Azeris remain hopeful of US Congress
Azer News, Azerbaijan
June 10 2004
The Azerbaijani community is skeptical about the unbiased standpoint
of the US Congress and the observation of the principle of justice
in its decisions. The reason is the great influence of lobbing at
the Congress. Everyone can guess what the notion of “lobbing” means.
People understand well that lobbing doesn’t mean only the issuing of
statements and bulletins and the release of audio and video materials
in order to express an opinion. Of course, while reading this article,
every Azerbaijani reader first remembers Armenian lobbing at the US
Congress that by various means managed to get some Congressmen on
their side.
In fact, just and honest people, who take an unbiased position rather
than protecting their own personal interests, are also represented
at the Congress. The recent steps to balance the “lobby” at the
US Congress have raised hopes in the Azerbaijani community. It was
initiated to establish the US-Azerbaijani friendship group at the
Congress during the visit of a US delegation headed by the Congress’s
Armed Services Committee chairman Curt Weldon to Baku. The US
delegation held a series of meetings with Azerbaijani state officials
and was received by President Ilham Aliyev. The US Congressmen’s
meeting with Defense Minister, Colonel General Safar Abiyev drew the
public’s great attention. Recalling that President Aliyev presented
the NATO-Azerbaijan cooperation plan to the NATO Secretary General
in Brussels last week, Abiyev said the President had reaffirmed
Azerbaijan’s commitment to cooperate with the US to fight international
terrorism. Touching upon the Upper Garabagh conflict, General Abiyev
emphasized that Armenia had ignored the UN Security Council’s four
resolutions on an unconditional withdrawal of Armenian military
forces from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan and the international
community had not recognized Armenia as an aggressor.Weldon said he
had come to Baku to hold talks on expanding the military cooperation
between the US and Azerbaijan. He said that during a recent visit to
Moscow, he reminded Russian officials of Azerbaijan’s tremendous role
in security issues. “The US will continue relations with Azerbaijan
as its strategic ally”, he said. With regard to the Upper Garabagh
conflict, Weldon said he supports the stepping up of the efforts
of his country in this respect. Several members of the US Congress
attending the meeting expressed their appreciation to the Azerbaijani
side for supporting the US in combating international terrorism and
confidence that an extensive cooperation with the US is in store for
Azerbaijan. The public also appreciated the reports on the discussions
on the Garabagh conflict to be held by the American-Turkish Assembly
Association (ATAA) jointly with the US-Turkish group represented
at the US Congress this fall. A delegation led by ATAA President
Ercumend Gilinc, who arrived in Baku on June 6, are holding serious
meetings. The visitors met with Nazim Ibrahimov, the chairman of the
State Committee on Azerbaijanis Living Abroad, on Monday to discuss
issues related to mutual cooperation. The visitors will also meet
with high-ranking government officials and give a news conference on
the results of the visit on Wednesday. Established in the late 1970s,
the ATAA is the biggest Turkish Diaspora active in the United States
and the world. The aim of the Association, which has 57 branches
in the United States and Canada, is to expand US-Turkish relations
and provide the American community with authentic information about
Turkey. The Azerbaijani public still hopes that the US Congress will
take a fair and principled position towards Baku and Yerevan. A saying
in the East reads that when hope is lost it is difficult to recover it.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
June 10 2004
AZERBAIJAN ENHANCE RELATIONS WITH VATICAN
[June 10, 2004, 11:52:30]
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Republic Elmar Mammadyarov
met with apostolic nuncio of Vatican to Georgia and Azerbaijan Claudio
Gugerotti on June 9.
During the meeting, Minister stressed that Azerbaijan stands for
strengthening relations and business ties with Vatican.
Claudio Gugerotti highly rated the friendly relations between the
countries and noted that Vatican attaches great significance to
cooperation with Azerbaijan in all spheres. He reported that the aim
of his visit to Azerbaijan is the familiarization with the construction
of Catholic Church in Baku.
Then, E. Mammadyarov updated the guest on the Azerbaijan-Armenia,
Nagorny Karabakh problem and activity of international organizations
in this direction.

Radical group protest peace envoys’ visits to Azerbaijan
Azer News, Azerbaijan
June 10 2004
The Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) has issued a statement
protesting against the visit of Goran Lennmarker, the special envoy
of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly chairman, to Upper Garabagh without
prior permission from Baku.
The statement accuses Lennmarker’s step of being consistent with the
pro-Armenian standpoint of the organization that he represents. It
also stresses that the self-proclaimed regime in Upper Garabagh is
braced to hold “elections” and adopt a “constitution” because of the
inefficient policy of the Azerbaijani government.
“The GLO considers that there is no need for the international
organizations, which have for 16 years remained indifferent to
the violation of the Azerbaijani people’s rights, shown disrespect
to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and taken a
pro-Armenian standpoint, to function in Azerbaijan,” the statement
underlines. The GLO also states that it has announced Lennmarker,
Terry Davis and other “peace envoys” persona non grata for Azerbaijan
and will attempt to prevent their visits to the country.

Armenia to increase its military budget in 2005
Interfax
June 10 2004
Yerevan. (Interfax-AVN) – Armenia’s military budget will be increased
in 2005, Defense Minister Serzhik Sarkisyan told Interfax on Wednesday.
“Not naming any specific figures, I can say for sure that Armenia’s
military budget will be increased,” he said.
Speaking about the NATO conference on military training scheduled to
take place in Baku next week, Sarkisyan said Armenian servicemen will
attend the gathering.
There are currently no obstacles to Armenia’s participation in the
conference, Sarkisyan said. “Armenia will only accept full-fledged
participation in NATO training in Azerbaijan, not participation with
observer status,” he said.
Speaking about this week’s exchange of fire on the Armenian-
Azerbaijani border, Sarkisyan said that “such cases sometimes occur.
Azerbaijan often tries to push its positions forward, and Armenia
curbs such attempts.”

President wraps up visit to central regions
Azer News, Azerbaijan
June 10 2004
On Tuesday, President Ilham Aliyev toured Mingachevir and Yevlakh,
central Azerbaijan where he examined the implementation of the State
Program on Socio-economic Development of the Regions. In Yevlakh,
he attended the opening of a new avenue named after national leader
Heydar Aliyev on Tuesday.
Speaking before the region’s residents at the Heydar Aliyev Square
after the inaugural ceremony, the President instructed the Yevlakh
authorities to pay attention to the problems of the region’s residents,
entrepreneurs and farmers. Touching upon the conflict over Upper
Garabagh, Aliyev said Azerbaijan aspires to a peaceful settlement
and that the problem will be resolved even if Armenia stands opposed.
He said the key principle of Azerbaijan’s domestic policy is to
develop the regions and eliminate unemployment. President Aliyev also
visited the tractor repair plant and toured the construction sites of
the Yevlakh stadium and a pump station on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
Main Export Pipeline. After visiting Yevlakh, President Aliyev
went to Mingachevir. In his statement at the inaugural ceremony of
a newly-built settlement for 412 internally displaced persons, he
said that in time all refugees will be provided with shelter. The
President then toured the State Regional Power Station, which
supplies 60% of Azerbaijan’s electricity, and the Kur riverside Rowing
Sports Center. He said that after the IDPs currently living on the
Sports Center are relocated, it will be renovated to international
standards. In a meeting at the Mingachevir Executive Authority,
President Aliyev expressed his satisfaction with the city’s overall
development and the private sector.

MONITORING TO BE HELD IN TROOPS CONTACT LINE
[June 10, 2004, 14:45:10]
Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
June 10 2004
According to the press service of the Ministry of Defense, under
the mandate of personal representative of the OSCE acting Chairman,
a monitoring of the armed forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan and
the Republic of Armenian in the contact line – Garakhanbeyli village
of Fizuli province of Azerbaijan – is scheduled for 10th of June.
On the Azerbaijan side, the monitoring will be held by personal
representative of the OSCE acting Chairman Andzei Kaspshik, and his
field assistants Jorgen Schmidt and Imre Palatinus.
On the opposite side the job will be done by field assistants of the
OSCE acting Chairman Kenneth Pickles and Miroslav Wimetal.

Armenian NPP to start mothballing program
Interfax
June 10 2004
Yerevan. (Interfax) – The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant will have
a program ready to mothball the station by the end of 2004, the
country’s Trade and Economic Development Minister Karen Jshmartain
said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The topic was discussed during the fifth meeting of the EU-Armenia
Cooperation Committee in Brussels on June 4, he said.
The meeting decided to set up a working group of power engineers on
closing the nuclear power plant. The working group should review all
the financial and technical aspects of mothballing the station and
present their own program, Jshmartain said.
The European Union has not set any concrete timeframe for closing the
NPP without replacing its capacity with other sources. A project to
build an Iran-Armenia gas pipeline was discussed as an alternative
to the NPP, but the volume of gas would not be enough to replace the
energy capacity of the NPP, Jshmartain said.
The committee also discussed a project put forth by Armenia to build
a new NPP in Armenia to replace the old one.
The EU confirmed that it is ready to extend Armenia 100 million
euros to close the NPP and replace its capacity, although Armenian
specialists think that at least $1 billion is needed for this.
The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, which has two reactors with a total
capacity of 815 megawatts, was closed in 1988 due to political and
economic reasons. The NPP’s second reactor was restarted at a capacity
of 407.5 megawatts in 1995.
ZAO Inter RAO EES, a subsidiary of Russia’s Unified Energy System,
and Armenia signed a contract in September 2003 to hand over trust
management of the NPP to Inter RAO EES.
The Armenian NPP generated 1.9 billion kilowatt hours of electricity
in 2003, or 36% of the total generation of electricity in Armenia.
The first meeting of the EU-Armenia Cooperation Committee took place in
2000 in Brussels. The committee was set up by a partnership agreement
signed on April 22, 1996.

Trilateral transport consortium may be based in Baku
Azer News, Azerbaijan
June 10 2004
The Azerbaijan State Railway Office told AssA-Irada that the
headquaters of the Azerbaijan-Russia-Iran consortium on the
Gazvin-Rasht-Astara railway may be based in Baku. The railway will
be part of the North-South transport corridor.
Working groups from the three countries are expected to establish the
consortium’s charter fund and work schedule by July 1. The location of
the entity’s headquarters may be determined in a meeting scheduled for
July in Baku. Funds totaling $15 million are required for Azerbaijan
to join the North-South transport corridor. The funds will be spent
on the construction of a 6-km railway connecting Azerbaijan with Iran
and a railway bridge over the Astarachay River.
Construction of the Tehran-Baku railway, which is to link up with
Russia’s railroads, may commence early in 2005. According to the
initial appraisal, $102 million is required for the implementation of
the project, under which 340 kilometers of railway lines in Iran and
Azerbaijan will be built and upgraded. Armenia may enter the project
on the construction of a new railway linking Russia, Azerbaijan and
Iran within the North-South international transport corridor. This
opinion was revealed by Vice Speaker of the Armenian parliament Vaan
Ovannisian, the co-chair of the Armenian-Russian inter-parliamentary
commission. Ovannisian said that along with Azerbaijan, India and
Oman are participating in the project. “It is common knowledge that
Azerbaijan is trying to make Armenia withdraw from all transport
and economic programs of regional importance. However, at present,
our partners Russia, Iran and India don’t plan to do so and Armenia
is likely to enter the program,” he noted.

Medina helping Abelyan prepare for Harrison bout Jun 10 2004
ic Lanarkshire, UK
June 10 2004
WBO World Featherweight title challenger William Abelyan has sought
the advice of the man who defeated Cambuslang champion Scott Harrison
in his bid to be crowned champion on June 19.
The Armenian hardman challenges Harrison for his title in the highly
anticipated clash at the Braehead Arena and for his final preparations
has drafted Manuel Medina into his training camp for advice and
tactics on how to beat him.
Medina, the tricky Mexican veteran, handed Harrison a shock defeat
last July to become a five-time World champion. Harrison later cited
illness as the cause of his loss and reversed the decision in the
rematch four months later to reclaim the title.
Abelyan said: “With Medina coming into the camp and giving me advice
it is the final piece in the jigsaw to beat Harrison. The training
has gone well and I’m in superb shape. All I need to focus on now is
fight tactics.
“Medina knows Harrison’s boxing style very well as he’s faced him
twice before and he’s also got a wealth of knowledge and experience
from being a five-time world champion which I am learning from.
“We’ve been watching Harrison fights on video, practising moves in
sparring and planning strategies for hours on end so by the time I get
in the ring with Harrison I will know him better than he knows himself.
“Medina gave Harrison a whupping but I’m looking to do a real job on
him and knock him out and I believe I can do it.”
The fight has been rescheduled for next week, due to an injury to
the Cambuslang ace, but tickets purchased for the original date of
May 29 will remain valid for the rescheduled date of June 19.
Tickets, priced at £30, £50, £75 & £125, are available from Keith
Prowse Ticketing on 0870 906 3839, Braehead Arena box office on 0870
444 6062 and online at

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
June 10 2004
AATA SUPPORT POSITION OF AZERBAIJAN IN SOLUTION OF NAGORNY KARABAKH CONFLICT
[June 10, 2004, 19:26:11]
As was informed, on 9 June at the International Press Center was held
a news conference of president of the American Assembly of Turkish
Associations (AATA), Mr. Ercument Kilic and his delegation.
Mr. Ercument Kilic said it is his second visit to the Republic. In the
passed period, there happened numerous democratic alterations in the
life of country. The goal of the visit was directly to familiarize
with the Country, development of links between Azerbaijan and the
Association, as well as play the role of bridge between Azerbaijan
and America. The president updated the audience on activity of the
Organization, stating that AATA was founded in 1979 and has done
a lot in expansion of links between America and Turkey. There are
over 300 thousand people of Turkish origin in the United States, he
stressed. AATA undertook significant steps to unite them and solve
their problems. Mr. Ercument Kilic, highly appreciating activity
of the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev in development
of Diaspora organizations, unification of Azerbaijanis residing in
numerous world countries, and expressed satisfaction with successful
continuation of the said political line by President Ilham Aliyev. He,
in particular, stressed the activity of State Committee eon Work with
Azerbaijanis Living Abroad, aimed at joint activity of the Turkish
and Azerbaijani Diaspora organizations.
We are making numerous steps to fully unite the Turks and Azerbaijanis
residing in America, Europe and Asia, as well as in other world
counties, President of AATA stressed.
The problems the Turks and Azerbaijanis face do not remain out of
AATA focus. The Association is ready to bring to the notice of the
world community full information on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorny
Karabakh problem. On this purpose, we need visual aids, and also
appropriate literature, he said. Ercument Kilic expressed confidence
that the Azerbaijani side would present them this means.
Then, the guest answered questions of media representatives.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress