Negotiations on NK conflict are in new format up to Azerbaijan’s national interests – Aliyev
Author: R.Agayev
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 12 2006
The negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
are in new format up to Azerbaijan’s national interests and provide
a base for restoration of the territorial integrity of the country,
Trend reports quoting Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani President,
stating during his visit to Zagatala military unit N on Thursday.
According to Aliyev, Azerbaijan does not will resumption of military
operations, but at the same time increases its military potential.
The head of the country stressed the Azerbaijani borders must be open
for friends and closed for enemies. Therefore, the government attaches
great attention to strengthening of the border. More funds will be
allocated from the public budget for these purposes in the future.
The President said Armenian lobby and terrorist organizations continue
anti-propaganda and subversive activity in regard to Azerbaijan. Thus,
in early 1990s over 2,000 innocent people died as a result of 30 terror
acts committed by Armenia in the territory of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
must guard its borders and its independence in that way.
Aliyev also participated in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Sports
Complex in the Zagatala region.

CHARGES AGAINST FOUR JOURNALISTS DROPPED
Hurriyet, Turkey
April 12 2006
Four prominent Turkish journalists were let off charges of insulting
Turkey’s courts yesterday, a fifth, however remained on trial. The five
were indicted in December after they criticized a court’s decision
to block a conference in Istanbul that was to discuss the so-called
Armenian genocide. The prosecution charged the five journalists
under articles that penalize insults to the judiciary and attempts
to influence the justice, such charges can carry a prison sentence
of up to 10 years.
The journalists accused were Hasan Cemal, Ýsmet Berkan, Haluk Þahin and
Erol Katircioglu. The charges were dropped on grounds that prosecutors
had not filed charges within the required two-month period following
the publication of the articles.
The trial of Murat Belge a columnist for the liberal Radikal newspaper
will continue.
Like Sahin, Katircioglu and Belge are also columnists for Radikal,
while Berkan is also the newspaper’s editor-in-chief. Cemal is a
senior editorialist for the mass-selling Milliyet.
–Boundary_(ID_3PjdtB/Oy60qFOqh1gDGRg)- –

ARMISTICE BREACH AT ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI FRONTLINE
Author: E.Javadova
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 12 2006
On 11 April the units of the Armenian armed forces dislocated in
northeast of Berdavan village of Noyamberian District fired with guns
and gun-machines at 16:20pm the positions of the Azerbaijan National
Army placed in the territory of Kazakh district, Defense Ministry
told Trend.
The same day the units of the Armenian armed forces dislocated in
Shavarsavan village of Noyamberian District fired from 22:05pm
to 22:15pm the positions of the Azerbaijan National Army placed
in Ashagi Askipara and Boganis Ayrim villages of Kazakh district,
Defense Ministry told Trend.
Reply fire was opened. No causalities were reported.

AZERBAIJAN ACHIEVES GREAT SUCCESSES IN INTERACTION WITH NATO – MP PASHAYEVA
Author: R.Abdullayev
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 12 2006
Azerbaijan has achieved great successes in the interaction with NATO
under the Partnership for Program. In 2006, 600 Azerbaijani military
participated in 178 training under the aegis of NATO. The statement was
made Ganira Pashayeva, an Azerbaijani parliamentary representative to
the PACE, during the discussions over the draft resolution on Human
Rights in the armies of CE member-states, a correspondent of Trend,
dispatched to Strasbourg to cover PACE spring session reports.
MP noted that since 1997 the training of specialists at the Azerbaijani
military universities have been conducted at NATO standards.
He stressed the necessity of considering the fact that 70% of the
composition of the Azerbaijani National Army are in trenches.
“Azerbaijan is in condition of undeclared war with Armenia, which
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani territory.”
“We have definite problems, but the budget of the Azerbaijani armed
forces grows constantly. If in 2005 the public budget assignments
for military need comprised $300m, in 2006 it was doubled.
It all releases definite problems and enables to normalize terms
of military service, first of all the soldiers and sergeants,
she underlined.
Besides, Pashayeva in reply statement by Armenian delegates on the
necessity of rapid conviction of an Azerbaijani officer, who is
accused of assassination of Ramil Safarov, at the Hungarian court,
she said, “I want to inform the member of the PACE that Safarov is
from a refugee family and his native lands are currently under the
Armenian occupation. He saw with own eyes the murder of many members
of his family and it could not pass by on the bringing up.”
Draft report 10861 had been developed by a Bulgarian MP, Alexander
Arabajiyev, and presented to the PACE on 24 March 2006.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARMENIAN-HUNGARIAN RELATIONS HIGHLIGHTED
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
April 12 2006
On April 11 Artur Baghdasaryan, RA NA President received the newly
appointed Ambassador Arpad Sekey of Hungary to Armenia.
During the meeting problems of strengthening the legal-contractual
field between two countries were discussed. Both sides highlighted
the development of the interparliamentary relations and the study
of the Hungarian legislative experience and the enlargement of
the Armenian-Hungarian relations within the framework of the New
Neighbourhood Programme of the European Union, taking into account
the historical and current harmony interests.
Congratulating the Ambassador on the occasion of his appointment, the
NA President Artur Baghdasaryan expressed confidence that his activity
will promote the development of the Armenian-Hungarian relations and
expressed readiness to support the deepening of cooperation. The NA
President also touched upon the trial of the murder of the Armenian
officer Gurgen Margaryan going on in Budapest, and Mr. Sekey, highly
estimating the Hungarian judicial system, noted that the verdict will
be in compliance with the requirements of the law.

FOR OLEANA CHEF, SPICES ARE THE SPICE OF LIFE
By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff | April 12, 2006
Boston Globe
April 12 2006
LINCOLN — Ana Sortun rolls a narrow wooden rolling pin over a plastic
bag filled with coffee beans and cardamom pods. As she crushes the
mixture, scents of both perfume her small, open kitchen.
Outside glass doors, spring snow is drifting onto lawn chairs and
covering the jonquils. Inside, as Sortun makes Arabic coffee pot de
creme, it smells like a sunnier clime. Spices do that.
And they also permeate Sortun’s cooking. At her restaurant, Oleana,
in Cambridge, the cuisines of Turkey, Greece, and Armenia are center
stage. Just as her first cookbook, “Spice: Flavors of the Eastern
Mediterranean,” is about to reach bookstores (it will be out next
month), the chef is preparing several dishes from it at home. “What
I wanted to do was to focus on teaching people how to use spices in
a way that wasn’t overwhelming.”
“Mediterranean” has been the marketing engine for many modern
restaurants, but it’s mostly an umbrella term for Italian and French
dishes. Sortun set off on a slightly different path, emphasizing
foods and flavors from lesser-known cuisines, including Moroccan and
Persian. The dishes on her wildly popular Oleana menu earned Sortun,
who is 38, the James Beard best chef of the Northeast award last year.
Sortun, a Seattle native who apprenticed at La Varenne cooking school
in Paris before moving to Boston in 1989, pours the crushed coffee
and spice mixture into a saucepan of cream and milk, lets it come to
a boil, and then sets it aside to steep. A purple-hued puree of red
beans and walnuts is enhanced with chopped parsley, mint, and dill.
The herb mixture is integral to Eastern Mediterranean cooking, she
says; the bean puree will become an Armenian bean and walnut pate,
a signature appetizer at her restaurant.
The pate comes from an Armenian friend who grows teas used at the
restaurant. He began with a very traditional recipe and added wild
dried tarragon he brought back from Armenia. Sortun serves the pate
with Armenian string cheese flecked with nigella seeds and tops it
with pomegranate seeds. The spread can also be eaten in a sandwich
with greens. “There’s always these bean and nut combinations in these
Eastern Mediterranean cuisines,” Sortun points out. The cooks of
these often poor countries cleverly add layers of flavoring without
adding heaviness. Nuts are often used to thicken instead of flour,
she says, and light cheeses or yogurts instead of butter enrich
foods. The result is satisfying but “not European heavy.”
Her book has an unusual progression. Instead of the common chapter
organization, beginning with appetizers followed by main courses,
Sortun arranged the book by clusters of spices, herbs, and other
flavorings. These include cumin, coriander, and cardamom; curry powder,
turmeric, and fenugreek; dried mint, oregano, and za’atar.
“I was really stubborn about this,” Sortun says. She admits that home
cooks won’t be able to use the book as easily as they might with
a more conventional approach, but she wanted “to teach people what
spices work well together.
“What sets this food apart from the rest of the Mediterranean is the
use of spices,” she says. If, for instance, you’re wondering what to
do with the coriander in your spice cabinet or you want to reproduce
the taste of a Greek salad you ordered recently, Sortun wants to
help. “I’m hoping everyone will be inspired,” she says. “There are some
very easy things [in the book] and some that are very complicated.”
That doesn’t mean there’s consensus on what distinguishes a particular
dish in the cultures she writes about. Quickly chopping leeks and then
sauteing them with chopped thyme and sage to top thick rounds of cod,
she says that “what makes something taste Greek, what makes something
Moroccan” is controversial, and people from each culture might insist
on their own way.
These Eastern Mediterranean dishes are often confused with Middle
Eastern cooking. Sortun finds Middle Eastern food less sophisticated.
But whether they play out in a Turkish dish or in one from Spain,
the flavorings have Arabic roots.
Sortun has traveled to Mediterranean Europe and Turkey — “some of the
best food I’ve had anywhere has been in Turkey” — and this year plans
to go to Beirut. But her recipes, as is true of the food at Oleana,
aren’t just a re-creation of traditional dishes. “I love to figure
out the rules before I break them,” she says.
As she salts cod before adding leeks and then truffle shavings, she
explains that the cod had also been salted earlier. “I like to have the
salt sit on the fish for a little while because it makes the fish taste
more Mediterranean,” she says. Greek and Turkish friends taught her
this, since Mediterranean waters are saltier than the North Atlantic,
where this cod was caught. “It doesn’t make the cod saltier at all,
just seasons it throughout a little better.”
Sortun places the fish on rectangles of white parchment paper and
then folds the edges into a curved calzone or empanada shape. As
she pops those in the oven, her husband, Chris Kurth, bundles up
7-month-old Siena, their daughter, to go to his mother, Mary Kurth,
who’s babysitting this afternoon. Siena, who has Sortun’s startlingly
blue eyes and dimples, and a winning personality, waves her arms and
legs as her mother puts blue socks on her tiny feet and gives her a
goodbye kiss. Kurth is tending his greenhouses, getting ready for
the first season of his new Sudbury farm, named Siena, which will
sell a wide range of vegetables and flowers to farmers’ markets
and restaurants, and, of course, supply Oleana. Sortun will head to
Cambridge to get ready for dinner service.
She wrote the cookbook while pregnant and says it was incredibly hard:
“I have a new respect for writers.” But she wanted to share her love of
these cuisines and pass on what she knows. So she would remind herself,
“I’m doing this for Siena,” and push on.
“Travel changed my life,” says Sortun, “and got me cooking this way —
for which I’m grateful.”

PRESIDENT ALIYEV TO DISCUSS KARABAKH PROBLEM DURING HIS VISIT TO US
Today, Azerbaijan
April 12 2006
“Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to the United States
scheduled for 28 April has long been planned. During the visit,
bilateral issues between the two countries will be discussed,”
Ali Hasanov, head of Presidential Administration socio-political
department told journalists.
“Measures are being implemented in the field of uniting our efforts to
solve global world, energy and other issues as well as establishing
peace in a number of hot spots of the world in cooperation with the
United States,” Hasanov said.
“We are jointly cooperating in energy and transport projects in the
Caspian Sea basin. The US also supports Azerbaijan’s integration
into world unions. There exists a close cooperation between several
NGOs, democratic institutions of the US and Azerbaijan with regard
to democratization and protection of humans rights,” he added.
During the visit, the discussions will focus on Azerbaijan-US both
bilateral and international relations as well as regional relations
in the South Caucasus and Eurasia.
Hasanov also said the United States as co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group
will focus attention on preserve of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
“The meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents at Rambouillet,
and talks between the Minsk Group co-chairs and the Presidents before
that have represented certain positive nuances. We strongly want
that the problem be solved this year. We want main principles to be
put forward and pressures be exerted on the sides to agree to these
principles. Truth is known, Armenia has occupied the territories of
Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has the right to liberate its territories.
Actions will be taken about that. We not only expect the United States
and Minsk Group co-chairing countries but also have confidence in them
to exert pressure on Armenia. Who is responsible for implementation of
the UN Resolution? If Russia, France, US ignore it the OSCE Minsk Group
is needless institution then. It is natural that the United States does
not want that the war break out in the South Caucasus, we do no want it
either. We do not want our oil revenues to be spent on war. However,
for the sake of liberation of our territories we’ll mobilize not
only oil revenues but also families incomes. It is important to put
pressure on Armenia to prevent war,” Hasanov emphasized.
According to APA, the head of the department does not think that the
Azerbaijan-US talks will also focus on Iran issue. He said Iran and
US will decide their relations themselves.
“This issue concerns these two countries. We have relations with the
US as well as with Iran. Our citizens have close contact with Iran,”
he concluded.
URL:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FASSIER: “NK CONFLICT CAN BE SOLVED IN A WAY THAT SATISFIES THE SIDES 80%”
Today, Azerbaijan
April 12 2006
Bernard Fassier, French co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group said at the
press conference in Baku today that the co-chairs intend to continue
the Prague process in an intensive way as it was in the previous year.
The co-chair reminded the statistics of the meetings held last year.
He said that the co-chairs met with Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign
Ministers for 12 times and visited the region for three times in
2005. OSCE Fact-Finding Mission investigated illegal settling in the
occupied territories, met with one President for seven times and
with the other for eight times and organized two meetings between
the Presidents.
“The objective of the all meetings was to determine main principles
of peace agreement. The talks at Rambouillet were to increase the
number of agreements. Regrettably, the Presidents could not reach a
consensus on main principles,” Fassier said.
The Minsk Group co-chair stressed both sides are responsible for the
failure. He said he shares the opinion “there should be a peace that
satisfies both sides” voiced by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev
during his talks with him.
Fassier also said that he will visit Yerevan tomorrow and the co-chairs
will meet in Moscow following that. American co-chair Steven Mann
and Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov will visit the region by the
end of April. He also said the co-chairs might pay a joint visit to
the region by the end of April.
“The co-chairs will meet in Moscow in May to consult together on
the talks held in April, and to determine the base of future peace
agreement and will visit the region in May. The objective of the visit
is to organize the meeting of the Presidents,” the co-chair reported.
Bernard Fassier hopes the co-chairs will be able to make both
Presidents agree to the meeting. The French diplomat thinks there exist
opportunities to achieve improvements. Admitting that decisions will
be very difficult, the co-chair underlined that there is no peace
agreement that can meet interests of both sides 100 percent.
“However, there is a way out that can satisfy both sides 80 percent,”
he emphasized.
Fassier reiterated that war is not the solution way.
Commenting on the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s new proposal
to Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers, the co-chair said that
the new proposal has not been made by the United States only.
“Condoleezza Rice conveyed opinions shared by the three co-chairing
countries,” he concluded.
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TURKISH NATIONAL TV SCREENS PRO-ARMENIAN ARARAT FILM
Kamil DUZAGAC JTW with news agencies 12 April 2006
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
April 12 2006
RFE/RL reported that Kanal Turk, a Turkish national channell, will
screen Atom Egoian’s “Ararat” film on April 13 evening. TV Company
representative said the film will be shown uncut.
In his words, the decision on film show was taken due to the desire
of 72% of the audience.
The government or any Turkish authority did not ban the screening.
The Ararat film is considered the most ideological films of the Egoyan
films. The experts name Ararat as Armenian propaganda film.
The film was financed by the Armenian lobbying groups and supported
by the Armenian Government.
Any pro Armenian film or book can be sold in Turkish bookmarkets.
However no pro-Turkish study is allowed in Armenian bookstores or
universities.

GARABAGH ACCORD POSSIBLE DESPITE STALLING TALKS – MEDIATOR
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 12 2006
Baku, April 11, AssA-Irada
The latest round of Armenia-Azerbaijan talks to settle the Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict failed, but chances remain to strike a
deal, an international mediator has said.
The parties failed to agree upon the issues of principle during the
negotiations held by Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharian in
Rambouillet, France in February, which was followed by mutual threats.
“The OSCE Minsk Group (MG) co-chairs were very disappointed over
the fact no progress was achieved at Rambouillet. But don’t ask me
to elaborate on the details, as the meeting is left behind,” the
French co-chair of the MG Bernard Fassier told a news conference at
the French embassy in Baku Tuesday. He said the year 2005 was very
intense and prolific for Garabagh talks, considering the meetings
the mediators held with the top leadership of the two countries and
their frequent visits to the region.
“The initial principles of a peace accord to be signed were discussed
at all the meetings. The sides reached agreement on a number of these
issues during the talks.”
Fassier said that although the Rambouillet meeting was expected to
foster a common ground on more principles relating to the conflict
settlement, it has been impossible to accomplish the goal after the
presidential talks. “But this does not mean the negotiating process
is over.”
Fassier continued that the co-chairs welcome the fact peace talks
have not been disrupted after the latest meeting in France. He also
expressed concern over the fact that immediately after the discussions,
Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged terse statements and the ceasefire
violations on the frontline intensified.
“Certainly, this is not normal, as the parties have a ceasefire they
agreed upon.”
The mediator went on to say that a resumption of military action
is not a way out and this has been repeatedly stated both by the
intermediaries and the countries co-chairing the Minsk Group.
“War is a very dangerous option, as the side launching the hostilities
could never be sure when the hostilities will end. This holds true
for superpowers as well.”
Fassier said that a start of military action would deal a blow on
Azerbaijan’s prospering economy. Foreign investors making considerable
investments in the country do not want to see this happen either.
Fassier said that President Ilham Aliyev has been conducting talks for
a long time. “He stated during the talks that he supports long-lasting
peace suitable for both parties. The president also said that the
talks will continue even if there is one out of a hundred chance for
a peaceful solution.”
The co-chair said there are currently greater chances for a peaceful
settlement, therefore, the mediators support the continuation of talks.
Fassier said he would inform the other two OSCE co-chairs from Russia
and the United States of the outcome of his visit to the region. The
two will further pay similar separate visits later this month,
followed by a meeting of the three mediators in Moscow to review
progress in the negotiations.
“After these meetings, the principles at the core of a future peace
accord will be developed. The three co-chairs will pay another visit
to the region early in May. The developed principles will be submitted
to the sides then.”
The French co-chair said the date and venue for the next meeting of
the Azeri and Armenian presidents has not been scheduled yet.
Fassier said the talks on Garabagh will continue further with the
intensity observed late in 2005.
“Our objective is to give an impetus to the stalling peace process.
But I cannot say with confidence that we will be able to achieve any
results by the year-end. The only thing I can say now is that there
are currently opportunities to move forward. But the co-chairs’ efforts
are not sufficient for this. As you know, Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev has been invited to the United States, while Russia invited
his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian to Moscow.
This means the co-chairing countries are doing their utmost to settle
the conflict. However, we can only cite ideas and hold meetings during
our visits to the region, but cannot pass a decision instead of the
conflicting sides.”
Fassier said that a peace agreement to be reached in conclusion of
the talks will not fully justify expectations of either side, as this
practice is unprecedented around the world. However, it is possible
for the parties to uphold most of their interests, he said.
The mediator dismissed the reports saying the USA has laid out new
proposals on Garabagh during Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov’s recent visit to Washington.
“US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not present any new
proposals during her meeting with the minister…These suggestions
are nothing new. We are simply talking about advancing the proposals
already made by the co-chairing countries.”
Fassier termed as inappropriate the co-chairing countries’ presenting
proposals separately to the conflicting sides. During all the recent
meetings with Azeri and Armenian diplomats, Secretary Rice cited
proposals that had been agreed upon by all the three countries
in question. He said that prior to his visit to the region, he was
briefed by the US co-chair Steven Mann about the content of the talks
being held in Washington at the time.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress