Armenia to allocate extra funds for police in 2005

Arminfo
18 Nov 04

YEREVAN

The funds envisaged for law-enforcement agencies in the draft state
budget for 2005 are insufficient. However, taking into consideration
the difficult economic situation in the republic, one should be
thankful for the extra 2bn drams [3.98m dollars] allocated to
law-enforcement agencies in 2005, compared to the budget allocation in
2004, the chief of the Armenian Police, Lt-Gen Ayk Arutyunyan, said
during today’s interview with journalists after hearings on the draft
state budget. In line with the draft state budget for 2005, 11.6bn
drams [23m dollars] will be allocated to the police.

He said that 80 per cent of the extra 2bn drams would be spent on
increasing wages of police employees, as a result of which wages will
increase by 40 per cent. The salary of Armenian policemen is lower
today than that of other state employees, the police chief said.

But the Armenian government has already expressed its readiness to
grant extra funds for the needs of the Armenian police in 2005 if
necessary, Ayk Arutyunyan said.

Armenian speaker seeks security guarantees for MPs at Baku-hosted NATO
seminar

Arminfo
19 Nov 04

YEREVAN

The speaker of the Armenian National Assembly, Artur Bagdasaryan, has
sent official letters to the speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament,
Murtuz Alasgarov, and to the chairman of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly, Pierre Lellouche, asking for security guarantees during the
Rose-Roth seminar organized by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Baku
at the end of this month.

The address has been sent in the light of recent facts of violence in
Azerbaijan and on the part of Azerbaijanis in other countries, as well
as the barring of Armenian officers from NATO exercises in September
and the deportation of a Bulgarian sports journalist of Armenian
descent, Eduard Papazyan, the press service of the Armenian National
Assembly has told Arminfo.

The National Assembly, confirming the readiness of its delegations for
cooperation within international organizations and the decision of the
National Assembly administration to send a delegation to Baku, also
expresses its concern over its security and hopes that the necessary
security guarantees would be provided during the Rose-Roth seminar.

The Rose-Roth seminar will be attended by the chairman of the standing
parliamentary commission on defence, national security and internal
affairs, Mger Shakhgeldyan, and MP Aleksan Karapetyan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Aide says Armenia should reject policy of partial compromises over Karabakh

Arminfo,
19 Nov 04

YEREVAN

“In the Karabakh issue we have to reject the policy of the cuckoo from
the well-known Armenian fairy tale. We can’t sacrifice one part of the
territory of Nagornyy Karabakh to preserve another,” the leader of the
Liberal Democratic Union and advisor to the Armenian president on
local government issues, Seyran Avakyan, has told the Union’s congress
which opened today.

He said Armenia must speak to the international community in the
language it understands.

“If great superpowers have interests in the region, then we have to
try to make Armenia more attractive than, say, Azerbaijan, and not to
take offence because the world community is not accepting our position
the way we want. They have to see that Armenia has much more important
values not under the ground, but on the surface,” the leader of the
Liberal Democratic Union said.

Armenian defence minister vows to increase military budget in 2005

Arminfo
18 Nov 04

YEREVAN

It is necessary to increase budget allocations for the defence sphere
in Armenia’s draft budget for 2005 because the military budgets of
Georgia and Azerbaijan are incomparably bigger, Mger Shakhgeldyan,
chairman of the standing parliamentary commission on defence, national
security and internal affairs, has told an Arminfo correspondent.

In turn, Finance and Economy Minister Vardan Khachatryan promised to
reconsider and increase the budget allocations for the defence sphere
in the draft budget. Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan also pointed to
the need to reconsider and increase the defence budget taking into
account the growing world market prices and the need to increase
servicemen’s wages.

The draft budget for 2005 envisages the allocation of 53.7bn drams
[106.9m dollars] for the defence sphere.

UNRECOGNIZED STATUS OF NKR PREVENTS IT FROM COOPERATING WITH
INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS: NKR PM

STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 19. ARMINFO. The unrecognized status of NKR
prevents the republic from cooperating with international financial
organizations, foreign banks and developed countries, NKR PM Anushavan
Danielyan said during his Thursday meeting with representatives of
youth organizations of Sweden, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia,
Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Georgia and Armenia.

Half of Karabakh has been destroyed by war. Restoration was a hard
process but “we have nevertheless managed to create a liberal economy
with reforms covering all the spheres of social and economic life.”

Danielyan regrets that no youths from Azerbaijan were present
there. “We should settle our problems at all levels including through
people’s diplomacy and youth’s involvement.”

Since 2000 NKR Government has been implementing economic reforms to
create free market relations on the basis of property equality and
liberal economy. “As a result we are observing significant economic
growth.”

In 1999 the Government began implementing a new tax policy. Income tax
was reduced from 25% to 15%, in 2000 to 10%, 2001 to 5%. Now profit
tax is 5% against former 25%. In 2003 industrial growth in NKR was
over 40%. 2/3 of industry was due to foreign investing. SOme $50 mln
has been invested in the NKR economy in the last years mostly by the
US, Russia, Lebanon, Belgium, Switzerland, Iran, France,
Australia. “No foreign company has failed in Karabakh to date,” says
Danielyan.

In 2002 GDP was 10 bln AMD, in 2003 12 bln AMD, this year it is
estimated at 17 bln AMD. In 2000 exports was $2 mln AMD, in 2001 $5.4
mln, in 2002 $14 mln, in 2003 $18 mln. Profitable are industry,
energy, construction, tourism.

In 2004 big families will receive over 185 mln AMD from banks, in 2008
over 300 mln AMD. 100 mln AMD will be allocated for restoration of
historical-architectural monuments in 2005.

Danielyan says that the US is the only country aiding Karabakh on
state level. The bulk of US humanitarian aid goes to restoration of
settlements and social facilities destroyed during the Karabakh war.

STUDENT COUNCIL HEADS QUESTION SOCIAL SURVEY FINDINGS OF ARF ON
CORRUPTION AT HIGHER EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19. ARMINFO. The social survey, conducted by the
Student Union after Nikol Aghbalian, a youth wing of Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaksutiun), was held on a
non-professional level and does not reflect the real level of
corruption in higher educational establishments, the heads of student
councils of three major institutes of Armenia from Yerevan Medical
University, Institute of Physical Training and Agricultural Academy
stated today.

Armen Ashotian, assistant to the rector of Yerevan Medical University
names the surveys as a “political order” or “black PR.” Concurrently,
representatives of student councils do not exclude that corruption, in
fact, exists at Armenian higher educational establishments. “To engage
in a reasonably fight against corruption, professional sociologists
should have been invited,” the student council of Institute of
Physical Training Gagik Sarkissian said. Armen Ashotian even proposed
to donate half of the funds needed to conduct a professional study. He
said his institute is ready to provide several thousand dollars to
prove that Medical University is one of the most active opponents of
corruption. Ashotian refuted the findings of the survey which said
that the medical university is the most corrupt institution among
higher educational establishments in Armenia. They challenge “the good
name of the university where some 1000 foreign students study bringing
$6 mln in revenues to the republic,” he said.

To remind, Student Union after Nikol Aghbalian unveiled the findings
of a student opinion poll in higher educational establishments of
Armenia three days ago. The survey was conducted by the youth wing of
ARF (Dashnaksutiun) in September-October 2004 among 1100 student from
11 state higher educational establishments. Corruption is considered
ineratible by 72% of Yerevan State University students, 67% –
Institute of Physical Training, 64%-Yerevan Linguistics Institute
after Brusov, 65% – Agricultural Academy. The major reason of
corruption was named as low salaries of faculty (18%), avoiding
military service (17%) and sponsorship of corruption by upper
authorities of the higher educational establishments (16%).

The survey also unveiled other interesting findings. The most corrupt
are considered examinations for post-graduate studies (22%) and
entrance exams (21%). More effective ways for fighting corruption are
considered leadership of universities (22%), effective government
policy (20% and students themselves (17%). Students of Yerevan State
University also indicated the role of mass media (25%), youth
organizations (22%) and student council which the respondents
mentioned the least, only 10%.

The authors of the study also sent letters to the rectors of 11
institutes asking to tell how many cases of corruption were detected
in the course of 2000 to 2004. Only Yerevan Institute of Physical
Training responded saying that 5 faculty members were sacked for
corruption and another department head moved to an ordinary
faculty. The rectors of all other institutes answered that no cases of
corruption have been reported in their establishments during the last
4 years. -A-

NAGORNO KARABAKH PRESIDENT VISITED DETROIT WITHIN HIS VISIT TO USA

STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 19. ARMINFO. If Goris-Lachin-Stepanakert highway
is the road of life for Nagorno Karabakh, the North-South highway will
become one of the most important elements for economic development of
Nagorno Karabakh, the president of NKR Arkadi Ghukassian told a public
forum in Detroit with the participation of Armenian community in the
city.

The chief information administration services affiliated to NKR
president told ARMINFO that Ghukassian arrived in Detroit on Nov 17
from New York on the occasion of a telethon slated on Nov 25 to raise
money for North-South highway. The raised money will be spent on the
construction of the highway which has strategic meaning for Karabakh
and connects all regions of the republic to each other.

NKR president called on all Armenians to take part in the telethon and
contribute to the social economic development of the republic. The
Armenian community voiced his support to the democratization process
and civil society development in NKR, economic reform and revival of
spiritual values in the republic. The participants voiced their
belief that the current achievements of Karabakh determine the current
attitudes among the Armenian community to render their support to the
economy of the republic.

Similar attitudes were expressed at Nov 18 meeting of Ghukassian with
the faculty and students of Michigan university. The gathered were
especially interested in Karabakh conflict regulation. Ghukassian
reiterated that Karabakh is principally for peaceful regulation of the
conflict with Azerbaijan which unlike Karabakh tries to use force. If
Azerbaijan seriously thought about peace, it would enter into direct
negotiations with Karabakh,” Ghukassian stated.

During the meeting at schools after Aleg and Mari Manukians, it was
underscored to establish closer contacts between Armenian schools of
USA and Karabakh.

The same day, a reception was held in the house of Marta and Diana
Shushanians in the honor of the president where most influential
members of Armenian community in Detroit were invited. -A-

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Visit Holy Land, Jerusalem Church leaders beg

Catholic World News

Jerusalem, Nov. 19 (AsiaNews) – Leaders of all the Christian churches
in Jerusalem have joined in a common plea to the Western world, urging
all Christians to visit the Holy Land and support the dwindling
Christian community there.

The joint statement– “A call to all people of faith: Visit the Holy
Land”– was signed by representatives of the Roman Catholic, Greek
Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Russian Orthodox, and Protestant
communities in Jerusalem. It was the first time that all these
Christian leaders had jointly signed such a document.

“There are many things that divide Christians, but there are many more
that unite us,” remarked Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head of
the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.

The joint statement was released in advance of the Christmas season,
when Christian pilgrims traditionally make plans to visit Bethlehem.
In recent years, the violence in the Middle East has caused a dramatic
decline in the number of Christian pilgrims to the region. The Israeli
Tourism ministry reports that in the year 2000, Christians made up 60
percent of all the tourists visiting Israel; thus far in 2004, that
number is down to 29 percent.

Tehran Times, Iran
Nov 20 2004

Iran surrounded by countries with ‘high-risk terrorism’: Report

LONDON (IRNA) — Iran is completely surrounded by neighboring
countries with far higher security problems than itself, according to
the latest annual report by the UK-based Control Risks Group. Its
RiskMap for 2005 identifies Iraq as an ‘Extreme Security Risk,’ saying
that insecurity had reached “unprecedented levels towards the end of
2004 and looks set to continue.” Iran was classed as a ‘Low Security
Risk,’ but Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and the bordering areas of
Armenia and Azerbaijan were rated as ‘High Security Risk.’ Other
neighboring countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman Qatar, Russia,
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates as well as the remainder of
Armenia and Azerbaijan were identified as a ‘Medium Security Risk.’

Control Risks specializes in forecasting opportunities and trouble
spots for businesses, working with more than 5,300 clients in over 130
countries.

Its definition of Extreme Security Risk is where the severity of
security risks to assets or personnel is likely to make business
operations untenable.

The high level is when there is a probability that foreign companies
will face security problems and requires special measures as state
protection is very limited.

Medium risk is for countries where there is a reasonable possibility
of security problems affecting companies as against low risk, when
assets are deemed to be secure and authorities provide adequate
protection.

In judging Iran, Control Risks suggested that the country’s nuclear
program would continue to dominate international relations in 2005.
It also believed that effective UN sanctions remained unlikely, but
said that this “may force the US or Israel to take decisive action,
possibly involving air strikes against nuclear sites. It ruled out any
full-scale military action, saying this was “not in prospect.”

Azeri-NATO cooperation shrouded in secrecy – Azeri pundit

BBC Monitoring Caucasus
19 November 2004

Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow, in Russian 16 Nov 04 pp 1,5

Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO long ago transcended
the bounds of cooperation within the Partnership for Peace programme,
but is shrouded in secrecy, according to an Azeri military
expert. Uzeyir Cafarov said that preparation was under way for a
programme to train the Azeri military, similar to Georgia’s Train and
Equip programme, which would begin in 2005. He said that there were
already “several dozen” US servicemen in Azerbaijan. One Azeri Defence
Ministry spokesman confirmed that NATO servicemen were conducting
training courses in Azerbaijan under Partnership for Peace, while the
ministry’s main spokesman denied it, according to a report in Russian
newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta. The following is the text of Rauf
Mirqadirov’s report in Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 16 November headlined
“American soldiers have landed in Azerbaijan. The republic’s Defence
Ministry is doing all it can to conceal this fact”; subheadings
inserted editorially:

Baku – One Azerbaijani socio-political newspaper reported a few days
ago that more than 50 NATO servicemen, mainly Americans, are stationed
at the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry’s instruction and training centre
in the settlement of Cuxanli, Salyan District. According to the
newspaper report, starting next year the Americans intend to begin
implementing a programme in Azerbaijan analogous to Georgia’s Train
and Equip programme.

Contradictory comment from Defence Ministry on role of US instructors

In conversation with journalists Ilqar Verdiyev, an employee of the
Azerbaijani Defence Ministry press office, confirmed this report,
stating, however, that foreign servicemen come to Azerbaijan only to
participate in specific projects for the implementation of the NATO
Partnership for Peace programme. He said that various courses are
continually being held at the Cuxanli instruction and training centre
under the auspices of this programme. “They are courses in teaching
foreign languages, in inculcating NATO terminology and in organizing
peace activities,” Verdiyev stated.

However, Azerbaijani Defence Ministry press office chief Ramiz Malikov
categorically denied this report, stating that he has no information
on the training of Azerbaijanis by American instructors.

Officials do not rule out US military presence

At the same time, Deputy Alimammad Nuriyev, a member of the
parliamentary defence and security standing commission, indirectly
confirmed rumours about the arrival of the US servicemen: “There is
nothing surprising about our soldiers being trained by Americans. It
is no secret that, following the start of combat operations in
Afghanistan and Iran, the Americans have been making active use of our
military airfields for transit purposes. Simply, we are not in the
habit of talking about it.”

Araz Azimov, Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister, does not rule out,
either, the possibility that American mobile forces have arrived in
the country. “Azerbaijan does not rule out future participation in the
alliance’s rapid-response operations, since new challenges demand a
flexible and swift reaction. In the context of globalization the
development of any crisis demands a prompt reaction,” Azimov said.

Secrecy surrounds Azeri-NATO cooperation

Azerbaijani analysts have focused attention on the phrase “any
crisis”. Uzeyir Cafarov, an independent military expert and former
high-ranking Defence Ministry employee, thinks that cooperation
between Baku and NATO transcended the bounds of the Partnership for
Peace programme long ago. In conversation with your Nezavisimaya
Gazeta correspondent he emphasized the secrecy surrounding information
about cooperation: “Both the Defence Ministry and NATO representatives
try not to speak too openly on this matter.” The expert reminded me
that NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stated in Baku
recently that Azerbaijan has already been given its
“homework”. Cafarov said that active preparations are now under way to
implement a programme similar to Georgia’s Train and Equip programme,
which will most probably be “launched” officially in 2005. It may
involve utilizing the “military training ground in Qara Heybat,
situated not far from Baku, where NATO exercises were to have been
staged recently but were called off, as well as the instruction and
training centre in the settlement of Cuxanli in Salyan District. They
fully meet the standards of the North Atlantic bloc.” Cafarov claims
that there are already several dozen American servicemen in the
country.

USA may want to use Azerbaijan to launch strikes on Iran

In recent days practically all the independent Azerbaijani newspapers
have been actively discussing reports in the foreign news media to the
effect that Washington and Baku are holding active consultations on
using the territory of Azerbaijan for the purpose of launching a
strike against Iran. Some media, referring to military sources, are
even publishing various plans of future military operations.

Azar Rasidoglu, an expert at the East-West political research centre,
told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that it may be supposed even now that the
European Union will almost unanimously oppose an anti-Iranian military
operation. Besides, Azerbaijan would irrevocably spoil its relations
with its closest partner in the region – Turkey. “Turkey, no less than
Europe, depends on deliveries of energy sources from Iran. In
addition, Ankara has no interest in seeing the birth of yet another
active hotbed of Kurdish armed separatism alongside its own borders,”
the political analyst told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

As a land-based launch pad for its intervention operations, Washington
could also, theoretically, use the territory of Armenia, Syria, Iraq,
Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. Armenia and Syria may immediately be
scratched from this list. Also, neither Iraq nor Afghanistan, on whose
territories guerrilla warfare is taking place, provide a reliable
logistical base.

Azerbaijani military experts are coming to the conclusion that the
United States may regard only the territory of Azerbaijan as a
reliable launch pad for its intervention into Iran. For example,
independent military expert Casur Mammadov told Nezavisimaya Gazeta:
“What is also noticeable is the list of military facilities at which,
according to media reports, the Americans already are, or will be,
deployed. They are primarily the settlements of Cuxanli and Nasosni,
not far from Baku. Both are located close to military airfields which
have very recently been upgraded, and they are practically ready for
launching air strikes against Iran. Apart from this, reports appeared
very recently to the effect that the Americans are about to deploy
TRML-3D mobile air defence radar stations in Azerbaijan. It is
reasonable to suppose that, in the event of strikes against Iran, it
is unlikely that the Americans can count on receiving essential
information from Russia’s Qabala radar station,” the expert believes.

Mammadov stressed, moreover, that the military base in the settlement
of Cuxanli has access to the Caspian Sea. And the Americans have
already set about upgrading Azerbaijan’s naval forces. In the expert’s
opinion, the military base at Cuxanli is very conveniently located,
from a military operations viewpoint. “From that base to the Iranian
border is just a stone’s throw,” Mammadov remarked.