Author: Talar Tumanian

Putin says won’t object to Kyrgyzstan’s Akayev coming to Russia
Prime-Tass, Russia
March 25 2005
YEREVAN, Mar 25 (Prime-Tass) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said
Friday that he would not object to Askar Akayev, the ousted president
of Kyrgyzstan, coming to Russia.
“As far as Askar Akayev’s coming to Russia is concerned, if he would
like to do so, we will not object,” said Putin during his official
visit to Armenia, ITAR-TASS reported.
During violent riots in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek Thursday,
protestors seized the presidential residence, as well as the main
television center, demanding Akayev’s resignation.
There were numerous media reports that Akayev was at a Russian military
base in Kant, seeking political asylum, or that he had even fled
to Russia. He was also reported to have fled to Almaty, the former
capital of nearby Kazakhstan, about 250 kilometers from Bishkek.
“It is a pity that once again in one of the post-Soviet countries,
they are solving problems by non-legal means, accompanied by pogroms
and human casualties,” Putin said Friday.
He said he believes that “the situation in Kyrgyzstan is the result
of weak power and accumulated social and economic problems.”
But he also noted that the opposition leaders that are struggling
to establish control in the country were well known among Russian
politicians. He recalled that they had previously worked for the
Kyrgyz government.
“We hope that the opposition leaders in Kyrgyzstan can take control of
the situation as soon as possible and straighten it out,” Putin said.
The Russian president also said that Russia would do whatever was
necessary to maintain its good relationship with Kyrgyzstan.
Mass riots in Kyrgyzstan started several days ago following
parliamentary elections that were described as “flawed” by the
opposition and observers from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
In power since 1991, Akayev is prohibited from seeking another term,
but the opposition accused him of manipulating the parliamentary
elections to gain a compliant legislature that would amend the
constitution to allow him to stay in office beyond a presidential
election scheduled for October. Akayev denied the accusations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 17 2005
Former minister was informed of criminal group
Baku, March 16, AssA-Irada
The law enforcement bodies had been aware of the criminal group led
by Haji Mammadov for four years, President Ilham Aliyev said in a
meeting with the National Security Ministry representatives on
Wednesday.
The criminal group, involved in kidnappings, murders and other
crimes, has recently been detained by the Ministry.
Aliyev said that in 2001, the Prosecutor General instructed the then
National Security Minister Namig Abbasov to conduct an operation and
investigate the suspicions concerning the criminal group and its
leader. However, no steps were taken in that direction then, the
President said.
`If the National Security Ministry had taken the matter seriously
then, numerous crimes could have been prevented.’
Speaking of the tasks of security agencies, President Aliyev noted
that until recently the Ministry has not carried out much work over
the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh, which is of
great importance.
`I issued relevant instructions to Eldar Mahmudov when appointing him
to the position. He conducted a research and found out that this area
of the Ministry’s activity is on a low level.’*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia’s compatibility with NATO forces inspected
Arminfo
14 Mar 05
YEREVAN
A regular monthly meeting devoted to Armenia’s participation in the
NATO Planning and Revision procedure was held at the Armenian Foreign
Ministry today. The process is mainly aimed at checking compatibility
with NATO member countries. Armenia is taking part in it with a
peacekeeping corps and other smaller forces.
The delegation, led by Frank Boland, the head of the Force Planning
Section at NATO’s Defence Planning and Operations, and Romualds
Razuks, NATO’s communications officer for the South Caucasus
countries, took part in the meeting, the press service of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry has told Arminfo news agency.
Experts of the Armenian foreign and defence ministries also took part
in the meeting. During the first two days the NATO delegation will
meet the leadership of the Armenian foreign and defence ministries.
They will discuss a document on Armenia’s participation in the
procedure, which is to be endorsed at the end of April during a
meeting of an Armenian delegation and NATO member countries.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARF delegation participates in PASOK congress
Yerkir/arm
11 March 05
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau delegation, comprised
of Grigor Erjenian and Gaspar Karapetian, took part in the 7th
congress of the Greece Socialist Movement, PASOK.
The ARF delegation members also had brief meetings with PASOK Chairman
Yorgo Papandreus and former Greek Prime Minister Gostas Simitis.
They also met with Socialist International Chairman Antonio Gutieres
and Secretary General Luis Ayalla, who reaffirmed that the Socialist
International would implement several initiatives in the region with
the ARF.
In addition, the ARF members met with former speaker of the Greek
parliament Apostolo Kaklamanis, as well as Vasos Lisaritis, honor
chairman of the Cyprus Socialist Party, present chairman of the party
Yanakis Omiru, and others.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GREEK DIASPORA OF US GOING TO ASSIST NAGORNO KARABAKH
PanArmenian News
March 11 2005
11.03.2005 04:03
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ L-100, one of the richest and influential Greek
organizations based in the US is going to allocate $5 million to
Nagorno Karabakh. During the recurrent sitting of the L-100 held the
other day Directors Dina Teodosakis, Jerry Dimitriu and George Shira
approved the suggestion defined as “any assistance to the Armenians of
Nagorno Karabakh”. The sitting participants also agreed on conducting
an international conference with the theme “Nagorno Karabakh: national
liberation struggle of Armenians” in the Institute of Religion,
Culture and World Researches of the Boston University. To note, late
this year the leadership of Nagorno Karabakh is planning to start
measures for conveying the capital city from Stepanakert to Shushi.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Bill on new autonomies of Russian Federation blackballed
11.03.2005, 15.56
MOSCOW, March 11 (Itar-Tass) – The Russian State Duma turned down on
Friday the proposed facilitated procedure for the inclusion in the
Russian Federation, as its new subjects, of the autonomies of the
former Union republics of the USSR.
The majority of MPs were of the opinion that such a document was apt
to jeopardise the territorial integrity of Russia and to give
â~@~the autonomies pseudo-sovereigntyâ~@~].
The parliamentarians blackballed the first reading of the amendments
to the constitutional law on the procedure of admitting new subjects
to the Russian Federation or forming them within it, which were
designed to facilitate this procedure for the autonomies of the
former Union republics of the USSR, the status of which is still
undetermined. Ninety-one Duma members backed the bill, while 300
votes were needed to approve it.
The bill was masterminded by the â~@~Rodinaâ~@~] faction, which
moved to facilitate the procedure of including new autonomies in the
Russian Federation â~@~on the basis of the expressed will of their
population, endorsed by means of a nation-wide referendumâ~@~]. The
two houses of the Russian parliament were to be vested with the right
to submit to the president recommendations on the new subjects of the
Federation.
The authors of the bill noted that â~@~in view of the lately
increasing attempts of some states, namely the former Soviet
republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova, to extend their
sovereignty to the territories of the unrecognised republics of
Abkhazia, Adzharia, South Ossetia, Nagorny-Karabakh and the Dniester
Moldovan Republic, it is particularly timely today to assess the
legality and juridical validity of such claimsâ~@~].
â~@~This problem is aggravated by the fact that the governments of
the listed countries often accuse Russia of backing the
â~@~Xseparatismâ~@~Y of those unrecognised republics,â~@~] the MPs
noted.
However, the parliamentary majority refused to back the concept of
the bill. Yuri Konev, who heads the corresponding committee of the
State Duma, stated that approval of this document would jeopardise
the territorial integrity of Russia and would give â~@~the
autonomies pseudo-sovereigntyâ~@~]. â~@~The document contradicts the
international law,â~@~] he stressed.
–Boundary_(ID_QBGA/JH4J5h81LGlwZ4vMQ)–

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 7 2005
CIS may play role in conflict settlement – Executive Committee
chairman
Baku, March 4, AssA-Irada
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) may take certain steps
at settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh if a
relevant instruction is issued, says chairman of the CIS Executive
Committee Vladimir Rushaylo.
The OSCE Minsk Group is playing an active role in settling the
conflict, however, a number of other international organizations have
lately become involved as well, he said.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CIS chief stresses need for reform – Armenian agency
Arminfo
4 Mar 05
YEREVAN
The Armenian authorities have no claims to the CIS, the CIS executive
secretary, Vladimir Rushaylo, told a news conference in Yerevan
today. “There should be grounds for claims and I have heard no claims
to the CIS at any level, including from the Armenian president,” he
said.
Asked about the CIS’s ability to survive in the wake of the flower
revolutions, Rushaylo said that the technologies that have been worked
out by the West and European institutes for a long time have to some
extent influenced the situation in the CIS. Noting that he did not
intend to dramatize the situation, Rushaylo said that there are some
signs that should be responded.
Asked whether GUUAM [the alliance of Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan,
Azerbaijan and Moldova] could split the CIS, he said that he did not
think so. “I would not like to comment on statements by other regional
organizations. We should have a well-formed view of our own in this
regard. We have views about prospects of the CIS development, and this
view has been formed not at the level of the executive committee but
at the level of heads of state. We adjust our political positions at
meetings precisely in this format,” Rushaylo said.
However, he said there were some problems with implementing adopted
decisions. “At the current stage, the adopted regulations have to be
amended. Nothing can remain unchanged, and you understand that the CIS
was set up 10 years ago, and the legal documents adopted at that time
need to be amended,” Rushaylo said.
[Passage omitted: CIS to learn from EU experience]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CHAIRMAN OF CIS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ARRIVES IN ARMENIA TODAY
YEREVAN, MARCH 2. ARMINFO. Chairman of CIS Executive Committee,
Executive Secretary Vladimir Rushaylo is arriving in Yerevan on a
three-day visit today.
Rushaylo is to meet with Armenia’s President Robert Kocharyan, Prime
Minister Andranik Margaryan, Defence Minister Serzh Sargsyan, Deputy
Foreign Minister Gegam Garibjanyan, WWII veterans.
He is to discuss issues concerning reformation of the CIS and
celebration of the 60th anniversary of the WWII Victory.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Civil Georgia, Georgia
Feb 25 2005
Government Launches Program to Overcome Energy Crisis
President Saakashvili convened late on February 25 an emergency
meeting of the government to discuss, as he put it, the energy crisis
which persists in the country. Currently, only the capital Tbilisi
enjoys with round-the-clock electricity supply, while in other
regions and cities of Georgia electricity supply is limited.
`We [the current government] have not launched this [energy] crisis,
but this should be us who must put an end to this crisis,’ President
Saakashvili said while addressing the government’s meeting, which was
broadcasted live.
`I consider overcoming energy crisis as the government’s top
priority,’ he added.
Energy Minister Nika Gilauri, who has become in the focus of public
attention in recent days, because of speculations regarding his
possible dismissal, presented a two-year program outlining those
activities, which should be carried out in order to overcome current
crisis.
He said that two priorities are outlined in the program, which should
be achieved in the next two years: security of energy supplies and
profitability of the energy sector.
`Security of energy supplies envisages diversification of sources of
electricity supplies. We should not be depended only on one power
transmission line, on one power plant etc.’ he said.
`The second priority is the energy sector’s profitability. The energy
sector should not be depended on donor organizations and donor
countries’ assistance; it should not be depended on the state
budgetary resources,’ the Energy Minister said.
Gilauri said that Georgia’s current deficit in electricity totals to
200-300 megawatts.
`Construction of the gas turbine electricity generator with total
capacity of 200-300 megawatts is planned to be launched soon. We
expect constructions to be over in maximum two years,’ he said.
`But even after this gas turbine electricity generator is put into
operation we will still need to import electricity,’ Gilauri added.
He said that currently Georgia imports 350-400 megawatts from Russia
and approximately 200 megawatts from Armenia
When President Saakashvili asked the Energy Minister what should be
done to increase import of electricity from Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Gilauri responded, that `increase of import from Armenia will be very
difficult because of the limited capacity of the transmission lines.’
`From Azerbaijan we can increase import by additional 80 megawatt,’
he added.
President Saakashvili instructed Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli to
personally oversee implementation of this two-year program.
`If we fail to implement this, we should stand responsible for this
failure,’ Mikheil Saakashvili added.
`With the capacities currently available in Georgia it is impossible
to provide round-the-clock electricity to entire Georgia,’ the
President stated.
He said funds received from privatization process will be used for
construction of the new energy facilities. `We will need to invest in
energy sector approximately USD 150 million,’ Saakashvili added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress