Azeri envoy says cancellation of Baku war games not to affect ties with NATO

MPA news agency
14 Sep 04

Baku, 14 September: The USA welcomes NATO’s decision to cancel the
Cooperative Best Effort 2004 exercises that were due to be held in
Baku as part of the Partnership for Peace programme, a representative
of the US State Department has said.

He said America regretted very much the decision to deny Armenian
officers entry visas.

Commenting on the statement by the State Department representative,
the Azerbaijani ambassador to the USA, Hafiz Pasayev, said that
“unfortunately, America, a country co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group,
did not take into account the position of the Azerbaijani public on
the Armenian issue and the possibilities for a peaceful solution
to the Karabakh conflict”. The diplomat said the cancellation of
the exercises would not damage Azerbaijan’s long-term cooperation
programme with the alliance.

Azeri experts say cancellation of Baku war games to damage ties with USA, NATO

Ayna, Baku
14 Sep 04

The cancellation of NATO war games scheduled to start in Baku on 14
September due to the refusal to allow Armenian military officers
entry to Baku could damage Azerbaijan’s relations with the USA,
political experts have told Azerbaijani daily Ayna. Independent
military expert Uzeyir Cafarov said that the incident was a serious
blow to the country’s image and would hamper Azerbaijan’s integration
into NATO. Political analyst Eldar Namazov held both the Azerbaijani
authorities and NATO responsible for the incident saying that all
disputable questions should have been resolved beforehand. The former
foreign minister, Tofiq Zulfuqarov, said that the cancellation of the
exercises was “a wrong decision” and NATO should have taken heed of the
position of the Azerbaijani public. The following is an excerpt from
C. Sumarinli’s report in Ayna on 14 September entitled “NATO exercises
in Baku cancelled” and subheaded “NATO leadership accuses Azerbaijan
of violating commitments”; subheadings have been inserted editorially:

The Cooperative Best Effort 2004 exercises within the framework of the
NATO Partnership for Peace programme, due to be officially opened in
Baku at 1800 [1100 gmt] today, were unexpectedly cancelled yesterday.

[Passage omitted: background]

Cancellation of NATO war games to damage Azerbaijan’s image

Independent military expert Uzeyir Cafarov believes that this incident
is a serious blow to Azerbaijan: “This incident is the first in the
history of the military exercises under NATO’s Partnership for Peace
programme. The cancellation of the exercises is a sign of serious
plans against Azerbaijan.”

Cafarov said that this incident would cost Azerbaijan dear: “I think
that we have come across a grave obstacle in Azerbaijan’s way to
integrate into NATO. In this direction, including in the resolution
of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, we shall witness western states’
political and other pressure on official Baku.

“As is known, NATO is planning to open its South Caucasus
representative office and the alliance’s secretary-general will
visit the South Caucasus states in November. I assume that when
deciding where to station NATO’s representative office, Georgia will
be given preference. We can say almost for sure that among the South
Caucasus states, NATO’s main partner Azerbaijan has yielded its place
to Georgia.”

The expert said that the cancellation of the exercises was a serious
blow to Azerbaijan’s image: “The attitude towards us will alter. Just
imagine that up to 1,000 servicemen from about 20 countries have come
to Baku. Now they are returning home frustrated.”

He thinks that Armenians and their supporters have a hand in this
incident: “We did not want Armenians to arrive in Baku. What did we
hope for and what have we got? We are now face to face with mighty
NATO. I think that Armenians did their best to provoke anti-Azerbaijani
moods in NATO and succeeded in this. Although Azerbaijan is the closest
partner of NATO, pro-Russian Armenia created a serious obstacle to it.”

…and ties with USA

The former foreign minister, Tofiq Zulfuqarov, thinks that NATO’s
biased decision was adopted without taking into consideration
the existing situation. He thinks that although the incident is
an undesirable one for our country, this decision will make think
those who sign agreements on hosting various international events
in Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijan is a victim of aggression, our lands are under occupation
and we have hundreds of thousands of refugees. It is wrong not to
take heed of this. I think that the NATO secretary-general took a
wrong decision,” the pundit said.

Zulfuqarov thinks that Azerbaijan’s refusal to grant visas to the
Armenian officers is connected with the tense regional situation. “It
is natural that the Azerbaijani public protests against Armenians’
visit to Baku. Unlike others, I would not say that this was an
erroneous step. I think given the current situation, Azerbaijan will
gain certain positive dividends. This shows that Azerbaijan has a
principled position on the conflict. This position should be taken
into consideration in the future by NATO and other international
structures.”

However, the expert does not rule out that Azerbaijan’s relations
with NATO and the USA might be affected by the incident.

Azeri leadership “feeble-minded”

“The incident shows that the Azerbaijani leadership is feeble-minded,”
expert Zardust Alizada said. He thinks that the current rumpus has
nothing to do with patriotism and the fight for Karabakh: “However,
this incident will gravely damage Azerbaijan.”

He thinks that the possibility of Armenians coming would not have
affected the Karabakh problem: “Armenians could choose to come or not
to come. This would have had no impact on the Karabakh settlement. I
think that our public should not have kicked up fuss or take the
position of ‘hurrah patriots’. This is a stupid and limp-wristed
position. This reminds me of stupid slogans of 1988-89. Some ‘hurrah
patriots’ were shouting that Baku was a nice city if not for Armenians.

“Actually, it is important to deal with the army [building] in
earnest. And a defeatist general should not be appointed defence
minister. On the whole, I think that the government of Azerbaijan
is behind all the uproar. They imply fighting for Karabakh,” the
expert said.

Both Baku and NATO are to blame

However, pundit Eldar Namazov’s approach to the issue is
different. He thinks that the incident both damaged our country and
NATO’s authority. The Azerbaijani leadership and NATO’s responsible
structures are responsible for this development of events.

“I think the issue of Armenian officers’ participation in exercises
on our territory should have been resolved long before,” the expert
said. Although Namazov deems the country’s refusal to accept Armenian
citizens to be a belated step, he thinks that this will be a good
lesson to all international organizations in the future: “They will
know which commitments Azerbaijan can fulfil and which it cannot.”

“I think that every country has the right to protect its national
interests and should be able to say ‘no’. A yes-man or country becomes
a ‘wimp’ in the end,” the expert said, adding that he did not rule out
tension in Azerbaijani-US relations after this incident. However, he
thinks that sooner or later international structures and the whole of
the international community will understand the situation and reckon
with Azerbaijan’s position.

Namazov said that the emotional public reaction was fully
understandable. But in contrast to this, the Azerbaijani authorities,
especially the Foreign Ministry, should have acted cold-bloodedly
and pragmatically.

“The country’s leadership should have ironed out all disputable
issues at the preliminary stage of the Cooperative Best Effort 2004
exercises. Emotions are unavoidable if this did not take place and
people intervened in the situation to protest,” he said.

US embassy regrets Azeri decision to bar Armenians from NATO drills

Turan news agency
14 Sep 04

Baku, 14 September: In connection with NATO’s decision to cancel the
Cooperative Best Effort 2004 exercises in Baku, Turan news agency
has contacted the US embassy for comment.

A US embassy representative said that the Americans totally agree
with Brussels’s decision.

“We support the decision of the NATO leadership to cancel the
exercises within the Partnership for Peace programme scheduled for
13-25 September in Baku.

“This decision was taken following the Azerbaijani authorities’
refusal to issue visas to Armenian participants. It is crucial that
all member countries of NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme are
able to take part in the programme. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are
members of this programme.

“We deeply regret that Baku decided not to issue visas to Armenian
participants. We do not think that this decision has anything to do
with Baku’s desire to cooperate with NATO and become closer to the
alliance,” the embassy’s representative said.

Russians ground Polish military plane en route to NATO exercise

AP Worldstream
Sep 14, 2004

A Polish military plane carrying soldiers and weapons to Azerbaijan
for a NATO exercise was grounded in southern Russia following a mix-up
over its transit permit, an army spokesman said Tuesday.

The plane, carrying 15 soldiers, ammunition and weapons, was detained
late Monday in Rostov-on-Don and prevented from proceeding to Baku,
Azerbaijan, Col. Zdzislaw Gnatowski said.

Gnatowski said that, although the plane had received permission
from Moscow to transport soldiers and weapons through Russia, that
information apparently had not been forwarded to local officials
in Rostov-on-Don.

Officials’ efforts to sort out the mix-up were overtaken by NATO’s
scrapping the planned exercise, part of the alliance’s “Partnership
for Peace” program, after Azerbaijan rejected a request by neighboring
Armenia to participate.

Gnatowski said the plane was expected to return to Poland on Wednesday.

Azeri MPs happy about cancellation of NATO war games

Turan news agency
14 Sep 04

Baku, 14 September: The cancellation of NATO’s Cooperative Best
Effort 2004 exercises in Azerbaijan was discussed at the Milli Maclis
[parliament] session today.

MP Ibrahim Isayev was the first to speak on the issue. He expressed
his regret at the fact that NATO was led by the nose by the Armenians
and had cancelled the exercises in Baku.

“At the same time, we have succeeded in barring Armenians from Baku,
so let me congratulate you on that,” the MP said.

Qudrat Hasanquliyev, chairman of the United People’s Front of
Azerbaijan Party, described what happened as a “major achievement”.

“Our people have shown their unity,” he said with satisfaction.

Hasanquliyev called on everyone to be “on alert” to the people and
companies maintaining “contacts” with Armenia, saying that such
cooperation was unacceptable.

At the same time, MP Musa Musayev expressed his doubt that the
disruption of the NATO exercises was a positive achievement. He
recalled that a great deal of effort was taken by Azerbaijan to become
an associated member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. If Azerbaijan
is aspiring to a negotiated solution to the Karabakh problem, it has
to cooperate with NATO, Musayev said.

Parliament Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov said summing up the debate that
in some sense the NATO decision was an answer to the Azerbaijani
parliament’s address.

“We protested at the visit of those who have occupied our lands and
shed the blood of our people, and we have achieved our goal,” he said.

[Passage to end omitted: parliament session’s agenda]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IRAN’S PRESIDENT KHATAMI RETURNS HOME FROM TAJIKISTAN

Tehran, 14 September: President Mohammad Khatami arrived in Tehran
later in the day ending his three-nation tour which took him from
Yerevan to Dushanbe after Minsk.

Upon his arrival at Mehrabad International Airport, Khatami talked
to reporters on his seven-day visits to the Republics of Armenia,
Belarus and Tajikistan.

On the last leg of his tour, Khatami took part in the summit of
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) heads of state held in
Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Source: IRNA web site, Tehran, in English 1525 gmt 14 Sep 04

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AGBU PRESS OFFICE
55 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone (212) 319-6383
Fax (212) 319-6507
Email [email protected]
Webpage

PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, September 14, 2004

AGBU UN WORKSHOP TARGETS AN ISSUE CRUCIAL TO ARMENIA AND OTHER NATIONS

New York – On Wednesday, September 8, 2004, AGBU brought together
some of the leading voices in landmine eradication and environmental
issues at the largest gathering of non-governmental organizations
in the world – the United Nation’s 57th Annual DPI/NGO Conference
in Manhattan entitled “Millennium Development Goals: Civil Society
Takes Action.” Entitled, “Overcoming Obstacles to Economic Growth &
Community Development: The Role of Civil Society,” the AGBU workshop,
attended by Peggy Kerry – sister of Presidential candidate John
Kerry and NGO liaison to the US Mission of the United Nations – and
an audience of international NGO representatives, invited speakers
to discuss their grassroots projects in Afghanistan, Armenia and
Cambodia that help rehabilitate post-war societies through demining,
tree planting and other infrastructure-based initiatives.

AGBU United Nations Representative, Adrienne Alexanian initiated
and organized the workshop, a nine-month process involving weekly
meetings, extensive planning and networking with various individuals
and groups. Alexanian was also AGBU’s representative on the DPI/NGO
planning committee and the conference reception committee.

“It is important that Armenian organizations get involved with
international institutions like the United Nations, and promote ideas
and issues important to our community,” Alexanian said. “With my
continuing involvement with the United Nations, I am proud that we can
put together professional workshops that engage the world. I was also
very happy that as a member of the reception committee I was able to
promote HaiArt, an Armenian ensemble that played music by the Armenian
composer Gomidas during the opening reception in the Delegates’
Dining Room. The reaction to the music was tremendous and everyone
became aware that the well of Armenian music was so rich and moving.”

The workshop drew a standing room crowd of educated activists and
concerned NGO representatives. The speakers were Jeff Masarjian,
Executive Director of the Armenia Tree Project (ATP), Sally Mackle
of Rotary International, and Heidi Kuhn, President and Founder of
Roots of Peace, an organization founded to continue Princess Diana’s
legacy of landmine eradication. Adrienne Alexanian and her alternate,
Hrag Vartanian, moderated the event.

Masarjian’s presentation included a discussion of the realities that
confronted a post-war Armenia, including landmines and the blockade,
and their impact on the environment. He went on to elaborate about
ATP’s work at developing a sustainable countryside that is helped by
an ambitious program of tree planting and fruit drying projects that
employ countless numbers of Armenian war refugees from Azerbaijan. Now
in its tenth year, ATP has planted hundreds of thousands of trees
and continues to expand its programming.

Rotary International’s project in Cambodia works with local village
residents to demine their fields, purify their water, and provide
them with livestock for farming in the heavily-mined regions of
Cambodia. The country is home to some of the largest numbers of
landmine victims and they continue to struggle with the problem.

The final presentation by Roots of Peace founder and president, Heidi
Kuhn, outlined her work that builds on the former Princess of Wales’
vision of a mine-free world. As a result of a partnership with various
Californian wineries, Roots of Peace works in post-war countries,
like Afghanistan, to clear agricultural land of landmines and replant
vineyards that will rejuvenate the local economy. Featured on CNN, NBC
and ABC, Roots of Peace has garnered praised from UN Secretary General,
Kofi Annan, the US State Department and other prominent voices.

The presentations were followed by questions and interactive
discussions from an engaged audience that was well versed on landmine
and environmental issues.

Feedback from members of the NGO community pointed out the timely
nature of the topic and applauded the dissemination of information from
experts on these crucial initiatives to the international community.

A member of the UN NGO community since 1993, AGBU is the largest
Armenian non-profit organization in the world. The organization’s
educational, cultural and humanitarian programs reach over 400,000
Armenians annually. For more information, visit AGBU online at

MGM sale conjures old ghosts, history repeats
By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Even in fast-paced Hollywood,
the more things change, the more they stay the same. Case in point:
80 year-old Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. <_MGM.N_ (aol://4785:MGM/) >.

The venerable film studio controlled by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian
on Monday agreed in principle to be acquired by investors led by Sony
Corp., according to sources close to the deal.

The nearly $5 billion deal recalls MGM’s origins in 1924, another
time when deep pockets were needed to compete against larger rivals.

The birthplace of musicals like “The Wizard of Oz,” epic “Gone with
the Wind” and home to the James Bond spy flicks, MGM has remained
a fixture in Hollywood through years of shifting owners, changed
locations and threatened bankruptcy.

In fact, the acquisition by Sony returns MGM to its old filmmaking
lot that was spun off in 1986 at a time when the studio was controlled
by Ted Turner. Since then, MGM has been a studio without a lot. Now,
like E.T., it has gone home.

MGM was formed in 1924 when financially struggling Metro Pictures
and owner Marcus Loew, who ran the New York-based Loews theaters,
approached Goldwyn Pictures about a merger.

Neither company was performing well at box offices, so they brought in
Louis B. Mayer, who along with his production chief, Irving Thalberg,
took charge of a merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Legendary producer Samuel Goldwyn had been ousted from Goldwyn Pictures
two years earlier, and never worked at the company.

In the 1930s and 1940s, MGM became famous for producing spectacle
films and musicals like “Wizard of Oz” in 1939. That same year,
MGM and producer David O. Selznick released multiple-Oscar winner
“Gone With the Wind.”

MGM earned other best picture Oscars for 1951 musical “An American in
Paris,” starring Gene Kelly, and 1959 epic “Ben Hur,” with Charlton
Heston. In 1962, sister United Artists released the first of 20 James
Bond movies, “Dr. No.”

DEALS AND NEAR DISASTER

Kerkorian acquired 37 percent of MGM in 1969, then won control from
rival investor Edgar Bronfman Sr. He would own the studio three times
before this latest sale.

The 86-year-old billionaire is the son of Armenian immigrants and
made his early fortune in the airline industry. He also controls MGM
Mirage <_MGG.N_ (aol://4785:MGG/) >, operator of the Bellagio and
MGM Grand casino hotels, among others.

On Wall Street, Kerkorian is considered a wily dealmaker. In
complicated maneuvering in 1986, he sold MGM to Ted Turner’s Turner
Broadcasting System for $1.45 billion, then reacquired it from
Turner. But by then, Turner had stripped MGM of its pre-1948 film
library and sold MGM’s studio lot.

The deal formed the basis of modern MGM, which makes low-risk,
low-cost movies and cable and syndicated TV shows. It generates much
of its revenue from selling DVDs in its 4,100 title film catalog that
excludes classics like “Wizard of Oz.”

In 1990, Kerkorian sold MGM for $1.3 billion to Pathe Communications
and financier Giancarlo Paretti, but after losing money, French bank
Credit Lyonnais seized control then sold MGM back to Kerkorian in
1996 for the same $1.3 billion.

In 1999, the billionaire installed top lieutenant Alex Yemenidjian as
chief executive and Hollywood veteran Chris McGurk as chief operating
officer.

Helped by booming DVD sales, the pair have turned MGM into a steady
cash producer. Even so, in modern times MGM has been what old Metro
Pictures was, a small company looking for a big partner. On Monday,
it appeared to find one, again.

09/13/04 18:54 ET

BAKU WILL NOT ADMIT ARMENIA’S REPRESENTATIVES FOR PARTICIPATION IN NATO-LED EXERCISE

RIA Novosti, Russia
Sept 13 2004

BAKU, September 13 (RIA Novosti) – The Azerbaijani embassy in Georgia
will not issue entrance visas to Armenia’s military for participation
in the NATO-led Cooperative Best Effort-2004 exercise in Baku, said
Metin Mirza, head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s press service.

“The Azerbaijani embassy in Georgia has not and will not issue
entrance visas to Armenia’s military for participation in the NATO-led
Cooperative Best Effort-2004 exercise”, he said.

In response to the question on the reasons of the refusal, Mr. Mirza
said that “these reasons are well-known and there is no need in
voicing them again”.

The NATO exercise to be attended by representatives of the alliance’s
20 countries and partners within the framework of the NATO program
Partnership for Peace will be held in Baku from September 14 through
26.

Political organizations and public of Azerbaijan as well as the
country’s mass media speak out against participation of the Armenian
representatives in the exercise. In particular, the Azerbaijani
parliament’s address to the NATO Secretary General reads that the NATO
leadership’s decision on invitation of “officers of the occupational
Armenian army” to the military exercise was taken extremely negative
in the republic.

“It is absolutely obvious that this decision, whose consequences has
not been thoroughly considered, may ultimately aggravate the tense
situation in the region”, states the address.

It also points out that the Azerbaijani people voice strong protest
against this decision of the NATO leadership and see it as “a step,
to chose the words carefully, absolutely inconsistent with interest
of our state and hurting feelings of Azerbaijani citizens”.

Addressing the fact that over 20 thousand Armenians currently live
in Baku, the Azerbaijani MPs point out that “the protests against
arrival of Armenia’s officers in Baku are not only ethnically based.
The protests are against arrival in the capital of occupied Azerbaijan
of officers of the aggressive Armenian army, which seized the
Azerbaijani lands and sentenced its residents to incredible sorrows”.

The address of the parliament’s members to the NATO Secretary General
expressed hope that “this ill-considered decision, which may impair the
NATO-Azerbaijani cooperation and threaten the talks towards peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, will be cancelled”.

All capitals of the Southern Caucasus and other countries pinned
their hopes on election of Ilkham Aliev the Azerbaijani president in
terms of intensifying the process of the peaceful settlement of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over belonging of Nagorny Karabakh,
Armenian enclave on the Azerbaijani territory. However, no visible
changes to the better have been seen, despite all endeavours of
intermediaries represented by the OSCE Minsk Group. The reason for
this lies in the irreconcilable position of the sides: Baku has no
intentions to put up with the loss of its territory (alongside with
the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorny Karabakh, a substantial
portion of the Azerbaijani original territories are still under
control of the Armenian troops) and appeals to the international
law, declaring primacy of territorial integrity to nation’s right to
self-determination. Stepanakert’s authorities intend to retain the
current status of an ‘independent’ state and feel Erevan’s support
in this.

WILL ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS GO TO IRAQ?

RIA Novosti, Russia
Sept 14 2004

YEREVAN, September 14 (RIA Novosti’s Gamlet Matevosyan) – Armenian
parliament will soon discuss sending Armenian peacekeepers to Iraq,
chairman of the Armenian National Assembly Artur Bagdasaryan told
journalists.

According to him, the point at issue is a limited contingent of
servicemen rather than a big military formation.

On September 6 president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and president
of Poland Alexander Kwasniewski signed an agreement on cooperation in
the sphere of security between the two countries, within the framework
of which 50 Armenian servicemen will be sent to Iraq where they will
join the coalition forces under the Polish command.

Armenian defense minister lieutenant-general Yuri Khachaturov
ambiguously assessed the decision of the country’s leadership to
send Armenian peacekeepers to Iraq. According to him, the Armenian
community and Armenians as a whole can face problems connected with
ensuring security of Armenian officers.

At the same time Khachaturov pointed out that the final decision will
be made by parliament. “”Possibly, the parliament will not confirm
the decision, but we will fulfil any order given to us,” he said.

The Democratic Party of Armenia represented in Parliament by
one deputy, circulated a statement on September 14 in which it
characterized this step of the authorities as ill-advised and
dangerous.

The party members are of the opinion that such a decision contradicts
the national interests of Armenia, the interests of state security,
and creates threat, above all, to the peaceful existence of the
25,000-strong Armenian community in Iraq and also those Armenians
who live in Moslem countries.

The democrats condemn the Armenian authorities’ intention to send a
military contingent to Iraq and call on MPs to come out against the
ratification of this agreement, says the statement of the Democratic
Party of Armenia.