AZERI PRESSURE GROUP PUSHES FOR WAR TO RESOLVE KARABAKH CONFLICT – TV
ANS TV, Baku, in Azeri
25 Sep 06
[Presenter] The [Baku-based] Karabakh Liberation Organization
believes that it is time to quit peace talks, its national manifesto
to resolve the [Nagornyy Karabakh] conflict says. The document, which
was publicized today [25 September], says that the territories must
be liberated by means of war.
[Akif Nagi, captioned as the organization’s chairman, shown speaking
to a news briefing] Azerbaijan must liberate its territories from
occupation in a military way. This is our position. Such a necessity
has already arisen in Azerbaijani society. We have always supported
this line. We believe that ugly cases cannot be tolerated under the
pretext of pluralism and democracy in Azerbaijani society. There are
threats in that direction. What made us adopt this document is also
that some non-governmental organizations are implementing projects to
build broad friendly and fraternal relations with the Armenians. They
are even setting up camps in Armenia in order for Azerbaijani and
Armenian young people to make friends. They are trying to implement
such projects on a large-scale. Therefore, we believe that the position
of Azerbaijani society must be made clear and everyone must express
their position.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“CAN YOU WIN?”
Haykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan, in Armenian
23 Sep 06
Armenian Paper Reports Rift Within Ruling Coalition Over Succession
Reliable sources have said that Armenian President Robert Kocharyan
has advised senior officials to compete ahead of the 2008 presidential
election. Kocharyan’s idea is that all officials who aspire to become
Armenia’s next president should launch an election campaign in order
to become the candidate of the authorities by early 2008 and in order
to have the most chances to win the election. Many officials were
inspired on hearing this, but some were angry.
Kocharyan is not going to make [Defence Minister] Serzh Sarkisyan
his direct successor. He suggests that Sarkisyan compete with other
presidential contenders on equal terms. This means that after all
Kocharyan may opt for another candidate. But the most important
result is that the Republican Party of Armenia [RPA] is angry with
Kocharyan’s ideas on a transitional candidate. According to the RPA,
Robert Kocharyan would not be nominated as a presidential candidate
in 1998 and 2003 if they were to apply the same logic back then. But
talks held behind closed doors have failed to change the formula
suggested by Kocharyan.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT : ENLARGEMENT ISSUES SET TO DOMINATE PLENARY SESSION
European Report
September 25, 2006
The European Parliament’s second plenary session this month, which
will be held in Strasbourg from 25 to 28 September, will focus on
enlargement with the adoption of the Eurlings report’ on Turkey’s
progress towards accession, and a Commission declaration on Bulgaria
and Romania’s entry into the EU. Parliament is also due to vote on
the Rapkay report’ on Services of General Interest.
Turkey must relaunch reforms, normalise relations with Cyprus and
recognise the Armenian genocide. This in substance is the tenor of
the own-initiative report by Camiel Eurlings (EPP-ED, NL), which will
be examined in plenary session following its adoption by the Foreign
Affairs Committee on 4 September. While the rapporteur welcomes the
opening of negotiations with Turkey, he nevertheless regrets the
slow pace of the reform process in the country. Accession remains
the objective of negotiations, even though it cannot be considered
automatic. MEPs will vote on the report on 27 September, but the
outcome remains uncertain since some 79 amendments have been tabled.
While the EPP-ED has already pledged its support for the text, the
Socialists (PES) reserve the right to reject it if certain amendments
are not retained. The European Commission has, meanwhile, postponed
until 8 November (two weeks later than originally scheduled) the
publication of its annual report on progress made by Turkey towards
EU accession.
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn will present a communication to
the EP on 26 September on the progress made by Bulgaria and Romania
towards their EU accession. The Commission must in effect decide
whether to maintain the 1 January 2007 date for the two countries’
entry into the European Union and decide whether to trigger certain
safeguards. An exchange of views will follow but the real debate will
come on 11 October in Brussels at the mini plenary session.
Parliament will vote on the two resolutions the following day. The
various groups generally expect the accession date to be maintained
at 1 January 2007.
INVESTITURE OF COMMISSIONERS
In another field, the own-initiative report by Bernhard Rapkay (PES,
DE) on the Commission White Paper on Services of General Interest will
be debated on 26 September in the presence of Commission President Jose
Manuel Barroso. The vote will take place the following day. The text
looks at how EU legislation should affect public services provided in
the member states. The report reflects a consensus negotiated between
the different political groups.
The plenary assembly will also examine the recommendation from its
Committee on Budgetary Control to grant discharge to the European
Parliament’s president for the 2004 budget year. This vote has been
postponed since April following the controversy over EP buildings in
Strasbourg. However, the settlement now appears to be in sight. In
this context, the Budget Committee, which meets on 26 September,
must decide whether or not to approve the acquisition of buildings
for a total of E143.125 million.
On the fringes of the plenary session, and in addition to the solemn
session on 26 September with the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora will address the
Conference of Presidents of Political Groups on 27 September.
Symbolically, the plenary session will be interrupted for an hour
and a half to allow this Conference to be opened exceptionally
to all MEPs. However, since this meeting will also be held in the
Parliament chamber, there will be little visible difference with the
plenary session.
Finally, three nominees among the ten candidates for the 2006 Sakharov
Prize will be revealed on evening of 25 September. The winner will be
chosen in October. On 28 September, the Conference of Presidents is
expected to begin discussing a date and procedures for the investiture
of the future Bulgarian and Romanian commissioners as well as current
commissioners who will be required to change their portfolio. A priori,
the commissioners should be appointed at the end of October, appear
before the European Parliament in November and be invested by the
December plenary session.

GEORGIA MOVES TOWARDS ACCESSION
by Dmitri Sidorov, Vladimir Soloviev
Translated by Elena Leonova
Source: Kommersant, September 25, 2006, pp. 1, 9
Agency WPS
What the Papers Say Part B (Russia)
September 25, 2006 Monday
NATO is preparing to accept its first member from the CIS
President of Georgia lashes out at Russia; Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili has accused Russia of “annexing” and “criminally occupying”
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. A meeting of NATO foreign affairs ministers
has approved a transition to “intensive dialogue” with Tbilisi:
a de facto invitation to join NATO.
Speaking at the United Nations last week, Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili accused Russia of “annexing” and “criminally occupying”
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Saakashvili’s harsh words are linked to
the fact that the previous day, a meeting of NATO foreign affairs
ministers approved a transition to “intensive dialogue” with Tbilisi:
a de facto invitation to join NATO.
President Saakashvili made his controversial statement on Friday,
September 22, at the UN General Assembly in New York. He delivered
a scathing twenty-minute speech about Russia’s destructive role in
the process of restoring Georgia’s territorial integrity. First, he
called on Moscow to withdraw Russian peacekeepers immediately from
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, because “their mission has nothing to
do with upholding peace.” Saakashvili then criticized the Kremlin’s
policy on Georgia: “These regions [South Ossetia and Abkhazia have
been annexed by our neighbor to the north – Russia, which claims to
support the idea that they are part of Georgia, while deliberately
issuing Russian passports en masse, in violation of international
law.” Saakashvili said: “The residents of the disputed regions are
living under Russia’s criminal occupation. I doubt that anyone in
this audience would tolerate such interference on their own soil.”
Saakashvili spoke with unprecedented harshness; never before has
Russia been accused of “annexation” or “occupation,” especially not
at the United Nations. Tbilisi always used to speak through Defense
Minister Iraklii Okruashvili when criticizing Moscow. The fact that
it’s the Georgian head of state who is making such serious accusations
now indicates that Georgian-Russian relations have deteriorated
to the point of extreme hostility. According to our sources, the
US Administration had requested Saakashvili to moderate his tone –
but turns of phrase like “criminal occupation” and “accomplices of
the Russian peacekeepers” stayed in the speech anyway.
Saakashvili’s fearlessness was clearly connected with the fact that
Tbilisi had scored an important diplomatic victory the previous day.
The foreign affairs ministers of 28 NATO countries decided to integrate
Georgia more closely into their ranks, approving a transition to the
“intensive dialogue” phase in relations with Georgia.
Georgia, which has never concealed its liking for NATO, has now
been given a clear signal that its wish for membership could become
a reality. This makes Georgia the first, and thus far the only,
CIS country which can boast of such close relations with NATO. And
there’s another reason why the NATO foreign ministers’ decision is
unprecedented. One of the main conditions for NATO membership is that
there should be no conflicts on the territory of a candidate state.
But Georgia has two conflict zones, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, with
occasional armed clashes taking place there. To all appearances,
however, Brussels has decided to turn a blind eye to this
inconsistency.
The Georgian authorities are making no secret of their delight at
this news, and say they’re certain that nothing can stop Georgia from
becoming a NATO member soon. “We’re close to NATO membership, and we
can’t be stopped from taking that path,” said Saakashvili yesterday,
after congratulating Georgia’s judo champions on defeating the Russian
team at the judo championship in Paris.
Russia hasn’t let Georgia’s accusations pass unnoticed – though
Moscow’s response wasn’t as harsh as Tbilisi’s attack.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, attending the UN General Assembly
session in New York, said that President Saakashvili is operating on
the basis of “a vast amount of distorted facts” and that Georgia is
purchasing “a large quantity of offensive weaponry.” Lavrov complained
of “Georgia’s numerous violations of Abkhazian conflict regulation
agreements,” saying that “the problem can only be solved with mutual
respect and by relying on the facts.” Lavrov added: “I hear neither
the former nor the latter in Mikhail Saakashvili’s speech.”
President Vladimir Putin was even more restrained: “Mikhail Saakashvili
is a hot-tempered person. All political leaders in the Caucasus are
noted for being exceptionally emotional. Nevertheless, he does care
about his country and the situation developing in his state.” According
to Putin, if a compromise solution can be found for the conflicts
on Georgian territory, Russia is prepared to act as a guarantor for
such agreements.
The prospect of Georgia joining NATO caused a much greater stir
in Russia. The Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry responded
differently to the idea that NATO could soon enter Russia’s interests
zone in the Caucasus.
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov didn’t attach much significance to
it, saying that Georgia’s accession to NATO wouldn’t damage Russia’s
military security. According to Ivanov, Russia has the resources to
neutralize the negative consequences of such a move: “We are currently
establishing two modern mountain brigades in the Caucasus.
Their personnel will operate at high altitudes in the mountains. Both
brigades will be stationed on the Georgian border, so Russia’s security
will not be compromised.”
The Foreign Ministry doesn’t share Ivanov’s calm and optimism. Its
reaction to NATO’s decision on closer relations with Georgia has been
somewhat nervous. The official Foreign Ministry press release says:
“Any expansion by NATO entails changes in the area of security,
but Georgia is a special case, due to its proximity to Russia and
the obvious complexity of Caucasus problems. If NATO, in its present
form, accepts Georgia as a member – if this idea is realized – that
will have a substantial impact on Russia’s political, military, and
economic interests, and a negative impact on the fragile situation in
the Caucasus.” The Foreign Ministry stated directly that Moscow is
not pleased with the active rapprochement between Georgia and NATO:
“The start of intensive dialogue gives Georgia a new status in
relations with NATO. Our negative attidude to this is well-known.”
The euphoria of the Georgian authorities over the start of intensive
Georgia-NATO dialogue is due to hopes that the Georgian-Abkhazian and
Georgian-Ossetian conflicts may soon be resolved. Tbilisi maintains
that solutions are being obstructed by Moscow, and hopes that with
NATO’s asistance, it can make Moscow change its stance. Givi Torgamadze
says: “We are sure that support from the world’s leading powers will
help to solve our territorial integrity problem. We hope it will also
put an end to tension in relations with Russia.”
Tbilisi’s hopes may well be justified – but regulating territorial
conflicts in Georgia’s interests can hardly be NATO’s main aim in the
region. Earlier this year, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was
opened at the Turkish city of Ceyhan. The pipeline runs to Europe,
bypassing Russia, and thus far it’s transporting oil from Caspian
Sea fields belonging to Azerbaijan. The pipeline will soon start
pumping oil from Kazakhstan as well. The West, as the chief sponsor
of this pipeline’s construction, wants security guarantees for it –
especially since Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan runs through a very unsettled
region. NATO’s presence could provide such guarantees.
But having Georgia alone join NATO might not be enough to reassure the
West completely. So we can soon expect to see a rise in NATO activity
in relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia, which are already taking
part in NATO programs.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH-ARMENIAN JOURNALIST INDICTED AGAIN
Agence France Presse — English
September 25, 2006 Monday 4:52 PM GMT
An Istanbul court has indicted Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink for “denigrating the Turkish national identity” by calling the
1915-17 massacres of Armenians a “genocide”, his lawyer said on Monday.
Dink received a suspended three-month jail sentence in October for an
article about the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire,
which many countries recognise as genocide. An appeal was rejected
in July.
The European Union condemned Dink’s conviction at that point, and the
journalist “granted an interview to a foreign news agency on the 1915
events, in which he employed certain words,” as his lawyer put it,
speaking to AFP.
If convicted again, the journalist will have to serve his original
sentence plus a possible three more years.
His lawyer Fethiye Cetin said the new proceedings had been sparked
when Agos, the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly that Dink edits,
reprinted excerpts from the July interview.
In the interview, Dink says of the World War I killings of Armenians:
“Of course I say this is a genocide, because the result itself
identifies what it is and gives it a name. You can see that a people
who have been living on these lands for four thousand years have
disappeared. This is self-explanatory.”
Ankara refuses to apply the term genocide to the events. Earlier this
month it rejected a European Union report saying that it should do
so as a condition for joining the bloc.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted last week
that Article 301 of the Turksh penal code — which is the legal basis
for Dink’s indictment and for most proceedings against intellectuals
who speak out about the Armenian question — could be amended.
The EU has repeatedly warned Ankara that the prosecution of
intellectuals for exercising their right to free speech is damaging
Turkey’s membership bid.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA TO HOST CIS EXERCISES ON NUCLEAR PLANT SECURITY
Interfax News Agency
Central Asia General Newswire
September 25, 2006 Monday 1:27 PM MSK
The heads of CIS anti-terrorist units will convene in Armenia on
September 26-29 to work on issues of securing nuclear power plants
from terrorist attack.
The Atom Anti-Terror 2006 joint command exercise, to be held in
conjunction with the meeting, will work on locating and eliminating
sabotage teams that have penetrated into Armenia, CIS Anti-Terrorist
Center head Boris Mylnikov told Interfax.
“The CIS has not held exercises at nuclear power plants before. Yet
Russian secret services have and they will share their experience
with the others,” he said.
A task force of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
headquarters and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Regional
Anti-Terrorist Center will take part in the exercises.
Representatives of the secret services of the G8, China, Greece,
countries accredited in Armenia, and a number of neighbor states will
be observers.
Representatives of the Azerbaijani secret services will not take part
in the exercises “for well-known reasons,” while Tajik representatives
won’t attend due to financial problems, he said.

ATOM-ANTI-TERROR — ’06 EXERCISES BEGIN IN ARMENIA
by Vladimir Zainetdinov
ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 25, 2006 Monday 07:50 PM EST
Simulated “terrorists” will seek “to seize” an Armenian nuclear
power station during large-scale operational and tactical anti-terror
exercises that begin in the Republic of Armenia on Tuesday.
The exercises, codenamed Atom-Anti-Terror –2006 will involve the
special services of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
and the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Boris Mylnikov, chief of the CIS anti-terrorist center, has told
Itar-Tass, “These are the first such exercises to be conducted in
the CIS at a nuclear power industry facility”.
Invited to watch the exercises as observers are officials of
G-8 countries, the Anti-Terrorist Unit of the Secretariat of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the
Counterterrorist Committee of the United Nations Security Council,
the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, and the regional
anti-terrorist center of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The United States, Greece, France, China, and the OSCE have confirmed
their attendance. Out of CIS countries, members of the special
services of Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will participate
in the Atom-Anti-Terror -2006 exercises, Mylnikov said.

PROSECUTOR OPENS NEW CASE AGAINST ARMENIAN-TURKISH JOURNALIST FOR ‘INSULTING TURKISHNESS’
Associated Press Worldstream
September 25, 2006 Monday 4:46 PM GMT
An Istanbul prosecutor opened a new case against Armenian-Turkish
journalist Hrant Dink for the crime of “insulting Turkishness,”
Dink said on Monday.
The case was opened because Dink told a foreign news agency in an
interview that the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks around
the time of World War I constituted genocide.
“Of course I say it was genocide,” Dink had said. “With these events
you see the disappearance of a people who lived on these lands for
4,000 years.”
Dink could face up to three years in prison if convicted under article
301 of the Turkish penal code, which makes it a crime punishable by
prison time to insult Turkey, “Turkishness” or the government.
Turkey’s official stance is that the evacuation and mass deaths
of Armenians living in Turkey from 1915 to 1923 did not amount to
genocide. It says the frequently cited death toll of 1.5 million
is inflated.
Writers and academics who have stated otherwise in Turkey have often
found themselves in court and facing the possibility of imprisonment.
Dink had previously been convicted of attempting to influence the
judiciary after his bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper, Agos,
ran articles criticizing article 301. Dink’s sentence was suspended,
meaning he would not go to prison unless convicted again.
The European Union has warned Turkey that changing or abolishing the
law is a prerequisite for securing freedom of expression in Turkey,
and that not doing so could mean the end of Turkey’s EU bid.
Novelist Elif Shafak was acquitted last week of insulting Turkishness,
a charge launched against her for words uttered by fictional Armenian
characters in her book, “The Bastard of Istanbul.”
Turkish courts dropped similar charges against acclaimed novelist
Orhan Pamuk earlier this year following an international uproar.
Dink, who had previously threatened in an emotional interview to
leave Turkey, said he would stay on and fight the charges.
“I’ll go to the court. I’ll defend myself. What more can I do?” he
said on Monday.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA ACCUSES AZERBAIJANI SNIPER OF KILLING SOLDIER
Associated Press Worldstream
September 25, 2006 Monday 1:29 PM GMT
The Armenian Defense Ministry said Monday that an Azerbaijani sniper
had killed an Armenian soldier.
Warrant officer Garnik Melian was fatally shot in the chest Saturday
near the Armenian city of Idzhevan in what the ministry called an
Azerbaijani cease-fire violation.
The two countries are at odds over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, an
ethnic Armenian territory inside Azerbaijan. A cease-fire agreement was
reached in 1994 after six years of fighting, and the territory is now
under the control of ethnic Armenians, whose troops face Azerbaijani
forces across a half-mile-wide (kilometer-wide) no man’s land.
Clashes break out sporadically along the tense border, and the
countries’ presidents have traded increasingly bellicose statements.

ON THIS DAY – SEPT 25
CNN.com
September 25, 2006 Monday 6:57 AM EST
1924: Greece announces the deportation of 50,000 Armenians.
1564: Maximillian II becomes emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
1587: Japanese strong-man Hideyoshi bans Christianity in Japan and
orders all Christians to leave.
1593: France’s King Henry IV converts from Protestantism to Roman
Catholicism.
1729: North Carolina becomes a royal colony.
1799: On his way back from Syria, Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the
Ottomans at Aboukir, Egypt.
1822: Gen. Agustin de Iturbide is crowned Agustin I, 1st emperor
of Mexico.
1845: China grants Belgium equal trading rights with Britain, France
and the U.S.
1860: The 1st US intercollegiate billiard match is between Harvard
and Yale.
1867: President Andrew Johnson signs an act creating the territory
of Wyoming.
1909: The first honeymoon in a balloon.
1924: Greece announces the deportation of 50,000 Armenians.
1943 Benito Mussolini is dismissed as premier of Italy by King Victor
Emmanuel III and placed under arrest. Mussolini is later rescued by
the Nazis and re-asserts his authority.
1946: The U.S. detonates a second atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll in the
Pacific in the first underwater test of the device.
1952: Puerto Rico becomes a self-governing commonwealth of the U.S.
1953: A truce ends the Korean War.
1964: The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” album goes No. 1 in the U.S.
and stays No. 1 for 14 weeks.
1965: Folk-rock begins when Bob Dylan uses electricity at the Newport
Folk Festival.
1981: Voyager 2 encounters Saturn.
1997: In India Kocheril Raman Narayannan (1920-2005) is sworn in
as president, becoming the first member of the “untouchable” Dalits
caste to do so.
2001: India’s bandit queen, Phoolan Devi, is killed by masked gunmen
in New Delhi. She had led a revolt against the abuse of low-class
women and won a seat in parliament.
2005: Intel announces plans to build a $3 billion computer
microprocessor fabrication plant in Arizona.