Ilham Aliyev Meets Jacques Chirac in France

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 8 2004

08/09/2004 21:56

Meeting of French president Jacques Chirac with Azerbaijan president
Ilham Aliyev was held yesterday evening. The Parties indicated active
development of bilateral political and economical relations.

Turan/BT — Chirac supposes, contacts of both states are in
“excellent level”. As a proof he mentioned France as the third
partner of Azerbaijan in foreign trade.

During the conversation, presidents touched upon issues, connected
with integration of Azerbaijan into European Union. Particularly, the
issue of Azerbaijan participation in the program of new neighborhood
with European Union was discussed.

Regional problems and Karabakh conflict settlement was discussed as
well. Chirac stated, Paris is for continuation of negotiations on
peaceful settlement of conflict. “As co-chairman of the Minsk group
of OSCE, France will do its best towards settlement of this issue,”
Chirac said.

PRESS RELEASE
The National Citizens’ Initiative
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 375033, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 1) 27.16.00, 27.00.03
Fax: (+374 – 1) 52.48.46
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

September 9, 2004

National Citizens’ Initiative Examines Armenia’s Place in Regional Security

Yerevan — The National Citizens’ Initiative (NCI) today convened a
specialized policy discussion on “Armenia in the Current Security
Systems of the Region” to discuss optimal options for Armenian
security amid a rapidly changing region undergoing global geopolitical
developments. In view of Russia’s apparently scaled-back, and the US’s
and European Union’s evidently growing, impact upon the region the
roundtable brought together policy makers, public figures, academic
circles, and representatives of the mass media and NGO communities
to consider Armenia’s challenge of making a strategic choice among
the available security systems in the region in order best to meet
its needs and avoid becoming the “odd man out.”

Given the fact that Armenia is the sole regional member of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), while its South
Caucasus neighbors aspire for NATO accession, key questions arise. In
which security system should Armenia take part in the future,
is it possible to combine close cooperation with both systems on a
complementary basis, how real are the prospects for the establishment
of a common Caucasian security system? These and other issues critical
to the future of Armenia formed the day’s agenda.

Hovsep Khurshudian, analyst of the Armenian Center for National and
International Studies (ACNIS), greeted the participants and capacity
audience with opening remarks. “We should seek ways both to provide
for the security of Armenia and Mountainous Karabagh and to foster
their sustainable economic and human development. Otherwise their
safety would be endangered in the near future,” Khurshudian maintained,
attaching importance to making correct choices in view of contradictory
events and in particular NATO’s enhanced role in the region.

In a paper on “The Prospects for Forming an All-Caucasus Security
System,” Giro Manoyan of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
reflected on the perspective of shaping a common Caucasian approach
based on the region’s place at the crossroads of European, Eurasian,
and Middle Eastern security spaces. “The perfect form for the
provision of regional security is the inclusion of all the states of
the region within the same system. However, at present that is not yet
possible to achieve,” Manoyan asserted. In his opinion the peoples of
the region hold different perceptions on security matters; for some
it is a guarantee to protect what they currently have, whereas for
others it is a way to bring back their losses. Manoyan is convinced
that high living standards, economic growth, and democracy will play
a large role in accomplishing security.

ACNIS analyst Stepan Safarian focused on regional security guarantees
in reference to the results of both a specialized questionnaire and
a public survey on “Armenia’s National and International Security in
the Next
Decade,” conducted by the Armenian Center for National and
International
Studies in August. “The problem is that Armenian society perceives
both NATO and CSTO with reservations.” The speaker sees a future
Armenia within the same security system as its neighbors. Otherwise,
the alternative will lead to “closed gates and regional crises.” The
main impediment to formation of a shared system in the South Caucasus
is the existence of non-resolved or “frozen” conflicts in the region.

Against the backdrop of pipeline policies and the region’s inclusion
at the forefront of the Euro-Atlantic agenda, Yerevan State University
lecturer Aram Haroutiunian focused on “NATO or Collective Security
Treaty Organization, European Union or CIS?” In his assessment Armenia
faces the following four challenges: the Ankara-Tbilisi-Baku triple
arc, the possibility of sudden political volte-faces in the neighboring
republics, the Karabagh challenge, and the efforts to resolve other
regional conflicts by force, that is insatiable revanchism. On
the NATO-CSTO dilemma he opined: “It is expedient to preserve the
traditional strategic relations within the CIS, which is a condition
for maintaining the equilibrium among regional forces. Otherwise,
we might increase the level of our vulnerability.” As for NATO, its
penetration into the region is happening step by step. The Pankisi
operations were a vivid example of this, Haroutiunian said.

The remainder of the session was devoted to exchanges of views
and policy recommendations among the public figures and policy
specialists in attendance. Noteworthy were interventions by MP Grigor
Haroutiunian of the People’s Party of Armenia; former minister
of state Hrach Hakobian; Aramazd Zakarian of the Republic Party;
former presidential adviser Levon Zourabian; Artak Poghosian of the
Republican Party; Edward Antinian of the Liberal Progressive Party;
Haroutiun Khachatrian of the Noyan Tapan news agency; Narine Mkrtchian
of the National Press Club; Petros Makeyan of the Democratic Fatherland
Party; Samvel Shahinian of the National State Party; and many others.

The National Citizens’ Initiative is a public non-profit
association founded in 2001 by former minister of foreign affairs
Raffi K. Hovannisian, his colleagues, and fellow citizens with the
purpose of realizing the rule of law and overall improvements in the
state of the state, society, and public institutions. The National
Citizens’ Initiative is guided by a Coordinating Council, which
includes individual citizens and representatives of various public,
scientific, and educational establishments. Five commissions on Law
and State Administration, Socioeconomic Issues, Foreign Policy,
Spiritual and Cultural Challenges, and the Youth constitute the
vehicles for the Initiative’s work and outreach.

For further information, please call (3741) 27-16-00 or 27-00-03;
fax (3741) 52-48-46; e-mail [email protected]; or visit

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief

=================================================

Thursday 9 September 2004
EASTERN EUROPE: OSCE CONFERENCE ON DISCRIMINATION – A REGIONAL SURVEY

Ahead of the OSCE Conference on Tolerance and the Fight against Racism,
Xenophobia and Discrimination on 13-14 September 2004 in Brussels, Forum 18
News Service surveys some of the more serious
discriminatory actions against religious believers that persist in some
countries of the 55-member OSCE. Despite their binding OSCE commitments to
religious freedom, in some OSCE member states believers are still fined,
imprisoned for the peaceful exercise of their faith, religious services are
broken up, places of worship confiscated and even destroyed, religious
literature censored and religious communities denied registration. Forum 18
believes most of the serious problems affecting religious believers in the
eastern half of the OSCE region come from government discrimination.

EASTERN EUROPE: OSCE CONFERENCE ON DISCRIMINATION – A REGIONAL SURVEY

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which has
as members all the states of Europe, Central Asia and North America, works
not by coercion but by consensus and persuasion. Membership is not
compulsory: states have the free choice whether to accept the binding OSCE
commitments by joining or not. The commitment of all OSCE states to respect
freedom of religion is clear. The 1990 OSCE human dimension conference
declared “everyone will have the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change one’s
religion or belief and freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief, either
alone or in community with others, in public or in private, through
worship, teaching, practice and observance. The exercise of these rights
may be subject only to such restrictions as are prescribed by law and are
consistent with international standards.” Yet government
discrimination against religious believers remains disturbingly
pervasive.

As delegates assemble in Brussels for the OSCE Conference on Tolerance and
the Fight against Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination on 13-14 September
2004, many ask how violators of these fundamental OSCE commitments –
especially Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia – can
be allowed to continue as members of an organisation whose fundamental
principles they blatantly flout. OSCE officials argue off the record that
it is better to keep violators in, with the hope that they can be persuaded
to mend their ways, rather than expel them, abandoning local people to the
clutches of their governments. The result is that persecuted believers
Forum 18 News Service has spoken to in a number of states
now have little faith in what the OSCE can and will do for them to protect
their right to religious freedom.

The OSCE has reaffirmed that discrimination against religious believers is
as unacceptable as discrimination against ethnic or other social groups or
individuals. Meeting in the Dutch city of Maastricht in 2003, the OSCE
Ministerial Council stressed in its Decision No. 4 on Tolerance and
Non-Discrimination that it “[a]ffirms the importance of freedom of
thought, conscience, religion or belief, and condemns all discrimination
and violence, including against any religious group or individual
believer” and “[c]ommits to ensure and facilitate the freedom of
the individual to profess and practice a religion or belief, alone or in
community with others, where necessary through transparent and
non-discriminatory laws, regulations, practices and policies”. The
ministerial council also emphasised what it believed is the importance of a
“continued and strengthened interfaith and intercultural dialogue to
promote greater tolerance, respect and mutual understanding”.

While many governments would prefer this conference to concentrate on
tackling social discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities, in
much of the region it is important to stress that the most serious
discrimination against religious believers, at least, comes from
governments. In many states discrimination is enshrined in law and in
official practice (from national to local level). Believers will only be
free of such discrimination if such discriminatory laws are abolished or
amended, and if other laws and international commitments guaranteeing
religious freedom are put into practice.

Social discrimination against religious minorities does exist –
especially among Orthodox in Georgia, among Muslims in Central Asia, and
among ethnic Albanians (whether Muslim or Catholic) in Kosovo – but
only in exceptional circumstances has this led to persistent denial of
believers’ rights. Governments have a duty to promote tolerance and harmony
in society, but many could start with improving their own behaviour.

It is also important to remember that criticising the beliefs of another
faith does not constitute a crime: only violence or incitement to violence
is. A key element of religious freedom is the right peacefully to expound
and promote the beliefs of one’s faith and to set out how they might differ
from those of other faiths.

In the run-up to the July 2003 OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting
on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Forum 18 News Service
surveyed some, but not all, of the continuing abuses of religious freedom
in the eastern half of the OSCE region (see F18News 9 July 2003
). Discrimination against
believers also occurs in other OSCE countries (such as the About-Picard law
in France, restrictions on newer religious communities in Belgium and
discrimination against minority faiths in Turkey). It is disturbing that
one year on, almost all the abuses Forum 18 noted in 2003 have continued
unchecked.

RELIGIOUS WORSHIP: An alarming number of states raid religious meetings to
close down services and punish those who take part. Turkmenistan is the
worst offender: all unregistered religious activity is illegal and no
non-Muslim and non-Russian Orthodox religious communities – even the
few registered minority communities – are able to hold public worship
freely. Uzbekistan and Belarus specifically ban unregistered religious
services. In Belarus, numerous Protestant congregations – some numbering
more than a thousand members – cannot meet because they cannot get a
registered place to worship. Officials in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and
Azerbaijan also raid places where worship is being conducted. In Macedonia,
members of the Serbian Orthodox Church have difficulty holding public
worship and leaders have been prosecuted. In Russia and some other states,
minority faiths are often denied permission to rent publicly-owned
buildings available to other groups.

PLACES OF WORSHIP: Opening a place of worship is impossible in some states.
In Turkmenistan non-Muslim and non-Russian Orthodox communities cannot in
practice open a place of worship, while those that existed before the
mid-1990s were confiscated or bulldozed. Uzbekistan has closed down
thousands of mosques since 1996 and often denies Christian groups’ requests
to open churches. Azerbaijan also obstructs the opening of Christian
churches and tries to close down some of those already open, while in 2004
it seized a mosque in Baku from its community and tried to prevent the
community meeting elsewhere. Belarus makes it almost impossible for
religious communities without their own building already – or substantial
funds to rent one – to find a legal place to worship. An Autocephalous
Orthodox church (which attracted the anger of the government and the
Russian Orthodox Church) was bulldozed in 2002. In Slovenia, which
represents the incoming OSCE Chair-in-Office, the Ljubljana authorities
have long obstructed the building of a mosque. In Bulgaria, the current
Chair-in-Office, in July 2004 the police stormed more than 200 churches
used by the Alternative Synod since a split in the Orthodox Church a decade
ago, ousting the occupants and handing the churches over to the rival
Orthodox Patriarchate without any court rulings.

REGISTRATION: Where registration is compulsory before any religious
activity can start (Turkmenistan, Belarus and Uzbekistan) or where
officials claim that it is (Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan), life is made
difficult for communities that either choose not to register (such as one
network of Baptist communities in the former Soviet republics) or are
denied registration (the majority of religious communities in Azerbaijan
and Turkmenistan). Registration in Turkmenistan is all but impossible,
despite the reduction in 2004 from 500 to 5 in the number of adult citizens
required to found a community. In countries such as Azerbaijan or
Uzbekistan, registration for disfavoured communities is often made
impossible – officials in the sanitary/epidemiological service are among
those with the power of veto in Uzbekistan. Belarus, Slovenia, Slovakia,
Macedonia, Russia and Latvia are also among states which to widely varying
degrees make registration of some groups impossible or very difficult.
Moscow has refused to register the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the city, despite
their national registration. Some countries – including the Czech
Republic, Slovakia and Austria, with plans for similar moves in Serbia
– grant full status as religious communities to favoured religious
communities only. Faiths with smaller membership or which the government
does not like have to make do with lesser status and fewer rights.

RELIGIOUS LITERATURE: Belarus and Azerbaijan require compulsory prior
censorship of all religious literature produced or imported into the
country. Azerbaijani customs routinely confiscate religious literature,
releasing it only when the State Committee for Work with Religious
Organisations grants explicit written approval for each title and the
number of copies authorised. Forbidden books are sent back or destroyed
(thousands of Hare Krishna books held by customs for seven years have been
destroyed). Even countries without formal religious censorship – eg.
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – routinely confiscate imported religious
literature or literature found during raids on homes. Uzbekistan routinely
bars access to websites it dislikes, such as foreign Muslim sites.

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS: Believers from minority religious communities in
institutions such as prisons, hospitals or the army may face difficulties
obtaining and keeping religious literature, praying in private and
receiving visits from spiritual leaders and fellow-believers. In
Uzbekistan, even Muslim prisoners have been punished for praying and
fasting during Ramadan. Death-row prisoners wanting visits from Muslim
imams and Russian Orthodox priests have had requests denied, even for final
confession before execution.

DISCRIMINATION: Turkmenistan has dismissed from state jobs hundreds of
active Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses and members of other religious
minorities. Turkmen and Azeri officials try to persuade people to abandon
their faith and “return” to their ancestral faith (Islam).
Although the order has now reportedly been rescinded, Armenia ordered local
police chiefs to persuade police officers who were members of faiths other
than the Armenian Apostolic Church to abandon their faith. If persuasion
failed, such employees were to be sacked. Belarus has subjected leaders of
independent Orthodox Churches and Hindus to pressure – including fines,
threats and inducements – to abandon their faith or emigrate. Officials in
Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus repeatedly attack disfavoured religious
minorities in the media, insulting their beliefs, accusing them falsely of
illegal or “destructive” activities, as well as inciting popular
hostility to them.

RELIGIOUS SCHOOL CLASSES: Some states have allowed the dominant faith to
determine the content of compulsory religious education classes and
textbooks in state-run schools. In Belarus, minority faiths complain their
beliefs are inaccurately and insultingly presented. In Georgia, classes
often became denominational Orthodox instruction, with teachers taking
children to pray in the local Orthodox church.

GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE: Many governments meddle in the internal affairs of
religious communities. Central Asian governments insist on choosing
national and local Muslim leaders. Turkmenistan ousted successive chief
muftis in January 2003 and August 2004. Tajikistan has conducted
“attestation tests” of imams, ousting those who failed. Islamic
schools are tightly controlled (in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, schools
have either been closed or access to them restricted). Turkmenistan
obstructs those seeking religious education abroad. Some countries with
large Orthodox communities (but not Russia or Ukraine), try to bolster the
largest Orthodox Church and obstruct rival jurisdictions (Belarus,
Bulgaria, Macedonia, Georgia, Moldova). Russia has prevented communities
from choosing their leadership, expelling a Catholic bishop and several
priests, and dozens of Protestant and other leaders, while the secret
police tried to influence the choice of a new Old Believer leader in
February 2004.

PROTECTION FROM VIOLENCE: Law enforcement agencies fail to give religious
minorities the same protection as major groups. Between 1999 and 2003,
Georgia suffered a wave of violence by self-appointed Orthodox vigilantes,
with over 100 attacks on True Orthodox, Catholics, Baptists, Pentecostals
and Jehovah’s Witnesses in which believers were physically attacked, places
of worship blockaded and religious events disrupted. The authorities – who
know the attackers’ identity – have punished only a handful of people with
suspended sentences. In some cases, police cooperated with attacks or
failed to investigate them. In Kosovo the Nato-led peacekeeping force and
United Nations police have repeatedly failed to protect Serbian Orthodox
churches in use and graveyards, especially during the upsurge in anti-Serb
violence in March 2004, when some 30 Orthodox sites were destroyed or
heavily damaged. Few attackers have been arrested or prosecuted.

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MIGRANTS: Many religion laws restrict the rights of
legal residents who are not citizens, requiring founders and leaders of
religious organisations to be citizens. Azerbaijan provides for deportation
of foreigners and those without citizenship who have conducted
“religious propaganda”. In the past decade, Turkmenistan has
deported hundreds of legally-resident foreigners known to have taken part
in religious activity, especially Muslims and Protestants. Some states
(including Russia and Belarus) have denied visas to foreign religious
leaders chosen by local religious communities.

LACK OF TRANSPARENCY: Major laws and decrees affecting religious life are
drawn up without public knowledge or discussion. Examples are the
restrictive laws on religion of Belarus and Bulgaria in 2002, and planned
new laws in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova. International organisations,
such as the OSCE or the Council of Europe may be consulted but governments
often refuse to allow their comments to be published or ignore them. Many
countries retain openly partisan and secretive government religious affairs
offices. Between 1999 and 2003, Slovenia’s religious affairs office refused
to register any new religious communities. Azerbaijan’s has stated which
communities it will refuse to register and what changes other communities
will have to make to their statutes and activities to gain registration.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORTING: Those reporting on religious freedom such as
Forum 18 News Service and groups campaigning on the issue
face lack of cooperation, obstruction and harassment. Those suspected of
passing on news of violations have been threatened in Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, with the aim of forcing silence. In a region
without much government transparency or a genuinely free media, officials
involved in harassing religious communities often refuse to explain to
journalists what they have done and why. Local religious freedom
campaigning groups are denied registration or kept waiting. Demonstrators
protesting in Belarus against the restrictive 2002 religion law were fined.
In September 2004, the Belarus bureau of the Union of Councils for Jews in
the Former Soviet Union, which included monitoring religious persecution in
its work, was denied registration. Government reports on religious freedom
issues to bodies such as the OSCE or Council of Europe are often
confidential and closed to public scrutiny.

CONCLUSION: Many of these discriminatory restrictions predate the 11
September 2001 terrorist attacks – and 1999 Islamic-inspired
incursions into Central Asia – so governments cannot validly argue
that such restrictions are necessary to ensure public security. The
comprehensive nature of many of these measures shows the hostility of some
OSCE member states to the right to exercise the faith of one’s choice
freely, something described by the European Court of Human Rights in 1993
as “one of the foundations of a democratic society”.
(END)

© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved.

You may reproduce or quote this article provided that credit is given to
F18News

Past and current Forum 18 information can be found at

Iran offers to assist in settling Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Interfax
Sept 9 2004

Yerevan. (Interfax) – Iran is ready to assist in settling the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told
the Armenian parliament on Wednesday.

Khatami is in Yerevan on a two-day official visit.

“Iran is interested in peace and stability in the South Caucasus and
is prepared to assist in settling all conflicts in this region,”
Khatami said, adding that Iran is also interested in a peaceful
settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Khatami also spoke about democracy and democratization in different
parts of the world. He said that while speaking about democracy in a
“non-Western region” one should take the principles and norms of this
region into account. Democracy in such instances should be interpreted
more broadly, he said.

Iran had been voicing its readiness to assist in the settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict earlier, as well. Teheran believes that
the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should not lead to
the introduction of military contingents from countries outside the
South Caucasus into the region.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeris outraged by Armenian officers’ planned visit

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 9 2004

A number of Azeri media have staged a protest against the planned
participation of military officers from Armenia in the NATO-sponsored
exercises due in Baku on September 12. The front pages of several
leading private and independent daily newspapers came out

blank on Saturday contained nothing but the “Azerbaijani media
protests the arrival of Armenian officers to Baku” message. Moreover,
Internet publications and independent ANS channel suspended their
broadcasts for three hours for the same reason. Official and
pro-government media outlets have not joined the protest. The
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said it had expressed its concern to
NATO over the Armenians’ presence, but refused to file an official
complaint.

A statement released jointly by local media says that the visit to
Baku by military men from Armenia, which occupies Upper Garabagh and
7 adjacent regions of Azerbaijan, will deal a blow on the country’s
independence. Permitting soldiers and officers of an arch-foe country
to the sessions in Azerbaijan would mean ignoring the country’s
military interests and diminishing the dignity of Azerbaijani
citizens, the document says. “Allowing Armenian military men to
Azerbaijan, which has given thousands of victims, is an insult to the
Azerbaijani people and is exacerbating the socio-political tensions
in the country.” The exercises, organized under NATO’s Partnership
for Peace program, are scheduled for September 12-26.

Protest actions
The Whole Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan plans to hold a rally in
front of the Narimanov cinema on September 12 in protest against the
Armenian officers’ arrival, the party chairman, MP Gudrat
Hasanguliyev said on Monday.

Nation indignant
He said the party also intends to conduct a march starting outside
school No.20 to proceed to the President’s Office. Hasanguliyev added
that until the occupied Azerbaijani territories are liberated Baku
should not cooperate with Armenia in any way and must prevent the
Armenian officers’ arrival. The Foreign Ministry is negotiating with
NATO representatives in Brussels over the issue. “We are currently in
talks with Brussels and expressing our position to NATO”, Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists. He noted that Azerbaijan
has assumed a number of commitments to NATO and a refusal to admit
Armenian military men to the country may “deal a blow” on the
Azerbaijan-NATO individual cooperation plan.

Appeal to NATO Secretary General
The Garabagh Liberation Organization appealed to NATO Secretary
General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Monday urging the organization’s
leadership to reject the Armenian officers’ participation in its
military exercises in Baku. The document demands that the training be
held in any other country in order not to cause undesirable incidents
and confrontation between the public and the authorities.

THE THRONE IS TO BLAME

A1 Plus | 17:29:42 | 09-09-2004 | Politics |

Constitution version introduced by MP Arshak Sadoyan has been
entered in the Parliament agenda with a positive conclusion. “All the
misfortunes in our country, including October 27, issue from that we
have one royal throne, which possesses high responsibility towards
the society and super commissions to settle the personnel issues the
way its wishes and to secure the super personal interests”, National
Democratic Bloc Chair Arshak Sadoyan announced at the press conference.

According to him, it is impossible to conduct fair elections in
Armenia since those counting the election results are in the hands
of the President. And to restrict those commissions Mr. Sadoyan
suggests changing the constitutional order in the country. Referendum
of Constitutional Reform is necessary to hold for it, to “extort”
from Robert Kocharyan the promise not to put forward his candidacy
for the 3rd, 4th time, then to conduct special presidential and
parliamentary elections.

Arshak Sadoyan even set a term – by March or April, 2005. According
to Sadoyan, Robert Kocharyan has the unique opportunity to remain in
the history – to undertake the responsibility to hold just and free
referendum and elections, to become the guarantor and to renounce
participation in those elections.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian Generals Unhappy With Iraq Deployment
By Gevorg Stamboltsian 09/09/2004 09:12

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
Sept 9 2004

Two senior Armenian army generals have indicated their opposition to
Yerevan’s plans to join the U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq with
a small unit of non-combat troops by the end of this year.

“I am not delighted with the decision to send our troops there and
the war in general,” Lieutenant-General Yuri Khachaturov, a deputy
minister of defense, told reporters late on Tuesday. “Because of
that the Armenian community [in Iraq] and Armenians in general could
have problems in the future.” Khachaturov’s concerns were echoed
on Wednesday by Major-General Enrico Apriamov, deputy chief of staff
of Armenia’s Armed Forces. “I can’t comment on this because there is
an issue of peace keeping and an issue of aggression,” he said. “As
peacekeepers, we are ready to perform duties to our people for the
sake of our homeland.”

Asked whether he believes the U.S. invasion of Iraq was aggression,
Apriamov replied, “This question should be put to President George
Bush. [He should be asked] what he meant by sending troops to Iraq. I
am a military officer and am against war.”

The comments are a rare expression of personal views by members of
the Armenian army’s top brass and expose its serious misgivings about
the deployment plans reaffirmed by President Robert Kocharian during
a visit to Poland on Monday.

Kocharian formally offered his Polish counterpart Aleksander
Kwasniewski to send some 50 military doctors, sappers and truck drivers
to south central Iraq administered by a Polish-led multinational
division. Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian accompanying Kocharian
argued that considers itself a “part of the European family” and feels
“obliged to participate in the efforts to assure security.”

The offer was accepted by and drew praise from the Polish government.
“Such decisions are very difficult, but necessary at the time of the
joint struggle against terrorism,” Kwasniewski said.

Lieutenant-General Artur Aghabekian, another deputy defense minister
seen as Sarkisian’s right-hand man, told RFE/RL late last week that
a team of Armenian military officials will visit Iraq this month to
prepare for the arrival of the Armenian troops. He said they will join
the Polish-led contingent “at the end of the autumn or the beginning
of the winter.”

Khachaturov claimed that the Armenian parliament may still block
the deployment by refusing to ratify it. His comments also give more
weight to fears that Armenia’s accession to the U.S.-led “coalition
of the willing” could make thousands of ethnic Armenians living in
Iraq a potential target of attacks by anti-American insurgents.

Armenia, Iran sign $30-mln credit agreement for pipeline construction

Interfax
Sept 9 2004

Yerevan. (Interfax) – Armenia and Iran signed a $30-million credit
agreement on Wednesday to finance the construction of the Armenian
section of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline.

Energy is an important sector in cooperation between the two countries,
which have already gained a wealth of experience in cooperation in
this sphere, Armenian President Robert Kocharian said at a press
conference following the signing of the agreement.

“More serious steps will be taken based on this experience on the path
to unite the infrastructure of both states and raise mutual relations
to a qualitatively new level,” Kocharian said, adding that the
construction of the pipeline has an important regional significance.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who was at the press conference,
also said bilateral cooperation was important in the energy sphere.

According to the agreement, Iran is to provide Armenia with a credit
of $30 million to build the Armenian section of the Iran-Armenia gas
pipeline. The credit will be provided for 7.5 years at 5% per year.
The funds will be used to finance the construction of a pipeline from
the border town of Megri to Kajaran.

Construction of the Armenian section of the pipeline should begin at
the end of 2004. Armenia will finance work to reconstruct and change
parts on the Kajaran-Yerevan gas pipeline.

Armenia and Iran signed an agreement on May 13 for the construction
of a pipeline between the two countries. The pipeline is 141 km long,
inducing 41 km in Armenia and 100 km in Iran. The total cost of the
project is estimated at $210-$220 million. The pipeline is expected
to be launched before January 1, 2007.

Gas should start to arrive in Armenia from January 2007 and will
be used at Armenian thermal power plants to produce electricity for
export to Iran. Iran will supply 36 billion cubic meters of natural
gas to Armenia over 20 years according to the document.

Iran’s Khatami Pledges Closer Ties With Armenia
By Armen Zakarian and Ruzanna Khachatrian 09/09/2004 09:22

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
Sept 9 2004

Iran’s President Mohammad Khatami described on Wednesday his country’s
relationship with Armenia as a benchmark of peaceful co-existence and
cooperation between neighbors on the first day of an official visit
to Yerevan where he was given a red-carpet reception.

Khatami was greeted at Yerevan airport by virtually all members of
Armenia’s ruling cabinet before going into talks with President Robert
Kocharian. The two leaders signed a framework treaty on bilateral
cooperation which they said will further strengthen political and
economic links between the two nations.

They also presided over the signing of several other agreements
covering the energy sector, customs administration and culture.

“The relationship between the Armenian and Iranian peoples can serve
as the best example for all those who want to live side by side and
respect each other’s sovereignty,” Khatami declared at an ensuing
joint news conference with Kocharian.

“We have felt obliged to establish and deepen relations with Armenia
since its independence,” he said. “Every year that followed 1991 saw
a further development of our relations. The agreements signed today
give us hope that they will continue to deepen in the future.”

“I declare that this relationship is to the benefit of the sides but
not to the detriment of anybody else,” Khatami added in an apparent
bid to allay concerns expressed by other regional states.

Neighboring Azerbaijan has been the most vocal critic of that
cooperation. Many Azerbaijani politicians openly accuse the
Islamic Republic of effectively siding with Christian Armenia in
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Iran has always denied such claims,
with Khatami stressing during a visit to Baku last month that Tehran
recognizes Azerbaijani sovereignty over the disputed region.

“We are ready to make every effort to help resolve crises existing
in the region, including Nagorno-Karabakh, and to contribute to
the establishment of a lasting peace and stability in the region,”
Khatami said in a speech at the Armenian parliament later in the day.

Iran is widely regarded in Armenia as a vital geopolitical partner
and having close ties with the Islamic Republic is among few subjects
of consensus in the Armenian political arena. The Armenian opposition
underlined this fact when deputies representing it briefly suspended
their boycott of parliament sessions to hear Khatami’s speech.

Kocharian, meanwhile, said that Armenia and Iran should pay
particular attention to developing their economic cooperation. He
singled out the energy sector where the two nations plan to implement
multimillion-dollar joint projects.

The biggest of them is the construction of a pipeline that will
ship Iranian natural gas to Armenia and possibly other countries. An
agreement on the implementation of the $120 million project was signed
by the two governments in Yerevan last May.

Armenia’s ambassador to Tehran, Gegham Gharibjanian, told RFE/RL this
week that work on the Iranian section of the pipeline is already
underway and will soon begin on the Armenian side. Energy Minister
Armen Movsisian had said earlier that the Armenian government will
receive a $30 million loan from Iran to finance the construction of
the Armenian section.

Despite the energy projects, the volume of Armenian-Iranian trade
has steadily declined in recent years and made up only 3.5 percent
of Armenia’s external commercial exchange last year.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
09/09/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1) Khatami Pays Respects to Armenian Genocide Victims
2) Russia Anxious to Resolve Karabagh Conflict Says Russian Ambassador
3) ARF’s Mkrtchian Addresses Khatami Visit
4) ARF Representatives Meet with Iranian President
5) Russian Foreign Minister Says Tbilisi Impedes Cooperation
6) Correction

1) Khatami Pays Respects to Armenian Genocide Victims

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–The President of Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad
Khatami, paid his respects to the victims of the Armenian genocide of 1915, as
he placed flowers at Yerevan’s Dzidzernagapert memorial in their honor.
Armenia’s chief of presidential staff Artashes Tumanian, Yerevan mayor
Yervand
Zakharian, Armenian deputy foreign minister Ruben Shugarian, and other
high-ranking officials accompanied Khatami.
The director of the Genocide Museum at Dzidzernagapert, Lavrenti Barseghian,
briefed the Iranian president on the history of the museum, while employees
presented him research work on the 1915 Armenian genocide, along with other
momentos.

2) Russia Anxious to Resolve Karabagh Conflict Says Russian Ambassador

BAKU (AzerTag)–Russia’s outgoing ambassador to Azerbaijan Nikolay Ryabov,
during a press conference marking the end of his tenure on Thursday, said that
Russia is eager to find an immediate solution to the Mountainous Karabagh
conflict.
At a Wednesday meeting with the speaker of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis
(National
Assembly) Murtuz Alasgarov–who insisted the conflict over Karabagh has placed
serious obstacles for greater democratic reforms to be realized in
Azerbaijan–the Russian ambassador said that there exists numerous
long-running
conflicts in the region, and Russia strives to resolve these issues.
In the case of Mountainous Karabagh, Ryabov noted that Russia not only
co-chairs the OSCE Minsk group, which is tasked with finding a resolution to
the conflict, but is also the most authoritative country in the region to deal
with the matter.
He also revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has initiated a
meeting
between the presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia in Astana,
Kazakhstan
on September 16.

3) ARF’s Mkrtchian Addresses Khatami Visit

YEREVAN (Combined sources)–ARF leader Levon Mkrtchian said during a press
conference on Thursday that ARF representatives and Iran’s president Mohammad
Khatami touched on the Mountainous Karabagh conflict during their meeting
earlier in the day.
Mkrtchian addressed Iran’s support of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
saying that the ARF understands that no nation can oppose, in the
international
arena, the territorial integrity of another, “but there is also the right to
self-determination,” he added. “Thanks to that right, the Mountainous Karabagh
Republic is an independent country today, and has never been a part of
independent Azerbaijan.”
He explained that Iran is consistent in its readiness to serve as an
impartial
mediator. “We have always seen this,” he added.
Speaking of economic projects, including the gas pipeline that will link the
two neighboring countries, Mkrtchian stressed the project serves both
Armenia’s
political and economic interest. “Iran, however, has its interests too,” he
added.
Khatami and his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian signed on Wednesday a
framework treaty on the “principles and bases” of bilateral relations. They
also formalized the release of a $30 million Iran loan to Yerevan to be used
for the construction of a gas pipeline that will link the two neighboring
countries.

4) ARF Representatives Meet with Iranian President

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–An Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) delegation met
with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami in Yerevan on Thursday, describing the
president’s official visit to Armenia as “a new stage” in Iranian-Armenian
relations.
ARF Bureau representative Hrant Margarian, Bureau member Albert Ajemian, ARF
Armenia Supreme Body representative Armen Rustamian, and National Assembly’s
ARF faction leader Levon Mkrtchian represented the ARF who welcomed the
Iranian
president, reported the ARF press service.
Margarian stressed to Khatami that the visit is significant not only for the
advancement of Armenian-Iranian relations, but also for regional issues.
Pointing to the projects that were conceived and agreements reached during the
visit, Margarian conveyed confidence that this visit opens a new stage in the
centuries-long friendship between the two nations.
In turn, President Khatami presented his impressions of the visit, saying
that
Armenia plays a key role in the region, as well as a unique role throughout
history.
Addressing the role of the ARF, Khatami underscored its importance as a party
and organization that unifies Armenians throughout the world and plays an
important role in reinforcing political processes.

5) Russian Foreign Minister Says Tbilisi Impedes Cooperation

TBILISI (Civil Georgia)–Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an
interview in the Russian newspaper Vremya Novostei, that the Georgian side is
hampering more close cooperation between Tbilisi and Moscow.
“Cooperation between Russian and Georgian special services takes place [in
fighting terrorism]. We would like for this cooperation to be more effective,”
Sergei Lavrov said in a September 9 interview.
He expressed regret that ties between the two counties are not as close as
was
agreed to during talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his
Georgian counterpart Mikhail Saakashvili, which took place in Moscow in
February this year.
“Unfortunately, in practice, the agreements reached in February are being
torpedoed by the Georgian side. We hope the Georgian side will understand that
unilateral, forceful steps towards the so called Ossetian and Abkhazia
problems
have no perspective. I hope Tbilisi will understand that seeking an external
enemy in the form of Russia is counterproductive, to say the least,” the
Russian Foreign Minister added.
He reiterated that the Russian side “has offered Tbilisi proposals” aiming at
“normalization of all… bilateral relations.”
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on the
Georgian side to accept proposals offered by the Russian side. In a statement
issued on August 27, however, the Georgian Foreign Ministry responded, saying
that Georgia had not received any constructive proposals and “in order to
publicly dispel any doubts,” called on Russia to forward the package of
constructive proposals to Georgian Authorities.
Lavrov also stressed that Tbilisi should confirm its commitment to solve the
situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia through peaceful means. “Creation of
this kind of normal environment in relations will increase efficiency of work
of the special services [of the two countries] in fighting terrorism,” Sergei
Lavrov said.

6) Correction

Iran’s President Mohammad Khatami was elected president in August 1997, not
May
1977 as reported by Asbarez on Wednesday. He was re-elected in 2001.

All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier
and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and
subscription requests.
(c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved.

ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for
academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through
mass media outlets.