Archive News
October 29-November 4
Azeri Police Break up Women's Karabakh Protest
Turan in Russian
1330 GMT 30 Oct 99
Baku, 30th October: More than 60 women held a march today in protest
against the "defeatist" policy of the authorities on the issue of the
[Nagornyy] Karabakh settlement on the initiative of the Institute for
Peace and Democracy.
The march participants, who call themselves "black headscarves", tried
to march from the Taza Pir Mosque as far as Martyrs' Avenue, but they
were stopped by dozens of policemen near the Cabinet of Ministers
building. Svetlana Jalilova, a participant in the action, told Turan news
agency that the policemen insulted and humiliated them. A group of women
led by Leyla Yunusova, director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy,
was bundled into a bus and taken to police station No 9 of Sabail
district [of Baku]. According to the same source, journalists who were
filming the action were also subjected to police violence. Rashad
Karimov, cameraman of the ANS TV company, was beaten up by the policemen,
his cellular phone was broken and his shirt was torn.
Police station No 9 confirmed to Turan that a group of women, who were
"holding a rally", was really taken there and they were "being sorted
out" now. As of 1600 [1100 gmt], all the detained women had been
released.
Saida Gojamanly, head of the human rights department [of the Institute for
Peace and Democracy], who also participated in the action, told Turan
news agency that one of the participants in the action broke her leg as a
result of police violence and was in hospital at the moment.
At police station No 9, the action participants were required to give
written explanations within two hours, but the women refused to do so and
demanded lawyers. However, the lawyers were not allowed to enter the
police station. Besides that, a group of Milli Majlis deputies were not
allowed into the police station either.
One of the action participants, a famous singer, Flora Karimova, was
taken to the City Police Department, where she was required to give a
written explanation within two hours. Having failed to achieve their
goal, the policemen released the women.
Karabakh Issue 'Annoyance' to Azerbaijani President
Turan in Russian
1213 GMT 3 Nov 99
Baku, 3rd November: Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev returned from
Ankara yesterday evening. The large number of journalists waiting for him
at the airport, anxious to hear the president's views on the situation
concerning Nagornyy Karabakh, were disappointed. Asked whether a meeting
between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents would take place before
the Istanbul summit, Aliyev answered briefly: "I don't know", after which
he said "good-bye" to journalists and left.
It was clear [from Aliyev's behaviour] on the day of his departure for
Turkey and on his return that the subject of the negotiations on the
Karabakh resolution and the possibility of signing a document on this
issue during the OSCE Istanbul summit is a source of annoyance to Heydar
Aliyev.
Despite the publications and statements by opposition leaders exposing
Aliyev's readiness to sign a document that contradicts the country's
interests, the president does not consider it necessary to give
journalists and the country's citizens any explanations on this issue.
Aliyev has not yet expressed his opinion on the recent resignations of
three senior officials of his team: state foreign policy adviser [Vafa
Guluzade], foreign minister [Tofig Zulfugarov] and the head of his
secretariat [Eldar Namazov].
Copyright from Habarlar-L
AZERBAIJAN
Under pressure...
In recent weeks the government of Azerbaijan has come under tremendous pressure
from at least four sources. To navigate safely between these conflicting forces
will require every bit of political savvy the government can muster.
1) Since the start of hostilities in Chechnya, Russia has intensified its
pressure on Azerbaijan. Russian military and political spokespersons have
repeatedly charged Azerbaijan with aiding and abetting terrorists without
producing a shred of evidence. The Russian ambassador, Aleksander Blokhin,
publicly chastised the Azeri cleric, Allahshukur Pashazade, who had protested
vehemently and publicly against the Russian policies in Chechnya. Blokhin is
also widely seen as responsible for the resignation of Vafa Guluzade, a key
former foreign policy aide who in the Spring called publicly for Azerbaijan's
accession to NATO. (AZERBAIJAN BULLETIN, 26 Oct 99) Many interpret Guluzade's
resignation as a sign that President Geidar Aliev wished to distance himself
from the most outspoken critic of Russia to placate growing Russian demands.
2) The United States launched a new bout of shuttle diplomacy to reach a
framework agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh by the Istanbul summit of the OSCE -- or
in two weeks time. Previous to the Talbott, Sestanovich, and Cavanaugh mission
which descended on Baku on 26 October, MMadeleine Albright had written to Aliev
to specify that the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh must be permitted to
participate as a side to the negotiations. Azerbaijan has resisted making this
concession for several years and prefers to negotiate with one Armenian party,
rather than two.
Although the terms of the agreement are secret, some details have leaked to the
media. While defending the plan in a debate with a Dashnak representative, the
Armenian foreign minister, Vartan Oskanian, let slip that under the deal
"Nagorno-Karabakh is not fixed as part of Azerbaijan." The enclave would have
certain features of an independent state including an army, currency and
constitution. (RFE/RL PRESS REVIEW, 27 Oct 99; via Turkistan Newsletter) At a
24 October meeting, on the eve of the arrival of the high-level US state
department delegation, two members of the Azerbaijani Security Council tendered
their resignations. Foreign Minister Tofig Zulfugarov and Nagorno-Karabakh aide
Eldar Namazov resigned, citing their opposition to the Karabakh settlement.
(AZERBAIJAN BULLETIN, 26 Oct 99)
3) Aliev's domestic opposition has protested the US-brokered Karabakh initiative
with vigor, summoning the largest ever demonstrations in the capital. The
opposition, composed of several political parties, has proposed an entirely
unrealistic set of guidelines for the Karabakh talks and has touted the idea of
setting up a popular resistance movement. (Jamestown Foundation FORTNIGHT IN
REVIEW, 22 Oct 99)
4) Since the Summer, Iran has been promoting Mahir Javadov, a former member of
the Azerbaijani interior ministry who fled the country after an unsuccessful
coup attempt in 1995. (AZERBAIJAN DEMOCRACY MONITOR, Oct 99) With Aliev's
health declining, Iran fears that the president may be replaced by members of
the opposition, such as Abulfaz Elchibey, who openly advocate an aggressive
approach to "reunion" with the Azeris living on the Iranian side of the border.
Hence, Iran is creating a military bloc and a puppet it can insert if the
situation in Azerbaijan worsens.
by Miriam Lanskoy
Copyright from HABARLAR-L
AZERBAIJAN'S OPPOSITION DEMANDS CLARIFICATION OF KARABAKH NEGOTIATING STANCE.
Members of the opposition parliamentaryDemocratic
Bloc called on parliamentary speaker Murtuz
Alesqerov on 2 November to answer questions related to the
ongoing negotiations with Armenia on a settlement of the
Karabakh conflict, Turan reported. Those questions include
which precise concessions the Azerbaijani leadership is
prepared to make; whether the degree of self-government given
to Nagorno-Karabakh includes the right to a separate
constitution, legal system, and national army; whether the
peace agreement under discussion provides for the return of
displaced persons to Shusha, Lachin, and Kelbadjar; and
whether the Azerbaijani leadership has taken into
consideration the possibility that concessions could spark
massive protests among the country's population.
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT NAMES NEW PREMIER...
Robert Kocharian on 3 November appointed Aram Sargsian to succeed his murdered
elder brother, Vazgen, as prime minister, RFE/RL's Yerevan
bureau reported. Sargsian's candidacy was proposed by the
majority Miasnutiun parliamentary faction, one of whose
leaders, Andranik Markarian, said there will be no changes in
Armenia's economic policy or its approach to resolving the
Karabakh conflict. Sargsian, who is 38, is a construction
engineer who, like his brother, fought as a volunteer in
Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s. Since 1993, he has been
employed at the Ararat cement plant and became its director
in 1998, according to Noyan Tapan. A member of the Republican
Party, Sargsian was elected a deputy to the parliament in May
but has no other political experience.
Copyright (c) 1999. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the
permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
http://www.rferl.org
From: "Vugar Seidov"
To: habarlar-l
Subject: TURAN news
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999 09:44:19 MET-1MEST
DEFENSE AND SECURITY: ALIYEV HAS MADE A SEPARATIST PEACE WITH ARMENIA, OPPOSITION LEADER SAYS
November 3, 1999, Wednesday
SOURCE: TURAN news agency (Baku),
October 30, 1999
Heidar Aliyev have his consent to omitting even a mention of
oterritorial integrityoe of Azerbaijan in the future peace agreement
with Armenia. Neither will the document bring up the matter of
liberation of the Lachin and Shusha districts. The document will
comprise two parts. The first one will be dedicated to the status of
Nagorno-Karabakh, the second will address an end to the end of the
armed conflict. This sensational statement was made today by Etibar
Mamedov, leader of the Party of National Independence, at the sixth
congress of the party. He says that in accordance with the document,
the status of Nagorno-Karabakh as defined by the agreement owill not
be subject to amendment in future.oe The document also specifies that a
security zone will be established on the territory of the Megri
district of Armenia along the railroad and that the Baku-Dzheikhan
pipeline will run along this zone to Nakhichevan and on to Turkey.
During one of his meetings with Armenian President Robert Kocharjan,
Aliyev promised to give Nagorno-Karabakh such a status as could be
equal to sovereignty, Mamedov says. Official Baku intends to present
all of it as giving autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh and thus scoring a
major victory. According to Mamedov, Azerbaijani authorities already
began preparations for the celebration. Along with that, Aliyev will
proclaim the reunification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Azerbaijan.
In return for the agreement, some advanced countries promised their
assistance to AliyevAEs regime. In order to prevent it from happening,
Mamedov urges all of Azerbaijan and all political forces to close
their ranks and fight this turn of events.
Copyright Habarlar-L.