Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 17, 2005, Friday

GABALA RADAR: A CHIP IN POLITICAL GAMES

SOURCE: Voyenno-Promyshlenny Kurier, No 21, June 15 – 21, 2005, pp.
1, 3

by Dzhasur Mamedov

Railroad echelons of 15 platform cars with military hardware and
munitions of the Russian military base in Adjaria (Georgia) left
Batumi for Armenia in late May. Official Baku hit the roof.

To quote a source from the Russian Army Group in the Caucasus, “the
echelon with military hardware and munitions was sent in accordance
with the plan of withdrawal of surplus munitions and military hardware
from the Batumi base in Georgia, the one charted several months ago
i.e. before completion of the Russian-Georgian talks over the date
of withdrawal of bases from Batumi and Akhalkalaki.”

Director of the Presidential Administration, Dmitry Medvedev, travelled
to Yerevan to discuss withdrawal of the bases from Georgia.

So far unconfirmed official reports indicate that Russia plans to move
at least 40 tanks of the Russian Army Group in the Caucasus to Armenia.

Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan sent a note to Russia on May 23. The
note was served by Foreign Minister, Elmar Mamedjarov ,to Russian
Charge d’Affaires in baku, Pyotr Burdykin. The document expresses
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s worries over statements of some military
and political leaders of Russia concerning the transfer of a part of
the military hardware from Georgia to Armenia. Foreign Ministry hopes
that Moscow will abandon its plans to transfer some military hardware
and munitions to Armenia “thus reiterating its interest in security
and stability in the region, preservation of trust and traditional
relations of friendship and neighborly relations between Azerbaijan
and Russia.”

Burdykin served the Russian Foreign Ministry’s answer on June 2.
According to the diplomat, the equipment in question is to be
transferred “from one Russian military base to another.” It is not
to be directed against Azerbaijan.

The diplomat pointed out that Russia was “forced” to rapidly withdraw
its troops from Georgia and that was why some of the military hardware
could end up on Russian military bases in Armenia. It did not mean
their transfer to Yerevan, Burdykin emphasized.

“It will aggravate the military-political situation in the region and
throughout the world,” Colonel Ramiz Melikov of the PR Department of
the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said. Melikov added that it would
increase the risk of a new war in the Caucasus.

“Arming Armenia with new military hardware will have a negative effect
on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement,” Deputy Foreign Minister
Araz Azimov added.

Khalaf Khalafov, another Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan,
mentioned the illegitimate transition of almost $1 billion worth of
weapons from Russia to Armenia several years ago. Khalafov said that
Azerbaijan had made its firm position plain then. Saying that the
Caucasus (its southern part) was a region the Treaty on Conventional
Arms in Europe applied to, Khalafov urged all signatories to abstain
from the moves undermining stability and security.

Novruz Mamedov, chief of the international department of the
presidential apparatus, is of the same opinion. Mamedov believes that
what Russia is doing collides with the objective of fortification
of regional stability and with dynamic advancement of international
relations. Russia may lose respect in the eyes of the region and that
will weaken its positions, he said.

Murtus Aleskerov, Chairman of the Parliament of Azerbaijan, called
transfer of Russian bases from Georgia to Armenia unacceptable.

Vafa Guluzade, former advisor for foreign political matters and
political scientist, praises readiness of the Kremlin to contemplate
withdrawal of its bases from Georgia. “Withdrawal of the bases will
benefit Azerbaijan too, because we have close contacts with Georgia
and – through it – with Turkey,” he said.

As for the Kremlin’s intention to move some military hardware to
Armenia, the political scientist does not think that Russian leaders
are left with any other choice. “Military hardware of Russian military
bases in Georgia is hopelessly outdated. It is scrap metal in fact,”
Guluzade said. “Russia does not need it. As for Armenia, it has this
scrap metal in such quantities that a little bit more will not play
any noticeable role.”

The move of the military hardware in question to Armenia does collide
with provisions of the Treaty on Conventional Arms in Europe, but
neither the OSCE nor the West in general object because they are
fully aware of its uselessness.

In other words, presence of the military hardware in question in
Armenia is not going to have any negative consequences for Azerbaijan,
the political scientist said. “Azerbaijan does not intend to go
to war, and neither does Armenia intend to attack us,” he said.
“Moreover, quite soon now (when Russia is finally out of the region)
these countries will make peace, and all Azerbaijani territories
currently occupied will be returned to Baku.”

Major General Dadash Rzayev, ex-defense minister who is currently
involved with the Military-Scientific Center of the Azerbaijani
Defense Ministry, is convinced that new armaments in Armenia will
wreck stability and peace in the region “As I see it, Russia is bent
on sending the military hardware to Armenia because it perceives the
latter as the regional gendarme. Hence all this stalling for time in
the process of the Karabakh settlement.”

Rzayev refused to offer an opinion on what turn the events would take
now. He is convinced, nevertheless that, “Arming itself, Armenia
runs the risk of finding itself in isolation both in the Caucasus
and throughout the world.”

“Transfer of military hardware is not the question at this point. The
matter concerns transfer of munitions only,” Defense Minister
of Armenia Serzh Sarkisjan told the newspaper Aikakan Zhamanak,
commenting on Chief of the General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky’s words that
some military hardware would be moved to Armenia.

“Sure, we want the Russian base in Armenia fully outfitted with
munitions,” Sarkisjan said. Asked about the possibility of transfer of
military hardware from the bases in Georgia to Armenia, the minister
said, “Military hardware has not even been discussed yet. If the
transfer takes place, however, it is not going to mean appearance of
a new Russian military base in Armenia.” The minister did not specify
the quantity of munitions to be brought to Armenia or the date of
their shipments.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, Vardan Oskanjan, says that Yerevan
and Moscow are not discussing transfer of troops from Georgia to
Armenia but possibility of that cannot be ruled out.

Transfer of a part of Russian military hardware is subject to
the bilateral accord on military cooperation and establishment of
Russian military bases and armaments quotas specified by the Treaty on
Conventional Arms in Europe, according to Colonel Seiran Sakhsuvarjan,
Press Secretary of the Armenian defense minister, Sakhsuvarjan,
denies signing of any new documents on the subject and says that
deployment of troops has not been discussed so far.

Official Baku may revise the Gabala Center Lease Accord with
Moscow because of the transfer of military bases from Georgia to
Armenia, to quote a source from Doctrine, Center of Military Research
(Azerbaijan). Its specialists say that Baku may initiate the revision
in the near future already.

“In any case, existence of the Russian military base (Gabala Center)
in Azerbaijan worries NATO,” a spokesman for the Center said. “The
Alliance is determined to control the information compiled by the
Center pending completion of the lease in 2012. Ecological monitoring
will be executed as well.”

According to the Center, Azerbaijan is sending a team of
representatives of the Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry to
Moscow to clarify the situation with withdrawal of the Russian bases
from Georgia. The future of the Gabala radar may be brought up in the
talks. Sources in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry say meanwhile that
bilateral consultations between foreign ministries of Azerbaijan and
Georgia are already under way.

Experts attach importance to Mamedjarov’s statement, “We have certain
methods of preventing actions like that on Russia’s part. It is too
early yet to raise our voice. We will wait for completion of the
Russian-Georgian talks, study the treaty between Moscow and Tbilisi,
and act afterwards.”

ORIGINAL-LANGUAGE: RUSSIAN

Breakaway Caucasus republic seeks recognition through polls
by Mariam Arutyunyan

Agence France Presse — English
June 17, 2005 Friday 9:49 AM GMT

STEPANAKERT, Azerbaijan June 17 — Nagorny Karabakh, a breakaway
republic claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan since the Soviet
Union’s collapse, holds parliamentary polls Sunday in a bid to convince
the world it is truly independent.

“I will vote whatever happens because I am sure that the world will see
a country that legally elects its leaders as an island of democracy
and will respect our wish to be independent and autonomous,” said a
resident of Stepanakert, Shumi Jora Tovmasyan, 65.

Nagorny Karabakh, which is inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians
and effectively controlled by Armenia, declared independence from
Azerbaijan in 1991, sparking a conflict that, according to differing
estimates, killed between 25,000 and 30,000 people.

In addition to the dead, the conflict also displaced up to one
million people.

The elections are being held in the face of opposition from Azerbaijan,
which still claims sovereignty over the territory, but was beaten
back by Armenian forces in the 1988-1994 war.

Armenia is the only country in the world that recognises Nagorny
Karabakh as an independent state.

“The impact of this poll on the settlement of the Nagorny Karabakh
conflict will depend on the way it goes. If it is free and transparent,
up to international standards, it will have a certain influence on
the way Karabakh and its democracy are viewed,” said the head of
Nagorny Karabakh’s ruling Artsakh Democratic Party, Ashot Gulyan.

Solving the conflict has been the emblematic issue for all six parties
and one electoral bloc seeking election to the 33-seat parliament.

“Karabakh’s independence is already a reality for us, but our country
is not recognized by the world community. This is why we seek a
definitive resolution of the conflict through dialogue,” Gulyan said.

But a leader of the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party, Vache Zakaryan,
said Azerbaijan would not compromise over the dispute. Repeated
diplomatic efforts, encouraged by Moscow, Washington and the United
Nations, have failed to achieve a settlement.

Low-level conflict between Armenian and Azeri forces continues to
this day, with dozens of casualties on both sides since the 1994 end
of major hostilities and brokering of a ceasefire.

The elections will be monitored by more than 100 independent observers
from Russia, Ukraine, the United States and Central Asia, but the
West’s main election monitoring body, the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will not carry out formal observations.

The self-styled president of Nagorny Karabakh, Arkady Gukasian,
was re-elected in August 2002 in what many called an unfair poll,
with skewed media coverage and a ban on political rallies. Gukasian’s
predecessor, Robert Kocharian, is now president of Armenia.

Karabakh is one of eight regions that Armenia seized from Azerbaijan
in the war and continues to control. The eight regions amount to 14
percent of internationally recognised Azeri territory.

Agence France Presse
17 juin 2005 vendredi 7:55 AM GMT

Le Nagorny Karabakh, aux urnes dimanche, espère se faire reconnaître
(AVANT-PAPIER)

Par Mariam HAROUTIOUNIAN

STEPANAKERT 17 juin 2005

Les habitants de la république autoproclamée du Nagorny Karabakh, une
enclave arménienne en Azerbaïdjan, se rendent dimanche aux urnes pour
élire leur quatrième Parlement dans l’espoir de montrer leur
attachement à la démocratie et de faire reconnaître, un jour, leur
“Etat”.

“J’irai voter quoi qu’il arrive car je suis persuadé que le monde
considérera comme un îlot de démocratie un pays qui a élu ses
dirigeants de façon légale et qu’il respectera notre volonté d’être
indépendants et autonomes”, déclare un habitant de Stepanakert,
Choumi Jora Tovmassian, âgé de 65 ans.

Les élections se tiendront dans 274 cantons électoraux à travers tout
le territoire du Nagorny Karabakh envers et contre l’opposition de
l’Azerbaïdjan dont s’est détachée en 1991 cette enclave de 150.000
habitants peuplée en majorité d’Arméniens.

Elles seront suivies par plus de 100 observateurs d’organisations non
gouvernementales de Russie, d’Ukraine, des Etats-Unis et d’Asie
centrale entre autres, mais aucune des organisations internationales
habituellement chargées de surveiller des scrutins ne sera
représentée.

