13 Years Have Passed Since The Maragha Tragedy

A1plus

| 19:36:29 | 11-04-2005 | Politics |

13 YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE THE MARAGHA TRAGEDY

The events of thirteen years’ prescription in the village of Maragha of the
NKR Martakert region occupy a special place by the depth of human tragedy,
the level of cruelty, the number of people exposed to violence and captured.

On April 10, 1992, as a result of the Azerbaijani regular army units’ attack
the village was basically destroyed. According to various data, from 53 to
100 peaceful inhabitants were brutally killed, including 30 women, 20 of
them of declining years. Their bodies were mutilated, beheaded, divided and
burnt. 53 peaceful people were captured, including 9 children, 29 women
(about 3 tens of hostages were then killed in the Azerbaijani captivity).

After 2 weeks Maragha was again attacked, the population deported, the
houses robbed, many of them burnt. The deportation of the population was
accompanied with the acts of violence and humiliation.

The observers note the events in Maragha also in the context that the
violence on the peaceful population was made in the frames of military
operation by a concrete military unit. It was not accidentally that the
majority of the hostages appeared in private houses of the servicemen of the
Interior Ministry, Defense Ministry, Detachments of Militia of Special
Assignment, etc. The destiny of many hostages is not known yet.

Baroness Karoline Cox, who had visited the place of the tragedy, was shocked
to the innermost of her heart by what she had seen. «They are not of human
race» – the Baroness so spoke of the DMSA servicemen who had carried out the
slaughter.

Anastasyan Among The Leaders

A1plus

| 18:51:46 | 11-04-2005 | Sports |

ANASTASYAN AMONG THE LEADERS

In the international chess competition in Dubai Grossmeister Ashot
Anastasyan is playing quite successfully. In the 6th round playing with
black draughts he beat Alexey Alexandrov and shares the 1st place with 5
other players with 5.5 points. Anastasyan has won 5 games and played one
draw.

Gabriel Sargsyan too is playing well. He won the game of the 6th round and
has now 5 points. Artashes Minasyan and Elina Danielyan are in the middle of
the list with 4 points each.

BAKU: Aliyev meets with speaker of Nat’l Assembly of Pakistan

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
April 12 2005

PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV MEETS WITH SPEAKER OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF
PAKISTAN CHAUDHRY AMIR HUSSAIN
[April 12, 2005, 16:33:09]

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met at his temporary residence
in Islamabad with Speaker of the National Assembly of the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan Chaudhry Amir Hussain on April 12.

The Speaker said it was a great honor for him to see President Ilham
Aliyev in Pakistan, noting the two peoples have much in common, and
that in the light of expanding relations between Azerbaijan and
Pakistan, the reciprocal visit by the two Presidents were of great
importance for both nations.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed satisfaction with mutual support of
Azerbaijan and Pakistan in the international organizations,
especially noting that with respect to Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh
problems. `We highly appreciate it, and I am very happy that our
dialogue, our cooperation have been intensively continued after the
Pakistani President’s visit to Baku. This dialogue serves enhancing
of both bilateral and international cooperation,’ he said.

The parties stressed the importance of strengthening the two
countries’ interparliamentary relations, as well. Mr. Chaudhry Amir
Hussain noted in this connection that according to Pakistani law, an
interparliamentary friendship group is led by a Speaker. `So, as a
head of the group of friendship with Azerbaijan I will do intensify
my related activities,’ he said.

President Ilham Aliyev and Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain also touched
upon the trade and economic issues noting with this respect the
importance of intensification of the Azerbaijan-Pakistan
intergovernmental commission’s activities. They especially mentioned
the existence of huge potential for cooperation in the spheres of
agriculture, pharmaceutical industry and tourism.

In the end, President Ilham Aliyev invited Speaker of the National
Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Chaudhry Amir Hussain to
visit Azerbaijan.

Shots From Azeri Side Registered During OSCE Contact Line Monitoring

SHOTS FROM AZERI SIDE REGISTERED DURING REGULAR OSCE CONTACT LINE
MONITORING

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 12. ARMINFO. A regular OSCE monitoring was held
westward from Verin Chailu, Nagorno Karabakh republic, Monday, reports
the press service of NKR FM.

>From the NKR side the monitoring was held by Miroslav Vimetal (Czech
Republic) and Oleksander Samarsky (Ukraine), field assistants to the
personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office Andrzej
Kasprzyk; from the Azeri side by Kasprzyk himself.

During the monitoring the NKR DM and FM representatives accompanying
the OSCE mission registered shots from the Azeri sides – northward
from Verin Chailu. The monitoring was continued after the sides got
reconfirmed security guarantees and was held according to the
schedule.

Eurasia Daily Monitor – 04/05/2005

The Jamestown Foundation
Tuesday, April 5, 2005 — Volume 2, Issue 66
EURASIA DAILY MONITOR

IN THIS ISSUE:
*Voronin returned to office in Moldova
*Kyrgyz presidential race begins to take shape
*President Aliev visits Warsaw, seeking advice
*Georgian, Kazakh leaders discuss trade and transit issues
—————————————————————————-

MOLDOVA’S VORONIN REELECTED PRESIDENT WITH BROAD DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT

On April 4, Moldova’s President Vladimir Voronin was reelected to a
second four-year term by an unprecedented — indeed, until now,
unthinkable — political alliance, ranging from his Communist Party to
right-wing Christian-Democrats and right-of-center
Social-Liberals. This informal alliance defeated Moscow’s goal of
unseating Voronin. The parties to this alliance hope against
considerable odds to turn it into a political construction for the
four-year duration of the newly elected parliament.

A ten-point reform agenda (see below), worked out by
Christian-Democrat People’s Party (CDPP) leader Iurie Rosca and
Social-Liberal Party (SLP) leader Oleg Serebrean with Voronin and his
aide Mark Tkachuk, laid the basis for the informal alliance that
reelected the president. Rosca and Tkachuk also co-authored a
pro-reform inaugural address, read by the parliament’s new chairman,
Marian Lupu, a 38 year-old Western-trained economist without party
affiliation.

Under the Moldovan constitution, the president is elected by
parliament with the votes of at least 61 members out of 101. The March
6 parliamentary election gave the Communists 56 seats. The staunchly
anti-communist CDPP and SLP, with 11 and three seats, respectively,
refused until the last moment to support the reelection of a communist
president, although Voronin is a communist in name only. The Bloc
Moldova Democrata’s (BMD) “centrist” leaders, Russian-backed but
waffling, in command of some 20 deputies, maneuvered to prevent a
61-strong majority from forming. BMD leaders wanted to trigger the
constitutional mechanism that leads to the dissolution of parliament
and repeat elections within 45 days. In that case, Russia could have
amply funded a winning electoral campaign based on the Communist
retrograde wing, the red-brown “Rodina” movement, and BMD “centrists”
with financial interests in Russia and Transnistria. Such a campaign
could have convulsed Moldova, and would have opened the door to
significant Russian political influence for the next four years.

While sharing Voronin’s sense of alarm at that prospect, CDPP and SLP
deputies were loath to deviate from life-long anti-communist
sentiments and work with a president who had only recently overcome
his past, and whose entourage and party are in large measure still
mired in that past. Moreover, CDPP and SLP deputies came under intense
pressure from their party organizations, many voters, and several
vociferous newspapers, to refuse any cooperation with a “communist
president” under any circumstances. It was not until April 2 that
Rosca and Serebrean decided to submit the ten-point reform agenda to
the president as a basis for cooperation. Finalized with Voronin and
Tkachuk on the evening before the presidential balloting, the
agreement became the basis not only for the president’s reelection,
but possibly for a political partnership as well.

The ten goals are:
freeing public television and radio from any government control or
political interference and naming an independent board for the
broadcasting media;
closing down government-owned newspapers;
depoliticizing and ensuring the independence of the Central Electoral
Commission;
separating the Prosecutor-General’s office from the government, and
re-staffing it with non-corrupt personnel;
testing the integrity and competence of judges to weed out the
corrupt, under a new Magistrate Council, on the model of Georgia’s
judiciary reform carried out by Mikheil Saakashvili while Justice
Minister there;
ensuring government transparency at every level through media
coverage, Internet availability, full publication of all regulations;
decentralizing local government;
removing corrupt and/or Russia-connected personnel from the
intelligence and security services;
creating a new Constitutional Reform Commission to address existing
“gray areas” in the Constitution and legislation;
turning the Accounts Chamber into an effective anti-corruption tool by
changing its charter to strengthen its independence and integrity.

Many of these points are closely related to the European Union-Moldova
Action Plan for 2005-2008 and should facilitate its implementation. It
is also understood as part of this agreement that the Moldovan party
system would transition toward a center-left/center-right model, with
Voronin intending to initiate the Communist Party’s transformation
into a European-type socialist party. Meanwhile, in his April 4
address to parliament as presidential nominee, and in his acceptance
speech as president-elect the same day, Voronin announced his
intention to give up the post of party leader. He called in eloquent
terms for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Moldova and appealed
to the United States, the European Union, Ukraine, and Romania to
support a democratic solution in Transnistria. Ultimately he garnered
76 votes, including those of several defectors from BMD (Moldpres,
April 4).

Former U.S. Congressman John Conlan (R-AZ) was the indispensable
facilitator in negotiations and document drafting among the political
leaders and factions in Chisinau over a two-week period. He proved
highly effective in reducing deep-seated political and inter-personal
animosities, not only among communists and anti-communists, but also
among opposition figures with long histories of mutual rivalry. Conlan
used his political experience in Black Sea region countries, including
work last year as a consultant to Viktor Yushchenko’s election
campaign.

–Vladimir Socor

AKAYEV OFFICIALLY RESIGNS WHILE KULOV DECLARES CANDIDACY FOR PRESIDENT

Although the mass lootings in Bishkek have ended, Kyrgyzstan’s
political crisis is not over. The legacy of Askar Akayev’s regime is
patently apparent as the new government begins to revise the ownership
status of the country’s major businesses. At the same time, more and
more political figures are announcing their intention to compete for
the presidency. As Bishkek businessman Esenbek Abdyldayev remarked,
“Now the looting begins on the governmental level.”

President Askar Akayev did not reappear publicly until five days after
the opposition declared its victory on March 24. He then refused to
officially resign the presidency until various conditions had been
met. He finally resigned on April 3 after negotiations with a special
parliamentary commission at the Kyrgyz Embassy in Moscow. Before
Akayev’s interview with Ekho Moskvy radio on March 29, there were no
official statements about where he and his family had fled when the
political opposition captured the White House. Akayev and his
daughter, Bermet Akayeva, gave several interviews to foreign media
claiming they had been violently forced out of the country as a result
of a coup d’etat, not a people’s revolution (Ekho Moskvy, March 29,
Komsomolskaya pravda, April 1). After submitting his formal
resignation, Akayev asked for political asylum in Turkey (Akipress,
April 4). This is the second country, after Russia, to which he has
appealed for protection.

Akayev’s refusal to resign quickly after fleeing Kyrgyzstan created a
legal catch-22. The interim government headed by Kurmanbek Bakiyev was
recognized both domestically and abroad, but at the same time there
continued to be an elected president who had lost access to state
power. The status of the newly elected parliament was another point of
concern for the interim government. While opposition protesters argued
for its illegitimacy, opposition leaders such as Felix Kulov strongly
disagreed with the idea of holding new parliamentary elections because
the February 27 ballot had largely met international
standards. Instead, he proposed repeating elections only in some
disputed districts.

Meanwhile, Acting Prime Minister Bakiyev is watching as members of
Akayev’s former opposition and pro-Akayev candidates come forward to
compete in the presidential election in June. But most importantly,
Bakiyev now has to confront Felix Kulov, the country’s best-known
politician. After being freed from prison, Kulov has managed to regain
popular support surpassing that of Bakiyev. Kulov’s prison term was
scheduled to end this September and a special working group has been
formed to review his legal case. The original charges against him will
likely be dropped within the next few months. It is also evident that
Bakiyev’s interim government is not pleased with Kulov’s freedom
(Kommersant, April 2). Frictions between Bakiyev and Kulov are
mounting and, although the two have avoided any harsh statements about
the other, both candidates have made indirect accusations in public.

Bakiyev has a reputation as a clean politician from the south. He has
an even temper, yet strong respect for the rule of law. Southern
residents, including the Uzbek population in Osh Oblast, have great
hopes for their leader. But there is one more southern candidate,
Adakhan Modumarov, who was active in mobilizing the crowds that ousted
Akayev’s government. Modumarov refused a deputy prime minister
position in the interim government and declared his intention to
compete for presidency.

Nurbyek Turdukulov, a Kyrgyz businessman, has also registered to run
for the presidency and has Akayev’s support. Turdukulov is CEO of
Bitel GSM, which controls mobile telephone service in
Kyrgyzstan. Bitel has over 200,000 subscribers and over 200 employees,
a high number by local standards. Although it is unlikely that
Turdukulov will win the presidency, he is laying the groundwork for a
future career as a politician.

The new government will have to face the same problems that led to the
Akayev regime’s ouster: rampant corruption, widespread poverty, and
unbalanced political representation between the northern and southern
halves of Kyrgyzstan. In the long run, Bakiyev, or any other elected
president, may find it difficult to lessen the economic cleavage
between the more prosperous north and the poorer south. The economic
problems are complicated by general underdevelopment, scarce
recourses, and overpopulation in the Fergana Valley. If the government
cannot increase southern living standards in the near future, mass
tensions might arise again.

Unlike in Ukraine, where the Kuchma regime lost much of its support
overnight when evidence of official corruption was revealed to the
public, there is no substantive evidence of Akayev family involvement
in Kyrgyzstan’s largest businesses or embezzlement. However, Akayev’s
personal diaries have recently been discovered, along with records
about positions for sale at government agencies, bribe rates, and
bought parliamentary candidates; these papers might shed light on the
real state of affairs. However, it is already evident that some large
businesses, such as Bitel GSM, are ready to be sold to foreign buyers
without the consent of the new government.

There are dual-power situations at some state institutions, where old
leaders are refusing to yield their positions to newly appointed
officials (Kabar, April 4). For now, the interim government, declared
presidential candidates, and post-revolution policies are under close
scrutiny by the Kyrgyz media. The former opposition’s online editions
have recovered from massive hacker attacks and state-funded television
and newspapers are loosely regulated.

–Erica Marat

AZERBAIJAN’S ALIEV SEEKS POLISH HELP FOR EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

After visits to Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China, Azerbaijan’s President
Ilham Aliev reversed course and paid a visit to a European country —
Poland — on March 30. The trip refuted speculations that Azerbaijan
was gradually shifting its foreign policy course towards the East. The
visit was important from two perspectives: Poland’s involvement in
energy transport issues in Azerbaijan and the political-military
assistance that Poland can render to Azerbaijan in its efforts to
integrate with European institutions. “We should do our utmost to
widen our links in numerous fields,” Aliev said in Warsaw (Baku Sun,
April 1). Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski responded by saying
that Poland was ready to help Azerbaijan integrate into Euro-Atlantic
structures (Zerkalo, March 31).

As in his visits to other countries, economic issues dominated
President Aliev’s program. The inclusion of Minister of Economic
Development Farkhad Aliev (no relation to President Aliev) and the
head of the Customs Committee, Kamaleddin Heydarov, in the delegation
has become a regular feature of the President’s visits. This shows the
vital role that President Aliev gives to the issues of foreign
investment, bilateral trade, and increased economic cooperation.

During Aliev’s visit to Poland, the governments of the two countries
signed several economic agreements on topics such as mutual trade and
economic cooperation, double taxation, and mutual protection of
investments (Azeri Times, April 1). President Aliev also met with
Polish businessmen and encouraged them to invest in the Azerbaijani
economy by describing the recent legal and economic reforms in the
country. A group of Polish private sector representatives already
visited Baku several years ago (Azeri Times, April 1). Poland, which
has recently joined the European Union, can serve as a good model for
— as well as an advocate of — Azerbaijan, which also aspires to
become a member of the EU in the future.

Yet, potential cooperation in the oil and gas sector overshadowed all
other issues. Poland seemed very eager to cooperate with Azerbaijan on
the issue of oil and gas transit from the Caspian region. This topic
has been active since 1998, when Poland’s President Kwasniewski
visited Azerbaijan. On April 3 ANS television’s weekly analytical
program claimed that Poland’s interest in this issue comes from its
desire to lower its dependence on Russian energy supplies. One way
Poland could boost its role in the East-West energy transport corridor
is by extending the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline from Ukraine to the
Polish port of Gdansk on the Baltic Sea. President Kwasniewski has
repeatedly mentioned this idea during bilateral talks.

The project is a worthwhile consideration, if for no other reason than
it would boost the trade between Poland and GUAM members (Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) and lower their dependence on Russia
transit routes. However, in order to fully realize this idea, two
factors are required: increased amounts of oil coming from the Caspian
and reversing the flow of the Odessa-Brody pipeline (currently it is
running southward carrying Russian oil to the Black Sea.) Newly
elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has already expressed
his intention to reverse the course of that pipeline. As for the first
factor, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili recently visited
Kazakhstan where he actively urged President Nursultan Nazarbayev to
ship some Kazakh oil to Europe through Georgia and Ukraine. Nazarbayev
has reportedly promised to send a governmental delegation to
Azerbaijan to discuss the tariff issues (Echo, April 2). Should these
issues be resolved, Poland could become another important outlet for
Caspian oil, which would further strengthen the European integration
of Azerbaijan.

Another issue emphasized in the bilateral talks was military
cooperation. Azerbaijani Minister of Defense Safar Abiev was added to
the delegation specifically for this topic. Unlike China, Poland has
even signed a special agreement with Azerbaijan in the sphere of
military-technical cooperation and assistance.

Poland, having recently become a member of NATO, can offer Azerbaijan
priceless lessons in terms of modernizing its army, raising it to NATO
standards, and conducting military exercises and training for soldiers
and officers. Poland could also become a strong advocate of Azerbaijan
inside the European political and military structures, especially on
the issue of the Karabakh conflict.

During the bilateral talks, President Kwasniewski reportedly said that
Poland supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and believes that
the Karabakh conflict should be resolved according to international
law. “Baku’s offer to give the broadest level of autonomy to
Nagorno-Karabakh is worth considering,” President Kwasniewski said
(ANS TV, April 3).

–Fariz Ismailzade

SAAKASHVILI AND NAZARBAYEV TURN NEW PAGE IN KAZAKH-GEORGIAN RELATIONS

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili made his first visit to
Kazakhstan on March 31, marking a new, post-Shevardnadze era in
Kazakh-Georgian relations. The young and beaming Saakashvili, a child
of the Rose Revolution, sitting together with his aging Kazakh
counterpart, a lingering shadow from the communist past, would make
odd bedfellows in other circumstances, but in Astana both leaders
demonstrated common views on key issues related to security,
economics, and political reform.

Saakashvili, whose markedly pro-American stance had puzzled the
Moscow-oriented policymakers in Kazakhstan, made another unexpected
overture prior to and during his trip to Astana. The Georgian
president profusely lauded the Kazakh “economic miracle” under
Nazarbayev, whom he called “a very wise person who has his own vision
for many ongoing processes” (Panorama, March 25).

Carefully sidestepping the thorny subject of regime change in Georgia,
Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan — the last particularly painful for the
Kazakh leader — discussion focused chiefly on trade relations,
business ties, and opportunities for investment in the recovering
Georgian economy. The talks mainly centered on cooperation in the oil
and gas sector. Speaking at a Kazakh-Georgian business forum in
Astana, Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov reaffirmed his
government’s readiness to discuss a potential oil-transport joint
venture with Georgia. He added that the efficient operation of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline plays a key role in transporting
hydrocarbons.

One component of developing a Trans-Caucasus transport corridor
envisages the construction of an oil pipeline along the Caspian
seabed. However, that costly venture remains on paper so far. More
realistic at the moment are Black Sea shipments of Kazakh oil through
the Georgian seaport of Poti, to Romania’s Constanta seaport, and
onward to European markets.

For Kazakhstan the Black Sea route is the shortest way to access
energy-intensive European markets. If the agreements reached in Astana
are successfully implemented, Kazakhstan would channel huge
investments to update the Georgian seaport infrastructure and boost
the Georgian economy through transit tariffs for shipments of its oil
through Georgian seaports. The new maritime route is expected to also
increase the volume of cargo shipped through the Kazakh seaport of
Aktau. Kazakhstan also hopes to export its natural gas to Georgia
(Kazakhstanskaya pravda, April 1).

Saakashvili spared no words in praising the pace of economic reforms
in Kazakhstan in anticipation of wide-scale privatization in his own
country. In fact, the Georgian President presented himself as a modest
disciple who had come to Kazakhstan not to flaunt the fruits of the
Rose Revolution but rather to learn from Kazakh experience with social
and economic reform. These flattering words, much to the delight of
Nazarbayev, took the wind out of the Kazakh opposition’s sails.

Saakashvili visibly cheered President Nazarbayev when he said, “Events
in Kyrgyzstan are hardly possible in Kazakhstan, where people prefer
peaceful economic reforms to revolutionary sentiments.” According to
him, any political structure should be based on a solid economic
foundation (Kazakhstanskaya pravda, April 1). These views fully
harmonize with Nazarbayev’s approach to political reforms. In his
public speeches Nazarbayev always stresses the precedence of economic
growth over political renewal. At the same time, the half-hearted and
pre-calculated steps in political and economic areas in Kazakhstan are
no comparison to the radical moves made by Saakashvili to root out
corruption among high-ranking officials and to impose strict control
over budgetary spending.

Saakashvili made an impression on Astana as a pragmatic leader. He
called on Kazakh businesspeople to invest in the Georgian economy,
personally guaranteeing the safety of their investment. Some of the
documents signed during Saakashvili’s visit, such as the anti-terror
agreement, seem to be vague. Talks on this issue were held previously
“in a narrow format” and then in a larger circle with the participants
of the talks (Interfax Kazakhstan, March 31). Despite a mutual desire
to expand bilateral cooperation to the security sphere, Georgia and
Kazakhstan have little to share in fighting terrorism. Kazakhstan has
good reason to be preoccupied with ensuring security along the Kyrgyz
border, fearing the infiltration of Islamic extremists and criminal
elements set free after the riots in Kyrgyzstan. Georgia has enough to
handle with the unguarded border with Dagestan and Chechnya.

But the Kazakh-Georgian rapprochement comes at a time when, in the
wake of revolutions in Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, the
geopolitical balance of power in the Commonwealth of Independent
States is changing and the very survival of this highly bureaucratized
and inefficient structure seems uncertain. While Russia increasingly
distances itself from the European Union, OSCE, and other
international organizations, Georgia, a WTO member and pro-Western
state, could help Kazakhstan integrate with the international
community (Panorama, March 18).

Partnership with Kazakhstan fully corresponds to Saakashvili’s
personal political beliefs. When asked to explain his reasons for
visiting Kazakhstan, the Georgian president replied, “Global politics
is one of the main instruments by which Georgia can protect itself and
improve its position. Georgia should be part of European Union. We
want to respect Russia, and we want Russia to respect us” (Imedi TV,
March 29). That is the goal that really brings Georgia and Kazakhstan
together.

–Marat Yermukanov

—————————————————————————-

The Eurasia Daily Monitor, a publication of the Jamestown Foundation,
is edited by Ann E. Robertson. The opinions expressed in it are those
of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent those of
the Jamestown Foundation. If you have any questions regarding the
content of EDM, or if you think that you have received this email in
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Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution of EDM is strictly
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Copyright (c) 1983-2005 The Jamestown Foundation.

http://www.jamestown.org

Meeting Tomorrow

A1Plus

| 21:29:08 | 11-04-2005 | Social |

MEETING TOMORROW

`We demand to make public the list of the free frequencies and announce a
free and transparent competition’, 3000 citizens have already signed under
this demand.

In the grove near the Komitas monument the collection of signatures in
defense of `A1+’ continued today. By the initiative of different
non-governmental organizations actions have been organized for the lat 10
days by the same demand. On the noticeboards in the grove many people have
written their wishes. Some of them called fro uniting saying that it must be
started from the problem of `A1+’. Someone else reminded about the
importance of free press advising to distinguish it from oppositional press.

The organizing of actions will be concluded tomorrow, on April 12, at 6:00
p.m. by the meeting in the grove near the Komitas monument. April 12 is
peculiar also by the fact that it was this day a year ago that the
authorities acted so cruel against the peaceful demonstrants who used their
Constitutional right of freely expressing their opinion.

Hasmik Papian; Volkskunstlerin – Portrait Feuilleton

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
12. April 2005

HASMIK PAPIAN; Volkskünstlerin

Porträt Feuilleton

Gerade wurde sie vom armenischen Staatspräsidenten zur
“Volkskünstlerin” ernannt, und wenn diese pathetische Bezeichnung aus
Sowjetzeiten je eine Auszeichnung war, dann in diesem Fall. Denn die
Armenierin Hasmik Papian ist nicht nur eine begnadete Sopranistin,
sondern auch eine musikalische Botschafterin ihres Landes. Sie hat
kürzlich an der Niederländischen Oper in Amsterdam einen umjubelten
Auftritt in ihrer Paraderolle der “Norma” von Vincenzo Bellini unter
der Regie von Guy Joosten und der musikalischen Leitung von Julian
Reynolds gegeben, als sie für Nelly Miricioiu einsprang.

“Norma” ist jene Oper, die für Schopenhauer das “Beispiel eines
höchst vollkommenen Trauerspiels” war. Daß Hasmik Papian gerade die
Partie der Norma so sehr liegt, ist wohl kein Zufall. In Eriwan
geboren und an der dortigen Musikakademie erst zur Geigerin, dann zur
Sängerin ausgebildet, ist sie zwar auf den Bühnen von Berlin, Wien,
New York und Tokio zu Hause; wer sie aber einmal in der Staatsoper in
Eriwan erlebt hat, wo sie jedes Jahr mindestens einmal auf einer
Benefizgala singt, der gewinnt einen unmittelbaren Eindruck auch von
der inneren Zerissenheit des armenischen Volkes. Denn der heutige
Staat Armenien ist bei weitem nicht für alle Armenier der großen
Diaspora in Amerika und Europa die eigentliche Heimat. Ja, viele von
ihnen waren noch niemals in Eriwan, denn ihre Heimat liegt in der
Türkei, aus der sich ihre Vorfahren vor dem türkischen Genozid retten
konnten. Und die Armenier, die in Armenien leben, stehen mehr als
einmal vor der Frage, ob sie bleiben oder auswandern sollen.

Das kleine Land mit etwas über drei Millionen Einwohnern, ehemals
eine Sowjetrepublik, kann natürlich nicht die Chancen bieten, die
sich anderswo eröffnen. Russische Soldaten sichern die Grenzen und
übernehmen heute noch die Paßkontrolle auf dem Flughafen von Eriwan.
So lieben viele Armenier eine Heimat, der sie entweder bald den
Rücken zukehren werden oder die sie noch nie gesehen haben, an der
sie aber deshalb nicht weniger hängen. Zur Benefizgala in der
Staatsoper strömt jedenfalls ganz Eriwan zusammen – und dann, in
einem solchen Moment, in dem man voller Stolz die Leistungen und das
Ansehen der Landeskinder genießt und die eigene Klasse anerkannt
fühlt, entsteht Armenien tatsächlich als Heimat aller Armenier.

Hasmik Papian selbst ging 1994 an die Oper Bonn und an die Deutsche
Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf, wo sie fest engagiert war; sie gastierte an
den großen Opernhäusern als Tosca (Debüt 1997 an der Deutschen Oper
Berlin und an der Wiener Staatsoper), Aida, Donna Anna, Mimì
(Staatsoper Stuttgart). 1999 debütierte sie an der Metropolitan Opera
New York als Aida. Die Sängerin hat freilich immer den Weg nach
Armenien zurückgefunden und wird dabei nun begleitet vom deutschen
Schauspieldramaturgen Konrad Kuhn, den sie bei einem Gastspiel in
Heilbronn kennenlernte. Kuhn gab, als ihre gemeinsame Tochter
Siranusch vor vier Jahren geboren wurde, seine alte Karriere vorerst
auf und arbeitet nun als Manager von Familie und Sängerin. In
Deutschland ist Hasmik Papian wieder am 7. Mai in einer konzertanten
Aufführung der “Norma” im Staatstheater Mannheim zu hören.

MICHAEL JEISMANN

Foto Lore Bermbach

Russians Indicted for Roles in Jet Blasts

Russians Indicted for Roles in Jet Blasts

By Associated Press
April 12, 2005, 4:13 PM EDT

MOSCOW — An airline employee and a ticket scalper were charged Tuesday in
connection with the nearly simultaneous bombing of two Russian passenger
jets last summer that killed all 90 people aboard the planes.

The Aug. 24 bombings were the first in a series of terror attacks in August
and September that killed more than 400 people and shocked the country.

The ITAR-Tass news agency said Armen Arutyunian and Nikolai Korenkov entered
partial pleas at a Moscow region court to the indictment, which charged them
with aiding and abetting terrorism and commercial bribery.

Two Chechen women are believed to have blown up a Sibir Airlines Tu-154 and
a Volga-Aviaexpress Tu-134 after buying scalped tickets, allegedly from
Arutyunian. Korenkov, a Sibir employee, allegedly accepted a $36 bribe for
helping one of the women get on the flight after check-in had ended.

Both planes took off from Moscow’s Domodedovo airport.

ITAR-Tass said Korenkov told the court he would refute the charges during
the trial.

“I doubt my guilt and during the submission of evidence I will explain why,”
Korenkov was quoted as saying by ITAR-Tass.

Arutyunian pleaded partially guilty, the news agency reported, though it was
unclear for which charges.

A police officer has also been charged with negligence for detaining the two
women then releasing them without inspecting their belongings.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PACE Observed Violation of Armistice in the Contact Line

A1plus

| 19:35:50 | 11-04-2005 | Politics |

PACE OBSERVED VIOLATION OF ARMISTICE IN THE CONTACT LINE

On April 11, 2005, the OSCE Mission held a regular monitoring of the Nagorno
Karabakh and Azerbaijan armed forces’ contact-line to the west of the
settlement of Verin Chaylu of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic occupied by
Azerbaijan.

>From the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring mission was led
by Field Assistants of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office’s Personal Representative
Miroslav Vymetal (Czechia) and Olexandr Samarski (Ukraine).

>From the Azerbaijani party, the monitoring group was headed by Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzey Kasprzyk.

In the course of the monitoring representatives of the NKR Defense Ministry
and Ministry of Foreign Affairs accompanying the OSCE Observation Mission
fixed shots from the Azerbaijani party which sounded to the north of Verin
Chaylu.

The monitoring went on after the parties once more got guarantees of
security and passed according to the planned schedule.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Enlivened U.S. Diplomacy Compels Abkhaz Leadership to Visit Moscow

Civil Georgia, Georgia
April 12 2005

Enlivened U.S. Diplomacy Compels Abkhaz Leadership to Visit Moscow

President of breakaway Abkhazia Sergey Bagapsh is visiting Moscow
from April 12-13, following talks with senior U.S. diplomats in the
Abkhaz capital Sokhumi on April 11. While various Russian news
agencies have reported that Bagapsh plans to talk with unspecified
Russian officials no other details of this trip are known.

Sergey Bagapsh told reporters after talks with the U.S. delegation,
which included the U.S. Department of State’s Senior Advisor for
Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy Ambassador Steven Mann, who is also
the Special Negotiator for Nagorno-Karabakh and Eurasian Conflicts,
and U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles, that Abkhazia will not
give up its uncompromising stance over the region’s independence.

The Abkhaz leader reiterated that Sokhumi is presently ready to
discuss only economic issues with the Georgian side, as talks over
the political problems would bring the negotiation process to a halt.
Sergey Bagapsh said that the Abkhaz side is ready to contribute
developing a peace plan, which could guarantee the `peaceful
co-existence of the two neighboring states,’ the Abkhaz news agency
Apsnipress reported.

After talks in Sokhumi, Steven Mann and U.S. Ambassador to Georgia
Richard Miles met with President Mikheil Saakashvili to brief him
over this visit to Sokhumi. Later, the U.S. diplomats also met with
Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli, as well as with Chairman of Georgian
Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security MP Givi Targamadze in
Tbilisi on April 12.

MP Givi Targamadze told reporters after talks that the `Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili is ready to meet Sergey Bagapsh and
Eduard Kokoity [leader of breakaway South Ossetia] in Tbilisi during
the visit of [U.S. President] George Bush to Georgia’ on May 10. The
statement immediately triggered speculations that the U.S. diplomats
invited the Abkhaz leader to Tbilisi during the U.S. President’s
visit. Steven Mann, however, said that his visit to Sokhumi had
nothing in common with the U.S. President’s planned trip to Georgia.

Political analysts in Tbilisi say that this recent visit by senior
U.S. diplomats to Abkhazia, as well as the U.S. President’s scheduled
visit, is a clear indication of Washington’s increased interest in
the the Abkhaz conflict resolution issue.

`This is the first time that such a high-level, U.S. diplomatic
mission has visited Abkhazia. Tbilisi has tried for a long time to
increase U.S. motivation towards being more actively involved in the
resolution of this conflict. But these attempts have been fruitless
so far. But now the U.S. understands very well that there will be no
stability in this region without settlement of these conflicts,’
political analyst Archil Gegeshidze, from the Georgian Foundation for
Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS), told Civil Georgia.

He also said that the planned visit by George W. Bush also contributs
to U.S. diplomatic efforts. `Washington is studying this conflict in
more detail on the eve of Bush’s visit… I do not rule out the
possibility that the U.S. diplomats invited Bagapsh to Tbilisi during
the U.S. President’s visit. But it would be very difficult for this
to happen because of Russia’s role,’ Archil Gegeshidze said.

`Bagapsh is not the kind of person to take important steps without
prior agreement with Moscow. That is why he left for Russia shortly
after his talks with U.S. diplomats,’ he added.

Many political analysts also believe that the U.S. diplomats
delivered at least two messages to the Abkhaz leader: `find a
compromise with the Georgian side; and, secondly, the international
community will never recognize Abkhazia’s independence,’ Gegeshidze
said.