Category: News

Turkish premier, French Assembly Speaker discuss EU, Cyprus, Armenian issue
Anatolia news agency
3 Feb 05
ANKARA
President of the French National Assembly Jean Louis Debre met Turkish
Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday [3 February].
Debre asked Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the
implementation of reforms which Turkey fulfilled in the EU process as
well as Cyprus and Armenian issues, said sources.
Erdogan told Debre that France and Turkey share common values like
democracy, freedom, human rights and supremacy of law. Noting that
Turkey tries to effectively implement the reforms it made in the EU
process, Erdogan said Turkey’s EU membership will further improve the
relations between Turkey and France. “It will also contribute to
economic relations,” he added. Erdogan said Armenian genocide claims
should be left to historians. “If their historians have claims, our
historians have claims too. They shall study Ottoman archives.”
Erdogan added Turkey does not have any problems with its Armenian
citizens. “Armenians should also open their archives,” he added.

ARMENIA RENDERS HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO SRI-LANKA
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3. ARMINFO. Armenia’s humanitarian assistance to
Sri-Lanka suffered from tsunami has already been supplied, Adviser of
the Head of the Armenian Governmental Emergency Situations Department
Nikolay Grigoryan informs ARMINFO.
He says that the humanitarian cargo weighting over 5.6 tons, including
3.5 tons of blankets, medicines, was supplied at Feb 1-2
night. Besides, Armenia will finance purchase of several mobile
generators.

Official: NATO to help Azerbaijan strengthen its defense
AP Worldstream
Feb 03, 2005
AIDA SULTANOVA

NATO is helping Azerbaijan to strengthen its defense, to stabilize in
the volatile Caucasus region and to ensure a safe route for the
Caspian energy exports, a top alliance official said Thursday.
Patrick Hardouin, deputy secretary-general for NATO, said the alliance
is engaged in “helping Azerbaijan to have a better management
structure and institution of its defense” and added that it offers
similar expertise to other countries in the volatile region.
“Our goal is to achieve stability and peace … in the whole region,”
Hardouin said at a news conference in Baku.
He said the alliance wants to “ensure a better and secure environment”
that would consist of strong states with the rule of law and free
market economy.
“In the case of the Caucasian states, we also want a safe route for
energy,” Hardouin said.
Azerbaijan, an oil-rich nation on the Caspian Sea that borders Russia
in the Caucasus Mountains region, has sought to cultivate relations
with the United States and other Western nations to balance Moscow’s
influence.
The U.S. administration sees the Caspian region as key to reducing
dependence on Middle East oil, and it has strongly backed a US$3.6
billion (Aâ=82¬2.8 billion) pipeline that will pump Caspian Sea oil
from Azerbaijan through neighboring Georgia to Turkey’s Mediterranean
coast for export to Western markets.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who visited Azerbaijan on
Wednesday, said Moscow had no complaints to Azerbaijan’s efforts to
forge closer ties with NATO.
Hardouin said that NATO wasn’t seeking a role in international efforts
to mediate the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh _ a largely ethnic
Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan that has been controlled by ethnic
Armenian forces for more thana decade.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a six-year war that killed some 30,000
people and drove a million from their homes, before ending in a shaky
cease fire in 1994.

KARS TREATY WAS CONCLUDED WITH GROSS VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW:
ARMENIAN MP
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3. ARMINFO. The issue of recognizing or not
recognizing the Kars Treaty is not on Armenia’s foreign political
agenda, says ARFD MP Levon Lazarian commenting on the Turkish media
reports saying that Armenia’s FM has acknowledged this treaty.
“I don’t think that Vardan Oskanyan has ever spoken about Armenia’s
acknowledging the Kars Treaty. This must be some misinformation,” says
Lazarian. He notes that the treaty was signed with gross violations
of the international law as it was imposed by the Turkish-Russian
Moscow Treaty stipulating that all the South Caucasian republics
should later sign similar treaties with Turkey. “In fact the Kars
Treaty was imposed on Armenia and nobody asked its opinion,” says
Lazarian.
To remind, under the Kars Treaty 1921 the Soviet Russia gave Turkey
part of historical Armenian provinces with the towns of Kars, Ardagan,
Igdir and Bitlis.

