PACE Mulls Karabakh Conflict, MP Demands Armenia to Honor UN Resolutions
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2005
The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagrno Karabakh was discussed by
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Paris on Monday.
Azerbaijan was represented by its delegation at PACE and the
President’s special envoy Araz Azimov, while Armenia – by its
parliament members and a foreign ministry official at the second
subcommittee meeting, chaired by the former PACE president, British
MP Lord Russel Johnston.
Azeri MP Asim Mollazada speaking at the meeting demanded Armenia to
implement the four UN Security Council resolutions on its unconditional
withdrawal from the occupied Azerbaijani territories. He stressed the
need for accelerating a peaceful, stage-by-stage conflict resolution.
“But first, refugees must return home, their security ensured, and
then, communication lines opened and normal relations established
between the two sides. Only after this, the issue of legal conflict
settlement may be considered.”
The subcommittee meeting was attended by the head of British LINKS
non-government organization, the OSCE chairman’s envoy, French
and Russian co-chairs of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group, the OSCE
PA rapporteur on the Karabakh conflict and the European Union
representative on South Caucasus.

Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
September 12, 2005 Monday
Final Edition
Loose association of former Soviet states hasn’t replaced USSR: They
can’t even unite for a common cause
by David Marples, Freelance
Is the CIS dead? The recent summit, held in Kazan, Tatarstan, despite
official publicity making much of an occasion that coincided with
the 1,000th anniversary of the city, provided clear signs that the
association has become practically defunct, and little more than
ceremonial.
The Commonwealth of Independent States was founded in December 1991
by the leaders of three former Soviet republics — Russia, Ukraine
and Belarus — as a means to accelerate the collapse of the Soviet
Union and to ensure that the Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev,
was deprived of any meaningful function. At that time Gorbachev had
tried to persuade several republics to sign a document that would have
prolonged the Soviet Union through decentralization while allowing
Moscow to control defence and foreign policy.
The founders of the CIS anticipated that it would be of benefit to the
various republics (the Baltic States never participated) to continue
to maintain close economic and security links.
Initially the informal capital of the CIS was to be Minsk, Belarus.
Yet, from the outset, there were some serious problems. For one thing,
the legal basis of the new organization was never clarified. The three
leaders who had signed the deal had no consent from their parliaments,
and its secretive nature carried all the hallmarks of a well-laid plot.
Ukraine never accepted formal membership, though it attended meetings
as an observer. The first Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, never
took the organization very seriously, other than during elections,
when he would use the CIS as a symbol of a Russian-led entity in what
he termed the Near Abroad.
As the Russian 14th Army established a breakaway republic at Tiraspol
in Moldova, several states feared that Russia intended to use the
CIS to control its former partners and to establish a new power base.
Other organizations developed outside and parallel to the CIS from
1996, the most serious being the GUUAM, a partnership that received
support from the United States and consisted of countries around
the Black Sea region (Georgia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and
Moldova); the Russia-Belarus Union (Russia and Belarus); and the Common
Economic Space Group (CES — Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan).
Other states have maintained a preference for bilateral relations
outside these entities.
According to U.S.-based Russian analyst Sergei Blagov, Russian
president Vladimir Putin has veered from supporting the idea of a
“divorce” among CIS states, to promoting greater unity after the 60th
anniversary of Victory Day in Moscow last May.
However, the Kazan summit appeared to make it plain that the CIS will
soon be dissolved. There are several reasons why.
First, Turkmenistan declined to attend the occasion, and its president,
Saparmurat Niyazov, declared that his state would become no more than
an observer in the future. Second, Georgia, one of the more activist
republics under President Mikhail Saakashvili, has initiated the
formation of what is termed a group of “democratic states” on the
border of Russia that would be oriented toward the United States
and the EU in particular. Third, Ukraine under Viktor Yushchenko has
stalled on the signing of 29 documents on the Common Economic Space,
agreeing to only about half of them.
The presence of Ukraine in Kazan at all was something of a surprise.
A meeting between Yushchenko and Belarusian president Alyaksander
Lukashenka produced few results and a proposed exchange of visits to
each other’s capitals failed to materialize.
Other states that might have resolved longstanding issues also failed
to do so, most notably Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh; and the Republic of Moldova and its
separatist enclave, the Transdniester Republic.
Though the separation of the CIS states into authoritarian and
democratic regimes is somewhat facile, there is little doubt that
the states that have undergone political changes in recent times
–Ukraine, Kyrgyszstan and Georgia — are perceived by several others
as dangerously subversive, particularly by the virtual dictatorships of
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, and the genuine dictatorship
in Belarus.
But such states have not found a natural home under Moscow’s influence
either.
Russia indeed remains the most enigmatic of the CIS states, as
Putin appears to have accepted a smaller role on the world stage and
focused more on consolidating his own authority and removing internal
enemies. To date, he has tried to maintain cordial relations with the
United States while increasing his control over parliament and the
media through his security forces. He may thus decline to take steps
to dissuade Turkmenistan from its departure, and other republics are
thus likely to follow.
That still leaves scope for Russia to tighten its links with its
closest allies, Kazakhstan and Belarus, while exerting pressure
on its former closest partner, Ukraine, through economic pressure,
particularly the threat to raise oil and gas prices to world levels.
The CIS served the essential function of legitimizing the rise of
Russia over the Soviet Union, and what was essentially an internal
coup d’etat by former president Yeltsin. But as a loose association
of willing partners, it has failed manifestly to replace the USSR,
or even to unite the former republics in a common cause.
David Marples is a professor of history at the University of Alberta

NOVEMBER OF 2005 WILL BE A REVOLUTIONARY MONTH FOR ARMENIA: OPPOSITIONIST
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 13. ARMINFO. The ruling coalition suffered defeat
when discussion draft constitutional reforms in the second reading,
Secretary of the opposition bloc Justice Victor Dallakyan said at
the parliament Tuesday.
Being aware of its defeat, the ruling coalition state that if the draft
fails to pass the referendum, it would not mean the public distrust
in the ruling regime. In reality. The failure of the draft at the
referendum will be the political death of the ruling regime and a
display of the people’s distrust in it. In this case, the ruling
regime must resign as it is in developed democratic states.
Dallakyan called on the population to vote against the draft.
In his turn, another Represetnative of the bloc, Leader of the national
Democratic Bloc Arshak Sadoyan stated that November of 2005 will
become a revolutionary month as the referendum for constitutional
reforms will result in a revolution in Armenia.

Lebanon firm ends Iraq work to save worker
United Press International
Sept 13 2005
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept. 13 — A Lebanese company announced Tuesday that
it ceased operations in Iraq in response to demands by the kidnappers
of one of its employees.
Geo-Trading, which the kidnappers accused of exporting spirits and
alcoholic beverages to Iraq, said in a statement that it was operating
in Iraq according to local laws and never violated any legislation.
The company’s employee, Garabet Shirikjian, a Lebanese-Armenian,
was kidnapped in Baghdad three weeks ago. He appeared on a videotaped
broadcast on television two days ago begging his company to save his
life by stopping operations in Iraq.
The statement said the company closed all its offices in Iraq,
dismissed its employees and decided not to operate in Iraq in order
to save its employee.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA TO SHOWCASE ITS PRODUCTS AT RUSSIAN EXHIBITIONS
Armenpress
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS: Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov will open
an open-air fair of Armenian products in a downtown Moscow square on
September 24. The two-day event is being organized by the Armenian
Development Agency (ADA) with the support of the Armenian government,
Armenian embassy in Moscow and Moscow government.
Vahagn Movsisian, head of ADA, said sixty Armenian companies will sell
their products and information booklets about another 100 Armenian
companies will be disseminated to visitors. Armenia will also showcase
its achievements in high technology, tourism and hotel businesses at
another exhibition in the southern Russian city of Rostov on Don on
November 17.

ARMENIAN MOD HEAD POSITIVELY ASSESSED ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN MILITARY COOPERATION LEVEL
Pan Armenian News
13.09.2005 03:35
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “There are no obstacles on the way of promotion of
the Armenian-Russian military cooperation,” Secretary of the National
Security Council at the Armenian President, Armenian Defense Minister
Serge Sargsyan stated. It should be noted that the Armenian MOD head
takes part in the final phase of the annual joint Armenian-Russian
military and tactical exercises that are held on the ground after
marshal Baghramyan in Armavir region of Armenia. The Minister
also added that no misunderstanding is available concerning these
matters. “I assess the level of Armenian-Russian military cooperation
as positive. Main indicator of this are the joint Armenian-Russian
military exercises held today and their efficiency,” he emphasized. In
his turn CSTO Sec. Gen. Nikolay Bordyuzha, who has also observed
the exercises, stated the joint exercises were a success. “However,
not the effect of exploding bombs, but efficient cooperation of the
Armed Forces of the two countries is the thing that is important,”
he said. “We observed exercises held at a high level,” Bordyuzha
remarked. At that in his words, there is always space for expansion
of joint activities. “It might be as well for the special forces to
take part in the next exercise to work out counter-terror tasks,”
he summed up, reported IA Regnum.

PresseMesse, Buchclub, Orhan Pamuk
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12.09.200 5
Parallel zur Frankfurter Buchmesse findet in diesem Jahr erstmals
die PresseMesse statt. Der “Kontakter” hat nachgefragt, welcher Ruf
der Gemeinschaftsschau in der Branche vorauseilt.
“Ein Blick auf die Referentenliste zeigt, dass hier nicht
die Geschaftsfuhrer der großen deutschen Verlage auf der
Buhne stehen. … Holger Busch, Geschaftsfuhrer Marketing und
Anzeigen im VDZ erklart: ‘Fur Publikumszeitschriften ist jeder Tag
Messetag.’ Interessierte Leser brauche man nicht unbedingt auf der
Buchmesse zu suchen. Schließlich seien Zeitschriftensortimente an
jedem Bahnhofkiosk einsehbar. Interessant sei die Veranstaltung eher
fur Herausgeber von Fachzeitschriften, meint Busch. … Sabine Voss,
Leiterin des Berliner Buros der Deutschen Fachpresse, beurteilt
die Situation zunachst ahnlich. Allerdings glaubt sie, dass die
PresseMesse in einigen Jahren fur alle Special-Interest-Anbieter
eine Chance darstellen kann – nicht nur fur diejenigen, die ihre
Magazine ausschließlich uber Abonnements verkaufen. Es werde etwas
Zeit brauchen, meint Voss, bis sich die PresseMesse etabliert.”
Die Marketing-Offensive des Bertelsmann-Buchclubs ist Thema im
“Handelsblatt”:
“Nun soll der Verlustbringer mit einer Fokussierung auf das
Buchgeschaft und neueren Laden aus den roten Zahlen kommen. Von den
300 Laden in Deutschland sind aber nur 80 renoviert. ‘Der Club galt
lange als Nachspieltheater’, sagt Clubchef Marc-Oliver Sommer. Kunftig
will er stattdessen exklusive Bucher verlegen wie zum Beispiel eine
aufwendige Neuausgabe von Dantes ‘Gottlicher Komodie’ mit Bildern
des spanischen Malers Miguel Barcelo. Den Billigheimer wollen die
Bertelsheimer nicht mehr machen. ‘Wir sind kein Discounter und werden
auch nie einer sein’, sagt Sommer.”
Es sei kein Zufall, dass der Friedenspreistrager Orhan Pamuk ebenso
wie sein Vorganger, der 1997 mit demselben Preis ausgezeichnete
Yasar Kemal, mit der Justiz zu tun bekommt, meint die “Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung”.
“Das macht sozusagen den Ehrentitel turkischer Autoren aus, dass
sie seit den Tagen des Tanzimat, der Reformen in der zweiten Halfte
des 19. Jahrhunderts, immer wieder mit Verbannung, Gefangnis oder
juristischen Nachstellungen zu rechnen haben. Pamuk hatte die
Armenier-Massaker beim Namen genannt und die ungloste Kurdenfrage
in einer Art und Weise angesprochen, die dem Staatsanwalt mißfiel.
Zuvor hatte es schon ein Kesseltreiben gegen den Autor wegen seiner
Äußerungen gegeben; er spielt namlich so gar nicht die nationale Leier,
deren Tone man noch immer gerne hort in der Turkei.”
–Boundary_(ID_hli3WezMttKCAnWK4+R4HA)–

