Azerbaijani Officer May Face From 15 Years To Life In Prison, Lawyer Says
Baku Today, Azerbaijan
May 19 2004
Hungarian prosecutors are charging Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov
with intentional and brutal murdering his Armenian classmate Gurgen
Markarian, a crime, if proved, is punishable by from 15 years to
life in prison, one of Safarov’s defense lawyers told reporters
on Wednesday.
The lawyer, Adil Ismailov who were in the Hungarian capital of Budapest
on 3-17 May, pointed out to some shortcomings of the investigation
into the murder case, such as its being done in Russian, which Safarov
does not speak well. The lawyer said the Hungarian authorities have
promised to settle this problem soon. Ismailov also said Hungarian TV
channels are spreading biased and incorrect reports about classified
investigation materials. He added that the investigation is due to
finish in a few days.
Citing a statement issued by Budapest police last Wednesday, the
Associated Press reported that the Azerbaijani officer Safarov has
confessed that he deliberately murdered Markarian in revenge for the
massacre Armenians committed in Khojaly on Feb. 26, 1992.
According to the report, there was no concrete grievance between the
two before the bloody incident happened on Feb. 19 in a dormitory
for attendees of an English language course organized under NATO’s
Partnership for Peace Program.
The statement said Safarov initially had planned to kill any Armenian
on the day of Khojaly massacre even before coming to attend the
classes in Budapest.
Based on Safarov’s testimonies, police investigators recommended
Budapest Attorney General’s office to charge the Azerbaijani officer
with premeditated murder done with unusual cruelty with “vile motives
and aims,” according to AP.
Ismailov said the officer’s trial would start no earlier than
September.

Caucasus: EU, Azerbaijan Discuss Nagorno-Karabakh
By Ahto Lobjakas
Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
May 19 2004
Yesterday’s visit to Brussels by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
came on the heels of a decision by the European Commission to recommend
the inclusion of the three South Caucasus countries in the bloc’s
European Neighborhood Policy. The decision — to be formally confirmed
during the EU summit in June — will mean increased integration, but
also greater EU involvement in the region’s crises. EU officials told
RFE/RL yesterday that the bloc is preparing to bring its diplomatic
muscle to bear on Nagorno-Karabakh.
Brussels, 19 May 2004 (RFE/RL) — The decision to start preparing
for the inclusion of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in the EU’s
European Neighborhood Policy promises to bring with it new levels of
EU involvement in the region’s so-called “frozen conflicts.”
Yesterday’s talks between visiting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
and top EU officials indicated the bloc is ready for the first time
to invest significant diplomatic capital in the region.
Both the president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, and the
EU’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, were unusually critical of
the 10-year-long efforts of the so-called Minsk Group — sponsored by
the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) — to
negotiate a settlement to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan
over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.”Azerbaijan is strongly convinced
that broader international attention, the attention of European
structures, and of public opinion in Europe will help find a quick and
peaceful resolution to the conflict.” — Azerbaijani President Aliyev
“It is true that progress does not seem to be taking place in the last
part of this period of time,” Solana said. “We would like to see if
we can contribute to move the negotiations forward. We hope that the
[latest] of the meetings — not only between the two presidents [of
Azerbaijan and Armenia], but the continuous contacts that are taking
place between the two ministries of foreign affairs — may contribute
to move the process [forward], restart the process. Whatever we can
do — and I promised the president — whatever we can do, we’ll try
and do it.”
Solana, like Prodi before him, stressed that the “Minsk process”
will continue to be managed by the OSCE. The EU, they say, will try
to help where it can and only when invited.
An EU official, who asked not to be named, told RFE/RL after Aliyev’s
talks in Brussels that the Azerbaijani president had lobbied strongly
for increased EU involvement. The official said Aliyev had said
Azerbaijan feels there is a palpable pro-Armenian bias within the
Minsk Group. The group is chaired by the United States, Russia,
and France. Both France and the United States are seen by Baku to be
susceptible to lobbying by the strong Armenian diaspora in the two
countries. Russia still plays a large role in guaranteeing Armenia’s
security — for instance, it provides the country’s border guards.
