PanARMENIAN.Net
Van der Linden: Armenia Should Look in Future to Normalize Relations
with Turkey
29.04.2006 20:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE) René van der Linden said that to normalize
relations with Turkey Armenia should `look in the future, not using
the past to block it and look for peaceful solutions.’ `The fact that
Armenia and Turkey and CE members provides an opportunity to MPs of
the two countries to meet and discuss problems. I believe if you live
in a region and you do not have actual open contacts: trade and
economic, cultural and personal relations, you do not serve to the
cause of securing a better future for your country. It is impossible
to build a sustainable future in a region, where you are isolated from
your neighbors. I am sure that looking in the future is in the
interests of Armenia, not using the past to block it and look for
peaceful solutions.
If you want to find a solution, you will find it. However, you will
never find one securing a 100% outcome for you. Compromise is always
necessary, as the other side has its arguments and if you insist only
on your principles and feelings, it will be very hard to find a
sustainable and peaceful solution,» the PACE President said, reports
Mediamax.

PanARMENIAN.Net
PACE Subcommittee on Karabakh to Visit Region in October 2006

29.04.2006 20:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The next session of the PACE Subcommittee on Nagorno
Karabakh will be held in October 2006, head of the Armenian delegation
to the PACE, Armenian NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan stated in a
conversation with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, the
Subcommittee is expected to pay a visit to the region at the same
time.
«Lord Russell-Johnson will visit Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan within
the Subcommittee’s regional visit,» Torosyan remarked. After the PACE
summer session the Subcommittee is not going to visit the region, he
said. The mandate of the Azeri delegation and activities of the PACE
Subcommittee on Nagorno Karabakh will be considered at the PACE summer
session, he reported.
To note, head of the Azeri parliamentary delegation to the PACE Samed
Seidov stated in Baku that Russell-Johnston is to visit the region in
summer 2006.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Armenian and Turkish Scholars to Have Fifth Meeting in US in May

29.04.2006 20:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The 5th meeting of the Workshop for Armenian and
Turkish Scholarship (WATS) will be held at New York University May
14-16. All 4 previous meetings organized by professors Fatma Muge
Gyocek, Gerard Liparitian and Ronald Grigor Syuni (all from Michigan
University) were held at the universities of Chicago (2000), Michigan
(2002), Minnesota (2004) and in Salzburg, Austria (2005). Paul
Poghosian (philosophy, NY University) will join the group for the 5th
meeting. This year’s meeting is titled Genocide’s Borders, Goals,
History and its Peoples. The three-day get-together will kick off
with an open sitting on May 14 during which representatives of the
hosting university will answer the audience’s questions, reports the
Azg newspaper.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Oskanian Discussed Karabakh Settlement with NKR President
29.04.2006 21:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ April 28 NKR President Arkady
Ghoukassian met with the delegation of the Armenian
MFA led by Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian in
Stepanakert. The parties specifically spoke about
prospects of development of cooperation between the
MFAs of Armenia and NKR. Noting the importance of
programs to strengthen expert interaction, Ghoukassian
said that he is confident that development of ties
between Stepanakert and Yerevan will promote
strengthening the positions of Armenian parties in the
talks. At the instance of the guest, the Karabakh
leader presented the current social and economic
situation in the NKR. The same day Ghoukassian met
with Oskanian tete-a-tete. The parties discussed the
current state of Nagorno Karabakh settlement and
exchanged views over OSCE MG latest initiatives,
reports the Press Service of the NKR President.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Sergey Mironov Suggests Resuming Meetings of Armenian,
Azeri, Georgian and Russian Speakers

29.04.2006 21:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ April 28 Chair of the Council of
Federation of the Federal Assembly of Russia Sergey
Mironov sponsored resumption of regular meetings of
Armenian, Azeri, Georgian and Russian Speakers. `I
discussed this matter with my Azeri and Armenian
counterparts and they hailed this initiative. I hope
Georgian Parliament Chair Nino Burjanadze will not
object,’ Mironov told journalists. The latest meeting
of the four Speakers was held in Moscow in September
2005. According to reports, Russian State Duma Speaker
Boris Gryzlov refused from a meeting with Burjanadze
scheduled April 28 during the Georgian Speaker’s visit
to Russia to take part in events marking the 100th
anniversary of Russian State Duma.

