FM REAFFIRMS TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AS KEY CONDITION FOR CONFLICT SETTLEMENT
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 8 2005
Baku, September 7, AssA-Irada — Baku is ready for a speedy
settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh
within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, foreign minister Elmar
Mammadyarov said at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in
Vienna. “Azerbaijan is ready for the conflict resolution based on
respect for its territorial integrity and sovereignty. The status of
the Upper Garabagh region of Azerbaijan Republic should guarantee
a peaceful co-existence of the Armenian and Azeri residents”, the
minister said in a statement published on Wednesday. The status should
be determined with the full-fledged involvement of both the Azeri
and Armenian communities of the region, as this is the most fair
alternative, Mammadyarov said. The minister positively assessed the
intensifying process of conflict resolution, saying that official Baku
hopes Armenia will adhere to a constructive position. Azerbaijan’s
chances for settling the conflict ‘have never been higher’, he
said. Mammadyarov mentioned that as a result of the ongoing political
and military aggression against Azerbaijan, a massive re-settlement
of Azerbaijanis took place amid indifference of the international
community. “The geo-political impact of this conflict tramples on
Azerbaijani borders and impedes the establishment of normal relations
in the entire South Caucasus region…Armenia will not be able to
seize a single patch of Azerbaijan’s land. Although they inflicted
considerable damage to Azerbaijan, the strongest blow was dealt upon
Armenia itself.”*

KATRINA – THE AFTERMATH BUSH’S MOTHER SPARKS ANGER WITH COMMENTS
Townsville Bulletin/Townsville Sun (Australia)
September 8, 2005 Thursday
FORMER first lady Barbara Bush has fueled anger by saying Hurricane
Katrina victims in Houston, Texas were ‘underprivileged anyway’.
Mrs Bush also said life in the Astrodome sports arena is ‘working
very well for them’.
The comments by the mother of President George W Bush have added
weight to claims the Bushes are out-of-touch patricians.
“Almost everyone I’ve talked to says ‘we’re going to move to Houston’,”
Mrs Bush said in a radio interview after visiting evacuees at the
Astrodome with her husband, former president George Bush.
“What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay
in Texas.
“Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.
“And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were
underprivileged anyway, so this — this is working very well for them.”
Her comments were aired late on Monday on Marketplace, an American
Public Radio show broadcast nationwide.
They triggered a flood of negative messages on the Huffington Post,
a popular left-leaning web page.
“Cold hearted witch,” read one of the more polite comments, signed
by IowaDem. “No wonder her son remained on vacation, playing guitar
and eating cake instead of seeing that aid and rescue operations
were well-managed.”
Another writer found the comments hard to believe. “Did she really
say that?” wrote ‘Stephen.’ “My God! What or who have we become?”
WHO GAVE WHAT… A list of international government aid offers
Afghanistan — $US100,000 ($A131,388)
Armenia — $US100,000 ($A131,388)
Australia — $US7.6 million ($A9.99 million)
Azerbaijan — $US500,000 ($A656,943)
Bahamas — $US50,000 ($A65,694)
Bahrain — $US5 million ($A6.57 million)
Bangladesh — $US1 ($A1.31 million)
Belgium — Medical/logistics teams to Red Cross
Britain — Military food rations
Canada — two helicopters, 32-person rescue team, Air Canada evacuation
flights, medical supplies
China — $US5.1 million ($A6.7 million) and relief supplies
Djibouti — $US50,000 ($A65,694.39)
Finland — three logistics experts to help Red Cross
France — tents, tarps, military food rations, water treatment supplies
Gabon — $US500,000 ($A656,943)
Georgia — $US50,000 ($A65,694)
Germany — military rations and high speed pumps
Greece — cruise ships to house survivors (private offer)
India — $US5 million ($A6.57 million)
Israel — tents, first aid kits, baby formula
Italy — generators, water pumps/purifiers, tents, medical supplies
Japan — $US1 million ($A1.31 million), generators, tents, blankets,
bottled
water
Kuwait — $US400 million ($A525.56 million) in oil, $US100 million
($A131.39 million) in cash
Maldives — $US25,000 ($A32,847.19)
Mexico — bedding, military rations, baby care items, personal
hygiene kits
Norway — $US1.54 million ($A2.02 million) in relief supplies
Qatar — $US100 million ($A131.39 million) cash
Saudi Arabia — $US5.25 million ($A6.9 million)
Singapore — three helicopters
South Korea — $US30 million ($A39.42 million) cash and donations
Sri Lanka — $US25,000 ($A32,847.19) cash
Taiwan — $US2 million ($A2.63 million) plus medical supplies
Thailand — Large amounts of food
United Arab Emirates — $US100 million ($A131.39 million)
Venezuela — Up to $US1.0 million ($A1.31 million) to Red Cross
Organisations:
International Committee of the Red Cross — web-based tracing system
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation — coordinating European assistance
offers Organisation of American States — $US25,000 ($A32,847)
UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs — disaster
assessment and coordination team/logisitics support
UN World Health Organisation — Public health officers and logistics
experts.

AZERBAIJAN: EXILES’ PARTICIPATION IN ELECTION CAMPAIGN UNCERTAIN DESPITE REGISTRATION
By Jean-Christophe Peuch
Radio Free Europe, Czech rep.
Aug 7 2005
(RFE/RL) The international community has long pressed the government
of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to improve its democratic
credentials and ensure that legislative polls due later this year are
free and fair. Now, in a move seen as a concession to foreign pressure,
election officials have authorized two prominent exiled opposition
leaders to seek parliamentary seats. But whether the two men will be
able to return to Azerbaijan to participate in the election campaign
remains uncertain.
Prague, 7 September 2005 (RFE/RL) — On 5 September, an election
commission in Baku registered former President Ayaz Mutallibov as a
candidate in the 6 November polls.
Mutallibov now co-chairs the Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan.
He has been living in exile in Russia since 1992.
Last month, another election commission in the Azerbaijani capital
registered former parliament speaker Rasul Quliyev as a candidate.
Quliyev chairs the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan and has been living
in self-exile in the United States since 1996.
Both men are wanted in Azerbaijan on charges they deny.
The Council of Europe, which Azerbaijan joined in 2001, has been
pressing the successive government of late President Heidar Aliyev
and his son Ilham to allow both political exiles to return home and
participate in the country’s political life.
Their recent registration is seen as a concession to European pressure
on the part of Azerbaijani authorities.
Speaking to our correspondent from Russia, Mutallibov welcomed the
decision that in theory allows him to campaign in Baku’s Yasamal
district.
“My reaction is very positive. I met the news with great
satisfaction. In this regard I would like to say that I agree
with those analysts and observers who say the first stage of the
electoral process is relatively transparent. [This being said,] the
vote itself must be perfectly transparent and I do hope it will be,”
Mutallibov said.
But whether the first president of post-Soviet Azerbaijan will be
allowed to return home safely remains under question.
Just hours after Mutallibov spoke to RFE/RL, the Prosecutor-General’s
Office in Baku ordered his immunity to be lifted. Mutallibov
subsequently declined to comment on the decision, which he said was
“predictable.”
The Prosecutor-General’s Office last month took a similar step with
regard to Quliyev, less than 24 hours after an election commission
in Baku’s Xatai district had registered the former parliament speaker
as a candidate.
Under Azerbaijani laws, candidates seeking parliamentary seats are
granted immunity from penal prosecution that can be lifted only if
they commit a crime during the election campaign.
Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor-General Zakir Qaralov last month said nothing
prevented Mutallibov and Quliyev from registering as candidates in
the upcoming polls. But he made it clear both men would be arrested
upon their arrival in Baku.
Quliyev tells RFE/RL he will challenge the prosecutor-general’s
decision to lift his immunity before an Azerbaijani tribunal and,
if necessary, before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
“I deeply regret that the Prosecutor-General’s Office made this hasty
decision. Were they afraid I would show up in Baku within the next
four or five hours [that followed my registration], or what? This
decision violates Azerbaijan’s constitution and other laws. By doing
this they cast an enormous doubt on the democratic character of the
upcoming polls,” Quliyev said.
Quliyev left Azerbaijan in the midst of growing disagreements with
Heidar Aliyev. He is wanted in Azerbaijan for allegedly embezzling
$100 million between 1990 and 1995, first as a state oil executive,
then as parliament speaker.
The charges facing Mutallibov are multiple.
He is reportedly wanted for his alleged responsibility in the bloody
army crackdown in Baku on 20 January 1990. Then-Prime Minister
Mutallibov took over as first secretary of Azerbaijan’s Communist
Party only after the Soviet military intervention, which claimed
nearly 170 lives.
Other reports say the former Azerbaijani president is wanted for his
failure to prevent the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenian forces
and for a 1996 failed assassination attempt against Heidar Aliyev.
Faced with increasing criticism over Karabakh, Mutallibov was forced
to resign in March 1992. He fled the country a few weeks later after
a failed attempt to retake power.
Mutallibov says he is not familiar with the legal proceedings initiated
against him.
“I’ve never seen them. During all [13] years [I’ve spent in exile],
I haven’t seen anything. Authorities [in Baku] could have sent
any document to the country I’m forced to live in, but that never
happened. They can’t even formulate the charges. At some point they
mentioned the events of 20 January 1990. But everyone knows they
were directly connected to a decision made by [then-Soviet President
Mikhail] Gorbachev. Then they invented something else. But they never
produced anything concrete,” Mutallibov said.
Quliyev says that whatever the risks, he will return to Azerbaijan
before the election.
“My plans haven’t changed. I am still a registered candidate. Under
Azerbaijani laws, no prosecutor, no official can lift my immunity.
Even if today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow a court rules that
the prosecutor-general’s decision is right, I will not change my
plans. I will return to Azerbaijan and take part in the elections,”
Quliyev said.
Fuad Alasgarov, a high-ranking official in Azerbaijan’s presidential
administration, on 5 September suggested that political exiles campaign
while staying out of the country.
But Quliyev says he will not even consider that option.
“No government official can settle this issue. This issue must be
settled in line with the law. And the law says [authorities] have
no right to take such decisions and impose such conditions on me,”
Quliyev said.
Mutallibov also says he plans to return to Baku soon despite the risk
of being detained.
But, unlike Quliyev, he hopes Ilham Aliyev’s calls for national
reconciliation will eventually materialize, thus allowing him to
escape criminal prosecution.
“When people ask me what I expect, I tell them I expect the head of
state to make a decision. I do hope he will make a decision.
Generally speaking, things are moving in the right direction,”
Mutallibov said.
Aliyev has repeatedly vowed to hold free and fair elections
in November. But he has not publicly commented on the issue of
Azerbaijan’s political exiles.
If Quliyev is allowed to take part in the November election, he will
run on the lists of Azadliq (Freedom), the opposition coalition that
comprises the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, the reformist wing of
the Popular Front of Azerbaijan, and the Musavat party.
Mutallibov is registered as a candidate for Yeni Siyaset (New
Politics), Azerbaijan’s other main opposition coalition.

GREECE BEGINS SALE OF 10 PERCENT OF OTE TELECOMS GIANT
Agence France Presse — English
September 7, 2005 Wednesday 10:49 AM GMT
The Greek state has begun selling an additional 10 percent share of
the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE), Finance Minister
George Alogoskoufis said Wednesday.
“The process to sell a 10-percent share in OTE began last night,
following a decision by the inter-ministerial committee (on
privatisation),” Alogoskoufis told reporters.
The sale of OTE shares, which will reduce the Greek state’s holding in
the company to 27.7 percent, began on the New York Stock Exchange late
on Tuesday and continued on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday,
Alogoskoufis said.
Partially controlled by the Greek state, the OTE group, which comprises
the profitable Cosmote Greek mobile telephony unit and subsidiaries in
Armenia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania, reported last week first-quarter
net profits of 212.5 million euros (265 million dollars).
The profits of OTE group had risen by 107.7 percent from the equivalent
figure in 2004, the company said at the time.
