Category: News

NUMBER OF VILLAGES PROTESTING AGAINST CONSTRUCTION OF
BAKU-TBILISI-JEYHAN OIL-PIPELINE IN BORZHOM REGION INCREASES
AKHALKALAK, August 4 (Noyan Tapan). The village of Tsikhisjvari of the
Borzhom region also expresses protest against construction of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan oil-pipeline. This village is populated with
Armenians, Georgians and Greeks. According to the A-Info agency, the
patience of the residents of the above-mentioned village was exhausted
in late July. The residents of the village closed the
Bakuriani-Tapatsghuri road as a token of protest. The sector of the
road passing through Tsikhisjvari was damaged beacuse of constant
running of the “British Peroleum” (BP) heavy lorries. The most part of
the waterpipe supplying the village with water is out of order. The BP
machines also damaged the bridge of the village. The BP
representatives met with the residents of the village and promised
them to restore the road and the bridge.

WINNERS OF ARMENIAN TENDER OF QUALITY HENCEFORTH TO PARTICIPATE IN
ANALOGOUS TENDERS OF CIS
YEREVAN, August 4 (Noyan Tapan). From 2004 the enterprises that won at
the annual tender on provision of quality of production and services
will participate in analogous tenders of the CIS countries. To recap,
upon the decision of the government prizes on provision of quality of
production and services have been handed since 1998 for the purpose of
encouraging the native producers.
Melkon Gasparian, the Head of the Department on Standardization and
Metrology of RA Ministry of Trade and Economic Development, told Noyan
Tapan that this year the conditions of the Armenian tender were
specified and at the same time strengthened. According to the changes,
the criteria of handing prizes at the Armenian tender are brought into
a line with the criteria of handing prizes in the CIS
countries. According to M.Gasparian, reception of bids for
participation in the tender has already begun. The names of the
organizations submitting bids will be published in late October. The
Ministries of different branches, Health, Agriculture, are proposed to
represent their opinions regarding the claimant organizations. The
organizations that won at the tender of quality will become known in
November.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DEPUTY ASSEMBLY OF ARMENIAN DIOCESE OF TEHRAN HIGHLY ESTIMATES
ACTIVITIES OF LEVON DAVTIAN, DEPUTY OF PREVIOUS SESSION OF ISLAMIC
PARLIAMENT
YEREVAN, August 5 (Noyan Tapan). The special 36th sitting of the
Deputy Assembly of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran was convened on
August 3. It was presided over by Archbishop Sepuh Sargsian, Head of
the Diocese, Rubik Karapetian, as well as under the chairmanship of
Gevorg Vardanian, newly elected deputy of the Islamic parliament of
the Armenians of Northern Iran. According to the Armenian “Alik”
(“Wave”) dialy newspaper of Tehran, Levon Davtian, deputy of the
previous session of the Islamic Parliament of the Armenians of
Northern Iran, was also invited to the sitting. The Deputy Assembly,
speaking about the 40-year effective activities of Doctor Davtian,
highly estimated his activities. During the sitting the holy father
presented the role of Levon Davtian in the life of the Armenian
Community.

IRANIAN PRESIDENT KHATAMI CONVEYS GREETINGS TO CATHOLICOS OF GREAT
CILICIAN HOUSE
TEHRAN, August 5 (Noyan Tapan). Iranian President Mohammad Khatami
paid a three-day official visit to Tavriz on August 2 for presiding
over the economic, cultural, religious and other programs and
arrangements. This information was provided by the Armenian “Alik”
(“Wave”) daily newspaper of Tehran, referring to the press divan of
the national residence of the Armenian Diocese of Atrpatakan.
Archimandrite Nshan Topuzian, Head of the Armenian Diocese of
Atrpatakan, and Gevorg Vardanian, a deputy of the Islamic parliament
of the Armenians of Northern Iran, met the Iranian President at Tavriz
airport. The holy father on behalf of Catholicos of the Great Cilician
House Aram I, the national authorities of the Armenian Diocese of
Atrpatakan, the deputy and the Armenian community welcomed President
Khatami and conveyed the best wishes of the Supreme Patriarch in
connection with this visit. President Khatami thanked for the best
wishes and in his turn conveyed greetings to the Catholicos of the
Great Cilician House. The holy father, the staffs of the Deputy
Assembly of the Diocese and the Diocesan Council also partcipated in a
number of cultural arrangements held under the chairmanship of
President Khatami during two days.

