Author: Khondkarian Raffi

AZERI MILITARY BUDGET TO EQUAL TOTAL ARMENIAN STATE BUDGET – ALIYEV
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
March 16, 2006 Thursday
Azerbaijan’s military budget will soon equal Armenia’s entire state
budget, said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“Our military budget is currently about $600 million. I have set
the goal that our military expenditure be increased to the size of
Armenia’s entire state budget in the near future,” Aliyev told the
second world congress of Azeris in Baku on Thursday.
“Armenia will never be able to compete with us. The sooner the Armenian
leadership understands this, the more beneficial it will be for them,”
he said.
Along with the development of its economy, Azerbaijan is also
strengthening its military development, Aliyev said. “Great
significance has been attached to this sphere over the past years
and Azerbaijan’s military budget has been increased every year. For
instance, the military budget was increased by 70% in 2005 compared
with 2004, and it has grown by 100% in 2006. Growth is also expected
in 2007,” the president said.

PACE SUBCOMMITTEE ON GARABAGH TO RETAIN STATUS
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 16 2006
Baku, March 15, AssA-Irada
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe discussed the
future status of the temporary subcommittee on the Armenia-Azerbaijan
Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict at a meeting of PACE in Paris on
Wednesday. The discussions followed presentation of a report by the
subcommittee chairman Lord Russel Johnston, Armenian media reported.
The head of the Armenian delegation at the Assembly, vice-speaker
Tigran Torosian said the organization will mostly likely continue to
operate under the PACE bureau.
Torosian stated that Russel Johnston supported keeping the
subcommittee’s current status in force.
“He underlined that the key goal of the entity will be to prepare
the two nations for a resolution of the conflict. It will take all
the needed steps to put an end to calls for military action and
hatred,” the Armenian MP maintained, in an apparent reference to
Azeri officials’ warnings that the country may resort to military
action to solve over a decade-long dispute.
Torosian added that the views expressed by the Azeri and Armenian
delegations at PACE on the issue “coincided”.

AZERI WEEKLY CLOSED IN IRAN FOR KINDLING NATIONALIST MOODS
YEREVAN, MARCH 15. ARMINFO. The censorship department of the Iranian
culture ministry has put a ban on the issue of Navide Azerbaycan,
an Azeri weekly published in Iran in the last 8 years, reports Kar
news agency (Iran).
The decision followed the weekly’s systematic violation of the law
on the press. By its articles the weekly kindles nationalism and
threatens the national security of Iran, says the department.

GABRIEL SARGSYAN – WINNER OF THE REYKJAVIK TOURNAMENT
A1+
12:12 pm 15 March, 2006
In the last round of the Reykjavik international chess tournament
Armenian Grand Master Gabriel Sargsyan tied with Pantela Harikrishna
and won the tournament with 7 points.
Harikrishna, Mamedyarov, Adli and Nadaf had the same amount of
point as Sargsyan, but Sargsyan took the first place with additional
results. The Armenian player won 5 of the 9 games and tied in the
other four, without suffering any losses.
By the way, Sargsyan was only the 8th with his reputation in the
tournament among 102 players about 30 of which were Grand Masters. As
a winner of the tournament Sargsyan will get 6 thousand USD.

ARMENIAN FM: HOPE TO SOLVE KARABAKH ISSUE IN 2006 SHOULD NOT BE LOST
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.03.2006 22:13 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “The hope to solve the Nagorno Karabakh problem
in 2006 should not be lost. Though there is less time after
Rambouillet. However, we should work,” Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian
stated when answering questions of Azg Daily readers. In his words,
progress was made in 2005. Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan had
to come to agreement over one or two issues. “The OSCE MG co-chairs
logically concluded that inertia will help the process and the
Rambouillet meeting was to bind the presidents more.
This did not happen. We evaluated Rambouillet: there was no agreement
reached over a concrete issue in Rambouillet. However, we believe
the process did not fail. If Azerbaijan does not compromise over the
issue on the agenda, it would mean Baku has remained on its maximalist
positions, which do not promote settlement.
Armenia has made its part of concessions,” the Armenian FM said.
Answering a question whether the latest events in Transnistria and
resoluteness of the US and European structures in supporting Moldova
forebode a similar attitude of those countries to the NK issue, Vartan
Oskanian stated, “Of course, precedents in international relations
are a faction, which is not however final or decisive. Our approach to
conflicts is a rather clear one: each of these should be considered in
its own context, taking into account its historical and legal causes,
sources and most importantly the current situation de facto. What
will be the solution to the Karabakh conflict? All factors should be
considered in the Karabakh process and the self-determination right
remains a basic determinant.”

ARMENIA HAS BECOME 36TH MEMBER COUNTRY OF EUROCONTROL
09: 55 03/07/2006
Armenia has become 36th member country of Eurocontrol – European Agency
for Air Traffic Control. As REGNUM was informed at press office of
Armenian Foreign Ministry, joint program to modernize service of air
traffic control in Armenia was developed together with Eurocontrol.
Eurocontrol membership is mainly aimed at development of common
system of air traffic control in European area under conditions of air
traffic growth. “Armenian Eurocontrol’s joining corresponds to program
of establishing of common European system to control air traffic,”
stated Director General of Eurocontrol Victor Aguado. According to
him, Armenia’s joining the agency is important for establishing of
new flights, connecting Europe with Far East over Armenian territory.
It should be reminded, that Armenia has been a member of International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) since 1992. Since that time,
Armenia has been using technical assistance of the organization.

DPA CHAIRMAN DOESN’T EXCLUDE THAT ARMENIAN PRESIDENT WILL HAVE TO
RESIGN IN CONNECTION WITH NAGORNO KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, NOYAN TAPAN. We can’t exlude such a situation when
Armenian President Robert Kocharian will have to think about
resignation for the purose of avoiding the compulsion of signing a
document on Nagorno Karabakh settlement not favorable for
Armenia. Such an opinion was expressed by Aram Sargsian, a member of
RA NA Ardarutiun (Justice) faction, Chairman of the Democratic Party
of Armenia (DPA), at the March 9 meeting at the National Press
Club. According to him, currently both Armenia and Azerbaijan are
exerted a strict pressure in connection with the quick settlement to
the Nagorno Karabakh problem. However, according to Sargsian, Armenia
constantly expresses readiness for one-sided concessions in the
process of settlement. Emphasizing the necessity to take active steps,
the MP touched upon his initiative aimed at the Armenian parliament’s
recognizing the fact of Karabakh’s coming out of Azerbaijan in a legal
way. According to Sargsian, this doesn’t mean recognition of Nagorno
Karabakh as an independent state and at the same time creates an
opportunity for presenting Nagorno Karabakh as a subject in the
negotiations process. Sargsian mentioned that the possibility of
quartering international peacekeers, which is not litigated by
Armenia, can bring to developments, more complicated than the Kosovo
ones, in the region. Answering journalists’ questions, Aram Sargsian
didn’t exclude the impact of possible sanctions against Iran on the
Karabakh settlement. According to him, the decision to be made in the
issue of Iran will condition the rest of the actions in the region. In
Aram Sargsian’s opinion, a possible application of sanctions against
Iran will be a very dangerous step as in difference to Iraq, Iran is
much more organized and powerful state. As he estimated, China, which
is making its relations with Iran closer, can play a very important
role in this issue. According to DPA Chairman, Armenia can have no
impact on these possible regional developments. Meanwhile he mentioned
that Armenia’s good-neighborly relations with Iran don’t give rise to
the West’s complaint as everybody understands that Armenia in no case
can spoil its relations with this country.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and visiting Azerbaijan
President Ilham Aliyev agreed Friday to deepen their countries’
economic ties through trade, investment, energy projects and other
exchanges.
Kyodo News Service; Mar 10, 2006

In a joint press conference after their talks at the premier’s
official residence in Tokyo, Koizumi called for “further improving
Azerbaijan’s trade and investment climate,” saying Japanese businesses
are interested in the country.
The Japanese leader also expressed thanks for Baku’s support of
Tokyo’s bid to get permanent membership on the U.N. Security Council,
and voiced hope Azerbaijan will peacefully resolve its regional
conflict with Armenia.
Aliyev said his country has well-funded economic development plans and
needs “good partners companies with advanced technology, knowledge,
expertise” possibly from Japan which he said is a world leader in this
area.
According to a joint statement the two leaders signed before speaking
to the press, the Azerbaijani side stated its intention to continue
efforts to improve its trade and investment environment through
deregulation plus tax and legal reforms.
Both sides expressed intention to further develop cooperation in the
field of energy, praising two projects in Azerbaijan to develop an oil
field and build an oil pipeline that are joined by Japanese concerns.
Visiting Japan for the first time, Aliyev arrived Tuesday for a
four-day stay.
On Thursday, he met with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and agreed
to foster bilateral ties through cooperation in the development of oil
and natural gas exploration in the Caucasus state.

LEADERS URGED TO MEET LOCAL MP OVER UNREST IN GEORGIA’S ETHNIC ARMENIAN REGION
Imedi TV, Tbilisi
13 Mar 06
[Presenter] Certain forces wish to destabilize the situation in the
country by stirring up disorder in Akhalkalaki, Chair of Parliament
Nino Burjanadze told a meeting of the bureau today.
Majority member Beso Jugheli asked the speaker whether she had met
Hamlet Movsesyan, the MP for Akhalkalaki, who Jugheli said, wants to
brief the president on the events in Akhalkalaki.
[Burjanadze] A very unpleasant incident has taken place in Akhalkalaki
[protest by local Armenians on 11 March which ended in the ransacking
of a local university and court].
I should stress however that the serious incident that preceded the
attempts to create disorder [a clash between ethnic Armenians and
Georgians in Tsalka District in which an Armenian was killed and
several others wounded] is a very sensitive subject indeed. All the
questions must be answered and the guilty punished.
It is obvious that there are serious forces trying to destabilize
this region and the country. There are serious forces trying to set
Georgians and non-Georgians against each other.
[Jugheli, to Burjanadze] Have you spoken to Hamlet Movsesyan, the MP
for Akhalkalaki?
[Burjanadze] No, I have not spoken to him yet but I certainly will.
[Jugheli] Kalbatono Nino, I want to state, very gently, that no-one
pays any attention to what local constituency MPs say. Hamlet Movsesyan
is a clear example of this. Khatuna, hold on a second please. I do
not know whether he had a fever or something else but I know that
Hamlet Movsesyan has requested a meeting with the president.

VARTAN OSKANIAN AND NIKOLAY BORDYUZHA DISCUSS WAYS OF CSTO ACTIVITY IMPROVEMENT AND EFFICIENCY RAISING
Noyan Tapan
Mar 14 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The current situation in the territory
of th e Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and ways of
improvement of organization’s activity and raising of its efficiency
were discussed at RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian’s meeting
with CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha who is in Armenia on
a working visit.
The prospect of cooperation of CSTO with other international
organizations was also discussed. In this connection N.Bordyuzha
presented the results of his visit to Central Asia and UN Central
Headquarters.
As Noyan Tapan was informed by RA Foreign Ministry Press and
Information Department, the sides also touched upon issues regarding
the Collective Security Council sitting to be held in June in Minsk
and preparation of sittings of bodies subordinate to CSTO.