Author: Maghakian Mike

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

11-07-2007

Vladimir Karapetian, Acting Head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press and
Information Department, responds to a question by Radio Free Europe on GUAM.

Question: How would you comment on the GUAM announcement condemning the
elections in Karabakh?

Answer: Let me first say, that it would be better if these countries did not
comment on issues which don’t concern them.

After having declared independence, the people of Nagorno Karabakh chose the
path of democracy and rule of law, and have achieved significant progress in
that direction in this period.

I regret that these countries make statements driven by their domestic
interests, forgetting that the authorities of Nagorno Karabakh have always
been selected through democratic means.

Democratic processes within Nagorno Karabakh, including the upcoming
presidential elections, benefit the formation and development of legal and
civic institutions, which are themselves important prerequisites, and also
necessary as factors in the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

`Look out! Ethnic espionage’: Igor Muradyan about the Armenian
Assembly of America

10:35 29.12.2005
Regnum

A number of controversial reports about the Armenian Assembly of
America have appeared in the media of late. REGNUM has asked Armenian
political scientist Igor Muradyan for comments. `No doubt that the
reports have serious grounds. You can turn down some arguments – for
the authors seem to be somewhat under-informed about the developments
– but certainly it is high time to call a spade a spade. First of all,
you should take into account the continuing political struggle in
Armenia and view the stance of the Armenian Assembly of America also
in this light.’

I don’t think that ethnic NGOs enjoy full independence in the US, but
the point is that the Armenian Assembly of America is more than
dependent. Even more, the Assembly is functionally dependent. The
Assembly directors and employees don’t just look down on Armenia’s
political class and leaders, they look down on them with
disdain. Given a whole range of serious political problems of Armenia,
the Assembly is focused on the problem of its relations with Robert
Kocharyan. Kocharyan has proved not very much convenient a partner for
them, just because the Assembly directors are unable to consult,
instruct and contact him in private on the phone. One cannot but agree
with the opinion that the Assembly is facing a crisis of genre.

First, as an instrument of another state it is very much unwanted in
the politics in Armenia. Second, the scope of the Assembly’s lobbying
has come to its limits – for within the limits of its tasks the US
policy in the region is quite conforming to Armenia’s interests. And
so, the Assembly is forced to search for new domains. Quite enough has
been said about this in the internet and so I’d better just remind
some facts. In 2001 the Assembly’s board decreed `to fight Armenian
nationalism.’ This implies suppression of any instance of patriotism,
especially over the Karabakh problem and Armenian-Turkish
relations. The Assembly is discriminating towards Armenian political
parties, NGOs, politicians and experts.

The employees and friends of the Assembly were set to carry out
reconnaissance in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh Republic. We know at
least six citizens of Armenia and one resident of NKR whom they tried
to recruit for information gathering. The above activities envisaged
the following directions: Gathering information on the state of the
armed forces of Armenia, including armaments, information on senior
officers, on the import of military hardware (invoice numbers, payment
terms, transportation routes), receiving analytical notes on the
fighting capacity of the Armenian army, information and assessment of
typical conflicts inside the military command, the concerns and plans
of different groups in the military circles; gathering information on
the leaders and activists of political parties, the mass media and
political leaders of Armenia, including economic interests, ties with
foreign countries.

For example, the Assembly wanted detailed information on the economic
interests of Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan in Russia, the
possibilities for discrediting him and the military command for
economic or other motives. Armenian citizens were shown video pictures
of Armenia’s military equipment and some military commanders, photos
of senior officers. Some of the videos and photos had apparently been
made from a very long distance. Special interest was given to possible
news about the import of air defense units, first of all, C-300, on
plans to develop military aviation, on possible purchases. They were
even interested in such non secret information as the parameters of
dynamic steel on tanks. They paid visits to Nagorno Karabakh – formal
and informal – they visited military units, talked with military
commanders. The talk was friendly and candid, but they got no
sensations – just stupid and thoughtless things. One NKR officer told
an Assembly agent in a friendly manner – `You guys are all but profies
or you cook like that in your country – you better learn a bit.’

One of the authors has already mentioned the interest of the Assembly
in the military intelligence of Armenia. As a matter of fact, one of
the `recruited’ young experts in Yerevan says that the Assembly is
very much interested in the personality of B.Azoyan. The Assembly
believes the exposure of the director of the military intelligence to
be one of its exploits. Exposed were quite banal facts – there
reportedly are proofs that the military intelligence of Armenia works
in `the American direction.’

Visitors from the Assembly have never much cared for political figures
in Armenia. They did care for analytical community, individual
experts. The experts were mostly very young and initially very much
eager to provide Assembly people with some information. But soon they
were told to supply information relating to the national security of
Armenia. These activities covered also the Armenian Embassy in the
US. It is a certainty that there were at least two information leaks
from the office of the military attaché. Also using documents from
the attaché’s table was repeatedly (and as if accidentally) the
military attaché of Belarus. So, it takes one no big effort to
carry out such activity. Let’s just hope that the military attaché
of Armenia may have no interesting information.

Mass media directors are also of interest. Of interest was, for
example, the dossier of the editor of Aravot daily Aram Abrahamyan,
especially his personal incomes and their sources. Very much of
interest was the personality of the well-known Alexander Haroutyunyuan
(if I am not mistaken, he is now the director of the public
television) and so on and so forth. It seems that the whole political
class of Armenia is being computerized.

Of certain interest is the impression I got personally from such
contacts. Strange but true: Assembly representatives get openly
malicious and bilious over the fact that the Armenian armed forces are
highly capable of discharging many combat operations on their
own. Would they be more comfortable if the army of their `historical
homeland’ had other characteristics and was like the armies of some
other states? Altogether incompetent the Assembly representatives were
as much annoyed to know that Armenia is not a perishing country and is
successfully developing economically.

The National Security Service and the Defense Ministry of Armenia are
perfectly informed of the activities of the Assembly and have relevant
directives on hand. For example, the top military command are strictly
forbidden to have meetings with their Assembly counterparts.

But no less worthy of mentioning is the fact that the Assembly
representatives are not the only ones to take a special interest in
their `historical homeland.’ Obviously having their definite interests
in Armenia and specialization is also the Armenian community of
Washington DC. For example, some Richard Kirakosyan, generally known
as analyst or political scientist or someone else, has offered an
Armenian citizen closely cooperating with the `Caucasian (Yerevan)
Center of Iranian Studies’ $10,000 for information on Iran –
absolutely definitely saying that this service was ordered by CIA.

I guess not everything is so dangerous for our country – as I do
believe that the US is our friend who knows that only Armenia can be a
strategic partner in the region (`small Israel’ or `Big Armenia’). The
Armenian society continues being modestly silent that the US strategy
is one of the major factors of our security, if not something
more. But somebody wants to be `more Catholic than the Pope is.’ These
are people for whom ethnicity is their profession. So it is time to
hang a sign `Look Out! Ethnic Espionage.’ In the meantime, we better
remember that our compatriots abroad are overwhelmingly citizens of
other states and are obliged to express their interests. We are still
far from being a `world nation.’ We have yet a long way to go. And
young vain analysts and political analysts better keep in mind that
our country is an active actor in the regional and global politics,
with quite a big interest given to it."

Source:

Africa News
July 13, 2007 Friday

Rwanda;
Rwandans Need to Know About Other Atrocities

by New Times

Today was the 12-year anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre.

To be fair, the massacres are not enormous pop culture anywhere but
in Bosnia, where the atrocities occurred. Many in Rwanda may have
known or do not know that on July 11 and 12, 8000 Bosnian Muslims
were slaughtered in the largest single massacre since World War II
and the first legally-determined act of Genocide.

But because of Rwanda’s history, the schism between its attention to
itself, and its attention to others like it, is all the more
noticeable. Rwanda should care about what happened in Bosnia that
day-or, for that matter, the last decade of the 20th century in the
Balkans-and what happened in Cambodia, and in Armenia; what happened
in Nazi Europe or present-day Namibia.

