THE FORCE OF DOLLAR
A1+
03:14 pm 09 March, 2006
The Armenian Assembly commended Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues
Co-Chair Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) for promising to fight against the
Administration’s attempts to provide Azerbaijan a 20 percent increase
in military aid over Armenia in the Fiscal Year 2007 budget.
Pallone told Congress yesterday that, “A lack of military parity
would weaken ongoing peace negotiations regarding Nagorno Karabakh.
It will also contribute to further instability in the region if
military parity is not achieved and it undermines the role of the
U.S. as an impartial mediator of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.”
Pallone also said he will fight to increase economic assistance to
Armenia and provide for humanitarian aid to Nagorno Karabakh.

THERE IS NO BIRD FLU
Panorama.am
14:50 09/03/06
On March 8 at about 14.30 Panorama.am’s correspondent accidentally
met a lorry loaded with domestic birds on the crossroad of the road
leading to Arinj village on Yerevan-Sevan highway. Although it was
impossible to see distinctly whether the birds were alive or dead,
nevertheless the fact that the emergency headlights were on gives
rise to suspicion. Perhaps, other cars were accompanying the lorry
(two other cars followed the lorry with their emergency headlights on).
Naturally, we had the impression that the birds to be transferred were
dead and perhaps they were the victims of bird flu epidemic increasing
in the region. In order to receive some explanation concerning the fact
we turned to the Headquarter to Struggle against Bird Flu. “There is
no such information. In any case there is a hot line: (010) 45-74-21,
the people are aware of it. As soon as a case of birds’ downfall
our service immediately arrives at the scene and brings the birds
to the laboratory, the latter finds out the reason of the death,”
a worker of headquarter informed Panorama.am correspondent.
Our interlocutor also rejected the fact that a case of bird flu has
been registered in Fizalu region which is under the control of NKR
armed forces.

“BERLIN, TALAT PASHA MOVEMENT”
Anatolian Times, Turkey
March 14 2006
ISTANBUL – 500 Turks will depart for Berlin on the morning of March
18th to attend the “Berlin, Talat Pasha Movement” Rally.
Among the 500 Turkish nationals will be Labor Party leader Dogu
Perincek, Honorary Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals Vural
Savas, Research & Rescue Team (AKUT) Chairman Nasuh Mahruki, former
rector of the University of Istanbul Dr. Kemal Alemdaroglu, Dr.
Zekeriya Beyaz and Dr. Alpaslan Isikli.
Thousands of Turks are expected to attend the rally titled “Remembering
Talat Pasha and Protesting Armenian Lies of Genocide.”
The Berlin rally will be led by the former president of the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus Rauf Denktas. All legal permits have been
obtained for the protest and security measures were taken.
The protestors will carry only Turkish flags during the event.

AZERI MINISTER URGES ARMY TO BE “TWICE AS ACTIVE” AS ARMENIAN
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
8 Mar 06
[Presenter] Defence Minister Col-Gen Safar Abiyev has said that
Azerbaijan will respond appropriately to every gunshot fired by
Armenian troops.
[Safar Abiyev, speaking to microphone] This is an ordinary case.
Shoot-outs take place every day. Truly, the exchanges of fire have
become very intense over the past few days. Azerbaijan and Armenia
have sustained casualties. The Armenians have always been active. We
should be twice as active.
[Private ANS TV reported at 0800 gmt 9 March that soldier Rasim
Akbarov, 19, was heavily wounded in a mine blast in the village of
Yusifcanli in Agdam District on 8 March.]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI LEADER SAYS KARABAKH SOLUTION DEPENDS ON POLL, AGAINST DEMOCRACY “EXPORT”
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
8 Mar 06
[Presenter] The resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has
been discussed during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to
Japan. The president reiterated Baku’s loyalty to the peace process.
At the same time, he said that Baku’s position on the resolution will
be formed in an opinion poll, if the talks remained deadlocked. Our
correspondent Vaqif Aydinoglu in Tokyo has the details.
[Correspondent by phone over Ilham Aliyev addressing meeting in
Japan] The Nagornyy Karabakh resolution will depend on the results
of an opinion poll, President Ilham Aliyev told a meeting at the
Japan Institute of International Affairs today. The president made
a detailed speech on the conflict. Then he answered questions from
participants in the meeting.
Asked about Azerbaijan’s step should the talks yield no results,
President Aliyev said that although the sides were close to achieving
results several times, Armenia found some dubious pretexts to postpone
the talks repeatedly. A glaring example of this is the recent
Ramboillet meeting, he said. He said that the Azerbaijani public
would decide what steps should the country take if the talks were to
fail. The president said that the public should have the final say.
The issue will be submitted to the public for discussion and only after
this, Azerbaijan might reconsider its position. The president told
the meeting that despite all these difficulties, Azerbaijan has been
very successful in the economic and political spheres over the past
years. The meeting organized at the Japan Institute of International
Affairs was attended by some ministers of the Japanese government
and ambassadors and diplomats of numerous countries in Japan.
[Passage omitted: reported details]
[Russian ITAR-TASS news agency reported at 0744 gmt 8 March that Aliyev
warned foreign forces against the attempts to “export democracy” to
Azerbaijan. He said that “the export of democracy does not work. There
should be an evolutionary process… The attempts to export democracy
lead to social and political problems and undermine stability… As
regards our country, it will decide itself how to live and develop.”]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI LEADER, JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER DISCUSS KARABAKH CONFLICT
Ayaz Mirzayev, ANS, Tokyo
Lider TV, Baku
9 Mar 06
[Presenter] The Nagornyy Karabakh conflict was the main subject
of discussions in Tokyo. The Japanese foreign minister reiterated
Tokyo’s support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity at a meeting
with [Azerbaijani] President Ilham Aliyev. President Ilham Aliyev has
already finished his official meetings. ANS’s special correspondent
in Japan Ayaz Mirzayev has the details.
[Correspondent by phone] Tokyo supports Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity and a peaceful solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict,
Foreign Minister Taro Aso said when expressing Japan’s position on
the conflict at the meeting with President Aliyev today. The meeting
discussed other bilateral issues as well. President Aliyev briefed
the Japanese diplomat on Azerbaijan’s uncompromising position on the
Nagornyy Karabakh settlement at the meeting behind closed doors. This
was the president’s last official meeting scheduled for 9 March.
[Passage omitted: in remarks to Japanese radio corporation, president
spoke about Karabakh conflict, economic and social reforms]
The president later met an honorary citizen of Azerbaijan and the
former ambassador to Azerbaijan, Toshiyuki Fujiwara.
The president received the managing director of the Japan Institute of
International Affairs, Fujiwara, and thanked him for his unprecedented
services to the development of relations between the two countries. The
former ambassador said that Azerbaijani students are studying the
Japanese language at various education centres of this country and
the process will continue.
The president also went to the Azerbaijani embassy where he met its
staff. The president also met the chairman of the Japan External
Trade Organization.

