BAKU DOES NOT RULE OUT REPLACEMENT OF OSCE MG RUSSIAN AND FRENCH CO-CHAIRS
PanARMENIAN.Net
07.08.2006 16:07 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ After replacement of US Co-Chair of the OSCE MG for
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, replacement of Russian and
French Co-Chairs Yuri Merzlyakov and Bernard Fassier is also possible,
stated Azeri President’s Special Representative for Karabakh issue,
Deputy FM Araz Azimov. In his words, “M. Bryza entering the region
opens some prospects.” Azimov also noted that the Azeri party has
presented Azerbaijan’s stand in the Karabakh issue to the American
mediator.
When commenting on Bryza’s statement that the NK status should be
decided by its people, which also implies “people living there before
1988,” Azimov underscored that Karabakh residents should be treated
not as people, but as population. “In this matter we should take
into account both the opinion of Armenian and Azeri communities,”
Azimov said. He also believes that the question of status can be
discussed only after “occupied” territories are returned to Azerbaijan,
reports Mediamax.

CRIME RATE UP IN ARMENIA – DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF
Regnum, Moscow
6 Aug 06
6 August: The number of registered crimes in Armenia in the first half
of 2006 has gone up by 9.9 per cent compared to the same period of
2005, the deputy chief of the Armenian police, Maj-Gen Ovanes Unanyan,
has told a press conference.
However, Unanyan said, Armenia’s crime rate is quite low compared to
that of other countries.
“In Armenia, 15 crimes are committed per 10,000 people. This is nine
times lower than the crime rate in Russia, 16 per cent lower than
Latvia’s crime rate and seven times lower than that in Moldova,”
Unanyan said.
During the period, 2,745 crimes, or 83.8 per cent of all crimes, have
been solved in the country, the deputy police chief said. [Passage
omitted: details of committed crimes]

MAMEDYAROV SAYS ‘YES’ TO FOREIGN MINISTERS’ MEETING
AZG Armenian Daily #147, 05/08/2006
Karabakh issue
“The process of negotiations is still alive,” Azerbaijani foreign
minister Elmar Mamedyarov states in Baku. According to Azerbaijani
media, the country’s FM thinks that the talks has not yet used up it
potential. “The potential has not been used up, and we are ready to
continue the talks. If the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs come out with
a proposals of a new meeting of the sides we are ready for that,”
Mamedyarov stated. This is perhaps an agreement to already scheduled
Oskanian-Mamedyarov meeting in autumn.
Meanwhile, as the Azeri FM holds forth about his readiness for
the meeting, a number of Azerbaijani NGOs and youth wings of
political parties take a decision of creating a coordinating board
for the Karabakh issue to secure joint approach in this issue.
The Azerbaijani youth is preparing various projects to raise the
“population’s patriotic spirit.”
By Aghavni Harutyunian

OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS DISCUSS RECENT DEVELOPMENTS OF NAGORNO KARABAKH SETTLEMENT IN PARIS
AZG Armenian Daily #147, 05/08/2006
Karabakh Issue
On August 2, the OSCE MG Co-Chairmen met in Paris at the Foreign
Ministry of France and discussed the recent developments in the Nagorno
Karabakh settlement process. The French Embassy to Armenia informed
that in the course of the meeting the OSCE MG Co-Chairs discussed
the results of the Matthew Bryza’s recent visit to the region. They
also touched upon the goals pointed out in the statement of the
Great 8 leaders concerning the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. It was
decided to submit these suggestions to the sides in conflict. It’s
worth mentioning that the Great 8 leaders called for the sides in
conflict to spare no efforts for the peaceful settlement of the
conflict already in 2006.

TIGRAN TOROSIAN ON NAGORNO KARABAKH ISSUE
AZG Armenian Daily #147, 05/08/2006
Karabakh Issue
The official Baku does not dare to recognize the real situation in
the Karabakh process and that causes the anti-Armenian militaristic
propaganda in Azerbaijan,
Tigran Torosian, Chairman of RA National Assembly, said in the
interview to Regnum agency. He added that obviously the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict is possible only through respecting the
principle of national self-determination. Nevertheless President Ilham
Aliev is not still ready for that, although during backstage talks
he also assumes that this is the only possible way. The only thing
which remains for the President of Azerbaijan to do is to lie to his
own people and make them believe that the problem can be solved by
military force, he said. Torosian called for the international society
to help Azerbaijan face the reality. For example, the international
institutions could recognize the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic. In that case Azerbaijan will be liberated from necessity
doing that step first and will only have to accept the fact. When it
becomes obvious absolutely to everyone that Azerbaijan is not ready for
peace settlement and is even hampering the process, the independence of
Karabakh will be once again affirmed through referendum. The right of
the Armenian people for national self-determination will be respected,
irrespective of the position of Azerbaijan.
As for the current stage of the settlement negotiations, he said
he wouldn’t evaluate today’s situation of negotiations for Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement within the OSCE MG framework as a
failure. He emphasized that the settlement principles, including that
of respecting the right for self-determination, had been elaborated
for several years, but today these principles are announced and are
discussed by the publicity. Torosian condemned the official Baku in
double-faced behavior, as the statements made for the home auditorium
didn’t match with those made to the co-chairs. “Unless certain details
of the negotiations were revealed and everything was held beneath
the closed doors, Aliev and Mamediarov didn’t neglect them. Today,
when many people are informed about the details, they try to deny the
principles or some of them,” Torosian said. He added that the new
stage of the negotiations will have the same results as those in the
last year: “when the times come to fully publish the principles and
define the formulae of the documents, the Azeries will again retreat.”
Commenting on the issue of the territories under the control of
NKR Armed Forces, he said that for the first time the right of
people for self-determination is recognized as a principle for the
settlement of a conflict. This is an undeniable fact and is fixed
in several documents. The application of this principle will yield
the recognition of Nagorno Karabakh’s independence. Tigran Torosian
emphasized that the issue of territories around NKR is directly linked
to the issue of the NKR people’s right for self-determination and can’t
be considered separately from that. “They sometimes say that NKR has
held a referendum once. But one may ask which borders was that held
in. If we keep insisting on the results of the referendum held in NKR,
we shouldn’t forget that we are also instating on preservation of
the borders the referendum was held in,” he said. “17 years passed,
if we count from 1988, as the international community has fixed that,
the principle for the people’s self-determination should be taken into
account. If it’s necessary to wait for NKR’s independence recognition
for 17 years more, I believe that both in Armenia and in NKR people
will have the required patience to wait for that day. None should
ever doubt that this day will come,” Torosian underscored.
As for the information on holding the independence referendum
in 15 years, he said that the term for holding the referendum for
self-determination in NKR in 10-15 years isn’t fixed anywhere. There
is no such a document and there are no reasons for talking about such
a term. Tigran Torosian said it isn’t reasonable to talk of any term,
as it should be linked to certain actions. Besides, the borders for
holding the referendum should also be precisely defined. Moreover,
one should accurately fix that notwithstanding the position of
Azerbaijan after the referendum, the international community should
recognize its results, Torosian emphasized, adding that Azerbaijan
is ready to deny any agreements, viewpoints or promises any time
at all. “The international community should secure the recognition
of these results. At the same time, if we need some 2-3 years for
holding the referendum, one should define the intermediate status
of NKR,” Torosian stated, adding that there are many issues that
should be answered to complete the elaboration of the document and
to prepare that for signing. He expressed hope that by that time NKR
will participate in the negotiations. “It’s very important that the
document is also signed by the representatives of NKR, as Nagorno
Karabakh is an internationally recognized full fledged side in
conflict,” he underscored.

“ART WITHOUT BORDERS” EXHIBITION AIMS TO MITIGATE HOSTILITY
YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, NOYAN TAPAN. An exhibition “Art without Borders”
opened on August 4 at the Innovatory Experimental Art Center. The
exhibition features works of 25 artists from Armenia and three
neighboring countries: Iran, Turkey and Georgia. Paintings,
photos, videos, installations and mixed technics are on display. 6
participants are from Armenia, 7 – from Iran, 5 – from Georgia and
7 from Turkey. Azerbaijan also received an invitation to participate
in the exhibition but its delegates refused to come to Armenia. The
project head Eduard Balasanian said that the event aims to promote
contacts among artists of the neighboring countries and to mitigate
hostility by means of art.
“All works on display have a certain social, sometimes also political
implication,” E. Balasanian said. Sonya Balasanian’s “The Playground
of Crosshairs”, which is a combination of video art and installation,
impresses by its unpredictablity. At first, some people’s faces appear
above the small houses in a dark room, then a terrible crash is heard,
after which all the people are taken at aim. Sonya Balasanian said
that people should raise their voices against political, economic
and religious oppression. The painting of Iranian artist Khosrov
Hasan Zade depicts 16 prostitutes killed in Mashad, Iran’s religious
capital. The pictures were made based on police photos. The work
“Stop: You are Surrounded” by Berat Isik (Turkey) is an example
of video art. It is a tragicomedy about the oppressed and their
oppressors. The exhibition will last until August 25, then it will
be held in Iran, Georgia and Russia.

“DURING WAR ACTIONS, LEBANESE ARMENIANS HAD NO HUMAN AND MATERIAL LOSSES,”
AMBASSADOR OF LEBANON GABRIEL GEARA ASSURES
YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, NOYAN TAPAN. “War actions of Israel are systematized
actions to destroy Lebanon in a systematic way. It’s evidence is
attacks of the Israel airforce, as a result of what bridges, civil
infrastructures, etc. are destroyed. Gabriel Geara, the Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Lebanon to the RA informed about
it at the August 4 press conference. He mentioned that he was informed
in the same morning about other 3 important bridges’ being destroyed,
about 50 mln U.S. dollars will be necessary for restoration of each
of them. According to G.Geara, during the 22 days of the war actions,
losses incured by Lebanon are estimated about 5 bln dollars. He also
mentioned that 1000 inhabitants of Lebanon died till now, 3000 were
injured, about 1 mln people migrated. The Ambassador mentioned that
taking two soldiers of Israel prisoner by the Lebanese “Hzbollah”
grouping of assaults is not the only reason of outbreak of the
war. According to G.Geara’s estimation, the other reason is territories
of Lebanon which Israel captured. The Ambassador also mentioned that
there are 8 Lebanese prisoners of war as well as about 10 thousand of
Palestinian prisoners in prisons of Israel. G.Geara mentioned that
there is a possibility at the UN Security Council sitting on Monday
or Tuesday to make a decision concerning cease-fire. The Ambassador
also informed that the Lebanese Government adopted a document
consisting of 7 proposals on the purpose of outcome of the present
crisis. Particularly, the Lebanese party demands to state cease-fire
immediately, to carry out exchange of prisoners, to remove the Israeli
Armed Forced from the territories captured during this armed conflict,
to place international peace-keeping forces functioning under the UN
patronage in the south of Lebanon. According to one of the points,
it is proposed that Lebanon and Israel return the truce agreement
concluded in 1949. The Ambassador of Lebanon mentioned that the
issue of disarmament of “Hzbollah” will also be solved after return
of the captured territories. The Ambassador assured that the Lebanese
Armenians had no human and material losses. “No Armenian institution,
even a small shop that belongs to an Armenian, had no material
loss. Maybe, the God loves Armenians for what we are only happy,”
G.Geara said.

“WE WON ON THE KARABAKH BATTLEFIELD BUT TODAY WE ARE INFERIOR IN PROPAGANDA
AND INFORMATION WAR,” NEMESIS’ CHAIRMAN STATES
YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, NOYAN TAPAN. 24 years ago, two members of the
ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia) Levon
Ekmekchian and Zohrab Sargsian were killed by Turkish policemen
during an armed attack at Ankara Airport. On the occasion of this
anniversary, members of the Memesis charity organization on August
7 visited Erablur Pantheon and laid wreaths at the memorial to ASALA
martyrs. Nemesis’ Chairman Vazgen Petrosian said: “Since that incident
in 1982, the Diaspora has commemorated August 7 as a day of remembrance
of martyrs of the modern armed liberation struggle.” According to him,
25 years ago armed struggle was perceived as “advertisement terrorism”:
such actions made the powerful of the world to pay attention to the
Armenian Cause.
Speaking about negotiations on the Karabakh problem, V. Petrosian said:
“We won on the battlefield but today we are inferior in the propaganda
and information war.”

‘HAYASTAN’ ALL-ARMENIAN FUND CONTINUES CONSTRUCTION WORKS
AZG Armenian Daily #147, 05/08/2006
“Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund informs that hospitals of Sisian and
Artik will soon be repaired. Thanks to the French branch of the Fund,
the hospital of Sisian will be able to serve the population of 40.000
of Sisian and neighboring villages in early 2007. The British offshoot
of the Fund will finance the construction of Artik hospital that will
serve 60.000 people.
Construction works keep going in Artsakh. A trend will soon determine
who will build Kichan-Drmbon section of the South-North highway.
By Tamar Minasian

115 ACCIDENT-PRONE BUILDINGS ARE IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, NOYAN TAPAN. There are 17 second-degree,
64 third-degree and 34 fourth-degree accident-prone buildings in
Yerevan. Vrezh Gabrielian, deputy head of the Rescue Service of the RA
Ministry of Territorial Administration, said during a press conference
on August 7 that the third-degree accident prone buildings will be
repaired, while the fourth-degree ones are subject to demolition. Most
of the buildings to be pulled down are in Ajapniak community. According
to him, the inhabitants should be given apartments in the newly built
houses as compensation.