Category: News

RIA Novosti, Russia
Dec 2 2004
ARMENIA AND IRAN DEVELOP ENERGY COOPERATION
YEREVAN, December 2 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia is interested in
strengthening its relations with Iran, Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan said at a meeting with an Iranian delegation led by Iranian
Energy Minister Habibollah Bitaraf.
The Armenian president’s press service said the construction of a gas
pipeline and high voltage power lines marked the beginning of
Armenian-Iranian business relations, which entail discussions about
other potential programs. “We are ready to do everything possible to
support the current level of cooperation,” Mr. Kocharyan said.
Mr. Bitaraf said the construction of the Iranian section of the gas
pipeline would begin in the next two months and that Iran would
increase the amount of electricity supplied to Armenia to 1,000 MW
after the construction of a third high-voltage power line.
Iran is also interested in cooperating with Armenia on hydroelectric
plants and alternative energy sources such as wind power plants and
the commissioning of the fifth generator at the Razdan thermal plant.
The construction of the Kadzharan tunnel, Iranian fuel exports to
Armenia and the potential for Armenia to use Iranian equipment in
power plant construction were also discussed.
The Iranian delegation is visiting Armenia for the start of
construction of the Armenia section of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline,
the commissioning of the Agarak-Shinuair high voltage power line and
the signing of an agreement on another power line.
On May 13, Iran and Armenia signed an agreement on the Iran-Armenia
pipeline in Yerevan. According to the agreement, the pipeline will be
completed by January 1, 2007 and 36 billion cubic meters of gas will
be imported to Armenia over the next 20 years. Armenia will import
1.1 billion cubic meters of gas a year in exchange for supplying Iran
with electricity. The pipeline will also carry Turkmen gas through
Iran to Armenia.
Construction of the Armenian section of the pipeline began on
November 30, the same day the Agarak-Shinuair power line was
commissioned.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Dec 2 2004
PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN ILHAM ALIYEV ACCEPTS CREDENTIALS FROM
AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY OF UKRAINE
[December 02, 2004, 17:35:14]
On 2 December, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev
accepted credentials from newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Azerbaijan Anatoliy Yurchenko.
While presenting the credentials to the Head of State, Anatoliy
Yurchenko expressed gratitude for this opportunity saying `this is a
recognition of mine as Ukrainian Ambassador to the Republic of
Azerbaijan, and this is a political recognition of Ukraine in its
hard days.’
The Ambassador noted that although friendship between Azerbaijan and
Ukraine has existed at all times, it was especially developed under
big friend of Ukraine Heydar Aliyev. It was improved during his visit
to Ukraine in 1997, and sealed legally in the course of our
President’s visit to Azerbaijan in 2000, he said.
Anatoliy Yurchenko described President Ilham Aliyev’s recent visit to
Ukraine as a great political step towards development of cooperation
and partnership, as well.
He also expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan for the active support and
cooperation in the international arena, mutual understanding and
cooperation within such international and regional organizations as
the United Nations, Council of Europe, OSCE, BSEC, GUUAM and CIS.
Accepting the credentials, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev
congratulated the Ambassador on the appointment and wished him every
success in his activities. He expressed gratitude for the monument to
Heydar Aliyev erected in Kiev to perpetuate his memory. This is yet
another indication of sincere, friendly and brotherly relations
between our two nations, the Head of State said.
According to the Azerbaijani leader, especially valuable and
important for Azerbaijan was the unambiguous stance of Ukraine with
respect to the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh that President Leonid Kuchma expressed during the
joint press-conference in Kiev clearly stating `territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan shall be restored and Azerbaijan shall be released for
the occupation.’

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Dec 2 2004
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan to Meet In
Sofia

Turan/Arminfo 03/12/2004 01:48
The Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers are to meet in Sofia soon,
Armenia’s minister Vardan Oskanyan said in interview with Public
Television of Armenia.
The meeting will take part in the framework of the Sofia conference
of the OSCE FMs Council December 5-6.
According to Oskanian, co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk group will take
part at the meeting too. “We are planning to meet to discuss the
Karabakh problem and to try to find a way to continue the talks,”
said Oskanian.

Azeris urge Europe’s football body to ban Karabakh FC from Armenian league
Ekho, Baku
1 Dec 04

Text of E. Aliyev’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 1 December
headlined “AFFA protests at the Karabakh team’s participation in the
Armenian championship”
The secretary-general of the Association of Football Federations of
Azerbaijan (AFFA), Fuad Asadov, has sent a letter to the UEFA chief
executive, Lars-Christer Olsson, asking the European body to
investigate the participation of FC Lernain Artsakh from Xankandi
[Stepanakert] in the Armenian championship.
The point is that according to the well-known Russian weekly magazine
Football, the team from the self-styled republic played in the second
division of the Armenian championship this year and won the right to
play in Armenia’s first division next year.
“We have addressed UEFA twice. In our letters, we alerted UEFA to the
fact that FC Lernain Artsakh is playing in the Armenian
championship. This is completely illegal because Nagornyy Karabakh is
an integral part of Azerbaijan and teams from one country cannot take
part in the championship of another. This runs counter to the
principles of UEFA and FIFA,” Fuad Asadov told Ekho.
After AFFA’s letters, UEFA addressed the Armenian football federation
which started denying the information. The secretary-general of the
Armenian federation, Armen Minasyan, whom Fuad Asadov met in
Switzerland, denied the reports as well.
“Minasyan told me: ‘Do you really think that we don’t know the laws of
international football organizations?’ However, the material published
in Football proves that the Armenians lied, which is quite typical of
them. I hope UEFA will look into the issue and ban this team from
playing in the Armenian championship,” he said.

Armenian president, Iranian energy minister discuss cooperation
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
1 Dec 04
[Armenian] President Robert Kocharyan received a delegation led by
Iranian Energy Minister Habibollah Bitaraf today.
The Iranian minister informed President Robert Kocharyan that the
construction of the Iranian sector of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
will start in two and a half months. Iran intends to bring the
capacity of the power exchange with Armenia to 1,000 MW by the
construction of the third high-voltage power line, he added.
The Armenian president said that the launching of the construction of
the Armenian sector of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline and the
construction of the Agarak-Shinuayr high-voltage power line were the
beginning of major cooperation between Armenia and Iran and created an
opportunity to discuss future projects.
Robert Kocharyan noted that the Armenian side was ready to do
everything possible to continue the current tempo of cooperation.
During the meeting, the sides also discussed the construction of the
Megri-Kadzharan tunnel and the import of fuel from Iran to Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkey condemns Slovakia’s parliament for recognizing Armenian genocide
Anatolia news agency
2 Dec 04
ANKARA
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) condemned the Slovakian
national parliament, which decided to recognize so-called Armenian
genocide.
Releasing a statement on Thursday [2 December], MFA said: “The
Slovakian national parliament decided on November 30th to recognize
the tragic events of 1915 as genocide with a fait accompli by a
political party. We regret and condemn such a decision of the
Slovakian national parliament.”
“Making judgements about controversial periods in the history of
someone else is not among duties and responsibilities of national
parliaments. Such a decision was taken for political purposes by
distorting events which actually caused Turks and Armenians to suffer
grave pains on the conditions of the World War I,” the ministry said.
MFA added: “In a period during which we are obliged to inherit
friendship and tolerance to the next generations instead of hatred,
this decision of the Slovakian national parliament contradicts
international facts. It is evident that this decision can not serve
any useful purpose.”

Azeri, Armenian foreign ministers to meet in Sofia on 6 December
ANS TV, Baku
2 Dec 04
The fifth meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
ministers, Vardan Oskanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov respectively, will be
held within the framework of a meeting of the foreign ministers of the
OSCE member countries due in Sofia on 6 December, Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has told ANS.
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, Yuriy Merzlyakov [Russia], Steven
Mann [the USA] and Henry Jacolin [France] are to attend the meeting as
well. To recap, the former four meetings between the foreign ministers
on the Karabakh settlement have been held in Prague.

Armenia’s first president still to have final say in politics – ex-speaker
Arminfo
1 Dec 04
YEREVAN
The first Armenian president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, has not abandoned
big-time politics, Babken Ararktsyan, former speaker of the Armenian
National Assembly and one of the ideologists of the former ruling
Armenian Pan-National Movement [APNM], told a press conference today.
“I do not think that he has abandoned politics, neither today nor at
any other time. Another issue is whether he has abandoned public
politics,” the former speaker said. Ter-Petrosyan is the first
Armenian president and naturally, there is an interest in him both in
the country and abroad. “He has always kept abreast of what is going
on, and I am sure that at decisive moments, especially when it comes
to processes around Nagornyy Karabakh, he cannot remain indifferent,”
Ararktsyan said.
As for the APNM’s cooperation with other opposition parties, the
former speaker said that cooperation should be based on similar
ideological approaches. If this is not the case, the cooperation will
be short-lived, Ararktsyan added.

Leader urges debate of Turkey’s “blockade” of Armenia at EU summit
Mediamax news agency
2 Dec 04
YEREVAN
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has sent a letter to the leaders
of all the EU member countries calling for the discussion of Turkey’s
blockade of Armenia at the forthcoming EU summit on 17 December,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said in the evening of 1
December in an interview with Armenian Public TV.
The Armenian foreign minister said that he had presented the Armenian
side’s position at a meeting with the ambassadors of the EU member
countries accredited to Armenia.
Yerevan is not expecting that an issue of lifting Turkey’s blockade of
the Armenian border will become an official precondition for Ankara at
the summit which will focus on the issue of possible dates for opening
talks on Turkey’s accession to the EU, Oskanyan said.
However, “we want the issue to be raised at the summit, as we consider
unacceptable the fact that the country, which is on the threshold of
the talks on the EU accession, has the closed borders with the country
involved in the EU’s New Neighbourhood Policy”, he added.
” We are carrying out very serious work in this direction and will
continue it within two weeks,” Vardan Oskanyan said.

IMF approves final 13.7m-dollar loan to Armenia
Mediamax news agency
2 Dec 04
YEREVAN
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the allocation of
the final tranche to the tune of 13.7m dollars as part of the Poverty
Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) programme.
Armenian Finance and Economy Minister Vardan Khachatryan said today
that this marks the end of the IMF’s three-year programme.
The minister added that the Armenian government had made a political
decision to continue cooperation with the IMF. He said the next
programme could target reforms in the banking sector, in the field of
insurance, transformation in the area of the water economy, public
transport, etc.
The implementation of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
programme started in Armenia in 2001. Its total value has reached
105.3m dollars.