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Edited on February 17, 2000
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT'S REFERENDUM IDEA DRAWS FIRE.
Yerevan newspapers on 16 February attacked President Kocharian's
recent suggestion that any peace accord on Nagorno-Karabakh
could be put to a referendum, RFE/RL's Armenian Service
reported. "Haykakan Zhamanak" said this idea "can change the
logic of the conflict's settlement," reducing Kocharian's
influence on the process. "Aravot," meanwhile, asked why
such a vote should be taken in Armenia: "If there is any need
for such a referendum, it should be held in Azerbaijan and
Karabakh rather than Armenia." PG
KOCHARIAN'S KARABAKH STRATEGY CHALLENGED BY HARD-LINE RIVALS
By Emil Danielyan
Two years ago, then Armenian President Levon Ter-
Petrossian took the public by surprise by announcing his
resignation under pressure from key ministers unhappy with
his conciliatory line on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. Masterminding a behind-the-scene effort to remove
him was Robert Kocharian, then prime minister and the current
president. Now it looks as though Kocharian may find himself
in the same situation as his predecessor, as hard-liners show
reluctance to make major concessions to Azerbaijan.
The Yerkrapah Union of veterans of the Karabakh war, a
group that controls many power structures in Armenia, has
warned that no peace solution will work unless the union
approves it. At a high-profile meeting on 5 February,
Yerkrapah leaders signaled their unwillingness to see most
Armenian-occupied territories in Azerbaijan returned to
Baku's control--a major condition for peace.
Kocharian has moved promptly to dispel Yerkrapah's
concerns, promising that he will not make any deals on
Karabakh "single-handedly." He even said in televised
comments late last week that a possible settlement with
Azerbaijan might be put to a nationwide referendum.
Yerkrapah, supported by the Armenian government and
parliament, may have been reassured by the president for now.
However, its warning is a sign of more difficulties ahead in
the peace process. For the past year, domestic opposition to
a compromise solution to the Karabakh conflict was thought to
be far stronger in Azerbaijan than in Armenia. But recent
developments suggest that a backlash is no less likely on the
Armenian side.
A catalyst for Yerkrapah's outburst of anger was
speculation in the Armenian press that Kocharian and his
Azerbaijani counterpart, Heidar Aliev, are considering an
exchange of territories as a means of ending the dispute.
Under such a swap, Yerevan would secure Karabakh's de jure
secession from Azerbaijan in return for ceding a stretch of
land linking Azerbaijan with its Nakhichevan exclave,
sandwiched between Armenia and Iran. This is totally
unacceptable to Yerkrapah and most Armenian political
parties. Kocharian revealed in his television address last
week that such an idea was floated by the OSCE mediators but
categorically rejected by him.
The unease over that proposal highlighted broader
Yerkrapah concerns about future concessions to Azerbaijan
and, in particular, the fate of seven Azerbaijani districts
around Karabakh that Armenian forces occupied during the
1991-1994 war. The official Armenian position has been that
all but one of those districts will be returned, but only if
Baku agrees to relations with Karabakh on an equal footing.
The Lachin district, which provides the shortest overland
connection between Armenia and the disputed enclave, is not
up for negotiation, according to Yerevan.
For hard-line elements in Armenia and Karabakh, this is
too soft a position. They believe the lands "liberated by
blood" are vital to national security and should not be
traded for peace.
The question of the occupied territories was at the
heart of differences between Ter-Petrossian and Kocharian in
February 1998, when the latter insisted they should be
returned only after Karabakh's final status is
internationally determined. The ex-president, for his part,
backed an international peace plan whereby the handover would
precede a decision on the future status of the enclave.
In November 1998, the Kocharian administration persuaded
the OSCE to put forward new proposals that envisaged a
"package" solution to the conflict, as opposed to the
previous "step-by-step" strategy. The new plan reportedly
upheld Karabakh's de facto independence in a loose "common
state" with Azerbaijan. It was largely backed by Armenian
leaders, including Vazgen Sargsian, the late prime minister
and Yerkrapah's founder, and was obviously the best the
Armenians could get from the international community.
Sargsian's five months as government head must have been
enough for him to acquire first-hand knowledge of the
country's enormous socio-economic woes and to understand the
potential benefits of peace. And there was no question of
Sargsian failing to win the support for that peace deal of
his Yerkrapah loyalists, many of them molded by the war,
given that his moral authority among them was unquestionable.
But things have changed since Sargsian and seven other
officials were shot dead in the 27 October attack on the
parliament. There now seems to be nobody who could rein in
Yerkrapah. Current Prime Minister Aram Sargsian, Vazgen's
inexperienced brother, is not considered a political
heavyweight, and there is a large question mark over the
ability of the Republican Party of Armenia, Yerkrapah's
political wing that controls parliament, to act on its own.
The parliament attack has weakened Kocharian, who has
come under fire from the late premier's allies, some of whom
have called for his resignation. On 5 February, Kocharian
again felt the chill of Yerkrapah's disapproval.
Kocharian's every move on Karabakh will likely be
treated with suspicion, at the very least. How Yerkrapah will
behave when the time comes to make critical decisions is
difficult to say. But it is already clear that the Armenian
president no longer has a free hand in deal-making.
The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Yerevan.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Copyright (c) 2000 RFE/RL, Inc.
All rights reserved.
UPPER KARABAKH: PEACE INSTEAD OF TERRITORY
By Fazil Gazanfaroglu
The new initiatives in the regulation of Upper Karabakh problem inform that
this problem will take the main place in the agenda in 2000, too. The
negotiation process that is planned to be held in the US by the moderation
of Madeleine Albright, American State Secretary, have been postponed by not
coming to an agreement the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides.
The Armenian president has stated the necessity of the participation of
Iran in the negotiation process and stated that in case of not realizing
his wish, he would refuse visiting the US. By this act, the Armenian side
is taking the negotiation process to deadlock.
First of all, in some analyses, the Armenian president Robert Kocharian
abstains from putting serious steps because of facing with serious problems
within Armenia. And the Azerbaijani leadership does not approach positively
to the participation of Iran in the negotiations. It is related with a fare
that the moderation of Iran in Upper Karabakh conflict has been resulted
with a tragic end for Azerbaijan several times before.
On the other hand, the participation of Iran in the negotiations could help
increasing the weight of forces supporting the positions of Armenia in the
Minsk group like France and Russia. Besides, taking into consideration the
fact that the US does not also positively appreciate the issue of Iran's
participation, there could be formed a condition not facing the interests
of Azerbaijan.
Several statements of Kocharian on rejecting the suggestion on achieving to
peace by changing the territories given by Heidar Aliev has caused a
serious resonance among the political circles of Azerbaijan. Taking the
tactical plan of official Azerbaijan, a little changed form of this plan
that put forward by the American senator Poll Gobble has faced with
interest. The leading oppositional forces have stated the possibility of
presenting this suggestion to the Armenian side, and besides it, considered
that the regulation of the conflict by the exchange of territories is
against the interests of Azerbaijan. It is also prognosed that by
supporting this suggestion Azerbaijan will stand face-to-face with the fact
of compromising Armenia in the status of Upper Karabakh, and Azerbaijan`s
claims on carrying out the resolutions of the UNO will be forgotten.
In fact, after putting such step Armenians stop being an enclave in
Karabakh and be close to becoming a part of Armenia. The oppositional
representatives does not consider real the settlement of other issues for
now besides the agreements on using of communication lines between Upper
Karabakh and Armenia, and Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan without any obstacle.
In any case, though the level of preparations for beginning mass political
measures on Karabakh is not so higher as during the OSCE`s Istanbul summit,
the oppositional forces are insisting on preventing the government to sign
a capitulating contract concerning the issue.
A Z E R B A I J A N BULLETIN -11 (209),February 17 2000 [ENGLISH]
Copied with permission from Habarlar-L
Azeri party leader says Azeri Karabakh community to resist territorial swap
Source: 'Bizim Asr', Baku, in Azeri 12 Feb 00 p3
Text of report from Azerbaijani newspaper 'Bizim Asr' on 12th February by
Javidan entitled "Azerbaijani community of Karabakh sends telegram to Kofi
Annan"
"We shall not turn a blind eye to the authorities' attempts to prepare the
people for a defeatist peace. We feel that the ruling circles want to
create a syndrome of obliviousness amongst the people. The Azerbaijani
community of Karabakh and the Geyrat Party will do their best to prevent
it."
Speaking about the latest statements, the general secretary of the Geyrat
Party, Ashraf Mehdiyev, did not hide their intention to resist the swap of
the Lachin corridor [uniting Armenia with Nagornyy Karabakh] for the Megri
corridor [between Azerbaijan's Nakhichevan exclave and Azerbaijan]. The
former presidential candidate also expressed his concern over the Baku
government's consent to opening the border between Turkey and Armenia. The
Geyrat Party leader thinks that Azerbaijan is helping Armenia to develop
economically: "For this reason we have sent a telegram to UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan on behalf of Azerbaijan's Karabakh community.
We shall go directly to the UN headquarters if our address is left without
attention. As far as I know about 30 party leaders will support us. We are
also obliged to request the UN officially to observe the parliamentary
elections."
#########################################################################
HL NOTE: The following news articles ignore such basic facts that:
1) Karabakh region of Azerbaijan was, is, and will remain to be a
legitimate part of the Azerbaijan Republic;
2) Karabakh, and seven other regions are illegally occupied by
the Republic of Armenia, the aggressor;
3) That the puppet leaders and regime(s) of some self-proclaimed "NKR"
entity are recognized by no state and lack any legitimacy whatsoever.
#########################################################################
Independence or unity with Armenia the only options for Karabakh, minister says
Source: Snark news agency, Yerevan, in Russian 0524 gmt 15 Feb 00
To become independent or to become part of Armenia are the only options
for Nagornyy Karabakh, the foreign minister of the self-declared republic
has said on Armenian TV. Naira Melkumyan said that the aim of negotiations
between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents was to find out how
prepared Azerbaijan would be to make concessions. She said that Azerbaijan
had realized that neither the military option nor the oil factor would
help it regain Karabakh, adding that Azerbaijan would not be ready for a
military solution to the conflict for at least 10 years. Melkumyan said
that Karabakh was gradually succeeding in making the international
community "aware of the justice of its position". The following is the
text of a report on the interview by Armenian news agency Snark on 15th
February
Yerevan, 14th February: There are two possible options for a solution to
the Karabakh problem: Nagornyy Karabakh can gain independence or unite
with Armenia. This is what Naira Melkumyan, the foreign minister of the
Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR], said in an interview today to Armenian
TV. According to her, there are several ways to achieve these aims. The
minister noted that the negotiations within the framework of the OSCE
Minsk Group had been held for several years now and had been delayed
because of the tough position of Azerbaijan.
Today, Melkumyan said, attempts are being made to involve Azerbaijan in
some format or another of the negotiations to clarify the degree of Baku's
readiness for concessions. This is precisely how the Karabakh foreign
minister evaluates the negotiations of the presidents Robert Kocharyan and
Heydar Aliyev. In Melkumyan's view, "much has already become clear to the
mediators and international community". Noting that the military
confrontation had negatively affected the internal situation in
Azerbaijan, the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic's foreign minister said that
the dialogue between Kocharyan and Aliyev was called upon in some degree
to bring the internal atmosphere in the region into a healthy state. "The
Kocharyan-Aliyev negotiations keep the Azerbaijani opposition tense. It
has also to be ready to compromise, to discuss the degree of compromise
that Azerbaijan can make," Melkumyan said. Although throughout the years
of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan confrontation an opinion on possible compromise
steps from the Azerbaijani side was not expressed in the Azerbaijani
press, with the exception of some articles, as it was thought that the
time would come when they would manage to get Karabakh back, today, the
minister noted, they have come to understand there that neither military
actions, nor the oil factor will help in this affair. "After all Nagornyy
Karabakh has gained the right to live as it likes - to unite to Armenia or
to be independent," Melkumyan said.
In this connection the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic's foreign minister
recalled the opinion of a US State Department representative, who when
speaking about the future of Nagornyy Karabakh stated that Karabakh is a
territory inhabited by a majority of Armenians, which after the collapse
of the USSR held a referendum and left Azerbaijan. This fact, according to
Naira Melkumyan, deserves serious attention. "We are gradually succeeding
in making the international community aware of the justice of our
position," the minister said.
According to the minister, the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group who
have recently taken a wait-and-see position, need to be more active either
in rendering assistance to the presidents Kocharyan and Aliyev in holding
negotiations or in taking an independent line.
The minister made the involvement of Nagornyy Karabakh in the negotiation
process conditional upon the Azerbaijani position. The Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic's foreign minister underlined that the Karabakh side is ready for
negotiations now.
Speaking about possible attempts to renew military actions by the
Azerbaijani side, Melkumyan underlined that in the near future, even the
next 10 years, Azerbaijan would not be ready for a military solution of
this problem. The economic position of Azerbaijan with its power crisis
and level of corruption today is harder than the economic position of
Armenia or the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic, the minister said. Today Baku
is faced with difficulties, which Armenia and the NKR succeeded to
overcome five years ago and which are tearing Azerbaijan apart from
inside, the NKR foreign minister said.
-----------------------------------------------------
OSCE representative says 13 Azeri POWs in Karabakh, Yerevan
Source: Turan news agency, Baku, in Russian 1213 gmt 11 Feb 00
Baku, 11th February: The visit to Baku of the Austrian (the current OSCE
chairman) representative in the Minsk Group, Andreas Laun, ended today.
Commenting on the results of the visit, the personal representative of the
current OSCE chairman, Andrzej Kasprzyk, told Turan news agency that
Austria had led the OSCE from 1st January this year and it was necessary
now to familiarize itself with the situation and the positions of the
sides. The visit of the Austrian representative, Andreas Laun, to the
region was connected with this.
The visit aimed at clarifying some aspects of the conflict: political,
military (monitoring of the cease-fire regime), humanitarian as well as
the problem of POWs and those missing in action.
Andrzej Kasprzyk believes that Austria is paying great attention to the
resolution of this conflict and the current chairman of the OSCE will
visit the region in the first half of 2000. Andreas Laun's visit to the
region also pursued the end of preparing this visit.
Andrzej Kasprzyk said that Andreas Laun had visited Azerbaijani POWs in
Karabakh and Yerevan and familiarized himself with the conditions in which
they were being kept. Kasprzyk said that three Azerbaijani POWs were being
kept in Karabakh and 10 POWs in Yerevan. "We tried to persuade the
Armenian side to resolve this issue and give up the POWs completely,"
Kasprzyk said.
This topic, in his words, was also continued in Baku with National
Security Minister Namig Abbasov.
As to those missed in action, work in this direction will be carried out
in Nagornyy Karabakh. It had also been carried out in Baku and Yerevan,
Kasprzyk said...
Habarlar-L
Azeri internet presence under threat from Armenian hackers
Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1140 gmt 15 Feb 00
Baku, 15th February: Azerbaijan is going to take serious steps to secure
its internet sites from hackers. A new technical council to deal with the
matter will include National Security Ministry experts and on-line
providers, according to a decision reached at a Monday evening [14th
February] meeting between the Azerbaijani Security Minister Namig Abbasov,
newspaper editors-in-chief and computer company specialists.
Armenian hackers unleashed a devastating attack on Azerbaijani internet
servers Saturday night [12th February] that is still under way. The
websites of all large internet users, including humanitarian
organizations, in Azerbaijan were hacked into and vandalized. The e-mail
connections of all major Azerbaijani newspapers were severed.
"It can be said without exaggeration that the entire Azerbaijani [section]
of the internet is under threat," a source has told Interfax.
The Armenian-Azeri "electronic war" broke out in January. A site posting
incorrect information about Azeri President Heydar Aliyev appeared in
January. Armenian State Television and Armenian Assembly in America sites
were attacked in retaliation.
An Azeri hacker told the national press that an attack on Armenian servers
will be carried out over the next few days.
Copied with permission from Habarlar-L
US police to arrest Armenian hackers
Baku. 16.02.2000. /AzadInform/. An independent magazine "Azerbaijan
International" is issued 4 times a year in English in Los-Angeles since 1993.
This magazine is spread in 47 world states as well as in US State Department,
British Parliament, UN Security Council and other influential international
structures and official organizations. Subscribers of the magazine are
universities of Cambridge, Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, Vanderbindt, Stanford,
Berkley, Pennsylvania, Texas and Libraries of US Congress, New-York,
Los-Angeles, British, national Library of Canberra (Australia) and largest ones
of Berlin. Since the middle of the 1996 magazine has been spreading on Internet.
This site has a large information about Azerbaijan. 80 000 appeals from
different world states - Japan, Australia, Germany, Sweden, France, United
Kingdom, Turkey, Canada, US flow to this site every month.
However, this web-site fell a prey to hackers. On May 28, 1997 - the Day of
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic establishment this site was exposed to
aggression. The site was replaced as a result of which a new site on so-called
"Armenian genocide" was appearing at the monitor. Administration of the magazine
informed FBI about criminal fact. Due to the issues of the California newspaper
"California Courier" from February 3, 2000 a criminal group of the Armenian
hackers who committed this crime in the body of Denni Khachaturyan, Dikran
Iskenderyan and Melikyan was arrested by Los-Angeles policy during commission of
the next international crime.
Copied with permission from Habarlar-L Online Newslist
Edited on February 16, 2000
Azerbaijani Leader, Clinton Meet
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:14:08 -0800 (PST)
February 15, 2000
By The Associated Press
(NOTE: some passages about oil pipeline omitted by me)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliev met with
President Clinton today to seek more help in settling his
country's territorial dispute with Armenia.
Aliev said their discussion would give ``additional impetus to a
final settlement.''
Aliev said in a speech Monday night that the countries that are
supposed to be leading the group of nations seeking a settlement
of the long-running conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia need
to do more.
Leaders of the United States, Russia and France all need to be
more engaged in seeking a solution, Aliev told the Paul H. Nitze
School of International Studies.
As Aliev spoke, about a dozen demonstrators stood across the
street, chanting and waving signs protesting his visit. They
accused Aliev, a former Soviet leader, of a 40-year record of
human rights abuse, censorship and aggression.
Aliev said in his speech that he is committed to democracy and
free markets.
While a five-year cease-fire has held, the two southern Caucasus
nations of Azerbaijan and Armenia have failed to resolve the
dispute over independence claims by the Nagorno-Karabakh region
now controlled by Armenians but nestled within Azerbaijan.
Aliev pledged to continue a dialogue with Armenian President
Robert Kocharian, while criticizing Russia for maintaining a
military presence in Armenia.
``The conflict needs to be settled peacefully,'' Aliev said.
Aliev said he supports giving Nagorno-Karabakh ``the highest
degree of status'' within Azerbaijan, but he said Armenian forces
must be withdrawn from the region and 1 million Azerbaijanis that
were driven from the area must be allowed to return.
Nagorno-Karabakh cannot become a second Armenia, he said, adding,
``The Armenian people already have a nation.''
Aliev said his main goal in carrying on a dialogue with Kocharian
is to achieve peace. He said both he and the Armenian leader
have indicated a willingness to compromise but have not been able
to reach a comprehensive settlement.
Kocharian and Aliev last met in Davos, Switzerland, in January
and have scheduled another round of talks in Vienna under the
joint supervision of the United States, Russia and France.
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press
Azerbaijan: Aliev In Washington To Urge End To
Sanctions
By Andrew F. Tully
RFE/RL Feb 15, 2000
Nearly eight years ago, the U.S. Congress imposed economic and
political sanctions against Azerbaijan. Congress accused the
government in Baku of mounting a blockade against neighboring
Armenia in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Heidar Aliev, the
president of Azerbaijan, has come to Washington apparently hoping to
persuade Congress to lift the sanctions. On Monday, Aliev delivered
an address to make his case. RFE/RL's Andrew F. Tully attended and
files this report.
Washington, 15 February 2000 (RFE/RL) -- President Heidar Aliev is
in Washington to press for a end to U.S. economic sanctions against his
country.
Aliev meets today with U.S. President Bill Clinton, who supports lifting
the sanctions imposed by Congress in 1992. In its seven years, the
Clinton administration has pressed hard for free trade in general. And it
has argued that continued sanctions conflict with the goal of an
east-west energy corridor that would not run through either Russia or
Iran.
On Monday, Aliev delivered an address at the Johns Hopkins
University School for Advanced International Studies in Washington.
He appeared determined to make a strong case to Americans about the
importance of resuming full political and economic relations with his
country.
He said the Caucasus region cannot become either politically or
economically stable until his nation and Armenia reach a peaceful
settlement to their sometimes bloody conflict over the Azerbaijani
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
In fact, Aliev said the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which began in
1988, has contributed to similar fighting in Georgia, in Moldova and,
now, in Chechnya.
"Thus, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over
Nagorno-Karabakh was the basis -- or became the reason for -- the
basis for the other conflicts in all the former Soviet area."
The Azerbaijani president again made his government's case for a
settlement. He said Azerbaijan is prepared to give political and cultural
autonomy to the predominantly Armenian population of
Nagorno-Karabakh, and to establish a transportation corridor through
Azerbaijan linking Armenia and the enclave.
But he accused Russia of militarizing the region with its defense
alliance with Armenia, and noted that Armenian troops control about 20
percent of Azerbaijan.
Outside the school, about a dozen protesters demanded that Aliev go
home and chanted slogans accusing him of being a murderer, a
dictator, and a puppet of international oil interests.
"No deals with dictators! No deals with dictators! No deals with
dictators! No deals with dictators!"
Congress imposed the sanctions against Azerbaijan because many
members believed the government in Baku had imposed a blockade
against Armenia. Azerbaijan has repeatedly denied the blockade, and
Aliev repeated that denial last night.
In Washington, the dispute over the sanctions has on one side an
influential group of Americans of Armenian descent. On the other are
powerful petroleum interests. In Monday's address, Aliev stressed
Azerbaijan's enormous wealth in natural resources, particularly
petroleum. And he emphasized his country's long history of oil
exploration and drilling. Aliev drew laughter from the audience when he
noted that the first oil well was drilled in Azerbaijan in 1848 -- three
years before the first well was drilled in the U.S.
There has been some speculation over the nature of Aliev's visit to the
U.S. He had long been expected to visit Iran in mid-February. But only
recently did his office announce that Aliev would be traveling instead
to Washington and that the trip to Iran had been postponed.
It also was believed that Aliev would go to Cleveland Clinic in the
Midwestern U.S. state of Ohio for an examination of his medical
progress after heart surgery there nearly a year ago. But Aliev's office
emphatically denied those reports. And the Azerbaijani president
appeared fit and energetic during Monday's appearance.
There also were reports from the Caucasus region that the sudden
decision to travel to Washington indicated that he might have meet with
Robert Kocharian to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh. These reports could
not be confirmed.
Copyright 2000 RFE/RL
Dashnaks End 'Historic' Congress With Alarm On Karabakh, Economy
The worldwide Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun, HHD) finished its two-week congress at the weekend, warning that recent diplomatic activities over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and a continuing economic stagnation endanger Armenia's security.
"Armenia and Artsakh (Karabakh) are confronting a diplomatic attack by great-power forces tightening their grip on the Caucasian region. The legal recognition of our national rights achieved by blood is in jeopardy," the nationalist party declared in a statement issued by its 28th "general congress" held in the resort town of Tsaghkadzor, central Armenia.
The dramatic reference was apparently to international efforts to find a solution to the Karabakh conflict that would involve concessions from both conflicting parties. Dashnaktsutyun, which is the dominant political group in Diaspora and is among Armenia's leading parties, takes a hard line on the settlement of the conflict with Azerbaijan.
The congress, held behind closed doors, proclaimed "the maintenance of the achievements of the Artsakh struggle" as one of the HHD's chief priorities, a party spokesman said on Monday. The Dashnaks have so far been ambivalent about the existing peace plan on Karabakh put forward by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and accepted in principle by the Armenian authorities.
"The socioeconomic crisis in Armenia has reached an awful scale and even threatens the national security of Armenian Statehood," the statement said. It urged the authorities and the main parties to jointly combat that threat. The center-left Dashnaktsutyun has been opposed to the policy of economic liberalization pursued by successive Armenian governments over the past decade.
For the first time in 81 years, the party's congress was held in Armenia, reflecting a marked improvement in its relationship with the government in Yerevan since the resignation of President Levon Ter-Petrossian in February 1998. Ter-Petrossian banned the party in December 1994 on the grounds that it violated Armenian law and harbored an alleged terrorist group. The party was re-legalized by the current president, Robert Kocharian, shortly after Ter-Petrossian quit. It won eight seats in the
131-member Armenia parliament in the May 1999 elections.
The statement described Dashnaktsutyun's return to mainstream politics as a "victory," with its 28th congress having a "great historic significance." The congress approved the party's strategy for the coming years, it said without giving details.
The gathering, attended by about 100 delegates from Armenia and major Diaspora communities, also "identified all those omissions and mistakes that have been made over the past four years," the party's Yerevan press office reported on Monday. But a Dashnaktsutyun spokesman, Gegham Manukian declined to elaborate.
The congress also elected a new HHD "bureau," its main pan-Armenian governing body. Only three of its nine members were reelected. The bureau has in turn chosen the Iranian-born Hrant Markarian as its "representative" whose functions are similar to that of a party chairman. Convicted of illegal arms possession in a 1997 political trial, Markarian was amnestied and released from jail by Kocharian in 1998.
Dashnaktsutyun has been regarded as Kocharian's major ally in the last two years. It spoke out against recent calls for his resignation and fresh presidential elections.
(Anna Saghabalian, Emil Danielyan)
RFe/RL: Armenian News Briefs 02/14/2000
Azeris, Armenians Wage Internet War Over Karabakh
BAKU, Feb 15, 2000 -- (Reuters) Presumed Armenian computer
hackers broke into an Internet site in neighboring Azerbaijan on
Monday in a cyberspace battle over the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Editors at the Baku daily Zerkalo said the hackers had introduced
false information into the daily's site in revenge for
cross-border "attacks" by Azeri hackers last month.
"The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh has moved
on to the Internet now that the front line is quiet," said
Zerkalo's deputy editor Nair Aliyev. He said false items had
been inserted suggesting the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
had agreed to a land swap to help settle the dispute and that
Turkey had opened its border with Armenia. Both actions would
irritate Azeri public opinion.
Last month Azeri hackers attacked two dozen Armenian websites,
including those of state television and the Armenian Assembly of
America, a lobbying group. The Azeri hackers said they wanted to
give an accurate picture of the conflict.
Fighting broke out in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1988 after the region's
ethnic Armenian majority tried to break away from Azerbaijan's
rule, when both states were still Soviet republics.
Some 35,000 people died in the war and Armenian-backed
separatists still occupy large chunks of Azerbaijan's territory.
Talks are proceeding and a shaky cease-fire remains in effect.
Many believe Armenia's greater sophistication in Internet
technology will leave them the winners in the cyberspace war.
"We need to focus on creating more sites of our own instead of
destroying Armenian sites," said Eldar Zeynalov, director of
Azerbaijan's Human Rights Center.
Some of the world's most visited websites, including Yahoo!, were
last week subjected to attacks which disrupted their service for
several hours, although the hackers never gained access to the
sites' contents. U.S. President Bill Clinton has called a
summit on Internet security for next week.
Russian government Internet sites were hit last week by hackers
who inserted death threats against Acting President Vladimir
Putin.
(C)2000 Copyright Reuters Limited
Azerbaijan, Armenia Involved In Computer War
AssA-Irada News, February 14, 2000
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:07:02 -0800 (PST)
As reported earlier, Azerbaijan hackers have
recently broken into several Armenian web-sites,
which had slandered on and insulted the dignity
of the President of Azerbaijan. The site was also
distorting historical facts and concealing the
true goals of Armenia`s aggression against
Azerbaijan. In retaliation, Armenian hackers
broke a number of Azeri sites. According to the
chairman of the "Yeni Nasil" journalist union
Arif Aliyev, almost 90% of all Azeri sites in the
Internet have been destroyed. Among particularly
damaged are the sites of "Azadlig", "Zerkalo",
Soros Foundation in Azerbaijan, as well as one of
an embassy accredited in Azerbaijan. According to
Mr. Aliyev, the parties are expected to launch
negotiations into the conflict, which seems to be
assuming enormous proportions.
All news are copied with permission from Habarlar-L
Edited on February 15, 2000
New war in cyberspace?
From February 11 (?) several Azeri sites have been hacked by Armenian hackers. The number of the sites hacked is said to be 25. Among them are Embassy of the Azerbaijan Republic in USA which falls under the jurisdiction and responsibility of US Government, prestigeous Baku newspaper "Zerkalo", official site of the National TV, and others such as www.baku-vision.com, www.azerbaijanis-congress.com, www.azdata.net, www.baku.net, www.baku.com and others.
The sites have been hacked by a group called itself "Liazor".
In the light of recent hack-atacks to the various popular sites in the Internet (such as amazon.com, Yahoo etc) this act of Armenian hackers should not be left unpunished and media should demonstrate its attitude towards this incident..
(the note is mine)
ARMENIA�S LAND-FOR-LAND PROPOSAL DOESN�T SUIT AZERI POLITICIANS
The First Deputy Chairman of AXCP, Ali Karimov reckons that the variant of changing Armenia�s
Mehri region and occupied Agdere region for Nagorno-Karabakh and a number of neighbouring Azeri
regions is out of question. Explaining his thought, Karimov said that the regions Armenia is trying to �return� to Azerbaijan are actually Azeri regions. Then it appears that Armenia is trying to acquire more lands at the expense of Azeri regions. The Deputy Chairman of the Musavat Party, Sulhaddin Akbar recommended to pay attention to the issue�s strategic importance. According to him, neither Russia, nor Iran will agree to this variant. That is to say, if Mehri is the question, then it concerns both Iran and Russia, since it is a boundary region. Saying this variant was proposed as long ago as last year, the AMIP leader Etibar Mamedov added that this case would solve the fate of the Lachin region in Armenia�s favor.
Eldaniz Veliyev
Copyright ANS
www.ans-dx.com
Edited on February 14, 2000
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS...
In an interview with Armenian National Television on 11
February, Robert Kocharian said that he and his Azerbaijani
counterpart, Heidar Aliev, have discussed "all possible
variants and questions" relating to a possible solution to
the Karabakh conflict but that over the past year they have
not yet reached agreement on a concrete formula for resolving
that issue, ITAR-TASS reported. Kocharian said if it proves
impossible to do so in direct talks, the two presidents will
solicit the help of international mediators, RFE/RL's Yerevan
bureau reported. Responding to statement one week earlier by
the Yerkrapah union of veterans of the Karabakh war warning
against a settlement that would require the withdrawal of
Armenian forces from occupied Azerbaijani territory (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 7 February 2000), Kocharian said any draft
peace settlement should be approved by the governments of
Armenia and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and
might also be submitted to a nationwide referendum in
Armenia. LF
...RULES OUT TERRITORIAL EXCHANGE.
Kocharian also said during his 11 February interview that the OSCE mediators have
proposed an exchange of territory between Armenia and
Azerbaijan as one way of resolving the Karabakh conflict but
that he rejected that proposal, Caucasus Press and RFE/RL's
Yerevan bureau reported. Such an exchange would have enabled
Yerevan to retain Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor
linking it with Armenia, while Armenia would have ceded its
southern Meghri region, which lies between Azerbaijan and the
Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhcichevan. The Yerkrapah union had
made clear its opposition to such an exchange of territory.
LF
ARMENIAN OPPOSITION DIVIDED OVER KARABAKH REFERENDUM
PROPOSAL.
The newspaper "Haykakan Zhamanak," which is
sympathetic to former President Levon Ter-Petrossian and the
Armenian Pan-National Movement, commented on 12 February that
Kocharian's referendum proposal indicates that his leadership
is not ready to accept responsibility for resolving the
Karabakh conflict. The newspaper added that a referendum
would be easier to falsify than either presidential or
parliamentary elections. On 10 February, Arshak Sadoyan of
the opposition National Democratic Union told parliamentary
deputies that it would not be "correct" to ask the Armenian
people to evaluate and approve a "highly complex" document on
resolving the conflict. But Artur Baghdasarian, leader of the
Orinats yerkir party, which is sympathetic to Kocharian,
expressed support for the idea of a referendum, reasoning
that "no one, not even the president," should take sole
responsibility for a peace settlement, Armenpres reported. LF
Copiright RFE/RL
Edited on February 13, 2000
Referendum on Karabakh problem may be held in Armenia
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN February 12
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan does not rule out the possibility of
a referendum in Armenia on ways to settle the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.
Such a referendum, he said on local TV on Friday, is "a juridically correct
method of finding out what the people think".
"We must do everything we can to find a solution to the Nagorny Karabakh
problem -- a really compromise solution, which will at the same time take
into account and guarantee our national interests," the president stated. He
also presumed that Baku and Yerevan could expect to get "substantial foreign
investments" after the Karabakh problem was settled.
Copyright 2000 ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
Azerbaijan's president to visit Washington Saturday
BAKU, Feb 10
Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev will visit Washington Saturday to
discuss with President Bill Clinton the Nagorny Karabakh conflict and the
Caspian oil pipeline project, an Azerbaijani official said.
Aliyev will also meet with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to discuss
the construction of the oil pipeline linking Baku to the Turkish port of
Ceyhan, said Vilyat Gulyev, a senior foreign ministry official.
The United States oversaw the signing November 18 of two
multi-billion-dollar accords among Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia and
Turkmenistan for the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline on the sidelines of an Istanbul
summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Albright and Aliyev last met in late January on the sidelines of the World
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where they discussed the conflict in
Nagorny Karabakh, a self-proclaimed Armenian Republic on Azerbaijani
territory.
During his one-week visit to the United States, Aliyev will also undergo
medical exams in a Cleveland clinic where he had bypass surgery in May 1991.
More than 20,OOO people have died and nearly a million were displaced after
the ethnic Armenian majority in Nagorny-Karabakh launched a rebellion in 1988.
Copyright 2000 Agence France Presse
Agence France Presse
Armenian President plans to visit Moscow, President of Azerbaijan is going to Washington.
February 11. 2000
Arman Dhilavyan
President Robert Kocharyan of Armenia is likely to arrive on a visit to
Moscow soon, reports NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA. Currently Moscow and Yerevan are
specifying the date and other details of the visit, which is due to become
an evidence "of mutual support and full mutual understanding between Armenia
and Russia."
While in the Armenian capital, Russia's Security Council Secretary, Sergei
Ivanov, stated in public that "Armenia continues to occupy principal place
among strategic allies of Russia." Armenia, for its part, regards Russia as
its foreign policy and military- strategic priority. Moreover, a similar
tendency can be noticed in the policy of the Nagorno - Karabakh Republic,
whose official spokesman went on record as saying the other day that the
year 2000 should be marked by an invigoration and strengthening of Russian -
Karabakh relations and welcomed Moscow's position on Karabakh settlement.
Indicatively, this rapid progress in Armenian - Russian relations takes
place against the background of Armenian diplomatic successes in the West.
The European community openly hints at a possibility of Armenia joining the
Council of Europe before of Azerbaijan. Of crucial importance is also a
recent statement by U.S. President Bill Clinton concerning a wide spectrum
and unshakeable foundations of Armenian - American cooperation.
Armenian foreign policy successes are causing considerable concern in
neighboring Azerbaijan, particularly in view of the almost complete
devaluation of its main foreign policy trump card, the Caspian oil factor.
Baku has decided to make a breakthrough. President Geidar Aliyev intends to
visit Washington shortly, where he will hold consultations with Bill Clinton
and Madeleine Albright on Karabakh settlement, Baku - Ceyhan pipeline, and
the persisting Congressional ban on direct U.S. aid to Azerbaijan.
Characteristically, this surge in Armenian and Azeri foreign policy activity
takes place against the background of serious differences in both nations'
relations with Iran. While Yerevan holds talks with Tehran on the building
of a gas pipeline from Iran to Armenia, Baku is witnessing yet another rise
in tensions with Iran over the latter's territory of South Azerbaijan, says
the paper in conclusion.
Copyright 2000 RUSSICA Information Inc. - RusData DiaLine
Russian Press Digest
Habarlar-L
