ITAR-TASS, Russia
Aug 20 2004

Putin confirms erroneousness of autonomous status abolition

SOCHI, August 20 (Itar-Tass) — Russian President Vladimir Putin
confirmed that he regards as erroneous Georgia’s abolition of the
autonomous status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the early 1990s.

`It is absurd to deny that the decision on South Ossetia was made,’
Putin replied to the question about his criticism. `We have copies of
the documents, which abolished the autonomous status. They were
signed by Zviad Gamsakhurdia, and we are ready to present them,’ he
said.

`As for Abkhazia, that decision was made de facto, without legal
confirmation,’ Putin said. `The latest statements of Abkhaz leaders
and the life itself show that.’

Putin does not think that his judgment of Georgian actions following
the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, including the
abolition of the autonomous status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, was
too harsh. Several days ago he said that the actions were `stupid.’

`Mikhail Saakashvili [told me] at our meetings that he also regarded
the decisions made on South Ossetia in the 1990s as erroneous,’ Putin
said. `So I said nothing unexpected.’

Putin called on all parties to the South Ossetian conflict to abide
by agreements.

`There is only one way out: to start negotiations, reach agreements
and have political will to implement them,’ he said after
negotiations with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan.

`There is will be no results’ if the [Joint Control] Commission would
make decisions in the morning and representatives of a member country
of the Commission would disavow the decisions in the evening, Putin
said. `I hope that all parties will show political maturity and
responsibility in the interests of their peoples,’ Putin said.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
Aug 20 2004

Putin reiterates Russia readiness to mediate in Karabakh conflict

SOCHI, August 20 (Itar-Tass) – President Vladimir Putin reiterated
Russia’s readiness to act as a mediator and guarantor in the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

“We have discussed the Karabakh problem; the discussions focused on
the search for additional opportunities to maintain dialogue and
resolve the problem,” Putin said after his talks with Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan.

“No breakthrough decisions have been made, but it’s important to note
the parties’ wish to look for a compromise,” Putin said, “it seemed
to me that both the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents have such a
mood.”

Russia, as in other cases, is ready to act only in one capacity –
that of a mediator and guarantor, if its efforts are needed and the
parties to negotiations wish it, according to the head of the Russian
state.

Speaking about the situation in southern Caucasus in general, Putin
noted that “we have inherited many conflicts.”

“Hopefully, the understanding of the necessity to establish relations
between people living in the region will prevail over ambitions, and
in the course of the search for a compromise we’ll be resolving these
conflicts,” the Russian president said.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
Aug 20 2004

Putin urges South Ossetian conflict parties to abide by accords

SOCHI, August 20 (Itar-Tass) — President Vladimir Putin has called
on all parties to the South Ossetian conflict to abide by agreements.

`There is only one way out: to start negotiations, reach agreements
and have political will to implement them,’ he said after
negotiations with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan.

`There is will be no results’ if the [Joint Control] Commission would
make decisions in the morning and representatives of a member country
of the Commission would disavow the decisions in the evening, Putin
said. `I hope that all parties will show political maturity and
responsibility in the interests of their peoples,’ Putin said.

iofilm, UK
Aug 20 2004

Edinburgh Film Festival 2004 – Day Two
EIFF 2004 Diary: Day Two

Super Size Me proves to be an extra large hit and the director, super
nice.

By Douglas Bell

Edinburgh venues have a tendency to be far too hot during August.
Whether it’s a local joke to provoke tourists or just a problem with
the old venues, today seemed a welcome exception as the cruel heat
stayed at bay. The enormous UGC at Fountainbridge seems best equipped
with air conditioning, so at least you may sit in comfort whilst you
watch the abysmal Hungarian murder movie After The Day Before. This
time it’s Hungarian inbreds who are all cross-wired, rather than the
more dangerous Belgian kind.

A jigsaw of non-linear events have been thrown together and you have
to pick up the pieces. It makes you suspicious of everyone from the
start, and unfortunately, suspicious that nothing is ever going to
happen in the movie.

The film festival offers an abundance of foreign productions this
year and they are not all of this standard. The Filmhouse is hosting
the Armenian black and white Documantarist which drew oohs and aahs
from the audience with its emotional observations of a damaged
nation. The caesarean births may put you off your Deuchars at the
Filmhouse bar afterwards, but there’s plenty mind broadening stuff
out there for all to see.

If you thought that the World’s Weirdoes all perform on The Royal
Mile, you should see some of the ones caught on film. It seems that
nothing has escaped the camera as even butt-naked coal-covered Dutch
diggers adorn the screens with their coal black buttocks and communal
shower scenes.

