Category: News

Foreign firms may be working for Armenian intelligence – Azeri minister
ANS TV, Baku
26 Mar 04
Presenter It cannot be ruled out that the Armenian special services
are not working in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani National Security Minister
Namiq Abbasov said, adding that they come here within the framework of
delegations from various foreign organizations.
Abbasov Of course, I cannot say that they are not working here. It
would not be serious to say so. Given that I can work there, why
should they not be able to work here? There are 30,000 ethnic
Armenians in Azerbaijan. Tens and hundreds of representatives of
pro-Armenian countries arrive in Azerbaijan every day. These are firms
and international organizations that come here under various
guises. No-one can say with confidence that these people are not
working for the Armenian special services. We expelled three people
from Azerbaijan six or seven years ago. I will not name them. We
banned them from entering Azerbaijan. They worked for an organization
which was engaged in activities beyond their business interests. They
were supposed to work as a humanitarian organization, but went to the
front line to learn where our army units were stationed.

US deputy state secretary arrives in Azerbaijan
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
26 Mar 04
The fight against international terrorism will be discussed in the
course of US Deputy State Secretary Richard Armitage’s visit to
Azerbaijan which begins today. Mr Armitage arrived in Azerbaijan
nearly an hour ago. His meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev is planned for tomorrow.
The sides will discuss the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh
problem, bilateral relations, international terrorism and the fight
against transnational crimes. Armitage discussed the settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict with Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan during his visit to Armenia before arriving in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s ANS TV reported at 1700 gmt on 26 March 2004 that Richard
Armitage will arrive in Azerbaijan in a few hours

Armenian leader, US deputy state secretary discuss bilateral ties, Karabakh
Mediamax news agency
26 Mar 04
YEREVAN
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan received US Deputy Secretary of
State Richard Armitage in Yerevan today.
Mediamax quoted Kocharyan as saying during the meeting that he was
pleased with the level of bilateral US-Armenian relations and stressed
the importance of expanding this cooperation.
During the meeting the Armenian president and the US deputy secretary
of state discussed the prospects for the development of the South
Caucasus and ways of resolving the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

Azeri agency downplays Iran-Armenia-Europe gas pipeline project
Turan news agency
26 Mar 04
BAKU
The Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, the construction of which is expected
to begin by late 2004, will go across Georgia’s territory through the
Black Sea and Ukraine to western Europe. Thus, the Iranian and Turkmen
gas will go to the European Union countries bypassing Russia, Armenian
Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan told reporters yesterday 25 March .
The idea of laying the pipeline emerged in 1994, when the Georgian
section of the gas pipeline supplying gas to Armenia from Russia was
constantly out of operation due to chronic instability in Georgia. To
create an alternative source of power supply, in 1995 Armenia and
Tehran signed an agreement on laying the 141-km-long Iran-Armenia gas
pipeline.
Armenia, however, could not start implementing the project: either the
sides could not agree on the gas price (Iran does not agree to supply
gas at Russian prices), or financial problems arose etc. Since early
2004, the Armenian side has been saying at all levels that a contract
will be signed soon and the construction will begin this year.
If we believe Movsisyan, Armenia is about to launch a large-scale
project which in the first place jeopardizes the energy security and
political ambitions of the country’s strategic partner, Russia. The
latter will sustain huge losses if gas is successfully transported via
the Turkmenistan-Iran-Georgia-Ukraine-Western Europe route. Russia
will lose at least transit tariffs from supplying Turkmen gas to
Ukraine, gas markets in Georgia and Armenia, and partly in Ukraine,
sales markets in eastern and partly western Europe, and finally the
economic levers of exerting pressure on its CIS neighbours.
Despite a very difficult geographic route, the project is feasible
technically, but will require huge investments. The implementation of
its subwater part will cost at least 2bn-3bn dollars. In addition,
many players along the route have great expectations concerning
transit tariffs, which in the long run will make the project
commercially unattractive. Given the fact that Armenia’s entire gas
market, including its gas distribution and gas transport network, is
managed by Russia, the project is unlikely to have bright future. The
project is based not on realities of the current market economy, but
on illusions of an Armenian myth similar to “Greater Armenia”.

A1 Plus | 18:00:03 | 26-03-2004 | Politics |
VAZGEN MANUKYAN SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE
But it doesn’t mean the current president will remain in office, he said. At
the same time, he said he didn’t think “a bad president will be replaced
with a good one”.
He is stuck to the idea that an interim president is needed. The interim
leadership should include both pro-governmental and opposition-leaning
forces.
Substantial changes should be made in the Constitution, Manukyan said.
Asked doesn’t he fear Kocharyan can stir up war in Karabakh to retain power,
the Democratic Union leader answered: “I’m far from the idea of calling our
authorities traitors”.
Answering the question journalists put to him about possible oppression of
opposition activists, Manukyan said oppression has always been and will be.
—

Armenia of great importance to USA – deputy state secretary
Mediamax news agency
26 Mar 04
YEREVAN
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said in Yerevan today
that “Armenia is of extremely special importance to the United
States”.
According to Mediamax news agency, Richard Armitage said this during a
news conference in Yerevan today following his talks with Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan.
“By this visit we would like to highlight our interest in the South
Caucasus and in Armenia’s very important role for the United States,”
the American diplomat said, expressing the hope that the political
dialogue with Yerevan will be stepped up.
Richard Armitage also said that he discussed global issues of
international politics and regional problems with the Armenian
president and foreign minister.

A1 Plus | 21:48:59 | 26-03-2004 | Politics |
RULING COALITION RELEASED STATEMENT
Ruling coalition parties have eventually handed down their long-awaited
statement.
Calls inciting people to civil unrest is being heard in the republic in
recent months. Those making them are pointing their fingers at some
outstanding problems and trying to oust the current authorities, the
statement says.
The coalition members have never denied the fact that there are many
troubles – mostly social – they don’t distance themselves from these
problems and have collective sense of commitment toward people. That’s why
the coalition parties find it important to state that in the wake of
parliamentary elections after scrutinizing the situation in the country they
adopted stance of comprehensive approach to the problems. A number of
feasible programs have been worked out to ensure the country development.
The coalition is convinced it will solve the problems. 2004 will be crucial
year for fulfillment of promises given in the course of election campaign,
the statement says.
Authorities are being formed in due time as a result of election, not
between elections. Any attempt to involve the country in early elections can
jeopardize security of our republic that faces many challenges.
Political forces united in coalition intend to achieve the goals specified
in their memorandum such as improving lives of thousands of peoples, halving
poverty and rooting out corruption.
The coalition is sure that its program implementation will lead to visible
progress. At the same time, all attempts to violate the Constitution must be
prevented by law enforcement bodies, the statement says.
—

The Moscow Times
Friday, Mar. 26, 2004. Page 1
Selling the House Where Tolstoy Lived
By Kevin O’Flynn
Staff Writer
Mike Solovyanov / MT
Two of Alexei Tolstoy’s writing desks, standing as they did in his study at
2 Ulitsa Spiridonovka, where he lived from 1941 to 1945.
The museum dedicated to Alexei Tolstoy, one of the Soviet Union’s most
famous writers and a distant relative of 19th-century novelist Leo Tolstoy,
came under threat Thursday as it was discovered that the house in which it
stands, one of Moscow’s finest art nouveau buildings, has been sold to a
construction company.
Occupying the rooms at 2 Ulitsa Spiridonovka in the heart of old Moscow,
where Tolstoy lived from 1941 until his death four years later, the museum
is in the grounds of Ryabushinsky House, the home of the more well-known
Gorky Museum.
The house, named after Stepan Ryabushinsky, a rich merchant who fled Russia
after the 1917 revolution, is in one of Moscow’s most prestigious locations,
between Pushkin Square and Stary Arbat.
Turning up for work Thursday, museum workers were shocked to read a letter
telling them the museum was no longer responsible for paying its communal
bills.
Quite to the workers’ surprise, it turned out that the building had been
sold to construction company Evro- Stroi on Dec. 30.
Evro-Stroi’s general director, who would only identify himself by his last
name, Simonyan, said the building’s previous owner, a charitable fund called
The Society for the Support of the Arts, had bought the building from the
Moscow city government.
The museum and its supporters have decried the deal, saying that it is
illegal and simply a real estate grab.
But Simonyan said the sale was legal and that Evro-Stroi had no plans to
harm the museum. It just wanted to carry out some repairs and use part of
the building as an office, he said.
“Have you seen the ceiling, the walls, the roof?” he said. “They are in
complete disrepair.”
But Simonyan also said the museum did not need the 300-plus square meters it
now occupies, as Tolstoy’s apartment was only 80 square meters when he lived
there.
“We appreciate culture,” he said.
The State Literature Museum, which is in charge of the Tolstoy museum,
called the purchase “criminal,” saying it would fight the purchase in the
courts. The Moscow city government has set up a commission to examine how
the building was sold.
Mike Solovyanov / MT
The entrance to the Tolstoy museum is around the corner from Ulitsa
Spiridonovka, in part of what was the Ryabushinsky estate.
Museum workers were in shock Thursday as the news spread through the city’s
literary community, fielding phone calls and visits from outraged Muscovites
coming to show support.
“Everyone is worried,” said museum director Inna Andreyeva, who has worked
at the museum since it opened in 1987.
Alexei Tolstoy came to live on Spiridonovka after he became one of the
Soviet Union’s establishment writers under Stalin. He had left Russia after
the 1917 Revolution, but returned in 1923.
Tolstoy’s serious novels, such as “Peter I” and “The Road to Calvary,” are
less read now. But his children’s novels, particularly “The Adventures of
Buratino,” a Russian version of the Pinocchio tale, remain very popular.
Tolstoy’s reputation dimmed in recent years, amid accusations that he was an
apologist for Stalin’s regime. But the family’s literary tradition has been
continued by his granddaughter, Tatyana Tolstaya, also a novelist.
Tolstoy’s wife lived on in the house until her death in 1982, keeping it
much as it was when the writer died, complete with its valuable collection
of paintings and antique furniture intact.
In the museum, Tolstoy’s study has his writing desks kept as they were. The
writer always used all four desks when working, switching from one to
another as he researched his stories, typed them up on a classic Underwood
typewriter, and checked his manuscripts.
The museum also has a small but valuable art collection, including a work by
Karl Bryullov, the artist most famous for his “Last Day of Pompeii,” which
hangs in the Russian Museum.
The building is not just important as a museum, but “as a cultural center
which is alive,” Andreyeva said, listing the concerts, lectures and other
events that take place at the museum, such as the concert of chamber music
and reading of Spanish poetry in translation planned for Sunday evening.

Mike
Solovyanov / MT
Since opening in 1987, the museum has hosted many literary and musical
events.
The museum is in a corner of Moscow that is very special for Russian
writers, Andreyeva said, pointing out Maxim Gorky’s house next door and the
church a few meters away where Alexander Pushkin got married.
Other famous literary residents nearby included Alexander Blok, who lived on
the street when he first came to Moscow, and Ivan Bunin, who used to stay up
all night playing cards at his friends’ a bit further down the road.
In another part of the grounds, nearer to Malaya Nikitskaya Ulitsa, is the
Gorky apartment museum, where Gorky lived from 1931 until his death in
mysterious circumstances in 1936.
Reactions Thursday to the sale from the literary community ranged from anger
to resignation.
“Some con merchants, some bandits bought the building behind our backs,”
said Natalya Shakhalova, the director of the State Literature Museum.
As a national culture and architecture monument, it cannot be sold without
the permission of the federal government, she said.
Other museum workers, including the worried head of the Chekhov apartment
museum, phoned during the day to offer their solidarity.
And despite the assurances of the new landlord, museum workers and many
Muscovites fear for the fate of the building and the museum. Hundreds of
historical buildings, many supposedly protected by the state, have been
knocked down over the last decade.
One customer brought three flowers, saying that she hoped that it wouldn’t
be two the next time. Russians give an even number of flowers only at
funerals.
“It shows that the people in charge of Moscow couldn’t care less. Look what
they have done to Moscow,” said one visitor, trying out the antique
Chippendale wooden chair in the staff room at the museum, who did not want
to give his name. “They have destroyed the Arbat, Ostozhenka and
Prechistenka. Now they’ve gotten to Spiridonovka.”
But Evro-Stroi insists it has no plans to do any work on the building this
year.
Kommersant quoted the head of the commission investigating the sale,
Vladimir Avekov, as saying that it was unclear which part of building had
been sold. He said he believed the sale affected 450 square meters out of
the building’s total area of 800 square meters.
Avekov said the charity that bought the building first had been founded in
1999, and that one of its backers was the State Literature Museum.
“It seems as if they sold it to themselves,” the paper reported Avekov as
saying.
But Shakhalova denied Thursday that the State Literature Museum was a
founder of the fund.

Baku Today
March 26 2004
Richard Armitage visiting Azerbaijan
U.S. Deputy State Secretary Richard Armitage is visiting Azerbaijan
today and tomorrow.
Armitage will consider the issues of anti- terror partnership, energy
issues and the reforms in political and economic spheres during his
visit to Azerbaijan, according to Azertaj News Agency.
Armitage and Azeri president Ilham Aliyev will focus on Karabakh
issue during their meeting, the agency said.
The senior U.S. official Armitage has been traveling Ukraine and
Armenia since March 24, 2004.
His visits to Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan intend discussing
broader prospects of current relations with the three countries.

Armenian president, party leaders discuss government’s activities
Arminfo
24 Mar 04
YEREVAN
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and the leaders of the member
parties of the ruling political coalition discussed mechanisms of
increasing the effectiveness of the legislative activities of the
Armenian government and National Assembly during a working meeting
today.
The press service of the Armenian president told Arminfo news agency
that the participants in the meeting noted the importance of
discussing the draft laws envisaged in the government’s work schedule
for 2004. The leaders of the parties made their remarks on and spoke
about their impressions of visits to the regions of the republic and
meetings with citizens.
The interlocutors stressed the need to continue and improve such
events.