Author: Kanayan Tamar

Pan Armenian News
ICRC REPRESENTATIVES VISITED ARMENIAN CITIZENS DETAINED IN AZERBAIJAN
24.09.2005 05:18
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Representatives of the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) have visited “Armenian citizen Albert Abrahamyan, who was
detained in Azerbaijan a few days ago”. As ICRC Baku Office reported, the
organization controls the issue and expresses interest to the fate of
detainee. It should be noted that “according to the reports of
law-enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan Abrahamyan was detained September 20 in
a forest near Chilyagir village in Gusar region. He had presumably come to
Azerbaijan having crossed the Russian-Azeri border. Soon it was cleared out
that he is resident of Zavajugh village of Marni region of Armenia. In a
conversation with journalists Azeri Minister of Internal Affairs Ramil
Usubov reported investigation over the case is under way. According to the
Minister, A. Abrahamyan wrote in his explanation that he had arrived in
Azerbaijan to visit his brother”, reported the Caucasian Knot.

Pan Armenian News
BUILDING NEW NUCLEAR PLANT FAVORABLE TO ARMENIA
24.09.2005 03:06
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In case of closure of the Armenian (Metsamor) Nuclear
Power Plant (NPP) building a new NPP or generation of electric power on the
basis of gas may be an alternative source to Armenia, Minister of Energy
Armen Movsisyan told journalists yesterday. In his words, the building of a
new NPP is more profitable and it will cost approximately $800 million.
However, as noted by the Minister, there are no funding sources for the
project at the moment. At the same time A. Movsisyan expressed an opinion
that Armenia will not experience any problems with the international
community in the building of the new NPP, reported the Yerkir newspaper.

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 16-22, 2005
HIGHLIGHTS:
LITIGATION BETWEEN VANADZOR BRANCH OF HCA AND THE MUNICIPALITY CONTINUES
“AZG” IN RUSSIAN LANGUAGE
VITALIY DANILOV PASSED AWAY
LITIGATION BETWEEN VANADZOR BRANCH OF HCA AND THE MUNICIPALITY CONTINUES
On September 20 the court of primary jurisdiction of Lori region started the
hearings on the suit of Vanadzor Branch of Helsinki Citizen’s Assembly
versus the Lori Regional Department of RA Service of Compulsory Execution of
Judicial Acts. The Vanadzor Branch of HCA demanded to oblige the Service of
Compulsory Execution to perform the court decision on the suit of the
organization versus the municipality of Vanadzor. The lengthy litigation
between the HCA Vanadzor Branch and the city administration started in 2004
due to the refusal of the latter to provide the human rights organization
with the copies of all 2,614 resolutions, adopted by the municipality and
the Council of Elderly of the community in 2002-2003. On April 30, 2004 the
court of primary jurisdiction of Lori region secured the demand of the
plaintiff: the documents requested were to be provided, excluding those
containing secret information. The total amount of duty for the documents
was defined to be 1,000 AMD (about $ 2). This resolution was further
confirmed by courts of supreme jurisdiction (see details in the report on
freedom of speech in Armenia in 2004 on YPC web-site: )

Due to the fact that the municipality continued to deny access to documents,
the HCA Vanadzor Branch addressed the RA Service of Compulsory Execution of
Judicial Acts. As YPC was informed by HCA Vanadzor Branch, in February 2005
the staff of the Service of Compulsory Execution provided the NGO with
copies of about 240 resolutions of the municipality and the Council of
Elderly – for 2004, instead of 2002-2003. The next set of documents (around
270 resolutions), this time for 2002-2003, was received by the human rights
organization in May 2005. After this the HCA Vanadzor Branch got no
documents, which prompted it to address the court.
“AZG” IN RUSSIAN LANGUAGE
On September 20 the weekly of “Azg” newspaper was published in Russian
language. The 16-page full-color publication of A3 format was intended
primarily for Armenians, residing in Russia. Assistance to the publication
of the weekly is provided by the Union of Armenians of Russia and World
Armenian Congress. The activities of these organizations “will receive
particular attention in the weekly”, says the piece, published in the
homonymous Armenian daily on September 21, 2005, telling about the issuance
of the weekly.
According to the Chief Editor of “Azg” Hagob Avedikian, the first two issues
of the weekly with a print run of 1,500 copies will be free of charge.
Further it is planned to publish the weekly on Saturdays, with a print run
of up to 30,000 copies to be disseminated mostly in Russia. It is also
expected that a part of the print run, about 500 copies, be sold in Armenia,
through subscription.
VITALIY DANILOV PASSED AWAY
On September, at the age of 66 the veteran of Armenian journalism Vitaliy
Danilov passed away before his time. From 1968 till 1983 Vitaliy Danilov
worked with “Communist” newspaper, later – for the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Armenia. In 1981 Vitaliy Danilov was awarded the diploma
of the Journalists Union of USSR for successful newspaper campaigning in
1980. Being an active participant in Karabagh movement, in 1991 Vitaliy
Danilov was elected to be the Chairman of the Association of Protection of
Rights of Karabagh and the Co-Chairman of the International Congress of
Human Rights in the framework of OSCE. Since 1999 he had lived in Moscow.
Having authored numerous articles on the problem of Mountainous Karabagh,
published in a number of Russian media, during the past years Vitaliy
Danilov was writing a book on the resolution of Karabagh conflict. He did
not have time to publish the book…
Yerevan Press Club expresses its condolences to Vitaliy Danilov’s family and
friends.
When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.
You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]
Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]
Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
____________________________________________
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
375002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