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2005
HIGHLIGHTS:
STATEMENT OF YEREVAN PRESS CLUB, JOURNALISTS UNION OF ARMENIA, INTERNEWS
ARMENIA PUBLIC ORGANIZATION AND COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
JUBILEE “PRESS CLUB” SHOW
FINE ON “HAYRENIK TV” CAUSES INDIGNATION
IN WHOSE WAY ARE THE NEWSPAPER STALLS?
COMMERCIALS ARE WATCHED, BUT ARE PERCEIVED TO BE IRRITATING
STATEMENT OF YEREVAN PRESS CLUB, JOURNALISTS UNION OF ARMENIA, INTERNEWS
ARMENIA PUBLIC ORGANIZATION AND COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
By a decree of the RA President of January 20, 2005 a competition was
announced to fill in the vacancies in the Council of Public Television and
Radio Company of Armenia. February 1 was the deadline for the application
submission. We did not make a statement during the application process not
to interfere with it. Presently we think it necessary to reinstate our
stance on the mechanism of broadcasting regulatory bodies formation.
We state that the RA Law “On Television and Radio” and the practice of its
implementation, in particular the present competition, does not correspond
to Armenia’s commitment to the Council of Europe about the transformation of
state broadcasting into public and to international standards.
Amendments to the Law “On Television and Radio”, adopted on December 3,
2003, according to which the vacancies in the Council of Public TV and Radio
Company (as well as in the National Commission on Television and Radio) are
filled by a competition, are allegedly stemming from the CoE experts’
recommendations. Yet, even at that time, having compared the proposals of
the experts and the amendments made, we noted that the latter ones do not in
any way comply with the essence and purpose of the recommendations to ensure
the greatest transparency of regulatory bodies formation. In particular, the
Law does not stipulate the procedure for forming the competition commission,
leaving it completely at the discretion of the President of the republic. If
previously the head of the state directly appointed the members of the
Council, he now appoints them out of the winners determined by the
commission he had formed.
We qualify the amendments to the Law and the competition announced basing on
them to be an imitation of democratic procedures and will keep insisting on
the need for real reforms.
Yerevan Press Club
Journalists Union of Armenia
Internews Armenia public organization
Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression
February 3, 2005
JUBILEE “PRESS CLUB” SHOW
On January 31 on the evening air of the Second Armenian TV Channel the
tenth, jubilee program of “Press Club” cycle was issued. The cycle is
organized by Yerevan Press Club under a homonymous project, supported by the
OSI Network Media Program.
The subject for the discussion by heads and representatives of the leading
Armenian media was the press response to Resolution 1416 (2005) of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe “Conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference”. The document was
adopted at the PACE session of January 25 basing on the report on
Mountainous Karabagh, prepared by PACE rapporteur David Atkinson. As the
program participants predicted, Karabagh conflict will remain at the focus
of Armenian media attention this week, too, particularly in the context of
the visit of international fact-finding mission to the territories,
controlled by Armenian forces. The two other central subjects for media, as
the “Press Club” participants supposed, can be the possible return of
opposition factions to the Parliament as well as the circumstances of arrest
of an Armenian MP in United Arab Emirates.
FINE ON “HAYRENIK TV” CAUSES INDIGNATION
The decision of the National Commission on Television and Radio of January
18 to penalize “Hayrenik TV” for rebroadcasting the programs of French
“Mezzo” channel and unauthorized demonstration of films (see details in YPC
Weekly Newsletter, January 14-20, 2005) caused much response in the press.
(“Hayrenik TV”, broadcasting since 2001, is the only channel in Armenia
intended for children and essentially non-commercial. The owner of the TV
company is a well-known entrepreneur Hrant Vardanian, the President of
“Grand Holding” company.)
“Ayb-Feh” weekly (January 21-27, 2005) was surprised that the NCTR Chairman
Grigor Amalian “has just noticed” “Mezzo” on the air of “Hayrenik TV”, while
the rebroadcasts are made for the third year already. “During the broadcast
licensing competition in 2002 the same Amalian, answering a journalist’s
question, said confidently, that “Hayrenik” had no problems to rebroadcast
“Mezzo””,”Ayb-Feh” reminds and stresses that “Hayrenik” continues the
rebroadcasts of the French channel to this day.
“Iravunk” newspaper (January 25-27, 2005) referring to “certain sources”
supposed that the “strictness” of NCTR Chairman is not totally without
context, “since he is somewhat related to film licensing and the license for
demonstration of one film costs over 100 USD, which is quite a burden for
the children TV channel”, which is “Hayrenik TV”.
In its issue of January 29 “Azg” daily reported the response of the head of
the National Commission to article “Who Does the NCTR Head Grigor Amalian
Fight With and What For?” published by the daily on January 28. Grigor
Amalian reminded the newspaper of the biblical commandment “Thou Shalt Not
Steal”.
This response gave rise to new comments. On February 1 “Novoye Vremya”
newspaper in an editorial comment to the article by Arman Vaneskeghian, the
press-secretary of “Grand Holding”, asked: “How proper is it to punish
“Hayrenik TV” for “Mezzo”, considering our not very rich cultural life
(…). What is on the other side of balance? Is the Commission as consistent
and strict to other Armenian channels where there is a plenty of shallow
films and programs – are they all licensed, is all this production acquired
legally and demonstrated or re-broadcast by international rules? Has no one
“stolen” anything? Besides, there are ten commandments, and “thou shalt not
steal” is only one of them. There are also others, say, the worldly
commandment “thou shalt make no damage…” Make no damage to thousands of
lovers of serious musical programs that can hardly be found on any other
channel.” In the article itself the press-secretary of “Grand Holding”
notes: “I was sure that French “Mezzo” channel itself demanded the National
Commission on Television and Radio to stop its unauthorized rebroadcasts.
(…) Imagine the surprise when it turned out that the French had nothing to
do with this and had made no protest.” Arman Vaneskeghian also reminded that
“Grand Holding” allocated to “Hayrenik TV” “almost two million USD
throughout its existence, spent to create quality and non-violent programs,
the goal of which is the education of future generation”.
“Haikakan Zhamanak” daily (February 1, 2005) voiced a number of questions
too: “Is NCTR monitoring all other TV companies to determine violations of
the law, is the duration of lotteries, commercials corresponds to the limits
stipulated by the law, is the volume of the self-produced programs compliant
with the legal provisions, is..? In response it these questions Amalian
always says that the technical capacities of the Commission are restricted
and it is impossible to be checking everything thoroughly.”
The opinion of the newspapers above is shared by “Golos Armenii” newspaper
(February 1, 2005): “The problem of “Mezzo” did not escape the attention of
NCTR. But, say, the lottery advertising, often exceeding the time limits
stipulated by the law, does not worry the Commission. Other, much more
outrageous and scandalous facts of incompliance of some Armenian channels
with not simply some clauses of the law, but to it in general, can be
quoted. And of course, examples of the passive behavior of Commission in
terms of revealing such offences can be quoted as well.”
“Aravot” daily (February 2, 2005) thinks it is difficult to determine who is
right in the conflict of NCTR and “Hayrenik TV” and advises the owner of the
latter to file a suit with the court. At the same time the newspaper
expresses its amazement at the fact that “Hayrenik TV” has more supporters
than “A1+” and “Noyan Tapan” had when deprived of air by the same
Commission: “Currently the National Commission on Television and Radio is
accused of lack of state thinking even by those media who used to stand for
it might and main.” Besides, in the opinion of “Aravot”, “the extreme
indignation due to penalizing “Hayrenik TV” is also explained by the fact
that no one in Armenia expect NCTR to pass a decision, corresponding to the
law”. This is why, the newspaper stresses, also in the case of “Hayrenik”
many people refuse to see it as a purely legal problem: “They are trying to
find other reasons for such unusual actions of NCTR – such as backstage
fight against the owner of “Hayrenik” TV company, etc. And frankly speaking,
this version seems to be the closest to reality.”
IN WHOSE WAY ARE THE NEWSPAPER STALLS?
Lately from Yerevan streets newspaper stalls started to disappear. There are
serious fears that the trend is becoming steady, and will thus restrict the
access of the citizens to information. This problem was raised by the
Chairman of “Armenian Press” Association of Editors-Publishers Vardan
Aloyan.
In the permanent section “HotLine” of “Golos Armenii” newspaper on February
1 Vardan Aloyan addressed its guest, Yerevan Mayor Yervand Zakharian with
the following question: “There is an impression that the municipality has
recently announced a war to newspaper stalls. The stalls by “Tashir”
Department Store and Arabkir market have already been demolished. The other
day with no prior notification the specialized newspaper stall of
“Komsomolskaya Pravda” at the crossroads of Terian and Isahakain was
demolished, the demolition of “Haymamul” newspaper stall at the beginning of
Mashtots avenue is a questions of a couple of days. Apparently, the
municipality is unable to suppress the wish of our oligarchs to gain these
nice pieces of Yerevan land. But then why doesn’t the city administration
provide other places on equally animated routes to move the stalls there?
Because every newspaper stall demolished is another attack on media
accessibility for people.”
“This issue is presently on the agenda of city authorities. Within the
coming three months the issue of newspaper stalls will be re-considered for
an appropriate decision to be made. The newspaper stalls will be retained,
and so will be their main purpose – the sale of newspapers and magazines”,
the head of the Yerevan administration assured.
It should be noted that still back in 2001 the media heads demanded that the
government stop the privatization of “Haymamul” Press Dissemination Agency.
The protest was caused in particular by the governmental resolution of
November 15, 2001 on the privatization of over 300 newspaper stalls owned by
“Haymamul”. The privilege here was given to the newspaper vendors
themselves. One of the mandatory terms of the privatization was retaining
the direct function of the newspaper stalls during five years (even in the
case of a change of owner). In the opinion of media and experts, this term
was not sufficient to guarantee that the sale of the publications will not
reduce. The latest events come to confirm the validity of journalistic
fears.
The “list” of the newspaper stalls that disappeared from Yerevan streets
mentioned above has now increased by another one: in the morning of January
25 a stall located in the vicinity of Medical University went on fire.
Whether this was arson, as the newspaper vendor Samvel Gasparian maintains,
is for the investigation to determine. Meanwhile the residents of Yerevan
have lost another opportunity to buy newspapers at one of the animated
places of the capital.
COMMERCIALS ARE WATCHED, BUT ARE PERCEIVED TO BE IRRITATING
Internews Armenia public organization has published the findings of the TV
audience survey in three major cities of Armenia – Yerevan, Gyumri and
Vanadzor. The research was administered by US “InterMedia” organization in
December 2004 by interviewing 500 respondents aged over 15 in each of the
cities above.
According to the survey findings, the TV ownership rates among the
respondents were highest in Vanadzor and Yerevan – 97% for each city. 87% of
respondents in Yerevan, 77% in Gyumri, 70% in Vanadzor watch TV every day.
Most respondents in all three cities had seen advertisements on TV
“yesterday” (72% – in Yerevan), yet the attributes most commonly applied to
TV advertisements are “irritating” and “boring”. The highest number of
available channels is in Yerevan: 61% respondents can receive at least 14 TV
channels. The opportunities in Gyumri and Vanadzor are somewhat restricted:
the majority of the respondents can receive less than 14 TV channels.
In all three cities peak TV viewing times are between 20.00 and 23.00.
Respondents under 30, in all three cities, tend to watch in higher numbers
in the afternoon, from 14.00 until 17.00 or 18.00 and respondents over 30 –
from the morning until about 13.00, except in Gyumri. In all three cities
the respondents, particularly those, aged under 30, consider the
entertainment programs to be the most important for them. This opinion is
shared by 80% in Vanadzor, 66% – in Yerevan, 47% – in Gyumri.
The audience survey for specific TV channels showed that Gyumri viewers
commonly characterize the local “Tsayg” and “Shant” as “independent” and
“objective”. 44% of respondents in Vanadzor qualified the local “Lori” TV
company as “amateurish”, and 41% thought it was “engaging”. Another Vanadzor
TV company “Interkap” was most frequently named “trustworthy” or “engaging”.
In the opinion of respondents in all three cities, the First Channel of the
Public Television of Armenia is one of the two TV channels for news
coverage. The other leaders, the news programs of which are most popular,
are “Armenia” in Yerevan, “Shant” in Gyumri and ORT (Russia) in Vanadzor.
By the survey findings, the PTA First Channel is the most popular station in
Gyumri and Vanadzor and rates a close second to “Armenia” in Yerevan.
Throughout the week the programs of PTA First Channel are watched by 86.8%
of audience in Yerevan, 82.8% – in Gyumri and 93.3% – in Vanadzor. Other top
stations in terms of weekly reach are “Armenia” and RTR (Russia) in Yerevan,
“Shant” and Second Armenian TV Channel in Gyumri, ORT and Second Armenian TV
Channel in Vanadzor.
When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.
You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]
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this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]
Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
____________________________________________
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
375007, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 1) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 1) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

Russia offers Azerbaijan military bloc for Karabakh conflict solution – paper
Yeni Musavat, Baku
3 Feb 05

Text of political department report by Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni
Musavat on 3 February headlined “Ilham Aliyev is visiting Moscow
again” and subheaded “Putin will discuss with him Azerbaijan’s joining
the Collective Security Treaty”
[Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev is expected to pay a two-day
visit to Moscow on 15-16 February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov said yesterday. Aliyev’s visit to the Russian capital is said
to be related to the opening of the days of Azerbaijan in
Moscow. Agreement was reached last year that the days of Russia would
be held in Azerbaijan and then the days of Azerbaijan would take place
in Russia.
However, the real reason for Aliyev’s another visit to Moscow is not
culture. According to a diplomatic source, Putin has invited him to
Moscow to discuss more serious political issues and, in particular,
Azerbaijan’s joining the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CST). It was the focal point of Lavrov’s talks in Baku yesterday. The
issue of Azerbaijan’s joining the CST was discussed with Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and later with President Aliyev. Informed
sources said that the Kremlin considers Azerbaijan’s CST membership in
the context of a settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. In
other words, Russia intends to give its consent to the settlement of
the conflict only in case Azerbaijan agrees to join the military bloc
and have Russian military bases on its territory.
Putin put the issue of Azerbaijan’s joining the CST on the agenda back
in February last year during Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Moscow. Russia’s
influential Kommersant daily has recently claimed that Aliyev has
promised Putin that Azerbaijan will join the CST. But the Kremlin is
concerned that he has not done anything in this direction and has not
specified his position over the past year.
At the same time, Aliyev believes that he first needs to strengthen
his power inside the country in order to decide on such an important
issue as Azerbaijan’s joining the CST. But Moscow seems to be
concerned that Aliyev will renege on his promise and is therefore
increases pressure on him. If Aliyev agrees to Azerbaijan’s joining
the Russian-dominated military bloc, he will deal a serious blow to
the interests of the West. In turn, the West will never be reconciled
with that situation. On the other hand, Aliyev should fulfil its
commitments to Russia, which played a major role in his accession to
power. Only in this case Russia will be prepared to defend his power.
In order to avoid Moscow’s pressure for joining the CST, Azerbaijan
has been saying that it is impossible to be in the same military bloc
with Armenia. But at a traditional annual news conference in December
last year Putin said that Azerbaijan may find a common language with
Armenia if it joins the CST. By saying that Putin dropped a hint that
the resolution of the Karabakh problem may be possible after
Azerbaijan joins the CST, thus staying in the area of Russia’s
military and political influence. Putin is expected to discuss the
issue more specifically in a meeting with Aliyev and try to obtain his
answer.

Zaman, Turkey
Feb 3 2005
Debre: Armenian Issue is not Our Problem
By Zaman
Published: Thursday 03, 2005
zaman.com
Speaker of the French National Parliament Jean-Louis Debre discussed
Turkey’s European Union (EU) membership bid just before his Turkey
visit begins today. Debre responded to a question about whether the
Armenian issue was a problem in the development of Turkey-France
relations: “Let’s be honest. First of all, the Armenian problem is
not an issue concerning Turkey-France relations. It is rather about
Turkey-Armenia relations and Turkey’s own history in particular.”
The EU that Turkey wants to join was the built by confronting public
and state history, Debre said, and they believe that Turkey would
understand this and its part of the European project. The French
Speaker also added that it is about “overcoming the conflicts to
build a peaceful unity, respecting human rights, paying attention to
the responsibility to remember, and making peace with one’s own
history.” Meanwhile, the French Parliament approved the so-called
genocide bill in 2001, which led to a long break in Turkey-France
relations.
The French delegation will hold meetings in Istanbul and Ankara
during their visit which was realized with the support of French
President Jacques Chirac. The delegation will meet with Turkish
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Speaker of the Turkish Parliament Bulent Arinc and Chief of the
General Stuff Hilmi Ozkok. The parliamentary delegation will also
meet with representatives of the Turkey Industrialists and
Businessmen Association (TUSIAD) and visit Galatasaray University in
Istanbul on Saturday (February 5).

Armenian paper blames OSCE factfinding mission for pro-Azeri stance
Hayots Ashkharh, Yerevan
2 Feb 05

