Author: Karagyozian Lena

Glasgow Daily Record, UK
Oct 1 2004
LOCALS FIGHT FOR REFUGEE

By Annie Brown
A CAMPAIGN to stop a refugee being deported is being backed by her
adopted community.
Julia Gulshan Babayeva and her two sons were taken from their flat in
Glasgow’s Sighthill to a detention centre two weeks ago.
The ethnic Armenian says she fled Azerbaijan after being sexually
abused by police after speaking out against the government.
Julia also says her teenage sons would be forced to join the army and
kill fellow Armenians if they returned.
Julia has worked for many health and help groups in Sighthill since
seeking asylum there thee years ago.
Now residents have raised £300 towards the family’s £1000 bail.
Julia said: ‘I miss my Sighthill. I want to go back.’
Donations can be made at

FINLAND INTERESTED IN PEACE SETTLEMENT OF ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CONFLICT
AzerTag
October 02, 2004
Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov met the newly appointed
plenipotentiary ambassador of Finland to Azerbaijan Terkhi Khakala, on
October 1, the Ministry’s press center told AzerTAj.
Having thanked the Minister of Foreign Affairs for meeting, Terkhi KhÃ
êà ëà has emphasized the interest, which has increased recently by
his country to Azerbaijan, and also importance of the efforts directed
on expansion of links between two countries in political, economic and
other spheres. Having noted interest of the country in peace
settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny-Karabakh conflict, the
ambassador has emphasized, that Finland is amember of OSCE and
directly keeps up the processes concerning the resolution of conflict.
Having congratulated Terkhi Khakala on the occasion of appointment as
the new ambassador in Azerbaijan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar
Mammadyarov has expressed hope for his active participation in
expansion of relations between the countries. Having emphasized, that
Azerbaijan is the country representing great value from the economic
and strategic points of view, the Minister has noted presence of all
conditions for participation of Finland in economic projects carried
out in the Country. Highly having estimated political support of
Finland, Mr. Mammadyarov ascertained extreme importance of opinion of
world community basing on international legal norms in settlement of
the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict.
The ambassador presented a copy of his credentials to the foreign
minister of Azerbaijan.

Russia closes its airspace
RosBusinessConsulting Database
October 1, 2004 Friday
Russian has closed its airspace for aircraft of the Kazakhstan Aue
Zholy airline, the press service of the Kazakhstani company reported.
According to the Russian Transportation Ministry, this ban will be
first of all applied to airlines of Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and
Ukraine. On September 3, 2004, the main center of Russia for planning
and controlling air traffic officially informed aviation authorities
of CIS members that if they did not pay off their debt to the center,
Russia would stop providing air navigation service starting October 1.
The total debt of CIS airlines to the Russian center for planning and
controlling air traffic exceeds $15m. Kazakhstan Aue Zholy has the
largest debt totaling $3.5m.

DEFENCE MINISTER AND BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA TO SIGN MEMORANDUM ON
MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING ON SEPT 24
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23. ARMINFO. The Ministry of Defence of the United
Kingdom and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Armenia have
agreed a Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Contacts and
Co-operation. The aim of the Memorandum is to further strengthen the
good relations which already exist between the two Ministries, and to
serve as a basis for increased co-operation between them in the field
of defence. ARMINFO was informed in Great Britain’s Embassy in
Armenia.
HE Mr Serge Sargsian, the Armenian Minister of Defence, and the
British Ambassador to Armenia, Miss Thorda Abbott-Watt, will sign the
Memorandum in a short ceremony at the Armenian Ministry of Defence in
Yerevan on Friday, 24 September 2004.
Over the last year the United Kingdom has sponsored places for 16
members of the Armenian Armed Forces to conduct a variety of training
courses outside Armenia, including the first Armenian cadet ever to
attend the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. The British Ministry
of Defence also funds English language training through the
Peacekeeping English Programme run by the British Council Armenia in
the Armenian Ministry of Defence. The Memorandum of Understanding
reflects a common recognition that stable and democratic sovereign
states contribute to confidence, stability and security in Europe as a
whole. It will put the existing co-operation programme on a formal
footing, and enable Britain and Armenia to develop further contacts in
areas such as the management of defence in democratic societies,
language training, peace support in humanitarian operations and arms
control.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 24 2004
Radical group leader says not to give up struggling

Akif Naghi, chairman of the Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO),
who has recently released form jail, held a news conference on
Thursday.
Highly appreciating the role of media in their release, Naghi
stressed that the Azerbaijani people took the unified position
towards the Garbagh issue and demonstrated unity.
`Despite the conditional imprisonment for its members, the GLO will
continue its course and won’t give up struggling,’ Naghi said.
The GLO chairman underlined that Armenian parliamentarians won’t be
allowed to participate in the meeting of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly scheduled to be held in Baku late in November.
According to Naghi, the Armenian parliamentarians helped Armenia
occupy Upper Garabagh, which is part of Azerbaijan and their
participation in NATO exercises, is as important as that of Armenian
officers.*

VARTAN OSKANIAN: “KARABAGH IS INVALUABLE”
Azg/am
23 Sept 04
One Can’t Frighten Armenia with Statements That It Is Left Without
Energetic and Transportation Projects
“Nagorno Karabagh is invaluable. If someone connects the regional
energetic and transportation projects with the issue of Nagorno
Karabagh, I can definitely say that we can make no connection between
them, as Nagorno Karabagh is invaluable and we can exchange it neither
with railways nor oil pipelines and roads,” Oskanian said in
yesterday’s press conference.
“One can’t frighten or bother Armenia with statements that it is left
without the energetic and transportation regional projects, and we
should make concessions and prompt the settlement of the issue. We
absolutely reject this argument and one can’t frighten Armenia with
that. Maybe that was possible in 1992. At present Armenia can not
only survive without that, but also develop and during the next
century it will develop without railways and oil pipelines,” Oskanian
said.
According to the calculation of the experts, Armenia would get $50
million annually, if all the oil and gas pipelines, as well as the
railroads pass through its territory. This sum makes only 10 % of our
country’s budget.
Oskanian said that Armenia is ready to be involved in the regional
programs, if “the other side wishes.” Particularly, he said, that
Yerevan is ready to open Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi railroad that stopped
functioning because of Turkey’s blockade of Armenia since
1993. According to trustworthy diplomatic sourcesof Azg Daily, the
Armenian side offered Turkey to open this railroad, besides, Yerevan
would demand no transportation taxes.
Ra Foreign Minister is to leave for New York to participate in 59-th
Session of UN Assembly. According to preliminary agreement, the
meeting of Oskanian with Abdullah Gul is envisaged. Oskanian said that
Armenia hasn’t changed its position, as regards achieving positive
results without preconditions. “The issue remains unchanged, i.e. to
fix development in Armenian -Turkish Relations, to open the railroad,
to establish some bilateral exchanges, to open the border-gate and to
establish diplomatic relations, as the final goal,” he said.
Oskanian stated that at present no agreement has been reached yet for
the meeting with Abdullah Gul. “I think there will be some break
before gettingnew instructions from the presidents. Our evaluation is
the following: the foreign ministers have completed the first stage of
the negotiations, four meetings took place. We are expecting new
instructions from the presidents. If we get the instructions, we can
say that the negotiations on the level of foreign ministers will enter
the second stage, that will be higher and closer to the settlement of
the issue from its qualitative aspect than the first one,” Vartan
Oskanian said.
Presidents Robert Kocharian and Heydar Aliyev have reached a definite
stage in the negotiation process. In reply to the question whether
Azerbaijan preserves the consistency of the negotiations, Oskanian
said: “The possibility of consistency isn’t denied. I can’t say that
consistency is preserved. Anyway, some variant of consistency is being
discussed and it isn’t rejected by Azerbaijan.”
In response to the question put by Azg Daily, whether a negotiation
basis was created as a result of the four meetings of the foreign
ministers, Oskanian answered, “According to the foreign ministers,
some basis was created and passed to the presidents. There were some
expectations that the presidents will give consent or give special
instructions to the foreign ministers to continue in that
direction. There was such an expectation, but that wasn’t achieved
during the meetings of the presidents (in Astana). Certainly, it
doesnâ=80=99t mean that the presidents rejected that. Kocharian and
Aliyev positively estimated the work done by the foreign ministers and
I believe that the things that were submitted to the presidents are in
the center of their attention and they will continue discussions
around them. After coming to conclusion, there may be definite
instructions given to both OSCE Minsk group and the foreign
ministers.”
Touching upon the fact that Armenian officers were not allowed going
to Baku to participate in NATO military exercises, Vartan Oskanian
said, “It was a good opportunity to restore trust between the two
armies. If Azeri government yielded and was under the pressure of some
minority’s demands, we are seriously concerned with the fact whether
new Azeri authorities will be able to make serious mutual concessions
in Nagorno Karabagh settlement issue.”
Oskanian evaluated unacceptable the report of Terry Davis, OSCE
Karabagh Issue Reporter. “That report has no legal status at
present. It is still being discussed. The reporter has been
changed. The newly appointed reporter should prepare his own report,
taking into account the report of Davis or ignoringit,” he
said. Oskanian is also concerned with the statements of the newly
appointed reporter, Stinckson. They are not in the interest of
Armenia.
By Tatoul Hakobian

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Communications Officer
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
September 23, 2004
___________________
Week of September 17 to September 23, 2004
* * *
PRIMATE TO CELEBRATE WITH HARTFORD CHURCH
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian
Church of America (Eastern), will travel to Hartford, CT, this weekend
to help the St. George Church celebrate its name day and its 51st
anniversary.
Fr. Gomidas Zohrabian, pastor of the St. George Church, will celebrate a
special Divine Liturgy at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday, September 25, 2004,
which is the Feast of St. George. That will be followed by the blessing
of the madagh.
The Primate will visit the parish on Sunday, September 26, 2004. He
will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at 10:15 a.m. That will be followed
by a banquet marking the church’s 51st anniversary at the Colonnade
Banquet Center in Glastonbury, CT. The parish’s Armenian School
students will perform Armenian songs and recite poetry, and the guest
speaker will be Jeff Masarjian, executive director of the Armenia Tree
Project.
The St. George Church is located at 22 White St. in Hartford, CT.
(Source: St. George Church, 9/23/04)
* * *
SUNDAY IS THE FEAST OF THE HOLY CROSS OF VARAK
In communion with other churches, the Armenian Church celebrates three
feasts associated with the Holy Cross: the Discovery of the Cross, the
Apparition of the Cross, and the Exaltation of the Cross. But the
Armenian Church has one unique cross celebration, the Feast of the Holy
Cross of Varak, which will be marked on Sunday (9/26).
The feast commemorates the apparition of the Holy Cross near the
historic Armenian city of Van in the mountains of Varak, possibly in the
year 660 A.D. For more, click to our website:
;selmonth=9&sel
year04
(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 9/23/04)
* * *
KHRIMIAN LYCEUM OPENS SATURDAY IN NYC, BOSTON, CHICAGO
The Diocese’s Khrimian Lyceum, a six-year educational program for parish
Armenian School graduates, begins Saturday (9/25). The program started
in New York City, and this year will be the second year for the
program’s expansion in the Boston and Chicago areas. For more
information on the program, and how to sign up, click to our website:
;selmonth=5&sely
ear04
(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 9/23/04)
* * *
PRIMATE REPRESENTS CHURCH AT INTERNATIONAL EVENTS
On Monday (9/20), Archbishop Barsamian delivered the benediction during
the annual Appeal of Conscience Foundation Awards Dinner. The
international ecumenical organization presented awards to the prime
minister of Sweeden, the chairman of HSBC Holdings, and the chairman of
the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. For more on the Primate’s
role at this event, click to our website:
;selmonth=9&sel
year04
This was one of several recent programs the Primate attended as a
representative of the Armenian Church. On September 13, 2004, he and
Fr. Mardiros Chevian, dean of St. Vartan Cathedral, were among the 15
clergymen invited to attend a special prayer service to mark the opening
of the United Nations General Assembly. The prayer service, at the Holy
Family Catholic Church, was organized by Edward Cardinal Egan, the Roman
Catholic Archbishop of New York City. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
spoke during the service, which brought together ambassadors, as well as
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, The Vatican’s Nuncio to the United
Nations.
Fr. Chevian also represented the Primate at the 12th “Path to Peace”
award ceremony on Monday (9/20), which honored Roman Catholic Cardinal
Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s secretary of state.
(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 9/23/04)
* * *
FIND SOMETHING TO DO
This weekend, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary and the Diocesan College
Ministry program will both be reaching out to parishes in New Jersey.
The seminary will send its seminarians to the St. Mary Church of
Livingston, NJ; while Jason Demerjian, Diocesan College Ministry
facilitator, will meet with parishioners at the St. Leon Church in Fair
Lawn, NJ.
If you’re not in New Jersey, don’t worry, there’s plenty going on
throughout the Diocese. From a special speaker on the topic of
stewardship in Cambridge, MA, to a performance by the Shushi Dance
Ensemble in Wynnewood, PA, to a gala concert in Providence, RI — find
details on those and many more events throughout the Diocese by clicking
to our website’s Calendar of Events:
If your parish has something to list on the highly viewed Calendar of
Events, e-mail the details to [email protected].
(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 9/23/04)
* * *
MAKE PLANS FOR COLUMBUS DAY WEEKEND
Columbus Day Weekend (10/8-10/11) is fast approaching, and there are
three great events to get involved in this year. But you need to make
your plans today to save your spot.
The St. Nersess Seminary will hold a special weekend retreat exploring
the uniquely Armenian “Service of the Oil-Bearing Women,” a beautiful
weekly remembrance of Christ’s resurrection. The weekend is
specifically designed for deacons and altar servers, but is open to
everyone. It will be at the Diocesan Ararat Center in Greenville, NY.
Registration deadline is October 1. For more information, visit the St.
Nersess Seminary website:
The Armenian Church Youth Organization of America (ACYOA) will bring its
Archbishop’s Basketball Tournament to the Holy Trinity Church of
Cambridge, MA, on Columbus Day weekend. With sports, a dance, a Divine
Liturgy, and sightseeing, the weekend is a wonderful chance for 18- to
28-year-old Armenians to make new friends and get together with old
ones. Registration deadline is tomorrow (9/24). For more information
and to register, click to the ACYOA website:
Younger parishioners are invited to attend the ACYOA Jrs. Sports
Weekend, hosted by the Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church of Providence, RI.
The weekend, for students between the ages of 13 and 18, will feature
games, a dance, an educational session, and a banquet presided over by
Archbishop Barsamian. The official registration deadline is tomorrow
(9/24). For more information, contact your parish priest.
(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 9/23/04)
# # #

Bulgaria says no military cooperation with Azerbaijan, Armenia until settlement
Trend news agency
16 Sep 04
Baku, 16 September, Trend correspondent S. Agayeva: “Bulgaria will
cooperate in the military sphere with neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia
until the conflict around Nagornyy Karabakh is settled,” Ivan Palchev,
Bulgaria’s charge d’affaires in Azerbaijan, has told journalists.
Palchev said that the Bulgarian Defence Ministry had been successfully
cooperating with the defence ministries of Azerbaijan and Armenia only
in the military-technical sphere. Azerbaijani Defence Minister Safar
Abiyev’s official visit to Sofia is scheduled for late October. The
Azerbaijani and Bulgarian defence ministers will discuss prospects
of future cooperation during the visit.
Palchev added that official Sofia adhered to its position on the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict believing that “Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity must be preserved, while Nagornyy Karabakh’s status is
Azerbaijan’s internal affair”.

USA backs Baku-Yerevan dialog on Nagorno Karabakh – diplomat
By Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 15, 2004 Wednesday 12:26 AM Eastern Time
YEREVAN, September 15 — The new ambassador of the United States to
Armenia, John Evans, said at his first press conference on Wednesday
that the USA supports the concept of a dialogue between Yerevan
and Baku on the settlement of a conflict around the mostly Armenian
populated Azerbaijani enclave of Nagorno Karabakh.
The ambassador said the USA together with Russia and France works
in the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno Karabakh. He reminded the press
conference that the USA had contributed to a meeting of Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan and Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev,
scheduled in Astana on Wednesday. It has also contributed to talks
between the two countries’ foreign ministers.
Itar-Tass reports from Astana that Russian President Vladimir
Putin is expected to take part in Astana late on Wednesday in a
three-party meeting with the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders. “The
new three-way meting was initiated by Moscow,” a source from the
Kremlin administration told Tass.
Kremlin proceeds from the fact that the Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents should “come to terms with each other, while Russia
could “make its contribution to the development and expansion of
the dialogue”.
Kremlin sources do not rule out that Kocharyan and Aliyev may hold
tete-a-tete talks in Astana.

AZERI POLITICAL ANALYSTS REACT TO NATO DECISION TO CANCEL PfP EXERCISES
ArmenPress
Sept 14 2004
BAKU, SEPTEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS: Azerbaijani political experts reacted
swiftly to the decision of NATO’s Supreme Command to cancel the
exercises, dubbed Cooperative Best Effort 2004 that were scheduled
to start today in Azerbaijan as part of Partnership for Peace program
(PfP) after the official Baku refused entry visas to Armenian officers
to travel to Azerbaijan’s capital.
Last Friday, the Azeri parliament sent a message to NATO Secretary
General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer protesting the inclusion of Armenian
soldiers and warning it could inflame tensions in the region and harm
relations between Azerbaijan and the Atlantic alliance. President
Ilham Aliyev also reportedly opposed the inclusion of the soldiers.
An ex-foreign minister Tofik Zulfugarov argued that NATO’s decision
was “biased” and was taken without taking into account the existing
realities of the region. “Though the decision is an unpleasant event
for Azerbaijan it has prompted decision-makers to once again think
about specific conditions of the region … Azerbaijan is the victim
of Armenia’s aggression and this fact should not be ignored by those
organizations, which are trying to create an illusion that there is
no occupation and no refugees” he was quoted by Turan news agency
as saying.
According to another political analyst, Zardusht Alizade, all the
clamor around the exercises has in fact no relation to patriotism and
struggle for liberation of Karabagh and furthermore, it will sustain
huge damages to Azerbaijan. He said that the arrival of Armenian
officers would have no impact on the Karabagh problem. “Azeris should
not have raised all this noise, it was a stupid and absolutely
non-constructive position.” He said that Azerbaijan has lost all
opportunities to express its positions internationally, implicating
also that the country’s leadership is trying to please Russia to
prove its ability to keep the conflict frozen.
Eldar Namazov, another political analysts, said the refusal of
Azerbaijan to accept Armenian officers was regretful, adding that
its aftereffects will eventually affect Azerbaijan’s image.
According to an independent military observer, Uzeir Jafarov, the
first such incident in the history of PfP exercises is evidence that
NATO will revise Azerbaijan’s participation in its programs.
But according to political analyst Vafa Quluzada, the cancellation
of the exercises will not affect Azerbaijani-NATO relations.
“Azerbaijan and Armenia are at war and this is obvious to NATO that
failed to realize that the Azerbaijani people would not be indifferent
to this,” he said, adding that NATO will respect Azerbaijan even more
and understand that the two countries should not be kept in a state of
war. “NATO enjoys big powers and can play an important role in putting
an end to this aggression against Azerbaijan immediately,” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress