Author: Kharatian Ani

ILHAM ALIYEV: "PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT OF AZERBAIJAN WILL NEVER ALLOW CREATION OF SECOND ARMENIAN STATE IN THE TERRITORY OF AZERBAIJAN"

Today.Az
07 January 2008

"We will never allow the creation of the second Armenian state in the
territory of Azerbaijan. If Armenians residing in Nagorno-Garabagh
want to decide their fate, they must do it basing on the principle
of Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity, but if they do not want to do
this, they must leave Nagorno-Garabagh and create their second state
in another place. Anyway, the creation of the second Armenian state in
Azerbaijan`s territory is impossible,"- President Ilham Aliyev said in
his Solidarity Day and New Year greetings to the people of Azerbaijan.

According to the Head of State, non-constructive position of the
Armenian side, its aggressive policy prevented us from solving this
problem in 2007.

"We will never make a concession concerning our territorial integrity.

Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity is inviolable; the Nagorno-Garabagh
will never be given independence. The leadership and the people of
Azerbaijan will never agree with that, and the international community
will never recognize independence of Nagorno-Garabagh. We are holding
talks in this direction,"- President Aliyev added.

SPECIALISTS SAY SALE OF PORK UNDER SUPERVISION

Panorama.am
16:40 07/01/2008

"24-hour shift operates in all the regions of the republic where
African Plague is reported. We control that the meat of the infected
animals is not taken out of the region," Gevorg Tovmasyan, deputy
head of veterinary inspection at the ministry of agriculture, told
Panorama.am.

He assured the meat which is taken out for sale must have an
authorization paper by the veterinary. He said the veterinary
service-regional inspection-market cycle functions well. "In the
initial stage, several cases of violations were reported but they
were prevented and the traders were fined," the inspection head said.

Today’s data says 15,500 pigs were killed in the republic. No new
spots of infection were reported.

Quarantine is announced in Shirak and Lori regions.

Tovmasyan said there is a danger that the plague may spread. The
government has issued no final decision on compensation.

Hürriyet, Turkey
Jan 3 2007

Developments in Hrant Dink murder case

Final word on the much-debated age of the prime suspect in the case
of the killing of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Trabzon resident
"O.S.", is set to be issued in the Istanbul 14th Criminal Court.
While O.S.’s identity card states his age as 17, medical records and
documents insist he is actually 19.

In the meantime, a delegation of members from the Turkish
Parliament’s Human Rights Commission are scheduled to meet with the
Dink family tomorrow in their Bakirkoy home. The meeting is expected
to bring together Hrant Dink’s brother, Orhan Dink, and commission
members for talks on the ongoing investigation. Dink has called on a
"deepening" and more "independent" stance in the investigation by
Trabzon security forces. Trabzon is the Black Sea city where not only
the prime suspect in Dink’s murder, but many other key figures, came
from.

PUBLISHING-PRINTING ACTIVITY OF RA NAS TO BE RADICALLY REORGANIZED

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the December 26
decision of presidium of the RA National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the
Gitutiun (Science) publishing-industrial state-owned CJSC will be
reorganized into a LTD, which will include NAS printing-house and
publishing-printing work of scientific journals. The scientific
councils of Academy’s institutes, its respective departments and NAS
editorial-publishing council will be responsible for the content of all
publications of NAS (works, monographs, articles) henceforth.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the Press Office of the RA National
Academy of Sciences, the goal of reorganization of the whole
publishing-printing activity of NAS it to raise the quality of
scientific publications, journals and books.

LEVEL OF LAKE SEVAN RISES BY 56 CENTIMETERS IN ONE YEAR

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The level of Lake Sevan made
1,898.79 meters as of December 24, 2007, which is higher by 0.56 meters
as compared with the level on the same day of last year. The RA
minister of environmental protection Aram Harutyunian said at the
December 25 press conference that in 2007, 170 million cubic meters of
water has flown into Lake Sevan through the Arpa-Sevan tunnel. Water
discharge from the lake has made 148.15 million cubic meters.

According to the minister, a bif for the 2008 medium-term expenditure
program has been developed with the aim of creating a new forest layer
at Lake Sevan and restoring the ecosystem’s balance. Work on cleaning
and removal of plants has been done on about 95 ha of lands covered
with forests which were left under water because of a rise in the
lake’s level.

It was stated that in 2007, 430 water use permissions were registered,
as a result of which over 90% of water use in the country has been made
legal.

The minister said that cooperation is underway out with Iran for
management of transborder water resources. A working group on
examination of the Arax River’s pollution has been set up. Besides,
Georgia has made a proposal to do similar joint work with Armenia in
order to examine the River Debed’s pollution.

A1+

WILL THE RA PRESIDENT VISIT BAKU?
[03:13 pm] 27 December, 2007

After 19 February presidential elections in Armenia
the RA President will be invited to Baku as reported
Akif Mustafayev, national secretary, representing
Azerbaijan under the TRACECA permanent
intergovernmental commission.

According to him, a decision to hold a jubilee summit
of the organization in Baku in September of 2008 was
adopted at the conference in Astana on December 12-13.

"Under procedure rules, the president of
Azerbaijan-the country which hosts the summit, must
invite the heads of the TRACECA member-states at the
event. Only in exclusive cases the European Council
interferes with the process and undertakes
organization of the presence of uninvited heads of
states in the event", he noted.

A. Mustafayev said that Armenia spoke against
conduction of the summit in Baku. However, after
Kazakhstan withdrew its claim, there was no other
candidate left.

"In turn, Azerbaijan undertook the commitment to
adhere to all rules for holding the event", the
TRACECA representative said.

He reminded that the President of Armenia was invited
to the TRACECA summit in Baku in 1998, yet the Prime
Minister of Armenia arrived instead.

TRACECA currently comprises Azerbaijan, Armenia,
Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Ukraine and
Uzbekistan.

A1+

ARF PUNISHED
[05:27 pm] 27 December, 2007

The Supreme Body of the `Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Dashnaktsutyun’ dismissed Razmik Davoyan
from the party for carrying out campaign in favor of
another candidate, thus breaching ARF regulations.
Razmik Davoyan preached not for the ARF candidate
Vahan Hovhannisyan, but for the Prime Minister Serge
Sargsyan.

RIA Novosti, Russia
Dec 27 2007

Xenophobia in Russia on rise – human rights group

Moscow, 27 December: The number of attacks and conflicts motivated by
xenophobia in Russia in 2007 grew by 30 per cent against last year,
the number of fatalities grew by 20 per cent and casualties almost
doubled, the Moscow Human Rights Bureau (MHRB) said today.

"We can speak about 230 instances of attacks and conflicts motivated
by xenophobia in January-December 2007. As a result, 74 people have
died and at least 317 have been hurt," the MHRB statement said. These
figures prove that [the number of] "such attacks continues to rise".

According to the MHRB, among those most attacked in 2007 were
Russians (13 dead and over 50 injured), Uzbeks (12 dead and 102
injured), Tajiks (six dead and 11 injured), Azeris (five dead and 43
injured) and Armenians (six dead and three injured), the MHRB said.

Moscow and Moscow Region are the locations with the highest number of
attacks (44 dead and 107 injured) followed by Ingushetia (12 dead and
seven injured), St Petersburg (10 dead and 43 injured), Kalmykia
(over 25 injured), Nizhniy Novgorod Region (253 injured) and
Rostov-na-Donu (four dead, 13 injured), the MHRB added.

The bureau said that "96 people were convicted for attacking people
for motives of xenophobia". Five of them were fined, 21 people were
given suspended sentences, one person was sentenced to community
service, two were sentenced to terms in penal settlements, three
people were sentenced to under one year in prison, 26 people to
prison terms between one and five years, 18 between five and 10
years, eight between 10 and 15 years, three between 15 and 20 years,
one to 25 years in prison and one person was given a life sentence.

According to the MHRB, attacks motivated by xenophobia are
increasingly turning into well-organized acts prepared by radical
nationalist groups that have been involved in dozens of attacks.
Members of virtually all social groups and youth subculture groups
have become the target of abuse, the MHRB said.

SABINA FREIZER: "LEADERSHIP OF AZERBAIJAN SHOULD STOP CONVINCING ITS PEOPLE OF POSSIBLE VICTORY IN THE WAR AND RETURN OF NAGORNO GARABAGH IN THE RESULT OF BLITZKRIEG"

Today.Az
24 December 2007 [12:45]

"If Armenia and Azerbaijan wish to avoid the war, the leaders of
these two countries will have to undertake the responsibility
to convince their peoples of the advantages of compromise. The
leadership of Azerbaijan should stop convincing its people of possible
victory in the war and return of Nagorno Garabagh in the result
of blitzkrieg. Armenian powers, in turn, should stop celebrating
victory and insisting that preservation of occupied territories around
Nagorno garabagh is a key necessity for provision of state security",
Sabina Freizer, manager of program of International Crisis Group for
Europe, said.

She considers that the real resolution of Nagorno Garabagh conflict
will be possible only if Armenian troops are withdrawn from all the
occupied regions, surrounding Nagorno Garabagh, Azerbaijani IDPs
are back to their homes, and Garabagh Armenians and Azerbaijanis
are able to live together peacefully. Only then will mutual trust
and reconciliation allow the two nations to find solution for their
common problems and to restore multinational civil society.

"It will take time, but it is important that the governments of
Armenia and Azerbaijan be able to start striving for breakthrough in
the negotiation process right now", she noted.

ARMBUSINESSBANK PLANS TO IMPLEMENT A NUMBER OF INVESTMENT PROGRAMS IN NKR

Noyan Tapan
Dec 24 2007

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN. A meeting of the president
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakian and Russia-based
Armenian businessman and benefactor, owner of Armbusinessbank Vitaly
Grigorian took place on December 24, during which they discussed
the prospects of implementing a number of investment programs in the
NKR. In particular, the interlocutors addresses issues related to the
water supply of Stepanakert, repairs of the Khachen reservoir and the
irrigation network, the relaunching of the Stepanakert milk factory,
and establishment of an insurance company.

According to the main information department of the NKR president’s
satff, on the same day B. Sahakian and V. Grigorian visited the milk
factory and electrotechnical plant of Stepanakert.