ARMENIAN MINISTER RULES OUT NEW GARABAGH WAR
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006
Baku, June 9, AssA-Irada
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian has maintained that
the possibility of a new war over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh looks
rather unrealistic, although the situation may change in the future
considering Azerbaijan’s belligerent statements.
“Azerbaijan is not ready for a military option now and won’t be ready
over the next 10 years even taking into account its oil industry
potential,” said Oskanian.
Oskanian said there is a “limit to compromises” for his country with
regard to settling the Garabagh conflict.
“There is a boundary Armenia will never cross, no matter how long
the conflict resolution lasts and how much Azerbaijan blackmails us
with oil dollars and threats to use military action,” he told a local
TV channel.
Oskanian alleged that his country had already accepted major
concessions in order to advance the peace process.

ARMENIAN FAILURE TO STUDY LATEST TALKS TO CAUSE ITS DEFEAT – AZERI OFFICIAL
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006
Baku, June 9, AssA-Irada
An Azerbaijani official has warned that Armenia will suffer a defeat
if it fails to properly assess the latest talks on settling the
long-standing conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.
“Armenia should analyze the Rambouillet and Bucharest talks and make
conclusions, otherwise, it will lose,” said Deputy Foreign Minister
and the Azerbaijani President’s Upper Garabagh negotiator, Araz Azimov.
The latest rounds of talks between the two presidents in Rambouillet
and Bucharest turned out fruitless.
Azimov declined to make any specific projections but said the chances
for resolving the dispute in 2006 have not been exhausted and it is
only necessary to capitalize on them.
“Azerbaijan has waited this long and can still wait. But we have no
intention to back away from our position of principle. At the same
time, our stance is constructive. If we advance in the direction
we have proposed, I believe it is possible to achieve results,”
the deputy minister said.
He reiterated that Azerbaijan’s priorities entail liberation of the
occupied Azeri territories and the return of refugees and IDPs home,
and only after this could other issues be tabled.
Azimov emphasized that President Ilham Aliyev had made far-sighted
proposals during his meetings on various levels. “Ensuring Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity is key. If this fair condition of official Baku
is complied with, using international experience to solve the problem
is possible.”
Azimov warned that if Yerevan fails to relinquish its non-constructive
stance, this will not be in its favor. “Some countries have refused to
forge ties with Armenia altogether due to its occupation claims against
Azerbaijan. Half of Armenia’s population has left the country. Such
a stalemate could lead to escalating tensions,” he said.
As for the upcoming replacement of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group’s US
co-chairman, Steven Mann, the diplomat said this would not negatively
affect peace talks in any way. He added that the Azerbaijani government
had been content with the mediator’s activity.

AZERI PARLIAMENT REJECTS REPORTS ON ‘CONGRATULATING ARMENIAN SPEAKER’
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006
Baku, June 9, AssA-Irada
The reports suggesting that the chairman of Milli Majlis (parliament)
Ogtay Asadov has congratulated Tigran Torasian on his election as a
new speaker of the Armenian parliament are false, the Azerbaijani
parliament spokesman, Akif Nasirov, said in an interview with
AssA-Irada.
Armenian media reported Thursday that the Azeri speaker’s message of
congratulation was read out by a member of the Azerbaijani delegation
in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Organization (BSEC), Asaf Hajiyev, at a plenary session of the Assembly
in Yerevan.
Nasirov called these reports a “white lie” and another provocation
by Armenians, saying such a letter was never presented. He added that
the Azeri MPs who attended the session had made no statements to that
end either.

PACE CALLS FOR AZERI-ARMENIAN CO-OP ON HOSTAGES, MISSING PERSONS
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006
Baku, June 9, AssA-Irada
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) committee
rapporteur on migration, refugees and population has called on
Azerbaijan and Armenia to cooperate on prisoners of war, hostages
and missing persons.
“Collaboration between relevant bodies of the two countries is pivotal
to solve the problem, in particular, in terms of simplifying the
exchange of information,” Leo Platvoet told a news conference at the CE
Information Office in Baku upon completion of his visit to the region.
The rapporteur said both Azerbaijan and Armenia had expressed readiness
to forge some contacts to address the problems faced by these persons
and called for stepping up efforts in this area. He said the key
objective was to arrange cooperation between the two countries.
“The fact the sides are stating this means the idea of establishing a
joint institution in a certain format may come to the fore,” he said,
adding that this option has already been applied by the Red Cross in
the Balkans.
Platvoet said the entity could include representatives of Azerbaijan,
Armenia and both communities of Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh. He added,
however, that he had no discussions on the issue during his visit to
the two countries.
Platvoet emphasized that the goal of the visit was to prepare a
report on captives and missing persons in the South Caucasus based
on his findings. The document will mostly cover humanitarian issues
and have no bearing on politics, he stressed. “It will not touch on
political aspects, as this could compromise the work being done.”
The rapporteur said the report will be finalized in fall and further
submitted to PACE’s winter session for consideration.
“We have met with the family members of missing persons to study
their problems. These mainly concerned the collection of information.
We also found out that their relatives are facing social problems.
All these developments will be reflected in the report,” Platvoet
concluded.

VICTOR DALLAKYAN’S RUSE FAILED
Lragir.am
12 June 06
The meeting of the parliament kicked off June 12 lasted shorter than
the adjournments the parliamentary factions took before the voting.
The cause was Victor Dallakyan, the secretary of the Ardarutiun
Alliance, who had proposed setting up ad-hoc committees to study the
fraud reported during the elections in 2003 and the referendum in
2005. Dallakyan explains this by the necessity to punish falsifiers
to go on to conduct a fair election. The secretary of the alliance
suggests putting the issue to vote to include it in the agenda of
the four-day meeting.
The parliamentary majority naturally disagreed with Victor Dallakyan’s
initiative. Speaker Tigran Torosyan said it is impossible to
discuss the questions in the spring session because it ends on June
14. Besides, the speaker of the National Assembly thinks the ad-hoc
committee of the proposal will not have time to work.
“Yes, we must conduct the parliamentary election in 2007 and all the
future elections in compliance with the international standards,
first of all, for the sake of our country, second, to fulfill
the obligations taken up before the international organizations,”
announce Speaker Torosyan, confessing that the elections in 2003 and
the referendum in 2005 were marred by irregularities and fraud.
Tigran Torosyan proposed to make joint efforts to improve the Electoral
Code to reach fair and free elections instead of politicizing the
question of the ad-hoc committee.
In reply Victor reminded that it is three years since the opposition
proposed studying the question of fraud, and this proposal regularly
crashes into the wall of the majority. Victor Dallakyan naturally
insisted that the issue be included in the agenda. However,
realizing that his initiative will be rejected, Victor Dallakyan
resorted to a ruse immediately before the voting. First he asked for
a 20-minute adjournment, provided for by the bylaws, afterwards he
proposed postponing the voting for 30 days. For a moment the “callow”
parliamentary majority could not realize what happened, and rejected
Victor Dallakyan’s proposal by voting. Afterwards the member of
parliament announced that if the majority rejected his proposal to
set up an ad-hoc committee, the initiative is automatically included
in the agenda. Victor Dallakyan says he proceeds from the bylaws
and a precedent reported during the work of the parliament. Deputy
Speaker Vahan Hovanisyan and Speaker Tigran Torosyan said there is
not such a point in the bylaws and such a precedent, which was to
be refused, of course. Dallakyan announced that it is already on the
agenda because the proposal to postpone was rejected. At that moment
Gurgen Arsenyan interfered, saying that the problem was disputable
and it is necessary to adjourn the session before the voting and
discuss the situation to avoid trouble.
During this adjournment all the leaders of the parliamentary factions
except Artashes Geghamyan discussed the question and decided that
it was a misunderstanding. Vahan Hovanisyan misunderstood Victor
Dallakyan. Hovanisyan announced that he thought Dallakyan proposed
postponing the voting to the bill and set forward this proposal,
which was rejected. Hovanisyan apologized, saying that he was guided by
logic, whereas the bylaws are not always logical. After reporting this
break-up of the bylaws of the parliament and logic Victor Dallakyan’s
rejected Victor Dallakyan’s initiative and went on to discuss the
agenda, when only an hour remained before the end of the working day.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TODAY AGENDA OF ARMENIA-CE RELATIONS INCLUDES FIRST OF ALL ISSUES OF REFORMING OF LEGISLATION, VARTAN OSKANIAN SAYS
Noyan Tapan
Jun 09 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 9, NOYAN TAPAN. “At the meetings with the Armenian
leadership we came to the conclusion about the necessity to prepare a
text of amendments to the current Electoral Code, ” Ambassador Roland
Wegener, Head of the Ago Group of the Council of Europe Committee of
Ministers, declared on June 10 at the joint press conference with RA
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian. He mentioned that the Council of
Europe is ready to assist Armenia in this issue.
According to the Ambassador, the amendments to the Electoral Code will
become a basis for holding free and fair elections. At the same time,
as R.Wegener estimated, providing pluralism in the country and first of
all in mass media, active participation of different parties, including
opposition ones, in the issue of the forthcoming legislative amendments
play a considerable role in holding democratic elections. “Holding
of free and fair elections supposes not only the responsibility of
the authorities, but also the responsibility of the National Assembly
and the political parties,” Roland Wegener declared. The Head of the
Ago Group emphasized that after the adoption of the amendments to the
Armenian Constitution it is necessary that the Armenian legislation
be brought in correspondence with the amendments. In this issue
Armenia has assumed a commitment towards CE to adopt a number of
new laws during the coming two years and to make amendments to such
laws as the law “On Alternative Service,” “On Radio and Television,”
“Civil Code,” preparation of bills “On Yerevan,” “On RA Ombudsperson,”
etc. Preparation for the forthcoming parliamentary elections to be held
in 2007 is also included in this process. Vartan Oskanian emphasized
that the agenda of relations between Armenia and the Council of
Europe is very large and includes first of all issues of reforming
the legislation. According to him, Armenia has already fulfilled the
most part of its commitments assumed towards CE, but there is still
much to do.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ROLAND WEGENER ATTACHES IMPORTANCE TO NOTIFICATION OF PUBLIC ABOUT REFORMED LAWS AND TO THEIR USE IN PRACTICE
Noyan Tapan
Jun 12 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The Constitutional reforms had
a positive impact in the issue of fulfilment of all Armenia’s
commitments towards the Council of Europe. This was mentioned
at the June 10 meeting of RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
with Ago Group on Monitoring of Council of Europe Committee of
Ministers. They exchanged thoughts over issues of strengthening of
democratic institutions and full freedom of press. Ambassador Roland
Wegener, head of the delegation, Resident Representative of Germany
to CE, attached importance to bringing the Electoral Code and the
legislative field in correspondence with the amended Constitution. In
this respect he attached importance to providing public’s awareness
about the reformed laws and to their use in practice. Minister Oskanian
in general outline presented the ambassadors the current process of
Nagorno Karabakh settlement, its developments and prospects. As Noyan
Tapan was informed from RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information
Department, Ambassadors of France, Switzerland, Sweden and Romania
to CE were also included in the delegation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ALL PRECONDITIONS FOR ARMENIA-SWITZERLAND ECONOMIC COOPERATION DEVELOPMENT AVAILABLE
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.06.2006 14:18 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian-Swiss relations are developing
dynamically in all directions, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian stated at a joint press conference with Head of the Swiss
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Micheline Calmy-Rey. In his
words, presently steps for the settlement of some issues in the
economic sector are being taken.
“At the moment a business forum with the participation of the Armenian
delegation led by the Minister of Trade and Economic Development Karen
Chshmarityan is being held in Zurich. I am hopeful that Switzerland’s
engagement in the Armenian economic life will deepen,” the RA FM
remarked.
For her part, Micheline Calmy-Rey underscored that all the
preconditions for the development of bilateral economic cooperation
are available. “The legislative field is being reformed, bilateral
agreements are concluded. All this is called to encourage the dynamic
development of relations between the two states,” she said.