Today’s big show was undoubtedly Super Size Me, which had its UK
premiere at the UGC, introduced by the director/victim himself, the
spellbinding Morgan Spurlock. The anticipation surrounding this movie
is like no other and it leaves no-one in any doubt whatsoever about
how they feel about McDonald’s. I was sneaky enough to get into the
packed theatre to witness Spurlock’s witty intro. With the same
humour he uses to get his powerful message across on film, the man
had everyone at ease and craving for more.

Having seen the movie, he took his wife to the bar whilst Edinburgh
sat through his gastric study. He was delighted to chat with your
diarist and had no pretence about his work and the film’s incredible
success. Spurlock is very smart and modest. His ability to be
perfectly normal is one of his most endearing qualities and it’s a
powerfully authoritative way to get people to listen to something
that should be obvious – McDonalds will not make you happy, nor
healthy.

His next piece may well end up being called `Would you like salt and
sauce with that?’ as I suggested he try the Rose Street Fry whilst in
town. He was amused by the recent closure of McDonald’s at the UGC
too, although he refused to take any credit for it. This man made the
fast food giant take the supersize option away from an addicted
America, and yet he boasts of nothing.

We joked about the weight that he’s lost over the last few months
eating little more than aeroplane food as he follows his success
wherever it calls him. We were very lucky to have him here in
Edinburgh and he felt lucky to be here. We should all watch his movie
as he went through Hell to do us all a favour. It’s also a great
documentary and amongst my favourites. Somehow, I think that it will
have a profound effect on the way we think about food. Even those who
already hate junk food should go and see it. It’ll be good for you.

Tehran Times, Iran
Aug 21 2004

Festival of Iranian wedding ceremonies seeking sponsor

Tehran Times Culture Desk
TEHRAN (MNA) — The director of the Sa’dabad Historical and Cultural
Complex announced here this week that the Peyvand Festival, which
aims to showcase Iranian wedding ceremonies of various ethnic groups,
is seeking a sponsor. Mohammad Abdol-Alipur said that 1.8 billion
rials will be needed to organize the festival, adding, `If an Iranian
sponsor can not be found, the festival might look for a foreign
sponsor and hold the festival in a European country.’

Festival organizers want to use the event to introduce people to the
local dance, music, and traditions of wedding ceremonies in different
regions of Iran, such as the Gilaki wedding ceremony of northern
Iran, the wedding ceremony of Bushehr in southern Iran, which
features local music played on kettledrum and bagpipe, the wedding
ceremony of Loristan in western Iran, which features local music
played on kamancheh (Iranian fiddle), the Azeri wedding ceremony’s
lezgi dancing, the local costumes of the Kohkiluyeh-Boyer Ahmad
wedding ceremony, and Gerayli, the Qashqai wedding ceremony, in which
the groom hunts a ram while local music and dances are performed.

The wedding ceremonies of Iran’s Zoroastrians and Armenian and
Assyrian Christians will also be featured at the festival.

AZG Marmenian Daily, Armenia
Aug 20 2004

“IF THE ARMENIANS WISH, THEY CAN CONQUER AZERBAIJAN”

While in Baku They Are Hopeful That “in the Coming 25-30 Years There
Will Be No State Called Armenia in the Southern Caucasus”

“‘How to liberate the occupied territories?’ This question is likely
to be put forward in each family of Azerbaijan. It is impossible to
liberate the Nagorno Karabagh and the neighboring regions without
military actions. There has been no case in the military history when
the conquered territories were voluntarily liberated,” the recent
issue of Baku’s Zerkalo wrote. Ramiz Melikov, Press Speaker of Azeri
Defense Minister, stated recently that “there will be no state called
Armenia in the South Caucasus in the coming 25-30 years, as today’s
Armenia was founded on the Azeri historical territories and in near
future these lands will be controlled by Azerbaijan.” Melikov didn’t
specify how they are going to conquer Armenia.

President Ilham Aliyev and the supreme military officials state in
public that the Azeri army is more efficient than the Armenian one
and if the peaceful negotiations yield no results, Azerbaijan will
have to solve the issue of Nagorno Karabagh and the neighboring
territories under Armenia’s control through military actions. It’s
worth mentioning that Baku has been consistently trying to solve the
issue through military actions since 1998, when the new stage of
Karabagh struggle began.

Vladimir Kazimirov, Former Special Russian Ambassador of OSCE Minsk
Group, wrote in one of his recent articles that the sides in conflict
had many opportunities to stop the war, to set up ceasefire even in
1992. He states in his article that the Azeri side was violating the
ceasefire mainly, hoping to solve the conflict through war, making
all the Armenians leave the territory.

Kazimirov said that in June of 1992, there appeared an opportunity to
stop the military actions on the front line and open the OSCE Minsk
conference, but Abulfaz Elchibey put forward a precondition, i.e. the
Armenians should leave Shushi and Lachin. On May 8 and 18 the
Karabagh forces liberated Shushi and took control over Lachin
corridor, securing land connection between Armenia and Karabagh.

Kazimirov, who implemented a mediator’s mission in the region for 47
times, recollects that in July, 1992 the Karabagh side agreed to
signing ceasefire, but Elchibey was stubborn, and only in the spring
of 1993, when the Karabagh forces took the control over Kelbajar, the
pro-Turkish Baku government gave consent for ceasefire.

One shouldn’t forget that Elchibey once promised to wash his feet in
the Sevan waters. It’s worth mentioning that the Azeri armed forces
conquered almost the half of Karabakh’s territory in the summer of
1992.

In June of 1993, the Azeris and the Karabagh people began direct
negotiations that helped make a ceasefire for a while. But Heydar
Aliyev, who came to power in Baku through military revolution, wanted
to regain the lost through military action. Again the Azeris began
refusing the settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict through
negotiations. On July 23 the Karabagh forces took the control over
Aghdam, the neighboring dwelling places, a number of hills of
military meaning. Only after all these steps the Azeris stopped
bombing Stepanakert.

Notwithstanding the obvious military benefits, the Karabagh side
through the Russians’ mediatorial efforts again gave the consent to
stop military actions and set up a ceasefire on July 24, the very
next day after conquering Aghdam. Azerbaijan secured the ceasefire
for several days, but it broke the agreement afterwards. As a result,
the Karabagh forces took control over Fizuli, Jebrail and Kubatlun in
the August of 1993.

Two secret meetings took place between Heydar Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian in Moscow in the autumn of 1993. In this period Aliyev was
engaged in settling the problems of inner character, he made legal
the results of the military-state revolution that took place several
months ago and occupied the post of Azerbaijan’s leader. Few days
after the inauguration the Azeri armed forces began the military
actions again. Hundreds of the Armenian soldiers were killed as a
result of the large-scale attack in Kelbajar’s direction in winter.
But the failure didn’t last long. The Karabagh forces began a
large-scale attack and Azerbaijan lost at least 2000 soldiers in few
days.

In the April of 1994, the Karabagh forces were ready to conquer
Tartar, Bardan and Gianjan and reach Georgia’s border. The Azeri were
made to set a ceasefire. It took place in Bishkek, May. This
ceasefire is being secured till now with some violations.

By the way, the American Boston Globe daily dedicated a publication
to the Nagorno Karabagh Issue. The reporter of the daily cites the
words of Mamedov, Azeri Major, who was dwelling on the situation in
Azerbaijan fighting against Armenia and Azerbaijan. He says:” If the
Armenians wish, they can conquer the whole Azerbaijan.”

The militant statements made by the Baku officials should be paid
attention. As soon as Azerbaijan becomes certain about the
possibility of settling the issue through applying arms, the war will
begin. Anyway, the events of 1991-94 testify to this.

By Tatoul Hakobian

RIA Novosti, Russia
Aug 20 2004

PRESIDENT PUTIN INSISTS ON COMPROMISE IN SOUTH CAUCASUS

SOCHI, August 20 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin
argues that conflicts in the South Caucasus are to be settled through
compromise.

“Awareness of a need for normal relations between people who live in
the region will hopefully overcome political ambitions, and we will
solve these problems on the basis of compromise,” he told a Sochi
news conference after a meeting with Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan.

The Russian President described the situation in the South Caucasus
as complicated. “We have inherited a lot of conflicts,” he said,
“These conflicts are muffled, but burst out here and there, which is
a concern to us.”

Mr. Putin said that Russia was ready to mediate in and guarantee the
results of a settlement of the lingering Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“Russia is ready to act as a mediator and a guarantor if there is
demand for our efforts and the parties to the conflict are willing
[to let Russia in],” he said.

“We have discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. No breakthrough
decisions have been made – today’s discussion was just about search
for additional measures to maintain the dialogue,” the Russian
president added.

He emphasized that, importantly, “the sides have revealed their
willingness to seek a compromise.” According to Putin, both Armenian
and Azeri presidents would embrace a compromise.

He also said he intended to visit Armenia.

“Robert Kocharyan has invited me to visit Armenia. I will pay a visit
early next year, the exact date will be adjusted through the Foreign
Ministry,” he remarked.

As to the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, the only possible option,
according to the Russian President, is to negotiate.

“To sit at the table to negotiate is the only possible way out,” he
said.

“One has to be good at negotiating and to have enough political will
to deliver on what has been agreed upon, [not to let it happen when]
a commission agrees on something in the morning, and on the same
night officials of the same state that is represented in the
commission dismiss the agreement,” Mr. Putin said.

The Russian President said he hoped all participants in this process
would reveal enough political maturity and solidity in their peoples’
best interests.

According to him, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili also
regarded a decision to cancel South Ossetian autonomy as a mistake.

“As we talked with Mr. Saakashvili, [he said] he thought these
decisions about South Ossetia, made in the early 1990s, had been a
mistake. So I said nothing unexpected,” Vladimir Putin said in
comment on his remark about the Georgian-Ossetian conflict at
yesterday’s news conference on his meeting with Ukrainian President
Leonid Kuchma.

In those remarks, Mr. Putin described Georgia’s decision to cancel
autonomous status for South Ossetia and Abkhazia as “stupid.”

RIA Novosti, Russia
Aug 20 2004

RUSSIA TO TREAT CSTO MILITARY ALLIANCE ON PAR WITH DOMESTIC
PARTNERSHIP: PUTIN

SOCHI, August 20 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is willing to treat military
partnership with other countries on the Collective Security Treaty
Organization on a par with partnership ties within the country,
reassures President Vladimir Putin.

He made the statement at a news conference he and President Robert
Kocharyan of Armenia were addressing after today’s summit in Sochi,
Russia’s Black Sea coastal spa.

The State Duma, Russia’s lower parliamentary house, will debate the
prospects. The Kremlin is ready with a respective resolution, which
implies all exports/imports within the Treaty Organization proceeding
from Russian domestic prices, said President Putin.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization brings together six
post-Soviet countries-Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia and Tajikistan.

Mr. Putin spoke about Russian-Armenian economic partnership, too.
Thus, several Russian industrial companies intend to invest a total
$26 million to update the Armenian-based Armenal Co.

Power industrial partnership is an essential aspect of bilateral
ties, added Russia’s President.

President Kocharyan, in his turn, approved current trends and
developments in bilateral economic contacts. They became much more
diversified within the preceding two or three years, and capital
investment is on an upswing, he said.

The President highlighted 600 presently available Russian-Armenian
joint ventures, and stressed an increasing Russian corporate
participation in Armenian business.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian-Turkish trade tops 50m dollars per year

Mediamax news agency
19 Aug 04

YEREVAN

Yearly trade between Armenia and Turkey is 50-60m dollars, in spite of
the absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the
closed border, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said in
Yerevan today.

Thus “Armenian-Turkish relations today have a rather unusual
character”, the minister said, according to Mediamax news agency.

The issue of recognition of the Armenian genocide in 1915 is a
component part of Armenian-Turkish relations, however Yerevan does not
consider it a prior condition for normalization, said Vardan Oskanyan

Paper slams USA’s “double standards” towards Azerbaijan

Zerkalo, Baku
18 Aug 04

Azerbaijan is becoming a testing ground for the super powers, as
Russian MPs express concern at possible US plans to base troops there,
an article in an Azerbaijani daily has said. Despite the USA’s
statements on supporting Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, “Baku can
sacrifice its interests for Washington, but Americans could not care
less about either Azerbaijan or the Karabakh dispute,” the article
concluded. “Uncle Sam is interested only in Caspian oil and elbowing
Russia and Iran out of its interest areas.” The following is an
excerpt from A. Rasidoglu’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on
18 August headlined “Uncle Sam’s double standards” and subheaded “Baku
may sacrifice its interests for Washington, but no appreciation is
worth waiting for”; subheadings inserted editorially:

The search for ways of settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
depends not on the Minsk Group co-chairs, but on the governments of
Azerbaijan and Armenia, Trend news agency has quoted the US
co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Steven Mann, as saying.

Asked about the illegitimate municipal elections in the so-called
Nagornyy Karabakh Republic, as well as the command and staff exercises
in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, Mann said that “The Department of
State has already answered your question. I am reiterating deputy
spokesman Adam Ereli’s words at a briefing. We do not recognize
Nagornyy Karabakh as an independent state. The USA supports
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. We do not believe that these
elections will have a negative effect on the Minsk Group’s
activities.”

Touching upon the impact of these steps by the Armenian side on the
collapse of the negotiation process, Mann said that ” Events
dissatisfying this or that side will always crop up in the region.”

“The responsibility of all the sides involved in the Minsk Group
activities is not to deviate from the negotiations and from taking
further the peace process. Let me explain why we are doing this and
why Azerbaijan and Armenia are doing this. The sides are not in the
negotiations process for the sake of politeness or for the sake of
observing some norms. We are all proceeding from our national
interests. Therefore, I believe that President Ilham Aliyev’s decision
to participate in the negotiations is correct and is based on
Azerbaijan’s national interests,” he said.

Speaking of the long-term US position on the Karabakh process, Mann
stressed that the settlement of the conflict should take into account
the wishes of all the inhabitants in the region. “The Minsk Group does
not support any of the sides. The international community has
recognized the conflict and decided to support the negotiations and
mediate them. The international community has not authorized the Minsk
Group to act as an arbiter. Our mandate from the international
community does not envisage this. It says we should work as much as we
can to find a common ground between the two sides and ensure real
discussions,” the diplomat underlined.

Passage omitted: BTC pipeline

Russia concerned at US troop deployment plans

It is interesting that the diplomatic gestures of the American
co-chairman coincided with US President George W. Bush’s statements,
who officially announced the biggest ever redeployment of troops since
the Cold War. About 70,000 servicemen will leave their bases in Europe
and Asia. The head of the White House disclosed the details of this
plan at a traditional meeting with veterans of overseas wars in
Cincinatti, Ohio during the night of 17 August, Baku time.

Passage omitted: Bush’s details about troops deployment

Earlier, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld detailed the US
intentions in a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Ivanov,
while General Charles Wald named the countries, which could host US
military bases, among which there was Azerbaijan, too. Rumsfeld said
that the US troops in Europe would be reduced by two-thirds.

Passage omitted: details of troops reduction

In turn, the military contingents in the territories of the USA’s new
allies in Asia and the former Soviet countries will be slightly
increased.

Passage omitted: details and reaction in the USA

Bush has equally alarmed Russian political analysts and
officials. “Our concerns are grounded,” the head of the International
Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma lower house of parliament
, Konstantin Kosachev, told Ekho Moskvy radio station. “We still have
to be sure that new threats will not be created for Russia following
redeployment of the US military bases. But, there is no ground for
panic yet,” he explained.

He said that the talk is now about the deployment of US troops in
Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania and it does not cause
fear. Granted that, as Kosachev noticed, “Americans say that it is
being done to fight terrorism and the bases will be directed towards
the south. But, if the deployment of military bases in Hungary,
Bulgaria and Romania is movement towards the southeast, the appearance
of military bases in Poland is movement to the east,” he told
Interfax.

If we talk about deployment of contingents in the Baltic nations, this
will certainly secure US interests, something that cannot please
Russia. “Russia should negotiate with the countries in the Caucasus
and Central Asia, which could potentially be a place for American
bases, for non-deployment of these bases,” the deputy says. He is also
convinced that only the refusal to host American troops could allow
countries like Moldova and Georgia to “ensure their security”.

Passage omitted: Russian Defence Minister Ivanov’s comments

Russian media say that if the USA happens to redeploy its troops in
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia, the operation will start not
earlier than four to six years. Probably, these deployments and
generally all military decisions will be discussed at a meeting of the
heads of defence and security committees of CIS parliaments in
October.

“And within the framework of the meeting we will certainly discuss
relations between the CIS and NATO,” the chairman of the Committee on
Security and Defence Issues of the Russian Federation Council, Viktor
Ozerov, said. In any case the former Soviet nations will still have a
lot of time to decide whom to establish blocs with when American bases
approach Russian borders.

USA does not care about Azerbaijan

So, Azerbaijan is becoming a testing ground for super states. Whether
it will positively affect the settlement of the Karabakh dispute is a
matter of time. But, as is seen from Steven Mann’s statements,
Washington is again applying double standards to this
issue. Azerbaijan is a partner of the USA, while Armenia is Russia’s
vassal. But, Uncle Sam is little concerned over these nuances. It
turns out that Baku can sacrifice its interests for Washington, but
Americans could not care less about either Azerbaijan or the Karabakh
dispute.

Uncle Sam is interested only in Caspian oil and elbowing Russia and
Iran out of its interest areas. The Azerbaijani people is unlikely to
agree to this degrading accord… ellipses as published