THE NA PRESIDENT CONTINUES HIS VISIT TO USA
National Assembly of RA (press release), Armenia
Sept 6 2005
Continuing his visit to Washington Artur Baghdasaryan NA President
met the leaders of a number of international organizations, which
have authority in democracy development, protection of human rights,
fighting corruption and other fields (“Transparency international,”
“Freedom House,” “ABA-CEELI,” US National Democratic Institute,
US Peace Corps).
Issues concerning the democratic and electoral reforms in Armenia,
fighting corruption, support of human rights and free media,
cooperation in fighting against terrorism were discussed. During the
meetings concrete arrangements for future cooperation were reached.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SITTING OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE SUB-COMMITTEE ON NAGORNO KARABAKH TO TAKE PLACE IN PARIS ON 12 SEPTEMBER
Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 6 2005
The second sitting of Council of Europe sub-committee on Nagorno
Karabakh will take place in Paris on 12 September.
According to the information given to APA by the member of the
sub-committee Asim Mollazade, this sitting is of great importance.
“This committee is charged with the execution of the Resolutions
adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe and all
the issues concerning the Nagorno Karabakh problem will be discussed
seriously in this meeting. The administration of the Minsk Group
has also been invited to the meeting; they will inform the committee
members about the talks held in the direction of peaceful regulation
of the conflict”.
Asim Mollazade said that the representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group
members countries have been invited to the meeting too. “The meeting
will focus on serious discussions, we shall try to find an answer
to the question “What will the Council of Europe recommend to the
process of talks?” within one day”.
It must be noted that, the head of the lower committee is member
of British parliament, Lord Russell Johnston. Azerbaijan will be
represented by parliamentarians Samad Seyidov and Asim Mollazade.
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov will attend the meeting in
Paris too.

OSCE CHAIRMAN STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF TOP-LEVEL CONTACTS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN
Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE)

Sept 6 2005
/noticias.info/ The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister
Dimitrij Rupel, stressed the importance of continuous contacts between
Azerbaijan and Armenia at the highest level in meetings with President
Robert Kocharian and other leaders in Yerevan on Tuesday.
“There have been encouraging signs in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement process over the last few months and we see both prospects
and the difficulties in the process,” Minister Rupel said.
“I understand that the discussions between the leaders of the
two countries have moved in a very constructive direction. I see a
promising opportunity for progress and I am convinced the two parties
should make full use of the opportunities to accelerate the conflict
settlement process.”
During his visit, Minister Rupel also met Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and representatives of
NGOs. He had a separate meeting with the leader of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Arkadyi Gukasian.
Minister Rupel said the OSCE welcomed close co-operation with the
Armenian authorities on a number of issues, from legislative reform
to the Police Assistance Programme and the project to dispose of the
rocket fuel component known as “Melange.”
The Chairman-in-Office was also encouraged by progress on
constitutional reform in Armenia.
“The OSCE welcomes the fact that long-term work has resulted in the
recent draft of constitutional amendments, which was revised based
on the comments of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe,”
he said.
The Chairman-in-Office stressed the need for broader public involvement
in the process of constitutional reform in order to prepare for a
successful referendum. He also underlined the importance of improving
Armenia’s electoral framework.
“The OSCE stresses that political will and implementation in good faith
of the recently amended Electoral Code are the major preconditions
for ensuring genuinely democratic, free and fair elections,” Minister
Rupel said.
During his meeting with Foreign Minister Oskanian, the
Chairman-in-Office also discussed OSCE reform. “We count on Armenia’s
active participation in the discussion on reform of OSCE, by which
we wish to strengthen its effectiveness,” Minister Rupel said.

U.S. AMBASADOR TO OSCE: “U.S. OBSERVES ELECTIONS PROCESSES AZERBAIJAN WITH GREAT INTEREST”
Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 6 2005
The United States is watching the election process in Azerbaijan with
great interest.
We appreciate the progress made to date.
As we have stated on many occasions, the United States strongly
supports free and fair elections in Azerbaijan, U.S. Ambassador
to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Julie Finley briefly outlined basic U.S. policies on several issues
relating to the South Caucasus at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent
Council in Vienna, Austria, September 1.
Secretary of State Rice spoke with President Aliyev about this just
last week. We look for guarantees that those who campaign will be free
of harassment and intimidation. We look for guarantees that parties
and candidates will have equal access to the media. And we look for
guarantees, that in the post-election period, the voters of Azerbaijan
will see the honest results of their voting – in the cities, towns,
and villages, she said.
The United States supports Georgia’s territorial integrity and
continues to support peaceful settlement of the South Ossetia and
Abkhazia conflicts in Georgia, she said. The United States remain
concerned that the situation in South Ossetia is tense.
“We call on both sides to fulfill previous agreements to bring greater
stability to the situation on the ground. We urge both sides to engage
in a direct dialogue to restore confidence and begin discussions toward
the resolution of the status of South Ossetia within Georgia. We
believe that economic cooperation and confidence-building measures
have an important role to play and are encouraged by progress in
this regard. We urge the international community, and particularly
the Russian Federation, to lend support to such efforts,” she stressed.
Finley noted that the United States supports fully the continuing
work of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to facilitate a peaceful, negotiated
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In her recent phone calls
with Armenian President Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Aliyev,
Secretary Rice encouraged each president to make the compromises
necessary to reach such a settlement. The Minsk Group Co-Chairs have
indicated a desire to brief the full Minsk Group in the near future
on the progress of the negotiation process.

VATICAN REACTS TO ARMENIAN MONASTERY DESECRATION
Financial Mirror, Cyprus
Sept 6 2005
A decision by the Turkish occupation regime to grant a “license” to
operate a recreation centre in the Armenian Monastery of Surb Makar
(Saint Makarios) in the Halefka area, north of the Turkish occupied
village of Kythrea, has spurred a strong reaction by the Vatican.
Cypriot Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said today that
the government totally agreed with the Vatican’s reaction, noting
that it was after moves by the government that the desecration of
the monastery had come to the attention of the Vatican.
The Spokesman noted that “various protests were made and there has
been a reaction on behalf of the Vatican, which says and stresses
in its verbal note that the attention of the competent Turkish
authorities has been drawn to the specific case, as well as other
lamentable incidences.”
Chrysostomides added that this was “a severe response, which is not
customary on behalf of the Vatican, and the language used is also
stern against the occupation authorities.”
“We totally agree and it is after actions by the government that the
desecration of the monastery has come to the attention of the Vatican,”
the Spokesman pointed out.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PURPOSE IS TO DEFEND RIGHTS OF NKR CITIZENS
Evika Babayan
Azat Artsakh Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
05 Sept 05
In the Soviet Union the first non-governmental association for
the rights of citizens was founded in 1969. One of the founders
of the civic action group for human rights in the USSR was Henry
Altunyan. Human Rights Artsakh Association NGO was registered in
NKR on June 28, 2002. At present 8 persons are involved in the
organization, seven of them are lawyers. They are judges, lawyers
and businessmen. Two members of the association live in the United
States. The goal of the organization is to defend the rights, freedoms
and legal interests of man and citizen as one of the indivisible and
superior values, guided by the principles of legality and humanism. The
objectives of the organizations are provision and defence of the rights
and legal interests of NKR and foreign citizens, holding seminars,
trainings and consultations widely involving people in order to improve
awareness, exchange of experience of supporting human rights and legal
interests with local and international organizations Our interview
is with the chairman of the Human Rights Artsakh Association, Georgy
Safaryan. Evika Babayan: “Mr. Safaryan, how did the idea of founding
an association occur?” Georgy Safaryan: “The idea, in fact, came to
many members of our organization. Karabakh is an unrecognized state,
and human rights are often violated here. We want to help people in
some way and therefore decided to set up an NGO to support human
rights and freedoms, help them defend their rights. Access to our
organization is free and people know this very well. Many turn to
us for help. The help is, actually, free of charge though there is a
nuance, but it is not already human rights but services of a lawyer. We
work out projects for protection of certain groups of citizens and
organize the work in accordance with them.” E.B.: “What projects is
the organization working on at present?” G.S.: “We have three projects
that we are going to implement. We try to struggle against corruption
We have broken the project into three stages. In the!
first stage we will conduct an opinion poll to find out what people
know about corruption generally and if they ever faced this phenomenon
or not. In the second stage we will sum up the results of the survey
and conduct a round-table meeting on TV and in press for people, the
authorities, political parties and set this topic for discussion. The
third stage of the project is to look for ways and methods of struggle
against corruption. I know that it is impossible to eliminate it
but at least we may try to prevent it. The second project concerns
the rights of workers. It refers to the labour code.” E.B.: “But
labour unions were set up for defending the rights of workers. What
is your role then?” G.S.: “I know about the labour unions and it is
good that they are there. It often happens that people are employed
without signing a labour contract. As a result the person works but
the period when he works is not added to his years of service. On
the one hand, this is violation of their rights, on the other hand,
it spurs black economy. As a result the citizens’ rights are violated
and taxes are not paid to the government. The project is divided into
three stages. In the first stage it is planned to find facts, persons
and companies whose rights were violated. In the second stage the
whole material should be put together and extended to relevant bodies
(public prosecutor, tax agency, etc.) to take necessary measures. In
the third stage we will extend our conclusion to the relevant bodies
of the government and the National Assembly. Te third project refers
to the health sector. We know that a number of laws concerning health
were adopted but we would like to find out if these laws are effective
and if the workers of the health sector follow them. The reason is
that we receive a lot of complaints that in some hospitals people are
asked to pay for free services. Those who are granted allowances are
also asked to pay. There were also complaints from people who were
granted allowances but could not get med!
icine for free. Li ke the other two, the third project is also divided
into three stages: fact finding, summary and conclusion to be extended
to relevant bodies. We hope to finish the project by the end of the
year.” E.B.: “Do you have relationships with similar organizations of
Armenia and the CIS?” G.S.: “Yes, we set up relationships with the
ombudsman of Armenia Larissa Alaverdyan and proposed a project of
cooperation. Through our members in America we set up relationships
with the Global Exchange. By the way, the representatives of this
organization monitored the recent parliamentary election.” E.B.:
“Mr. Safaryan, could you bring concrete cases when the rights of the
citizens were defended by the organization?” G.S.: “First I want
to remind that our organization defends human rights. We cannot
take part in the work of courts, police if it is not a case of
violation of human rights, i.e. illegal arrest, violence, etc. As
to concrete cases, in 2003 a doctor of the mental hospital turned
to us for help. The police had sent a person to the hospital for
examination. He suffered from alcohol addiction and had neurotic and
mental problems. After the treatment the person could be discharged
but the police did not permit to. Our investigation revealed a case
of violation of human rights, when he was illegally forced to stay
at the mental hospital. We immediately prepared a letter addressed to
relevant bodies, including the director of public prosecutions and the
Ministry of Health, and the person was immediately discharged from the
mental hospital and sent to his place of residence.” E.B.: “Did the
ethnic minorities ever turn to you for protecting their rights?” G.S.:
“Ethnic minorities did not turn to us, and the reason may be their
small number. As to religious minorities, some of them complained that
their organizations could not be registered, and we helped them.” E.B.:
“Mr. Safaryan, what would you like to add in the end?” G.S.: “We are
hopeful to start cooperation with all the relevant org!
anizations and we believe that both as an organization and individuals
we will be able to accomplish NKR as a lawful country and promote
democratic institutions, one of them being human rights.”

