Azeri, Armenian ministers make no public statement after meeting

Assa-Irada
17 Apr 04

BAKU

The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers held a meeting in
Prague at the initiative of the OSCE Minsk Group today [as published,
actually yesterday].

The foreign ministers first met the co-chairmen [of the OSCE Minsk
Group]. The tete-a-tete meeting between [Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister] Elmar Mammadyarov and [Armenian Foreign Minister] Vardan
Oskanyan was held after that.

But neither the OSCE representatives nor the foreign ministers made
public the details of the meeting. Journalists only learnt after the
meeting that the US co-chairman, Steven Mann, will visit the region on
19 April.

CHESS;
It Wasn’t Petrosian’s Style, But It Certainly Did the Job

By Robert Byrne

The New York Times
April 18, 2004, Sunday, Late Edition – Final

The Tigran Petrosian Memorial Tournament — Petrosian would have been
75 this year — would not have bothered the former world champion at
all. He was never dogmatic, and if he had any motto, it might have
been, “They play their way and I play mine.”

His way was to avoid the slightest risk-taking and win by remarkably
accurate technique. He did not care if some of his comrades thought
him cowardly. Could they ever have dethroned Mikhail Botvinnik? He
did.

The participants in the competition to honor him wisely did not try to
copy his style. They did their thing, and in many games it was very
good.

The winner of the $4,000 first prize in the tourney, held in
Stepanakert, Karabak, Azerbaijan, from March 8 to 18, was Karen
Asrian, an Armenian grandmaster, who outscored nine of his rivals with
crisp tactical play in the round-robin event.

His best performance came in his game against the Russian grandmaster
Mikhail Kobalia in the second round. Asrian started out with
positional maneuvering, but he soon shifted to a mating attack with
some very nice tactical features.

One point of 8 f3 against the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian
Defense is that a quick 8 d5 yields White the slightly better endgame
after 9 ed Nd5 10 Nd5 Bd5 11 c4 Be6 12 Qd8 Kd8.

After 8 Nbd7 9 g4, one can see that White has replaced the older 8 f4
or 9 f4 with 9 g4. White’s strategy is to attack not in the center but
on the king’s wing.

After 17 Bc4 Qc4, Asrian does not mind yielding the bishop pair to
Black; there is no way the queen bishop can be superior to the c3
knight, which controls d5.

After 37 Qb3, it is not clear why Kobalia did not block with 37
Qf7. Then 38 Nd5 Rc4 39 Nf4 Qf4 40 Rd3 gives him an easier fight.

After 37 Kh8? 38 h5! Nh5 39 Bh4 Nf6 40 Nd5 Qf8 41 Rdh2 Nh5 42 Bd8 Qd8,
Kobalia had only a knight and pawn for his rook.

With 43 f4!, Asrian sharply opened roads to the black king. After 43
ef 44 Nf4! Be5 45 Qf7!, he was piling it on.

After 45 Bf4 46 Qf4!, it would have done Kobalia little good to take
the queen because 46 Nf4 47 Rh7 Kg8 48 Rh8 Kf7 49 Rd8 is a lost
endgame for Black.

After 49 Rc7, Asrian opened the black king position further with 50
e5! The pawn could not be taken because 50 de 51 Rh5! gh 52 Rg1 Kh6 53
Qe3 followedby mate or 52 Kh8 53 Qa8 followed by mate in two.

After 51 ed Qd6, 52 Qf7 Kh6 (52 Kh8 53 Rd4 Qe5 54 Rd7 Qg7 55 Qe6 Rf8
56 Rdf7 Rf7 57 Rf7 and it’s all over) 53 Rh5! Kh5 54 Qh7, Kobalia,
seeing that 54 Kg4 55 Rg1 Kf5 56 Qh3 loses a rook, gave up.

