Azeri defence minister, EU envoy discuss Karabakh
Bilik Dunyasi news agency
8 Jul 04
BAKU
Azerbaijani Defence Minister Col-Gen Safar Abiyev met the special
representative of the EU in the South Caucasus, Heikki Talvitie,
today.
The minister said that Karabakh and other occupied lands are the
territory of Azerbaijan and the people of Azerbaijan will not resign
themselves to the occupation. If all means of resolving the conflict
are exhausted, the country will resort to extreme measures. Armenia
ought to withdraw quickly from the territories it has occupied.
Talvitie said in turn that the EU has joined the settlement process
for the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagornyy Karabakh and
intends to help the OSCE Minsk Group in the issue. “We need to get
direct and objective information about the conflict,” he said.

Armenian Speaker, Egyptian official discuss expanding cooperation
Noyan Tapan news agency
8 Jul 04
YEREVAN
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan received Muhammad Sha’ban,
assistant minister of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, on 7 July. The
sides expressed satisfaction with political relations between Armenia
and Egypt, as well as with the current level of cooperation in
international organizations. Noting the similarity of the viewpoints
of Armenia and Egypt in relation to regional problems, they expressed
the unanimous opinion that peace and stability in the region are an
important condition for the development of economic relations between
the two countries.
According to the participants in the meeting, Armenian-Egyptian
trade-economic relations are lagging behind bilateral political
relations, and the existing opportunities in this sphere are not being
used yet. The prime minister expressed his satisfaction with the
establishment of the first joint enterprise in the health sphere and
expressed his gratitude to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry for arranging
courses conducted by the fund of technical cooperation with the CIS
countries, which were attended by 215 Armenian specialists in 2003.
The sides noted the importance of holding the fourth session of the
Armenian-Egyptian intergovernmental commission which is planned to be
held in Cairo in autumn. As for the problems in various spheres, the
sides in particular touched upon the problem of stepping up
cooperation in the sphere of tourism.
The possibilities of establishing cooperation between the universities
of Yerevan and Cairo and also between the medical faculty of Cairo
Medical University and Yerevan Medical University were also discussed
during the meeting.

EU pushing for closure of Armenian nuclear power station
Mediamax news agency
8 Jul 04
YEREVAN
The European Union still supports the closure of the Armenian nuclear
power station, EU Commissioner Janez Potocnik said in Yerevan today.
Speaking at a press conference in Yerevan today, Janez Potocnik did
not give specific dates for the closure of the nuclear power
station. He just said “sooner or later it must be closed”. The EU
commissioner stressed that the EU’s interest in the closure of the
power station was based solely on safety concerns.
“We understand that Armenia must be provided with alternative energy
sources before the nuclear power station can be closed,” Janez
Potocnik said, confirming that the European Union was ready to
allocate 100m euros towards this.

Armenian speaker, EU envoy discuss cooperation
Arminfo
8 Jul 04

YEREVAN
Armenian National Assembly Chairman Artur Bagdasaryan and Janez
Potocnik, commissioner in charge of the EU’s European Neighbourhood
Policy who is in Yerevan on a working visit, discussed issues of
cooperation between Armenia and the European Union today.
The press service of the Armenian National Assembly told Arminfo news
agency that during the meeting, Artur Bagdasaryan stressed that
integration into the EU is one of the priorities in Armenia’s foreign
policy and the republic is ready to follow all the requirements of
this organization for swift integration into the European family. The
speaker noted that on its path of integration into the EU, Armenia is
ready to deepen cooperation with all the countries of the region and
carry out the necessary reforms in the country’s domestic political
system.
The sides also stressed the importance of Armenia’s integration into
regional programmes and deepening economic cooperation between the EU
and Armenia. For his part, Janez Potocnik noted that the report he has
prepared on the results of his visit to the region will be discussed
by the EU member countries, which will put forward their own proposals
on the preparation of cooperation programmes that will focus their
main attention on issues of deepening political, economic, scientific
and cultural cooperation. Janez Potocnik also stressed the importance
of legislative bodies’ role in deepening regional cooperation.

New Iranian envoys arrives in Armenia
Arminfo
8 Jul 04
YEREVAN
The new ambassador plenipotentiary and extraordinary of the Islamic
Republic of Iran [IRI], Ali Reza Haqiqian, arrived in Yerevan today.
The ambassador will soon present his credentials to Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan and start his duties, the press service of the
Armenian Foreign Ministry told Arminfo news agency.
The ambassador, Ali Reza Haqiqian, was born in Esfahan in 1958 and has
a university degree. He has been in the Iranian Foreign Ministry since
1981, represented the Islamic Republic of Iran in Canada, Germany and
Iraq.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pakistan’s Musharraf assures Azeri leader of support in Karabakh issue
Azerbaijani TV Channel One, Baku
8 Jul 04
The presidents of Azerbaijan and Pakistan, Ilham Aliyev and Pervez
Musharraf, held a joint news conference following the signing of a
number of bilateral cooperation agreements. Before answering
questions, the presidents made statements.
In his remarks, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev welcomed the
visiting Pakistani president and the delegation accompanying him. He
said the visit was a significant event in the history of the two
countries and added that the two countries maintained effective
cooperation in the political, economic and cultural fields. Aliyev
said that Pakistan and Azerbaijan had always supported each other in
the international arena.
“Pakistan has always supported Azerbaijan’s fair position on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and I would like to thank the
distinguished president on behalf of the Azerbaijani people,” Aliyev
said.
He said that Azerbaijan would also provide its political support to
Pakistan. Under such circumstances, economic cooperation will bring
the countries even closer together, Aliyev said. These issues, he
added, are permanently discussed by the intergovernmental economic
cooperation.
“There are great opportunities in the fields of tourism, energy and
agriculture. Of course, our relations in the humanitarian and cultural
areas are successfully developing as well. Pakistan and Azerbaijan are
allies, we understand each other very well, our positions on
international and regional issues overlap and I am sure that our
relations will improve even further after this visit,” Ilham Aliyev.
At the end of his statement, Aliyev reiterated his words of welcome
for the Pakistani leader and expressed the hope that the visit would
be productive and successful.
In his reciprocal address, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf
thanked his Azerbaijani counterpart for the warm welcome and for his
words about thriving Pakistani-Azerbaijani relations. He said it was a
pleasure to lead the Pakistani delegation visiting Azerbaijan.
“Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoy very strong cultural, historic and
religious bonds, therefore, these bonds must facilitate cooperation
and collaboration in all fields, especially political and economic,”
he said.
He added that the presidents and the delegations of the two countries
had held a very comprehensive exchange of views on many areas.
“In the political field the special feature of our relationship is the
reciprocal support that Pakistan has always received and is always
grateful to Azerbaijan for its support on the Kashmir dispute. We also
support Azerbaijan in the Nagornyy Karabakh issue,” Musharraf
stressed.
“The occupation of Nagornyy Karabakh by Armenia is the cause of
concern to us, the government of Pakistan, and every individual
Pakistani. Therefore, I have assured the president of our continual
and full support in this dispute with Armenia over Nagornyy Karabakh,”
he said.
The Pakistani president pointed to complete identity of views on all
international issues and said that the two presidents had agreed to
keep in touch in order to continuously renew their approaches to
problems.
“In the economic field we have agreed that we need to identify areas
of common interest and focus on them through the creation of a joint
economic commission which must meet on an annual basis, so that we can
then proceed further for mutual benefits,” Pervez Musharraf said.
“We are extremely glad at the signing of these agreements. We look
forward and are very sure that these will be precursors for more
interaction between our two countries, for closer cooperation and
understanding between our two countries,” he said.
Musharraf said he had invited Ilham Aliyev to Pakistan and that the
invitation was accepted.
At the end of his statement, Musharraf said in Turkish: “Long live
Pakistani-Azerbaijani friendship. I believe that we are not friends,
we are brothers. Pakistan has always been together with Azerbaijan.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia continues talks to release pilots arrested in Equatorial Guinea
Arminfo
9 Jul 04
YEREVAN
A delegation from the Armenian Foreign Ministry is in Equatorial
Guinea at present to conduct negotiations on the conditions of
detention and the further fate of the detained Armenian pilots. Gamlet
Gasparyan, a spokesman of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told an
Arminfo correspondent this.
He said that for the time being the delegation is discussing with the
leadership of this African country ways of improving conditions for
and rendering medical assistance to the Armenian pilots. The spokesman
of the Armenian Foreign Ministry noted that as of 8 July there has not
been any information about the court trial. The Armenian delegation
has been in Malabo [capital of Equatorial Guinea] since the end of
June. The delegation is being led, as last time, by the Armenian
ambassador to Egypt, Samvel Manasaryan.
To recap, on 8 March the authorities of Equatorial Guinea arrested a
large group of people, including, as well as other foreigners, six
Armenian pilots. The Armenian pilots are accused of plotting to
overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. The Armenian pilots
deny the accusations entirely.
The Armenian delegation has already been in Malabo before. The
Armenian diplomats met the prime minister of Equatorial Guinea, the
minister of internal affairs and deputy minister of state security,
the prosecutor-general and the foreign minister. Messages from
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and Catholicos of All Armenians
Garegin II urging the release of the Armenian pilots were handed to
the foreign minister of Equatorial Guinea.

Department of Armenian Studies, Haigazian University
Beirut, Lebanon
Contact: Ara Sanjian
Tel: 961-1-353011
Email: [email protected]
Web:
MARY DANIELYAN LECTURES AT HAIGAZIAN UNIVERSITY ON THE CONTIBRUTION OF
TOROS TORAMANIAN TO THE STUDY OF ARMENIAN ARCHITECTURE
BEIRUT, Friday, 9 July, 2004 (Haigazian University Department of
Armenian Studies Press Release) – Mrs. Mary Danielyan lectured at
Haigazian University on “The Contribution of Toros Toramanian to the
Study of Armenian Architecture” on Thursday, 10 June, 2004.
Danielyan is a graduate of the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute and worked
after 1973 as an expert on the reconstruction of historical monuments in
the Soviet Armenian Ministry of Construction and later in the Board for
the Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments. She was chief
architect, author or project manager of numerous reconstruction projects
of historical monuments in Armenia, including Garni, Makaravank,
Goshavank, Zvartnots and Noravank. From 1999 to 2003, Danielyan was the
chief architect of Zvartnots. Since 2003, she has been project manager
in the Architecture and Engineering Section of the Holy See of
Echmiadzin. She has also published a number of scientific articles on
some of these restoration projects.
Danielyan began her lecture by providing a biography of Toros
Toramanian, whom she described as a “talented artist and theoretician,
who acquainted the world with Armenian architecture.” Toramanian was
born in 1864 in the town of Shabin Karahissar, then part of the Ottoman
Empire. He graduated from the Constantinople Lyceum of Fine Arts and in
the next few years designed a number of private residences for the rich,
as well as public buildings in Constantinople, Bulgaria and Romania.
Danielyan said that the lack of studies on Armenian architecture had
troubled Toramanian since his student days. In 1902, he accepted an
offer from Garo Basmajian in Paris to take part in an expedition to the
medieval Armenian capital of Ani, which was then part of the Russian
Empire. Toramanian participated in the excavations that the Russian
Caucasologist Nicholas Marr was conducting in Ani and was awed with what
he saw. Toramanian later took his research notes to Prof. Jozef
Strzygowski in Vienna. In 1918 the latter published a two-volume work,
Die Baukunst der Armenier und Europa [The Architecture of the Armenians
and Europe], acknowledging his debt to Toramanian. In 1921, Ani was
annexed to Turkey, and Toramanian could not return there to continue his
research. He asked Strzygowski in 1925 to return his notes, but to no avail.
When a committee was established in 1923 to preserve Soviet Armenia’s
historical monuments, Toramanian became its chief expert and
participated in the reconstruction of parts of the Echmiadzin cathedral.
He also compiled the inventory of the Division of Architecture in the
History Museum of Armenia. Toramanian died in 1934. His published works
include a number of studies on the churches of Zvartnots, Gagikashen and
Tekor, as well the historical and cultural monuments of the Aragatsoyn
and Shirak regions, including the medieval church at Yereruyk.
The second part of Danielyan’s lecture focused on Toramanian’s
contribution to the study of the Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator
or Zvartnots, the magnum opus, according to speaker, of medieval
Armenian architecture. The name Zvartnots, she explained, means ‘the
abode of angels.’ The church was built by the Catholicos Nerses III of
Tayk in 642-662, a period which also witnessed the first Arab invasions
of Armenia. The site chosen was believed to be the place where King
Trdat had met St. Gregory the Illuminator, who converted Armenia to
Christianity, after his release from the dungeon at Khor Virap. A
smaller church had existed in that same place before the seventh
century. The initial plan of Nerses III was to build not only a new and
bigger church, but also a city nearby. The latter part of his dream did
not materialize. The Church of Zvartnots has two altars, one of which
was constructed in Byzantine style in 652 to enable the Emperor
Constantine to receive communion in this new church according to
Chalcedonian traditions. The Church of Zvartnots stood for 300 years.
With its attendant constructions, it was the seat of the Armenian
Catholicos for some time, and Nerses III is believed to have been buried
within its compound.
Toramanian first participated in the excavations of Zvartnots at the
invitation of the Rev. Father Khachig Dadian in 1904. Toramanian was
highly impressed by Zvartnots. He said that although Zvartnots was not
as large as the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople or the Pantheon
in Rome, its architectural style was highly original and it could,
hence, compete with Hagia Sophia through its high artistic traits.
Toramanian was unhappy, however, with Dadian’s unprofessional methods in
excavating the site. The latter frequently used dynamite to transport
the large pieces. That same year, Toramanian presented his own
reconstruction of Zvartnots. It was based on a newly discovered model of
the Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator (Gagikashen), constructed by
King Gagik I in Ani in the tenth century. Gagikashen was reputed to have
been built in the Zvartnots style. Toramanian’s theory was immediately
criticized by Dadian and Ter Sargsian, a renowned architect from St.
Petersburg. After Toramanian’s death, his main critic was the architect
Stepan Mnatsakanian. Most experts in Armenian architecture do accept,
however, the validity of Toramanian’s proposed reconstruction; Danielyan
described it as Toramanian’s magnum opus.
Today, only five percent of the church’s original structure survives,
said Danielyan. Following its destruction, the stones were used for a
variety of purposes by people living in its vicinity. In the year 2002,
the Lincy Foundation financed the partial reconstruction of this
monument, based on Libarid Sadoyan’s plan, which had been approved in
1986. Moreover, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund funded a separate project
to survey and digitalize all 2050 stone fragments still standing in the
Zvartnots compound. All these fragments now have their own ID cards,
forming an archive consisting of 30 volumes or 56 CDs.
The second part of Danielyan’s lecture was accompanied by a slide show
of both archival and recent pictures related to the excavations and
reconstruction of Zvartnots.
In a very lively question-and-answer session that followed the lecture,
Danielyan answered a variety of questions related to local and foreign
influences in the architectural design of Zvartnots, the causes of its
destruction and the various signs carved by masons on stones used during
construction, as well as the bas-relief of a Zvartnots-type church on
the door of Sainte Chapelle in France, Toramanian’s international
stature, the whereabouts of his notes used by Strzygowski, etc.
Danielyan told the audience that three years ago Toramanian’s
granddaughter had sold all of her grandfather’s remaining archives to
the Armenian Board for the Preservation of Historical Monuments. These
archives are now being catalogued, and the Armenian National Academy of
Sciences is planning the publication in three volumes of Toramanian’s
scientific works. The Church of Zvartnots itself cannot be reconstructed
according to internationally agreed criteria, for very few of its
original stones remain in place.
Danielyan’s lecture on Toros Toramanian was the first in a series of two
to be held at Haigazian University. Her lecture tour to Beirut was
initiated by Haydjar, the Association of Armenian Professionals
(Architects and Engineers) in Lebanon.
Haigazian University is a liberal arts institution of higher learning,
established in Beirut in 1955. For more information about its activities
you are welcome to visit its web-site at <;. For additional information on the activities of its Department of Armenian Studies, contact Ara Sanjian at .

Armenian TV company fined for illegal rebroadcasts
Arminfo
8 Jul 04
YEREVAN
An independent TV company, “Tsayg”, broadcasting in Gyumri has been
fined 100,000 drams about 151 dollars . Today’s session of the
Armenian National Commission for Radio and Television NCRT adopted
this decision unanimously.
The head of the NCRT, Grigor Amalyan, said that as a result of
monitoring it had been determined that the “Tsayg” TV company
illegally retransmitted programmes from the Russian “TNT” channel on
31 May and 14 June. He recalled that in line with the republic’s
legislation, the retransmission of the TV programmes of a foreign
country is possible only if there is a corresponding bilateral
agreement. “Tsayg” was obliged to inform the National Commission for
Radio and Television in advance about the planned retransmission.

Azeri paper comments on possible Karabakh presence at Bulgarian session
Ekho, Baku
8 Jul 04
MPs and experts from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia recently took
part in a session of the South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative in
Bulgaria. There were reports afterwards that Nagornyy Karabakh had
been represented at the session by David Babayan, unbeknown to members
of the delegation from Azerbaijan. An Azerbaijani newspaper article
said that such participation “is effectively a challenge to Baku”. The
paper spoke to two people who had attended the forum. One said that
it could not be ruled out that Babayan had been there but they had not
been introduced .He urged clarification. The other said that if true
then a protest would be filed. The following is the text of
R. Orucov’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 8 July headlined
“Armenian separatist was sitting at same table with Azeri deputies”
and subheaded “Parliamentarians say that they were unaware of this and
promise to hold the organizer of session of South Caucasus
Parliamentary Initiative accountable”
As Ekho has already reported, the second plenary session of the South
Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative SCPI , which was founded a few years
ago through the efforts of the British nongovernmental organization
LINKS, was held on 1-4 July in Sofia. MPs and experts from Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Armenia took part in the session.
Yesterday’s 7 July report by the Armenian news agency ARKA that the
separatist regime of Nagornyy Karabakh had been represented at the
session in the Bulgarian capital by a staffer of the “apparatus of the
president of the Republic of Nagornyy Karabakh” David Babayan (“Trend”
as published ) has become a sensation. He said that it was mainly the
issues of expansion in Europe, relations in this context among the
states of the South Caucasus and the settlement of the conflicts in
the region that were discussed. He also said that “as always, the
Azeri delegation declared the principle of resolving the issue of the
status of Nagornyy Karabakh only after the liberation of all
territories and return of the refugees.
It has to be noted that participation in such a representative forum
by a functionary from the separatist regime of Nagornyy Karabakh is
effectively a challenge to Baku. The point is that the Azeri
participants in the forum – deputies of the Milli Maclis – said in
their comments to the press that only representatives of the
legislative bodies of the three South Caucasus countries convened in
Sofia.
It emerged that the members of the Azeri delegation to the SCPI did
not even have a clue that the “staffer of the apparatus of the
president of the Republic of Nagornyy Karabakh” was sitting at the
same “round table” with them.
For example, Sahlar Asqarov, a Milli Maclis deputy from the New
Azerbaijan Party and a member of the delegation, told Ekho that “it
was not mentioned in any speech during the session that a
representative of the Republic of Nagornyy Karabakh is present here.”
“LINKS Executive Director Dennis Sammut said nothing about this
either,” Sahlar Asqarov said. The deputy noted that the published
report has to be studied, and if it is confirmed, all appropriate
measures should be taken. “I will inform the head of our delegation to
the SCPI, Siayvus Novruzov. We should clarify all this. The
possibility cannot be ruled out that this Babayan was there indeed but
he was not introduced to us. Perhaps the head of LINKS knew about it
but did not tell us.”
Another member of the Azeri delegation, deputy from the People’s Front
of Azerbaijan Party Alimammad Nuriyev, was also not informed. “We were
told that delegates and experts from Armenia are taking part in the
session,” the parliamentarian noted. This deputy also thinks that this
issue has to be studied thoroughly. “And first and foremost we should
demand an answer from LINKS because they organized this “round
table”. If everything is confirmed, we will of course file a protest
and most probably we will refuse to take part in subsequent sessions
of the SCPI. This discredits the very idea of the SCPI, which is
inadmissible,” the deputy emphasized.
According to him, it was agreed when the SCPI was created that it
would consist of parliamentarians and experts only from the three
Caucasus states, Nuriyev noted. “If we found out that a representative
of Gukasyan was present at the session, then we would expel him or
leave the session ourselves,” Nuriyev said. In his opinion, if the
participation of Babayan in the session is confirmed, “LINKS will have
to account for this.”
Nuriyev recalled that, at the previous session of the SCPI in December
2003 in Edinburgh, the Georgian delegation voiced the initiative that
it would be good to invite all sides who deem themselves parties to
the conflicts in the Caucasus. “Back then we strongly objected to
this,” the parliamentarian said.