IN FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR CASES OF CRIMES INCREASE BY 4.5% IN ARMENIA
IN COMPARISON WITH SAME PERIOD OF LAST YEAR
YEREVAN, August 5 (Noyan Tapan). In the first half of this year the RA
Police fulfilled the problems put before it: stable public order and
rule was preserved, the operative situation was completely controlled
in the republic owing to the arrangements undertaken within the
framework of the authorities reserved by the law. It is reported in
the document on the results of the operative and official activities
of the RA Police Services and Territorial Bodies during the first half
of 2004. According to the document, 5,351 cases of crimes were
registered in the republic in the first half of 2004 as against 5,120
cases of the same period of last year, growth made 4.5%, or 231
cases. The number of crimes fallen on 10,000 residents made 16.7% in
the republic. It should be mentioned for comparison that this index
made 148% in Moldova, 98% in Russia, 80% in Belorussia, 57% in
Ukraine, 48% in Kazakhstan. In the general structure of crimes the
number of crimes committed against the people considerably increased
(13.8%-14%), as well as crimes committed against the public order and
security, health of people (14.2%-16%), property (39.1%-40.7%), crimes
committed against the economic activities (1.4%-2.8%). The share of
crimes committed against the state power, service and government order
decreased (26.2%-25.6%). According to the document, the process of
the disclosure of weapon and armament illegally kept by the population
and the process of voluntary yield became more active: 160 cases of
preparation of weapon and armament and illegal circulation were
disclosed during the period under review, which exceeds by 11.9%, or
17 cases, the index of the same period of last year. The indices of
struggle against illegal circulation of drugs also considerably
improved: 229 cases of crimes connected with drugs were disclosed in
the first half of 2004 as against 137 cases of the same period of last
year. As of the end of the first half of 2004, 2,585 transport means
imported to Armenia were checked-up in the issue of struggle against
the illegal circulation of transport means illegally obtained and
stolen in the foreign countries. 24 cars which are under international
investigation and seven cars (with re-pasted numbers of separate
aggregates) were disclosed as a result of these check-ups. 513
motor-transport accidents were registered in the territory of the
republic during the period under review, 97 people died and 672 people
received bodily injuries as a result of these accidents. The number of
cases increased by 151, or 41.7%, in comparison with the same period
of last year, and the number of victims increased by 9, the number of
casualties increased by 210 people. In the first half of 2004 the
number of people called to criminal account increased by 1.9% as
against 3,098 of the same period of last year and made 3,158. 665, or
21.1%, of people called to criminal account had previous
convictions. Stable share fell on women (6.8%, or 216) among the
people who were called to criminal account. In the first half of 2004
the number of minors among the people called to criminal account made
6.1% as against 6.3% of the same period of last year. The number of
crimes committed by minors also decreased by 15.9% and made 296 cases
as against 352 of the same period of last year. According to the
document of the RA Police, a 83.5% and 82.6% growth of the indices of
the disclosing of crimes registered on the line of general, as well as
criminal investigation was considered, respectively, during the period
under review (as against 83% and 80.8% of the same period of last
year). In the first half of 2004, 80.4% of especially grave crimes and
79.6% of grave crimes registered in the republic was dislosed. During
the indicated period material damage of 520.3 mln drams (about 946,000
dollars) was caused to the state by the completed criminal cases in
the staff of the police, as well as public organizations. 76.8% of
this sum was restored as against 51% of the same period of last year.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

REPRESENTATIVES OF MINISTRY OF DEFENCE VISIT FREEDOM-FIGHTERS
PARTICIPATING IN SIT-STRIKE
YEREVAN, August 4 (Noyan Tapan). On August 4, at 9:00 am, the
sit-strike of 20 freedom-fighters, participants of 9 detachments of
Artsakh liberation movement, moved to the building of RA
government. To recap, the main demand of the freedom-fighters is
addressed to the government: to carry out allocations for providing
their families with flats. Armen Avetisian, the Head of the Armenian
Aryan Unity, told Noyan Tapan that on the first day of the strike the
representatives of the Defence Ministry visited the participants of
the strike.
They assured that all the organization work directed to providing the
families of the perished freedom-fighters of disabled freedom-fighters
with apartments are completed: the corresponding commission has
already compiled the list of these families. To recap, the
participants of the sit-strike demand that the RA government and the
National Assembly should adopt a law on conferment of the status of a
freedom-fighter to the volunteers who were at war on the fromt for six
or more months, as well as should restore the privileges and rights of
all the freedom-fighters by the law. One of the demands is equating of
the pension of the disabled freedom-fighters of the third group to the
pension of a warrant officer.

