Category: News

Karabakh’s Azeri community leader says separatist elections illegal
ANS TV, Baku
5 Jun 04
The Azerbaijani community of Nagornyy Karabakh will strongly protest
against the decision of the Armenian community to hold elections
to local government bodies in Nagornyy Karabakh. The community will
appeal to the OSCE Minsk Group and the OSCE’s Baku office.
The Azerbaijani community’s leader, Nizami Bahmanov, has told ANS
that the step which the Armenian community is going to take on the
occupied [Azerbaijani] lands is illegal. The Milli Maclis and the
[Azerbaijani] Central Electoral Commission should also comment on
the fact that the elections are illegitimate.
Bahmanov thinks that international public organizations should assess
the activities of the Armenian community as illegal. Even though the
presidential and parliamentary elections have been held [in Karabakh],
no international organization has recognized them as legal.
[Passage omitted: Reported details]
[Video shows Azerbaijani community leader Nizami Bahmanov speaking
at the news conference]

Djivan Gasparyan to Perform in Ankara
Zaman
06.05.2004 Saturday
World famous pipe player, Djivan Gasparyan, will perform at the Middle
Eastern Technical University (ODTU) tonight.
His work includes contributions to the scores of ‘Gladiator’, ‘Call
to Sin’ and ‘Dead Man Walking.’
Djivan Gasparyan arranged a press meeting before the concert.
“This is the first time I have visited Ankara,” Gasparyan said
during a press conference. “Before coming here however, I heard many
things… Ankara is a city of universities and a city that shows
interest in this kind of music. The concert which I will give in
Ankara will be different from the concerts I have given in other
parts of the world,”
He commented that his reception in Turkey was unexpectedly warm. Born
in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia in 1934, Gasparyan has worked
with Armenian musicians for 50 years. Gasparyan is also a professor
in the Yerevan State Conservatory.

OSCE hails release of Armenian oppositionist prisoners
Pravda
15:41 2004-06-05
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is
satisfied with the release from prison of Aramazd Zakarian and Zhora
Sapeian of the Armenian opposition Republican Party and the abolition
of charge against them.
This is mentioned in the statement of the head of the OSCE Yerevan
office, Vladimir Pryakhin, published by the OSCE secretariat in Vienna
on Friday.
The OSCE also approves the actions of the Armenian authorities
releasing Suren Sureniants of the same party and hopes that
investigation against him will be ended.
Vladimir Pryakhin’s statement reads: “The OSCE hopes that this step
taken by the Armenian authorities will promote political dialogue
between the opposition and the ruling coalition of Armenia and boost
stabilization in this country”.
Simultaneously, the head of the OSCE mission in Yerevan expressed
regret over the limitation of the human rights to the freedom of
assembly and speech in Armenia, a signatory of the OSCE main provisions
and the Istanbul Charter.
Mr. Pryakhin also stressed that the OSCE Yerevan office was going
to continue to closely monitor political developments in Armenia and
support democratic processes on-going there.

BBC rejects accusations of bias – Azeri agency
Turan news agency
4 Jun 04
Baku, 4 June: The BBC World Service has issued a statement expressing
its regret that Azerbaijan’s ANS TV and radio company suspended
the transmission of its regional programmes in Russian on 1 June
2004. The statement says that Azerbaijani state radio will continue
rebroadcasting BBC programmes in Russian and on 103.3 FM in Baku. “The
BBC remains committed to covering events in the region and in other
parts of the world, scrupulously observing impartiality, fairness,
accuracy, balance and editorial independence and presenting a wide
range of opinions from all the strata of society,” the statement said.
The BBC takes all criticism seriously and reviews its coverage of
events in the region regularly. “On the basis of such comprehensive and
careful scrutiny, the BBC is confident in rejecting the suggestion that
its reports contain bias against any community in the region,” it said.
“The BBC provides equal opportunities to its employees and is
legally bound not to allow discrimination on racial, religious,
ethnic, national and sexual grounds, as well as because of martial
status, sexual orientation, disability or age,” the statement said
in conclusion.
To recap, ANS suspended the transmission of the programmes of
the BBC Central Asian and Caucasus Service in Russian saying that
they are biased and “pro-Armenian” in covering events around the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
Turan note: The BBC World Service broadcasts its programmes throughout
the world in 43 languages on radio and the Internet. Some 150m people
across the world can listen to BBC radio, while its Internet web
sites receive 200m messages a month.
[Earlier, at 1130 gmt, Azerbaijan’s MPA news agency carried a similar
report on the BBC statement]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN FM MEETS OSCE ENVOY
ArmenPress
June 4 2004
YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Vartan Oskanian received today OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Chairman’s
special representative on the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, Goran
Lenmarker. This is the second visit by Lenmarker, who is a member of
the Swedish parliament, to Armenia,
Lenmarker was quoted by the ministry’s press office as saying that
this time he intends to pay a fact-finding visit to Nagorno Karabagh.
He noted also that the OSCE parliamentary Assembly together with
other European organizations is able to build a favorable climate
around the conflict’s regulation.
Oskanian in turn introduced OSCE PACE Chairman’s Special Representative
to the current status and dynamics of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict
settlement. The parties exchanged views on the prospects of the
settlement process in view of the recent developments.
Oskanian underscored the enlargement of European’s organizations’
involvement in the regional issues, underlying the practical
importance of TRACECA and INOGATE projects for the region’s further
integration with Europe. Opportunities for normalization of Armenia
– Turkey relations were also mentioned. At the end of the meeting,
the parties reiterated the important role of the OSCE in ensuring and
furthering regional security and cooperation and expressed willingness
to continue the current dialogue and exchange of ideas.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VENTURING INVESTMENT FUND TO BE CREATED
ArmenPress
June 4 2004
YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS: The Union of Armenian Banks is planning
to found this year a venturing investment fund that is expected
to give an opportunity for financing discoveries and inventions
of applied importance. Mikael Hovsepian, the leading expert of the
Union, told Armenpress that the fund will be dealing with collection,
classification, analyzing and estimating the innovations to offer them
to business people by packages, who in case of agreeing to provide
funds, will also obtain ownership rights.
He said the idea of offering inventions by packages is aimed at
reducing the risk the businessmen may face. He added that this will
be the first such fund in Armenia and is supposed to boost economy
development and increase the quality of Armenian goods exported to
other countries.
He said a range of tax privileges will be foreseen for those
businessmen who will agree to fund these new ideas. Hovsepian said
the fund will be established before September.

