Author: Kajoyan Gevork

Azerbaijan concerned with the statement of G8 leaders
ArmRadio.am
18.07.2006 16:01
Azerbaijan is concerned with part of the statement of the leaders of
G8 countries, in which they call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to prepare
their peoples for peace, not for war, MEDIAMAX Agency informs.
Referring to “Interfax-Azerbaijan,” MEDIAMAX informs that Head
of the Information Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Azerbaijan Tahir Tagizadeh said in this regard, “If they mean here
that the statements that other ways of resolving the conflict are
possible, it is necessary to consider the specificity of Azerbaijan’s
condition. We are not in a position to hold talks solely for the sake
of holding talks.”

U.S. GOVERNMENT TO DONATE EQUIPMENT OF 300 THOUSAND USD TO RA LAW
ENFORCEMENT AND EMERGENCY BODIES
YEREVAN, JULY 17, NOYAN TAPAN. On July 14, an agreement was signed
on donating 300 thousand USD worth of equipment by U.S. Government
to RA Defence Ministry, Police and Rescue Service. The donation is
carried out within the framework of the program of prevention of
crimes connected with mass destruction weapons.
Part of the equipment was given to representatives of RA law
enforcement and emergency bodies at the end of signing the
document. The equipment included weapons of mass destruction
detection and monitoring equipment, personal protective equipment,
decontamination equipment, crime scene investigation kits and evidence
collection kits.
At the and of a course conducted by the U.S. Department of Defence on
“Crime Scene Management” as related to weapons of mass destruction
incidents, Ambassador of U.S. to Armenia John Evans said that no nation
is immune from experiencing natural or manmade disasters. According
to him, in cooperating with the United States on the International
Counter-proliferation Program, the Government of Armenia has made a
firm commitment to improving its response capability.

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 14 2006
Romania supports independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan – Romanian President Bãsescu
Source: Trend
Author: А.Mammadova
14.07.2006
Exclusive interview of Trend with Romanian President Traian Bãsescu
Question: How do you estimate the current level of bilateral
relationship between Azerbaijan and Romania? Did you achieve any
essential result during the meeting with the President of Azerbaijan
Ilham Aliyev in Bucharest? Answer: As Head of the Romanian state, I am satisfied with the very
good level of the political relations, that was reconfirmed both by
the last official visit to Romania of president Ilham Aliyev as well
as on each and every meeting we had during the last year and a half. We come with a new proposal meant to confer dynamism and substance
to the bilateral economic relations, building on the excellent basis
offered by the political dimension. If we are going to make a profound
study of the current and future status of the bilateral Romanian-Azeri
relations, it would result that this sector of the economic relations
needs to be consolidated. At the same time, I attach a particular
importance to the quality of the interpersonal relations between
our peoples, to the openness that exists on both sides regarding the
consolidation of the relations between our citizens. During our last bilateral meeting in June the 5th, due to the
limited time, President Aliyev and I didn’t have the possibility to
go deeply into issues of mutual concern, we only have an overview of
the bilateral relations; this detailed analysis will be made during
the official visit that I will pay to Azerbaijan, at the beginning
of October, this year. We welcomed the beginning of the negotiations between the European
Union and Azerbaijan concerning the Individual Action Plan, included
in the European Neighborhood Policy and also Azerbaijan’s engagement
in the Individual Action Plan with NATO. We reiterated our support for
the efforts of the Baku authorities to conclude and to adopt these
plans as soon as possible. We also manifested our availability to
share the expertise that Romania gained in the period prior to the
accession to the European and Euro-Atlantic structures. We appreciated the economic relations have not reached the potential
of the two states’ economies. We hope that the meeting, in Baku, of
the second session of the Intergovernmental Commission for technical
and scientifical cooperation, in June, has indicated the need for
progress in this direction. The final result of all these endeavors
will be counted and analyzed this fall, on the occasion of my official
visit to Azerbaijan. Then, we will see which of these are feasible
and deserve our sustained involvement. Question: How do you estimate the totals of the summit “Black Sea
Forum for dialogue and partnership”, held in Bucharest at the beginning
of June? Answer: The Black Sea region is the number one priority of Romania’s
regional policy. We consider that the region is an area with a
significant potential, yet undiscovered and unexploited, whose security
is directly linked to the security of the European and Euro-Atlantic
space, especially regarding the soft security and energy risks. We are convinced that, both for Romania and for Azerbaijan, the Black
Sea represents an area of particular importance: a gateway towards
the European and Euro-Atlantic space. This is the most direct link
between Europe and Azerbaijan and therefore, we believe that it is
in your country’s interest to contribute to the improvement of the
existent instruments that connect the Black Sea region to Europe
(these are often limited to bilateral and sectorial instruments). We believe that for the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Black Sea forum
for Dialogue and Partnership will be an useful instrument in order to
deepen the cooperation at the regional level or to attract new partners
both from the European and Euro-Atlantic area, as well as the private
sector, into the region, so that the regions’ priorities and needs
identified by the regions’ states should be reached and fulfilled. Regarding the first summit of the Forum which took place in Bucharest,
in June the 5th, we appreciated that it represented a first step
in materializing our joint efforts to reunite the political will of
the states on the need to sustain the initiatives coming from inside
the region. The citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia,
Greece, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine
are being creative and wish to do something from the region they live
in. In order to meet their demands, we have to offer the support of
the governmental sector. This is a process that we hope will shorten
the path between initiatives and debates and their translation into
practice. Question: How do you estimate the activities of GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan, Moldova)? Is Romania expected to enter this organization? Answer: The interest Romania has regarding the evolutions in its
East represents the natural attitude of a member state preoccupied to
support the objective of the Euro-Atlantic community: to expand the
area of stability, security and prosperity beyond the frontiers of
EU and of NATO. Recently, I had the pleasure, through the voice of
Romania’s minister of foreign affairs, to greet the transformation
of GUAM into an international organization – the Organization for
Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM. We express our best wishes
for the success of all the activities that will be carried out under
this new framework. I consider that ODDE-GUAM is a regional structure relevant for the
critical need to fight the new risks to the European security. Also the
importance of the cooperation between Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and
the Republic of Moldova is critical in fields such as the improvement
of the security climate, the hydrocarbons transportation and transit
towards the rest of Europe, having as main projects TRACECA and
INOGATE. I welcome the interest of the GUAM states concerning the frozen
conflicts, true sources of instability for the region and sources of
insecurity beyond their own frontiers. Decisive actions and common
plans of cooperation are needed in order to fight these threats. I don’t think you have to consider the possibility of Romania’s joining
GUAM. This is an organization that fits a certain geographical profile
which Romania doesn’t belong to. Although, due to the fact that the
GUAM’ region is adjacent to the geographical space that Romania belongs
to, I can affirm that we are going to actively support deepened and
efficient cooperation between the GUAM member states. Question: What role could Azerbaijan plan in the provision of energy
security of Europe, including Romania Answer: Europe’s energy security is an issue of particular importance
in the context of increased demand for energy resources and Romania,
as an country importing oil and natural gas is interested to identify
new sources of import and alternative routes of transportation. We are interested in identifying the ways in which the Nabucco project
will be feasible. Azerbaijan can and should play an important role in
this respect both as a country of safe transit as well as a provider
for this pipeline. Romania is interested in developing a closed cooperation with
Azerbaijan in the energy field. We analyze the possibility to sign
a bilateral agreement between the relevant ministries that will
formalize prior identified projects of cooperation in the industrial
and energy sector. I am sure that these projects will be put on the
agenda before my official visit to Baku. Question: Does Romania support territorial integrity of Azerbaijan? What are your visions about the ways and perspectives of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement? Answer: Of course. As I always stated on every occasion, Romania
supports the independence, sovereignty and the territorial integrality
of Azerbaijan. I consider that frozen conflicts in the Eastern neighbourhood are
both a symptom and a test: a symptom of Eastern Europe’s troubled
history and a test of NATO and the EU’s ability to bring stability
and security to the region. If we looked at a map of unsettled conflicts, we would see that
there is a constantly fuelled arch of instability in the Black Sea
region, which generates more serious security problems, such as arms
trafficking, trafficking in human beings, trans-border crime, the
undermining of democratic institutions and widespread human rights
violations. This unpleasant reality underscores the importance of
multiple, co-ordinated action from the wider international community
to settle frozen conflicts. There is no unique, universal solution to frozen conflicts. The
conflicts in Transdnister, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh or South Ossetia
are different, so the solutions, too, should be different. Regardless of whether we are acting through the EU or NATO or other
possible formats, our actions need to be adapted to each and every
situation, starting from the cause of the conflict, the political,
social, economic specificity and a clear understanding of the
position of all the players involved We consider that 2006 has to
be put into value as a unique window of opportunity in the process
of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and, in this respect, I welcome the
positive results of the meeting that took place in Bucharest. I am honored that the two presidents have decided to meet in Bucharest,
in the framework offered by the Black Sea Forum for Dialogue and
Partnership, whose main purpose is to promote a culture of dialogue
and cooperation within this region. I consider that the Minsk process needs an input both from the
international organizations as well as the regional actors. Romania
wishes to bring its contribution to provide the right climate for
the continuation of negotiations between the two countries situated
in its neighborhood. The meeting that took place in Bucharest itself
sustains the rationale for which Romania considered that the process
of the Black Sea Forum for Dialogue and Partnership is needed. Romania is not a directly involved partner, but as an OSCE member
state follows closely the evolutions linked to the Prague process, from
the perspective of its expanded regional interests. The conflict has
multiple facets and the solution will have the same characteristics. We
are ready that, together with the international organizations’
expertise, to share, at our turn, from the experience gained in the
field of ensuring national minorities rights, when the time comes. Romania is the advocate of a peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict by fully taking into account the diplomatic instruments
available. We express our hope that the Bucharest meeting will be the
beginning of a new encouraging framework for discussions that will
mark real progress and even an agreement upon precise steps meant to
accelerate the negotiations. Your success will represent the success
of the whole Black Sea region, the success of each country belonging
to this region. I can assure you that you benefit from Romania’s support especially
because, as I stated before, we understand very well the issues
you are facing. The Romanians are in a similar situation, generated
by unfortunate solutions from the Soviet era – the frozen conflict
of Transdnister. The solution we identified is to sustain, in each instances we have
at our disposal, the European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the
Republic of Moldova. Within the EU, the frontiers, irrespective of
their nature, disappear. We encourage you to keep going on this path. The first steps have already been taken, through the opening of the
negotiations regarding the Individual Action Plans with your countries. –Boundary_(ID_JHdqVAsNBWuVScW91kHcPg) —

