Turkey reaffirms support on Garabagh conflict
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006
Baku, April 19, AssA-Irada — Turkey has reaffirmed its support for
Azerbaijan on the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
“We will always stand by Azerbaijan. Official Ankara considers the
Armenian occupation of 20% of Azeri territories unacceptable and backs
a settlement to the dispute through peace and within the country’s
territorial integrity,” the visiting Turkish Interior Minister
Abdulkadir Aksu said in a meeting with his Azeri counterpart Ramil
Usubov on Wednesday.
Aksu said the secret services of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey should
step up their efforts in fighting terror, recalling a joint statement
signed by the three countries’ ministers in Trabzon. “It is time to
outline future plans by holding serious discussions.”
The two ministers discussed a number of issues relating to
Turkish-Azeri relations, the current status and prospects for
cooperation in joint combat against crime. They said the two countries
support each other’s sovereignty and concur of ways of fighting terror,
drug trafficking, illegal proliferation of weapons and other forms
of trans-national organized crime.
The ministers signed a protocol on cooperation in conclusion of
the meeting.*

Azeri official on new Garabagh proposals
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006
Baku, April 19, AssA-Irada — Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz
Azimov has said new proposals and concessions are essential in the
settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
“But the outcome should not be aside from the basic framework [for
conflict resolution],” he said, when commenting on a statement by the
Russian co-chairman of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov
that the intermediaries’ new suggestions “concern some principles of
the conflict settlement”.
Azimov said the internationally-accepted autonomy models are currently
being studied.
“We may hear some statements concerning new proposals and concessions,
but whether or not this will yield specific results will be clear in
further meetings. The point is that there are specific frames, and
constructive and swift efforts should be made to settle the conflict
within them.”
The official said the existing international models differ and
various status options of self-administration are applied in Europe
and other regions of the world. “However, these alternatives are
used considering the location of territories and with respect for
the territorial integrity [of countries]. We have stated this on many
occasions. If we are talking about advancing within this framework,
Azerbaijan is ready for this,” Azimov added.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijan seeking G8 talks on Garabagh, official says
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006
Baku, April 19, AssA-Irada — Azerbaijan attaches great importance
to the attention of the Group of Eight in the settlement of the
long-standing Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh problem, Deputy Foreign
Minister Araz Azimov said. He was commenting on reports saying the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict may be put on discussion at the next
meeting of the world’s superpowers in St.
Petersburg, Russia.
“Bringing the issue to their attention may affect the conflict
resolution politically. Moreover, considering these countries’ economic
resources, their assistance is essential for the rehabilitation of
infrastructure in the occupied Azeri territories after they are freed,”
Azimov said.*

EU rep confirms Armenian occupation
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006
Baku, April 19, AssA-Irada — “Armenia has indeed occupied Azerbaijan’s
territories,” a European Union representative told a meeting of the
Armenia-EU inter-parliamentary cooperation commission on Wednesday.
Mary Ann Ishler said the most appropriate option at this point is
the one outlined in the document prepared by the OSCE Minsk Group
mediating settlement to the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict. She
said this plan envisions the return of five districts around Upper
Garabagh to Azerbaijan, adding that only after this Garabagh Armenians
could take part in peace talks.
“We are expecting the Azeri and Armenian presidents to sign a relevant
accord,” Ishler said.
Armenians aired their discontent over the statement, claiming that
the Azeri side is ignoring the interests of Upper Garabagh Armenians
and is unwilling to negotiate with them.*

Armenian foreign minister does not rule out selling Iran-Armenia pipeline to Russia
Regnum, Russia
April 20 2006
“Nothing can be ruled out,” Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
has said answering a question about possibility of selling the
Iran-Armenia pipeline, which is now under construction, to Russia,
reports a REGNUM correspondent. Nevertheless, the Armenian foreign
minister failed to provide an exact answer. “It is hard to say,
whether it will be sold or not. Actually, there is no such pipeline,
as it is being constructed yet. There are talks held. It goes about
who will invest in it and who will construct it. Most probably,
the one who gives money will be the owner.”
Earlier, Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan announced that
“the Iran-Armenia pipeline has not been constructed and is not a
subject of economic activity yet, therefore, is not a joint-stock
company and has issued no stock, so, it cannot be sold.” Meanwhile,
Member of the Armenian National Assembly, ex-Prime Minister Vazgen
Manukyan earlier expressed his confidence that a 45-kilometer section
of the pipeline is already sold, “despite the fact that the Armenian
authorities assure that the pipeline was not sold to Russia.”
It is worth mentioning, on April 6, Gazprom within several hours
corrected a report released by its press department on signing an
agreement with Armenia for 25 years. From the new version of the
press release published on Gazprom’s official site statements on the
Iran-Armenia pipeline were excluded. The previous variant included
information that the agreement envisages acquiring by ArmRosgazprom
of a 40-kilometer section under construction of the Iran-Armenia
pipeline and the fifth energy unit of Hrazdan Nuclear Power Plant,
as well as giving functions of building owner of the second section
of the pipeline 197 km long to ArmRosgazprom. The new variant of the
document reports only about acquiring the fifth energy unit of the
Hrazdan NPP and gas facilities.

45,000 in Armenian army
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006
Baku, April 19, AssA-Irada — Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian
has said his country’s troops are 45,000 people strong, explaining
this by the current situation in the South Caucasus region.
Touching upon the plight and structure of the three-million nation’s
military, Sarkisian said it is common knowledge that the Armenian
military consists of infantry regiment units and the air force. The
troops are not centralized in any way and have no local headquarters.
“There is only one chief HQ overseeing all of the armed forces. This
entails commanding separate corps, artillery units and air defense
forces,” said the minister, who also serves as secretary of the
Armenian National Security Council.
With regard to further impact of the rising tension in Georgia’s
breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on regional states,
Sarkisian said any given conflict flaring in the South Caucasus region
could play a role of a “detonator”.
He said the Caucasus is a very small area, which makes regional
countries dependent on each other. “For this reason, a resumption of
military action [in the region] could bring about negative consequences
for us,” the Armenian defense chief said.
As for the current situation in Georgia, the minister said a possible
disruption of stability there would not benefit his country. His
concern could be explained by the fact Georgia is the only country
facilitating Armenia’s access to the rest of the world.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Iranian-Armenian gas pipeline may be transferred to Russia
RosBusinessConsulting Database
April 20, 2006 Thursday 6:43 am, EST
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian admits the possibility of
transferring the Iranian-Armenian gas pipeline to Russia, he told
a press-conference today. No scenario of future developments can be
ruled out at the moment. At the same time it is too early to sum up the
results while negotiations are still in progress. “Any talks about the
pipeline’s future are unreasonable because it hasn’t been constructed
yet,” the Minister said. He added that it would be more reasonable
to speak of the project’s possible investors, ARKA News Agency reports.

Turkey airs Egoyan pic on genocide
by ALI JAAFAR
Daily Variety
April 20, 2006 Thursday
LONDON A private Turkish TV station has aired Atom Egoyan’s “Ararat,”
a drama about the Armenian genocide, for the first time.
Netcaster Kanalturk broadcast the pic without cuts, even though the
subject is largely taboo in the country.
The Turkish government refuses to officially acknowledge the massacre,
in which up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in Turkey from
1915-17.
Airing took place only after execs at Kanalturk polled auds and found
that 72% wanted to see the film.
The film was followed by a round-table discussion with notable Turkish
and Armenian historians.
A rep for Egoyan told Daily Variety the director was “pleased” the
film had finally been shown in Turkey after a troubled journey to
local auds.
The government initially gave the go-ahead for the film to be screened
theatrically in 2004, despite labeling it “ridiculous propaganda,”
but the distributor was forced to drop its release after receiving
threats from various Turkish nationalist groups.
The government’s decision not to block the broadcast of “Ararat”
would indicate a more open policy toward the issue of the genocide.
Earlier this year Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s most celebrated writer, faced
imprisonment after referring to the genocide in an interview with
a Swiss newspaper, although the charges of “insulting Turkishness”
were eventually dropped after an international outcry.

WVU honors Holocaust victims
by Grant Smith, Staff
The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
April 20, 2006 Thursday
Apr. 20–WVU students and community members gathered at noon Wednesday
to begin reading about 15,000 names of Holocaust victims.
And they’ll still be there at noon today.
“I think the Holocaust is a life lesson for the education person,”
said WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr., “that this could happen
in a ‘civilized’ country. It could happen to so many with so little
justification.”
Nazi Germany’s Holocaust killed an estimated 12 million people,
six million of them Jews.
Hardesty helped begin the program, reading a poem by Pastor Martin
Niemöller, and the poem “Unto Every Person There is a Name,” by the
Israeli poet Zelda. The name-reading event shares the same name as
the latter poem.
He then read the first few names of Holocaust victims. The first two
victims were just children, aged 14 and 17.
Hillel House, WVU’s Jewish student organization, first held the event
nine years ago, said member Heidi Solomon. About 30 volunteers signed
up ahead of time, and she expected about 20 to 30 more to volunteer
on the spot by the end of the event.
Hillel House co-treasurer Lauren Bergstein said that reading the
names is an effort to keep people from clumping the millions of
victims into one group.
“I think that one of the big things about this program is it’s
important to give everybody a name,” said Bergstein, a sophomore
occupational therapy student. “That kind of gives them more
personality.”
Hardesty said the name-reading is a “poignant way” of remembering
the Holocaust. “They were individuals with hopes and dreams,” he said.
Hardesty has been opening the program since it began at WVU, he said,
and read books and histories in preparation. “I think I’ve become
much better for participating in the ceremony,” he said.
He recalls an emotional moment from a previous year, at which six
names of members from the same family were read. A father, mother
and their four children were all killed on the same day, in the same
camp. He said the ages of that family reminded him of his own.
“I’ve kind of gotten better at managing that over the years,” he
said. The event is also an attempt to “make sure nothing like this
ever happens again,” Bergstein said.
Solomon’s mother, Jan Hausman, was scheduled to read names three
times during the event.
She teaches the Holocaust to eighth graders in Pennsylvania.
She said one of Adolph Hitler’s earlier speeches referred to the 1.5
million Armenians’ killed in Turkey in the early 20th century. He
said since no one remembered the Armenians, they wouldn’t remember
the Jews killed by the Nazis in 20 years, either. “He was kind of
laughing at the memory of the Armenians,” Hausman said.
She uses the Holocaust as a lesson decrying bullying.
“If we allow that, what’s next?” she said. “I show them what could
possibly be next.”
–Boundary_(ID_XklzbDX1oTk5S582Cz10hw)–

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
April 20, 2006 Thursday 7:34 PM MSK
Armenian economy grows 7.9% in Q1
Armenian GDP grew 7.9% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2006
to 265.9 billion dram (449.46 dram/$1 on April 20), the National
Statistics Service told Interfax.
Industrial output fell 4.7% to 137.9 billion dram, however agricultural
output rose 3.5% to 40.2 billion dram and services sector output rose
21.4% to 95.4 billion dram.
Foreign trade turnover grew 7% to $606.4 million, including growth
of 5.6% to $184.4 million for exports and 13.6% to $422 million for
imports. The trade deficit was $237.6 million.
The 2006 budget targets GDP growth at 7.5%. The economy grew 13.9%
in 2005.