TWO ARMENIAN OFFICERS TO TRAVEL TO BAKU
ArmenPress
June 17 2004
YEREVAN, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS: Two senior Armenian army officers will
travel to Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku on June 22 to participate in
a NATO sponsored conference to be held within the frameworks of its
Partnership for Peace program.
Colonel Murad Isakhanian and Aram Hovhanesian from defense ministry’s
department of foreign relations will go to the capital of Georgia,
Tbilisi, to try to get visas from Azerbaijan’s embassy there on
June 21.
Last January, Armenian officers were not allowed to attend a planning
conference for Best Cooperative Effort exercises. Azeri President
Ilham Aliyev has made a commitment to the U.S. not to hinder Armenia’s
participation in the upcoming NATO exercises in Azerbaijan. Also
this week, Azeri officials pledged to provide security to Armenian
participants.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KARABAGH LEADER SAYS AZERI PRESIDENT NOT READY FOR CONFLICT SOLUTION
ArmenPress
June 17 2004
PARIS, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS: President of Nagorno Karabagh Arkady
Ghukasian, who was visiting France last week to attend a series of
ceremonies there on the occasion of 10-th anniversary of establishment
of truce in Nagorno Karabagh, met with the French co-chairman of the
OSCE Minsk Group and French Armenian reporters.
According to Ghukasian, the Minsk Group co-chairmen are expected to
visit Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabagh in June and may bring
new proposals with them. He also said that Azerbaijan does not want
to seat at the negotiation table with Nagorno Karabagh demanding that
prior to it all the occupied lands be returned, after which they will
‘think’ about the status of Nagorno Karabagh. “This is of course an
unacceptable position. French Minsk group co-chairman Mr. Jacolin is
very optimistic and thinks that there are possibilities that must be
used,” Ghukasian said.
In response to the question why Azerbaijan has taken such a tough
stance, Ghukasian said that Ilham Aliyev is absolutely not ready for
discussing Nagorno Karabagh issue, not only in terms of his readiness
for solution but just for discussion. “He is not ready to take any
risk and go for any compromise. It is strange for me to hear from
a president that Azerbaijan will not go for any compromise. This
is not something to be heard from a president. Presidents are to
be more flexible. He understands clearly that it is not possible to
give Karabagh back but still resists to go on talks. In this respect
Heydar Aliyev was more controlling the situation,” Ghukasian noted.
Speaking on a possible involvement of John Paul II in negotiation
processes, as was declared by Vatican ambassador in Azerbaijan and
Georgia, Ghukasian said that all wishes are welcomed but the conflict
is very complicated and professional approaches are needed. In this
case such professionalism can demonstrate the OSCE, Minsk group,
the Council of Europe and other international organizations. And the
most important is that the solution to the problems after all depends
on the conflicting sides.
“We have clear understanding of the limit of compromises. We are
realistic about where we go and what we want,” and because everything
is interrelated the bounds of our compromise will depend on the level
of compromise from Azerbaijan,” he said.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting
June 17 2004
Armenia: Anger at Council of Europe Visit
Opposition disappointed by a monitoring mission they hoped would hold
the authorities to account for April violence.
By Zhanna Alexanian in Yerevan (CRS No. 238, 16-Jun-04)
The Armenian opposition has voiced concern at a Council of Europe
mission to check on the human rights situation, saying it was too
soft on the government.
Polish co-rapporteur Jerzy Jaskiernia from the Monitoring Committee
of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, CoE, visited
Armenia between June 11 and 15 to prepare a preliminary report on how
the country is fulfilling demands made in a tough resolution adopted
on April 28, following the violent break-up of demonstrations earlier
in the month.
Opposition activists had hoped Jaskiernia’s visit would follow up on
the resolution and put the government under new pressure ahead of a
CoE Parliamentary Assembly session which President Robert Kocharian
is to address on June 23. The assembly meeting will also discuss
Jaskiernia’s preliminary report.
In the assembly’s April resolution, it warned Yerevan that if it did
not comply with its obligations to the CoE – including the freeing of
opposition activists detained earlier in April and liberalising the
media – the Armenian delegation might be stripped of its credentials
in October.
Armenia joined the 45-member CoE in 2001, and has since moved to
comply with a number of obligations by appointing a human rights
ombudsman and promising to abolish the death penalty.
The resolution was prompted by the brutal break-up of an opposition
demonstration in Yerevan on April 13, which was followed by the
detention of dozens of members of the opposition.
One of the most prominent, former defence minister Vagarshak
Harutiunian, was released from two months’ detention only on the eve
of Jaskiernia’s visit, but could still face a jail sentence of 10-15
years if he is convicted of inciting a coup.
In its resolution, the parliamentary assembly called on the Armenian
authorities to “immediately investigate – in a transparent and credible
manner – the incidents and human rights abuses reported during the
recent events, including assaults on journalists and human rights
activists, and inform the [CoE] assembly of their findings and of
any legal action taken against persons responsible”.
The opposition said the CoE visit was too kind to the authorities.
“Of 23 official meetings, only two were with the opposition,” said
opposition deputy Shavarsh Kocharian. “It’s obvious that what’s
happening is just the pretence of carrying out the resolution. The
clearest confirmation that it’s pretence is the June 10 court decision
against those people who attacked journalists.”
Two policemen were fined around 180 US dollars for attacking
journalists in April.
“If there is merely another act of subjective monitoring it will
just worsen the socio-economic, moral and political crisis in the
country,” said opposition leader Artashes Gegamian, one of the defeated
candidates in last year’s presidential election.
Government and pro-government officials were more pleased by the way
Jaskiernia’s trip had gone.
“The April report relied on various pieces of information, but
the commission was not [then] in Armenia,” said deputy speaker of
parliament Tigran Torosian, who also heads Armenia’s delegation to
the parliamentary assembly. “In these three or four days, with a
large and focused programme, they were able to gather a lot of facts.”
Jaskiernia spent much of his visit hearing different views on a
resolution issued by Armenia’s constitutional court on April 16
immediately following the demonstrations in Yerevan.
The court ruled that, contrary to opposition complaints, President
Robert Kocharian had won the 2003 presidential elections. However, it
proposed that a national referendum be held to within a year to test
people’s confidence in Kocharian. Court chairman Gagik Harutiunian
said that such a poll would be an “effective way of overcoming the
confrontation in society”.
“We are trying to understand how people perceive this [court]
resolution,” said Jaskiernia said. “From a legal point of view, it is
just a suggestion because the constitutional court does not have the
right to call a referendum. There is a legal aspect to the question,
but we are continuing to look at it from a political point of view.”
The three pro-government parties in parliament – Dashnaktsiutiun,
Orinats Yerkir and the Republican Party – have spoken out against a
referendum, but the opposition is insisting that it should take place.
“The last point of the constitutional court’s resolution states that
the decision is final, is not subject to review and must be implemented
after it is published,” said Shavarsh Kocharian.
On the issue of arrests, Jaskiernia said he had heard very divergent
views as to whether those arrested in April were “political prisoners”
or not. He said he would state his own position on the matter only
when he produced his final report.
Tigran Ter-Yesayan, president of Armenia’s International Association
of Lawyers, told IWPR that he had information that 400 people had been
detained and interrogated this year after attending demonstrations –
adding that the real figure was probably much higher.
Last month a 24-year-old opposition activist, Eduard Arakelian, was
given an 18-month jail sentence for hitting a policeman with a plastic
mineral water bottle during the April rally. Arakelian pleaded guilty
but said that he had struck out only after the policeman had hit him
with a truncheon and broken his front teeth.
Once Jaskiernia delivers his preliminary report to the CoE in June,
he will produce a final one in October when the parliamentary assembly
is due to discuss Armenia again.
Zhanna Alexanian is a reporter for Armenia Now,
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH SPEAKER CALLS ON CANADIAN PARLIAMENT TO RECONSIDER RESOLUTION
ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION
PanArmenian News
June 17 2004
ANKARA, 17.06.04. Turkish parliament Speaker Bulent Arinch addressed
the Canadian parliament a letter of indignation at the recent
resolution by the Canadian House of Commons on the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. As reported by Turkish media,
the letter says that the Canadian top parliamentarians `should have
closely watched the Lower House and impeded the adoption of such a
resolution`. In his interview to Turkish press Arinch noted that
this resolution `will deteriorate the unsettled Armenian-Turkish
relations`. `Stirring up the dissension between the countries situated
in the most sensitive region in the world at present will not be of
benefit to anyone. Canada should take it into account and review her
erroneous decision`, the Turkish Speaker said.

Envoy denies Turkey to open Armenian border
ANS TV, Baku
17 Jun 04
[Presenter] Although the report that Turkey will open its borders
with Armenia was on the web site of the Turkish NTV channel, it
was removed later, the Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan, Ahmet Unal
Cevikoz, said, adding that the Turkish Foreign Ministry has reacted
strongly to the report.
[Ahmet Unal Cevikoz] All these are wrong reports. Following this
report on the NTV web site, the Foreign Ministry told NTV that the
report was wrong and wide of the mark, and should be taken off the
air. In turn, NTV did not broadcast it.
I want to state clearly that at present, Turkey is not thinking of
opening its borders with Armenia and in this connection, there are
no changes in Turkey’s official policy pursued by our president,
prime minister and foreign minister. Our expectations to normalize
relations between Turkey and Armenia are obvious.
First of all, Armenia should demonstrate its desire for
good-neighbourly relations both with Azerbaijan and Turkey, vacate
Azerbaijan’s occupied lands and resolve the Nagornyy Karabakh issue
within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and in
line with international legal norms.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
June 17 2004
AZERBAIJAN-CANADIAN RELATIONS ACQUIRE NEW STAGE
[June 17, 2004, 11:16:16]
On June 16, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Republic Elmar
Mammadyarov has met the ambassador of Canada Michael Lire
re-appointed in Turkey and Azerbaijan.
As was informed to AzerTAj from the press center of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, having thanked for warm reception, ambassador
Michael Lire has handed over minister Elmar Mammadyarov a copy of the
accrediting letter and has emphasized, that he would actively work in
the direction of development of relations between the two countries.
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov congratulated the ambassador with new
appointment has wished him successes in activity. Having noted, that
Azerbaijan attaches great importance to all-around development of
links with Canada, he has emphasized, that our countries possess
ample opportunities in many areas. Having informed the visitor that
in the near future in Toronto the embassy of Azerbaijan will be open,
the Minister has expressed a wish about fast opening in Baku
embassies of Canada. He has noted, that opening of embassies will
give a new pulse to communications between our countries.
Then, the head of foreign policy department has in detail told about
political, public and economic situation in Azerbaijan after gaining
independence, democratic reforms spent in the country, integration of
our republic into the European institutes, the obligations taken by
our country before the international organizations, and their
successful performance, has informed the ambassador on the position
of our republic in connection with the work done in the direction of
settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict.
Having touched the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, minister Elmar
Mammadyarov has informed the ambassador on participation of the
Azerbaijan peacemakers in the antiterrorist coalition.
At the meeting, also were focused a number of other questions
representing mutual interest.

Armenian officer killed in border clash with Azerbaijan
SpaceDaily
June 17 2004
YEREVAN (AFP) Jun 16, 2004 — An Armenian officer was killed in a clash
with Azerbaijani forces along this country’s northeastern frontier,
the ministry of defense said Wednesday. Chief of staff Michael
Arutunian said clashes in the area east of Idzhevan, an important
road and rail center, broke out a week ago when Azerbaijani troops
attempted to take a position on a hilltop that would have enabled
them to control a source of water running into Armenia.
There have been repeated such incidents in various frontier regions
since the signing of the cease-fire in 1994 interrupting the war over
the enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, which remained in Armenian hands. In
Armenian, the territory is referred to as Artsakh.
Arutunian said several troops on the other side were killed. There
was no statement from the Azerbaijani side.
At least three Azerbaijanis were reported killed in similar clashes
along the frontier last year.

BOXING: LIFE SENTENCE
Glasgow Daily Record, UK
June 17 2004
If Scott had lost his court case it would have been the end of his
boxing career, admits Maloney
By Hugh Keevins
SCOTT HARRISON’S manager Frank Maloney last night admitted he feared
the world featherweight champion might have had his career ended by
a legal judgment rather than a lethal blow.
Maloney was campaigning in the election to choose London’s Lord
Mayor last week but he spent 48 hours of simultaneous worry over his
fighter’s appearance at Hamilton Sheriff Court on a charge of assault.
The manager said: ‘Scott didn’t fully appreciate the extent of the
predicament he was in but his father did. Peter knew and I was only
too well aware that a conviction for assault would automatically be
followed by the British Boxing Board of Control withdrawing Scott’s
licence.
‘The career of the Scottish sportsman I consider to be without peer
as a two-time world champion would have been extinguished overnight.
‘Boxer’s hands are considered to be lethal weapons and, while Scott
told me he was innocent of all charges, I was worried his fate lay
in the hands of one man on the bench.’
Sheriff Rae Small acquitted Harrison and after Maloney had downed
champagne in celebration he advised Scott on how to conduct the
remainder of his professional life.
He said: ‘Scott has told me he wants to fight for another four years.
He wants to retain his world title against William Abelyan on Saturday
night and then go after the big pay days that will undoubtedly follow.
‘But he has to remember that being a world champion cuts you off from
the rest of the world, even if you come from the streets like him.
‘It is hard for boxers to have a social life. When I managed Lennox
Lewis the heavyweight champion of the world would be challenged to
fight by 5ft midgets if hewent out in public.
‘I know of two fighters whose careers came to an end after they were
sent to prison for losing control of their fists.
‘My first inclination was to tell Scott and his dad to go for a
postponement when I realised how close the court appearance would
come to the fight with Abelyan.
‘But it is a measure of the man that the champion wanted to go ahead
with the defence of his title.’
Harrison junior thought the worst that could happen to him would be
a fine from the boxing authorities if found guilty by the courts.
The revelation his career was hanging by a thread only served to
intensify his determination to increase his reputation in the ring
while restoring his public image at the expense of the Armenian this
weekend. Harrison said: ‘I now know when you are in a court of law
you are in another man’s world. My life was in somebody else’s hands.
‘I knew I was innocent when I was sitting in the dock but I was being
confronted by lies and that experience has hardened me.
‘The end of the trial has taken a huge weight off my mind but now
I have to answer the people who were trying to bring me down by
delivering the best performance possible in the ring against Abelyan.
‘My preparation hasn’t been affected by the time spent in court. I
trained in the mornings and went to Hamilton before going back to
the gym.Butnow I’m backon track.’
The test of how much has been taken out of Harrison’s mind and body
will be set by a fighter who claims a year out of the ring will not
have blunted his threat to Harrison.
But the champion said: ‘He insists he couldn’t find anybody to fight
him over the last 12 months but I don’t accept that. I think it’s
a definite draw-back for him that he hasn’t absorbed any punishment
over the last year.
‘I’ve given Frank my list of ambitions for the immediate future. I
want to unify the featherweight titles and then move up a weight
division. And I want to fight for a title in one of Glasgow’s football
grounds one day.
‘In short, I want to be the best in the world onan undisputed basis.’

Armenian Proposals For Extra U.S. To Be Ready ‘Next Month’
By Gevorg Stamboltsian 17/06/2004 03:45
Radio Free Press, Czech Republic
June 17 2004
Prime Minister Andranik Markarian said on Wednesday the Armenian
government will finalize by the end of next month its proposals for
the use of additional U.S. government assistance which it will likely
receive under Washington’s Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)
program.
Markarian spoke after chairing the first meeting of an ad hoc
commission of senior government officials which is tasked with
assessing the country’s urgent needs, discussing possible ways of
meeting them with the promised extra U.S. aid and submitting a
relevant plan to the American side.
Under the terms of the MCA, Armenia and 15 other developing nations
selected by the U.S. government last spring must themselves specify
how much money they need and how they would use it. Top executives
from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) which runs the scheme
visited Yerevan late last month for the first discussions on the
subject with Armenian officials.
They made it clear that the aid allocation to Armenia is not a
forgone conclusion and will depend on the quality of the proposals.
According to senior U.S. diplomats, it will also be contingent on the
improvement of Yerevan’s “poor” human rights record.
Speaking to journalists, Markarian said that the government would
like to primarily spend the MCA funds on the reconstruction of the
battered infrastructure of the country’s impoverished rural regions
that have hardly benefited from recent years’ economic growth. He
said that would mean rebuilding schools, countryside roads and
irrigation networks. “All of these programs must be in line with our
[12-year] poverty reduction strategy,” he said.
Asked how much the Armenian side expects to get from the MCC, he
said: “It is too early to talk about sums [of money]. But according
to our preliminary estimates, [the government will ask for] between
$500 million and $600 million in the next five years.”
Finance and Economy Minister Vartan Khachatrian came up last week
with an even more ambitious aid target: $700 million, of which $100
million should be made available as early as this year. But he was
more cautious and vague in his comments on Wednesday. “Even [the MCC]
don’t know what will happen,” he said.
Khachatrian reiterated that the government commission in charge of
the MCA is open to proposals from Armenian non-governmental
organizations. He complained that it has received only two aid
projects so far.
Armenia has already received over $1.5 billion in regular U.S.
assistance since independence. It will get at least $78.4 million
worth of further assistance in the course of this year.

Sigh of relief from Harrison
By STEPHEN HALLIDAY
The Scotsman, UK
June 17 2004
A FEELING of helplessness is not something Scott Harrison is familiar
with in his working life. The WBO featherweight champion has attained
his elevated status in his chosen profession by dint of ferocious
determination and the possession of a firm grip on his own destiny.
It came as the rudest of shocks, then, for Harrison to find his whole
career and the financial security of his family hanging on the outcome
of an event over which he had no control whatsoever.
Happily for the 26-year-old Cambuslang boxer, the not-guilty verdict
delivered by Sheriff Ray Little at Hamilton Sheriff Court last Thursday
erased his worries that his plans to become the undisputed world
featherweight champion would come to an abrupt end outside the ring.
Now cleared of the assault charge which hung over his head for almost
a year, Harrison can retrain full focus on his goal of facing the
best in the nine-stone division and unifying the belts to stake his
claim as Scotland’s finest boxer of the modern era.
But as he completed his preparations yesterday at the Phoenix Gym in
Glasgow for Saturday’s defence of his WBO title against No1 contender
William Abelyan, the Scot revealed for the first time the depths of
his concerns as he sat in court last week.
“Although I always knew I was innocent, what happened was not in
my hands,” said Harrison. “You are in someone else’s world when you
are in court and it’s up to the judge to look at the facts and make
the decision.
“It wasn’t nice. When you see people trying to bring you down and
telling lies about you, it makes you angry. If I had been found
guilty of assault, then I knew it would have affected my career,
so it was a big relief.”
It then transpires that not even Harrison was fully aware of just
how much it would have altered the landscape of his life had the
Sheriff’s judgment gone against him.
Frank Maloney, Harrison’s manager, interrupts his fighter to add:
“The British Boxing Board of Control would have taken Scott’s licence
away if he had been found guilty, it was as simple as that.”
Harrison’s normally implacable features change, his eyebrows raised
and a sobering look of realisation spreading across the eyes which
will bore into the face of Abelyan at the Braehead Arena on Saturday.
“I didn’t realise that,” he mutters. “That makes me feel even more
relieved about the decision.”
Maloney, never a man to avoid over-dramatising any situation in the
quest to hype a fight, has no need for exaggeration on this occasion.
“I’ve seen two of my boxers in the past go to prison for assault,”
adds Maloney. “Their fists are regarded as lethal weapons by the
legal profession. Although the whole team knew Scott was innocent of
the charge, you can never anticipate what will happen in the courtroom.
“It was a really nervous 48 hours last week waiting for the verdict.
Scott’s career was on the line, no doubt about it, everything he has
worked for could have gone. I was running for Mayor of London last
Thursday but I felt like breaking off from the campaigning to open
a bottle of champagne when I heard Scott had been cleared.
“It’s been hard for Scott but he now has to learn to surround himself
with a select group of loyal friends and avoid going out to certain
places. Being a world champion brings a lot of responsibility and I
know it can be hard to avoid hassle when you go out.
“There are always idiots who will want to pick a fight with a world
champion. I’ve seen five-foot midgets trying to have a go at Lennox
Lewis. Scott just has to be more careful now.”
Harrison insists the disruption to his training programme last
week has not been enough to dull his readiness to face Abelyan, the
American-Armenian making plenty of noise about how easy it will be
to take the Scot’s belt.
“I don’t give a damn what he says, I’m ready to do a job on him,”
says Harrison. “I’m in great shape and I’m more determined than ever
to put on a show for the fans who have stuck by me. Abelyan’s awkward
but I’ll take it round by round and knock him out eventually.”
Harrison is about to re-enter the place where he is capable of
exercising total control. He does not intend to leave anything in
the hands of the judges on Saturday.