Foreign minister of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic regrets OSCE
mediators ignore Karabakh
Arminfo
21 Apr 06
Stepanakert , 21 April: Disrespect for the rights of the people of
Nagornyy Karabakh lies at the heart of the Karabakh conflict, the
foreign minister of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic [NKR], Georgiy
Petrosyan, said during parliamentary hearings on the prospects of
solving the Karabakh problem in Stepanakert today.
The foreign minister pointed out that after the Karabakh people made
a statement about their right to self-determination, their political
demand turned into ethnic cleaning on the part of Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile, the minister noted that “for the NKR, independence is not
an end in itself, but an opportunity to live and develop on its own
land”.
Petrosyan said that if the political process does not take account of
the right of a people, then the interests of the sides clash. He said
that Baku has in fact turned the settlement of the problem out of a
political issue into a military confrontation. He expressed his
regret that the mediators are ignoring the results of the referendum
on the independence of Nagornyy Karabakh. Petrosyan suggested that
the parties to the conflict sign an agreement on refusing to use
force.
Asked by participants in the hearings, the minister said that
Karabakh is always aware of the content of the negotiations between
the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents and the Armenian president
informs the NKR president about them.
Petrosyan pointed out that “this does not mean that Karabakh agrees
with all issues”. The minister also said that “the Karabakh card”
should not be used for personal or corporate purposes.

Armenian man stabbed to death in Moscow
Interfax news agency
22 Apr 06
Moscow, 22 April: An Armenian man was killed on the platform of the
Pushkinskaya underground station in central Moscow today.
The murder was committed at about 1750 [Moscow time, 1350 gmt], a
source in the interior directorate in charge of security on the
Moscow underground has told Interfax. An unidentified man with a
shaven head who was dressed in black and was wearing high boots
stabbed an Armenian national living in Moscow several times with a
knife for no reason and disappeared.
The wounds proved to be lethal and the man died right on the
platform.
A search for the criminal according to the description is in
progress.
The source did not rule out that the crime had been committed out of
national hatred.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian official urges Azerbaijan to recognize Karabakh’s self-determination
Arminfo
21 Apr 06
Yerevan, 21 April: “We would be very pleased if the Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry really positively responded to the statement made by
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan and considered it to be
constructive. This would stimulate positive developments in the
settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict,” the press secretary of
the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Gamlet Gasparyan, said in an interview
with Armenpress news agency today.
Azerbaijan’s comments, in response to Oskanyan’s recent statement
that if Azerbaijan recognizes the right of the Nagornyy Karabakh
people to determine its future status, Armenia will be ready to
seriously discuss the elimination of the consequences of the war,
showed that nothing had changed in Azerbaijan’s position, he said. As
soon as someone speaks about the right of the Nagornyy Karabakh
people to self-determination, everyone in Azerbaijan plunges into
deep nostalgia for Soviet times and dreams of “the highest degree of
autonomy”. Oskanyan has repeatedly clearly expressed Armenia’s
position on this issue, which envisages the recognition by Azerbaijan
of the right of the Karabakh people to self-determination in order to
achieve mutual understanding and then discussions on the elimination
of the consequences of the war.
“I regret that instead of accepting this reality, Azerbaijan still
cherishes empty hopes,” Gasparyan said.

Report: Ethnic Armenian stabbed to death in Moscow
AP Worldstream; Apr 22, 2006
An attacker fatally stabbed an ethnic Armenian man on a Moscow subway
platform Saturday, the Interfax news agency reported amid a wave of
racially-motivated attacks that has plagued Russia.
A man with a shaven head and black clothing stabbed the victim several
times before fleeing, Interfax reported, citing an unidentified
transit police official. The victim, an ethnic Armenian living in
Moscow, died at the scene of the early-evening attack, the report said.
Several attacks on foreigners and ethnic minorities have occurred in
Russia in the past few weeks, and the country has seen a marked rise
in xenophobia and racism in recent years, with rights groups accusing
the government of inaction.
Assailants, often young skinheads or other nationalists, have committed
hundreds of attacks on foreigners from Africa, Asia and Latin America,
dark-skinned immigrants from former Soviet Central Asia and the
Caucasus Mountains region, and Jews. Dozens have died.
Four Chinese students were beaten in what investigators said was a
racially motivated attack in the city of Kostroma, Interfax reported
earlier Saturday.
Police arrested two vocational school students and an unemployed
man on suspicion of attacking the Chinese students from Kostroma
State University, who were given medical aid but apparently were not
hospitalized, the report said, citing an unidentified law enforcement
official.
Police in the city 320 kilometers (200 miles) northeast of Moscow
declined to comment and prosecutors could not immediately be reached
for comment.
The suspects could be charged with inciting ethnic, racial or religious
hatred, the report said. It said one of the suspects has also been
charged in an attack on an ethnic Azerbaijani schoolgirl and accused
of shouting nationalist slogans near the city’s World War II memorial
on April 20, Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

Armenia has no plans to join NATO, EU – leader says
Mediamax news agency
22 Apr 06
Yerevan, April 22. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has said that
“Armenia is not going to join NATO.”
The head of the state said this in response to the question of Golos
Armenii newspaper, Mediamax reports. The newspaper asked the
president to comment on the statement by Armenian National Assembly
speaker Artur Bagdasaryan made in the interview with German newspaper
Frankfurter Allgemeine [Zeitung] on April 19. In this interview Artur
Bagdasaryan particularly said that “Armenia’s future is the European
Union and NATO” and “Russia should not stand in our way to Europe”.
Robert Kocharyan said the following:
“Armenia’s foreign policy course remains unchanged. Within the
framework of the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) our
country is expanding cooperation with the North Atlantic alliance as
a key European organization for security provision. We hope for
fruitful cooperation especially as regards the reform of country’s
armed forces and peacekeeping. But Armenia is not going to join NATO.
“[Armenia’s] Membership of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) and the high level of military-technical
cooperation with the Russian Federation help solve the issue of the
country’s security provision. Today, Armenia is preparing for a
closer cooperation with the European Union within the European
Neighbourhood Policy, but we have not set the task of joining the EU.
“Armenia’s Euroatlantic ambitions are balanced, realistic and are
positively perceived by European structures and do not create
problems in relations with Russia. We voice our position in the same
way in Moscow, Brussels and Washington.”

Independence starting point for Karabakh settlement – speaker Ashot Gulyan
Arminfo, Yerevan
21 Apr 06
Stepanakert, 21 April: For the people and authorities of the Nagornyy
Karabakh republic [NKR], the results of the referendum are a starting
point in solving the Karabakh problem. According to the referendum,
the Armenians of Artsakh [Karabakh] said “yes” to independence and
accepted the establishment of an independent state as their strategy,
the speaker of the Karabakh parliament, Ashot Gulyan, said during
parliamentary hearings on prospects of solving the Karabakh problem
in Stepanakert today.
Welcoming participants in the hearings, Gulyan pointed out that
Artsakh has always been and will be in the centre of the attention of
the world’s Armenians. At the same time, he noted the importance of
defining the positions and opinions of groups, factions and political
forces of the NKR regarding the Karabakh settlement and possible
developments in the context of the Karabakh problem.
Gulyan said that the hearings will become an important prerequisite
for organizing such discussions on the key issues of settling the
Karabakh conflict in the future. Of course, the activities of the
entire political system, including the NKR National Assembly, are
aimed at achieving this goal, Gulyan said.

Armenia does not plan to join NATO, president says
AP Worldstream; Apr 22, 2006
Armenia does not plan to join NATO, the former Soviet republic’s
president said in comments published Saturday, adding that close
military ties with Russia and other regional countries provide
sufficient security.
Armenia is broadening its cooperation with NATO under an alliance
partnership program, the newspaper Voice of Armenia quoted President
Robert Kocharian as saying. “However, Armenia does not intend to join
NATO,” he said.
“Participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the
high level of military-technical cooperation with Russia resolve the
question of the provision of security for our country to a sufficient
degree,” Kocharian added, according to the newspaper.
The Collective Security Treaty links Armenia with Russia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Kocharian was responding to a question about statements attributed to
the Caucasus Mountain nation’s parliament speaker, Artur Bagdasarian,
who reportedly told a German newspaper that Armenia’s future lies
with the European Union and NATO and that Russia should not block
its Westward path.
Armenia is Russia’s chief ally in the poor, strategic located
Caucasus Mountain region and hosts a Russian military base.
Neighboring Georgia, which is seeking to shed Moscow’s influence
and turn Westward, reached an agreement last year obliging Russia to
withdraw its two military bases from the country by the end of 2008.

Breakaway Karabakh wants to be involved in talks with Azerbaijan
Regnum, Moscow
21 Apr 06
The National Assembly of the unrecognized Nagornyy Karabakh republic
(NKR) has asked the OSCE to treat Karabakh as a party to the peace
talks with Azerbaijan, Regnum news agency reported on 21 April.
In a statement adopted following the hearings on the Karabakh
conflict settlement in Stepanakert, members of the Karabakh
parliament appealed “to the OSCE Ministerial Council to respect the
NKR’s full involvement in the talks for settling the conflict”. The
MPs recalled that Nagornyy Karabakh was recognized as a party to the
conflict by Armenia and Azerbaijan and by several OSCE documents,
Regnum said.
The MPs also said they believed that the international recognition of
the democratic and viable NKR would “become a factor of regional
stability and security”.
The MPs accused Azerbaijan of starting a war against Karabakh and
said that Azerbaijan should therefore bear responsibility for it.
“This country bears responsibility for the fates of hundreds of
thousands of people on both sides who became refugees and internally
displaced persons following hostilities. Azerbaijan should pay
compensation to these people, irrespective of their ethnicity, for
material and moral damage, including the loss of the motherland,” the
statement said.

CIS anti-terror police drills held in Tajikistan
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
22 Apr 06
Magov Gorge (Tajikistan), 22 April: Special subdivisions from the
interior ministries of CIS member states have worked on actions in
Tajikistan’s mountains on destroying a bandit group. Special-purpose
police detachments from the interior ministries of Russia (Rys
[Lynx]), Belarus (Almaz [Diamond]), Tajikistan, as well as regiments
from Armenia participated in large-scale drills which took place in
the Magov Gorge near Dushanbe today [22 April].
According to the scenario of the exercise, several terrorist groups
numbering up to 45 people entered Tajikistan from its neighbours.
Their purpose was to carry out a series of explosions at the Nurek
hydroelectric power station, the Tajik Aluminum Plant and the Yovon
electrochemical plant. The militants seized an arms depot, which was
hidden in places of former battles, and took several farmers hostage.
About 400 officers from special-purpose units participated in a
special operation, during which the bandit group was destroyed and
the hostages were freed.
In all, about 700 police officers from CIS member countries took part
in the drills. It is noteworthy that a former militant, who joined
the Russian troops and is now serving in the Tajik Interior Ministry,
led the “terrorist” group.
The drills took place 45 km from Dushanbe, in the Magov Gorge, the
name of which is translated from one of the Tajik dialects as
thickets, an impassable place.
Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev highly assessed the
coordination and professionalism of the participants in the drills.
He said that “the scenario of the exercise was based on real events
which took place in the early 90s of the past century, when hordes of
terrorists attempted to carry out terrorist acts in Tajikistan”.
“These are the first joint drills which took place within the
framework of the session of the CIS Council of Interior Ministers.
This once again confirms that a threat of terrorism is the most
sensitive theme, and we will be able to stop criminals only by means
of joint efforts, and thus ensure stability and security in our
countries,” Nurgaliyev emphasized.

Jerusalem police stop Armenian pilgrims from attending Easter ceremony
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press
Ha’aretz, English Edition
23/04/2006
Police prevented hundreds of Armenian worshipers from taking part
in a sacred pre-Easter ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Saturday.
Armenian church officials said the police behaved rudely to church
members and senior clergy and arrested four Armenians near the Old
City police station, releasing them only after the Armenians stopped
the festive procession to the church in protest.
Armenian Archbishop Nourhan Manougian told Haaretz that the police
only allowed 400 of 700 Armenian pilgrims to enter the church for
the Ceremony of the Holy Fire, despite the fact that all had entry
permits, as required by police, he said.
“Israel always declares that it allows free access to the holy places
but in fact the police acted like a despot to the pilgrims. There
were some who had come especially for the ceremony from the U.S.,
from Canada and from Australia who were not allowed in,” continued
Manougian.
During the ceremony, a flame, believed by some faithful to be
miraculously ignited, illuminated thousands of worshipers’ torches
and candles at the church, as tense hours of waiting and shoving
culminated in the celebration of the rite.
Believers see the passage of the flame among worshipers as connecting
many of the 200 million Orthodox Christians worldwide to their
spiritual roots.
The ritual dates back at least 1,200 years. The precise details of
the flame’s source are a closely guarded secret, but some believe it
appears spontaneously from the burial area, as a message from Jesus on
the eve of the Orthodox Easter that he has not forgotten his followers.
Some 3,000 police were involved in security at the ceremony, which
was attended by approximately 15,000 pilgrims.
Manougian met on the eve of the ceremony with the commander of the
Jerusalem district of the police, Major General Ilan Franko, and
asked him to treat the pilgrims politely. However he said Franko
“spoke to me as if I were a student of his, and hinted all the time
that if we did not abide by the agreements…”
The Jerusalem police responded that officers had detained a number of
intoxicated individuals who had joined the Armenian procession and were
behaving wildly. They were released when they calmed down, police said.
With regard to complaints that Armenian worshipers were pushed,
police said it was Armenian clergy who had pushed Russian pilgrims
trying to join the procession, and that officers had intervened only
to separate the two sides.
Police also said Franko had conducted talks in recent weeks with
all sides involved in the ceremony, and had reached an agreement
acceptable to all. “The meeting ended with embraces and kisses,
and so Archbishop Manougian’s claims are surprising,” police said.