AZERI MPS, MGER SHAHGELDIYAN AND VLADIMIR ZHIRINOVSKI CLASHED DURING NATO PA
Today, Azerbaijan
May 30 2006
In the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO session operating in London for
Conflicts and new state organization center director Denis Summut
has dealt with Nagorno Karabakh problem and conflicts in Georgia,
in his report dedicated to conflicts in South Caucasus.
According to APA, after the report Azerbaijani delegation making a
speech expressed their attitude to the lecture. Azerbaijani delegation
member in NATO PA Gudrat Hasanguliyev made his remarks to Denis Summut
on not being reflected the information on occupied territories and
refugees related to Nagorno Karabakh conflict. He stated that more than
20 percent of Azerbaijani territories have been occupied by Armenians,
more than 1 million refugees and displaced people exist in Azerbaijan.
After that Mger Shahgaldiyan has accused Azerbaijani parliamentarian
in false information. According to his claim, Azerbaijani territories’
13 percent is under occupation, not 20, and the number of refugees
is 600 thousand not 1mln.
The statement of Mger Shahgaldiyan irritated Denis Sammut: “You have
occupied the territory of a state even 2 percent not 20, why did you
occupy? What right do you have? If this state begins to restore its
territory tomorrow again war will break out. You have mentioned that
the number of refuges is 600 thousand, is it small figures? Why should
600 thousand people live in condition of refugee?”
Russian parliamentarian Vladimir Zhirinovski said that Azerbaijan
lives in the account of Russia. According to him Azerbaijanis work in
Russia, earn money, and in this way they solve their social problems.
The Azerbaijani parliamentarian Gudrat HAsanguliyev stated that
Azerbaijnanis work in Russia, but Russia needs this working power,
and even President of Russia stated of it. Hasanguliyev said simply
Azerbaijanis serve income of financial means to the budget of this
state, and that is why their living in this country is provided.
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ALIYEV AND CHIRAC MEET IN PARIS
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
May 30 2006
Visiting France President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan met on May 30
with his French counterpart Jacques Chirac at Elysee Palace in Paris.
President Chirac congratulated the Azerbaijani leader on the Republic
Day and the Azeri oil’s reaching Ceyhan terminal, as well as described
the opening of new building for Azerbaijani embassy in Paris as an
important event.
At the meeting held in a sincere and friendly atmosphere, both
Presidents expressed satisfaction with current development of relations
between Azerbaijan and France.
They also touched upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh
problem, and activities of France as one of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE
Minsk group towards peaceful settlement of the conflict.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION DISSATISFIED WITH REPORTS ON RAILWAY IN ABKHAZIA
Prime News Agency, Georgia
May 30 2006
Tbilisi. May 30 (Prime-News) – The Interim Committee of the Parliament
of Georgia for Restoration of Territorial Integrity of Georgia
discussed the issue on restoration of the Georgian-Russian railway
movement via breakaway Abkhazia at the closed session on Tuesday.
The committee members were not satisfied with the incomplete report
by Irakli Ezugbaia, Director General of Georgian Railways Ltd on
the ongoing talks on restoration of the Georgian-Russian railway
movement via the breakaway region of Abkhazia, Prime-News was told
by representatives of the Commission.
On May 04th the agreement was reached in Moscow, according to which
the Georgian, Abkhazian, Russian and Armenian parties signed a protocol
on creation of the Black Sea Railways Consortium, which must supervise
rehabilitation of the railway bed in Abkhazia.
he Georgian party demands to be given a right to control the Abkhazian
railway bed and register it as a property of the Georgian Railways,
as priority.
Executives of the Georgian Railways Ltd were charged with a task to
deliver more detailed report in the nearest future.

ARMENIA ‘BARRED’ FROM CIS DEFENSE MEETING IN BAKU
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 30 2006
Armenia said on Tuesday that Azerbaijan has effectively prevented
it from participating in this week’s meeting in Baku of high-ranking
defense officials from the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The one-day session of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers is
scheduled to open in the Azerbaijani capital on Wednesday. Official
Yerevan said last week that Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian will
not attend it, presumably because of the unresolved conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian Defense Ministry decided to send a
lower-level delegation to the gathering instead.
In a statement, the ministry said it has been informed by the
Moscow-based Secretariat of the increasingly moribund CIS structure
that the Azerbaijani authorities have refused to guarantee the
security of the Armenian participants. It condemned the move, accusing
Azerbaijan of failing to honor its international obligations.
“We expect an official response from the CIS Council of Defense
Ministers to the incident,” added the statement.
A spokesman for the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry confirmed that Baku
is against Armenian participation in the meeting. “We came out against
the participation at the meeting of occupier-countries – Armenia –
which occupies 20 percent of territory long held by Azerbaijan,”
the Associated Press news agency quoted Ilgar Verdiyev as saying.
Many Azerbaijani government officials and civil society representatives
consider the physical presence of any Armenian citizens in their
country an affront to the memory of Azerbaijanis killed during the
1991-1994 war for Karabakh. The Azerbaijani government was driven
by such considerations when it refused to allow a group of Armenian
army officers to take part in a NATO-led military exercise that had
been due to take place on Azerbaijani soil in September 2004. NATO
officials responded by canceling the multinational drills.
In a separate development, President Jacques Chirac discussed the
Karabakh conflict with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliev in
Paris on Tuesday. “There is no alternative to a peaceful, negotiated
settlement,” he told Aliev, according to the Associated Press.
The meeting came three days after Chirac reportedly sent a letter to
the Azerbaijani leader urging him not to miss a “unique opportunity”
to settle the conflict. He apparently referred to Aliev’s upcoming
meeting in Bucharest with President Robert Kocharian. International
mediators hope the two men will reach a framework peace agreement on
Karabakh there.
Aliev was in Paris to attend a session of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly. Addressing the Assembly on Tuesday, he called Karabakh
“a black hole of Europe.”

HOVANNISIAN FORCED OUT OF PARTY HEADQUARTERS
By Anna Saghabalian and Ruzanna Stepanian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 30 2006
Law-enforcement officials forced opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian
to leave the headquarters of his Zharangutyun (Heritage) party
on Tuesday less than 24 hours after allowing him to re-enter the
premises controversially sealed off by the Armenian authorities three
months ago.
Hovannisian and a group of his close associates locked themselves
in the Zharangutyun offices in downtown Yerevan late Monday, defying
eviction orders from the Service for Mandatory Execution of Judicial
Acts of the Armenian Ministry of Justice. They denounced the orders
as illegal, citing an injunction issued by a Yerevan court on April 14.
The injunction effectively annulled a March 4 decision by a state-run
theater, from which Hovannisian has leased the offices for over 15
years, to lock Zharangutyun out of its headquarters. It said that no
restrictive action can be taken against the property until the court
rules on a lawsuit filed by Hovannisian against the theater management.
According to the Zharangutyun leadership, this means the party
can regain control of the premises at least until the end of the
litigation. The Justice Ministry bailiffs, who took more than 40 days
to enforce the court order, did not object to this interpretation as
they reopened the Zharangutyun offices on Monday.
But they returned to the scene several hours later, claiming that the
party leaders were only supposed to briefly inspect their offices and
then leave them. They managed to force Hovannisian and his loyalists
out after two-hour negotiations the next morning.
“We let the plaintiff in yesterday to see if their property is
intact. But after that they illegally entered [the offices] and
refused to leave,” a senior bailiff, Vahram Yenokian, told RFE/RL.
Hovannisian insisted, however, that the bailiffs’ actions are illegal
and politically motivated. “Six hours after diligently implementing
the court order, the bailiffs received an order from another body,”
he said. “With their about-turn, they showed that justice in this
country is still a bubble.”
Hovannisian, who had served as Armenia’s first foreign minister
in 1992, regards the eviction as a government retaliation for his
December open letter to President Robert Kocharian which effectively
implicated the latter in high-profile political murders and electoral
fraud. Zharangutyun, which is expected to be a major opposition
contender in next year’s parliamentary election, has accused the
authorities of systematically harassing and bullying its activists
across the country in recent months.
Hovannisian sent on Tuesday a letter to Armenia’s top law-enforcement
officials demanding a criminal investigation into his claims that
government agents illegally accessed Zharangutyun computers and
stole confidential data shortly after the party was locked out of
its offices.
“It now becomes evident as to how the ‘national security’ bodies and
the local lackeys of the incumbent presidency were able to obtain
relevant information about the party’s support base nationwide,”
the party said in a separate statement. “As is widely known, the
persecution and pressure upon the local divisions of the Zharangutyun
Party have increased since the middle of March, with party members
being threatened and ordered to leave the party.”
A spokesman for the Armenian police told RFE/RL later in the day
that Hayk Harutiunian, chief of the national Police Service, has
received Hovannisian’s letter and ordered a police division to look
into the allegations.
Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, also pledged to
“examine these reports in detail.” “If what you are telling me is true,
then there was a violation [of the law] and we will react to that,”
he told RFE/RL. “But there needs to be a forensic examination to
determine whether somebody used that computer and other details.”
Harutiunian reacted extremely cautiously to the allegations about
a nationwide persecution of Zharangutyun activists, saying that he
can only comment on “concrete facts.” “Frankly, I always avoid making
generalized evaluations because I believe that is wrong as very often
there are subjective approaches involved,” said the former presidential
adviser. “I have to try to look at the issue more objectively.”

BAGHDASARYAN MEETING WITH JOURNALISTS
National Assembly, Rep. of Armenia
May 30 2006
On May 29 NA President Artur Baghdasaryan told the journalists during
the meeting:
“First of all, I would like to say, you know that, according to NA
Rules of Procedure, I’ve submitted my resignation and today, in five
days, I should re-affirm it.
I re-affirm my resignation within 5 days, as there is no NA sitting
I do that in public, in journalists’ presence, and, according to NA
Rules of Procedure, I lay down NA President’s powers.
I would like to express my thanks to all journalists accredited in the
parliament to work jointly with NA President. You know that I’ve met
NA deputies, gave speeches in the National Assembly and I haven’t met
the journalists. I would like, as NA President, to express my thanks
for the three-year joint work, also I express my thanks to those who
have written the wittiest and critical articles because the criticism
helps to go forward. I express my thanks to all the journalists
who have understood me in a right way, my political activity, and I
consider them not only as journalists but also my friends, and I’m
confident that we’ll continue our friendship also in future. I would
like to leave with good thoughts, but not with evil, so I prefer not
to answer the questions because I’ve repeatedly answered, there is
nothing new to say.
Estimations have been sounded about the further policy of the
party, the OEK special congress will also be, where we’ll sound more
classified, clarified stances concerning already tomorrow’s political
activity although our public stances are known to everybody. I think
there is nothing more to add, what we’ve said before, simply we’ll
specify, clarify our activity, tactics and strategy. I can say that
OEK will hold its fundamental stances, resolve in its actions. We’ll
fight for the establishment of Armenia, which we cherish in our dreams,
the establishment of Armenia, from where the people won’t establish
Armenia, from where people won’t escape, other people will come, and
the people’s coming back won’t be merely a dream, but – reality. I
think that our joint work with all factions-group, other political
forces will be inclined to the establishment of the very Armenia,
which will highlight the future because for us the real hope of the
future’s progress is much more important than the present giving
nothing to everyone or undesirable memories of the past, and for the
good future, for the establishment of good Armenia every political
organization has its vision, its views, we have our route, our route
of truth and we’ll go forward with that route.
I would like to give pens as present to the journalists in order to
write good news, good articles, good TV and radio broadcasts, where
a lot of love and good things will be, but not evil and jealousy. The
albums that we give as presents, I wish to be good pictures from the
National Assembly for you and I wish you to keep memories from the
parliament. I warmly express my thanks to everybody, all journalists
who communicated with for three years as NA President. From now on
we’ll continue our joint work. I thank everybody and wish all the
best. Thank you.”

ARTUR BAGHDASARIAN TO REMAIN COMMON DEPUTY OF RA PARLIAMENT
Yerevan, May 29. ArmInfo. Artur Baghdasarian, leader of “Orinats
Yerkir” party, is going to remain a common deputy of RA National
Assembly, and is not going to be the party’s leader.
As for the members of “OY” faction, they are determined to talk over
Baghdasrain to remain the party’s leader. Anyway, Samvel Balasanian,
head of “OY” faction, informed ArmInfo that one can consider that he
have already resigned from his position. While deputy Hovhannes
Margarian also assured that he has always been and will always be a
member of “OY” party, even till the end of time.
As for the probable cooperation of “OY” with the opposition forces,
Balasanian said that at present, they don’t hold any negotiations on
that issue. At the same time he didn’t excluded the cooperation of
his party with the opposition forces.

YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY RESUMED DELIVERIES OF BRANDY TO RUSSIA
Yerevan, May 29. ArmInfo. Started today, the Yerevan Brandy Company
(YBC) has resumed deliveries of brandy to Russia, which were stopped
since the beginning, 2006, because-of introduction of new excise marks
by Russia, ArmInfo was told in the YBC.
According to the source data, the first batches of brandy are already
dispatched to Russia. As the YBC Director General Herve Caroff told
ArmInfo, the Company did not suffer much financially from the
temporary delay of deliveries.
“We knew about the change of excise marks in Russia beforehand and
could prepare for it with our Russian partner. I don’t think there was
a deficit of Ararat brandy in Russia”, Caroff said. According to him,
the YBC increased sales volume in 2005 by 10% to 4,4 mln l of brandy
against 4 mln l in 2004. About 75% of sales falls on Russian
market. To be noted, the YBC is the biggest supplier of the alcohol
production to Russia.

Azeri expert slams foreign NGO for mine clearing in Karabakh
Trend news agency
18 May 06

Baku, 18 May: The activity of the HALO Trust is illegal and the
organization is violating international law by clearing mines on
occupied Azerbaijani territories, Nazim Ismayilov, director of the
Azerbaijani National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), has told
reporters.
In accordance with international practice, munitions found and defused
are not calculated in tonnes or kilograms. “Every landmine, every
shell poses a hazard and it is inappropriate to talk about tonnes of
them,” Ismayilov said, adding that the HALO Trust’s information was
off the mark.
“It is not possible to control the organization’s work. They are
working in Nagornyy Karabakh, Abkhazia and also in some African
countries which are inaccessible for international monitoring. It is
not known what the organization is actually doing,” he stressed. He
went on to say that the organization was deliberately choosing areas
which are difficult to control.
He said that the UK and the Netherlands were supporting the HALO
Trust’s activity. “Both states are funding the HALO Trust. To its
protest, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry was told that the
organization was allegedly carrying out humanitarian activity and its
work was legitimate,” he said.
He added that Azerbaijan was seriously displeased with the
organization’s work.

Turkey, South Africa plan missile technology cooperation
Anatolia news agency
30 May 06
Ankara, 30 May: Turkish National Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul met
Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin of South Africa in Ankara on
Tuesday [30 May].
Speaking at the meeting, Gonul said that the bilateral relations
between the two countries had gained impetus after last year’s visit
of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to South Africa.
“South Africa has made a great progress in the area of defence
industry. We put emphasis on boosting relations between the ministries
of defence of Turkey and South Africa. We hope that a military
cooperation agreement will be signed between our countries soon,” he
said.
Meanwhile, Erwin said in his part that Turkey and South Africa could
cooperate in missiles technology and assault helicopter programme.