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.
URL:

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

NATO RECOGNIZES AZERI TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY, OFFICIAL SAYS
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 12 2006
Baku, April 11, AssA-Irada
“NATO recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. This has been
taken as a key principle in the organization’s framework agreement,”
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov told a news conference on Tuesday.
He said that although the document contributes to upholding
international legal norms, taking measures against a country [Armenia]
that occupies the territories of a partner state is outside the
alliance’s authority.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BOTH SIDES ‘SHOULD BE READY’ FOR WAR OVER GARABAGH
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 12 2006
Baku, April 11, AssA-Irada
The Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian has said Azerbaijan and
Armenia should be prepared for a possible resumption of hostilities
over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.
“Both countries’ defense ministries should be ready for the launch
of military action either tomorrow, or in two days,” he said.
The conflicting sides failed to agree upon the issues of principle
during the negotiations between Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian in Rambouillet, France in February, which was followed by
Azerbaijan’s threats to use force to liberate its territories from
under occupation.
As for the ceasefire violations on the frontline that have become
frequent of late, Sarkisian regarded this as “natural”.
“The gunshots have always been heard and there is no difference where
they are fired from,” the Armenian minister alleged.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SHAKHIDS APPEAR IN AZERBAIJAN: IMPOVERISHMENT AND THE UNSOLVED PROBLEM OF KARABAKH TRANSFORM THE COUNTRY INTO A BRIDGEHEAD FOR RADICAL ISLAM
by Sokhbet Mamedov
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, April 10, 2006, p. 10
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
April 12, 2006 Wednesday
ACTIVIZATION OF RADICAL RELIGIOUS AND TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS IN
AZERBAIJAN: ANALYSIS; Activization of radical religious and terrorist
organizations in Azerbaijan: analysis.
National Security Minister of Azerbaijan Eldar Makhmudov made
a sensational statement the other day. Speaking of successes of
Azerbaijani secret services (they celebrated their 87th anniversary not
long ago), Makhmudov said, “We are fairly experienced in dealing with
radical religious and terrorist organizations, but we were shocked by
the reports that Al-Qaeda Caucasus, a terrorist group we liquidated,
intended to recruit Azerbaijani girls into the shakhid.”
According to the minister, as recently as five years ago most
terrorists arrested in Azerbaijan were on their way to other countries
or else they were using the territory of Azerbaijan to organize
terrorist acts elsewhere. These days, they plan terrorist acts in
Azerbaijan itself – either on their own or acting on orders from
international terrorist organizations.
Secret services encounter religious-extremist groups “bent on toppling
the secular democratic regime in the country and on having Azerbaijan
quit the international counter-terrorism coalition” more and more
frequently nowadays. Activization of radical religious and terrorist
groups in Azerbaijan is ascribed to its convenient location, major
international projects under way on its territory, existence of a
great deal of vital objects of infrastructure and transport, and to
some other factors. All of that transformed Azerbaijan into an arena
of a vicious struggle between different Islamic trends and schools –
Arab, Turkish, and Iranian. All of that generates considerable problems
for the authorities to handle.
The worst threat is posed by the forces and circles proliferating
Islamic fundamentalism in the republic. Missionaries from Arab
countries (particularly from Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey)
are extremely active. The nucleus of the cells of extremists they
establish in Azerbaijan comprises young locals 20 to 25 years from
impoverished families, students of theology, and the unemployed.
These missionaries offer local youths free religious education in
Islamic countries. This practice is used to import the newly acquired
knowledge and views to Azerbaijan.
Just like in the Russian Caucasus, the Wahhabi are particularly
radical in Azerbaijan where they amass around all sorts of charity
foundations, religious establishments, and media outlets. According
to some estimates, the Wahhabi already number more than 25,000 men.
This Islamic trend is predominant in the northern regions of
Azerbaijan on the border with Russia, the ones with the mostly Sunni
population. Local newspapers call the Abu-Bekir, a mosque built with
money from Saudi sponsors, the center of Wahhabi in Baku. A great
deal of the believers who regularly attend the mosque are citizens
of Russia – ethnic Chechens residing in Azerbaijan. “The Wahhabi are
already a force capable of exerting serious clout with sociopolitical
life in the country,” political scientist Rafael Gasanov said.
Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies claim that liquidation of a
number of structures in the last ten years or so that shipped young
Azerbaijani abroad for combat training and that recruited mercenaries
for wars abroad. Secret services arrested and extradited numerous
activists of Al-Qaeda, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Al-Jamaa Al-Islamia,
Islamic Army of the Caucasus, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. They
neutralized local organizations of Jeishullah, Hizb-ut-Takhrir,
Al-Qaeda Caucasus, Al-Muvahiddin. Baku offices of a number of foreign
humanitarian organizations were closed as suspected sponsors of
terrorism.
Studying radical Islamization of the Azerbaijani youth, political
scientist Sanan Nuri pins the blame on the growing number of illiterate
and desperate youths, the continuing occupation of 20% of the territory
of Azerbaijan by Armenia, and refugee camp where all sorts of external
forces operate under the guise of humanitarian organizations. Unless
these problems are addressed to and solved, Azerbaijan will remain
a perfect site for radical organizations and sects.

HUNGARIAN AMBASSADOR PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO ARMENIAN PRESIDENT
Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
April 11, 2006 Tuesday
Moscow, April 11 (MTI) – Hungarian Ambassador Arpad Szekely presented
his credentials to Armenian President Robert Kocharian in Yerevan
on Tuesday.
Szekely, who represents Hungary in the same capacity in Russia, told
MTI that the Armenian president had inquired about the secret of
Hungary’s relatively smooth transition from communism to democracy
in 1990 and the success of all post-communist governments in fully
serving their terms.
Kocharian also showed interest in Hungary’s policy towards its ethnic
minorities and in the situation of ethnic Hungarian communities abroad.