Author: Zargarian Hambik

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN TRADE MORE ACCUSATIONS AT UN
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Sept 26 2006

Armenia and Azerbaijan have failed to hold potentially crucial
peace talks in New York, accusing each other instead of hampering
international efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The foreign ministers of the two South Caucasus foes sounded
pessimistic about a near-term solution to the dispute as they
addressed the ongoing 61st session of the UN General Assembly late
Monday. Armenia’s Vartan Oskanian said Azerbaijan is reluctant to
accept international mediators’ most recent peace proposals, while
his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov accused Yerevan of
avoiding further direct negotiations with Baku.

Oskanian and Mammadyarov were expected to meet on the sidelines of the
Assembly session and try to kickstart the peace process that ran into
trouble earlier this year. Officials have said that the talks could
pave the way for another, potentially decisive Armenian-Azerbaijani
summit on Karabakh.

However, the two men failed to come face to face on Monday and were
not scheduled to do so on Tuesday. Oskanian was only due to meet
separately with the American, French and Russian co-chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group in New York.

Oskanian and other Armenian officials have said that the planned
meeting of the foreign ministers was called into question by the
General Assembly’s decision earlier this month to discuss the conflicts
in Karabakh and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union. The issue was
included on the assembly agenda at the urging of Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Moldova and Ukraine. Armenia has long resisted UN involvement in the
Karabakh peace process, insisting that the Minsk Group remain the
sole mediating body.

"It is difficult to hope for the breakthrough in the negotiations
when Armenia rejects face-to-face meetings and refuses to take a
constructive approach to solve existing problems," Mammadyarov said in
his speech. He charged that the Armenians are defying international
norms by insisting on international recognition of the Karabakh
Armenians’ right to self-determination.

Oskanian strongly denied this, arguing that Yerevan has largely
accepted the Minsk Group’s current peace plan that would allow the
predominantly Armenian population of Karabakh to determine the disputed
region’s status in a referendum. "One cannot blame us for thinking
that Azerbaijan is not ready or interested in a negotiated peace,"
he said. "Yet having rejected the other two compromise solutions
that have been proposed over the last 8 years, they do not want to
be accused of rejecting the peace plan on the table today.

"Therefore, they are using every means available – from state violence
to international maneuvers – to try to bring the Armenians to do
the rejecting. But Armenia is on record: we have agreed to each of
the basic principles in the document that’s on the table today,"
added Oskanian.

Azerbaijan’s position on the Minsk Group plan remains unclear, with
top aides to President Ilham Aliev regularly lambasting the mediators
for their refusal to push for a restoration of Azerbaijani control
over Karabakh. Mammadyarov noted in that regard that agreement on
Karabakh’s status requires the "consent of both the Azerbaijani
and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh," but made it clear
that Baku is ready to consider only ways of ensuring its "self-rule
within Azerbaijan." He also demanded Armenian withdrawal from "all
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan."

Armenian officials insist that under the proposed peace deal, residents
of Karabakh will be asked to vote for the region’s independence,
reunification with Armenia or return under Azerbaijani rule. The
mediators have stopped short of publicly confirming this, saying
only that practical modalities of the referendum would be decided
"through further negotiations."

WE WILL NOT HAVE DEVELOPED AGRICULTURE WITHOUT A DEVELOPED VILLAGE, ADVISOR TO ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER SAYS

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 25 2006

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 25, NOYAN TAPAN. The second international
Armagroforum allowed Armenian agricultural organizations to reach
numerous agreements with foreign businessmen and organizations. The
Armenian Minister of Agriculture Davit Lokian stated this at the
concluding plenary sitting of the forum on September 23. He announced
that the next Armagroforum will be held in 2008.

According to the minister, the forum participants discussed a number of
issues, particularly those related to agrarian reforms, agricultural
processing, food safety, export of agricultural products, etc. In his
words, these problems will be solved only if the legislative field on
agriculture will be regulated in Armenia. It was noted that a draft
law on foodstuffs safety is now in circulation in the RA National
Assembly, and the Armenian government will submit the draft law on
corporation by December of this year.

Advisor to the Armenian Prime Minister Vladimir Movsisiab said that
although some progress has been made in the Armenian agriculture
there are still many problems that cannot be solved in one or three
years. In his words, the sphere of agriculture is in urgent need of
capital investments that should be aimed at developing the agrarian
sector. V. Movsisian underlined that there is no point in speaking
about development of the Armenian agriculture if these investments
are not used efficiently. "The state must do everything to develop
the agricultural sphere, becuse if we do not have a developed village,
we’ll not have developed agriculture," V. Movsisian said.

Turkey steps up EU offensive

EUPolitix.com, Belgium
Wed, 20 Sep 2006

Turkey will step up efforts to win over MEPs a decision to delay
publication of the European commission’s progress report on the pace
of Ankara’s reforms.

EU officials have delayed a highly sensitive assessment of Turkey’s
EU entry negotiations until November 8, the report was originally
due for publication on October 24.

