ACCORDS ON WITHDRAWING MILITARY BASES FROM GEORGIA TO BE RATIFIED
by Lyudmila Yermakova
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
October 10, 2006 Tuesday 08:42 AM EST
The Federation Council Committee for CIS Affairs recommended on
Tuesday that the upper chamber should ratify the Russian-Georgian
agreement on periods, order of temporary functioning and a withdrawal
of military bases and other military facilities, located in the
Georgian territory. The Federation Council will debate this item at
its plenary session on Friday.
Deputy chief of the Russian General Staff Alexander Skvortsov,
acting as the Russian president’s official representative at the
examination of this question, emphasized that the budget for this
year and the Russian budgets for 2007 and 2008 provide for adequate
funds to implement these agreements. Some expenses will be also taken
from funds, appropriated for the upkeep of the Russian Armed Forces.
It is planned that a withdrawal of military hardware from the military
base in Akhalkalaki will be carried out by the year-end. The final
withdrawal of the military base in Batumi as well as the headquarters
of the Group of Russian Troops in Transcaucasia is provided for during
2008. The agreement was signed in Sochi on March 31, 2006.
Calling on senators to ratify the agreement, Colonel-General Skvortsov
noted that “non-ratification of the agreement can give a pretext to
the Georgian leadership to pump up the situation and to launch new
provocative actions”. He also stressed that the document “does not
contain provisions, running counter to Russian legislation”.
The deputy chief of the General Staff also called attention to
a rule that protection of social interests of servicemen would be
undeviatingly observed during a withdrawal. For instance the question
is being settled on providing them with housing. Housing is already
turned over for occupancy to families of servicemen who are already
leaving Georgia. In 2007, they will receive another 250 apartments.
The committee also recommended ratification of an Agreement on
organizing transit of military cargoes and personnel across the
Georgian territory. Based on international norms, the document
regulates questions of transit by various types of transport of
military cargoes and personnel to ensure operation of the 102nd
Russian military bases in Armenia, in the city of Gyumri.

“DAYS OF ARMENIA IN SIBERIA” TO OPEN IN KRASNOYARSK
by Igor Kritsky
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
October 10, 2006 Tuesday
The first inter-state forum “Days of Armenia in Siberia” is opening at
the international exhibition-business centre “Siberia” in Krasnoyarsk
on Tuesday.
As Itar-Tass learnt at the company Krasexpocentre, the aim of the
forum is to expand economic and cultural ties between Armenia and
the biggest region of Russia.”
Representatives of the Armenian government, mayors of a number of
cities, representatives of big business, the Union of Commodity
Producers of the republic and cultural workers will arrive in
Krasnoyarsk. They will meet with Siberian leaders and businessmen,
as well as with Krasnoyarsk governor Alexander Kloponin and head of
Krasnoyarsk Pyotr Pimashkov.
In particular, the Armenian side plans to discuss issues of
administrative and economic management and business cooperation,
including the possibility of creating joint ventures.
The cultural and business forum will begin its work with the
presentation of the republic and the opening of an exhibition of
foodstuffs and industrial goods of Armenia. Famous Armenian singers
and musicians will give two concerts.
The forum will last till October 13.

QUESTIONS SURROUND FRENCH PRESIDENT’S VISIT
Eurasianet, NY
October 11, 2006
Opinions are divided about the purpose of French President Jacques
Chirac’s recent state visit to Armenia, with some observers contending
that the mission had more to do with Turkey’s candidacy for European
Union membership than with the South Caucasus state itself.
Armenian officials presented the September 29-October 1 visit as
a sign of the country’s growing regional importance; the country
was the second Commonwealth of Independent States member visited by
Chirac after Russia. “I believe that the visit of President Chirac was
… a result of the fact that today Armenia is a factor of stability,
a reliable partner in the region for France and [other] big countries,”
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian was quoted by the Azg daily newspaper
as telling reporters.
However, many experts did not share this outlook. Some have charged
that opposition to Turkey’s membership bid for the European Union
prompted the French leader’s visit. By visiting Armenia and discussing
the Ottoman Empire’s 1915 massacre of thousands of ethnic Armenians,
Chirac was, in effect, reiterating long-standing European skepticism
about Turkey’s human rights record, a potential barrier to European
Union (EU) membership.
“Judging by the deeds and the words of Jacques Chirac [during the
visit], his thoughts were in neighboring Turkey rather than in
Armenia,” commented former Armenian Foreign Minister Aleksander
Arzumanian in an October 6 interview with the Russian newspaper
Izvestia. “And this is understandable, as now serious problems have
emerged between united Europe and Turkey.”
Chirac could not avoid addressing the topic of the 1915 massacre, which
France recognized officially as genocide in 2001. European media showed
Chirac during a Yerevan press conference exhorting Turkey to recognize
the massacre as genocide in the same way that Germany has recognized
the Holocaust. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. “I
believe every country becomes greater when it recognizes its errors
and crimes of the past,” Chirac said when questioned if Turkey needed
to acknowledge the Ottoman genocide in order to gain EU membership.
Chirac’s comments produced a sharply negative reaction from Turkey,
including threats to expel the 70,000 Armenian citizens now reportedly
living in the country. The backlash prompted a renewed discussion in
Armenia about whether its call for the 1915 events to be universally
recognized as genocide suits the country’s interests.
In an October 4 editorial, the Haykakan Zhamanak independent daily
wrote that France is keeping the Armenian genocide issue as a “moral
excuse” for not granting Turkey EU membership if political reasons
do not work. Even if Turkey recognizes the massacre as genocide, the
paper continued, Armenian President Robert Kocharian’s administration
has affirmed that only the descendants of the victims, most of whom
are Diaspora Armenians, could present material claims against Turkey.
“It turns out that the policy of the Armenian authorities serves,
first of all, the interests of the citizens of France, whereas Armenian
citizens [must] develop with blocked communication routes [with Turkey]
for one more century, for the sake of the happiness of United Europe,”
the editorial read.
While Chirac’s comments may have stirred controversy among Armenians,
the French leader made clear his support for the government’s refusal
to transfer negotiations with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region
of Nagorno-Karabakh to the United Nations General Assembly or the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as Azerbaijan has
proposed. Talks currently take place within the framework of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group,
a tripartite body headed by France, the United States and Russia.
According to news reports citing Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry,
Chirac is expected to visit Azerbaijan in early 2007, following a
January state visit to Paris by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Other analysts see regional issues as motivating the French president’s
trip. A desire to compete with Russia and, maybe, the United States
for influence in the South Caucasus could be one explanation,
said David Hovhannisian, a political scientist and former Armenian
ambassador to Syria. Chirac is also interested in Iran, Armenia’s
southern neighbor and a longtime ally, with an eye to participation
in infrastructure and non-military nuclear projects, Hovhannisian
added. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian told reporters after
Chirac left that the French president “was very interested to learn”
President Kocharian’s opinion about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Richard Giragossian, a Washington-based political scientist, however,
argued during a public lecture in Yerevan on October 5 that France’s
influential Armenian community rather than any geopolitical factors
prompted the trip. This opinion was partly shared by the 168 Zham
daily, which said that the visit had acted as “triple PR” — for Chirac
himself, for Kocharian, and for Armenia, which used the opportunity
to tout the country as a foreign investment destination.
The trip included a concert for 100,000 in downtown Yerevan by French
crooner Charles Aznavour, the son of Armenian immigrants.
NOTES: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer specializing
in economic and political affairs.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN: BROADCASTING REGULATORY BODY WANTS TO STOP FOREIGN-PREPARED PROGRAMMING
Rovshan Ismayilov
Eurasianet, NY
October 11, 2006
The Azerbaijani government appears to be expanding a clampdown
on independent media outlets. Officials have ordered local radio
stations to cease broadcasts of programming prepared by foreign news
organizations, including the British Broadcasting Corp., Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America.
On October 4, representatives of Azerbaijan’s most listened-to
broadcasters — including ANS TV and Radio, Antenn FM, and state radio
— were summoned to a meeting with Nushiravan Maharramli, the head
of National TV and Radio Broadcasting Council, the government’s chief
media regulatory agency. Maharramli informed broadcast executives that
broadcasting foreign-prepared content by local outlets was “illegal.”
“The foreign radio stations must use their own re-broadcasting
transmitters to air their programs, rather than use the airtime of
local radio stations,” Maharramli said. Any station that ignored the
new regulation could face “severe sanctions,” Maharramli warned.
ANS, which is privately owned, would appear to be especially vulnerable
to government pressure over foreign-content broadcasts, given that
it has been operating without an official license since 2003. In
an October 10 interview with the APA news agency, Vahid Mustafayev,
the president of ANS Group, complained that regulatory authorities
had reneged on promises to grant a license. “They said ANS will not
be granted a license until it stops broadcasting VOA, Radio Liberty
and BBC,” Mustafayev said.
Mustafayev also complained about repeated tax audits, hinting
that the inspections were politically motivated. Tax authorities
hit ANS recently with a $31,000 fine for various infractions. ANS
has filed suit in an Azerbaijani court charging the tax agency
with harassment and insisting that audits performed by local and
international companies disprove authorities’ allegations. The case is
pending. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has
lauded ANS for its comparatively balanced coverage of political and
economic developments in Azerbaijan. However, the broadcast council’s
Maharramli characterizes ANS as a frequent flouter of broadcast rules
concerning advertising and broadcast content. These violations are
the main reason why ANS’s licensing application is still pending.
Existing legislation contains no provision concerning government
foreign-content broadcasts, but Maharramli insisted that the NTRBC had
the authority to implement measures not foreseen by the law. “It is
our responsibility to pass necessary regulations. If there is a gap
in the law, our regulations are to fill this gap,” Maharramli said,
adding that the state agency did not fix a firm deadline for the
cessation of foreign-content broadcasts because it “does not want to
start with punishment. Let’s see how they act.”
Maharramli denied a political motive behind the new regulation. He
voiced particular concern about ANS’ move to lease airtime to Voice of
America, suggesting that it had the potential to serve as a dangerous
precedent. Other “channels could let [the Russian broadcaster] NTV,
or Armenian broadcasters into our market, using the same experience
of ANS’s cooperation with VOA,” Maharramli explained.
“Our decision is that foreign broadcasters — BBC, RFE/RL and VOA
— should air their programs according to existing laws. If needed,
we can provide frequencies to them,” Maharramli added. According to
a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, the NTRBC
closely coordinates its actions with the presidential administration.
Jonathan Henick, a public affairs officer at the US Embassy in Baku,
met with Maharramli on October 5 to discuss the new regulations. “The
talks will continue and we hope that the results will be positive,”
the Turan news agency quoted Henick as saying.
Many media observers in Azerbaijan view the new foreign-content
broadcasting regulation as part of a broad government effort to
restrict access to information. To support their contention they
point to the October 4 drug-possession conviction of a prominent
opposition journalist, Sakit Zahidov, whose brother, Qanimat, is the
editor-in-chief of the leading opposition newspaper Azadliq. Lawyers
representing Zahidov insist the verdict was politically motivated.
Zahidov, who often wrote about government corruption, received a
three-year prison sentence. He vigorously denied that he had ever
used illegal narcotics.
International free speech advocacy groups roundly criticized the
case against Zahidov. “We view this drug conviction with extreme
skepticism,” Joel Simon, the executive director of the Committee to
Protect Journalists, said in a written statement.
Numerous lawsuits are pending in Azerbaijani courts in which
opposition journalists face charges of libeling officials. Some
observers believe the defamation suits are being used to silence
independent journalists. On October 9, Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE’s
media freedom representative, called on Azerbaijani authorities to
amend media legislation to “decriminalize defamation,” according to
an OSCE statement. Haraszti made the comments following a meeting
with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev.
“Although the president voiced his disappointment with the lack of
constructive behavior by the press, I still hope he will support the
urgently needed reform,” the OSCE media freedom representative said.
“There are many ways of enhancing accuracy and professionalism in the
media other than criminalization,” Haraszti continued. “The OSCE is
ready to support ethics self-regulation initiatives.” Azerbaijani
officials said there were no immediate plans to amend existing
legislation covering defamation.
NOTES: Rovshan Ismayilov is a freelance journalist, based in Baku.

IRANIAN STUDENTS MADE A ROW AT A YEREVAN DISCO-CLUB
ARMINFO News Agency
October 10, 2006 Tuesday
A group of Iranian students made a row at one of disco-clubs in
Yerevan.
The press-service of the Armenian Prosecutor General’s office says
that around 3 o’clock AM, October 7, they received a call from the
city-dwellers about a row at the “Sava” disco-club. The officers of
the criminal investigation department found out that the row had been
made by the citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran: students of
the Yerevan State Architectural University, twin brothers Habib and
Muhammad Saravi (born in 1981), students of the Yerevan “Haybusak”
University, Brahimi brothers – Asri (1987) and Faasad (1985), and
Anaida Taimi (1985). The group of the drunk Iranian students made a
number of acts of hooliganism, quarreled with the club’s workers, beat
Director Arthur Matevosyan and broke the glass of the entrance door
with stones. According to the source, the twins were celebrating their
25th anniversary in this original way. The Central Police investigation
department of Armenia has instituted a criminal case under Part 3 of
Article 258 of the Armenian Criminal Code (hooliganism).

KEY PREREQUISITE FOR EDUCATION REFORMS IN ARMENIA IS CONCENTRATON OF EFFORTS AND COMMITMENT TO COOPERATION
ARMINFO News Agency
October 10, 2006 Tuesday
The key prerequisite for effective education reforms in Armenia is
concentration of efforts and commitment to cooperation, say the
participants in the Day of Information, an event held in Yerevan
State University (YSU) today under the Tempus Tacis project. The
organizers are Armenian Education and Science Ministry, European
Commission Delegation to Armenia, Tempus project office in Armenia.
During their speeches the director of the project, the representative
of the EC Delegation to Armenia Irina Movsissyan, the rector of the
YSU Aram Simonyan, the deputy education and science minister Ara
Avetissyan, the representative of the European Commission Education
and Culture Directorate General Klaus Koerner pointed out the key
role of universities in social reforms. Universities should be less
bureaucratic and more enterprising. They should be oriented towards
labor market and should establish active contacts with the government,
local administrations, businessmen and NGOs. The speakers noted
that by joining the Bologna Process, Armenia has committed itself
to reform the whole education system. Armenian universities – both
governmental and private – have yet much to do to integrate into the
European education system.
To remind, Tempus is a program adopted by the EU Council of Ministers
in 1990. It has been prolonged for three times and will be finished
this year. The objective of the program is to intensify EU cooperation
with partner states in supporting higher education reforms. Armenia
joined the program in 1995 and since then has carried out 28 long-term
projects worth a total of 4.5 mln EUR. 9 state Armenian universities
– YSU, Engineering University, Medical University, Architecture and
Construction University, Economics University, Agricultural University,
Linguistic University and Pedagogical Institutes of Gyumri and Vanadzor
– as well as some private universities have taken part in the project.

ARMENIAN DM: EFFICIENT ARMY IS NOT ONLY BIG FINANCING
ARMINFO News Agency
October 10, 2006 Tuesday
Efficient army is not only big financing, Armenian Defense Minister
Serzh Sargsyan says in an interview to REGNUM (Russia) and El Pais
(Spain).
Asked for how long the “neither peace nor war” situation may go on in
Nagorno-Karabakh now that Azerbaijan is quite actively strengthening
its economy, Sargsyan says that the Azeri economy is really developing,
but in 2005 Armenia had bigger economic growth.
This year, due to growing oil revenues, Azerbaijan is developing a
bit more actively, but it would be wrong to say that the economic
growth in Azerbaijan may force the Armenian side to capitulate. On
the contrary, it may urge it to work better and to seek improvement
not only in the economy but in other sectors – to become a developed
state with a modern highly efficient army. “Only this will allow us
to effectively oppose Azerbaijan in case of new war,” says Sargsyan.
He notes that Azerbaijan does not have an overwhelming economic
advantage over Armenia. It will take Azerbaijan several decades
to attain the advantages it had in the early 1990s. And even then,
despite its big advantages, the Azeri side lost the war. “So, I would
like to advise all those relying on money to come to their senses and
to consider the lessons of the war Azerbaijan has once unleashed and
lost,” says Sargsyan.”
He says that in 2007 Armenia plans to spend 3.5% of its GDP on defense
– some $270-280 mln. This may be much for Armenia but compared with
some other countries this is not enough for building a modern efficient
army. Everything is relative, says Sargsyan.
Asked if the Nagorno-Karabakh problem can be solved by peace, Sargsyan
says: “Of course, it can. Any peace agreement implies agreement of
the sides. This is like marriage. There is no marriage without mutual
agreement. So, if we seek to solve the problem and Azerbaijan not, we
can’t help it. We believe that this problem must be solved peacefully
on the basis of mutual compromise,” says Sargsyan.
Asked about the possibility of return of refugees, Sargsyan says
that now that the problem is yet unresolved, that people have not
yet healed the wounds they got during the war, the return of refugees
is impossible.
The compromise is not about this. The people who left Nagorno-Karabakh
14-15 years ago have long settled down in new environments and are
hardly prepared to leave everything they have there and to come back
to Nagorno-Karabakh. The compromise is about Azerbaijan’s recognizing
the right of the Karabakh people to live independently, so they can
feel themselves secure and no longer rely on the security zone. There
are other important components. The compromise must concern security –
only then it will lead to stable peace, says Sargsyan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJAN WILL NOT MEET IN MINSK OCT 17
ARMINFO News Agency
October 10, 2006 Tuesday
The Armenian and Azeri presidents will not meet in Minsk Oct 17,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan says in an interview to
Hayastani Hanrapetoutyun daily.
The point is that the CIS Summit in Minsk Oct 17 has been postponed for
a month at least. Only the CIS FMs will meet in Minsk but the Armenian
and Azeri FMs will not meet tete-a-tete as they will have little time
and it is more expedient for them to meet Oct 24, says Oskanyan.
To remind, during their last meeting in Moscow Oct 6 the Armenian
and Azeri FMs agreed to meet in Paris Oct 24.
Commenting on the results of the meeting, Oskanayn says that the
co-chairs did not make new proposals but offered some new ideas
concerning the moot questions. Oskanyan says that the ideas are quite
interesting and should be seriously considered. Oct 24 the FMs will
consider them in general and during the next meeting in detail. Only
then will they be able to see if these ideas are leading them in the
right direction and if there is a necessity for a presidential meeting.
Oskanyan refuses to specify the moot questions but advises to
attentively follow the statements of the OSCE MG co-chairs and the
Armenian and Azeri FMs.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH PM SAYS FRENCH REASON IN ‘ECLIPSE’ OVER GENOCIDE BILL
Agence France Presse — English
October 10, 2006 Tuesday
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired a broadside at
France Tuesday in a mounting row over a draft law on the massacres
of Armenians under Ottoman rule, calling the bill the product of “an
eclipse of reason” and urging Paris to rethink its own colonial past.
“We expect Paris to avoid this blunder, this political accident that
will harm Turkish-French relations,” Erdogan told the parliamentary
group of his Justice and Development Party in a speech interrupted
by applause.
“The EU must absolutely take a stand against this eclipse of reason
in France,” he said.
Erdogan rejected suggestions by some Turkish lawmakers for Ankara
to retaliate, if the bill is voted, with a similar law making it a
crime to deny that the killings of tens of thousands of Algerians
under French colonial rule amounted to genocide.
“No, we will not retaliate in kind — we do not clean filth with
filth,” he said, but he urged the bill’s backers to closely examine
their own past.
“Those vehicles of of slander and lies should look at their own
past… Let them look at what happened in Algeria between 1954 and
1962,” he said.
The French bill, to be debated and voted at the National Assembly
on Thursday, calls for one year in prison and a 45,000-euro
(57,000-dollar) fine for denying that Armenians were the victims of
genocide during World War I.
Erdogan said the bill will prevent free debate on a historical subject
and violate freedom of expression, a basic EU norm that Turkey itself
is under pressure to respect.
But he said the bill would not discourage Turkey from pursuing its
bid to join the European Union.
“Minor snags will not deter us from pursuing our major goals… Work
on our EU (membership) process continues unabated,” he said.
Ankara has warned France that it will be barred from potentially
lucrative economic projects in Turkey, including a planned nuclear
power plant, if the bill is adopted.
In a 2001 resolution, France recognized the Armenian massacres as
genocide, prompting Ankara to sideline French companies from public
tenders and cancel several projects awarded to French firms.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917.
Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000 Armenians
and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians seeking
independence in eastern Anatolia sided with invading Russian troops
as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.

GEORGIAN AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS CONCERNED OVER REPATRIATION OF MESKHETIAN TURKS TO SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETI
ARMINFO News Agency
October 10, 2006 Tuesday
Georgian and international human rights activists are concerned over
the inadequate actions of the Georgian authorities to repatriate
Meskhetian Turks to Georgia’s mostly-Armenian Samtskhe-Javakheti
region. They say that this may aggravate the complicated ethnic
situation in the country.
During the working session of the 11th OSCE Human Dimension
Implementation meeting in Warsaw, Deputy Director of the Humanitarian
Cooperation and Human Rights Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry
S. Tolkalin invited the attention of the OSCE to the violation of the
rights of ethnic minorities, particularly, Armenians and Azeris, in
Georgia. He said that those two communities are constantly complaining
of their deteriorating state.
The press service of the Russian Embassy in Yerevan reports Tolkanlin
to say: “We know well how the OSCE and its member states react to
such events and we are expecting the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, ODIHR,
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and High Commissioner for
National Minorities to give an appropriate assessment of the human
rights situation in Georgia.”