Author: Maghakian Mike

AGREEMENT OVER KARABAKH ISSUE MAY BE REACHED AT KOCHARIAN-ALIYEV MEETING

PanArmenian News Network
Aug 4 2005

04.08.2005 02:46

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “An agreement over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
may be reached at the recurrent meeting of the Azeri and Armenian
Presidents to be held August 26. The talks held within the past
year provide ground for an opinion of this kind,” Project Director
of International Crisis Group for Caucasus Sabine Freizer stated in
the air of RFE/RL. In her words, the population is not sufficiently
informed on the course of the talks, which results in discontent and
press speculations. “It is utterly important for the Governments
of Azerbaijan and Armenia to provide information to their country
population irrespective of whether an agreement is reached or not.
Otherwise the attitude of the population of both countries to any
arranged issues will be negative,” she said. The International Crisis
Group monthly report says during OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ visit
to the region there were optimistic conversations about peace. The
document says that the matter of the referendum in Karabakh was
discussed in the press, while the Azeri MFA denies it. The report
also notes that in spite of the public opinion in Azerbaijan still
being very critical, relative calmness is available in Armenia. It
notes that on the eve of the parliamentary election pressure over
Azerbaijan increases – the US, EU and OSCE make statements on the
need to hold free and fair election.

Karabakh accuse Azeri media of adverse coverage

Nagornyy Karabakh Foreign Ministry, Stepanakert
2 Aug 05

Text of report by press release from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic on 2 August headlined “Commentary on
the publication of the article ‘NKR torpedoes the peace process” in
the 23 July issue of Zerkalo newspaper

Representatives of the Azerbaijani mass media, having no idea of the
details of the peace process on the Karabakh problem and its
political and legal aspects, publish articles in which information
from Stepanakert is misconstrued. As a result, an atmosphere
hindering the understanding of human values and consideration of any
alternative means and goals is created in Azerbaijani society.

There is no doubt that the search for a mutually profitable and fair
settlement of the Karabakh conflict is possible only via the
establishment of effective communications between the Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic [NKR] and the Azerbaijani Republic.

In this connection, it should be re-emphasized that any settlement of
the Karabakh conflict, the current stage of which started with such a
humanitarian catastrophe as mass killings of Armenians in Sumqayit
and Baku, as well as further ethnic cleansing, deportation and
expulsion of nearly 500,000 Armenian citizens of the former
Azerbaijani SSR in 1988-1990, must, first of all, propose the
restoration of justice and reparation for moral and financial losses
to these people, including the recognition of their right to have
their motherland.

The Azerbaijani leadership is entirely responsible for unleashing
hostilities and for their results, including the issue of paying
reparations to all the refugees and internally displaced persons who
suffered from these actions, regardless of their nationality and
current citizenship.

Starting with a humanitarian catastrophe, the Karabakh conflict must
be settled only in the humanitarian dimension and in full accordance
with the fundamental principles and goals of international law.

[Signed] The information-analytical department of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic

ARMENIAN PRODUCTION FAIR TO BE ORGANIZED IN MOSCOW IN SEPTEMBER

PanArmenian News Network
Aug 1 2005

01.08.2005 07:02

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A fair of Armenian production will be organized
in Moscow’s Pushkin Square September 24-25. The event will take
place within the framework of the commercial-economic cooperation
established between Moscow authorities and the Armenian Government.
Mushegh Sargsyan, top official from the Armenian Development Agency,
stated that different Armenian produce will be presented at the fair.
The agency has sent invitations to over 300 businessmen 30 of which
have already displayed readiness to participate in the fair. Those
who have not received the invitation can apply to the agency on their
on initiative. M. Sargsyan noted that a large space is provided for
the organization of the fair, thus there will be no limitations in
the number of participants. The pavilions will be designed by Agency
representatives and will be provided to businessmen free of charge. A
similar fair of Russian products will be organized in Yerevan in
October, reported Armenpress.

El Pais, España
Sábado 30 Julio 2005

Malikian aborda un programa barroco en Bermeo

IGOR CUBILLO

Bilbao

El pasado mes de marzo Ara Malikian ofrecio un recital de fusion
flamenca acompanado por el guitarrista Jose Luis Monton en el palacio
Euskalduna de Bilbao, en el marco del programa Musiketan. Ese dia, el
violinista libanes, de familia armenia, solo mostro una de sus
facetas. Otra quedara al descubierto el proximo 1 de agosto en la
iglesia Andra Mari de Bermeo (20.00 horas; entrada gratuita), donde
repasara un programa barroco al frente del Ara Malikian Ensemble.

Los instrumentistas andaluces Jose Velez, al violin, Juan Francisco
Padilla, al laud, y Alfredo Barrales, a la viola, completan el
cuarteto de cuerda que lidera Malikian.

La formacion interpretara en el concierto previsto en Bermeo un
repertorio compuesto por piezas de Veracini (Sonata prima), Marin
Marais (L’Arabesque y La Reveuse), Vivaldi (Concierto en Re), Jean
Marie Leclair (Sonata VI y Sonata para dos violines y bajo continuo),
Couperin (Les Bergeries) y Tarquinio Merula (Ciaconna ).

Malikian, en la actualidad concertino de la Orquesta Sinfonica de
Madrid, recibio muchas de sus primeras clases en refugios antiaereos
de Beirut, hasta que con 14 anos consiguio una beca del gobierno
aleman para cursar estudios en la Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater
de Hannover. La Guildhall School of Music and Drama de Londres
tambien ha tenido como alumno a este violinista que ha estrenado
obras de autores contemporaneos como Franco Danatoni, Malcolm Lipkin,
Luciano Chailly, Ladislav Kupkovic, Loris Tjeknavorian, Lawrence
Roman y Yervand Yernakian.

Asimismo, hasta ahora ha fundado conjuntos como Malikian Ensemble,
Ensemble Nuevo Tango, Laureate Ensemble, Malikian String Quartet y
Camerata Creativa, y ha actuado en mas de 40 paises de los cinco
continentes.

Su pericia al violin ha sido requerida para las bandas sonoras de
largometrajes como Hable con ella, de Pedro Almodovar, y Otro barrio,
de Salvador Garcia Ruiz, y, pese a haber basado su formacion de corte
clasico, el musico tambien se ha sentido atraido por el jazz, el
flamenco y la musica de Oriente Medio.

Sports Features Communications (press release), FL
July 27 2005

International Rowing Federation
2005 World Rowing Junior Championships

Lausanne, 27 July 2005
Brandenburg, Germany 3 – 6 August 2005

A total of 690 athletes fro 51 countries are entered in the 2005
World Rowing Junior Championships which will be held from 3 to 5
August in Brandenburg, Germany

The largest number of entries comes in the men’s double scull, where
30 boats will be fighting for the medals. Host country Germany has
entered the highest number of boats, with a crew entered in each of
the 13 events.

Entries also include those of developing rowing countries such as
Armenia, with Makar Sargsyan the single sculler who raced last
week-end at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands racing again. Moldova will also be racing, with 13
athletes entered in five boat classes.

To compete in the World Rowing Junior Championships, rowers must be
18 years or under. An athlete can compete as a junior until 31st
December of the year in which s/he reaches the age of 18. After that
date s/he shall be classified an Under 23 rower.

The event will take place on the Beetzsee regatta course in
Brandenburg, approximately 70km outside of Berlin. The course was
last used for the Junior World Championships 20 years ago and has
since gone through extensive renovations, including a new finish
tower, new administrative buildings, boat houses, changing facilities
as well as the permanent big video screen.

Visit the official World Rowing website , for a
full list of entries, a racing timetable as well as an extensive boat
class preview. During racing, this website will provide live scoring,
race reports, press releases, start lists and full results.

For more detailed venue information, visit

Russian daily views reasons for Turkish defence minister’s visit to Azerbaijan

Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow
21 Jul 05

Excerpt from report by Sohbat Mammadov in Russian newspaper
Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 21 July headlined “Ankara inspects Baku.
Turkey intends to bring military into Azerbaijan to guard pipelines
and interfere in Karabakh settlement”

The official visit to Baku by Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul
ends tomorrow [22 July]. [Passage omitted: schedule of Gonul’s visit]

Officially this visit is in return for [Azerbaijani Defence Minister]
Safar Abiyev’s visit to Turkey last year. However, independent analysts
are inclined to lend far more significance to it. Azerbaijani military
expert Uzeir Cafarov has said that any military contacts between Baku
and Ankara will contribute to strengthening the Azerbaijani armed
forces and speeding up the country’s integration into NATO.

“A few months ago a plan was adopted for individual cooperation
between Azerbaijan and the alliance. In line with this plan, our
country pledged to reform the army and bring it into line with the
NATO standards. Turkey is the country responsible for the monitoring
and fulfilment of this plan’s points,” the expert told journalists.
In his opinion, the fact that visits to Azerbaijan by Turkish military
delegations have become more frequent in recent weeks demonstrates that
“they probably have unplanned missions in our country”.

These missions may include, first, organizing and ensuring the
protection of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main oil export pipeline and
the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline is practically ready and is expected to be commissioned in
November. As for the gas pipeline, its construction is gaining momentum
and will be completed next year. These power lines are of strategic
importance both for Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey as well as for
the countries of the West and the USA. Hence, NATO intends to deploy
mobile groups on the Absheron Peninsula to guard the pipelines. Turkey,
whose military experts are training Azerbaijani servicemen, has no
small role in this matter.

Another equally important task is the settlement of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Official Ankara, while supporting
Azerbaijan’s position, is at the same time interested in normalizing
relations with Armenia. Hence, the Turkish defence minister discussed
with Azerbaijani leaders prospects for Ankara’s involvement in the
settlement of the conflict. This problem was discussed a few days
ago during a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi. In the opinion
of Azerbaijani analysts, the defence minister had something to tell
[Azerbaijani] President Ilham Aliyev about the results of the talks
in Sochi.

Anyway, during his meetings the Turkish defence minister pointed out
the need for the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict within
the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

Police seize Bush grenade suspect

BBC News
2005/07/20

Police in Georgia have arrested a man suspected of throwing a grenade
towards US President George Bush during a visit to the former Soviet
republic in May.

Police at first raided a property in a suburb of the capital, Tbilisi,
but the man escaped after a shootout in which one policeman was killed,
police say.

The suspect was seized when police searched a nearby wood.

The grenade was thrown into a crowd as Mr Bush gave a speech in
Tbilisi, but it did not explode.

It was found 30m (100ft) from the stage when Mr Bush and Georgian
President Mikhail Saakashvili had stood. Both men spoke from behind
bullet-proof glass.

Support visit

Georgian officials say that Vova Arutyunov, 27, opened fire on the
police when they came to his house to question him.

Mr Arutyunov shot dead one of the policemen before escaping from his
flat in the Tbilisi suburb of Vashlisdzhvari.

He fled to a nearby wood, firing shots as the police encircled
him until he was finally captured two hours later and taken in for
questioning. Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told reporters that
he was wounded.

On Monday, Georgian police issued a picture of the man they wanted
and announced a 150,000 lari ($80,000, £45,000) reward for information
leading to his capture.

The man in the photograph had dark hair and wore dark glasses.

Mr Merabishvili said at the time that officials did not know who the
man was, but that he was believed to between 25 and 35 years old,
and 175-180cm tall (5ft 9in).

Mr Bush was visiting Georgia to bolster relations and express support
for democracy in the country following its Rose Revolution in 2003.

–Boundary_(ID_iu/kNYh3yF/ICj+BYSNTKg)–

ARMENIA DISPLAYS ITS CHEMICAL POTENTIAL

ArmenPress
July 12 2005

YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS: Natalia Artsruni, deputy director of an
Armenian Development Agency (ADA) department in charge of investment
attraction, argued that Armenia’s chemical industry’s potential is
becoming more and more attractive for foreign investors, which she
said was largely due to participation in two international chemical
exhibitions- the first was Informex exhibition in the USA in January
and the second was ChemSpec fair in Germany in June.

She said participation in both exhibitions proved to be very
successful. “Visitors of the Armenian pavilions were surprised to
discover Armenia’s chemical potential and learning that its chemical
enterprises are capable of manufacturing around 5,000 chemical
compounds” she said. She said the Armenian pavilion in Germany was
visited by 200 people, adding that a preliminary agreement was made
with L’Oreal company.

Iran supports democratic elections in Azerbaijan, says envoy

525 Qazet, Baku
16 Jul 05

Excerpt from Rasad Suleymanov report by Azerbaijani newspaper 525 Qazet
on 16 July headlined “Iran supports democratic elections in Azerbaijan”
and subheaded “Afshar Soleymani: We are against the interference of
certain countries in the internal affairs of other countries under
the cover of democracy”

The Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Afshar Soleymani, clarified
some issues related to the development of bilateral relations in the
near future in an interview with 525 Qazet.

[Soleymani] Iranian-Azerbaijani relations will be expanded under
the new [Iranian] president. The new president has a good attitude
towards Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijanis. I believe that a new stage
is emerging in the expansion of our relations. New programs are
currently being drafted to develop bilateral relations in different
directions. These programs will be continued from now onwards. This
is natural. We will continue to support Azerbaijan’s position in
the region and in international organizations. The intergovernmental
commission is expected to meet in Baku in January next year to discuss
a series of new steps and programmes.

[Interviewer] Mr Ambassador, could you please provide some information
on the visit of [special envoy for Caspian affairs of the Iranian
Foreign Ministry] Mehdi Safari? Has there been any progress in the
talks on the status of the Caspian?

[Soleymani] I also attended the meeting [on Caspian status in Baku].
Some progress was achieved at the meeting, which was held in a friendly
atmosphere. Bilateral negotiations, which are in the interests of
both countries, are under way. There will be good results. These are
technical and legal negotiations. Therefore, it was decided to hold
them on the level of envoys. Certain steps are taken at every stage
of the negotiations on the basis of mutual trust.

[Interviewer] Afshar bay [form of address], Russia has proposed
establishing joint military forces in the Caspian at a time when
the negotiations are still under way. Iran put forward a similar
proposal earlier. We would like to know your government’s position
on Russia’s initiative.

[Soleymani] The security of the Caspian depends on common agreement
between the five [littoral] states. These kinds of issues should be
considered in five-sided meetings. The five countries should come to
agreement together. Iran has not expressed its final decision on the
issue. We believe that a country does not need to express its position
on the issue individually. Iran made a proposal called Stability
and Trust in the Caspian before Russia. Iran takes it normally and
we believe that every country can put forward its own proposal. The
states have equal rights.

[Interviewer] Afshar bay, different countries provide explicit or
clandestine support for different political parties and blocs in
Azerbaijan in the run-up to the parliamentary election [due on
6 November]. What position will Iran take in this election as a
neighbouring country in view of the existence of Islamist parties
in Azerbaijan?

[Soleymani] We believe that every country should decide its fate
itself. People cast their votes in accordance with the capabilities
and reputation of the candidates. Iran supports democratic elections
in Azerbaijan. We support the people and are against the interference
of certain countries in the internal affairs of other countries under
the cover of democracy. We personally prevent other countries from
meddling in our internal affairs.

[Passage omitted: on gas transmission station to Naxcivan]

[Interviewer] Mr Ambassador, some of the OSCE Minsk Group [for the
Nagornyy Karabakh settlement] co-chairmen have touched upon Iran’s
involvement in the peace talks. What do you think of this?

[Soleymani] The French co-chairman said this. Iran has always said
that if invited it is ready to give proposals. We are the neighbours
of both Armenia and Azerbaijan and have means to influence both
countries. In this context, we can influence the settlement of the
conflict more than other remote countries.

TATUL MARGARIAN: RA DEFENSE MINISTER LIKELY TO VISIT U.S

PanArmenian News Network
July 18 2005

18.07.2005 08:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Immediately in the wake of September 11, 2001
Armenia has joined the international anti-terror coalition and
offered the use of its airspace and other tangible assistance for
the U.S.-led anti-terror operations, Armenian Ambassador to the U.S.
Tatul Margarian stated. “This also marked the beginning of military
cooperation between the U.S. and Armenia. It was made possible by the
waiver of Section 907, while also addressing the concerns of Armenia
regarding security in the region. The provision of U.S. military
assistance to Armenia helped the Armenian Armed Forces to establish
peacekeeping capability and address interoperability issues. The
Armenian soldiers and officers now serve alongside with their
partners within NATO’s Partnership for Peace program, and in Kosovo,
and Armenia’s contingent is serving in Iraq with many other nations
of the coalition. Also important for our military cooperation is the
State Partnership Program between the Kansas National Guard and the
Armenian Armed Forces. The first phase of our security cooperation
is nearing completion, and we know better the mutual potential and
expectations. Armenia’s Defense Minister will visit the United States
later this year to discuss the current level and future prospects
for our cooperation” he said, Armenpress news agency reports.