Aussies escape by bus
Dance troupe now safe in Syria
Border Mail, Australia
July 18 2006
Members of an Armenian dance troupe who had been stranded in Lebanon
were among 86 Australians safely evacuated from the war-torn country
by bus, braving Israeli bombing attacks to cross to safety into Syria.
A Sydney spokesman for the Sevan Dance Group, Archbishop Aghan
Baliozian, said the 45 young performers and 36 parents and supervisors
had been picked up from their Beirut hotel in a three-bus convoy
yesterday morning.
The busloads of Australians fled Beirut, heading north along the
Mediterranean coast road and early last night crossing the Syrian
border and on to the capital Damascus.
“They had an uneventful trip to Syria and I can confirm they are
now in Damascus,” Archbishop Baliozian said.
“We expect them to be taken to Jordan tomorrow, where they will fly
to Bahrain, and to be in Sydney in two days.”
Thousands more Australians remain trapped in Lebanon as Australia
struggles to get them home, but last night’s successful operation
could be repeated in days to come.
“Tomorrow, we will endeavour to try to repeat this exercise,”
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said as he announced the evacuation
in Adelaide last night.
Hundreds more are set to be evacuated by ship later this week, he said.
Mr Downer had earlier warned of the potential danger of evacuating
Australians by road, saying some Italians fleeing Lebanon had almost
been hit by a missile.
The coastal route north from Beirut to Syria has been used by several
other nations to evacuate their citizens, but convoys have been
held up by Israeli bombing attacks as part of their campaign against
Hezbollah guerillas.
While Mr Downer said earlier yesterday that Australia believed it
had found a safe land route out of Lebanon, he warned: “This is a
difficult and hazardous exercise”.
“It’s a war situation and in a war there are high risks – there
are risks trying to get out of the country, there are risks staying
in the country.”
Mr Downer said he had spoken to Israel’s Foreign Minister before the
busload of Australians departed Beirut, but said Israel had given no
assurances about the safety of those on the buses.
However he said Australia’s close relationship with Israel was a
factor in the operation.
“I really appreciate the fact that we gave the information to the
Israelis about what we were doing and the route we were taking,”
he said.

G8: “Core principles on peaceful settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict should be agreed in 2006”
Today, Azerbaijan
July 17 2006
The G8 Summit of heads of states held in the Russian city of St
Petersburg was closed today.
As APA reports, the final Communique drawn up on behalf of Russia
chairing the G8 summit touches on the Nagorno Karabakh, Kosovo and
other regional conflicts.
The G8 leaders stress importance of finding and agreeing on
core principles on peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh,
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in 2006.
“We confirmed that the Eight Group supports mediating efforts of
the OSCE Minsk Group and stresses importance of soonest reaching an
agreement on core principles for peaceful settlement of the conflict in
2006. We call on Azerbaijan and Armenia to demonstrate political will,
reach an agreement and prepare their peoples for peace not for war,”
the Communique underlines.
URL:

RA CULTURE MINISTRY AWARDS PARTICIPANTS OF “GOLDEN APRICOT” FILM FESTIVAL WITH MEDALS
AZG Armenian Daily #133, 18/07/2006
On Satruday, RA Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosian awarded several well
known foreign film directors with golden medals for their cooperation
with the third “Golden Apricot” international film festival and with
the Armenian film directors. In particular, Tonino Guerra (Italy),
Godfrey Regio(USA), Krzsystof Zanussi(Poland), and Kin Don Khoh (North
Korea) received the medals. Mrs. Poghosian stated in her speech that
not everyone can be a genuine man of art, but those who can really
create art and present their art to millions of people make great
contribution to the cultures of their countries and nations.
The film directors awarded with medals gave various estimation to the
gold medals they received. Thus, Mr. Guerra stated that that was the
second award he received in Armenia, as the first one he received for
his friendship and cooperation with Sergey Parajanov, great Armenian
film director. He said as a joke that he is twice happy. In his turn,
Mr. Zanussi, who greatly contributed to popularization of Parajanov’s
“The Colour of Pomegranates” in Europe, expressed hope that he will
never become a persona non grata. Mr. Kin don Khon and Mr. Godfrey
Regio stated that they will continue cooperating with Armenia in the
future too.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SERGE SARGSIAN STATES NAGORNO KARABAKH HAD SELF-DETERMINED LONG AGO
AZG Armenian Daily #133,
18/07/2006
Opinion
RA Defence Minister Serge Sargsian excludes holding of double
referendum in NKR in coming future. He said this at a press
conference. He added that the referendum may take place only in
case OSCE MG co-chairs or other mediators suggest that and the
international organizations are ready to acknowledge the results of
the referendum. At the same time he emphasized that the referendum
political self-determination in NKR took place long ago.
As for the latest developments is Lebanon, he said that the situation
shaping around the conflict between Lebanon and Israel is dangerous
for the whole region.
“But we can do almost nothing in this case,” he said.
By Nana Petrosian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN COMMAND IS LIKELY TO WAGE WAR WITHOUT PEOPLE
Lragir.am
17 July 06
Over the past ten months the U.S. Army has stepped up a single
military operation without reservists. It happened in Grenada, a tiny
island-state. The operation in Iraq required serious mobilization,
including foreign forces. When a military conflict between two states
is prepared, whose troops count several tens of thousand, military
planning cannot overlook the possibility of a lasting and large-scale
war. At the same time, there is information that the Command of Armenia
is likely to resolve all the military problems without reserves. This
stance is devoid of military logic, it is absolutely nonsensical and
is based on the personal and group interests of the Command and the
government. It seems that the possibility of resumption of war is
rather big, and it will be unforgivable to view the upcoming military
operations as a “medium scale” armed conflict. Nobody has the right
to stake the country’s security on obstinate and pointless assertion
of their doubtful views.
It is not a secret that the Armenian Command is hopeful to crush
the rival in a large-scale preventive operation. However, it would
be impossible without increasing significantly the army personnel.
Military experts say the number of reservists and their effectiveness
is sufficient to carry out a successful military operation. However,
it is nevertheless necessary to revive the tradition of Karabakh War
I and create defense squads. Under certain conditions these defense
squads can carry out important military tasks, not only in trenches
but also in offensives. It should be noted that when there was a
scorched smell in the air in spring 1988, 25,500 participants of
the war in Karabakh returned to Armenia within two weeks, including
a number of young people, who had to leave Armenia to look for jobs
abroad. These people, away from the homeland, organized additional and
charter flights and bus trips from the adjacent regions. It was not
the initiative of the government, it was a natural reaction of this
contingent of people. Now it is high time to take up the registration
of volunteers again and implement the project of distributing weapon
to volunteers. If the government in its present state does not trust
these people, who are ready to sacrifice their lives for the Homeland,
how can one trust such a government? However, mobilization after
resumption of military actions seems even more nonsensical. One can
be sure to state that the reason for such a strange behavior of the
Armenian Command is the reluctance to increase the public and political
status of the Armed Forces and the number of people in the society,
who have guns, because it may lead to an attempt of the military
sets to interfere with political matters. Besides a number of reserve
officers most commanders of defense squads in Karabakh War I share this
opinion. Patriots have not forgotten that there are tasks in Karabakh
which have not been fulfilled yet. This contradicts with the concept
of building of the Armenian armed forces and operational plans. No
doubt the stance of the Armenian Command may lead to military success
and may damage the country’s defensive capacity. It is notable that
this stance of the Armenian Command is officially approved by the
Defense Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh Republic.
In this situation the parliaments of Armenia and NKR, political
parties, non-governmental organizations, military experts and the
media must give their evaluation of this stance. In this situation
different views on the country’s security cannot be left out of
debate. Such an important defense potential cannot be allowed to be
used so inefficiently due to personal and group interests of statesmen
and politicians.
If the leadership of the Armenian Ministry of Defense is so generous
as to hope to fulfill military plans with a limited resource,
combatant generals are eventually obliged to express their point
of view, which essentially differs from that of the administration
and the political leadership. The fact that the officer corps and
participants of volunteer organizations are too politicized is a sign
of moral pureness and responsibility of the public rather than internal
threat or non-loyalty to the government. And the idea put forward in
the political sphere that military actions will be sparked if weapon
is distributed to defense squads is nonsense, and nobody believes it.

PUTIN: WE WILL NOT IMPOSE OUR SOLUTION ON KARABAKH CONFLICT PARTIES
Yerevan, July 17. ArmInfo. The G8 leaders will discuss the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem, Rosbalt reports Russian President Vladimir
Putin as saying during a press-conference Sunday.
He said that most of the G8 states, particularly, the US and France,
seek to promote the resolution of this conflict. “We would like Armenia
and Azerbaijan to find acceptable solutions. We will not impose our
solution on either of them,” Putin said.

NEW INSIGHT LIBERATED TERRITORIES
Lragir.am
17 July 06
Even the legal definition of the territories controlled by NKR is
doubted. What is more, not only by foreigners but also ourselves.
Maps are published in Armenia, where the liberated territories are
marked with a different color. On other maps Kashatagh and Karvachar
are marked with the same color as Armenia and Karabakh. This means
that the Armenian reality lacks a common, real attitude towards these
territories. The Armenian refugees presented their point of view on
these territories. They proposed president Aliyev recognizing these
territories as compensation to Armenian refugees. Arman Melikyan,
adviser to the NKR president, says 500 thousand Armenian refugees
comprised 8 percent of the population of Soviet Azerbaijan, and
they can claim to 12 thousand square km from 150 thousand square km
legally belonging to Azerbaijan. “Hence, it is not serious to consider
returning lands,” said Arman Melikyan.
Sanasar Saryan, chair of Karabakh Refugees NGO, told us in an interview
that the approach of the international community towards the problem
of refugees is not equal. The rights, possible return, compensation to
Armenian refugees is not included in any document. And the refugees
living in Karabakh have not received any compensation. So far no
international organization has attended to the problem of Armenian
refugees, said Sanasar Saryan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMEN SARGSYAN’S FACTOR IS ARTIFICIAL
Lragir.am
17 July 06
On July 15 Alexan Karapetyan, deputy leader of the National Unity
Party, touched upon the influence of the factor of the former prime
minister of Armenia Armen Sargsyan in political developments of
Armenia, who now lives in Great Britain and is said to support Serge
Sargsyan’s interests.
“These people who have not justified themselves so far, became prime
minister, Vazgen Sargsyan beat them, they got a disease, went away and
have not returned so far. Now he is busy with Serge Sargsyan’s lobby,
considering that defense ministers must always beat him to get on well
with him. This approach is not acceptable, what will happen if the
defense minister changes? Besides, a person who leaves his country
under economic or other pressure, he does not have the moral right
to come back and state he can be one of the leaders of the nation,”
says Alexan Karapetyan.
According to him, one must first go through struggle, “Struggle at
the time of struggle, die at the time of dying, and win at the time
of winning.” Alexan Karapetyan thinks that Armen Sargsyan’s factor
is artificial and fits the logic of the group at power.

G8 CALLS ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN
Lragir.am
17 July 06
G8 called Armenia and Azerbaijan to display political will and reach
agreement on the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh. This is stated in
the statement of the chair of G8, ITAR-TASS reports.
It is stated in the document that during the meeting the question of
the status of Nagorno Karabakh was raised. G8 asserted their support to
the mediating efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and emphasized
the necessity to reach an agreement in 2006, runs the statement.
G8 called Armenia and Azerbaijan to display political will and prepare
their publics for peace, not war, runs the statement.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ABSOLUTE REFUSAL OF ALL PARTIES TO KARABAKH CONFLICT TO APPLY FORCE
MUST BE FIRST AND FOREMOST “UNCONDITIONAL CONDITION”
Yerevan, July 17. ArmInfo. Absolute refusal of all the parties to
the Karabakh conflict to apply force and resume war must be the first
and foremost “unconditional condition,” former OSCE MG Vladimir
Kazimirov says in his article “Discouraging From Resolution by
Threats and Blood.”
Kazimirov says that by disclosing the key settlement principles the
OSCE MG co-chairs sought not only to report on their work and to
pressurize the leaders of the conflicting parties but also to start
“making ready for peace” their public opinion. Now they are
discussing pluses and minuses of the peace process but if they
actually want to ensure peace, they better give this a wider
approach.
Kazimirov says that some media have translated the report and the
statements with lots of inaccuracies, which has given rise to false
rumors. As long as more Armenians and Azeris know Russian better than
English, such documents should be made in Russian. They in Vienna
translate into English better than they in the South Caucasus – from
English, says Kazimirov.
One should not use in vain such important terms as “principles” and
“agreements” as here the question is hardly about any “basic
principles” or “framework agreements.” The co-chairs have presented
just general contours but no specific principles. True, they are
trying to apply two real principles: non-application of force and
peaceful resolution of disputes. Here they must be given all-out
support. Still, it is very early yet to speak about “framework
agreement”: even if there were specific principles, it would take
much time to negotiate each of them into a full value juridically
binding agreement.
Kazimirov says that one should not expect Armenia to talk Karabakh
into conceding. How can one hope to oblige Karabakh Armenians to
withdraw their troops from the five districts around Karabakh unless
they also sign to the agreement. Comprehensive agreement requires
consent of all the conflicting parties (like was the case during the
May 12 1994 truce). In this light, it is surprising to see “two
parties” mentioned in the Vienna text. Three parties to the Karabakh
conflict have long been mentioned in the OSCE documents and
recognized by the OSCE MG co-chairs. Who has changed this approach?
One can’t start by withdrawing troops from occupied territories and
then see what comes next. Peace guarantees are mentioned just
casually as secondary measure, while the first and foremost
“unconditional condition” (sine qua non) must be the guarantee of
non-application of force and non-resumption of war.
Kazimirov advises his colleagues to actively engraft commitment to
peace and non-application of force in the conflicting parties.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have repeatedly committed themselves not to
use mutual threats but they keep breaking their commitments.
Kazimirov says that the mediators should give not only the rest of
2006 but also the next two years to come as close as possible to real
peace agreement and should abstain for the time being from raising
this issue at G8 or even UN SC.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress