Former FA Aide: Peace Talks Aren’t Worth Of 2 Kopeks
Baku Today
May 17 2004
While high-ranking officials in Baku still seem committed to ending
a decade-old occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories through peaceful
means, a prominent foreign policy expert says the peace process
is worth of nothing as long as there is no change in the region’s
geopolitical situation.
“The current negotiations are not worth of two kopeks,” says Vafa
Guluzade, a former presidential aide who now heads the Baku-based
Caspian Political Researches Foundation. The former diplomat points
to Russia as the country behind the aggression against Azerbaijan,
and contends that the key to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict lies not
in Yerevan, but in Moscow.
“Armenia is a puppet in the hands of Russians,” Guluzade says in an
interview with a correspondent of Baku Today, adding: “I myself have
repeatedly witnessed that Armenians don’t have their own position on
the Karabakh problem. Moscow dictates them on everything that relates
to the settlement of the conflict.”
Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region of Azerbaijan
that is home to about 100,000 ethnic-Armenians, and also seven Azeri
administrative districts surrounding it in 1991-94 war. Despite a
cease-fire agreement reached in May 1994, no final settlement has
been found to the conflict.
Guluzade said the recent happenings in Georgia’s defiant autonomous
region of Ajara showed that Moscow had no choice but to bow to heavy
pressures by Washington.
“Russia will withdraw from Armenia, too,” Guluzade said.
Those hoping for a peaceful resolution of the conflict were once
more disappointed when a meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign
ministers in Strasbourg on May 12-13 gave no result, with Aremnia’s
Vardan Oskanian deeming the idea to withdraw from Azerbaijan’s seven
occupied districts “absurd and meaningless.”
Meanwhile, President Ilham Aliyev sent one more warning against the
arch foe Armenia while on a visit to his home region of Nakhchivan
late last week.
“Azerbaijan’s army can resort to using force any time to free the
occupied territories. It is our natural right,” Aliyev stressed.
But the former foreign affairs aide Guluzde believes Azerbaijan has
to get ready for a political isolation, if it decides to take guns
to fight back the territories.
He says the isolation might come from Russia, as well as from the
United States and Europe.
“We also have to be three to five times stronger than the enemy is,
because we’ll suffer more human casualties if we begin to attack,”
Guluzade underlined.
Asked if another war could bring any positive results for Azerbaijan,
Guluzade said: “It may, but it must be based on a very well thought
over plan.”

Armenian Asylum-Seekers Begin Hunger-Strike In Baku
Baku Today
May 17 2004
The two Armenians, who arrived in Baku early April, began hunger-strike
on Monday in protest against international organizations’ reluctance
to help them find asylum in Europe.
Roman Terian, 38, and Artur Apresian, 48, said they will hold the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) responsible for
any negative results the hunger protest may bring about. The Armenians
appeared in Azerbaijan’s private ANS television on April 8, relating
their departure from Armenia with hardships they claimed they faced
in their home country.
Speaking to local and foreign reporters in a press conference staged
by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of National Security on May 14, the Armenians
said they left Armenia because of “Kocharian’s dictatorship,” with
one of them likening the Armenian president to Osama ben Laden.
The asylum seekers were born in Baku.They left for Armenia after the
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988, but have not received
Armenian citizenship. Terian and Apresian married to Armenian
citizens. Both have two daughters.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Gevor and Tatevosyan to battle it out live on the internet
EastsideBoxing.com
May 17 2004
17.05.04 – Exciting action is coming up live on the internet. On
Tuesday Armenian Koren Gevor, 17-2 (10), will face Russian Sergey
Tatevosyan, 21-4 (13), at Hansehalle of Lübeck, Germany, in an 8-round
non-title fight. The battle of the two strong European middleweight top
contenders will be broadcast live on the internet on …
Gevor is coming off a six fight winning streak since suffering his two
losses due to unlucky injuries. Tatevosyan who knocked out former world
champion Armand Krajnc in 2002 is coming fresh of a European title
fight against Howard Eastman where he dropped a twelve round decision.
“I’ve seen videos on Tatevosyan. I know he is beatable”, the small
but powerful Gevor said. “He is running a lot to the left and to the
right. My biggest concern is that I can’t land my punches because he
moves so awkward.”
It’s Gevor’s third fight on a Spotlight Boxing event in a row. His last
contest where he stopped Dmitro Gotovskiy on March 30 at Saaltheater
in Aachen, Germany, by disqualification was also broadcast live on
“His knockout win over Armand Krajnc doesn’t impress me”, Gevor said.
“Armand was an easy target that night and at the end he landed his
punches almost by accident.”
Gevor moved to Germany in May 2000 and is now living in Hamburg
(Gevor: “I like this city a lot!”) with his young wife. His coach
is Magomed Shaburow. He was born in Edshmiadsin, a city close to
Armenia’s capitcal Erivan.
Gevor is a stable mate of WBO middleweight champion Felix Sturm who
is fighting against Oscar de la Hoya on June 5.
“I’ll put money on Felix”, Gevor said. “De la Hoya will underestimate
him and I believe Felix will win a decision. This is his chance of
a lifetime and he will use it.”
In three other fights live on , Guzmil Perdomo will
fight Gringo Mandache at super middleweight, Egon Roth will fight
Pavel Vanacek and Valeri Tschetschenev celebrates his professional
debut against Roman Kaloczai (both heavyweight).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sarkissian Deems Azerbaijan’s Offer Unserious
Baku Today
May 17 2004
Armenian defence minister Serge Sarkissian said his country is still
sticking to all of its three principles on peaceful resolution of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turan reported on Monday, citing Armenia’s
Ayots Ashkhar newspaper.
They principles are; Nagorno-Karabakh in no way can be subordinated to
Baku, it has to have an overland border with Armenia and the region’s
security has to be guaranteed. Sarkissian also called Azerbaijan’s
suggestion to release seven occupied districts in return for opening
of communication lines unserious one, claiming Baku may break its
promise any time.
The defence minister said Armenia is against stage by stage settlement
of the conflict because it could prove to be dangerous for Yerevan.
“The option is dangerous because while the parties can agree in the
first stage, they may not come to an agreement in the second one,”
Sarkissian said.

Iranian Drama to Go on Stage in Armenia
Mehr News Agency, Iran
May 17 2004
TEHRAN, May 17 (MNA) — Invited by the Embassy of Armenia in Tehran,
Iranian playwright and director Chista Yasrebi plans to stage her play
“Tale of Stone Women” early August in Armenia.
The play is about two female storytellers quarrelling on which one
tells a story better. The drama combines Iranian myths with modern
storytelling styles.
“Tale of Stone Women” was rejected as an entry by organizers of the
21st Fajr International Drama Festival, which was held in February
2003 in Tehran.
“Armenians are interested in Iranian dramas performed by Iranian
women so they invited us to their country,” Yasrebi said.
Two years ago, Yesrebi was due to stage her “Juggler & Talisman”
in Armenia but she said the Iranian Center for Dramatic Arts would
not cooperate regarding the theater troupes’ journey to Armenia.

New Armenian Bodies To Resolve Community’s Problems
The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (FJC), Russia
May 17 2004
YEREVAN, Armenia – On May 12th, the Jewish Community Center ‘Mordechay
Navi’ of Yerevan hosted a meeting between Rabbi Gersh Meir Burshtein
and the head of the Armenian Department on National Minorities, Granush
Kharatyan, and the Director of the Religious Affairs Department Vardan
Asatryan. The two government officials represented a group of elected
deputies who are responsible for relations with national organizations
in the country.
At the outset of 2004 and as a result of national organizations’
activities, which managed to draw the government’s attention, the
Armenian government founded these two state bodies. At the same time,
Armenia’s entry to the Council of Europe has meant that the Armenian
government has had to meet a series of international obligations with
respect to national minorities’ organizations. Thus, the Armenian
government has is already developing a law on national minorities.
During the meeting, the officials gave a positive evaluation about
the activities carried out the Jewish community of Armenia, especially
their work in reviving Jewish life in Yerevan and the country’s other
regions. Rabbi Burshtein, in his turn, stressed the importance of
the state’s assistance to national communities and noted that the
law on national minorities was essential in this regard, at the same
time noting the limitations that today’s laws do not account for the
size of national communities and do not allow national schools to
undergo registration and obtain a free buildings for its educational
institutions.
Rabbi Burnshtein also emphasized the need to reconstruct old Jewish
cemeteries and to restitute the property of national communities.
Today, the Jewish community of Armenia remains helpless to prove that
the destruction of the city’s old Jewish synagogue, despite the fact
that it appears on old city’s maps. Unfortunately, no official data
confirms the fact that the synagogue once existed but was eventually
destroyed.
Rabbi Burshtein hopes that the new state bodies will mean the
resolution of the many essential needs still existing for Armenia’s
Jewish community.

The Ticking Time Bomb?
Transitions onLine, Czech Republic
May 17 2004
BAKU, Azerbaijan–The Azeri president’s words were far from reassuring.
“Azerbaijan is ready to start a war to liberate its territories if the
peace talks do not produce any results,” Ilham Aliev said on 12 May,
adding that he would do his best to further strengthen the national
army and improve the economy in the country in order to sustain the
army’s capacity.
The timing of his comments–made on his arrival in the Nakhchivan
Autonomous Republic–was significant, coming on the 10th anniversary
of the 1994 Russian-brokered cease-fire that ended the conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the largely ethnic Armenian
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan.
By the time the agreement had been signed, 30,000 people had been
killed and many more injured in one of the bloodiest conflicts in the
post-Soviet space. More than a million Azeris and 300,000 Armenians
had been driven from their homes, and nearly 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s
land had come under Armenian control.
In the intervening 10 years, both nations have benefited from the
economic development that the end of hostilities allowed, but few in
either Azerbaijan or Armenia are satisfied with the status quo. For
many Azeris, the past 10 years symbolize time that has been wasted
in solving the conflict through peaceful negotiations and continued
hardship for the displaced people.
The majority of people who talked to TOL on the street said that the
anniversary only reawakened in them a sense of having been tricked
and feelings of humiliation.
“These 10 years showed that it is impossible to liberate the lands
by peaceful means. The only way to do it is to fight now,” said Rufat
Askerov, a graduate student at Western University in Baku.
FROZEN IN MINSK
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk
group–created in 1992 and charged with finding a peaceful solution to
the conflict–offered a number of proposals in the 1990s to end the
standoff, but either Baku or Yerevan rejected each one. Since 1998,
no new proposals have been made, and the majority of Azeris have lost
faith in the international efforts.
“They only come, talk, and go. No real progress. They are useless.
The international community does not care about us [refugees and
displaced people],” says Fatima Gulieva, a 43-year-old displaced person
from the Agdam region, which is currently under Armenian control.
Two days prior to the anniversary, the Karabakh Liberation
Organization (KLO)–a radical group that unites a number of opposition
activists–staged a march to the Karabakh town of Shusha to mark the
12-year anniversary of its occupation. Considered the cradle of Azeri
music and art, Shusha is an especially painful loss for many Azeris.
“We want to go back to our homes in Shusha,” said Akif Nagi, the
chair of KLO.
The Azeri authorities have so far been successful in keeping radical
groups and refugees out of the negotiation process, but as time goes
on and the peace talks languish, calls for a military solution have
become louder.
Although frustration with the deadlock has hardened the hearts of
most Azeris toward the peace process, many also believe that fighting
would produce no better results.
“Russia is behind Armenia, and it would be hard to fight the two of
them,” Nureddin, a local barber, said in a reflection of the general
attitude in Azeri society. Others believe that the Azeri army is still
not strong enough to overcome the Armenian defense, even though in
the past 10 years it has become more united and strong, often with
the help of Turkish instructors.
JUST WORDS?
Still, despite the recent radical statements by the Azeri leadership,
few believe there could be war again soon. During their recent meeting
in France, both the Azeri and Armenian presidents confirmed their
commitment to the peace talks, and the foreign ministers of the two
countries met in Strasburg on May 13 to revitalize the peace process.
Ilham Aliev seems content to continue the policy of his late father,
former President Heidar Aliev, and it is unlikely that he will change
it any time soon, despite his words to the local audience in the
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Aliev does, however, insist that the
peace talks focus on the liberation of the seven regions of Azerbaijan
adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, the return of internally displaced
Azeris to their homes, and the opening of trade and communications
links with Armenia, followed by further negotiations on the legal
status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia has previously rejected this proposal, known as a
“step-by-step” process. Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian
called it “absurd” in an interview with Radio Liberty, insisting that
all of the above-mentioned issues must be resolved at the same time.
So another year goes by with both sides marking a bitter “no war,
no peace” stalemate. The majority of local experts believe that a war
is unlikely to erupt again in the next few years, but the situation
remains a time bomb, ticking down year by year.

Time Passing Slowly
by Anna Hakobyan
Transitions onLine, Czech Republic
May 17 2004
The war may have hurt Armenia, but most seem happy with a status quo
that is binding Nagorno-Karabakh closer to Armenia.
YEREVAN, Armenia–In a symbolic move apparently designed to show
that peace talks are continuing, the foreign ministers of Armenia and
Azerbaijan met on 12 May, the 10th anniversary of the cease-fire that
ended the killing in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The end of hostilities in this once autonomous region of Azerbaijan
saved “the lives of many thousands of both Azeris and Armenians
and prevented the South Caucasus from turning into a region with a
humanitarian catastrophe,” according to Karen Ohanjanian, a leading
figure in Helsinki Initiative-92, a nongovernmental organization
involved in the current peace process.
By the time the shooting stopped, 20,000 people–perhaps 30,000–had
been killed in three years of fighting and an estimated 1 million
Azeris and 300,000 Armenians had become refugees.
Since then, there have also been successes, with some rebuilding, an
effective end to the troublesome issues of 500 hostages and prisoners
of war, the development of civil society and democratic institutions,
contacts between NGOs across the ethnic divide, and some integration
into the international community. The admission of both Armenia and
Azerbaijan into the Council of Europe was also a step forward for
Nagorno-Karabakh, as membership required both Yerevan and Baku to
agree to settle the Karabakh conflict peacefully.
However, the meeting on 12 May was also a symbol of failure. A
decade of talks has produced no breakthrough and cost the job of one
Armenian president, Levon Ter-Petrossian. For a time in April 2001, it
looked as if both Armenia’s president, Robert Kocharian, and his Azeri
counterpart, Heidar Aliev, would be able to reach an agreement in talks
that centered on the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azeri land in
a corridor linking Armenia and Azerbaijan, a lifting of Azerbaijan’s
blockade on Armenia, the return of displaced persons and refugees,
and the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh. The hope was that Aliev,
the longtime leader of Azerbaijan, would be able to seal a deal before
his departure from the political scene. However, the talks collapsed.
THE EFFECT ON ARMENIA
In Ohanjanian’s opinion, the conflict has continued to be
destructive. The war and years of uncertainty have ensured that
the military remains a powerful force in Armenian politics and, in
his words, “the leading military force in the Caucasus.” The war,
he believes, has strengthened the power of the state, ensured that
the restructuring of the economy has been primarily aimed at meeting
military needs, and gradually warped Armenia’s political development,
putting the political scene increasingly under the influence of tough
figures and criminal elements.
While the cost of the war may have been a stilted economy, less
democracy, and continued relative international isolation, Armenians
continue to give broad support to the current status quo. Over the
past decade, Nagorno-Karabakh has enjoyed independence from Azerbaijan
while becoming more integrated both economically and politically
with Armenia.
However, in Azerbaijan, the anniversary highlighted just how angry
Azeris continue to feel, with President Ilham Aliev, son of Heidar,
telling Azeri soldiers on 12 May that “Azerbaijan is ready to start
a war to liberate its territories if the peace talks do not produce
any results.”
The reaction of Armenian officials was calm. The Foreign Ministry
in Nagorno-Karabakh, a self-declared and unrecognized republic,
issued a statement calling on Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the
international mediators, “to reaffirm their commitment to maintaining
the cease-fire regime.” Kocharian downplayed Aliev’s comments, telling
Russian television on 15 May that “we have been hearing different
versions of this statement since May 1994” and suggesting that Aliev
was grandstanding to the Azeri public. Armenia would, however, be
ready to react should Azerbaijan choose the military option, he said.
THE IMPASSE AT THE NEGOTIATING TABLE
Even if Aliev’s warning proves hollow, both sides continue to face
the 10-year-old problem of how to reduce tensions.
On 12 May, supporters of former president Ter-Petrossian, speaking
to Radio Liberty, urged a return to the “step-by-step” solution that
Ter-Petrossian had advocated. This would require both sides to send
important signals of intent before the final status of the disputed
region could be decided. It would, for example, require Armenia to
cede control of occupied corridors leading to Karabakh. In return,
Baku would lift its economic blockade on Armenia. That approach,
which was proposed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) and the international powers mediating for the OSCE
(the United States, Russia, and France), was supported by Azerbaijan.
The decision by Ter-Petrossian to throw his weight behind the formula
led to his removal by other members of his government in 1998.
Armenia and the leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh are suggesting a
“package approach” in which every issue, including the final status
of the disputed region, would be decided in a single treaty. That is
opposed by Azerbaijan.
The OSCE’s Minsk Group continues to advocate the “common state”
solution proposed in the failed talks held in 2001 at Key West,
Florida. Under this plan, Nagorno-Karabakh would join a confederation
with Azerbaijan. It would enjoy its own constitution, police, and
army and be the same size as the prewar Karabakh region of Soviet
Azerbaijan. This was ultimately rejected by Baku. Earlier this year,
Ilham Aliev denied that his father had been close to agreeing to a
deal in 2001, calling it “another lie circulated by the Armenian side.”
The current state of limbo was apparent in a statement by Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, who said that the meeting with his
Azeri counterpart on 12 May had “no agenda. The parties can bring up
any idea.”
