Foreign investment in Armenia tops 200m dollars in 2003
Mediamax news agency
1 Apr 04
YEREVAN
Foreign investment in the Armenian economy stood at approximately 230m
US dollars in 2003, the National Statistics Service told Mediamax
today.
Direct investment last year was 153m, an 8.9 per cent increase on
2002.
Funds received from the privatization of state enterprises accounted
for 43.8 per cent of direct investment (or 67m dollars).
Diaspora Armenians to protest at British envoy’s genocide remarks
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
1 Apr 04
[Presenter over video of British ambassador] The hullabaloo over the
remarks by the British ambassador to Armenia, Miss Thorda Abbot-Watt,
about the Armenian genocide is not dying out in the diaspora.
Armenians intend to stage demonstrations outside the British embassies
in many countries on 24 April, complaining because the British
ambassador said that the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire were not genocide. US newspaper California Courier has
written about this.
Our correspondent has reported that French Armenians will stage a
protest rally in Paris tomorrow outside the British embassy to condemn
Ambassador Abbot-Watt’s remarks.
Peace process unpredictable under new Azeri leader, says Karabakh minister
Azg, Yerevan
31 Mar 04
No significant progress has been made in the Karabakh talks since
Ilham Aliyev became Azerbaijani president, the foreign minister of the
self-declared Nagornyy Karabakh Republic (NKR) has said. Ashot Gulyan
told Armenian newspaper Azg that remarks by Aliyev, such as that the
talks should start from zero, made the negotiating process less
predictable. He said that Ilham Aliyev had chosen to concentrate on
domestic issues during his first few months in power. The following is
the text of Tatul Akopyan’s interview with Gulyan in Azg on 31 March,
headlined “Factor of unpredictability has grown in negotiating
process”; subheadings inserted editorially:
Baku refused to take in part in the meeting between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers, with the participation of the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairmen, due to have taken place in Prague on 29
March. President Ilham Aliyev criticized the OSCE Minsk Group once
again and said that the mediators has “achieved nothing positive in 12
years”. The Azerbaijani authorities are refusing to continue the
negotiating process on Karabakh and continuing to make bellicose
statements and threatening to settle the Karabakh issue by war.
What do the authorities of Nagornyy Karabakh [NKR] think of this? The
NKR foreign minister, Ashot Gulyan, answered this and other questions.
Negotiating process more unpredictable under Ilham Aliyev
[Correspondent] Mr Gulyan, has anything changed in the Karabakh
negotiations since Ilham Aliyev’s accession to power?
[Ashot Gulyan] There is no progress. The negotiating process has
become less predictable. The first several months of Ilham Aliyev’s
presidency show that there is no significant progress and the future
of the negotiating process is very unclear. Azerbaijan’s refusal to
take part in the Prague meeting shows that it has nothing to say. It
seems that Baku decided to put the Karabakh issue on the back burner,
accompanied by unclear statements. I am talking about bellicose
statements, references to zero levels and displeasure with the Minsk
Group’s work. In comparison with Heydar Aliyev’s tenure, the
negotiating process has become more unpredictable.
[Correspondent] Ilham Aliyev recently said that in 12 years the OSCE
Minsk Group did not achieve any progress in the negotiating
process. What is Stepanakert’s position? Was there any progress in the
negotiating process?
[Gulyan] The OSCE Minsk Group is an international organization that
has dealt with the Karabakh issue really professionally and it is
illogical to assess its activity for these 12 years as in vain. But I
would like to draw your attention to another problem. Ilham Aliyev
says in his statements that all the suggestions of the Minsk Group,
for a stage-by-stage or package solution, have become zero. That is,
what seemed acceptable for the former authorities of Azerbaijan is not
acceptable for today’s. This means that Azerbaijan is not approaching
the international mission seriously. I think all this has the aim of
hiding Azerbaijan’s inaction.
Ilham Aliyev concentrating on domestic issues
[Correspondent] Mr Gulyan, a view is being circulated in the Armenian
press and political circles that the essence of the Karabakh issue has
been misrepresented. How did the Karabakh party participate in the
negotiating process in recent years?
[Gulyan] If we take the last five or six years, we can say there was
no active negotiating process, and the Karabakh party participated as
much as possible. In the last five or six years the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairmen visited Stepanakert in the framework of their visits to
the region and met the NKR authorities. During all those meetings the
mediators noted that, irrespective of the negotiations being stepped
up, Karabakh continues to remain a negotiating party. That is,
Karabakh is a negotiating party and nobody denies that except
Azerbaijan.
If we take the essence of the negotiating process into account, which
was at the level of meetings of the Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents for several years, and if we compare them with the
negotiations before 1996, we may say that these meetings were directed
more to taking the process out of deadlock.
Ilham Aliyev’s statements show that today the Karabakh issue is not so
urgent for Azerbaijan. I have the impression that for the new
president of Azerbaijan the first stage of his presidency will be the
settlement of domestic problems. In this way he is trying to avoid
those domestic political upheavals, which may appear at different
levels of discussion of the Karabakh issue.
Europe taking more interest in Karabakh settlement
[Correspondent] Recently Europe has shown more interest in a Karabakh
settlement. How can you comment on this?
[Gulyan] This may be explained, first of all, by the fact that the
countries of the region have turned towards Europe and today their
involvement in European structures means feedback. The same European
structures (the European Union and Council of Europe) in the framework
of their interests are trying to clarify, by means of monitoring or
supervising the situation in the region, to what extent the
obligations are being carried out in the countries of the region.
There is an evident reality that the European structures have started
to be also interested in the unsettled problems or conflict situations
of the region. Here there is a big gap which seems not to be
corrected by the Council of Europe and European Union with the help of
necessary work. European structures, except the OSCE Minsk Group, do
not know the problem of the conflict, they do not know the pre-history
of the conflict and today’s positions of the parties to the
conflict. An impression has been created that Azerbaijan is trying to
make use of the situation and to make accusations from the European
rostrum. Our objective is to give, as much as possible, independent
information to the European structures, to make them understand the
truth about the Karabakh conflict. Naturally, the NKR does not have
such key levers and we are expecting Armenia’s support.
Armenian defence minister rejects talks with opposition
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
31 Mar 04
[Presenter] Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan has described the current
situation in the country as rather strained. He denied the rumours
that he is gathering mercenary groups to reduce tension, calling them
a fairy tale.
[Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan, captioned] All those rumours and
tales that the Defence Ministry and defence minister are gathering
mercenary groups are the results of a diseased imagination and are
spread by people who have no idea about the country’s national
security.
One person is speaking in terms of ultimatums to the leadership and
openly says that there will be bloody clashes. [One of the leaders of
the National Democratic bloc, MP Arshak Sadoyan, said on 31 March that
the people should resort to civil disobedience if a referendum on
confidence in the president is not held by 16 April.] I think that the
law-enforcement bodies have to do something. This is not the first
time that Arshak Sadoyan has called for bloody clashes. But let Arshak
Sadoyan remember 1996, when there was bloodshed where he was. If this
time Arshak Sadoyan organizes bloody clashes, he will hide in the
garages, I do not hide anywhere. What can I say?
[Correspondent] Speaking about the negotiations with the opposition,
Serzh Sarkisyan stressed that there is no point holding negotiations
with the opposition when they repeatedly announce the illegitimacy of
the country’s leadership.
[Serzh Sarkisyan] Negotiations demand a resolution of problems. Let us
imagine that a miracle has taken place and the authorities have been
changed in Armenia by force. Then there will be new elections. Many
candidates will be nominated for the presidential post. The losing
side will again stage rallies and declare the elections unfair.
You know, when a person is sick with the disease of wanting to be
president, this person is dangerous, dangerous at all times, and this
man can lead the country to disaster.
Nune Aleksanyan, “Aylur”.
Azeri ministry concerned at UK reporter’s visits to breakaway Karabakh
Ekho, Baku
1 Apr 04
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry intends to look for verification of
the reports carried by Kavkazskiy uzel news agency and some other
sources that British journalist Thomas de Waal, coordinator of the
Caucasus project of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, has
visited Stepanakert. The visit’s objective was familiarization with
preparation for the first edition of the new “public Karabakh
newspaper Demo”, sponsored by an international foundation.
Armenian sources maintain that Thomas de Waal, author of the book,
Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, on the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, was an informal intermediary in this
process between the British grant-givers and the newspaper. The
sources said that in addition to material about life in Karabakh, Demo
will carry reports about other countries of the Caucasus region.
[Passage omitted: minor details]
De Waal said that over the past eight years he has visited Nagornyy
Karabakh 10 times. Certainly, he visited the occupied Azerbaijani
territories without the official permission of the Azerbaijani
government.
The head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s press service, Matin
Mirza, said that if the reports are confirmed, then the ministry will
tell the UK embassy in Azerbaijan about its concerns. As for de Waal’s
private visits to Stepanakert, this issue must be looked at from
different perspectives, Mirza said.
“The Armenians may, as usual, hype up the information about de Waal’s
visits to Stepanakert and his objectives. They mainly do this to
attract more attention from the international community. However, it
must be noted that foreign citizens do not have the right to visit
Nagornyy Karabakh without permission from the Azerbaijani
government. This is unacceptable and jeopardizes the notions of
territorial integrity and inviolability of Azerbaijan’s borders, as
well as threatens peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict,” he
said.
In addition, Mirza described the assistance of a UK citizen in the
publication of a newspaper in the separatist entity as “an attempt of
blatant intrusion in the process of peaceful settlement of the
conflict”. De Waal’s stance on this issue has to be interpreted as
assistance in the dissemination of Armenia’s anti-Azerbaijani
propaganda, Mirza said.
Yesterday [31 March], Ekho newspaper managed to get in touch with de
Waal, who was in Tbilisi. In response to a question about the
Azerbaijani government’s permission to visit Stepanakert, he said that
he “never even thought about making such a request to the Azerbaijani
authorities”.
In his words, he is a man monitoring developments in Karabakh,
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. “In my job, I advise the press
publishers on how to organize their work. I have paid many visits to
Karabakh,” he said.
De Waal confirmed to Ekho that he had recently visited Stepanakert. “I
have visited Azerbaijan and met high-ranking officials here for many
years. I have never concealed and will not conceal that I visit
Karabakh. When in Azerbaijan, I inform the officials that I was in
Karabakh. For this reason, I never ask for permission to visit that
region. I am a foreign correspondent who often visits unrecognized
territorial entities, such as Karabakh, Abkhazia, Chechnya and
others. This is the duty of foreign reporters.”
He told Ekho that he intends to continue visits to Karabakh skirting
the Baku government. “I consider myself a neutral person and can make
such visits.”
In conclusion, de Waal said that he will soon visit Azerbaijan. He
hoped that Azerbaijani officials will not obstruct his visit to Baku.
United Nations Development Programme Country Office in Armenia
14, Karl Liebknecht Street, Yerevan 375010, Armenia
Contact: Aramazd Ghalamkaryan
Tel: (374 1) 56 60 73
Fax: (374 1) 54 38 11
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
UNDP COUNTRY OFFICE IN ARMENIA
1 April, 2004
UNDP AND THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY OF ARMENIA LAUNCH THE
`REDUCING DISASTER RISK. A CHALLENGE FOR DEVELOPMENT’ GLOBAL REPORT
Yerevan, Armenia
Today the Emergency Management Agency of Armenia (EMA) and the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) presented a major global report
`Reducing Disaster Risk, A Challenge for Development’ to the general
public. Mr. Aram Tananyan, Deputy Chief of EMA and Ms. Lise Grande, UN
Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative presided over
the event. Mr. Tananyan also appealed to the donor community to
support the Governmnet’s efforts to mitigate the recent floods that
occurred in a number of regions.
The `Reducing Disaster Risk, A Challenge for Development’ was prepared
by UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery and presented
worldwide. The Report examines three major types of natural disasters:
earthquakes, tropical cyclones and floods. According to the Report,
billions of people in more than 100 countries are periodically exposed
to at least one earthquake, tropical cyclone, flood or drought. As a
result of natural disasters, more than 184 deaths per day are recorded
throughout the world.
The Report also shows that the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals are endangered in many of the countries exposed to
natural disasters because they destruct infrastructure and cause
financial, social, economic and environmental shocks.
