AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Feb 9 2005

FACTS PRESENTED BY AZERBAIJAN PROVED, SAYS DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER
[February 09, 2005, 16:59:36]

The facts presented by Azerbaijan officials to the OSCE fact-finding
group examining settling of occupied Azerbaijani territories with
ethnic Armenians have been proved, stated Deputy Foreign Minister of
Azerbaijan Araz Azimov. The first stage has already ended; after the
facts revealed are analyzed, a corresponding report will be presented
to the OSCE Minsk Group, and the organization’s Permanent Council,
and then a political appraisal will be given to the situation, he
said.

In response to the claims that the Armenian families moved to these
territories are those who once left Azerbaijan, Araz Azimov noted
that in accordance with Geneva Convention of 1949, settling of
occupied territories is allowed under no circumstances, and that an
occupant has no right to make any demographic changes in the occupied
territories.

He especially emphasized that it was after the occupation that the
Armenian families were placed there, that contradicts international
humanitarian law. Armenian claims of this kind are groundless, and
will not be taken seriously, said the Deputy Foreign Minister.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ultimate-Guitar.Com
Feb 9 2005

System Of A Down Release Date

Date: 2005-02-09 Artist: System Of A Down Category: Upcoming Releases

Blabbermouth.net reports, System Of A Down have confirmed an April 26
release date for “Mezmerize”, the first half of their new double
album set. The second CD, titled “Hypnotize”, will be out sometime
this fall. Meanwhile, the first single from “Mezmerize”, called
“B.Y.O.B.”, is poised to arrive at rock radio on or around March 1,
according to Launch Radio Networks.

The Armenian-American quartet has just wrapped up its headlining
stint on Australia and New Zealand’s Big Day Out festival and is
heading home to Los Angeles to finish work on the new album.

The band is also one of many acts that have donated items to a second
eBay auction sponsored by Waxploitation Records to raise money for
genocide victims in the African nation of Sudan. Other artists that
have contributed signed or rare items include Dave Matthews,
Dashboard Confessional, and Bad Religion. System contributed to
Waxploitation’s first such auction last month, along with Limp
Bizkit, Korn, 311, Rob Zombie and others.

Turkish Press
Feb 9 2005

Rice’s Pax, And Turkey
BYEGM: 2/9/2005
BY YILMAZ OZTUNA

TURKIYE- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul, ‘Each of us [Ankara and Washington] . . . have a
responsibility with our publics, because we have democracies to speak
out for how important and central [our] relationship is to both of
us; to remind all of us and our people of the long history that we
have together, of what we have achieved together, of what we have
supported for one another, and of what a prosperous future we have in
working on the many difficult and complicated issues ahead, as well
as the bright opportunities ahead.’ Rarely have I heard such sweeping
sincere sentences from a politician. Rice reminded us that during the
half-century of the Turkish-US partnership, we defeated Soviet
communism and pushed Russia back to its borders. She meant that from
now on, we could reset the political balance, reestablishing it by
continuing our strategic partnership. She wanted to say that the US
was not planning on benefiting solely from opportunities, but rather
sharing these with its strategic allies. Rice also suggested that
only countries ignoring their best interests would turn this down.
She was telling the Turkish people that both it and the American
people can prosper by taking advantage of these opportunities, and
called on our government to quell the soaring anti-American feelings
in Turkey.

Rice won’t retreat from the Pax Americana. If Washington can’t do
this with Turkey, it will instead work with Kurds, Armenians, etc.
She will eventually become the secretary of defense and command the
US armed forces. She will become a candidate for the Republican Party
leadership and perhaps run against Hillary Clinton from the
Democrats. Hillary is seven years older than Rice and still a New
York senator. Whoever wins will protect the Pax Americana. Only their
styles are different. Those who have difficulty understanding this
combination should reconsider and expand their horizons.

Washington Times, DC
Feb 9 2005

Outside View: What ‘Oil-for-Food’ scandal?

By Youssef M. Ibrahim
Outside View Commentator

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 9 (UPI) — The oil-for-food scandal
is proving to be less of an embarrassment to the United Nations than
to those who built it up as the mother of all fiscal scandals and
reason enough to brand the U.N.

Following the first pronouncement last Tuesday on an ongoing
investigation into the program that was designed by the U.N. Security
Council to feed Iraqis in the years of sanctions, U.N. bashers now
find themselves holding a pretty thin sheet of evidence.

A so-called interim report by Paul Volcker — former head of
America’s central bank, known as the Federal Reserve, or “Fed” — was
notable for its failure in finding a smoking gun anywhere near U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan. It merely concluded that the principal
of the case, former director of the oil-for-food program, the
Armenian Cypriot Benon Sevan, behaved in an “improper” way!

Following a year of investigation by 60 investigators at a cost, so
far, of $35 million, and hints of embezzlements in the billions of
dollars by scores of people, may we be permitted to ask: That’s it?

The nature and scope of this much-ballyhooed scandal were phenomenal.
Money was siphoned away from the mouths of Iraqi children and Iraqi
oil revenues. Sevan was supposed to have connived with former Iraqi
president Saddam Hussein, select groups of oil dealers and
well-placed politicians in world governments to create billions in
slush funds and receive Saddam’s gifts of discounted oil contracts.

So far what Volcker came up with is pretty limp, not even rising to
the level of wide currency among an American press corps being
content to exist on leaks from a U.S. administration known for its
animus toward all things multinational.

Where are the supposed billions supposedly re-routed via private
banks and corrupt politicians worldwide? Which banks? The numbers
only began at $2 billion going up by multiples according to printed
accounts on the leak-of-the-day.

As it turned out, Volcker’s 60 snoops found little beyond their
suspicions that Sevan used his influence with Iraq “improperly.”

As for the larger conspiracy, they can only point at one rather small
oil trading company in Geneva as having gained access to only two
modest-size contracts of Iraqi crude oil shipments.

Sevan was said to have prompted the United Nations to provide greater
help in rebuilding Iraq’s oil equipment. That’s an odd charge, for it
was the man’s job to revive Iraq’s revenues from oil so as to import
more food — Saddam or no Saddam.

When it came to corruption, the Volcker vultures ”hinted” Sevan’s
aunt could have been a conduit for bribes. Why? She left him an
inheritance of $160,000! Not exactly a king’s ransom. Altogether,
what was supposed to be a major heist is not a Thomas Crown Affair.

Never fans of the United Nations, George W. Bush and his
neoconservative minions who have fanned the fires of the oil-for-food
scandal, appear to be using this deflated balloon to blackmail,
paralyze and marginalize a multinational organization that has been a
thorn in their side.

To be sure, Annan, should have accepted blame for improprieties that
happened under his watch, spared the United Nations a witch-hunt and
quit.

He did not. But that is certainly not a reason to brand the United
Nations a broken institution and hint that its present leader, as
well as his predecessor — Boutros Boutros Ghali, whose name was
dropped into the interim report without a valid reason — are
corrupt. It is typical of neoconservatives: murder by innuendo.

Graver than exaggerations are omissions. As the New York Times’
editorial pointed out, Volcker’s incomplete mid-term report has yet
to tackle how members of the U.N. Security Council looked the other
way.

The lone oil-trader, who supposedly was the linchpin in the huge
scandal, it turns out, only picked up two small contracts of Iraqi
oil sales, according to the interim report, before dropping out as
the deal looked unprofitable. But better than 99 percent of Iraq’s
oil smuggling moved outside the purview of U.N. supervision, going
through international borders.

Buyers included world-class oil companies with American, British,
Chinese, Russian and French pedigree. This daily illegal oil export
estimated at a half-million barrels of oil went out via two of
America’s major allies, Turkey and Jordan, as well as through Iran
and Syria, all of which have had commercial ties with Iraq and
pipelines over the ground or under.

The U.N. Security Council, including the United States, looked the
other way. Instead the Volcker interim report stopped at picking on a
U.N. official and a lone oil trader in Geneva

There is more. Quantities of oil cited in the interim report as the
subject of the United Nation’s dubious dealings amount to 0.1825
percent of all Iraqi oil exports, estimated at 4 billion barrels over
the period of the accusation, a statistical irrelevance in the world
of oil.

Could it be that the animus that has developed toward Annan by the
Bush administration is behind the spin?

After all, the secretary general had the nerve to declare the
invasion of Iraq an “illegal war” and denounce the scandalous torture
practices against Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison.

The president of the United States is an oil businessman-millionaire
who knows that this is, oil-wise, a charade. So does the former head
of America’s central bank, Volcker. Gents, give us a break.

—

Youssef M. Ibrahim, a former Middle East correspondent for the New
York Times and Energy Editor of the Wall Street Journal, is Managing
Director of the Dubai-based Strategic Energy Investment Group. He can
be contacted at [email protected]

—

This essay first appeared in Gulf News.

National Council of Churches ends middle east visit, issues sobering statement

Arabic News
Feb 9 2005

Palestine-USA, Politics, 2/8/2005

“God’s children are called to seek justice, to break down the walls
that separate them, and to live side by side in peace,” declares the
National Council of Churches USA’s delegation in its statement issued
at the close of its Jan. 21-Feb. 4 visit to the Middle East.

The 11-member delegation asked those with whom it met: “Is there a
new window of opportunity for peace?” In the statement “Barriers Do
Not Bring Freedom,” the delegation concludes, “A sliver of hope for
peace does exist, but we feel strongly the moment must be seized now
or the future will remain dim.”

The council said in a statement: As a delegation of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, we traveled across the
Middle East from Beirut to Cairo to Bethlehem to Jerusalem over the
past two weeks, from January 21-February 4, 2005 on a mission of
peace. Our journey coincided with the Week of Prayer for Christian
Unity. The Middle East Council of Churches and individual partner
churches have graciously hosted our delegation. We are grateful to
God for the witness to Christ made by the living churches of the
Middle East from which we descend. We affirm the whole earth is God’s
holy land, though of course the land of Israel and Palestine holds
particular importance for us, for it is the land of the Prophets and
Our Savior. We also affirm that God’s children are called to seek
justice, to break down the walls that separate them, and to live side
by side in peace.

Especially for the sake of the children, we have hope that peace
remains possible and a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine
can be reached. But for many of us this was our saddest journey to
the Holy Land. Facts on the ground make time of the utmost essence.
We posed a question to those with whom we met: “Is there a new window
of opportunity for peace?” Our conclusion is that a sliver of hope
for peace does exist, but we feel strongly the moment must be seized
now or the future will remain dim. As American church leaders, we
urge our government to take balanced, strategic action now.

Our word is one of alarm and worry. Current policies promise more
war, death, and destruction. We are deeply concerned for all people
in the region whether they be Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or of other
faiths. There are far too many disturbing realities to give us
confidence. Not only should people everywhere insist on and act for
peace in the Middle East, they must also pray fervently for the peace
of Jerusalem.

We believe that American Christians must see themselves as
bridge-builders for peace and must not abandon or forget all GodÕs
children of the Middle East. We heard many pleas from our Christian
sisters and brothers to raise our voices and work for a just,
enduring, and comprehensive peace. The rapid disappearance of the
Christian presence in the Holy Land and, indeed, the entire region
due to emigration is alarming and can only be reversed if conditions
are changed for all the peoples of the Middle East. The Christian
community in the Middle East is a living church, not simply the
custodian of sacred places for others to visit. We pledged to them we
will redouble our efforts for an end of the Israeli Occupation of the
West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and for an end of the
U.S. occupation of Iraq.

We met with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders as well as with a
wide variety of missionaries, intellectuals, and political officials
including those of Israel, Palestine, and the United States. Dialogue
and understanding between all faith communities is not an academic
exercise in the Middle East; it is absolutely necessary for survival.
We must all work for a change of heart and a change of mind that
leads toward reconciliation and harmony. We confess that the life of
every human being is sacred and that the violent death of anyone is
tragic.

Our delegation was in the region at a momentous time: the beginning
of President Bush’s second term in office; the election of a new
Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and his moves to demilitarize
the militants; Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s opening move to
disengage from Gaza; the continued building of Israel’s Separation
Barrier; the killing of a 10-year-old Palestinian girl in the Gaza;
the exposure of Israel’s decision to invoke the Absentee Law which
has the effect of confiscating Palestinian land in East Jerusalem;
elections in Iraq; and the 60th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz.

We reaffirm our strong support for Israel and for its right to live
in peace and security. Israel has suffered from a long series of
suicide bombings, which we find reprehensible. Our support of Israel
goes back many years, as does our support for justice for the
Palestinian people. Our itinerary included a visit to Yad Vashem,
where we honored the victims of Auschwitz and other victims of the
Holocaust. We met with victims of terror and other representatives of
a wide spectrum of the Jewish community.

We understand that the Separation Barrier is being built as a
deterrent against attacks on Israel. However, we learned 85 percent
of Israel’s Separation Barrier is being built on Palestinian land.
Much of this is to include West Bank settlements within the Barrier.
Quite simply, these settlements should never have been built and must
be removed. Like any other nation, Israel has the right to build a
Barrier; however one people’s barrier should not be built on the land
of another people. We call for the removal of the Separation Barrier
from Palestinian territory.

We personally witnessed the devastating effects of the Barrier.
Because it is being built not on the 1967 Green Line but primarily on
Palestinian land, parents are separated from children, husbands from
wives, farmers from their land, patients from hospitals, workers from
employers, and local Christians from the holy sites. Palestinian
leaders long ago accepted a two-state solution giving Palestine 22
percent of the territory that once comprised Israel, the West Bank,
and the Gaza Strip. Now, the 22 percent has shrunk considerably due
to the so-called “natural growth” of Israeli settlements and a vast
strategic network of roads, highways and tunnels open only to Israeli
settlers, police, and the military. Palestinians, like people
everywhere, must have freedom of movement. Palestinian land is
increasingly being chopped into tiny cantons making the possibility
of a sustainable Palestinian state unachievable.

Israel has established hundreds upon hundreds of checkpoints,
roadblocks, and gates across the Occupied Territories making daily
life and travel extremely difficult for ordinary Palestinians.
Palestinians and Israelis are trapped in a cycle of violence. The
crushing burden of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory
contributes to deep anger and violent resistance, which contributes
to fear throughout Israeli society. Israelis told us of a hardening
of the Israeli soul against Palestinians, and Palestinians told us of
the desperation they feel under Israel’s collective punishment.
Normal life has ceased. At least half of the Palestinian people live
in poverty. We were distressed to learn too many Israelis have little
or no knowledge of the human rights abuses experienced by
Palestinians.

Our delegation witnessed several of the many instances of harassment
and humiliation visited daily upon Palestinian people. Stereotypes of
all Palestinians as terrorists must be broken, and Palestinians must
understand that many Israelis also want a just peace. Presently, a
“lethal dialogue” is underway between extremists on all sides. This
must be transformed into a peaceful dialogue. While every leader we
met – Christian, Jewish, Muslim – condemned violence, it is clear the
overriding problem is Israel’s continuing occupation of Palestinian
territory.

We are authentic friends of Israel and we have a vision of peace and
security. We are not blind in our support and reserve the right to
question the actions even of our friends. We believe genuine
negotiations and not unilateral action can avoid unimaginable
violence in the future.

We urge President Bush to send a credible special envoy to assist in
negotiations between Israel and Palestine. Strong, genuinely
constructive US action can hasten peace. We ask Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice upon her visit to Israel this weekend to touch the
wall and feel the pain it causes.

We ask the international community to invest in Palestinian projects
and businesses. We learned of the pressing need for aid to flow to
Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem, in addition to other
occupied territories.

We will invite Prime Minister Sharon and President Abbas, at the time
of their next visits to the United States, to meet with ecumenical
leaders as partners in peacemaking.

We call on American Christians to contact the President of the United
States and their Members of Congress to insist U.S. policy be
balanced toward both Israel and Palestine.

Middle East churches have a vital role to play as bridge builders and
peacemakers. We pledge our solidarity with them as part of the One
Body of Christ and we will look for ways to lift up their presence
and needs within our churches.

We affirm and endorse the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical
Accompaniment Program which assists Palestinians and Israelis in
their everyday lives and urge our member communions to support and
participate in this program. We urge people of faith and others in
the U.S. and from around the world to visit the Middle East and
better understand the situation for themselves.

As people of faith, we affirm life. When ancient olive trees are
uprooted from the soil in which they were planted, when access to
water is denied, when children’s futures are threatened, this does
not lead to life in this world as intended by God. Join us in prayer
for the peace of Jerusalem and in seeking justice for all people of
the Middle East.

The National Council of Churches is composed of 36 member national
denominations, which collectively represent 45 million people in
130,000 congregations. Members of the delegation are:

*Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr., Christian Methodist Episcopal Church,
President of the NCCCUSA;
*Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, General Secretary of the NCCCUSA;
*Bishop Vicken Aykazian, Armenian Orthodox Church of America,
Secretary of the NCCCUSA;
*Dr. Sylvia Campbell, Alliance of Baptists, NCCCUSA Justice and
Advocacy Commission;
*Rev. Dr. Thelma Chambers-Young, Progressive National Baptist
Convention, Vice-President of the NCCCUSA;
*Rev. SeungKoo Choi, General Secretary, Korean Presbyterian Church in
America;
*Bishop C. Christopher Epting, Episcopal Church;
*Ms. Ann E. Hafften, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America;
*Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, Disciples of Christ, NCCCUSA Justice and
Advocacy Commission Chair;
*Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, Greek Orthodox Church, Associate General
Secretary of the NCCCUSA;
*Mr. Jim Winkler, General Secretary, United Methodist General Board
of Church and Society.

–Boundary_(ID_1IHZbizCdiV4ALCoSfDUXw)–

PanArmenian News Analysis
Feb 9 2005

US ADMINISTRATION INSISTS ON RENDERING DIRECT ASSISTANCE TO
NAGORNO-KARABAKH

White House proposes to render more support to Armenia than to
Azerbaijan next year

US administration has submitted to Congress the bill of external
financial provisions for 2006. Armenian organizations of America are
satisfied with the contents of the document since firstly it supposes
rendering direct assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh and secondly in
contrast to the last year’s bill it provides equal assistance for
military aims. As it is known the White House formerly considered
that official Baku deserved more support from Washington since Baku
was more actively involved in the international anti-terrorist
coalition.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ This time the United States have proposed to
allocate 5 million dollars to Armenia and Azerbaijan for
implementation of the defense program. It should be mentioned that
last year the White House proposed to provide Yerevan with a sum four
times less than the sum planned for Baku. (Armenia – 2 million
dollars, Azerbaijan – 8 million dollars). However due to the efforts
of Armenian lobbyists and their partners in the House of
Representatives and the Senate the sum was equalized. Both parties
received 8 million and 750 thousand dollars. Things were like this
also two years ago when again thanks to the efforts of congressmen
equality was achieved in the capacities of military support provided
to Armenia and Azerbaijan. The fact that the administration has
finally given up the attempts to break the balance in this issue is
the success of Armenian lobbyists.

However it would not be quite correct to impute the achievement only
to American Armenians who actively lobby the interests of Yerevan.
The issue would hardly be settled so easily without the efforts of
Yerevan. It is reasonable to think that this time the parity would
not be achieved if Armenia did not make the decision to send
peace-makers to Iraq. Last year lobbyists managed to win the
sympathies of Congress thanks to the declared readiness of Yerevan to
activate its role in the international anti-terror coalition. Yerevan
kept the promise. However some correspondents hold that the difficult
step made by Armenia was not estimated at its true worth by
Washington. The sum mentioned in the bill was much less than
supposed. At the end of the last year informal sources mentioned much
more impressive figures.

As for the “regular support” the administration intends to assign 55
million dollars. It is worth mentioning that last year the White
House offered 62 million to Yerevan but the Congress kept the
previous sum – 75 million. It is much easier to bring 62 to 75 than
55 to 75. So it is quite possible that this year we shall have to
submit that the regular support provided by the United States will be
less than before. Nevertheless it should be mentioned that the
figures mentioned in the bill are just proposed by the
administration. Practice shows that lawmakers bravely make
corrections in the texts of the documents submitted by the White
House. The same can be said about documents referring to Armenia.
There are no doubts that this year also the partners of Armenian
lobbyists in the Congress will achieve success in increasing the sum
planned for Armenia and it will be much higher than the sum assigned
to Azerbaijan.

Despite the amendment 907 introduced in 1992 that banned government
aid to Azerbaijan this year Baku will however receive aid from
Washington. The temporary suspension of the amendment initiated by
the president allowed Azerbaijan to receive altogether 90 million
dollars. The US ambassador in Azerbaijan Rino Harnish announced on
Monday that he “dreams of the day when the amendment is fully
canceled”. He assured that both the administration and the Congress
strive for the cancellation of the amendment. It is of course an
exaggeration. The Congress is not going to yield to the
administration in that issue and besides, the existence of the
amendment is quite advantageous for the president himself since it
creates additional mechanisms of impact on Azerbaijan. So there are
no serious grounds to talk about the possibility of ceasing the
sanctions applied against Azerbaijan punished by the United States
for blockading Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Artem Erkanyan

–Boundary_(ID_0gTn8OmI0cN+DnQE1OtXEQ)–

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Feb 9 2005

PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN ILHAM ALIYEV RECEIVES DELEGATION LED BY EU
SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SOUTH CAUCASUS HEIKKI TALVITIE
[February 09, 2005, 17:32:11]

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received at the Presidential
Palace a European Union delegation led by EU Special Envoy for South
Caucasus Heikki Talvitie, February 9.

Head of the Azerbaijan State expressed satisfaction with the
intensive development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the
European Union, of active participation of the Republic in the EU new
neighboring policy. Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan’s
position related to the problem bases on the norms and principles of
the international law – that is, on territorial integrity and
inviolability of borders.

He stated that the conflicts existing in the former soviet space and
followed by aggressive separatism damage peace and stability in the
region. From this standpoint, the objective position condemning the
Armenian separatism and the aggression of Azerbaijan against
Azerbaijan in the documents of the Council of Europe and other
international organizations is of great significance. Head of the
Azerbaijan State stressed confidence for further cooperation of
Azerbaijan-European Union.

Mr. Talvitie gave high assessment to expansion of the relations
between the European Union and Azerbaijan, stating these relations
will develop and strengthen in the years ahead.

At the meeting, also were discussed various aspects of EU-Azerbaijan
co-op, regional questions and other issues of mutual interest.

TURKEY IGNORES ARMENIAN CALLS FOR JOINT RECONSTRUCTION OF HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

ArmenPress
Feb 9 2005

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 9, ARMENPRESS: A deputy Armenian culture minister
told Armenpress today that the neighboring Turkey has not responded to
Armenian initiatives to make the medieval Armenian city of Ani, now in
eastern Turkey close to its border with Armenia, “a cultural corridor.”

Ani, the ancient, walled capital of the kings from Bagradit dynasty
who ruled Armenia from the 9-th to the 11-th centuries AD, was in its
heyday a millennium ago and a rival to Constantinople, Baghdad and
Cairo. Despite earthquakes and Mongol raids, much of Ani’s immense,
fortified walls, as well as the city’s citadel, caravansary, cathedral
and six churches still stand well preserved, their stone facades a
testament to a well-developed level of craftsmanship. Today Ani is a
ghost town, deserted except for the presence of Turkish border guards
and the occasional tourists.

The deputy minister, Gagik Gurjian, said the issue was first raised
in 2001 at different international organizations, including also
the UNESCO. “Making Ani a cultural center remains in the focus of
Armenia’s foreign policy, as Armenia stands firmly for improvement
of relations with Turkey and a cultural dialogue is one of ways to
do it,” Gurjian said adding that so far no progress was made except
a verbal arrangement.

He said a French archeologist, Pierre Mahier, who headed an
expedition for archeological dig in Ani asked the Armenian culture
ministry to provide it with research materials collected during a 1905
archeological expedition in Ani, led by a prominent archeologist Toros
Toromanian, which are kept in Armenia and which are very important
in conducting any research in Ani, “but we refused explaining that
the participation of Armenian archeologists would be more effective.”

He said the Armenian culture ministry sent to Turkish counterparts
a report about joint Armenian-American excavations in Akhtamar and
Van, both in Turkey and a daft project for continuing researches,
which also remained unanswered.

Gurjian said they have learned that Turkey has asked the European
Parliament to fund reconstruction of several monuments in Eastern
Anatolia, which include also old Armenian cities of Van and Igdir. He
said if the European Parliament approves this project the Armenian
ministry will try to get some Armenian monuments in these regions
involved in the project.

SCAD POLITICAL AND TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES TO HOLD MEETING
[February 09, 2005, 21:27:14]

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
Feb 10 2005

Political and technical committees of the “South Caucasus Anti-Drag”
(SCAD) Program financed by the European Union is going to hold a
meeting with participation of the state and governmental officials of
the three Caucasus courtiers, the EU Assistance Commission leadership
and the UNDP representatives for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia in
Tbilisi, on February 1-12.

Deputy interior minister of Azerbaijan Zahid Dunyamaliyev, deputy
chairman of the state customs committee Rafail Mirzayev and national
coordinator of SCAD Program Mazahir Efendiyev and other officials
will represent Azerbaijan.

The goal of meeting is to analyze the works done within the program
in 2004 and discuss plan of activity related to combat against illegal
circulation of narcotics.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN NATIONAL SERVICE ARRESTS AZERBAIJAN SPY

ArmenPress
Feb 9 2005

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 9, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian National Security
Service has arrested earlier this month an Armenian citizen, who is
suspected of collaborating with Azerbaijani special services. The
National Security Service did not reveal the name of the suspected
spy in order “not to hinder the investigation.”

It said a criminal case was opened against the Armenian on charges
of high treason. The investigation is being handled by the National
Security Service.