Author: Khoyetsian Rose

AZERI DEFENCE SPENDING UNDER FIRE
By Rashid Suleimanov in Baku (CRS No. 421 29-Nov-07)

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
Nov 29 2007

Big increase in defence expenditure allegedly failed to lift soldiers
out of poverty.

For the past nine years, Azerbaijan army captain Elchin Safarov has
served with the Baku military garrison. He has long dreamed of having
a house of his own, but his salary is only enough to rent a flat in
a small village north of Baku for himself, his wife and children.

Safarov gets some state family benefits on top of his army pay,
as sole breadwinner, he has been unable to get a mortgage to buy a
house. When Azerbaijan celebrates Armed Forces Day on July 26 every
year, the whole family waits for news that army salaries have gone up.

Azerbaijan’s state budget for 2007, currently under discussion in
parliament, envisages defence spending of 1.3 billion US dollars,
an increase of 30 per cent on last year. President Ilham Aliev has
said he wants to see his country’s defence budget grow to exceed the
entire government budget of neighbouring Armenia, with which relations
have been coldly hostile since the Karabakh war of the early Nineties.

Parliamentary deputy Siyavush Novruzov, who sits on the assembly’s
defence and security commission, told IWPR that some of the new money
would be go to support the army, some for the security forces, and
the rest on defence research.

Novruzov said living conditions for army personnel were improving
thanks to greater spending. "The increase in military funding has
had an effect on both the food and the clothing of soldiers," he said.

Yashar Jafarli, who chairs the Reserve and Retired Officers
organisation, told IWPR that salaries doubled in the military last
year.

However, there is concern that the influx of money has not had a
noticeable effect on the welfare of officers and the other ranks,
because rising prices have cancelled out increased pay levels.

Captain Safarov confirmed that there was no shortage of food or
uniforms in his unit, and said the canteen fed the men better than
it did five years ago. But he said officers were still inadequately
provided for.

Eighty to ninety per cent of officers have no homes of their own and
are obliged to live in rented premises.

Officers receive a benefit payment of 22.60 manats (just over 26
dollars) a month on top of their salaries, but the sum is only enough
to buy a sack of flour. This benefit has remained unchanged since
1992. The government is promising to raise the sum to 80 manats in the
2008 budget, and to review it every year to keep pace with inflation.

Jafarli said that most new defence spending over the last two years
had gone on weaponry and equipment, with large sums also spent on
infrastructure.

"In recent years, many barracks and headquarters have been built
and military colleges and medical facilities have been repaired,"
said Jafarli. "A new building at the [military] central hospital has
come into use. There’s no lack of uniforms for the military, though
we still have unresolved problems with full-dress uniforms."

In 2006, Azerbaijan bought five MiG-29 fighters from Ukraine. In its
annual report to the United Nations Weapons Register, Kiev says it also
sold around 60 military vehicles and 22,000 small arms to Azerbaijan
last year. Azerbaijan is currently negotiating with Pakistan for
the purchase of 24 Chinese-made JF-17 Thunder combat planes, worth
between 16 and 18 million dollars each.

Some experts say that the defence money is being misspent, and complain
that the budget is not open to scrutiny.

Alekper Mamedov, who heads Azerbaijan’s Centre for Democratic Civil
Control of the Armed Forces, said fundamental problems in the army
are not being resolved, and increases in salaries and benefit payments
have little effect when the cost of living is going up so fast.

He said funds that should have gone on the wages of junior officers
had been spent on repairing buildings.

"The changes in the army are cosmetic in nature." said Mamedov.

"Compared with previous years, military units in rear positions are
somewhat better provided with food and clothing, but those that are
stationed in outlying areas are still in lamentable condition."

Mamedov said cases of food poisoning were frequent. "The public is
well aware that the army receives poor-quality food," he said. "And
this is a result of defence spending not being transparent."

The Reserve and Retired Officers group has produced which says that
officers had found it impossible to get the financial compensation
they were entitled to claim in lieu of food and leave allowances,
while those serving on the front line close to Karabakh were not
getting the extra pay they are due on time.

Major Ilgar Verdiev of the defence ministry’s press service said the
defence budget could not be scrutinised in detail because Azerbaijan
was still "at war" with Armenia.

He insisted there were no problems with nutritional and clothing
supplies, and the food supply system was getting better every year.

Major Verdiev said the government was doing its best to solve
outstanding problems. Two apartment blocks containing a total of
165 flats in Baku would soon be handed over to military families
and blocks of flats were also being built in the towns of Shemkir,
Ganja and Geitep, he said.

Captain Safarov does not expect to receive a flat in the near future.

The army is still full of officers who cannot afford to own property,
he said. In January, he will make another attempt to get a mortgage
from the bank.

Rashid Suleimanov is head of Manoeuvre, a military think-tank, and
a correspondent with the APA news agency in Baku.

HISTORICAL WALK IN THE MINEFIELD

Largir, Armenia
Nov 29 2007

It was expectable that the figures involved in the presidential
campaign would start at some point to "rinse" their past and others’
past. It is common knowledge that when a person cannot argue his own
meaning and absurd wishes, he covers the present with abundant speeches
about the past. Such is man. Sometimes even entire nations behave so.

Usually in their urge for historical revaluation the authors lay a
trap for themselves or step on mines laid by others. However, others’
experience is not a lesson in this case. Very few get out of the
habit of wearing "peacock’s feathers". There is no alternative.

In this connection, the Armenian pseudo-politicians are notable. The
well-known General Samvel Babayan who has been looking for his place
under this sun for a long time now not only dedicated odes to Prime
Minister Serge Sargsyan aspiring to presidency but also threatened his
opponents to reveal their crimes committed during the war. It seemed
to the general that the retrospective overview would become not only
his own "peacock feathers" but also an invaluable contribution to
the campaign of the figure who favored him after the parliamentary
election of May 12.

At this point self-confidence let the general down. The Armenian
society is hardly interested in who expulsed whom from where, who
helped whom, and so on. People worry about their future and expect
changes in their lives. They know the past of the "noted figures"
by heart and are not fascinated. Hence, the brave general with his
braveness only laid a trap for himself (and his defendant Serge
Sargsyan). Since all the Armenian society wants to know is the dark
pages of our modern history. In this sense, the abovementioned
figures could finally bring clarity and free our memory from the
burden of history.

Many people are asking the right question – let Samvel Babayan’s
defendant Serge Sargsyan ask once whether Samvel Babayan was involved
in the attempt against the ex-president of NKR Arkady Ghukasyan or
not. After all, Serge Sargsyan is aspiring to the post of president,
and he should clarify this issue of importance to the state, which
is still up in the air. The society does not know whom to believe,
Ghukasyan or Babayan. At the same time, many want to know which
president of NKR had conferred the medal of Hero of Artsakh on Samvel
Babayan and when. Maybe Babayan should answer this question and offer
arguments to the society. After all, it is the first Medal of Golden
Eagle – Hero of Artsakh ever conferred on anyone.

We think if Babayan and Sargsyan answer these questions, hardly any
other question from history will be asked to them. People will at last
get normal opportunities for electing a new president of Armenia. And
it does not take going deeper into history. Let others make their
own history clear.

NONE OF ARMENIAN CHESS PLAYERS BECOMES MEDAL WINNER IN WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP

Noyan Tapan
Nov 29, 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The World Chess Youth Championship
finished in the city of Kemer, Turkey, on November 28. None of the
Armenian representatives was awarded a medal. In the struggle of those,
aged 18, Avetik Grigorian received 8 out of 11 possible points and
took fourth place.

Among those aged 14 Samvel Ter-Sahakian took sixth place with the
same number of points. And Tigran Haroutiunian took fifth place with
8.5 points in the struggle of those aged 10.

DemAz.org, Azerbaijan
Dec 1 2007

Goran Lenmarker: `There is Exclusive Chance for Considerable Progress
in Regulation the Upper Garabagh Conflict’
01.12.2007

As AzerTaj informs referring to official site of OSCE, chairman of
Parliamentary Assembly of structure, Goran Lenmarker, declared it
November 29 in Madrid, at the meeting of the Council of Ministers of
Foreign Affairs of OSCE member-states.
Having underlined importance of peace regulation of conflicts in the
Upper Garabagh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, the Trans-Dniester and
Kosovo, G. Lenmarker, said that OSCE Minsk Group reached considerable
successes.
Having underscored that `taking the opportunity from the presence of
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Madrid, we
should reach solving the Upper Garabagh problem’, chairman of
Parliamentary Assembly emphasized that he himself within 4 years
actively partook in the search of versions for regulation if the
Upper Garabagh conflict carried out by OSCE Minsk Group.
G. Lenmarker said that he believes in existence of `gold
opportunities’ for regulation of the conflict peacefully. He stressed
that political agreement may be signed owing to political will of
both parties.

DayAz.org, Azerbaijan
Nov 30 2007

AZERI DEFENCE MINISTRY SPOKESMAN DENIES CFE TREATY VIOLATION

The press secretary of the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry has denied
reports that Azerbaijan violates its quotas under the Conventional
Armed Forces in Europe Treaty.

"Armenia, which is an aggressor country, has been accusing us of this
for several years. But Azerbaijan has not violated limits so far,"
Interfax quoted Eldar Sabiroglu as saying on 29 November.

He said that Armenia itself was arming and hinted that Russia is
helping it. "Armenians are arming and everyone knows what country is
arming them." Day.az quoted Sabiroglu as saying.

"We have not forgotten what the 366th regiment [the Soviet army]
committed. We also have not forgotten what country gave Armenia arms
worth 1bn dollars," he said.

Azerbaijan says that the 366th regiment was involved in the massacre
of Azerbaijanis in Xocali town in Nagornyy Karabakh in February 1992.

Sabiroglu added that the Armenian side had lost about 10 soldiers in
cease-fire violations in the past months. The Azerbaijani army lost
45 soldiers in 2007 following cease-fire violations, disease and
accidents, Day.az quoted him as saying.

The Los Angeles Times
Regarding Media / Tim Rutten

CNN: Corrupt News Network

A self-serving agenda was set for the Republican presidential debates.

Tim Rutten
Regarding Media

December 1, 2007

THE United States is at war in the Middle East and Central Asia, the economy
is writhing like a snake with a broken back, oil prices are relentlessly
climbing toward $100 a barrel and an increasing number of Americans just
can’t afford to be sick with anything that won’t be treated with aspirin and
bed rest.

So, when CNN brought the Republican presidential candidates together this
week for what is loosely termed a "debate," what did the country get but a
discussion of immigration, Biblical inerrancy and the propriety of flying
the Confederate flag?

In fact, this most recent debacle masquerading as a presidential debate
raises serious questions about whether CNN is ethically or professionally
suitable to play the political role the Democratic and Republican parties
recently have conceded it.

Selecting a president is, more than ever, a life and death business, and a
news organization that consciously injects itself into the process, as CNN
did by hosting Wednesday’s debate, incurs a special responsibility to
conduct itself in a dispassionate and, most of all, disinterested fashion.
When one considers CNN’s performance, however, the adjectives that leap to
mind are corrupt and incompetent.

Corruption is a strong word. But consider these facts: The gimmick behind
Wednesday’s debate was that the questions would be selected from those that
ordinary Americans submitted to the video sharing Internet website YouTube,
which is owned by Google. According to CNN, its staff culled through 5,000
submissions to select the handful that were put to the candidates. That
process essentially puts the lie to the vox populi aura the association with
YouTube was meant to create. When producers exercise that level of
selectivity, the questions — whoever initially formulated and recorded them
— actually are theirs.

That’s where things begin to get troubling, because CNN chose to devote the
first 35 minutes of this critical debate to a single issue — immigration.
Now, if that leaves you scratching your head, it’s probably because you’re
included in the 96% of Americans who do not think immigration is the most
important issue confronting this country. We’ve got a pretty good fix
concerning what’s on the American mind right now, because the nonpartisan
and highly reliable Pew Center has been regularly polling people since
January on the issues that matter most to them. In fact, the center’s most
recent survey was conducted in the days leading up to Wednesday’s debate.

HERE’S what Pew found: By an overwhelming margin, Americans think the war in
Iraq is the most important issue facing the United States, followed by the
economy, healthcare and energy prices. In fact, if you lump the war into a
category with terrorism and other foreign policy issues, 40% of Americans
say foreign affairs are their biggest concern in this election cycle. If you
do something similar with all issues related to the economy, 31% list those
questions as their most worrisome issue. As anybody who has looked at their
401(k) or visited a gas pump would expect, that aggregate figure has
increased dramatically since Pew started polling in January. Back then, for
example, concerns over the war outpaced economic anxieties by fully 8 to 1.
By contrast, just 6% of the survey’s national sample said that immigration
was the most important electoral issue. Moreover, that number hasn’t changed
in a statistically meaningful way since the first of the year. In other
words, more than nine out of 10 Americans think something matters more than
immigration in this presidential election.

So, why did CNN make immigration the keystone of this debate? What standard
dictated the decision to give that much time to an issue so remote from the
majority of voters’ concerns? The answer is that CNN’s most popular
news-oriented personality, Lou Dobbs, has made opposition to illegal
immigration and free trade the centerpiece of his neonativist/neopopulist
platform. In fact, Dobbs led into Wednesday’s debate with a good solid dose
of immigrant bashing. His network is in a desperate ratings battle with Fox
News and, in a critical prime-time slot, with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. So,
what’s good for Dobbs is good for CNN.

In other words, CNN intentionally directed the Republicans’ debate to
advance its own interests. Make immigration a bigger issue and you’ve made a
bigger audience for Dobbs.

That’s corruption, and it’s why the Republican candidates had to spend more
than half an hour "debating" an issue on which their differences are
essentially marginal — and, more important, why GOP voters had to sit and
wait, mostly in vain, for the issues that really concern them to be
discussed. That’s particularly true because that same Pew poll reported
findings of particular relevance to Republican voters, the vast majority of
whom continue to support the war in Iraq.

According to this most recent poll, a substantial number of Americans
believe the surge is working. As Pew summarized their findings, "While Iraq
remains a deeply polarizing issue across party lines, there has been
improvement in how both Democrats and Republicans view the war. At the
lowest point in February, barely half of Republicans (51%) said things were
going well. Today, 74% of Republicans say the same. And while Democrats
remain far more skeptical than Republicans, the proportion of Democrats
expressing a positive view of the Iraq effort has doubled since February
(from 16% to 33%).

"Independents’ assessments of how the military effort is going remain far
closer to the views of Democrats than of Republicans. Currently, 41% of
independents offer a positive assessment, while half say things are not
going well. In February, 26% of independents expressed a positive view of
the situation in Iraq."

Those are significant swings of opinion, yet the poll also found that more
than half of Americans still favor withdrawing American troops. That
disconnect is a real issue for the GOP candidates, all but one of whom
support the war. Unless we’re going to believe that the self-selecting
YouTube questioners were utterly different from the rest of American voters,
it seems pretty clear that CNN ignored these complex — and highly relevant
concerns — for an issue that served its ratings interests — immigration —
or ones that made for moments of conventional television conflict, like gun
control, which doesn’t even show up in surveys of voters’ concerns.

THIS is intellectual venality, but it pales beside the wickedness of using
some crackpot’s query about the candidates’ stand on Biblical inerrancy to
do something that’s anathema in our system — to probe people’s individual
religious consciences. American journalists quite legitimately ask
candidates about policy issues — say, abortion — that might be influenced
by their religious or philosophical convictions. We do not and should not
ask them about those convictions themselves. It’s nobody’s business whether
a candidate believes in the virgin birth, whether God gave an oral Torah to
Moses at Sinai, whether the Buddha escaped the round of birth and rebirth or
whether an angel appeared to Joseph Smith.

The latter point is relevant because CNN’s noxious laundering of this
question through the goofy YouTube mechanism quite clearly was designed to
embarrass Mitt Romney — who happens to be a Mormon — and, secondarily, to
help Mike Huckabee — who, as a Baptist minister, had a ready answer, and
who happens to be television’s campaign flavor of the month.

Beside considerations like these, CNN’s incompetent failure to weed out
Democratically connected questioners pales.

In any event, CNN has failed in its responsibilities to the political
process and it’s time for the leaders of both the Republican and Democratic
parties to take the network out of our electoral affairs.

[email protected]

ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS ONE MORE YEAR IN IRAQ. ITS RESULTS

Panorama.am
23:08 03/12/2007

Today Mikael Harutunyan, Defense Minister had a speech in the
Parliament and announced about the president’s proposal to leave
Armenian peacekeepers one more year in Iraq. The Minister said that
Armenian peacekeeping forces went to Iraq in 2005 and 276 Armenian
soldiers serve there. According to him there are no victims till now.

Viktor Dallakyan, an independent deputy asked the minister what would
happen to Armenia when the democrats gain the elections in the USA
and took out the troops from Iraq. "The question will be discussed
when a democrat candidate is elected in America. But I am sure that
it is not right to take out the troops from Iraq, as the questions,
which are solved by the peacekeepers, are human and they resist civil
war start," answered the minister. V. Dallakyan was also interested
in the following: what the participation in such big projects will
give Armenia and how the main problems of Armenian nation will be
solved. According to the deputy Armenia being a small country has to
participate in those big programs, especially in "Iraq Company".

Dallakyan said that he worries that the existence of Armenian
peacekeeping forces in Iraq will harm the adoption of 106th
resolution. "Turkey invaded Iraq; the USA tries to create Kurd
country in Iraq and the delay of the resolution adoption lies under
Armenian-American, Kurd-Turkish, and American-Kurd context," announced
the independent deputy and continued that they want Armenia to be a
democratic country, not an organized one.

Only the "Republican" and "Prosperous Armenia" parties voted for
the proposal.

PUBLIC TV AND RADIO COMPANY MAKES PUBLIC TARIFF FOR ONE MINUTE OF POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT

Noyan Tapan
Nov 14, 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. TV companies giving air to
candidates for the election campaign of the 2008 February 18
presidential elections, irrespective of the ownership form, should
make public the price for each minute of air until November 19. As
Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by Abraham Bakhchagulian, the
Secretary of the Central Electoral Commission, the Electoral Code
does not compel the above mentioned companies to officially inform
the Commission about the determined tariff, but they should publicize
it by their own air. According to him, as of November 14, CEC knows
only the decision made lately by the Public TV and Radio Company.

According to that decision, one minute of political advertisement by
Public Television will be 80 thousand drams, including VAT, and by
Public Radio 20 thousand drams (nearly 62 USD). It should be mentioned
that the same tariffs operated during the parliamentary elections of
the current year.

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY CALLED FORTHCOMING GEORGIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS FARCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.11.2007 19:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The impression that the preterm elections in Georgia
will turn into a naked farce is corroborated, says a comment issued
by the department of information and press at the Russian Foreign
Ministry.

"Mikhael Saakashvili’s recent statements came as start of his election
campaign despite demands of the international community to lift
the emergency rule and stop persecution of oppositionists… The
date for the elections was fixed in an intention to deprive
the opposition leaders from any possibility to organize a proper
campaign. Furthermore, the authorities staked on low appearance of
the voters which will be conditioned by the New Year and Christmas
holidays," the statement says.

"Undisguised Russophobia becomes the core of the election campaign,"
it says.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN: WITHIN ITS POWER TURKEY GIVES EVERY SUPPORT TO AZERBAIJAN IN NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT – EXCLUSIVE

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Nov 13 2007

The most important issue for Azerbaijan and Turkey is to strengthen
and deepen relations through strategic and economic projects

Exclusive interview of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
to APA’s local bureau

– The U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved the bill on the
so-called Armenian genocide in October this year. As it was expected,
Turkey’s position was so severe that some democratic congressmen
withdrew their signatures from the bill. Will Turkey be committed to
this position against the legislative body of the US, Turkey’s friend
and ally for long years?

– Adoption of the draft Resolution 106, which characterizes the events
of 1915 as genocide, by the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs
on October 10 is very regretful. The adoption of this bill caused
fair protest of both our government and the people. US government’s
decisive move to prevent the House of Representatives from putting the
unjust and groundless bill on the agenda is praiseworthy. The recent
processes show that some members of the Congress, who supported the
bill, also understand our anxiety and fair arguments. In this regard,
I would like to underline that I believe the members of the Congress
will act with the responsibility of Turkish-American friendship and
that we will continue our activity for preventing the adoption of the
bill, which may damage our relations with the US. Turkey put forward
constructive proposals for revealing historical truths. We offered
Armenia to establish a joint historical commission for investigating
the events of 1915, to search the archives in Turkey, Armenia and
third countries and inform the international community about the
results. We will not forget that instead of accepting our proposal,
which we believed will establish friendship and cooperation in the
region, Armenia pursues purposeful policy, directed towards the
adoption of the bill, both behind the curtains and openly.

– The letter your wrote to Armenian president in May in 2005 and your
goodwill was not reacted analogously. The government’s program does not
touch on this issue either. Did you think of reviewing the relations
with Armenia after the decision of the House Committee on Foreign
Affairs? Armenian president and foreign minister greeted this decision.

– We proposed establishment of joint historical commission, opening
of archives, establishing condition for historians’ investigations in
these archives taking step on strengthening relations with Armenia in
2005. But Armenia did not reply to our gesture. On the contrary we saw
that Armenia supported decision of US House of Representatives Foreign
Affairs Committee. This approach does not coincide with neighborhood
policy. We are taking several steps unilaterally, but do not see its
response. Can we hope in normalizing relations in such a situation? Our
relations can not be normalized if Armenia raises issues between the
two countries in the Parliaments of the third countries.

-Withdrawal of Armenians who occupied 20% of Azerbaijani lands caused
vain of the settlement of the conflict in the framework of OSCE Minsk
Group. But Azerbaijan states that it will use all means for liberating
its lands. Is it not time for signing security cooperation between
Turkey and Azerbaijan?

-You know Turkey’s position on the occupation of Nagorno Karabakh
and 7 surrounding regions of Azerbaijan by Armenians. Turkey always
supports Azerbaijan in the framework of its capabilities. Turkey
continues to support efforts on eliminating invasion fact which is
opposed to international law norms as a member of OSCE Minsk Group.

Our support in this direction will further continue. We believe
in the necessity of solving problem peacefully and in the frame of
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Turkey and Azerbaijan cooperate in many fields, namely in political,
military, economic, commercial, cultural and other sectors. We
achieved development and strengthening of mutual cooperation through
mutual respect and activity. We think that our cooperation sticks to
strong legal bases. We are proud of Azerbaijan’s taking estimable
place in world and region through reforms Azerbaijan carries
out in economics, democracy and human rights, Azerbaijan’s rich
energy resources. We continue our activity for implementing railway
project Baku-Tbilisi-Kars after pipelines Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum we implemented jointly with fraternal Azerbaijan
and neighbor Georgia. The main issue is to strengthen and deepen our
relations with such strategic and economic projects.

– How do you assess significance of 11th Friendship, Brotherhood and
Cooperation Congress of Turkic States and Communities to be held in
Baku on November 17-19 with your participation?

– Role of NGOs is great in the formation of public opinion in Western
countries. Decision was made on uniting principles and purposes
of Turkish and Azerbaijani Diaspora organizations in the 1st Forum
of Turkish-Azerbaijani Diasporas I attended along with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev held in Baku on March 9, 2007. I believe that
11th Friendship, Brotherhood and Cooperation Congress of Turkic States
and Communities to be held in Baku on November 17-19 will be right
step to be taken in this direction.