Category: News

BAKU NEWSPAPER “ECHO” ACCUSES AZERI AMBASSADOR TO UZBEKISTAN OF GOOD
RELATIONS WITH ARMENIANS
YEREVAN, JULY 27. ARMINFO. The Baku newspaper “Echo” “accuses” the
Azeri ambassador to Uzbekistan Aydyn Azimbekov of good relations with
Armenians.
There are certain materials about Azimbekov’s activities in
Tashkent. The newspaper says that during the construction of the new
building of the embassy the windows and doors were made by local
Armenians with whom some embassy employees are good friends. Accusing
Azimbekov of building summer houses for his colleagues for the money
meant for the House of Azerbaijan the author of the article says that
he has the recording of the ambassador’s saying that Armenian children
will visit the House of Azerbaijan.

UPFPA CHAIRMAN GUDRAT HASANGULIYEV CRITICIZES AUTHORITIES
YEREVAN, JULY 27. ARMINFO-TURAN: The United Popular Front Party of
Azerbaijan will hold in early August a protest action against arrival
of Armenian officers for participation in NATO training courses in
Baku.
UPFPA chairman Gudrat Hasanguliyev said at today’s press conference
that international organizations, particularly NATO, insist on arrival
of Armenian representatives in Baku. Thus, NATO demonstrates
“disrespect” of Azeri nation and state. “This is aimed at forcing the
nation of Azerbaijan to yield to the existing situation and forget
about Nagorno Karabakh”, said Hasanguliyev.
He also criticized the position of the leadership of
Azerbaijan. According to Hasanguliyev, the Head of State expresses
readiness to liberate the occupied territories by military methods, if
no peace solution is found. However, the Head of State does not
specify when it will happen – under the current regime or 20-30 years
after, ironizes Hasanguliyev.
He also charged the authorities with refusal to register his party. He
considers this is aimed at preventing his followers from participation
in municipal elections.
As for the upcoming elections, gaps in electoral legislation may call
in question the holding of municipal elections in Baku, Sumgayit and
Ganja. Hasaguliyev complained that his inquiry on the matter to the
leadership of the Parliament is remaining unanswered.–

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +3741. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +3741. .562543
Email: [email protected]:
PRESS RELEASE
23 July 2004
Foreign Minister Oskanian Receives Thailand-Armenia House of
Representatives Friendship Group

On 23 July, Minister Oskanian had a meeting with members of
Thailand-Armenia House of Representatives Friendship Group of the
Kingdom of Thailand. The Group was headed by Senator S. Kulcharoen.
During the meeting, the parties discussed fostering cooperation
between the inter-parliamentary groups of Armenia and Thailand and
increasing efficiency and effectiveness.
Minister Oskanian stressed the importance of closer economic ties
between Armenia and Thailand and expressed hope that the visit of Thai
parliamentary delegation to Armenia will render new quality to the
friendly ties and bilateral relations of the two countries.
Mr. Norayr Der-Kevorkian, Honorary Consul of Armenia in Thailand, also
participated in the meeting.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +3741. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +3741. .562543
Email: [email protected]:
PRESS RELEASE
23 July 2004
Foreign Minister Oskanian Receives Joint Mission of US German Marshall
Fund and Project on Transitional Democracies
Minister Oskanian received a joint mission of the German Marshall Fund
(GMF) of the US and the Project on Transitional Democracies (PTD) on
22 July.
On the same day, GMF-PTD mission members met with the President of
Armenia and Deputy Minister of Defense. On 23 July, the mission
visited Stepanakert to meet with the Nagorno Karabagh authorities.
The objective of the mission is to study the history of Nagorno
Karabagh conflict and its consequences and obtain the views and
positions of leaders of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh.
The mission, convened in the framework of a joint GMF-PTD Project on
the Resolution of Frozen Conflicts in Europe, aims at informing lead
experts and decision makers in Washington and Brussels on the Karabagh
conflict, thus encouraging interested governments to render support
for the settlement of the conflict.
In addition to the above issues, the program of the mission included
discussions on regional development.
The mission will present its findings to senior officials of the US
Administration and Congress.

ARMENIAN BUSINESSMAN COMMITTED SUICIDE IN PENZA RUSSIAN CITY
27.07.2004 13:58
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A citizen of Armenia has committed suicide in Penza
Russian city by jumping out of the window of his suite, situated on
the 5-th floor of Russia Hotel. As reported by Interfax news agency,
the tragedy occurred July 26 at about 9 a.m. Resulting from the fall
the man got numerous fractures and died in the ambulance car. The
37-year-old entrepreneur from Yerevan had lived in Russia Hotel for a
week. Criminal proceedings are instituted on the occasion of the
suicide, the causes are being investigated.

Azeris set conditions for Armenians to attend Baku-hosted NATO exercises
ANS TV, Baku
27 Jul 04

[Presenter] Representatives of the Armenian Defence Ministry will come to
Baku in spite of anything, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has
confirmed. However, he said, Baku has set some preconditions to Yerevan in
connection with the visit.
[Azimov talking to microphone] We have set preconditions that they should be
people who are in no way involved in military operations carried out against
Azerbaijan. Those coming are military journalists, public relations officers
and doctors. These are the tasks planned for the Armenian delegation. These
people will take part [in the exercises]. There will be about three of them.

Seven Armenian officers to attend NATO exercises in Azerbaijan – official
Arminfo
27 Jul 04

YEREVAN
Seven servicemen from the Armenian armed forces will attend the
upcoming NATO exercises in September 2004 [in Azerbaijan], Armenian
Deputy Defence Minister Maj-Gen Artur Agabekyan told an Arminfo
correspondent today.
He said five Armenian officers will be directly involved in the
exercises and each of them will have his own duty and position during
the exercises. An agreement has been already reached to get entry
visas for them in Tbilisi. In addition, it is presumed that two more
senior Armenian officers will attend the NATO exercises as official
guests, Agabekyan said.

Azeri pressure group members to stand trial on 9 August
MPA news agency
27 Jul 04

BAKU
Baku’s Nasimi district court chaired by [judge] Famil Nasibov held
preliminary hearings into the case of six members of the Karabakh
Liberation Movement [KLO] today (27 July). The six men were arrested
for staging protests against Armenian officers’ participation in a
NATO conference in Baku on 22 June.
The court heard out the parties’ positions and rejected two petitions
by the defence.
The first petition was to change the preventive punishment and the
second to call new witnesses and use new materials. In particular,
lawyer Elcin Qambarov asked the court to take into account video
footage featuring police violence against the protesters which was
filmed by the ANS TV company and to call the deputy chief of the
Yasamal district police department, Cingiz Mammadov, to testify. The
judge did not consider it necessary to call additional witnesses. The
trial is set for 9 August. Qambarov said he will keep trying to get
new witnesses to be called and new materials to be used.

BP Faces Problems Over Caspian Pipeline
International Oil Daily
26 July 2004
By Michael Ritchie
LONDON — BP said on Monday that it hopes to resume work on a section
of its crucial 1 million barrel per day Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan crude oil
pipeline on Aug. 2, after the former Soviet republic of Georgia called
for a temporary halt to construction because of environmental
concerns.
But diplomatic sources say the new government that took power in
Tbilisi last year, after ousting veteran Georgian leader Eduard
Shevardnadze in a bloodless revolution, could create more problems for
the $3 billion project.
The 1,768 kilometer pipeline is being backed by the US as a way of
exporting oil from fields in the Caspian Sea at the same time as
achieving strategic goals. It will reduce Russia’s grip on exports
from the region’s former Soviet states, will avoid routing exports
south through Iran, and will direct flows through Nato ally Turkey,
which stands to earn handsome transit fees from the traffic.
Georgia, for its part, is in line to bank $1 billion in transportation
tariffs from the line over the next 20 years.
But with at least 50% of the construction work completed on the 248 km
of pipeline that crosses its territory, the Georgian environment
ministry on Jul. 19 requested BP to stop work for two weeks on a 17
km section that crosses the Borjomi region.
“The new government [in Tbilisi] wants to look into the measures being
taken on the pipeline to make sure it is secure,” a BP spokesperson
told International Oil Daily.
But the delay could grow because the new Georgian authorities want to
bring in their own consultants to look at the safety measures that BP
has taken and review new documentation they have requested from the UK
major.
The section of line in question skirts, but does not cross, the
territory of the Borjomi national park, BP says.
Environmentalists have attacked the pipeline for threatening the
ecology of the park, which is a designated area of outstanding natural
beauty and the source of a mineral water famous through the former
Soviet Union.
BP claims it has already implemented special conditions for the
Borjomi stretch of line, such as installing extra valves to ensure
rapid shutdown in the event of a leak, and extra sensors to detect any
earth movements.
It says that work is continuing on the rest of the pipeline in
Georgia, adding that it remains on schedule to start pumping crude
from Baku in Azerbaijan to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan
for export to world markets in the second half of 2005.
Diplomatic sources in the region say the new government in Tbilisi may
try to wring more cash out of BP and its partners to bolster Georgia’s
efforts to bring the breakaway region of South Ossetia back into the
fold.
“This is about money. They need money,” one Georgian politician told
International Oil Daily.
BP maintains that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has in the
past said that he doesn’t want the pipeline project to be delayed.
But the diplomatic sources said that Saakashvili and two of his
closest political allies, including Prime Minister Zurab Zvania, have
Armenian roots and would sympathize with Armenia’s position of not
wanting to see arch-enemy Azerbaijan rake in huge oil earnings.
The sources point out that work on the pipeline was halted just days
before the visit to Tbilisi of Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan for cooperation talks with his Georgian counterpart.
“These guys will try to do anything to delay the project,” the
Georgian politician said.
US engineering giant Bechtel is the contractor for the sections of the
line that cross Azerbaijan and Georgia, while Turkish pipeline concern
Botas is handling the Turkish end.
The line is being built by an international consortium headed by BP,
which has a stake of 30.1%, and includes Azeri state oil company Socar
(25%), Unocal (8.9%), Statoil (8.71%), Turkey’s TPAO (6.53%), Total
and Eni (both with 5%), Itochu (3.4%), ConocoPhillips and Inpex (both
with 2.5%), and Saudi-US venture Delta Hess (2.36%).

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
July 26 2004
PRESIDENT’S PRESS SECRETARY HELD BRIEFING ON 2004 FIRST-HALF RESULTS
[July 26, 2004, 22:36:29]
Azerbaijan President’s press secretary Azar Gasymov held on 26 July a
briefing for journalists on the results of the work carried out in
the country during the first six month of 2004 in socio-economic,
cultural and other spheres.
He said, in particular, that since President of the Azerbaijan
Republic Mr. Ilham Aliyev assumed the presidency, the large-scale
work has been carried out to: reinforce the Azerbaijan statehood,
whose foundation had been laid by nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev,
ensure dynamic development of Azerbaijan in political,
socio-economic, cultural and other spheres, provide socio-political
stability, improvement of the population’s welfare and social
conditions of those people who have become refugee and internally
displaced persons, continue successful foreign policy, strengthen the
national army, successively assert the fair stance of Azerbaijan in
the international arena as for the country’s hardest problem – the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The press-secretary has informed the audience on the decrees and
executive orders signed by Mr. Ilham Aliyev since taking over the
presidency in connection with social and economic development of
Azerbaijan and support of entrepreneurship, creating new job
opportunities in the country, development of financial and banking
system, further improvement of social conditions for refugees and
IDPs, as well as the President’s visits to regions and his
familiarization with newly launched enterprises and participation in
the events.
The President’s press secretary finally emphasized that social and
economic development of Azerbaijan and improvement of living
conditions for refugees and IDPs had been marked by the Head of State
as priority directions of his activity. One of the most important
issues is opening new jobs, and the work based on the tasks set by
the President of Azerbaijan in this sphere will be continued in
future, he said.