Author: Kalashian Nyrie

TWO KILLED IN NEW KARABAKH FIGHTING: AZERBAIJAN

Agence France Presse
March 10, 2008 Monday 9:34 AM GMT

Two soldiers, one Azerbaijani and one Armenian, were killed Sunday
in continued fighting near the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh,
Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said Monday.

The last week has seen unusually heavy clashes along the frontline
dividing Azerbaijani soldiers from Armenian forces in Karabakh, an
ethnic Armenian enclave that broke from Azerbaijani control in the
early 1990s.

One Azerbaijani soldier died in the latest ceasefire violation, which
was started by the Armenian side in the Fizuli region, according to
a spokesman for the Azerbaijani defense ministry.

Azerbaijani forces returned fire, killing an Armenian, the spokesman
said.

However, a spokesman for Armenian forces controlling Nagorny Karabakh,
Seno Hasratian, denied there had been any fighting, saying: "The
ceasefire line is quiet."

Azerbaijan earlier accused Armenian forces of opening fire on a
residential area near Karabakh on Saturday, killing two civilians.

The fighting followed one of the worst breaches of a 1994 ceasefire
in the region in years on Tuesday. Both sides accused the other of
taking advantage of the volatile political situation in Armenia to
violate the ceasefire.

The Armenian capital Yerevan is under a state of emergency after eight
people were killed on March 1 in street battles between riot police and
opposition supporters protesting the result of a presidential election.

Azerbaijan claimed that four of its soldiers and 12 Armenian servicemen
were killed in the fighting Tuesday, while Armenia claimed it had
lost no soldiers and that eight Azerbaijanis died.

Armenian forces seized control of Nagorny Karabakh and seven
surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, in a war that
claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and forced about a million people
to flee their homes.

The two countries have cut direct economic and transport links and
failed to negotiate a settlement on the region’s status.

Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are spread across a ceasefire line in
and around Nagorny Karabakh, often facing each other at close range,
and shootings are common.

COE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER ARRIVING IN YEREVAN MARCH 12

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.03.2008 15:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights,
Mr Thomas Hammarberg will be visiting Armenia March 12-15.

Mr Hammarberg is scheduled to meet with RA President Robert Kocharian,
NA Speaker Tigran Torosian, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian, Justice Minister Gevorg Daniyelyan,
Police Chief Hayk Harutyuyan, Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan
and Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan.

He will also hold meetings with opposition representatives, the RA
MFA press office reported

DESPITE POLITICAL UNREST AND BORDER TENSIONS IN ARMENIA, WORLD VISION CONTINUES OPERATIONS

Reuters Alert
March 10 2008
UK

Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this
article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are
the author’s alone.

World Vision continues its work in Armenia with necessary precautions
in spite of the recent political turmoil over presidential election
results and renewed clashes on the border with Azerbaijan. All World
Vision staff, sponsored children and communities are safe.

Eleven days of opposition protests over the presidential vote, judged
by international observers as ‘generally democratic’, have resulted
in a clash between police and protestors. According to police, eight
people were killed in the riot. On 1 March, the government declared a
state of emergency in Yerevan that bans public gatherings and imposes
restrictions on media reports until 20 March. Currently, the relative
calm is sustained in Armenia and Yerevan with strict control being
enforced by police and army forces.

Following the state of emergency, movement within Armenia is restricted
for persons who reside outside the capital, slowing but not inhibiting
some World Vision activities.

In addition, World Vision is closely monitoring the situation in
communities on the border with Azerbaijan where renewed clashes have
broken out recently. World Vision Armenia continues to support those
communities, many of which are populated by refugees from the war
with Azerbaijan in 1992-1994. Communities near the Azeri border are
being supported through two community development programs.

World Vision Armenia is praying for a peaceful resolution to the
political turmoil in Armenia and to the recent clashes on the Azeri and
Armenian border for the sake of girls and boys, whose best interests
are ensured by a safe and secure environment.

US Leans on Caspian Pipeline Partners
March 07 – 2008

( 216&l=3Dru&s=3Df&o=3D343216)

Washingt on is working to end disputes between Turkmenistan and
Azerbaijan in the hopeof getting a major new pipeline project moving.
United States diplomat Steven Mann flew into Turkmenistan for the
second time this year on February 28, on a mission to get the Central
State firmly behind the planned Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline, TCGP.

When the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State met President
Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov in Ashgabat, energy issues were at the top
of the agenda.

Washington wants to see Ashgabat actively committed to building a
pipeline that would for the first time bring Central Asian gas to the
West without going through Russia.

Mann has been alternating visits to Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, which
lies on the other side of the Caspian Sea and would be another key
project participant. Three days before flying to Ashgabat, the
diplomat was in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, where a tender for a
feasibility study for TCGP has already taken place.

The proposed pipeline would stretch almost 2,000 kilometres from
Turkmenistan under the Caspian Sea floor to Turkey.

There it would connect up to the planned Nabucco pipeline, which is
intended to run from Turkey to Austria via Bulgaria, Romania and
Hungary.

TCGP would be capable of carrying 30-32 billion cubic metres of
natural gas a year, most of it from Turkmen and Azerbaijani deposits.

The idea for a gas pipeline circumventing Russia was first floated in
1998, but has not been implemented so far.

There are several reasons for this, one of which is that the Kremlin,
the main buyer of Turkmen hydrocarbons and owner of the only major gas
pipeline out of Central Asia, has actively opposed the project.

Iran, too, is against a western pipeline being laid close to its
territory, especially as the Caspian’s waters have yet to be finally
demarcated among littoral states.

Finally, there is the unresolved dispute between Turkmenistan and
Azerbaijan over who owns a large offshore field which the Azerbaijanis
call Kapaz and the Turkmen call Serdar.

This ownership dispute will only be finally resolved when the status
of the sea itself has been determined. All five littoral states –
Iran, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakstan and Russia – have different
visions ofhow this should be done.

Ashgabat and Baku have been particularly at loggerheads. Azerbaijan
favours a plan where a median line would be drawn down the centre of
the sea and individual national sectors then sliced up on either side
of it. That would give it an advantage in claiming oil deposits.

Turkmenistan, however, wants the sea to be divided in such a way as to
divide oil wells according to how close they are to national borders.

With concerted US diplomacy, observers believe the pipeline may
finally be about to get off the ground.

They say the time for a deal has never been more favourable, as Russia
is currently absorbed in domestic affairs, having just elected a new
president.

Mars Sariev, an NBCentral Asia political expert, said the US diplomat
had timed his latest visits to the region to coincide with a `power
paralysis’ in the Kremlin.

`Mann is taking advantage of the moment to exert pressure on Ashgabat
to resolve its disputes with Azerbaijan,’ he explained.

`Berdymuhammedov and [Azerbaijani president Ilham] Aliyev may be able
to reach a consensus under the aegis of the Americans and with [the
promise of] massive western investment.’

Sariev’s argument would appear to be backed up by the
inter-governmental talks between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan which
began in Baku on March 5.

Equally significantly, the foreign ministries of the two countries
have also started consulting on an official visit which the Turkmen
leader will pay to Azerbaijan in the first half of this year.

`By the time Berdymuhammedov visits Baku, the issue of the disputed
areas will have been solved in essence,’ predicted Sariev.

Rovshan Ibrahimov, an expert with the Turkey-based International
Strategic Research Organisation, also expects US diplomatic efforts to
play a role in bringing Baku and Ashgabat together.

`If these assumptions prove correct, the last obstacle will have been
cleared away for talks on the demarcation and status of the Caspian,
whichare essential to making TCGP a reality,’ he said.

Analysts predict US diplomacy could prompt a firmer Turkmen commitment
to the pipeline project.

Filling the future pipeline to capacity would require more natural gas
than is currently available, and Turkmenistan will need foreign
investment if it is to increase its extraction levels.

`The US could be a potential investor here,’ noted Ibrahimov.

(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news
analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the
expertise ofa broad range of political observers across the
region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering
all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming,
covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)

© Institute for War & Peace Reporting
48 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8LT, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7831 1030 Fax: +44 (0)20 7831 1050

Yerevan riot centralized, Armenian prosecutor general states

YEREVAN, March 7. /ARKA/. The mass riots in Yerevan were masterminded
and controlled by one center, RA Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan
told reporters, presenting the evidence obtained during the preliminary
investigation.

`This is evidenced by which shops were plundered and representatives of
which government bodies were attacked during the riots in Yerevan,’
Hovsepyan said.

In this context he explained that the shops at the House of Moscow were
plundered, whereas the Gladzor university, which is in immediate
proximity to the House of Moscow, remained intact.

`This suggests certain conclusions to us,’ Hovsepyan said. He pointed
out that he by no means thinks that all the participants in the
opposition-organized rallies were involved in the plunder and progroms.

`However, I assure you that all the structures formed to organize the
riots, seize power and violate the constitutional order will be
identified,’ he said.

On March 1, the police dispersed the rally. The same day the
demonstrators moved toward the French Embassy.

The RA Police Department reports that the situation was impossible to
control, and the crowd began plundering the state and privately-owned
facilities.

On March 1, when RA President Robert Kocharyan issued a decree
declaring a state of emergency, the police put an end to the unrest.
Eight persons were killed. `0′

DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 7, 2008 Friday

ARMENIAN ARMY RESTORES ORDER IN YEREVAN

The Armenian army took over Yerevan following the deterioration of
the situation caused by dispersal of the rally of ex-president Levon
Ter-Petrosjan’s supporters, Chief of the General Staff, Colonel
General Seiran Oganjan, said.

"The Armed Forces are fully in control. They will do everything
necessary during the emergency rule to retain stability and prevent
any similar developments from happening again," Oganjan promised.
"The army will only fire at whoever is the first to open up."

Oganjan added that the army was ordered to set up sentries around
vital objects of the capital and assist the police with maintenance
of law whenever necessary.

Oganjan said the deployment of heavy military hardware in the capital
would have no effect on overall defense capacity. He denounced the
rumors that deputy defense ministers lieutenant generals Manvel
Grigorjan and Gurgen Melkonjan had joined the opposition.

Source: Dni.RU, March 4, 2008

TURKEY TO INTERVENE IN NAGORNO KARABAKH

Makfax
ina/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&a mp;NrArticle=104097&NrIssue=601&NrSection= 30
March 6 2008
Macedonia

Turkey is bracing for a joint military operation with Azerbaijan in
Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s daily Yeni Musavat writes in today’s
edition.

According to the newspaper, the preparations are under way for a
comprehensive military operation in Nagorno Karabakh against members
of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who were forced out from northern
Iraq by the Turkish Army.

Yeni Musavat’s article, which was cited in several Turkish media today,
says that "even US approved such a move."

The daily further says that a joint Turkish-Azeri headquarter has
been already set up.

Nagorno Karabakh is an enclave formed on the territory of Azerbaijan,
populated with Armenians.

TWO COMMUNITIES WITH COMMON WORRIES

Azat Artsakh Daily
03-03-2008
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh

On March 1st the NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutyunian met with
inhabitants of one of the biggest villages of the republic-Chartar. Two
communities operate in that well known settlement, which have the
same problems and chances of development. However, two meetings took
place in House of Culture of the village, first, in Ghuze Chartar,
then with members of Chartar community.

The chieves of the communities performed with yearly statements of
2007, emphasizing some achievements and non regulated questions.

About 4000 people live in Chartar, 61 children were born last
year. Flat problem also exists in Chartar. water supply is insufficient
in the two communities.

People made a complaint, that they hadn’t sufficient chances for
occupying with cattle-breeding.

During the two meetings villagers adressed various questions to the
prime minister Ara Harutyunian. Raised worries refered to basically
to the results of privatization, improvement of telephon connection,
regulation of hospital work.

The head of the NKR government noted what programs the state marked
for 2008 and next years. A.Harutyunian noted, that assistance would
be rendered in the questions of improvement of water supply, urgent
completion of gasification, construction of a new building of one
of the schools. And the greatest state assistance would be rendered
in economical sphere for promoting productive activity, emphasized
A.Harutyunian. The Prime Minister promised, that a special commission
would be created for checking the results of privatization in the
village.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CALLS ON ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO IMMEDIATELY RELEASE ALL DETAINED

Trend News Agency
March 5 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 4 March / corr. TrendNews K. Ramazaniova/ The
European Parliament calls on the Armenian government to immediately
release all the detained oppositionists.

"I call on Armenian government to immediately release all the
detained oppositionists, including Levon Ter- Pertosian and explain
the reason why the police and special forces severely punished the
demonstrators in Yerevan," Marie Anne Isler Beguin, the head of the
European Parliament Committee on Cooperation with Parliaments of
South Caucasus Countries said to TrendNews by email on 4 March.

The President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan declared a state of
emergency on 2 March after the opposition demonstration against the
falsification of the election outcome flared into confrontation with
the police. According to Health Ministry of Armenia on 3 March, the
number of injured during the disorders in Yerevan on 1 and 2 March
totaled 131 people and eight of them were shot dead.

Marie Anne Isler Beguin is sorry that the Armenian government employed
force agaisnt the peaceful demonstrators once again regardless of
the numerous statements from the international community.

"The most tragic result of these events is the death of the people
and a number of people being injured," the representative of the
European Parliament said.

According to Isler Beguin, the European Parliament called on Armenia
to investigate violations that took place during voting. "We are very
sorry that our demands were ignored," she said.

"Only talks and not using violence can stop the Armenian crisis,"
Beguin said.

The representative of the European Parliament said that the South
Caucasus region is a high risk region and every effort should be made
to return Armenia to a democratic experience with the support of the
international community.

NKR DEFENSE MINISTRY URGED AZERBAIJAN TO MAINTAIN CEASEFIRE

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.03.2008 13:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As a result of operative actions of the NKR armed
forces after several hours of heavy fighting, the enemy took to flight
leaving 8 victims and armament on the battlefield.

The NKR Defense Ministry’s press office made a statement in connection
to the incident on the contact line of the Nagorno Karabakh and
Azerbaijani armed forces.

"On the night of 3/4 March, Azeri special forces having crossed the
northeast sector of the contact line of the parties’ armed forces
seized one of the posts of the NKR Defense Army in the direction of
Levonarkh village.

"As a result of operative actions of the NKR armed forces after
several hours of heavy fighting, the enemy took to flight leaving
8 victims and armament on the battlefield. Two servicemen from the
Karabakhi side were wounded.

"The NKR Defense Ministry considers necessary to state that by similar
actions the Azeri party attempts to destabilize not only the contact
line but also the entire region.

"The NKR Defense Ministry once again warns Azerbaijan that any action
threatening the NKR security will be strongly rebuffed in the future
as well.

"The NKR Defense Ministry urges Azerbaijan to maintain ceasefire and
not jeopardize the peace and security in the region", the statement
says.

Meanwhile APA news agency reported about 4 killed Azeri soldiers and
two wounded civilians.

"Resumption of hostilities in the conflict zone will cause damage to
the whole region," said Turkish Embassy in Baku.