Armenian occupying forces become active in Garabagh front
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
July 21, 2006
[ 21 Jul. 2006 17:03 ]
Armenian military forces have recently become active in Agdam front
in Garabagh province of Azerbaijan.
Local residents told the APA’s Garabagh bureau that military equipment
is brought to the occupied parts of Agdam which have recently suffered
arsons committed by Armenians. The cease-fire is often violated by
Armenian militants in this front. Last night, Armenians committed
arsons in the occupied villages Papravend and Garapirim of Agdam. The
enemy also fired on the opposite positions of the Azerbaijani Armed
Forces from the occupied parts of Bash Gervend village.
It is reported that Armenians continued to torch the occupied
Azerbaijani lands yesterday. Arson was committed in the occupied
Khojavend region. Local residents say Armenian militants achieved
in committing arsons in the parts of Khojavend regions controlled by
Azerbaijani Armed Forces./APA/

Armenian President not to attend CIS summit
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
July 21, 2006
[ 21 Jul. 2006 16:25 ]
The heads of states from the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) are arriving at the Russian capital of Moscow to attend the
CIS informal summit tomorrow (APA).
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin invited the CIS heads of state to
discuss the ongoing processes in the world as well as issues regarding
improvement of the CIS. The heads of states will also follow the
horse races for Russian President’s award, which are held in Moscow
for three years.
The summit’s agenda is free, no documents are expected to be
adopted. President Putin will also introduce his counterparts the
results of the G8 summit held in St Petersburg from July 15 to 17.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev today has left for Moscow to attend
the summit. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili will not participate
in the summit, said Georgi Arveladze, head of President’s Office. The
reason for the postponing was not made public. But it is believed
Saakashvili refused the visit as he won’t be able to meet with his
Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Georgian and Russian Presidents
were expected to meet in private to discuss Georgian parliament’s
recent decision on withdrawal of the Russian peacekeepers from the
conflict zones in Georgia.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian will not attend the
CIS summit either. The reason for that was shown his health
problems. Turkmenistan’s president Saparmurad Niyazov was announced
previously that he will not attend the summit.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko will not participate in the
summit due to the political situation in his country. His press
secretary Irina Gerashenko told journalists that Yushchenko has written
to the host of the summit Vladimir Putin about that. The Ukrainian
President also wrote in the letter that Ukraine sees Russia as a key
strategic partner. He also asked President Putin to specify the date
of his visit to Ukraine./APA/

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
July 21, 2006
Armenian detained in Azerbaijani village
[ 21 Jul. 2006 16:51 ]
An Armenian has been detained in Boyuk Bahmanli village of the
Azerbaijani region of Fuzuli today.
APA’s Garabagh bureau reports the Armenian at the age of about 40
was detained by local residents. The Armenian wearing civil uniform
hided in a garret in the village. Azerbaijani villagers handed over
him to the law enforcement bodies. Azerbaijan’s National Security,
Defense and Interior Ministries were not informed about that./APA/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MosNews, Russia
July 21, 2006
3 of 12 CIS Leaders Will Not Attend Informal Summit in Moscow
Created: 21.07.2006 14:42 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:35 MSK, 15 hours 48 minutes ago
MosNews
Armenian, Georgian and Ukrainian Presidents will not attend the
informal CIS summit, which starts today in Moscow.
According to RIA Novosti news agency, Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan has come down with a severe cold and will be unable to attend
the informal meeting with his CIS counterparts in Moscow this weekend,
his press office said Friday.
Kocharyan is the third leader to pull out of the July 21-22 informal
summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose union of
11 post-Soviet nations.
Earlier today, Georgia’s Mikheil Saakashvili said he would not come. He
was expected to use the event for talks with President Vladimir
Putin on Georgian-Russian relations, strained by a controversy over
the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway regions of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. A source in Saakashvili’s inner circle
said a possible reason for the president’s withdrawal was that the
mooted meeting with Putin might not have taken place.
According to the ProUA news agency Ukrainian leader Victor Yushchenko
has also decided to ignore the informal meeting. “Taking into account
the current political situation in the country, President Yushchenko
has decided that he has to stay in Ukraine,” the press secretary of
the Ukrainian president Irina Gerashchenko told ITAR-TASS news agency
on Friday.
The upcoming summit will be the seventh informal “shirt-sleeves”
meeting of CIS leaders since the organization was formed in December
1991.
It has no fixed agenda, but is expected to deal with reforms of the
grouping’s executive bodies as well as international developments of
mutual concern. The Russian president will tell his CIS counterparts
about the Group of Eight summit he hosted last weekend in a
St. Petersburg suburb.
The CIS includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova and
Georgia. Turkmenistan gave up full membership of the club in 2005
and is now an associate member.

POLITICAL ANALYST: KARABAKH’S SELF-DETERMINATION RIGHT DOESN’T HAMPER AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
Arka News Agency, Armenia
July 21, 2006
YEREVAN, July 21. /ARKA/.Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s self-determination
right doesn’t hamper Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, Alexander
Manasyan, professor to Yerevan State University, said Thursday in
Yerevan, at a seminar focused on Karabakh problem.
“Nagorno Karabakh has never been a part of Azerbaijan and needs no
Baku’s permit for its self-determination”, he said.
In his opinion, Azerbaijan has no powers to rule Karabakh, since
in 1991, when Azerbaijan declared its independence, there was not
a single Baku’s document mentioning extent of its territories and
nowhere Karabakh was mentioned as part of Azerbaijan.
The seminar was held by Armenian Association of Studying Conflicts
and Peace. M.V.-0—

Armenian President cancels visit to Moscow
RosBusinessConsulting, Russia
July 21, 2006
RBC, 21.07.2006, Moscow 13:53:40.Armenian President Robert Kocharian
has cancelled his visit to the informal CIS summit in Moscow because of
a cold, RBC was told by the Armenian presidential administration. The
administration officials also said that the President was on a
short-term vacation that he intended to spend in Armenia, and had
been since July 17.
It has also been reported that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili
will not be going to Moscow. It had been expected that President of
Russia and Georgia would discuss stabilization of relations between
the two states.

SERZH SARGSYAN SPOKE UP FOR PROPOSALS MADE BY OSCE MG ON KARABAKH
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
July 21, 2006
“I support the principles proposed. I have repeatedly stated it in
written form”, stated RA DM Serzh Sargsyan, while commenting on the
principles of the Karabakh conflict settlement made public by the
OSCE Minsk group.
In an interview with Freedom Radio Station Serzh Sargsyan stated
he did not apprehend for his political career, in case the Armenian
public clings to another position. “If the public takes another view,
it will vote for a political force that adheres to another position
in the Karabakh issue, and there will be nothing horrible in it. How
can I oppose something close to our nation?” RA DM noted.

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to assemble in Paris in Aug
TREND, Azerbaijan
July 21, 2006
Source: Trend
Author: E.Husyenov
21.07.2006
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh intend to carry out next round of consultations in
Paris early August, Russian Ambassador Yuriy Merzlyakov, the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chair told Trend in an exclusive interview.
The objective of the meeting is to hold consultations on the results
of a tour of the region of the U.S. Ambassador Matthew Bryza the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chair. Merzlyakov said for the time being it is unknown
what resolution can be taken and whether there will be discussed on the
organization of the next round of meetings between the conflict sides.
“We will resolve this issue as soon as we meet. I don’t know the
estimation that the U.S. Ambassador is going to make. By that time
he will have last contacts, he will talks to the Presidents and will
more probably make estimation,” the Russian diplomat underlined.
Armenian news agency ARKA has recently reported that Bryza will pay
a two-day visit to Khankandi on 29 July. Then he is to leave for Baku
for talks from 31 July to 1 August.

Caucasus Reporting Service
Armenian Pupils March to New Step
Pilot scheme criticised for turning schoolchildren into future soldiers.
By Gegham Vardanian in Yerevan (CRS No. 349, 20-July-06)
;s=f&amp ;o=322400&apc_state=henh
Children at School No. 99 in Yerevan undergoing military drill as
part of their education. Photographs by Gegham Vardanian.
“Right turn! Left shoulder forward! Quick march!” shouts military
training instructor Karo Ambardzumian, although his subordinates
are not soldiers but 11- and 12-year-old children at a school in the
Armenian capital Yerevan.
Although military training is compulsory for pupils aged 16 to
18 in Armenia, only School No. 99 has introduced it for younger
children. Groups involved in children’s rights are worried about the
effect an early dose of militarism will have on young minds, not least
because the 11 other schools where the government now plans to roll out
a similar pilot scheme cater for children from vulnerable backgrounds.
Headmistress Ludmila Margarian originally introduced the weekly
military classes as a way of bringing a group of unruly boys to heel.
“There were many boys in this class. We thought they lacked discipline
and decided to make it a class with a military bias,” she said. “When
they’re in uniform, they are more organised and have a greater sense
of responsibility.”
The 18 boys and eight girls in the class have learnt how to march,
stand in formation and dismantle Kalashnikov assault rifles, and are
now learning combat skills.
“We are studying military science,” said Sarkis, 11. “We learn how
to crawl round enemies and kill them.”
Sarkis’s grandmother Susanna Martirossian said parents had heartily
welcomed the scheme. “My grandson is delighted,” she said. “He knows
that he’s going to be a general, that he’s a military man. We are
happy too, because he’s learning what a soldier’s responsibilities are,
he feels like a soldier and wants to pursue an army career.”
Hranush, wearing her uniform and with her hair tucked under a
camouflage cap, said, “The boys come to school in uniform, and so do
we. It isn’t bad.
We are learning how to help our homeland when the need arises.”
Another girl, Aelita, added, “We’ve learnt how to handle a machine-gun,
and studied some aspects of military strategy, tactics, and ways of
surrounding and defeating an enemy.
“I’d say the girls are treated more leniently than the boys, and they
get good marks more easily.”
The school’s military instructor Karo Ambardzumian, a former
paratrooper and Soviet frontier guard, says it is best to start as
young as possible, “It’s difficult to train grown-ups. A child is like
unbaked dough, and you should teach them things from a very early age.”
“I always dreamed of creating such a class,” said Ambardzumian. “As
the saying goes, if you want peace, prepare for war. I try to explain
to them who will defend our motherland from, and how. Children learn
all these things when they dismantle or assemble a gun.”
School No. 99 is located in a poor area on the outskirts of Yerevan,
serving a community in which many pupils come from one-parent families.
Mikael Danielian, who chairs the Helsinki Association human rights
group, is disappointed if not surprised by the trend, given that
Armenia sees itself as being on a war footing since the dispute with
Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh remains unresolved.
“If children and their parents see no reason to complain and they’re
prepared to accept the rules of the game, then there’s no big violation
of rights,” he said. “But it’s bad that the country is being built
by soldiers.
This is a country where young people are soldiers; such a thing was
only possible in the Soviet Union or in an Islamic country.”
The education ministry seems pleased with the programme at School
No. 99, and plans to expand the scheme by making military training
a core curriculum item in 11 schools across Armenia.
The ministry has selected “special schools” – whose pupils mostly
come from difficult backgrounds – to take part in the project.
“Our basic aim is to gather children from the streets who for one
reason or another don’t attend school regularly, and who want to
enter military college but have never had the chance, and enable
them to study military matters in depth,” said Vachagan Aslanian, a
specialist on military training at the National Institute of Education.
“In future, all classes [at the 11 schools] will take intensive
military training courses,” said Aslanian. “Each school will cater
for one district.
Pupils from elsewhere who want to get intensive military training
will be allowed to transfer to these schools.”
Aslanian said parental permission would always be sought before
putting children into military training.
Critics of the military classes remain unhappy about the scheme
despite such assurances.
“I can see what’s going on,” said Danielian. “These are difficult
children who spend a lot of time on the street, and they are being
turned into military types. This is an old Soviet-era method.”
Emil Saakian, public relations coordinator for UNICEF in Armenia, went
further, pointing out, “Article Four of the Armenian children’s rights
law is being violated, which says children have equal rights. Children
who for some reason end up at special schools are being pressured to
follow a military path. A child’s right to choose his own future is
being abused.”
Saakian went on, “Children’s. future is being determined by someone
else.. I understand the country needs good soldiers, but it also
needs good scientists, doctors and other specialists. Who says that
soldiers alone are needed to keep the country safe, and that other
professionals don’t contribute to defending the country?”
Meanwhile, the schoolchildren have found an immediate and practical
application for their new battlefield skills.
“The military training lessons help us when we have fights with other
classes,” explained schoolboy Varazdat. “We even have scraps with
older pupils, and we can help out our own guys.”
Gegham Vardanian is a journalist with Internews in Yerevan, Armenia.

Armenians try to block nominee
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
July 21, 2006
Ambassador-pick Hoagland must admit genocide, critics demand
BY LISA FRIEDMAN, Washington Bureau
Armenian-Americans in Southern California and elsewhere are leaning
on the U.S. Senate to block President George W. Bush’s ambassadorial
nominee to Armenia until he utters the word “genocide.”
So far, no lawmaker has placed a hold on Ambassador-designate Richard
Hoagland. But Sen. Barbara Boxer and several others say they are
frustrated by the refusal of Hoagland and the U.S. State Department
to recognize the killing of 1.5 million Armenians during the Ottoman
Empire as a genocide.
The controversial issue cut short the tenure of John Evans, the
previous U.S. ambassador to Armenia, after he openly declared that
the slaughter of Armenians between 1915 and 1923 should indeed be
called genocide.
“My concerns are about the absurdity of a policy that does not allow
an ambassador to recognize the genocide of a people in the country
in which he is serving,” Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., said Thursday.
Coleman likened the situation to hypothetically having a
U.S. ambassador to Israel who was unable to call the massacre of 6
million Jews during World War II the Holocaust.
Elizabeth Chouldjian, spokeswoman for the Armenian National Committee
of America – which this week formally requested that the Senate delay
Hoagland’s confirmation – said the organization believes he cannot
represent U.S. interests in Armenia.
“Sending a genocide denier to Armenia is a disservice to the American
people,” Chouldjian said. “How effective can a U.S. ambassador to
Armenia be if they, in confirmation hearings, deny the genocide?”
Hoagland, in written responses to Senate lawmakers, denied being
instructed not to us the word genocide.
At the same time, he repeatedly sidestepped questions about precisely
why the administration feels the mass deportations and killings should
not qualify as genocide.
“This tragedy is of such enormous human significance that its
historical assessment should be determined not on the basis of
politics, but through heartfelt introspection among civic leaders,
scholars, and the societies at large,” Hoagland wrote to Boxer.
The U.S. government, sensitive to offending Turkey – a traditionally
close and strategic NATO ally – has steadfastly refused to refer
explicitly to the issue as a genocide.
Turkey, for its part, acknowledges that atrocities were committed
against Armenians, but maintains there was no intention to eradicate
a people – and therefore no genocide.
Turkish officials point out that Armenian militias teamed up with
advancing Russian armies, killing thousands of Turks in the chaotic
aftermath of World War I. They contend about 300,000 Armenians
were killed.
Omer Taspinar, director of the Turkey program at the Brookings
Institution in Washington, D.C., said the Hoagland controversy comes
at a difficult time in U.S.-Turkish relations.
Resentments, he noted, still linger in the U.S. over Turkey’s refusal
to allow America a northern front in the Iraq war and the Turkish
government’s recent decision to host Hamas leader Khalid Mishal.
Meanwhile, Turkey has signaled it will send an army into northern
Iraq to confront Kurdish terrorists, despite U.S. warnings that the
country should not take unilateral action there.
“It is no longer so easy to talk about a strategic partnership between
Turkey and the United States,” Taspinar said.
The problems, he added, have significantly eroded the rationale that
the U.S. should not alienate Turkey with genocide resolutions because
of its role as a key ally in the region.
“For the lawmakers, there is no reason why they should defend
Turkey. Ankara has proven to be an unreliable partner in Iraq. There’s
quite an anger,” he said.
Meanwhile, Boxer and other lawmakers say Hoagland’s nomination will
be delayed.
“A lot of people have concerns, so nothing’s happening on it,”
Boxer said.
Added Chouldjian, “At the very least, the State Department has an
obligation to explain clearly what its policies are with respect to
this issue.”
Regardless of when Hoagland gets to his post, Taspinar said the
genocide dispute underlying the nomination could further erode an
already rocky U.S.-Turkey friendship.
“Any kind of recognition of the genocide issue will poison
Turkish-American relations, which have already gone to hell because
of Iraq. The White House does not want that,” he said.