European parliament political fixers are also looking for delay,
say sources, to head off a Strasbourg plenary vote attacking Turkey’s
record.

Sources close to negotiations indicate that the commission’s delay
will give Ankara more time to lobby over a critical report on Turkey
from Dutch MEP Camiel Eurlings.

"The Eurlings report is the most critical parliamentary report yet. It
contains 80 paragraphs and about 75 are critical," a parliament
official told this website.

"And it looks like it would get backed. Eurlings has supporters within
the centre-right and the socialists."

But moves are afoot within the parliament’s corridors of power to
kill a September 27 vote on the Eurlings findings.

Socialist MEPs – the centre-left is the parliament’s second biggest
bloc – will use a Thursday meeting of political group and committee
leaders to push for delay.

"The Eurlings report is a mess. It has been very heavily amended and
is too negative," said a source.

The Dutch right winger’s report says Turkey must recognise the Armenian
genocide as a precondition for EU entry.

His report laments a "slowdown in democratic reforms" and calls
on Ankara to remove or amend articles that allowed judges to limit
freedom of expression as well as normalise relations with Cyprus.

A delegation of MPs from Turkey recently branded the European
parliament’s findings as "nasty and negative".

The commission says its decision to delay its progress report on Turkey
is not a political one, and was motivated purely by administrative
constraints.

Reports on Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro,
Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will also now
be published on November 8.

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: BE SURE THAT ARMENIA-DIASPORA RELATIONS ARE PRIORITY FOR US

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 20 2006

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. "I would consider
this conference the highest body of Armenian people’s collective
wishes, during which we all make decisions and try to carry them out,"
RA President Robert Kocharian declared on September 20, at the closure
ceremony of the Armenia-Diaspora third conference.

The President considered that it was still early to give estimations to
the conference’s work, but informed those present that all proposals
voiced at the meetings held within the framework of the conference
will be summed up without fail. Robert Kocharian said that we should
avoid the issues that disunite Armenia and Diaspora and not unite them.

In his words, there are approaches, the solutions to which are
difficult to give today, at the same time, he declared: "We should
keep them in our mind, for them to be touched upon in the future, for
instance, the issue of spelling, the issue of a structure coordinating
Diasporan structures, etc."

The President said that it is possible to form a very wide field of
consent and assured that all materials of the conference will be
summed up in a very short period: "In the line of the government
these decisions will become a part of the government activity
program, just like we did after the previous conference. Be sure
that Armenia-Diaspora relations are priority for us. Not to collect
such a powerful potential in the globalized world around one issue,
for solution of national goals, would be criminal negligence for the
Armenian leadership," Robert Kocharian declared.

RA PRESIDENT: "ACHIEVEMENTS RECORDED IN ARTSAKH WILL NOT BE DENIED"

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
2006-09-18 15:27:00

Speaking at the opening of Armenia – Diaspora Third Forum September
18, RA President Robert Kocharyan underscored, "the efforts on Nagorno
Karabakh Republic’s international recognition must become Panarmenian
priority number one". RA President regrets that an overall agreement
has not been signed, "however, we have the right to live freely and
we exercise our right successfully".

Robert Kocharyan does not think it necessary to respond to Azerbaijan’s
permanent militarist statements, as "at war, in the case of a war
victory is achieved at the expense of an army’s battle efficiency
and a nation’s general spirit, not statements".

Robert Kocharyan summed up the Armenian party’s stand: "the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic’s existence is an incontestable fact, its formation’s
legal grounds are invulnerable, the country’s economy is developing
stable and democratic amendments are being realized".

ARMINFO News Agency
September 14, 2006 Thursday

RA PRESIDENT AND AMBASSADOR OF BRAZIL TO ARMENIA DISCUSSED PROSPECTS
OF BRAZIL EMBASSY OPENING IN YEREVAN

The Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary of Brazil, Renate
Stille, has presented today her credentials to RA President Robert
Kocharyan.

As ArmInfo was told in the RA President’s press-office, Robert
Kocharyan congratulated the Brazilian diplomat with the new
appointment and noted that he expects activation of the
Armenian-Brazilian cooperation in view of the decision to open the
Embassy of Brazil in Armenia. In her turn, R. Stille emphasized that,
being in Armenia, the Embassy will be able to function more
efficiently, trying to activate the bilateral economic contacts.
According to her, the Armenian Diaspora of Brazil, with some
representatives of which she had met before visiting Yerevan, can
also assist in the cooperation development.

UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY MAY DISCUSS CONFLICTS IN GUAM AREA

Armenpress
Sept 14 2006

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS: The UN General Assembly decided on
September 13 to include a new item on conflicts in the Black Sea-South
Caucasus region in the agenda of its 61-st session. The decision to
include the issue in the General Assembly session -which was pushed
for by GUAM-member states Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova –
was adopted "following a contentious procedural debate," according
to the UN press center.

The Assembly’s general committee had discussed this appeal on
September 12 and most of its members were against putting it on the
agenda. Sixteen countries, including the Baltic States, GUAM-member
states, the United States and United Kingdom voted in favor of
including the item entitled "protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and
their implications for international peace, security and development."

Fifteen countries, including Russia and Armenia, voted against, while
65 abstained. Commenting on this decision Armenian foreign minister
Vartan Oskanian said today Armenia is against any attempts to shift
international efforts for resolution of the Karabakh conflict from
the OSCE Minsk group to the UN.

He said, "If we want the Karabakh conflict to be resolved our efforts
must be centered on the OSCE Minsk group process. If Azerbaijan has
other plans, Armenia is out of that game. We believe that the Minsk
group cochairmen’s proposals, put on the table are serious offering
possibilities to make progress."

He said though the item is on the UN GA agenda it is yet hard to
say whether it will become a subject of debates. "We think it is
a deviation from the main question, harming the peaceful process,’
he said.

AZERBAIJAN LINGERS THE NEGOTIATION PROCEDURE

A1+
[04:45 pm] 14 September, 2006

Armenia accepts and respects the right of each country to present a
question or an agenda item at the UN.

Although this particular item has reached the General Assembly Agenda
according to UN procedures, however the fact that the UN General
Committee rejected this initiative and that the item passed into
the General Assembly with a mere 16 in favor, 15 against, clearly
indicates the mood of the international community.

The initiative has been presented by GUAM, of which Azerbaijan is a
part. The fact that Azerbaijan has presented such an initiative in
such a forum is evidence again that Azerbaijan is backing down from
the right of self-determination identified in the last version of the
negotiating document that the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have
put on the table, as well as from discussions surrounding the right
of Nagorno Karabakh to determine its status through a referendum.

On the other hand, if Azerbaijan’s purpose is to delay and postpone
the settlement process within the OSCE framework with the intention of
later transferring that process to other forums, that is categorically
unacceptable for Armenia. In that case, Azerbaijan must sit around
the negotiating table with Nagorno Karabakh.

A VISIT TO ARMENIA MAY BE FATAL

A1+
[01:04 pm] 12 September, 2006

Eleven Azeri journalists and legal representatives are in peril lest
they should be deprived of citizenship because of their 5 – day visit
to Armenia.

The Azeri "Civil Solidarity" youth organization demands to deprive Arzu
Abdulaeva, chairman of the Helsinki National Committee, and other 10
participants of citizenship who were involved in the works of "Trust
Building" summer camping which were implemented in "Gugark" camp not
a long way from Vanadzor. The authors of the announcement find their
action a "treachery" to the country; "It is treachery to have a rest
in a country which captured 20 percent of the lands, committed the
Khojalu holocaust, one of the bloody genocides of the 20th century."

It will be interesting to know the reaction of the authors of
the announcement when they learned that their compatriots besides
having a good rest in Armenia, managed to make friends with some
people of their age in Armenia and in Artsakh as well. By the way,
most of the Artsakh residents felt the menace of the Azeri bombing,
lost their husbands, parents and other close relatives in the war,
but it didn’t hinder them from shaking hands with the Azeris, making
friends with them and getting excited when parting with them.

CLERGY SPEARHEAD THIRD BOCA RALLY TO STOP DARFUR GENOCIDE
by Dale King

Boca Raton News
Sept 10 2006

A rally protesting the ongoing genocide in Darfur will be held Thursday
at 4 p.m. in Boca Raton.

The demonstration – the third to be held in Boca Raton this year –
will be conducted at the Genocide Memorial in front of St. David
Armenian Orthodox Church at 2300 Yamato Road. It is part of the
national Save Darfur Coalition’s Ten Days of Action.

The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of the Jewish Federation
of South Palm Beach County has announced its support for the community
rally to protest the deaths and displacement of residents in the
western Sudan area.

Clergy members will spearhead the 4 p.m. rally being sponsored by
the Save Darfur Coalition of South Palm Beach County.

"We’re doing everything we can to promote awareness of this issue in
the Jewish community," said JCRC Director Elise Dolgow.

The JCRC is sponsoring the participation of Florida Atlantic University
sophomore Jaclyn Bergman in the "Save Darfur Now: Voices to End
Genocide" rally on Sunday, Sept. 17 in New York’s Central Park. The
rally will be the centerpiece event in a global day for Darfur as
individuals around the world call for the immediate deployment of
U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur.

Also scheduled to participate in the New York rally will be Sara
Agler, daughter of Rabbi Richard Agler of Congregation B’nai Israel
in Boca Raton, and Claire Chevrier, granddaughter of Rani Garfinkle,
a Federation board member. Sara Agler and Chevrier are seniors at
Spanish River High School in Boca Raton.

The Save Darfur Web site says that since 2003, the Sudanese
government-sponsored genocide has killed more than 400,000 men,
women and children, forced 2.5 million Darfurians from their homes
and left more than 3.5 million individuals reliant on humanitarian aid.

The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is the public policy
and social-action arm of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach
County, which covers the greater Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Highland
Beach areas.