TIGRAN TOROSIAN: INDEPENDENT OF REGIONAL PROCESSES THE ARMENIAN-SYRIAN
RELATIONS WILL DEVELOP IN A STABLE WAY
YEREVAN, August 5 (Noyan Tapan). The Armenian-Syrian relations will
develop in a stable way independent of the regional processes. Tigran
Torosian, RA NA Deputy Chairman, said about it on August 4, receiving
a delegation headed by Minister of Economy and Trade of Syria Hasan
Al-Rafai, Co-Chairman of the Armenian-Syrian Inter-Governmental
Economic Commission. He expressed hope that numerous agreements
reached between the two sides will be realized in the near future. He
also stressed the importance of the Armenian-Syrian Inter-Governmental
Commission on Economic Cooperation, which started its work in Yerevan
on August 3. Hasan Al-Rafai highly estimated the current level of the
Armenian-Syrian relations and expressed hope that the work of the
commission will be effective for the two sides. He stressed that the
Syrian side attaches great importance to the activities of the
Commission, that’s why a special commission, which will watch the
fulfillment of decisions of the Inter-Governmental Commission and the
concluded agreements, will be established in Syria. According to the
press service of the RA National Assembly, issues of the deepening of
business relations between Syria and Armenia, the activization of the
inter-parliamentary and inter-governmental relations, as well as
cooperation within the framework of international organizations were
discussed during the meeting.

NO CASES OF COMPUTER CRIMES REGISTERED IN ARMENIA YET
YEREVAN, August 5 (Noyan Tapan). According to the official data, no
cases of computer crimes have been registered in Armenia, though it’s
not excluded that they are committed. Olga Safarian, the Legal Adviser
of the Internews public organization, informed Noyan Tapan about
this. According to her, detection of computer crimes is rather
difficult process, as those committing such crimes are “very
literate.” Besides, those who have suffered from computer crimes
aren’t always interested in announcing about such crimes. In
particular, if a computer crime is committed in a bank system the
banks often don’t want to declare this so as not to do harm to their
authority. In O.Safarian’s opinion, problems may arise also while
practical application of the articles of the Criminal Code regarding
computer crimes, as they lack exact definitions.