Azeri-Armenian conflict to be discussed at G8 summit in St Petersburg
Source: Trend
15.07.2006
Author: R.Agayev
CIS regional conflicts will be undoubtedly discussed by heads of G8,
and namely in this respect the conflict discussion will be inevitable,
Trend’s special correspondent reports quoting Azer Mursaliyev, chief
of foreign policy department, Kommersant.
Speaking on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Mursaliyev said
President of Azerbaijan said that his meeting with President of Armenia
Robert Kocharyan and in general all conversations with Armenia do not
make any sense. He also said there is still no information confirming
near Aliyev-Kocharyan meeting possibility, including that during the
informal meeting of CIS leaders in Moscow in the third decade of July.
“Although I do not rule out such a chance, and Russian government,
using informal meeting in Moscow as a tool, will undoubtedly act in
this direction, he added, Naturally, Karabakh conflict will not be the
only matter of discussion, but nevertheless one of the most important
as the said conflict is one of those to be settled the first”.
Besides, Mursaliyev says the US and other Western countries
will also promote acceleration of peaceful process in a view of
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. “In this respect, Russia will also make
an effort during the CIS informal summit to catch initiative in this
matter”, he concluded.

DO YOU WANT DEMOCRACY? FIGHT FOR IT
Anna Israelian
Strasbourg
Aravot.am
11 July 06
The CE General Secretary Terry Davis said in the summer university
of Democracy of the schools of political courses yesterday.
11 schools of political courses under CE /the last one was formed in
Yerevan/ have gathered in Strasbourg for the first time this year to
discuss challenges addressed to democracy in the present Europe. The
importance of these schools for strengthening democracy in Europe
was underlined in the summit of the leaders of the CE 46 member
countries. And the CE standing representative of France, the Ambassador
Bruno Gain named this university on of the main events of this CE year.
The meetings of 500 delegates from 15 countries /delegations from
Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina were also invited where such
schools must be formed/ are held in the big hall of the Europe Chamber
when the PACE usually holds its sittings. The CE General Secretary
Terry Davis made a speech yesterday who expressed his sympathy with the
jet crash in Irkutsk. Then he told some observations about democracy;
“If we want democracy, we must fight for it.
It isn’t only Electoral or another code but it is a rule of behavior,
way of thinking and mood”. And he considered important the role of
those schools, mentioning that those courses unified people since
the foundation of the first school in Moscow who think and act in
democratic way.
According to Terry Davis the main problem of the current development
of democracy is the necessary for the citizens to take part in the
political processes. ”The polling mass of the CE member countries
has already lost the interest towards policy. But democracy can’t act
without voters. At the same time, a lot of people, being dissatisfied
with the current political parties, find such politicians who have
extreme positions in policy, populists, and more often extremists
who enjoy prejudice of the people. Those people aren’t interested
in at all in searching for real solutions. They manipulate people’s
misfortune”. According to Mr. Davis this situation is connected with
a difficult circle of motives; “If people don’t believe in political
institutions, we must ask, why?” In his opinion they shouldn’t answer
the complaints with the argumentations as if the questions are wrong;
”There aren’t wrong questions. There are only wrong answers. And if
we can’t give right answers, populists and extremists will give wrong
answers instead of us. And if we want the democracy to act we need in
people whose personal qualities, moods and knowledge, respect towards
others, towards society in general will give us an opportunity to act
in democratic way.” We should mention that the first sitting of the
university became the area of clash between Russians and Georgians
where they discussed the question of Georgia to leave the CIC. But
we’ll introduce the details of the discussion tomorrow and now we’ll
finish by another quotation from Terry Davis’ speech; ”Democracy is
a process and not an event. It isn’t expressed by holding elections
once in some years. The participation to the public life is the key
of democratic development”. According to the CE General Secretary
overcoming indifference of the society was just a fight for democracy.
–Boundary_(ID_4WvMhs42DC7E9JU9uoz+ag) —

RA MFA issues a statement connected with the hostilities in Lebanon
ArmRadio.am
14.07.2006 18:00
Armenia is extremely concerned about the military actions in Lebanon
and their escalation, as well as the great loss of civilian life.
Armenia condemns any violence whether it be abduction or use of
force. We particularly denounce the use of such disproportionate
force intended solely to collectively punish civilians and damage
infrastructure.
This kind of reaction by Israel is particularly difficult to understand
given the fact that the Lebanese government has clearly distanced
itself from the abduction incident.
We hope that there will be restraint in the region and also hope there
will be an immediate ceasefire so that the issues can be addressed
by peaceful means.

WORLD-FAMOUS ITALIAN SCRIPT WRITER ANTONIO GUERRA IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, JULY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. “I am very happy to be in Armenia. For
the first time I have been here with Sergey Parajanov several
years ago. It’s a very warm country and Armenians are very much like
Italians. People in my country speak about Armenians as their religious
brothers,” announced Italian legendary script writer Antonio (Tonino)
Guerra at the July 13 meeting with the journalists.
Antonio Guerra is a author of film scripts of 120 films which
he has written for the films by great and talented film directors
including world-famous cinematographers Michelangelo Antonini and
Federico Fellini.
Tonino Guerra informed that he had brought two wonderful works for
the Golden Apricot Film Festival, one film by Michelangelo Antonini,
the other dedicated to the works of Fellini.
The famous script writer said that had already been in Etchmiadzin
and met with Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and it is possible
that he will write something on a religious theme for this country.
Guerra also informed that he studied the Georgian and Armenian
churches.
According to him, pictures dominate in Georgian churches and Armenian
churches almost lack pictures.
“I was on familiar terms with Sergey Parajanov. I associated with
him for many times and took many interesting and unusual ideas from
him. His imagination was his life,” said Guera. The well-known artist
told interesting and funny incidents connected with Parajanov as
well as with Antonioni, Fellini, Marcello Mastroianni and composer
Nino Rota.
The talented script writer mentioned that “Amarkord” presented to the
Oscar award-giving ceremony is his and Fellini’s childhood memories
and he worked on it only for 8 days from 9am to 1pm. In general,
all his other film scripts written for famous films were also created
in a short period of time, in 8, 9, 10 days or less. He also worked
with Francisco Rosi and Andrey Tarkovski and wrote the film scripts of
“Nostalgia” and “Lucky Lusiano” films.
Tonino Guerra is a poet, one of the famous script writers of
cinematography, who was awarded with the “Best Prize” award of
the Cannes festival for the film “Journey to Sitera” by Telo
Angelopoulosi. Besides, he wrote stories and novels. His works were
translated in many countries of the world. In 1956, he together
with Ellio Piter wrote his first film script for the film “Man and
wolves” shot by Giuseppe de Santisi. Three years later Guera wrote his
masterpiece “La Aventura”, with which his continual cooperation with
one of the greatest film diorectors, Michelangelo Antonioni started.

President Robert Kocharyan had a farewell meeting with the Ambassador of Slovenia
ArmRadio.am
13.07.2006 13:18
Today President Robert Kocharyan had a farewell meeting with the
Ambassador of Slovenia to Armenia Mrs. Jožica Puhar, who is completing
her two-year diplomatic mission in our country.
Expressing thanks for the productive joint work, Robert Kocharyan said
that during the Ambassador’s tenure in office the Armenian-Slovenian
relations have turned considerably active, mutual visit on different
levels have been organized, including RA President’s official visit
to Slovenia.
During the meeting reference was made to the programs of bilateral
cooperation. The Ambassador presented the developments in the Balkans.
–Boundary_(ID_yJrmg/H/hUjd60RjZdLiaA)–

SYUNIK AND TAVUSH PROVINCES HAVE THOUSANDS OF LAND MINES
Armenpress
YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS: According to various estimations,
there are still from 50,000 to 80,000 mines planted in Armenia. The
majority are in Syunik and Tavush provinces.
The UNICEF Armenia Office is carrying out a program in these provinces
aimed to raise the awareness of their population and especially of
children about the danger of mines. Emil Sahakian, head of UNICEF
Armenia Office press service, said special training courses are also
being organized for school teachers so that they could share their
knowledge with children.
Mobile exhibitions and puppet shows are organized for the most remote
and risky communities. Emil Sahakian says in many cases children
cannot tell a mine from something else and when they find one they
think it is a toy.
This program is backed by a budget of $40,000 from the British
Development Program. It is accomplishing this year but a larger one
is supposed to be launched next year.

Israel Launched Hostilities against Lebanon
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.07.2006 13:51 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Israel has launched a land, sea and air blockade
against Lebanon. Israeli battleships have entered Lebanon’s territorial
waters. They patrol the coastline and turn back all vessels heading for
Lebanon. Beirut international airport has stopped receiving and sending
planes after Israeli military aircraft bombed the landing strips.
The Israeli Defense Army stated that Lebanon seaports and Beirut
international airport are used for arms delivery for fighters of
Hezbollah extremist grouping.
The blockade of Lebanon is announced within the full-scale military
operation against Hezbollah. The operation was launched after Lebanese
fighters attacked Israeli soldiers in a border region, killing 8
Israelis and taking 2 prisoners.
Israeli aviation and artillery stroke several times on various
objects on the Lebanese territory. According to the data of the
Israeli command, some 30 Hezbollah fighters are killed as a result
of those strikes.
Numerous civilian deaths are also reported.
Hezbollah suggests exchanging Israeli soldiers, who were taken
captives, for Arab prisoners in Israeli prisons. Israel demands
release of the soldiers without any preconditions. Israeli command
threatens with a large-scale land operation on Lebanon’s territory,
reports Lenta.ru.