Category: News

Armenian president appoints new national security chief
Noyan Tapan news agency
2 Jul 04
YEREVAN
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan signed a decree “On the National
Security Service [NSS] of the Republic of Armenia” on 30 June.
On the basis of the law “On ensuring the security of people under
special state protection”, Kocharyan endorsed the structure and
statute of the NSS.
On the same day, Kocharyan signed another decree appointing Grigoriy
Sarkisyan head of the NSS, the president’s press service has told
Noyan Tapan news agency.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russian, Armenian police prevent smuggling of prostitutes to Middle East
RIA news agency, Moscow
2 Jul 04
YEREVAN
The Russian Interior Ministry and the Armenian police have carried out
a joint operation to smash a criminal gang which recruited young girls
in Armenia and smuggled them via Moscow to the UAE for prostitution.
Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev announced this to
journalists on Friday [2 July] after a meeting of the joint board of
the two ministries in the Armenian capital.
Nurgaliyev said the joint operation was carried out on 24 June
2004. “Our Armenian colleagues arrived in Moscow very quickly and we
carried out this operation very quickly,” Nurgaliyev said.
The Russian interior minister said the criminals brought the girls to
Moscow, provided them with documentation, after which they were sent
to the UAE for the purposes of prostitution.
“We freed six girls who were about to be sent abroad,” Nurgaliyev
said. He said this was a lucrative business. Members of the gang
received 2,000 dollars apiece for each girl.
“Altogether we have prevented about 100 girls being smuggled abroad,”
the minister said.
He also said two arrests had been made. The names of the arrested
persons have not been released. One of the detainees was responsible
for smuggling the girls through Moscow’s Domodedovo airport to foreign
destinations. The other hired the girls and found temporary
accommodation for them in flats.

Armenian, Russian police to step up fight against economic crimes
Mediamax news agency
2 Jul 04
YEREVAN
The growth in the commodity turnover between Armenia and Russia
increases the likelihood of economic crimes being committed on the
territory of the two countries, Mediamax news agency reports that the
chief of the Armenian Police, Ayk Arutyunyan, said this in Yerevan
today, speaking at a briefing on the results of a session of the
united collegium of the Russian Interior Ministry and the Armenian
Police.
Arutyunyan said that in order to increase the effectiveness of the
joint struggle against economic crimes, it is necessary to intensify
cooperation between the two countries’ law-enforcement bodies.
Ayk Arutyunyan said that according to the results of the united
collegium, relevant departments of the Armenian Police and the Russian
Interior Ministry were instructed to take joint operational-preventive
measures to counteract the criminalization of the Russian and Armenian
economies.
Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev stressed that the Yerevan
session could be described as special since specific measures in the
sphere of preventing economic crimes were adopted here.

Armenian paper notes importance of continuing cooperation with NATO
Hayots Ashkharh, Yerevan
30 Jun 04

Text of Artak Grigoryan’s report by Armenian newspaper Hayots Ashkharh
on 30 June headlined “NATO and Armenia”
The NATO summit which has come to an end in Istanbul has shown that
serious disagreements are continuing within this powerful military and
political bloc. Because of those disagreements a further split is
taking place in mutual interests in several main directions. They are:
a) Ways of settling the Iraq issue although the USA has moved its
“knight”: on the eve of the summit it handed over power in Iraq to the
Iraqis themselves, but failed to get France and Germany’s agreement to
use NATO forces in that country in this or other way;
b) In turn, the host country of the summit, Turkey, also did
everything possible to demonstrate its indispensability for the
Western community. But in this sense, the “performance was not
successful” either, as Bush was met in Istanbul by thousands of
demonstrators who showed a growth in anti-American moods in Turkey;
c) Also, they did not manage to restore severed cooperation between
Turkey and France, which is why Jacques Chirac did not reply to the
Turkish president’s hint about the recognition of the Armenian
genocide.
So the NATO summit showed that although the US leadership is doing
everything possible today to correct its mistakes in the Iraq war, it
has no more opportunity to return to “good old” times, because the
choice of new targets leads to a split in the interests of NATO member
countries. It is not by chance that the USA has adopted a strategy of
“employing” each of them in separate directions. The USA is trying to
take responsibility for the southern sector in order to preserve
control over the Arab world which is rich in mineral resources, is
directing the European Union to the South Caucasus and is trying to
direct Turkey to the European Union.
There is a question: will the USA manage to keep control over the
interests of its own partners who are gradually splitting up. Judging
by this, not all of them are going to oppose the USA. Simply each of
them is trying to solve its problems within the framework of
NATO. This working style is turning NATO into a specific “roof” under
which a fight for control over its separate “storeys” is taking place.
The understanding of this situation prompts us to assess in a
different way the problem of Armenia’s further cooperation with NATO,
i.e the task to see our own interests as much protected as
possible. So although Armenia continues to be a member of the CIS
Collective Security Treaty, next autumn it is going to draw up its own
programme of cooperation with NATO. Such cooperation is very necessary
to enable our country to participate in the processes taking place
within the framework of NATO today, that is, not to find ourselves
“sidelined”.
The reason is evident: although Turkey’s positions within NATO seem
strong and steadfast, this country is no longer indispensable. Turkey
has turned into a very heavy instrument which gradually rusts and
requires big expenses for taking care of it. But when the time comes
for using that complex instrument, Turkey starts putting its own
interests forward as in the case of Iraq.
In such conditions, remaining a member of the CIS Collective Security
Treaty and at the same time, strengthening our cooperation with NATO
is not a “double game”, but a conscious need “to find room” in the
world and regional security systems.
First of all, a small country like Armenia does not need to be in
opposition to any pole of power. Second, to soften as much as possible
a likely threat from the clash of their interests in the
region. Third, not to allow Turkey and Azerbaijan to use NATO for
weakening Armenia’s positions in the region. And finally, to
understand that the more often statements are made about Turkey’s
indispensability for NATO, the more evident is their role of a
junction.
We are sure that remaining a member of the CIS Collective Security
Treaty and at the same time, deepening its mutual cooperation with
NATO, Armenia will get several equally interesting opportunities for
strengthening its positions in the region and specific options for
their implementation.

Armenia welcomes handover of power to Iraqi government
Arminfo
2 Jul 04
YEREVAN
The Armenian Foreign Ministry’s position on the formation and handover
of power to the interim Iraqi government remains unchanged – Armenia
welcomes these processes, a spokesman for the Armenian Foreign
Ministry, Gamlet Gasparyan, told our Arminfo correspondent, commenting
on the handover of power in Iraq to the interim government on 30
June. The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman also confirmed the
permanence of Armenia’s position on the reconstruction of Iraq.
To recap, the Armenian Foreign Ministry had earlier made a statement
which welcomed the formation of a government in Iraq. “We hope that
the new Iraqi government will succeed in creating conditions that will
promote the implementation of democratic reforms and will ensure free
and fair elections in January 2005,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry
spokesman said.
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Ruben Shugaryan had earlier announced
that Armenia is ready to take an active part in the postwar
reconstruction of Iraq.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeris ask Red Cross to help release captured soldier
ANS TV, Baku
2 Jul 04
The state commission of the Azerbaijani National Security Ministry for
POWs, hostages and missing persons has officially appealed to the Baku
office of the International Committee of the Red Cross to help release
Aydin Salman oglu Huseynov, a soldier of the national army, who was
captured by Armenians in Agdam District of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
front line on 30 June. The commission also asked the Red Cross to
register him as a prisoner of war.
Negotiations are under way with the Armenian side to get Huseynov
released.
To recap, Aydin Huseynov, 19, was serving in military unit No 161 in
the village of Erki of Agcabadi District.

Azerbaijan court upholds jailing of Nagorno-Karabakh activists
AP Online
Jul 02, 2004
Azerbaijan’s Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a lower court’s
decision to jail five activists who disrupted a NATO forum here last
month to protest the involvement of two Armenian officers, their
lawyer said.
The protest, which briefly disrupted the NATO forum, highlighted the
still simmering tensions between the neighboring ex-Soviet republics
of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh
territory.
Akif Nagi, head of the Organization of Karabakh Freedom, and five
other group members pushed through police cordons, broke glass doors
and stormed into a conference hall in Baku’s Europe hotel on June
22. The protesters and hotel security guards suffered minor injuries
in the incident in the hotel and the meeting resumed in several
minutes.
They were accused of hooliganism and ordered by the Nasimi regional
court in Baku to be held for two months. Azerbaijan’s appeals court
upheld the ruling Friday, said Elchin Gambarov, the defendants’
lawyer.
“Such decisions in relation to the Organization of Karabakh Freedom
bring no honor to our people or to our nation,” he said.
Armenian-backed forces won control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a largely
ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, after a 1988-94 war. More than
30,000 people were killed and a million driven from their homes during
the conflict.
Despite a 1994 cease-fire, the two countries continue to face off
across a heavily fortified no man’s land, and no final settlement has
been reached.
Interior Minister Ramil Usubov said he thought the court decision was
“correct.”
“The Armenians didn’t come here independently, but in connection with
a NATO event being held in Azerbaijan and the actions of those who
were arrested, aimed at disrupting this event, were illegal,” he said.
Neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan are NATO members, but both participate
in NATO’s Partnership for Peace program.

Russian interior minister arrives in Armenia to discuss joint crime
prevention
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
1 Jul 04
[Presenter] Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev has arrived in
Armenia on a one-day visit. He will participate in an annual meeting
of the Armenian-Russian law-enforcement bodies. The meeting should
have taken place on 24 June, but was postponed because of the recent
Ingush events.
[Rashid Nurgaliyev, shown speaking at airport in Russian] We will
discuss the economic security of our states. Our main task is to
develop the joint legal basis of the two states. Only through joint
efforts, we will be able to tackle the problem of organized crime
which has become transnational and is now widely spread.

Russia, Armenia join forces to catch money forgers
Centre TV, Moscow
2 Jul 04
[Presenter] The Russian and Armenian police have conducted a major
joint operation. Over two years the police tracked an international
gang of money forgers. As a result, 22 members of the well-organized
criminal organization have been arrested.
The underground printing press was found in an ordinary Moscow Region
flat. The forgeries were made by citizens of Russia and Armenia. They
had a well-organized network of middlemen through which the false
R1,000 and R500 notes were distributed across Russia.
In total, the initial investigation has recorded 192 instances of
forged money being sold in 48 Russian regions.
[C/r 1216-1253; video shows sheets of forged R500 notes, computer
equipment, banknotes being printed off.]

The west should invest in central Asia
By Jean Lemierre
FT.com site
Jul 01, 2004
A worrisome disparity is developing between countries that spent
decades together behind the Iron Curtain. On one side of the emerging
divide are the eight countries of central Europe and the Baltic region
that joined the European Union on May 1 – hard-won recognition of
their economic and political transformation. But further east, beyond
the new borders of the EU, economic and political transition in the
seven poorest countries emerging from the command economy system has
been slower; half the population still lives below the poverty line.
In many parts of central Asia and the Caucasus, poverty, ethnic
tensions, the slow pace of reform and high indebtedness combine to
pose a threat to regional and global security. This is particularly
true in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Geographically and ideologically, these seven countries were closer
than the new EU members to the heart of the former Soviet Union and it
is taking them much longer to emerge from its long shadow. They have
not had the offer of EU membership to encourage them through arduous
and often unpopular reforms. Widening the embrace of the EU to
include eight new central European and Baltic states will only go so
far to stabilise the post-cold-war situation, if, over the horizon,
trouble is brewing. Pent-up social frustration born of a lack of
opportunity in these seven nations may heighten tensions, even
extremism. In the long run, private-sector growth and job creation
coupled with political reform are the only means to defuse tensions.
Of course, if economic transition were easy to accomplish in these
states, it would have happened already. The publicly owned European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development was created in 1991 to foster
such transition in 27 countries of the former Soviet sphere and the
bank is the largest single investor there. But, in spite of our
expertise, local presence and mandated interest in doing business in
the seven poorest countries, we have had difficulty raising the level
of our investment there. Given the challenges of doing business in
these countries, it is easy to understand why private-sector investors
shy away.
Yet the EBRD’s local offices see many promising investment
opportunities. These range from big oil, gas and mining deals to
family-owned bakeries, middle-sized lumber businesses, small-scale
hydro-power producers, dairies and growing textile mills.
Unfortunately, opportunity is not enough. The slow and uneven pace of
economic and political reform in these countries discourages foreign
investors and local businesses alike. There remain too many vestiges
of the command economy system and big government, and there is not
enough commitment to improving commercial law, the functioning of
courts and regulatory bodies, and fighting corruption.
The least painful path to economic growth is to cut red tape and then
get out of entrepreneurs’ way. At the EBRD annual meeting last year,
one Kyrgyz entrepreneur reported that 160 permits were needed to start
a small business in her country; that was an improvement on the old
days when 193 permits were required. A year later, the situation has
not changed much. Both local business growth and foreign investment
would be encouraged if governments cut through the thicket of
restrictions on foreign currency exchange and on cross-border trade
and travel.
Trade depends on transport and here we have seen many encouraging
signs of greater regional co-operation. The upgrading of the ancient
Silk Road linking the Caucasus and central Asia is an example of
national governments, donors and international lenders working
together on regionally important infrastructure. The
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline has built better relations between
Azerbaijan and Georgia and introduced more than a dozen top
international banks to those countries.
A new EBRD initiative aims to promote greater investment and
accelerate economic reform in these seven still-poor countries by
accepting higher risk to make investments, improving banking services
for small and medium-sized businesses, encouraging small-scale
infrastructure projects, and promoting legal reform and regional
trade.
As every euro invested in a project by the EBRD typically attracts two
more from other sources, we expect this initiative will increase
private investment. The expansion of the EU’s borders has brought
Europe closer to the Caucasus and central Asia. There is no better
time to promote economic development there, increase prosperity and
underpin stability for the region, and beyond.
The writer is the EBRD’s president