Category: News

Ex-Armenian premier calls for national unity
Noyan Tapan news agency
17 Sep 04
Yerevan, 17 September: “Armenia is in regional isolation, moreover,
it has ceased to be a subject of geopolitics and has been a raw
material source for a long time,” Aram Sarkisyan, former Armenian
prime minister and member of the Anrapetutyun (Republic) Party,
told a forum of the Justice bloc on 17 September.
He said that regrettably, it is completely unclear how long will the
so-called transition period last in the country, which until now
“has shown itself” neither in the economic, cultural nor in the
historic aspects.
“The transition period in Armenia is being guided by people whose major
goal is to prolong their own power,” Aram Sarkisyan said. According to
his assessment, suspicious killings and arrests, which cause distrust
in society, are taking place in the country.
“The Justice bloc is striving to carry out changes in the country,
and this requires rejection of partisan approaches. It is necessary to
rally the public, and victory is possible only if there is unity. By
victory I mean creating the necessary conditions for normal future,
not only change of the authorities,” Sarkisyan said.

Astana talks major stage in Karabakh settlement – Azeri foreign minister
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
16 Sep 04
[Presenter] The Baku government put forward the principle of
territorial integrity as the main precondition in the Nagornyy
Karabakh settlement at the Astana meeting of the Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
has said in an interview with “Son Xabar”. The minister said that
liberation of seven districts around Nagornyy Karabakh had also been
touched upon during the talks and added that Armenia’s reaction to
the issue was still not known.
[Correspondent, over video of Azerbaijani, Armenian presidents] Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov described the Astana talks between the
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents as a major stage in the Nagornyy
Karabakh settlement. He said that at the talks the presidents had
outlined the future direction of the process and the main issues to
be discussed.
[Mammadyarov, speaking to microphone at airport] There is an opinion
that the two sides should analyse results of the talks and decide
which path they should take.
[Correspondent] The minister said that the process would take some
time. The Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents were satisfied with
the results of the Prague consultations between the foreign ministers
of the two countries. Mr Mammadyarov stressed that during the talks
the Baku government had set its territorial integrity as the main
precondition.
[Mammadyarov] Of course, there can be no talk about violating
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity irrespective of the negotiations
and their results.
[Correspondent] Mammadyarov said that liberation of the districts
around Nagornyy Karabakh had been discussed during the talks, but he
noted that Yerevan’s reaction to the issue was still not known. The
minister also touched upon the importance of the meeting between the
Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian presidents [in Astana].
[Mammadyarov] I think Russia wants to render its assistance since it
regards itself to be a major neighbouring country.
[Correspondent] The foreign minister said that the date for the
presidents’ next meeting had not been set during the talks. He also
said that Baku hoped that results of the Astana talks would have a
positive impact on the Nagornyy Karabakh settlement.
Etibar Mammadov, Mirtofiq Miralioglu, “Son Xabar”.

Travel Column: Armenia’s Lesson in Street Life
Travel Watch
National Geographic Traveler Magazine
September 17, 2004
By Jonathan B. Tourtellot
A small experiment in Gyumri, Armenia has shown how easy it is to
turn an urban dead zone into an appealing, living place. Gyumri boasts
two Soviet-era monumental, lifeless city squares. You know the type:
asphalt deserts walled by concrete office facades, beloved by urban
planners and hated by travelers on foot. In a remote corner of one
square, a Gyumri company recently installed just three things: a park
bench, a street lamp, and a seesaw.
According to the New York-based Project for Public Spaces, magic
resulted. Kids flocked to the seesaw, parents in tow. Parents began
to chat with each other. Soon street vendors set up stands next to the
bench, drawing more people. Three tiny seeds had bloomed into a garden
of street life. Any visitor entering that square would automatically
gravitate toward the lively corner.
Modern cities abound in dead zones; some are even handsome. But it’s
people that make a town worth visiting. Nothing makes a town or city
more appealing for tourists than lively, pedestrian-friendly streets
and squares.
It’s a lesson Europe seems to be learning, as city after city there has
created car-free zones. In the ultra-motorized U.S.–despite success
stories like San Antonio’s riverwalk–cities have been slower to
embrace the idea of streets that are more populated by people than
by traffic. Yet all you need to do is set aside a few blocks and
provide ways for people to do what people like to do–eat, drink,
talk, play. Tourists show up. Businesses thrive.
As the Gyumri experiment shows, it doesn’t take much to turn a square
with nothing into a square with something. Bring on the seesaws.
Photo Caption: Men sit on a bench in Dilizhan, Armenia. In another
town, just such a streetscape is sprouting in a once barren plaza
(Photograph by George F. Mobley, copyright National Geographic
Society).
TravelWatch is produced by the geotourism editor for National
Geographic Traveler magazine, Jonathan B. Tourtellot. TravelWatch
focuses on sustainable tourism and destination stewardship. Look for
TravelWatch every other Friday.

Pundit says foreign envoys misinformed about situation in Azerbaijan
Zerkalo, Baku
15 Sep 04
For the first time in the whole history of the exercises within the
framework of the Partnership for Peace programme, its organizer and
sole founder NATO has come across a major organizational problem.
[Passage omitted: Azerbaijan did not want to see Armenian officers
in the country]
In the meantime, the former presidential aide on political issues
and now independent expert, Vafa Quluzada, has appealed via Zerkalo
newspaper to all ambassadors accredited to Azerbaijan. Its essence
boils down to the fact that NATO, equally the USA and the bloc’s other
member countries, possesses insufficient information, if any at all,
on the current public mood in Azerbaijan.
The pundit thinks that many European ambassadors to our country are
surrounded by well-off and respectable people who provide distorted
information about the situation in our country.
“Naturally, they [ambassadors] mislead their chiefs, and the latter
are made to think that Azerbaijan is ready to give away Karabakh and
Lacin, including other districts under occupation. Not to mention the
fact that the overwhelming majority of the Azerbaijani people would
be allegedly unruffled by the visit of Armenian military officers. At
the same time, nobody says that the Azerbaijanis detest Armenia for
it occupied their lands in tandem with Russia and that the blood feud
between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been continuing for many years.
“Actually, ambassadors are not being informed but misinformed. There
is allegedly stability in Azerbaijan, the leadership controls the
situation, and hence, Armenians can be invited here. In turn,
the ambassadors feed this distorted information to the world
community. They cannot see that Azerbaijan is like a powder keg
that can explode any time. So far it only gives an impression of an
absolutely peaceful place,” the expert said.
He believes that the abovesaid factor served as a reason for the
current extremely unfavourable situation around the NATO exercises
in our country.
[Passage omitted: First time Armenians were permitted to attend
the exercises]
“It has to be made clear that Azerbaijan and Armenia can be side by
side within NATO only after the conflict has been settled between
them and the occupied lands have been liberated,” the expert said.
Expressing his attitude towards the visit of Armenian officers to
our country, Quluzada described this as a crime.
“The hostile country should not have access to information on the
situation in our country,” Quluzada said.

Armenian leader to resign if national movement starts – opposition leader
Mediamax news agency
17 Sep 04
Yerevan, 17 September: A forum of opposition forces took place in
Yerevan today at the initiative of the Justice bloc.
As Mediamax agency correspondent reports, speaking at the forum,
the secretary of the Justice bloc, Viktor Dallakyan, said that
“Armenia is in a crisis, and the way out of the existing situation
is in the union of our society”. He expressed his confidence that
the leadership would resign if national movement started.
Speaking on the possibility of the opposition continuing rallies,
Shavarsh Kocharyan from the Justice bloc said that society was not
satisfied with the existing situation in the country, it should be
ready for active confrontation, “however, it is prospectless to be
limited to rallies only”.
“Instead of establishing a democratic legal state, Armenia is going
towards authoritarianism and dictatorship,” Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

Azeri leader, European official note importance of expanding cooperation
Azartac news agency, Baku
17 Sep 04
[No dateline as received] Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received
a delegation led by the chairman of the European Commission, Romano
Prodi, on 17 September.
Having sincerely welcomed the guest, President Ilham Aliyev recalled
his meeting with Romano Prodi in Belgium and said that the meeting
had been very productive. President Ilham Aliyev said that relations
between Azerbaijan and the European Union are successfully developing
and that our country attaches great importance to the further
development of this cooperation. The head of state pointed out that
relations with the European Union form one of the main directions of
Azerbaijan’s foreign policy and new achievements are being made in
this sphere.
Stressing that the EU’s New Neighbourhood policy is of great
importance, President Ilham Aliyev said that this policy is one of
the most important spheres in relations between Azerbaijan and the
European Union. The head of state stressed that the appointment of
an EU representative for the South Caucasus will serve the further
development of our relations.
President Ilham Aliyev said that cooperation in the political,
economic, cultural and other spheres between Azerbaijan and
the European Union are successfully developing and expressed his
confidence that these relations will strengthen even more in the
future. Recalling that Azerbaijan is part of Europe, the head of
state said that our country’s integration into European structures
is one of the priorities of our foreign policy.
President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan and the European Union
are successfully cooperating in the economic and especially in the
energy sphere and stressed that the political dialogue was also at
a high level.
The head of state expressed his confidence that Romano Prodi’s visit
to Azerbaijan will help develop and strengthen our relations even more.
The guest thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the sincere reception
and for his remarks on relations with the European Union and stressed
that he was very pleased with his visit to Azerbaijan. Saying that
cooperation in the political, economic and other spheres was an
integral part of the New Neighbourhood policy, the guest added that
the implementation of this policy is of great importance in terms
of strengthening cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European
Commission and solving problems. Mr Prodi said that the European
Union is facing important tasks in the sphere of implementing this
policy and stressed that his organization has a fair position on the
New Neighbourhood policy.
The guest said that a swift peaceful solution to the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh conflict was important for
the successful implementation of the New Neighbourhood policy.
Mr Romano Prodi said that the European Union, which covers a vast area
with a population of 500m, attaches great importance to the expansion
of cooperation with Azerbaijan, which is playing an important role in
the region. He expressed his hope that these relations will continue
to develop.
The meeting was also attended by Novruz Mammadov, head of the foreign
relations department of the Presidential Executive Staff, and the
head of the Azerbaijani mission to the European Union, Arif Mammadov.

Azeri spiritual leader, European Commission chief discuss Karabakh
ANS TV, Baku
17 Sep 04
[Presenter] European Commission President Romano Prodi, who is on
a visit to Baku, has started his official meetings. He visited the
Martyrs’ Avenue and the grave of [Azerbaijani ex-President] Heydar
Aliyev this morning. Then he met the chairman of the Board of Muslims
of the Caucasus, Sheikh ul-Islam Haci Allahsukur Pasazada.
[Correspondent, over video of the meeting] European Commission
President Romano Prodi held his first official meeting with the
chairman of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus, Sheikh ul-Islam
Haci Allahsukur Pasazada. The heads of the Orthodox and Catholic
churches and the leader of the Jewish community of Azerbaijan also
attended the meeting. The spiritual leader mainly spoke about the
Nagornyy Karabakh problem. He said that Armenia wants to show that
the war with Azerbaijan was a religious one.
[Pasazada, speaking at the meeting] We can prove this. If you want to,
we can show you crosses drawn on the bodies of Azeri captives after
their death. By destroying Muslim graves, shrines and mosques they
wanted to turn this conflict into a religious one.
[Correspondent] However, we sat at a negotiating table with many
spiritual leaders, including the Russian patriarch. We proved that
there were no religious reasons for that war, it was not a religious
war, the sheikh said. He said that Armenia claimed that the Azeris
do not want to live alongside the Armenians. And we all know that
25,000 Armenians live in Azerbaijan today. However, there isn’t a
single Azeri in Armenia, end of quote.
In turn, European Commission President Romano Prodi said that he came
to Azerbaijan to discuss new proposals for promoting cooperation.
[Prodi, in English with Azeri voice-over] The European community
is open to your public not only in terms of the economy but also
politics. For this reason, it is important that representatives of
various confessions took part in this dialogue. We know that there
are many conflicts in this region. We can help you resolve them.
[Correspondent] Prodi cited as an example conflicts between France and
Germany and said that their relationship later improved. He noted that
Azerbaijan and Armenia should implement their commitments to the UN and
other international organizations in line with the documents signed.
Ceyhun Asgarov, Sehrac Azadoglu, ANS.

Georgian lawmakers say Russian double standards in Caucasus helped cause Beslan tragedy
ED JOHNSON
AP Worldstream
Sep 17, 2004
Senior Georgian lawmakers said Thursday that Russia’s failure to
bring stability to the Caucasus, and the Kremlin’s “double standards”
in dealing with separatists there, had contributed to the Beslan
school massacre.
Nino Burdzhanadze, Georgia’s parliament speaker, said the man blamed
for the bloody school siege, Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basayev,
enjoyed Kremlin support more than a decade ago when he fought Georgian
troops in the breakaway province of Abkhazia.
“What happened in Beslan unfortunately is a reason of double standards
which Russia used every time,” she told journalists during a visit to
London. “You should punish killers and terrorists just immediately. If
you use terrorists, if you use persons like Basayev, one day he will
turn his guns against you … What happened in Beslan was the fault
of Russia, it is absolutely clear,” she added, speaking English.
The school hostage taking, which resulted in more than 330 deaths,
“demonstrated that Russia’s policy to northern Caucasus needs very
fundamental changes and amendments,” said lawmaker David Bakradze. He
urged European countries and the United States to become more active
in the region.
The Caucasus refers to the portion of southern Russia that includes
Chechnya and North Ossetia, where the school attack took place,
as well as the former Soviet republics of Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan. South Ossetia is part of Georgia, while North Ossetia is
a Russian region just across the border.
The lawmakers, who met with British Foreign Office Minister Bill
Rammell, said they were very concerned by Moscow’s threats to strike
at terrorist bases outside Russia’s borders. Russia has repeatedly
complained that Chechen insurgents use Georgia’s rugged Pankisi Gorge
to hide and regroup.
“We are very troubled with those statements,” said Bakradze. “We are
afraid very much that this very idea of fighting against terror could
be used for slightly different purposes by Russian military … This
unpredictability of Russia and absence of democracy in Russia worries
us very much because militaries can make almost any decision that
they want and nobody will be punished.”
Russia and Georgia have had a tense relationship since the breakup
of the Soviet Union, and Georgia has moved to boost its ties with
the European Union and the United States to offset the influence of
its giant neighbor.
Tensions have flared over the fate of Georgia’s separatist regions of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which have enjoyed de facto independence
since breaking away in armed conflicts in the early 1990s. Both have
strong ties to Russia, which Georgia has accused of interference as
Tbilisi seeks to return them to the fold.
The lawmakers repeated President Mikhail Saakashvili’s calls for an
international conference to ease tension in South Ossetia. Russia
wields powerful influence in South Ossetia, where most residents have
been given Russian passports and many want the region to become part
of Russia.
They said Western support was essential to efforts to unite their
fractured country and said European allies could play an important
role in convincing Moscow that a stronger Georgia was not a threat
to Russia.
“We want cooperation with Russia. We have a huge common interest
which is stability in the Caucasus. Russia still acts with a Cold
War mentality in the Caucasus,” said Bakradze, who is chairman of the
parliament’s committee on European integration. He pointed to Moscow’s
unhappiness when the United States deployed between 80 to 100 military
trainers to Georgia to help it cope with fighters in Pankisi Gorge.
“If Georgia is strong we can guarantee security of the southern flank
of Russia,” Bakradze added.
The lawmakers said they wanted Georgia to become an associate member
of the European Union within three years.

THE MEETING OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
17 Sept 04
On September 15 the first plenary meeting of the 9th session of the NKR
National Assembly took place. In his address the speaker of the
National Assembly Oleg Yessayan condemned the terrorist action in
Beslan and expressed condolence in the name of the parliament for the
tragic consequences of the monstrous crime. The members of parliament
kept a minute of silence in honour of the innocent victims of the
tragedy. The meeting confirmed the program of legislative activities
of the ninth session consisting of 24 points. It was mentioned
that new bills undertaken by the government might be added to the
program, mostly connected with the upcoming budget discussions. Before
confirming the agenda of the session the parliament met the suggestion
of member of parliament Edward Aghabekian to withdraw his undertaking
â^À^ÜOn amendments to the NKR law on privatization of the state
propertyâ^À^Ý. As a procedure question the meeting confirmed the
staff of the NA temporary counting commission: members of parliament
Souren Sarghissian (chairman of the commission), Artur Sarghissian
(secretary of the commission) and Albert Hambardzoumian. The first
point on the agenda was the question of choosing a chairman of the
permanent committee of social matters. It was stated that starting
from the legislative act according to which the same person cannot
assume two posts simultaneously the chairman of the commission Edward
Aghabekian who was elected head of the town community of Stepanakert
at the recent elections to municipalities presented an application for
releasing him from the former post. The speaker of the NA congratulated
Edward Aghabekian for being elected mayor of Stepanakert, thanked
him for effective organization of the activity of the committee
and wished further success in his new office. The leader of the NA
faction of Democratic Liberal Union, Janna Galstian suggested the
candidacy of member of parliament Vasili Atajanian. There were no
other suggestions. Close secret balloting was held and the majority
voted for Vasili Abgari Atanessian. According to the agenda the meeting
discussed a number of documents of vital importance. The NKR minister
of finance and economy Spartak Tevossian presented the government
report on budget execution in the first semester of 2004. The
deputy chairman of the NA permanent committee of finance, budget
and economic management Souren Sarghissian presented the positive
conclusion of the committee. According to the government report,
against the owned receipts of 1771100.0 thousand AM drams provided
by the state budget the actual receipts totaled 2628319.6 thousand
drams which is 148.4 per cent of the planned rate. Against the actual
receipts of the same period last year the actual receipts increased
by 1243428.2 thousand drams, the growth totaled 89.8 per cent. The
parliament discussed also the bill â^À^ÜOn Lottery Gamesâ^À^Ý. It was
mentioned that this bill is a novelty in our country and although
there are no corresponding agencies in the republic involved in
this type of activity, the document will be an attempt to fill the
gap. The bills on amendments to the â^À^ÜLaw on state pensionsâ^À^Ý
and â^À^ÜLaw on social security of parentless children â^À^Ý were
offered for discussion by the minister of social security Lenston
Ghulian. He mentioned that the first bill provides increasing the
size of the pensions of parentless children five times the basic
pension reaching it to 15 thousand drams from January 1, 2005. The
second maintains the privileged order of providing housing area to
parentless children. Both the laws were adopted. At the second reading
of the bill â^À^ÜOn amendments to the law on the repressedâ^À^Ý the
author of the undertaking Levon Hayrian presented a report. Mentioning
that in the past months no new suggestions were made on the project,
the chairman of the permanent committee on state and legal questions
Youri Hayrapetian addressed the members of parliament to pass the
project as a final law. The law was adopted. Then the briefing with
the participation of the government and prime minister Anoushavan
Danielian was held. The questions set forth by members of parliament
Ararat Petrossian, Artur Mosiyan and Kamo Barseghian referred to
the problems of privatization of state property, the fate of the
liberated territories, struggle against the wild animals dangerous
for the village population. After the first plenary meeting of the
ninth session of the NKR National Assembly at the suggestion of the
faction of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation behind closed doors
the members of parliament exchanged viewpoints on the statements of
the Chief of the NKR Defence Army Headquarters Major-General Movses
Hakobian published in Armenian press.
AA. 17-09-2004

EUROPEAN COMMISSION HEAD VISITS GEORGIA
Kavkasia-Press news agency, Tbilisi
17 Sep 04
Tbilisi, 17 September: European Commission President Romano Prodi will
pay an official visit to Georgia on 17-18 September. The head of the
European Commission mission to Georgia and Armenia, (?Torben Holtze),
said at a news briefing today that the visit would last 24 hours and
would be quite busy.
Romano Prodi will meet Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili,
Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, Parliament Chair Nino Burjanadze and
other officials.
(Passage omitted: known facts about Prodi)