RUSSIAN NUCLEAR POWER STATION STAGES LARGE-SCALE EXERCISE
RIA news agency
6 Sep 05
Moscow, 6 September: A scheduled comprehensive anti-emergency exercise
started at the Kola nuclear power station today, RIA-Novosti learnt
at the Rosenergoatom concern. Taking part in the exercise is a group
for providing urgent help to nuclear power stations.
The main aim of the exercise is to improve cooperation and exchange
of information in case of an emergency at a nuclear power station,
to check how the personnel, special equipment and communications are
working in an emergency mode.
Under the scenario for the exercise, “there has been a hypothetical
major accident [Russ: zaproyektnaya avariya] involving the breakage
of the collector of the 3rd steam generator at the reactor of the 4th
power unit of the Kola nuclear power station, followed by a release
of radioactive material into the atmosphere”. A state of emergency
has been announced at the nuclear power station and the evacuation
of the personnel has been organized.
At the moment experts from Rosenergoatom and the group for providing
urgent help to nuclear power stations and representatives of research
and design institutes of Rosatom [the Federal Agency for Atomic Energy]
and the Russian Academy of Sciences are holding consultations with
the participants in the exercise through a video conference call.
International experts from the USA, France, Finland, Sweden, Norway,
Armenia and Ukraine are watching the exercise.
In addition to special-purpose groups, representatives of insurance
companies have also arrived at the Kola nuclear power station to
assess the damage to the station and the population.
“Insurance against such accidents provides for liability to third
countries, the Scandinavian countries in particular,” Rosenergoatom’s
Deputy Director-General Viktor Cherkasov [as received, should be
Nikolay Sorokin] has said.
Rosenergoatom’s technical director has said the exercise at the
Kola nuclear power station costs R25m, “including R22m for technical
equipment and R3m for the exercises of the group for providing urgent
help to nuclear power stations”.
One thousand and sixty-nine people and 94 pieces of technical equipment
are taking part in the exercise.
“In the exercise, we envisage events which in real life are not
possible at a nuclear power station,” Sorokin stressed. He said
for instance that as part of the exercise at the Kola nuclear power
station “20 per cent of the fuel in the active zone has been damaged,
which is impossible in real life”.
Sorokin also said that the next exercise would be held at the
Novovoronezhskaya nuclear power station in 2006.

RUSSIA, ARMENIA TO HOLD JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE
RIA Novosti, Russia
Sept 6 2005
TBILISI, September 6 (RIA Novosti, Marina Kvaratskhelia) -Russia and
Armenia are to hold a joint military exercise from September 7 to 14,
a spokesman for the Russian armed forces announced Tuesday.
Vladimir Kuparadze, Press Officer of Russia’s South Caucasus Command,
said the exercise will be held at the Bagramyan firing range in
Armenia and that it will involve both air and ground forces.
It will be held in keeping with the CIS Collective Security Treaty,
which also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

NATIONAL STRATEGIC PROGRAM FOR EXPORT ENCOURAGEMENT PRESENTED IN YEREVAN
Yerkir
06.09.2005 15:51
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – The concept of the National Strategic Program
for Export Encouragement was presented on Tuesday at the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau in Yerevan, ARF Armenia Supreme
Body press service reported.
The concept emphasizes that the economic growth at this stage is
only possible if the export volumes are greatly increased. Initiated
by the ARF, the program has been developed by Armenia and Diaspora
economists, experts and specialized organizations over a one-year
period. The concept was published in the Yerkir Weekly and its web
site:
Scientific and educational institutions as well as other interested
organizations have submitted their opinions — mostly positive —
over the project. The program includes the analysis in the export
area as well as the goals and principles of the export encouragement
policies. The program also touches upon such aspects as the need for
political will and formation of institutional mechanisms among others.
The ARF will submit the program to the Armenian government and
will pursue that the program is included in the priorities of the
government’s economic program.

OSCE HEAD SEES SIGNS OF RAPPROCHEMENT BETWEEN ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN
Mediamax news agency
6 Sep 05
Yerevan, 6 September: The OSCE chairman-in-office, Slovenian Foreign
Minister Dimitrij Rupel, said in Yerevan today that there are
“certain signs of rapprochement between Armenia and Azerbaijan”
on the Karabakh settlement.
Speaking at a briefing in Yerevan today, Dimitrij Rupel noted that
“the main problem in the talks lies in details”, Mediamax reports. The
OSCE chairman-in-office said that “I did not get the impression that
the forthcoming constitutional referendum in Armenia might influence
the peace process”.
Commenting on the Azerbaijani leadership’s bellicose statements,
Dimitrij Rupel said that “my interlocutors in Baku had a peaceful
and conciliatory position and I did not hear any calls for war”.
Asked by Mediamax about Dimitrij Rupel’s reaction if he receives
factual proof of the bellicose rhetoric of the Azerbaijani authorities,
Dimitrij Rupel said: “I do not welcome calls for war, we are seeking
peace. If I hear such a statement, I’ll try to urge its author to
change his mind.”
For his part, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan described as
“extremely dangerous” Azerbaijan’s illusions that the inflow of oil
dollars will ensure Baku’s superiority in resolving the Karabakh
problem in a military way. “If the Karabakh problem had a military
solution, we would not be discussing settlement issues today, as the
Armenians have won the war,” Vardan Oskanyan said. Asked about the
possible influence of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline on the settlement
process, the Armenian foreign minister said that “we prefer to
consider this project as an additional factor in the cause of
maintaining peace”.
“We proceed from the fact that numerous countries and companies are
involved in the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline and Azerbaijan will not be able
to make a unanimous decision to resume hostilities,” the Armenian
foreign minister said.