Genocide has been all around us. For the better half of our
existence, up to this very day in the Sudan, people have been killing
people out of simple dislike.

People need to know this, and more importantly, the youth of Rwanda
need to learn in schools about other atrocities similar to those that
took place here. Just like we expect the entire world to know the
truth of the 1994 Genocide, we will only be able to understand and
correct ourselves once we understand what happened with others.

Unfortunately, today’s Rwandans may largely be absent of explicit
awareness of these cousin histories. Although the memorial centre at
Gisozi has in-depth coverage of other genocides throughout history,
there is little attention-and more importantly, a sense of
empathy-paid to them.

Of course, such attention brings up a few questions. On one hand, it
is essential for Rwandans of all ages to know that the phenomenon and
act of Genocide has happened elsewhere. There’s not something
inherently wrong with Rwandans; people all over the world, from the
beginning to the end of history, have done horrible things.
Remembering other genocides, I believe, allows people to relieve
themselves of undue inferiority complexes.

On the other hand, there is-as there should be-strong resistance to
any sort of undermining or belittlement of the 1994 Genocide.
Acknowledging other genocides might, but shouldn’t, make the events
in Rwanda less meaningful; especially given that the progress the
country has made since then has been fuelled by the memory of the
killings.

What Rwanda will ultimately have to deal with is, how much the 1994
Genocide contributes to Rwanda’s national consciousness in the
long-term future?

The country is hoping its memorials make UNESCO’s World Heritage
list. The question that we really need to ask ourselves is, do we
want things like this to become part of our heritage? And what,
exactly, does ‘heritage’ imply? Most of them have never found
answers.

Rwanda does not want to find itself in a situation where, fifty years
from now, it defends its policies and positions on continued
Genocide-ideology eradication, however real the threat may be.
Secondly, I doubt that any country wants its history and psyche built
from mass killings or the reaction to mass killings. This country
continues to grow and will not always be 13-years old. But at some
point, I assume, Rwanda just wants to be Rwanda.

How does Rwanda today prepare itself for Rwanda tomorrow? A question
is a cheap way to end an argument, but it’s not one for me to answer.
The people’s hearts and minds will ultimately decide, but in the
interim, the Ministry of Education must come to terms with the terms

Kremlin tears up arms pact with Nato

Russia’s relations with West hit a new low point

Luke Harding in Moscow
Sunday July 15, 2007
The Observer

President Vladimir Putin yesterday signalled that Russia was on a new
and explosive collision course with Nato when he dumped a key arms
control treaty limiting the deployment of conventional forces in Europe.
Putin said Moscow was unilaterally withdrawing from the Soviet-era
Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty because of ‘extraordinary
circumstances that affect the security of the Russian Federation’, the
Kremlin said. These required ‘immediate measures’.

The treaty governs where Nato and Russia can station their troops in
Europe. Moscow’s decision to bin it suggests that Putin’s talks earlier
this month with President George Bush came to nothing, and that the
Kremlin has reverted to its earlier belligerent mood. The Kremlin has
for months been bitterly incensed by the Bush administration’s decision
to site elements of its missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech
Republic.

Putin has derided American claims that the Pentagon system is designed
to shoot down rogue missiles fired by Iran and North Korea. Instead he
says the target is Russia.
Last month he said the US could use a former Soviet radar system in
Azerbaijan instead. But during his seaside summit this month with Putin
at the Bush family’s Maine home, President Bush rejected this offer – a
snub that appears to have triggered Putin’s latest defiant gesture.

‘The detente lasted two weeks,’ Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based
defence analyst, told The Observer yesterday, referring to the
short-lived thaw.

Putin’s decision to leave the treaty will come into effect in 150 days
after the parties of the treaty have been notified. It comes against a
backdrop of rapidly deteriorating relations between Russia and the
West. In particular, Russia’s relations with Britain are at their
lowest point since the Seventies following Moscow’s refusal last week
to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the former KGB agent charged with
poisoning Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko in London.

The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, is expected to announce punitive
counter-measures this week. They could see the mass expulsion of
diplomats from Russia’s embassy in London, and tit-for-tat reprisals by
Moscow.

In Brussels, Nato bluntly condemned Russia’s decision to abandon the
treaty, under which Nato and the Warsaw Pact agreed to reduce their
conventional armed forces immediately after the Cold War. ‘It’s a step
in the wrong direction,’ said spokesman James Appathurai. ‘The allies
consider this treaty to be an important cornerstone of European
stability.’ Estonia said it deplored the move.

The Kremlin insisted, however, it had been left little choice. Russia’s
Foreign Ministry called the treaty ‘hopelessly outdated’. It said
restrictions on Russian troop deployment were now ‘senseless’ and
prevented ‘more efficient measures against international terrorism’.

Under the treaty, signed by the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
in 1990, Russia agreed to scrap much of its military hardware in
Eastern Europe and limit the number of troops stationed on its northern
and southern flanks.

The treaty was amended in 1999, calling on Russia to withdraw its
troops from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia. Russia
ratified the treaty but did not pull out its troops, prompting the US
and other Nato members to refuse to ratify the treaty until Russia
withdraws.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday said Russia could no longer
tolerate a situation where it had ratified and its partners had not.
Yesterday analysts said that Putin’s move would probably not make much
difference to Russia’s military capacities, but it would allow Russian
generals to carry out exercises without informing their Western
counterparts and keep Russian troops in the breakaway regions of
Georgia and Moldova.

Moscow’s ferocious anti-Western rhetoric is set to continue ahead of
parliamentary elections in December and presidential elections next
year to choose Putin’s successor.

Some analysts, however, believe Moscow’s move is largely symbolic. The
moratorium probably wouldn’t result in any major build-up in heavy
weaponry in European Russia, Felgenhauer said. But it would annoy
Washington, he conceded. ‘This will be a major irritant. It will
seriously spoil relations.’

CONSUMER PRICES GROW BY 3.9% IN JUNE 2007 AS COMPARED WITH DECEMBER OF PREVIOUS YEAR IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Jul 10, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. In June 2007, as compared with 2006,
the consumer prices index in Armenia made 103.9%, including that
of foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks and cigarettes) 106.3%,
non-foodstuffs 100.8%, and tariffs for services 101.3%.

According to the data of the RA National Statistical Service, a 0.3%
fall in prices was registered on the RA consumer market in June 2007,
as compared with May, which is mainly the result of seasonal changes
in prices for some kinds of goods. Meanwhile, a considerable growth
in prices for some kinds of baked products was registered in the
country (the total growth in prices for grain, bread, and flour made
9.5%). Having a 11.5% total share in the consumer basket, the growth
in prices for the above mentioned kinds of goods contributed to growth
in consumer prices by 1.3 percent. Without the price changes of the
above mentioned kinds of goods, the consumer prices index in Armenia
would make 98.7%.

A 0.6% fall in prices for foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks
and cigarettes) was registered in June 2007, as compared with May,
in the country. The prices for non-foodstuffs in the above mentioned
period grew by 0.2%, and tariffs for services were kept unchanged.

In 2007 January-June the average monthly growth in consumer prices
made 0.6%, which is lower than the same index of the previous year
by 0.1 percent (0.7%).

In 2007 June, as compared with 2006 June, the consumer prices index
made 104.8%, including that of foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks
and cigarettes) 106.2%, non-foodstuffs 99.1%, tariffs for services
105.3%, and in January-June, compared with January-June 2006, 104.5%,
105.6%, 99.4%, and 105.3%, respectively.

YEREVAN, JULY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. In June 2007, as compared with 2006,
the consumer prices index in Armenia made 103.9%, including that
of foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks and cigarettes) 106.3%,
non-foodstuffs 100.8%, and tariffs for services 101.3%.

According to the data of the RA National Statistical Service, a 0.3%
fall in prices was registered on the RA consumer market in June 2007,
as compared with May, which is mainly the result of seasonal changes
in prices for some kinds of goods. Meanwhile, a considerable growth
in prices for some kinds of baked products was registered in the
country (the total growth in prices for grain, bread, and flour made
9.5%). Having a 11.5% total share in the consumer basket, the growth
in prices for the above mentioned kinds of goods contributed to growth
in consumer prices by 1.3 percent. Without the price changes of the
above mentioned kinds of goods, the consumer prices index in Armenia
would make 98.7%.

A 0.6% fall in prices for foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks
and cigarettes) was registered in June 2007, as compared with May,
in the country. The prices for non-foodstuffs in the above mentioned
period grew by 0.2%, and tariffs for services were kept unchanged.

In 2007 January-June the average monthly growth in consumer prices
made 0.6%, which is lower than the same index of the previous year
by 0.1 percent (0.7%).

In 2007 June, as compared with 2006 June, the consumer prices index
made 104.8%, including that of foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks
and cigarettes) 106.2%, non-foodstuffs 99.1%, tariffs for services
105.3%, and in January-June, compared with January-June 2006, 104.5%,
105.6%, 99.4%, and 105.3%, respectively.

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

MEDIA ALERT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2007
CONTACT: Karoon Panosyan
E-mail: [email protected]

RE: Assembly Country Director Meets with Minister of Defense of Armenia

Yerevan, Armenia – On July 4, Armenian Assembly Country Director Arpi
Vartanian met with Armenia’s Minister of Defense Michael Haroutounyan
to discuss U.S.-Armenia bilateral relations.

During their meeting, Vartanian and Haroutounyan discussed the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict, regional relations and developments, U.S. economic
and military assistance to Armenia, especially the importance of
maintaining military parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and other
issues of concern. The Assembly has supported maintaining military
parity, and in March, testified before the House Subcommittee on
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, that such a balance
is critical in the face of Azerbaijan’s ongoing war rhetoric. Last
month, the House of Representatives voted to maintain military parity
between Armenia and Azerbaijan at $3.5 million each and provide $68
million in U.S. economic aid for Armenia for Fiscal Year 2008.

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues.  It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.

###

NR#2007-080

Review: Books: History: Trench fever: Norman Stone has taken the art of
compression too far, says Piers Brendon: World War One: A Short History
by Norman Stone 187pp, Allen Lane, pounds 16.99
PIERS BRENDON, The Guardian – United Kingdom
Published: Jul 07, 2007

Why a short history of the first world war? Norman Stone, who produced
a classic account of the eastern front in 1975 and could now give an
equally substantial picture of the entire conflict, does not answer
this question. He might have claimed that he has come up with an
antidote to the Armageddon industry, a hand-crafted cameo rather than a
canvas manufactured on the scale of Big Bertha. Instead he lets this
bonsai volume, which contains a few sketchy footnotes and an
impressionistic bibliography, speak for itself. It gives an uncertain
sound.

First, the style is distinctly odd. Sentences like this abound: "If the
war were not speedily ended, Germany would plunge." Words are wrongly
used: "recoup" when the sense demands either "recuperate" or "regroup".
Sometimes it seems as if Stone originally wrote the book in Turkish,
which, given his linguistic virtuosity, is not impossible. Certainly it
shows signs of haste, being marred by repetition and misquotation. For
example, Stone cites the exclamation of "a senior staff officer" on
seeing Passchendaele – "Did we send men into that?" – whereas what
General Kiggell actually said was: "Good God, did we really send men to
fight in that?"

Second, the book’s content is abbreviated to the point of distortion.
Stone explains the causes of the war in extraordinarily simplistic
terms. In 1895 Max Weber gave a lecture saying that Britain was rich
because it had an empire guarded by a great navy and that Germany must
have the same. The audience reacted with rapture to this "gibberish".
So the Reich built warships in "an obvious piece of blackmail" to which
the British were forced to respond. Meanwhile, Russia was modernising
so fast that it posed a nightmarish threat to Germany in a two-front
war. Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg thus prepared for hostilities, and
"the plot" went ahead when "the inevitable accident" of the Archduke
Franz Ferdinand’s murder took place. An Austro-Hungarian diplomat
called this "a gift from Mars" and the assassin himself, Gavrilo
Princip, said that if he had not done it, the Germans would have found
another excuse.

Stone hardly touches on more complex aspects of this question: the
interlocking alliances, the economic rivalries, the escalating crises,
the growth of a European "war mentality". And on other matters he is
equally open to criticism. It is not true to say that "if troops are
well-led, they do not fall ill". It is mealy-mouthed to talk of
Armenian "massacres" when they amounted to genocide. It is misleading
to say that the French "abandoned" Fort Douaumont; Petain described it
as the cornerstone of Verdun’s defence and it was lost as the result of
a muddle.

Yet, despite all this, Stone’s miniature has much to recommend it. He
is cogent and pungent, describing the Zimmermann telegram as "Germany’s
suicide note, written in farce". He is unfashionably (but correctly)
disparaging about Haig, said to be the best Scottish general because he
killed the most Englishmen. And he has a marvellous eye for detail. The
Austro-Hungarians were so confident before Brusilov’s offensive that
some of their dug-outs had glass windows; the Roumanians were so unused
to war that initially junior officers had to be ordered not to use
eye-shadow.

Such anecdotes bear testimony to a formidable erudition, here confined
by its format. Inside this little book there is a big book struggling
to get out.

Piers Brendon’s next book is The Decline and Fall of the British Empire
(Cape). To order World War One for pounds 15.99 with free UK p&p call
Guardian book service on 0870 836 0875 or go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop

ARMENIAN BILL WORRIES RFE/RL

Radio World, VA
July 7 2007

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty officials are worried about draft
legislation that would ban rebroadcast of foreign radio programs on
public airwaves in Armenia.

President Jeffrey Gedmin recently criticized legislation in that
country’s parliament that would ban the rebroadcast of RFE/RL Armenian
Service programming.

He said the proposal is clearly targeted at RFE/RL’s Armenian language
broadcasts. "It would set a dangerous precedent for public media in
all of the countries of the former Soviet Union, where people have
listened for decades to RFE and RL broadcasts in order to get news
otherwise unavailable from local, state-run media."

The bill also would impose a tax of more than $200 per program per
day for every time a private station rebroadcast a foreign-produced
program, officials complained. "This tax represents a 70-fold increase
over the fees broadcasters must pay to retransmit a locally-produced
program."

The proposal is backed by Armenia’s ruling coalition, RFE/RL said.

Armenia is in southwestern Asia, east of Turkey.

NKR’S RULING ELITE CANNOT DECIDE ON FUTURE PRESIDENT’S CANDIDACY

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 6 2007

YEREVAN, July 6. /ARKA/. The NKR’s ruling elite has not decided on
the candidacy of the future president, said RA National Assembly MP,
Secretary of the opposition "Heritage" Party Stepan Safaryan.

"The NKR’s ruling elite is not united about the issue of the future
president of Karabakh. It is obvious as two pro-governmental candidates
will compete with each other," he said.

At the same time he pointed out that other strong candidates were not
allowed to participate in the pre-election campaign. Safaryan said
that the potential presidential candidates themselves self-restrained
unwilling to participate in the campaign and compete with state bodies,
avoiding oppression.

"Besides, it is necessary to take into account different candidates’
unequal agitation conditions for covering their activities," he said.

The presidential elections of the NKR will be held on July 19. At
present the CEC of the NKR recorded five presidential candidates –
Bako Sahakyan (Head of the NKR National Security Service), Masis
Mailyan (NKR Deputy Foreign Minister), Armen Abgaryan (NKR National
Assembly MP), Vanya Avanesyan (Lecturer in Artsakh State University)
and Hrant Melkumyan (candidate of the NKR Communist Party).

FIRE-FIGHTING GOES ON IN THE NKR

KarabakhOpen
06-07-2007 12:36:09

Since the end of May of 2007, there have been periodical fires along
the line of contact of the NKR and Azerbaijani armed forces. The NKR
Rescue Service is engaged in localization and fire extinguishing. In
case of necessity the servicemen of the NKR Defence Army, as well as
the civilians come to assist the Rescue Service.

According to head of the NKR Rescue Service’s operative department
Ashot Verdyan, 24-hour duty has been established in the corresponding
zones in all the districts, the number of field fire-rescue points
(with a fire-mashine and a fire fighters brigade ) increases 5 times
compared with last year (there were 18 points in 2006, and 23 –
in 2007).

"We react operatively to the alarms of fires and undertake
corresponding measures immediately. Under the conditions of techniques
lack the fire brigade makes heroism. Last year’s experience of
fire-fighting now helps the successful localization and prevention
of fires. In case of large-scale fires several cars are enabled
simultaneously, servicemen and civilians come to assist. Besides
the regular points, there are movable posts – by driving around on
"UAZes" we control the corresponding territories", Ashot Verdyan noted.

According to head of the NKR Rescue Service fire- rescue department
Samvel Hayrumyan, due to the preventive measures the number of fires
has been significantly reduced in comparison with last year. According
to the data of July 4, 13 hectares of planted areas were burnt in the
Hadrut district, 6 hectares in Martouni and 10 hectares in Martakert.

Head of the NKR Rescue Service’s Hadrut fire station Roman Mayilyan
informed that most frequently fires occur in the districts of Horadiz
station, between the posts of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijani
armed forces.

"We don’t have any access there, that’s why we can’t surely speak on
the reasons of inflammation. When the fire spreads to our side, we
undertake every effort for localization and fire extinguishing. Our
fire brigade is on an intensified duty. Servicemen and civilians give
help as well", R.Mayilyan noted.

According to head of the NKR Rescue Service’s Martakert fire station
Karen Grigoryan, 4 cases of fire were fixed on the territory over the
reporting period and the fire came out from the Azerbaijani side. Fire
fighters and rescuers located in the region undertook corresponding
measures on localization and fire extinguishing. Prophylactic measures
on their prevention have also been taken.

Head of the NKR Rescue Service’s Askeran fire station Artur Daniyelian
told that according to the data of July 4, planted areas did not
catch fire, however, there was a fire which occurred on the territory,
controlled by the Azerbaijani troops, and spread to the front lines
of the NKR Defense Army, then under the influence of wind changed
its direction and did not achieve the posts. On the whole, the fire
enveloped 15 km of areas. The fire fighters and rescuers managed to
put out the fire.

"Evidently the fire came out from the Azerbaijani side. Most probably
having gathered their harvest, in the lowlands it ripens earlier,
the Azerbaijanis burnt down the field. We are ready just now to hold
a joint monitoring with the Azerbaijanis to become convinced of the
real state of affairs", – Artur Daniyelian noted.

In addition, a Republican headquarters, headed by the NKR Minister
of Agriculture Vahram Baghdassaryan, was formed. It aims to ensure
cropping without losses. Representatives of interested structures
including the NKR Rescue Service are the members of the headquarters.

Earlier the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a note to the
Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office
expressing concern over numerous cases of fires from Azerbaijani
side across the Line of Contact between armed forces of NKR and
Azerbaijan and urged to conduct a crisis monitoring of the borderline
area. The NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed hope that the
timely interference of the Office of Personal Representative of the
OSCE Chairman-in-Office would allow avoiding a repeat of the summer
2006 situation, which had been used by Azerbaijani authorities,
in particular, for propaganda and became an additional factor
destabilizing the peace process.

In the other note, the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs called upon the
Office of Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities
to take a principled and consistent stand in realisation of the
OSCE Mission’s recommendations, which, as it was noted in the note,
"will allow achieving the goals set in the report and creating an
efficient mechanism for fire prevention along the line of contact,
which may become one of the elements of confidence building measures".