Archive News
Edited on December 30, 1999-January 7, 2000
PROTEST ACTIONS TO BEGIN IN AZERBAIJAN
On January 5 2000, the Coordination Council on Karabakh conducted a press
conference. There was listened the report of the Council on the results of
last year. The participants of the conference have also discussed the
mission program of the Council for 2000.
There was spoken on the efforts of the Council for organizing a peaceful
rally to Karabakh three times during the last year and the hunger strike
that was held with the demands of releasing the occupied territories from
Armenians according to the four resolutions of the UNO.
The members of the Council stated that they have already begun a campaign
of collecting signatures over 1 million for presenting to the UNO for the
settlement of the Karabakh problem. The Council will continue its activity
towards forming Karabakh Commission at the Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan, and
protest any capitulating contract on Karabakh conflict.
The Council has also spread its statement on the polls in connection with
the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan that was held at the High Assembly
of the UNO at the conference. The statement says that, "The Coordination
Council on Karabakh claims to show an attitude to the decision passed by
the UNO and its results at a level of government circles, as well as
president. Otherwise, the Council will conduct protest actions in front of
the president`s office".
Restoration works on the territories liberated from occupation are going on
Baku. 06.01.2000 /AzadInform/.For 1999 in some liberated regions of Azerbaijan
there were carried out restoration works at the expense of the European Union
grant (within the projects over restoration of liberated territories and
extraordinary situations), Adil Zeynalov, manager of the Agency for Restoration
and Re-building of Territories, said.
In Agdam 11 secondary schools, assumed for 5 thousand pupils had been already
re-built. Total volume of expenditures made up $ 1 million
Along with this in Agdam territories liberated from Armenia's occupation there
were commissioned about 90 water wells (45 irrigation wells and 45 -drink water
wells). It was installed from Imishli to Agdam electric line with length of 80
km and capacity of 110 kV. The Azerbaijani government allocated some means and
cables $1 million worth for laying the electric line.
European Union expended 4 million ECU for carrying out of these restoration
works.
Ex-Azeri presidential aide urges strong army to recover lost territories
Posted Tuesday, January 04, 19100 - 16:23
GMT by News Editor
[Question] To what extent can the [Nagornyy Karabakh]
conflict be resolved by force?
[Namazov] There is no doubt that both military and
political factors should be employed and Azerbaijan should
definitely create one of the strongest armies in the
region. We are obliged to create such an army in view of
all the processes under way in the region. Such an army
could be a decisive factor in the peaceful resolution of
the Karabakh issue.
In general, we should divide the Karabakh issue into stages
in discussing it. Nagornyy Karabakh is one thing while the
occupied surrounding districts is another matter. The
international community might disagree with us if we subdue
Nagornyy Karabakh. However, nobody will protest if we
liberate other occupied territories which are not inhabited
by civilians. Azerbaijan has both the moral right and the
right under international law to do so. UN Security
Council resolutions even demand it. A question may arise
here: if the Karabakh conflict is resolved by peaceful
means and low Karabakh is also liberated, why should force
be applied and martyrs be sacrificed? The point is that
the occupied territories are vital for the Armenians as a
bargaining counter. In return, they want to obtain
independence for Nagornyy Karabakh. The Armenians have two
important factors to use against us: a strong army and the
territories occupied by that army. We can deprive Armenia
of these two factors by creating a strong army which will
in turn lead to a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh
problem. We could then easily tackle the status issue.
However, the Armenians do not want to give up the
"independence instead of territory" formula. The Armenians
will only give up this idea when they understand that their
army is unable to protect them.
I am not a fervent supporter of war. But I understand that
the Armenians will agree to sign a peace agreement in
accordance with the norms of international law when we have
an efficient army and the strong resolve to liberate our
lands.
Source: 'Azadlyg', Baku
Azerbaijani president believes Karabakh will be resolved in year 2000
Posted Tuesday, January 04, 19100 - 16:20 GMT by
News Editor
In an interview with Azerbaijani TV station ANS,
Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev has spoken of his hopes
for the year 2000. He says he believes that an end will be
brought to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict this year.
Although the ethnic enmity between Azerbaijan and Armenia
is deep, he thinks that after an agreement has been reached
over Karabakh, after some time has lapsed, peace will
develop with Armenia as well.
Azeri party member favours compromises in Nagornyy Karabakh settlement
Posted Thursday, December 30, 1999 - 09:14 GMT
by News Editor
Text of article entitled "Is Lachin being exchanged for
Mehri?" with subhead "Both territories proposed to be
exchanged belong to Azerbaijan" published by Azerbaijani
newspaper `Azadlyg' on 28th December
Board member of the [ruling] New Azerbaijan Party, deputy
M. Gurbanly, has told an Azadinform correspondent about
talks under way concerning the exchange of the Lachin and
Mehri corridors on the way to resolving the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem. In his opinion, meeting halfway is the
basis of all of the options being discussed. The deputy
said that there was not enough information about the
details of the compromises and he assumes that it will not
be possible to settle the conflict without compromises.
"If an equals sign is put between the Lachin and Mehri
corridors, then this should be treated as positive," says
M. Gurbanly and noted the possibility of preserving a
connection with Nakhichevan via land by obtaining the Mehri
corridor. M. Gurbanly, who says that "discussions over
the exchange of the corridors are periodically brought to
the public's attention via the media", prefers to leave it
to time to show what compromise will be obtained from the
confidential nature of the talks. The deputy also stressed
that in the final result the compromise peace option will
show itself more clearly.
Source: 'Azadlyg', Baku, in Azeri 28 Dec 99 p3
Azeri TV station: OSCE will resolve Karabakh conflict when pigs learn to fly
Posted Thursday, December 30, 1999 -
09:13 GMT by News Editor
[Presenter in studio] The Chechen war has seriously damaged
relations between Russia and the USA and the Western
countries. Taking into account the fact that Russia, the
USA and France are the cochairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,
under these conditions to what extent is it realistic to
have high hopes that the OSCE Minsk Group's proposal on the
[Nagornyy] Karabakh problem will be acceptable for
Azerbaijan?
[Passage omitted: correspondent over video report showing
the OSCE Istanbul summit, reports about the background to
the conflict]
[Correspondent] Who is more active in the OSCE Minsk Group?
[Former State Foreign Policy Adviser and current
independent political scientist, Vafa Guluzade; voice] The
most active and the most professional one is Russia's
Foreign Ministry. Russia's Foreign Ministry prepared and
put forward the first and second proposals and also the
common state principle. I would like to reveal Russia's
relations with the other cochairs. I have never said that
before, but now I can say it. Russia has always told the
cochairs that the situation is that Azerbaijan has lost the
war. Azerbaijan's territory has been occupied. One cannot
fight the Armenians. The Armenians will not leave from
there. Given that the Armenians are not leaving from
there, the Azerbaijanis must make such concessions which
could lead to peace. And the proposals really reflect
those concessions. However, I regard all this as a trap.
Because if Azerbaijan agrees to these proposals, this will
disrupt internal stability in Azerbaijan. In that case,
Azerbaijan cannot agree to them. Armenia, in turn, cannot
achieve this. The cochairs have signed this because they
have no other alternative and they cannot influence Russia
either in this political situation and at this stage.
[Correspondent over video report] One can come to the
conclusion that hoping that the Nagornyy Karabakh problem
can be resolved within the OSCE Minsk Group is something
like hoping that pigs will fly. But still pigs will not
fly.
Source: ANS TV, Baku, in Azeri 1730 gmt 27 Dec 99
Two Armenian citizens released from Azeri captivity
Posted Thursday, December 30, 1999 - 09:12 GMT by News Editor
Yerevan, 28th December: In response to the goodwill
expressed by the Armenian leadership, the Azerbaijani
authorities have released two Armenian citizens.
The Armenian National Security Ministry informed Snark news
agency that the handover took place on 25th December this
year on a stretch of the Red Bridge, on the junction of the
borders of the three Transcaucasus states, under the aegis
and with the participation of the personal representative
of the acting OSCE chairman, Andrzej Kasprzyk.
The two released are Ishkhan Moskovich Mamoyan born in
1977, inhabitant of Aygeshat village of Armavir region,
arrested in August 1999, and Vachik Kolikovich Chobanyan
born in 1975, inhabitant of Nerkin Karmirakhbyur village of
Tavush region, arrested early in December 1999 on the
territory of Azerbaijan. Both are civilians.
Source: Snark news agency, Yerevan, in Russian 1700 gmt 28
Dec 99
Azeri Foreign Ministry condemns Armenia for violation of
territorial integrity Posted Wednesday, December 29, 1999 -
10:12 GMT by News Editor
[Presenter in studio] The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry
today issued a statement. The statement says that the
Armenian government has adopted a programme ensuring
Armenia's seismic protection for 30 years.
The programme envisages the opening of 150 seismic stations
throughout Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh.
In this connection, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry states
that the attempt of Armenia to open seismic stations on the
territory of Nagornyy Karabakh is the latest crude
violation of the territorial integrity of the Azerbaijani
Republic and can be assessed as an intervention in
Azerbaijan's internal affairs.
The statement also says that the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry has never recognized and will never recognize the
independence of Nagornyy Karabakh. Azerbaijan's Foreign
Ministry condemns these illegal actions and informs the
international community about this latest illegal action by
Armenia on the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, the
Foreign Ministry statement says. Source: ANS TV, Baku, in
Russian 1600 gmt 27 Dec 99
Azeri official does not rule out territorial swaps with
Armenia Posted Wednesday, December 29, 1999 - 10:07 GMT by
News Editor
Text of report by Azerbaijani newspaper '525 gazet' on 24th
December entitled "The Lachin corridor to be handed over to
Armenians"
[Subhead] Reiterating the idea of the importance of
compromises to resolve the conflict, Novruz Mammadov, head
of the foreign relations department of the Presidential
Executive Staff, calls this option "logical".
Some time ago, the suggestion by Paul Goble, former US
Central Intelligence Agency expert, on the model of a
"territorial swap" to tackle the Karabakh problem was not
accepted unambiguously in Azerbaijan. We should remind you
that Goble had suggested swapping "transport corridors" -
the Megri corridor that will link Azerbaijan with
Nakhichevan and the Lachin corridor that will link Armenia
with Nagornyy Karabakh. Representatives of the Azerbaijani
opposition criticized Goble's suggestion and said that this
suggestion did not meet Azerbaijan's interests.
But it seems that official Baku is gradually tending
towards this development of events. Several days ago,
Nizami Bahmanov, leader of the Azerbaijani community of
Nagornyy Karabakh, did not rule out that the Lachin
corridor would link Karabakh with Armenia and that this
"did not pose any threat to Lachin District".
Other state officials have now made a similar statement.
In a conversation with a Caspian news agency correspondent,
Novruz Mammadov, head of the foreign relations department
of the Presidential Executive Staff, "did not rule out that
the Lachin corridor would be handed over to Armenia in
return for the Megri corridor". In the opinion of
Mammadov, who reiterated the idea of the importance of
compromises to resolve the conflict, "such an option would
be logical".
Source: `525 gazet', Baku, in Azeri 24 Dec 99 p4
Azerbaijan must always be ready for war, opposition party leader tells paper
Posted Wednesday, December 29, 1999 -
10:07 GMT by News Editor
The leader of the Party for National Independence of
Azerbaijan, Etibar Mammadov, has given an interview to the
weekly Azerbaijani English-language newspaper 'The Azeri
Times' which was published on 23rd December. Mammadov told
the paper that his party boycotted the recent municipal
elections because it felt the processes of selecting the
electoral commissions and registering candidates were
flawed. However, many members of the party did stand as
independent candidates and the government even encouraged
them to stand. On the Karabakh issue, Mammadov said that
Azerbaijan's territorial integrity must be preserved and
that international organizations should put pressure on
Armenia, "the aggressor". If this does not happen, the
country must be ready for war, Mammadov said.
The following is the part of the text of the article from
'The Azeri Times'by Tim Wall entitled "Etibar Mammadov:
the history man"
[Subhead] The Karabakh question
No interview with a political figure in Azerbaijan would be
complete without tackling the sensitive subject of
Karabakh, so I asked Etibar how he thought the Azerbaijani
government should try to resolve the problem. "First of
all it should resolve this issue in accordance with
Azerbaijan's interests - without violation of Azerbaijan's
territorial integrity." When asked if he thought
Azerbaijan could do this - regain all the occupied
territories - the PNIA chairman replied: "It depends by
what is understood by peaceful means. If there are
territories occupied as a result of war, it means there was
a military aggressor, and leverage should be used to make
the aggressor make peace. International organizations
should put pressure on the aggressor to resolve the
conflict by peaceful means. Now Azerbaijan is demanded to
sign a peace agreement, but we can only sign it provided
Azerbaijan accepts the terms of the aggressor, that is to
say, give the occupied lands to Armenia. And if Azerbaijan
agrees to sign this defeatist peace agreement, there's no
need for international organizations' support and
assistance we, Azerbaijan and Armenia, can do that on our
own."
As negotiations involving these organizations currently
seem to have stalled, I asked Etibar if he thought there
had been signs of pressure on Armenia from the OSCE Minsk
Group or the United States. "None at all," was the reply.
However, in the absence of any support from the
international community, Etibar felt that Azerbaijan had no
option but to "prepare to defend our territorial integrity.
If there's no international pressure on Armenia, they might
occupy more Azerbaijani territory. That's why we must
always be ready for war."
I put it to Mr Mammadov that the issue of Karabakh was not
widely known about in Western countries, but he replied,
"Politicians know. The people in Western countries don't
know - there's no need for them to. All three [co]chairmen
of the OSCE [Minsk Group] are from countries who support
Armenia - France, Russia and the United States. Russia has
been a military ally of Armenia for centuries and the
Armenian diaspora in France and USA has great resources.
In the USA there are a million Armenian voters, and the
government needs their votes. As a result of this conflict
the USA has applied sanctions not against the aggressor,
but against Azerbaijan. For this reason its impossible to
expect any fair proposal from the OSCE Minsk group."
I asked Mr Mammadov if it wasn't more realistic, as some
people take the view, to make a compromise deal over
Karabakh to help the Azerbaijani economy, but he was quite
adamant that this was unnecessary: "There's no need to
compromise, to sell out Karabakh, for the sake of the
economy. Without doing this it's possible to improve the
economic situation." Etibar then asked me if I was
English, and I said yes. "Why don't you give back Northern
Ireland to the Irish?" he said. While I was struggling to
find an answer to this prickly question (the interviewer is
seldom ready to answer questions under the spotlight
himself), Etibar continued: "Why doesn't France give back
Corsica to Italy, or Russia give up Chechnya?" In the end
I thought it politic not to get involved in a discussion,
but it seemed a strange analogy to me. After all, the
problem that Azerbaijan faces is how to regain the land it
has had taken from it, not to relinquish it as in two of
the three countries he had mentioned.
Source: The Azeri Times, Baku, in English 23 Dec 99 p5
Paper reports Azeri folk songs distributed in Russia as
Armenian
Posted Thursday, December 30, 1999 - 10:26 GMT by
News Editor
Cassettes of Azerbaijani music by living and dead
songwriters are being distributed in Russia as if they are
Armenian songs, according to a report in the Azerbaijani
newspaper 'Zerkalo' on 29th December. They are labelled
with the name of an Armenian manufacturer, but the Russian
authorities deny any knowledge of this record company, so
presumably the tapes are pirated, the paper says. The
distribution of these tapes is an insult to Azerbaijani
national culture and a violation of copyright laws, and the
Azerbaijani authorities are attempting to remove the
cassettes from the Russian market. The following is an
excerpt from report in 'Zerkalo' by J. Ibrahimova entitled
"Now music is being stolen as well"
[Subhead] They are trying to introduce Azerbaijani music to
the Russian market as purely Armenian
Expansion does not necessarily have to be territorial.
That is nothing new, of course, otherwise, the joke of the
Club of the Joyful and Quick-Witted [comedy troupe] that
"Suliko [Georgian people's song] is an ancient Armenian
song" would not have appeared. But now there is quite
material, one can say, evidence. Popular melodies of
Azerbaijani folklore, as well as works of living musicians
are actively being distributed on the Russian market
nowadays. No less than 14 cassettes were recently
delivered to Baku as indisputable evidence.
In order to clarify the situation we addressed Kamran
Imanov, chairman of the republican copyright agency. This
is what he told us. The typical feature of this new
intellectual expansion is the fact that none of the
cassettes indicate the authors of the musical works, they
only name their performers. The second feature of these
audio products is the practically identical name for all
the tapes, in which the expressions "Armenian performer",
"Armenian dances", "Armenian music" and so on are certainly
figuring. Furthermore, every cassette has a special
supplementary sheet which literally says the following:
"Dear friend! By buying this tape, you will make a huge
contribution to the cause of preserving Armenian culture
outside Armenia. The music that Ani-Records offers is
thoroughly selected in all the spheres of Armenian musical
culture."
In Imanov's opinion, the purpose is not only to present
this music as Armenian, but also to fasten it to their
national culture. This insolent inscription is followed by
another one.
"This cassette has been released under a mutual agreement
with KK-Records Studio, Yerevan. All rights are reserved.
Unauthorized duplication, copying and public broadcasting
are prohibited and prosecuted under the laws of the Russian
Federation."
In this way, the impression is being given that there is a
certain firm which refers to Russian legislation and acts
as a legal entity on Russian territory. In Imanov's
opinion, this is aimed at creating a legal background for
illegal actions and, in addition, under the cover of
Russian legislation.
With this material in their hands, the Azerbaijanis could
not stay away and decided to sort this story out. A
special committee was set up at the initiative of the
copyright agency and in accordance with an agreement with
the Ministry of Culture and relevant creative unions. It
includes composer-songwriters: Eldar Mansurov, Javanshir
Guliyev and folklore experts. As a result, the experts
discovered outrageous facts. The tapes contain obviously
Azerbaijani songs, which are protected by copyright law,
and numerous local folklore melodies. The latter have been
either completely borrowed or contain individual elements
of the Azerbaijani people's musical works. They are all
presented as Armenian.
Since we had the impression that the tapes were released by
a legal entity on Russian territory, the Azerbaijanis
contacted the Russian copyright society. It was found out
that they knew nothing about the Ani-Records firm. This
studio was unheard of in the Russian phonographic
association as well, which is why we can suppose that these
pirate audio products may have been manufactured in Armenia
and subsequently thrown onto the Russian market.
Imanov said that if this really is the case, then it is not
only an infringement of copyright and enmity towards our
cultural legacy, but also the output of backstreet
products, from the point of view of copyright.
The further actions by the Azerbaijanis were the following.
The international organization IFPI, which deals with the
rights of phonogram manufacturers, was notified. The aim
that the republican copyright agency has set itself is to
achieve the withdrawal of these products from the Russian
market. Azerbaijan is hoping for the help of relevant
Russian agencies.
[Passage omitted: Bolivia was the first to address UNESCO
in connection with its folklore rights. About UNESCO's
work in this sphere]
Source: 'Zerkalo', Baku, in Russian 28 Dec 99 pp1,2
Azeri paper: Armenians prospecting for gold in Azeri territories they occupy
Posted Thursday, December 30, 1999
- 10:25 GMT by News Editor
Excerpts from report by Azerbaijani newspaper 'Azadlyg' on
29th December entitled "Armenia exports Azerbaijan's gold"
[Subhead] Yerevan's supporters invested 1m dollars in our
occupied territories in one month while the company that
signed a contract with the Baku government has not spent
even a penny in two-and-a-half years
The Azergyzyl [Azeri gold] state company and the US company
RV Investment signed a production-sharing agreement on
joint development of nonferrous metal deposits in Kelbajar,
Gadabay, Tovuz, Zangilan and Ordubad Districts of
Azerbaijan on 21st August 1997. After two-and-a-half years
the contract has become a subject of discussions in
government circles. [Passage omitted: RV Investment did
not meet its obligations under the contract although back
in 1997 the company said it planned to attract other
foreign companies into the project]
The director of the State Nonferrous and Precious Metals
Scientific Research Institute, Vasif Khalilzade, accused
the US company of delaying the project's implementation and
proposed repealing the contract. He said that another US
company, namely Global Gold, had allocated 1m dollars for
purchasing technological samples of waste of the Armenian
gold processing plant in mid-1997 under a protocol of
intent.
The president of Azergyzyl, Mirhamid Mammadov, denies
Khalilzade's story, saying that the Azerbaijanis do not
intend to repeal the contract with RV Investment. Mammadov
told Turan news agency that the US company submitted to
Azergyzyl a letter of guarantee from well-known banks
(French Credit Commercial Bank and Australia National Bank)
three months ago.
One of the main and perhaps the only main reason for
signing the contract was the fact that Armenia was holding
talks with foreign companies about the exploitation of gold
deposits in the occupied territories. Armenia offered the
gold deposits in Kelbajar and Zangilan Districts [of
Azerbaijan] to the US company Global Gold but received no
positive reply, because the agreement about the Zod gold
deposit bordering with Kelbajar and the establishment of
the Gold Armenia shareholding company created many problems
for Gobal Gold.
The Armenians carried out intensive talks with the FD
Canadian company in mid-1997 for the development of gold
deposits in Kelbajar and Zangilan Districts. Outsripping
Armenia in this issue, the Azerbaijani government inserted
the Vazhnali deposit in Zangilan and the Soyudlu and
Gyzylbulag deposits in Kelbajar into the contract with RV
Investment. But later Armenia managed to conclude a deal
on these deposits' development with the Canadian
company.[Passage omitted: An unofficial term of the gold
contract was that RV Investment was to spoil Armenia's deal
with the FD Canadian company.]
Since then, RV Investment has not managed to implement the
conditions and it has not managed to prevent the
exploitation of Azerbaijan's deposits by Armenia. It is
interesting that work has not advanced farther than the
plans the US company announced when it was in Baku.
Pay attention to the fact that the Global Gold company has
invested 1m dollars in Armenia in a month only under the
protocol of intent, while the company which the
Azerbaijanis stuck to has not so far spent a penny in
two-and-a-half years.
[Passage to end omitted: The government does nothing about
this. Azerbaijani State Economic Policy Adviser Bahid
Akhundov told reporters two years ago that the gold
contract would start working only when the occupied
territories are liberated. But the paper does not believe
that there will be gold in these deposits.]
Source: 'Azadlyg', Baku, in Azeri 29 Dec 99 p10
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