Author: Madatian Greg

OSCE MONITORING OF CONTACT FRONT LINE RECORDS NO INCIDENTS

Today.Az
ics/45837.html
June 20 2008
Azerbaijan

A monitoring was held today on the contact front line of Azerbaijani
and Armenian armed forces, based on the mandate of personal
representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, said the press service
for Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry.

It was noted that the monitoring held near Qapanly village of Terter
recorded no incidents.

Azerbaijan was represented by field assistants of personal
representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office Peter Ki and Irchi
Aberle.

The Azerbaijani lands, occupied by Armenians, were represented by
field assistants of OSCE chairman-in-office representative Imre
Palatinus and Antal Herdich.

ELECTION OF CHAIRMEN OF TWO NEW STANDING COMMITTEES TO BE HELD AT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ON JUNE 17

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 16, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA National Assembly on
June 16 discussed the issue of election of chairmen of two new
standing committees: the NA Standing Committee on Agricultural and
Environmental Protection Issues and the NA Standing Committee on
Territorial Administration and Local Government Issues. The member of
"Repulican Party of Armenia" (RPA) faction, spokesman for the RPA
Edward Sharmazanov read the decision of the political coalition,
according to which the secretary of "Orinats Yerkir" faction Khachik
Harutyunian, who recently was imcluded in the faction, and member
of the same faction Hovhannes Margarian have been nominated for
these posts.

A secret vote will be held on June 17.

In the words of the NA speaker Tigran Torosian, the problem of electing
the chairman of the third standing committee – the Standing Committee
on Social Issues will be solved during the NA autumn session to start
in September. To recap, the right for proposing a candidate for this
post was reserved for "Heritage" faction.

However, as the secretary of "Heritage" faction Styopa Safarian said,
they have never expected any posts. "In our opinion, prior to reserving
the post of chairman of some committee or another for the opposition,
the NA and especially our respectable majority have the problem of
thinking about institutionalization of status of the opposition and
discussing their rights, procedures, and only after all this they
should discuss the issue of the committee’s chairman," S. Safarian
pointed out.

AZERBAIJAN: "WASN’T ONE PRISON TERM ENOUGH?"

Felix Corley

Forum 18, Norway
June 12 2008

Baptist former prisoner of conscience Zaur Balaev has been summoned
and threatened with a new prison term, he has told Forum 18 News
Service. "Haven’t you learnt from your imprisonment?" Balaev quoted
police officers as telling him. "Wasn’t one prison term enough for
you?" One officer added: "You may not be afraid, but you’ve forgotten
you’ve got a wife, daughter and a son." Police banned Balaev’s church
from meeting, a ban the congregation has defied. Kamandar Hasanov,
the deputy police chief in Azerbaijan’s north-western Zakatala
region, denied to Forum 18 that he had threatened Balaev. Hasanov
also refused to discuss with Forum 18 the harassment of Balaev’s
Baptist congregation, why Muslim men with beards were forcibly shaved
and banned from Zakatala’s mosque in recent years, and why religious
books were confiscated in a raid on a Jehovah’s Witness home. A local
resident told Forum 18 that the pressure to shave off beards has at
present halted.

Baptist former prisoner of conscience Zaur Balaev – freed on 19
March after being held for nearly a year to punish him for leading
his congregation – was summoned and threatened with a new prison
term in early May, he told Forum 18 News Service on 12 June from
his home village of Aliabad in the north-western region of Zakatala
[Zaqatala]. "Haven’t you learnt from your imprisonment?" Balaev quoted
police officers as telling him. "Wasn’t one prison term enough for
you?" And, in what Balaev says was a clear threat, one officer added:
"You may not be afraid, but you’ve forgotten you’ve got a wife,
daughter and a son."

Balaev said the threats came from Kamandar Hasanov, the deputy
regional police chief, and two of his colleagues in Hasanov’s office
in Zakatala. "They didn’t hit me but they were very crude."

Balaev said the police banned his church from meeting, a ban the
congregation has defied. Police have continued to visit his church
during worship services. "They realise they can’t drive us out,"
he told Forum 18, referring to the fact that all the church members
are local people. "But they observe us closely."

Hasanov denied to Forum 18 that he had threatened Balaev. "There
were no threats," he told Forum 18 from Zakatala on 12 June. "Who
said there were any threats and raids?" He declined to say why the
Baptist congregations in Aliabad cannot meet for worship without
harassment, why Muslim men with beards were forcibly shaved and banned
from Zakatala’s mosque in recent years and why religious books were
confiscated in a raid on a Jehovah’s Witness home in Zakatala in
March. "Call me back later," Hasanov said and put down the phone. He
was not in the office later in the day.

Strongly backing Balaev and his congregation is Ilya Zenchenko, head
of Azerbaijan’s Baptist Union. "They used very bad threats against
him," he told Forum 18 in the capital Baku in late May. "This must
be reported. They definitely want to threaten him, telling him ‘this
is an Islamic country and Christians shouldn’t be here’."

Balaev was arrested in May 2007 on charges of attacking five police
officers and damaging a police car that he and his church insist
were trumped up. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment,
but was freed under amnesty in March, perhaps as a result of
international attention to his case (see F18News 19 March 2008
=1102). Another
prisoner of conscience, Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objector
Samir Huseynov, was freed on 1 May (see F18News 14 May 2008
=1129).

However, Said Dadashbeyli, a Muslim teacher on a 14 year jail
term is still in prison. His lawyer and family have insisted to
Forum 18 that he is "completely innocent." His lawyer, Elchin
Gambarov, claims the Azerbaijani government wanted to show foreign
governments that there was a serious Islamist threat. Dadashbeyli’s
family told Forum 18 that he promoted a "European style of
Islam" and rejected fundamentalism (see F18News 28 May 2008
=1134).

The 44-year-old Balaev told Forum 18 his health suffered during his
imprisonment. He was held for four months in an investigation cell
together with some twenty other prisoners who smoked constantly and
some of whom suffered from tuberculosis (see F18News 9 August 2007
=1005).

Like the overwhelming majority of Aliabad’s inhabitants, Balaev is
from the Georgian-speaking Ingilo minority, which was converted
to Islam several centuries ago. The congregation he leads has
existed for more than fifteen years and has repeatedly been barred
from gaining state registration (see eg. F18News 8 December 2004
=471). Forum 18 believes
it to be Azerbaijan’s religious community that holds the record for
the longest denial of registration.

Although police have not punished church members for continuing to
meet, Balaev told Forum 18 that they have continued to visit services
both of his congregation and of another Baptist congregation in the
village led by Hamid Shabanov. "They visited us three times and
other congregations twice," Balaev complained. "Pastor Hamid was
also summoned by the police and threatened." He said police scrutiny
had been particularly intense during a visit some two weeks earlier
by fellow church members from Baku. "Police asked them why they had
come and what they were doing. They demanded to see their identity
documents and wrote down their details."

Balaev reported that Christian literature confiscated from Pastor
Shabanov a year ago has still not been returned (see F18News 4 June
2007 ) .

After Balaev’s release, church members accompanied by Zenchenko tried
once more to have their signatures on the congregation’s registration
application officially notarised by Zakatala’s notary. "But they
absolutely refused to do this," Zenchenko told Forum 18. "This is
how they have behaved for years."

Jeyhun Mamedov of the State Committee for Work with Religious
Organisations in Baku refused adamantly to discuss the threats
to Balaev and harassment of his congregation and other religious
communities in Zakatala Region with Forum 18 in his office in Baku on
21 May. However, he pledged to investigate the refusal of the notary
to notarise the signatures on the registration application. Mamedov’s
telephone has gone unanswered every time Forum 18 has called since
then.

Najiba Mamedova, Zakatala’s notary, screamed down the phone at Forum
18 when it tried to find out why the notary’s office is refusing to
notarise the signatures on the registration application. "You’ve been
going on about this for years," she told Forum 18 on 12 June. "You’re
a provocateur. It’s none of your business. Armenians have occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh for more than 15 years and we’ve spent blood over
it. One Karabakh is enough." When Forum 18 pointed out that the Aliabad
Baptist church has no connection with Armenians and that its members
are Azerbaijani citizens she angrily put the phone down.

In November 2004 Mamedova angrily threw Forum 18 out of her
office during a visit to try to find out why she was then
refusing to notarise the signatures (see F18News 8 December 2004
=471).

Numerous religious communities of a variety of faiths have been
denied registration over recent years (see F18News 6 February 2008
=1082 and forthcoming
F18News article).

Children given Christian first names by their parents in
Aliabad have been denied birth certificates by officials
angry at their choice of name (see F18News 19 March 2008
=1102).

Meanwhile, Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18 that four police
officers and two official witnesses raided the Zakatala home of
Matanat Gurbanova and her family at noon on 25 March. Although she
and her husband were out, police ignored her daughter’s request that
they should come back and insisted on conducting a search. When the
daughter fainted in shock the police gave her water to bring her round
then threatened her physically when she continued to object to the
raid, Jehovah’s Witnesses reported. Police confiscated Gurbanova’s
religious literature.

Jehovah’s Witnesses and Protestants in other parts of
Azerbaijan also continue to experience raids and police
threats against their members (see F18News 9 June 2008
=1140).

Deputy police chief Hasanov told the media after the raid that 570
books and 78 brochures – which he described as "banned" literature –
had been removed and that an investigation was underway.

Several days later, when Gurbanova was again out, a police officer
again visited and said she could go to the investigator and collect the
literature. "I did not go since I consider they acted unlawfully,"
Gurbanova wrote in a 2 April complaint to the Zakatala Regional
Prosecutor’s Office and the General Prosecutor’s Office in the capital
Baku. She insisted the raid violated her rights to freedom of thought,
speech and conscience guaranteed in Articles 47 and 48 of Azerbaijan’s
Constitution and Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Zakatala’s Muslim community has also faced official pressure in recent
years. In October 2007 the APA press agency reported local Muslims
as complaining that police officer Nasib Musaev had banned men with
beards from praying at the prayer room at the town’s market. They say
he summoned all the men and ordered them to shave off their beards if
they wanted to be allowed into the prayer room. APA said local Muslims
had complained about the ban to the State Committee in Baku. Musaev
denied to APA that he had issued any ban, claiming that anyone who
wanted to could pray at the prayer room.

Local Muslims had earlier complained of close police scrutiny and
pressure to shave off beards. However, one local resident told Forum
18 on 12 June that this problem seems to have at present halted.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PLANS TO DISCUSS NEXT WEEK ISSUE OF SELECTION OF HEADS OF THREE NEW STANDING COMMITTEES

NOYAN TAPAN

Ju ne 12, 2008

The National Assembly on June 12 completed the work of its regular
4-day session – the last one in the spring session, finishing the
discussion of the envisaged issues ahead of time. In all likelihood,
the votes on these issues will be held during a special session to
be convened next week.

According to unofficial information, the agenda also includes the
issue of selecting the chairmen of 3 new standing committees based on
the recent amendments and additions to the NA Rules of Procedure. In
the words of deputies representing the parliamentary majority, the
right to nominate candidates for the posts of chairmen of two standing
committees – the Committee on Agricultural and Environmental Issues and
the Committee on Territorial Administratiin and Local Self-Government
Issues will be reserved for "Orinats Yerkir" faction which makes part
of the political coalition but does not yet have executive positions
in the parliament. The coalition intends to offer the post of chairman
of the Standing Committee on Social Issues to the only opposition
faction – "Heritage" but during the discussion of amendments to the
RA Rules of Procedure this faction announced its intention to refuse
this post. In case of official refusal of "Heritage", this post is
likely to be reserved for the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA).

THE VILLAGES ARE IN SALE IN NAXCIVAN: KURDISH FAMILIES WHO COME FROM TURKEY BUY HOUSES OF LOCAL PEOPLE

Yeni Musavat
June 8 2008
Azerbaijan

We have informed many times about the activities of the PKK [the
Kurdistan Workers Party] supporters in Naxcivan, their self-management
in the universities of this autonomous republic, the distribution of
the symbols and the flags of the unrecognized state of Kurdistan, the
harassment and the proscription of local people and the transfer of
the sales outlets to the people who sympathize with the PKK. The other
newspapers have also alarmed on this issue. The situation has reached
its peak. Various Azerbaijani officials have started talking about the
threat to the country by the PKK. The press secretary of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Xazar Ibrahim, made such statement last week.

Inflow of Kurds from Turkey continues

Despite the statements and the media alarm, there have not been taken
any serious step at the official level. Therefore, the Kurdish flow
into Naxcivan from Turkey has intensified. According to information
that our editorial office received from Naxcivan, there have been
observed the settlement in the centres of the districts up to
now. The process has spread on villages lately. The families who
have the Turkish citizenship settle in the villages in Naxcivan that
have been become deserted due to economic problems. "They come to
villages and look for the owners of the houses that are locked. The
majority of the owners have moved either to Baku or to Turkey. The
local authorities mediate the meetings of the local people who have
moved to Baku with Turkish citizens. The landlords are called from
Baku to Naxcivan and the Turkish citizens pay them 10-12,000 dollars
in order to buy the property. The local people who moved to Baku many
years ago are happy to get that price for the houses where they have
not lived for many years. They think that they live in Baku and do
not need the property in the village".

It is interesting that the Turkish citizens who buy houses in the
villages of Naxcivan say that they are the Turks. The local people
do not doubt that the new comers are the Kurds.

Naxcivan – out of sight, out of mind

A former officer of the Ministry of National Security who has
[anonymously] talked with us about the issue has said that the
processes in Naxcivan may generate huge problems for Azerbaijan in
future. He thinks that the processes should have been prevented
at the early stages. "The tension in Naxcivan is caused by the
absence of the land frontiers with the autonomous republic and that
the Azerbaijani public and media are not able to influence it. The
second factor is that the local branch of the Ministry of National
Security in Naxcivan that is supposed to give information about the
processes either does not give information or the given information
has no impact. The local authorities in Naxcivan are not influenced
in appropriate manner. This is because the authorities in Naxcivan
enjoy an extraordinary status. None of the state institutions in
Azerbaijan except for the president may influence the authorities in
Naxcivan. The relevant state institutions may not use information
that they have. The fact that they are not able to influence the
situation might cause serious problems in Naxcivan in future. The
increasing settlement of the Turkish citizens with the Kurdish origin
in the villages of Naxcivan may cause serious problems for the local
inhabitants in future as well. A number of experts have also warned
that if the abovesaid settlement is not prevented, it may cause that
the separation of Naxcivan from Azerbaijan will come to the agenda
in near future. If the process continues this way, it may happen
in few years. It will result in the loss of more territories in
prospect. There are no doubts that the countries which are unfriendly
to Turkey have a serious interest in creating a hot spot on the border
of Turkey and Azerbaijan. It is also obvious that if the migrants
moving to Naxcivan will put forward political and other demands,
they will get support from Armenia that has land border with Naxcivan".

Our interviewee has stressed that the population of Naxcivan who have
always been distinguished with the spirit of resistance have lost their
it now. "The economic problems and unbearable political conditions
have caused the migration of the local people from Naxcivan. It is
not a secret that there are empty villages in Naxcivan. People have
moved either to Baku or to Turkey".

No media access to exclave

The officer of the Ministry of National Security has reminded that
it is impossible to send a correspondent from Baku to Naxcivan and
this is a serious challenge. This does not serve to the interests
of Azerbaijan. "The opposition politicians who are originally
from Naxcivan are not able to travel there. This behaviour of the
local authorities in Naxcivan and the fact that foreign dangerous
powers have found a fruitful ground there will cause a tragedy for
Azerbaijan. Naxcivan is settled by strangers who dislike the Turks
and Turkey and when the war starts with Armenia they will not protect
Naxcivan. They will either leave Naxcivan or support the Armenians. It
may result in the loss of Naxcivan. The process in Naxcivan may have
such causes that one shudders with horror while thinking of them. There
has appeared a chasm between Azerbaijan and Naxcivan. The fact that
the strangers who do not protect the interests of Azerbaijan are
brought to Naxcivan means that there is a time bomb in Naxcivan".

Our interlocutor says that there is a way how the country can escape
the tragedy. "Security services should combine information that they
have about the migration of strangers to Naxcivan with information
published in media and report to the president. Further, there should
be taken very serious measures. If steps are taken with the support of
the president, the above mentioned facts in Naxcivan can be neutralized
in few days. It is easy to put the problem to the end. There should
be just determination and the will.

RA NA ENVISAGES TO DISCUSS ISSUE ON APPOINTMENT OF NEW CHAIRMAN OF CENTRAL BANK IN CURRENT FOUR-DAY SITTINGS

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 9, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The last regular four-day sittings of
the spring session of the RA National Assembly were launched on June
9. There are 34 issues and 6 international treaties on the agenda.

The bill authored by the representatives of the four factions
representing the political coalition, with which amendments and
addenda are envisaged to be made to the NA Regulations-Law directed
at the increase in the role and significance of the parliamentary
opposition, is among the issues to be discussed. The draft of the
amendmends and addenda to the Law on "Holding of Meetings, Rallies,
Marches and Demonstrations", as well as the draft decision on "Creation
of an NA Ad Hoc Commission on the Study of events, which took place
in the city of Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008, and their reasons" are
envisaged to be discussed by second reading.

The election of lawyer-scientist members of the RA Justice Council
and the appointment of the Chairman of the RA Central Bank are among
the issues included on the agenda. Arthur Javadian, the current Deputy
Chairman of the Central Bank is proposed to be appointed on the post of
the Chairman of the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia. According
to the RA Constitution, the Chairman of the Central Bank is appointed
at the suggestion of the RA President by the National Assembly for
a 6-year term.

Tigran Torosian, the Speaker of the National Assembly, also informed
journalists that the deputy commissions of MP Henrik Abrahamian,
elected by a proportional system from Electoral Constituency 17,
have been stopped.

According to him, a document has been introduced to him, where it is
stipulated that Henrik Abrahamian has been appointed Head of "Wine
Factory" of Artashat and "naturally, the Constitution has been broken
in this case, as an MP is not to be involved in any other activity."

Armenian energy minister: Armenia may use Iranian gas instead of
Russian if latter turns out to be more expensive

2008-06-06 17:36:00

ArmInfo. By the end of 2009, Gazprom OJSC will invest 62,4 bln AMD
(over $200 mln) in construction of the second branch line of
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural
Resources Armen Movsissyan said at a press-conference, Friday.

He said that according to the schedule, the construction works are to
be completed at the beginning of 2009, however, the current
construction rates show that the pipeline may be built by the end of
2008, the minister said. He noted that after completion of the
construction works, Armenia will have an alternative gas pipeline to
the present northern one from Russia. Replying to ArmInfo
correspondent’s question, the minister said that the gas which will
come to Armenia from Iran may be used not only in exchange for Armenian
electric power to Iran, but also for Armenia’s needs. Movsissyan even
pointed out that Armenia has a right to choose between the Russian and
Iranian gas and the gas price. If the Iranian gas turns out to be
cheaper than the Russian one, Armenia will purchase Iranian gas, he
said. Movsissyan added that the new price of Russian gas for Armenia
will be specified within 2-3 months. At the moment, Gazprom sells gas
to Armenia for $110 per 1 thsd cub.m., however, the price will be
changed staring from January 1, 2009.

To note, in accordance with an agreement, starting from 2009 Iran will
supply 1,1 bln cub.m. of gas to Armenia, and from 2019 – up to 2,3 bln
cub.m. of gas per year. Armenia will pay for the gas at the rate of 3
KW/h against 1 cub.m.

BUSH IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON PKK

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.06.2008 15:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday imposed
sanctions on the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, aimed at denying
the rebel group access to the U.S. financial system.

The sanctions, from a U.S. drug trafficking law, also block any
transactions and trade involving American companies and individuals,
according to the White House. Bush designated four foreign individuals
and two other foreign entities subject to the sanctions.

The PKK has used a remote part of Iraq’s largely autonomous region
of Kurdistan as a base to stage attacks inside Turkey in pursuit of
its goal of a Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey, Reuters reports.

MONITORING NEAR BERKABER VILLAGE

armradio.am
02.06.2008 15:40

On June 3 monitoring near the village of Berkaber (Tavoush marz) will
be conducted within the framework of the mandate of the Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk,
Press Service of RA Ministry of Defense informed.

Later Andrzej Kasprzykwill give a press conference in Chinar village.

Barre Montpelier Times Argus, VT
June 1 2008

Musicianship wins in Montreal piano comp

June 1, 2008

By Jim Lowe Staff Writer

How can an international piano competition be won by the candidate who
is not the best pianist?

That’s just what happened at the 2008 Montreal International Music
Competition last week. Pianist Nareh Arghamanyan took first prize with
her charismatic performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. A
stellar jury, as well as the public chose her over more virtuosic
players – and they were right.

Arghamanyan, at her winning performance Tuesday, played with a
personal excitement and musicality that proved contagious to audience
and judges alike. While there were discernible wrong notes, they were
quickly lost in the unfettered passion.

The slim and agile Arghamanyan swayed and bobbed with the music, not
theatrically but as if she were lost in it. Arghamanyan and the music
were one, and this is what music-making is all about. At some
competitions, precision outweighs artistic values, but here musicality
prevailed. Closing the competition, Thursday’s gala finale at Place
des Arts packed 3,000-seat Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Arghamanyan
repeated her bravura performance to rapturous applause.

Rather than second and third places being awarded, two were tied for
second. On Monday, Japanese pianist Masataka Takada, 30, in
Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2, played with far more precision and
refinement than Arghamanyan, but without the flair and natural
musicality. On Tuesday, Russian pianist Alexandre Moutouzkine
delivered the bravura passages of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3
with flair, if not always accurately, but the poetic passages proved
lackluster. The two second-prize winners reprised the final movements
at Thursday’s gala concert.

The contestants were accompanied by the Orchestre Métropolitain du
Grand Montréal, the city’s second orchestra, through the finals
Monday and Tuesday and Thursday’s gala. Under the direction of
Canadian conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni, the performances were adequate
but not inspired, save for Thursday’s final performance of the
Tchaikovsky with Arghamanyan, which brought the house down.

Arghamanyan not only won the first prize of $30,000, she won another
$5,000 for her performance of the required solo work, Canadian
composer Alexina Louie’s "Fastforward," and $2,500 as winner of the
People’s Choice Award, chosen by the audience. More importantly, she
will make a recording for Canada’s Analekta and receive a series of
engagements that will help her begin her career.

The Montreal International Music Competition, presented annually by
Jeunesses Musicales, is growing in stature among world music
competitions for young professional musicians. Unusually, the
competition alternates between voice, violin and piano. This year it
was piano; next year it will be voice.

Twenty-three young piano virtuosos, from 19 to 30, were culled from
130 applicants from around the world. The quarter-finals reduced the
number to 12, who competed, each playing solo recitals May 23-24. Six
were chosen to perform an individual concerto of their choice May
27-28. From this, Arghamanyan emerged, reportedly by a substantial
margin, as the winner.