ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS OPPOSITION PLEA FOR PROBE INTO GAS DEAL
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
10 Apr 06
The Armenian parliament has rejected the idea of setting up an ad hoc
committee to examine the sale of the fifth unit of the Razdan thermal
power plant, Armenian Public TV reported on 10 April. The idea was
proposed by Viktor Dallakyan, the secretary of the opposition Justice
bloc, the report said.
Only 19 MPs signed the request for setting up the committee, whereas
at least 44 signatures are required, the TV said.

SALE OF POWER PLANT’S UNIT TO STRENGTHEN ENERGY SECURITY – ARMENIAN PREMIER
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
10 Apr 06
[Presenter] New gas prices are coming into force from 10 April. The
population will pay 65 drams instead of 59 drams for 1 cu. m. of
gas, whereas commercial enterprises will pay 94.5 dollars for 10,000
cu.m. [as heard].
Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan again confirmed that the government
would do everything possible to keep gas and electricity tariffs
unchanged in the next three years. He also said that there had been
no agreement between Russia’s Gazprom company and Armenia on the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. Speaking about the sale of the fifth unit
of the Razdan thermal power plant, he said that it was not connected
with the gas price.
The prime minister described the deal as a successful transaction
which would strengthen Armenia’s energy security.
[Andranik Markaryan, captioned] This is a successful deal. We sold
the unit for 250m dollars on the condition that 140m dollars will be
invested into its reconstruction and upgrading in two years’ time.
This will strengthen our energy security. From this point of view,
I consider this is a right decision and the Armenian government has
got an opportunity to use this money to finance domestic gas consumers.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI DIPLOMAT SAYS BOTH IRANIAN AND ARMENIAN NUKE DEVELOPMENTS POSE THREAT
Interfax-AVN military news agency website, Moscow
11 Apr 06
Baku, 11 April: NATO has no plans to stage a military invasion of
Iran, said NATO Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central
Asia Robert Simmons.
Speaking at a news briefing in Baku on Tuesday [11 April] following
negotiations with the Azerbaijani leadership, Simmons said, however,
that NATO is concerned about the situation in Iran and hopes that
the negotiating process involving three of its members, Germany,
the UK and France, will be completed successfully.
Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said Baku is also concerned
about how the Iran crisis will be resolved, due to the geographical
proximity of the two states.
Azerbaijan is following the negotiating process with Iran closely,
he said.
“The problem is currently being discussed at the UN Security Council,
and we hope that it will be resolved at a political, diplomatic level,”
Azimov said.
Azimov also pointed out that, while the Iranian nuclear problem poses
a strategic threat to Azerbaijan, the Metsamor nuclear power plant
functioning in neighbouring Armenia is a real threat to Azerbaijan’s
and the entire region’s security, which, he said, has been confirmed
by international experts.

ARMENIAN MPS APPROVE AMENDMENTS TO ENERGY LAW
Mediamax news agency, Yerevan
11 Apr 06
Yerevan, 11 April: Armenia’s National Assembly today approved a draft
law on amendments to the energy law in its first hearing.
Eighty-six legislators voted for the draft law, Mediamax’s
parliamentary correspondent reports.
The amendments to the energy law aim to create mechanisms for
attracting foreign and private investments to the construction of a
new nuclear power plant in Armenia.
Under the draft, Armenia’s Metsamor nuclear power plant cannot be
privatized, Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan said. He added
that new provisions of the law refer only to the construction of a
new nuclear plant.

TURKISH COURT DROPS CHARGES AGAINST 4 JOURNALISTS; PROCEEDS WITH TRIAL OF FIFTH
AP Worldstream
Apr 11, 2006
A court on Tuesday dropped charges against four Turkish journalists
accused of insulting the country’s courts, but decided to press ahead
with the trial of a fifth journalist, a report said.
All five journalists were standing trial for criticizing in print a
court’s decision last year to shut down a conference in Istanbul about
the mass killings of Armenians by Turks during the Ottoman Empire.
Prosecutors said their writings were illegal attempts to influence
the outcome of a trial and insulted the court system.
On Tuesday, the court dropped charges against journalists Hasan
Cemal, Ismet Berkan, Haluk Sahin and Erol Katircioglu, on grounds that
prosecutors had not filed charges within the required two-month period
following the publication of the articles, the state-run Anatolia
news agency reported.
The court, however, decided to proceeded with the trial of Murat Belge,
a columnist for the liberal Radikal newspaper, the agency said.
The trial is seen as a test of Turkey’s readiness for membership in the
European Union. Turkey, which embarked on membership talks in October,
is under heavy pressure from the EU and human rights organizations
to address its infringements on freedom of expression.
The five had faced between six months to 10 years in prison. Charges
on the grounds of insulting the republic, state institutions or
“Turkishness” are frequently leveled against journalists, scholars
and dissidents.
The discussion of what happened to Armenians in Turkey between around
1915 and 1923 is extremely sensitive in Turkey, which vehemently
denies that mass killings and deportations of the then-sizeable
Armenian minority constituted an organized genocide.
The conference in September went on despite the court order to close
it down after organizers changed the venue at the last minute. It
was the first time the issue was publicly discussed in Turkey.
A case against Orhan Pamuk, the country’s best-known novelist, for
“insulting Turkishness,” was dropped earlier this year after Turkey
came under harsh criticism from the EU.

REPORTERS WHO COMMENTED ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CONFERENCE STAND TRIAL AGAIN
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.04.2006 02:01 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ April 11 the Istanbul court resumed the hearings on
the case of 5 Turkish journalists, who are accused of commenting on
the Armenian Genocide conference held in Istanbul. “These 5 leading
and democratic reporters stand trial for their publications but I am
convinced they will be acquitted,” Istanbul-based “Akos” newspaper
editor Hrant Dink stated, reported RFE/FL.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GAZPROM AND ARMROSGAZPROM LEADERS DISCUSSED HRAZDAN-5 RESTORATION
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.04.2006 19:48 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yesterday Gazprom Management Committee Chairman
Alexey Miller and ArmRosgazprom Director General Karen Karapetyan
held a working meeting, reported Gazprom’s press office. The parties
discussed the fulfillment of the agreements on strategic principles
of cooperation signed by Gazprom and the Armenian government. Special
attention was paid to the purchase and restoration of the 5th unit
of the Hrazdan Heat Power Plant for the efficient processing of
natural gas into electric energy. To remind, April 6 Gazprom and
the government of the Republic of Armenia concluded a 25-year term
agreement on the strategic principles of cooperation in the gas and
energy projects on the territory of Armenia. The document provides
for the purchase of the 5th unit of the Hrazdan Heat Power Plant
(Hrazdan-5) and some objects in gas sector. The draft purchase and
sale agreements are to be concluded till April 14, 2006.
Gazprom will finally assume the right of possession till January
1, 2007.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COE SEC. GENERAL: WE MUST RESPECT EACH OTHER’S CULTURE AND RELIGION
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.04.2006 18:57 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ When commenting on the CoE’s possible activities
in view of the demolition of the Armenian monuments in Nakhichevan,
Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis proposed to form a
fact-finding group and send it to the regions from which information on
destruction of historical monuments comes. “We are civilized people and
should be concerned over the destiny of the monuments being subjected
to destruction. We must respect each other’s culture and religion,”
CoE Secretary General stated.
Terry Davis remarked he is unaware of PACE’s intentions on the
issue. However he said he discussed with the leadership of Armenia and
Azerbaijan the possible assistance to be rendered to the mission. “I
will be glad if PACE supports my initiative,” Terry Davis said,
reported Mediamax.

OSCE MG CANNOT TAKE DECISION INSTEAD OF YEREVAN AND BAKU
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.04.2006 01:21 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The OSCE Minsk Group cannot take decisions instead of
Armenia and Azerbaijan. It will be a hard decision since no peaceful
agreement can completely justify the hopes of the parties, OSCE Minsk
Group French Co-chair Bernard Fassier stated at a press conference
in Baku. “But I can say that there is a solution that will meet the
demands the conflicting parties with 80%. However the final decision
should be taken by the leaders and governments of your states,”
he emphasized.
According to Fassier, the Co-chairs regret that the Rambouillet
meeting yielded no fruit.
“The year of 2005 was very tensed and many meeting and talks on the
Karabakh conflict settlement were held.
The Presidents were expected to agree on some unsettled principles
but they failed to do it,” the Co-chair said.
In his words, the work will be continued in the same intense
regime. The negotiations will set the basic principles of the
fundamental agreement, the French mediator considers. “I am convinced
that there is the possibility to reach consent,” he said, reported
Trend news agency.

DEPLOYMENT OF PEACEKEEPERS IN KARABAKH POSSIBLE UNDER NATO AND UN FLAGS
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.04.2006 19:05 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “The conflicts available in the South Caucasus are in
NATO’s limelight and the Alliance is concerned over the problems that
impede cooperation between the states of the region,” NATO Secretary
General’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central
Asia Robert Simmons stated in Azerbaijan. He reiterated NATO’s position
on the Nagorno Karabakh problem and said Alliance’s position coincides
with the OSCE’s on the issue. “To deploy troops on the territory of
a state is possible only with the consent of the given state. As for
the Russian military contingent in Armenia, the troops are there by
approbation of the Armenian party and NATO doesn’t interfere in the
matter,” he said. When touching upon the possibility of deployment
of NATO peacekeeping forces in the region Simmons remarked it can
become possible after long-term discussions. “This is possible if
the conflicting parties reach agreement. Deployment of peacekeepers
is possible not only under the OSCE flag, but also under the flags
of NATO or the UN,” he said.
NATO representative did not rule out the possibility of participation
of the Alliance in a number of energy projects in the region including
the guard of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. In his words,
NATO troops will not personally guard the pipeline but NATO can
render technical assistance and hold trainings with the appropriate
organization of the states through which the pipeline stretches. Robert
also noted that although the Alliance is worried by Iran’s nuclear
dossier, it will make an attack against Iran.