PanARMENIAN.Net

U.S: Causalities Prove Karabakh Conflict Not Frozen

10.03.2006 22:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. take active part in the
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict during the
recent two years, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno
Harnish told journalists. He noted that the
causalities at the frontline prove that the conflict
is not frozen.

Mr. Reno Harnish reiterated the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict should be settled via negotiations. He also
noted that after the failure of the Rambouillet
meeting recurrent meetings of Presidents and FMs as
well as between the Armenian and Azeri peoples are a
necessity. `The Co-chairs and the Foreign Ministers
should exert greater effort for the settlement of the
conflict,’ Mr. Harnish said. He added that March 13
U.S. Co-chair Steven Mann will pay a visit to
Azerbaijan to hold consultations on the conflict
settlement, reported APA new agency.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Javakheti Organizations Request Georgian President for
Autonomy

10.03.2006 22:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian NGOs of the
Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakheti region of
Georgia requested Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili to grant the status of autonomy to the
region, chairman of `Youth of Javakhk’ NGO Vardan
Hakobyan told journalists yesterday. In a letter
addressed to the Georgian President the Javakheti NGOs
request to consider the status of the region within
Georgia’s federal system. `We believe the situation
may be resolved. The trouble is that the Georgian
Constitution lacks the notion of `federation’ but
maintains the notion of territorial integrity,’ he
said. In his words, the situation in Javakhetia is
extremely tensed and reminds of Nakhichevan and
Karabakh. ` I hope with granting the status of
autonomy to Javakhk Georgia will find democratic
approaches to the national minorities,’ Hakobyan said.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Araz Azimov: OSCE MG Has to Refrain from Statements

10.03.2006 23:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The outcomes of the Rambouillet
talks forced the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs to review
positions of the conflicting parties. It is clear that
the situation is very complicated and the Co-chairs
have to refrain from statements, Azerbaijani Deputy
Foreign Minister Araz Azimov stated. `The Co-chairs
have to refrain from any statements as they do not
want to run risks. Escape of information can aggravate
the situation and change the trend of developments,’
Azimov said adding that the present position of the
Co-chairs is correct. `After the consultations in
Washington the mediators wish to meet with the
representatives of Azerbaijan and Armenia,’ the Azeri
Deputy FM said, reported Trend news agency.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net

Anti-Soros Demands Mikhail Saakashvili’s Resignation

10.03.2006 23:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Anti-Soros Georgian public movement,
the Conservative Monarchy Party, the People’s Party
and Justice Party demand President Saakashvili’s
resignation, holding of pre-term elections and
launched a collection of signatures in support of
their initiatives. According to Anti-Soros leader Maya
Nikoleishvili, `the people who came to power in
Georgian as result of the so-called rose revolution
are foreign vassals per se.’

Anti-Soros leader considers that Georgia is being sold
for the money of an American billionaire. `A
fratricidal war is being prepared in the Caucasus.
This money formed and strengthened tyranny in Georgia,
it brought Saakashvili to power. Thanks to this money
he is convinced in his impunity and mighty,’ she said.
To note, the Labor Party organized a rally in front of
the parliament building. People demand to create work
places and put an end to the bluff of population.
Labor Party leader called upon President Saakashvili
and Prime Minsiter Noghaideli `to look into people’s
eyes’.

To note, earlier, Anti-Soros conducted a survey to
find out the population’s attitude towards the
activities of American billionaire George Soros and
his impact upon the home policy. The survey of 1 500
respondents showed that 90% of the population consider
Soros to be Georgia’s enemy and only 4% rate him as
friend, reported Rosbalt.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Russian Media: If Rambouillet Talks Were Successful
U.S. State Department’s Report Could be More `Loyal’

11.03.2006 00:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It seems that the U.S. threaten the
ruling elite in Baku and Yerevan that in case
conflicting parties disagree with the peaceful package
presented by the OSCE Minsk Group the United States
and European Union will be more persistent in
supporting `democracy and democrats’ during the
parliamentary and presidential election in Armenia and
the presidential election in Azerbaijan, Pravaya.ru
reports. In the opinion of analysts, Washington’s
hastle is conditioned by its future venture with Iran.
Political scientists think that the unsettlement of
conflicts in the South Caucasus neighboring with Iran
can upset the U.S.’s plans. `By the way, Armenia and
Azerbaijan were subjected to sharp criticism in the
U.S.’s 2005 State Department Country Report on Human
Rights Practices. It’s not ruled out that State
Department has prepared two variants of the report on
Armenia and Azerbaijan. If the Rambouillet talks were
successful the report could be more loyal,’ the
article says.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Georgia Not Interested in Departure of Armenian
Population from Javakhetia

11.03.2006 00:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia is mistaken to think that
Georgia is interested in the departure of Armenians,
Georgian Ambassador to Armenia Revaz Gachechiladze
stated in Yerevan. He underscored that
Samtskhe-Javakhetia is an Armenian-populated region of
Georgia and it’s inadmissible to view it another way.
`We share the anxiety of the Armenian party and
consider that it’s legal. Georgia should pay attention
to the regions including Javakhetia,’ Gachechiladze
noted.