Text of unattributed report by Armenian newspaper Hayots Ashkharh on 2
February headlined “Double standards of the OSCE”
The OSCE monitoring mission’s visit to Nagornyy Karabakh and the
monitoring of the liberated territories give the impression at fight
sight that it is a technical measure. The members of the mission also
confirm that their task is to complete their monitoring and prepare a
relevant report. For this reason, they will not express any political
position or make any statement.
But it is more than strange that the purpose of the OSCE monitoring
mission is only to monitor the territories controlled by the Armenian
forces. In fact, the desire of the Armenian party to have the
territories of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] controlled by
Azerbaijan examined was ignored.
And the problem is not that this mission should undoubtedly pay
attention to the fact that Shaumyan District [Azerbaijan’s Goranboy
District] and the Armenian villages in the northeastern part of
Mardakert District [Agdara District] are inhabited by Azerbaijanis. It
is not the position of the monitors on Karabakh, but the political
position of the OSCE that causes bewilderment.
The “ideology” of this monitoring mission is not clear, as it
obviously goes against the principles of the OSCE.
The OSCE ignores the fact that the subject of the conflict, i.e. the
territories controlled by the Armenian forces, or according to the
Azerbaijani party, the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, have the
same status as Shaumyan District and Getashen [the village of Caykand
in Azerbaijan’s Xanlar District] or the northern part of Mardakert
District in terms of their possible settlement. They have the same
status, as according to all international norms, including the OSCE
standards, the recognition of the sovereign right of any state is not
the same as the right to the forcible settlement of a region.
That’s to say, irrespective of the legal status the OSCE gives to
Karvachar (Kalbacar) or Shaumyan, the Azerbaijanis expelled from
Kalbacar and the Armenians expelled from Shaumyan following the war
have the same right to return to their former places of
residence. Thus, the following double standards that contradict the
OSCE principles have been used:
a) Azerbaijan’s accusation that Armenians are settling in the
territories controlled by the Armenian forces is seen as a violation
of the sovereign right of the state to these territories;
b) The OSCE is not interested in the possible resettlement of the
Armenian villages and the NKR territories controlled by the
Azerbaijani forces, whereby they recognize the sovereign right of
Azerbaijan to expel the Armenians living there.
Refusing to monitor Getashen or Shaumyan, which are already populated
by Azerbaijanis, the OSCE de facto recognizes the sovereign right of
Azerbaijan to carry out ethnic cleansing, which is a gross violation
of all the norms of this organization. We think that by demonstrating
a selective approach towards the current Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute
about the possible settlement of the territories controlled as a
result of the war, the OSCE broke its own main principles. That’s to
say, the OSCE took as a basis not the right of the Azerbaijanis and
Armenians to return to their former places of residence, but the
principle under which Armenians who are citizens of Azerbaijan are not
allowed to settle in the territory of Azerbaijan.
So the report of the OSCE monitoring mission cannot be
impartial. Moreover, it cannot serve as a basis for any serious
political conclusion if the monitoring group does not visit the
northeastern villages of Shaumyan, Getashen and Mardakert Districts
before accomplishing its mission.

MP urges better lobbying of Armenia’s interests in Karabakh
Mediamax news agency
3 Feb 05
YEREVAN
Armenia needs serious and purposeful international lobbying of its
interests in the Karabakh issue, the head of the faction of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Dashnaktsutyun [ARFD], Levon
Lazarian, said in Yerevan today.
Levon Lazarian noted that in the last few years, the perception of
the Nagornyy Karabakh problem has begun to change, Mediamax news
agency reports.
“We need to make every effort and remind the world community that the
Nagornyy Karabakh problem is an issue related to the implementation of
nations’ internationally-recognized right to self-determination”.
“We have to let it be known that this issue is as topical for us today
as it was in 1988,” the Armenian MP stated.
Levon Lazarian expressed his confidence that the Armenian side can
counter Azerbaijani propaganda and foil attempts to misinform
international structures.

Azeri paper plays down “no problem” assessment of ties with Russia
Zerkalo, Baku
3 Feb 05

Excerpt from R. Mirqadirov’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo
on 3 February headlined “No problem”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was received by Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev yesterday [2 February].
[Passage omitted: reported details of Lavrov’s meetings with President
Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov]
So, another visit by a high-ranking official from the neighbouring
superpower has finished. Judging by official statements, the journey
has been a success and bilateral relations keep on developing. It
might seem that there is no reason to be displeased.
However, something alarming is noticeable against the backdrop of all
these optimistic statements. And it boils down to the fact that our
relations with close neighbours are often seen through rose-tinted
glasses and every time “no problems” statements are being made. This
assessment has been used when talking about Azerbaijan’s relations
with Georgia, Iran and Russia.
And then after the assessment the railway communication with Georgia
was closed and law enforcers of this country fired on ethnic
Azerbaijanis at point-blank range.
Meanwhile, Russia cut off natural gas supplies in the middle of
winter, leaving 40 Azerbaijani districts without heat and
electricity. At the same time, the chairman of the Russian State Duma
described Armenia as Russia’s outpost in the South Caucasus. If we
were to follow the same logic, it would appear that there were no
“serious problems” also between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which would
mean that we were surrounded only by friends.