Author: Maghakian Mike

ArmeniaNow.com, Armenia
September 15, 2006
Pipelines Aplenty: Iranian official announces plan for
second Iran-Armenia gas line

By Marianna Grigoryan
ArmeniaNow reporter

While the first Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is still under construction,
representatives of the countries this week discussed plans for a
second one.

Iranian and Armenian leadership had a pipeline chat this week.

Last Monday and Tuesday (September 11-12), Speaker of the Islamic
Republic of Iran, Gholam-Ali-Haddad-Adel led a delegation from Tehran
to Yerevan, where he announced the pipeline plans during a joint-press
conference with National Assembly Chairman, Tigran Torosyan.
The first Armenian-Iranian pipeline construction, which is supposed to
be completed by the end of the year, should have had great strategic
significance. Besides the fact that it promised benefits in terms of
Armenian-Iranian cooperation, the pipeline was supposed to create an
opportunity to export Iranian gas to Europe through the territory of
RA, which was also highly significant for Armenia’s economic and
political development.
But, above all, the pipeline was meant to guarantee Armenia’s
energetic independence from Russia.
However, the sweet dreams of energy independence vanished on June 30,
when the Russian `Gazprom’ company representative re-declared the
company’s intention and concrete plans to purchase the pipeline.
(See also
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The Russians announced they’d buy the pipeline. And though the deal
has not been confirmed by the Armenian side, it is also understood
that the Russian plan would not allow Armenia to transport gas,
therefore negating its chance for transit fees.
The second pipeline would make export possible.
The Russian-related news did not sit well in Tehran, and became a
topic of conversation when Armenian President Robert Kocharyan visited
Iran, July 5.
And, while Tehran apparently has concerns, so do members of Armenia’s
opposition.
Suren Surenyants, political analyst of the Republic political party,
told ArmeniaNow that plans of a second pipeline are `just talk’. `Even
the first pipeline’s destiny is absolutely in limbo yet.’
Surenyants sarcastically voiced a mounting concern among political
analysts and others in Armenia, centered on Armenia’s growing
dependency on Russia.
`Apparently, Armenia’s foreign affairs are determined in the Kremlin,’
Surenyants said. `Consequently even the high-ranking Parliament
Speaker of isolated Iran is hardly apt to discuss relevant matters
with Armenia, without the Kremlin’s permission.’
Assembly Chairman Torosyan, however, says the proposed pipeline is
exemplary.
`The Armenian-Iranian relations should serve an example for the whole
territory, despite the religious differences of the two nations,’
Torosyan says. `It is very important, that the Armenian-Iranian
relations progress, especially in the field of power engineering,
which is of strategic significance.’

DOES AZERBAIJAN WANT TO WITHDRAW?
A1+
[07:40 pm] 14 September, 2006
“It is obvious that Azerbaijan is trying to divert the attention of the
international community from the OSCE Minsk group,” claims RA Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian and illustrates the recent example, when
the UNO general Assembly rejected to enter the initiative presented
by CUAM into the agenda.
But yesterday the general Assembly changed its decision and accepted
that very initiative. “This is the case which can divert the attention
form the Minsk group procedure. Thus, unless we know what direction
the UNO procedures will have, the meeting of the Foreign Ministers
will be put in question,” added Vartan Oskanian.
The Armenian Foreign Minister shares his concern that Azerbaijan
uses all its measures and efforts to divert us and to reject the
preliminary agreements. Mr. Oskanian says, “It seems that Azerbaijan
wants to withdraw from the contents of the document (including
the referendum, issue of self-determination, etc) made by the Minsk
group Co-chairs, and on the basis of this document they try to divert
the attention from the Minsk group and to focus on the UNO. We must
properly assess the current situation and take further steps according
to the results of our assessment.”
At present the Co-chairs are discussing the possibility of the
presidents’ next meeting. “We are ready to meet any time but the
general atmosphere must be favorable so that the meeting will give
proper results,” added Mr. Oskanian.

RUSSIAN POLICE CADET ARRESTED IN RACIST SLAYING
Agence France Presse
September 13, 2006
Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union, DC
A Russian police cadet has been arrested on suspicion of racially
motivated murder after a knife attack on a 17-year-old student of
Armenian descent, the prosecutor’s office said Wednesday.
“Nikita Senyukov, who was born in 1988 and was a fourth-year student
at Police Academy Number One in Moscow, has been arrested on suspicion
of killing Vigen Abramyants this April,” the prosecutor general said
in a statement.
The prosecutor refused to comment on a report in Russian daily
Kommersant that the police cadet was a member of a nationalist
organization linked to a racist market bombing in Moscow that killed
11 people last month.
Senyukov, who is the son of a high-ranking policeman, was arrested
due to information provided by three suspects in the market bombing,
Kommersant reported.
The newspaper described the three bombing suspects and police cadet
Senyukov as “supporters of the nationalist organization Russian
All-National Union,” though it said that the organization denied that
the four were members.
The stabbing of Vigen Abramyants, an ethnic Armenian, took place in
the Pushkinskaya metro station in central Moscow in the daytime.
Russian NGOs have decried the rising number of racially motivated
killings in the country, with the Sova group counting 14 such
killings from March to May of this year, up from four in the same
period of 2005.
NGOs accuse police and prosecutors of frequently disregarding
racial hatred as a motivation, classifying the attacks instead as
“hooliganism.”

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY DEALS WITH ISSUE OF ARMENIAN CITIZENS ARRESTED IN GEORGIA
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Sept 11 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 11, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Armenian
Foreign Ministry indeed received an alarm call from Tbilisi about
the respective actions of Georgian law-enforcers regarding our
compatriots. Vladimir Karapetian, Acting Head of the RA MFA Press and
Information Department, said that when commenting, at the request of
NT correspondent, on the reports that about 100 Armenian citizens
were arrested in Georgia. He noted that this number has not been
confirmed. V. Karapetian assured NT correspondent that the Armenian
Foreign Ministry is taking all necessary measures. Particularly, the
Armenian ambassador to Georgia applied to the Georgian Foreign Ministry
with the proposal to discuss the matter. The Armenian Foreign Ministry
made the same proposal to the Georgian ambassador. “We anticipate a
prompt solution of the issue,” V. Karapetian pointed out. According
to mass media reports, about 100 Armenian citizens violated the
Russian-Georgian border, for which a fine in the amount of about
2 thousand USD is envisaged under Article 334 Part 2 of Georgia’s
Criminal Code, and in case of a repeated violation – imprisonment
for 3-5 years. In the given case, the Armenian citizens entered
South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Russia, as a result of which they
were arrested. An entrance or exit stamp put in the passport as
an indication of visits to the above mentioned territories is an
“evidence”, which provides Georgian law-enforces with a ground for
arresting Armenian citizens.

AZERBAIJAN HAMPERS OSCE FULL MONITORING
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.09.2006 16:58 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On September 12, in accordance with the agreement
achieved beforehand with the NKR authorities, the OSCE Mission
held a planned monitoring of the Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijani
armed forces’ contact-line near the settlement of Seysulan of the
NKR Martakert region, reports the Press Service of the NKR MFA. From
the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring mission was led
by Coordinator of the OSCE Office, Lieutenant Colonel Imre Palatinus
(Hungary) and Field Assistant of the OSCE PR C-i-O Irzhi Aberle (the
Czech Republic). The monitoring passed in accordance with the planned
schedule, no violations of the cease-fire regime were registered.
However, the Azerbaijani side once more did not lead the OSCE mission
to its front line. In spite of the fact that the dividing line between
the positions of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan on the area where
the monitoring was conducted comprised less than a hundred meters,
the Azerbaijani party led the OSCE Mission to a point at a distance
of seven hundred meters from its front line, thus hampering the full
visual inspection of the mentioned zone. From the Karabakh party,
representatives of the NKR Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense
accompanied the OSCE monitoring mission.

SHAVARSH KOCHARIAN DOES NOT FOLLOW “IMMORAL EXAMPLES” AND DOES NOT LEAVE “ARDAROUTIUN” FACTION
Noyan Tapan
Sept 08 2006
ATTENTION, CORRECTED !!! YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Commenting
upon NA Deputies Victor Dallakian’s and Tatul Manaserian’s leaving the
“Ardaroutiun” (Justice) faction, Shavarsh Kocharian, the Chairman
of the National Democratic Party stated at the September 8 press
conference that his party will never take that step as he, in his
own words, “does not follow immoral examples.” At the same time,
in Kocharian’s words, the NDP dampened participation in works of the
“Ardaroutiun” faction, and it will last as long as “the faction will
not review the whole way it passed, will not give estimations and
be ready to act in other way and not in the same way.” As for the
inner-political processes in the country, the speaker mentioned
that there are a number of dangers in the political life. In
Shavarsh Kocharian’s words, the authorities’ striving in Armenia for
reproduction became a tradition “as the system is autoritarian.” In his
words, shady business, presence of criminal elements united with the
authorities, “stamping” in the Eurointegration issue and demographic
state of the country with low indexes of birthrate are classified among
dangers. Speaking about the draft to the new electoral code, Kocharian
considered necessary establishment of electronic control. According
to the program of those controls, a computer, video camera, scanner
and a monitor attached to ballot-box must be placed in every polling
station. They will fix number of papers entering the ballot-box
every moment. And the scanner must fix the number of passports, and
if any passport has already appeared anywhere, it will at once raise
alarm. The NDP expected that it was possible to get the financial
assistance of 4 mln dollars necessary for the program from money
allocated by the U.S. Depatment of State, but, in Kocharian’s words,
the OSCE Ambassador and U.S. Embassy representatives, seeing that
only the given party is interested in that affair, did not express
readiness to help.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES WORKS CARRIED OUT AGAINST CORRUPTION
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
8 Sep 06
A council on the fight against corruption led by Armenian Prime
Minister Andranik Markaryan has discussed a process of strategic
measures to combat corruption. Reform programmes have already been
carried out in the main. The prime minister instructed the council
to issue a full report on the work carried out so that the public
will be able to familiarize itself with these measures.
The reforms were mainly carried out in three areas – the state
administration, the civil service and financial management. The prime
minister instructed the monitoring commission on fighting corruption
to discuss problems relating to civic societies with representatives
of public organizations with aim of involving them in the programme
as well.
The Armenian president’s aide, Gevork Mgeryan, was elected chairman
of the monitoring commission to combat corruption.

MUFTI OF SYRIA MEETS STUDENTS OF THEOLOGICAL FACULTY OF YSU
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Sept 7 2006
YEREVAN, September 7. /ARKA/. Mufti of Syria met with students of
the theological faculty of the Yerevan State University.
The University Rector, Archimandrite Anushavan Zhamkochyan, lecturers
and students of the university met the high-ranked guest.
“The Syrian delegation is a consanguineous country and nation for us,
towards which each Armenian fills love and respect”, Zhamkochyan said,
expressing gratefulness to the people of Syria for their hospitality
towards Armenians.
In his turn Sheikh Ahmad Badr Al-din Hassuni welcome students of the
university. “Armenia is rich in students and people loving life”,
he said, wishing Armenia prosperity.S.P.-0–

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Sept 7 2006
Azeri, Armenian Religious Leaders not Expected to Meet Until Late
2006
Source: Trend
Author: A.Ismayilova
07.09.2006
Haji Akif, spokesman for the Caucasian Muslims Board, told Trend that
leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia are not expected to meet until the
end of the year.
Recently Catholicos of Armenians, Garegin II, stated that he was
expected to have a meeting with the Azerbaijani religious leader
Allahshukur Pashazade during the year. “Though the meeting was not
scheduled for the near future, we hope to have the opportunity during
the year within the framework of a summit of religious leaders,” he
stressed. The religious leader of Armenia underlined that it will
enable both sides to discuss questions of concern. “Discussions
between Armenian and Azerbaijani religious leaders may encourage a
resolution to the Karabakh conflict,” he elaborated.
Haji Akif underlined that at present no preliminary agreement has
been made regarding the date or venue of the meeting.

UN RESOLUTION WITH UNFAVORABLE TITLE
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[01:25 pm] 08 September, 2006
The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the U.N. to
urgently assist in preventing environmental damage from fires in the
disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The resolution stressed “the necessity to urgently conduct an
environmental operation to suppress the fires.” It took note of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s intention
to organize a mission to the region to assess the short-term and
long-term impact of the fires.
Azerbaijan’s U.N. Ambassador Yashar Aliyev introduced the draft
resolution, saying that in early June Azerbaijan registered massive
fires in the eastern part of the territory occupied by Armenia, and
by August the fire had damaged more than 600 square kilometers. After
the vote, he thanked everyone who supported the resolution.
Armenia’s U.N. Ambassador, Armen Martirosyan, said that although he
supported the content of the resolution, he had serious problems
with its title and opposed bringing any Nagorno-Karabakh issue to
the United Nations.
U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff, speaking on behalf of the
OSCE group dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue – the U.S.,
France and Russia – said the three countries remain committed to
promoting a peaceful, negotiated solution to the conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Here goes the full text of the resolution.
Sixtieth Session of the UN General Assembly
Agenda Item 40,
Azerbaijan: resolution
The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan
The General Assembly,
Seriously concerned by the fires in the affected territories, which
have inflicted widespread environmental damage,
1. Stresses the necessity to urgently conduct an environmental
operation to suppress the fires in the affected territories and to
overcome their detrimental consequences;
2. Welcomes the readiness of the parties to cooperate to that end and
considers such an operation to be an important confidence-building
measure;
3. Takes note of the OSCE intention to organize a mission to the region
to assess the short-term and long-term impact of the fires on the
environment as a step for preparation of the environmental operation;
4. Calls upon, in this regard, the organizations and programs
of the United Nations system, in particular the United Nations
Environmental Programme, in cooperation with the OSCE to provide
all necessary assistance and expertise, including, inter alia,
the assessment of and counteraction to the short-term and long-term
impact of the environmental degradation of the region, as well as in
its rehabilitation;
5. Asks the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group of the OSCE to provide a
report to member States of the General Assembly by April 30, 2007