MOSCOW CRIES FOUL AS GEORGIA ARRESTS FOUR RUSSIAN ‘SPIES’
Agence France Presse — English
September 27, 2006 Wednesday 7:46 PM GMT
Four Russian officers suspected of spying were arrested Wednesday
in Georgia, sparking furious demands in Moscow for their immediate
release.
“Four Russian officers from the military intelligence service (GRU)
and 12 citizens of Georgia who were spying in Tbilisi, Batumi and
all over Georgian territory were arrested in a special operation,”
Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told a press briefing.
Merabishvili added that the Georgian authorities wanted to question a
fifth Russian officer, who the Georgian authorities fear may attempt
to flee the country via “diplomatic channels.”
Moscow reacted furiously to the news with the Russian foreign ministry
calling for the “immediate release” of the four and accusing Tblisi
of an “anti-Russian policy.”
The ministry said in a statement that it had called in Georgia’s
ambassador to Russia and “passed him a note demanding that the Georgian
authorities release the Russian officers immediately.”
The head of Russia’s armed forces, General Yuri Baluyevski, reacted
with equal anger, accusing Georgian Defence Minister, Iraki Okruachvili
of acting “arbitrarily,” interfax reported.
The foreign ministry statement added that the Georgian accusations
against the Russian soldiers were “baseless” and constituted a
“brutal act showing that Georgia’s leaders are carrying out an
anti-Russian policy.”
On Wednesday evening, several hundred police vehicles were seen
surrounding the Tbilisi headquarters for Russian military bases that
cover Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Georgian authorities are understood to believe the fifth officer
they want to question may be hiding in the building.
Tblisi suspects the five officers of gathering information on Georgia’s
military capacity, its energy resources and on NATO-run programmes
in the country, Merabishvili told journalists.
Two of the arrested officers were lieutenant colonels, who were
apprehended in Tblisi.
The other two, the captain of a frigate and another lietenant colonel,
were arrested in Batumi, western Georgia, where Russia has a military
base.
The espionage activites had been going on for “a number of years,”
Merabishvili said.
The interior minister added that the 12 Georgians arrested with the
Russian “spies” were accused of “high treason”.
The officers are also accused of having been “implicated” in a bomb
attack in the town of Gori, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Tblisi,
which killed three police officers and injured 23 other people.
Relations between Moscow and Tblisi have detriorated steadily since
the January 2004 election of pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Saakashvili wants his country to join NATO and also wants to bring
two pro-Russian breakaway regions of Georgia – Abkazia and Southern
Ossetia – under Tblisi’s control once more.
Georgia has also been demanding for several years that Russia dismantle
its two military bases in the country — aside from the complex in
Batumi it has another base in Akhalkalaki, southern Georgia.
The bases were set up in the 1990s to help put an end to fighting
between Tblisi and the two rebel provinces. Under the terms of a 2005
deal between Moscow and Tblisi they are supposed to be dismantled
in 2008.
Saakashvili was in the Kodori gorges region on Wednesday, an area
near to Abkazia. During his visit he promised “to begin the process
of returning Abkazia” to Georgia.
Georgia was formerly part of the Soviet Union.

TURKEY RISKS SCUPPERING EU MEMBERSHIP TALKS OVER CYPRUS STANCE
by Amelie Bottollier-Depois
Agence France Presse — English
September 27, 2006 Wednesday 4:53 PM GMT
Turkey’s talks on European Union membership could be frozen unless
Ankara fully opens its ports to Cypriot ships, the European Parliament
warned Wednesday.
In a 429 to 71 vote, with 125 abstentions, the euro-MPs voted that a
“lack of progress” in the matter would have “serious implications
concerning the negotiation process and could even stop it”.
The vote was merely consultative and has no legal strength.
The deputies were discussing a tough report on Turkey, prepared by
Dutch rapporteur Camiel Eurlings.
“It is important that this process should not be a game of accusing
each other. It should be a process where we advance until we reach a
solution,” Eurlings said, while praising the parliament’s stance as
“very strong but also fair”.
The euro deputies did however water down the declaration by deleting a
paragraph calling on Turkey to recognise the 1915-17 Armenian genocide
as a precondition for joining the European Union.
Ankara refuses to apply the term genocide to the events. Earlier
this month it rejected an EU report saying that it should do so as
a condition for membership.
In July 2005, Turkey signed a protocol extending its customs agreement
with the EU to the 10 new states that joined in 2004, including the
island of Cyprus which Ankara refuses to recognise.
But its parliament has yet to ratify the document and Ankara continues
to block Cypriot ships’ access to Turkish ports.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Ankara on Wednesday that
any extra conditions for Turkey’s European Union entry would be
“unacceptable”, while pledging that his government would stick to
the path of democratic reform.
“We do not ask for privileges from the EU but putting forward new
criteria is unacceptable for us,” he told a conference in Istanbul.
Erdogan was speaking after EU officials signalled that enlargement
may slow down after they opened the door for Bulgaria and Romania to
join in January.
Armenians estimate that up to 1.5 million of their forebears perished
in systematic killings orchestrated by the Ottoman Empire between
1915 to 1917.
Turkey rejects all accusations of genocide, estimating the number of
Armenian deaths at 300,000 and arguing they were not a consequence
of deliberate extermination but a combination of war, disease, famine
and ethnic conflict.
The European deputies also deplored the slow pace of Turkey’s
reform process over the past year and called on Ankara to “relaunch”
it immediately.
Their resolution put particular emphasis on freedom of expression
and religion and treatment of Turkish minorities.
The European Commission — the EU’s executive arm — is set to issue a
crucial report on Turkey’s progress towards EU membership on November
8 amid mounting criticism of Ankara within the bloc.
Several European officials have warned that the Cyprus question could
lead to a crisis between Ankara and the EU before the end of the year.
Last week, the EU criticised Ankara for failing to promote free speech
after best-selling novelist Elif Shafak went on trial for insulting
the Turkish nation in a book about the massacres of Armenians.
Even though the writer was swiftly acquitted, the Commission said “a
significant threat to freedom of expression” remains in Turkish law
and urged amendments to the penal code, including the infamous Article
301, which landed Shafak and a string of other intellectuals in court.
Philippe de Schoutheete, of the Belgian Royal Institute for
International Relations, said there was “reluctance over Turkey
entering (the EU) certainly in western Europe and in some parts of
central Europe”.
This was apart from the growing feeling of “enlargement fatigue”,
he told AFP, and more due to its relatively large size and political
issues including the Armenian question and human rights.

“HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH” INTERNATIONAL REMEDIAL ORGANIZATION IS DEEPLY ANXIOUS ABOUT STATEMENTS OF TORTURES AND INHUMAN TREATMENT ON CASE OF THREE ARMENIAN SERVICEMEN
ARMINFO News Agency
September 27, 2006 Wednesday
The “Human Rights Watch” International Remedial Organization expresses
its deep anxiety about the statements of tortures and inhuman
treatment on the case of three Armenian servicemen, Razmik Sargsyan,
Musa Serobyan, Araik Zalyan, condemned for the murder of their two
fellow-servicemen, it is said in the letter of the Executive Director
of Europe and Central Asia, Holly Cartner, addressed to Chairman of
RA Court of Appeal, Hovhannes Manukyan. To be reminded, R. Sargssyan,
M. Serobyan and A. Zalyan are condemned by the Court of Appeal to
life imprisonment, accused of the murder of their fellow-servicemen,
Hovsep Mkrtumyan and Roman Yeghiazaryan.
Earlier, the Trail Court of RA Syunik region had condemned them to 15
years of imprisonment. According to the case materials, H. Mkrtumyan
and R. Yeghiazaryan had disappeared from the Matagis military unit
of NKR Martakert region December 24, 2003. Only a fortnight later,
January 8, 2004, the Prosecutor’s Office has instituted criminal
proceedings on the fact of the servicemen disappearance. The next
day, January 9, the bodies of H. Mkrtumyan and R. Yeghiazaryan with
the traces of violence were found in the Matagis water channel. As
the advocates state, the testimonies of confession were obtained by
examination under pressure.
As it is noted in the letter, during his recent trip to Armenia, the
Human Rights Watch had gathered an information on this case. “Not
talking of the guilt and innocence of the clients, we are anxious
about the fact that the sentence of both courts was mainly based
upon the testimonies of confession of one of the accused, Razmik
Sargssyan. There are all reasons to suppose that these testimonies
of confession were given by him after tortures”.

ARMENIAN NPP TO BE STOPPED FROM OCTOBER 1, 2006, FOR PLANNED PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE AND REFUELING
ARMINFO News Agency
September 27, 2006 Wednesday
The Armenian NPP will be stopped for 45 days from October 1, 2006,
for planned preventive maintenance and refueling, the NPP Director
General, Gagik Markossyan, told ArmInfo correspondent.
According to him, it is scheduled to implement five NPP
safety-enhancement measures during this period. The most important
measure is upgrading of the reactor protection system, which is
financed by EU within the frames of the TACIS program with cost of 1,3
mln Euro. The means for NPP safety level increase are traditionally
allocated by the USA, IAEA, EU. The owns means of NPP are aimed
at assemblage and designing. G. Markossyan added the nuclear fuel
in a necessary quantity has been already delivered to NPP 10 days
ago. G. Markossyan hopes all the repair and refueling works will be
carried out at a stated time.
To be noted, the NPP was handed over under financial control of “INTER
RAO UES” CJSC, which is an affiliated structure of RAO “UES of Russia”
and which pays for the delivery of the new batch of nuclear fuel to
NPP. Two power units of Russian model VVR-440 with total capacity of
815 MW are installed at the Armenian NPP. The first unit had been
commissioned in 1976, the second one – in 1980. In the beginning,
1989, the NPP was abandoned for political reasons, and the second power
unit with capacity of 404 MW was restarted in the beginning, 1995.

ARMENIAN BEAUTY TO REPRESENT ARMENIA AT BEAUTY CONTEST “MISS EUROPE JUNIOR- 2006” FOR THE FIRST TIME
ARMINFO News Agency
September 27, 2006 Wednesday
A 19-years-old Mariam Melyan will represent Armenia for the first
time at the Beauty Contest “Miss Europe Junior-2006”, to be held
October 14, 2006, in a Czech town of Liberec, the President of the
International Organizational Committee of “Miss & Mister World”
Contest, Ashot Khachatryan, said at yesterday’s press-conference.
A. Khachatryan noted that M. Melyan has underwent a difficult
selection round in July, 2006, with participation of 40 girls. The
main requirements, besides good physical data , included knowledge of
English, computer and Internet. Today M. Melyan leaves for Prague to
actively prepare for the coming Contest. Moreover, she will take part
in the Contest “Miss Talent” to be held in Tunis on September 30 –
October 6, 2006. Besides M. Melyan, the girls at the age of 20 from
30 countries of the world, including Russia, will participate in the
Contest “Miss Europe Junior- 2006”. To be noted, M Melyan is the only
representative of the Caucasian region in this Contest.

ARMENIAN MPs AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS START DISCUSSING AMENDMENTS TO ARMENIA’S ELECTORAL CODE
ARMINFO News Agency
September 27, 2006 Wednesday
Today Armenian MPs and Venice Commission experts have started
discussing draft amendments to Armenia’s Electoral Code.
All parliamentary forces except Justice opposition bloc are taking
part in the discussions.
Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Tigran Torossyan says that the
discussions were constructive and specific. The sides discussed
6 points Armenia’s political forces have failed to agree on,
particularly, the procedure of appeal against election results and
voting. Tomorrow the sides will sum up the proposals made today and
will submit the document for the Armenian Parliament’s approval within
a month.
The member of the Venice Commission Gael Martin-Micallef (France)
says that the document has been substantially improved but there
are still many unacceptable and moot points. The Venice Commission
has made 13 recommendations, particularly, on the order of electoral
commission formation.
Concerning Justice bloc’s recalling its signature under the document
Martin-Micallef says that he was unaware of it, he has just learned
the news and deeply regrets at it.

NO ISSUE, CONCERNING ARMENIA, TO BE DISCUSSED AT COMING OCTOBER 2-6 AUTUMN SESSION OF PACE
ARMINFO News Agency
September 27, 2006 Wednesday
No issue, which directly concerns Armenia, will be discussed at the
coming October 2-6 Autumn Session of PACE, the Head of the Armenian
delegation in PACE, RA Parliament Speaker, Tigran Torossyan, told
ArmInfo correspondent, when asked about the coming PACE session agenda.
He noted all the issues, discussed in PACE, are somehow or other
related to Armenia. He also noted the issues, related to the matching
of the country’s legislation with the new clauses of the Constitution
will be also discussed during the meeting, to be held tomorrow with
PACE monitoring group members. T. Torossyan informed the reporters for
monitoring in Armenia prepare a report on matching the RA legislation
with the Constitution. Their visit to Armenia is devoted just to this
issue, T. Torossyan said.

TURKISH MPS HOLD TALKS IN GERMANY ON OBSTACLES TO EU ACCESSION
Anatolia news agency, Ankara,
26 Sep 06
Berlin, 26 September: Members of Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary
Commission met members of EU Commission of German Federal Parliament
in Berlin on Tuesday [26 September].
Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission Co-Chairman Aydin Dumanoglu
told reporters after the meeting that they discussed problems of
Turkish citizens who are living in Germany as well as obstacles before
Turkey’s EU accession process.
“We exchanged views about Cyprus question, so-called Armenian genocide,
and privileged partnership which concern Turkey,” he added.
On the other hand, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Istanbul deputy
Onur Oymen told reporters that Turkish side expressed uneasiness
about so-called Pontus and Syrian genocide allegations as well as
headscarf issue. [Passage omitted]

UK FIRM OFFICIALLY GIVES ARMENIAN POWER GRID TO RUSSIAN COMPANY
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan,
27 Sep 06
The [British] Midland Resources Holding Ltd has officially handed the
management of the Electricity Networks of Armenia to Russia’s Inter
RAO UES [Unified Energy Systems of Russia].
Russia’s Inter RAO UES manages more than 20 facilities in Europe and
Asia. The company promises to overhaul the Electricity Networks of
Armenia with new methods and investment programmes.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS ACCESSION PROGRESS REPORT ON TURKEY
Anatolia news agency, Ankara,
27 Sep 06
Strasbourg, 27 September: European Parliament on Wednesday [27
September] approved Turkey report which was prepared by Dutch
parliamentarian Camiel Eurlings.
During voting of the report, 429 parliamentarians voted positive
against 71 parliamentarians, and 125 parliamentarians abstained.
The report, which is not binding but recommendatory, calls Turkey to
accelerate reforms on the path to EU membership.
The report wants Turkey to speed up reforms and implementations
especially on freedom of expression, religious rights, minority
rights, civilian-soldier relations, women rights, labour unions,
cultural rights and independence of jurisdiction areas.
Expressing pleasure over Turkish government’s preparing the 9th
reform package, the report recommended the new anti-terrorism law
not to include restrictive elements against basic rights and freedom.
The report called Turkey to amend Articles 216, 277, 288, 301, 305
and 318 of Turkish Penal Code (TCK) claiming that they are open to
arbitrary interpretation.
The report also strongly condemned PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party]
terrorist organization.
Noting that discharge of Van Public Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya from
his post was concerning, the report claimed that developments after
Semdinli incidents showed that the role of army continues in Turkish
society.
The report asks Turkey to drop 10 per cent election threshold, and
thus, a broader representation, including Kurdish parties, will be
provided at Turkish parliament.
Noting that a new constitution may be needed to reflect the reforms
on the path to EU membership, the report also condemned attack on
Council of State.
Expressing regret that Turkey could not record a progress in religious
freedom area since the last report of EP, the report calls Turkey to
overcome problems in education of clerics of minorities as well as
their owning properties.
Condemning the attacks of PKK terrorist organization, the report
stressed that EP is in solidarity with Turkey in fight against
terrorism.
The report calls Turkey to abolish village guard system, to find
democratic solution to Kurdish problem and to apply European standards
in custody and arrests.
The report noted that modern, democratic and secular Turkey can
undertake a constructive role in dialogue among civilizations. It
also asked Turkey to take necessary steps and swiftly open border
gate with Armenia to start diplomatic and good neighbourhood relations
with this country.
The report also wanted Turkey to open its ports to Greek Cypriot
vessels, stating that Turkey’s recognition of all EU countries
including Greek Cypriot administration is a compulsory part of EU
negotiation process.