CHIRAC URGES SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT
Radio Free Europe, Czech rep.
May 30 2006
May 30, 2006 — French President Jacques Chirac today urged
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to push for a peaceful settlement
of its conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.
After meeting with Aliyev, Chirac expressed support for international
mediators who last week urged all sides to compromise over the enclave,
which is inside Azerbaijan but has been controlled by ethnic Armenians
since a war in the early 1990s.
Aliyev and Armenian President Robert Kocharian have traded hostile
statements since talks between them in February in France broke down.
There has also been in increase in the number of violent incidents
along the border.
Speaking today at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Aliyev called
Karabakh “a black hole of Europe.”

ANCIENT CROSSES SMASHED WITH SLEDGEHAMMERS
Independent
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
May 31 2006
BRUSSELS – Fears that Azerbaijan has systematically destroyed hundreds
of 500-year-old Christian artefacts have exploded into a diplomatic
row, after European Union MPs were barred from inspecting an ancient
Armenian burial site.
The predominantly Muslim country’s Government has been accused by the
International Council on Monuments and Sites of vandalism similar to
the Taleban’s demolition of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.
The claims centre on the fate of rare “khachkars”, stone crosses
carved with intricate floral designs, at the burial ground of Djulfa
in the Nakhichevan region of Azerbaijan, an enclave separated from
the rest of the country by Armenia.
The works – some of the most important examples of Armenian heritage
– are said to have been smashed with sledgehammers last December as
the site was concreted over.
The Azerbaijan Government, which denies the claims, is now at the
centre of a row with MEPs, some of whom it accused of a “biased and
hysterical approach”. Its ambassador to the EU also says the European
Parliament has ignored damage to Muslim sites in Armenia.
Azerbaijan refused to allow a delegation of MEPs permission to visit
the 1500-year-old Djulfa cemetery during their trip to the region
last month.
Most of original 10,000 khachkars, which date from the 15th and 16th
century, were destroyed by the early 20th century.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HEARINGS ON ABKHAZ RAILWAY UNVEIL FEW DETAILS
Nino Khutsidze, Civil Georgia
Civil Georgia, Georgia
May 30 2006
Officials in Tbilisi are cautious about unveiling details of ongoing
negotiations, involving the Georgian, Russian, Abkhaz and Armenian
sides, regarding setting up of a consortium which will deal with
multi-million project on rehabilitation of the Abkhaz section of
Russo-Georgian railway.
Chief of the state-run Georgian Railway company Irakli Ezugbaia
informed lawmakers about the talks at a session of the Commission for
Territorial Integrity. But no details of these hearings are known as
the session was held beyond the closed doors.
Abkhaz sources reported in early May that the Georgian, Abkhaz,
Russian, and Armenian sides signed a protocol on establishing a
consortium – the Black Sea Railways – which will rehabilitate the
Abkhaz railway during the talks in Moscow on May 4. According to these
reports the consortium will be an open joint stock company where the
Abkhaz side will be represented as “a full-pledged party.”
But the Georgian officials have denied these reports.
“There are no four parties. There are only two parties – Georgian
and Russian. All the rest [the Abkhaz and Armenian sides] are only
invited to participate in the working meetings,” Irakli Ezugbaia told
Civil Georgia on May 30 after the parliamentary commission hearing.
“No decision has been made so far regarding the parties [in the
consortium], because we are still working on mechanisms of setting
up of this consortium. Final political decision will be presented
only after this [work] is over,” Ezugbaia said.
He noted that the protocol signed in Moscow on May 4 is a document
which reflects position of the sides regarding the issue.
Ezugbaia also said that no agreement has been reached so far on
how shares among the participating sides will be distributed in
the consortium.
“There are different positions among negotiating sides about this
issue,” Ezugbaia added.
He also said that the consortium will most likely be registered in
“one of the European states.”
Ezugbaia stressed that the Georgia will push participation of those
Georgian experts in rehabilitation of the railway, who are internally
displaced persons from Abkhazia.
Parliamentarians participating in the commission hearings noted after
the session that “no sufficient answers” were provided by the chief
of the Georgian Railway.
Ezugbaia said he is in charge of “the technical aspects” of the
rehabilitation of the Abkhaz railway, which will cost roughly
USD 200-300 million; hence he is not in a position to comment on
“political aspects of the issues.”
MP Shota Malashkhia, who chairs the Commission for Territorial
Integrity, said after the hearings that the issue related with the
railway consortium is too complicated and “is like a big spider web
of legal questions.”
“We can not see mechanisms of creation of this consortium; we can not
see how the control over this consortium or investments will be carried
out… All the lawmakers [attending the session] have an impression
that the issue is not fully realized,” MP Malashkhia told reporters.
If implemented, the project will revive the Trans-Caucasus Railway,
which stretched more than 2,300 kilometers during Soviet times,
connecting Armenia and Georgian Black Sea ports with central Russia;
the railway, which has been on hold since the conflict in the breakaway
region in the early 90s, operated passenger services and handled more
than 15 million tons of transit cargo per year.
According to the public opinion survey commissioned by the
International republican Institute this April 75% of 1500 surveyed
citizens thought Georgia said that restoration of the Abkhaz railway
will “better suit Georgian national interests.”

WHAT DID YOU FOR DARFUR?
By Jennifer Chestnut
Akron Jewish News
May 30 2006
In 15 years when your kids are working on school history projects
and ask what you did for the situation in Darfur, what will you tell
them? This question bubbles in my mind and has since Sunday, April 30.
In our house, as with most families with two working parents and two
small kids, Sunday is dedicated to housework, tag-team early morning
childcare, a little outside time and, if we’re lucky, getting everyone
to nap at the same time. But on April 30 we dedicated it to something
else. We-yes, all four of us, including 4-year old Seth is 4 and
9-month old Martha-loaded in the minivan and headed for Washington,
D.C. to attend the Save Darfur Rally to Stop Genocide.
The rally was moving, powerful, energizing, depressing, embarrassing
and rewarding. By now you may have read the reports about the day’s
speakers. They all made the event powerful and energizing, along with
the 15,000 people in attendance. But it was depressing to realize
the magnitude of what’s really going on in the Darfur region of
Sudan. It was depressing to see the photos of the abysmal situation
and of Sudanese people in attendance that have family there right
now. It also shamed me to realize how little I did for the atrocities
and genocides that have happened “on my watch.” What did we do about
Rwanda? Not the US, but us, me, you; did you do anything? I didn’t. I
was a thinking college student able to do something. But I did nothing.
It’s easier for me now. I work at a college and have the student
manpower and the environment to do a little more than normal. But we
owe it to ourselves, to the people of Sudan, to the memories of those
who were killed in previous genocides that we may feel connected to
(the Holocaust, Armenia, Rwanda,etc.) to do something. If nothing
else, just learn more about the situation and talk about it with
friends so they too are more aware.
Maybe we did nothing more than make ourselves feel better by attending
the Save Darfur rally. I hope not. I hope that we were counted among
the tens of thousands, so the Bush administration knows that the world
is watching. I hope that you take three minutes to do something, too.
Chestnut is the director of Hillel at Kent State University.
t.cfm?article_id=1067&cat=6
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI MPS, MGER SHAHGELDIYAN AND VLADIMIR ZHIRINOVSKI CLASHED DURING NATO PA
Today, Azerbaijan
May 30 2006
In the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO session operating in London for
Conflicts and new state organization center director Denis Summut
has dealt with Nagorno Karabakh problem and conflicts in Georgia,
in his report dedicated to conflicts in South Caucasus.
According to APA, after the report Azerbaijani delegation making a
speech expressed their attitude to the lecture. Azerbaijani delegation
member in NATO PA Gudrat Hasanguliyev made his remarks to Denis Summut
on not being reflected the information on occupied territories and
refugees related to Nagorno Karabakh conflict. He stated that more than
20 percent of Azerbaijani territories have been occupied by Armenians,
more than 1 million refugees and displaced people exist in Azerbaijan.
After that Mger Shahgaldiyan has accused Azerbaijani parliamentarian
in false information. According to his claim, Azerbaijani territories’
13 percent is under occupation, not 20, and the number of refugees
is 600 thousand not 1mln.
The statement of Mger Shahgaldiyan irritated Denis Sammut: “You have
occupied the territory of a state even 2 percent not 20, why did you
occupy? What right do you have? If this state begins to restore its
territory tomorrow again war will break out. You have mentioned that
the number of refuges is 600 thousand, is it small figures? Why should
600 thousand people live in condition of refugee?”
Russian parliamentarian Vladimir Zhirinovski said that Azerbaijan
lives in the account of Russia. According to him Azerbaijanis work in
Russia, earn money, and in this way they solve their social problems.
The Azerbaijani parliamentarian Gudrat HAsanguliyev stated that
Azerbaijnanis work in Russia, but Russia needs this working power,
and even President of Russia stated of it. Hasanguliyev said simply
Azerbaijanis serve income of financial means to the budget of this
state, and that is why their living in this country is provided.
URL:

ALIYEV AND CHIRAC MEET IN PARIS
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
May 30 2006
Visiting France President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan met on May 30
with his French counterpart Jacques Chirac at Elysee Palace in Paris.
President Chirac congratulated the Azerbaijani leader on the Republic
Day and the Azeri oil’s reaching Ceyhan terminal, as well as described
the opening of new building for Azerbaijani embassy in Paris as an
important event.
At the meeting held in a sincere and friendly atmosphere, both
Presidents expressed satisfaction with current development of relations
between Azerbaijan and France.
They also touched upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh
problem, and activities of France as one of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE
Minsk group towards peaceful settlement of the conflict.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION DISSATISFIED WITH REPORTS ON RAILWAY IN ABKHAZIA
Prime News Agency, Georgia
May 30 2006
Tbilisi. May 30 (Prime-News) – The Interim Committee of the Parliament
of Georgia for Restoration of Territorial Integrity of Georgia
discussed the issue on restoration of the Georgian-Russian railway
movement via breakaway Abkhazia at the closed session on Tuesday.
The committee members were not satisfied with the incomplete report
by Irakli Ezugbaia, Director General of Georgian Railways Ltd on
the ongoing talks on restoration of the Georgian-Russian railway
movement via the breakaway region of Abkhazia, Prime-News was told
by representatives of the Commission.
On May 04th the agreement was reached in Moscow, according to which
the Georgian, Abkhazian, Russian and Armenian parties signed a protocol
on creation of the Black Sea Railways Consortium, which must supervise
rehabilitation of the railway bed in Abkhazia.
he Georgian party demands to be given a right to control the Abkhazian
railway bed and register it as a property of the Georgian Railways,
as priority.
Executives of the Georgian Railways Ltd were charged with a task to
deliver more detailed report in the nearest future.

ARMENIA ‘BARRED’ FROM CIS DEFENSE MEETING IN BAKU
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 30 2006
Armenia said on Tuesday that Azerbaijan has effectively prevented
it from participating in this week’s meeting in Baku of high-ranking
defense officials from the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The one-day session of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers is
scheduled to open in the Azerbaijani capital on Wednesday. Official
Yerevan said last week that Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian will
not attend it, presumably because of the unresolved conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian Defense Ministry decided to send a
lower-level delegation to the gathering instead.
In a statement, the ministry said it has been informed by the
Moscow-based Secretariat of the increasingly moribund CIS structure
that the Azerbaijani authorities have refused to guarantee the
security of the Armenian participants. It condemned the move, accusing
Azerbaijan of failing to honor its international obligations.
“We expect an official response from the CIS Council of Defense
Ministers to the incident,” added the statement.
A spokesman for the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry confirmed that Baku
is against Armenian participation in the meeting. “We came out against
the participation at the meeting of occupier-countries – Armenia –
which occupies 20 percent of territory long held by Azerbaijan,”
the Associated Press news agency quoted Ilgar Verdiyev as saying.
Many Azerbaijani government officials and civil society representatives
consider the physical presence of any Armenian citizens in their
country an affront to the memory of Azerbaijanis killed during the
1991-1994 war for Karabakh. The Azerbaijani government was driven
by such considerations when it refused to allow a group of Armenian
army officers to take part in a NATO-led military exercise that had
been due to take place on Azerbaijani soil in September 2004. NATO
officials responded by canceling the multinational drills.
In a separate development, President Jacques Chirac discussed the
Karabakh conflict with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliev in
Paris on Tuesday. “There is no alternative to a peaceful, negotiated
settlement,” he told Aliev, according to the Associated Press.
The meeting came three days after Chirac reportedly sent a letter to
the Azerbaijani leader urging him not to miss a “unique opportunity”
to settle the conflict. He apparently referred to Aliev’s upcoming
meeting in Bucharest with President Robert Kocharian. International
mediators hope the two men will reach a framework peace agreement on
Karabakh there.
Aliev was in Paris to attend a session of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly. Addressing the Assembly on Tuesday, he called Karabakh
“a black hole of Europe.”

HOVANNISIAN FORCED OUT OF PARTY HEADQUARTERS
By Anna Saghabalian and Ruzanna Stepanian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 30 2006
Law-enforcement officials forced opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian
to leave the headquarters of his Zharangutyun (Heritage) party
on Tuesday less than 24 hours after allowing him to re-enter the
premises controversially sealed off by the Armenian authorities three
months ago.
Hovannisian and a group of his close associates locked themselves
in the Zharangutyun offices in downtown Yerevan late Monday, defying
eviction orders from the Service for Mandatory Execution of Judicial
Acts of the Armenian Ministry of Justice. They denounced the orders
as illegal, citing an injunction issued by a Yerevan court on April 14.
The injunction effectively annulled a March 4 decision by a state-run
theater, from which Hovannisian has leased the offices for over 15
years, to lock Zharangutyun out of its headquarters. It said that no
restrictive action can be taken against the property until the court
rules on a lawsuit filed by Hovannisian against the theater management.
According to the Zharangutyun leadership, this means the party
can regain control of the premises at least until the end of the
litigation. The Justice Ministry bailiffs, who took more than 40 days
to enforce the court order, did not object to this interpretation as
they reopened the Zharangutyun offices on Monday.
But they returned to the scene several hours later, claiming that the
party leaders were only supposed to briefly inspect their offices and
then leave them. They managed to force Hovannisian and his loyalists
out after two-hour negotiations the next morning.
“We let the plaintiff in yesterday to see if their property is
intact. But after that they illegally entered [the offices] and
refused to leave,” a senior bailiff, Vahram Yenokian, told RFE/RL.
Hovannisian insisted, however, that the bailiffs’ actions are illegal
and politically motivated. “Six hours after diligently implementing
the court order, the bailiffs received an order from another body,”
he said. “With their about-turn, they showed that justice in this
country is still a bubble.”
Hovannisian, who had served as Armenia’s first foreign minister
in 1992, regards the eviction as a government retaliation for his
December open letter to President Robert Kocharian which effectively
implicated the latter in high-profile political murders and electoral
fraud. Zharangutyun, which is expected to be a major opposition
contender in next year’s parliamentary election, has accused the
authorities of systematically harassing and bullying its activists
across the country in recent months.
Hovannisian sent on Tuesday a letter to Armenia’s top law-enforcement
officials demanding a criminal investigation into his claims that
government agents illegally accessed Zharangutyun computers and
stole confidential data shortly after the party was locked out of
its offices.
“It now becomes evident as to how the ‘national security’ bodies and
the local lackeys of the incumbent presidency were able to obtain
relevant information about the party’s support base nationwide,”
the party said in a separate statement. “As is widely known, the
persecution and pressure upon the local divisions of the Zharangutyun
Party have increased since the middle of March, with party members
being threatened and ordered to leave the party.”
A spokesman for the Armenian police told RFE/RL later in the day
that Hayk Harutiunian, chief of the national Police Service, has
received Hovannisian’s letter and ordered a police division to look
into the allegations.
Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, also pledged to
“examine these reports in detail.” “If what you are telling me is true,
then there was a violation [of the law] and we will react to that,”
he told RFE/RL. “But there needs to be a forensic examination to
determine whether somebody used that computer and other details.”
Harutiunian reacted extremely cautiously to the allegations about
a nationwide persecution of Zharangutyun activists, saying that he
can only comment on “concrete facts.” “Frankly, I always avoid making
generalized evaluations because I believe that is wrong as very often
there are subjective approaches involved,” said the former presidential
adviser. “I have to try to look at the issue more objectively.”

BAGHDASARYAN MEETING WITH JOURNALISTS
National Assembly, Rep. of Armenia
May 30 2006
On May 29 NA President Artur Baghdasaryan told the journalists during
the meeting:
“First of all, I would like to say, you know that, according to NA
Rules of Procedure, I’ve submitted my resignation and today, in five
days, I should re-affirm it.
I re-affirm my resignation within 5 days, as there is no NA sitting
I do that in public, in journalists’ presence, and, according to NA
Rules of Procedure, I lay down NA President’s powers.
I would like to express my thanks to all journalists accredited in the
parliament to work jointly with NA President. You know that I’ve met
NA deputies, gave speeches in the National Assembly and I haven’t met
the journalists. I would like, as NA President, to express my thanks
for the three-year joint work, also I express my thanks to those who
have written the wittiest and critical articles because the criticism
helps to go forward. I express my thanks to all the journalists
who have understood me in a right way, my political activity, and I
consider them not only as journalists but also my friends, and I’m
confident that we’ll continue our friendship also in future. I would
like to leave with good thoughts, but not with evil, so I prefer not
to answer the questions because I’ve repeatedly answered, there is
nothing new to say.
Estimations have been sounded about the further policy of the
party, the OEK special congress will also be, where we’ll sound more
classified, clarified stances concerning already tomorrow’s political
activity although our public stances are known to everybody. I think
there is nothing more to add, what we’ve said before, simply we’ll
specify, clarify our activity, tactics and strategy. I can say that
OEK will hold its fundamental stances, resolve in its actions. We’ll
fight for the establishment of Armenia, which we cherish in our dreams,
the establishment of Armenia, from where the people won’t establish
Armenia, from where people won’t escape, other people will come, and
the people’s coming back won’t be merely a dream, but – reality. I
think that our joint work with all factions-group, other political
forces will be inclined to the establishment of the very Armenia,
which will highlight the future because for us the real hope of the
future’s progress is much more important than the present giving
nothing to everyone or undesirable memories of the past, and for the
good future, for the establishment of good Armenia every political
organization has its vision, its views, we have our route, our route
of truth and we’ll go forward with that route.
I would like to give pens as present to the journalists in order to
write good news, good articles, good TV and radio broadcasts, where
a lot of love and good things will be, but not evil and jealousy. The
albums that we give as presents, I wish to be good pictures from the
National Assembly for you and I wish you to keep memories from the
parliament. I warmly express my thanks to everybody, all journalists
who communicated with for three years as NA President. From now on
we’ll continue our joint work. I thank everybody and wish all the
best. Thank you.”