According to Ms. Grande: `The Report shows that Armenia ranks second
in the world in terms of exposure to earthquakes. This is an important
fact – it means that Armenians are more exposed to earthquakes than
almost anyone else in the entire world. The recognition of this should
lead us to strengthen and accelerate our efforts to help Armenia be
better prepared to confront natural and man-made disasters.’
Mr. Tananyan noted that the Governmenmt of Armenia is in the process
of calculating the damage caused by the recent floods and storms. He
expressed his grateful acknowledgement of UNDP’s efforts made so far
in the area of disaster management, and presented an appeal to the
donor community for assistance.
Country background: Despite its relatively small territory, Armenia’s
landscape is diverse. Armenia also has different climatic zones and is
vulnerable to a number of potential natural including earthquakes,
floods, landslides and hailstorms. In addition, Armenia is also
exposed to a number of potential technological or man-made disasters
as a result of the nuclear power plant, which is located in a
seismically active zone, and chemical and hazardous production
facilities.
***
UNDP is the UN’s global development network. It advocates for change
and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help
people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries,
working with them on their own solutions to global and national
development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on
the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners.
***
For further information, please contact Mr. Aramazd Ghalamkaryan, UNDP
Armenia at [email protected].
***
Armenia aims to blame Azerbaijan for delay in Karabakh talks – TV
Lider TV, Baku
1 Apr 04
[Presenter] Yerevan is trying to blame Azerbaijan for any delay in
talks on resolving the Nagornyy Karabakh issue.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said that the cancellation
of the meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers
due in Prague shows that Azerbaijan is worried. According to Oskanyan,
Azerbaijan needs time to clarify its position on Nagornyy
Karabakh. Having stressed that Yerevan is always ready for talks,
Oskanyan ruled out the possibility of starting dialogue from
scratch. Let Baku turn to Stepanakert if it has such intention, he
said.
The head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry press service, Matin
Mirza, said that Azerbaijan’s position on the resolution of the
conflict has remained unchanged. As for Oskanyan’s statement, Mirza
said that Baku has never regarded the so-called Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic as a party to the conflict and will continue to adhere to
this position. Armenia wants to win time and strengthen its aggressive
policy by making such statements, Mirza said.
The head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry press service said that
irrespective of the stage of talks, Azerbaijan aims to maintain its
territorial integrity.
The Globe and Mail, Canada
April 1 2004
A reel close-up on diversity
Documentaries and social-realist dramas dominate this film festival
dedicated to giving visual minorities greater exposure, LIAM LACEY
writes
By LIAM LACEY
Toronto’s fourth ReelWorld Film Festival, which kicks off today and
runs through the weekend at the Famous Players SilverCity Empress
Walk cinema, is moving up to a new level this year with a series of
seminars and panel discussions about breaking into the film business.
Started four years ago by soap-opera actress Tonya Lee Williams, the
festival (and the ReelWorld Foundation behind it), has generated
government financing and corporate sponsorship, and on that level is
already a success. What remains difficult to pin down is what the
festival, with its all-too generic name, is about.
The aim is diversity, specifically films about and by visual
minorities, but there’s a lot of overlap with existing Toronto
festivals. There is already a successful Reel Asian film festival in
the fall, and for black film, Planet Africa at the Toronto
International Film Festival and the Get Reel Film Festival (April
21-25). But nobody ever suggests a cap on the number of film
festivals for white people, and more festivals may mean more
opportunities and better representation of minorities in films.
The handful of films I’ve seen — there are more than 80 works
ranging from feature films to music videos in the festival — look
like good old Canadian multiculturalism. Several of the films have
white lead characters. Several others — the short Nigel’s
Fingerprints, the feature Little Brother of War and the Cuban film,
Entre Ciclones (Between Hurricanes) — have bi-racial lead
characters.
Documentaries and social-realist dramas are predominant. (The extreme
example of this is a film called Take Out, about Chinese immigrants
in New York, which spends most of its running time taking us on a
tour of food deliveries.) The opening gala, Little Brother of War
(tonight at 6:30), is Vancouver director Damon Vignale’s story about
an eight-year-old half-Indian orphan boy who travels across the
country to Chicago for a lacrosse championship, and befriends a jaded
cop. The film previously played at the Vancouver and Montreal film
festivals.
The closing-night gala on Sunday is the world premiere of a romantic
comedy, The Seat Filler (at 7 p.m.), about a regular guy who falls
for a superstar, Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland.
A couple of documentaries look promising. Change from Within (Sat., 3
p.m.), a first film from Montreal’s Peter Farbridge, is about
inspirational teacher Margaret Bolt and her success in giving poor
children a break through her St. Peter Claver school in Kingston,
Jamaica.
Wet Sand: Voices from L.A. Ten Years Later (tomorrow at 1 p.m.) is
Korean-American filmmaker Dai Sil Kim-Gibson’s re-examination of the
L.A. riots of 1992, and its aftermath, on relations between the
Korean and black communities.
I Made a Vow (tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.) is a documentary focusing on
Canada’s oldest black community in Nova Scotia. Filmmaker Juanita
Peters (winner of a $5,000 National Film Board’s Reel Diversity Award
for her story pitch) offers a charming shot-on-video profile of the
importance of elaborate weddings in the town of North Preston. The
hour-long film follows the year-long preparations for Sharon and
Robbie up to the big day. The film does little to explain the
cultural history of these elaborate fetes but the music and warmth of
the characters carries it through.
Music and dance are the subjects of a quite wonderful film, Dame La
Mano (Give Me Your Hand) (Sunday, 3 p.m.), by veteran Dutch
documentarian Heddy Honigmann, which follows a group of irrepressible
Cuban expatriates. These characters gather each Saturday night at a
New Jersey nightclub to sing and dance the rumba, a dance that is
promoted as doing everything from stopping aging to promoting sexual
vigour and fighting cancer.
Cuban culture is also the focus of Entre Ciclones (Between
Hurricanes), which is screening Saturday at 9:30. This Havana-set
comedy, a huge hit in its native country last spring, follows the
misadventures of a handsome telephone repairman and the various women
in his life. While it does offer some insights into contemporary
Cuba, its bureaucratic frustrations and the differences between the
revolution generation and the pragmatic self-interested children,
it’s a shrill affair, with the stereotypes broadly drawn.
Neither is there much new in director Michael Tolajian’s feature
Bought & Sold (Friday, 9 p.m.). This multi-ethnic dramedy is about a
young Hispanic man who takes on work for a local Italian loan shark,
befriends an Armenian pawnbroker, learns about the Armenian genocide
and ditches his gold-digging girlfriend for a better choice.
A much more ambitious if not entirely successful drama, set in the
world of graffiti artists, is Bomb the System (Saturday at 7 p.m.).
When the film was shown at festivals in New York and Los Angles last
year, Variety hailed its director, Adam Bhala Lough, as a fresh new
directing voice, with a kinetic visual and driving narrative sense.
The film follows recent high-school graduate Anthony (Mark Webber,
who played Scooby in Todd Solondz’s Storytelling), who lives to go
out at night with his crew and “bomb” or paint walls with his art.
Anthony’s older brother, also a graffiti artist, was killed years
before on the streets. The movie, which plays out like Footloose with
spray cans, feels more than a little absurd, but it’s a visual tour
de force, with the director throwing in jump cuts and dissolves in
celebration of a visual art form, all accompanied by a layered
techno-rap soundtrack.
All screenings take place at the Famous Players SilverCity Empress
Walk, 5095 Yonge St., Toronto. For more information: the ReelWorld
website (); for tickets call (416) 923-9232.
Armenian prosecutor opens criminal case against opposition
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
31 Mar 04
[Presenter] The Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office has issued an
official report saying that from February 2004 activists of the
Justice bloc and their supporters have been organizing illegal rallies
and meetings in various regions of the republic and communities of the
capital, where the representatives of the authorities have been
insulted and calls have been made to throw out the state’s leadership
by force and change the constitutional system.
Such calls were voiced during rallies in the Shengavit, Nor-Nork,
Avan, Achapnyak and Davidashen communities in Yerevan and in the
regions of Nor Achin, Egvard, Nor Gekhi, Garni, Abovyan, Razdan,
Azatavan, Verin Artashat, Aygezard and Alaverdi. The rally in the town
of Gyumri was accompanied by outrage and disorder, violence against
citizens who did not share their views and disobedience to the
employees of the law-enforcement bodies, who were also injured.
The Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office initiated a criminal case on
30 March 2004 under Article 318 of the Armenian Criminal Code,
publicly insulting an official, and Article 301, public calls to
change the authorities and constitutional system by force. The
investigation department of the Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office’s
is carrying out the investigation.
Azeri Islamic Party calls for pull-out of troops from Iraq, Afghanistan
Ekho, Baku
1 Apr 04
Terrorist attacks may be made against Azerbaijan, if its troops are
not withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Islamic Party of
Azerbaijan has said. The Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan,
another member of the left-of-centre Union of Azerbaijanist Forces,
said that allowing the USA to deploy its troops in Azerbaijan may
result in a regional conflict. The union called for a balanced policy,
“which must not negatively affect relations with Russia and Iran”.
The following is the text of R. Orucev’s report by Azerbaijani
newspaper Ekho on 1 April headlined ” Islamists warn about possible
terrorist attacks against Azerbaijan and suggest immediate withdrawal
of our peacekeepers from Iraq and Afghanistan”; subheadings inserted
editorially:
Yesterday’s session of the left-of-centre Union of Azerbaijanist
Forces [UAF] has proven productive. The gathering brought together
leaders of the Unity Party, Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan
[SDPA] and the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan [IPA].
US troops in Azerbaijan
The USA intends to station soon its mobile troops in Azerbaijan, and
this runs counter to the state interests and security concerns of
Azerbaijan, the leaders of the three parties said yesterday [31
March]. The American objective is not protecting the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, but rather “the true US goal is to
complete the blockade of Iran”. They believe that the USA plans to
launch an attack against the Islamic Republic of Iran. “This may
result in a conflict in our region, and Russia may take part in it,”
the [co-]chairman of the SDPA, Elsan Manafov, said.
Azerbaijani Defence Minister Safar Abiyev’s visit to the USA was not
successful, since he mainly met third and fourth-level officials [as
published] in the Congress, Pentagon and State Department, the UAF
said. However, the visit in itself shows that the USA has some plans
about deploying its mobile subunits in Azerbaijan. That Russia’s State
Duma discusses this issue is further confirmation of this, as “Moscow
certainly has quite accurate reports in this regard”.
Regional developments and balanced policy
The recent municipal elections in Turkey showed that Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s [Justice and Development] Party enjoys large
support among the public. The Turkish voters voted for the ruling
party and the UAF believes that this will not affect Turkey’s policy
towards regional states.
However, taking into consideration the European Union’s pressure on
Turkey and US Deputy State Secretary Richard Armitage’s remarks in
Baku (that the Turkey-Armenia border has to be opened), the UAF
reckons that the resolution of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict will
drag on, and sooner or later Turkey may take a decision which goes
against Azerbaijan’s interests. Therefore, the Azerbaijani government
should conduct a clearly balanced foreign policy, which must not
negatively affect relations with Russia and Iran.
The union had predicted the outcome of the parliamentary election in
Georgia, but [Georgian President Mikheil] Saakashvili’s National
Movement did to some extent falsify the election results to achieve a
landslide victory. The UAF believes that Georgia’s Labour Party and
Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze’s Revival union did pass the 7-per-cent
threshold. Some international observers too have reported that.
Azerbaijani president’s reshuffle welcomed
The union welcomed the reshuffle carried out by the Azerbaijani
president, which replaced the heads of five districts. “If the
president is forming a new team capable of carrying out social and
economic reforms in the districts, then we welcome those steps,” the
UAF leaders said.
The union also supported the initiative of several MPs from the ruling
[New Azerbaijan] Party to begin drafting a law on amnesties. On the
other hand, the union deems it unnecessary to tie this event with
[late President] Heydar Aliyev’s birthday or with the name of any
other statesman.
Threat of terrorist attacks
Certain forces who resent the country’s participation in the
anti-Iraqi coalition stand behind the terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan,
said the secretary general of the IPA, Rovsan Ahmadli. “The
Azerbaijani leadership should hurry to pull out its troops from Iraq
and Afghanistan. Otherwise, it cannot be ruled out that there may be
terrorist attacks in Azerbaijan,” Ahmadli said.