NKR STATE BUDGET TAX INCOMES EXCEEDED PLANNED INDICES

‘’The considerable growth of cash receipts to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic state budget has been mainly provided at the expense of the growth of the tax incomes – Value Added Tax, profit tax, income tax, trade tax, fixed tolls’’, the Head of the State Tax Department under the Nagorno-Karabakh government Hakop Kagramanian stated in an interview with Azat Artsakh newspaper, REGNUM Information Agency reports.
In his words, the fact that the VAT has increased by 85, 1 % as compared with the last year is conditioned by the growth of GDP, tax income, while the growth of the trade tax – by strengthening the control: as a result of the inspections 400 millions additional tax obligations were proposed. In 2006 the state budget’s tax incomes exceeded the planned indices by 783 millions 850 thousand drams.
No drastic changes have been provided in the tax policy current year.

Goran Lennmarker strongly believes Karabakh issue will be solved in 2007

08.02.2007 17:25

YEREVAN (YERKIR) - “I strongly believe the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be solved till the end of this year,” stated OSCE PA reporter on Nagorno Karabakh Goran Lennmarker in Baku, PanARMENIAN.Net reported.

He underlined it is important to reach peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia as soon as possible. “I think peace is possible between the sides after parliamentary elections in Armenia scheduled for May 12 this year. We are in favor of not allowing to increase the graves even by one in the Avenue of Shahids,” stressed the PA chairman.

In his opinion, “now the foreign ministers of both countries must solve the issue of co-existence of people in Nagorno Karabakh.” “We must take into account the fact that Azerbaijan and Armenia are neighboring countries. I think the two nations will realize the importance of reaching an agreement,” told G. Lennmarker, Azeri Media reports.

Baku declares possibility to stop Karabakh talks

Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov labeled as “a step back” the meeting between Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers Vartan Oskanian and Elmar Mamedyarov held in Moscow at the end of January in the framework of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.

He stated that “in the result of a very tough position of Armenian Foreign Minister ha cannot predict the future developments of the process.” “Vartan Oskanian presented some positions, which return us to the past. We categorically rejected those statements. Among those also were the return of Azeri refugees to their home and use of the road through Lachin corridor. I want to inform the Armenian side, that if we do not keep on the talks on the principles, which were being discussed during the last two years, perhaps, the continuation of negotiations will be useless and it will not be right to expect any results,” he underlined.

The Armenian Plenipotentiary on the Nagorno Karabakh negotiations also underscored that currently the OSCE MG Co-Chairs offer to hold one more meeting between Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers. Azimov stated that principally, the Azeri side can accept Co-Chairs’ offer to meet. “But if such a meeting supposes like the one in Moscow, we think that it is useless,” he added, Bakililar.AZ reports. - PanARMENIAN.Net

Aliyev makes 'shocking' statements on Karabakh from time to time

14.02.2007 15:59

YEREVAN (YERKIR) - “Till recently the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan preferred to avoid sharp statements that can provoke greater tension between the republics.

The silence was broken by Ilham Aliyev who did not rule out resumption of hostilities against Armenia is the Karabakh conflict is not settled. Moreover, he voiced assurance that Azerbaijan will gain a victory in the “second stage of the war,” says Moskovskie Novosti newspaper, PanARMENIAN.Net reported.

According to the authors, Aliyev from time to time makes “shocking” statements on Karabakh. “Azerbaijan that was actually defeated by Armenia craves to win the ongoing information war, realizing that the Karabakh problem will not be settled in the near future. Baku rattles sabers against the background of cooling relations with Moscow that keeps on strengthening ties with Armenia. Over a number of reasons Azerbaijan is not interested in complete breakup with Russia. The matter first of all concerns Baku’s possible participation in the North-South project.

The only negative point here is the discontent of Washington which tries to gain revenge playing on the complex relationship between the South Caucasian states and Russia. It’s another matter that some lobbyists in the U.S. hamper implementation of the railway project meant to connect Turkey and Azerbaijan through Georgia. If the Kars-Akhlkalaki-Baku project is implemented Armenia will face severe economic blockage. Obviously, the construction plans conflict with Russia’s interests as well,” says the article titled “The Transcaucasian armwrestling.”

Azeri leader does not exclude war for Nagorno Karabakh

BERLIN, February 16 (Itar-Tass):

Aliyev: "We can not wait for a solution"

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said they can not wait forever for a solution in Nagro Karabagh and that their patience has limits. Aliyev has given a conference held by German Konrad Adanauer Foundation in Berlin where he talked about developments in his country.

Mentioning the Nagro Karabagh problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Aliyev said: "We can not wait forever for a solution, we are showing intense diplomatic efforts but at the same time we are solidifying our army. This is not a secret. The budget we allocate for our army equals the total budget of Armenia and we are planning to increase it in the near future."

IWPR Caucasus Reporting Service

Karabakh Rebuilds Schools

Diaspora charities are helping in the reconstruction of the education system.

By Ashot Beglarian in Nigi (CRS No. 382 08-Mar-07)
Nagorny Karabakh has always been proud of its education system, with many Karabakhis from humble backgrounds going on to achieve intellectual excellence in other places.

Schools managed to continue working during the war of 1991-94 but the conflict severely damaged the schools of Karabakh, with many destroyed in the fighting.

In the last year both the government of the unrecognised republic and Armenian charitable organisations have stepped up efforts to help the struggling school system.
The government increased its education budget by around a fifth for this year to five billion drams [around 14 million US dollars], while far-flung Diaspora charities have made a crucial difference.

And the money is badly needed, especially in the villages outside the capital, Stepanakert, where the situation is particularly hard. A total of 206 of the republic’s 238 schools lie in the regions, but only half the 21,000 pupils study there, with the other half going to schools in Stepanakert.

The small village of Nigi, with a population of just 327, is an ancient settlement in the south of the republic. The village is surrounded by wooded hills on three sides and has a fine healthy climate. But the local secondary school is in bad shape.

It’s a two-storey structure that looks like a temporary shelter, but was actually built in 1931. On the first floor is a gym that does not function, because the floors are rotten and the plaster is peeling off the walls – meaning that the children play chess or drafts instead of doing physical education. There is no science laboratory, no library, a lack of textbooks and only one working computer.

”Just about every year we make running repairs,” said headmistress Nelli Grigorian. ”But the building needs a complete overhaul. In fact we need a whole new school building.”

There are 54 pupils, with the largest class having just 12 children in it and the first and second classes studying together. There are 17 teachers, many of them part-time, but a lack of qualified specialists. English teacher Nanar Gasparian comes from Stepanakert, 20 kilometres away, to give lessons and gets paid 50,000 drams [about 140 dollars] a month, of which she spends 10,000 drams on transport.

Given the situation, there are no outstanding students in Nigi. Grigorian said that the state of the school had a negative impact on its pupils and on the village as a whole, which already lives under the threat of landslides that threaten all its buildings and could mean Nigi will have to be relocated.

The secondary school in Khramort in eastern Karabakh is in a much better situation, in large part thanks to charitable support from the Armenians of far-off Argentina.

Most of the buildings in the village, including its school, were destroyed by artillery shells fired from the Azerbaijani town of Aghdam during the war, but a lot of rebuilding work has been done since then.

”After the war the pupil’s section of the school was restored, thanks to money collected by the Armenian community in Argentina,” said headmaster Armo Mkrtchian. ”This year the rest of the school and the gym will be restored with state funding.”

Khramort has a much larger younger population than Nigi and also has a kindergarten with 25 children in it. There are jobs here and little emigration – in fact people are returning to the village – something Karabakh president Arkady Gukasian is actively encouraging. ”We have two objectives – for Karabakhis to live in Karabakh and for villagers to live in the villages,” he said. ”Because the best traditions are preserved in the villages,” he said on a visit to the village of Norashen last year.

To encourage villagers home, several dozen schools throughout Karabakh have been rebuilt in recent years, and schools have been re-equipped, though more expensive items such as lab equipment and computers are still a luxury for most schools.

Charitable support is helping a mass re-equipment programme. More than five thousand students from four Armenian universities are involved in a programme which has equipped the villages of Karabakh with more than 12,000 books. The French charity Shen plans to supply 400 computers to villages in Karabakh.

Shen is also involved in perhaps the most important work – giving support and training to Karabakh’s hard-pressed teachers.

More than 82 per cent of schoolteachers of Karabakh are women. The profession is still low-paid, with teachers getting around 150-160 dollars a month. This means that there is still a constant deficit of people willing to go into the profession.

The education ministry is embarking on its own reform programme to re-train teachers in line with international standards and to overhaul the structure of the school system. That includes the transition of schools to a 12-class system, with children starting at six rather than seven in a preparatory year.

”Any closed system is doomed to die out,” education minister Kamo Atayan told a press conference last year.

Ashot Beglarian is an IWPR contributor and freelance journalist in Nagorny Karabakh.

IWPR Caucasus Reporting Service

“AZERBAIJAN HAS TO NEGOTIATE WITH NKR”

[09:24 pm] 12 March, 2007
image

“Azerbaijan will have to negotiate with NKR if they want to see the Karabakh conflict regulated; Azerbaijan has no way out”, Arkadi Ghoukasyan, President of NKR told the journalists today.

The President of NKR noted that “today’s format is not a real one. It would be real provided Armenia, Azerbaijan and NKR were engaged in the negotiation process. French Co-Chair Bernard Fassier fully realizes that the Karabakh conflict cannot be solved without NKR”, Mr. Ghoukasyan says.

“I am convinced that the OSCE Minsk group Co-Chairs are working and will continue to work in this respect, but unfortunately they are not that mighty to solve the problem. Azeris’ stance is also vital in this view but the country doesn’t want to negotiate with Nagorno Karabakh”, Arkadi Ghoukasyan says.

While referring to Vardan Oskanyan’s announcement according to which Karabakh is well aware of the negotiation process and the existing document, Mr. Ghoukasyan said, “Armenia cannot negotiate with Azerbaijan without the knowledge of Karabakh. It is quite normal that they keep us informed. But there is one serious problem; as we are not key participants of the negotiations we are unaware of certain nuances, which can be decisive in the negotiation procedure. On the whole, we are aware of the negotiation contents.”

In answer to our question whether there is any conflict between the RA and NKR authorities, Mr. Ghoukasyan said, “There are both minor and serious conflicts but I don’t want to refer to them and open the stakes. We never lose hope as our opinions coincide in some issues and we voice hope we shall come to mutual understanding.”

To note, Mr. Ghoukasyan doesn’t have great expectations from the upcoming meeting of the Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers though he highlights each meeting.

By Karine Kalantarian

France’s chief Nagorno-Karabakh conflict negotiator, Bernard Fassier, was again in Yerevan on Monday to prepare for the next round of Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks which he hopes will bring the parties closer to a peace accord.

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Geneva on Wednesday to try to build on progress that seems to have been made in the negotiating process in recent months.

Fassier, who co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group with senior U.S. and Russian diplomats, already visited the capitals of the two nations last week to discuss last-minute preparations for the talks. He said he briefed Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian on the results of his discussions in Baku.

“The discussions in Yerevan and Baku were useful and constructive, and I very much hope that the Geneva negotiations will also be constructive,” he told a news conference.

The French envoy also looked satisfied with his separate meeting in Yerevan with Arkady Ghukasian, president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). “We will have to meet again in the future,” he said.

According to Ghukasian, the talks focused on ways of ensuring the NKR leadership’s involvement in the peace process, which is strongly opposed by Azerbaijan. “Mr. Fassier clearly understands that this problem can not be settled without Karabakh, and I’m sure [the three mediators] are working and will continue to work in that direction,” he said. “If Azerbaijan wants a settlement it will have to negotiate with the Karabakh side.”

Ghukasian was also more pessimistic about the results of the Geneva talks. “I don’t expect anything serious from the March 14 meeting, but think that every meeting is important,” he told journalists.

Oskanian said last week that the mediators expect him and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov to set up another face-to-face meeting of their presidents shortly after the Armenian parliamentary elections of May 12. The mediators hope that Presidents Ilham Aliev and Robert Kocharian will agree on the basic principles of a Karabakh settlement before the start of campaigning for presidential elections due in both Armenia and Azerbaijan next year.

Under a framework peace deal drafted by the Minsk Group co-chairs, Karabakh’s future status would be decided in a referendum to be held years after a gradual Armenian pullout from Azerbaijani districts surrounding the disputed region.

Ghukasian, who has repeatedly voiced misgivings about this formula, admitted “slight and more serious differences” in the positions of the NKR leadership and official Yerevan. He refused to go into details, saying only those differences can be overcome.

(Photolur photo: Fassier, left, is greeted by Ghukasian.)

By Karine Kalantarian

Former Deputy Defense Minister Artur Aghabekian on Tuesday committed his political future to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), saying that he will not leave the governing party even if it joins the opposition.

