Author: Jagharian Tania

MEMORANDUM ON COOPERATION BETWEEN SYUNIK MARZ AND ONE OF CHINESE PROVINCES LIKELY TO BE SIGNED
Noyan Tapan
May 17 2006
KAPAN, MAY 17, NOYAN TAPAN. China’s Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary to Armenia Tszo Suelian paid a one-day working
visit to Syunik marz on May 16. He visited the Zangezur Copper and
Molybdenum Complex, met with the regional governor of Syunik marz Surik
Khachatrian. During the meeting, a preliminary agreement on cooperation
in the sphere of agriculture was reached. The Chinese ambassador did
not rule out the possibility of signing a memorandum on cooperation
and friendship between Syunik marz and one of the Chinese provinces.

MOSCOW PRESSING FOR CFE TREATY RATIFICATION DESPITE ITS OWN NON-COMPLIANCE
By Vladimir Socor
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
May 17 2006
Amid a deep secrecy that belies its democratic professions, the OSCE is
preparing to hold a Conference to Review the Operation of the Treaty
on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) in Vienna at the end of this
month. Some West European chancelleries are seeking ways to give in to
Moscow’s main goal at this conference: ratification of the 1999 treaty
at the expense of a few small countries in Europe’s East. Thus far,
Moscow has only managed to persuade Belarus, Ukraine (during Leonid
Kuchma’s presidency), and Kazakhstan to ratify that treaty.
Originally signed in 1990, the CFE Treaty underwent adaptation at the
1999 OSCE Istanbul summit, in one package with the Final Act that
includes what came to be known as Russia’s “Istanbul Commitments”;
namely, to withdraw its forces from Georgia and Moldova. While the
original 1990 treaty remains in force, the 1999-adapted treaty
never entered into force because Russia has not fulfilled those
commitments. Moreover, Armenian forces deploy Russian-supplied heavy
weaponry exceeding CFE treaty limits in areas seized from Azerbaijan,
out of bounds to international inspection.
Meanwhile, Russia seeks to extend the CFE Treaty’s area of
applicability so as to include the three Baltic states, which were
not parties to the 1990 treaty (they were still occupied by Moscow
at that time). Since the Baltic states joined NATO, Russia seeks
to bring them under the purview of the 1999-adapted CFE treaty and
start negotiations with them about limiting allied forces that might
hypothetically be deployed to the Baltic states’ territories, for
example in crisis contingencies. Legally, however, the Baltic states
cannot join an unratified treaty.
Thus, Russia is now pressing for the treaty’s speedy ratification
by all state-parties, so as to make possible the Baltic states’
accession to the ratified treaty, while still keeping Russian troops
on Georgia’s and Moldova’s territories in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and
Transnistria. Moscow calculates that Western consent to ratification
of the 1999 treaty in such circumstances would legitimize, prolong,
and even legalize the stationing of Russian troops in Georgia and
Moldova as “peacekeepers.”
To pave the way for such an outcome, Moscow has agreed with Georgia
to close Russian bases and military installations situated deep
inside the country by 2008 (nine years after its pledge to do so);
but it insists on maintaining its “peacekeeping” forces in Abkhazia
and South Ossetia while heavily arming its proxy forces there. Russia
had liquidated most of its treaty-limited weaponry in Transnistria
already in 2001; but retains a part of it to this day, has transferred
another part as well as personnel to Transnistria-flagged forces,
and openly repudiates the obligation to withdraw Russia’s own troops,
styled as “peacekeepers.”
The United States as well as NATO collectively take the position
that ratification of the adapted CFE Treaty is inseparably linked
to fulfillment of Russia’s commitments to withdraw its forces from
Georgia and Moldova; and that the Baltic states would accede to the
treaty, once it enters into force.
Russia has drafted its version of a decision for the CFE Treaty Review
conference and wants negotiations on its basis in the OSCE’s Joint
Consultative Group (JCG), the Vienna forum of the 30 state-parties to
the treaty. Moscow’s draft claims, “Most commitments and arrangements
mentioned in the [1999] Final Act are either already fulfilled or
are in the process of fulfillment, [while] the implementation of
the remaining ones has no direct relevance to the CFE Treaty and
depends on the progress of conflict settlement on the territories
of some State Parties.” It proposes that all state parties should
deem the 1999 treaty as valid from October 2006, start the national
ratification procedures, bring the treaty into force in 2007, and
“discuss the possibility of accession of new participants.”
The translation: Although Russia has far from completely honored
its force-withdrawal commitments, the state-parties (mostly NATO and
European Union member countries) should agree that is has. Thus, they
should: proceed with the Moscow-desired ratification of the treaty;
de-link ratification from the fulfillment of Russia’s withdrawal
commitments, using the conflicts for an excuse; lean on Georgia,
Moldova, and Azerbaijan to accept the situation and ratify the
treaty; and start the procedure of the Baltic states’ accession to
the force-limiting treaty.
Some German, French, Belgian, and other diplomats are now exploring
a solution that could allow Russia to claim that it has fulfilled
its troop-withdrawal commitments. Such a solution would:
1) exempt Russia’s “peacekeeping” troops from the obligation
to withdraw, recognizing their hitherto unrecognized role as
“peacekeepers” and allowing them to stay on;
2) silently tolerate the arsenals of CFE treaty-limited weaponry that
Russia has transferred to proxy forces in Transnistria, Abkhazia,
and South Ossetia, as well as the deployments inside Azerbaijan; and
3) elicit consent from Tbilisi, Chisinau, and Baku with such a
solution.
It would seem that the secrecy surrounding the JCG debates in Vienna
and the ironing out of common positions at the EU in Brussels is a
propitious atmosphere for a compromise with Moscow at the expense
of small countries. Lack of transparency in Vienna also tends to
facilitate undercutting or diluting the U.S. and collective NATO
position on these issues through initiatives from a few important
European capitals.
(JCG documents, May 2006)

IT IS 16 YEARS PUPILS HAVE LESSONS IN HALF-DARK WAGONS IN VILLAGE OF DITAVAN, TAVUSH REGION
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
NOYEMBERIAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The 8-form school of the village of
Ditavan, Tavush region, has 50 pupils, but the one-storeyed school
building is too small and since 1990, 3 wagon-houses also have been
serving as classrooms.
One wagon-house is used as a canteen. As form master of primary school
Nunik Ghazarian said in her talk with Noyan Tapan correspondent,
these wagon-houses are dark and the pupils of the primary school
complain that they do not see the letters well. It is very hot in the
wagon-houses in winter and they have to air the classroom 10 times
during a lesson. Due to lack of a gymnasium the lessons of physical
culture are held in the school corridor in winter.
According to school headmaster Armen Hakhverdian, they have repeatedly
promised to build a new building for the school in the past years,
even a territory near the school was allotted for this purpose but
the construction has not started.

OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS ARMENIAN LEADER “BAD MANAGER”
Mediamax news agency
16 May 06
Yerevan, 16 May: The leader of the National Democratic Union [NDU],
Vazgen Manukyan, today described Armenian President Robert Kocharyan as
“a bad manager” and compared him with “a tank driver, sweeping away
everything in his path”.
Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today, the leader of the
NDU said that the Orintas Yerkir [Law-Governed Country] Party which
had pulled out of the ruling coalition has become “another victim”
of the state management system which has disastrous shortcomings”.
Vazgen Manukyan said that the Orinats Yerkir Party “was removed from
power under pressure from the president and nobody can be insured
against such a blow”.
The leader of the NDU called on opposition forces to unite and to
establish a new public and political field, “which will not only aim
to change the management system but also to establish dual power in
the country”.

THE DARFUR TRAGEDY : THE ISLAMIC WORLD NEEDS TO SPEAK OUT LOUDLY
Pakistan Link, Abubakr G. Shaikh
New California Media, CA
May 15 2006
The blood-thirsty and the much feared Sudanese militia, known as
Janjawed, has been trained by the Sudanese army with the explicit
purpose of ridding Darfur villages of black Muslims. They race their
camels and machinegun- mounted trucks through the villages, shooting
indiscriminately at the helpless and unarmed villagers. These barbarous
butchers are aided helicopter gunships to maximize the terror and
mayhem so that none could dare to return. Men, women and children
are virtually mowed down without mercy. When the mayhem is complete,
the victims’ bodies are dismembered, sprayed with oil and burnt
alongside their huts. The livestock and young women are spared to
be taken away as the war booty. The women are routinely kidnapped,
raped and enslaved as serfs and domestic servants. They tend the
farms and cattle of the brown skinned Arabs and satisfy their lust
and give birth to the Arab progeny to replace the black population.
Slavery is an ugly blot on the Islamic faith. Despite the immense
compassion shown by the holy Prophet, peace be upon him, for the
oppressed, poor and children, it is an irony that slavery is still part
of the Sharia. The glorious Qur’an says: “O mankind We have created you
from a single male and a female and made you into nations and tribes
that you may know one another. Verily the most honorable in you in the
sight of Allah is that who has At-Taqwa (pious and righteous person)
who fear Allah much and love Allah much.”(49.13).
Color, creed or caste, does not distinguish a person from the other
in Islam and given that all people are born equal how could slavery
be justified?
The Darfurians have a valid claim on their sacred lands from where
they are being consistently and systematically uprooted. They are the
original natives, not the Arabs whose forefathers came to the region
with a noble cause: delivering the message of peace and not to rule or
drive the Darfurians away from their homelands .They were received
well by their hosts and they in turn served them well. However,
their descendents have followed a path of savagery, prejudice and
hate, breaking every rule of civility, all principles of humanity,
and the basic tenets of Islam.
The merciless genocide has gone on unchecked for the past two years
and while the actual death toll is difficult to estimate, close to
200,000 innocent people have been butchered in this worst scenario
of ethnic cleansing according to some sources – the biggest carnage
after Rwanda and Bosnia. More than two millions have been rendered
homeless. Milovesic must have been wondering in his grave what did
he do to deserve the Hague trial! The United Nations’ duplicity and
double standards are also evident from the fact that it actively got
involved in East Timur and Sudan’s other conflict based on religion
with its southern region whereas in this conflict based on color
prejudice there are no signs of urgency on the part of the world
body. The world remains cool and impassive because of global oil
interests tainted with the blood of the innocent Darfurians.
In their quest to complete the annihilation of black Muslins,
Sudan’s army supported by its notorious militia, continues to chase
and attack refugee camps inside the neighboring country Chad. Sudan
is also accused by the president of Chad to be actively involved
in its nefarious activities to destabilize his regime by providing
aid to rebels to instigate a revolt in Chad. The aim is to install
a proxy government, which in collaboration with Sudan, will wipe out
the entire black Muslim population of Darfur. The only crime of these
unfortunate and helpless people is the color of their skin and their
Islamic faith, Islam, whose basic tenets call for eradication of all
kind of prejudices.
How much longer can they endure and keep their faith in Islam?
Perhaps they must already be thinking of other options for their
survival while the Islamic world remains unmoved. Its silence and
indifference is staggering. The catastrophe is of a colossal nature,
but it has not moved the hearts of 1.2 billion Muslims of the world
who only recently reacted violently to the much less critical issue
of the cartoon controversy. The entire Muslim community from one
end of the globe to the other, erupted in furor, over-reacting to
the controversy in a manner that seemed to suggest that Islam was in
eminent danger. The irrational behavior led to many deaths of innocent
citizens, loss of property and revenue, and contra-productive results
in the form of severe criticism on the conduct of Muslims by the
international press. However, not a single protest march took place
on the massacre and carnage of 200,000 Muslims at the hand of fellow
Muslims in Darfur.
One wonders about the priorities of the Ummah. The Qur’an is very
specific on resolving disputes and making reconciliation between two
Islamic factions. Allah has ordained: “And if two parties or groups
among the believers fall into fighting ,then make peace between them
both and if one of them rebels against the other then fight you against
the one that which rebels till it complies with the command of Allah
then if it complies then make reconciliation between them justly and
be equitable”(49: 9,10) Every big fire starts with a small spark, each
movement is the brainchild of an individual and eventually transforms
into a revolution, every hurricane develops from the buildup of winds
and waves.
Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times columnist and champion of the
oppressed people around the world, has tirelessly raised awareness
on the Darfur genocide in the past two years. The spark now seems
to have developed into a sizeable flame. Here in the United States,
with the steady involvement of the common people, religious leaders,
organizations, human rights activists, college and universities
students – the flame is getting larger every day. In contrast tothe
Muslim world’s apathy, the Jewish, Evangelical, Armenian and human
rights organizations are in the forefront of building alliances,
pressure and lobbying groups to get the administration involved in
ending the genocide in Darfur. I had counted more than 60 nationwide
Jewish organizations’ names which sponsored a full-page protest in the
Columbus Dispatch, the leading newspaper of Ohio on the insensitivity
of the Bush administration to the Darfur genocide. I am sure similar
protest ads must have appeared in all major newspapers nationwide. The
Jews’ sensitivity reflects their having suffered the worst genocide
in human history. This movement is gathering momentum and now has
reached colleges and universities, churches and synagogues. These
groups also arranged a million march to Capital Hill. No name of
any Muslim organization appeared in the protest march nor any public
statements appeared on the subject in any newspaper.
Some hopes have started to build as there are indications that
president Bush might take an initiative to involve UN troops in
Darfur yet nothing concrete has emerged so far. Meanwhile, Sudan
has successfully persuaded South Africa to stay for six more months
in Darfur and delay in handing over charge to the UN. What sinister
motive is behind this move is not clear yet.
One regrets the snail-pace response of the UN and the confounding
apathy of the Muslim world to the unfolding tragedy.

TRAIN WITH MILITARY HARDWARE TO CROSS AZERBAIJAN WITHOUT STOPS
by Viktor Shulman
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 15, 2006 Monday 10:38 AM EST
Azerbaijan will give the green light to the first train with military
hardware and munitions from the Russian military base in Akhalkalaki,
southern Georgia, heading for Russia, Azerbaijani First Deputy
Transport Minister Musa Panakhov told Itar-Tass on Monday.
The train is expected to reach the Georgian-Azerbaijani border at
19:00 Moscow time and after the customs clearance procedures will
continue towards its destination.
“The train will run across Azerbaijan without stops. It will be
accompanied by special services to the Russian border,” he said.
“It will reach the Azerbaijani-Russian border at 16:30 Moscow time
on May 16, as expected.”
“The Russian Defence Ministry’s military are accompanying the
train en route,” a source at the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan told
Itar-Tass. “The trainload will be checked in compliance with the
protocol signed earlier. All containers are sealed.”
A group of Georgian military will escort the train to the Azerbaijani
border.
The train left Tsalka, 50 kilometers away from Akhalkalaki, southern
Georgia, earlier in the day. The Georgian Railways-owned 19-carriage
train will bring to Russia seven T-72 tanks, eight reconnaissance
vehicles, four infantry combat vehicles, four communication vans and
340 boxes with rockets for GRAD launchers.
Under the agreements reached between Russia and Georgia, the withdrawal
of Russian bases from Akhalkalaki should be completed in 2007.
This year, 19 trainloads are expected to bring back to Russia all
hardware. The departures of other trains are scheduled for May 23,
25 and 30.
Part of the hardware and munitions will be redeployed to the Russian
base of Gyumri, in Armenia. The first truck convoy will leave for
Gyumri on May 18.
When all personnel, munitions and material supplies have been pulled
out of Akhalkalaki by late 2007, the base will be closed.

OPERATION TO RECOVER A-320 BLACK BOXES TO START MAY 16
by Galina Solodovnikova
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 13, 2006 Saturday
An operation to recover flight recorders from the Armenian Airbus-320
passenger plane that crashed in the Black Sea off Sochi on May 3 will
begin on Tuesday, May 16, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin
said on Saturday.
He said equipment for the operation was being loaded in the port of
Novorossiisk. The equipment will be ready for use by Monday. “We plan
to start the operation on Tuesday,” the minister said.
According to experts, the operation may take two to three days.
Beyond that everything will depend on the weather, Levitin said.
In his words, it will take about a month or two to “read” the data
from the flight recorders. “We hope that the operation to lift [the
flight recorders] will go well,” he added.
The flight recorders are lying on the seabed 496 metres from the
surface and about five metres apart. “The visibility is sufficient
for the work to be done,” the minister said.
Of 113 people who were abroad the plane, 51 bodies have been found
so far.
The Airbus A-320 of the Armenian airline Armavia plunged into the
Black Sea as it was making a landing manoeuvre in the early hours of
May 3. The accident claimed the lives of 113 people.

Award competition for journalists announced by OSCE Office in Yerevan

ArmRadio.am
13.05.2006 15:10
OSCE Office in Yerevan together with the Public Environmental
Information Center (Aarhus Center) announces a competition for tele-
and newspaper journalists.
The aim of the competition is to attract attention of journalists to
the effects of urbanization ` removing green zones, air and water
pollution, and human health in cities.
To take part in the competition it is necessary to submit a TV film
with duration of no more than 20 min by the tele-journalists, and a
newspaper article not exceeding 1000 words by the newspaper
journalists. The works must not have already been submitted to any
OSCE competition.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Norwegian State Secretary Assessed Highly Yerevan-Oslo
Relations

12.05.2006 17:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian met with Kjetil Skogrand, the State
Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Norway, reported RA MFA press office. During the
meeting Mr. Skogrand expressed satisfaction with the
level of the Armenian-Norwegian relations. The parties
also pointed out to the possibility of developing
cooperation within the economic, energy and
environment sections and referred to the cooperation
within international organizations. By the guest’s
request Vartan Oskanian briefed on Armenia’s position
on a number of regional problems including the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement.

Regnum, Russia
May 12 2006
On American maps US troops are already deployed in Azerbaijan: Azeri
press digest
Politics
`All possible scenarios of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement
have already been considered,’ Azeri President Ilham Aliyev says on
May 5. `Presently, the co-chairs are holding intensive consultations
and are considering different possibilities. Perhaps, they will
appear with some novelties.’ `I don’t believe that they will propose
anything new. Probably, they will make some changes in the proposals
we have already discussed. If so, we will probably get even closer to
resolution,’ says Aliyev. He says that Azerbaijan’s position has not
changed: `We advocate compliance with the international law and a
single approach to this problem,’ says Aliyev. (525th Daily)
`For us, there is no concept of government or opposition, for us,
Azerbaijan’s interests are more important,’ Day.Az reports the member
of the Turkish delegation to PACE Movlud Cavusoglu as saying.
Cavusoglu says that, as a Turk, he is obliged to protect Azerbaijan’s
interests. He calls `parricides’ those oppositionists who keep
demanding that PACE suspend the mandate of the Azeri delegation. At
the same time, Cavusoglu notes that Azerbaijan should improve its
electoral system to have no such problems at PACE in the future.
`Presently, it is impossible to resolve the Armenian-Azeri conflict
by peace. If the sides were ready for compromise, they would act
differently in their foreign and domestic policies,’ Turan reports
the director of international security and energy programs at the
Nixon Center Zeyno Baran as saying. She says that `a possible
campaign against Iran may have a negative impact on Azerbaijan, but
it is hard to say yet how heavy this impact will be.’ Commenting on
Iran’s protest against the project to lay an oil pipeline between
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan via the bottom of the Caspian Sea, Baran
says that Iran will not be able to prevent it.
The vice chairman of the Azeri opposition youth organization Yeni
Fikit (New Idea) Said Nuri, who is facing charges of coup, demands
that Zbigniew Brzezinski be summoned to the court. He denies the
charges that when in Poland on July 31-August 4, 2005 he got
instructions from Brzezinski on how to plot and carry out a coup in
Azerbaijan and on how to involve youths in mass disorders. `These
facts have nothing to do with reality. Brzezinski was not present at
the workshops I was attending. But if they insist that this is true,
let them invite Zbigniew Brzezinski to the court’ says Nuri. In his
turn, the chairman of the organization Ruslan Bashirli demands the
summons of Norwegian Embassy representatives as the prosecutor says
that he has got $50,000 from Scandinavian diplomats. (Azadlyg)
Reporters Sans Frontieres has published Annual Worldwide Press
Freedom Index, reports Turan. In 2004 Azerbaijan was 136th among 167
countries, with 49.67 points. 2005 was even worse – 141st and 51
points. `Press freedom sharply deteriorated in Azerbaijan. The murder
of independent journalist Elmar Husseynov in Mar illustrated the
violence and harassment journalists are exposed to there. Attacks on
press are increasing in the run-up to parliamentary elections on Nov
6,’ says the report. From the CIS countries only Belarus (152nd,
61.33), Uzbekistan (155th, 66.50) and Turkmenistan (165th, 93.50)
have worse indices than Azerbaijan.
Concerning the results of the elections, some international
organizations show double standards towards Azerbaijan, says the head
of the social-political department of the Azeri president’s office
Ali Gasanov. He says that Azerbaijan has protested against this to
their observers. `We have several reasons for protest. It’s quite
possible that there is no unanimity among observers. Each observer
speaks on behalf of his own country or political force, even though
they all are set to monitor on behalf of the OSCE and the Council of
Europe,’ says Gasanov. `They use generalizations and give preference
to their own subjective views. For example, if the CE monitoring
mission consists of 300 observers, the subjective views of 100 of
them are taken as basis,’ says Gasanov. He says that the local
opposition and NGOs are also to blame for this as they misinform
international organizations about the political situation in their
country. (525th Daily)
Section 907 of Freedom Support Act (Adopted in Oct 1992 and suspended
by the Senate in 2001, Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act forbade
the US government to provide direct assistance to Azerbaijan because
of that country’s blockading Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh – REGNUM)
will be valid for Azerbaijan until the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is
resolved, says Public Affairs Officer of the US Embassy in Azerbaijan
Jonathan Henick. He says that though the US Government is against
this section to be against Azerbaijan, US Congress keeps it in force:
`We are very satisfied with the fact that during the last 5 years 907
Article is frozen against Azerbaijan, and our cooperation with this
country lasts.’ (APA)
There are certainly no CIA secret jails in Azerbaijan, the Azeri
delegate to PACE Gultekin Gajiyeva says to Trend. She says that the
CE’s repeated inquiry about the jails may be due to some technical
problems. `Probably, Azerbaijan’s response to the first inquiry has
not satisfied the CE for some technical reasons. Azerbaijan is in
quite sensitive region and it needs to protect its military secret
from its neighbors. Azerbaijan may have some military facilities on
its borders with Iran and Armenia. It might be for this or some other
reasons, or because of incomplete information, that the CE has sent
us a repeated inquiry,’ says Gajiyeva.
Azerbaijan – USA
Real Azerbaijan says: `Bush tapped Aliyev on his shoulder: at last he
did – at the end of Aliyev’s first visit as president to America.
Bush did that patronizingly but, at the same time, approvingly: `Our
guy!’ He called Aliyev a modern Muslim leader and even congratulated
him on the wedding of his daughter. Why has Bush invited Aliyev now
despite the risk of being criticized by his opponents before the
upcoming parliamentary elections in the US? The answer seems to be
obvious – Iran! Of course, Iran was a topic during their talks, but
not the only and not even the key topic. The main reason the US made
an over-2-year `luftepause’ before inviting Aliyev to Washington was
not so much that it planned to `export’ democracy to Azerbaijan (as
the local opposition would expect) as that it wanted to see who is
more capable Aliyev Junior as president or the Azeri opposition. Now
it is almost an axiom: Aliyev has no alternative and will not have in
the near future. And so, the Americans have decided it’s time for
closer cooperation – especially now that Azerbaijan’s strategic
importance is going very high: the upcoming launch of the big `oil
pipe’; the prospects of a big `gas pipe’; the US’ plans to `free
Europe’ from the Russian gas monopoly. And also energy security, and
also the selfsame Iran and the Islamic factor, in general. Small
Azerbaijan is becoming a `card’ in a big Middle East game…’
The daily notes: `During Aliyev’s visit the US press called Baku the
US’ `Muslim ally’ (not more just Ankara!) and, along with criticism,
said something we have already heard, alas, for many times: `Though
democracy in Azerbaijan is not on a proper level, the country is
moving in the right direction.’ They also said that Washington might
offer Baku strategic partnership similar to what it has with
Tel-Aviv. A more real version is possible reliance on Kurds if not
Azeris against Iran. That is, the US is acting like it did with
Turkey, when it `punished’ Ankara for its intractability over Iraq by
reliance on Kurds. And with their strong positions in the Azeri
business, army and other structures, the Kurds are no less negative
factor in Azerbaijan than they are in Turkey.’
`That is, despite the serenity of Aliyev’s Washington visit, America
has something to sulk with Azerbaijan for. If today the US is focused
on changing the situation in Iran by overthrowing the local mullah
regime, and Ilham Aliyev is speaking about Azerbaijan’s good neighbor
relations with Iran and Bush – about diplomatic ways to solve the
Iranian problem, this does not mean yet that the dynamics of the
situation over Iran will not lead Baku and Washington to other
relations and assessments! In its time, Azerbaijan was pressed by the
US to agree to a more expensive and longer oil pipeline to Ceyhan
though there were much more profitable routes – first of all, via
Iran. And it got nothing in exchange. On the contrary, it got
dependent. And now only few opposition parties believe that the
`Southern Azerbaijan’ card may be dealt and the US anti-Iranian
campaign may result in reunification of Azerbaijan. It’s absolutely
obvious that nobody will agree to the breakup of Iran and the rise of
a 40-mln Turkic Muslim country (in addition to 60-mln Turkey!) –
agree to something that would break the whole balance of forces in
the Middle East and the Caucasus… something that would make
absolutely impossible the resolution – especially peaceful – of the
Karabakh conflict. As you may know, America is very active in the
matter now. Only God knows how it is going to act, but they in the
Armenian opposition are as always there with quite unexpected
scenarios: things will sort themselves out if America… deploys its
troops in `NKR’ (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) for further strike on
Iran. They say that Azerbaijan will silently agree to this, contrary
to its peace agreements with Iran – as it has no control over this
territory. In its turn, Iran will try to outstrip America, i.e. will
invade into `NKR’ itself! What this all will end in is clear – as
soon as the US `conquers’ Iran, it will remunerate Nagorno Karabakh
with independence and may even annex to it former Shahumyan and other
formerly Armenian regions and … the whole Azerbaijan (as you may
know, Armenia is already annexed to Nagorno Karabakh by `our guy’
Kocharyan.’
“Quite original but a very improbable idea. In any case, the Azeri
president’s visit to the US has made even stronger his strong
positions at home and in the region. The local press presents this as
if he entered the White House on `a white horse.’ Still one should
not exaggerate the international response to the first visit of
Aliyev Junior to America – at least, for the time being. As they say,
let’s live and see: One can not be equal friend to the strong. One
can serve him and get an award `from the king’s shoulder.’ So, nobody
knows yet what uncle Sam will bring with him when entering Baku on a
`white horse’ (and this will certainly happen sooner or later!)…
(Real Azerbaijan)
The US has requested from Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev that his
country open an official representation in Israel, reports Haaretz
(Israel). The subject was raised last week during the visit of the
Azeri president to Washington, where he met with President George W.
Bush and other senior members of the administration. Aliyev did not
respond to the American request and sources said that he is unlikely
to undertake such a move in the near future, and certainly not during
the period in which Azerbaijan heads the Economic Cooperation
Organization, a regional group comprising predominantly Muslim and
Turkic states from Central Asia. The American request follows an
appeal by Israel to the Bush administration, which was made to boost
a similar demand by Jewish American groups.
Israel has had a diplomatic mission in the Azeri capital Baku since
1993, but Azerbaijan, whose majority Turkic population is
predominantly Shi’a, has avoided reciprocating with an embassy of its
own in Israel. Several months ago, a large delegation of Jewish
American representatives, led by the Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish Organizations, visited Baku and called for the
opening of an official Azeri representation in Israel during their
meeting with President Aliyev.
During his visit to Washington, President Aliyev was presented with
the American request at a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State
Robert Zoellick. The State Department had received a request from the
Israeli Foreign Ministry to raise the idea with Aliyev.
Around Iran
As a UN member, Azerbaijan is obliged to support the Security
Council’s any decision on the Iranian nuclear problem, says Azeri FM
Elmar Mamedyarov. Azerbaijan’s official position is that any country
has the right to develop its nuclear power engineering with the
approval of the IAEA. Mamedyarov says that he can’t say what
consequences the possible sanctions against Iran may have for
Azerbaijan as this has not happened yet. At the same time, he says
that the Iranian nuclear problem must be solved by diplomatic means.
`Diplomacy is not tired yet,’ he says. (New Time)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to Baku on May 4 to take
part in the May 5 summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization
(ECO).
On May 5 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held a news conference
in Baku. He said that his country is implementing its nuclear program
for peaceful purposes and is ready to cooperate with all states on
the basis of the international law. Concerning Russia’s proposal to
enrich uranium in its territory, Ahmadinejad said that Iran has
excellent relations with Russia and is going to develop them. But it
prefers negotiating with different countries having nuclear
technologies. `Iran is an advocate of peace. We believe that peace
and constant security should be based on morality and justice.’
Ahmadinejad said that he sees no obstacles to the development of
Azeri-Iranian cooperation. `I love the Azeri people. I personally
speak Azeri.’ He noted that Iran has never attacked anybody and has
always advocated peace. Asked if the US attack on Iran is real,
Ahmadinejad said that `this will never happen.’ `Those who are
speaking about war must have no idea about the Iranian people. They
must be joking.’ Asked: `Aren’t your tough statements bad, first of
all, for Iran itself?’ Ahmadinejad said that he is making no tough
statements but just saying that Iran’s legal rights must be
respected: `There are 2-3 countries who want all the others to ask
them for permission for whatever they want to do, while our position
is in line with the international rules and laws. They have their own
nuclear weapons but they don’t want us to produce nuclear power for
peaceful purposes.’ (Azeri Press)
During his meeting with the head of the Board of Muslims of the
Caucasus Allahshukur Pashazade, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
said that the Iranian and Azeri peoples have many common things and
faith is one them. He expressed conviction that Islam will always be
a stimulus for whatever good wishes and purposes the two nations
have. Admadinejad said that he loves the Azeri people and stressed
that the Azeri and Iranian peoples are united by common beliefs. (New
Times)
Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter has given a big interview
to American Patriot. `You’d be surprised what kind of plans are being
hatched up right now – plans that include covert action; plans that
include massive aerial bombardment, according to Seymour Hersh’s
[April 17] article in The New Yorker; plans that include massive
aerial bombardment that incorporate the possibility, or some would
say the probability, of nuclear weapons. And if you go to the School
of Advanced Military Studies in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., as I have
several times, you’ll see the maps on the wall clearly indicate an
American interest in pushing forces into Azerbaijan. Why? It
neighbors Iran. Why is that important? The shortest route to Tehran
is down the Caspian Sea coast, [where] the Army is planning an
incursion right now…’ says Ritter.
Echo wonders that Ritter’s conclusions are made against the
background of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev’s Washington declarations
that Azerbaijan will not take part in the anti-Iranian coalition.
`The point is that the problem of Iran is not closed for us, it will
still be discussed for two months, at shortest,’ says independent
military expert Uzeir Jafarov. `As regards the maps mentioned by
Ritter, the Pentagon actually has such maps, and, quite recently,
when they planned their possible actions against Iran, they,
naturally, put them down on maps. They mapped out possible directions
so as to see easier ways to solve their task by land, sea or air.
Those maps are not a secret, we know about them from the press. I
tend to believe that Ritter saw them personally. If, God forbid, the
US still starts war against Iran, Azerbaijan will have no way to stay
neutral – like it or not, our territory will also be involved in the
campaign.’
Political expert Rasim Musabekov says to Echo: `Today there are no US
troops in Azerbaijan’s territory for us to be able to say if they
will be used or not and if Azerbaijan will allow this or not. This is
just a hypothetical question. Yes, if the US is going to attack Iran,
it may be considering in what form and how effectively it can use
Azerbaijan’s territory. But I don’t think that this is their key
scenario. In any case, Azerbaijan cannot be the key direction – just
because it has no necessary infrastructure and contingent.’ `If Iran
actually takes some actions against Azeri facilities (oil pipeline,
etc.) just to show – we can’t reach the US itself, but we can reach
its interests here – this may seriously change the situation, and
Azerbaijan will then be forced to accept any military assistance and
to join the anti-Iran countries. But still, Azerbaijan’s position of
principle is that we don’t want military actions against Iran, we
will not provide our territory. Azerbaijan must insist on this for as
long as possible,’ says Musabekov.