One idea that Ohanjanian believes should be explored is a proposal
that he put forward on behalf of Helsinki Initiative-92. In it, he
advocates offering Nagorno-Karabakh the possibility of independence,
but only on condition that all refugees are allowed to return and
that international standards of human rights and democracy are met.
In the open-ended probationary period, international peacekeepers
would replace ethnic Armenian troops and the region would be governed
on a rotating basis by ethnic Armenians and Azeris.
Realistically, though, he foresees further complications. Until
now, talks have been conducted through the Minsk Group or between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. He believes that Kocharian will increasingly
push for direct talks between Baku and Stepanakert, the capital of
Nagorno-Karabakh, as the Armenian president is aware that, in Key West,
he made promises that he would not be able to deliver on without the
agreement of the Karabakh authorities. However, Baku would object to
such a model.
Based on his involvement in attempts to resolve the conflict,
Ohanjanian believes that Baku might ultimately push for a radically
different approach to conflict resolution, in which talks would be
held not under the auspices of the OSCE but of the European Union or
the United Nations.
THE CHILL FACTORS
Whatever the political initiatives, formidable obstacles remain in the
form of public attitudes. In Armenia, the notion of Nagorno-Karabakh as
historical Armenian territory “remains a national idea” that Ohanjanian
believes Armenians would be unwilling to concede, while the anger
felt by Azeris was recently highlighted when an Azeri military officer
killed an Armenian officer in Hungary over a dispute about Karabakh.
Other, geopolitical reasons suggest there will be little change in
the status quo. While Aliev might hint at war, to resume fighting
would jeopardize foreign investment into Azerbaijan’s huge oilfields,
and oil and geopolitical interests would force the great powers to
exert heavy pressure on Azerbaijan to halt any fighting.
In early 2004, Aliev said that Azerbaijan was in no hurry to settle
the conflict. The likeliest scenario continues to be that the conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh will remain frozen when the foreign ministers
next meet, in June–and for a long time after that.

AZERI OFFICER CONFESSES TO PREMEDITATED MURDER OF ARMENIAN CLASSMATE
ArmenPress
May 17 2004
BUDAPEST, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS: An Azerbaijani officer who hacked to
death an Armenian classmate during a NATO course has confessed to the
murder and said he planned it as revenge for a 1992 Armenian assault
of Azerbaijanis, AP reported, citing Hungarian police.
Lt. Ramil Safarov of Azerbaijan on Feb. 19 used an ax to hack Lt.
Gurgen Margarian of Armenia to death in a dormitory that was being used
by participants of a NATO Partnership for Peace English language course
in Budapest. At the time, police said the murder had been committed
with “unusual cruelty” and that Safarov had tried, unsuccessfully, to
enter the room of another Armenian with the intention of killing him.
A police statement released late last week said Safarov had confessed
to committing the murder and claimed that the long-standing conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia was at the root of his act. “There was
no concrete grievance between the killer and the victim before the
(murder),” the Budapest police said.
Safarov initially had planned to kill an Armenian on Feb. 26 – the
anniversary of a 1992 Armenian assault in the Nagorno-Karabagh – even
before coming to Hungary for the NATO course, police said. He told
police he later decided to commit the crime ahead of the anniversary
date because “the presence of the Armenians was getting on my nerves.”
Police investigators have recommended that the Budapest Attorney
General’s office charge Safarov with premeditated murder carried out
with unusual cruelty and with vile motives and aims. The NATO program
attended by the two men is aimed at increasing cooperation between
neutral and former Soviet bloc nations and NATO in peacekeeping and
other areas.

US-ARMENIA TASK FORCE MEETS IN YEREVAN
ArmenPress
May 17 2004
YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS: The regular, 8-th meeting of the
US-Armenian Task Force started today in the Armenian capital.
Armenian finance ministry said the process of implementation of joint
projects was discussed and prospects for further cooperation were
mapped out. It said also that Armenia’s inclusion in the Millennium
Challenge Account program was also on the agenda of the meeting. The
head of the US delegation, ambassador Carlos Pascal, proposed that
Armenia should outline its priority problems which it hopes to solve
with the assistance of new funds in order to submit them to a special
US delegation that will arrive in Armenia soon.
Another focus of the discussions was on problems relating to customs
and tax administration, with both sides stating that improvement in
these sectors is a key factor for ensuring continued economic growth.
Also energy, agriculture, business environment improvement- related
issues were discussed. The May 18 meeting will be topped y WTO
membership, trafficking in human beings, money laundering-related
issues.