Azeri public not impressed by journalist’s Karabakh visit

Zerkalo, Baku
23 Feb 05

Excerpt from I. Abbasov’s and R. Mirqadirov’s report by Azerbaijani
newspaper Zerkalo on 23 February headlined “Childish innocence or
treachery?”

The journalist of the Monitor magazine, Eynulla Fatullayev, who
visited the self-styled Nagornyy Karabakh republic (NKR) from 11 to 20
February, has made several sensational statements in an interview with
Zerkalo.

First of all, according to Fatullayev, several Azerbaijani families
live in Xankandi, a town which “our” journalist describes as
Stepanakert [Armenian name]. “There are Azerbaijani families in
Stepanakert and Askeran. In fact, they live quite well. There are
about 10-15 families in Stepanakert and 10 in Askeran. I interviewed
them for the Monitor magazine. For instance, I was a guest at the
house of the Askeran district resident, Tofiq Rasulov. He was born in
Ucar District [central Azerbaijan], but his family moved to Askeran in
the 1960s. Because of the known developments in 1989-1990, he
returned to Ucar, but couldn’t live there and returned. His family and
he himself live quiet and normal lives there,” Fatullayev said.

“The Karabakh Armenians are in favour of restoring normal relations
with us, which wouldn’t differ much from what we had before. However,
it is impossible to restore Nagornyy Karabakh’s status because a lot
of blood has been shed. However, Fatullayev thinks that if Azerbaijan
works with the Karabakh Armenians, it might be possible to talk them
into establishing horizontal relations within the Azerbaijani state.

“I met government officials. I had a five-hour meeting with the
Nagornyy Karabakh president, Arkadiy Gukasyan. I see that they are
ready for a constructive dialogue and that it will be possible to
reach an understanding with these people,” Fatullayev said.

He said he had seen quite a few newly-built houses in Xankandi.

“Stepanakert has been completely rebuilt. It has a population of
30,000-40,000 people. I spent three days in Lacin [Lachin] and can say
that 80 per cent of the district centre has already been restored. It
has a population of 5,000 people. The construction of new houses is in
full swing near the Armenian church in Susa [Shusha]. The town is home
mainly to the Armenians from Sumqayit and Baku. The Armenians have
almost completely restored the town of Xocali and renamed it
Ivanovka,” Fatullayev said.

The leaders of the “NKR” told the journalist that the settlement of
Lacin and Kalbacar was a state policy, while representatives of the
Dashnaktsutyun Party said the same was taking place in Qubadli. Also,
if what Fatullayev says is true, our media lie when they say that the
Armenians are desecrating Azerbaijani cemeteries. The journalist did
not discover anything to prove that.

[Passage omitted: reported details of the visit]

So this is the story. Even the “most ardent” orator known for his
patriotic statements and the leader of the Karabakh Liberation
Organization, Akif Nagi, did not respond to Fatullayev’s remarks
immediately. He said Fatullayev has simply forgotten that he is
Azerbaijani, while the journalist described Nagi’s statement as a
“figment of his diseased imagination”.

Rights activist Eldar Zeynalov, who cannot be described as a patriot
and who has also repeatedly visited Nagornyy Karabakh, has told
Zerkalo that “if Azerbaijani families really live in Karabakh, it is
not clear why the Armenians have not taken advantage of that”.

[Passage to end omitted: minor details]

New German envoy favours Azerbaijan’s integration into Europe

MPA news agency
23 Feb 05

Baku, 23 February: “In terms of humanity, the Xocali tragedy [massacre
of Azeris in Xocali during the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict in 1992] is
a terrible catastrophe. I regard its victims as victims of genocide,”
the new German ambassador, Detlef Lingemann, said at a press
conference today.

Speaking about the legal assessment of the tragedy, the ambassador
said that he has just assumed this position and is unable to say
anything specific. As for the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict, Germany
remains an advocate of a peaceful solution to the problem, Lingemann
said.

He said Germany welcomes Azerbaijan’s integration into the
Euro-Atlantic organizations and is ready to support this course of the
country. Germany attaches special significance to developing ties with
Azerbaijan and has provided it with aid worth more than 300m
euros. The development of Azerbaijan’s private sector, legal and
agricultural reforms, cooperation in the sphere of fuel and water
supplies remain priority areas for Germany.

In his opinion, Azerbaijan took the right step when it decided to join
the New Neighbourhood policy of the European Union and the Council of
Europe. This will not only guarantee a rapprochement with Europe and
diversify the economy, but will also expand investment.

An economic forum for German and Azerbaijani businessmen will be held
in the first half of 2005, Lingemann said. The ambassador met members
of the Azerbaijani government and representatives of the Ministry of
Economic Development in this regard. Germany wants to hold the forum
this spring and has proposed a specific date to the ministry.

The ambassador said that interest in learning German is increasing in
Azerbaijan and 40,000 schoolchildren are learning German in 300
schools of the country.

[Passage omitted: minor details]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

`SAYING `TURK’ I UNDERSTAND GENOCIDE =80¦=80=9D

A1+
23-02-2005

`The Genocide is one of the meanest things that could ever happen:
victims, tears, sufferings, pain. But the Turks today are not guilty
for what their ancestors did in 1915. Saying `Turk’ I immediately
understand «Genocide’, but I’m not full of hatred towards the Turks’,
said Armine, a pupil of 9th form of the school after Javorov.

Another pupil of the same class, Anahid, does not hate the Turks
either. For her, a Turk is simply the representative of another
nation.

But not all the pupils have the same point of view. For example,
Mariam, a pupil of the 7th form, says, `I consider them an enemy,
because they have killed innocent people without reason, for their
profit. Genocide is something like greed, when people are not content
with what they have and wish for more.’

Today the pupils of the school after Javorov stood up in a moment of
silence in honor of the memory of the victims of the Genocide.

The Armenian National Philharmonic organizes concert – actions in
different schools of Yerevan devoted to the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide. The aim of the action is not only to represent
songs but also to awaken the heroic spirit in the younger generation.

Today in the school after Javorov actor Vladimir Abajyan, singers
Arsen Haroutyunyan, Ayda Sargsyan and Anna Khachatryan and
doudouk-palyer Haroutyun Gevorgyan represented their art to the
pupils.

AUTHORITIES OF NAGORNY KARABAKH HAVE CREATED ALL CONDITIONS FOR WORK
OF AZERBAIJANI JOURNALIST

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23. ARMINFO. The authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic have created all the conditions without any limitation for
the activities of the Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev who
had visited NKR. Correspondent of the journal “Monitor” Eynulla
Fatullayev stated in the interview to Baku’s newspaper “Echo”, sharing
his impressions from his visit to Nagorny Karabakh and the territories
under Karabakh’s control.

According to him, the only ban was put in Aghdam district. “There the
authorities did not permit to photograph or to film anything”. The
journalist confessed that he was surprised with the development of
civil and democratic institutes in Karabakh. In this connection, he
cites NKR President Arkady Ghoukassian “the world will not forgive NKR
for authoritarian and anti-democratic regime and that’s why we are
doomed to development the civil institutes”. At the same time, the
Azerbaijani journalist confirmed the statement of the French
Cochairman of OSCE Minsk Group Bernar Fassier concerning the
settlement of Lachin.

Re-settlers – Armenians from iraq, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Lebanon
live there. There are too many people in Lachin district from Spitak,
who had lost their houses in Armenia as a result of the earthquake,
the journalist mentioned. According to him, active settlement of
Gubatli district is going on. The settlement of Aghdam is going on
less intensively. Besides, the authorities of Nagorny Karabakh have
created promotional conditions for local businessmen.

During the visit the journalist had also met with NKR President Arkady
Ghoukassian and Foreign Minister Arman Melikian. “They seem to be open
people”, Eynulla Fatullayev mentioned. “Talking to me Ghoukassian
mentioned that he does not call on the authorities of Azerbaijan with
them in Armenian, like Saakashvili, who spoke with Abkhazian and
Ossetins in their language. I seemed to me they are ready for a
dialogue”, the journalist mentioned. Referring to a high-ranking
representative of NKR, the journalist stated “today they do not
exclude the building of horizontal relations with official Baku within
framework of one state”. “At the moment it means the variant of
building a federative – confederative state. A year or two later this
readiness will pass, the authorities warn there”, the correspondent
added. According to him, now a generation is growing up in Karabakh
who has got used to the thought of that Karabakh is a separate
administrative subject, not being a part of Azerbaijan. “Several years
later this generation will come to politics, business, will take its
place in the Karabakh society. And then it will be much more difficult
to come to agreement with these people than with the present “ruling”
group”, the journalist mentioned.

NOT A SINGLE ARMENIAN IN BAKU

A1+
23-02-2005

The RA delegation with Andranik Manoukyan, Minister of Transport, at
the head, will take part in the TRACECA 4th inter-governmental
conference whichwill take place in Baku on April 21-22. «The Kharabak
Liberation Organization» has called the Azerbaijan Government to
hinder the arrival of Armenian in Baku.

According to Akif Nagi, leader of the organization, if the Azerbaijani
society was able to prevent the Armenians from participating in the
NATO celebrations, then it will succeed no now too. According to him,
if the authorities do not take steps, they will organize actions of
complaint in Baku.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Zenit, Italy
Feb 23 2005

What Christians in Holy Land Are Armed With

Auxiliary Bishop Marcuzzo of Jerusalem Surveys Scene

JERUSALEM, FEB. 22, 2005 (Zenit.org).- A bishop of Jerusalem says
that Christians, as bearers of values such as justice, peace, dignity
and human rights, can make a key contribution to solving the Mideast
conflict.

Christians’ weapons are those of “negotiation, patience and
bridge-building,” said Auxiliary Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, in
a statement to ZENIT.

The Italian-born prelate has been in the Holy Land for 44 years. He
was ordained bishop 11 years ago and has been patriarchal vicar of
the Latin Church in Israel for the past decade.

Although designated as such in newspapers, he is not bishop of
Nazareth, but a bishop who lives in Nazareth, since most Christians
in the region live in that area.

The prelate said that there has always been a Christian community
there, “a thread that runs through everything, incarnated in the
culture and local society, through the ups and downs of political and
ecclesial powers and jurisdictions.”

“Today Christians in the Holy Land regard themselves as heirs of the
first Christian community, something that cannot be understood if one
does not keep in mind this transmission of the teachings of Christ
from one generation to the other, from one people to another, between
one regime and another,” the auxiliary bishop said.

The first Christians in the main were Jews, while the present
community is Arab-Palestinian, but this does not mean that the latter
“do not consider themselves descendants of the first Christian
community, in the thread of faith,” he noted.

That the Christian community is surrounded by a Muslim majority,
under the political jurisdiction of Israel, is “a new historical,
cultural and social experience,” for which there is no “model or
experience of reference,” said Bishop Marcuzzo.

“We must mark out our path,” he said. “The Christian community lives
a twofold minority condition, in the Arab community and in Israel.
Consider a person who is Arab, Christian and a citizen of Israel. To
be these three things at the same time is difficult; it is a
challenge that we have addressed in our diocesan synod.

“During the synod we said that we should recover the original land of
our identity, that is, the Mother Church, the Church of the Apostles,
the Church of the Holy Sites, the Church of the Gospel; we have
rediscovered there a fertile terrain, not tainted by history.”

He added: “By vocation, we chose to be the Church in the Holy Land
and to stay here.”

The Diocesan Synod of the Catholic Churches in the Holy Land closed
in February 2000 with the holding of an assembly that gave origin to
the General Pastoral Plan.

The plan was the result of a process of several years involving the
Latin, Greek-Catholic (Melkite), Syro-Catholic, Maronite,
Armenian-Catholic and Chaldean Churches, and the Franciscan Custody
of the Holy Land.

The plan is entitled “Faithful to Christ, Co-responsible in the
Church, Witnesses in Society.”

Bishop Marcuzzo said that there are difficulties in relations with
Muslims, but the problems are not “insurmountable.”

The General Pastoral Plan may be requested from the Latin
Patriarchate of Jerusalem at [email protected] or from the Vicariate of
Nazareth at [email protected].

A regional Hai Dat office to be founded in Middle East

23.02.2005 18:02

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – To ensure the sustainability of works and to meet
the challenges the Hai Dat faces on the eve of the 90th anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
Bureau has decided to establish a regional Hai Dat office in the
Middle East.

A banquet to raise funds for the new office will be held on February
26 in Paris. Cilicia Catholicos Aram I will chair the banquet also to
be attendedby Archbishop Vache Hovsepian, representative of the
Catholicos of All Armenians, Garegin II.

Reports and projects to promote the above-mentioned efforts will also
be presented at the banquet.

Public figures, artists and politicians from Armenia, Russian, Europe
and Middle East have been invited to attend the banquet.

Armenia, OSCE sign agreement on eliminating stocks of rocket fuel components

AP Worldstream
Feb 23, 2005

Armenia’s top security official and the local representative of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe signed a
memorandum of understanding on eliminating aging stocks of
environmentally harmful rocket fuel components.

The agreement signed Tuesday by OSCE representative Vladimir Pryakhin
and Serzh Sarkisian, who serves as secretary of Armenia’s National
Security Council and minister of defense, provides for the safe
recycling of 872 metric tons of the Melange rocket fuel components,
which will produce a useful byproduct, liquid fertilizer, the OSCE
said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CANADIAN CORPORATION TRANSEURO ENERGY STARTS PREPARATION WORKS FOR
SEARCH OF OIL AND GAS IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23. ARMINFO. A Canadian corporation Transeuro Energy
(the former Indusmin Energy) has started preparation works for search
of oil and gas in the so-called second licensed bloc embracing the
territory of Armavir region, Armenia, says Head of the Department for
Fuel and Energy Recourses, the Armenian Energy Ministry, Candidate of
technical sciences Andranik Aghabalyan in his interview to ARMINFO.

He says that due to good weather conditions, the corporation will
start field works to determine the place of the first well. Transeuro
Energy has concentrated its efforts on the search of natural gas
resources taking into account the infrastructures of industry in
Armenia. He explains that Armenia is the only country in the territory
of the former USSR that lacks oil-processing facilities, at the same
time having a well-developed gas transport system. In this connection
gas recovery for industrial purposes is more perspective than oil.
During the first five years, the corporation pledges to invest in
search of gas and oil in Armavir region at least $10.5 mln, Aghamalyan
says. He adds that as to the second licensing bloc, Transeuro Energy
has become a legal successor of the Armenian-American geological
survey company having purchased its rights and obligations;
continuation of the started work is in question.

It should be noted that the contract of the Armenian Government and
the Armenian-American geological survey company on the second licensed
bloc was signed yet on 27 January 1997 and came into effect 6 February
1997. Active field works were carried out within the first three years
in Armavir. After the owner of the company Alen Polsen died in July
2000, the works were suspended and the company was just processing the
received data and seeking for financial partners. In 2004 Canadian
Indusmin Energy renamed into Transeuro Energy in the autumn of 2004
has become its legal successor. Later the company opened its office in
Armenia.

WREATHS WERE PUT TO MONUMENT OF UNKNOWN SOLDIER

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23. ARMINFO. Wreaths were put to the monument of
Unknown soldier in Yerevan’s Victory Park. Though Feb 23, the day of
Soviet Army and Navy, and now the Day of defender of Homeland in
Russia, is not a holiday in Armenia now, but this day has been and
remains respected in the republic. Representatives of Ministry of
Defence of the Republic of Armenia and Russia’s Embassy in Armenia
took part in the ceremony of putting wreaths.

“Our army has been formed on the basis of the Soviet army, we all have
grown up in that country, besides, we all made sure that our Russian
colleagues took active part in celebration of the Day of Armenian
army”, Defence Minister of Armenia Serge Sargsian said.