Civil Georgia, Georgia
April 28 2006
Russian Senator Offers to Resume Meetings of `Four Speakers’

Chairman of the Council of Federation of Russia Sergey Mironov
called on April 28 for resumption of regular sessions in frames of
four parliamentary speakers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Russia.
`I have discussed this issue with my Azerbaijani and Armenian
colleagues and they have welcomed [this initiative]. I hope Nino
Burjanadze [the Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson] will not be
against,’ Sergey Mironov told reporters on the sideline of ceremonies
marking the 100th anniversary of the Russian State Duma.
A session of the four parliamentary speakers was last held in
September, 2005 in Moscow.
Meanwhile, unofficial reports say that Chairman of the Russian State
Duma Grizlov has canceled a meeting with visiting Georgian
Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze, which was scheduled to
take place on April 28 on the sidelines the ceremony marking the
Duma’s anniversary.

Regnum, Russia
April 28 2006
Armenian MP calls for impeaching the speaker
During the next week’s parliamentary session the member of the
Armenian parliament Hamayak Hovhannissyan is going to call on the
political coalition (Orinats Yerkir, Republican Party and ARFD –
REGNUM) to impeach the speaker of the parliament Artur Baghdassaryan.
`Artur Baghdassaryan is not a private person or a company director to
express private views during official visits. He is the speaker of
the parliament and, when at international organizations, must
represent the position of the parliamentary majority that elected him
to his post. If today the president, the Republican Party and the
ARFD say that when speaking about the country’s priorities
Baghdassaryan did not represent their position, they must demand that
Baghdassaryan resign, which is exactly what I propose. Artur
Baghdassaryan is not a dissident or a revolutionary to make
statements contrary to the country’s foreign policy, and the Armenian
people should be confident that the first figures of its state are
unanimous on the issue of national security. If the coalition wants
to make the country’s national security an object for external
speculations, then they and Robert Kocharyan must leave Baghdassaryan
in his post; but otherwise, he has no more right to represent the
parliamentary majority,’ says Hovhannissyan.
He says that `in an interview to a German newspaper the speaker has,
in fact, slapped the country’s leadership and the coalition in the
face, and if the majority fails to dismiss him, it is politically
incapable,’ reports Haykakan Zhamanak daily.
To remind, in an interview Frankfurter Allgemaine Zeitung,
Baghdassaryan said that `Armenia’s future is the EU and NATO’ and
`Russia must not stand in the way to Europe.’ Commenting on the
speaker’s statement, President Robert Kocharyan quoted Armenia’s
Constitution: `Armenia’s foreign policy is determined by the
President.’ `The speaker’s statement might reflect his own changed
position,’ Kocharyan said. Meanwhile, when in St. Petersburg Artur
Baghdassaryan said that `Armenia’s aspiration to enlarge its
relations with the EU and NATO is not aimed against Russia, and
Armenia has no aim to join NATO.’
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Today, Azerbaijan
April 28 2006
Ilham Aliyev: “Azerbaijan won’t be place for US-Russian
confrontation”

28 April 2006 [15:30] – Today.Az

“If the United States of America and Russia want a place for
confrontation let them choose not Azerbaijan, but other place,”
visiting the Unites States of America Ilham Aliyev, President of
Azerbaijan told at Business and Investment Meeting of the
US-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC).

Later the President, Ministers of Economic Development, Finance,
Information Technologies, Culture and Tourism reported to the
audience. A special video roller devoted to the Azerbaijan was
broadcast as well. The most interesting was the interrogation at the
conference. But the American community was more interested in Nagorno
Karabakh conflict and happenings around Iran.
President expressed in his speech that Azerbaijan would participate
in the anti-terror coalition operations under the command of the USA
aiming to create peace in Iraq. As response to the question of the
audience the Head of the state said that Azerbaijan sends to Iraq
military forces, but not “drivers” as Armenia.
Later President met with Robert Zoellick, Deputy Secretary of State.
This meeting lasted more the half an hour than planned. Energy
security, transportation of oil and gas to the international market
was the topics of the discussion. The Head of the state noted in
meeting with the representatives of Azerbaijan Diaspora the Armenian
lobby spreads negative opinions about Azerbaijan. Because their main
purpose is spot Azerbaijan and introduce it as an anti-democratic
country so that Armenians cannot live as minorities. As if they can’t
live in security here.
Ilham Aliyev called Azerbaijan Diaspora to be more active and for
close cooperation with one another. President Ilham Aliyev will meet
with the US president George Bush, Dick Cheney, vice-president and
Donald Rumsfeld, the chief of the Pentagon, ANS reports.

URL:

Regnum, Russia
April 28 2006
`Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity has nothing to do with Nagorno
Karabakh’: Tigran Torossyan
`The territorial integrity of any country, and Azerbaijan, in
particular, should be respected, but it has nothing to do with
Nagorno Karabakh. Only one principle is applicable to Nagorno
Karabakh – the right of a nation to self-determination, which the NK
people exercised in full compliance with the Constitution of the
former USSR. And the OSCE Minsk Group also shares this view. So, here
we have no problem – Nagorno Karabakh is already self-determined,’ a
REGNUM correspondent in Stepanakert reports Deputy Speaker of the
Armenian Parliament Tigran Torossyan as saying at a briefing in the
capital of Nagorno Karabakh.
He said that today nobody disputes the right of the NK people to
self-determination. `I think that nobody doubts that, if held, a
repeated referendum on NK’s status will give similar results. And
even though NKR is yet not recognized de jure, it has excellent
prerequisites for that if it acts consistently,’ says Torossyan.
He considers absurd Azerbaijan’s talk about giving autonomous status
to Nagorno Karabakh. `Aliyev Senior, Aliyev Junior, and many Azeris
have kept saying from year to year, and, if not tired, may do that
for many years more, – even after the recognition of NKR’s
independence – that they are ready to give NK `a wide autonomy’
within Azerbaijan. Today Ilham Aliyev represents only Azerbaijan’s
position, which does not reflect the positions of the European
structures,’ Torossyan said. He noted that the European structures
have recently begun to actively discuss the Karabakh problem –
directly or indirectly. `In 2005 PACE passed resolution 14-16 on the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Just a few days ago they adopted a
resolution on refugees and are drafting a resolution on missing
people. All these issues are directly or indirectly related to the
Karabakh conflict. Besides, PACE has an ad hoc committee on the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Naturally, this work should be continued,
and it is very important that our parliaments keep in constant touch
with one another. We are ready to discuss any proposals by the NKR
parliament,’ Torossyan said.
Even though the European structures and PACE, in particular,
constantly say that they are not going to search for solutions to the
Karabakh problem, the Council of Europe notes that its task is to
create a favorable atmosphere for its resolution – as this is in line
with its general mission. `These tasks are formulated in Resolution
14-16, containing an urge to stop militarist statements and hatred
propaganda, and the PACE ad hoc committee will watch how this
resolution is fulfilled,’ Torossyan said. He informed that in October
2006 the committee will come to Stepanakert on a fact-finding visit.

Fox News
April 28 2006
Bush, Azerbaijani President Talk Iran, Energy Security
Friday, April 28, 2006
WASHINGTON – President Bush told the president of Azerbaijan on
Friday that his oil-rich country has “a very important role to play”
in guaranteeing energy security around the world. The two leaders
also discussed Iran, an area of potential difference.
Bush said he assured President Ilham Aliev that the United States
wants to resolve a crisis over Iran’s nuclear program through
diplomacy. Aliev has made it clear that he would not allow his
country to be used for any operations against its neighbor.
Bush and Aliev met in the Oval Office after the White House
acknowledged that parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan have not met
international standards.
Bush said he told the president that “democracy is the wave of the
future.” Aliev said, “We share the same values.” He said Azerbaijan
is a “secular, democratic country.”
Energy was a major issue. “I appreciate the vision of the government,
the vision of the president, in helping this world achieve what we
all want, which is energy security,” Bush said. “Azerbaijan has got a
very important role to play and we discussed internal politics and we
discussed the politics of the neighborhood as well.”
In a personal note, Bush congratulated Aliev on the wedding of his
daughter this weekend.
Ahead of the meeting, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
called Iran “our big neighbor” and emphasized that the two countries
“share history, culture and religion.” He said Iran guarantees
Azerbaijan transit rights for land shipments and provides gas
supplies to its Nakhichevan enclave, cut off by Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh.
“All this plays a great role when we speak about the situation around
Iran,” he said.
Mammadyarov said the Bush-Aliev meeting signified the two countries
were entering a new level of cooperation as Azerbaijan becomes a key
energy transit country. The newly built Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline,
which provides an alternative to Russian routes and energy sources in
the volatile Middle East, is scheduled to deliver the first shipments
of Caspian Sea oil to Western markets this June. In the fall, the new
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline will provide a new source of energy
for the Turkish market.
“This answers our national interest and signifies the strengthening
of Azerbaijan’s independence, of our position on the international
arena and the region,” Mammadyarov told The Associated Press in an
interview.
Azerbaijani officials also hope Bush and Aliev will discuss the
18-year-old conflict over the ethnic Armenian-dominated enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh. At least 30,000 people were killed and 1 million
made refugees during six years of war that ended with a shaky
cease-fire in 1994. Ethnic Armenian forces occupy the enclave inside
Azerbaijan.
The United States, together with Russia and the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, is trying to mediate a
resolution.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 28 2006
GLO issued statement denouncing foreign minister Vardan Oskanian’s
visit to Khankendi
[ 28 Apr. 2006 14:42 ]
Today Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) has issued a statement
denouncing Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanian’s visit to
Khankendi, GLO press service has informed APA.
GLO evaluated in the statement Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian’s
visit to Nagorno Garabagh as position in the settling of the
conflict: ` The visit of foreign minister’s visit to Khankendi in
this level of the negotiations shows their not being withdrawal from
their occupation intention. Continuing the talks leads to nothing.’
In the statement it is demanded from Azerbaijani state to stop
negotiations: `Taking into consideration the position of Armenia,
Azerbaijan should continue negotiations and launch anti-terror
operations to free the occupied lands in military way. Not any state
can deprive Azerbaijan from this right.’/APA/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SAFAROV’S CASE MIRRORS AZERBAIJANI-ARMENIAN RELATIONS
CENTRAL ASIA – CAUCASUS ANALYST
Wednesday / April 19, 2006
By Fariz Ismailzade
Last week the year-long court process on the case of Azerbaijani army
officer Ramil Safarov, who was accused of murdering his Armenian
colleague Gurgen Markarian during a NATO language course in Budapest
was concluded. The Hungarian court found Safarov guilty and sentenced
him to life imprisonment with the right to apply for amnesty only
after 30 years. The decision was immediately labeled in Baku as
biased and unfair. Surely, there were no doubts that Safarov was the
one who committed the murder (as he himself admitted) and few doubted
that he would be found guilty. Yet Azerbaijanis also hoped that the
judge would take into consideration such factors as Safarov’s personal
background as a refugee from the occupied Azerbaijani areas, the
provocations from the side of Armenian officers during the language
classes and his modest behavior during the course of investigation.
The news from Hungary prompted a very radical reaction in
Baku. Thousands of university students left their classes and
organized ad-hoc street rallies, demanding freedom and a fair trial
for Safarov. Police was totally unprepared to block such a massive
flow of people and could only observe the march. Students accused the
Hungarian court of being biased and unfair towards the Azerbaijani
officer. They claimed that a regular murder case in Hungary would
result in 8-9 years in prison, and that pressures from the Armenian
lobby and government forced the Hungarian judge to impose a much
harsher conviction.
Safarov’s case also brought reactions from Azerbaijani politicians and
media. `We were not able to protect our son!’ exclaimed the
Azerbaijani opposition daily Azadliq. `Making Ramil a hero, and
claiming that he embarrassed the Azerbaijani nation, are two extreme
assessments,’ said Ali Kerimli, the leader of the opposition Popular
Front party.
Safarov’s personal lawyer Adil Ismaylov gave a press conference in
Baku, saying that the defense side would appeal the decision in the
Courts of Appeals and would even take the case all the way to the
European Court on Human Rights until `Ramil receives a judgment that
his action and personality deserve.’ Ismaylov also noted that a series
of court procedures were violated by the Hungarian judge and expressed
hope that these examples would be taken into consideration by the
Court of Appeals.
The majority of Azerbaijanis continue to consider Safarov’s actions as
justified. `Armenians have occupied our lands, raped our women, killed
our children. Why doe nobody focus on that? Why does the world refuse
to talk about that? Ramil has killed an enemy and he did the right
thing,’ said Tarlan Gasimov, a master’s degree student at Baku State
University.
Safarov’s career in the military and his various achievements in
foreign military trainings add respect to him in the eyes of the
Azerbaijani public. Finally, Safarov is widely respected for not
putting up with Armenian officer’s insults and the latter’s disrespect
for the Azerbaijani flag and honor. `When they [Armenian participants
of the training] were drunk in the evenings, they would make insults
towards me and my nation. I was being patient at the beginning, but
when it came to the flag, I could not take it any more,’ said Ramil
Safarov in an interview to ANS-TV on the day of court decision.
Safarov’s case serves as a perfect example of Azerbaijani-Armenian
relations today. Most international organizations and local NGOs
continue to note the rising frustration in Azerbaijani society over
the fruitless and deadlocked peace process. This frustration as well
as the humiliation over the loss of lands is leading to the rise of a
militaristic mood among the Azerbaijani public. Most ordinary citizens
truly believe that the negotiations will not lead to the liberation of
the occupied regions and that war is the only remaining and effective
option. Thus, Safarov’s anger and revenge might be the first harbinger
of future Azerbaijani-Armenian tensions.
These issues are of special importance at the moment as Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev prepares to depart to Washington on April 26 to
meet with his American counterpart George W. Bush. It is widely
expected by the local experts that the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be one of the main issues in the agenda
of bilateral talks. American diplomat Steven Mann, in charge of the
peace process, will be traveling to the region on April 20 to make
final arrangements for the `recent new proposals’ made to the warring
sides. It will be hard for Azerbaijani President Aliyev to make
further painful compromises on the conflict while tensions in the
Azerbaijani society are high and Safarov’s case continues to remain
the number one news in the local media.

leid=4175

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 28 2006
Human Rights Watch reports become more subjective – Ali Hasanov

Source: Trend
Author: R. Abdullayev

28.04.2006

Human Rights Watch reports on Azerbaijan became more subjective
during the last several years, the head of the public affairs
department of the presidential apparatus, Ali Hasanov told Trend.
`For example, we all perfectly know about processes taking place in
Armenia, in particular about relations between opposition and
government in that country,’ Hasanov said, reminding, that `in the
near past Armenian oppositionists have been gathered in the National
Council hall and shot dead.’
Despite all that Armenia occupies leading places in the South
Caucasus in the Human Rights Watch reports, he said. `Azerbaijani
government already complained about it to representatives of the
organization,’ he assured.
Representative of the president administration emphasized that
Washington foreign policy is not formed upon NGO opinion but rather
on position of the official structures. `However, position of this
organization definitely influences the formation of social opinion in
US we don’t want Americans receive negative information about us,’ he
concluded.

Civil Georgia, Georgia
April 28 2006
Georgian MFA Comments on Akhalkalaki Base
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said on April 27 that there are
certain forces who will try `to derail the already ongoing process of
withdrawal’ of the Russian military base from Akhalkalaki under the
pretext of deteriorating social conditions in the region.
In an information note issued on April 27 the Foreign Ministry
commented on a protest rally which took place outside the Russian
military base in Akhalkalaki on April 25. The Russian Foreign
Ministry said that this protest rally by the local population against
the withdrawal of the Russian military base hindered the pull out of
military hardware from the base which was scheduled for April 26.
Many locals in Akhalkalaki, a a town predominantly populated by
ethnic Armenians, are employed at the Russian military base.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that a `rather small protest’
rally outside the base was held mainly by `Russian servicemen and
their family members.’
`The Georgian Authorities exercise full control over the situation
[in Akhalkalaki] and continue to unerringly comply with all
commitments under the [March 31, 2006] Agreement between the Russian
Federation and Georgia on Terms and Rules of Temporary Functioning
and Withdrawal of the Russian Military Bases,’ the Georgian Foreign
Ministry said.
The information note also stresses that the Georgian authorities are
planning `a series of effective’ social and economic rehabilitation
programs in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, including those in frames
of the U.S.-funded Millennium Challenge Account aid.

Reuters, UK
April 28 2006
Renovated kindergartens and schools for children in Armenia
28 Apr 2006 08:41:24 GMT
Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe office (MEERO)
Children get good daytime sleep in the kindergarten’s newly renovated
bedroom
World Vision MEERO, Background CHILD
SOLDIERS: Who’s recruited where?
More than 25 children from the mountainous village of Tsav, 40
kilometers away from Kapan town in southern Armenia, now receive
pre-school education in clean and comfortable conditions. World
Vision’s Kapan Area Development Programme in close partnership with
the local community completed the renovation and furnishing of the
village kindergarten earlier this month.
‘I did not want to send my child to the kindergarten before,’ said
Elena Arustamyan, the mother of five-year-old Alen.
‘The toilet smell spread all over the place, and the dishes were
being washed in the room adjacent to the toilet. The children often
had diarrhea, because of the poor sanitary conditions. Now the
kindergarten has changed beyond recognition,’ she continued.
This kindergarten is the only place, where young children receive
preschool education and learn social skills through play and
interactive activities.
The previous dilapidated and unhygienic conditions of the
kindergarten’s rooms, kitchen and bathrooms created an unpleasant and
unhealthy environment for the children. The furniture was old and
broken, and there was a lack of toys, games and teaching materials.
This is sadly all too common in many other villages in the region,
where schools and kindergartens have not been renovated for many
years due to the lack of funds.
In addition to complete renovation of the kindergarten, the Kapan ADP
provided furniture, toys and games for the children’s playroom.
‘Most of our children had never seen board games before. Thanks to
World Vision, they now enjoy their leisure time at the kindergarten’s
renovated playroom,’ says the village Mayor Seyran Zakaryan.
‘This project has helped to mobilize our community. People now
believe that much can be done if they work together,’ said Jasmin
Abgaryan from Geghanoush village, where World Vision has
rehabilitated the sanitation system at the local school.
[/rquotebox]This kindergarten is the only place, where young children
receive preschool education and learn social skills through play and
interactive activities[/rquotebox]The Kapan ADP, which is funded by
World Vision Switzerland, has already completed three
community-initiated projects this year. Fifteen more projects,
including renovation of schools, kindergartens, recreational areas
and community centres in the villages, are currently being
implemented. World Vision provides construction materials, while
community members carry out renovation or construction works.
World Vision has also renovated dilapidated toilets at the school in
Tsav with 56 children.