The Ambassador said the Georgian parliament like the
population of Javakhetia is interested in creation of
work places. `We should create the essential
conditions for the attraction of investments and
encourage private business in the region,’ he noted,
reported Apsny.Ge.

PanARMENIAN.Net

RA Parliamentary Delegation to Leave for Moscow March
13

11.03.2006 01:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian parliamentary
delegation headed by National Assembly Vice-speaker
Vahan Hovhannisian will pay a working visit to Russia
March 13-16. As reported by the press office of the
Russian Federation Council, march 14 the delegation
members will take part in the 10th sitting of the
Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation.

On the same day Chairman of the Federation Council
will meet with Vahan Hovhannisian. March 15 the
delegation members are expected to meet with deputies
of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Prednestrovians Try to Win Over Armenians to Their Side

In Tiraspol they hope that Stepanakert and Yerevan
will denounce Kiev’s blockade of Prednestrovian
Republic.

10.03.2006 GMT+04:00

Transport blockade of the unrecognized Prednestrovian
Republic continues. On the 3rd of March the government
of Ukraine announced the introduction of new customs
regime for the transportation of goods across
Prednestrovian – Ukrainian border. From now on, the
Ukrainian party demands Moldavian customs’
registration of transported goods. The situation,
which may turn to a humanitarian disaster, worries
also citizens of other unrecognized republics,
including Nagorno-Karabakh.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Experience shows that tendencies
observed in any of the unrecognized republics very
often find their continuation in conflicts with the
involvement of other newly created states,
unrecognized by the world community. This is why
Abkhazians and Osetians are so much alarmed at the
developments in Prednestrovie. Stepanakert also
carefully observes the situation whereas in their case
the people of Karabakh can hardly imagine a situation
similar to the one in Prednestrovie. Ukrainians
deliberately block the republic, considering
Prednestrovians as their compatriots. (Almost half of
the population of Prednestrovie are ethnic Ukrainians,
having even Ukrainian passports.) If the same
situation occurred in Karabakh, it would look
approximately like this: Armenia would agree with
Azerbaijan and would blockade Nagorno-Karabakh.
Fortunately such a scenario is out of question.

However, in the case with Prednestrovie everything
cannot be painted in two colors – black and white.
Things are much more difficult here. There is no doubt
that the decision of Kiev is dictated not only by the
aspiration for normalizing relations with Kishinev but
also by signals from the West. I even suppose that it
is sensible to connect the decision with Vladimir
Putin’s announcement about the universality of Kosovo
scheme. The President of Russia actually hinted at the
idea that in case of recognition of Kosovo’s
independence by the West Moscow will consider the
issue of recognizing all the established states that
proclaimed sovereignty after the collapse of USSR.
Analysts commenting on this announcement suppose that
the Kremlin is inclined to begin with Prednestrovian
Republic. In this context the last step of President
Yushenko can be explained by the signals from the West
as well as the wish of Kiev to show Russians that they
have no less resources to influence the situation in
Prednestrovie than Moscow has. In any case the
conflict is not between Slavics of Prednetrovie and
Ukraine but between official Kiev and Moscow.

Presidents Bagabpsh and Cocoyta have already toughly
criticized Ukraine’s politics. In contrast to
Abkhazians and Ostetians, Karabakh leaders still
refrain from making official announcements. Only some
independent political scientists have made public
statements on the falseness of Yushenko’s actions.
President of Karabakh Arkady Ghukasyan and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs have preferred the
wait-and-see attitude. The same can be said about
Armenian foreign ministry, which has always tried to
stay far away from discussing such issues.

Meanwhile, Tiraspol is doing everything possible to
involve Armenians in the discussion of the conflict.
On the 6th of March the head of Armenian community of
Prednestrovie Nikolay Sarkisyants became a member of
the so-called `Anti-blockade Coordination Council’.
The Armenian community of Prednestrovie has also
appealed to the foreign ministries of Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh for denouncing actions of official
Kiev. According to Nikolay Sarkisyants `Armenians of
Prednestrovie are going to do everything possible for
the consolidation of efforts for stopping the blockade
of the republic’. `Armenians established in
Prednestrovie more than 200 years ago. Armenians,
Moldavians, Ukrainians and Russians are like one
family here. Such kind of actions are aimed at
splitting us’, Sarkisyants says.

Tiraspol’s attempts to win over Stepanakert and
Yerevan to their side can be understood as easily as
the reasons making Armenian and Karabakh leaders
refrain from public statements on the situation in
Prednestrovie. The wish to avoid troubles is quite
natural if we take into account that at times problems
occur between Armenia and Ukraine. As for
Prednestrovians, they have much more powerful
defenders than Armenians. Within the coming few months
Moscow’s behavior can become determinant for the
future of Prednestrovian Republic.

This situation of course attracts the attention of
Armenians because it clearly demonstrates the
principality and consistency of those who are against
the application of Kosovo model with other
unrecognized republics of post-Soviet. territory. If
Moscow finds the courage to reply as tough as possible
to such actions and makes a decision on recognizing
the independence of Prednestrovie, very interesting
perspectives may open up for Karabakh. Political
scientists find such a turn of events quite possible.
If such a thing happens there will be an important
precedent, which will be very useful for Karabakh.
«PanARMENIAN.Net» analytical department

Armenpress

ARMENIANS OF JAVAKHETI SPEAK OF THEIR PROBLEMS

YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS: Leaders of several
Armenian and Georgia-based Armenian non-governmental
organizations warned yesterday that the region of
Samtskhe-Javakheti, in the south of Georgia, populated
largely by ethnic Armenians, may lose its Armenian
population in 30 years unless urgent measures were
taken to prevent outflow of young men from the region.
The region lacks industrial enterprises for
processing of agricultural goods. Private
entrepreneurs face a set of problems at Georgia’s
border with Armenia, when dealing with customs office,
let alone the poor condition of roads. The only
‘enterprise’ that gives jobs to around 3,000 local
people is the Russian military base, which is set to
be pulled out next year. Local population accuses
central authorities in Tbilisi of ignoring their
problems, of doing nothing to attract domestic and
foreign investors, forcing thousands of young men to
look for jobs in Russia or in Armenia.
Another factor stimulating outflow of young
population is the absence of higher educational
establishments. The majority of young men and women
who get education in Russia and Armenia choose to stay
there as they see no prospect of finding jobs in the
homeland. Central authorities are transferring all
administrative bodies from Akhalkalaki, the center of
Javakheti region to Akhaltsikhe, the administrative
center of Samtskhe-Javakheti province, while all force
bodies are being concentrated in Akhalkalaki. Young
Armenian males of the region are not drafted to the
army and few of locals speaks Georgian.
Overall 100,000 Armenians live in Javakheti , who
make 95 percent of the local population, 32 percent
are people aged from 16 to 35 years, but only 7
percent have jobs, the rest are jobless. Around 9,000
young men leave the region for Russia every year to
work there and only half of them comes back home. The
yesterday’s meeting also denounced Armenian members of
the Georgian parliament who are reluctant or are
afraid to raise these issues.
Georgian ambassador Revaz Gachechiladze, who was
also present, argued that the problems faced by
Armenians of Javakheti are common for all Georgian
regions. He said more efforts should be made to
attract private investments and urged local Armenians
to learn Georgian to facilitate their integration with
the society.

Armenpress

WHO REPORTS ELEVEN SUSPECTED HUMAN BIRD FLU CASES IN AZERBAIJAN

GENEVA, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS: Eleven suspected
human cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu
virus, three of them fatal, are under investigation in
Azerbaijan, the World Health Organization said
Thursday. Maria Cheng, spokeswoman for the UN health
agency, was quoted by ÀFÐ as saying that the suspected
victims, including eight members of a single family,
all came from the same village near the Azerbaijani
capital Baku.
“It is possible that they caught H5N1, because we
already know that poultry were hit by the virus in
neighboring areas,” said Cheng. Flocks belonging to
the patients had also been infected, but experts had
yet to identify by what, she added. Samples from the
suspected human victims were being sent to a
WHO-accredited laboratory in London to establish
whether they had the H5N1 virus, Cheng said. The
results could be available in 24 hours or within two
weeks, depending on the sample quality, she noted.
On Sunday, Azerbaijani authorities said they were
investigating whether the deaths of two young children
in the republic were caused by bird flu. The two
children were part of a family whose six members had
been hospitalized with suspected pneumonia. Several
days earlier, Azerbaijani authorities had said that
the H5N1 virus had hit poultry flocks, and ordered the
slaughter of half a million birds. Since it resurfaced
in 2003, the virus has infected 175 people in seven
countries and killed 96 of them, according to the WHO.

H5N1 spreads from birds to people in close
proximity, but experts fear that it could mutate into
a form that transmits easily among humans, leading to
a global pandemic that could claim millions of lives.