Armenian, Russian presidents discuss mutual cooperation by phone
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
28 Apr 06
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan had a telephone conversation with
his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin today, Mediamax news agency
reports.
The presidents discussed Armenian-Russian cooperation and multilateral
cooperation within the framework of regular exchanges of views.

Georgian leader urges Armenia to avert protests in border district – paper
Iravunk, Yerevan
28 Apr 06

Text of unattributed report by Armenian newspaper Iravunk on 28 April
headlined “Robert Sedrakovich, stop the provocation”
According to our source in the presidential administration, Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili has phoned [Armenian President] Robert
Kocharyan and called on him to use his influence to stop protest
actions by Armenians of Javakheti [Georgia’s Armenian-populated
region].
During the conversation, Saakashvili said that Moscow is preparing a
provocation in connection with the withdrawal of its military base: on
the one hand, it is demanding that Georgia take measures that will
guarantee a quick and safe withdrawal of the base, and on the other,
it provokes the Armenians of Javakheti into hindering the withdrawal
of the base in order to cause Armenian-Georgian clashes and tensions
in Armenian-Georgian relations in the end.
According to our source, the Georgian president expressed his
readiness to guarantee that no force will be used against participants
in rallies in Javakheti for some time if Armenia takes actual steps to
stop these actions.

Azeri TV reports blasts in Karabakh front line
ANS TV, Baku
29 Apr 06
Up to 20 heavy explosions took place in the occupied [Azeri] villages
of Yusifcanli and Novruzlu in Agdam District from 1050 to 1100 today
[0550-0600 gmt 29 April].
ANS TV’s Karabakh bureau has reported that the sound of the explosions
were heard in all the villages along the front line in Agdam District.
At the same time, there was a brief exchange of fire. The Armenian
troops stationed in the occupied village of Yusifcanli in Agdam
District fired on the positions of the Azerbaijani army and also sown
areas in the village of Hacimammadli. The enemy was silenced with
retaliatory fire. The Azerbaijani army sustained no casualties.

Chinese police delegation watches Russian Interior Ministry drills
RIA Novosti
28 Apr 06
Moscow, 28 April: The forces of the special subunits from the Russian
Interior Ministry carry out over 230 operations of various kinds every
day, the Russian deputy interior minister, Police Maj-Gen Mikhail
Sukhodolskiy, has told representatives from the antiterrorist
department of China’s Public Security Ministry at a meeting.
The Chinese delegation, which arrived in Russia at the invitation of
Russian Interior Minister Army-Gen Rashid Nurgaliyev, attended a
number of events. In particular, they participated as observers in an
antiterrorist command-staff exercise held in the Southern Federal
District by the forces of the Russian Interior Ministry.
Afterwards the observers from China took part in tactical exercises at
which officers practised the use of forces and assets of the federal
executive authorities to free hostages and prevent the hijacking of an
airliner seized by a bandit group.
Then the Chinese delegation went to the Daryal range in the Republic
of North Ossetia – Alania, where a tactical specialist exercise was
held to deal with bandit formations that had broken through the state
border. The forces and assets of the group of operational command,
according to the scenario, searched an area near the border, found
terrorists and destroyed them, thus foiling a terrorist act involving
sabotage at a water infrastructure facility.
According to Sukhodolskiy, the participation of foreign specialists in
antiterrorist exercises by Russian law-enforcement agencies is not
uncommon. “Last year we met specialists from Austria, Armenia and
Belarus,” Sukhodolskiy stressed.
He noted that experience is constantly being exchanged with foreign
special subunits. During these meetings, all forms and methods of
foreign colleagues’ work are studied and their positive aspects are
introduced into the daily activities of the groups of special forces
of the police.

Azeri, US presidents note importance of expanding partnership
Turan news agency, Baku
28 Apr 06
Washington, 28 April: Energy and regional security, the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and problems of democratization were in
the centre of attention at today’s meeting between the US and
Azerbaijani presidents in Washington, the two heads of state said at a
news conference in the courtyard of the White House after the
negotiations.
[Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev said that he and George Bush
discussed “all important issues”, a special correspondent of Turan
reports. The sides expressed a mutual opinion about the need to expand
and strengthen strategic partnership between the two countries, he
pointed out.
For his part, George Bush confirmed that they also touched on the
Iranian issue, but he did not disclose details. He stressed that the
two heads of state think it important to expand and strengthen
democracy in the region.