Eight banks, four of them international and the remainder Greek,
are involved in the sale, which will also available on the Athens
Stock Exchange, Alogoskoufis said on Wednesday.
About 49 million shares will be sold, translating into earnings of
800 million euros for the Greek state, Net state television reported.

ARMENIA PROVIDES HUMANITARIAN AID TO HURRICANE-HIT US AREAS
By Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
MOSCOW, September 6
September 8, 2005 Thursday 12:39 PM Eastern Time
Armenia has provided 200,000 U.S. dollar humanitarian aid to residents
of the U.S. areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, the government press
service told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
Armenian President Robert Kocheryan conveyed his condolences to his
U.S. counterpart George W. Bush on the tragedy.

ELECTION SYSTEM OF ARMENIA DELIBERATELY IMMERSED INTO CHAOS, THINKS REPRESENTATIVE OF OPPOSITION AT ARMENIAN CEC
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8. ARMINFO. The election system of Armenia was
deliberately immersed into chaos. Representative of the opposition
bloc Justice at the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia Felix
Khachatryan said at a press conference today.
He thinks that in the basis of the election process, in the voters’
list, something unimaginable is happening. In particular, on September
25 elections to the post of the prefect of Yerevan Center community
are expected, however, the voters’ lists of the polling station at
Gevorg Emin No. 182 school in Tigran Mets street lack families of
500 electors, the residents of the dwelling house N.31 in Tigran Mets
street, several flats of some houses in Yervand Kochar and Vardanants
streets were not included in the lists at all.
Moreover, middle names of two electors in voters’ lists were
“Azerbaijan.”
The number of voters at one polling stations differs from that of
another polling station by 10,000 and even 12,000 people, while in
conformity with the law, the difference must not exceed 5,000 people.
These inaccuracies are deliberate and from “above.” Before the
referendum, the number of electors accidentally decreases and than
increases before the elections. Such manipulations are possible only
from “above.”
Khachatryan did not answer the question “what to do” calling
journalists and representative to go to the polling stations and made
sure that he was rights, an than to hold a journalistic investigation.

EUROPEAN DIARY: UPCOMING CONFERENCES: “HAS TURKEY CHANGED?”
European Report
September 7, 2005
[parts omitted]
Comprehensive conference to address various points relating to
Turkish membership of the EU. To be followed on 23 September by the
Consultative Meeting of European Armenians: this will bring together
leaders of Armenian associations and organisations to discuss Turkey’s
EU membership, the new neighbourhood policy with Armenia and the role
of Armenian culture in Europe. Both events open to public.
Information:

SPEAKER OF TURKISH SENDS LETTER TO HIS COUNTERPARTS FROM 16 COUNTRIES, WHO HAVE RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8. ARMINFO. Speaker of the Turkish parliament
Bulent Arinch sent a letter to his counterparts from 16 countries,
which have recognized Armenian Genocide.
As the Turkish daily Milliyet reports, in his letter sent to the
speakers of the parliaments of Switzerland, Poland, Slovakia, Lebanon,
Canada, Argentina, Germany, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy, Greece,
Uruguay, Swede, Russia and Venezuela, Bulent Arinch mentioned that
“there is nothing to hide in the history of his country and there
is nothing shameful”. “The adoption of the accusations against
Turkey on perpetration of the Armenian genocide, cause deep concern
and disappointment among the MPs of Turkey”, said in the letter.
Bulent Arinch once more supports the position of Turkey saying that
“the historians must estimate the history” and presents as “tragic
events between Turks and Armenians, which took place the years of the
World War I”. According to him, official Ankara has proposed Armenia
to establish a joint group of historians for examination of all the
archive documents of these events and submission of the results to
the international community.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT ESTONIA
Baltic News Service
September 7, 2005
Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan is scheduled to arrive
in Estonia today on what will be the first ever visit by a defense
minister of Armenia here.
In the course of the visit a cooperation memorandum between the
two countries will be signed, spokespeople for the Estonian Defense
Ministry said.
Sargsyan and his Estonian counterpart, Jaak Joeruut, are to discuss
developments related to the NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan
(IPAP) for Armenia and opportunities for bilateral defense cooperation
in the future.
Also to be dealt with are the reforms of defense forces under way
in the two countries and Armenia’s and Estonia’s participation in
international peacekeeping operations. Other topics include regional
cooperation, spokespeople for the Estonian ministry said.
On Thursday morning, Sargsyan will meet with Estonia’s Chief of Staff
Alar Laneman, after which he will proceed to the southern city of
Tartu to visit the Baltic Defense College and meet its chief Algis
Vaiceliunas.
The memorandum of understanding dealing with defense cooperation
between Estonia and Armenia will be signed at the Estonian Defense
Ministry Friday morning, to be followed by a meeting with the chairman
of the Estonian parliament’s defense committee, Toivo Tootsen.
The Armenian minister will also visit the Armenian church in Tallinn
to meet with representatives of Estonia’s ethnic Armenian community.
He will leave Estonia Friday afternoon.
In 2005, Estonia is the chairman of the forum of countries providing
defense assistance to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Sargsyan and Latvian Defense Minister Einars Repse signed an
agreement about defense cooperation between Armenia and Latvia in
Riga on Tuesday.

ASHULUK SETS RECORDS
by Major Andrei Sobolevsky
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
September 7, 2005, Wednesday
SOURCE: Vo Slavu Rodiny (the newspaper of the Belarusian Defense
Ministry), September 3, 2005, p. EV
COMBAT TRAINING
(…) The exercise conducted by Belarus units during Combat
Commonwealth-2003 was more spectacular. Tajik and Armenian units did
not cope with their tasks and Belarus missile units had to intercept
their targets. (…) The first missile hit the Strizh target. The
second hit its burning fragments in a second. The 302nd missile
brigade produced an impression on observers – it shot down targets,
which simulated cruise missiles, from the Osa anti-aircraft complex.
This year the exercise was not as spectacular. The exercise was
conducted without surprises. The crews detected their targets and
destroyed them. No emergencies happened because servicemen prepared
for the exercise properly. (…)
Belarus crews did not have problems at all, which testifies to
high professionalism of defenders of the sky. They shared their
experience with their counterparts from the CIS. Officers of the
battalion commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Fedotov (the 115th
anti-aircraft missile brigade) trained the Tajik crew of the S-125
anti-aircraft complex. It should be noted that Armenian crews coped
with combat tasks using military hardware prepared by specialists of
the 15th missile brigade.
(…) This contributed to the prestige of the Belarus anti-aircraft
school. Belarus crews did the major part of preparatory work.
There was one more aspect. The crews conducted an exercise with combat
shooting on the eve of tactical episodes of the third stage of the
CIS anti-aircraft system. Russian counterparts proposed Belarus crews
to intercept the Pishal target. The target was created on the basis of
the S-125 missile. It simulates a ground-to-ground operational-tactical
missile. It should be noted that before the crews intercepted only 40%
of such targets (the crews used the S-300P anti-aircraft complex).
There was a risk to miss the target. However, Lieutenant-General
Oleg Paferov, Commander-in-Chief of the Air and Anti-Aircraft Force,
decided to shoot. (…) The experimental exercise would help the
crews uncover their weak points.
The first missile was launched at the Pishal target by the battalion
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Vladimir Zhikharevich. By the way, the
battalion failed to intercept the first target because of a technical
problem. (…) The unit had to intercept a more difficult target in
order to rehabilitate itself. The battalion coped with this task.
The unit coped with the task thanks to its experience and regular
training. In particular, Russian pilots who checked the reliability
of Belarus units on duty simulated a real air attack. Colonel Sergei
Lemeshevsky, commander of the exercise, said that there were around
40 targets in the air. Many targets flew at a low altitude. This was
the most difficult attack in the history of Belarusian anti-aircraft
units. Belarusian servicemen passed this test!
Lieutenant-General Oleg Paferov, Comander-in-Chief of the Auir and
Anti-Aircraft Force, noted that he is satisfied with the results of
the exercise. (…) Belarusian anti-aircraft units will have to pass
a more difficult test in 2006. They will participate in an exercise
of the operational-tactical command involving aviation.