Category: News

Armenia Sees Russian Diamond Supplies Resuming Soon
TASS
April 16, 2004 Friday
Russia is expected to resume rough diamond supplies to Armenia in the
near future, First Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister,
Ashot Shakhnazaryan, said.
Since December 2003, there haven been no supplies from Russia, but
corresponding agreements to resume imports have already been signed by
Armenia’s four major diamond-cutting companies.
Only 130,000 carats were imported into Armenia in 2003 out of the
planned 400,000 carats, he said.
Analysts said the decrease in diamond imports from Russia was caused
by liberalization of the Russian market, which made Russia’s rough
diamond monopoly ALROSA hike prices.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian rebel found dead in jail cell
AFP
YEREVAN, April 16
One of the men who attacked Armenia’s parliament, killing eight people
including the prime minister in 1999, was found dead in his jail cell
Friday after apparently committing suicide, the justice ministry said.
“This morning around 11, Vram Galstian, who was convicted in the
attack, committed suicide in his jail cell. He was found hanging from
a sheet,” justice ministry spokesman Ara Sagatelian told AFP.
Galstian is the uncle of former Armenian journalist Nairi Unanyan, who
led a group of rebels into parliament on October 27, 1999 in a
dramatic siege broadcast on national television and later aired across
the globe.
They shot dead prime minister Vezguen Sarkissian and the parliament
speaker, along with six deputies in parliament, before giving up after
an extended siege.
Their demands were never clearly spelled out, but analysts at the time
believed that they opposed Armenian efforts to strike a peace deal
with its neighbor and arch-foe Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia working to upgrade n-plant safety level-Kocharyan
By Tigran Liloyan
TASS YEREVAN, April 16
Work is in progress to enhance safety at the Armenian nuclear power
plant, which the European Union wants to be closed down, Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan said at a meeting of the Council on Safe
Nuclear Power.
He said nuclear power specialists had recently taken a number of steps
to raise the safety level at the plant in accordance with the
recommendations issued by the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Armenia used its own funds to implement the program of upgrading the
plant safety level, while technical assistance came from the United
States, Great Britain, the European Union and the IAEA.
In 2003, an IAEA mission conducted an independent expert assessment of
the safety level at the Armenian nuclear plant at which work related
to the introduction of IAEA design standards has since been completed
or nearing completion, the president said.
The Armenian nuclear power plant, which became operational in 1979,
now meets 40 percent of the country’s demand for electric power.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ambassador to Armenia On Bilateral Relations
Angola Press Agency (Luanda)
April 16, 2004 Posted to the web April 16, 2004
Luanda
The Ambassador of Angola to Armenia, General Roberto Leal Ramos
Monteiro “Ngongo” on Wednesday called in Erevan city for the
strengthening of the relations between the two countries in the areas
of economy and commerce.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony of his credential letters to the
local President, Robert Kotcharian, the diplomat said that this
country has modern technologies for polishing of stones and use of it
in the field of science for treatment of cardiac sicknesses.
According to him, the President of Armenia revealed that his country
is the ninth at the world level at diamond’s lapidation, being opened
for initiatives of bilateral cooperation at firm-related level.
President Robert Kotcharian expressed his country’s availability for
the training of Angolan students in cardiology and other fields of
medical science in that former Russian Republic.
The Angolan Ambassador met with the Deputy Foreign Minister, Fatou
Markarian, the Deputy President of the Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, Andranik Aleksayan, and visited the diamond polishing firm
Dca, owned by Gagik Abrahamyan.
Roberto Leal Monteiro presented a week ago his credential letters to
President Ilkham Aliev, of Azerbadjan.
In that country, the diplomat discussed with Aliev and his Foreign
Minister, Elmar Mamediarov, matters relating to the possible opening
in Angola of a brench of the Academy of Oil and Gas of Baku city,
where the Angolan Head of State, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, graduated in
1969.
Roberto Leal Monteiro “Ngongo” is also Ambassador to Bielorussia,
Ucrania, Moldavia and Russia Federation, where he resides.

A1 Plus | 20:21:51 | 16-04-2004 | Politics |
KOCHARYAN AGAIN IN “ARAGAST”
While the participants of joint Opposition meeting demand for Robert
Kocharyan’s resignation, he spends time in “Aragast” Cafe with US
Ambassador in Armenia.
It is to remind in 2001 Kocharyan’s bodyguard beat up Poghos
Poghosyan, citizen of Georgia, to death in “Aragast” Cafe.

REGIONAL SECURITY, KARABAKH, ARMENIA’S FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES – MINISTER
Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
15 Apr 04
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has listed economic development,
regional security, European integration and a Karabakh settlement as
Armenia’s foreign policy priorities. He told a seminar in Yerevan that
there were “numerous uncertainties” in the Karabakh settlement
process. He said that if Azerbaijan insisted on starting the talks
from scratch, Armenia would not take part and would ask the OSCE
mediators to hold talks instead between Azerbaijan and Nagornyy
Karabakh. Oskanyan said that Armenia should not be in a hurry to join
NATO, but should strengthen cooperation with it in parallel with
cooperation with the CIS Collective Security Treaty and with
Russia. The following is the text of Vahan Vardanyan’s report in
Armenian newspaper Hayots Ashkarh on 15 April headlined “There is no
need to play diplomacy”, subhead “There is only one solution on
Karabakh”; subheadings inserted editorially:
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan made a report on Armenia’s current
foreign policy at a seminar in the Congress Hotel yesterday. Oskanyan
noted four main areas of foreign policy: maintaining and increasing
the level of economic development; ensuring a positive regional
security atmosphere; speeding up Armenia’s integration into European
structures; and settlement of the Karabakh issue.
In connection with prospects for an NKR (Nagornyy Karabakh Republic)
settlement, Oskanyan said: “At present I should say that there are
numerous uncertainties, there is no certainty in what direction these
processes will go. Tomorrow in Prague my first meeting will take place
with the newly appointed foreign minister of Azerbaijan. The OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairmen invited us. The goal of the meeting is to hold
discussions with the co-chairmen and to try to specify the parties’
positions and approaches to the development of the process.”
Touching on Armenia’s position on the settlement issue at present, the
foreign minister said in particular: “There are two approaches,
depending on developments. It is good if Azerbaijan agrees to continue
along the way that (former Azerbaijani President) Heydar Aliyev and
(Armenian President) Robert Kocharyan were going and to reach any
level. If they are ready to continue on this basis, Armenia is ready
to be involved in the talks at the level of the presidents of the
republics and to try to lead the process forward. But if Azerbaijan
insists on starting from scratch, in that case Armenia will not take
part in these talks and will ask the co-chairmen to hold talks between
the authorities of Azerbaijan and Nagornyy Karabakh.”
The foreign minister thinks that this position is justified, as the
dialogue between the presidents was mainly about a future status of
Nagornyy Karabakh that was directly connected with Armenia. “For this
reason the participation of our president without the NKR president,
but with his agreement, is fully justified. But if this content
changes today, it means that the rules of the game should also be
changed. If Azerbaijan insists that the problem of status should be
delayed, and they continue with the stage-by-stage option for the
return of territories and refugees, in that case only the NKR
authorities have the right to be involved in the talks if they
want. As before, Armenia will ensure its participation in the
framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, but it will not be the main party
in the talks.”
Oskanyan said that a “fair” and a “pro-Armenian solution” were
different. He said that talking about a fair solution, in fact means
saying nothing. “The Karabakh process has passed so many stages and
today the situation is such that we do not need to play diplomacy in
this problem. Today a pro-Armenian solution, acceptable for us, is
that Karabakh fully defines its position on joining Armenia, and the
world community, including Azerbaijan, recognizes this. Today this is
a solution for us,” Oskanyan said.
Touching on regional security problems, in particular on NATO
enlargement and its possible consequences, the foreign minister said
that Armenia should cooperate with NATO in the framework of its
national interests, but it should not be in a hurry to join NATO. He
said that it was necessary to strengthen in parallel Armenia’s role in
the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) and Armenian-Russian
relations and this complementary policy would increase Armenia’s role
for the West, as well as for its strategic partner Russia.
Oskanyan thinks that dividing lines may be created in the region if
Georgia and Azerbaijan join NATO and Armenia does not. He said that
Georgia in particular is demonstrating a definite tendency in this
sense, but it is early to make radical predictions, as the diplomacy
of words and actions differ from each other. “During (former Georgian
President Eduard) Shevardnadze’s tenure there was the diplomacy of
words. Every other day Shevardnadze would say that Georgia was joining
NATO. In some sense (President Mikheil) Saakashvili is continuing this
diplomacy of words, but understands that action lags behind words.
Because the situation in his country and in the region is such that
NATO would not want to be involved in the country. Until the Abkhazia
problem is settled, until Georgia’s relations with Russia are
specified and Russian military bases are withdrawn, it is too early to
speak about Georgia’s joining NATO.”
So the foreign minister thinks that Armenia does not have a problem in
going ahead.

AZERI, ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN PRAGUE
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
16 Apr 04
The meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers
started at the Hotel Savoy in the Czech capital Prague at 1500 Baku
time (1000 gmt) today. This is the first meeting of Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov with his Armenian counterpart.
Along with the ministers, the meeting in the Czech capital is attended
by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen. According to a report from
Prague, the co-chairmen first took part in the talks. But a short
while ago, they left the room where the talks are being held. A
tete-a-tete meeting between Elmar Mammadyarov and (Armenian Foreign
Minister) Vardan Oskanyan is taking place at the moment.
The ministers and co-chairmen refused to speak to journalists as the
talks are being held in an atmosphere of full confidentiality. Although
Vardan Oskanyan first gave his consent to speak to Armenian journalists,
he refused to do so after the break. He said that the sides had
decided not to make any statements to the press. The talks are
expected to end after 2100 Baku time (1600 gmt).

KARABAKH DENIES ROLE IN QUELLING RALLIES IN ARMENIAN CAPITAL
Mediamax news agency
16 Apr 04
YEREVAN
The government of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic (NKR) made a
statement today denying reports that the law-enforcement units of the
republic headed by the chief of the NKR police, Armen Isagulov, were
involved in quelling the demonstration on Yerevan’s Bagramyan Avenue
on the night of 12-13 April.
The statement says that “the NKR government denies using the Karabakh
factor in Armenia’s domestic political life”, Mediamax reports.
“The NKR government is stating that the rumours about the involvement
of the republic’s law-enforcement bodies in the Yerevan developments
are wide of the mark and are being spread deliberately. Not a single
law-enforcement unit of the NKR was deployed outside the republic and
all members of staff, including the chief of the police, are
fulfilling their duties on the spot as usual,” the statement says.
“The NKR government is calling on all political forces and mass media
to refrain from spreading unverified reports, which may harm the
implementation of common national tasks,” it says.

AZERBAIJAN TO OPEN EMBASSIES IN EIGHT MORE COUNTRIES
Turan news agency
16 Apr 04
BAKU
The Azerbaijani Milli Maclis (parliament) decided today to establish
embassies in Canada, Hungary, Greece, Latvia, India, Belarus, Bulgaria
and Indonesia. Also, a permanent representative office of the
Azerbaijani Republic in UNESCO has been set up in Paris.
During the debate, MPs from the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party
(“reformers”), Asim Mollazada and Alimammad Nuriyev, the head of the
Compatriot Party, Mais Safarli, and the head of the United Azerbaijan
People’s Front Party, Qudrat Hasanquliyev, said it was necessary to
set up an Azerbaijani embassy in Israel. They tried to substantiate
their opinion with the fact that Azerbaijan and Israel are members of
the “antiterror coalition”. Also, they said that Israel supports
Azerbaijan’s cause in the international arena and that it was one of
the first countries to recognize Azerbaijan’s independence.
The opinion that the opening of an Azerbaijani embassy in Israel could
trigger a negative reaction in Iran was described as “unsubstantiated”.
The MPs noted that Iran was continuously stepping up diplomatic
relations with Armenia.

EDUCATION MINISTERS OF BLACK SEA COUNTRIES DISCUSS COOPERATION ISSUES
BAKU, April 16 (RIA Novosti) – The Education Ministers of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation Organization member states have gathered for
a conference in the Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.
According to the Azeri Education Ministry’s press service, the
conference’s agenda will include such issues as the possibility of
free travel for students of the member countries, mutual recognition
of college and university diplomas, the development of education
programs for specific study areas, and the introduction of EU-approved
educational systems. The delegates are also expected to review the
results of the previous such conference, held in the Slovak capital of
Bratislava.
The participants in the current conference include the Education
Ministers of Azerbaijan (the country holding the rotating presidency
in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization), Georgia, Greece,
Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. The Armenian minister is
not in attendance.
Members of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization’s Permanent
Secretariat, OSCE and EU officials, and foreign ambassadors are also
among the attendees.
The Azeri Education Minister, Misir Mardanov, has stressed the special
importance of the event for Azerbaijan, as this is the first time the
country has hosted an education forum of such a scale.