PETERSBURG TRADE CENTER IN YEREVAN
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| 14:01:57 | 14-09-2005 | Official |
Today Robert Kocharyan has received the delegation of the Saint
Petersburg governor Valentina Matvienko which has arrived in Armenia
to participate in the events “Days of Saint Petersburg” organized
within the framework of the year of Russia in Armenia.
Mentioning that progress is obvious in Armenia, Valentina Matvienko
said that their aim is not to restore the previous links with Armenia
but also to outline new directions of cooperation which will be
reflected in the program of cooperation between Yerevan and Saint
Petersburg for the coming three years. According to Matvienko, the
parties can cooperate in the fields of education and science.
Mr. Kocharyan and Mrs. Matvienko found the exchange of information
between the sides extremely important. Valentina Matvienko informed
that they intend to open a Petersburg Trade Center in Yerevan.

“I FEEL LIKE IN MY HOME COUNTRY HERE”
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| 13:50:26 | 14-09-2005 | Culture |
“When I was born, I had an Armenian foster-mother, so I feel in
Armenia like in my home country”, said Arnold Shvetzov, an American
actor and director during the press conference held in the US Embassy.
On the invitation of the Embassy the actor will take part in the
Shakespeare International Theatrical Festival of mono performances
which takes place in Yerevan on September 12-17. On September 14 Arnold
Shvetzov will represent the play “Clown for Fortinbras’s Retinue”.

GAS IN MOUSH
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| 13:40:15 | 14-09-2005 | Regions |
“Hayrusgasard” has intended to finish the gasification of the Gyumri
Moush district till the end of the year. At preset the outdoor works
are being carried out.
According to the “Aqara” LTD which is realizing the works, during
gas consumption there will be problems in the district because of
the absence of the gas chimneys in the buildings.

ARMENIA WILL NOT BE AN OBSTACLE
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| 13:27:39 | 14-09-2005 | Politics |
Azerbaijan will not cooperate with Armenia within the framework of
the World Trade Organization (WTO) till the final establishment of
peace. The Azeri deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Mamedkuliev mentioned
about it, day.az reports.
According to the deputy Minister, this does not contradict to UN
provisions taking into account the fact that Armenia has taken up
the commitment not to hinder Azerbaijan~Rs entering the WTO.
According to Mr. Mamedkuliev, in the initial phase of negotiations
with WTO Azerbaijan managed to make the RA Foreign Minister take up
the commitment.
Armenia has been member of the organization since 2001.
According to the deputy Minister, the fact that Armenia was quicker
than Azerbaijan is accounted for by the fact that Armenia had applied
earlier and has been accepted with certain concessions.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH: VIEWING THE CONFLICT FROM THE GROUND
International Crisis Group, Belgium
Sept 14 2005
Europe Report N°166
14 septembre 2005
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh
is the most significant obstacle to peace and stability in the South
Caucasus. Eleven years into a ceasefire, the parties have been unable
to sign a single document bringing them closer to a settlement.
Whatever is being done at the internationally mediated negotiations,
at ground level resumed war appears a real possibility. There is need
to counter the hate propaganda and demonising engaged in by both sides
and unlock the potential for confidence building and dialogue between
average Azeris and Armenians before the memories of cohabitation fade
and the divide becomes virtually unbridgeable.
Nagorno-Karabakh has aspirations for independence and argues with
some reason that it has a democratically-elected government that is
meeting the preconditions of statehood. However, it is internationally
recognised as part of Azerbaijan and is still highly dependant
on Armenia for its military security and economic survival: over
half its army are believed to be Armenian citizens, while Yerevan
covers 50 per cent of the budget through an “interstate loan” that
is virtually interest free and unlikely to be paid back. Azeris
do not participate in its political, economic, cultural and social
institutions. Nagono-Karabakh has mono-ethnic institutions and become
one of the world’s most militarised societies.
Deprived of the basic right to return to their homes, over half a
million Azeris displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent
districts have become highly dependent on the Azerbaijani state,
without a clear sense of their future. For years Baku’s policies
toward the displaced were designed to meet short-term needs, with
the expectation they could return home soon. There was more than a
hint that efforts to integrate them better were not pushed so as to
use their plight to score political points. The government’s current
strategy emphasises more sustainable solutions but the displaced remain
poorer and more disadvantaged than their fellow citizens, struggling
to increase participation in political life not only to speed up
prospects for return but also to improve their immediate situation.
Armenian and Azerbaijani public opinion on how to resolve the conflict
is as divided as ever. Nothing has been done to prepare people in
either country for any agreement. Karabakh Armenians’ expressions
of confidence about their independent future, and Karabakh Azeris’
frustration and anger about their plight as displaced persons are
deeply at odds. Neither community appears prepared to agree to the kind
of steps toward resolution of the conflict currently being considered
by the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in the negotiations
sponsored by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE).
For many historical, demographical, geographical, and economic
factors, Azeris and Armenians living in and around the conflict zone
are dependent on each other. Yet they are deeply divided by mistrust.
Demonisation of the “other”, rising military expenditures, and
increasing ceasefire violations are all ominous signs that time for
a peaceful settlement may be running out.
Parallel processes are needed for a stable settlement. This report
explores how the Armenian and Azeri communities from Nagorno-Karabakh
and the surrounding districts live today and view the potential
resolution of the conflict. A subsequent report will shortly assess the
OSCE-sponsored diplomacy and attempt to bridge the gap between it and
the situation on the ground, focusing with specific recommendations
on both the main issues that must be treated in a peace agreement
and on what needs to be done to further inter-communal reconciliation.
;l=2
–Boundary_(ID_znGYcXWxGxd0wn36edERFw)–

EU OFFICIAL ACCUSES TURKEY OF PROVOCATION
By Jan Sliva
The Associated Press
09/13/05 17:26 EDT
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) – The official in charge of European Union
expansion accused Turkey of provocation on Tuesday, saying it was no
coincidence that the trial of a Turkish novelist would clash with a
EU summit.
Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner overseeing expansion plans, said the
prosecution of author Orhan Pamuk violated a human rights convention.
He also said it would take at least 10-15 years to finish negotiations
with Turkey on its possible accession to the bloc, and warned Ankara
that the pace of the talks will depend on how quickly it recognizes
Cyprus.
“The Pamuk case raises serious questions about the interpretation of
Turkey’s new penal code. The Dec. 16 date can’t be just a coincidence,
it has to be a provocation,” Rehn told the European Parliament’s
foreign affairs committee. Dec. 16 is also the date of an EU summit.
Rehn added that the case violated the European Convention on Human
Rights.
Pamuk has been charged with insulting Turkey’s national character and
could face prison for his comments on Turkey’s killing of Armenians
and Kurds.
“Thirty-thousand Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in these
lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it,” Pamuk was quoted as
saying in an interview with a Swiss newspaper magazine in February.
The “one million Armenians” refers to Armenians killed by Ottoman
Turks around the time of World War I, which Armenians and several
other nations recognize as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Turkey vehemently denies that a genocide took place, saying the
death toll is inflated and Armenians were killed in a civil war as
the Ottoman Empire collapsed, eventually giving way to the Turkish
Republic in 1923.
Turkey, which has been trying to improve its human rights record
as it vies for EU membership, is extremely sensitive about both the
Armenian and Kurdish issues, and the new Turkish penal code makes it
a crime to denigrate Turkey’s national identity.
The code – adopted at the EU’s insistence – was debated earlier this
year and freedom of speech advocates said the clause on national
identity was too vague and could lead to the imprisonment of artists,
scholars and journalists.
Rehn said the European Commission will continue to closely monitor
human rights issues in Turkey, but still expects the accession
negotiations to start on Oct. 3 as scheduled, despite EU government
grumbling over Turkey’s refusal to recognize Cyprus.
In August, Turkey signed a customs protocol extending its existing
customs arrangements with the 25-member EU to the 10 new members
including Cyprus. But it accompanied its signature with a separate
declaration saying this did not mean it was formally recognizing the
divided Mediterranean island.
Rehn said formal recognition “was not a precondition” to start the
Oct. 3 talks. “However, it is regrettable that Turkey had to issue
a declaration accompanying the protocol,” he said.
The European Court of Human Rights – based in Strasbourg, France –
ordered Turkey on Tuesday to pay more than $85,932 to the relatives
of two suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party
who were killed in a police raid in 1996.
An anti-terrorist squad shot Omer Bayram and Ridvan Altun in an
operation which the court said violated three articles of the human
rights convention.

