Armenia likely to discuss withdrawal from occupied Azeri districts, paper says    

Iravunk, Yerevan
11 Jun 04

Text of T. Tovmasyan’s report in Armenian newspaper Iravunk on 11
June headlined “When occupying them, we knew we should give them back”

Sources close to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Dashnaktsutyun
have informed us that, during his recent meeting with the governing
coalition, the president said that when he and [assassinated Prime
Minister] Vazgen Sarkisyan were occupying the territories [Azerbaijani
districts around Nagornyy Karabakh], they knew definitely that they
should give them back.

According to the same source, Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan is
going to leave for the USA and, in all probability, he will be given
a date to start the process.

Karabakh building housing, schools for settlers

Yerkir, Yerevan
11 Jun 04

Text of N. Pogosyan’s report in Armenian newspaper Yerkir on 11 June
headlined “Social conditions for settlers in Karabakh being improved”

Since the beginning of the year 82 families, that is 326 people,
from the CIS and Middle East have been settled in Artsakh [Nagornyy
Karabakh]. Of the settlers 134 are children.

The chief of the NKR’s [Nagornyy Karabakh Republic’s] department
for refugees, migration and resettlement, Serzh Amirkhanyan, said
that the construction of more than 100 blocks of flats for settlers
will be finished this August. “Our principles are the same, we give
priority to young families and families with many children. The
diaspora helps us a great deal in this matter. Thanks to the efforts
of the Spanish diocese, 23m drams [approximately 41,000 US dollars]
have been invested and a secondary school will be built and furnished
in Nor Getashen village in Shaumyan District,” Amirkhanyan said, adding
that another school will be built in Nor Maraga village in Mardakert
District with funds from Tehran’s Armenian diocese. A school will
also be built in Ukhtasar village in Askeran District. Amirkhanyan
said that medical facilities and water pipelines are also being built.

Armenian general calls for new military partners, more mobile army

Ayots Ashkar, Yerevan
11 Jun 04

headlined “What kind of army do we need?”

Gen Arkadiy Ter-Tadevosyan (Komandos [Commando]) has said that
Azerbaijan has now started a process of building up its military
potential and is gradually emerging from the former period of
stagnation.

Judging from this reality, Ter-Tadevosyan thinks that as well as
preserving military and political union with Russia, Armenia should
at the same time start active moves towards military cooperation with
other powers. In future it will be necessary for us to reorganize
the army to make it much more mobile. The general said that the
whole contemporary world is moving in this direction, as it is not
fruitful to keep a big army. It is better to have comparatively small,
but mobile and technically equipped, armed forces.

Heavy hailstorm hits northern Armenian districts

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
10 Jun 04
   
[Presenter] A heavy hailstorm has hit Lori and Tavush Districts
[northern Armenia]. A shower of hailstones destroyed the potato and
grain fields and pastures within 10 minutes. The most affected villages
were (?Hakhvat), (?Sanahin) and (?Akner). As a result of the natural
disaster the roofs of many houses and buildings were destroyed.

[Correspondent, over video of hailstorm] The people of the Akner
village will not have potato and grain this autumn. About 30 ha
of potato and 30 ha of grain fields have been destroyed completely
by hail.

[A man, captioned as resident of village] There is no hope. I think
that this will not be restored. The region’s authorities have already
been informed about this. But this issue must be discussed and resolved
at the government level.

[Correspondent] The librarian is concerned about the fate of books –
10,000 books are in danger. The hail destroyed 70-80 per cent of the
roofs of the houses.

[Passage omitted: villagers complain about natural disaster]

[Presenter] A heavy hailstorm accompanied by heavy rain also hit the
Tavush District centre. The energy, drinking water and communications
systems were destroyed. Roads in the district were also destroyed. The
rain swept away animals, vehicles and roads. A 250-km section of the
Yerevan-Idzhevan highway was temporarily closed.

[Correspondent, over video of destroyed roads] The hail hit and
destroyed the roofs and windows of houses, vehicles parked in the
streets, and vineyards. This is explained by the unusual seize of
hailstones and intensity of the hail. According to local residents,
such a hailstorm was not recorded in the last 20 years. The first
restoration measures and work are already under way.

Employees of the district and regional emergency departments,
the Idzhevan road construction organization and regional interior
bodies took part in the rescue work. The state highway opened in the
midnight, the town’s power supply and communications were restored. The
restoration work is under way.

Gayane Tamanyan, “Aylur”.