Azer News
Aug 5 2004
BTC construction halt in Georgia politically motivated

Construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in Georgia’s
Borzhomi gorge did not resume on Monday, as initially planned.
Georgia’s Environmental Protection Ministry said following a meeting
of the Azeri-Georgian
inter-government commission that the operations will resume only
after a permission is granted by the country’s Security Council.
Azerbaijani first deputy prime minister Abid Sharifov, SOCAR
president Natig Aliyev, BP Azerbaijan president David Woodward, and
BTC Co General Director Michael Townshend are currently in Tbilisi to
hold talks on the matter.
Georgian environment experts say that a special approach in laying
pipes should be used on the 17-km-long section of the pipeline going
through the Borzhomi gorge, as this is necessary to preserve flora,
fauna and mineral springs in the area. Construction operations were
suspended for two weeks by the Georgian Environmental Protection
Ministry on July 22 to carry out a test due to environmental safety
violations, after minister Tamara Lebanidze raised the issue. A week
later, the Georgian Ministry received additional documents from
investors related to ensuring safety procedures, Lebanidze said. “The
documents we have received are under scrutiny and will be made public
later”, she said. The terms of the permit for construction
operations, which envisioned tightening security in the Borzhomi
gorge, were not observed and the operations were subsequently halted,
Lebanidze said. Earlier BTC Co General Director Michael Townshend
said that BP, the project operator, is taking all necessary steps to
ensure compliance with safety policy procedures both during
construction operations and in view of its future operation. “We are
ready to provide all kinds of assistance to the Georgian government
in monitoring safety procedures”, Townshend said. The overall length
of the pipeline going through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey is 1,743
km. Construction of the pipeline with annual capacity of 50 million
tons is scheduled to complete late this year.
USA pledges to secure BTC
Elizabeth Jones, the Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and
Eurasia, who recently visited Tbilisi, assured Georgian President
Mikhail Saakashvili that construction of the Georgian section of the
BTC pipeline will continue and that the current route will not be
altered. Jones told journalists following the meeting that the halt
in BTC construction operations in Georgia was in focus during her
meetings with the country’s government officials. Jones regarded the
BTC as a very important project and said its construction should not
be suspended. She noted that Georgian officials maintained that
security procedures were not observed in the Borzhomi region, a
resort area, during the operations. The US official assured the
Georgian side that security procedures will be observed.
Armenian residents demand compensations
Armenian residents of the Tabaskuri village in Georgia’s Zalga region
have demanded compensations due to the laying of the BTC pipeline
through this territory. During a public action on July 27, they
announced that if the compensations are not paid, they will resort to
a protest action of a larger scale. A BP expert said on condition of
anonymity that the pipeline stretches through Tabaskuri village and
that compensations were paid to owners of affected land before the
construction operations commenced. Ethnic Armenians claim that the
construction of the BTC pipeline may allegedly lead to landslides in
the future. But even a one meter-deep trench will not cause any
landslides.
Saakashvili seeks US pressure on Russia
The BTC construction in the Borzhomi gorge was suspended on an
instruction of the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, says the
Political Innovations and Technology Center director Mubariz
Ahmadoglu. He said that by suspending the operations Saakashvili is
trying to get the USA to step up pressure on Russia over the South
Osetia conflict. The Georgian leader is not capable of resolving the
problem on his own and is therefore seeking assistance from the USA
and other countries, Ahmadoglu said. Although the international
community supports Tbilisi by recognizing Georgia’s sovereignty, the
Georgian leader is not satisfied with this. Saakashvili would like to
see the USA put pressure on Russia to achieve a resolution of the
problem in Georgia’s favor. Ahmadoglu said that since the USA is not
willing to oppose Russia over the South Osetia problem, Saakashvili
issued an instruction to halt the construction operations. He went on
to say that although the construction was suspended for two weeks
under the pretext of environmental concerns, no environmental tests
have been carried out yet. The Azerbaijani first deputy prime
minister Abid Sharifov, SOCAR president Natig Aliyev and BP
Azerbaijan president David Woodward have recently left for Tbilisi.
At about the same time, the Georgian President left for Ajaria, and
then to Paris and therefore avoided a meeting with Azerbaijani
government officials. On August 4 he is scheduled to leave for the
USA. Saakashvili’s unexpected visit to the USA is related to the halt
in the BTC construction, Ahmadoglu added.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Aug 5 2004
ANDREAS GROSS: `CE HAS SPECIAL ATTITUDE FOR AZERBAIJAN’
[August 05, 2004, 11:55:17]
Meeting of PACE representatives in Milli Majlis
Arrived on August 3 with a visit to our country, co-Rapporteur of the
Monitoring Committee of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe Andreas Gross and Andreas Herkel next day have met
representatives of the political parties represented in Milli Majlis
of Azerbaijan Republic.
Assistant to the executive secretary of `Yeni Azerbaijan’ Party,
deputy Mubariz Gurbanly, highly having estimated the relations
between Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe, has noted, that such
visits have great value from the point of view of development of
democracy in our country and expansions of our links.
Andreas Gross has stated that the purpose of present visit consists
in carrying out of exchange of opinions around of execution of the
obligations taken by Azerbaijan before the Council of Europe, process
of democratization proceeding in the country, the steps undertaken in
the direction of protection of the rights and freedom of the person,
the role of parliament in this business and other questions.
Then, leaders of other political parties – chairman of Social Welfare
Party Khanhuseyn Kazimli, the vice-president of Popular Front Party
Gulamhuseyn Alibeyli, the vice-president of Civil Solidarity Party
Fazail Ibrahimli have in detail informed on the reforms spent in our
country, existing problems. Deputies also have expressed the concern
on weak role of ÑÅ in settlement of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.
They have reminded, that at the introduction into the Council of
Europe Azerbaijan and Armenia have taken obligations on peace
settlement of the conflict. However, the Armenia ignores resolutions
on settlement of the conflict, and also that fact, that ÑÅ does not
apply, using its powers, sanctions concerning the aggressor that is
ambiguously perceived by the public of Azerbaijan.
Andreas Gross has noted that the Council of Europe show special
attitude to Azerbaijan. This confirms and the documents adopted by
the Organization connected with Nagorny Karabakh. But the conflict
should be settled on the basis of the arrangement of the sides.
Another co-rapporteur Andreas Herkel has stated: `The structure
represented by us is ready to make the offers connected to settlement
of the conflict. We are ready and to render the help in this cause
and we hope, that due to our joint activity we shall manage to
achieve the decision of the problem’.
Then, at the meeting, the parties had exchange of views on other
questions representing mutual interest.
***
On August 4, co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee have held
also a meeting with members of delegation of Milli Majlis of
Azerbaijan at PACE.
Having welcomed visitors, the chief negotiator of parliament of
Azerbaijan, chairman of standing committee of Milli Majlis on the
international relations and inter-parliamentary links Samad Seyidov
has congratulated again the newly appointed co-rapporteur Andreas
Herkel and has wished him successes in activity.
S. Seyidov has emphasized: `Azerbaijan is resolute in the aspiration
to carry out obligations taken before the Council of Europe. First of
all, performance of the given obligations is of great importance for
development of democratic values in our country, maximal protection
of the rights and freedom of the person. We are sure, that due to
joint activity, other questions also will find their solution. In
particular, we can undertake essential steps in the field of the
prompt peace settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh
conflict being a serious problem for Azerbaijan, region and, as a
whole, for all Europe.
Andreas Gross has noted: `The Council of Europe also is interested in
the decision of these questions. In most cases controversial problems
find the decision as a result of joint cooperation and activity. We
hope, as our joint, constructive activity will bear the fruits’.
Mr. Andreas Herkel has stated that he is ready to use the best
efforts for the decision of existing problems and would adequately
work in the new post.
Then, at the meeting, the parties had exchange of opinions on the
work spent in connection with obligations, taken by Azerbaijan before
ÑÅ, on existing problems, preparation for municipal elections and
other questions representing mutual interest.