UNO we
voted for the project of resolution developed by the Azerbaijani
side’, he reminded. The Ambassador noted that that policy would be
pursued in future as well.
To note, so far there is no Embassy of Iraq in Yerevan. `This is a
very important fact and Azerbaijan should take it into account.
Interests of our friends have an important place in our foreign
policy’, he said. A.H. -0 –