“Ces élections seront un pas de plus vers une reconnaissance
internationale de la République du Nagorny Karabakh car plus
démocratique sera la formation du pouvoir, plus élevées seront les
chances que le pays soit reconnu par la communauté internationale”, a
déclaré à l’AFP le “vice-ministre des Affaires étrangères” de
l’enclave, Massis Maïlian.

“L’impact de ces élections sur le règlement du conflit du Karabakh
dépendra de la façon dont elles se dérouleront. Si elles sont libres
et transparentes, conformément aux normes internationales, elles
auront une certaine influence sur l’image du Karabakh et des
processus démocratiques dans notre pays”, a estimé de son côté le
ministre de la Culture, du Sport et de la Jeunesse, Achot Goulian,
dirigeant du Parti démocratique de l’Artsakh (Karabakh), au pouvoir.

La question du règlement du conflit occupe la place centrale dans la
campagne des six partis et une coalition participant aux élections.

“L’indépendance du Karabakh est pour nous déjà une réalité mais notre
pays n’est pas encore reconnu par la communauté internationale. C’est
pourquoi nous concevons le règlement définitif du conflit par le
dialogue”, précise M. Goulian.

“Nos désaccords avec le pouvoir concernent non seulement le processus
des réformes économiques et sociales mais aussi sa politique
extérieure. Nos dirigeants parlent beaucoup ces derniers temps de
compromis dans le réglement du conflit du Karabakh mais nous
n’entendons pas parler d’une telle disposition d’esprit de la part de
l’Azerbaïdjan”, a déclaré pour sa part à l’AFP un des dirigeants du
parti d’opposition Dachnaktsoutioun, Vatche Zakarian.

L’opposition s’attend à des élections libres sans violations
majeures. “Nous ne pensons pas avoir des élections idéales mais nous
estimons qu’elles se dérouleront bien mieux que les précédentes
élections parlementaires et présidentielles”, a déclaré M. Zakarian.

Cent cinq candidats se présentent au scrutin majoritaire et 80 à la
proportionnelle. Le Parlement est élu pour cinq ans et est composé de
33 députés, dont onze élus au scrutin proportionnel et 22 au scrutin
majoritaire.

Le Nagorny Karabakh a proclamé son indépendance en 1991 et l’a
défendue armes à la main avec le soutien de l’Arménie jusqu’à un
cessez-le-feu conclu en 1994. Les affrontements, qui avaient commencé
en 1988, ont fait entre 25.000 et 30.000 morts selon les estimations
et entraîné l’exil de quelque 20.000 Azéris, déplaçant en outre,
selon Bakou, jusqu’à un million de personnes.

Le Nagorny Karabakh était partie intégrante de l’Arménie jusqu’en
1923, date à laquelle ce territoire a été rattaché par Staline à la
République socialiste soviétique d’Azerbaïdjan avec le statut de
région autonome.

–Boundary_(ID_Tgovhsm2zHfIPhsqKfhrTg)–

Schweizerische Depeschenagentur AG (SDA)
SDA – Service de base français
17 juin 2005

Suisse – Turquie Joseph Deiss se rendra en Turquie en septembre,
selon Ankara

Istanbul/Berne (ats) La visite du conseiller fédéral Joseph Deiss en
Turquie, prévue en septembre, aura bien lieu, a indiqué vendredi à
l’ats le ministère turc des affaires étrangères. Son report avait été
un temps évoqué, à la suite de tensions au sujet du génocide
arménien.

Politiquement, il n’y a aucun obstacle à cette visite, qui est au
stade des préparatifs, a fait savoir un porte-parole du ministère.
Ankara informera officiellement Berne dès que les dates des
entretiens et divers détails d’organisation auront été réglés.

Le ministère turc du commerce – qui avait initialement invité M.
Deiss en Turquie – a de son côté souligné que le ministre turc Kürsad
Tüzmen a pour l’heure encore d’autres rendez-vous agendés pour
septembre, mais cela peut encore changer.

Tensions

M. Tüzmen a annulé la semaine passée une visite qu’il devait
effectuer en Suisse à la fin juin, pour protester contre l’enquête
ouverte contre l’historien Yusuf Halaçoglu pour négation du génocide
arménien. L’ambassade de Suisse à Ankara avait alors relevé que la
visite de M. Deiss n’était pas encore confirmée.

Ces tensions ont également été évoquées cette semaine lors de la
venue à Berne d’une délégation de la commission de politique
extérieure du parlement turc. Les députés turcs ont notamment
rencontré les conseillers fédéraux Micheline Calmy-Rey et Joseph
Deiss, ainsi que les présidents des Chambres fédérales Thérèse Meyer
et Bruno Frick.

La délégation, forte de cinq membres, a regagné Ankara vendredi.
Durant son séjour, elle a également rencontré des représentants de
l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), du Haut Commissariat pour
les réfugiés (HCR) et du monde économique, à Genève et à Zurich.

–Boundary_(ID_ArLONVst6VOKps3B34qHtQ)–

Armenian foreign minister welcomes German parliament’s genocide bill

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
17 Jun 05

[Presenter] The German parliament has adopted a draft resolution
condemning the Armenian genocide. The document was unanimously adopted
without discussion and voting. The document notes that a number of
countries and international organizations and independent historians
have described the events of 1915 as genocide. The Bundestag’s
decision is tantamount to recognizing the Armenian genocide of 1915,
the Armenian ambassador to Germany, Garine Gazinyan, has said.

At the request of “Aylur”, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan,
who is attending a summit in Brussels, has commented on the draft
resolution condemning the Armenian genocide.

[Oskanyan from Brussels by telephone] This is an important step in
the sphere of recognizing the Armenian genocide. Although it does
not describe the 1915 events as genocide, I think this document is
a positive change for recognizing the Armenian genocide because the
German parliament used the term extermination of Armenians in this
document. The importance of this resolution is also that Germany
acknowledges its responsibility for the 1915 events and calls on
Turkey to answer for its history.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 17, 2005, Friday

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COLLECTIVE SECURITY
TREATY HAS ARRIVED IN ARMENIA

Nikolai Bordyuzha, Secretary-General of the Organization of the
Collective Security Treaty (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia and Tajikistan) arrived in Yerevan yesterday. He will inform
the Armenian leadership about the situation in the Organization.

He will meet with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan. In addition he
will hold negotiations with the Armenian defense minister and
secretary of the Security Council. They will discuss issues, which
will be raised at the June session of the Collective security
council, the council of foreign ministers, the council of defense
ministers and the committee of secretaries of the Security Councils.

US, Russia plan to discuss “frozen conflicts” in Transcaucasia
By Pavel Vanichkin

ITAR-TASS News Agency
June 17, 2005 Friday 3:07 AM Eastern Time

WASHINGTON, June 17 — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans
to discuss the situation in Transcaucasia at a meeting with Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the G-8 foreign
ministers’ meeting in London next week.

Rice told a press conference on Thursday she would discuss with Lavrov
the so-called “frozen conflicts,” including the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The U.S. Secretary of State said solving such conflicts would improve
the region’s economy. She said a number of positive changes had taken
place in Transcaucasia recently, among which she named the Moscow and
Tbilisi agreement on the withdrawal of Russian troops and military
hardware from Georgia by the end of 2008.

Turkey denounces polls in Nagorno Karabakh

Agence France Presse — English
June 17, 2005 Friday 3:39 PM GMT

ANKARA June 17 — Turkey said Friday that upcoming parliamentary
polls in Nagorno Karabakh, a breakaway enclave claimed both by its
close ally Azerbaijan and its arch-foe Armenia, were illegitimate
and contrary to international peace efforts in the region.

“Turkey believes that such unilateral initiatives… will not help
efforts for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem
and considers those elections as illegitimate,” foreign ministry
spokesman Namik Tan said in a statement.

Nagorny Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians and effectively
controlled by Armenia, declared independence from Azerbaijan in 1991,
sparking a conflict that, according to differing estimates, claimed
between 25,000 and 30,000 lives and displaced up to a million people.

The elections are being held in the face of opposition from Azerbaijan,
which still claims sovereignty over the territory, but was beaten
back by Armenian forces in the 1988-1994 war.

Armenia is the only country to recognize Nagorno Karabakh as an
independent state.

Turkey is one of Azerbaijan’s staunchest allies, with which it also
has close ethnic bonds.

It has refused to establish formal diplomatic ties with Armenia out
of solidarity with Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict but
also because of Armenia’s camaipgn to have the World War I massacres
of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire internationally recognized
as genocide.

German resolution Armenian massacres ‘ugly’: Turkish PM

Agence France Presse — English
June 17, 2005 Friday 10:57 AM GMT

ISTANBUL, June 17 2005 — A German parliamentary resolution adopted
Thursday to mark the killings of Armenians during World War is “ugly,”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, while other Turkish officials
warned the move could cloud bilateral ties.

“I find it politically wrong and furthermore ugly that the German
parliament sacrificed the issue without debate to petty (Armenian)
lobbying,” Erdogan told reporters here late Thursday on his return
from a visit to Lebanon.

He chided German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder — whom he said was
against the resolution — for not pulling his weight before the vote
to persuade his lawmakers to reject the motion.

In a move that has angered Turkey, the Bundestag lower house on
Thursday adopted a resolution commemorating the 1915-1917 massacres
of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, but stopped short of condemning
it as genocide.

The resolution called on the German government “to help Turks and
Armenians resolve their differences by reviewing, reconciling and
forgiving historical guilt.”

The Turkish foreign ministry condemned the resolution and warned that
the move could have repercussions on bilateral ties.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in orchestrated
killings during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey argues that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks were
killed in what was civil strife during World War I when the Armenians,
backed by Russia, rose against their Ottoman rulers.

The issue has taken on increased importance as some European politicans
have pressed Turkey to address the genocide claims in what Ankara
sees a politically-motivated campaign to impede its bid to become a
mamber of the European Union.

Germany rejects Turkish objections to Armenia resolution

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
June 17, 2005, Friday

Berlin

In a widening rift with Turkey, the German government Friday rejected
Turkish objections to a resolution adopted by the German parliament
this week condemning the massacre of up to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire 90 years ago.

Responding to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
denunciation of the resolution as “a hideous action”, German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder issued a statement defending the resolution.

“The chancellor has consistently made his stand on the issue,”
said Schroeder’s deputy spokesman Thomas Steg. “We therefore cannot
understand (Turkey’s) surprise at this resolution.”

The resolution, adopted by an overwhelming majority of the Bundestag
lower house of the German parliament, criticised the current government
of Turkey for “neglecting to address the issue” in a forthright manner.

The Turkish government called the resolution as “irresponsible,
appalling and injurious” to relations between the two countries.
Germany’s two million Turkish immigrants make up the largest ethnic
group in this country, and Turkish leaders in Germany have called
the resolution “discriminatory” against Turks living here.

Turkey acknowledges the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of deaths in
“civil strife” during 1915-17 but denies there was a state- sponsored
extermination plan – a stance that has complicated its efforts to join
the European Union. Accession talks are due to start later this year.

On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Turkish government arrested hundreds
of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders, most of whom were
quickly executed.

This was followed by the mass relocation of Christian Armenians from
Anatolia through desert to Mesopotamia and what is today Syria.

Starvation, disease, attacks by bandits and the brutality of the
escorting troops resulted in mass fatalities. Most Western sources
maintain that more than a million deaths took place.

The incident has been widely referred to as the first genocide of
the 20th Century.

Turkey said Thursday’s resolution is not historically correct, saying
claims that “almost all Armenians living in Anatolia were exterminated”
have “no basis”. dpa eg sc