Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
March 17 2005
Azerbaijani, Armenian presidents may meet in Moscow May 9

The meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents, scheduled as part
of the Council of Europe summit in Warsaw on May 16-17, may take
place earlier – on May 9.
Both President Aliyev and Armenian President Robert Kocharian have
been invited to Moscow to attend the festivities dedicated to the
60th anniversary of victory over fascism, the Russian co-chair of the
OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov said. The two countries’ foreign
ministers may not meet prior to the presidents’ meeting.
“We [OSCE MG co-chairs] may meet with the two countries’ foreign
ministers beforehand separately. We have held talks with Minister
Mammadyarov in Prague, while our meeting with Minister Oskanian is
likely to take place when the OSCE fact-finding mission presents its
report to the Permanent Council in Vienna on March 17.”
The OSCE mission visited the occupied Azeri territories in February
to look into the illegal settlement of Armenians there.

Turkish opposition leader denies Armenian genocide claims
Anatolia news agency
15 Mar 05
ANKARA
[Opposition] Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal has
stated today (Tuesday [15 March]) that CHP expects the Turkish
government to launch an initiative in the parliament this week on the
Armenian allegations. “Unfortunate and sad incidents took place in
both sides. Yet describing such incidents as ‘genocide’ is a big lie
that would deeply hurt our nation and its friends. Claiming that a
‘genocide’ took place is an unjust allegation and must get the
appropriate legal, political, cultural and social response,” stressed
Baykal.
Baykal indicated that a planned move to exterminate a single ethnic
group during the Ottoman era never took place. “Just look at the
Ottoman archives. During the period when Armenians claim that a
‘genocide’ took place, historians note that there were Armenian
ambassadors, bureaucrats and advisers to the Ottoman Sultan. The fact
is that a portion of the Armenians got re-located due to the ongoing
war against Russia during which some died due to famine, poverty,
hunger and poor health conditions. Armenian bandits allied with the
Russians massacred hundreds of innocent Muslim Ottomans in eastern
Anatolia. There was a re-location due to war but absolutely no
genocide. If we want to talk about ‘genocides’ how about elaborating
on the transfer of thousands of Tatars from Crimea to Siberia during
World War II…? [ellipses as received]

President’s latest remarks mean Azerbaijan might be getting ready for war –
daily
Ayna, Baku
15 Mar 05

Text of C. Sumarinli report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ayna on 15 March
headlined “The president’s military priorities” and subheaded “Baku is
buying new military hardware for the next Azerbaijani-Armenian war”
The main priority in the activity of [Azerbaijani President] Ilham
Aliyev is to increase the country’s military budget and raise the
salaries of servicemen, as well as buy new military hardware for the
army, he declared in his address at a ceremony to mark the 13th
anniversary of the establishment of the Interior Troops.
Generally, when analysing the president’s remarks, one can come to the
following three conclusions.
First, war is inevitable although undesirable. Therefore, the army is
making preparations for further military operations [against
neighbouring Armenia over the disputed region of Nagornyy Karabakh].
The president uses the terms “military operations” or “war” as
infrequently as possible and prefers the words “other options” and
“new issues”. Experts believe that this is an indicator of Aliyev’s
relatively cautious behaviour over relations with international
organizations.
Despite dubbing war a “humanitarian disaster”, the president says that
the nation is ready to fight and a lot of work will be done to this
end.
If we take into consideration the fact that the preparations for war
are conducted in two directions (organization of mobilization
resources and better logistics of the army), one can suppose that the
government is bracing itself to do more serious work in this regard.
Second, the president said that Azerbaijan’s military budget will
again be increased. One can understand from his statements that this
increase could be as much as 40 per cent, as was the case last
year. Thus, Azerbaijan’s military budget in 2006 could be about 350m
dollars. At the same time, the salaries of servicemen will also be
raised.
Third, the purchase of military hardware for the army is a
priority. The president touched upon this several times in his latest
statements. At the same time, he said that the bulk of military
hardware of the Interior Troops had been bought over the past
year. The purchase of military hardware will continue over a solution
to “new issues” (a military option could be meant).
Ayna’s group of military experts says that there are a few noteworthy
points in these remarks of the president as compared to his previous
statements. These points are basically about buying new military
hardware and using it to resolve the conflict.
In general, Aliyev’s statements may mean that Baku does not rule out
the possibility of resuming military operations although it prefers
peace negotiations and prioritizes taking serious steps towards
organizing the country’s mobilization resources, improving the
provisions of the armed forces and conducting war with
state-of-the-arts weaponry.

Baku Today
Three Azeri soldiers wounded in ceasefire breach
AssA-Irada 15/03/2005 08:26
An Azerbaijani soldier received a head injury after Armenian military units,
from their positions in the occupied Shotlanly village of Aghdam District,
fired at the positions of the Azerbaijani troops located in Terter District
at 11:00 on Friday, local Lider TV reported.
The wounded soldier has undergone a surgery.
Another Azerbaijani soldier more was wounded in Chiragly village of Aghdam
District after Armenia violated ceasefire at about 21:00 on Thursday.
One more Azeri soldier was wounded after Armenian military units, from their
positions in the occupied Shikhlar village of Aghdam District, opened fire
at the positions of the Azerbaijani troops located in Orta Gishlag village
of the same district at 00:13 on Friday.

AZERBAIJAN CONSIDERS SOLUTION OF KARABAKH CONFLICT VIA FORCE, BUT AS
AN EXTREME MEASURE, ALIYEV STATED
PanArmenian News
March 12 2005
12.03.2005 05:27
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijan considers the solution of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict by force, but as an extreme measure, republic
leader Ilham Aliyev stated Saturday. “We want to solve the problem
peacefully. However, it is not a secret that we a ready to other means
of solution of the conflict. We are ready to negotiate till the very
last moment – even if 5% of hope for peace solution is present,”
Aliyev stated. It is clear that war is a humanitarian catastrophe.
However, we should be ready and we are ready to war,” the President
emphasized. Aliyev noted that “on the whole we feel the support of the
international community” and drew the attention to the PACE latest
resolution on Nagorno Karabakh. “For the first time the European
organization recognized Armenia aggressor, condemned the ethnic
cleansing, which formed good basis for the talks,” he considers.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
March 11 2005
SWISS FOREIGN MINISTER INTENDS TO VISIT SOUTH CAUCASUS IN AUTUMN
YEREVAN, MARCH 11, ARMENPRESS: Swiss ambassador to Armenia Stefan
Schpek told today in Yerevan that his country’s foreign minister
intends to visit the South Caucasus in 2005 autumn. Schpek who is
seated in Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia, said Switzerland
looks at the South Caucasus as one region and builds its policy based
on this assumption.
He also said frequent mutual visits by government officials of the
two countries will help establish closer ties. “Switzerland is
interested in seeing stability in the region. Destabilization of the
region would be dangerous to Europe,” he said.
The ambassador has arrived in Armenia to sign an agreement with
Armenian emergency department whereby Switzerland will provide
420,000 Swiss Franks to the Armenian agency to purchase new equipment
and to reinforce its regional branches.

MEETING WITH SPORTSMEN
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
11 March 05
On March 8 the president of NKR Arkady Ghukassian met with the best
sportsmen of the year. Nine of the ten sportsmen were present at
the meeting (NKR chess champion Hovik Hayrapetian is taking part
in competitions abroad). Emphasizing the importance of sport in the
life of the country, A. Ghukassian said, “The meeting with sportsmen
is a tradition. We are happy that there are new faces beside the
familiar ones. This means that the country has achievements in
this sphere. Naturally, an unrecognized country has difficulties in
establishing relationships with other countries. However, we shall
find ways to display our abilities. Sports open the doors which
are closed to politics, and your contribution to state building is
great.” Informing that the 2005-2010 program for physical training
and sports had been worked out already, the NKR minister of education,
culture and sport Ashot Ghulian said that they anticipated the aid of
the government in this question. The sportsmen present at the meeting
with the president were: Ashot Danielian (sambo wrestling, judo,
champion of NKR and RA, medallist of European and world championships),
Ararat Tavadian (football, the national team of NKR, prize winner of
the RA first league), Varouzhan Baghdassarian (table tennis, NKR and RA
champion, participated in European and world juvenile championships),
Narek Grigorian (taekwando, RA champion), Marine Musayelian (track and
field, champion of NKR and RA women’s tournament, Tehran Pan-Armenian
Games), Anna Adamian (table tennis, NKR champion, champion of the RA
championship under 12), Armine Hayrumian (volley-ball, NKR champion,
medallist of RA premier league), Davit Lalayan (karate, black belt). At
the meeting the sportsmen received prize money.
AA.
11-03-2005

JIHAD AGAINST ARMENIA
A1+
11-03-2005
Azerbaijan must announce jihad â~@~S sacred war against Armenia in
order to free his â~@~ownâ~@~] lands. Hajig Nuriev, head of the
Azerbaijani Islamic Party has made this announcement.
The latter is pessimistic towards International structures mentioning
that the negotiations cannot give serious results, informs the site
day.az. According to Nuriev, in the settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict no help can be anticipated from international
structures as they are not interested in the â~@~fairâ~@~]
settlement of the conflict.
â~@~]Only we can wipe the dishonor off us. Time has come for sacred
warâ~@~, announces Nuriev.
–Boundary_(ID_Fe6yoRupahxxroxla8sjVQ)–

“RAMIL SAFAROV IS A PATRIOT, HIS FRIENDS SAY”
Azg/arm
8 March 05
Online Interview With Azerbaijanâ~@~Ys Ombudswoman
Elmira Suleymanova, Azerbaijanâ~@~Ys ombudswoman, says that Ramil
Safarov who hacked to death his Armenian colleague last year in
Budapest is a disciplined and intelligent fellow, according to his
friends.
The Caucasus Journalist Network ()
interview Elmira Suleymanova on Friday, March 4. Bakuâ~@~Ys Zerkalo
newspaper cited Suleymanova in one of its last yearâ~@~Ys issues
saying: “Ramil Safarov has to become an example for the Azeri youth”.
Answering an Armenian journalists question whether she still believes
what she said, Suleymanova answered: “If you mean murder as
expression of patriotism then you confuse me with the Karabakh
liberation organization”.
“I donâ~@~Yt have the interview text right now but I may have said
those words while getting acquainted with the criminal case, in
correspondence with my Hungarian counterpart and relations with
Safarovâ~@~Ys family and friends. His colleagues in the army think
that he is very disciplined and is a skillful specialist, a patriotic
young man”, she said adding that “psychological stress” is the reason
of his crime.
Suleymanova was trying to link her each answer with Karabakh. She
said that will not cooperate with her Armenian counterpart as far as
“Armenia does not recognize international laws and does not fulfill
UN resolutions. Justice is on our side, and we will force Armenia to
keep to the peaceful resolution no matter that terrorists from
Armenian Revolutionary Party hinder”.
Suleymanova was also asked about terrorism. One of Georgian
journalists quoted Azeri human rights protector, Arzu Abdulayev, who
said that Elmar Huseynovâ~@~Ys assassination is a terror against the
media. The Azeri ombudswoman thinks that “contrary to our neighbors
who took hold a part of our territory”, the idea of terrorism is
alien to Azeri mentality.
By Tatoul Hakobian
–Boundary_(ID_opC1VzeitqcSSMPmajDUcg)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanArmenian News
March 7 2005
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT CONGRATULATED WOMEN WITH MARCH 8
07.03.2005 05:43
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On the occasion of the International Women~Rs Day
celebrated on March 8 Armenian President Robert Kocharian addressed
the women with a message of congratulation, which says in part, ~SDear
women! I congratulate you with the International Women~Rs Day. The
8-th of March is a wonderful occasion to express our warmest
attitude, gratitude and love towards our mothers, sisters and wives.
Armenian women have made a great contribution to the formation of our
country. Presently the frames of their public and state activities
are expanding. Equally with this, you, dear women, keep the family
hearth and remain attractive. I congratulate you with this beautiful
holiday and wish you family warmth, charm and high spirits.~T