KARABAKH PROBLEM – CONFLICT BETWEEN KARABAKH AND AZERI PEOPLES BUT NOT TERRITORIAL DISPUTE
ARMINFO News Agency
October 6, 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6. ARMINFO. The Karabakh problem is a c conflict
between the peoples of Karabakh and Azerbaijan but not a territorial
dispute, Head of the OSCE Department of Armenia’s Foreign Ministry
Varouzhan Nersissyan said during today’s NATO Rose Roth seminar
in Yerevan.
In late XX the League of Nations refused to recognize Karabakh as
part of Azerbaijan as this posed a threat to the Karabakh people.
That is exactly why Karabakh rose for liberation war. As a result the
territorial around Karabakh were taken under control as a pledge of
security while other Armenian territories – Getashen, Martunashen,
Shahumyan – still remain occupied by Azerbaijan. Armenia is doing its
best to resolve the conflict and knows that there is no alternative to
peace talks. As to Karabakh it should be a full party to the talks. The
international community should support the Karabakh people and should
find compromise between the principles of territorial integrity and
self-determination. This is the goal of the OSCE MG.
Nerissisyan is concerned that Azerbaijan is openly increasing its
military budget. None of the conflicting parties has the right to make
such statements especially as the only way is to resolve the conflict
by peace. This may result in escalation of militarist moods in the
region. At the same time Nersissyan doubts that big military budget
will help Azerbaijan as its army is utterly corrupt. The international
community should condemn such statements. The Armenian side is for
budgetary monitoring curbing military appetites. says Nersissyan.
It should be noted that despite invitation Turkey is not attending the
seminar while Azerbaijan is represented unofficially – by President
of Independent Research Center Leyla Alieva.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP TO OFFER 20 SOLUTIONS TO NK CONFLICT
ARMINFO News Agency
October 6, 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6. ARMINFO. Shortly the International Crisis Group
will publish a new report on the Karabakh issue. The report will be
exclusively about the peace talks and will offer 20 ways to resolve
the conflict.
The group member Sabina Freiser who is presently attending the NATO
Rose Roth seminar in Yerevan says that the report proposes holding
referendum exclusively among the Armenians of Karabakh and the Azeri
who will move there. The date of the referendum should be fixed by
the international community who based on its results will decide if
Karabakh can be sovereign and if the Karabakh authorities can ensure
the protection of the ethnic minorities.
Freiser says that the Armenian and Azeri authorities should guide
their societies as the nations are not ready for concessions. The
resolution will become possible only when the public opinion is shaped
into more tolerant attitude. Freiser says that today resumption of war
is more possible than it was several years ago – in 2006 Azerbaijan’s
military budget will be equal to 60% of Armenia’s whole budget. This
all despite active peace talks and optimism by the OSCE MG.
At the same time the conflict can be resolved peacefully if the issue
of Karabakh’s status is put off while the other issues are settled or
if a referendum is held. The fact that the parties have realized that
the package resolution is unreal and that some territories should be
returned is already good, says Freiser.

OPENING OF TURKISH-ARMENIAN BORDER REQUIRES OFFICIAL YEREVAN REFUSE FROM TERRITORIAL CLAIMS: HEAD OF TURKISH DELEGATION TO PACE
ARMINFO News Agency
October 6, 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6. ARMINFO. Opening of the Turkish-Armenian border,
first of all, requires official Yerevan to establish normal relations
with its neighbors and refuse from territorial claims. Otherwise, one
should not expect normalization of the Turkish-Armenian relations,
Head of the Turkish delegation to PACE Murad Mercan said in an
interview to the Trend.
Turkey and the EU have negotiated for over 10 years and the framework
agreement does not impose any obligations of Turkey to Armenia,
Mercan said.
Regarding the discussions of two documents on the Armenian Genocide
at the US Congress, he said anti-Turkish documents are considered
world wide due to the Armenian lobby. M. Mercan noted the importance
of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project railway for raising the turnover of
Turkey and the Eastern states. He called natural the problems with
the project and expressed confidence in their gradual settlement. He
reiterated that Turkey and Azerbaijan are fraternal states that will
always support each other.

NO ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE PRINCIPLE OF SELF-DETERMINATION IN NK PROBLEM: UK SPECIAL REP. FOR SOUTH CAUCASUS
ARMINFO News Agency
October 6, 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6. ARMINFO. After settlement of the Karabakh conflict,
Armenia will no longer need Russia’s military presence. UK Special
Representative for the South Caucasus Bryan Fall said at NATO “Rose
Roth” seminar in Yerevan, Thursday.
He said other states and organizations are also interested in
dislocation of their subdivisions in the region, this issue needs
consideration. The diplomat thinks inadmissible further freeze of the
Karabakh conflict. Armenia and Azerbaijan have different approaches.
The first one insists on the principle of the people’s right to
self-determination, the second one – on the principle of territorial
integrity. However, Helsinki Declaration says both the principles
are equally strong and there are no arguments against the principle
of self- determination in the Karabakh problem, he said.

TERRY DAVIS: THE PROCESS OF NK CONFLICT SETTLEMENT GIVES POSITIVE RESULTS
ARMINFO News Agency
October 6, 2005
STRASBOURG, OCTOBER 6. ARMINFO. “The process of Karabakh conflict
settlement at the level of Presidents and Ministers for Foreign
Affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan gives positive results,” the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis says in an
talk with ARMINFO’s correspondent.
Mr. Davis says that he continues to keep his eye upon the situation
in Karabakh, although he resigned from the post of PACE rapporteur
on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Secretary General adds that he
regularly receives information about the conflict settlement process,
but avoids making public statements concerning the matter. He also
notes that notable progress has been achieved during the last 4
months. The current approach to the Karabakh problem was discussed
during the last visit of the Armenian Minister for Foreign Affairs
Vardan Oskanian to Strasbourg and also with Eldar Mamediarov, the
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, in the framework of UN
summit. -A-

SERB “GOVERNMENT-IN-EXILE” HOPES TURKEY CAN HELP EXPOSE CROATIAN “GENOCIDE”
SRNA news agency, Serbia
Oct 4 2005
Belgrade, 4 October: The Republic of Serb Krajina [RSK, wartime
Croatian Serb self-proclaimed statelet] government-in-exile hopes the
Turkish government will help it shed light on the Croatian genocide
against Serbs during World War II and the 1990-95 secessionist war
in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and in war damage compensation
for Serb people.
In a letter to the Turkish embassy in Belgrade, the RSK
government-in-exile expressed hope that the Turkish government during
its EU membership negotiations would make use of facts about the
Croatian genocide against Serbs “which are a heavy burden for other
European states”.
The letter points out that all European states are obliged to take
a position on crimes committed in Europe and only then would they
have a right to participate in investigations of such occurrences in
other continents.
“It is strange that they are asking for proof of Turkish crimes against
Armenians in 1915, while failing to mention Croatian crimes of genocide
about which there are documents, academic debates, published books
by witnesses and the Croatian death camp ‘Jasenovac’ section in the
Holocaust museum in New York,” the letter says.
The letter adds that by refusing to shed light on Croatian genocide
crimes against Serbs, the EU member states are ignoring the UN charter
on the rights of man and other international law documents, according
to which they are obligated to enable the punishment of criminals.

UNPRECEDENTED CHESS TOURNAMENT IN THE CAUCASUS
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 6 2005
On October 1 the ceremony of opening of the International Chess
Tournament Karabakh 2005 (organized by the government of NKR
and the Chess Federation of Armenia) took place. The minister of
education, culture and sport Kamo Atayan congratulated the guests
of the ceremony and the participants of the tournament. The famous
Hungarian chess player Lajos Portish, who is a guest of the tournament,
and the international grand master Bartlome Macheya also addressed
the guests. L. Portish said he had first visited Armenia 40 years
ago, invited by his friend, the 9th champion of the world, Tigran
Petrossian. And since then he has cherished unforgettable memories.
“My second visit to Yerevan was 9 years ago, during the Chess
Olympiad. And this is my third visit,” said L. Portish. “And the
occasion is a very good one. An international chess tournament is
held in Stepanakert which will continue in the future and become
a tradition. I will gladly follow the games and I believe that few
mistakes will be reported on the chess board. I wish you all success
and at the same time I want to thank the NKR government and the Chess
Federation of Armenia for inviting me to the Karabakh 2005.” The
international grand master Barthlome Macheya who participated in
the tournament devoted to the 75th anniversary of Tigran Petrossian,
emphasized the importance of such events from the point of view of
bringing peoples together and achieving mutual understanding. He
recalled that last year he left Karabakh carrying unforgettable
memories along with him. “I made new friends here, this wonderful
country full of kindness, which I missed a lot, has become close to
my heart, and I have told about the days I spent in Artsakh and my
impressions to many people. I am grateful to be back here again, to
be invited to the Karabakh 2005 tournament. Also I would like to thank
one of the best grand masters of the time, my friend Smbat Lputyan who
does his best to develop chess and make it popular. I wish you peace
and all the best.” Two tournaments are held simultaneously: Tournament
A corresponds to category 17 and Tournament B corresponds to category
11. Famous international grand masters are taking part in Tournament
A, such as Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Ivan Sokolov (the Netherlands),
Alexey Dreyev (Russia), Victor Bologan (Moldavia), Hikaru Nakamura
(USA), Bu Xianzhi (China), Bartlome Macheya (Poland), Karen Asrian
(the winner of Tigran Petrossian International Chess Tournament)
and Ashot Anastasian (Armenia). In Tournament B Yevgeni Sveshnikov
(Latvia), Tigran Petrossian (Armenia), Ervin Lami (the Netherlands),
Jose Manuel Lopez Martinez (spain), Katarina Lahno (Ukraine), Sergey
Grigoriants (Russia), Raj Tishberek (Germany), Benjamin Galstian,
Artur Chibukhchian and Arsen Yeghiazarian (Armenia) are taking part. On
Sunday the first games of Tournaments A and B took place. In Tournament
A Ashot Anastasian defeated B. Macheya; the score was 1:0.
At the 56th step Levon Aronian won the game with Moldavian Victor
Bologan, and Vasily Ivanchuk defeated Chinese Bu Xianzhi. The games
between Ivan Sokolov and Alexey Dreyev, Hikaru Nakamura and Karen
Asrian ended in a score. In Tournament B the games S. Grigoriants-E,
Lami, Y. Sveshnikov-L. Martinez, K. Lahno-T.Petrossian, B.
Galstian-A. Chibukhchian ended in a score. The German player R.
Tishberek defeated A. Yeghiazarian. On the second day in Tournament
A A. Ananian played with H. Nakamura, K Asrian with V. Balagan, L.
Aronian with I. Sokolov, A. Dreyev with V. Ivanchuk and B. Macheya
with Bu Xianzhi. In Tournament B K. Lahno played with Y. Sveshnikov,
L. Martinez with S. Grigoriants, E. Lami with B. Galstian, A.
Chibukhchian with A. Yeghiazarian and T. Petrossian with R.
Tishberek. During the press conference the president of the Academy of
Chess of Armenia, international grand master Smbat Lputian emphasized
the importance of Karabakh 2005 in Artsakh, for such a high-level
tournament is held in the South Caucasus for the first time, which
is a great honour for both the participants of the tournament and
its organizers.

CULTURE CONSERVATION IS EVERYONE’S PROBLEM
NVARD OHANJANIAN
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 6 2005
Since July the NKR Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport has done
considerable work for conservation and study of the historical and
cultural monuments of Artsakh. The government provided 37 million
drams for cleaning the 7 Armenian cemeteries of Shushi. Since the
end of July, within a month the second cemetery of Shushi occupying
5 hectares of land was cleared of bushes, grass, trees clinging to
the tombs, the gravestones damaged by the Azerbaijanis were returned
to their places. Only the walnut trees and other fruit trees which
do not damage the tombs were kept. According to the head of the
department for conservation and study of monuments Slava Sarghissian,
the staff of the department often organizes expeditions. Recently
they have visited the valley of the Badara River, particularly the
village of Lesnoy which used to be inhabited by Azerbaijanis in the
Soviet years. “We registered over 80 Armenian monuments around this
settlement (church, monastery, cemeteries with khachkar gravestones),”
said S. Sarghissian and added that the studies in Badara are going
on and over 200 monuments are still to be registered. According to
him, one of the picturesque sites in Artsakh the valley is should be
turned into a conservation area. “Recently we considered the issue of
creating historical and cultural conservation areas of “Khachen”,
“Dizak” and “Shushi”. We also need to consider the question of
creating a similar conservation area in the valley of the Badara,
allowing to preserve valuable historical and cultural monuments and
to conserve nature and animals which are ruthlessly destroyed and
killed,” said S. Sarghissian. “The pheasant which was widely spread
around settlements is now rarely found. The hare and the deer have
become almost extinct, let alone the bear. In some rivers they fish
using illegal methods, in the months when fishing is not allowed,”
said Slava Sarghissian. According to S. Sarghissian, this spring
they travelled in the region of Hadrut and studied monuments which
had not been studied before, as well as registered new valuable
historical and cultural objects. Near the source located to the
West of Gtchavank a small khachkar with an inscription was found in
April. Unfortunately, it has disappeared. Visiting the same place
with a group of specialists from Armenia, they discovered that the
khachkar had been replaced with another, smaller and less valuable
one. “Unfortunately, these replacements are now very frequent. And
the worst thing about it is that this business tempts not only people
who do not understand anything in this, but also men of the church,”
he said. The department studied a number of monuments in the region
of Kashatagh, in the valleys of the rivers Aghavno and Ghochaz where
they discovered that a Niva car had driven by the historical bridge
built at a height of 7 meters across the Ghochaz and damaged part of
it. “There are two historical bridges in this part. One of them is
damaged and cannot be used, the other may collapse after the mentioned
happening. This is a real crime. If the bridge collapses, people will
not be able to cross the river at this part,” said Slava Sarghissian.

UNE FAMILLE ARMENIENNE MENACEE D’EXPULSION
par Soizic Le Gac
Le Telegramme , France
6 octobre 2005
Une famille d’Armeniens sejournant a Lannion depuis un peu plus d’un
an est menacee d’expulsion.
L'” invitation a quitter le territoire francais ” expirait dimanche.
Dès mardi soir, les parents d’elèves de l’ecole de Penn ar Ru ont
fait entendre leur protestation face a cette mesure qualifiee d'”
inhumaine “.
Un tract appelant a la signature d’une petition a ete distribue aux
parents d’elèves de l’ecole où sont scolarises depuis un an les deux
jeunes enfants du couple Gevorgyan.
Reunion demain soir
Parallèlement, la Ligue des droits de l’Homme appelle a une reunion
d’information et de mobilisation, demain soir, a 20 h 30 au Centre
Savidan de Lannion.
A Lannion, de nombreuses associations caritatives et des mouvements
de defense du citoyen ont ete alertes par la Ligue des Droits de
l’Homme dès la mi-septembre. Selon la Ligue, ” ces mesures d’expulsion
touchent des familles de Lannion, mais aussi de Paimpol et de tout
le departement “.
La Ligue y voit ” la manifestation de la politique de Nicolas Sarkozy
et du gouvernement de Dominique de Villepin, avec son cortège de
situations inhumaines et dangereuses “.
Refugie politique ? Refus
Une mobilisation d’abord discrète a ete menee au sein d’associations
pour obtenir une solution humanitaire qui permettrait a la famille
Gevorgyan de Lannion de rester dans le Tregor, malgre le rejet de sa
demande de statut de refugie politique, par l’office national charge
du dossier.
Aussi, la Ligue des Droits de l’Homme regrette-t-elle que ” l’action
associative ne suffise plus face au recours systematique a une
politique de repression “. La Ligue estime que ” cette politique est
un danger pour la democratie “.
Elle appelle ” a un rassemblement solidaire pour que la France reste
une terre d’asile, avec des droits et des devoirs pour chacun “.
–Boundary_(ID_TUJypvlB0fXNkj4NpZPn1Q)–

‘LONDON THREATENS WITH RECOGNITION OF TRNC’
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
October 7 2005
The launch of Turkey’s talks with the European Union (EU) continues
to receive widespread media coverage in Europe.
A story appeared in Greek Cypriot newspaper Fileleftheros, with
the headline “Rapprochement Through Pressure,” saying that Britain
is blackmailing the Greek Cypriots “politically” to recognize the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in dense lobbying activities
in Luxembourg.
Britain has pressured more on the authority of the Greek Cyprus to
emasculate the importance of talks regarding Turkey’s responsibilities
towards the Greek Cypriots in accordance with the Negotiation Framework
Document through the enlightening statement of the presidency, it
was claimed.
The newspaper also reported that with pressures increasing after
an agreement was reached with Austria, the Greek Cypriot authority
feared that it might be left alone; therefore, it agreed to the
“enlightening statement” of Britain.
In the meantime, Armenian hopes have risen for the opening of Armenia’s
border with Turkey and the acknowledgement of the Armenian allegations
after Turkey was allowed to negotiate with the EU.
The Armenian opinion of the negotiation start is that Turkey will
feel compelled to open its borders with Armenia as soon as possible,
said Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamlet Gasparyan. Turkey
closed its borders with Armenia when Armenian forces occupied almost
20 percent of neighbouring Azerbaijan. Yerevan has nýt withdrawn
its forces despite of the EU’s and OSEC’s warnings. Armenian does
not recognise Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s natinal borders. Turkish
Government has made many efforts to establish a dialogue with Yerevan,
yet the Armenian side has strongly rejected all offers.
–Boundary_(ID_j29OA4QPRvssBfuC9ZgGww)–