ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 2, 2005 Wednesday 1:32 PM Eastern Time

Rushailo arrives in Yerevan for working visit

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

Vladimir Rushailo, the CIS executive secretary and the chairman of
the CIS executive committee, will hold a series of meetings with
Armenian leadership during his working visit to Armenia.

“The questions, which we are going to discuss, concern the
implementations of the decisions of the CIS summit in Astana,”
Rushailo said upon his arrival in Yerevan on Wednesday.

The September CIS summit was devoted to anti-terror struggle and ways
of intensifying international cooperation. It was also decided to
reform the Commonwealth’s executive bodies.

Rushailo said that the preparation for a number of vital meetings is
currently under way. The Council of the CIS Foreign Ministers will
meet in Minsk on March 18, 2005, the Council of the CIS heads of
government will be held late in April and the Council of the CIS
heads of state will meet in Kazan in the third decade of August.

The sides will also discuss the implementation of decisions of the
Council of the CIS heads of state on the celebrations of the 60th
anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War.

PanArmenian News
March 2 2005

AZERI DEPUTY SAYS PACE RESOLUTION DOES NOT MEET AZERBAIJAN’S
INTERESTS

02.03.2005 15:43

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ When addressing the Milli Mejlis yesterday’s
sitting deputy Gudrat Gasanguliyev stated that the resolution of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Nagorno Karabakh
does not meet the state interests of Azerbaijan. The deputy noted
that the resolution is much more favoring the interests of Armenians,
since `the statement that the seized territories cannot be returned
to Azerbaijan by force is not correct’. The Milli Mejlis deputy
supported the adoption of the resolution on returning of the
deposits. According to him, the issue should be considered during the
spring session.

Agence France Presse — English
March 2, 2005 Wednesday 5:58 PM GMT

Azeri soldier reported killed in ceasefire breach

BAKU

One Azeri soldier was killed and one wounded in a ceasefire breach
along the tense line dividing Azerbaijan and Armenian-occupied
territory, Azeri television channels reported Wednesday.

“One soldier was killed and another hospitalized in the aftermath of
a shootout with Armenian forces,” ANS television said in an evening
news bulletin.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a stalemate over the
ethnic Armenian enclave Nagorno Karabakh ever since they ended
large-scale hostilities with an uneasy ceasefire agreement in 1994.

Armenia controls Karabakh and seven surrounding regions equal to
roughly 14 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized
territory.

Last year six people lost their lives in ceasefire breaches while an
additional 13 people were killed and 21 injured on landmines around
Karabakh.

Associated Press Worldstream
March 2, 2005 Wednesday 12:14 PM Eastern Time

Seven Russian officers detained in Armenia on robbery charges

YEREVAN, Armenia

Officials have detained seven Russian servicemen stationed at
Russia’s military base in Armenia on suspicion of theft and robbery,
police said Wednesday.

The servicemen are believed to have committed numerous acts of
robbery and theft, including stealing cars, in the past several
months, a police spokesman said. He said police were preparing to
deliver the case to military prosecutors.

The officers were stationed at a Russian military base near the
northern Armenian city of Gyumri. Russia and Armenia have close
relations, and the base has been there since the Soviet era.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SANA – Syrian Arab News Agency
March 1 2005

President Assad Issues Decree

Damascus (SANA)

President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday issued decree No. 79 for the
year 2005 stipulating the ratification of the cooperation agreement
on communications and information services signed between Syria and
Armenia.

ArmenPress
March 2 2005

ARMENIA MALES TOP THE LIST OF EUROPEAN SMOKERS

YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS: The law on restrictions on sale,
consumption and use of tobacco products, enforced today, outlaws
smoking in public transport, cultural, educational and health
institutions. It was passed by the Armenian National Assembly last
month after being twice rejected by lawmakers, some of them the
biggest cigarette producers and importers. The parliament also
ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco control (FCTC). One of
the requirements of FCTC is to follow the World Health Organization’s
standard of health warning covering 30 percent of the cigarette pack.
However that portion of the law would become mandatory only by 2008.
Cigarette advertising will be outlawed by 2010.
Statistics say more than 70 percent of Armenian men are smokers,
topping the list of European smokers. The number of smoking women and
teenagers increase with each year as well as the production and
import of cigarettes in the country.
According to preliminary official figures , around 1.7 billion
cigarettes were imported to Armenia in 2004.
Organizations in Armenia who campaign against smoking hope that
with the enforcement of the law the number of smokers will, if not
reduce, at least stop increasing. According to WHO findings, around
2,000 men between 36-69 die in Armenia annually of diseases caused by
smoking.
The law is to be enforced in three stages, by next January every
enterprise or company must have a special smoking area, cafes and
restaurants will have to allow visitors special rooms for smokers and
non-smokers.
The Armenian Public Health Alliance and the Coalition for Tobacco
Free Armenia said in a press release today they look forward to
successive and effective implementation of comprehensive tobacco
control measures in line with the principles of the Convention.
The press release said the proper enforcement of the law can save
lives, “as it encompasses measures aimed at preventing tobacco uptake
by children, assisting smokers in quitting, and protecting the right
of non-smokers for a smoke free environment.”
“We clearly realize that this is a long and not easy way that will
require collaboration between all interested in tobacco control
parties, including state, international and private organizations. We
believe that without massive information campaigns and without a
monitoring of the process by the non-governmental organizations the
success is not possible. Therefore, we look forward toward more
active participation of the civil society to ensure a stable
progress,” it said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
March 2 2005

PARLIAMENT ELECTS CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR FOR SECOND TERM

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS: By a secrete vote of 86 to 4 the
governor of Armenian Central Bank Tigran Sarkisian was reelected
today for another 7 year term. Thanking lawmakers Sarkisian said he
would try to work hard to “justify and further strengthen your
confidence hoping that our joint work will promote the prosperity of
our nation.”
Sarkisian was born in 1960 and has no party affiliation. He was
first elected to his post in 1998, March 3.

PanArmenian News
March 2 2005

TURKEY CRITICIZED GERMAN OPPOSITION PARTIES FOR DEFENDING ARMENIANS’
INTERESTS IN PARLIAMENT

02.03.2005 16:52

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey has subjected the opposition parties of
Germany to sharp criticism for submitting the draft resolution on the
Armenian Genocide to the consideration of the Bundestag. Official
Ankara stated the demand of the parties to discuss the Armenian
Genocide recognition in the Bundestag as an inadmissible step taken
to impede Turkey’s EU membership. To remind, the Christian Democratic
and Christian Socialist Unions of Germany called the parliament to
urge Turkey to take over the responsibility for the killings of
hundreds of thousands of Armenians in 1915.

PanArmenian News
March 2 2005

CANADIAN PARLIAMENT TO ANSWER AZERIS’ APPEALS REGARDING `KHOJALY
GENOCIDE’

02.03.2005 15:29

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Within a month or two the Canadian Parliament
should reply to the Azerbaijanis’ appeal on putting the question of
the `Khojaly genocide’ for the discussion, head of Oyanish
(Awakening) Center for Strategic Researches, Canadian of Azeri origin
Aslan Halidi stated. In his words, earlier the Azerbaijanis of Canada
requested German, French and Israeli communities of the country for
support in submitting the question of the `Khojaly genocide’ for the
discussion of the formal circles of Ottawa, including the Canadian
parliament. Presently only the German and Israeli communities
answered to the appeal and addressed the Canadian parliament on this
issue. `At the moment the issue is being examined. Canada has an
authority among the international community both from economic and
political viewpoints. There are many ethnic groups here, which are
treated in the same way. We hope that the official circles in Ottawa
will be sincere on realities in Azerbaijan’, Halidi said. He also
noted that other national minorities of Canada are well informed of
the `acts of Armenians against the Azeris and sharply condemn them’.

MEHRNEWS.com
Tehran: 21:31 , 2005/03/02

Cabinet committee determines Aras FTZ limits

TEHRAN, Mar. 2 (MNA) — Cabinet’s political-defense committee defined on
Wednesday the official limits of Aras Free Zone.
According to the definition, the new FTZ will have borders with Azerbaijan,
Nakhichevan and Armenia. Managing director of Aras FTZ Organization said
they had referred the issue to the cabinet, saying that the committee, which
is composed of five ministers, has defined the limits of the area from
Farhadi police station on the border between East and West Azarbaijan
provinces to Khoda Afarin police station, which is located exactly on the
Iran-Azerbaijan Republic borderline.