ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI CONFLICT OBSTACLE TO PEACE, STABILITY IN SOUTH CAUCASUS
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 11 2006
YEREVAN, July 11. /ARKA/. The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh is an obstacle to peace and stability in the South
Caucasus, the leading journalist of the “Bakinskiye Vedomosti”
(Baku Gazette), writer Alekper Aliyev stated at an international
conference “European integration as a factor promoting Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement”.
The public in both countries is unwilling to accept the settlement
schemes being discussed by the negotiating parties, he said.
Aliyev pointed out that mutual mistrust between Armenia and Azerbaijan
is the most serious problem in the settlement process.
“Mutual demonization, growing military expenses and more frequent
violations of the cease-fire regime testify that the time for a
peaceful settlement is expiring,” he said.
Aliyev expressed the conviction of an urgent need for setting a
barrier to mutual propaganda of hatred.
The conference has been organized on the initiative of the Caucasian
Center of Peace Initiatives under the “South Caucasian integration:
alternative start” project. The conference was held in cooperation
with the Analytical Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation
and Fridrich Ebert Fund. Among the participants were over 20 experts,
political scientists, journalists, public and political figures from
Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, NKR, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. P.T.
-0-

ARMENIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY VICE-SPEAKER EXPRESSES HIS SATISFACTION
WITH ARMENIAN DELEGATION WORK AT OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY SESSION
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 11 2006
YEREVAN, July 11. /ARKA/. Armenian National Assembly Vice-Speaker Vahan
Hovhannisyan expressed Monday his satisfaction with the work done
by Armenian delegation at OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session held
from July 3 to 8 in Brussels. In his words, the Armenian delegation
“has managed to pass all pro-Armenia and vote down all anti-Armenian
resolutions”.
In particular, national self-determination issue was put on the agenda
for the first time, he said. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly welcomed
the civilized stance taken by Serbia on Montenegro’s independence
declaration. Serbia let Montenegro secede from the union with Serbia
without resorting to force. “We fixed this as a good example of a right
balance between territorial integrity and national self-determination
principles”, Hovhannisyan said.
This resolution prompted fierce opposition from Azerbaiajni and
Georgian delegates.
Besides, Armenian delegates managed to vote down draft resolutions
proposed by Georgian and Azerbaijan. The resolution provisions stated
that all unsettled conflicts should be resolved by ceding disputable
territories to the countries from which they once seceded.
Azerbaijani and Georgian delegates also proposed to give approval
to a document, under which any status that Kosovo can obtain in the
future can’t serve a precedent for solving similar problems.
Hovhannisyan said only Azerbaijani, Georgian and Turkish delegations
voted in favor of these resolutions.
These three countries’ delegations proposed a number of other
resolutions. But they were blocked by Armenian side as well. Under
one of these resolutions, OSCE and other international organizations’
officials have to establish ties only with recognized authorities and
ethnic minorities of every country ought to defend its territorial
integrity. The resolution also contained condemnation of separatism
and stated that nothing can justify it.
Spanish delegation demolished the second proposed resolution saying
ethnic minorities have a right to dispute territorial integrity and
secede from the state if their rights are not properly protected.
The Vice-Speaker said that Armenian delegation blocked also another
resolution, under which Baku-Tbilisi-Jeihan oil pipeline construction
was singled out as a good example of regional cooperation in OSCE
responsibility area. M.V. -0–

Russia will not dramatize closure of Georgian border crossing – Popov
Interfax, Russia
July 11 2006
MOSCOW. July 11 (Interfax-AVN) – The Russian authorities have no
intention of overly dramatizing Georgia’s decision to close down a
checkpoint in the village of Ergneti, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s
Ambassador at Large Yury Popov told Interfax on Tuesday.
“We hope that all problems will be sorted out as part of dialogue. We
see no grounds to overly dramatize the situation,” he said.
“We are keeping a close eye on the situation and maintaining dialogue
with Georgia. But I would not like to jump to any conclusions,”
the diplomat said.
Several dozen Russian and Armenian citizens were unable to cross into
Georgia via the breakaway province of South Ossetia after Georgian
police shut the Ergneti checkpoint.
Law enforcement agencies will not allow the Transcaucasian highway,
which crosses South Ossetia, to be used for communications with Russia
instead of the closed Georgian Military Road, a Georgian Interior
Ministry source told Interfax.
Only people who have Georgian transit visas will be allowed to
cross the border via the Ergneti checkpoint as an exception, Gela
Zoziashvili, the Georgian president’s deputy envoy to the Shida Kartli
region, said.
“The road from Russia to Georgia via the Roki tunnel is illegal because
this section of the border has no official Georgian checkpoints. For
this reason, citizens of other countries cannot cross into Georgia
via South Ossetia,” he said.
Everybody wishing to visit Georgia can obtain a Georgian entry-visa
at the airport upon arrival, he said. tm la

Iran’s President to make visit to Azeri regions of Iran
TREND, Azerbaijan
July 11 2006
Source: Trend
Author: S.Ilhamgizi
11.07.2006
Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmedinejat is going to make a visit to
the country’s regions where Azerbaijanis reside. Trend reports
with reference to Liberty radio quoting Muhammedkazim Memarzadeh,
governor of East Azerbaijan province, which said this week Ahmedinejat
would make visit to all 19 regions of East Azerbaijan and meet with
public representatives. This will be president’s first visit to Azeri
provinces in response to mass protest actions.
Most recently Ahmedinejat discussed installation of gas pipeline
to Armenia with Armenian President Rober Kocharyan, in Iran with a
visit. At the moment the pipeline is being laid on beside the town
of Nurbuz of Julfa district in East Azerbaijan province.
According to other information sources, Tabriz Lawyers Society
commission on human rights undertook the defense of 15 Azerbaijanis
arrested during the last events in South Azerbaijan. The Lawyers
Society representative, saying the negotiations are being conducted
with lawyers examining the cases, underlined that the end will be
quite positive.

Ïðaâî Âûaîða, Azerbaijan
Democratic Azerbaijan
July 11 2006
Illegal Settlement of Armenians by Armenia in Occupied Territories of
Azerbaijan – Rough Violation of the Principles of International Law
11.07.2006
Member of MM delegation to PACE, Ganira Pashayeva prepared the
recommendation concerning illegal settlement of Armenians by Armenia
in occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The document signed by over 30
Members of PACE is submitted to the addressing and taking measures by
the CE leading structures.
The document says:
Ignoring 4 Resolutions of the UN Security Council on unconditional
withdrawal of the Armenian Armed Forces from Azerbaijani territories
and PACE Resolution 1416 on releasing of Azerbaijani lands and return
of internally displaced persons of Azerbaijan to their native lands,
thereby Armenia endangers the direct negotiation process between two
Presidents. Armenian illegal settlement policy in occupied
Azerbaijani territories contradicts to the International law
principles, and the mentioned documents.
Increasing the number of Armenian settlements in occupied Azerbaijani
territories, Armenia endeavors to reinforce its status-quo in these
lands and to impede the return of IDPs of Azerbaijan to their native
lands.
According to official figures, before conflict in 1989 the Armenians
living in Nagorno-Garabagh, the autonomous district of Azerbaijan
were numbered 145,450. For the purposes to bring this figure to
300,000 till 2010, the official Yerevan pursues the special state
policy. According to other sources, including some Armenian data, for
the last few years the territory of Nagorno-Garabagh and 7 occupied
districts was settled by 23,000 people, including 13,000 – settled in
Lachin, 700 – in Kalbajar, 520 – in Zangilan and 280 – in Jabrayil.
Before invasion of the Armenian armed forces, the population of these
regions was Azerbaijanis. Armenia and Garabagh separatists forced
Azerbaijanis to leave their native lands and conducted ethnic
cleansing policy there. Hundreds of Armenian families from Armenia
and other countries have been settled in Aghdam, Fizuli and other
occupied regions of Azerbaijan.
Under Armenian state programme, more 15,000 people should be settled
in occupied Shusha. Armenian illegal settlement policy in occupied
Azerbaijani territories is embodied in the documents of a number of
international organizations (UN Sub-Commission on the Protection and
Promotion of Human Rights, Working Group for National Minorities; the
US Committee for Refugees, World Refugee Survey 2002, report on
Armenia; US Department of State Report on Human Rights, Azerbaijan,
25 February 2004, paragraph 2 (d); the report on activity of the
personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office for conflict
dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Group, 1 September – 31 October 2004).
Furthermore, paragraph 6 of the Article 49 of the Geneva Convention
says: “Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations
of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the
Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are
prohibited, regardless of their motive.” It means that the illegal
settlement in occupied territories is a rough violation of the
International law norms.
Azerbaijan, seriously concerned with violation of all norms and
principles of International law by Armenia (4 Resolutions of the UN
Security Council, PACE Resolution, Geneva Convention) and with its
ongoing illegal actions, addressed to the UN General Assembly
concerning the situation in its occupied territories. The latest
report said that the Mission for Fact Establishment monitored the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The Mission recommends: “The OSCE
Minsk Group urges the Co-Chairmen not to allow migrants to occupied
territories any more.”
Seriously concerned with Armenian illegal settlement in occupied
territories of Azerbaijan, the UN General Assembly urges:
– Armenian authorities to stop illegal settlement of Armenians in
occupied territories of Azerbaijan without delay;
– Member States of the Council of Europe to undertake necessary
measures aiming at affecting Armenia in order to stop its policy
contradicting to the norms and principles of International law,
including PACE Resolution.
–Boundary_(ID_tw8xZL8A8pkg2idTk6XyxQ )–

Georgia closes Ergneti checkpoint in response to Russia
By Keti Sikharulidze
The Messenger, Georgia
July 11 2006
In response to Russia’s unscheduled closure of the Zemo-Larsi crossing
on the Georgian-Russian boarder, Georgia has indefinitely closed the
Ergneti checkpoint in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone.
“We cannot let people enter the territory of Georgia via the Roki
tunnel, we have no computers and we will not be able to determine who
is entering our country, everything is at the legal Zemo-Larsi border
crossing. People have only two ways to enter Georgia [from Russia]:
by airport or by the Zemo-Larsi checkpoint,” said Zurab Arsoshvili,
the head of the Shida Kartli regional financial police.
The closure of Zemo-Larsi, which is the only legally operating border
crossing between Georgia and Russia, totally paralyzed traffic between
the two states. People then moved across to the Roki tunnel, which is
located in the breakaway region of South Ossetia and not controlled by
the Georgian authorities, leading to loud protests from the government.
“I do not know what to do, we have been standing here more then 24
hours, there are children here and one man who is dying, he needs
medical attention, he is in a critical condition,” marshrutka (minibus)
passenger Mediko Kardava told Rustavi-2.
The Georgian side later opened the checkpoint, though before entering
Georgia people were required to undergo a special registration
procedure and document check.
Besides Georgian held up at the checkpoint there were Armenians, who
after the closure of Zemo-Larsi tried to get to Armenian via the Roki
tunnel. “We were robbed on the way to the Ergneti checkpoint, it was
something terrible, but here at the Georgian checkpoint we were well
received,” another marshrutka passenger, Nodar Samoev told Rustavi-2.
The checkpoint was closed again after just two hours, though the
local population of the Ergneti gorge were allowed to pass.
The official reason for the closure of Zemo-Larsi was for urgent
repairs to be carried out, but State Minister for Conflict Resolution,
Goga Khaindrava, thinks that closure of Zemo-Larsiwas a deliberate
attempt to make people use the Roki tunnel.
“When the only land boarder is closed, people will try to find another
way, as they also want to live and breathe they will go through Roki
tunnel… this was the reason Zemo-Larsi was closed,” Khaindrava told
Mze TV on Monday.
The Foreign Ministry described the action as a provocation, and
demanded the deadline of the completion of the repair works from the
Russian side.
“Georgia has not received any appropriate notification. The Russian
side informed us two hours before the closure of the checkpoint… The
Georgian side assesses this action of the Russian side as a violation
of their responsibilities, and expresses its protest in this regard,”
reads a statement posted on the ministry’s website on July 8.
At 7 o’clock on July 10, Merab Antadze, the deputy foreign minister,
announced that those returning from Russia would be allowed to cross
the Ergneti checkpoint until July 14. He said the checkpoint will be
opened because the travellers “were compelled to break the law by
the Russian government, thus their decision to use the Roki tunnel
was understandable.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Chess king Kasparov goads Putin with ‘alternative summit’
By Adrian Blomfield
The Daily Telegraph, UK
July 11 2006
(Filed: 11/07/2006)
Garry Kasparov was furious as he strode into the Moscow boardroom of
his new political movement, the United Civic Front. Flopping into
a chair, he gesticulated towards a giant map of Russia covered in
red labels.
“They are detaining our delegates all over the country,” he said. “At
least 20 arrests that we know of and two guys badly beaten in
Kaliningrad.”
Garry Kasparov Since he swapped chess for opposition politics a year
ago, Mr Kasparov has been transformed from one of Russia’s all-time
heroes to one of the Kremlin’s most hated men.
Today he will seek to goad President Vladmir Putin still further when
he plays co-host to an “alternative G8” summit, four days before the
leaders of the real thing meet in St Petersburg.
The Kremlin is worried that the chess master’s conference will upset
the carefully co-ordinated public relations drive before the summit,
the first time it has been held in Russia.
Igor Shuvalev, Mr Putin’s envoy to the group of eight industrialised
nations, has said that attendance by fellow members at the alternative
meeting would be seen as “an unfriendly gesture”.
Reflecting the souring relationship between the White House and the
Kremlin, Washington is sending two senior State Department officials.
Britain, normally more timid about upsetting Moscow, is sending its
Moscow ambassador, Anthony Brenton.
Mr Kasparov, 43, said he hoped the two-day meeting would act as “a
mirror on the reality of Russia” for the G8, demonstrating that Mr
Putin was an autocrat intent on erasing the freedoms won since the
collapse of communism.
He believes that the alternative G8 could persuade Russia’s bickering
opposition to unite against Mr Putin.
“This meeting represents the coming together of the Left-wing and the
Right-wing opposition,” he said. “If we succeed, we can no longer
be dismissed as marginals or puppets of the West. That is why the
Kremlin is so afraid. Our unification is their greatest fear.” Even
if Mr Kasparov succeeds in unifying the opposition, he will have a
hard time getting his message across. It is a fair bet that state
television is unlikely to give the alternative summit much airtime.
Besides, the opposition has almost no presence in parliament, while
activist groups which could help Mr Kasparov put his message out have
been subjected to strict controls.
Then there is Mr Putin’s popularity. Polls suggest that he enjoys a 70
per cent approval rating. That could be because so few Russians are
allowed to hear any criticism of him but also because the economy,
aided by high oil prices, is thriving.
Mr Kasparov, ranked as the world’s leading chess player for 20 years,
is no longer feted as he once was. He has been pelted with eggs and
an elderly woman once cracked a chessboard over his head. Having
an Armenian mother and a Jewish father is also seen as a serious
impediment for anyone harbouring presidential ambitions.
Yet the Kremlin seems to fear him – if not as a challenger in his
own right, as someone with the determination and charisma to unite
the opposition.
The authorities have made great efforts to stop him giving talks during
tours of the regions, where rally venues have been double-booked and
speeches have had to be abandoned because of mysterious fire alerts.
Mr Kasparov is reticent about whether his ambitions include running
for president.
“It is not yet on anyone’s agenda,” he said. “We are trying first to
ensure a free and fair election that will allow us to regain pride
in our country.”
The odds may be against him if he does try but he has stared down
rivals in the past, most famously when, aged 22, he came back from 5-0
down in an epic world championship match with Anatoly Karpov in 1984/5.
The match was abandoned after five months but Mr Kasparov eventually
snatched the crown from his greatest rival in 1986.

The greenway is play space
By Brian McGrory, Globe Columnist | July 11, 2006
The Boston Globe, MA
July 11 2006
Why hasn’t anyone thought of this already? Right next to the Armenian
genocide memorial park that Big Dig officials plan to build on the
new Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, we can locate a massive exhibit
about the Irish Potato Famine.
And next to that, a memorial park for Serbian genocide victims. Why
not be contemporary and throw in a monument to the Darfur genocide?
And perhaps something nearby to remember all the Kurds who were gassed
to death in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
Then we’ll need to set aside a block or two in memory of the tsunami
victims. And don’t forget all the Americans who died in Hurricane
Katrina.
I mean, hey, we have this new, big, open space in downtown Boston, so
we might as well use it to address past world travesties and current
inequities, and amid it all demonstrate the tragic vagaries of the
human condition. Right?
Wrong, very wrong, and here’s why.
Because this wasn’t what our new park was supposed to be. It wasn’t
supposed to recall tragedy. It wasn’t supposed to add to our famous
civic guilt. It wasn’t supposed to clutter our psyche, pit one group
against another, and force us to ponder so many universal wrongs that
we’re sadly unable to change.
In other words, this park isn’t supposed to be our collective
conscience, but our civic playground, not so much a sanctuary of
quiet contemplation as an inviting front lawn designed for urban
celebration. It’s a place to go for a takeout sandwich on a wooden
bench or a glass of cold lemonade on plush grass or a mere moment of
tree-lined sanity on the edges of a concrete forest.
This park isn’t meant to be profound, but uplifting, not so much the
National Mall in Washington as Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. It’s
not a site for whispers but for laughter.
Why?
Because we need it, that’s why. Because we deserve it. Because
for 15 years we’ve dealt with construction dust, traffic gridlock,
Jersey barriers setting off ever-changing detours involving illogical
one-way streets. Because we were promised a sunny, upbeat park, an
easy path to the North End and the waterfront, a little refuge from
the concrete strains of urban life. And we ought to get it.
Can’t we just once build something nice in this town without one
group battling another, without someone claiming discrimination,
without everyone holding out their hands demanding what they believe
is rightfully theirs? Can’t we just open a good park?
I have nothing against the Armenians, just as I would have nothing
against any other ethnic group that will inevitably insist on building
a memorial on this very public place. In fact, the Armenian group,
to its considerable credit, has raised millions of dollars to fund
and maintain their park. They’ve developed a beautiful design.
They’ve worked within the process that’s been presented to them.
The Turnpike Authority, worried over how all the parcels on the
greenway will be funded, is leaping at the idea that someone, anyone,
is promising to pay for and keep up one of the most critical sections
of the park. For Matt Amorello, it’s an item to cross off the list.
But no group — not the Armenians, not anybody else — should be able
to buy their way onto hard-earned public ground.
Yes, their cause is a good one. Yes, they’ve done things the right
way. Yes, their heart-wrenching and fascinating history is worthy of a
truly remarkable memorial. So now let’s find a place where it belongs.
For starters, everyone might look toward the South Boston waterfront,
to the Fan Pier development being planned by Boston’s Joe Fallon.
Under law, he’s required to include a certain amount of green space
in his sprawling project. Being a good businessman, not to mention
a friend of the mayor, he may well be appreciative of a fully-funded
park.
And leave the greenway to the people, all the people, as a place to
celebrate life, not to ponder death.

Aliyev: Armenia, Azerbaijan far from peace accord
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Posted July 11 2006
Baku, July 10, AssA-Irada
President Ilham Aliyev has said Azerbaijan and Armenia are far from
reaching a peace accord.
“The proposals made by the OSCE Minsk Group [mediating settlement
to the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict] show the position of
its co-chairs. But we haven’t agreed them,” Aliyev told Turkey’s
Jumhuriyyat (Republic) newspaper.
“The co-chairs just disclosed some of the proposals in their latest
statements. We didn’t object to this, as we are not interested in
shrouding talks in secrecy,” President Aliyev said, but added that
Azerbaijan agreed to hold talks in private considering Armenia’s
proposals.
The document outlining the core settlement principles issued by the
mediators from the United States, Russia and France caused a great
deal of debate. The statement, made public by the US co-chair, said
there is a “framework agreement” on discussion and disclosed all of
its provisions. The deal covers the withdrawal of Armenian forces from
the occupied Azeri territories, followed by normalizing diplomatic
and economic relations between the two countries, deployment of
peacekeepers in the conflict zone and finally, a vote to determine
the future status of Upper Garabagh.
The head of state said that first of all, Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity must be restored to settle the Garabagh conflict. Any
compromises are out of the question, as the occupied territories must
be liberated and Azeri refugees and IDPs returned home, Aliyev said.
With regard to the future status of Upper Garabagh, the president said
the positions of the two communities of Garabagh should be taken into
account, as both Azerbaijanis and Armenians had lived in Upper Garabagh
before the outbreak of the conflict. The return of Azerbaijanis to
Upper Garabagh is a condition for the solution of the status issue,
he said.
“They must return and re-settle there. Afterwards, both communities
and Azerbaijan – as Upper Garabagh is its integral part- may hold
talks on the status of the region. Time will show how long these
talks will last.” President Aliyev went on to say that the OSCE
mediators and the leadership of Armenia realize that Azerbaijan will
never allow violating its territorial integrity, although Armenia is
trying to put forth unrealistic claims.
“The truth is that Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is not a subject
of discussion and Upper Garabagh will never be granted the status of
independence,” Aliyev said.
He said Armenia is currently trying to annex Upper Garabagh, which
is impossible.
“I may want to annex Azerbaijani historic land – the Irevan Khanate
(currently the territory of Yerevan) to Azerbaijan. But this is not
realistic now,” the president said.
Aliyev did not rule out that a new war will be launched if the Garabagh
conflict is not settled in peace.
“We see that the Armenian side is acting insincere in talks. We should
therefore be prepared for all options. Azerbaijan’s increasing economic
potential military power, regional situation and our ever-growing
world image certainly puts us at a prevalent position.
This will be more evident as years go by. Armenia should realize this
and will bear responsibility for any possible consequences.”*

Aliyev-Kocharian talks at G8 summit ‘not likely’
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
July 11 2006
Baku, July 10, AssA-Irada — Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham
Aliyev and Robert Kocharian are not expected to table settlement to
the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict during the upcoming G8 summit
in St. Petersburg, despites reports suggesting otherwise.
President Aliyev has not received such an invitation, the head of the
President’s Office international relations department, Novruz Mammadov,
told the press Monday.
Mammadov said he is surprised with the reports saying the two heads
of state are to meet during the meeting of the world’s industrialized
nations in Russia.
“An invitation to the summit would suit us, but there is no specific
information in this regard yet,” he said. Mammadov added that there
is little chance this will happen.*