AZERBAIJAN FRUSTRATES RUSSIA’S BID TO CONTROL CAUCASUS ENERGY GRID – REPORT
EurasiaNet, NY
March 14 2006
Azerbaijan has played a key role in frustrating Russia’s efforts
to control energy export routes in the Caspian Basin, a new report
states. Moscow, however, continues to probe for new ways to gain an
advantage in the regional contest for energy dominance.
The report, released recently by the London-based organization Global
Market Briefings, suggests Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s
natural inclination is to look to the West for help in developing
the country’s natural resources. While Russian-Azerbaijani relations
have improved markedly in recent years — a fact underscored by the
late February visit to Baku by a large Russian delegation headed
by President Vladimir Putin — the report indicates that ties are
strengthening more for tactical, rather than strategic reasons. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
“Aliyev’s seemingly growing ties with Russia only derive from the
insecurity of his own power base and from his desire to satisfy Russia
in order to prevent the Kremlin from meddling in Azerbaijani internal
affairs,” the report states. “On a more strategic level, Azerbaijan
seeks to preserve a balance in its foreign policy between the West
and East, and most likely it will continue to do so in the future.”
Following Putin’s rise to the presidency in 2000, Russia made
determined effort to gain control of the energy infrastructure in the
Caucasus. The Putin administration used Russian energy conglomerates,
including Rosneft, Gazprom and RAO Unified Energy Systems (UES), to
gobble up energy assets in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia with the
aim of “placing the Caucasus republics into a position of economic,
and thus political dependence on Russia,” the report stated.
The Russian strategy was least effective in Azerbaijan, where officials
treated “proposals from Kremlin-controlled Russian energy companies
gingerly.” Even so, several Russian companies, including Gazprom
and UES have managed to establish a presence in the Azerbaijani
market. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].
After gaining significant shares in the energy sectors of both
Armenia and Georgia, Russian companies redoubled their takeover
efforts in Azerbaijan, seeking to close the last remaining “free link
in the Caucasus.” Relying on its potential oil wealth, Azerbaijan
managed to resist the Russian pressure. The inauguration of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in 2005 marked the turning point in
Azerbaijan’s effort to secure its energy independence, said the report,
which is titled Russia’s Energy Interests in Azerbaijan.
“Azerbaijan, which presently buys gas and electricity from Russia,
feels confident that its own increasing oil and gas output will soon
make it free from energy dependence on the Russian Federation,” the
report said. It added that the completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum
pipeline, scheduled for later this year, could help Georgia reduce
its near-total reliance on Russia for natural gas. “The launch of BTC
was a significant blow to Russia’s attempt to take over the energy
network in the South Caucasus and thus exert political influence over
Azerbaijan and Georgia,” the report said.
BTC’s opening hasn’t prompted Russia to abandon its goal of dominating
the regional energy game, although it did force a tactical shift. As
Putin’s February visit showed, Russia remains interested in penetrating
Azerbaijani markets. However, Moscow’s appears to be placing greater
emphasis now on Kazakhstan and, more broadly, dominance of the Caspian
Basin’s security system.
Kazakhstan possesses the largest share of regional reserves,
and thus is widely viewed as the key to the energy game. President
Nursultan Nazarbayev’s administration has cagily pursued a so-called
multi-vectored policy that seeks to play Russia, China and the United
States off against each other to Kazakhstan’s maximum benefit.
Accordingly, Kazakhstan has kept its export options open.
In recent years, Russia has sought to discourage Kazakhstani
participation in BTC. “Russia has decided to do its best to prevent
the transportation of Kazakh oil through the BTC pipeline,” the GMB
report said. Over the same period, US and Azerbaijani officials have
pressured Kazakhstani leaders to join the BTC project. Some estimates
say Kazakhstani use of BTC is needed to ensure the pipeline’s economic
viability. Kazakhstani officials have given oral assurances that Astana
will export an undetermined volume of oil via BTC, but negotiations on
a formal deal are continuing. Visiting Astana on March 14, US Energy
Secretary Samuel Bodman called on the Nazarbayev administration to
hasten efforts to resolve the “technical details” that are holding
up Kazakhstan’s participation in BTC. [For background see the Eurasia
Insight archive].
With Kazakhstan’s involvement increasingly likely, Russia is pursuing
a policy designed to diminish the United States’ strategic presence
in the Caspian Basin. During a March 14 meeting of the working
group on finalizing Caspian Sea territorial issues, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated calls to prohibit the stationing of
outside military forces in the Caspian Basin. Moscow has promoted the
creating of a joint naval force, dubbed CASFOR, comprising personnel
and vessels from the Caspian littoral states, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Iran, Russia and Turkmenistan.
The Caspian working group is striving to break the existing stalemate
in the effort to determine the sea’s territorial boundaries. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Lavrov noted that “the
majority of provisions have been coordinated” for the envisioned
Caspian convention, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. Lavrov went
on to express hope that a breakthrough could be achieved “in the next
few days.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN’S PRESIDENT URGES JAPAN TO INVEST IN OIL INFRASTRUCTURE
AP Worldstream
Mar 09, 2006
Azerbaijan’s president on Thursday urged Japanese companies to invest
in his nation’s oil infrastructure, saying he hoped the Caucasus
country will soon become a major oil exporter.
President Ilham Aliev, in Tokyo on a four-day trip, told Japanese
Foreign Minister Taro Aso that Azerbaijan had implemented a range of
social and economic policies and had “high expectations” for increased
Japanese investment, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Aliev told Aso he hoped Azerbaijan would soon become a major exporter
of oil and natural gas, according to the statement.
Aso said Tokyo was interested in maintaining strong bilateral
ties because of Azerbaijan’s importance, geopolitically and as an
oil-producing nation.
Aliev was slated to meet Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday.
Azerbaijan is rich in oil and gas reserves. But development of those
reserves has been hindered by conflict with neighboring Armenia over
the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within
Azerbaijan.
The 18-year dispute, in which at least 30,000 people have been killed
and 1 million made refugees, has affected stability throughout the
strategic and oil-rich Caucasus region.

2004-2006 EXPENDITURES ON IMPROVING WOMEN’S CONDITION IN ARMENIA TO MAKE ABOUT 1 MLN USD
Noyan Tapan
Mar 09 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, NOYAN TAPAN. At the March 9 sitting RA government
approved the list and schedule of the programs envisaged by 2004-2010
national program of improvement of women’s condition and raising of
their role in the society. RA Ministers of Labor and Social Issues,
Education and Science, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Territorial
Government, Nature Protection, Trade and Economic Development, Culture
and Youth Affairs, Head of RA Police and Governors were charged to
ensure the implementation of the envisaged events. As Lala Ghazarian,
Head of Women, Family, and Children Department of RA Ministry of
Labor and Social Issues, informed journalists after the sitting, the
main goal of the program is to use women’s potential to the maximum
extent. According to her, in 2004-2006 the program’s expenditures
will make about 1 mln USD, the most part of which is given by UN and
other international organizations.
L.Ghazarian said that within the framework of the program it’s
envisaged to organize trainings on gender issues for civil servants
this year. It was mentioned that spreading of information on gender
problems has already started at 36 educational institutions. According
to L.Ghazarian, it’s envisaged to work out a bill “On Equal Rights
and Opportunities” where the concrete mechanisms of raising women’s
role in the society will be exactly mentioned.

US, AZERI OFFICIALS MULL GARABAGH
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 14 2006
Baku, March 13, AssA-Irada
US officials arrived in Baku on Monday to discuss settlement to the
long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict
with the top Azeri leadership.
“Our discussions proceeded very well and we sought answers to some
questions concerning the conflict,” the US co-chair of the mediating
OSCE Minsk Group, Steven Mann, said after meeting Azeri Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
Mann said he would inform the visiting US Department of State Assistant
Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried of the outcome
of the discussions. Fried is scheduled to meet with President Ilham
Aliyev, followed by a news conference.
The mediator told reporters that considerable progress in the conflict
resolution is anticipated this year. “We believe that the spring of
2006 will be an important time for the Garabagh peace talks.”
The US co-chair also met with President Ilham Aliyev. Along with the
Garabagh conflict, bilateral relations and democratic development
issues were tabled. The details of the discussions are not reported.
Assistant Secretary Fried is further expected to leave Azerbaijan
for Georgia, Armenia and Turkey to hold talks with officials there.