Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
Oct 23 2004

CHINA SUPPORTS SOVEREIGNTY AND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN
[October 23, 2004, 16:59:19]

China’s stance in relation to the Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unchangeable and based on support of the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Chinese Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing told in briefing at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Azerbaijan.

He noted as well that the foundation of the today’s close
relationship between the Azerbaijan and China was laid during
President Heydar Aliyev’s visit to China in 1994. Turnover of goods
between our two countries made $238 mln in 2003 but this figure does
not reflect our real possibilities, he said. The Ambassador expressed
hope for expanding of the trade and economic cooperation, and highly
valued the relations established in humanitarian sphere. In
particular, he mentioned the opening of Chinese Language and
Literature Department at the Baku State University.

Aspiration for peace and adherence to the values common to all
mankind are what unites today Azerbaijan and China in ancient times
communicated by means of the Great Silk Road, Mr. Zhaoxing said.

Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov let journalists know
about the meeting with his Chinese counterpart. He also highly valued
the level of the existing Azerbaijan-China relationship and pointed
out the prospects of its development in the sphere of tourism, and
humanitarian one in all.

Baku Today

Azerbaijan Appeals UN General Assembly to Include Karabakh Issue to Its 59th
Session’s Agenda

AssA-Irada 23/10/2004 10:45

Baku has put forth an initiative to include the provision on the situation
in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan into the agenda of the UN General
Assembly session.

On Thursday Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with ambassadors of the
European Union countries and Islamic Conference Organization member states.
Mammadyarov said his country is concerned over the recent purposeful
settlement of Armenians in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. He said
Azerbaijan has therefore appealed to the UN General Assembly to include a
provision `On the situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan’ into
the agenda of its 59th session.

He said Azerbaijan needs support of Islamic Conference Organization member
states for the provision to be approved. He also expressed hope for approval
of this provision by ambassadors of other countries.

“Azerbaijan supports conflict settlement based on international legal norms
and hopes that the international community would take the same stance and
assist in preventing the illegal actions by Armenia in the occupied Azeri
lands,” the Minister added.

Armenia occupied former autonomous Nagorno-Karabakh region and also seven
other Azerbaijani districts in 1991-94 war, forcing over 700,000
Azerbaijanis to leave their homes. Despite an armistice signed in May 1994,
no final solution has been achieved to the conflict between the two
countries.

OPPOSITION LEADER DISMISSES ARMENIAN TROOPS IN IRAQ DECISION AS “OPPORTUNIST”

Noyan Tapan news agency
23 Oct 04

YEREVAN

“The decision of the authorities to send Armenian troops to Iraq is an
opportunist one. We will lose more than we will gain if the decision
is to be implemented.” This was announced at the 5th congress of the
People’s Party of Armenia on 23 October by its chairman Stepan
Demirchyan. He noted that his party wants to establish normal
relations with all regional countries. “We don’t want any conflicts in
the region where Armenia is located,” the leader said.

He spoke in favour of furthering a strategic partnership relationship
with Russia. At the same time, he regards the “Property for debts”
agreement as unacceptable. He also noted the need for promoting
Armenia’s relations with NATO. Demirchyan spoke highly of the US
assistance and help in developing Armenia’s market economy. He
stressed the need for further deepening of Armenian-US ties.

GEORGIA’S TOUGH STAND ON SMUGGLING HAS PAID OFF – PRESIDENT

Imedi TV, Tbilisi
23 Oct 04

(Presenter) Today (Georgian President) Mikheil Saakashvili and
(Armenian President) Robert Kocharyan attended various events of the
Tbilisoba festival in the Shardeni Street (in Tbilisi). There were
some unexpected changes in the programme as well. Saakashvili and his
Armenian counterpart went to Riqe (public place) and took a ride on a
bus presented to Tbilisi by The Netherlands. (Passage omitted) Later
in the day, the two presidents left Tbilisi for (the resort town of)
Borjomi.

Today Mikheil Saakashvili once again commented on the importance of
the reopening of the (Verkhniy) Lars checkpoint (on the
Georgian-Russian border). (Passage omitted)

(Saakashvili) It seems that very many people hoped that, as a result
of the Lars checkpoint closure, we would be forced to reopen the
smuggling route from the direction of (the South Ossetian capital)
Tskhinvali. A lot of people counted on it. However, since we have
managed to endure this for two months – we clenched our teeth but did
not let that gang resume smuggling – these people realized, I think,
that Georgia would never give in to the pressure. Our boys did not die
in vain in Tskhinvali (this summer), they did not die in order for
some filthy scoundrels to renew carrying contraband from there. We
would lie down on the ground (as a sign of protest) rather than let
the smuggling resume. This is very important. Therefore, I think that
the closure of the Lars checkpoint no longer made sense because of our
principled position.

RUSSIA’S AIR BASE IN KYRGYZSTAN MARKS FIRST ANNIVERSARY

Kabar news agency
23 Oct 04

Bishkek, 23 October: The Russian air base in Kant will mark its
anniversary today. Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev and Russian President
Vladimir Putin attended the official opening of the base a year
ago. The main purpose of the air base is to defend the Central Asian
air direction of the Collective Security Treaty Organization which
includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Russia.

(Passage omitted: the air base has been reconstructed)

It is planned that the air base will receive several SU-27 aircraft
and the number of military servicemen will be increased by another 100
people.

It is expected that deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian air
forces, Col-Gen Yevgeniy Nogovitsyn (as received, First Deputy
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force is Col-Gen Anatoliy
Nogovitsyn), will lead a delegation of generals and officers to attend
the anniversary celebrations. Gazeta.ru (Russian web site) has
reported, quoting the head of the (Russian) Air Force press service,
Aleksandr Drobyshevskiy, that Nogovitsyn will familiarize himself with
the results of the final inspection of the training of the Kant air
base staff in the summer and will meet servicemen and their family
members. The general will also meet senior officials from the Kyrgyz
Defence Ministry.

The Kyrgyz Defence Ministry has said that Kyrgyz Defence Minister Esen
Topoyev will attend the air base’s first anniversary celebrations on
behalf of Kyrgyzstan.

A group of singers and dancers from the (Volga) Ural Military District
will congratulate the servicemen of Russia’s air base.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PAPER SEES ARMENIAN LEADER’S GEORGIAN VISIT AS BETRAYAL OF RUSSIA

Aravot, Yerevan
23 Oct 04

Text of Tigran Avetisyan’s report entitled “An obvious misfortune” by
the Armenian newspaper Aravot on 23 October

Robert Kocharyan’s official visit to Georgia is a very difficult
one. The reason for that is that during the visit he is forced to
“betray” Moscow a little. But as it is known such things make our
senior “partner” very nervous. For instance, under today’s protocol,
Robert Kocharyan laid wreaths at the grave of the heroes who died
fighting for “Georgia’s territorial integrity “. It is known that a
great majority of these heroes were killed in Abkhazia when they were
fighting against the Abkhaz separatists, that is, against Russia. It
turns out that the Armenian leader showed his respect for the memory
of those who fought against his country’s partner, Russia, and by this
he indirectly recognized Tbilisi’s power over Abkhazia. But there is
yet another aspect of the problem.

A difficult situation can be avoided if one tackles things with
circumspection. It is no secret that different state officials voice
opinions about Armenia’s foreign policy which seldom coincide.

Let us say, a top Foreign Ministry official said that we should have
good relations with all our neighbours and especially with Georgia,
because the main roads connecting Armenia with the outside world go
through this country. Having such a clever diplomat is not enough to
keep us happy. Then one deputy said that it is necessary to restore
the Yerevan-Sukhumi-Tbilisi railway. What do you think Tbilisi’s
attitude to us will be after such a statement from the Armenian top
official? Although such statements complicate relations between
Armenia and Georgia (which are conditioned by a third party) they are
also evidence of the fact that the Armenian political thinking has
depreciated a lot.

Let us try to understand: who is the above mentioned call for the
opening of the railway directed at? Is it Georgia? But even a baby can
see that until relations between Georgia and Abkhazia improve, Tbilisi
will be unable to open the railway irrespective of the statements by
“prominent” Armenian officials.

In that case, was the call directed at Moscow? As awful as this might
sound, that was probably the case. It turns out that the Armenian
parliament demands from Russia that it enter forcefully into Georgia
and via its territory to establish a railway link between Armenia and
Russia. Now imagine the kind of treatment received by Kocharyan in
Tbilisi, if Armenia does not keep in check “deep” political ideas of
some politicians.

RUSSIA TO FORTIFY KYRGYZ BASE IF CENTRAL ASIA GETS TENSE – MINISTER

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
23 Oct 04

Bishkek, 23 October: The number of staff and the technical equipment
of Russia’s air base in the Kyrgyz town of Kant will be increased if
the situation gets tense in Central Asia, the (first) deputy
commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, (Col-Gen) Anatoliy
Nogovitsyn, said in Kant (at the first anniversary of the air base)
today.

However, he said a decision to fortify the base will be made within
the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO; members are
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia).

“So far, there is no prerequisite for the situation in the region to
destabilize and the Kant air base is being equipped as planned,” he
said.

(Passage omitted: the air base was opened on 23 October 2003)

PAPER CALLS FOR ARMENIAN PRESENCE AT BAKU-HOSTED NATO SEMINAR

Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
23 Oct 04 p5

As it is known on 25-26 November the Rose-Roth seminar will take place
in Baku. NATO member-countries as well as the associated members and
invited countries will send their delegations to it. The seminar will
discuss regional security issues. Our country has not yet decided
whether to send its parliamentary delegation to Baku, but in
Azerbaijan threats have already been made in connection with the
Armenian visit. The deputy chairman of the National Assembly, Vaan
Ovanesyan, comments on this situation.

(Passage omitted: Ovanesyan explains that NATO Parliamentary Assembly
organizers such seminars and recaps the agenda of the Rose-Roth
seminar in 2000 in Romania, attended by Armenia)

(Hayots Ashkarh correspondent) Mr Ovanesyan, are you aware of the issues
that will be discussed at the seminar in Baku? Can we miss out on
anything important if our delegation does not take part in the
seminar?

(Ovanesyan) I know that the seminar will discuss security issues in
the South Caucasus region. Very significant issues for our country
will be on the agenda of the seminar. In particular, the role of the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen in finding a peaceful solution to the
Karabakh issue will be discussed. The participants in the seminar will
also discuss regional stability. It is obvious that in Baku any
discussion regarding regional problems cannot but touch on the
Karabakh issue. For this reason I don’t quite see how the Armenian
parliamentary delegation can be absent from it. I think that it is
early to talk about the details, but it is probably time to make a
decision at the National Assembly level on whether to send a
delegation to the seminar. As an associated member-country, Armenia
should have a permanent delegation. I don’t think that we should not
take part in the seminar or that something could thwart us.

And if Azerbaijan, as the host-country, thinks that it is the one to
decide whether Armenia or any other country should participate in the
seminar, it is very much mistaken. When an Armenian military
delegation was not allowed to take part in the Azerbaijani-hosted NATO
exercises, NATO cancelled them, despite all the expenditure. I think
that any Azerbaijani attempt to thwart our participation in the
Rose-Roth seminar will again meet NATO’s harsh counteraction.

(Passage omitted: reiterates the point)

ARMENIAN FORUM OPPOSES IRAQI MISSION

Arminfo
22 Oct 04

Yerevan, 22 October: The Armenian government’s proposal to send a
group of Armenian experts to Iraq would mean a declaration of
war. This sharp statement was made today at the 8th forum of
intelligentsia by the former national security aide to the Armenian
president and a founder of the Karabakh movement, (?Ashot
Manucharyan).

He said that Armenia has chosen to ignore its century-old friendship
with neighbouring Muslim countries which have always made careful
statements about Armenia at various international forums, including at
the level of the Organization of Islamic Conference. “Even if one
expert or nurse goes to Iraq, that will be seen as a declaration of
war by the Islamic world and especially by our neighbours,” he said.

Another former representative of the Karabakh committee and member of
the Armenia forum of intelligentsia, Academician Rafael Kazaryan, said
that those who decided this should be punished. He also stressed that
the whole Arab world should be made aware of the fact that the
Armenian people are against the dispatch of experts to Iraq. (Passage
omitted: other participants share the view)

RIFLES FOUND IN CONCERT HALL EXPECTING GEORGIAN, ARMENIAN LEADERS – TV REPORT

Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
23 Oct 04

(Presenter) Was someone planning a terrorist act against the leaders
of the two countries? Everything was ready in the Achara Music Hall
(in Tbilisi) for the arrival of (Georgian President) Mikheil
Saakashvili and (Armenian President) Robert Kocharyan when the
security service discovered a sniper rifle and a Kalashnikov
sub-machine-gun. The security officers found these weapons an hour
before the scheduled start of a jazz music concert. Investigation is
under way to find out who brought the weapons to the building. People
who have come to see the concert are now being checked more
vigorously.

(Passage omitted: a correspondent repeats the story over video showing
the weapons, a security official confirms that they have found SVD
sniper rifle and AKS-74 sub-machine-gun with two loaded magazines;
interviews with singers and members of the public)