MILITARY COOPERATION
A1+
| 12:43:08 | 05-09-2005 | Official |
On September 5 the Delegation of the Secretary of the Security Council
under the RA President, the Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan will
leave for the Republic of Latvia on an official visit.
Within the framework of the visit the delegation will sign
memorandumabout Military cooperation between Armenia and Latvia.

SLOVENE FOREIGN MINISTER PLEASED WITH PROGRESS IN NAGORNYY KARABAKH TALKS
STA news agency, Ljubljana
5 Sep 05
Baku, 5 September: Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, the OSCE
chairman-in-office, said he was satisfied with the progress in the
talks on a resolution on Nagornyy Karabakh as he visited Azerbaijan
on Monday [5 September].
Speaking to the press after meeting Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov
in Baku – the first stop of his two-day tour of Azerbaijan and Armenia
– Rupel called on Azerbaijan to keep striving for a solution to the
conflict with Armenia in spite of the current election campaign.
Because of the 6 November parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan,
it is difficult to assess how the talks will progress, he said.
The Slovene foreign minister expects the two countries to continue
their dialogue on the matter, although he admitted that “it is clear
that serious open issues remain”.
The two sides agree on matters in principle, but a lot is open in
terms of the technical nature of the solution, he said.
Rupel also held talks with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, who briefed
him of the talks he held with Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharyan
on 27 August in Russia. Moreover, he met Azeri PM Artur Rasizada.
The Nagornyy Karabakh “is a long story with many components”, Rupel
stressed, adding that he doubted a solution could be reached during
Slovenia’s stint as OSCE president.
There is concern in the international community that the forthcoming
elections might derail the progress in the Nagornyy Karabakh talks,
as the conflict could become a tool for internal political purposes.
However, Mammadyarov downplayed the possibility of the conflict
becoming hostage to political campaigning in Azerbaijan. The
negotiations are continuing, however, the issue is so complex that
a solution cannot be reached in just a few days, he told the press.
[Passage omitted – background]
Meanwhile, the upcoming parliamentary elections figured highly in
Rupel’s talks with Azeri opposition officials and representatives of
NGOs, who presented their concerns regarding the elections.
According to Leila Yunus from the NGO Institute for Peace and
Democracy, non-governmental organizations have been barred from
overseeing the elections, which she believes is a sign that the
government does not want the poll to be free and fair.
Rupel said it was not the OSCE’s task to criticise but to offer
advice on elections to participating states. He added that he hoped
that certain problems regarding election teams and electoral rolls
would be resolved ahead of the poll.
Meanwhile, Mammadyarov said he was convinced the elections would
be free and fair. Admitting that Azerbaijan could not achieve
Western-styled democracy overnight, he pointed out that the elections
would be monitored by observers from the OSCE and the Council of
Europe.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE HEAD URGES AZERBAIJAN TO HOLD FAIR ELECTION
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
5 Sep 05
[Presenter] The Council of Europe secretary-general, Terry Davis, is
in Azerbaijan. In an interview with journalists at the Heydar Aliyev
international airport, Terry Davis said that the main purpose of his
visit is to familiarize himself with the preparations for the November
parliamentary election. The secretary-general said that hopes are
high that the election will be held more professionally than before.
[Terry Davis, in English with Azeri voice-over] The election is
extremely important for Azerbaijan and we will discuss the pre-election
situation first. This is the basic aim of my visit to Azerbaijan. I
hope that this election will be held more professionally than before.
I shall discuss this issue at meetings with the Azerbaijani
authorities. I am not here to give my support to a political
organization or an individual. I support a just and fair election in
Azerbaijan. I am sure the election will be in full compliance with
Azerbaijan’s interests. I think citizens will vote for individual
candidates. As for the Karabakh issue, I have always paid attention
to this problem.

EDGAR MANOUCHARYAN INJURED AGAIN
A1+
| 15:03:01 | 05-09-2005 | Sports |
The 18-year-old player of the Armenian National team and “Ajax” Edgar
Manoucharyan was injured at the very beginning of the match with the
Holland national team, as a result of which he left the game.
The trauma turned out to be a serious one. According to the doctors,
Edgar will be able to play again in a month only.

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY SPLITTED UP
A1+
| 14:40:25 | 05-09-2005 | Politics |
Today the ex-members of the council of the Republican party who left
the party made an official announcement commenting on their decision.
Mr. Bazeyan represented the content of the announcement, “Expressing
our disagreement with the political path of the Republican party,
considering the hopes to solve inner political problems with the help
of outer powers unacceptable, considering the promises to organize
revolution periodically given to the people non-realistic, as well
as considering the search for scape-goats for their own mistakes
unacceptable, we announce that we are ceasing our member ship to the
Republican Party”.
The announcement has been signed by the ex-members of the council of
the Republican party Albert Bazeyan, Vagharshak Haroutyunyan, Simon
Gregorian, Hovhannes Aharonyan, Hayrapet Margaryan, Armen Lazarian,
and Gevorg Andrikyan. More detailed comment will be made during
tomorrow’s press conference in which Vagharshak Haroutyunyan will
also participate.

YEREVAN TO BE CLEANED
A1+
| 14:31:08 | 05-09-2005 | Social |
Yerevan will be cleaned with the help of a Russian company with
which the Armenian side has signed a contract to get refuse-cleaning
containers. The head of the Construction, reconstruction and communal
economy department of the Yerevan municipality Frunzik Basentsyan
informed about it today.
The residents of the Arabkir community will be the first to get the new
containers. They will arrive in Armenia till the end of September. At
present there are 6000 containers in Yerevan. According to Basentsyan,
450 tons of house refuse is taken out of Yerevan. The process is
carries out by 12 organizations with 270 cars.
By the way, the workers of the organizations are paid only for moving
the house refuse. As for the technical dumps, the citizens must pay
separately for their cleaning.
Mr. Basensyan was surprised to learn that very often refuse cars
are driven without a cover violating the sanitary norms. “I have
never heard of it. If there are such cases, those responsible must
be punished for it”.

HAKOB BEGLARYAN APPOINTED
A1+
| 14:48:21 | 05-09-2005 | Official |
By the decision of the RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, Gagik
Khachatryan has been resigned from the post of the head of the “State
Purchase Agency” state non-commerce organization.
By another decision of the Prime Minister, Hakob Beglaryan was
appointed head of the “State Purchase Agency” state non-commerce
organization.

PUBLIC PRESSURE POSTPONES EVICTION
A1+
| 13:50:29 | 05-09-2005 | Social |
Today at 08:00 a.m. 5 families were to be evicted from the Buzand
street. The eviction is supposed to be repeated daily till there
are no old dwellers in the street.
Today residents of the North and Main Avenues, other citizens,
students, representatives of non-governmental organizations were
gathered in the street in order not to allow the eviction to be carried
out. At about 10:30 – 11:00 a.m. several policemen visited the street,
but seeing the crowd, left immediately.
Let us remind you that on September 1 the house of the Mouradyans has
been leveled to earth. The family has lived in the street ever since,
as no money has been allotted to them to buy a new house.
By the way, the crowd was determined not to allow any eviction
today. Head of the North Avenue Residents Committee Vachagan Hakobyan
announced, “If they come, we will never give up and let them destroy
another house”.
The residents were even “prepared” to meet the police. Resident of the
Buzand street Susanna Pogosyan confessed that has 3 large canisters
of petrol at home. “I’d better die. Otherwise, where shall I go? Come
into my house and see how many children I have. My family consists
of 12 persons. I cannot hire an apartment”.

ARMENIA WILL NOT WITHSTAND AZERBAIJAN’S ONSLAUGHT – PRESIDENT
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted Sept 5 2005
Baku, September 2, AssA-Irada President Ilham Aliyev has said
that Armenia will not be able to withstand Azerbaijan’s onslaught.
“Azerbaijan is very powerful and Armenia will not be able to withstand
its onslaught. But we do not want war, as it would kill scores of
people. I believe that sooner or later we will return our land. No
one should doubt this”, Aliyev told Turkey’s influential Hurriyet
newspaper. “Every Azerbaijani deeply believes that a day will come
when the occupied territories will be freed and Azerbaijan’s banner
will wave over Garabagh again.” Aliyev also commented on the results
of his Saturday meeting with the Armenian President Robert Kocharian
in the Russian Volga river city of Kazan. “There are no results
yet. Armenians are waiting for us to grant them independence. But
this is impossible. Preserving Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is
of primary importance for us.” The President noted that he told his
Armenian counterpart that Azerbaijan is ready to ensure security of
Armenian residents of Garabagh. “I underlined that Baku will not allow
the Armenian community to be endangered.” Aliyev emphasized, however,
that ‘they [Armenian armed forces] are not willing to free our land’.
The President said that during a recent phone conversation with the US
Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice said Washington wants the sides to
reach a conflict settlement. “I do not understand why Armenia, which
is an aggressor country, is not punished, although it is clear that the
Armenian lobby is strong. The current situation is utterly unfair.”
Aliyev said that after the talks, he sensed a softening in Kocharian’s
position, although this did not suffice for the conflict resolution.
“We have taken all the possible steps. However, Armenia is disregarding
the view of the international community. Over a million Azeri citizens
have been left without homes.” The President noted that the West
supports a speedy settlement of the conflict and Azerbaijan will do
its utmost to achieve this.*

ARMENTEL PAID
A1+
| 15:10:49 | 05-09-2005 | Social |
According to the decision of the RA Economic Competition Defense state
Committee August 12 decision, “ArmenTel” has paid 158 million 572
thousand 244 drams to the state budget. The company has represented
a corresponding document to the Committee today.
Let us remind you that the Committee had fined “ArmenTel” for abusing
their high status in the RA communication field and for the bad
quality of the cellular communication.