Author: Jabejian Elizabeth

ArmenPress
Feb 3 2005

SOLDIER’S MOTHER MONITORS SITUATION AMONG ALTERNATIVE SERVICEMEN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS: A non-governmental organization
called Soldier’s Mother will unveil in March the findings of a
monitoring of the situation in several hospitals and old people
homes, the destination of males who refused mandatory military
service in ordinary units choosing instead the so-called alternative
service.
Greta Mirzoyan, the chairwoman of the organization, said
alternative servicemen in some places face what she said is “the
humiliating treatment on part of hospitals’ personnel.” Very often
alternative servicemen are forced to carry out “degrading’ work.
Alternative service is chosen mainly by members of Jehovah’s
Witnesses, who are allowed to quit alternative service after six
months and join regular military units. According to military
officials, some 20 conscripts have chosen alternative military
service.

Azeri official warns OSCE fact-finding mission against breaching agreements

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
1 Feb 05

[Presenter] The first complaints have surfaced in connection with the
OSCE fact-finding mission’s visit to the occupied districts outside
Nagornyy Karabakh. A number of conditions put forward by Baku and
accepted by the parties to the conflict to ensure the mission’s
objectivity are being violated. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has
said that if this information is confirmed, the ministry will ask the
experts for explanation.

[Correspondent over archive footage] Despite statements by the
Azerbaijani authorities and the OSCE [Minsk Group] co-chairmen, the
OSCE fact-finding mission visiting the occupied territories is being
accompanied by the Karabakh Armenians.

According to a report posted on the web site of the Armenian newspaper
Yerkir, the European experts are being accompanied by the deputy
foreign minister of the self-styled Nagornyy Karabakh republic, Masis
Mailyan.

Meanwhile, Baku regards the Armenian report as provocation. Deputy
Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has told “Son Xabar” that when the Minsk
Group co-chairmen and members of the fact-finding mission were in
Baku, this issue was broadly discussed. We told them that the
Armenians would try to offer a number of pretexts to stop the experts
going there, by saying that the areas are mined, that roads are
impassable, that the weather is not favourable enough. However, the
OSCE representatives said they would be accompanied by [special
representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office] Andrzej Kasprzyk, and
promised not to let this happen, end of quote.

According to Araz Azimov, the Azerbaijani side tends to trust the
sincerity of European experts. At the same time, the deputy minister
said if these reports are confirmed, the Azerbaijani side might ask
the fact-finding mission to provide an explanation of how this could
have happened.

[Passage to end omitted: known background details]

VISIT OF OSCE MG TO REGION MUST BE CONSIDERED AS SUCCESS IN FOREIGN
POLICY OF ARMENIA: LEADER OF AZERBAIJANI ORGANIZATION FOR LIBERATION
OF KARABAKH

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28. ARMINFO. The visit of OSCE MG to the region must
be considered as a success in the foreign policy of Armenia Leader of
the Azerbaijani Organization for Liberation of Karabakh Akif Nagi said
at a press-conference, Thursday.

He said that at the first stage of that trip, Azerbaijan was forced to
concessions i.e. “the delegation included in it neither representative
of Azerbaijan nor Turkey.” Besides, Nagi expressed indignation at the
fact that the delegation will inspect the regions nearing
Karabakh. but not in Karabakh. <We disagree with it. The mission must
be in Karabakh as well, otherwise, one can make a conclusion that OSCE
do not consider Karabakh an occupied territory,> he said.

Nagi stated that the mission must pass via the territory of Azerbaijan.
At the same time, as regards the security of the delegation, he said
that this issue should not be laid on Azerbaijan, Akif Nagi noted that
at first, OLK planned to prevent the visit of the delegation to
Azerbaijan, however, “later we decided that pretexts are searched not
to allow the delegation to arrive in Nagorny Karabakh and we refused
from our initial idea. After the mission’s report in favor of Armenia,
we shall hold actions connected with the activity of that organization.”
Commenting on PACE resolution of Nagorny Karabakh, OLK Chairman said
that the resolution can be used only as a starting point for more
serious steps in future. At the same time, he said that the resolution
has a balanced approached to Armenia and Azerbaijan, it lays stress
upon the status of Nagorny Karabakh.

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PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, January 27, 2005

DR. HAROUTUNE ARMENIAN AWARDED LEBANESE CEDAR MEDAL

New York, NY – On Thursday, December 9, 2004, Dr. Haroutune Armenian,
President of the American University of Armenia (AUA), which receives
major funding support from the AGBU, was decorated with the National
Order of the Cedar medal. Presented by Dr. Karam Karam on behalf of
the President of Lebanon Emile Lahoud, Dr. Armenian received the medal
during a ceremony that marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of
the American University of Beirut’s (AUB) Faculty of Health Sciences.

Dr. Armenian is also currently the Dean of AUA’s College of Health
Sciences and a Professor of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University,
Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is recognized internationally
for his contributions to the advancement of the field of public
health.

The American University of Armenia is registered as a non-profit
educational organization in both Armenia and the United States and is
affiliated with the Regents of the University of California. AUA
offers instruction leading to the Masters Degree in eight graduate
programs. For more information on AUA, visit For more
information on AGBU-supported initiatives, please visit

Agence France Presse — English
January 20, 2005 Thursday 4:59 AM GMT

Rivals Azerbaijan and Armenia join to fight for US favor in Iraq

by Simon Ostrovsky

BAKU

At home, the armies of Azerbaijan and Armenia only see each other
through gun sights pointed across one of the world’s deadliest
cease-fire lines. But today in Iraq, the two are fighting on the same
side for a common cause: American friendship.

This week, a group of 46 Armenian soldiers joined the US-led
coalition in Iraq which since 2004 has included a contingent of 100
peacekeepers from Armenia’s longtime foe Azerbaijan.

And although the stated aims of both nation’s troop deployments are
to help stabilize the situation in Iraq and protect holy sites there,
observers say the bitter rivals are really on a mission to outdo each
other in front of Uncle Sam.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have much to gain from favorable
relations with the United States, but each also has much to lose in
their rival quests to pull international opinion over the disputed
Nagorno-Karabakh region in their favor.

The two republics waged a bloody war over Karabakh — an ethnic
Armenian enclave internationally recognized to be within Azerbaijan
— in the early 1990s that began prior to the breakup of the Soviet
Union and continued after both acquired national independence.

The war ended in 1994 with Armenia in control of the territory and
seven surrounding regions, 30,000 people dead, some two million
people displaced and Karabakh’s status still unsettled.

Since then it has been a war of words between the two nations as they
navigate the choppy diplomatic waters between their former overlord
Russia and the United States, which in the last two years has gained
greater influence in parts of the former Soviet Union.

“Armenia sent its troops into Iraq because America told them ‘you’re
either with us or you’re a Yanukovich,” Azerbaijan’s former foreign
minister Tofik Zulfuqarov told AFP, referring to the pro-Russia
candidate who lost Ukraine’s presidential election to a pro-Western
liberal last month.

After leaders without Moscow’s support took power in Georgia’s
breakaway region Abkhazia this month, Ukraine in December and Georgia
itself a year earlier, observers say Armenia’s President Robert
Kocharyan has begun to shift allegiances westwards from Moscow in an
effort to keep power.

“The (Iraq) issue has become a dividing line: Either we continue with
pro-Russian policies or we get out from under that zone of
influence,” Agasi Enkoyan, a political analyst in Yerevan told AFP.

As for Azerbaijan, “we are enemies… but that doesn’t preclude our
fighting from the same side of the front line in a third country,”
Enkoyan said.

A military analyst in Baku said both nations’ armed forces can
benefit from the experience they get as peacekeepers in Iraq if a
settlement is ever reached over Karabakh.

“One day they will have to understand the difference between a front
line and a national border. Today the military does not have that
understanding,” said Azad Isazade.

But Armenians and Azeris so far have not had a very good track record
of post-war cooperation Isazade warned, saying he fears high-emotions
could lead to new Azeri-Armenian violence even in faraway Iraq.

Both countries are members of NATO’s partnership for peace program
but war games that were planned to be held in Azerbaijan last year
had to be canceled when the Azeri public protested against the
participation of Armenian officers.

In Hungary, an Azeri officer is on trial for the 2004 hotel room
axe-murder of an Armenian officer at a NATO language-training course
in Budapest.

“In that situation they didn’t have guns, in Iraq they will,” said
Isazade. “These aren’t ecologists at a seminar, these are military
people.”

Armenian MP warns of devastating consequences of US attack on Iran

Arminfo
20 Jan 05

YEREVAN

US preventive actions against Iran might cause a long-lasting tragedy
in the whole of the South Caucasus, which can be compared with the
ramifications of the recent devastating tsunami in Asia, MP Vazgen
Manukyan, leader of the National Democratic Union of Armenia and a
veteran of Armenian politics, who has run for the presidency for four
times, told Arminfo while commenting on the recent statement of the US
administration threatening Iran.

Manukyan believes that pragmatism will prevail over emotions and the
USA will not start hostilities against Iran. However, it cannot be
ruled out that the USA will make certain preparations for this kind of
action. In that case, a difficult time will start for Armenia’s
Foreign Ministry, as the Washington administration will try to win
over all the South Caucasus countries in order to gain support in the
region, he said.

“But I think that this will not happen,” the MP said.

Euractiv, Belgium
Jan 17 2005

Turkey-Russia relations

In Short:

Given their dynamically growing economic co-operation, the leaders of
Turkey and Russia are now working for closer political dialogue to
match.

Background:

For centuries, Turkey and Russia have been rivals for regional
supremacy. Recently, the two countries have realised that friendly
relations are in the interest of them both. Accordingly, co-operation
rather than rivalry appears to dominate their ties. This development
has been welcome by the EU, which sees these countries as the two
largest imponderables on the European horizon.

The general understanding is that Russia is a European country while
Turkey belongs to Asia, despite the fact that the two vast countries
both span the continents of Europe and Asia (although they no longer
share a border). The reason for the above distinction is that in both
countries the majority of the population as well as the capital city
are located on the continent where they are respectively assigned.

Issues:

In December 2004, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a
visit to Moscow before Russian President Vladimir Putin reciprocated
with a trip to Ankara in January 2005. This sequence of top-level
visits has brought several important bilateral issues to the
forefront.

Trade
In 2004, trade between Turkey and Russia was worth some $10 billion.
This figure is now expected by both Moscow and Ankara to reach $25
billion by 2007. Russia is Turkey’s second-largest trading partner
after Germany, while Turkey is Russia’s 14th trade partner. Russia
exports to Turkey fuel and energy products (72% of total), as well as
metals (16%) and chemical goods (4%). Turkey, in turn, sells textiles
(30%), machinery and vehicles (23%), chemical goods (15%) and food
products (15%) to Russia.

Turkish companies are present in significant numbers in Russia’s
construction, retail and brewing industries. Russia’s investment in
Turkey is worth $350 million while Turkey’s investment in Russia
totals $1.5 billion.

The two countries consider it their strategic goal to achieve
“multidimensional co-operation”, especially in the fields of energy,
transport and the military. Specifically, Russia aims to invest in
Turkey’s fuel and energy industries, and it also expects to
participate in tenders for the modernisation of Turkey’s military.

In the strategic energy sector, the two countries are in agreement to
implement large-scale projects, some of which compare with the Blue
Stream gas pipeline. Among other developments, Russia will increase
gas supplies to Turkey and will allow Russian companies to engage in
gas distribution in Turkish territory. Talks are also underway on
ways to increase Russian electricity deliveries to Turkey.

European Union
Moscow’s initial reaction to Turkey drawing closer to the EU was
lukewarm. “If you enter the EU we cannot meet frequently,” Putin was
reported as telling his host, Prime Minister Erdogan, during the
former’s visit to Ankara in late 2004. However, at the two leaders’
next meeting in Moscow in January 2005, Putin already said that
Russia was in favour of Turkey’s EU membership, primarily since it
promised to open up new trading channels for Russia. ”We welcome
Turkey’s success at the EU Brussels summit,” Putin said in Moscow.
”I hope that Turkey’s integration in the European Union will open up
a new horizon for Russian-Turkish business cooperation.”

Cyprus
Regarding the outstanding issue of Cyprus (which is tied closely to
Turkey’s EU membership bid), Russia has declared support for the plan
put forward by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. ”We will support any
resolution that comes out of the implementation of UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan’s plan,” said Putin. He added that the economic
embargo on northern Cyprus was “unjust”. In April 2004, Russia used
its veto to block a resolution that sought to outline new UN security
arrangements in Cyprus.

World Trade Organisation
In return, Turkey’s Erdogan has pledged to “fully support” Russia’s
quest for membership of the World Trade Organisation. “Many barriers
in the way of trade and economic co-operation between our countries
may undoubtedly be removed after completion of Russian-Turkish
negotiations on Russia’s WTO entry on acceptable terms,” reacted
Putin. The EU concluded a deal with Russia on the latter’s accession
to the WTO in May 2004. Russia may become a full member of the WTO in
2005.

Chechnya / the Kurd issue
The conflict in Chechnya remains high on the two countries’ bilateral
agendas. Several Turks trace their ancestry to the Caucasus,
including Chechnya, and they have always been sympathetic towards the
Muslim militants in the war-torn Russian region. Earlier, Russia
issued calls for Turkey to crack down on Turkish `philanthropic
organisations’ that allegedly channelled money and arms to rebel
groups in Chechnya. In turn, Turkey accused Russia of backing Kurdish
rebel groups who have been fighting for autonomy in Turkey’s
southeastern regions since the early 1980s. The recent rapprochement
promises to bring both countries closer to negotiated solutions.

Caucasus
The Caucasus remains a moot point between the two countries. Turkey’s
main ally in the Caucasus region is Azerbaijan, whereas Russia’s ally
is its rival, Armenia, which continues to insist that Turkey
committed ‘genocide’ against its people during World War One. ”We
are all aware about the historical problems between Azerbaijan and
Armenia. Russia will contribute to the peace process,” Putin said.
“We do not want negative relations with any of our neighbours,
including Armenia,” Erdogan responded.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
January 14, 2005, Friday

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER VISITS MOSCOW

The Turkish prime minister’s visit to Moscow ends on January 12.
(…) The Russian and Turkish leaders discussed bilateral
co-operation and a range of regional and international problems,
including Iraq, Middle East and Afghanistan. They also raised
problems of terrorism and organized crime, and the prospects of
creating the Blackseaforce naval group. Putin stated at a meeting
with Turkish businessmen that negotiations also concerned
normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia.

(…)

Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, January 12, 2005, p. 6

VLADIMIR KAZIMIROV’S STATEMENTS ON KARABAKH PROBLEM REFLECT RUSSIA’S
OFFICIAL POSITION: AZERI POLITOLOGIST

YEREVAN, JANUARY 13. ARMINFO. People like Vladimir Kazimirov speak on
behalf of the official Kremlin, says ex FM of Azerbaijan Tofik
Zulfugarov. “His statements show his incompetence,” he adds.

“Armenia insists that Nagorny Karabakh be given independence which
would break Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. So Armenia must be
pressured. It is very rough now because it feels Russia’s backing,”
says Zulfugarov.

He says that in early 90s both parties said that the key to the
problem is in Moscow who does not however want it to be solved as this
problem is a lever for it to pressure both Azerbaijan and Armenia. “It
is playing into Moscow’s hands to constantly delay the conflict
settlement. That’s exactly what Kazimirov is proposing,” says
Zulfugarov.

The head of the Azeri community of Nagorny Karabakh Nizami Bahmanov
says that “Kazimirov’s statements show that people like him are the
key obstacle to the conflict settlement.” “Late Haydar Aliev told him
repeatedly to stop supporting Armenia. So it is not strange that
Kazimirov is talking such nonsence.”

Bahmanov says that unless the international community tries to settle
the problem Azerbaijan will resort to any means including military
ones. If the talks fail the parties will resume war. “Our patience is
not endless, we want to get back the lands of our ancestors and
diplomats like Kazimirov must know that Karabakh will never be
independent.” “Armenia and the Karabakh Armenians have in fact
suffered a serious social, political and diplomatic defeat. The
Armenian population of the occupied Azeri territories is in dire
state. People are leaving Karabakh on a mass scale.” “Nagorny Karabakh
is our homeland and we will go back there without fail,” says
Bahmanov.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Jan 12 2005

GERMAN MARSHAL FUND OF US REALIZING PROJECT CONNECTED TO AZERBAIJAN
[January 12, 2005, 22:53:51]

On January 12, Chairman of Milli Majlis (Azerbaijan Parliament)
Murtuz Alaskarov has received the delegation of the German Marshal
Fund of the United States.

Warmly having welcomed the visitors, Mr. Alaskarov has told:
`Existing between Azerbaijan and the USA friendly links develop on
ascending. Due to efforts of heads of the states, our relations have
reached the level of strategic partnership. The documents signed
during visits of the national leader of Azerbaijan people Heydar
Aliyev in the USA, have created a fine basis for development of our
connections. After the meeting of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev with the President of the USA George Bush carried out last
year in Istanbul Summit of the NATO in development of our connections
began a new stage. Our inter-parliamentary links extend and become
stronger also. Due to the Memorandum signed during visits of the US
congressman Kurt Weldon in our country in 2003-2004, have been
created groups of friendship for development of relations between the
Milli Majlis and the US Congress. I hope, your current visit renders
positive influence on expansion of our relations and the further
development of our connections.

Then, Chairman of Milli Majlis has in detail informed visitors on the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict and has expressed hope
that the USA as one of co-chairmen of the Minsk Group would increase
the efforts directed on settlement of the given problem. He has noted
that Azerbaijan takes active participation and in antiterrorist
operations of the United States. The US Government should take into
account it and undertake concerning the aggressor strict measures.

Having expressed gratitude for warm reception and the detailed
information, head of the delegation Mr. Ronald D. Asmus has told:
`The German Marshal’s Fund has prepared a project on creation in the
USA the extensive information base connected to Azerbaijan, and to
the beginning on the basis of the given information of wide
discussions among the public. The purpose of visit to Azerbaijan will
be to collect large information on this country, carry out exchange
of views with representatives of the state, the Government and
Parliament.

At the meeting, the sides have exchanged opinions on other questions
representing mutual interest.