SECOND AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION YOUTH ACTIVIST DETAINED
The Associated Press
09/13/05 06:35 EDT
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) – An activist of Azerbaijan’s Yeni Fikir
(New Thought) opposition youth movement was detained, lawyers and
prosecutors said Tuesday, in the latest sign of rising tensions in
the run-up to the November parliamentary election.
Said Nuriyev was taken into custody Monday as a suspect in the case
already launched against the movement’s leader, Ruslan Bashirli, said
Tarana Velizade, a spokeswoman for the Prosecutor-General’s office.
Bashirli was accused of taking part in a meeting with agents from
Azerbaijan’s rival neighbor, Armenia, aimed at organizing an uprising
by pro-democracy forces in Azerbaijan.
Nuriyev was accused of receiving instructions for carrying out a coup
in Azerbaijan during a trip to Poland, his lawyer Yaver Huseyn said,
citing the warrant.

“BIG BUSINESS” IN THE SPORT-CONCERT COMPLEX
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| 15:46:00 | 14-09-2005 | Social |
The trade-industrial exhibition “Armenia Expo-2005” will be held in
the hall of the Sport-Concert Complex after Karen Demirchyan for three
days. The event is unprecedented as it is the largest ever organized
in independent Armenia.
“The exhibition proves that Armenia has become a regional systematizing
business center”, said head of the Union of Industrialists and
Businessmen Arsen Ghazaryan. The organizers of the exhibition are
elated by the fact that not only the local producers (there are about
62 of them), but also 20 organizations from abroad have represented
their products in the exhibition.
The guests f the exhibition represent 15 countries – Russia, Romania,
Moldova, China, Japan, Great Britain, etc.
By the way, within the framework of the three-day “Expo” an
Armenian-Russian business meeting will be held, and US and China
business days will be organized. Nevertheless, the most important
event for the producers is the competition titled “High quality”.

JOINT POST
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| 14:25:31 | 14-09-2005 | Official |
Robert Kocharyan signed decree on appointing RA Ambassador
extraordinary and plenipotentiary to UK Vahe Gabrielyan pluralistically
RA Ambassador to Ireland (residence in London).

ATTENTION TO AGRICULTURE
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| 15:16:57 | 14-09-2005 | Politics |
Today in New York UN General Assembly 60th session high-level meeting
started. Heads of Governments of more than 170 countries participate
in the summit, including the RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan.
On September 13 Andranik Margaryan met the «Millennium Challenges
Corporation» (MCC) heads temporary executive director Charles Setnes
and deputy head of the Countries’ Program John Hugo. During the
meeting issues about cooperation with the MCC have been discussed.
The sides have expressed their pleasure with the cooperation of the
working groups. The MCC has expressed its approval of the Millennium
Challenges Armenian draft program represented by the RA Government.
During the meeting the RA Prime Minster mentioned that special
attention must be paid to agriculture, especially to farms. The
representative of MCC found the provision of transparency in the works
of the MCC governing council extremely important. He mentioned that
with that aim representatives of non-governmental organizations and
civil society must be included in the Council.
In this concern the Prime Minister mentioned that the RA Government is
for transparency of processes, and the choice of the above mentioned
organizations can be realized by joint efforts of the representatives
of MCC and non-governmental organizations and civil society.
–Boundary_(ID_keiTL5MKnIsIxgFYxYCuYg)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress