AZERBAIJAN’S PRESIDENT PROMISES TO LIBERATE NAGORNY KARABAKH

Novosti
2005-03-12 16:41

BAKU, March 12 (RIA Novosti) – Azerbaijan’s President Ilkham Aliyev
is ready to negotiate on peaceful settlement of the Nagorny Karabakh
conflict but does not rule out other ways of solving this problem.

“We shall hold talks even if we have little chance of success,
Mr. Aliyev said at the ceremony dedicated to the 13th anniversary of
the establishment of the Interior Ministry’s troops of Azerbaijan.

He pointed out recent progress in the talks. The conflict settlement
should meet the principles of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and
the international law, Ilkham Aliyev stressed.

“If this is impossible we shall quit the negotiations and search for
other ways of the conflict settlement,” the head of state added.

“We need no war. A war is a humanitarian catastrophe but we should
be ready for this. We should liberate our territories at all costs,”
Mr. Aliyev emphasized.

In his words, violations of the cease-fire agreement in Nagorny
Karabakh are Armenia’s provocation pursuing certain goals. “If they
take any offensive efforts we shall rebuff them and Armenians will
never want to do this again,” the president noted.

He is ready to meet with his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharyan
but it is necessary to draft the agenda of the meeting.

According to Ilkham Aliyev, mutual concessions are out of the question.

Meanwhile, the security of the Armenian population of Nagorny Karabakh
can be discussed, he said.

Speaking about the domestic situation in Azerbaijan, Mr. Aliyev
said that the Georgian and Ukrainian scenarios are impossible in
the republic.

“I am not afraid of such power shift. It is impossible in Azerbaijan,”
the president told journalists.

In his opinion, such revolutions are possible in the countries where
people and authorities are separated by a gap of misunderstanding.

“Azerbaijan’s authorities serve the people,” Mr. Aliyev stressed. He
promised to take all effort to gain people’s support.

Nagorny Karabakh is Azerbaijan’s region with Armenian population. The
armed conflict in Nagorny Karabakh in the early 1990s left dozens of
thousands of people killed. Hundreds of thousands of people became
refugees. Military operations were stopped there on May 12, 1994.

POSSIBILITY OF ARMRUSGASPROM BECOMING NAIRIT’S OWNER NOT EXCLUDED

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Last year the ArmRusgasprom company
made investments of about 6 bln drams (about 12.6 mln USD). The
director general of the company Karen Karapetian stated at the
March 11 press conference that the sum indicated was used to enlarge
the gas distribution network, to reconstruct and re-equip the gas
transortation system, to reduce losses, as well as to carry out
repairs of the gas depository in Abovian. According to him, the
investment program was fulfilled by 90%, whereas the program on gas
supply – by 335%. K. Karapetian noted that in 2001, gas supply to
11,480 consumers was restored, while in 2004 – to 83,045 consumers.
It was noted that in 2004, 1 bln 332 mln cubic meters of natural gas
was imported into Armenia, which exceeds by 18.2% the 2003 index. It
is envisaged to import 1.7 bln cubic meters of gas this year. In 2004,
the power system consumed 37.6 mln cubic meters of natural gas, or 7.6%
more than in 2003, while Nairit used 21 mln cubic meters (growth –
123.5%). K.Karapetian stated that ArmRusgasprom is currently examining
the possibility of becoming the owner of Nairit. According to him,
if ArmRusgasprom is found to be able to operate the plant, the
transaction will be concluded.

THIS YEAR RODENT CONTROL ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT ON 140 THOUSAND
HECTARES

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. This year, 135 mln drams (about 270
thousand USD) has been allocated from the state budget, which enables
to carry out rodent control activities by chemical pest-killers on
about 140 thousand hectares. According to the director of the State
Plant Protection Service of the RA Ministry of Agriculture Mukuch
Danelian, chemical pest-killers will be distributed to the communities,
with the respective work to be done from April. M. Danelian noted
that a 2-year Locust Control Program has been implemented since 2004
in Armenia on an area of 17.3 thousand ha, including on 11.7 ha this
year, with a total of 345 thousand USD allocated by the UN’s Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO). It is envisaged that locust control
activities on another 5 thousand ha will be carried out with the
state budget resources.

Glendale News Press
Published March 12, 2005
FROM THE MARGINS

A pair doesn’t beat a flush
By PATRICK AZADIAN

FROM THE MARGINS – According to the Bible, after Noah’s Ark landed
on Mount Ararat, humankind was given a second chance to redeem
itself. Just to make sure redemption was not left to chance, different
groups were assigned unique languages from the heavens to discourage
the exchange of destructive ideas.

There was probably some kind of a meeting, where up-and-coming nations
were assigned their respective lingo and handed out the resources
to prosper.

It’s not clear why the Armenians were short-changed in this
meeting. Rumor has it that the Armenian representatives may have been
late. Another version of the story suggests that the representatives
were too timid to ask for their rights. They kept quiet in order to
win the authorities’ affection. By the time they had learned the rules
of the game, most of the special coupons had already been handed out.

The Italians were given the right to rule the West for decades as
Romans, and later, the ability to produce mobster movies without
damaging their image. The Chinese were given the ability to multiply
until they were the most populous nation on Earth and suppress Tibet
without meaningful sanctions from the West. The Greeks, of course,
were to set the foundations of Western civilization and democracy.

Armenians finally asked: “What do we get?”

The answer went something like this: “There isn’t much real estate
left, so we’ll have to squeeze you in a rugged land among hostile
nations. Not only will the land lack natural resources, but it will
also be earthquake-prone. All the coupons for having an expansionist
army have already been handed out, so there will be none of that
nonsense for you guys. Just to give you the heads-up though, there
will be an attempt to annihilate you. The only thing we can do for you
at this time is to give you two of everything.” The representatives
responded: “We’ll take it!”

The deal went as follows: “We can give you two types of Armenian
coffee. Those of you living in the Western provinces will make coffee
without the ‘purpoor’ (foam in Armenian) and the ones from the East
will enjoy it with ‘kaf’ (foam in Persian). In the West you will have
to boil the water first and then add coffee, while the rest of you
will bring the coffee and the water to boil together.

“You’ve tentatively been assigned a majestic mountain, called
Ararat. At some point, we’ll have to take it away from you, but
you can still think it’s yours. It will be a look-but-don’t-touch
situation. There will actually be two Ararats, the small one and
the big one. Just in case you get bored of the name, since we have
a feeling you’re going to call everything from old folks’ homes to
wild-cherry jams ‘Ararat,’ we’ll let you call the mountain ‘Massis’
as well.

“Your language will be its own branch of the Indo-European
languages. You can have two dialects, Eastern and Western. You can
also have two ways to spell words, one originating from Mesrob, the
guy who’ll come up with your alphabet, and the other will be courtesy
of the Soviets, who will try to expedite the spread of literacy and
Leninism when they rule Armenia. “As a bonus to the language deal,
you can have two ways of saying ‘spoon.’ The ones in the East will
call it ‘ktal,’ and the ones West will call it ‘tkal.’

“Unofficially, there will be two Armenias: Western and Eastern. You
can also have two Armenias in yet another sense. One will be like any
other developing nation, with its own set of achievements as well as
problems, including corruption, unfair distribution of wealth and
poverty. The other Armenia will be in the minds of Armenians who
have no desire to live there. This Armenia will be an illusion,
a paradise where no societal ills exist, a utopia where no other
nation has ever been able to achieve.

“You will get two opportunities to become an independent nation in
modern times. One in 1918, which will last two years. The next will
be in 1991. Because of this, you can enjoy two independence days,
one in May, and one in September. This will give you the opportunity
to organize two sets of picnics every year.

“Last, but not least, you’ll have two separate Apostolic church
structures. This will be a legacy of the Cold War, but you will get
attached to it so much, you’ll probably want to keep it forever.

“Finally, you have a choice of having a relatively glamorous
civilization now or later. What do you prefer, ancient glory or
modern splendor?” The Armenians asked: “What are other nations doing?”

The answer was: “The Persians and the Greeks have asked to cash in
on glamour soon. The Americans have passed up the option for later
in history.” Since the Americans were unknown in ancient times,
Armenians decided to follow a familiar example:

“We’ll do what the Greeks are doing. We’ll take glory now, suffer
later.”

* PATRICK AZADIAN works and lives in Glendale, he can be reached
at [email protected]

Dünya Gazetesi, Turkey
March 9 2005

Erdogan, Baykal agree to cooperate on Armenian issue
09/03/2005 11:52:35

Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader yesterday visited
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Parliament to brief the premier
on his party’s plans on the so-called Armenian genocide allegations,
and he called on the government to work together with opposition
parties in Parliament on the issue.

Speaking after their talks, Erdogan stated that they had agreed to
join forces. “Turkey is ready to resolve the issue. It has opened up
its state archives,” said Erdogan, calling on everybody to come and
study them. Baykal, for his part, said that the Armenian genocide
allegations began after 1975 and are politically motivated. He urged
Armenians to open their state archives as well.

–Boundary_(ID_hUlFZQpdek7URgx87l2VNQ)–

CONSTANTINOPLE PATRIARCHATE STRIVES TO PREVENT ABOLITION OF MELKONIAN

ISTANBUL, March 11 (Noyan Tapan). Patriarch of Armenians in
Constantinople, most reverend master, Archbishop Mesrop Mutafian
answers the questions of Noyan Tapan information agency.

Q. – Patriarch Lord. Armenians worldwide are concerned with the dispute
on the Melkonian Educational Institute evolved between the Armenian
Patriarchate in Constantinople and the Armenian General Benevolent
Union (AGBU). Please, present the background of this issue briefly.

A. – Here is the outline. In 1921, Karapet Melkonian transferred a
donation of 400,000 Egyptian pounds (3,5 million dollars at that time)
to the Patriarchate in Constantinople. In 1924, blissful Patriarch
Zaven Yeghiayan established a school and an orphanage in the city
of Nicosia, Cyprus, by the income arisen out of this donation. He
named it Melkonian Educational Institute. In 1925, Zaven Patriarch
transferred the Cyprus MEI and the entire fund got from Melkonian
to AGBU. It is to be mentioned that AGBU gets everything from the
Constantinople Patriarchate. In 1926, with the court’s decision an
agreement was signed between Karapet Melkonian, Zaven Patriarch
and AGBU. According to the agreement, AGBU has to keep open the
Melkonian Educational Institute, provide it with necessary supply,
pay annually 1,000 Egyptian pounds to the Jerusalem Patriarchate,
1,500 Egyptian pounds to the Constantinople Patriarchate, as well
as open a kindergarten for Armenians living in Alexandria. In 2004,
however, the AGBU announced about its decision to close the Melkonian
Educational Institute, which is the only 12-year Armenian school in
the European Union. I, painfully, followed for-and-against opinions on
this matter published in the Armenian media. And, on December 26, 2004,
I saw for the first time the official copy of the 1926 agreement. It
was clear that the legal successors of Zaven Patriarch were competent
to interfere these circumstances. Therefore, in January, we sued a
judicial act against the AGBU in the Californian high court to withdraw
the decision about closing the Melkonian Educational Institute.

Q. – How do you assess the AGBU announcement on having an intention
to establish a similar institution in Armenia, instead of Melkonian
Educational Institute?

A. – What does “similar” institution mean? How may the only Armenian
school operating in the European Union be replaced with a new school
in Armenia? Opening a new school in Armenia will cost, at the highest
estimates, 2-3 million US dollars. The AGBU elite or satellites can
easily build such a school in Armenia, and closing another school
operating in Europe is not required at all. People will think,
whether they want or not, that if the territory and the buildings of
the Melkonian Educational Institute are sold, the AGBU will earn,
according to Cyprus Armenians, more than 120 million US dollars.
There is also the fund from the Melkonian will, which according to
the experts would comprise not less than 20 million US dollars if
reasonably administered. What are they going to do with this money?
Any member of our nation has the right to be educated. Karapet
Melkonian was patriot and he left his wealth to his nation through
the Patriarchate. Thus, in the words of the Gospel, today we all have
the right to say to the AGBU “Be accountable for your actions.”

Q. – So, may we conclude that the primary goal of the Patriarchate is
maintaining the Melkonian Educational Institute, rather than getting
funds from the will of patron Melkonians?

A. – Certainly. Every year, the Patriarchate gets certain amounts
of allocations. In 2004, I think we got 1,600 US dollars. I do not
know the numbers by heart. Not much will be changed in our annual
budget with more or less allocations. The following is important: Like
every charitable institution, the AGBU also must be accountable to
our people. What happened to the 3,5 million US dollars of 1920s? How
much money is available in the Melkonian will today? The nation has
to be informed about these.

Q. – In the critical opinions addressed to you, there were, among
others, accusations that before suing at court you did not try to
settle the dispute with the AGBU by negotiations. Please comment
on this.

A. – We would be satisfied if only critical opinions were heard. Prior
to the Catholicos Elections in 1999, when there was a view that I
would announce about my candidacy based on recommendations of some
leading clergymen, the Armenian mercenary media started to stick me
in the mud with slanderous accusations and abuse. Other potential
candidates too, were subject to the same treatment??. The wicked
and immoral people behave this way merely when they are anxious that
their interests are damaged. Today again, the same people take up the
same dirty methods to use the Melkonian will, because unfortunately,
they are broke from moral and ideological points of view. Sin!

A. for the negotiations: the current successor of Zaven Patriarch is
the guarantor of the Melkonian will. Why have not the AGBU applied
to the Patriarchate yet? That is because the AGBU did not want to
negotiate. We shall not forget that up to now no reply was given
to the letters and critics addressed to the AGBU. In other words,
accusation shall be re-directed to the AGBU.

Q. – Do you see any perspective today to avoid the judicial act and
achieve an agreement with the AGBU?

A. – Two months ago, we expressed readiness to host one of the
AGBU delegations in Constantinople, in response to the Californian
mediators. Thus, it is hard to understand the purpose of nasty
announcements and other forms of attacks of Ramkavar Azatakan Party
through media. They may think that negotiating after “beating” will
be more beneficial for them. They are mistaken.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT AND GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER DISCUSS PROCESS OF
SETTLEMENT OF CONFLICTS IN REGION

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian-Georgian relations have
always involved a wide range of issues of mutual interest, the RA
President Robert Kocharian pointed out at the March 11 working meeting
with the Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli. Robert Kocharian
expressed satisfaction with the fact that the Armenian-Georgian
intergovernmental commision will continue to be headed by the prime
ministers of the two countries. Zurab Noghaideli stated that an
agreement has already been reached on holding the regular siiting
of the commission in the next months. According to the Presidential
press service, during the meeting, the sides discussed in particular
issues relating to the power and cargo transportation spheres, as
well as to trade organization in the border areas. The process of
settlement of the conflicts in the region and the prospects of the
regional cooperation were discussed as well.

SPECIALISTS OF INTEL TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION TO IMPLEMENT
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IN UNIVERSITIES OF YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The specialists of the Intel
Technologies Corporation (US) will hold ” Intel computer knowledge
days” at the State Engineering University on March 15-17. The director
general of the Unicomp company Armen Baldrian told NT correspondent
that computers assembled on the basis of Intel Pentium 4 processor
by Hyper-Trading technology, as well as notebooks by Intel Centrino
technology will be displayed to the students. Seminars on Wi-Fi and
Wi-Max wireless technologies and laboratory classes will be condicted
for students as well. A.Baldrian noted that the Armenian students
take much interest in the educational programs, that is why novelties
of the high and information technologies sphere are presented to the
future specialists within the framework of such programs, and similar
events will also be held this year at Yerevan State University and
the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University.

ARMRUSGASPROM ENVISAGES TO SELL TO POPULATION NATURAL GAS OF 40-50
MLN USD THIS YEAR

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The director general of the
ArmRusgasprom company Karen Karapetian stated at the March 11 press
conference that as of January 1, 2005, 41 towns and 316 village
communities of Armenia were supplied with gas, 270 thousand consumers
(or 55.6% of the Soviet time consumers) used services of the system.
The company will invest 21 bln 562 mln drams (about 45 mln USD) in
the system in the next three years, with 17 bln drams being used
for restoring the gas supply and supplying gas to new consumers.
According to the director general, the 2005-2007 investment program
envisages supplying gas also to the communities which previously did
not have gas. According to K.Karapetian, in January and February of
2005, gas consumption in Armenia exceeded by 87 mln cubic meters the
index of the same period of 2004. In 2001, the population bought gas of
4-5 mln USD, while this year it is envidaged to increase this figure
to 40-50 mln USD. The speaker also noted that it is planned to carry
out repairs of 3-4 mln dollars in the Abovian gas depository this year.

PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION OF BELARUS TO VISIT ARMENIA ON MARCH 17-19

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The delegation headed by Chairman
of the Belarusian parliament will pay an official visit to Armenia
on March 17-19. The delegation members will meet with the Armenian
parliamentarians and high-ranking officials of the country. The
visit results will be summarized at a press conference at the RA
National Assembly.