Regnum, Russia –
June 30 2006
Gross refuses to be co-rapporteur on Azerbaijan
PACE Monitoring Committee had a meeting on June 29, reports AzTV.
While speaking at the meeting Andreas Gross refused to be
co-rapporteur on Azerbaijan any longer because `he has worked in this
sphere for a long time and now wants to be co-rapporteur in some
other country.’
The committee has met his request and has relieved him of his duties.
The Swiss MP will be replaced by British MP Tony Lloyd.
The head of the Armenian delegation, the Armenian parliament speaker
Tigran Torossyan says that during his speech he tried to present
Gross’ refusal to continue his duties as co-rapporteur on Azerbaijan
as the result of that country’s pressure on him. However, the
Azerbaijani delegation said that Gross’ decision was voluntary, and
Azerbaijan exerted no pressure on him.
Still, we would like to note that Gross has been co-rapporteur on
Azerbaijan for ten years already and has actually had controversial
relations with that country’s authorities.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Kenya
June 30 2006
More revelation on Arturs’ identity
By Carol Gakii ( Saturday, July 01, 2006)
A close business associate of the recently deported Armenians
Rajendra Saghani Friday told the Kiruki commission of Inquiry that he
initially knew the two foreigners by different names and not as
Artur.
Saghani told the commission that the two were introduced to him as
James and Arthur and not Artur.
Saghani also revealed that he did business transactions worth
millions of shillings with the two alleged brothers without any
documentation.
He said the Arturs insisted on dealing with cash payments for all
their transactions.
Saghani told the commission that he sold three cars to the Arturs
worth over 7 million shillings, which they paid a deposit of 1.8
million shillings in cash but have never paid the balance todate.
Saghani also confirmed that he was the one who introduced the two to
Mwingi north MP Kalonzo Musyoka at a Nairobi hotel.
He said the two wanted to seek Kalonzo’s opinion on the various
investments of their interest.

Regnum, Russia
June 30 2006
Nagorno Karabakh Defense Minister: `No one wants a war’
Presidents should resume the negotiation process and find the issue’s
peaceful settlement, Nagorno Karabakh republic (NKR) Defense Minister
Seyran Ohanyan stated while talking to journalists.
In his words, the issue cannot be resolved by force, REGNUM reports.
`No one wants a war, especially servicemen,’ stated Seyran Ohanyan.
He alleged that the meetings held between the two countries’
Presidents showed that the Azerbaijani party did not wish to conduct
talks.
Touching upon AR Minister of Defense Safar Abiyev’s statement,
according to which `Armenians fear war’, Seyran Ohanyan stated,
`Armenians do not fear war, and, beginning with 1988 up to today, our
defense makes us absolutely sure of ourselves’. He remarked Baku’s
belligerent statements are oriented exclusively towards inner
consumer.

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
June 30 2006
Head of PACE Sub-commission on Nagorno-Karabakh to pay visit to
region in October

Source: Trend
Author: J.Shahverdiyev

30.06.2006

The members of the provisional commission of Sub-commission on
Nagorno-Karabakh created in PACE will arrive in region in October,
Ganira Pashayeva, the member of Azeri delegation in PACE, told Trend.

The agreement on this visit was reached on June 28 at the meeting
between the heads of Azeri and Armenian delegations Samad Seyidov and
Tirgan Torasyan within the summer session of PACE. The meeting was
also attended by the chairman of Sub-commission Lord Russell Johnson.

The members of the Sub-commission will visit Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh. `May be Johnson himself pay a visit to the region,’
Pashayeva added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
June 30 2006
Azeri deputies put Armenians before fact during discussions in PACE

Source: Trend
Author: J.Shahverdiyev

30.06.2006

We put Armenians before fact during discussion of the first issue
`Forest fires in Europe: their environmental and ecological impacts’
at the final meeting of the summer session of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Ganira Pashayeva, member of
the Azeri delegation in PACE, told Trend.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis also
participated in these discussions.
According to Pashayeva, the members of Armenian delegation Nermini
Nagdalyan and Tirgan Torasyan noted that Azerbaijani side complicates
the facts of forest fires in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
`They told as though Azerbaijani delegation lies, and the separatist
regime of Nagorno-Karabakh doesn’t need these fires. They accused
Azerbaijan in several aspects,’ told Pashayeva.
According to Pashayeva, after Armenian representative, Gultakin
Hajiyeva delivered a report and noted that Torasyan has not the moral
right to speak about the European values. `Because they themselves
don’t respect for these values. In my speech, I noted that 247352
ha forests of Azerbaijan are under the Armenian occupation. It forms
¼ of all Azeri forests. For more than ten years, Armenians have been
destroying fauna and flora in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.
Azerbaijani sustains the ecological terror of Armenia,’ stressed
Pashayeva.
Besides, Pashayeva noted that Armenian deputies often remembered
`Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’, noting that this territory has no
relation with Armenia.
`I mentioned that Armenian officials hold talks preventing the
peaceful solution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. I noted that Armenian
president Robert Kocharyan on May 8 of each year sends a
congratulation letter to the separatist regime on the occasion of
occupation day of Shusha. Besides, Armenian prime-minister Andanik
Margaryan and defense minister Serj Sarkisyan come to Shusha and
deliver a report before separatists,’ Pashayeva added.

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
June 30 2006
None of Nagorno-Karabakh-related issues discussed at conversations is
agreed upon – deputy Foreign Minister

Source: Trend
Author: R. Abdullayev

30.06.2006

The course of conversations on settlement the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem does not satisfy Azerbaijan but it is going to do its best to
settle ha not been agreed upon. Intensive Azeri-Armenian conflict
with account for the country’s national interest, Trend reports
quoting Vagif Sadikhov, deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan.
«None of the issues on the conversation agenda conversations are held
and it is untimely to say the referendum will be led in some region
of Azerbaijan», official said, adding as soon as the parties come to
some decision the public in both the countries will be informed at
once.

Alongside, Sadikhov stated the necessity in `revival’ of
international organizations activity in order to have them accomplish
their mediatory mission.

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
June 30 2006
PACE Plenary Session in Strasbourg

On June 29 in parallel with PACE summer plenary session Tigran
Torosyan, RA NA President, Head of Armenia’s delegation in PACE met
Rene van der Linden, PACE President. Mr. van der Linden congratulated
the head of Armenia’s delegation on the occasion of election in NA
President post and wished productive work. He highlighted the fact of
holding inter-parliamentary dialogue for deepening cooperation. PACE
President also touched upon the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh
conflict, noting that it will open new opportunities for the
region. Give opportunities for education and progress to the youth.
He attached great importance to the role of the parliaments in
preparing the peoples of their countries for the settlement of the
conflicts.
Tigran Torosyan, expressing his gratitude for the best wishes, noted
that as a head of delegation he always felt PACE support and
responsibility before PACE. He noted that as a result of
constitutional amendments, the National Assembly has already made
amendments to ten laws, the Electoral Code will be adopted in autumn
session after the close work with the Venice Commission. The NA
President noted that we should effectively make use of the short time
till parliamentary and presidential elections. He expressed a hope
that in January 2007 when the problem of using the constitutional
amendments in Armenia would be discussed in PACE, it will be possible
to say that the programme is mainly completed. The NA President
highlighted the holding of 2007 parliamentary elections in conformity
to international all standards. Mr. Torosyan also touched upon the
relations with Azerbaijan and within that framework the tactics of
Azerbaijan’s delegation in PACE, when the time of the discussion of
every issue is used to talk over Armenia-Azerbaijan relations not
relating at all to the theme for introducing unfairly accusations. An
impression is created that instead of discussing general problems the
PACE tribune is used for accusing and defaming Armenia. As an example
was brought the issue of the fires being speculated from the first
day of PACE summer session. It was noted that still on June 15 the
representatives of Nagorno Karabakh applied to the personal
representative of PACE acting President to make examinations on spot,
and three years ago there was a proposal to create a joint group to
prevent fires, but the proposal was denied by the Azeris.
Highlighting the issue Mr. Rene van der Linden noted that, of course,
it’s good that Karabakh has applied OSCE and we must wait for OSCE
experts and the end of the mission and as a result of it decide, who
are guilty.
During the meeting other issues were also discussed.
During the meeting of Tigran Torosyan, RA NA President, Head of
Armenia’s delegation in PACE and Milos Aligrudic, newly appointed
head of the parliamentary delegation of Serbia in PACE problems of
cooperation of the delegations of the two countries within the PACE
framework. Mentioning with satisfaction the excellent cooperation
till now, Mr. Torosyan noted that the cooperation at all levels in
the Assembly during the discussions of the political groups,
committees, plenary session can and must be continued. The issues of
establishing inter-parliamentary ties between Armenia and Serbia, as
well as formation of inter-party ties were also highlighted. Mr.
Aligrudic, expressing satisfaction from the opportunity of two
delegations’ cooperation, expressed readiness for deepening
inter-parliamentary and inter-party ties.
During the discussion of the issue on the consequences of the
referendum in Monetenegro at the plenary session Armen Roustamyan,
member of Armenia’s delegation gave a speech. He noted that the main
conclusion of the referendum was the following: on the one hand it
becomes obvious that in the modern world it’s possible to adjust the
combined, complicated problems with the obsolete schemes and try to
solve with arbitrary methods. On the other hand, the necessity of
creating conditions becomes more conscientious that if the people has
the right of self-determination confirmed with international norms,
be able to execute that right in conditions of democracy and peace.
On June 30 PACE plenary session will resume its works.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 30 2006
One more Azerbaijani soldier seriously wounded in Armenian cease-fire
violation
[ 30 Jun. 2006 18:09 ]
The Armenian Armed Forces from the positions in the occupied
Yusifjanli village of the Azerbaijani region of Agdam, Garabagh,
fired on the opposite Azerbaijani Army positions at the night of June
29 to 30.
As a result of the cease-fire violation by the Armenian side,
Azerbaijani Army soldier was seriously wounded.
APA’s Garabagh bureau reports the soldier Adil Loghman Ahmadov, who
was drafted from Lenkeran region, was wounded on his throat. He is in
critical condition now.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry press center confirmed this news./APA/

Catholic Online, CA
June 30 2006
Romanian archbishop: Building near cathedral threatens to destroy
what communists couldn’t
By Victor Gaetan
6/30/2006
Catholic Online ()
BUCHAREST, Romania – The largest Roman Catholic edifice in Romania,
St. Joseph Cathedral, is being threatened by an 18-story office
building with four underground levels, said Archbishop Ioan Robu of
Bucharest and several technical experts.
CONSTRUCTION SITE NEXT TO ROMANIAN CATHEDRAL – The construction site
of an 18-story office building, with four underground levels, is seen
in late May next to St. Joseph Cathedral in Bucharest, Romania. The
archbishop of Bucharest and several technical experts believe that
the cathedral is threatened by the proximity of the new building.
(CNS/Angelus Communications)
The building is being constructed to stand about 26 feet from the
122-year-old cathedral.
Despite intense opposition from Romania’s estimated 2-million-member
Roman Catholic community, daily prayer vigils and support from the
Orthodox Church, construction by Millennium SRL – a local firm
representing American investors – has continued at a frantic pace
since April. The building is designed by New York-based Westfourth
Architecture.
“They drilled on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, shaking the church so
violently that many parishioners left in fear. They work day and
night, endangering our beloved church,” Archbishop Robu said in late
June.
Archbishop Robu said Bucharest is an earthquake-prone city. In 1977,
a magnitude-7.4 earthquake killed more than 1,500 people, mostly
Bucharest residents who died when large buildings collapsed.
“If there is an earthquake, this monster will crush us,” said
Archbishop Robu. “As well, the cathedral is built on land that is
sandy. A subterranean river runs near the plot. This is a fragile
environment.”
A former minister of public works and legislator, Nicolae Noica,
publicly criticized local authorities for allowing the project to
move ahead.
“The nature of this terrain and the water table are important
obstacles to building a 75-meter (247.5-foot) tower like this one. An
early geotechnical study reflected these issues, but it was
suppressed,” Noica said.
Numerous irregularities were confirmed in a May 10 Romanian State
Office for the Inspection of Construction report signed by 12
inspectors and the state inspector general, Dorina Isopescu.
An American structural engineer, Emanuel Necula, who worked for the
development project, resigned in protest, saying that at least 49
laws and regulations were being violated by Millennium SRL. In a May
29 report to Romanian authorities, Necula said, “All the ingredients
for a disaster are in place.”
Daiana Voicu, a representative for Millennium SRL, said June 28 the
company has obtained permits required to construct the tower,
expected to cost between $40 million and $45 million. She said
approval from the cathedral is legally unnecessary because the new
construction is not built to the edge of the property.
“We are currently in litigation with the church over the permits,”
she said. A hearing is expected in July.
Regarding the negative, 18-page Romanian construction inspector’s
report, Voicu dismissed it as biased because “Madame Isopescu is
Catholic.”
Besides physical risk, Archbishop Robu said he worries that the
integrity of the Catholic community is undermined when people are too
afraid to enter the cathedral. Parishioners from the 15 parishes
across Bucharest attend Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral together with
non-Catholics. Approximately 8,000 people visit every weekend.
Archbishop Robu said, “Money matters too much to the people building
this tower, and there is an anti-religious tendency of obscure
origin.”
He said he considered it especially ironic that the church and its
values were being marginalized now that Romania is free of communist
control.
“The spirit of communism is still active in Romania. Under (communist
dictator) Nicolae Ceausescu, we feared that the cathedral would be
torn down or covered up, which was the policy toward churches at the
time,” said Archbishop Robu. “Instead, we are under siege today. What
the communists could not destroy because of international pressure
might now be destroyed, 16 years after Ceausescu’s overthrow.”
Under communist rule, thousands were jailed and hundreds died in
prison, he said, “but our faith has been strong.”
“We will rely on this faith to contest the unjust construction,” said
the archbishop.
Meanwhile, other churches in Bucharest have faced similar battles,
the archbishop said, noting that a large centrally located Armenian
church has experienced cracks and structural damage – the direct
result of a neighboring office complex built without the church’s
agreement.
Archbishop Robu has appealed to Romanian President Traian Basescu and
leaders of the European Union to help defend the cathedral. He said
he also is writing to members of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and to
U.S. congressional leaders who have stood up for religious freedom.
Romanian politicians have been unresponsive so far, he said.

Baku Sun, Azerbaijan
June 30 2006
Referendum in Karabakh?

BAKU – While mediators representing the United States, Russia and
France came up with a framework agreement on how to end the
18-year-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministries traded bitter accusations, blaming
each other for the failure of peace negotiations.
In an interview with RFE/RL on 22 June, Matthew Bryza – the newly
appointed US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group – said the framework
agreement envisages Armenia’s withdrawal from Azerbaijan’s occupied
territories, the restoration of diplomatic and economic ties between
Baku and Yerevan, the deployment of peacekeepers to the conflict
zone, international economic assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh, and a
vote `at some point’ on the future status of the region. `So that’s
kind of the basic outline of the proposal on the table, and we would
very much encourage the [Azerbaijani and Armenian] presidents to
accept this framework, which requires a lot of political courage,
which I’ve said publicly before,’ Bryza said.
In the meantime, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the talks
mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group were leading nowhere. Speaking at
the graduation ceremony of a higher military school in Baku, Aliyev
reiterated that Armenia’s refusal to withdraw from the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan could make the latter resort to military
action.
Aliyev said his country’s growing military spending – which amounted
to over $700 million in 2006 compared to Armenia’s $150 million –
would enable it to regain control of the Armenian occupied
territories by military force.
Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of
Azerbaijan, is home to nearly 100,000 ethnic Armenians. The Armenians
captured Nagorno-Karabakh, along with seven administrative districts
of Azerbaijan, in the early 1990s, expelling some 700,000 people from
their homes. The occupied territories account for nearly 20 per cent
of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized area.
Armenia responded on Monday, blaming the failure of the Karabakh
talks on Azerbaijan. In a statement carried by the Arminfo news
agency, the Armenian Foreign Ministry accused Baku of turning down
peace proposals offered by the OSCE Minsk Group, but did not
elaborate on the proposals.
The Armenian ministry threatened to pull out of the talks: `If
Azerbaijan continues its policy, Armenia will insist that Azerbaijan
talks directly to Nagorno-Karabakh,’ the ministry said, adding that
Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh would never give up their
`independence’. `Once again we want to tell Azerbaijan that no one
can force the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to give up the right to
freedom and self-determination, no matter how large their military
budget is,’ the statement read. Referendum
To the surprise of many in Azerbaijan, the Armenian Foreign Ministry
said the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents had agreed on the
holding of a referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh to define the region’s
political status.
`There is no disagreement on the issue of a referendum. The
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents have already agreed on this,’ the
statement read, adding that the mediators also support the idea of
holding a vote in Nagorno-Karabakh.
`For the first time ever, the co-chairmen [of the OSCE Minsk Group]
have said that Nagorno-Karabakh’s status should be decided by the
people of Nagorno-Karabakh in a referendum,’ the Armenian Foreign
Ministry said.
What still causes disagreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is how
to liquidate the ramifications of the military conflict by stages,
the statement went on.
`Armenia believes that, in general, the principles set out by the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman serve as grounds for continuing the
talks, and we are ready to hold talks with Azerbaijan based on [these
principles],’ the statement read.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, however, said that
any referendum in the ethnic Armenian-populated region of the country
should be held in keeping with the Azerbaijani Constitution, and only
after the Azerbaijanis expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh are allowed
back. An estimated 40,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from the region
during the hostilities. In a statement released on Tuesday,
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence or
unification with Armenia is out of the question. `Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity is not and cannot be a subject of
negotiations… If the negotiation process breaks up, responsibility
for this and its further consequences will rest with the Armenian
side,’ the Foreign Ministry said, but also reiterated Azerbaijan’s
commitment to finding a negotiated settlement of the conflict.
`Azerbaijan reiterates that it is ready to grant Nagorno-Karabakh the
highest-level of autonomy in line with the Azerbaijani Constitution
and within the framework of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized
territorial integrity,’ the statement read. Eldar Namazov, a
political analyst who headed former President Heydar Aliyev’s
secretariat in the late 1990s, said it would be a grave political
mistake on the part of Azerbaijan if it gave the go ahead to a
referendum in the Armenian-occupied territory.
`It would be contrary to Azerbaijan’s interests,’ Namazov said in an
interview with Baku Sun. `It may be that Azerbaijan is making
promises under duress. But this could have bitter consequences for
Azerbaijan,’ the analyst said.