The Messenger, Georgia
Sept 21 2005
Ethnic Azeri community demands more support
Events last week in the Kvemo Kartli village of Vakhtangisi, where
the local ethnic-Azeri population organized a demonstration demanding
better treatment from the central government, has touched Georgia’s
sensitive paranoia that certain forces are trying to cause
destabilization in Kvemo Kartli and to provoke a Georgian-Azerbaijani
confrontation.
Given their mutual political and economic interests, Georgia and
Azerbaijan seem fated to be close strategic partners. This
partnership began in the mid 1990’s, when the leaders of the two
countries were Eduard Shevardnadze and Heidar Aliev. The fruits of
this cooperation have been numerous and have included the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum natural gas
pipeline.
These energy projects are far from only Georgia’s and Azerbaijan’s
affair. Many other countries and large companies also have a major
stake. Accordingly, any confrontation between the two countries would
have wide-reaching negative geo-political and geo-economic results.
However, such negative results may play into the hands of certain
interested parties.
It is noteworthy that only a few months before the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline is to be fully operational, local
and foreign media outlets issue reports of provocations in the Azeri
population of Kvemo Kartli, leading residents to come forward with
complaints of persecution and demands for autonomy.
Last week the media widely covered a small demonstration in the
village of Vakhtangisi. Approximately 30 people blocked off the main
route linking Georgia and Azerbaijan. Then the organizer of the
protest, Telman Hasanov demanded autonomy for Azeri residents living
in Kvemo Kartli and accused the authority of violating the rights of
this ethnic minority.
According to the picketers, the Georgian authority did not fulfill
any of the demands in the proclamation issued during the warning
action on September 1. This is why they want to control their own
fate by being granted autonomy. The newspaper Basta reports that the
proclamation contained five demands: dual citizenship for Azeris
residing in Georgia, conducting the land reform process in accordance
with their interests, solving all cases regarding crimes against
Azeris, abolishing the existing customs fees at the border and
employing Azeri citizens in the state service.
Telman Hasanov was imprisoned for resisting police. The local people
state that Hasanov does not have right to speak for them and that
most inhabitants do not support him. Hasanov himself mentions that he
was acting only on his on initiative and that no organization is
behind him.
What is important here is not the protest itself, which was in fact
very small, but the fact that there was an attempt to create ethnic
confrontation in the country and the fact that such attempts may be
repeated in the future. Ethnic Azeri MP Kamal Murakhdanov told
Rezonansi that “other forces are behind Hasanov. He is either
fulfilling the orders of Russian special services or one of the
political parties.”
In such cases, “special services” of foreign countries are frequently
mentioned, though attempts to confirm such suspicions are rarely
successful. As for political parties, Muradkhanov was referring to
the Labor Party, though the party categorically denied any connection
with Hasanov.
The government must conclude from this event that it must not allow
problems with social conditions, accusations of crimes, unsolved
criminal cases and dissatisfaction with customs regulation to be
given an ethnic coloring. There are plenty of such problems in other
Georgian regions, but the fact that Kvemo Kartli is predominately
Azeri creates a risk for such problems to grow into ethnic conflict.
“Ethnically motivated” is a term often used by some to describe the
arrest of a drug dealer or the enforcement of stricter customs
regulations on small-time traders. In a way, such words represent a
provocation and an effort to scare the government. One of the
arguments for autonomy of the protesters in Vakhtangisi was the
“Armenian example” – the Georgian authority has recently initiated
special programs to aid Javakheti inhabitants because the latter
often come forward protests of poor treatment. In any case, this
incident underscores the need for the government to further integrate
its Azeri citizens into the Georgian state.

ARMINFO News Agency
September 20, 2005
THERE IS BIG OPTIMISM FOR KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT: AZERI FM
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20. ARMINFO. The last meeting of the Azeri and
Armenian presidents in Kazan Aug 26 2005 has given ground for
believing that there is a chance for the Karabakh conflict settlement
and that the Prague Process talks can be continued, the 525th
newspaper reports Azeri FM Elmar Mamedyarov as saying during the 60th
plenary session of the UN General Assembly.
At the same time there should be no illusions that Azerbaijan will
put up with the loss of its territories.
The UN Security Council’s immediate reaction to the occupation of
Azerbaijan’s territories (resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884) give
ground for optimism. This is a basis for settling the conflict. The
last year’s UN SC discussing a point on the situation on the occupied
Azeri territories has drawn wide international attention to the
danger coming from Armenia’s operations on the territories.
Today there is big optimism for resolution and Azerbaijan remains
adherent to peace and compliant to the UN SC, CE and OSCE
resolutions. Azerbaijan hopes that Armenia will show constructive
approach and will not miss the opportunity to no longer be labelled
as aggressor and to resolve the conflict favorably.
Azerbaijan is ready to ensure security for the Armenian community of
Karabakh. Necessary conditions should be created for the return of
the Azeri community to Karabakh and other occupied territories and
for reviving the region economically.
If peace is attained the international community will have to support
it by peacekeeping, demining, recovery and security. The next but not
the last step is to create communication between the Armenian
community of Karabakh and Armenia as well as between Nakhchivan and
mainland Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News
KOCHARIAN AWARDED MKHITAR GOSH MEDAL TO CAROLINE COX
17.09.2005 05:30
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian yesterday signed a
degree on awarding Vice-Speaker of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, baroness Caroline Cox with Mkhitar
Gosh medal. The award is due to the contribution to the development and
strengthening of the Armenian-British ties, as well as for the efficient and
dedicated philanthropic activities for many years, reported the Press
Service of the Armenian leader. When handing the medal to baroness Cox in
the course of the meeting, R. Kocharian appreciated her consistent and
purposeful activities. Within Pilgrimage to Artsakh mission Caroline Cox is
visiting Nagorno Karabakh for the 60th time now. Ms. Cox shared her
impressions of NK with the President. Baroness Cox noted that progress is
evident after each of her visits to Armenia and NKR. At the instance of C.
Cox, R. Kocharian told her about his meeting with the Azeri President and
presented the current course of the Karabakh settlement process.

EXPLORE CULTURES AT HERITAGE FESTIVAL
By Stacy Jenkins
Staff writer
Farmington Observer, MI
Sept 18 2005
This week’s Heritage Festival events will celebrate the many colors
that weave the fabric of the Farmington_Farmington Hills community
and the common threads that unite its residents.
The Heritage Festival, a week-long celebration with special events
happening all around the community, began six years ago as a way to
share racial and cultural backgrounds in the community.
“Just as quickly, we realized we wanted to explore not only our
differences, but our similarities as Farmington and Farmington
Hills residents,” said Karen Bolsen, co-chair of the Multicultural
Multiracial Community Council.
A special new citizen swearing-in ceremony will do just that. The
annual event, which draws hundreds of new citizens, is set for 10
a.m. on Monday, Sept. 19, at the Costick Center. The ceremony includes
voter training and voter registration for new citizens.
“Most United States citizens originated from other countries or their
ancestors did, so we wanted to share that similarity as Americans,”
said Bolsen.
Heritage events
New this year will be a cultural music concert and lecture, set for
7-8:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 19, at the Farmington Community Library,
32737 W. 12 Mile Road. The event will feature Ara Topouzian, who
will lecture and demonstrate Armenian and Middle Eastern instruments.
Accompanying on percussion will be Mark Sawasky. For more information
call (248) 553-0300. The event is free of charge.
A leadership luncheon and mini conference will be held 11:30 a.m. –
1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22, at the Costick Center. The event
will highlight the unveiling of a multicultural art exhibit.
New this year, a world music concert will be held 12 – 3 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Civic Theatre in downtown Farmington. It’s
the first Heritage Week event to be held in the city of Farmington.
Music will include performances by Millish, a Celtic band; Eastern
Winds, Middle Eastern music; and Biakuye, African music.
The main Heritage Festival will happen from 12:30 – 5:30 p.m. on
Sunday, Sept. 25. This exciting event will take place at the Costick
Center and include many free attractions, such as cultural booths;
children’s activities with crafts from around the world; ethnic food;
community booths and historical displays; ethnic music and dance
and foreign language children’s book collection and distribution.
“Heritage Week is important because we honor every single heritage
from the Quakers in the Magical History Tour, which debuted with our
festival, through our history to all of the backgrounds represented
by our current residents,” said Bolsen. “We have 85 languages spoken
in the homes of our current students. What a fabulous way to have
fun as we better understand each of our neighbors’ backgrounds.”
For more information, leave a message on the multicultural information
line at (248) 871-2512.

ARMENIA READY TO JOIN CE “STAGE” PROGRAM AND ESTABLISH CULTURAL
CONTACTS WITH AZERBAIJAN
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 14. ARMINFO. The South Caucasian culture ministers
are to meet in Kyiv Sept 15.
The press service of Armenia’s Culture and Youth Ministry reports that
during the conference Armenia’s Culture Minister Hovik Hoveyan will
speak about introducing the CE “STAGE” project (support of
transitional cultural processes in Big Europe) in the South
Caucasus. Hoveyan will introduce projects to develop culture and
society as well as to establish cultural cooperation between Armenia,
Georgia and Azerbaijan. CE experts have already visited Armenia and
have presented the STAGE. The period of the project will be specified
during the conference.
The enlarged conference will last till Sept 16. The key topic will be
Culture and Cultural Policy for Development.
The STAGE was launched in Dec 2000 to help the South Caucasus to
develop effective transitional cultural policies and to encourage
contacts between the region and Europe.
Attending the conference will also be observers and donors from
Greece, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine as well as
delegates from all 48 signatories to European Cultural Convention.
Opening the event will be Ukraine’s Culture and Tourism Minister Oxana
Bilozir and CE Deputy Secretary General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio.

MehrNews.com, Iran
Sept 14 2005
Iranian director producing film in Azerbaijan Republic
TEHRAN, Sept. 14 (MNA) — Iranian director Babak Shirinsefat’s film
`Aisuda’ is currently in the pre-production stage in the cities of
Lankaran and Astara in the Azerbaijan Republic, the Persian service
of Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Wednesday.
`The 90-minute movie is about the Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and
Armenia. It tells the story of two Azeri refugees, showing the
influence of war on people’s lives,’ he said.
The film also features Azeri actors and Iranian actors like Farhad
Qaemian, he added.
He intends to complete the movie in time to screen it in winter 2006
at the Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.
Some parts of the movie will also be shot in Iran, he said.
Shirinsefat’s other film on the Karabakh war, `The Zero-Hour Train’,
was warmly welcomed at the Baku Film Festival in October 2004.
For over a decade, one million displaced Azeris have been living
under appalling conditions since the Karabakh war. These people are
living in tents, underground caves, and old train cars. The film
shows the difficult plight of these refugees who have been forgotten
by the entire world.

Eurasia Daily Monitor
The Jamestown Foundation
Sept 13 2005
WILL TBILISI FACILITATE AN ANTI-ALIEV REVOLUTION IN AZERBAIJAN?
By Zaal Anjaparidze
Monday, September 12, 2005
In recent weeks both the Georgian and the Azerbaijani media have
actively speculated whether the government of Georgian President
Mikheil Saakashvili would support a popular revolution in neighboring
Azerbaijan. Some analysts tend to link the recently cooled relations
between Tbilisi and Baku with this issue.
On August 26 Azerbaijan’s State Border Service detained a Georgian
citizen, Merab Jibuti, for illegally crossing the border of
Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani law-enforcement officials claim that Jibuti
was connected with the Azerbaijani opposition youth movement Yeni
Fikir (New Thinking), and he reportedly admitted to attending a
secret meeting with Yeni Fikir leader Ruslan Bashirli and his
associates in Tbilisi on July 28-29. Moreover, Bashirli, who was
arrested on August 3 on charges of plotting a coup in Azerbaijan, met
with an Armenian special services agent in Tbilisi and received cash
from him to organize public unrest in Baku. Against the backdrop of
hitherto good Georgian-Azerbaijani relations, this widely advertised
news could not pass unnoticed.
Before this incident Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev had told
border service officials on August 17 that he would not spare any
money in improving control over the border with Georgia in order to
“preserve stability in Azerbaijan.” Aliev’s statement was clear
evidence of Baku’s concerns.
On August 29, the Georgian Intelligence Agency confirmed reports by
Georgian and Azerbaijani media outlet that Batu Kutelia, chief of
Georgian intelligence, had visited Azerbaijan and met with Aliev to
discuss bilateral issues, including cooperation between the Georgian
and Azerbaijani special services to ensure the security of the
region. Meanwhile, the Georgian Interior Ministry denied that
Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili had visited Baku on August 15,
while the Azerbaijani media reported that Merabishvili had met with
Aliev. Georgian media speculated that both of these visits were
linked to the investigation of an alleged revolutionary plot in
Azerbaijan and aimed at warming the chilly relations between Aliev
and Saakashvili.
Symptomatically, on September 6 Saakashvili openly stated that
Georgia’s top priority is the victory of democracy worldwide.
Therefore Georgia would always support democracy in any region but
would do so within the parameters of the law. Saakashvili made this
announcement when he welcomed home two activists from the Georgian
youth movement Kmara (Enough) after they had been detained in Belarus
for one week for training the Belarusian opposition youth
organization Zubr in methods of civil disobedience. Kmara was modeled
after the Yugoslav youth group Otpor. It was a key player in the
Georgian Rose Revolution and a contributor to the Ukrainian Orange
Revolution.
The Azerbaijani media, both pro-governmental and opposition, have
actively speculated about the possibilities of a Western supported
“color revolution” in Azerbaijan and the inevitable replacement of
Aliev by an “Azerbaijani Saakashvili.” Russian analysts have
anxiously noted that the Azerbaijani opposition widely uses the
methods tested during the Rose and Orange Revolutions, hinting at the
possible involvement of Georgian envoys in training the anti-Aliev
opposition (RBK, August 17; Nezavisimaya gazeta, August 29). Some
supporters of Aliev have also accused Tbilisi of clandestinely
supporting the anti-Aliev opposition groups.
Aliev and his entourage likely suspect that Saakashvili might be
willing to sacrifice his friendship with Aliev to cause of global
democracy. Symptomatically, Aliev has so far refused to join the
declaration about a “Commonwealth of Democratic Choice,” that
Saakashvili and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko signed at
the Georgian health-resort Borjomi on August 12 (see EDM, August 15).
Most Georgian officials and analysts have vehemently excluded any
possibility of Georgia’s involvement in the would-be revolution in
Azerbaijan.
Any support of an anti-Aliev revolution in Azerbaijan looks almost
suicidal for Georgia both politically and economically, taking into
account neighborly relations and Georgia’s dependence on Azerbaijan’s
goodwill regarding the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and other joint
international energy projects. However, Saakashvili’s opposition
argues that the concerns of Azerbaijani officials over Saakashvili’s
“revolutionary” plans are not groundless, because Saakashvili wants
to curry favor with the West.
Givi Targamadze, chair of the Georgian parliamentary committee for
defense and security, who was an informal consultant for the Kyrgyz
“Tulip Revolution” (see EDM, March 25) said that the Georgian
government “must help and helps indeed” the nationwide public
movements that fight the authoritarian rules “but it is not any kind
of force that plans revolution.” “So far, I don’t see this kind of
movement in Azerbaijan,” he added. Targamadze, a former member of the
influential NGO Liberty Institute, however said that some attempts
“on the level of individual initiative” might take place.
Meanwhile, Levan Ramishvili, director of the Liberty Institute, said
that although Georgian state bodies must not be involved in the
internal processes of Azerbaijan, “The NGOs’ hands are unbound in
this respect.” “We have contacts with certain Azerbaijani NGOs. We
share with them our experience on how to make the changes in a
bloodless way,” he added.
The meeting between Aliev and Saakashvili on the sidelines of the
August 26-27 Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Kazan was
quite cool, sources say. This suggests that, contrary to the claims
by some Georgian officials, the Azerbaijani leadership remains
concerned about the Georgian leadership’s plans regarding the
situation in Azerbaijan.
(Resonance, August 18, 21; , August 26; Civil Georgia,
Turan, Regnum, RBC daily, August 30;Caucasus Press, September 6)