UKRAINE IS FOR RESTORATION OF AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
ArmenPress
June 4 2004
KIEV, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS: The president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma,
endorsed Thursday Azerbaijan’s efforts to restore its territorial
integrity and bring Nagorno Karabagh back as soon as possible. At
a joint news conference in Kiev after concluding talks with the
visiting president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, Kuchma said there
were no disagreements in how his government and Azerbaijan evaluate
the situation in the South Caucasus.
“A spade should be called spade. It is a huge tragedy when 750,000
Azeris are forced out of their homes,” he said, adding that Ukraine
has always supported the principle of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity. Kuchma went on to argue that the OSCE Minsk group should
step up its work to help find a peaceful solution to the dispute.
Thanking Kuchma for his support, Aliyev said: “The truth is that
20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory is under Armenian occupation.
Unfortunately, some circles in different countries either do not wish
to notice this truth or wish to render it to oblivion.” He said the
conflict must be resolved based on international laws.

KOCHARIAN RECEIVES CANDLE PROJECT SCIENTISTS
ArmenPress
June 4 2004
YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS: Armenian president Robert Kocharian
received today a team of Armenian scientists, who are involved in
CANDLE (Center for the Advancement of Natural Discoveries using Light
Emission) – a new synchrotron light source project in Armenia, to be
based on a 3 GeV synchrotron light source that will provide a unique
opportunity for the scientific research using a wide spectrum range
photon beams with high flux and brilliance. CANDLE expected to be in
operation in year 2007.
Kocharian’s press office said possibilities of the project
implementation were discussed. The growing interest of different
states, international organizations and academic community in the
project was stated.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN DELEGATION VISITED THE PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT
Macedonian Press Agency
June 5 2004
The excellent friendly relations between Greece and Armenia as well
as the cooperation between the Greek Parliament and the Armenian
community living in Greece was confirmed by Greek Parliament President
Mrs. Anna Psarouda-Benaki and the National Council of Greek Armenians
delegation. The delegation visited Mrs. Psarouda-Benaki together with
the Metropolite of the Orthodox Armenians in Greece.
The Greek Parliament President stressed that the Armenians living in
Greece constitute a dynamic and active community that contributes
greatly and creatively to the Greek society. She also referred to
the Greek-Armenian Friendship Group formed in Parliam ent to be
activated shortly.
The President of the National Council of Greek Armenians expressed
feelings of gratitude to the Greek Parliament for the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide and expressed the Armenian community’s wish
for a visit to Armenia by the Greek Parliament Presi dent.

“‘Armenian criteria’ from France”
Cyprus Press & Information Office – Turkish Cypriot press review
June 4 2004
Under the above title Turkish daily MILLIYET newspaper (04.06.04)
reports that François Hollande, chairman of the French Socialist Party,
has said that the European Union should give Turkey a date for the
beginning of its accession negotiations, only in case it officially
recognizes the Armenian genocide.
Mr Hollande met yesterday at his party headquarters with the chairman
of the Armenian Tasnak Party, Murat Papazyan. The two leaders noted
that Turkey in addition to the Copenhagen Criteria must apply the 18
June 1987 decision of the European Parliament before getting a date.
They reminded that the above-mentioned decision provided for Turkey
to officially recognize the Armenian genocide, withdraw its occupation
troops from Cyprus and respect the human rights of the minorities.