GRAPHIC: Table: “SICILIAN DEFENSE” White Black
Asrian Kobalia
1 e4 c5
2 Nf3 d6
3 d4 cd
4 Nd4 Nf6
5 Nc3 a6
6 Be3 e5
7 Nb3 Be6
8 f3 Nbd7
9 g4 Nb6
10 g5 Nh5
11 Qd2 Rc8
12 0-0-0 Be7
13 Kb1 0-0
14 Rg1 g6
15 h4 Qc7
16 Qf2 Nc4
17 Bc4 Qc4
18 Na5 Qc7
19 Bb6 Qd7
20 Qd2 Rfe8
21 Nd5 Bf8
22 Rh1 Bd5
23 Qd5 Rb8
24 Qb3 Rbc8
25 Nc4 Rc6
26 Ne3 Nf4
27 Ng4 Bg7
28 Be3 Rec8
29 Rh2 Qe7
30 Rhd2 Ne6
31 c3 b5
32 Qa3 Rd8
33 Bf2 f6
34 gf Bf6
35 Rh1 Nf4
36 Ne3 Bg7
37 Qb3 Kh8
38 h5 Nh5
39 Bh4 Nf6
40 Nd5 Qf8
41 Rdh2 Nh5
42 Bd8 Qd8
43 f4 ef
44 Nf4 Be5
45 Qf7 Bf4
46 Qf4 Qe7
47 Qf3 Rc4
48 Rh4 Kg7
49 Rf1 Rc7
50 e5 Rc8
51 ed Qd6
52 Qf7 Kh6
53 Rh5 Kh5
54 Qh7 Resigns

Like her first novel, Three

Armenian Diaspora

The Washington Post
April 18, 2004 Sunday

Like her first novel, Three Apples Fell from Heaven, Micheline
Aharonian Marcom’s The Daydreaming Boy (Riverhead, $23.95) revolves
around the Armenian genocide committed by Ottoman Turks from
1915-23. This time Marcom concerns herself with the campaign’s
aftermath, when Armenians have dispersed to, among other places,
idyllic Beirut in the 1960s, before the onset of civil war there.

The narrator is troubled by memories of not just the genocide but the
long-ago suicide of a boy he hardly knew (“You were brave, not, as
they claimed, a coward. Is there a more courageous man than the man
who with his will unmakes his life?”). The novel incorporates takes
such diverse approaches to its material as an old photograph of boys
at an orphanage, lists, an application form, and short chapters in
which the narrator descends into his haunted self.

— Dennis Drabelle

Campaign for Recognition of the
Armenian Genocide (CRAG)

w3.accc.org.uk / w3.24april.org
[email protected]

18 April 2004

Dear Friends & Supporters:

AA

SPECIAL REMINDER ONE

PENCIL IN YOUR DATES: 23, 24 and 25 April 2004 for the 89th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

1) Friday, 23 April 2004, at 7:30 pm:

A 90-minute ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SPECIAL MEMORIAL SERVICE with the
theme WE SHALL NOT DIE takes place at St John’s Anglican Church, Lansdowne
Crescent, Ladbroke Grove, (closest to Notting Hill Gate, Ladbroke Grove or
Holland Park tube stations) in London W11 2NN.

Thematising the Armenian Genocide, the Memorial Service will include a mix
of short addresses by distinguished speakers with short performances by
internationally-acclaimed and British-based Armenian artists who will generously
blend spiritual dance (Shakeh Avanessian), poetry (Garo Toughtarian), violin
(Tatevik Khacahtryan), piano (Anna Saradjian), organ (Arthur Babikian),
song (Nicole Carapiet) and duduk (Ara Petrosyan).

CRAG invites you all to support this unique and outward-looking evening. It is
an open and free public event, and you are encouraged to invite your Armenian
and British friends to attend this special remembrance event and pay homage to
the victims of the first genocide of the 20th century and to the surviving and
prevailing spirit of Armenians worldwide today.

2) Saturday, 24 April 2004:

aa) MARCH from Marble Arch to the Cenotaph at Whitehall. The assembly
point is at 12:30 pm at Marble Arch (nearest tube station, Marble Arch
on the Central line), and the starting time will be at 1:00 pm sharp.

A prayer and commemorative wreath at the Cenotaph, will be followed
by the handing of a letter a letter to PM Tony Blair.

A coach service is available from Acton Town, near Hayashen / Acton
High School. It departs at 11:30 am.

bb) SILENT VIGIL outside the Turkish Embassy, 43 Belgrave Square,
Belgravia, London SW1, from 4:30 pm until 6:30 pm.

Nearest tube station is Hyde Park Corner.

cc) Requiem Service / HOKEHANKISD presided by HG Bishop Nathan
Hovhannisian, at St Sarkis Church at 7:00 pm.

3) Sunday, 25 April 2004, at 1:30 pm:

CRAG is also privileged to sponsor a lecture by the Armenian
American lawyer Vartkes Yeghiayan, and chaired by member
of BALA, the British Armenian Lawyers’ Association in the UK.

The timely topic will be the $20 million Armenian Genocide Insurance
Settlement. Mr Yeghiayan will elaborate on the proposed settlement
of class action lawsuit pending in the California Federal Court.

The venue is the Gulbenkian Hall, next to St Sarkis Church,
Iverna gardens, London W8. (Closest tube station, Kensington
High Street on the Circle and District lines).

CRAG invites all Armenian individuals and organisations to ATTEND
those commemorative and marking events.

BB

NEW YORK TIMES REVERSES POLICY ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

In a move aimed at reaffirming its past record on the first genocide
of the 20th Century, the New York Times has lifted its long-standing
policy against the use of the term “Armenian Genocide,” reported the
Armenian National Committee (ANC) of New York.

According to a news release by the International Association of Genocide
Scholars, The New York Times revised guideline for journalists states that
“after careful study of scholarly definitions of ‘genocide’, we have decided
to accept the term in references to the Turks’ mass destruction of
Armenians in and around 1915.” The policy goes on to note that “the
expression ‘Armenian genocide’ may be used freely and should not be
qualified with phrasing like ‘what Armenians call,’ etc.

For full details, log on

CC.

The Armenian Genocide and Historical Memory

A newly-published book in English, by Ethnographer Dr Vergine Svazlian,
consists of 650 survivors’ stories and eye-witnesses accounts of the
Armenian Genocide, methodically carried out by the government
of Turkey between 1915-1922.

This book is a heavy contribution to the history of the Armenian
Genocide. Published in 500 copies it will be distributed to foreign
embassies in Armenia, international organizations, researching in
Armenian history. Its Turkish-language edition will appear soon.

For full details, log on

DD.

Historic Maps of Armenia: The Cartographic Heritage

A new book by Rouben Galitchian, private scholar and collector, brings
together an extraordinary collection of maps from the earliest times into the
modern era. It reproduces the most important representations of Armenia,
and consists a work of reference and artistic distinction which will prove an
essential tool to all who follow the history of Armenia, the Caucasus, the
Ottoman and Iranian worlds, collectors and enthusiasts of cartography.

Publishers are I. B. Tauris, and you can access them for full information and
order forms at

For full details also, log on

EE.

Genocide and Minorities, Preventing the Preventable

CRAG refers to the advocacy briefing, Genocide and Minorities, Preventing
the Preventable, by John Packer and Erik Friberg, that was launched by the
UK-based Minority Rights Group International on 15 April 2004 at the United
Nations Office, Palais des Nations, Geneva.

To access directly, ,where you can
also read the full briefing (in pdf format). Again, for this document as well
as other events and documents, log on

o0o

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***
The CRAG data-base network is constantly updated and edited.
If you received this message in error, or would like to be removed
from the list, send an e-mail with “Please Remove” in the subject
heading to [email protected] Kindly accept our apologies for any
inconvenience whatsoever this may have caused as we try to
deal with your request.

***
Kindly forward this message only to friends and family whom you
know would be interested in the issue. If you have received this
e-mail from a friend and would like to be included on our CRAG
network, send an e-mail with “Please Include” in the subject
heading to [email protected] – with your name and address.

***
Most of the news items, messages or documents that CRAG
shares with you on its data-base can also usually be found
on the CRAG link at w3.accc.org.uk (with regular updates) or
w3.24april.org for background events. CRAG remains thankful
to the ACCC Webmaster for keeping the CRAG page up-to
-date, and welcomes all constructive and helpful comments.

***
Given the numerous requests CRAG receives these days
for adding addressees to its data-base, we appreciate
your letting us know who you are as well since some of the
electronic addresses are totally incongruous. Thanks!

***
Sending unsolicited e-mail is considered “spam” and is therefore
deemed illegal according to both national and EU directives.

AZERI DAILY URGES CLOSER TIES WITH ISRAEL

Zerkalo, Baku
17 Apr 04

Azerbaijani daily Zerkalo has praised several deputies for their calls
for closer cooperation with Israel at a recent parliament
session. Zerkalo said the government should not be afraid of
establishing closer ties with Israel for fear of Iran’s “wrath”
because the benefits would be much higher. The following is an excerpt
from Emin Mahmudov report by Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on 17 April
headlined “I love you, even if you do not love me”; subheadings have
been inserted editorially:

It is good when our MPs remember political issues of state importance
not only when the presidential administration or the ruling party
gives a hint or “concessions” have to be made for the Council of
Europe or the shapeless mass, usually described as the Azerbaijani
opposition, has to be “lynched”. It appears that people in our
parliament can sometimes “raise their nose” above the papers which
come “from above” and which have to be endorsed even without
deliberation.

Several quite balanced statements were made in parliament yesterday
(16 April). The Milli Maclis (parliament) decided to open Azerbaijani
embassies in Canada, Hungary, Greece, Latvia, India, Belarus, Bulgaria
and Indonesia and a permanent representative office at the UNESCO in
Paris.

During the debates, MPs from the People’s Front Party Asim Mollazada
and Alimammad Nuriyev, the head of the Compatriot Party, Mais Safarli,
and the head of the United People’s Front Party, Qudrat Hasanquliyev,
said that it was necessary to open an Azerbaijani embassy in
Israel. They explained their proposal by the fact that Azerbaijan is
in the “same coalition” as this country in the antiterrorist fight. In
addition, Israel supports Azerbaijan’s positions on the international
arena. It was also noted that Israel was one of the first countries to
recognize Azerbaijan’s independence.

The opinion that the opening of the embassy could cause Iran’s
negative reaction was dismissed as “groundless”. The MPs recalled that
Iran was strengthening diplomatic relations with Armenia by the day.

(Passage omitted: former President Heydar Aliyev never paid visit to
Israel)

Islamic factor

But it is clear that the authorities, to put it mildly, are afraid of
the “Islamic wrath”. To put it even simpler, of the Iranian
government. Tehran has always been sensitive on the issue of
Azerbaijani-Israeli relations. It is no secret that Tehran does not
like the people of lands of promise. Anti-Semitism is the cornerstone
of the Iranian policy. What does Azerbaijan have to do with this?

While speaking loud about eternal friendship between the peoples of
Iran and Azerbaijan, the mullahs are still pursuing an openly
anti-Azerbaijan policy. The country, where 60 per cent of the
population are ethnic Azerbaijanis, has always been putting a spoke in
its northern neighbour’s wheel. It is no secret that Armenia would
have long “kicked the bucket” if not for Iran’s considerable
assistance and support. The Tehran government’s attitude to its own
citizens, ethnic Azerbaijanis, is also well-known. Reports are coming
in almost every day about Azerbaijanis in Iran being subjected to
total pressure. Moreover, everyone might still remember that Tehran
twice “attempted to facilitate the settlement” of the Karabakh
conflict as a mediator. During the first attempt the Xocali massacre
was committed, during the second we lost Susa.

Iran’s pressure

We are well aware of the kind of pressure Tehran puts on Azerbaijan
during the signing of oil contracts. There was a wide “range” of them
– from not recognizing contracts to not recognizing Azerbaijan’s right
to the fields and to the sector of Caspian which Tehran had made no
attempts to claim in Soviet times. This almost grew into an armed
conflict, when an Iranian boat almost grappled with an Azerbaijani
research vessel. Not to mention Iranian Air Force planes boldly flying
over Azerbaijani territory after that.

Things got more complicated as it went on. The construction of a major
gas pipeline from Iran to Armenia, the allocation of significant
Iranian grants for Yerevan and so on are on the agenda. The list is
infinite.

We wonder how sincere Islamists are when they speak about Muslim
solidarity and friendship against the background of supporting the
occupying regime of a country which invaded the territory of their
alleged ally.

Naturally, Azerbaijan does not have friendship with someone for
“nothing”. Iran is our access to Naxcivan and a route for exporting
and importing of some goods today. We also receive humanitarian aid on
a regular basis. That is it. Of course taking into account the fact
that Naxcivan is under blockade, this is quite a lot. But Baku has
always offered its “thanks”. Not verbal, but concrete “financial
thanks”.

What is Israel for Azerbaijan?

Naturally, as a small country Azerbaijan has to take into account
Iran’s opinion, as well as the opinion of Russia, the USA, Britain and
so on. A paradoxical situation arises. For some reason, the
Azerbaijani government can afford to ignore the opinion of its western
“beacons”, not to mention Russia. But the authorities “surrender” to
Iran whenever it comes to deepening cooperation with Israel. We can
add here that no-one blames Tehran (at least at the government level)
for rendering its comprehensive support of Yerevan. An independent
country has the right to determine its policies independently, but
Azerbaijan is not independent enough to boost ties with Tel Aviv (or
if you wish, Jerusalem which Israel believes is its capital).

If we compare the benefit that Azerbaijan gets from “surrendering” to
Iran with the benefit it gets from cooperating with Israel, we will be
“overwhelmed” by the difference. The author says the basis for that
was not what he heard, but what he saw in Israel.

What is Israel for Azerbaijan? First, it is the “headquarters” of the
most powerful lobby in the USA, which, incidentally, has always
supported Azerbaijan and promoted the abolishment of Section 907 (of
the Freedom Support Act banning direct US assistance to the Baku
government) by the Congress.

In addition, Israel is a country of high technologies, developed
medicine, electronics, advanced agriculture technologies, defence, so
on and so forth. This country is genuinely strives for friendship and
cooperation and is ready for that, which has more than once been
declared by its envoys in Baku. We think we should pay attention to
these benefits.

UN COMMISSION URGES “FULL RESPECT” FOR RIGHTS IN TURKMENISTAN

Watan.ru web site, Moscow
18 Apr 04

The UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) urged the Turkmen government
“to ensure full respect for human rights and basic freedoms,
especially the right to express opinion,” a resolution adopted at the
UNCHR’s 60th annual session in Geneva on Thursday evening (15 April)
says.

The resolution, which was submitted by Western countries, has the
nature of an ultimatum. There was disagreement among members of the
commission during the vote (on the resolution). A total of 25
countries out of 53 voted for the adoption of the resolution, that is
less than half of the commission member states; 11 countries,
including Ukraine, voted against the resolution; 17 countries,
including Russia and Armenia, abstained.

The resolution expresses great alarm over “the restrictions on the
right to the freedom of information”, “the Turkmen government’s
discriminatory behaviour towards ethnic Russians, Uzbeks and other
minorities in the areas of education and employment”, “the retention
of a government policy which is based on the repression of political
activities”. The commission called on the Turkmen government “to
release all political prisoners without delay and any conditions”. It
also decided to continue consideration of the issue of human rights in
Turkmenistan at the 61st session.

GERMAN ENVOY URGES COOPERATION BETWEEN ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN

Noyan Tapan news agency
15 Apr 04

YEREVAN

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer is to visit Armenia on 22
April within the framework of his regional visit.

In the run-up to the visit, the German ambassador extraordinary and
plenipotentiary to Armenia, Hans-Wolf Bartels, has agreed to give an
interview to Noyan Tapan news agency correspondent Susanna Petrosyan.

(Passage omitted: European officials visited Armenia recently)

(Correspondent) How do you assess the domestic political situation and
the human rights situation in Armenia?

(Bartels) As for the current developments, I hope that the opposition
and government will be able to return to a peaceful dialogue, for
state and political issues should be debated peacefully. Important
issues such as freedom of speech and movement can be included into the
agenda.

(Passage omitted: Armenian parliament adopted laws in this regard)

(Correspondent) Germany comes second after the USA in terms of
investment in Armenia. What can you say about the current level of
Armenian-German economic relations and what prospects can you see in
the development of bilateral economic relations?

(Bartels) Yes, German is the second biggest investor in Armenia after
the USA. It must also be noted that the overall assistance provided by
EU member countries makes over half of the funds received by
Armenia. Germany is carrying out effective projects here such as the
Armenian-German Fund which issues loans to small and medium-sized
businesses through local banks. A total of 16m euros have been
allocated within the framework of the project, and this figure is
increasing.

Unfortunately, German investment is not so big. A representative
office of the German Lycos information technologies company has been
operating in Armenia for one year already. The office employs 60-70
people and is planning to expand. I think it will be a good example
for other German investors.

(Correspondent) What hinders the inflow of German investment into
Armenia – laws or small market?

(Bartels) Both. Apart from this, it is difficult to export goods from
Armenia since transport costs through Georgia are high, and the route
through Iran is long. There are always problems with customs and
taxes, these are practical problems, and therefore, conditions for
investment are not quite favourable. Interestingly, the Armenian
diaspora is not investing much in Armenia either. Reasons are the
same, I understand.

(Correspondent) How important is the South Caucasus region from the
point of view of European security? The countries of the region are
members of the Council of Europe and it cannot be ruled out that the
three countries will be included into the Wider Europe – New
Neighbourhood initiative.

(Bartels) I think the region is of great importance to European
security. If something dangerous happens here, this will have a direct
impact on European security, and therefore much attention is being
paid to the South Caucasus. The appointment of a special
representative of the EU corroborates this policy. I do not doubt that
the region will be included into the Wider Europe – New Neighbourhood
initiative.

The settlement of the Karabakh conflict is of great importance to
Armenia, and not only from the point of view of regional
security. Closed borders and the frozen, but still existing, conflict
hinders the country’s development. We hope very much that this problem
will be resolved in the near future.

I do not see good prospects for the region without regional
cooperation, which Armenia and Azerbaijan do not have. The Karabakh
conflict is not the only one here, there are very complicated
conflicts in Georgia.

It must be noted that we also had bitter conflicts back in Europe and
believed that the French and the German were permanent enemies. But
thank God, we managed to settle these conflicts and establish good
neighbourly relations. In the future, I hope, this will be possible
for Armenia and Azerbaijan as well.

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

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

Monday 19 April 2004
ARMENIA: COUNCIL OF EUROPE FAILS TO PUNISH COMMITMENT VIOLATIONS OVER
IMPRISONED CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS

With 24 Jehovah’s Witnesses in prison for refusing military service on
grounds of conscience, another fined and a further three awaiting trial,
Council of Europe officials have been unable to explain to Forum 18 News
Service what punishment Armenia faces – if any – for violating its
commitments to the organisation. The commitments required Armenia to have
freed all imprisoned conscientious objectors and introduced alternative
service by January 2004, but it failed on both counts. One outsider
involved in the issue at the Council of Europe, who preferred not to be
identified, told Forum 18 that the Armenian government had deployed
“an especially successful lobbying campaign” to have the issue
buried. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, one of Armenia’s largest religious
minorities, appear no nearer to receiving state registration.

ARMENIA: COUNCIL OF EUROPE FAILS TO PUNISH COMMITMENT VIOLATIONS OVER
IMPRISONED CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service

Despite open defiance of its Council of Europe commitments by continuing to
arrest and imprison conscientious objectors to military service, Armenia
seems set to escape punishment from the international organisation. No
Council of Europe official reached by Forum 18 News Service was prepared or
able to say what punishment – if any – the country would face
for violating its pledge to the Council of Europe to free all imprisoned
conscientious objectors and have an alternative service system functioning
by January 2004, three years after it joined the organisation (see F18News
4 February 2004 ).
Armenia failed on both counts. March saw four Jehovah’s Witnesses sentenced
to prison terms of between one and two years for refusing military service,
bringing to 24 the number of imprisoned Jehovah’s Witnesses, the highest
number of imprisoned conscientious objectors of all the former Soviet
republics. Another was given a large fine.

Jerzy Jaskiernia, a Polish parliamentarian and one of the two Council of
Europe Parliamentary Assembly rapporteurs for Armenia, told Forum 18 on 15
April that the Council of Europe is “pursuing the issue and asking the
government to change the law”. But he declined to specify any
penalties the Armenian government might face over its violation of its
commitments and referred all further enquiries to Council of Europe
officials in Strasbourg. Forum 18’s enquiry to David Cupina of the
organisation’s Monitoring Committee went unanswered as of 18 April.

Another Council of Europe official who has been involved in tackling
Armenia’s violations of its commitments told Forum 18 on condition of
anonymity that its continuing imprisonment of conscientious objectors
“clearly violates” its commitments and rejected outright Armenian
government assertions that the failure to meet the deadline to free all
imprisoned conscientious objectors and introduce the alternative service
system had been agreed with the Council of Europe. But asked what
punishment Armenia would receive, the official laughed and declined to
comment.

But the official vehemently denied suggestions that the people of Europe
would lose confidence in the organisation that is supposed to promote human
rights when specific commitments individual countries undertake are flouted
with impunity. The official pointed out that Armenia abolished the death
penalty – another commitment it undertook on joining the organisation
– only after repeated pressure from the Council of Europe.

Others are more cynical. One outsider involved in the conscientious
objection issue with the Council of Europe, who preferred not to be
identified, told Forum 18 that the Armenian government had deployed
“an especially successful lobbying campaign” to have the issue
buried. But the Council of Europe official dismissed this as an explanation
for how the country had escaped censure. “That’s absolutely not true.
All ten member states under monitoring of their commitments lobby.”

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) agrees with
the Council of Europe that the practice of imprisoning conscientious
objectors should have ended long ago. “The practice of sentencing
conscientious objectors is contrary to the letter of the OSCE commitments
as well as commitments undertaken by Armenia to the Council of
Europe,” Maria Silvanyan, senior human rights legal assistant at the
OSCE Office in Yerevan, told Forum 18 on 15 April.

Silvanyan said the OSCE office “fully shares” the view expressed
in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly back in January that all
imprisoned conscientious objectors should be freed immediately by
presidential pardon pending the entry into force of the law on alternative
military service on 1 July “once necessary legal acts regulating
alternative civilian service are adopted”. Silvanyan added that OSCE
officials held several meetings last year with representatives of the
prosecutor’s office to urge it to end the practice of sentencing Jehovah’s
Witnesses for conscientious objection to military service.

All 24 imprisoned Jehovah’s Witnesses are serving sentences of between one
and two years’ imprisonment under Article 327 part 1 of the criminal code.
Ten of them have been sentenced since Armenia’s deadline for ending the
practice expired. A further Jehovah’s Witness, Stepan Yepremyan, was
sentenced on 29 March to a fine of 300,000 drams (3,598 Norwegian kroner,
435 Euros or 522 US dollars) under the same criminal code article.
“This is the first trial that has ended without a prison
sentence,” Hratch Keshishian, the leader of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in
Armenia, told Forum 18 from Yerevan on 8 April. Three other Jehovah’s
Witnesses are awaiting trial, two of them in pre-trial detention and one at
home, although he has had to sign a pledge to say he will not leave his
home.

Despite Armenia’s clear violation of its commitments, Aram Argaryan, head
of the Council of Europe division of the Armenian Foreign Ministry,
categorically denied that his government had failed to meet its
obligations. “We undertook these obligations,” he told Forum 18
on 7 April. “We have not failed to meet them.” Asked why, if
Armenia had met its commitments, 24 Jehovah’s Witnesses remained in prison,
with three more awaiting trial, he responded: “I can’t confirm that. I
don’t have that information.”

Maintaining that legal reform was a “long process”, Argaryan
claimed that the Armenian government had confirmed its timetable of
introducing alternative service with the Council of Europe, an assertion
specifically denied to Forum 18 by Council of Europe officials. He
maintained that Armenia had until the end of 2004 to introduce alternative
service, another claim specifically rejected by Council of Europe
officials. “We take our commitments seriously,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, one of Armenia’s largest religious
minorities, have still not achieved state registration after a decade of
trying. Keshishian told Forum 18 that they had most recently handed in a
registration application to the government on 16 March. On 30 March the
government handed back an “expert opinion” about whether the
group should be registered, which the Jehovah’s Witnesses are still
studying. “The expert opinion gave the government no recommendation as
to whether to register us or not,” Keshishian explained. “It said
we could apply to be entered in the register, but that what we preach is
against the law and that therefore we don’t meet the provisions of the
law.”

Keshishian complained of what he claimed were “active measures”
against the Jehovah’s Witnesses, including hostile media coverage and
leaflets, and an anti-Jehovah’s Witness demonstration in Yerevan on 18
April. “We are not optimistic about getting registration – the
mood doesn’t look promising.”

A printer-friendly map of Armenia is available at
;Rootmap=armeni
(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

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian opposition keeps pressing for president’s resignation

17.04.2004, 03.40

YEREVAN, April 17 (Itar-Tass) – The Armenian opposition keeps pressing
for the resignation of President Robert Kocharian.

`The public’s demand may well be implemented by peaceful, political
means,’ the opposition bloc Justice and the National Unity party said
in a joint statement late Friday evening.

The opposition argues that the current authorities are the main
obstacle to democratization in the country.

`The solution of problems facing Armenia and its people has no
alternative and it can be achieved through the restoration of
constitutional order and formation of a legitimate government,’ the
statement runs.

The opposition is certain that `provocation and violence will fail to
stop the tide of the public movement for democracy.’ It hails
assistancefrom the international public and international
organizations to Armenia in complying with its commitments.

The opposition does not rule out `the possibility of an open, public
dialogue without reservations as a means to defuse tensions.

On the list of conditions for the beginning of a dialogue it mentions
an end to political persecution and violence, court action against
those responsible for election rigging and framed-up court sentences
and the release of all those arrested for political reasons.

`A referendum on confidence in the authorities may become a belatedbut
effective means to achieve civil accord,’ the Opposition said in the
statement.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ISSUES OF COOPERATION DISCUSSED BETWEEN DEFENSE MINISTRIES OF
AZERBAIJAN AND ROMANIA

Azer Tag
April 17, 2004, 13:07:57

On April 16, Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, colonel-general Safar
Abiyev has met the ambassador of Romania in Azerbaijan Nikolay Ureke.

As was informed to AzerTAj from the press-service of the Ministry of
Defense, the Minister has congratulated N. Ureke on new appointment
and has wished, that the Azerbaijani-Romanian relations during his
activity as the ambassador had risen on a new level.

Colonel-general S. Abiyev has noted, that the national leader of
Azerbaijan President Heydar Aliyev and the President of Romania Ion
Iliescu has laid the foundation of the Azerbaijani-Romanian relations,
and now these relations are at a desirable level. Also at a good level
is the Azerbaijani Romanian military cooperation. After visits of the
Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan to Romania and Minister of Defense
of Romania to Azerbaijan this cooperation has even more become
stronger.

Having thanked colonel-general S. Abiyev for warm reception and
congratulations, ambassador N. Ureke has agreed with the idea that
political relations of two states are at a good level. However, the
Ambassador has noted, that our economic links do not correspond the
level of political relations. He told:`The Romanian state already is a
member of the NATO. This membership means the new status for the
Romanian society. Henceforth, Romania more will provide confidently
the national safety. The next desire of people of Romania is
membership of the country in the European Union’.

Having informed then about the stages gone by Romania up to admission
to the NATO, he has told, that to one of primary factors of it was
radical reformsin the Army of Romania.

Ambassador N. Ureke informed Minister of Defense on participation of
divisions of the Armed Forces of Romania in combat against the
international terrorism.

Colonel-general S. Abiyev has congratulated Romanian people and the
state on the occasion of admission of Romania to NATO. He had
comprehensive exchangeof opinions on the existing military-political
situation in region of the Southern Caucasus, the reasons and
sequences of the Armenian -Azerbaijani conflict. The Minister has
noted that having placed on occupied territories of Azerbaijan a
significant amount of military techniques {technical equipment},
weapon and ammunition, Armenia thus breaks the contract `On
conventional armed forces in Europe’. It is serious threat of national
security of Azerbaijanthat creates great danger to realization of
large economic projects. He told:`Azerbaijan opposes terror and
separatism. Azerbaijan participates in antiterrorist
operations. Divisions of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan adequately
carry out and will carry out henceforth the peace-making mission to
Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq ‘.

Then, the parties have discussed questions of cooperation between the
Ministries of Defense of Azerbaijan and Romania.