Armenian prisoners on hunger strike sew up mouths

A1+ web site
11 Jun 04

11 June: Several prisoners at Nubarashen prison have been on hunger
strike for several days. Some of them have even stitched up their
mouths. Ara Sagatelyan, spokesman of the Justice Ministry, has
confirmed this information.

We failed to find out the exact number of the hunger
strikers. Sagatelyan said that they were under the supervision of
doctors, as the law requires. “In general, it is not an extraordinary
event for prisoners in any country to go on hunger strike, since it
is a method of attracting attention and expressing opinions to which
they periodically resort.”

There is a group of public observers, who has the right to visit
prisons at any time without prior warning, Sagatelyan said. “The
criminal procedural system is quite transparent now,” Ara Sagatelyan
said.

The hunger strikers are demanding that their charges and convictions
be reviewed.

Asked if their lives were in danger, Ara Sagatelyan replied:
“Nobody will die from a hunger strike, since when doctors decide to
force-feed them, as is the case across the world, the hunger strikers
will be force-fed.”

Sagatelyan also said that the hunger strikers were ordinary criminals,
and cases of hunger strikers are on the increase because the press
pays attention to them.

Azeri daily reflects on reasons behind US general’s “unexpected” visit

Ekspress, Baku
11 Jun 04

The deputy commander of the US European Command, Gen Charles Wald,
paid an unexpected visit to Baku yesterday morning [10 June]. The
US embassy in Azerbaijan told Ekspress newspaper that the delegation
accompanying the Pentagon official had included 70 American civilian
representatives and business leaders who are members of the Joint
Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC).

[Passage omitted: about the JCOC programme and reported details]

Why did Wald come to Azerbaijan? According to official reports,
one might answer the question as follows. The visit by the Pentagon
official aimed at ”inspecting” the implementation of joint programmes
between the European Command and Azerbaijan and looking into the
preparations for NATO’s Cooperative Best Effort 2004 exercises. In
any case, one should admit that the visit to our country by such
a high-ranking Pentagon general as the deputy commander of the US
European Command in Stuttgart is not limited to the ”inspection of
cooperation programmes” only. Moreover, the importance of the visit
for Washington is obvious, bearing in mind that it was Wald’s second
visit to Azerbaijan in the past two months.

So it was clear from the brief statement which Wald made in Azerbaijan
that the USA is concerned about the state of security programmes in
the region (concretely, security issues and the protection of oil
pipelines). However, this might be understood as a gesture by the
Pentagon to show its presence in the region, since the concern was
expressed at the same time as the five-sided working group on Caspian
status was holding its summit in Astana. Moreover, by declaring the
creation of a special group to carry out US programmes on the South
Caucasus, Wald showed that the White House did not intend to hold
back from projects on the Caspian.

To recap, at the working group’s Astana meeting Russia and Kazakhstan
suggested the creation of “a military balance” in the sea and a ban
on the entry of “foreign forces” to the Caspian.

Finally, let us recall that Wald, who visited Yerevan some time ago,
regarded as necessary the participation of Armenian officers in the
NATO exercises due in Azerbaijan this autumn and said that he had
received official Baku’s guarantee on the issue. It is no coincidence
that the US general’s sudden visit coincided with Yerevan officially
expressing its intention to attend the NATO conference in June and
saying that it would approach the Azerbaijani embassy in Georgia
over this issue on 12 June. It seems that the Pentagon general had
to visit Azerbaijan again in order to ”resolve the issue on the spot”.

[Passage omitted: Azerbaijan ex-foreign policy adviser positive
on visit]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Mayor Alibeyoglu launches a campaign to gather signatures of Kars’ residents to appeal to government to open border gate with Armenia and for the closure of the Metzamor nuclear power station in Armenia

The mayor of the Turkish city of Kars, which is close to the Turkish-Armenian border, appealed on Tuesday for the opening of the border gate between Turkey and Armenia and the resumption of border trade after an 11-year interval.

The Turkish government have stressed that the border gate, which was closed in protest of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan’s Nogorno-Karabakh district, could only be reopened if Armenia withdraws all its troops from the mountainous region, thus allowing Azerbaijan to restore its sovereignty over the area and all the displaced
Azerbaijanis to return to their homes.

From time-to-time over the past few years various Turkish governments have tilted towards reopening the border gate with Armenia, but out of concern that such a move would upset Azerbaijan — a country in which Turks have ethnic, cultural and religious affinity — have so far refrained from doing so.

Some 1.5 million Azerbaijanis have been living in tent cities and old train carts since they were forced out of Nogorno-Karanakh by advancing Armenian troops and local Armenian forces, equipped and armed by the Armenian government.

Kars Mayor Naif Alibeyoglu of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) said reopening the border gate with Armenia would boost the economy of the city.

The mayor, concerned by the Metzamor nuclear power station in Armenia, said he has started collecting signatures of Kars’ residents in order to appeal to the Ankara government to press for the closure of the power station.

He said Metzamor was built with “primitive technology” and would cause a disaster in the entire region should it develop any malfunction. “We do not want to live under such a threat,” he said.

PACE mission assessing political situation in Armenia

15:49 2004-06-14
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has sent a mission to Armenia to assess the political situation in that former Soviet republic.

Meeting Monday with the Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly, Artur Bagdasaryan, the visiting PACE officials emphasized the need to resume political talks between the incumbent government and the Opposition and to create conditions for Opposition parties to return to parliament and take part in the revision of the republic’s Constitution and Election Code, the National Assembly’s PR department reports. It quotes Mr. Bagdasaryan as saying to the PACE delegation that Armenia is trying to do its best to meet its commitments on schedule.

The PACE officials also met with Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan. “My primary objective is to prepare a considered report, one that reflects the real picture of processes going on in Armenia,” Co-Rapporteur Jerzy Jaskiernia said to Mr. Oskanyan. He then went on to tell the minister about his earlier meetings with Armenian Opposition politicians and community activists.

Mr. Oskanyan, for his part, told about his trip to Strasbourg following the PACE’s adoption of a resolution on Armenia this past April. “The Armenian authorities took the resolution very seriously, and are now making active steps to solve problems raised in this document,” he assured the PACE delegation.

Unauthorized, Opposition-staged protests have been underway in the republic since April 9. The protesters demand the resignation of President Robert Kocharyan.

On April 28, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution urging Armenia to settle its political crisis by September. If it fails to, the PACE will contemplate the suspension of the Armenian delegation’s mandate.

ESTONIA SUPPORTS TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF THE STATES

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info agency
June 14 2004

In the interview to correspondent of AzerTAj about the purposes of
visit the Estonian minister has told: “I am one of candidates on post
of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, therefore, it was
necessary to meet delegation of Azerbaijan in this structure and my
colleague Elmar Mammadyarov. The basic purpose of my visit consists in
that having met with them, to have exchange of opinions on development
of our bilateral relations, and also on the question representing
for me special value. I should note, that after the admission into
the European Union and the NATO, Estonia aspires to development of
relations with the countries of Southern Caucasus. It is necessary to
recognize, that the relations between our countries cannot be named
wide, therefore, we should do serious work in this area. Estonia is
interested in it, next week our governmental delegation will arrive
in Baku. Besides, next week the ministers of the European Union will
discuss a question of expansion of structure to the Caucasian region
and principles of good neighborhood. My country supports position of
the European Union in the said question. To tell the truth, in region
there are a number of problems, including the Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorny Karabakh conflict. All problems following from this conflict
will not be solved yet the question constantly should be on the
agenda of all international organizations, including the Council
of Europe. It is necessary for us to prosecute seriously these
subjects. The concrete position of Estonia in the said question is:
Estonia supports respect of territorial integrity of all states and
protection of principle of inviolability of borders.

Party Leader Shot in Azerbaijan

The Associated Press
06/14/04 05:42 EDT

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) – An opposition party leader known for his bold
military exploits in the war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave was
shot and killed early Monday in Azerbaijan’s capital, police said.

Fatulla Huseynov’s body was found by his neighbors outside his Baku
home, said Yashar Aliyev of the city police. Neighbors reported
hearing between four and six gunshots minutes earlier.

Aliyev said police did not yet have a motive or suspect.

Huseynov, 67, was one of the leaders of Azerbaijan’s opposition Justice
party. He also served as the vice president of the Association of
Football Federations of Azerbaijan. He had previously worked in
Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry and headed the nation’s road police.

In 1992-93, Huseynov fought in Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic Armenian
enclave in Azerbaijan, where he earned the nickname the “black colonel”
for his unit’s military feats.

Azerbaijani forces were driven out of Nagorno-Karabakh, and
a cease-fire was signed in May 1994. But Nagorno-Karabakh’s final
status has not been resolved and firing sporadically breaks across the
“line of control,” a demilitarized zone that separates Azerbaijani
and Armenian forces.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress