Azeri president says no risk of “velvet revolution” in country

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
12 Mar 05

Baku, 12 March: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said there is
no danger of a “velvet revolution” in his country.

“Revolutions occur where there is a gap and mistrust between the
authorities and people. The situation in Azerbaijan is different,”
Aliyev told journalists on Saturday [12 March].

He cited public opinion polls conducted by independent, including
foreign, funds as saying that “the rating of the authorities and
president of Azerbaijan is at the highest level”.

“The authorities in Azerbaijan serve the people. All our efforts
are aimed at making the country stronger, enhancing its authority,
resolving the Karabakh conflict, strengthening the army and solving
social problems,” the president said.

“I will try to work in a way that will always give me the support of
the people,” he added.

NEW “ARTSAKHBANK” CJSC REGISTERED IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the press service of
the RA Central Bank, the “Sayat Nova” branch of the “Artsakhbank”
CJSC was registered in Yerevan by the decision of the Chairman of
the RA Central Bank (Sayat Nova Avenue, 12/3).

VENICE COMMISSION TO EXPRESS OPINION ABOUT RA LAW “ON RALLIES” AND
DRAFT ELECTORAL CODE REFORMS AT MARCH 11-12 SESSION

STRASBOURG, March 10 (Noyan Tapan). The CE Venice Commission will
express its opinion about RA law “On Rallies” and draft Electoral
Code reforms at the March 11-12 plenary session in Venice. According
to the Venice Commission, the constitutional situation in Bosnia
and Herzegovina and the powers of the High Representative, judicial
reform in Georgia and the status of South Ossetia, media freedom in
Italy are among the items on the agenda of the plenary session. The
Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia, Mr Konstantin Vardzelashvili,
will inform the Commission on further developments on the status
of South Ossetia, following the recent visit of the Commission to
Georgia. In addition, the Commission will adopt its opinion on the
latest draft constitutional amendments relating to the reform of the
judiciary in Georgia.

HEADS OF FORESTRIES OF AKHALKALAKI AND ADYGEN REGIONS OF GEORGIA
ARRESTED

AKHALKALAKI, March 11 (Noyan Tapan). Gurgen (Valiko) Serobian,
the Head of the forestry of the Akhalkalaki region, was recently
arrested, he was immediately taken to the investigatory isolator of
Tbilisi. Serobian was accused of non-payment of taxes to the state
and the sale of contraband forest materials. According to the A-Info
Agency, after the arrest Serobian?s health condition worsened, and
they had to took him to the isolator?s hospital. The regional policy
of Samtsekh-Javakheti repeatedly warned that in case of the export of
contraband forest materials, they will undertake quite strict steps.
The Head of the forestry of the Adygen territory was also arrested
before Gurgen Serobian?s arrest.

Armenian president not worried about peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict

Arminfo
11 Mar 05

Yerevan, 11 March: At present, Armenia has no reason to worry about
the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict, Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan told journalists today.

He said that the current format of recognized international mediation,
which has been formed with aim of settling the Karabakh conflict,
is doing its job. The president warned against drawing far-reaching
conclusions about various statements and reports on Karabakh.

“The process is taking place within the framework of mediation
recognized by the international community, and I have no slightest
reason to worry – everything is normal,” Kocharyan said.

Armenian aide says government corruption not universal

Arminfo
11 Mar 05

Yerevan, 11 March: Political corruption in Armenia has a structural
nature, the Armenian president’s adviser on issues of fighting
corruption, Bagrat Yesayan, told a news conference at the National
Press Club today.

Yesayan said there is plutocracy in the country when power is bought
for money and then used for making money. At the same time, the
presidential adviser rejected claims that the Armenian authorities
were universally corrupt.

“There are honest people even in the higher echelons of power, people
who come to work in the morning, conscientiously do their work, then go
home in the evening and spend their time with their families,” he said.

Touching on the activities of the body he heads, Bagrat Yesayan
said 97 anti-corruption programmes had been prepared and were due
for implementation by 2007. He said 10 working groups involving 128
public organizations had also been set up to supervise specific areas
of the anti-corruption fight.

The presidential adviser said that the council he heads does not
have the executive function and only has the right to monitor the
situation in different spheres. However, he said working groups under
the council maintained close cooperation with the executive branch
and provided it with the collected information.

Bagrat Yesayan said the council would soon submit suggestions to the
government on reforming the anti-corruption programme. The adviser
said the shift to a completely proportional system of parliamentary
elections was one of the ways to fight corruption.

Armenia, Switzerland sign accord on reacting to emergencies

Arminfo
11 Mar 05

Yerevan, 11 March: The Armenian and Swiss governments have signed an
agreement on assistance to Armenia’s system of reacting to
emergencies. The document was signed by the head of the Armenian
government’s department for emergencies, Maj-Gen Edik Barsegyan, and
the Swiss ambassador to Armenia, Stephan Spek.

Barsegyan said that as part of the signed agreement, a programme of
assistance to Armenia’s system of reacting to emergencies will be
implemented. The purpose of the programme is to strengthen Armenia’s
decentralized rescue system. The programme envisages courses for
rescuers and firefighters and provides them with special equipment.

The programme is valued at 420,000 Swiss franks, of which 300,000
will be channelled into the acquisition of technical equipment and
120,000 into training. The money has been provided in the form of a
grant. The programme will be implemented in Armenia’s Lori and Syunik
Districts.

The first stage of the programme effectively started on 28 February.
Prior to that, research had been carried out in the aforesaid areas.
The first stage will take 12 months to complete, while the next stage
of the programme will cover other parts of the republic as well.

A total of 11 technical and humanitarian programmes totalling 6.4m
Swiss franks are currently implemented in Armenia with financial
support from Switzerland.

Georgia’s anti-corruption experience unacceptable for Armenia, aide says

Arminfo
11 Mar 05

Yerevan, 11 March: Georgia’s anti-corruption experience is unacceptable
for Armenia, the Armenian president’s adviser on issues of fighting
corruption, Bagrat Yesayan, has said.

Georgia’s anti-corruption strategy is unacceptable for international
organizations as well because they have sharply criticized the Georgian
methods of fighting corruption, Yesayan told a news conference today.

Speaking about the situation in Armenia, Bagrat Yesayan said a great
number of complaints concerned law-enforcement and judicial bodies,
as well as the mayor’s office of Yerevan.

“Even though in most cases these complaints were unfounded, their
number speaks volumes,” he said.

Bagrat Yesayan added that many violations were registered during the
construction of the Northern Avenue. According to him, materials on
some of these cases have been submitted to the prosecutor’s office.
The president’s adviser said there were several high-ranking officials
among the violators.

He said 352 criminal cases had been started in 2004 following
investigations in the areas of civil service, national security,
taxation and customs services, and the police. A total of 1,289
investigations were conducted, as a result of which 1,339 disciplinary
violations were discovered, 105 people sacked, while materials on 46
cases were forwarded to the prosecutor’s office.

Yesayan added that the council he heads received 603 complaints about
government officials in 2004.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russia interested in lasting peace in Caucasus – envoy to Armenia

Arminfo
9 Mar 05

Yerevan, 9 March: The Russian ambassador to Armenia, Anatoliy
Dryukov, has described as fictitious the media reports that “Russia
is leaving the Caucasus and Armenia.” The ambassador said this at a
solemn ceremony at the Russian-Armenian (Slavic) University [RAU] to
award him the honorary RAU Order and the title of the university’s
honorary doctor. He stressed that Russia is “a Caucasus country”, and
therefore, Russia is extremely interested in establishing a lasting
peace in this region.

Dryukov said that politicians who discuss Russia’s dwindling
influence in Armenia are formulating the question incorrectly. He
noted that Armenia must conduct not a pro-Russian or pro-Western, but
a pro-Armenian policy based on securing national interests. Dryukov
thinks that “the world has changed and there are no opposing camps or
Cold War.”

The head of the Russian diplomatic mission noted with regret that the
psychological perception of the population both in the CIS and in the
West is changing very slowly, “and many are still talking from Cold
War positions”.

Nevertheless, the latest events in the world compel people “to be
united, not disunited”. International terrorism, nonproliferation of
weapons of mass destruction, transnational crime and kidnapping – all
these problems, Dryukov said, compel Russia and Western countries to
look jointly for effective methods of struggle. He stated that the
old system based on the Treaty of Versailles has exhausted itself and
a new international system will be established in view of these
realities.

The Russian diplomat stated that the main path of the development of
the world community is democracy. Therefore, Russia is carrying out
an absolutely ideology-free and pragmatic policy with no dividing
lines.

Armenian foreign minister rejects EU mediation in Karabakh talks

Arminfo
9 Mar 05

Yerevan, 9 March: The EU is not the OSCE Minsk Group’s rival,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has said. He was commenting
on the statement by the first consul and head of the economic,
political and information department of the European Commission
delegation in Georgia and Armenia, Jacques Vantomme, that the EU was
also responsible for the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
as it included the South Caucasus countries into its New
Neighbourhood initiative.

Many international organizations, particularly which Armenia and
Azerbaijan have joined to, demonstrate an interest in the settlement
of the conflict, Oskanyan said. But the conflict should be settled
within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. Other organizations
should observe the process and be ready to render assistance at any
moment, the minister stressed.

At the same time, the minister regarded as normal that the term “the
occupied territories” had been used in the published EU report on
Armenia, given that this term was used earlier in the documents
prepared by international organizations. “But this does not at all
mean that we agree. Of course, we are against this phrase and have
always fought against this,” he pointed out.

Moreover, the Armenian foreign minister believes that in no case one
can draw a conclusion from this term that “Armenia is an aggressor”.
“The Nagornyy Karabakh army could itself occupy these territories,
couldn’t it?” the minister asked. He thinks that, as a whole, the EU
report on Armenia comprehensively reflects the relations between
Armenia and the EU, shows achievements and shortcomings of the
republic and is the good base for preparing the individual actions
programme. Armenia will report its priorities in the near future and
the aforesaid programme will be prepared on their basis, Oskanyan
said.

“If scrutinized, the report itself directly and indirectly indicates
the spheres of cooperation. It points out the spheres where Armenia
lags behind and what should be done. That is why, it would be correct
to include these spheres along with the priorities,” the Armenian
foreign minister said. A visit by the foreign minister or his deputy
to Brussels is expected as well, he added.