EX DEPUTY MINISTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY THINKS A-320 CRASH HAD FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC REASONS
Yerevan, June 10. ArmInfo. One should look for the reason of the
crash of A-320 airbus flying from Yerevan to Sochi on May 3 night
in the economic and financial plane, Gurgen Yeghiazaryan, ex deputy
minister of national security of Armenia, said at the Discussion club
“Azdak,” Saturday.
He said the prices of air tickets in Armenia are as high as nowhere
else, but the safety of flights, passenger and technical service do not
meet these prices at all. In addition, it is not a secret that “some
smart people” have managed to use the situation in their favor “playing
on such things as expensive kerosene in Yerevan – cheap kerosene in
Sochi” etc.. The reasons of the crash must be searched just here, and
not in weather, human factor, mistakes of land officers, and others,
Yeghiazaryan said. Asked to name these “smart people,” Yeghiazaryan
hesitated for a moment and than named President Robert Kocharyan,
Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan and the owner of Armavia company
Mikhail Baghdasarov, “which is the same, in principle,” he said.

YEREVAN AND GENEVA SIGNED CONVENTION FOR AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.06.2006 13:58 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia and Switzerland signed the Convention
for the Avoidance of Double Taxation on Income and Property. The
document was signed by Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and
Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Micheline
Calmy-Rey. At a joint press conference the FMs of the two states
stressed the importance of the document for the development of the
economic ties between Armenia and Switzerland. According to Ms.
Calmy-Rey the Convention will convey a new impulse to the relationships
between the two states. As for the relations with the European Union,
the Swiss Foreign Minister reminded that Switzerland lie Armenia
is not a member of the organization. “Alike our country Armenia
participates in the European Neighborhood Policy program. Nevertheless
we successfully cooperate in the fields presenting mutual interest. I
should underscore that Armenia and Switzerland enjoy good political
relations,” she said.