Category: News

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
April 21, 2004, Wednesday
THE FUTURE OF KARABAKH IN THE HANDS OF MAJOR BUSINESSES[]
SOURCE: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, April 19, 2004, p. 11
by Rauf Mirkadyrov
WASHINGTON IS OUT TO PREVENT NEW HOSTILITIES IN THE KARABAKH CONFLICT
AREA BEFORE THE BAKU – TBILISI – DZHEIKHAN PIPELINE IS TURNED ON
Baku and Yerevan openly discuss the possibility of renewed
hostilities in the Karabakh conflict area for the first time in a
decade. Defense minister of Azerbaijan said last week that a war
between Azerbaijan and Armenia could begin any minute and blamed
everything on the authorities of Armenia that he said were losing
control over the situation and letting the country slide into a
political crisis.
Some staff changes took place simultaneously within the framework of
the Karabakh talks. Elmar Memedjarov, a career diplomat and
ex-advisor to the Azerbaijani Embassy in the United States, became
foreign minister of Azerbaijan. Rudolph Perina, American chairman of
the Minsk OSCE Group for Karabakh, is about to be replaced with
Stephen Mann (US President’s envoy to the Caspian region), according
to US Ambassador to Rhino Harnisch who met with Defense Minister of
Azerbaijan Safar Abiyev not long ago. The diplomat said that it would
probably facilitate the process of settlement and said that US
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (just like official Baku) advocated
a gradual settlement.
Virtually no details on Harnisch’s meeting with Abiyev are available,
indicating serious problems with the Karabakh negotiations. Firstly,
it is not a coincidence that the US ambassador broke every rule in
the book revealing the name of the new American chairman of the Minsk
OSCE Group at a meeting with the defense minister of Azerbaijan.
Staff changes on that level are first disclosed to national leaders
or foreign ministers who are directly in charge of peace talks. It
seems that the United States is afraid that the military may get out
of political control and provoke the new outbreak of hostilities.
Mann’s promotion is the best indication of how the latest
developments in the sphere of the Armenian-Azerbaijani worry the
United States. Unlike Perina and Perina’s predecessor Kerry
Cavanough, Mann knows the region. As the US President’s envoy to the
Caspian region, he had the involved countries agree to construction
of the Baku – Tbilisi – Dzheikhan pipeline and even assured
Kazakhstan’s involvement in the project. The diplomat successfully
tackled the task of directing oil from the Caspian region in the
direction convenient for Washington. As a matter of fact, he bested
his vis-a-vis, Russian President’s envoy Viktor Kalyuzhny.
Mann has established perfect relations with leaders of Azerbaijan,
one of the warring sides, and with all Western oil companies involved
in the region. Perhaps, Washington does want an impetus to the
process o settlement. More likely, however, is that Mann has a task
of preventing a new outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and
Azerbaijan before 2005, the moment when the Baku – Tbilisi –
Dzheikhan pipeline is turned on. After that, security of the pipeline
will become an international affair. The West will never permit the
warring sides another outbreak of hostilities then.
Actually, Vladimir Kazimirov (former Russian chairman of the Minsk
OSCE Group for Karabakh), is convinced that Mann’s experience as US
president’s envoy in the Caspian region will not help him much.
“There are lots of leverages that may be used to prevent an outbreak
of hostilities,” Kazimirov said. “These leverages do not really need
the smell of oil.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse
April 21, 2004 Wednesday 8:06 AM Eastern Time
Armenia’s “rose revolution” fails to put down roots
by MARIAM HARUTUNIAN
YEREVAN
As opposition supporters in Armenia’s capital prepared late last week
for a rally calling for the resignation of President Robert
Kocharian, staff in a computer salesroom on the city’s Abovian Street
were too busy smoking cigarettes to pay much attention.
They said they had no intention of joining the protests. “They’ll
just get hit on the head by police and go home,” said Samvel, the
store manager, while he watched an opposition leader on the
television set in his office. “So what?”
This indifference from Armenia’s middle classes is one of the
reasons, analysts say, why Armenia is highly unlikely to emulate the
“rose revolution” in its neighbour Georgia which swept that country’s
unpopular rulers from power last year.
On the face of it, Armenia, a former Soviet republic of three million
people in the Caucasus mountains, has all the makings of a
Georgian-style revolution.
Like in Georgia, Armenia’s economy is still reeling from the collapse
of the Soviet Union. According to World Bank figures, 49 percent of
the population lives below the poverty line.
Like its neighbour, Armenia has a massive gulf between the rich and
poor — something many people blame on official corruption.
And as in Georgia, the government stands accused of rigging elections
to preserve its power. A presidential election last year which gave
Kocharian a second term in office was flawed, according to
international observers.
When a coalition of opposition parties began a campaign of mass
demonstrations this month, comparisons were quickly drawn with
Georgia’s revolution.
Some protesters even carried chrysanthemums, mimicking their Georgian
counterparts who demonstrated with rose stems in their hands.
Yet Armenia’s opposition campaign has failed to capture the popular
imagination. At the latest rally in the capital, Yerevan, last
Friday, the core of opposition support — mostly low-income,
middle-aged people with a preponderance of women — was out in force.
But the students and well-heeled members of the middle class who gave
Georgia’s revolution its unstoppable momentum stayed at home.
“I do not think that all these demonstrations can lead to a change in
power,” said analyst Gevorg Pogossian. “A large part of the
population … is continuing to behave like distant observers and not
active participants.”
Analysts point to several factors. The first is that unlike his
ousted Georgian counterpart, 50-year-old Kocharian has a tight grip
on the state machinery.
This means that though pensions and state sector wages are miserly,
they are at least paid on time. It also gives Kocharian the
confidence to use the police against protesters, as he did earlier
this month when water cannon and truncheons were used to disperse an
opposition rally.
Another factor, say analysts, is that Armenia’s opposition lacks a
charismatic figure like Georgia’s Mikhail Saakashvili, who led that
country’s protests and went on to become president.
“Our opposition is very weak and not very convincing,” said Rolan
Minassian, a 59-year-old scientist.
The opposition does not have the advantage its Georgian counterparts
had of regular access to the television airwaves. All of Armenia’s
television stations are loyal to the president.
Finally, though many Armenians grumble about low living standards
they blame not Kocharian, but a crippling economic blockade imposed
on the country by two of its neighbours, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
The blockade is linked to a row about pogroms against ethnic
Armenians in Ottoman Turkey at the start of the last century, and a
still-unresolved war with Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
For now at least, most ordinary people are fully behind Kocharian in
opposing any concessions which could see the blockade lifted.
“After upheavals like these, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the
Karabakh war, the blockade, no president could have put the country
and the people back on its feet,” said Sergei Arutyunian, a
74-year-old pensioner.

Agence France Presse
April 21, 2004 Wednesday 8:06 AM Eastern Time
German FM backs stability in strife-torn Caucasus region
BAKU, April 21
Germany Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said on a visit to the
former republic of Azerbaijan on Wednesday that the European Union
was committed to helping the volatile Caucasus region achieve
stability.
Fischer, who had arrived in Azerbaijan from a trip to Afghanistan,
was speaking at the start of a tour of the region which will also
take in the neighbouring states of Georgia and Armenia.
“I told my colleague that we are interested in stability in the
region and the European Union is ready to do everything in this
regard,” the German foreign minister, speaking through an
interpreter, told reporters after talks with his Azeri counterpart
Elmar Mamedyarov.
He said Germany was keen to see an end to the long-running conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The row is seen as a major source of instability in the region, which
is becoming a strategic crossroads for oil exports from the Caspian
Sea to Western markets.
“We discussed the conflict and reached the conclusion that the two
sides should make steps toward one another, with the support of the
international community,” Fischer said. “We want the conflict to be
resolved as quickly as possible.”
Commenting on Azerbaijan’s human rights record, which has drawn
criticism from the international community, Fischer said he welcomed
the recent release from jail of a number of alleged political
prisoners. “I think it should be extended to all other political
prisoners,” he added.
Fischer was due to meet Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev later
Wednesday. On Thursday morning he is scheduled to travel to Armenia.
The following day he is due in Georgia, from where he will return to
Germany.

Agence France Presse
April 21, 2004 Wednesday 8:06 AM Eastern Time
Latest anti-government rally draws more than 10,000 in Armenia
YEREVAN, April 21
More than 10,000 demonstrators poured onto the rainy streets of
Armenia’s capital Wednesday, in the latest of a wave of protests
demanding the resignation of President Robert Kocharian.
“Kocharian’s resignation is necessary in order to organize a new
presidential election, this one fair,” one of the leaders of the
opposition Justice party, Chavarch Kocharian, told between 10,000 and
12,000 protestors.
A new election, in turn, “will enable the organization of fundamental
changes and true development in the country,” said Kocharian, who is
no relation to the Armenian leader.
Wednesday’s demonstration in Yerevan’s central Freedom Square was the
latest in a string of protests organized this month by opposition
parties in Armenia, a nation of three million people in the Caucasus
mountains.
The Armenian opposition says that Kocharian rigged a run-off
presidential vote in March 2003 to secure a second term in office and
is demanding that he either organize a national referendum of
confidence in his rule or step down.
On April 13, the police broke up an anti-government demonstration in
the capital Yerevan using water cannon and reportedly injuring dozens
of protestors.
“After April 13 we are living in a new political situation, in a
police state where terror reigns,” Aram Sarkissian, the leader of the
Democratic Party, told Wednesday’s gathering.
The protests in Armenia, the world’s first state to adopt
Christianity, have drawn comparisons with last year’s “rose
revolution” that ousted the leadership in neighbouring Georgia.
But despite the widespread discontent in Armenia over low living
standards, analysts say Kocharian is too strong, and the opposition
too weak, for the Georgian scenario to be repeated in Armenia.

Agence France Presse
April 21, 2004 Wednesday 8:06 AM Eastern Time
German FM urges Azerbaijan to shape up on democracy, rights
BAKU
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, on a visit to the former
Soviet republic of Azerbaijan Wednesday, said the country’s rulers
need to improve their record on human rights and democratic freedoms.
Speaking after a meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev,
the German minister said the oil-rich state should “increase its
efforts” to meet its commitments as a member of pro-democracy club
the Council of Europe.
“For more than three years Azerbaijan has been a member of the
Council of Europe,” Fischer said, speaking through an interpreter.
“We are pleased about that and we supported Azerbaijan’s accession.
The Council of Europe insists on certain standards which include the
democratisation of society, human rights, freedom of speech, the
independence of the courts, and we hope that you will increase your
efforts in this regard.”
Fischer is the most senior European Union politician to visit
Azerbaijan, a nation of eight million people on the shores of the
oil-rich Caspian Sea, for several years.
Azerbaijan’s leadership has been accused of locking up its political
opponents after a disputed presidential election last year, and
subjecting some of them to torture in jail. Officials have denied the
charges.
Fischer, who arrived in Azerbaijan from a trip to Afghanistan, was
speaking at the start of a tour of the region which will also take in
neighbouring Armenia and Georgia.
He said Germany was keen to see an end to the long-running conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The row is seen as a major source of instability in the region, which
is becoming a strategic crossroads for oil exports from the Caspian
Sea to Western markets.
“We discussed the conflict and reached the conclusion that the two
sides should make steps toward one another, with the support of the
international community,” Fischer said. “We want the conflict to be
resolved as quickly as possible.
Fischer also said he saw Azerbaijan as the economic power-house of
the region and was keen to see German companies invest in the
country.
He is due to stay overnight in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. On
Thursday morning he is scheduled to travel to Armenia. The following
day he is due in Georgia, from where he will return to Germany.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

City News Service
April 20, 2004 Tuesday
Suspect Sought
GLENDALE
Glendale police asked the public’s help today in finding a would-be
bandit who accidentally fired at a 51-year-old man while they were
struggling over the gun. The intended victim had just gotten home
from shopping about 9 p.m. on April 14, in the 900 block of Patterson
Avenue, when a gunman walked up and demanded the resident’s wallet,
Glendale police Officer Leticia Chang said. A struggle ensued, and
the intended victim managed to get the gun from the would-be robber,
who ran to a dark-colored car and fled with two other people, Chang
said. The suspect was described as a skinny Armenian, about 5 feet 8
inches tall, with black short hair, a white baggy jersey type shirt
with a logo on the front, white shorts and white tennis shoes. Anyone
with more information about the robbery attempt is asked to call
Glendale detectives at (818) 548-3987 or the department’s main
number, (818) 548-4840. Anonymous calls can be made to (818)
506-STOP.

Associated Press Worldstream
April 21, 2004 Wednesday 2:05 PM Eastern Time
Armenian opposition presses ahead in campaign to force president out
YEREVAN, Armenia
Armenian opposition parties pushed forward in their campaign against
President Robert Kocharian, holding a protest rally that attracted an
estimated 10,000 people to the center of the capital.
The opposition has been holding rallies every few days to press its
grievances, including calls for Kocharian’s resignation.
Kocharian won a second term in presidential elections a year ago that
sparked mass protests, including nearly daily demonstrations between
the first round and the runoff.
Opposition groups alleged widespread violations in both rounds of the
election, which was followed by a parliamentary ballot in which the
pro-government party won the most votes.
Lingering anger over the alleged election fraud is aggravated by
Armenia’s economic struggles. Once one of the most industrialized
regions of the Soviet Union, its economy collapsed after the Soviet
breakup and recovery efforts have been hampered by the closure of its
borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan.
“Armenia would be a country like Latvia, if it weren’t led by Robert
Kocharian,” said Shavarsh Kocharian of the opposition Justice Party,
referring to one of the former Soviet Baltic states that are about to
join the European Union.
Police forcefully broke up a protest rally on April 13, detaining
more than 100 people, reportedly causing injuries and raising
tensions.
“Before a dialogue can begin, both sides must be legitimate and
Robert Kocharian showed on April 13 that he is outside the law,”
Justice Party leader Stepan Demirchian told the rally.

ARKA News Agency
April 21 2004
Regular meeting of united opposition starts today at the square of
Freedom in the center of Yerevan
RA Prime Minister and Estonian Ambassador in Armenia note the
necessity of stimulation economic relations between two countries
RA President meets the US Ambassador in Armenia and USAID Mission
Director
An exhibition devoted to historical and cultural monuments of North
Artsakh organised in Stepanakert
*********************************************************************
REGULAR MEETING OF UNITED OPPOSITION STARTS TODAY AT THE SQUARE OF
FREEDOM IN THE CENTER OF YEREVAN
YEREVAN, April 21. /ARKA/. Regular meeting of united opposition
started today at the square of Freedom in the center of Yerevan. The
organizers of the meeting are Justice bloc, National Unity Party and
Communist Party of Armenia. ARKA correspondent reports from the
meeting that about 5 thousand people take part in the rally. The
meeting was opened by the Chairman of National Democratic Party, RA
NA Deputy Shavarsh Kocharian, who stated that authorities try to make
it seem that opposition tries to get to power by force, which does
not correspond to reality. `Till now opposition acted in the frames
of Constitution, which is a guarantee of our victory’, Kocharian
said. He said that Kocharian is sentenced to failure and statements
of international organizations testify to that. He stressed that the
idea of fight is much deeper than personal political interests of
opposition.
Leader of Justice Bloc Stepan Demirchian stated that authorities that
use any power are doomed. `Armenia must develop by democratic way and
those who prevent this process must go away’, Demirchian said. L.D.
–0–
*********************************************************************
RA PRIME MINISTER AND ESTONIAN AMBASSADOR IN ARMENIA NOTE THE
NECESSITY OF STIMULATION ECONOMIC RELATIONS BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES
YEREVAN, April 21. /ARKA/. RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan and
Estonian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Armenia
Andreas Unga noted the necessity of stimulation economic relations
between two countries. According to RA President’s Press Service and
Public Relations Department, in the course of the meeting the parties
attached importance to bilateral co-operation in various fields of
economy, in particular, in industry, agriculture, health care,
tourism, science and culture. Taking into consideration the
importance of IT development for Armenia, Margaryan emphasized the
importance for co-operation exactly in that field and spread of
Estonian Electronic Administration Academy experience in Armenia.
According to the press release, Margaryan and Unga also discussed
issues connected with holding business forums, organization of
visits, and establishing close co-operation between certain
Ministries and Trade Industry Chambers of RA and Estonia for
stimulation of bilateral trade turnover.
In the course of the meeting, Margaryan congratulated Unga on
Estonia’s entrance into EU and expressed hope that Estonia will
become Armenia’s reliable partner, which will contribute to Armenia’s
integration into the EU. Also, Margaryan congratulated Unga on
Estonia’s full membership in NATO, noting that Armenia will keep to
its policy of consistent development of co-operation with that
organization in the framework of Partnership for Peace program.
In his turn, Estonian Ambassador noted that Estonia as a new member
of EU encourages New Neighborhood program , due to which the counties
of the South Caucasus, including Armenia, will have the chance to
become members of European family. A.H – 0–
*********************************************************************
RA PRESIDENT MEETS THE US AMBASSADOR IN ARMENIA AND USAID MISSION
DIRECTOR
YEREVAN, April 21. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan has met John
Ordway, the US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in
Armenia, and Robin Phillips, USAID Mission Director. According to the
RA President’s Press Service Department, issues regarding the
programs on humanitarian aid provision to Armenia by the US
Government were discussed in the course of the meeting. Besides, the
issues of Armenia’s participation in Millennium Challenges Fund
program was touched. A.H.–0–
*********************************************************************
AN EXHIBITION DEVOTED TO HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MONUMENTS OF NORTH
ARTSAKH ORGANISED IN STEPANAKERT
STEPANAKERT, April 21. /ARKA/. In connection with International Day
of monuments and historic places, Haiki Serund (Haik’s generation)
youth organisation, acting in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR),
organised an exhibition devoted to historical and cultural monuments
of North Artsakh. According to ARKA’s reporter in Stepanakert, the
photos of a famous ethnographer Samuel Karapetyan exhibited reflect
cultural and everyday life of ancient villages of North Artsakh
(Shahumyan, Shamkhor, Khanlar, and Dashkensk regions), where
historical and cultural monuments preserved.
According to specialists, the Azerbaijani side destroyed thousands of
historic monuments on the territory of Karabakh. 167 churches, 8
monastery complexes and 123 historical Armenian cemeteries were
destroyed when Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan, and during the period
of war aggression on the part of Azerbaijan against NKR. A.H. –0–

A1 Plus | 22:04:17 | 21-04-2004 | Politics |
OUR LOBSTERS IN DEMAND IN EUROPE
On Wednesday, Armenian-European Economic Policy Center Economic Adviser
Ashot Iskandaryan, said Wednesday Armenia had exported mostly precious
stones to European countries for last years. In 2003, considerable amount of
lobsters costing 1 million 600 thousand USD was sent to EU member countries.
He said goods of 678,1 million USD were exported to the EU countries. This
year commodity turnover rose twice comparing with that of past years.

Armenia Builds Three Wind Power Stations On Iranian Funds
Mediamax
April 21, 2004
YEREVAN
A hydroelectric power station with 80 megawatt power will be built on
the Armenian side of the Araks river, Armenian Minister of Energy
Armen Movsisian said in Yerevan today.
Armen Movsisian said that at present the appropriate geological
prospecting and cartographical works are being conducted, which are
planned to be finished by the middle of the year, Mediamax reports.
The Minister also said that the construction of three wind power
stations with total 2 megawatt power has begun on the Iranian funds to
the amount of $2.5 mln. According to Armen Movsisian, the research
shows that Armenia has a potential for the development of wind energy.