Armenian defence minister praises Karabakh military drills
Arminfo, Yerevan
19 Apr 06
Stepanakert ,19 April: “We have repeatedly said and will continue
to say till the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict that
Armenia is the guarantor of Nagornyy Karabakh’s security,” Armenian
Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan, who is taking part as an observer
in a combined exercise in Nagornyy Karabakh, has told an Arminfo
special correspondent in Stepanakert.
He rated highly the military exercise and noted that it was held in
conditions very close to the war-time conditions and that it differed
from a true battle only by the fact that “ammunition was used 10 times
less”. He also noted that he considered as inappropriate “the fuss
kicked up by Azerbaijan over the exercise held in Nagornyy Karabakh”.
“Should we also be indignant that they held a military exercise just
50-60 km away from here two weeks ago? This is a normal military
process, which means that the army life continues. Irrespective of
the fact that we have always been for the peaceful settlement of the
problem, our army should constantly improve,” Serzh Sarkisyan stressed.
Asked about whether Nagornyy Karabakh should be involved in the
negotiating process, the minister said: “Certainly, Nagornyy Karabakh’s
participation in the talks is desirable, but I do not consider that
the format of the negotiations will be changed in the near future.”
Serzh Sarkisyan said that by making unacceptable proposals Azerbaijan
“is attempting to snatch more for itself”. “If each side continues
to try and snatch openly more for itself, we will hardly be able to
reach an agreement,” the defence minister noted.
Assessing the situation on the contact line of the armed forces, Serzh
Sarkisyan said: “We never violate the cease-fire, we just respond
to hush the fire.” Serzh Sarkisyan believes the domestic political
situation in Armenia is normal. The political processes in Armenia
are going on normally, which has a favourable impact on the process
of the Karabakh settlement, he said.

Troops in disputed Caucasus enclave complete week of military exercises
AP Worldstream; Apr 20, 2006
Ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh wrapped up a week of
military exercises on Thursday in the disputed enclave’s annual
show of force toward Azerbaijan, which lost control of the enclave
following a war in the early 1990s.
About 1,500 soldiers took part in the exercises, which centered mainly
around the central Agdam region, about 375 kilometers (230 miles)
west of the Azerbaijani capital Baku, near the so-called line of
control that separates ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces.
The drills, which included forces repelling attacks by mock enemy
forces, were observed by the defense minister and chief of general
staff from Armenia, which has long provided military and economic
support for its brethren in the enclave.
Lt. Gen. Seigan Oganyan, commander of the enclave’s forces, made
clear to reporters that the training was intended to be a signal
to Azerbaijan.
“In the event of any demonstration of aggression by Azerbaijan, the
defense army of Nagorno-Karabakh will answer with adequate measures,”
Oganyan said.
Nagorno-Karabakh is inside Azerbaijan but is populated mostly by
ethnic Armenians. Clashes regularly break out between the two sides
and Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliev have traded increasingly bellicose statements since talks
to resolve the enclave’s status broke down in February.
At least 30,000 people have been killed and 1 million made refugees
during six years of open conflict that ended with a cease fire in 1994.
The lack of final resolution over the enclave’s status has long tied
up investment in the strategic, oil-rich Caucasus region.

Russia not to use energy facilities to pressurize Armenia – minister
Arminfo
20 Apr 06
Yerevan, 20 April: “Diversification depends not so much on who owns
energy facilities but on how much these energy facilities and their
energy supplies have been diversified,” Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan said at a joint press conference with Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs of Austria Hans Winkler in Yerevan today
when asked about the handover of the fifth unit of the Razdan thermal
power plant to Russia.
“I believe that these should be diversified but not the owners or
managers of the facilities. The facilities are located in Armenia,
and even if they have been privatized or handed over for long-term
management, this has been done on clear-cut conditions,” the Armenian
foreign minister said, adding that these conditions could not run
counter to Armenia’s energy demands.
Asked about whether he ruled out the handover of the Iran-Armenia
gas pipeline to Russia, the minister admitted that he did not know
the answer. “Talks are under way in this connection,” Oskanyan said.
Meanwhile, the minister noted that there was no pipeline yet and that
at issue was not the handover of the pipeline but who would build it
or fund its construction. The minister said that he did not hold the
talks and therefore did not know the details.
“But if you ask whether I rule out the possibility of handing over
the pipeline to Russia, I would answer that nothing can be ruled out.
On the other hand, one should not make hasty conclusions without
knowing the details,” Oskanyan said.
He did not agree that the concentration of Armenia’s energy facilities
mainly in Russia’s hands could be used as a lever to pressurize
Armenia, especially in the Karabakh settlement. “This issue should
not be linked to the Karabakh problem,” Oskanyan said.
He said this problem should be viewed “through the prism of a mixture
of what is desired and what is possible”. The minister said that of
course, diversification would have been desirable so that part of the
energy facilities were in the hands of Armenians, part in the hands
of Russians and perhaps part in the hands of Europeans.
“But it has happened so that there is indeed a slight tilt towards
Russia,” the minister said. He pointed out that one should not
worry as long as agreements were observed. “I am sure that there are
provisions in these agreements ensuring the republic’s energy security
and diversification,” the Armenian foreign minister said.

Georgian daily questions feasibility of Turkish Abkhaz resettling to Abkhazia
24 Saati, Tbilisi
18 Apr 06
Georgian newspaper 24 Saati has said that the leadership of breakaway
Abkhazia understands the risk of the ethnic Abkhaz population becoming
an “absolute minority” and sees the repatriation of descendants of the
19-century migrants from Turkey to Abkhazia as a solution. However,
the newspaper questions the feasibility of such a plan and notes that
it may cause problems not foreseen by the separatists or their Russian
supporters. The following is the text of Dimitri Avaliani’s article
“Abkhaz dream – prospects for repatriation with unknown results”
published in 24 Saati on 18 April; subheadings as published:
The Abkhaz authorities view the repatriation of descendants of the
Mohajirs [who were forced to resettle to Turkey in the 19th century]
as the way out of the demographic and political impasse.
“A part of the ethnic Abkhaz community in Turkey wants to return to
Abkhazia,” Sokrat Jinjolia, director of [the Sukhumi branch] of the
Caucasian Institute for Democracy, said during his visit to Turkey last
week. The Abkhaz delegation, which also included the chairman of the
[Abkhaz] state repatriation committee, Anzor Mukba, and the chairman of
the parliament’s defence and security committee, Garik Samanba, visited
Turkey to meet with representatives of the ethnic Abkhaz community.
“We travelled a lot in central Turkey and met with representatives
of the diaspora. The main thing for them is opening up the ways to
Abkhazia and knowing what is going on in their historical motherland,”
Jinjolia said.
According to Jinjolia, one of the deputy prime ministers of the
Republic of Turkey, members of the Turkish parliament, representatives
of the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Russian Embassy to Turkey took
part in the meeting. He also said that representatives of the Turkish
authorities noted that Turkey supported only a peaceful settlement
of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict.
“Representatives of the Abkhaz diaspora in Turkey expressed their
hope that the Russian authorities will make it much simpler to cross
the Russian-Abkhaz border, which will facilitate the arrival of the
Abkhaz diaspora in their historical motherland,” Jinjolia said.
The Russian authorities will no longer make Jinjolia beg for the
open border: By a decision of the Russian Border Guard Department,
as of last week, foreign citizens are allowed to cross the border at
the Psou checkpoint.
Demography as Abkhaz national idea
Nowadays, the main Abkhaz national idea is the survival of the ethnic
group. For them, survival is associated with “demographic supremacy”.
In the opinion of the overwhelming majority of the ethnic Abkhaz, the
perpetuation of the existence of the Abkhaz ethnic group is possible
only in conditions of demographic supremacy. From this point of view,
the Abkhaz perceive the mass expulsion of ethnic Georgians as the
“restoration of historical justice”. In other words, their view is
that the ethnic Georgians went back to where they came from, and this,
in the Abkhaz point of view, is entirely fair.
Any aspiration of the Abkhaz towards national sovereignty and any
ideology of achieving it was unimaginable from the very outset without
getting rid of the main obstacle – the ethnic Georgian majority. At the
same time, any mention of “ethnic cleansing” gives rise to an extremely
negative reaction and protest among the Abkhaz, despite the fact that
this phrase, which is “ugly” in their opinion, precisely describes
what they did to the ethnic Georgian population of Abkhazia and what
is recognized at present as the main achievement of the Abkhaz victory.
The issues of the recognition of Abkhazia’s status, its political
system or civil rights are not as pressing to Abkhaz society as the
“demographic issue”.
However, at the same time, the demographic situation in modern-day
Abkhazia clearly shows that there is still a long way to go towards
achieving the main goal of the Abkhaz ethnic group. Back during [the
first separatist president Vladislav] Ardzinba’s rule, a “census”
was conducted that “established” the size of the population that was
advantageous to Sukhumi’s policy. According to that “census”, 320,000
people resided in Abkhazia, that is to say, more than a half of the
people who lived there before 1992 (whose number used to be more
than half a million). This was done to enable the Abkhaz authorities
to declare their policy an expression of the will of Abkhazia’s
population and reaffirm their legitimacy. However, in late 2003
[as published, should be 2004], during the scandalous presidential
election, the Abkhaz themselves put an end to this “trick” because
they had to calculate the real number of voters before the highly
contested and very important election. It emerged that, in reality,
Abkhazia’s population did not exceed 150,000-160,000.
Even against the backdrop of the decrease in population, the Abkhaz
are still a minority. At present, Abkhazia’s population consists of
three roughly equal groups, not only in terms of ethnicity but also in
terms of political orientation. These are the ethnic Abkhaz themselves,
some supporting the idea of Abkhazia’s sovereignty and others favouring
integration with Russia; the Russian-speaking population, which is
clearly of pro-Russian orientation and in which ethnic Armenians
dominate; and the ethnic Georgian population of Gali District with
its pro-Georgian orientation.
At present, ethnic Abkhaz are prevalent in the government bodies and
hold the highest posts, which does not reflect the real proportion
of the different ethnic groups. How long can this situation continue?
Migrants of Armenian origin already reside in Abkhazia, mainly in Gagra
District. The modern-day Abkhazia, whose population has decreased
several times over the last 14 years, is a complete “desert” from
the demographic viewpoint. However, for now, the difficult social,
economic, and crime situation hinders the cultivation of this desert
by foreign migrants.
Given the current situation, this state of affairs bodes nothing good
for the Abkhaz nation. If Abkhazia’s sovereign status is legitimized
and lawful investments start coming in, which is the goal of Abkhaz
policy today, the region will be flooded by migrants from Russia and
other CIS countries for the simple reason that the growing economy
will need a big workforce.
And this will affect Abkhaz politics no matter what. The ethnic Abkhaz
will gradually find themselves in a position from which they are now
desperately trying to get out from – in an absolute minority.
And putting an end to the domination of ethnic Abkhaz in the positions
of power will then become just a matter of time. Abkhazia will be
transformed into a Russian-speaking country in which the Abkhaz
themselves will wield very little influence. They will have much
less possibility to take part in governing their own country than
they had before 1992.
In other words, the Abkhaz will lose even the illusory advantage
which they now perceive as the main achievement of the victory they
attained at the cost of great sacrifice.
Repatriation – a threat or a new political lever?
The Abkhaz pin great hopes on the return of the descendants of the
Mohajirs, who live in Turkey and some Middle Eastern countries and
whose ancestors were deported from Abkhazia in the late 19th century
by the Russian Empire. Sukhumi has announced that their repatriation
is an official priority. The Abkhaz community is united and is part
of the Adyg-Cherkess diaspora that is quite influential in the
Middle East and especially in Turkey. There are reports that the
Abkhaz community is a few-hundred-thousand strong. This is a huge
demographic resource for the Abkhaz. However, the majority of these
people are not enthralled at the prospect of going back to their
historical motherland. At any rate, despite the fact that they have
common ancestors with the modern-day Abkhaz, they are people with a
completely different mindset, effectively a different ethnic group.
To many of them, although Abkhazia is their ancestral motherland,
it is not associated with the place of permanent residence.
The Abkhaz authorities are trying hard to make their demographic
dreams come true. The latest visit by the Sukhumi delegation to Turkey
served this purpose too. However, the prospect of the Mohajirs’ return
raises many questions which Sukhumi itself finds hard to answer. What
will the mass resettlement of citizens of Turkey and Arab countries
bring to Abkhazia? What will the repatriates’ attitude towards
the Russian-speaking and ethnic Georgian population of Abkhazia,
or even towards the modern-day ethnic Abkhaz, be? Will the Islamic
factor gain strength? Will this signify Abkhazia’s “Turkization”,
its transformation into Turkey’s satellite and active promoter of
Turkey’s interests?
An increase in the number of Turkish-oriented population will naturally
strengthen Turkey’s influence on internal Abkhaz politics.
Russian interests will be damaged substantially in any case. In
contrast to the modern-day Abkhaz population, the potential repatriates
are not connected with Russia in any way except through negative
historical experience. The likelihood is quite high that Russia will
“dig its own grave” in the Caucasus: Instead of a “friendly” separatist
entity created with its support, a hostile region will emerge on its
border and it will become the main base for North Caucasian separatism.
What prospects will this scenario create for Georgia? The Abkhaz
authorities and Abkhaz population are today radically opposed to the
return of the Georgian refugees to their own homes. They cite many
reasons for this, although the main reason is their fear of becoming
an absolute minority again. However, it is quite possible that their
resistance will not be so radical if, together with the refugees,
some of the descendants of the Mohajirs will also return, which will
make the Abkhaz population feel “demographically safe”.
The issue of the Abkhaz repatriates raises numerous questions. What
does their return mean to Georgia in terms of the conflict
settlement? How will Sukhumi’s policy change towards Georgia or
towards Russia if the repatriates come to power? What are the risks
and advantages for Tbilisi? Is it actually possible to drive Russia
out of Abkhazia? Georgia may be faced with these questions, in all
their complexity, in the future.

Defence Ministry denies Azerbaijan mediating between Iran, USA
Fars News Agency website
20 Apr 06
Tehran, 20 April: Minster of Defence [Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar] has
denied the report filed by Associated Press concerning Azerbaijan’s
mediation between Iran and America as a sheer lie.
Gen Kalantari, the deputy minister of defence for defensive and
international cooperation, in a telephone conversation with Fars News
Agency emphatically denied the news published by Associated Press
concerning Azerbaijan’s mediation between Iran and America.
He stressed: There have been no discussions concerning the mediation
of Azerbaijan over Iran’s relations with America and the report filed
by this agency is a sheer lie.
A few hours ago, Associated Press had announced that Iran’s defence
minister in his meeting with the president of Azerbaijan had said
that this country may mediate between Iran and America.

WAR WILL BE AZERBAIJAN’S LAST MISTAKE, VARTAN OSKANIAN DECLARES
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. “The European
Union is very much interested in the settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict, we are interested in the stability of the South
Caucasian region,” State Secretary of Austrian Foreign Ministry,
Head of EU Troika delegation Hans Winkler declared at the April 20
press conference in Yerevan. According to him, EU tries to be useful
in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and here EU does
everything depending on it. “We want to render unbiassed assistance and
try to apply all possible measures for the settlement of the conflict
but this is the issue that should be solved by the sides,” Winkler
declared. According to Vartan Oskanian, the Nagorno Karabakh people
itself should have the right to solve the issue what political status
it wants to have. “If Azerbaijan recognizes the Karabakh people’s
right of self-determination, in this case the Armenian side is ready
to seriously discuss the issue about liquidating the consequences
of the war”. According to the Minister, issues regarding liquidation
of the consequences of the war are issues of territories, refugees,
issues of security. As for the continuing bellicose statements of
Baku, the Armenian Foreign Minister declared: “We have repeatedly
said that the Karabakh problem has no solution through a war. The
war will be a great mistake by Azerbaijan, I think this will be
their last mistake”. He again reiterated that a document regarding
the principles of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement is on
the negotiations table. At that, an agreement on part of them has
been already reached between the sides but the sides have not come
to agreement on some clauses yet. “The issues stated in the document
cannot change in their essence, they are formulated very precisely,”
the head of the Armenian foreign political department declared.

SERGE SARGSIAN DOES NOT THINK THAT THERE ARE CHANGES IN NEAREST FUTURE
IN ISSUE OF INVOLVEMENT OF KARABAKH IN NEGOTIATION PROCESS
STEPANAKERT, APRIL 20, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. “Azerbaijan
wants to tear many things for its benefit, to make new proposals
what is inadmissible for us,” Serge Sargsian, the Secretary of the
RA National Security Council attached to the President, the Defence
Minister stated at the press-conference taken place at the end of
the military exercises held in Nagorno Karabakh. “If each of us makes
an attempt to tear for him more things for obvious, clear purposes,
we can hardly come to common denominator,” the Minister emphasized.
According to Serge Sargsian, the Armenian side never violates
conditions of cease-fire: “We just respond to press, and there are
few shots.” As for the issue of involvement of Nagorno Karabakh in
the negotiation process, Serge Sargsian mentioned: “I do not think
that there will be changes in future. Of course, it’s desired that
Nagorno Karabakh as well participates in the negotiations, but not
everything happens according to our wish.” The Minister estimated
normal the political situation in Armenia: “The political process
seems to develop in normal way, and, of course, such a situation
have a more favourable influence than when political passions are
imflamed. Of course, a more favourable atmosphere may be created, but
this one is also enough.” According to Serge Sargsian, a tolerance
is necessary for a favourable atmosphere as well as it is necessary
to avoid unwarranted political ambitions.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

U.S. Wants Belarus on G8 Agenda
The Moscow Times, Russia
April 20 2006
A senior U.S. diplomat said Wednesday that the United States would
press for discussion of political developments in Belarus as well
as conflicts in Georgia, Moldova and Nagorno-Karabakh to be on the
agenda of this year’s Group of Eight summit, to be held in St.
Petersburg in July.
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said it would be the first
time that the G8 had discussed “these … conflicts very close to
Russia’s borders” — underlining the stark political differences
between Russia and the other G8 members.
He said that most G8 members agreed that Belarus’ recent election,
which returned President Alexander Lukashenko to a third term, was
“anti-democratic,” and that the G8 should help the governments of
Georgia and Moldova resolve conflicts with their separatist provinces
— all of which enjoy support from Russia.
Russia and the United States are working together under the aegis
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to find a
resolution to the 18-year-old conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic
Armenian-inhabited enclave in Azerbaijan. They have both expressed
optimism that progress could be made this year.
U.S. President George W. Bush has said he will raise concerns about
Russian democracy during the summit.(AP)

Ex-Foreign minister of Armenia Aleksandr Arzumanyan: “I do not
exclude Azerbaijan to start war”
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006
[ 20 Apr. 2006 18:11 ]
“Results of Azerbaijan and Armenia presidents Rambouillet talks is
not only failure of Nagorno Garabagh conflict resolution as well as
it is a failure of OSCE Minsk Group mission.” ex- Foreign minister of
Armenia Aleksandr Arzumanyan has made this statement. Negotiation
process, according to him, is prolonged not only by conflicting sides
but also the USA and European Union artificially.
“European Union appointed new representative to South Caucasus in
2006, Peter Semneby needs much time to be adopted to the situation.
Then the USA has changed its ambassador to Azerbaijan. This happens
to prolong the process by the end of 2006, and then pre-election
marathon will begin in Armenia. During the election process, as we
know, conflict regulation process stays in background.” Criticizing
the activity of OSCE Minsk Group in Rambouillet talks Arzumanyan has
stressed not existence of better mediating format. “I do not believe
happening any fundamental changes in regulation process. But after
Rambouillet talks, the tone sounded by Azerbaijani side does not
exclude this country’s start war.”/APA/

Vardan Oskanian: Co-chairs haven’t made new proposals to settle Garabagh conflict
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006
[ 20 Apr. 2006 17:58 ]
“The people of Nagorno Garabagh should decide themselves which status
they need – this is Armenia’s stance,” Armenian foreign minister
Vardan Oskanian stated (APA).
“Armenia is ready to discuss matters of overcoming the consequences
of the war when official Baku recognizes Garabagh people’s right to
self-determination. Only after that, speaking about territories that
form the security belt and return of internally displaced persons
will be possible. As coming to OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs making new
proposals, this is both true and not. Proposals, or rather principles
of the settlement, remain the same. Mechanisms are subject to change,”
Oskanian said./APA/