Armenia, Azerbaijan `Close To Karabakh Deal'

[Gavur]

Deadly Skirmish Reported Near Karabakh


By Emil Danielyan

An Azerbaijani soldier has been killed and a civilian wounded in a skirmish with Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani television station reported on late Tuesday.

The ANS channel said Azerbaijani army positions near a village in the northern section of the frontline around Karabakh came under “intensive” automatic gunfire from Armenian troops. It said sounds of explosion could also be heard in the area.

There was no immediate confirmation of the report from official Azerbaijani and Azerbaijani sources.

Sporadic exchanges of fire from automatic weapons are periodically reported from the heavily militarized Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact, with each party usually accusing the other of violating the 11-year ceasefire in the zone of conflict. The Azerbaijani side has regularly reported casualties in recent months.

Breaches of the ceasefire regime became more frequent last spring despite progress that was apparently made in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks. Officials in Yerevan and Stepanakert said at the time that Azerbaijani troops are moving their positions closer to Armenian fortifications east and north of Karabakh. Some even suggested that Baku may be preparing for large-scale military action.

Renewed fighting seems even more unlikely now that the parties are reportedly close to agreeing on a resolution of the Karabakh dispute. Echoing statements by international mediators, a senior official representing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said on Tuesday that a peace deal could be announced as early as this year.

[Gavur]

Osce Monitored Contact Line Between Karabakh And Azeri Armed Forces

08.09.2005 04:37

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today the OSCE mission held recurrent planned monitoring of the contact line between the Armed Forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan. It was held next to Levonarkh village of NKR Martakert region. Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk and his field assistants monitored the line from the positions of the NKR Defense Army. The monitoring registered no breaks of the cease-fire regime, however the Azeri party, in contrast to the Karabakh one, did not admit the OSCE mission to the front line.

[Gavur]

Reports On Killed Azeri Soldier - Recurrent Provocation

09.09.2005 04:42

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Azeri media again spread information about an Azeri
soldier allegedly killed in skirmish opened by the Karabakh side. As head of
the department of information and propaganda at the NKR Defense Minister
Senor Asratyan in conversation with PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, the
information saying that on September 7 the Armed Forces of Nagorno Karabakh
broke the cease-fire is a recurrent provocation. In Asratyan's words, the
cease-fire was violated by the Azeri side however the Karabakh forces did
not react to the shots. Thus, the reports on the killed soldier appear a
recurrent canard of the Azeri media.

[Gavur]

Armenia Warns Against Revival Of Pro-Azeri UN Resolution

By Karine Kalantarian

Armenia warned Azerbaijan against attempting to revive a draft pro-Azerbaijani resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh at an annual session of the United Nations General Assembly that opened in New York on Wednesday.

The resolution that was put forward a year ago is formally on the agenda of the three-day UN summit that brought together more than 160 presidents, prime ministers and kings. It reaffirms Baku’s sovereignty over Karabakh and expresses “grave concern at the continuing Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands.”

A General Assembly vote on the document was put off indefinitely in November of last year after Armenia agreed to an inspection of the occupied Azerbaijani territories around Karabakh by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. A fact-finding OSCE mission toured those lands last February to investigate Azerbaijani allegations that Yerevan is actively resettling them with Armenian families. The mission effectively denied those claims, concluding in a report that it found “no evidence of direct involvement by the authorities of Armenia in the territories.”

According to Armenia’s permanent representative at the UN, Armen Martirosian, Baku and Yerevan agreed this month to include the document on the General Assembly agenda but to avoid any discussions or votes on it. He said the Azerbaijani leadership needed a face-saving solution ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan.

“We agreed that Azerbaijan will not take any active steps and Armenia will not prevent the issue from being included on the agenda,” Martirosian told RFE/RL from New York.

“If Azerbaijan takes any active step within the UN framework, the Republic of Armenia will pull out of the Prague process of negotiations,” the diplomat warned. “Our main argument is that there is the [OSCE] Minsk Group which has been mediating the negotiations for more than ten years and that the UN is not the place where the Karabakh problem must be discussed.”

Martirosian said Yerevan’s position is backed by the Minsk Group’s French, Russian and U.S. co-chairs. Addressing the UN assembly in November 2004, the co-chairs spoke out against the passage of the draft resolution, saying that it would undermine “confidence between the parties.”

The pro-Azerbaijani document reached the UN assembly with the help of several Muslim nations, notably Turkey, Pakistan and Kazakhstan. In a retaliatory move, Armenia openly opposed Kazakhstan’s efforts to assume the OSCE’s rotating presidency during a summit of former Soviet republics this year.

[Gavur]

Constantine Zatulin Casts Doubts On Azerbaijan’s Territorial Integrity

2005-09-15

In the interview with Echo newspaper (Baku) the CIS Institute Director, RF State Duma deputy, a member of State Duma Committee for CIS and Relations with Compatriots Constantine Zatulin stated he did not understand why Azerbaijan’s borders could not be changed.
According to Echo, he was interviewed in connection with the conference “Parallel CIS: Abkhazia, Pridnestrovie, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh as the realities of the post – Soviet territory”.
In Zatulin’s words, the principal goal of the conference is to acquaint the society with life in the states, learn politologists’, experts’, politicians’ opinion.
RF State Duma deputy does not believe the measure’s organization will aggravate Russia’s relations with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and harm the Karabakh settlement process. “Vice versa, I think circulation of the objective information on what is going on in the conflict zone and not the desire to put out false reports or follow propaganda war’s logic denying reality will bring us closer to a decision. If we follow certain propaganda denying not only the right to self – determination as such, but self – determination’s reality in the conflict zone, in spite of the fact whether some people liked it or not, we’ll fail to find a solution”, said C. Zatulin.
“I dislike the fact that during hundreds of years the territory that is called post – Soviet territory now was single whole. At the end of 1990s the Soviet Union disintegrated, as a result of which a number of states has become independent. If I had been wrong I would have stated for 15 years that the states are separatists. However, we do not say it…The Soviet Union disintegrated, so why should we believe the boundaries that used to be defined by someone, for example those providing Nagorno Karabakh within Azerbaijan or Abkhazia within Georgia, is something eternal, which is not subject to corrections? And yet, we do not render political decisions at the conference. Even if we had done it I believe objective consideration of the issue, the attempt to present another point of view is very important. As for Azerbaijan’s nervous reaction on the conference’s conduct I am sorry the reaction was like that”, said the CIS Institute Director.

[Gavur]

Armenian Church In Baku Arouses Disputes

Azat Artsakh Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
15 Sept 05


The Armenian church in the centre of Baku is still there. The disputes
about this church are continuing. There are various suggestions in
this reference. Baku-based newspapers publish articles on destroying
the Armenian church. The authors make proposals based on the law on
preservation of historical and cultural monuments passed by Mili
Mejlis of Azerbaijan that buildings and monuments the mere appearance
of which causes pain and sadness should not exist. On the list of
these monuments the Armenian church is in the first place. In Zerkalo
Shirinzadeh writes: `In the 19th century Baku was not an Azerbaijani
city. The number of the natives (the Azerbaijanis), including the
inhabitants of the suburbs was barely 40 per cent. The rest were
Russians, Armenians, Jews, etc.' Maybe this is the reason why there
was not a single Muslim building in the central luxurious part of the
city (the so called `old centre') except for the Icheri Shihar
Mosque. But there was the protestant church, Alexander Nevsky
Cathedral and certainly the Armenian church which is a notable
building. Then the author of the article mentions that as a religious
institution the Armenian functioned longer (till 1990) than its
neighbouring buildings but so far its fate is uncertain. In another
issue Zerkalo published the article of the president of the
International Academy of Architecture Shamil Fatullayev: `At the
beginning of the 20th century Baku lacked a project of the town. In
1903 the Armenian community of Baku bought plots of land and started
construction.' It should be noted that the magnificent buildings in
the centre of Baku, including the houses of opera and ballet, the
former Armenian dramatic theatre, the Armenian school of girls, were
built by Armenian businessmen on their own means. Among these are the
Dramatic Theatre, the Public Museum, the City Hall of Baku, the
Institute of Oil Industry, and another magnificent Armenian church,
the St. Mkrtich Church, which was destroyed and on its place the
conservatoire was built. Doctor Davad Akhundov, architect, author of a
number of works on architecture, suggests using the Armenian church as
a branch of the art museum or as a gallery. He opposes those who
suggest changing it into a mosque. `It is unacceptable. There are
human rules to respect other religions.' `This will mean desecration,'
he says. In another article the commissioner on preservation of
architectural monuments of Azerbaijan Fahradin Miraliev agrees to
provide the Armenian church to another Christian community or some
religious organization which preaches peace and conformity. `There are
proposals to change the Armenian church into a mosque. I think there
is no need to,' he says. The parishes of the orthodox churches
S. Michael Archangel and St. Mary are upset that such a beautiful
temple may be given to a sect or by an international bank to use as an
office. In the meantime, tourists visiting Baku take pictures of the
burnt walls of the Armenian church and the litter at its walls.

LEVON MKRTICHIAN KYOKHUNT.
15-09-2005

[Gavur]

Azeri Shots Force OSCE Mission to End Monitoring

YEREVAN (Armenpress)--An OSCE team had to cut short its routine monitoring of the line of contact between Armenian troops of Mountainous Karabagh and Azeri troops near a village in Fizuli region on Tuesday.

At the very start of the monitoring, a single shot in the direction of the Mission was fired from Azeri positions. Andrzej Kasprzyk, the special envoy of the OSCE chairman-in-office supervising the monitoring, reported the observation was ceased for security reasons.

Representatives of the Mountainous Karabagh Republic’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Ministries were accompanying the OSCE mission.

[Gavur]

Azerbaijan May Win If Garabagh War Starts In 10 Years - Survey

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 22 2005

Baku, September 21, AssA-Irada
Azerbaijan may get victory if military action with Armenia resumes
in ten years, but stands no chance at winning now, says a survey
held among 24 American and European experts by the association of
American Armenians.

40% of the respondents said Azerbaijan may be victorious owing to the
increase in its oil revenues if the hostilities are launched in 10
years. The experts involved in the survey said it will be impossible
to turn Upper Garabagh into an autonomy within Azerbaijan.

20% of the respondents said Upper Garabagh will gain independence or
be annexed to Armenia, while 15 experts said the status of the region
will remain uncertain for many years to come.

The experts unanimously stated that the 'velvet revolutions' staged
in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan will not take place in Armenia
and Azerbaijan.*

[Gavur]

Azerbaijan’s Poor UN Development Rating Due to ‘Use of Old Figures’

Baku Today / Assa Irada 13/09/2005 13:02

Azerbaijan ranked 101st in the annual UN report on human development due to the use of statistics released a few years ago in the evaluations, the UN Development Program representative in Azerbaijan Marco Borsotti has told journalists.

Borsotti said that statistical data released 2-3 years ago are usually taken as a basis during the preparation of annual global reports. There is no need for comparing the human development indices observed in 2004 and 2005, as application of a new method started this year to determine the figures on CIS countries, he said.

Borsotti said that according to the new method, living standards in CIS countries, except Armenia, have declined. Azerbaijan’s slipping rating is due to the statistics covering life expectancy of people, the UNDP representative said.

“As the United Nations, we have been citing problems in certain fields for about 4 years.”

Borsotti added that Azerbaijan has been developing in recent years.

[Gavur]

Steven Mann To Discuss Karabakh Settlement In Baku

Pan Armenian News
26.09.2005 05:27

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ OSCE Minsk Group U.S. Co-Chair Steven Mann
will arrive in Baku till the end of September, U.S. Ambassador
to Azerbaijan Rino Harnish reported. In his words, Mr. Mann will
discuss the current stage of the Karabakh conflict settlement with
the Azerbaijani leadership, Azeri media report.