TRAIN WITH RUSSIAN HARDWARE BEING WITHDRAWN FROM GEORGIA ARRIVES IN ARMENIA
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
May 25, 2006 Thursday 6:04 PM MSK
The train carrying property of the 12th Russian military base arrived
in Armenia from Georgia on Thursday, a spokesman for the headquarters
of the Russian military force in Transcaucasia told Interfax-Military
News Agency.
“Armenian customs officers have already cleared the cargoes, and the
train is heading for its destination, the town of Gyumri, where the
102nd Russian base is stationed,” the spokesman said.
The 12th Russian military base is being withdrawn from the Georgian
town of Batumi. The train carrying its property left Batumi overnight
to Thursday.
“The materiel pulled out of Batumi, namely the command post vehicle
and over 50 pieces of logistics support hardware, will be added to
the 102nd base inventory,” the spokesman said.
It is the first train with Russian materiel that has left the Batumi
base. According to the headquarters, the next train will leave Batumi
for Armenia on June 1. The entire materiel is being handed over to
the 102nd base.
Earlier reports said that two trains with military hardware,
munitions and other materiel of the 62nd military base stationed
in Akhalkalaki left Georgia for Russia on May 15 and 23. According
to the headquarters, a total of 19 trains are to leave for Russia
this year to carry materiel of the Russian military bases away from
Georgia. Six trains are to leave Batumi for Armenia.
The Russian military bases are being withdrawn from Georgia on the
basis of the bilateral agreement on their stationing conditions, terms
and order of withdrawal, signed in Sochi on March 31. The document
provides for pulling out the heavy hardware from the Akhalkalaki base
this year and withdrawing the entire base no later than December 31,
2007. The Batumi base is to be withdrawn in 2008.

SEAN MCCORMACK HOLDS STATE DEPARTMENT REGULAR NEWS BRIEFING (RE-AMB. EVANS)
Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
CQ Transcriptions
May 25, 2006 Thursday
SPEAKER:
Sean Mccormack, Assistant Secretary Of State For Public Affairs
Location: Washington, D.C.
State Department Regular News Briefing
May 25, 2006
[irrelevant parts omitted]
QUESTION: Do you have anything about the U.S. ambassador to Armenia?
Apparently the Congress is concerned about the dismissal of this
ambassador.
MCCORMACK: Well, my understanding is that he will be the — he has
plans to leave post after two years. Usually the tour is three years.
There has been an individual, a Mr. Hoagland, I believe — Mr.
Hoagland has been intent to nominate yesterday.
All appointed officials — me, everybody else who goes through
Senate confirmation — serve at the pleasure of the president and the
secretary. And certainly Mr. Ambassador Evans should be congratulated
for his long career and his distinguished service to our country.
He has served in the State Department for, what? — 35 years?
Thirty-five years.
QUESTION: Does it have anything to do with any comment on the genocide
of the Armenians.
MCCORMACK: (inaudible) Like I said, we all serve at the pleasure of
the president.
QUESTION: Is it (inaudible) that he wants to retire?
MCCORMACK: Excuse me?
QUESTION: Is it your understanding that he wants to retire after he
leaves the post?
MCCORMACK: I believe so, but you’ll have to check with him about what
his plans are.
QUESTION: And I suppose that you wouldn’t — since you didn’t answer
her question, would you be able to say whether he’s leaving post
because of his own decision, or was he asked to leave post?
MCCORMACK: Like I said, we all serve at the pleasure of the
president. And he’s done a fine job for the American people over 35
years. And we appreciate his service.
There is somebody who has been — at least the intent to nominate
has come out. And we would hope that the Senate would act in a speedy
manner on that nomination, as we would hope with all nominations that
are coming out of the State Department and going up to the Hill.

LE KARABAKH VEUT SUIVRE L’EXEMPLE DU MONTENEGRO
Agence France Presse
25 mai 2006 jeudi 1:44 PM GMT
Le territoire azerbaïdjanais du Nagorny Karabakh, contrôle par des
separatistes armeniens, a salue jeudi la separation du Montenegro
de la Serbie, esperant etre lui aussi reconnu comme Etat independant
par la communaute internationale.
“Le referendum au Montenegro a cree un precedent important. (…) Je
pense que nous avons toutes les raisons d’esperer etre reconnus (comme
Etat independant) par la communaute internationale”, a affirme le
“president” du Nagorny Karabakh, Arkadi Goukassian, en visite a Moscou.
“La republique du Nagorny Karabakh est independante et le restera,
independamment de ce que veut l’Azerbaïdjan”, a ajoute M. Goukassian,
cite par l’agence Ria Novosti.
Le Nagorny Karabakh, peuple de quelque 145.000 Armeniens, a fait
secession de l’Azerbaïdjan au terme d’un conflit arme qui a fait,
entre 1988 et 1994, quelque 25.000 morts et des centaines de milliers
de deplaces.
Un cessez-le-feu est intervenu en 1994 mais la situation reste tendue,
malgre des efforts de mediation de l’OSCE.
Le Montenegro a vote dimanche a 55,5% pour sa separation de la Serbie,
lors d’un referendum, un choix qui a marque le demantèlement definitif
de la Yougoslavie.
La separation du Montenegro pourrait ouvrir une “boîte de Pandore”
pour une myriade de mouvements independantistes en Europe et dans
l’ex-URSS, estiment les analystes.
Les independantistes du Pays basque (nord de l’Espagne) et de Catalogne
(nord-est), ainsi que la republique separatiste non reconnue de
Transdniestrie, en Moldavie, et celle d’Abkhazie, en Georgie, ont
exprime leur satisfaction après le referendum montenegrin, esperant
etre legitimes par un processus similaire.
–Boundary_(ID_d/CRkJyvrBEtkdtXLZlE/g) —

AGO GROUP ARRIVING IN YEREVAN JUNE 9
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.05.2006 16:00 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ June 9-10 Ago Group of the Committee of Ministers of
the Council of Europe (CE) will be in Armenia, acting Spokesperson of
the Armenian MFA Vladimir Karapetyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
Ago Group is monitoring the implementation of commitments, assumed by
Armenia and Azerbaijan when entering the CE. From Yerevan the group
will leave for Baku.

ARA ABRAHAMYAN RE-ELECTED UNION OF ARMENIANS OF RUSSIA PRESIDENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.05.2006 16:20 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ UNESCO Good Will Ambassador Ara Abrahamyan
is re-elected President of the Union of Armenians of Russia
(UAR). Delegates of the UAR III Congress in Moscow voted for his
candidacy unanimously.
Making the summary report, the Armenian community leader said that
he considers “contribution to strengthening of the Russian state,
international peace and accord in the society” as a major task.
Besides, the largest NGO representing interests of 2.5 million
Armenians intends to “actively participate in the public and political
life of Russia, building of civil society valuable institutions.”
“We also consider boosting strengthening and development of
self-organization of our Diaspora, which is the largest in the world,
for the benefit of Russia and Armenia,” Ara Abrahamyan said. In
his words, the UAR also intends to counteract to demonstrations
of ethnic extremism, xenophobia, racial and national intolerance,
terrorism. “Our task is to bring up the young in an environment
of tolerance, as well as to strengthen centuries-old traditions
of friendship and fraternity of the Armenian and Russian peoples,”
Abrahamyan remarked, reports Interfax.

KARABAKH CONFLICT WILL NOT SOLVE SOON, BAKU THINKS
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.05.2006 16:28 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is not
predicted soon. The problem is becoming more conserved and is reaching
a deadlock, Musavat Party chair Isa Gambar stated in Baku. In his
words, foreign powers promote it.
By means of the Karabakh conflict Russia not only influences the
foreign policy of the two countries, but is also able to have impact
of government change in Armenia. In general, Russia considers conflicts
in the Caucasus as source of its influence,” he remarked.
Isa Gambar believes that Moscow is ready to resort to settlement of
the conflict only in case its peacekeeping forces are present in the
conflict zone.
“The West wants to change the status quo without Russia’s
participation, thus Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot find common points,”
he said. “Armenia states indirectly and sometimes even directly that
it is not going to step aside from its policy. Thus, settlement of
the NK conflict is not predicted in the near future,” Gambar said,
reports Day.az.

U.S. CONGRESSMEN AGAINST RECALL OF AMBASSADOR EVANS FROM ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.05.2006 17:04 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Over 60 Members of Congress, led by Rep. Ed Markey
(D-MA), sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking for
clarification on reports of U.S. Ambassador to Armenian John Evans’
recall over his forthright remarks about the Armenian Genocide,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
Amb. Evans will be relieved of his duties as soon as Hoagland’s Senate
confirmation process is completed.
The 60 Members of Congress expressed special concern about the
destructive precedent of recalling a U.S.
diplomat for speaking truthfully on matters of historical record. They
wrote that, “we must not allow the perception to linger that he
[Amb. Evans] is being required to vacate his position early for
accurately labeling the cataclysmic events of 1915 as genocide.”
The Representatives, noting President Ronald Reagan’s references
to the Armenian Genocide, reminded Secretary Rice that Amb. Evans
“did nothing more than succinctly repeat the conclusions enunciated
by those before him.”
“Ambassador Evans has been recalled for doing nothing more than
honoring the forsaken pledge of his president,” said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. “We want to thank Congressman Markey and
his 59 colleagues for calling for a clarification and rejecting the
Armenian Genocide ‘gag-rule’ imposed by the Turkish government and,
sadly, enforced by our own State Department.” “Armenian Americans
truly regret that the Administration lacks the courage to speak
honestly about its reasons for firing Ambassador Evans,” added
Hamparian. “We call upon the Senate Foreign Relations Committee –
the Congressional panel constitutionally charged with oversight of
diplomatic appointments – to hold a hearing thoroughly examining
the reasons behind this firing, the role of the Turkish government,
and the broader implications for the future of the Foreign Service
that a senior American diplomat’s career has been ended simply for
speaking the truth.”

AZERBAIJAN DOES NOT ACCEPT KARABAKH SETTLEMENT PRINCIPLES
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.05.2006 16:52 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ An essential aspect of the statement made by
international mediators is establishment of the opportunity to attain
a peace accord, stated Chair of the NKR National Assembly Standing
Commission for External Relations Vahram Atanesyan. In his words,
today there are no real preconditions for agreeing over settlement
principles, proposed by the mediators, as Azerbaijan does not accept
these.
“Before release of territories controlled by the NKR and return of
Azeri refugees Baku is not going to discuss the NKR status. At the
same time before the final determination of the NKR legal status
the Karabakh party cannot discuss matters, referring to the conflict
consequences,” the Commission Chair said.
Atanesyan underscored that Azerbaijan does not wish to make compromises
and refuses even the idea of postponing the Nagorno Karabakh status. At
the same time, having declared independence in 1991, the NKR does not
refuse from another one. “Taking into account the latest developments
in Europe, relating to the readiness of the international community
to recognize independence of Montenegro and Kosovo, NK has all legal
grounds for international recognition of its state independence,”
Atanesyan said, reports IA De-Facto.

FIRST ECHELON WITH RUSSIAN MATERIAL SENT FROM BATUMI TO ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.05.2006 18:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The first echelon with property of 12th Russian
military base was sent from Batumi to Armenia on the night of
Thursday. According to a representative of the base command, The
echelon will deliver staff armored car and over 50 units of rear
equipment to 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri.
The next echelon will depart from Batumi to the 102nd military base
June 1, 2006. A total of 7 echelons with equipment and other property
of the 12th base of the Russian Defense Ministry are planned to be sent
to Armenia. This is the third echelon with armament and material of
the Russian military. Two previous ones transported the base property
to Akhalkalaki, reports Lenta.ru.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT AND OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS DISCUSSED KARABAKH SETTLEMENT PROSPECTS
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.05.2006 18:15 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian met
with representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries,
specifically co-chairs Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Steven Mann (US)
and Bernard Fassier (France), as well as Russian Deputy FM Grigory
Karasin, US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried and Represetative
of the French MFA Pierre Maurel.
Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej
Kasprzyk was also present at the meeting, reports the Press Service
of the Armenian leader.
During the meeting the interlocutors discussed principles and
approaches of the current stage of the process of settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict, as well as exchanged views over prospects
of solving the issue.