Category: News

Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
Jan 16 2005
President Issues two Decrees
Damascus, Jan 16, (SANA)-
President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday issued decree number 13 for 2005
to ratify cooperation protocol between Syria and China in the gas and
oil field.
Another decree to endorse a cooperation accord between Syria and
Armenia in the field of health and medical sciences was issued today
by President Assad and entitled decree number 14 for 2005.
S. Younes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RIA Novosti, Russia
Jan 15 2005
ARMENIA-IRAN RELATIONS MARKED IN 2004 WITH START OF GAS PIPELINE
LAYING
YEREVAN, January 15 (RIA Novosti) – The main achievement of the
Armenian-Iranian relations in 2004 was the beginning of the
construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline’s Armenian section, as
well as the commissioning of the second high-voltage transmission
line “Agarak-Shinuair,” reads the final report of Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan for 2004 provided by the Armenian Foreign
Ministry information and press department.
The report notes that among the priority tasks of Armenia-Iran
relations in the sphere of the economy is the construction of the
Kajaran tunnel, a hydropower plant on the border river Araks, as well
as boosting cooperation in the field of alternative power industry.
In line with the report, intensive dialogue on further development of
political ties continued between Armenia and Iran in 2004. It is
noted that during the first official visit by Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami to Armenia in September 2004, the two countries’
heads discussed a wide range of issues relating to perspectives of
bilateral cooperation. After the two presidents’ meeting, an
agreement on the principles and fundamentals of cooperation between
Armenia and Iran was signed.

Zenit News Agency, Italy
Jan 15 2005
Muslims Identify Christians As Western Enemies
BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq — Being a Christian, “of the same religion as
the Western soldiers,” is enough to be the considered an enemy in
Iraq, says a Chaldean monk.
Father Waheed Gabriele Tooma’s statement was echoed by Fides news
agency, recalling the recent incident involving two Chaldean monks of
the Dora monastery south of Baghdad, kidnapped a few days ago by
unknown individuals and released two days later.
The “flourishing industry of kidnapping knows no end,” the agency
reported. The targets of religious Muslim fundamentalism are
foreigners, wealthy Iraqis — because of the ransom –, and religious
personnel, especially Christians.
Father Tooma, religious brother of the kidnapped monks, said to Fides
that “Iraq is a nation that dies every day, and not only because of
lack of food and medicines. It dies morally and culturally, deprived
of its identity, freedom, and right to live in peace as the other
nations of the earth. The path of this nation is dark; it seems to be
without a future. Children die no sooner they are born, without a
smile.”
It’s a situation from which the people flee. “More than 3 million
have emigrated abroad, among them, Christians,” he said.
“Only in the last months, after the attack on the Christian Churches,
more than 50,000 Iraqi Christians have emigrated to Syria, Jordan,
and Turkey, because of the threats received by Muslim
fundamentalists. What is the offense? Being Christians, that is, of
the same religion as the Western soldiers.”
On Dec. 7, two attacks destroyed the Armenian-Catholic church of
Mosul and the Chaldean Episcopal Palace of that city. They were part
of a series of attacks against churches which began in early August,
when four churches in Baghdad and one in Mosul were hit. Dozens of
Christians died in these attacks. Attacks against stores owned by
Christians in Iraq started earlier.
>From Mosul, the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation recently
confirmed, in a statement sent to ZENIT, that the situation of danger
for Christians is such that many have been obliged to emigrate “to
Syria or Jordan, and have left all their property to save their
lives.”
The nuns’ house in the Iraqi city is located in an area between “the
Americans, on one side, and the terrorists on the other,” which means
a constant danger that impedes them for days from leaving the
convent, even to go to Mass.
Despite the problems, the sisters are not thinking of leaving, given
that, as they affirmed, “we are here, in this neighborhood, our
neighborhood, and we will stay to witness to Christ crucified but
risen from the dead.”
The congregation has seven communities in Iraq, in which some 40
religious work in education and run residences for young people,
children’s homes, and health centers such as St. Raphael’s Hospital
in Baghdad.

Turkish Daily News
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Towards political partnership with Russia
Turkish-Russian cooperation in the political sphere has the potential
of not only helping both countries realize foreign policy goals but
also of generating consequences that could go well beyond the borders
of the two countries
ANKARA –
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan’s three-day visit to Russia
last week not only gave a new boost to growing trade and economic
ties but also produced significant political developments, with
Russian President Vladimir Putin describing Turkish Cypriot isolation
as unfair and pledging help to resolve the disputes between Turkey,
and Armenia and Erdoðan announcing a surprise decision to consider
cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The two leaders said they look to boost the trade volume between
the two countries from the current annual level of $10 billion to $15
billion and, in the next few years, to $25 billion. The two also
agreed to address new areas for cooperation in the energy sector,
such as electricity purchases from Russia, already the main natural
gas supplier of Turkey.
In the political sphere, Turkish-Russian cooperation has the
potential of not only helping both countries attain foreign policy
goals such as advancing Turkey’s EU membership and Cyprus bids but
also of generating consequences that could go well beyond the borders
of the two countries and transform the regional political setting.

PanArmenian News
Jan 15 2005
NEW DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER OF ARMENIA APPOINTED
14.01.2005 17:34
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Gegham Gharibjanian, the Former Armenian Ambassador
in Iran, is appointed Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia by a decree
of Armenian President R. Kocharian.

Paper mulls over financial implications of Armenian peacekeeping in Iraq
Iravunk, Yerevan
14 Jan 05

Text of D. Akopyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Iravunk on 14
January headlined “The price of the military contingent that will be
sent to Iraq”
When the top authorities of Armenia almost unexpectedly decided to
send an Armenian military contingent to Iraq, and the National
Assembly ratified this decision, political circles and analysts
started speculating about the price of this decision. Incidentally,
the point is not so much about an unpopular and risky political
decision as about its financial aspect.
It was supposed that this would be done using credits and grants from
Western and international financial organizations and generous aid
from some countries. And these predictions seem to have come true, but
in a slightly unexpected way. It has become known from a source close
to American diplomatic circles that, thanks to direct support from the
Washington administration, about 100m US dollars will soon be given to
Armenia within the framework of the Lincy Foundation programme.
According to our sources close to the Armenian government, some
ministries have already started taking into account the use of the
credits that will be given to them by the Lincy Foundation. In
particular, the Agriculture Ministry hopes to spend the money it will
get. At the same time, the analysts noticed that on 7 January, in
order to encourage the Armenian authorities to send a military
contingent to Iraq, US President George Bush signed a decree according
to which, from now on, a normal trading regime will be granted to
Armenia. Incidentally, that same decree says: “Armenia has
demonstrated its obvious desire to develop friendship and cooperation
with the USA.” At the same time, it is also obvious that grateful
Americans will not ignore either Armenian Defence Minister Serzh
Sarkisyan, who made great efforts to send an Armenian military
contingent to Iraq.
And it is not by chance that at a recent meeting with Serzh Sarkisyan
at the Defence Ministry, the US ambassador to Armenia, John Evans,
“specially mentioned that he values Serzh Sarkisyan’s open way of
expressing his ideas and his wide view of the events taking place in
the world, which greatly contributes to the deepening of the two
countries’ relations”. And this relates to a functionary who was known
as very pro-Russian until recently. Such an estimation by the US
ambassador is a turning point in itself.
At the same time, some observers also note that, to choose my words
carefully, the noticeable warming of the Washington administration
towards the current Armenian administration certainly differs from the
approach of the US administration towards undemocratic and corrupt
regimes in other post-Soviet countries over the last two years. This
fact proves once again that this superpower – which proclaims great
ideas of democracy, a free economy and human rights – as well as other
geo-political giants, have been and are guided in their policy by
so-called double standards. According to analysts, understanding the
ambiguity of the US position on the leadership of Armenia, the US
administration will nevertheless try to “save face” in front of
Armenian political circles and people, demanding from time to time
that the Armenian authorities carry out reforms of some kind. Let us
recall that in December 2004, the IMF officially expressed its
displeasure with the process of tax collection by the Armenian tax and
customs systems and, on the whole, with the content of the budget and
the way it was implemented. The unexpected activity of Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan at the beginning of the year should be seen
within the framework of these demands. Visiting the Armenian State
Customs Committee and State Tax Service, the president in fact
declared a new economic policy, which according to Kocharyan is aimed
at reducing the shadow economy, forming a free and equal economic
field, and so on. This process, which the state propaganda machine has
already declared a “revolution from above” and which the opposition
has declared another deception by the “illegitimate regime”, is
obviously directed at the world community as well and in particular at
US taxpayers, who, as is known, unlike Armenian taxpayers, do not like
and will not allow their money to be wasted.

Former Russian mediator has “pro-Armenian” stance over Karabakh – Azeri paper
Ekho, Baku
12 Jan 05

Former Azerbaijani foreign minister Tofiq Zulfuqarov has accused the
Russian diplomat, Vladimir Kazimirov, of issuing “blatantly”
pro-Armenian statements in the media. Zulfuqarov suggested that there
is a certain reason behind his articles distorting the background of
the Karabakh conflict, as “at present no-one is doing anything without
interest”. Condemning Kazimirov – former OSCE mediator in the Karabakh
settlement – for a lack of neutrality, MP Camil Hasanli called on the
Russian diplomat to learn the history of Karabakh. Excerpt from
R. Orucev’s report published by Ekho Azerbaijani newspaper on 12
January 2005 headlined “Why does Kazimirov not calm down” and
subheaded “Former cochairman of the OSCE Minsk Group is again
protecting Karabakh separatists, distorting historic facts”
The former Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group [specially
designed to settle the Karabakh conflict], Vladimir Kazimirov, sent an
article yesterday to the pro-Armenian Regnum Russian news agency
headlined “Nagornyy Karabakh should take part in the
negotiations”. The article had been written in the run-up to a meeting
held yesterday [11th January] between Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign
ministers in Prague.
It is interesting that the diplomat, who was directly involved in the
settling process as a mediator and, therefore, should have maintained
neutrality in his statements, has repeatedly made blatantly
pro-Armenian and pro-separatist statements in the media.
Kazimirov has recently published in Regnum an open letter to the PACE
co-rapporteur, David Atkinson, accusing the European MP of being
pro-Azerbaijani. This time again, he accused Baku of failing up to
now to recognize Nagornyy Karabakh as a party to the conflict and of
refusing to hold negotiations with it. Therefore, Kazimirov, writes,
“additional and artificial obstacles are being created in the Karabakh
settlement”.
“Nagornyy Karabakh is the core and heart of this conflict, therefore,
it cannot be an object alone. The Karabakh population has a vital
interest – much gre ater than other residents of Azerbaijan or Armenia
– in settling the conflict. The status of Nagornyy Karabakh is the
main reason and disputed problem in this conflict.
[Passage omitted: quotes from Kazimirov’s article]
Commenting on this article, former Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Tofiq
Zulfuqarov said: “Above all, Mr Kazimirov is demonstrating keen
interest in supporting the Armenian position. We can guess the reason
behind this interest, as it is clear that at present no-one is doing
anything without interest. There are certain views in regard with
this, but I would not like to go into details. In fact, certain
circles of Armenia, possibly, the state recruited Kazimirov to
propagate the Armenian position. His statements do not trigger any
interest in the Russian public, so it is the region of the conflict
that reacts to his articles, which are already published regularly. He
[Kazimirov] will only represent some interest until there is reaction
in Azerbaijan.”
Kazimirov’s argument that Azerbaijan allegedly has no desire to talk
to Karabakh’s Armenians is the weakest point in his article,
Zulfuqarov said. “If this was so, Azerbaijan would not have supported
the 24 March format of the Minsk conference, which says that selected
representatives and other members of Karabakh will take part in a
conference as an interested party.
[Passage omitted: a number of negotiations have been held within the
Minsk Group]
Both Azeris and Armenians of Nagornyy Karabakh took part in the
negotiations as interested parties. That is to say, Kazimirov’s thesis
that Azerbaijan does not want to talk to Armenians of Nagornyy
Karabakh is wide of the mark since such negotiations have already
taken place.
“But the issue is about a different thing. At the end of the
negotiating process, Armenians want to obtain the status of Nagornyy
Karabakh – an independent state or a part of Armenia. Understanding
that at the current stage of the negotiating process, they cannot
achieve this from Azerbaijan and from the international community,
they are trying to increase the negotiations status of the Karabakh
Armenians and to make it [Karabakh] equal to recognized states. This
is the task of the Armenian side and this is why Kazimirov has been
recruited to protect this position,” Zulfuqarov said.
“The historic” aspects of Kazimirov’s article are shocking. He says
that even the League of Nations acknowledged Karabakh as a disputed
territory. A well-known historian and MP Camil Hasanli has commented
on this: “First, Karabakh was never on the agenda of the League of
Nations. During the existence of the first republic [the Azerbaijani
Democratic Republic; 1918-1920], Azerbaijan appealed to the League of
Nations for membership. An international commission was set dealing
with its admission. However, later on, the process of making
Azerbaijan a Soviet republic started and the country failed to obtain
membership of the League of Nations. If Kazimirov wants to speculate
on history, he should know that in 1919, the Armenian community of
Karabakh appealed to the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic and
recognized themselves as part of Azerbaijan confirming that they have
no problems with the state. This document is available in the archives
of Azerbaijan and Kazimirov can find and learn them.”
[Passage omitted: more historic details; at the beginning of the 20th
century ethnic Armenians made up only seven per cent of the Karabakh
population]

Regional conditions right for Armenia to press for peace, paper says
Haykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
15 Jan 05

Text of unattributed report by Armenian newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak on
15 January headlined “Time for drawing conclusions”
They say there are no coincidences in policy and this point is always
proved in reality. At the same time that they are speaking more loudly
in Azerbaijan that without Russia’s aid Armenia could not gain victory
in the Karabakh war, and are threatening with a new war, Russian
Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov declares in the USA that Russia is not
going to push Armenia to any side in the geo-political sense and
Armenia itself should choose which way to move.
Indeed, against the background of Azerbaijan’s bellicose statements,
the Russian defence minister’s statement gains another context. And
the problem is not that in case of a new war Armenia will need
Russia’s support. If we speak about any possible war, Russia’s role is
large, because almost the whole of the Armenian army has Russian
equipment. Russia is our only military supplier. This means that the
authorities of Armenia, keeping Armenia even in a situation of
theoretical war, deprive us of an opportunity to be independent. In
its turn this means that the establishment of peace and relations with
its neighbours is the first guarantee of Armenia’s independence.
And though it may sound strange, now is the most convenient time in
the geo-political sense. Of course the Azerbaijanis when speaking
about war make a psychological attack on Armenia and maybe they do
that at Russia’s request. Undoubtedly the threat of war is an
important lever for Russia to keep Armenia in its orbit. But
“unfortunately” restarting the Karabakh war today is not to Russia’s
advantage either, because this war supposes the uncontrolled movement
of weapons and equipment in the region, but in the conditions of the
situation created in the North Caucasus it will be fatal for Russia
(note that on the Karabakh front, the cease-fire was established
almost at the time the Chechen war began). And if, at least
theoretically, we understand the necessity of being independent from
Russia in the political sense, we should also understand that while
Russia cannot establish the situation it wants to be in the North
Caucasus, we have such an opportunity, because today – in our region –
Russia cannot choose a way of settling a problem by means of war.
As for Azerbaijan, war may not be to their advantage either, since the
Azerbaijanis will hardly make up their minds to the idea of losing an
expected 4bn dollars from the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline each year
because of a pointless war. For this reason we should conclude from
the Russian-Azerbaijani political blackmail that Armenia’s strategic
interests require the establishment of an early and stable peace,
which in its turn will lead to real political independence.

Armenian deputy agriculture minister loses post, agency says
Arminfo
15 Jan 05
YEREVAN
Under a decision of Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan, Ovsep
Kloyan has been relieved today of the post of deputy minister of
agriculture, the press service of the Armenian government has informed
Arminfo new agency.
[Passage omitted: biographical details]

Armenian Defence Ministry discusses results for 2004
Arminfo
14 Jan 05
YEREVAN
The board of the Armenian Defence Ministry discussed at a sitting
today the results for 2004 under the chairmanship of the secretary of
the Armenian president’s Security Council and defence minister, Serzh
Sarkisyan.
The issues of military training, the results of staff and military
tactical and strategic training, problems of the observance of
military discipline, as well as training tasks for 2005 were included
in the agenda, the Armenian defence minister’s press secretary, Col
Seyran Shakhsuvaryan, has told Arminfo news agency.
Chief of the General Staff Col-Gen Mikael Arutyunyan gave the report
at the sitting. Deputies of the Armenian Defence Minister and
commanders of military units spokes as well. The issues and tasks
which will be carried out in the current year by the Defence Ministry
were identified at the sitting.
Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan, spoke about the tasks which
stand before Defence Ministry in 2005, especially stressing the
importance of the personal responsibility every commander and officer
in raising military battle readiness and reinforcing military
discipline.