RA DM AND DEPUTY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF USA EUROPEAN COMMAND DISCUSSED
ARMENIAN- AMERICAN MILITARY COOPERATION DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS
ARMINFO News Agency
September 20, 2006 Wednesday
The RA Defense Minister Serzh Sarkissyan and the deputy
Commander-in-Chief of the USA European Command, William Ward, have
discussed at today’s meeting the prospects of development and the
present stage of Armenian-American military cooperation.
As the DM press-secretary, the Colonel Seiran Shahsuvaryan, told
ArmInfo, the parties expressed satisfaction by the cooperation of the
two countries in the sphere of military education, as well as noted
the necessity of implementing an Institute of professional sergeant.
In his turn, the General Ward noted the high level of military
preparation, an ability to orient in extreme situations, as well as a
good organization of Armenian peace-makers, who carry out a mission
in Iraq and Kosovo. The interlocutors have also touched upon the
issues of Armenia’s participation in the initiatives of international
stability establishment. They have also exchanged opinions concerning
the regional and international development.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VARDAN OSKANYAN: THE FUTURE OF ARMENIA-DIASPORA RELATIONS DEPENDS ON
NEW GENERATION OF DIASPORA ARMENIANS
ARMINFO News Agency
September 20, 2006 Wednesday
The future of Armenia-Diaspora relations depends on the new generation
of the Armenians residing abroad, said Foreign Minister of Armenia
Vardan Oskanyan commenting on the 3rd All Armenian Forum Armenia-
Diaspora at the request of ArmInfo. The forum was completed, Wednesday.
He disagreed with the statements of some forum participants from
Diaspora that the forum has become a regular assembly of high-flown
words and good wishes. After the first Forum in 1999, much has been
done, even the things that seemed impossible in 1999. The present
Forum, particularly, discussed the program of village development
in Armenia. A special fund has been created which will become part
of the All Armenian Foundation “Hayastan” in 6-7 months. Due to it,
the telethons will now bring much more than $9-10 million.
As regards the relations with Diaspora on the whole, Vardan Oskanyan
said our past transferred from generation to generation is gradually
fading. “If we fail to become interesting for the new generation and to
show that we are still competitive in the region in the sphere of both
economy, democracy and information, we’ll lose it,” the minister said.

KARABAKH WAR VETERANS ADVOCATE ARMENIA’S PARTICIPATION IN
PEACEKEEPING OPERATION IN LEBANON
ARMINFO News Agency
September 20, 2006 Wednesday
While Turkey is deploying almost a thousand soldiers in the Armenian
regions of Lebanon and Azerbaijan a is also planning to send its
contingent to the Middle East, Armenia has no right to sit by, says
the commander of the Artsakh regiment, one of the leaders of the
rising Movement of Commanders of Armenian Volunteers Mikayel Apressyan.
He says that it is the duty of the Armenian state to protect its
Diaspora in any country. That’s why Armenia must take part in the
peacekeeping operation in Lebanon.
From: Baghdasarian

ARKADI GHUKASYAN: SOONER OR LATER EVERYBODY WILL COME TO A CONCLUSION
THAT KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS IS IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT NAGORNO-KARABAKH’S
PARTICIPATION
ARMINFO News Agency
September 20, 2006 Wednesday
Today, during his visit to the Yerablur Memorial Complex in Yerevan,
Nagorno-Karabakh President Arkadi Ghukasyan told the journalists that
sooner or later everybody will come to a conclusion that the Karabakh
peace process is impossible without Nagorno-Karabakh’s participation.
“Today, our region dictates the formula: if you want peace, be ready
for war. We should naturally be attentive to the issues of security
and our army should always be efficient. But now the war is going
on in other spheres: economy, politics, culture. The war wasn’t our
choice, we were forced to fight. We won but life proved that war is
not a good way to solve problems, and we should find a political way
of the conflict settlement”, he said. Expressing his attitude to the
GUAM’s initiative for putting the question of the “frozen conflicts”
for consideration of the UN General Assembly, the NKR President said
that in this case Azerbaijan and the GUAM countries pursue the goal
of propaganda. Answering the question how to return the process of
negotiations to the proper course, he noted that the process has
been out of course for a long time as the OSCE Minsk Group isn’t
active enough. The meetings of Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents
and Foreign Ministers are not enough as the MG, which is commissioned
to negotiate with all the sides of the conflict, fails carrying out
its functions. I think we’ll probably have a real chance as soon as
the process returns to its proper course with the full-fledged format
of negotiations”, he pointed out. Ghukassyan said that the Karabakh
side meets with the co-chairmen regularly. “There is no need in a
special initiative from Karabakh as every time there is a subject
for discussion the co-chairmen themselves initiate meetings with
the leadership of all the three sides of the conflict, particularly,
with the NKR leadership”, he noted.

LEADER OF UNION CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT RESIGNS AND LEAVES BIG POLITICS
ARMINFO News Agency
September 20, 2006 Wednesday
Leader of the Union Constitutional Right (UCR) party, Hrant
Khachatryan, is among those few politicians who are able to keep
their word. H. Khachatryan fulfilled his promise and declared about
his resignation from the post of UCR Chairman and about his leave
from big politics at a press conference, Wednesday.
Qualifying the recent events inside the party as an internal coup
through a plot, H. Khachatryan said his leave from the big politics
will not be a big loss for Armenia as there are no irreplaceable
people. “My leave from the big politics is not a self-sacrifice. It
will allow me to return to my favorite radiophysics.” At the same time,
H. Khachatryan has no intention to refuse from his deputy mandate until
it expires in order to protect the interests of the party and the party
body, Iravunk newspaper, although he is not longer a member of the UCR.
At the same time, he said he will not run for the parliament during
the upcoming elections. He will not return to big politics even if his
ultimatum to stop the membership of UCR Vice Chairman Hayk Babukhanyan
is fulfilled. H. Khachatryan said he has no serious disagreements
with H. Babukhanyan and the financial misappropriations by the
latter played no key role in their relations. At the same time,
H. Khachatryan complained that he has no access to the documents,
video and audio records of the 17th Congress of UCR. He added that
his leave will not be approved by the members of UCR Board, that is
why he did not informed them of his intention.
However, H. Khachatryan demanded the members of and leadership of the
party to do their best to preserve the party and the office. He thinks
that the party has been practically split up and it needs neither
good nor bad leader. He also demanded that a new editorial council of
“Iravunk” newspaper is elected and the journalists are not dismissed
for their political views. He demanded the editor Hovhanness Galajyan
not to settle organizational issues for lack of such abilities. He
insisted that Vigen Hakopyan, one of the editors of the newspaper,
is appointed the editor-in-chief.
As regards the conflict of “Iravunk” and Defense Minister Serge
Sargsyan, H. Khachatryan said he was among the first to criticize the
acts of the minister in public. “So, the H. Babukhanyan’s statement
that I fulfilled the order of Serge Sargsyan demanding the stoppage
of his membership because he is the head of Iravunk editorial council
is just senseless,” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA ESPECIALLY INTERESTING FOR NETHERLANDS
ARMINFO News Agency
September 20, 2006 Wednesday
The Netherlands take a special interest in Armenia, said Ambassador
of the Netherlands to Armenia Onno Elderenbofch during his meeting
with Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Tigran Torosyan, Wednesday.
The diplomat said the program of Armenia’s acts under the EU policy
of New Neighborhood will expand the cooperation opportunities for the
two states. Ambassador Elderenbofch expressed readiness to contribute
to organizing mutual visits of politicians after the parliamentary
elections in the Netherlands.
In his turn, T. Torosyan said that integration into Europe is one
of the prior directions of Yerevan’s foreign political course. In
this way, the exchange of experience of the two states is of great
importance, the speaker said. As regards the situation in the region,
T. Torosyan said Armenia is ready to cooperate with all the countries
of the region without any preconditions. However, Turkey and Azerbaijan
are not ready for this. Moreover, Azerbaijan wages an anti-Armenian
propagandist policy preventing the settlement of the Karabakh conflict
and contradicting to PACE requirements. The settlement of Karabakh
conflict is not conditioned by oil dollars like Azerbaijan believes
it to be. It is not accidental that EU is concerned over the increase
of Azerbaijan’s military budget and the militarist statements by
official Baku, he said. As a counterbalance to the relations with
Turkey and Azerbaijan, the relations with Iran develop on the basis
of mutual respect, the speaker said. The construction of a second
branch-line of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline was discussed during the
recent visit of Iranian speaker to Armenia. In his turn, Ambassador
Elderenbofch stressed the importance of energy independence of the
region for establishment of peace and stability.
The sides also discussed the parliamentary elections of 2007 in
Armenia. The speaker said that OSCE, PACE and other delegations will
observe the elections in Armenia. If the elections meet international
standards, the CE monitoring of Armenia will stop as all the laws
included in the country’s commitments to the CE will be adopted by
that time. As regards international conventions, Armenia has already
ratified them, the speaker said.

Spain withdraws Armenian genocide bill after talks with Turkish embassy
Anatolia news agency, Ankara,
19 Sep 06
Madrid, 19 September: A resolution on the so-called Armenian genocide
submitted earlier to the Spanish parliament has been withdrawn after
the Turkish embassy in Madrid held talks with Spanish officials.
The resolution was submitted to the Spanish parliament by two deputies
of the Republican Left of Catalonia Party (ERC) last June.
Turkish Ambassador in Madrid Volkan Vural got in touch with authorities
in the Spanish Foreign Ministry and Parliament and also sent letters
to the two ERC deputies and Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign
Affairs Commission Josep Antoni Duran Lleida.
In his letters sent to Spanish officials, Volkan emphasized how
wrong such an initiative is and that the resolution would harm
Turkish-Spanish relations if adopted at the parliament.
Ambassador Vural held a tete-a-tete meeting with ERC deputy Maria
Bonas and convinced her to withdraw the resolution on the so-called
Armenian genocide.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Highlights from Turkish Islamist Press 20 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring
Sept 20 2006
Bugun
In a 1.600-word article entitled “Are There Any Threats to Turkey
Within Lebanon?” on page 10, Bugun columnist Cengiz Candar asserts
that Sunni, Druze, and Christian groups have no objections to Turkish
troops coming to Lebanon as part of the UN peacekeeping force. He
also claims that any attacks on Turkish soldiers by Armenian groups in
Lebanon could not take place independently of the “political position
of the Iranian-Syrian axis,” and that no assaults are likely in the
foreseeable future.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
September 20, 2006 Wednesday
UN-IZATION OF POST-SOVIET CONFLICTS
by: Arkady Dubnov
THE UN WILL DISCUSS SUSPENDED CONFLICTS IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION;
The UN will discuss latent conflicts of the post-Soviet zone.
Moldova with its GUAM allies (Georgia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan)
scored a major diplomatic victory on the eve of the referendum in the
Trans-Dniester region. General Committee of the UN General Assembly
supported the bloc’s idea to put the matter of suspended conflicts on
the CIS territory on the agenda. Moscow had killed this discussion at
the UN level in 2005.
The UN did try – more or less – to tackle the Karabakh conflict. As
for the Trans-Dniester region, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia, this is
the first time they are about to be in the focus of attention of the
international community. Internationalization of interest in the
post-Soviet zone which Russia views as its own sphere of influence
will have little effect on conflict resolution. Solutions of the UN
General Assembly are recommendations at best. A UN resolution adopted
on a GUAM initiative will put a powerful propagandistic weapon in the
hands of Kishinev, Baku, and Tbilisi.
Armenia was the first to react to the forthcoming involvement of the
UN. Official Yerevan said there would be no talks with Baku for the
time being. That was how Armenia kept its word to suspend
negotiations with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanjan said at his meeting with his Azerbaijani
opposite number Elmar Mamedjarov that the meeting initiated by OSCE
Minsk Group chairmen would never take place in New York on September
24 as scheduled. Oskanjan believes in the meantime that discussion of
the Karabakh conflict by the UN may “slow down” the Minsk process
where “prospects of positive progress are already undeniable.”
Since “the process of resolution is shifting to the UN that comprises
191 countries some of which do not even know what the conflict is
about, Nagorno-Karabakh itself must be involved in the process,”
Oskanjan said. “If it is the UN rules that we will play by, then
Azerbaijan should begin negotiations with Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Source: Vremya Novosti, September 18, 2006, p. 5

PLANS OF WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN BASES IN 2006 IMPLEMENTED 100%
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
September 20, 2006 Wednesday
According to Major General Andrei Popov, Commander of the Russian
Army Group in the Caucasus, the plans of withdrawal of Russian
military bases from Georgia were fully implemented.
“The plan of withdrawal from Georgia is implemented 100% this year.
Everything was sent back home by the schedule. All military hardware
and whatever withdrawn from Georgia is already in Russia and Armenia.
The last echelon is leaving the station of Tsalka for Russia on
September 19. All military hardware from Georgia will be distributed
among units in Russia by September 25,” Popov said. “After September
19, the 62nd Base in Akhalkalaki will only contain the vehicles that
are needed to maintain everyday activity of the base until 2007 when
it will be closed for good.”
“Phase one of the withdrawal is over. The bases will continue
functioning in the withdrawal mode until the end of 2008,” Popov
added.
All in all, 727 vehicles and 2,626.6 tons of materiel were withdrawn
from the 12th and 62nd bases in Batumi and Akhalkalaki. Six railroad
echelons went to Armenia from the 12th Base and 19 to Russia from the
62nd. Sixteen convoys with munitions were dispatched to the military
base in Gyumri (Armenia), not to mention 12 convoys of military
hardware (25 railroad echelons and 28 vehicles). Along with that, 358
vehicles and 1,671.2 tons of materiel including 1,178.7 tons of
munitions were sent to Russia via Azerbaijan.
According to Popov, “transfer to the Georgian army of the objects the
Russian Army Group in the Caucasus is not using is also planned for
2006.”
Source: RIA-Novosti news agency, September 18, 2006,
Translated by A. Ignatkin