Aghabekian, who has the rank of lieutenant-general ,was relieved of his duties and discharged from the armed forces last month in order to be able to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections on the Dashnaktsutyun ticket. His name is 10th on the list of the nationalist party’s election candidates.

Aghabekian has long maintained close ties with Dashnaktsutyun despite his reputation as a figure close to Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian, whose rapport with the party has often been frosty. The two men are natives of Nagorno-Karabakh and played a major role during its 1991-1994 war with Azerbaijan.

In an interview with RFE/RL, Aghabekian insisted that he will remain loyal to the Dashnaks even if they move into opposition to Armenia’s current leadership after the May 12 elections. “I can see Dashnaktsutyun in both opposition and in government,” he said. “I have no problem with that. I didn’t even set myself the goal of becoming a parliament deputy.”

Dashnaktsutyun leaders have warned that they will join the opposition camp if the vote falls short of democratic standards or if their party fails to make a strong showing. They have also indicated that they will not endorse Sarkisian’s candidacy in next year’s presidential election.

Aghabekian’s resignation fueled speculation that he might be offered the post of defense minister in return for a Dashnaktsutyun endorsement of Sarkisian’s anticipated presidential run. According to some media reports, the party is also considering fielding the retired general’s candidacy in the presidential ballot to be held in Karabakh this summer.

Aghabekian pointedly declined to refute those rumors. “If Dashnaktsutyun sets the aim of having a defense minister, soldier Aghabekian will perform that duty with pleasure,” he said. “If Dashnaktsutyun decides that I have nothing to do in Armenia and must again go back to Karabakh, then I can work as a [Karabakh] village mayor or president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.”

Recognition of Nagorno Karabakh is an imperative: Interview of the Nagorno Karabakh Deputy Foreign Minister Masis Mayilian

REGNUM: Mr. Mayilian, what are the most urgent issues in the Nagorno Karabakh foreign policy today?

The most topical issue of the Karabakh diplomacy is legal recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. It is an imperative, if you like. All other tasks and actions, stemming from them, are aimed at achieving recognition of NKR by the international community. However, it is necessary to understand that the lack of recognition in itself does not diminish our independence and self-sufficiency. As you know, in international law recognition by other states has a declarative, not а constitutive value. Besides, recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic will be an important step on the way to engagement into the world community and will help to involve the republic into the regional integration processes. Of course, on the way to recognition we are facing difficulties, overcoming of which defines the range of our current tasks.

Our diplomacy has the same classical goals as majority of countries of the world have: ensuring the people's security from any possible foreign threats via political and diplomatic means. In our case a serious challenge is the unresolved Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict. The NKR, as a party to the conflict, is interested in building up a dialogue with Azerbaijan with the aim of establishing good neighborly relations. However, Azerbaijan does not show such an interest, which testifies its unreadiness for resumption of a serious and constructive dialogue with Nagorno Karabakh. Continuation of consultations between Armenia and Azerbaijan is important, because it contributes to reducing tension in the region; however, everybody realizes that for achieving considerable results the given format should be transformed into a trilateral one, the sooner — the better.

In the existing situation it is important for us to maintain the strategic balance in the region, ensuring peace and stability in South Caucasus.

We have also some other goals – to create a positive image for NKR abroad and to increase the investment attraction of the republic.

REGNUM: What is the main reason that Nagorno Karabakh found itself outside the peace process under the aegis of OSCE MG and what should be done for the resumption of full-format negotiations? Is Nagorno Karabakh ready to defend its positions at tete-a-tete negotiations with Azerbaijan?

First, I would like to note that the negotiation process is currently suspended, and the parties hold consultations on searching ways of resuming the negotiations under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group. As for the negotiations within the frameworks of the Minsk process, NKR representatives always participated in them until their suspension in April 1997.

Today Nagorno Karabakh does not participate in consultations, now held between the officials of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and it is connected with Azerbaijan’s unreadiness to contact with official Stepanakert. For us resumption of trilateral negotiations is not an end in itself. Establishment of a dialogue requires interest and political will of all the parties involved in the conflict. The parties should realize it themselves.

As for the readiness of the Karabakh authorities to defend their positions at the negotiations with Azerbaijan, they are not only ready, but even more, they have repeatedly put forward initiatives to establish a dialogue and to start discussing the whole set of issues without any preconditions.

REGNUM: What could you say about the role of Russia in the process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement?

Russia is already in the annals of the modern history of Artsakh as a state that played a key role in stopping the bloody war between NKR and Azerbaijan in May 1994. Besides, historically Russia occupies its special niche as a traditionallly friendly state in perception of the Karabakh people. Currently, Russia together with the USA and France plays an important role as a Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, trying to reconcile the approaches of the conflicting parties. In addition, I consider Russia not only as a mediator in the settlement of our protracted conflict. There is a great potential to be developed in relations with the Russian Federation in the political, economic, religious, cultural, and educational fields.

REGNUM: Is the joint Azerbaijan-Karabakh production of “Aghdam” wine real in perspective, which was mentioned by the President of Russia President Vladimir Putin?

I don’t think that Vladimir Putin's remark should be taken literally. I consider this statement as a call to start regional cooperation, which will contribute to settling disputes between two peoples. In this context the approach of the Russian leader should be appreciated.

REGNUM: Mr. Mayilian, how do you evaluate cooperation of NKR with the other unrecognized states in the post-Soviet space?

I believe that cooperation with unrecognized states adequately reflects our common tasks. We maintain close bilateral relations with the Republics of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the Moldovan Republic of Transdnestr. For the recent several years NKR representatives have visited these countries quite a lot on different levels, and we have hosted appropriate delegations here. We have established close cooperation on some political issues posing mutual interest.

As for the multilateral cooperation within the frameworks of the Commonwealth for Democracy and Rights of Nations, we participate in the work of this structure as observers and this level of cooperation meets our national interests at present, which, by the way, is accepted by our partners.
Permanent news address: www.regnum.ru/english/796061.html
15:24 03/15/2007

Time to slightly reconsider Armenia’s policy in Karabakh issue
15.03.2007

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Currently we need activation in the negotiation process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process, RA NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan told a press conference in Yerevan. He said, it’s time to slightly reconsider Armenia’s policy in this issue. “The Azeri side acts more active than the Armenian side, it invests huge money in the propaganda from its viewpoint. We cannot seat and wait, because this work finally will begin to yield its fruit,” Torosyan stressed.

As to the 2006 human rights report of U.S. State Department, where Nagorno Karabakh and the territories under its control are labeled as “occupied territories”, Tigran Torosyan said those formulations are unacceptable and rough for Armenia.

“NKR has no relation to the human rights report. The United State is a OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair country and givers assistance to Nagorno Karabakh every year. All this does not coincide with ideas of the State Department,” Torosyan said.

He reminded there are two principles on the base of the settlement – territorial integrity and the right of a nation to self-determination. “If only one principle is touched in the report, it would be expedient to mention and the second one – the right to self-determination, the RA NA Speaker underscored.

quite interesting..

Hidden Message: NKR president’s statement has familiar tone
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

Nagorno-Karabakh President Arkady Ghukasyan said on Monday that there are both “insignificant and serious” differences between Yerevan and Stepanakert on the matter of the Karabakh settlement.

“Perhaps it would be inappropriate on my part to voice these differences, as it is our internal kitchen. But we do not lose hope that we can convince Armenia on points where our positions do not coincide,” he said.

Ghukasyan says that his government and Armenia can reach agreement on disputed issues. “Usually we discuss issues without emotion, but we bring forward arguments and usually the more weighty argument wins,” Ghukasyan emphasized in Stepanakert. The symptomatic nature of this statement is that it became a second similar confession in the whole history of the conflict. And it was after the first such statement that a quick change of power followed in Armenia in 1998.

“Let us become a negotiating party”, was Ghukasyan’s (to the right) appeal during his meeting with Bernard Fassier (to the left)
On October 7, 1997, then the newly elected president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arkady Ghukasyan hastily called a press conference in Stepanakert and for the first time stated the presence of “fundamental differences” in the positions of official Yerevan and Stepanakert on the Karabakh settlement. By that time, the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had already developed the first variant of resolving the problem. The variant proposed to the parties of the conflict in July 1997 implied a phased principle of resolving the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh that would remain within Azerbaijan. That proposal was advocated by the then ruling party – the Armenian National Movement (ANM) – and its leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan, but at the same time it was vehemently opposed by patriotic forces involved in the top echelons of power.

In particular, Armenia’s defense minister, member of the republic’s Security Council Vazgen Sargsyan made this statement: “No one in Armenia has the right to put the oil factor above the interests of Nagorno-Karabakh.” The minister made this statement during his joint press conference with Greek generals and it seemed a little out of context of the event. Sargsyan himself, however, was well aware of the importance of such a statement as it was primarily addressed to Ter-Petrosyan. And not only… Jirair Liparitian – the main architect of Armenia’s foreign policy was then in some embarrassment.

He couldn’t even imagine that the main guarantor of the ANM pyramid of power and the man to whom Ter-Petrosyan owed his “victory” in the presidential election of 1996 could decide to go against the president. Liparitian’s situation was dramatic as it was based on the realization of both mutually excluding factors: that it was obvious that it was practically impossible to disagree with Vazgen Sargsyan in Armenia, and at the same time it was necessary to accomplish his mission. By early December the OSCE Minsk Group was to present to the sides’ judgment its second (and again phased) proposal.

Armenian public thought was boiling up for the whole first half of 1997: besides strictly ideological and political problems, the relationship between Vazgen Sargsyan and ex-prime minister Armen Sargsyan were widely discussed. It is not known what happened in reality, but the antagonistic axis of Sargsyan-Liparitian looks more attractive in this aspect. In any case, on September 15 the chief foreign policy advisor to Armenia’s president had to resign for “family reasons.”

On September 26, Ter-Petrosyan himself found it necessary to call his second press conference in five years for local media. The president did not appear in new light. Rather the opposite, he spoke about what he said the previous time, at the meeting in 1992. He argued that Armenia could not live as long as there was the problem of Karabakh. In its turn, the main thought of the president was out of context of the current moment.

Ter-Petrosyan himself was fully aware of the importance of such a statement, however, it was primarily addressed to Vazgen Sargsyan. And not only, but also to Robert Kocharyan – the ex-president of Nagorno-Karabakh appointed Armenia’s Prime Minister in March 1997 more and more often expressed (behind closed doors) his dissatisfaction with the president’s position on the Karabakh problem.

By September 1997, Ter-Petrosyan was already a shadow of his former mighty self, as he practically could not rely on Vazgen Sargsyan’s backing, and the nascent powerful tandem of Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan was ideologically closer to the defense minister. It was on the initiative of the latter three that on October 7, 1997 the NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan, in response to the press conference of Ter-Petrosyan, called a meeting with journalists in Stepanakert.

On the evening of October 6, a helicopter was waiting for media representatives, surprised to learn only an hour before liftoff that they were being flown to Karabakh. The only question that reporters discussed on board the helicopter was quite natural: What was Arkady Ghukasyan going to say?

The president, though, was calm: “There are serious differences on the Karabakh issue in the positions of the leaderships of Armenia and the NKR. Nagorno-Karabakh will never agree to a phased variant of conflict settlement. There is no alternative to the package solution.” On the following day Vazgen Sargsyan would say: “Levon Ter-Petrosyan says what he probably had to say. Arkady Ghukasyan says what he probably had to say. The solution to the Karabakh problem is the task for the whole Armenian nation. I mean both Armenia and its Diaspora. We raised the Karabakh problem with the whole nation and we ought to solve it with the whole nation and not to leave the responsibility on separate people, for separate people on the historical arena are actors.” The first president of Armenia had nothing but publish his article “War or Peace?” on November 1, 1997, in which he, properly speaking, put a signature to his resignation.

And so – on March 12, 2007 – nearly ten years after his first confession, the president of Nagorno-Karabakh Arkady Ghukasyan said that there are serious differences between Yerevan and Stepanakert on the issue of the Karabakh settlement. Perhaps we will learn what it means in the near future. One thing is likely – it is not an accidental statement.

NKR government allocated 700mln AMD for the realization of a mortgage crediting program

Yerevan, March 19 /Mediamax/. 700mln AMD is allocated from the state budget of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) for the realization of a mortgage crediting program.

Mediamax reports that the NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Danielian said this, answering the questions of the visitors of the “Azat Artsakh” newspaper’s website. He noted that the possibility to improve the housing conditions will be given not only to young families, but also the citizens, which will be chosen by the expert commission.

“The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is the only country in the region, which, at the expense of the state budget, took up the realization of a mortgage crediting program on preferential terms - by a 6% annual interest rate and up to 20 years time to run”, Anushavan Danielian stated.

The NKR government is also working out a social mortgage program, the realization of which is planned to start in 2008.

17:02 20.03.2007
Permanent news address:
“Kosovo is not unique. There is the Republic of Northern Cyprus” – expert opinion

REGNUM publishes an opinion of an eminent expert on the post-Soviet space who chose to remain undisclosed, on the situation around the “Kosovo precedent” and possibilities of its application to the practices of the post-Soviet unrecognized states – Transdniestria (Transdnestr), Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno Karabakh.

“The failure of the plan of ‘Kosovo issue settlement’ proposed by the official Turkish lobbyist Ahtisaari – with whose biasness only the pro-American players candidly put up – could scare only those who, contrary to reality, were convinced that they would subdue Serbia, deceive Russia, lull Kosovo, and satisfy the anti-European US game.

The truth is that any, any decision on the fate of the really existing Kosovo is a catastrophic trap for the west. For any, any acting and approved in all aspects of sovereignty status of Kosovo is a progress and desired goal for the post-Soviet space. Even the formula ‘independence minus the UN’ intended for Kosovo, that is, the formula of granting a real status WITHOUT solving the problem with Serbia (or something similar) – presents the level of powers for the post-Soviet self-determined states that has already destroyed, and will destroy further yet, Moldavia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Naïve are those who think that some decision on the status of Kosovo will be applicable for the countries of the former USSR. Kosovo already exists, and the precedent does not depend on senseless intelligentsia’s reflections of ‘crisis groups’ of all sorts.

Kosovo is not a unique precedent. There is de facto recognized by the NATO countries – Turkey, Great Britain, France, the USA – as well as by Azerbaijan, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. And this example does not depend on the follies of Ahtisaari. The precedent is comprehensively created by Turkey and Azerbaijan. And the whole mankind has no other choice than to follow the example. Get ready.”

In fact there is no clearly agreed single issue in Karabakh problem
24.03.2007

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the Karabakh problem the conflicting parties cannot agree on the status, holding referendum and territorial issues, NKR President Arkadi Ghukassian told a press conference in Yerevan. ”In fact there is no single issue, where we could indicate on existence of clear agreements and arrangements,” he said.

The NKR President said, when speaking about return of territories, it is necessary to take into account the fact that today not only Azeri territories are under the control of NKR, but also NKR territories are under the control of Azerbaijan.

”And I think this issue must also be solved. Alongside I must stress that the issue of returning Armenian and Azeri refugees is unrealistic. This problem was not discussed during my meeting with OSCE Minsk Group French Co-Chair Bernard Fassier. Fassier and I fixed that discussions over this problem are senseless, since we should not build the house from the roof. It is senseless to discuss a question, which is unrealistic today,” Arkadi Ghukassian underscored, ”Novosti-Armenia” reports.

Armenia, Ukraine discuss settlement of Karabakh conflict

28.03.2007, 22.43





YEREVAN, March 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Prospects for bilateral relations between Armenia and Ukraine were discussed in Yerevan on Wednesday by the foreign ministers of the two countries, Vartan Oskanyan and Arseny Yatsenyuk. The Ukrainian minister arrived in Yerevan to attend the funeral of Armenian prime minister Andranik Margaryan.

The ministers also discussed possibilities of broadening cooperation in international organizations, Itar-Tass learned from the Press and Information Department of the Armenian Foreign Ministry. The draft resolution on “frozen conflicts” submitted to the UN General Assembly by GUAM countries (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) was touched upon in this connection. At the guest’s request, Oskanyan familiarized him in detail with the process of settlement of the Karabakh conflict. There was an exchange of opinions on the Kosovo question.

Shushi Renaissance: Foundation intends to restore Shushi’s fame by turning it into cultural center of Armenians
By Julia Hakobyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

On March 23, 1920 joined Turk-Azeri troops burned the Shushi town of Nagorno Karabakh. About 20,000 Armenians were killed and 7,000 houses were demolished. The elimination of Shushi, the cultural and trade capital of Armenians was a part of a plan to annihilate Armenians and the traces of their existence in the region. Today, 87 years later, an Armenian foundation is working to reverse the damage of history . . ..

Bakur Karapetyan’s desk is flooded by thousands of photos, mostly black and white, some crumple or yellowed but still clearly detecting the images of old cities with churches and bridges, buildings with decorated arks and ornamented balconies, people in old-fashioned dress. For some that disorderly pile may seem just the scraps of days gone by. For Karapetyan it is more than old photos. He hears their stories in these photos, the stories of the history of Armenian people.

For 10 years, Karapetyan, a writer and a photographer with more than 45 years of experience has been maturing the idea of creating a National Art Gallery of Photography in Shushi.

The photos displayed in the gallery of his dream will be collected from Armenians from all corners of the world to give a true picture of cultural and social life of the Armenian people, the cities and towns they lived, architectural monuments they built, wars and trials they endured.

“Shushi was crowned as a hero city, a symbol of victory. …The photos will save it from oblivion,” says Karapetyan
The ‘Shushi” Non-Governmental Oganization founded by Karapetyan appeals through its website www.shoushi.am media asking people to contribute to the foundation of the gallery by provided photos.

“We inherited a great amount of photos of historical events from 19th and 20th centuries, public or natural phenomena, moments of everyday lives. Almost in each Armenian family there are photos of old times, which are tarnished and spoiled because of storage, taking away the valuable evidences of our people’s history. We appeal to our compatriots to help us founding the gallery. The restored photos and the proper storage will save from oblivion the memory of our ancestors and cities in which they lived,” says Karapetyan.

Karapetyan believes the comprehensive photo material will become a target for scientific research and may fill the unexplored pages of history.

He plans to copy and digitalize the photos then give back to the owner. Many photos that have already been collected are at www.avetis.org. The on-line gallery has the showrooms of Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh, United States, Europe, Near East, Latin America, and other places. The photos illustrate the different aspects of life, such as politics, culture, rural and urban lives. So far the foundation has more than 3,000 photos.

Karapetyan says that a building in Shushi could be turned into a gallery if he can find $300,000 for renovation and equipment.

However founding the gallery is not the final goal of the photographer. He says it is just a small part of his ambitious plan to turn Shushi into nation-wide cultural educational and tourism center, to make it more than a town which was crowned as a symbol of Armenian victory. (Shushi was liberated from Azerbaijani occupation on may 9, 1994, a day that Armenia and Karabakh mark as the turning point of the Karabakh war.) The foundation wants to see Shushi become a center of pan-Armenian culture and research. “Shushi was crowned as a hero city, a symbol of victory. It deserves much more attention than it gets now.”

Even after the Karabakh war, Shushi has preserved most of its monuments, dating from a time when it was a noted publishing and cultural center. The “Shushi” foundation together with professors and students from the Yerevan Engineering University carried out architectural research in Shushi and registered 525 architectural monuments, including tombs, cemeteries, khachkars and residential buildings. Besides some 200 Bronze age tombs were founded in Shushi. Most of the monuments are in poor conditions and need urgent restoration.

“The buildings that present a historical value are being demolished now and the stones are used for other constructions. The authorities should take steps in saving them, otherwise we can not maintain even former fame of Shushi which survived wars and invasions.”

Some visitors call Shushi “phantom-town” for the great number of destroyed multi-stories buildings and houses, few people in the street and the atmosphere as if war ended only yesterday. However Karapetyan believes that only Shushi’s glorious history is enough to be chosen as a cultural center of Armenians. “I believe that even the ruined Shushi has such potential,” he says.

Presidential elections in Nagorno-Karabakh to be held July 19

04/ 04/ 2007

Print version

YEREVAN, April 4 (RIA Novosti) - Nagorno-Karabakh's National Assembly set a date for regular presidential elections in the republic for July 19, 2007, the Novosti-Armenia news agency said Wednesday.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, two South Caucasus nations - Azerbaijan and Armenia - have been in conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian population.

The dispute first erupted in 1988 when Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan and moved to join Armenia.

Over 30,000 people were killed on both sides between 1988 and 1994, and over 100 died following a 1994 ceasefire. Nagorno-Karabakh remained in Armenian hands, but tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia have persisted.

German FM hopes for settlement of Karabakh conflict without complications

06.04.2007 16:10

YEREVAN (YERKIR) - “Within the framework of the visit to the South Caucasus I discussed the Karabakh settlement with the Armenian and Azeri leadership.

A process aiming at the resolution of the conflict is obvious. I am hopeful this problem will be resolved without complications,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at a meeting with Turkish FM Abdullah Gul.

The parties exchanged views on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. “If problems remain frozen it may acquire a chronic nature and hamper the negotiation process. So, it’s very important for us to discuss what kind of assistance we could render to resolve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Gul said, PanARMENIAN.Net reported, citing APA.