PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV VISITED UJAR AND ZARDAB REGIONS
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 29 2006
Today Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev has started to visit to Ujar
and Zardab regions. APA associate accompanying the president reported
that the visit of Azerbaijani President started with opening ceremony
of Heydar Aliyev’s monument in Ujar region.
The state head has stated that the state program on social-economic
development of regions is implemented successfully. Stating the
predictions to have results, the state head said that special
attention is paid to education, reminded construction of more than
300 new schools last year. “We have problems and they depend on
the officials in the regions. The most our big problem is Nagorno
Garabagh conflict. Negotiations have been conducted more than 10
years to solve the conflict, but not any result has been achieved.
International organizations, world unity recognize territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan, accepts Armenia as invader country, but
Armenia does not want to withdraw from its non-constructive way.”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev got familiarized with the building
which was constructed near the Heydar Aliyev Park, for martyrs and
handicapped persons families. After that, the state head visited the
bus station, the repair of which has been completed, familiarized
with repair works in this establishment. The President was informed
here about the transport infrastructure.
It should be noted that in the bus station, 180 transports will work in
and this establishment will serve about 800 passengers within a day. In
future, opening of new bus will be organized to Moscow from Ujar.
Azerbaijani President also took part in the opening ceremony of the
newly built school in Ujar region. It should be noted that, Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev will visit Zardab region tomorrow.

MEETING AT ARMENIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
National Assembly of Armenia
June 29 2006
On June 28, Vahan Hovhannisyan, Vice President of the National Assembly
received the delegation of the French Office for the Protection of
Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of France headed by Mrs. Aline Montaubric.
Upon the guests request, the NA Vice President presented particularly
the economic and internal political situation in Armenia and
highlighted that despite the blockade from the direction of Azerbaijan
and Turkey the republic has economic growth, programmes of economic
and social recovery have been elaborated, the anti corruption fight
programme has been renewed when Armenia joined the international
organization GRECO and today nothing threatens the stability of the
country. Mr. Hovhannisyan highlighted also the challenges. We still
have unsolved problems in the anti corruption fight, in creating a
free market, defending the competition and fighting against economic
monopolies.
The sides also touched upon the problems of refugees and the
implemented programmes. Mr. Hovhannisyan presented the legal and social
state of the Armenian refugees that have been forcibly displaced from
Azerbaijan in 1988-92 highlighting that the government carries out
social-economic purposeful programmes and the issue of refugees is
included in the strategic programme of poverty reduction.
It was mentioned that a programme of providing the families with
apartments in the public buildings is being implemented.
During the meeting they also touched upon the law on Alternative
Service and other issues of mutual interest.

SECESSIONIST CONFLICTS DISCUSSED AT G8 MINISTERIAL
Civil Georgia, Georgia
June 29 2006
After discussing global and regional issues of top priorities, Foreign
Ministers from the G8 member states discussed Abkhaz, South Ossetian
and Transdnestrian conflicts at the summit in Moscow on June 29, the
Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued after the meeting.
After listing issues put into the agenda of the session (Iran; fight
against terrorism and drug trafficking; Middle East; western Balkans;
Korean peninsula; boosting efforts for maintaining peace in Africa;
cooperating in stabilization and rehabilitation; Iraq; Afghanistan;
Sudan; Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process; North Uganda; Haiti; East
Timor) the statement notes that “discussions also took place in regard
of situation in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transdnestria and Belarus,
which were pushed by some Ministers.”

RUSSIA’S DEATH PENALTY
by Nargiz Asadova
Kommersant, Russia
June 29 2006
The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg considered
the Resolution “Position of the Parliamentary Assembly as Regards
the Council of Europe Member and Observer States which Have Not
Abolished the Death Penalty.” Russia is the only member state that
has not legislatively abolished the death penalty and criticism of
that fact begins at the top of the document. “The death penalty has
been abolished in all Council of Europe member states, with just one
exception…” the document reads. “More than ten years after accession,
the Russian Federation retains the death penalty in its legislation,
although it does respect the moratorium on the executions it decided
in 1996… The Assembly… made repeated appeals to the Russian
authorities on the matter of the abolition of the death penalty,
urging them to ratify immediately Protocol No. 6 to the European
Convention on Human Rights. It points out that the deadline initially
set for honouring this commitment passed in 1999.” PACE passed similar
resolutions in 1999, 2002 and 2005. The difference is that now Russia
is the chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, which is responsible
for the implementation of the assembly’s demands.
In addition to being the only member state not to ratify Protocol No.
6, on abolition of the death penalty in peacetime, Russia is one of
only three countries, along with Armenia and Azerbaijan, that have
not signed Protocol No. 13, abolishing the death penalty altogether,
although seven nations have yet to ratify it.
In spite of the importance of the topic, only 20 of the 315
representatives to the assembly were present at the session. That may
be due to the fact that the session was held at the end of the day on
which summer sales begin in France. Russian representative Konstantin
Kosachev took part in the session. He told assembly members that
“I do not intend to make excuses for Russia. I myself am a supporter
of the ratification of Protocol No. 6. But I want to remind you that
abolition of the death penalty is not so much Russia’s obligation to
the Council of Europe as our own choice. It is a norm of the Russian
Constitution that was passed in 1993.”
All of the Russian representatives in the assembly have expressed
their support for the abolition of the death penalty at some time,
as has Federation Council speaker Sergey Mironov, who was present at
the PACE session. Standing with PACE President Rene van der Linden at
a press conference after the session, Mironov said that “at present,
a majority could be reached in the State Duma and Federation Council
in a discussion of that issue. But that does not mean that the sixth
protocol will be ratified soon. The majority of the population of
Russia is in favor of preserving the death penalty for merciless
terrorist crimes, particularly those in Beslan.”
Russia is not the only country criticized in the resolution. It also
resolves to “include on its agenda by the end of 2006 the question
of the suspension of Japan’s and the United States’ observer status
if no progress on this question has been made by then” and recalls
that 1016 executions have taken place in the United States since
death penalty was restored in 1977 and eight executions in Japan
since 2001. Other countries are mentioned as well.
The resolution passed by a vote of 17 to 2.

WITHIN THE SUMMER SESSION OF PACE HELD ON JUNE 29 IN STRASBURG, DISCUSSIONS WERE HELD ON NK
Author: Z.Mugabiloglu
TREND, Azerbaijan
June 29 2006
Within the summer session of PACE held on June 29 in Strasburg,
discussions were held on Nagorno-Karabakh.
The event called “Stability Pact in South Caucasus” brought together
Azerbaijani and Armenian delegations in PACE, as well as European
parliamentarians.
The ways of solving Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were discussed. Yet
there is no statement as a result of the session.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA SPEAKER ACCUSES AZERBAIJAN OF ABUSING POSITION AT PACE
Today, Azerbaijan
June 29 2006
Armenia’s parliamentary speaker accused Azerbaijan of using the
rostrum of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to
insult Armenia, the parliament’s press department said Thursday.
Tigran Torosyan told PACE Secretary General Terry Davis in Strasbourg
Wednesday: “The PACE session in Strasbourg is highly important
for joint discussion of issues linked with the fulfillment of the
countries’ obligations, while Azerbaijan is using the PACE rostrum
to insult and slander Armenia.”
According to RIA Novosti, Torosyan said Azerbaijani delegates had
accused Armenia of starting forest fires in troubled Nagorno Karabakh,
a region in Azerbaijan with a largely ethnic Armenian population,
and occupied territories.
He said “Nagorno Karabakh” had asked the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, the world’s largest regional security body,
two weeks ago to monitor the situation and prove the accusations false.
Torosyan also said that in this situation the Armenian delegation
could not abstain from reciprocal statements. He said false insults
and accusations were unworthy of the Council of Europe’s principles,
and proposed taking steps to resolve the situation.
URL:

RUSSIAN DEPUTY FM GRUSHKO TOUCHES ON NK CONFLICT AT PACE
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 29 2006
Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, chair of the Council of Europe
Committee of Ministers addressed the plenary meeting of the Council
of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) today.
APA’s Europe bureau reports Mr.Grushko responded to the questions asked
by parliamentarians. Azerbaijani parliamentarians Aydin Mirzazadeh,
Rafael Huseynov and Ganira Pashayeva addressed him some questions
regarding the Nagorno Garabagh conflict. Mr.Grushko tried to make
common answers to the questions and said Russia’s presidency of the
Committee of Ministers will have a positive impact on the resolution
of the conflict.
“The OSCE Minsk Group remains as main mediator regarding this issue.
First of all, Azerbaijan and Armenia should come to an agreement on
resolution. The Minsk Group is making all efforts to promote to find
a suitable compromise. The parties could not agree on mainly two or
three principles in the negotiations. We welcome the regular meetings
of the heads of state for the resolution of the conflict. Despite
lack of improvement in the negotiations, it is good that none of the
parties step back from the peaceful settlement process,” the deputy
foreign minister said.

NEW CO-RAPPORTEUR OF PACE FOR AZERBAIJAN TO VISIT BAKU IN SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
Author: Z.Mugabiloglu
TREND, Azerbaijan
June 29 2006
British MP Tony Lloyd, new PACE co-rapporteur for Azerbaijan, is
visiting Baku in September-October 2006.
Mr Lloyd told Trend’s special correspondent in Strasburg the big work
is on his shoulders “Upon visiting Azerbaijan and familiarizing with
the situation on place, I will share my ideas and opinions”, he said,
adding there will be many meetings in the course of such visit.
“The top priority issues for me are human right protection and election
system reforming”, he said.
As to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mr Lloyd, avoiding the exact reply,
said in common that this problem settlement is very important for
South Caucasus.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FMS OF “GREAT EIGHT” URGED BAKU AND YEREVAN TO REACH AGREEMENT
Author: E.Huseynov
TREND, Azerbaijan
June 29 2006
The Foreign Ministers of “great eight” called for Azerbaijan and
Armenia to reach an agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2006.
It was stated in the statement made as a result of the meeting held
in Moscow that “great eight” supports the efforts of co-chairs of
OSCE Minsk Group, Trend reports with reference to ITAR-TASS.
“It was mentioned in the document the necessity to come to an
agreement on the principles of peaceful solution of this conflict
within a short time”.
“We call for Azerbaijan and Armenia to use political power and reach
an agreement on this conflict this year and prepare their peoples
for the peace,” told in the document.

AZERI DELEGATION TO PACE HELD A NEWS CONFERENCE ON FACTS OF ARMENIAN VANDALISM
Author: J.Shahverdiyev
TREND, Azerbaijan
June 29 2006
Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe (PACE) held a news conference on 29 June on
the facts of fires, broken up by Armenians in the occupied territory
of Azerbaijan, Gultakin Hajiyeva, the deputy head of the Azerbaijani
delegation to the PACE, told Trend.
Journalists from different countries participated in the news
conference. “Azerbaijani delegates put forward impressive arguments
while responding journalists. It was a next step by the Azerbaijani
delegation under the PACE summer session, which unmasked the Armenian
vandalism,” she underlined.