Aliyev yesterday told reporters after meeting Solana that although
Azerbaijan is not challenging the OSCE mandate of the Minsk Group,
he would like the EU to assume a greater role.
“We consider that the EU is playing a very important role in [relation
to Nagorno-Karabakh]. Of course, the Minsk Group of the OSCE has a
mandate to deal with that issue and of course we are not trying to
change that mandate. But at the same time, Azerbaijan is strongly
convinced that broader international attention, the attention of
European structures, and of public opinion in Europe will help find
a quick and peaceful resolution to the conflict,” Aliyev said.
The unnamed EU source said the bloc has been well served by its
first-ever special envoy to the South Caucasus, Heikki Talvitie, a
Finnish diplomat. Talvitie has earlier worked with the Minsk group
and knows the region well. His six-month mandate will come up for
renewal next month, but its extension is virtually guaranteed.
The EU official said that while maintaining its support for the
Minsk Group, the bloc is currently pursuing a wider strategy of
“triangulation,” involving Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey. In so
doing, the EU is trying to tackle not just Nagorno-Karabakh, but the
overall context of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations.
The source said Aliyev had yesterday strongly argued against steps
aimed at lifting the border closure between Turkey and Armenia
currently in effect. Azerbaijan was said to view the closure as an
essential, if not sole, lever to secure Armenian concessions over
Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied areas.
In fact, when the United States recently put strong pressure on Turkey
to lift the blockade, Baku was said to have warned Washington that
such a move would result in an end to the search for a solution to the
conflict. According to the source, Azerbaijan told the United States
that Armenia would then lose interest in working for a settlement.
Conversely, sources say, Armenia’s president, Robert Kocharian, has
announced that in protest of the border closure, he will not be going
to the NATO summit in Istanbul next month, where he has been invited
as a guest.
The EU official said the strategy of “triangulation” pursues an
incremental approach. In order to secure an easing of the border
closure with Turkey, Armenia will have to initiate a pullback of its
forces from the occupied areas of Azerbaijani territory surrounding
Nagorno-Karabakh.
This is a strategy that appears to suit Baku. According to the EU
source, Aliyev told Solana that once Armenia withdraws from the
occupied territories — but not necessarily from Nagorno-Karabakh
— Baku would be ready to launch talks on the final status of the
breakaway region. Armenia, on the other hand, is seen as demanding
a decision on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh before acquiescing to
any further talks.
According to the source, the EU favors Azerbaijan’s step-by-step
approach. The official said the bloc considers it very difficult,
if not impossible, to achieve a comprehensive settlement at one stroke.
Aliyev made clear yesterday that Azerbaijan would not give up
Nagorno-Karabakh. Speaking to the media, the Azerbaijani president
stressed that any solution must respect the country’s sovereignty
and territorial integrity.
However, the EU source said Aliyev had told the bloc’s officials that
Baku was prepared to accord full respect to the “Armenian heritage
and history” of the region, as well as to its “ancient ties” with
Armenia. He did not spell out yesterday the precise details of the
kind of autonomy Azerbaijan would be prepared to offer the breakaway
republic.
The official also said the EU believes the weak domestic standing of
Armenian President Kocharian means it will be very difficult for him
to make concessions. In contrast, the official cited Azerbaijan’s
recent impressive record on domestic issues.
Baku has released hundreds of political prisoners. Ilham Aliyev has
resettled the Azeri refugees fleeing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
— an issue on which his father and predecessor, Heydar Aliyev,
had stalled. Aliyev junior also presides over a rapidly expanding
economy, which grew by 11 percent last year. The EU source said all
this strengthens Aliyev’s hand.
The official said that although the EU still considers the human
rights situation in Azerbaijan “far from satisfactory,” the bloc
recognizes the recent improvements.
Sources say Aliyev had yesterday asked European Commission President
Romano Prodi to open a commission office in Baku. The EU’s executive
arm already has a mission in Tbilisi and has a “sub-office” in
Yerevan. However, EU sources said the current commission, which will
step down in October, is unlikely to be in an “expansionary mood”
at this stage.

AllAfrica.com, Africa
May 19 2004
NCC Executive Board Asks Urgent Intervention in the Sudan
National Council of Churches USA (New York)
PRESS RELEASE
May 19, 2004
Posted to the web May 19, 2004
Chicago, Ill
Urgent intervention to stop the killing in Sudan was the call of the
National Council of Churches USA Executive Board in a resolution
adopted unanimously today during its spring meeting here May 17-18.
The Board committed the NCC and its member churches “to intensifying
their efforts” to stop the apparent attempt at ethnic cleansing in
Darfur, western Sudan, that already has claimed tens of thousands of
lives and displaced a million people, and that risks deepening to
genocide.
It condemned the involvement of all parties perpetrating genocide in
the Sudan and called upon the government of Sudan to bring an end to
this practice immediately, including stopping attacks by its military
and proxy militia against civilians in Darfur.
And it called on the U.S. government “to continue to press the
Sudanese government to bring to a halt this unfolding horror and to
support appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian, conflict resolution and
peace enforcement efforts by the United Nations to these ends.”
Today’s resolution also called upon the international community and
non-governmental organizations to investigate and monitor reports of
crimes against humanity being committed in Sudan.
Among those voicing passionate support for the action was Bishop
Vicken Aykazian of Washington, D.C., Ecumenical Officer of the
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. It is estimated that 1.5
million Armenians perished between 1915-23 in the Armenian Genocide,
and that a million were deported forcibly.
“My family is victim of the first genocide of the 20th century,”
scattered to the far corners of the earth, said Bishop Aykazian. “I
am very much concerned when I see that people in other nations now
are being massacred as well ­ in Sudan, simply because they are
black. Ten years ago, in Rwanda, in front of the civilized world, one
million people were slaughtered. The same thing is happening now in
Sudan. The NCC must take this very seriously and do something.” On
April 23, the NCC sponsored an observance of the 10th anniversary of
the Rwandan Genocide, held in Los Angeles and featuring Samantha
Power, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her book ”A Problem from
Hell’: America and the Age of Genocide.’
She and other speakers noted that despite the world’s pledge to
‘never again’ allow genocide, the world is not stepping up
effectively to stop the killing in Sudan.
“Knowing the history of genocide in the 20th century, beginning with
the Armenian Genocide through the Jewish Holocaust and ending with
the Rwandan Genocide, we are appalled that this legacy of death and
destruction should be carried into the 21st century,” the Board
stated.
Today’s resolution by the NCC’s Executive Board, whose 80 members are
delegates from the Council’s 36 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican
member churches, reaffirms and extends the Board’s extensive 2002
resolution on the continuing crisis in the Sudan.
In today’s action, the Board also commended actions already taken by
member communions and recommended that they prayerfully consider
further actions that they might take, individually and together as
the NCC, conducive to the establishment of peace in Sudan.
NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar urged U.S. churches not to let
current preoccupation with Iraq, the elections, the Middle East and
the U.S. economy distract them from action on Sudan. “This is an
urgent moment,” he said.

Parliament Speakers of South Caucasus Discussed Cooperation
Civil Georgia, UK
May 19 2004
Parliament speakers of the South Caucasus, Nino Burjanadze of Georgia,
Murtuz Aleskerov of Azerbaijan and Arthur Baghdasaryan of Armenia held
talks in Strasbourg on May 18 within the framework of the Council of
Europe Parliamentary Summit on May 17-19.
The speakers welcomed the readiness of the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) to develop concrete cooperation programs
with different groups of society with a view to promoting contacts
in the region and assisting the implementation of democratic reforms.
The Assembly President and the Speakers will pursue contacts in order
to work on concrete proposals for cooperation to be discussed by the
parliamentary delegations of the three countries during the Assembly’s
October session.
In this framework, the Secretary General of the PACE Bruno Haller
will visit Baku, Tbilisi, and Yerevan at the beginning of July.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
May 19 2004
PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV ADDRESSES BRIEFING IN BRUSSELS
[May 19, 2004, 23:47:00]
On the 19th of May, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the
lunch and briefing “European Union – Azerbaijan – New Horizons For
Partnership” organized by the European Policy Center in the Conrad
Hotel in Brussels.
Opening the briefing, EPC Chief Executive Hans Martens warmly greeted
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and introduced him to the
audience. He noted the meeting is attended by influential politicians
of the Kingdom of Belgium, and that the address by the Head of
Azerbaijani State would be rather useful for them.
President Ilham Aliyev has made a speech at the briefing. The Head of
State dwelt on the difficulties Azerbaijan faced after gaining its
state independence, Armenian military aggression and its hard
consequences, restoration of stability after national leader Heydar
Aliyev’s return to power in 1993, as well as reforms carried out in
the Republic and successes achieved. President Ilham Aliyev
especially stressed that Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, which remains unresolved for years, is the main
factor posing a serious threat to the region.
Later on, the Head of Azerbaijan responded to the questions from the
briefing participants.

VICTIMS OF PONTIAN GREEKS GENOCIDE COMMEMORATED IN ARMENIA
ArmenPress
May 19 2004
YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS: The Greek ambassador to Armenia,
Antonios Vlavianos, other dignitaries, government officials and
ordinary Armenians commemorated today the memory of hundreds of
thousands of Pontian Greeks mercilessly massacred by the government
of Turkey between 1914-1922. The commemoration ceremony was held at
Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan, erected in commemoration of the
victims of Armenian genocide of 1915, also committed by the government
of Turkey.
Of the 700,000 Greeks living in Pontus (the area stretching along the
southern coastline of the Black Sea) in 1914, 300,000 were killed
as a result of Turkish government policy and the remainder became
refugees. “Three millennia of the Greek and Armenian presence was
wiped out by a deliberate policy of creating a Turkey for the Turks.
The Pontian people were denied the right to exist, the right of respect
for their national and cultural identity, and the right to remain on
land they had lived on for countless generations, ” the ambassador
said addressing the present.
Mr. Vlavianos said the tragedy experienced by both nations have
forged closer ties and links between Armenians and Greeks, adding also
that the memory of innocent victims will never be forgotten. He said
all efforts will be exerted to make both genocides internationally
acknowledged and condemned so that to prevent future repetitions of
such horrible crimes.
“The genocide of Pontian Greeks was recognized only by the
government of modern Hellenic Republic, which is not deemed as
its priority foreign policy issue, unlike Armenia which has made
significant progress in pushing for the 1915 genocide’s international
recognition. Greece has officially recognized the Armenian genocide,”
he said, explaining that Armenia did not acknowledge the genocide of
Pontian Greeks because of the absence of an official request on the
part of Greek government.
Around 1,500,000 Armenians and 300,000 Pontian Greeks were annihilated
through exile, starvation, cold, illness, slaughter, murder, gallows,
axe, and fire. The Pontians now lie scattered all over the world as a
result of the genocide and their unique history, language (the dialect
is a valuable link between ancient and modern Greek), and culture
are endangered and face extinction. A double crime was committed –
genocide and the uprooting of a people from their ancestral homelands
of three millennia. The Christian nations were not only witnesses
to this horrible and monstrous crime, which remains unpunished,
but for reasons of political expediency and self interest have,
by their silence, pardoned the criminal. The Ottoman and Kemalist
Turks were responsible for the genocide of the Pontian people,
the most heinous of all crimes according to international law. The
international community must recognize this crime.

ARSHILE GORKY’S REMAINS TO BE REBURIED IN ARMENIA
ArmenPress
May 19 2004
YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS: Badal Badalian, the chairman of a
Yerevan-based Arshile Gorky Foundation, told Armenpress today that one
of the biggest dreams of the artist was “to return home and mix with
Armenian soil.” He said to this effect the Foundation will organize
a range of fund-raising events and get the permission to transport
his remains to Armenia.
One of the most famous contemporary artists, the founder of Abstract
Surrealism, Gorky was described by Andre Breton as the most important
painter in American history. He was born in Western Armenia, in
the village of Khorgom on the banks of Lake Van. In 1915, Gorky
(Vostanik Adoyan) escaped Turkish massacres with thousands of others
refugees. After his mother died of famine, he headed for the US. His
whole life in the new country, which ended in suicide, consisted of
years of hard work and bitter struggle.
Tragically enough, the years in which his art was ascending to its
greatest heights were also the darkest in his life. His marriage was
disintegrating; he was operated on for colon cancer, and he lost many
works in a studio fire.
Badalian said his opinion is that the remains, if brought to Armenia,
must be reburied at Tsitsernakaberd Memorial, erected in a hill in
Yerevan in commemoration of the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide,
but added that the final word belongs to the government.
He said on July 21, the day when Gorky committed suicide, a pilgrimage
will be organized to his native village of Khorgom in Turkey, apart
from a poster campaign across Armenia to make Gorky’s name familiar
to all Armenians. One of Gorky’s paintings was sold last year at
$3.5 million.

PRESIDENT KOCHARIAN RECEIVES EBRD PRESIDENT
ArmenPress
May 19 2004
YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS: Armenian president Robert Kocharian
received today a delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD), led by its president Jean Lamierre. Kocharian was
quoted by his press office as saying that Armenia is strongly committed
to expanding the frames of cooperation with EBRD with more active
involvement of the Bank in the economic development of the country.
Jean Lamierre will visit also the neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan to
meet with heads of state, senior government officials, business leaders
and members of the international community based in the region. The
main goal of the visit is to reinforce the Bank’s commitment to all
three countries. In particular he is expected to emphasize how the Bank
can use new initiatives to help these countries address investment
needs in areas ranging from privatizations and infrastructure to
the support of individual entrepreneurs, apart from the need for
authorities to tackle corruption and improve the rule of law to
attract much-needed investment.
The visit comes on the back of a new EBRD initiative to support
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan , where more than 50 per cent of the population live in
poverty. The Bank aims to support also more private-sector development,
particularly focused on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The
EBRD has invested around Euros 700 million across the three countries,
in projects ranging from banking to infrastructure and energy to
supporting small and medium-sized enterprises.

EBRD INSISTS ON CLOSURE OF ARMENIA’S NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
RIA Novosti, Russia
May 19 2004
YEREVAN, May 19 (RIA Novosti) – The European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development is going to set up a fund for financing the development
of alternative sources of electricity, EBRD president Jean Lemier
has said on Wednesday.
He has discussed the idea with officials in Armenia and they liked it,
he said.
The fund will finance small programmes costing from 0.5 to 1.5 million
euros in regions of Armenia. They will be, for instance, wind-powered
and small hydraulic stations, Lemier said.
The European Union demands mothballing of the Armenian nuclear power
station and is ready to allocate 100 million euros towards this end,
as well as creation of alternative sources of electricity.
The leadership of Armenia believes that the Armenian nuclear facility
should operate until the republic has enough supply of energy.
According to Vardan Khachatrian, Armenian Finance and Economic
Minister, the republic is working to create alternative sources
of energy for the event of the closure of the nuclear facility but
completion of such work will require about a billion euros.
The Armenian nuclear power station was initially halted in March
1989, less than a year after the devastating earthquake in Spitak,
Leninakan and other Armenian cities. The acute energy crisis in
Armenia restarted it in November 1995 when, after the truce concluded
with Azerbaijan on Nagorny Karabakh, Armenia actually found itself
in an economic blockade. The nuclear power facility’s second block,
having the Russian VVER-440 reactor of the first generation, produces
on an average from 30 to 40 percent of Armenia’s electricity. In the
estimate of experts, it can continue until 2016.
In September 2003 the government of Armenia passed the Armenian
nuclear power station in five-year trust management by Russia’s United
Energy Systems.

Russia DM to attend CIS ministerial meeting in Yerevan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 18, 2004 Tuesday
MOSCOW, May 18 — Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov will make
a working visit to Yerevan from May 20-21, Tass learned at the press
service of the Defence Ministry on Tuesday.
He will take part in the meeting of the Council of defence ministers
of member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
Ivanov and his Armenian counterpart Serge Sarkisyan will discuss
prospects for the development of relations in the military
and military-technical areas and a number of topical problems of
military-political nature, also those connected with ensuring regional
security, the press service stressed.