Armenian minister chides Turkish premier for remarks on territorial claim

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
8 Feb 05

[Presenter] A seminar on Armenian-Turkish relations was held at the
department of international relations of Yerevan State University
today. Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan talked to students
about Armenia’s approach to this issue.

Oskanyan has expressed his attitude towards the latest allegation
of the neighbouring state [Turkey]. Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said that since allegedly Armenia did not recognize
the Kars Treaty, Armenian-Turkish relations had no future. Thus, it
means that Armenia has territorial claims to Turkey. Oskanyan said
that this was yet another attempt to distort the reality.

Armenian diplomats have commented on Erdogan’s statement. Now both the
Armenian and Turkish people and the international community know that
Armenia has not changed its position as regards relations with Turkey.

[Oskanyan] The Turkish prime minister voiced some speculations
recently. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin put forward the issue of
normalizing ties with Armenia at a meeting with him. They discussed
this issue. Asked about the results of this discussion on his return
from Moscow, Erdogan told a news conference that there were several
problems. One of them is that Armenia has territorial claims to
Turkey because it [Armenia] does not recognize the Kars Treaty. I
told him that we are the inheritors of the Soviet Union and that
the decisions made in that period are still valid since we have not
expressed our attitude towards them or replaced them with others. That
was my answer. But this excuse by Erdogan is simply unacceptable.

NOVRUZ MAMEDOV: NO AGREEMENT WAS MADE ON KARABAKH SETTLEMENT IN PARIS AND KEY WEST

PanArmenian News
Feb 8 2005

08.02.2005 18:21

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Head of the Department of International Relations
of the Azeri President’s staff Novruz Mamedov assures that no
agreement on settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict was made in
Paris and Key West. In his words, no talks with the Armenian
delegation were held in Key West at all: only a short familiarization
meeting with the participation of the US State Secretary took place.
Mamedov stated that last year the Azeri party made important steps to
solve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. “In the course of a whole year
the Azeri diplomacy launched an attack and completed the year
successfully as a result,” he added. “We work with states and
international organizations individually. The goal is to win the
total support of the international community for solving the
conflict,” Mamedov added.

ARMENIA SHOULD TAKE STEPS TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH TURKEY, TURKISH FM CONSIDERS

PanArmenian News
Feb 8 2005

08.02.2005 13:51

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia should take steps to normalize relations
with Turkey. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul stated it when
answering a question on relations with Armenia asked by US State
Secretary Condoleezza Rice, being in Turkey on visit. “I met both with
the Armenian FM and my Azeri colleague. This question has acquired
a chronic character. However, Armenia has to undertake certain steps
and if it is the case it will see reply actions,” Abdullah Gul said.

PM receives Armenian Parliament Speaker

Bahrain News Agency
February 8, 2005 Tuesday 11:51 AM EST

Manama, Feb.8 ( BNA ) Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al
Khalifa received Tuesday morning Chairman of the Representative
Council, Mr.

Khalifa Al Dharani who introduced to the Armenian Parliament Speaker
Mr.Artur Paghdasarian and his accompanying delegation who conveyed
greetings of President and the Prime Minister of Armenia and to the
Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister welcomed the Armenian delegation saying that
Bahrain looks forward for bilateral cooperation between the two
countries particularly that an agreement of cooperation has been
signed between the parliaments of both countries.The Prime Minister
also stressed Bahrain’s support to the Arab Culture Center to be
established in Armenia as it will contribute to recognizing and
spreading the Arab culture.

The Prime Minister discussed with the Armenian Parliament Speaker
means of boosting further the bilateral cooperation on various
fields.

Shura council chairman meets Armenian Parliament speaker

Bahrain News Agency
February 8, 2005 Tuesday

Manama, Feb.8 ( BNA ) Chairman of the Shura Council Dr. Faissal Al
Moussawi met Tuesday Chairman of the Armenian Parliament, Mr. Artur
Paghdasarian and the accompanying delegation.

The Armenian official lauded the representative, legislative and
monitoring role of the Shura Council, expressing hope for further
cooperation and coordination between the two councils.

Iran, Armenia review mutual cooperation, regional developments

IRNA, Iran
February 8, 2005 Tuesday 4:40 PM EST

Tehran, February 08 — Visiting Armenian National Security Council
Secretary Serzh Sarkisian conferred here Tuesday with the Chairman
of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on issues of
mutual interests.

According to the Public Relations Department of the Expediency Council,
at the meeting, Rafsanjani underlined the importance of North-South
Corridor and said the highway will play a key role in expansion of
ties among Iran`s northern neighbors.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is willing to broaden ties with
neighboring countries, he pointed out.

Iran is determined to mediate to find a solution to the issues of
Karabakh through peaceful means, he said.

Rafsanjani called for expediting the project on gas transfer to
Armenia.

Armenia seeks expansion of cooperation with the Islamic Republic of
Iran, Sarkisian said.

The existing economic, educational and cultural cooperation between
the two countries will become more consolidated than before, ,
he underlined.

Foreign forces seek to interfere in regional issues, but `we try to
deal with the issues through peaceful means and negotiations`, he said.

He expressed his country`s determination to seriously pursue the
project for the transfer of Iranian gas to Armenia and added that
Yerevan calls for further expansion of all-out cooperation with the
Islamic Republic of Iran.

PanArmenian News
Feb 8 2005

KUWAIT FOR PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

08.02.2005 18:34

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Kuwait comes for peaceful settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict and will adhere to that position in international
structures, Kuwaiti Prime Minister, emir of Kuwait Sheik Sabah
al-Ahmad as-Sabah stated at a meeting with Armenian Parliament
Speaker Artur Baghdasarian. In the course of the meeting it was noted
that both countries come for peace in the region, do not have and did
not have any political, economic or any other differences, and it is
a good basis for development of relations both at the bilateral level
and within international structures. The proposal was supported by
the Kuwaiti Prime Minister. Sheik Sabah al-Ahmad as-Sabah accepted
the invitation to pay an official visit to Armenia. Concrete terms of
the visit will be specified in the future.

Dutch court to review case of Kurds detained at alleged rebel training camp
by ANTHONY DEUTSCH; Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Worldstream
February 7, 2005 Monday

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — A Dutch court was on Tuesday to review the
cases of 16 Kurds detained last year in the Dutch countryside allegedly
training to carry out terrorist attacks in Turkey and Armenia.

The 16 defendants arrested in a November sweep were to be charged
under tough new anti-terrorism laws that went into effect a few months
before they were detained. Prosecutors say all are members of a rebel
group known as the Kurdish Workers’ Party, or PKK. They are accused
of membership in a terrorist organization and passport forgery,
among other charges.

Charges against 22 others were dropped and they have been handed
over to immigration authorities, prosecution spokeswoman Desiree
Leppens said.

The November raid was the largest single crackdown to date on suspected
PKK members in the European Union. Members of the PKK met openly in
the Netherlands throughout the 1990s, but the group was banned in
Europe last year.

More than 200 police were involved in the operation near the town of
Boxtel in the southern Brabant province.

Police seized night vision goggles, packages of clothing intended to
be sent abroad, instructional materials, passports and identity cards,
prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say “more than 20 people were being trained for armed
conflict … including terrorist attacks” and that they were being
prepped in special war tactics. Others allegedly arranged money
transfers, passports and passed along information to foreign members.

Prosecutors were expected to request more time to prepare their case
at Tuesday’s pretrial hearing.

Fighting between Turkish troops and autonomy-seeking Kurds has killed
some 37,000 people since rebels took up arms in 1984. The rebels
are fighting to carve out an independent state in the mountainous
southeast region of Turkey.

Turkey has long demanded that European Union nations act against
the rebel group, whose sympathizers run a satellite TV station in
Denmark and allegedly collect hundreds of thousands of dollars a year
in major European cities.

In January, a Dutch court blocked the extradition of Kurdish rebel
leader Nuriye Kesbir to Turkey, saying it feared she could be tortured
if sent to a Turkish prison. Kesbir was accused of helping plan a
series of bombings for the PKK in the 1990s.

RIA Novosti, Russia
February 08, 2005

CIS COUNTRIES OUTPACE RUSSIA IN GDP GROWTH

MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti)-According to the information
published yesterday by the CIS Inter-State Statistics Committee,
Russia has fallen behind almost every other CIS country in terms of
GDP growth rates, writes Noviye Izvestia.

The leader in GDP growth rates in 2004 was Ukraine with 12%, followed
by Belarus (11%), Tajikistan (10.6%), Azerbaijan (10.2%) and Armenia
(10.1%).

Lower increases were registered in Kazakhstan (9.4%), Georgia (8.4%)
and Moldova (7.3%). Russia’s GDP growth rates, after they were
reconsidered, came in at 7.1% – the same as Kyrgyzstan. The
Statistics Committee has no information on GDP in Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan, which means Russia and Kyrgyzstan are last on the list.

Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Sharonov requested that a
comparison not be drawn between Russia and economic development
outsiders. He also noted that the mission to double GDP did not yet
mean that life had become better.

Vasily Solodkov, the director of the Banking Institute at the Higher
School of Economics, recalled that the CIS countries, with the
exception of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, were not oil and gas export
addicts. “This means that they had to conduct reforms somehow to
overcome a crisis,” he explained. The second reason is that “the
level of monopolization is enormous [in Russia]” – three or four
monopolies account for 80% of the country’s GDP. The raw material
monopolies do not need to develop, which admittedly puts the brakes
on Russia’s potential growth.

Experts admit that the country’s growth potential is no less than in
the former USSR republics, but it is considerably diminished by
Russia’s current economic policy.

Analysts warn that it is highly probable that the neighbors will
increasingly outstrip Russia in terms of development rates.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Bahrain News Agency
February 8, 2005 Tuesday 1:49 PM EST

PM receives Armenian Delegation

Bahrain News Agency

Manama, February 08

The Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa received here
today Chairman of the Armenian Parliament, Artur Paghdasarian and his
accompanying delegation , currently visiting the Kingdom.

The Prime Minister discussed with Paghdasarian aspects of activating
mechanisms of cooperation between both countries mainly in the
economic, investment , health and educational fields.

The meeting also reviewed a number of issues of joint interest and
the latest regional and international maters .

Earlier, Chairman of the Armenian Parliament, Artur Paghdasarian held
talks with Chairman of the Representatives Council Khalifa bin Ahmed
Al-Dhahrani in the presence of Mps from both countries where an
agreement of joint cooperation was signed between both sides to
enhance cooperation between the two countries.