POSITION OF OSCE MG IN SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT DOES
NOT MEET INTERESTS OF AZERBAIJAN: CO-CHAIRMAN OF AZERBAIJANI SOCIAL
DEMOCRATIC PARTY

BAKU, MARCH 11. ARMINFO. The position of OSCE Minsk Group in
settlement of Karabakh conflict does not meet the interests of
Azerbaijan, Co-Chairman of the Azerbaijani Social Democratic Party
(SDPA) Araz Alizade says in his interview to Day.Az.

In his words, OSCE admits that none of the mediators can solve the
Karabakh issue, which is the most vulnerable for Azerbaijani people.
Unfortunately, there is no progress in the settlement process, SDPA
co-chair states calling the authorities of that country to refuse
from mediation of OSCE from now and on. “The most acceptable version
is return of the mediation mission to the UN. I have always been
against raising the Karabakh issue to the international level. It is
our own issue and we must solve it without international mediators,”
Alizade says. He is indignant at the fact that USA allocates material
assistance of 10 million USD to Azerbaijan and Armenia and to Nagorny
Karabakh without taking into account the interests of Azerbaijan.
“Why does Azerbaijan give its oil to the USA which does not take into
account our opinion? It turns out that we are secondary people whose
interests do not concern the USA, meanwhile, Armenia does not allow
such attitude to itself,” Araz Alizade says.

Times Union, Albany, NY
March 13 2005

Close and ‘The Shield’ make sense

By MARK McGUIRE, Staff writer
First published: Sunday, March 13, 2005

Go back four years ago: Could you imagine Glenn Close joining a TV
show and taking second billing?
The star of “The Big Chill” and “Fatal Attraction” taking a
theoretical back seat — on a basic cable show? It would make no
sense.

Makes sense now, especially when you’re talking about FX’s “The
Shield.”

Close plays Capt. Monica Rawling, who takes over the Los Angeles
precinct that includes volatile Detective Vic Mackey (Michael
Chiklis), one of the most indelible characters on TV today. By the
end of the first episode of the fourth season (airing at 10 p.m.
Tuesday), I was ready to declare them to be arguably the strongest
tandem of actors on any current series. You may come up with a better
pair; I did say “arguably.” But Close and Chiklis have to be in the
debate.

Close, who turns 58 on Saturday, is as good as advertised, displaying
her trademark ability to slip into roles without overwhelming the
part. Maybe the best compliment you can give her is that you stop
concentrating on the fact it’s Glenn Close by about the second
episode. (By the way: She looks ridiculously good in jeans and a
jacket.)

Rawling arrives at “The Barn” even as former boss David Aceveda
(Benito Martinez) — who was elected to the City Council last year —
hovers in the background. A street cop who rose through the ranks,
she recognizes the value of a bruiser like Mackey, even as she
realizes his hothead streak can make things go very, very wrong. Then
again, if she knew Mackey like viewers of the first three seasons of
“The Shield” know him, Vic would be in cuffs.

One of her first impressions of Mackey is watching him come close to
a brawl with Aceveda, whose blistering evaluation of Vic submarined a
promotion.

“One happy family, huh?” Rawling says to Wyms (CCH Pounder), whose
own career was stymied last season when she ran afoul of the district
attorney’s office.

“Oh, yeah,” Wyms replies. “You hit the jackpot.”

In the world of “The Shield,” clean cops like Wyms often find
themselves on the outs; the dirty ones get ahead. As season four
begins, Mackey’s strike team has been disbanded, but their past
illicit activities — especially ripping off the Armenian mob — will
continue to have repercussions.

While most of the team attempts to stay legit and keep in the new
captain’s good graces, Mackey’s former sidekick, Shane Vendrell
(Walton Goggins), is working vice and also working the angles.
Without Mackey to rein him in, Goggins and his new partner — a
veritable rookie — are headed for trouble. If Vendrell goes down,
Mackey and the rest are sure to follow.

Close’s addition makes the cast of “The Shield” as overloaded with
talent as the Yankees’ lineup, but she isn’t the only big-screen star
to join up: Anthony Anderson (“Barbershop”) plays Antwon Mitchell, a
former gangbanger and drug slinger who returns to Farmington
preaching community revitalization. In reality, he’s back controlling
the streets.

With its strong ensemble cast and guerrilla-style camera work, “The
Shield” is most remarkable for its portrait of the brutal concessions
decent people make in the effort to seek civic justice and personal
advancement. At the same time, the show’s bad guys carry a streak of
decency; they can’t be dismissed as amoral monsters. The gray area
between right and wrong provides the thematic setting for some of the
best shows on TV, including “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood” and “Lost.”
It’s also the terrain where the men and women of “The Shield” patrol.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LEADER OF “SELF-DETERMINATION UNION” PARTY CALLS UPON TO
REESTABLISH OLD ARMENIAN ORTHOGRAPHY

YEREVAN, MARCH 11. ARMINFO. At today’s press-conference, Leader of
the “Self-Determination Union” party Paruyr Hayrikyan called upon to
abandon the present-day orthography of the Armenian language and to
reestablish the Old-Armenian or “Mesropyan” orthography.

In his words, all the Armenians over the world use the Armenian script
created by the author of Armenian alphabet Mesrop Mashtots, and on that
script the Bible has been translated. Only the independent Republic
of Armenia abandons it and uses the orthography imposed to Armenian
people by Stalin and Bolsheviks. Celebrating the 1600th anniversary
of the Armenian alphabet is at least immorally, Hayrikyan thinks. He
intends to appeal to the National Academy of Sciences and to call
upon to reestablish the “Mesropian” orthography.

Answering the question on why Hayrikyan and his team-mates did not
raise this question early in 90’s when he was a Parliament’s member,
the SDU leader said that a Law on language was adopted just due to his
efforts, but “the foreign agents and, first of all, the Russian special
service, stealing into all the spheres” prevented its realization. -r-

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT THANKS ARMENIAN DOCTORS FOR
POST-TSUNAMI AID

YEREVAN, MARCH 11. ARMINFO. The Indonesian government has officially
thanked the four Armenian doctors who have helped the victims of the
Dec 26 devastating tsunami, says Armenia’s deputy health care minister
Hayk Darbinyan.

The doctors stayed in Aceh province from Feb 19 to Mar 5. Their chief
Hrant Ashjyan says that there was a dire shortage of doctors in the
province and all the local hospitals were full. Prevailing where
infectious and epidemic diseases.

Armenia’s deputy foreign minister Armen Bayburdyan says that being
the biggest Muslim country of the world and the leader of the Non
Aligned Movement Countries supported Armenia during the NAM summit in
Jakarta in 1993 by excluding from the agenda the Karabakh issue. Then
Azerbaijan was trying to present the problem as a religious conflict.
Since then Armenia and Indonesia have been good friends.

To remind, the Armenian government has helped Sri Lanka too having
sent there medicines and blankets worth $54,000.

Armenian president unruffled about disagreements in ruling coalition

Arminfo
11 Mar 05

Yerevan, 11 March: Disagreements around this and that issue which crop
up in the Armenian ruling coalition are quite natural for a political
union which consists of three parties with different ideologies,
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has told journalists.

“I often think about the disagreements that crop up in the ruling
coalition on this and that issue and even inquire about the activities
of coalition governments in other countries. As a result, I have
drawn the concussion that such disagreements are inevitable for a
political union which consists of parties with different ideologies,”
the president said and advised journalists not to “make a mountain
out of a molehill”.

Kocharyan expressed his confidence that in the current year, there
will be no problems in the coalition government. “A government that
implements the budget should be stable, which has a positive influence
on the country’s economy,” the president pointed out.

ARMROSGASPROM READY TO UNDERTAKE MANAGEMENT OF PART OF
SHARES OF “FACTORY NAIRIT” AGAINST PAY OFF OF DEBT

YEREVAN, MARCH 11. ARMINFO. ArmRosgasprom cjsc is ready to undertake
the management of a part of the shares of “Factory Nairit” cjsc against
pay off of the debts for the used gas, if it results in stable work
of the plant, Chairman of the Bard, General Durector of ArmRosgasprom
cjsc Karen Karapetian stated during the news conference, Friday.

According to him, such a proposal is now being considered at the
enterprise. ArmRosgasprm is interested in the work of Nairit, as it
is the largest gas consumer in the republic. He added that the debt
of Nairit is the most problematic for his enterprise.

As Minister of Energy of the Republic of Armenia Armen Movsisian
informed ARMINF, the shares of the Factory Nairit cjsc will be
transferred to ArmRosgasprom cjsc, Armgasprom cjsc and Yerevan Thermal
Power Plant cjsc, the debt to which total $6 mln, $28 mln and $1.5
mln respectively. The total debt of Factory Nairit to power engineers
totals about $40 mln.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BY CUBA IS MATTER OF
TIME: JORJE MARTI MARTINEZ

YEREVAN, MARCH 11. ARMINFO. An issue on acknowledgement of Armenian
Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915 is not on the agenda of Cuba’s
Parliament, stated Ambassador of Cuba to Armenia Jorje Marti Martinez
(residence in Moscow) answering the question of ARMINFO.

Nevertheless, it is only a matter of time, diplomat stated. “It is
necessary to wait for the issue become actual for Cuba’s government
as well”, he noted. “Cuba’s official viewpoint concerning this issue
comes to that such occurrences never is repeated in history as it is
impossible to submit with such a suffering”, Martinez concluded. -r-

Armenia, Georgia to make cooperation plans for 3-5 years
By Tigran Liloyan

ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 12, 2005

YEREVAN, March 12 — Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli, who
ended his two-day visit to Armenia on Saturday, said the two countries
could and should consider joint plans for the next three to five years.

He said his talks with the Armenian leadership were “constructive
and interesting”.

The prime minister said intensive bilateral consultations on various
issues of economic cooperation would begin next week.

“For the first time representatives of the Armenian Energy Ministry
had no claims to present to the Georgian side,” Nogaideli said.

During the talks, the sides discussed energy cooperation, and ways
to pay Georgia’s debt to Armenia for electricity.

“The existing tariffs for railway transportation through Georgia
are already normal for trade between Armenia and Georgia,” the prime
minister said.

“We will soon be able to discuss the question of increasing
transportation volumes through Georgia and further reducing railway
and other transport tariffs through the republic,” he added.

The Armenian and Georgian delegations also discussed a gas pipeline
from Iran to Armenia.

“We want the gas pipeline from Iran to Armenia that is under
construction to be used in the future for gas imports to Georgia,”
Nogaideli said.

“This project will benefit Armenia, and if today Georgia is a transit
country for Armenia, Armenia will then become a transit country for
Georgia,” he said.

Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan said, “The Georgian
side raised the question of Armenia becoming a transit route for
the transportation of gas from Iran to Georgia and Ukraine through
Armenia.”

Currently Armenia receives natural gas from Russia through Georgia and
regards the gas pipeline from Iran as an alternative way to strengthen
its energy security.

The head of the Russian-Armenian joint venture ArmRosgazprom, Karen
Karapetyan, said earlier that the gas pipeline from Iran would be
used exclusively for the internal needs of Armenia and not for transit.

Georgia PM believes withdrawal issue to be settled in near future
By Tigran Liloyan

ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 12, 2005

YEREVAN, March 12 — Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli believes
the Russian bases withdrawal issue will be settled in the near future.

The issue was discussed with Russian leaders, he said.

“I think, we’ll agree with Russian leaders in the near future on
withdrawal of Russian military bases deployed in Akhalkalaki and
Batumi from Georgia,” Nogaideli said.

Commenting on the results of his two-day working visit to Armenia,
the Georgian prime minister noted that he did not discuss the Russian
withdrawal issue in Yerevan.

Azerbaijan’s Aliev says no room for compromise on Nagorno-Karabakh

Associated Press Worldstream
March 12, 2005 Saturday 1:20 PM Eastern Time

BAKU, Azerbaijan — President Ilham Aliev emphasized Saturday
that Azerbaijan is not ready for any compromise with Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh, saying that land held by ethnic Armenian forces is
occupied Azerbaijani territory and cannot be the subject of bargaining.

Aliev said Azerbaijan will not change its position on the enclave,
which has been in ethnic Armenian hands since a 1994 cease-fire ended
a six-year war that killed some 30,000 people and drove a million
from their homes.

“There can be no talk of mutual compromises. That was a mistaken
thesis,” Aliev told journalists, apparently referring to statements
by international mediators who have said compromise is necessary to
settle the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani officials fear that a settlement plan could call on
their country to cede territory. In addition to Nagorno-Karabakh,
ethnic Armenian forces hold a swath of Azerbaijani territory outside
the enclave.

Aliev said Azerbaijan is not willing to cede territory he called
occupied. “The only thing we can do” is discuss security guarantees
for ethnic Armenians who would be allowed to live in Nagorno-Karabakh
if it were placed under Azerbaijani control, he said.

No settlement has been reached over Nagorno-Karabakh and
tension remains high, keeping the threat of a new war alive.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian government is not recognized
internationally.

Aliev said he would not oppose a new meeting with Armenian President
Robert Kocharian to discuss the dispute, but said that the countries’
foreign ministers would have to make progress toward a potential
solution before a meeting can be held. Progress is contingent on
Armenia taking a “constructive position,” he said.