PACE ARMENIAN AND AZERI DELEGATIONS MAY MEET IN OCTOBER
Pan Armenian News
13.09.2005 04:31
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The sitting of the PACE Temporary Commission for
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh issue, formed in compliance with
the PACE Resolution 14-16 was held in Paris yesterday. Deputy Chairman
of the Armenian NA, PACE Armenian delegation head Tigran Torosyan
detailed the session. In the course of the discussions Links British
NGO Executive Director Dennis Sammut presented a historical excursus
to the prehistory of the conflict and the current situation. “The
report was interesting and balanced, it formed an unbiased notion of
the conflict,” T. Torosyan noted. Later head of the OSCE Department
of the Armenian MFA V. Nersisyan acquainted those present with
Armenia’s stand over the conflict and the settlement prospects. Azeri
Deputy FM Araz Azimov was supposed to present his country’s posture,
however, he presented his own stand. These speeches were followed
by a report of the OSCE MG Co-Chairs Bernard Fassier (France) and
Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), as well as American Co-Chair Steven Mann’s
representative. The main idea put forward by the report was that
it is impossible to solve a conflict based only on principles of
territorial integrity and people’s right to self-determination. “It
is necessary to apply both Helsinki principles – the territorial
integrity along with the so-called “occupied territories” and the
right to self-determination along with the issue of the status,” the
report says. In his statement PACE Rapporteur on NK G. Lennmarker
repeated the ideas of his famous report, emphasizing the idea of
providing large autonomy to NK as part of Azerbaijan. EU Special
Representative for South Caucasus Heikki Talvitie also presented his
viewpoint. The speech of Russian delegation head Constantine Kasachev
may be marked out of these statements. “Conflicts have different causes
and the CE should not duplicate OSCE,” he noted. Turkish delegation
leader tried to repeat Azerbaijan’s legend on 20% of occupied lands,
however got confused and presented other figures. T. Torosyan noted
in his statement that besides the conflict settlement it is necessary
to solve several important issues. The first is clear division of
mandates between the OSCE, CE and PACE. The OSCE MG should deal
with conflict settlement issues, the CE with forming an atmosphere
necessary to solve the conflict. He also noted that it is impossible to
solve that conflict without application of the principle of people’s
right to self-determination. In response to Azerbaijan’s statements
PACE Armenian delegation member Shavarsh Kocharyan cited many facts
evidencing militant propaganda and belligerent statements by the Azeri
party, which obviously violates the PACE Resolution 14-16. Upon the
completion of the discussions the Commission continued work and it was
decided to hold the next meeting in December. However it is necessary
for the Armenian and Azeri delegation to meet in the course of the
October session to discuss further actions.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO HOST CONFERENCE ON TURKEY
IRNA, Iran
Sept 13 2005
Brussels, Sept 13, IRNA
The European Armenian Federation For Justice and Democracy (EAFJ)
is organizing a conference on the theme “December 2004 – October
2005; Has Turkey changed?” in the European Parliament in Brussels on
September 22.
The one-day conference is supported by the European Peoples’ Party
and European Democrats (EPP-ED) the biggest political group in the
European Parliament, according to an EAJF press release.
The meeting aims to take stock of the situation in Turkey, a few days
before the probable negotiation kickoff with the European Union.
EU and Turkey are expected to begin entry negotiations on October 3.
Representative of Human Rights NGOs, MEPs as well as political leaders
from various European parties are expected to attend the event.
The Brussels-based EAFJ says it represents European citizens with
Armenian origin to European Institutions, federates several national
organizations and associations of European countries, and promotes
and defends cultural and political rights of Armenian people worldwide.

ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO USA AND USAID CHAIRMAN DISCUSS ECONOMIC REFORMS IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 13. ARMINFO. Armenian Ambassador to the USA Tatul
Margaryan and USAID Chairman Andrew S. Natsios discussed economic
reforms in Armenia in Washington.
Press and Information Department of the Armenian Foreign Ministry
informs ARMINFO that the sides noted the high economic indicators
in Armenia due to economic reforms. Ambassador Margaryan thanked
Andrew Natsios for constant support of USAID to Armenia. He noted
the importance of the projects implemented in Armenia, in particular,
in the sphere of poverty reduction, economic development, creation of
new jobs and raising the social level of the population. Ambassador
Margaryan emphasized the importance of the USAID- implemented program
in the disaster zone. In his turn, Andrew S. Natsios highly appreciated
the effective cooperation of USAID and the Armenian Government. Taking
into account the interests of Andrew Natsios, Tatul Margaryan invited
him to Armenia to get first hand view of the results of USAID projects
in Armenia.