EDUARD POLATOV: 29 OF 80 GREEK CHURCHES WERE SET ON FIRE
AZG Armenian Daily #159
07/09/2005
Eduard Polatov, president of Patrida NGO of Greeks of Armenia,
told Arminfo agency that as a result of pogroms 50 years ago, 29
of 80 Greek Orthodox churches were set on fire and ruined, more
than 4000 trading centers along with 2000 houses were completely
destroyed. Polatov noted also that the pogroms of 1955 resulted in
emigration of Armenians and Greeks from Turkey.
STUDY DAY CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO THE 10 YEARS EU PROJECT
Date and time: 7 September, Wednesday, at 10: 00 Venue: Tbilisi State
University, David Sarajishvili Room 1 Chavchavadze Street
Press release written by Tamriko MIKADZE, Delegation of the European
Commission to Georgia and Armenia
Caucaz.com, Georgia
Sept 6 2005
“Establishment of the Centres of Excellence in Biomedical Education
in Southern Caucasus”
Tbilisi, September 6 – The Study Day conference to be held on September
7, at Tbilisi State University, will be dedicated to the 10 years
of successful European Union-funded TEMPUS “Establishment of the
Centres of Excellence in Biomedical Education in Southern Caucasus”
projects in Georgia, and more recently in Azerbaijan and Armenia,
co-ordinated by University College London (UCL, UK) and supported by
the universities in Italy and France.
The conference will be opened by the Rector of the Tbilisi State
University, Rusudan Lordkipanidze and Head of the Delegation of the
European Commission to Georgia and Armenia, Torben Holtze.
Professor Peter Lydyard, project co-ordinator (UK) and Professor Nino
Porakishvili, local and regional co-ordinator (Georgia) will speak
about their work. Participation of the representatives from the UK,
Italian, Fr ench, Armenian and Azeri diplomatic missions, Ministers
of Education and Health is expected. The conference will be attended
by leading academics from the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Georgia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan.
WESTERN OFFICIALS SAY FREE, FAIR ELECTIONS VITAL FOR AZERBAIJAN
By Aida Sultanova
The Associated Press
09/05/05 13:24 EDT
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) – Top Western human rights and democracy
officials warned the authorities in Azerbaijan on Monday to ensure
free and fair parliamentary elections in November, saying they were
vital for the oil-rich Caspian state’s democratic development.
Terry Davis, the secretary general of the Council of Europe rights
body, said the Nov. 6 vote must be “held in full respect of European
and international standards,” and that President Ilham Aliev’s May
directive to ensure free balloting reflected his commitment to a
democratic future for his former Soviet nation.
Davis said the legal basis for the vote still needs improvement,
but added that “even with the weak legal basis it will be possible
to have free and fair elections.”
Dimitrij Rupel, chair of the trans-Atlantic security and democracy
body, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, voiced
similar optimism.
“There are still open questions regarding the electoral commission,
about the electoral lists, the voters’ lists, but I think that they
will be accommodated,” Rupel said. “I am aware that there are still
some differences between what the agencies have proposed and the
reality on the ground, but there’s still time.”
Opposition leader Isa Gambar said he saw no reason for the Western
officials’ high hopes, given past allegations of election fraud.
“Nothing has changed in the Central Election Commission itself,”
he said. “What is that optimism based on?”
Azerbaijan’s former president, Ayaz Mutalibov, who lives in
self-imposed exile in Russia, registered on Monday as an opposition
candidate for the parliamentary elections, a member of his party said.
However, Mutalibov, who was the country’s first post-Soviet president,
will not return home until he receives security guarantees, said Araz
Alizade of the Social-Democratic Party of Azerbaijan.
Prosecutors have warned the former president faces arrest if he comes
to Azerbaijan. Mutalibov faces criminal charges of negligence and
plotting to overthrow the government – charges he says are groundless.
Mutalibov was deposed in 1992 amid economic turmoil and losses in
a war with neighboring Armenia. Authorities have accused him of
orchestrating coup attempts in 1995 and 1997.
Azerbaijan has been tense ahead of the vote. Opposition parties have
rallied almost weekly amid fears that Aliev’s government could try
to rig the election.
Azerbaijan’s October 2003 presidential election, in which Aliev
succeeded his ailing and long-ruling father who died after the vote,
was widely alleged to have been fraudulent and the outcome triggered
violent clashes between police and demonstrators.
“It’s very important for these elections … to be better than previous
elections,” Davis said.
“NATIONAL UNITY” OPPOSITION PARTY CALLS UPON ARMENIA’s SOCIETY TO
VOTE AGAINST DRAFT CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
YEREVAN, AUGUST 31. ARMINFO. “National Unity” opposition party opposes
a draft constitutional reforms and calls upon its adherents to vote
against the draft at Nov referendum, the NU leader Artashes Geghamyan
stated at today’s parliamentary special session.
Voting against the draft reforms, Armenian people will tell “no”
organizers of a terrorist act at Armenia’s parliament on Oct 27, 1999,
initiators of falsifications at 2003 presidential and parliamentary
elections, Geghamyan stated. In his words, three-day discussions
of the draft constitutional amendments have shown the ruling
coalition’s inability to give real contra-arguments to opposition’s
arguments. “Being unable to response on opposition’s arguments, the
ruling coalition transfer debates from political level to the level
of personal insults, and such an indication to ruling parties was
received from president’s residence. Such behavior of the ruling
coalition proves that authorities exhaust themselves”, Geghamyan
stated asking the ruling coalition not to provoke him to say all he
knows about authorities.
MUTUAL CONCESSIONS – NOT END IN ITSELF
A1+
| 15:15:35 | 03-09-2005 | Politics |
Politics is not trade and the notion of “mutual concessions” should be
perceived from the viewpoint of all the parties to conflict. We should
defend our interests and abstract talks about mutual concessions are
inadmissible for me”, NKR Foreign Minister Arman Melikyan stated in
an interview with Ayb-Fe weekly.
Territories are the guarantee for the refugees’ issue
“I am speaking of the parties involved in the conflict. The fate
of Karabakh should be determined by the people of Karabakh. The
authorities of Armenia, Russia or Japan can have a certain role in
the negotiation process, however the final decision should be made
by the Karabakh people”, Arman Melikyan stressed. In his opinion,
the return of territories is not the principal issue. “I think we
should proceed from the universal principles of justice and approach
the issue from the aspect of human rights protection. During many
years these territories were the security zone. However today there
exists one important issue – the fate of Armenian refugees. Today
people speak of 1 million of Azeris but no one speaks of 500 thousand
Armenian. And we hope that the international community will not remain
indifferent to the fate of these people.
Serious prospects
As for Karabakh’s control over the territories and the settling of
the territories, Arman Melikyan thinks it’s an “expensive pleasure”.
“The implementation of such programs will demand great expenses. Our
state does not possess such funds presently. Years are needed to
resettle the refugees”, he says.
As for the conflict settlement, Arman Melikian is rather
optimistic. “The outcome will be positive for us even of years will
past till the conflict is settled”, he stated.
NO CLEAR-CUT INFORMATION YET
A1+
| 17:12:45 | 02-09-2005 | Official |
In answer to the inquiries of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the
US Embassy to Armenia gave information about RA citizen 35-year-old
doctor Rouben Jamalyan who is in the city of New Orleans.
According to the US Embassy, during the hurricane Rouben Jamalyan was
in the New Orleans Superdome stadium where he helped the victims of the
hurricane. At present the US authorities are taking measures to get in
contact with the RA citizen and to transport him to Huston or Atlanta.
The RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Armenian Embassy to USA are
in constant touch with the US Embassy to Armenia and the US Emergency
Federal Agency to get information about Rouben Jamalyan and the other
RA citizens.
AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 2, 2005
AGBU APPEALS TO MEMBERS & FRIENDS TO SUPPORT HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS
Even days after, it is impossible to grasp the human tragedy and
devastation that New Orleans and the Gulf states of Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama have sustained due to Hurricane Katrina. The
threat of disease, destruction of roads, contamination of drinking
water and environmental damage have rendered New Orleans and the
surrounding area uninhabitable for months. While the region’s long-term
future is uncertain, its immediate needs are clear.
Thousands from the National Guard, as well as a number of charitable
organizations are rushing to the region to provide emergency
relief. The general public is being encouraged to donate their time,
resources and money to institutions that are driving the relief
effort. There are dozens of organizations that can bring vital aid
to the region, such as the American Red Cross ( or
1-800-HELP-NOW), to provide emergency shelter, food and counseling
to those affected by the hurricane.
AGBU encourages its members, friends and the public to donate to
these charities to ensure that the people and the region will be able
to recover as quickly as humanly possible from the extensive damage
inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.
Established in 1906, AGBU is the world’s largest non-profit Armenian
organization. Headquartered in New York City with an annual budget of
$26 million, AGBU () preserves and promotes the Armenian
identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian
programs, annually serving some 400,000 Armenians in 35 countries.
DEVELOPMENTS IN ARMENIA
By Berj Garibek, Telemetry Operations Engineer ITT Industries/NASA
AZG Armenian Daily #156, 02/09/2005
Dear friends at Azg, I’ve been following the developments occurring in
my fatherland, Armenia, and follow carefully the latest news updates
that concern Armenia and Artsakh. I’ve never been to Armenia, since I
was born in Baghdad, Iraq and now I live in Los Angeles, California;
however, Armenia’s future and well being, like every other Armenian
in the Diaspora, greatly concerns me. Since our victory in Artsakh,
1994, Armenia has been encountering great obstacles in order to
achieve a level of economic superiority over its neighbors, control
emigration and continue with its progress towards democracy. However,
Armenia’s neighbors continue its work against Armenia’s welfare
and increase their efforts to further isolate our homeland from the
outside world. When the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project was in
progress, our leadership did nothing to prevent the realization of
the gas pipeline project. Of course, we had little power to influence
world leaders; however, our main ally (Russia) was asleep! Now we are
facing another obstacle: Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi Railway Construction.
By the time the Russian bear wakes up, and Armenia’s leadership start
taking actions against this dirty Turkish-Georgian-Azeri game, Armenia
will be on verge of making compromises that will impact negatively
on its existence.
Proposed Solution: Armenia should start acting like it has the upper
hand in the region, and we do! First we need an able leadership,
who can make solid and sound decisions regarding the issues related
to Artsakh. The repeated trips of President Kocharian to meet with
the Azeris have produced nothing but frustration! We need to have a
leader that will stand up and say, “Azeris, these are Armenian lands,
not one inch from these territories will be returned to you, because we
won the war. Turkey won the war 85 years ago, now it occupies western
Armenia, the only way we get these territories back is through war,
not diplomacy, because diplomacy doesn’t work with the Turks.” For
Georgia, our leadership should start using some threatening language,
“Look what happened to Azerbaijan in 1994, we’ll do the same to you
if you don’t stop working against our interests”. And for Turkey,
that will be in a different email (that’s if you liked what I stated
in this email). Keep up the excellent work, and long live Armenia.
NORWAY ATTACHES GREAT IMPORTANCE TO HOLDING TRANSPARENT ELECTIONS IN AZERBAIJAN – REPORT
Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 1 2005
01/09/2005 09:32
The official Oslo attaches great significance to issues related to
holding fair and transparent elections in Azerbaijan, the Norway’s
state secretary Kim Trovik stated on August 31 in Baku, Trend reports.
Kim Trovik noted, the purpose of the visit is development of the
Azerbaijani-Norwegian cooperation, discussion of regional issues, in
particular, the Nagorno-Karabakh problem settlement and implementation
of regional projects. He reminded, the Norwegian “Statoil” is one
of the largest investors into the oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan,
voicing the hope, that bilateral economic relations will develop also
in future.
As for the Norway’s stance on the forthcoming parliamentary elections
in Azerbaijan, Trovik noted, the official Oslo attaches great
significance to issues, related to holding parliamentary elections
in conformity with the international standards.
Commenting on the position of the Norwegian government on the
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Minister noted,
“Norway supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk group and stands for
continuation of peace talks”.
“The official Oslo is rather optimistic and hopes, the meetings of
Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia will bring positive results in
the end,” the Minister said.
“Holding democratic elections is one of the commitments assumed by
Baku for the Council of Europe and other international organizations.
Undoubtedly, results of the voting are the sovereign choice of the
people of Azerbaijan. However, we stand for all candidates to create
equal conditions,” Trovik said, reminding, 6 short-term and 3 long-term
observers will be involved in the monitoring of the elections.
Touching upon the issue of implementation of the project for
supporting the South Caucasus states, performed by the Norwegian
government together with UNDP, the diplomat noted, that within the
project Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia will be allocated totally 10
million of USD till the end of 2007.
“One third of this amount will be given to Azerbaijan,” Trovik added.
“For today, the government of Norway elaborates a number of new joint
projects in regard to Azerbaijan,” the state secretary said, noting
that joint cooperation presupposes implementation of programs in the
development of democratic institution, energy projects, as well as
measures on support of refugees and internally displaced persons.
NO KARABAKH ACCORD ANNOUNCED AFTER ARMENIAN-AZERI SUMMIT
Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug 29 2005
Armenia and Azerbaijan have made contradictory statements on their
presidents’ weekend meeting in Russia which international mediators
hoped will mark a turning point in their protracted search for a
solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Presidents Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliev did not speak to
journalists after their talks in the Russian city of Kazan on Saturday
and it is not known if they reached any formal or informal agreements
on Karabakh. Reports from Kazan said the two leaders conferred in
a tete-a-tete format for an hour before being joined by French,
Russian and U.S. diplomats spearheading the peace process.
Kocharian, according to his spokesman Victor Soghomonian, came away
satisfied from the meeting held on the sidelines of a summit of the
Commonwealth of Independent States. “The Armenian side assesses the
meeting in Kazan positively and considers it a positive development in
the negotiating process,” the Itar-Tass news agency quoted Soghomonian
as saying.
The official added that Foreign Ministers Elmar Mammadyarov of
Azerbaijan and Vartan Oskanian of Armenia will continue that process
“based on the agreements reached in Kazan.” He did not say what those
agreements are.
“In general, I cannot say that there has been any major progress
or breakthrough,” Mammadyarov said for his part, according to the
Azerbaijani ANS television. “We did not reach any agreement.”
“I think that we, both Armenia and Azerbaijan, need a couple of weeks
to analyze the thoughts voiced by the two sides and think what the
results may be and whether we are prepared for any progress or not,”
he added.
Mammadyarov and Oskanian held talks in Moscow earlier in the week to
prepare for the Armenian-Azerbaijani summit and appeared satisfied
with their results. Highlighting the importance of the Kazan meeting,
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Aliev and Kocharian
on Thursday to urge them to make mutual concessions that will pave
the way for a Karabakh peace deal.
Diplomatic sources in Yerevan told RFE/RL last month that the parties
have already agreed on the key points of a peace deal that could be
formalized as early as this year or at the beginning of next. They
said it is based on the idea of a referendum in which the Karabakh
Armenians will decide whether they want to be independent, become a
part of Armenia or return under Azerbaijani rule. Speaking to RFE/RL
in Moscow last week, Mammadyarov admitted that such a peace formula
is being discussed by the parties.
Regional observers believe that Aliev and Kocharian will not announce
any compromise deals until November which will see parliamentary
elections in Azerbaijan and a constitutional referendum in Armenia.
It is widely assumed that opposition groups in both countries would
exploit unpopular concessions on Karabakh in their struggle against
the ruling regimes.
The Karabakh peace process has always been highly confidential.
Kocharian and Aliev’s late predecessor and father Heydar, for example,
did not announce any agreements after a meeting in Paris in March
2001. But Armenian officials claimed afterward that the two presidents
agreed on the key principles of a peace accord that nearly ended the
bitter dispute.