Turkey Seeks “Catalyst” Role To Resolve Karabakh Issue

Anatolia news agency
19 Apr 04

Ankara, 19 April: Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
Abdullah Gul said on Monday (19 April) that Turkey was holding talks
both with Azerbaijan and Armenia for solution of Nagornyy Karabakh
issue, stating that rumours which said that border between Turkey
and Armenia would be opened before solution of the issue were not
true. Gul replied to questions of the AA (Anatolia) correspondent.

When the AA correspondent said that there were rumours, especially in
Azerbaijan, which said that border between Turkey and Armenia would
be opened, Gul said: “This is out of question. People in Azerbaijan
are discussing this issue very much. Azerbaijani reporters also ask
this question whenever we meet.”

Stating that they believed that Nagornyy Karabakh issue should not be
left as an abandoned issue as there was an occupation, Gul said: “We
think this issue should be discussed and it should be solved.” Turkey
was holding talks both with Azerbaijan and Armenia for solution of
Nagornyy Karabakh issue, he stated and noted: “We think of holding
a trilateral meeting on this issue in the following months.” Gul
stressed that Turkey was trying to play a catalyst role, stating that
they wanted the issue to be solved peacefully. Gul said that although
Turkey and Armenia have not recognized each other officially yet, he
met with Armenian foreign minister under international and regional
meetings three times last year.

Foreign Minister Gul said that they thought that foreign ministers
of Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan should hold a trilateral meeting
before NATO summit in Istanbul in June and added that Armenia would
attend summit in Istanbul under Caucasian countries related to NATO.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Moscow Times
Monday, Apr. 19, 2004. Page 3

Russia Wraps Up Iraq Evacuation

The Associated Press
Chris Helgren / Reuters

A boy headed for a Russian flight hugging his father goodbye Friday in
Baghdad.- Photo

A plane filled with 117 workers evacuated from Baghdad arrived in Moscow on
Friday evening, the last flight of a mission to pull out employees of
Russian companies in the wake of a kidnapping.

The abduction Monday of eight workers for a Russian company — who were
released the next day — led to plans for a massive evacuation. But the
effort was scaled back after hundreds of workers chose to stay, including
the eight former captives.

Eight flights were envisioned originally, but the mission ended with four
and a total of 483 workers; three other flights took place Thursday.

One of those brought back Friday was Sergei Brazhnikov, who had been wounded
by a stray shot this week, news reports said. Some reports said Brazhnikov
was hit in the leg by a bullet fired by a U.S. soldier near the power
station where he was working south of Baghdad.

But in footage on state television from Baghdad, Brazhnikov said, “Who and
what I don’t know. … I was caught by the fire.”

He said U.S. forces airlifted him to a field hospital, where he was operated
on.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said it was up to Russian
companies to decide whether to evacuate their employees.

“The Russian side cannot guarantee the safety of its citizens in Iraq today,
just as the coalition forces cannot do so,” he said.

Russia strongly opposed the U.S.-led war and has no military presence in
Iraq. But Russian media reports estimated Russian contracts in Iraq at up to
$1 billion and said some companies were trying to avoid massive losses
resulting from the evacuation.

Yakovenko said the evacuations do not mean that Russia is abandoning its
contracts in Iraq.

“As soon as the situation stabilizes in terms of security, our specialists
will return there,” he said. “In no way are we leaving Iraq.”

Ukraine has 1,650 soldiers under Polish command in southern Iraq. Itar-Tass
said those evacuated Thursday also included citizens of Belarus, Tajikistan
and Armenia, which do not have troops in Iraq.

Armenian leader calls opposition protests temporary

Agence France Presse
April 19, 2004

MOSCOW, April 19 — Armenia’s President Robert Kocharian said a wave
of opposition protests sweeping the country over the past several
weeks was a “misunderstanding” and unlikely to continue for long.

“It is certainly a temporary phenomenon,” he said in an interview
with the Izvestia daily.

Opposition parties in Armenia, a nation of three million people in
the Caucasus mountains, have recently staged a series of protests,
drawing comparisons with last year’s “rose revolution” that ousted
the leadership in neighbouring Georgia.

“Our opposition, under the impression of Georgia’s events, has decided
to stage a similar situation in Armenia,” he said. “But our reality
cannot be compared with Georgia’s.”

The Armenian opposition says that Kocharian rigged a run-off
presidential vote in March 2003 to secure a second term in office
and is demanding that he step down.

But despite the widespread discontent in Armenia over low living
standards, analysts say Kocharian is too strong, and the opposition
too weak, for the Georgian scenario to be repeated in Armenia, the
world’s first state to adopt Christianity.

Kocharian said the opposition would be allowed to proceed with protests
as long as they did not cause major disruptions.

“If the opposition tries to attract attention to itself by blocking
major thoroufares or government buildings, then police will do what
it is obligated to do,” he said.

Last Monday, the police broke up an anti-government demonstration in
the capital Yerevan using water cannon and reportedly injuring dozens
of protestors.

yad/lp

Armenia-politics-demo-Kocharian

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

US mediator intends to take responsible position on Karabakh
By Tigran Liloyan

ITAR-TASS
April 19, 2004

New U.S. co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group for Nagorno-Karabakh
Steven Mann said he intends to take a responsible position on the
solution of the Karabakh problem.

After the talks with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on Monday
Mann said he would meet Ashot Gulyan, the non-recognised foreign
minister of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The U.S. official declined to comment on the details of the
consultations between the Minsk Group mediators and the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers that took place in Prague on Friday.

Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan, who is also National
Security Council secretary, confirmed that Yerevan would convince
all sides to solve the Karabakh problem by peaceful means.

Mann, who used to be the U.S. special representative for energy
policy on the Caspian Sea, will leave for Georgia on Tuesday and then
for Baku.

EBRD to increase investment in seven poorest CIS countries

ITAR-TASS
April 19, 2004

MOSCOW, April 19 — The European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) announces plans to increase investments in Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
to help them fight poverty.

In order to help the seven poorest CIS nations, the EBRD is ready to
take great risk and increase investments and donor financing. “The Bank
is ready to take on the risk as we seek to invest more in countries
at the earlier stages of transition,” EBRD President Jean Lemierre
said at the Board of Governors Annual Meeting in London on April 18-19.

In his words, more tan 50 percent of people in Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan live
in poverty. The economy of these countries is less consistent
with market standards than the economy of other countries. A large
state debt complicates foreign borrowing for economic development and
social needs. Other obstacles to borrowing are underdeveloped markets,
the closed borders, lack of banking and other services, insufficient
infrastructures in these countries.

The EBRD will invest in the private banking sector to enable it to
small and medium-size business in these countries, as well as the
housing and communal sector, energy sector and transport.

“We will finance the kind of projects that we have found work best
in these circumstances: small businesses, microfinance, investment
to facilitate cross-border trade, small-scale infrastructure,”
Lemierre said.

He said the EBRD might invest from 500,000 to two million euros in
these projects.

In addition, Lemierre asked the donor nations to increase their grants
to the EBRD for use in other countries. He said additional grants
would allow the bank to invest up to 150 million euros in each of
these countries annually (currently it invests 90 million euros).

“We cannot do this on our own,” Lemierre continued. “In order to
strengthen the initiative, the Bank has invited donor countries to
contribute to provide technical cooperation, and to help prepare and
co-finance projects. But the EBRD takes the full burden of added risk
on its own books.”

Iran, Armenia ratify gas pipeline construction project

ITAR-TASS
April 19, 2004

YEREVAN, April 19 — Iran and Armenia have ratified a gas pipeline
construction project worth 5 billion U.S. dollars, the Prime-Tass
economic news agency reports.

The pipeline will carry gas from Iran to Armenia via Georgian
territory.

The two parties plan to sign the final agreement during a visit of
Iranian Oil and Gas Minister Bezhan Zagane to Armenia.

Under this project, Iran intends to pump natural gas not only to
Armenia but also to the European market, Iranian Ambassador to Armenia
Parhad Collain said.

The pipeline will run to the Black Sea, Ukraine and farther to
Europe. In addition, Armenia will be able to get energy supplies
from alternative sources.

Armenian minister tells OSCE official Karabakh conflict to be solved
peacefully

Mediamax news agency
19 Apr 04

Yerevan, 19 April: The secretary of the Armenian Security Council and
defence minister, Serzh Sarkisyan, and the newly-appointed US
cochairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Steven Mann, held a meeting in
Yerevan today to discuss the state of and possible solutions to the
Karabakh conflict.

During the meeting Serzh Sarkisyan reiterated Armenia’s intention to
settle the conflict peacefully, Mediamax was told by the press service
of the Armenian Defence Ministry.

Armenian foreign minister says next meeting with Azerbaijan over
disputed enclave will be in May

Associated Press
April 19, 2004

YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said
Monday that he planned to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart in
May to continue discussions on resolving the countries’ dispute over
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Oskanian said that the meeting he held last week in Prague with
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov was useful but did not
break new ground.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan.
Ethnic Armenian forces drove out Azerbaijan’s army from the region in
the 1990s and ethnic Azeris fled. Since a 1994 cease-fire,
Nagorno-Karabakh has been run by an internationally unrecognized
government.

Despite the cease-fire, shooting still breaks out sporadically across
the so-called “line of control,” a demilitarized strip separating
Azeri and Armenian forces.

The unresolved status of Nagorno-Karabakh keeps tensions high between
the countries and apparently discourages foreign investors fearful
of a new outbreak of fighting and instability.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani officials met under the auspices of the
“Minsk Group,” an arm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe devoted to resolving the dispute. The Minsk Group is led
by a troika of diplomats from the United States, France and Russia.

The newly appointed top U.S. official for the group, Stephen Mann,
met on Monday with Armenian officials.

“What I will be doing in this position is representing the
U.S. national interests and it is in the American national interest
to work for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue,” Mann told reporters.

Armenian poetess turns down award and urges leader to resign over rally

Noyan Tapan news agency
19 Apr 04

YEREVAN

Silva Kaputikyan, poetess and academician of the Armenian Academy of
Sciences, has sent back the Order of Mesrop Mashtots awarded to her on
her 80th anniversary. In an open letter sent to the mass media, the
poetess explained why:

“During all these years I wished to give back this order as I followed
every step of Robert Kocharyan who inflicted damage on the nation.
After the tragic night of 12 April [when the opposition rally was
dispersed], there remains no room for doubt,” the poetess wrote.

“Every Armenian living in Armenia, in Artsakh [Karabakh] and Spyurk
[the Diaspora] understands that in order to oppose the enemy who bears
a grudge against us on a daily basis, at this moment it is important
to have stability in the country and a strong state. But, the
stability gained by weapons and violence is an illusion and fraught
with heavy consequences,” the letter said.

The poetess expressed confidence that “there cannot be real stability
in a country where there is a precipice between the state and the
people, between the palaces and shacks with half-starving people and
where mutual abhorrence reigns”.

“If Mr Kocharyan thinks about the future of his state, if he wants the
spirit of unity that worked miracles in 1988 be restored between the
two parts of our nation, he should abandon the political scene,” Silva
Kaputikyan said.

Azeri, Armenian foreign ministers agree to continue Karabakh talks

Trend news agency
19 Apr 04

BAKU

The main result of the Prague meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
foreign ministers [on 16 April] was that the sides agreed to continue
their negotiations, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
told ATV after returning to Baku on 19 April, Trend reports.

During the meeting, US diplomat Rudolph Perina handed over his
responsibilities as co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group to Steven
Mann.

There are no new suggestions yet and after meeting each other we
completed the meeting, the minister said.

Expressing his attitude to the current calls for a military solution
to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov said that as long as
the potential for dialogue had not been exhausted, the military option
was not on the agenda.