Official news
On Monday Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev with his family paid a tribute to ex-President Heydar Aliyev’s tomb. The anthem of Azerbaijan was played at the Cemetery of Honors and prayers were made.
The heads of the government and parliament accompanied the President during the visit to the Cemetery.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received on 13 December a municipality delegation of the Turkish Igdir city headed by the municipality chairman Nureddin Aras, Trend reports.
lham Aliyev underlined, in his turn, the links between Azerbaijan and Turkey are steadily developing and the residents of various regions of Turkey visit constantly the republic. В"There were always close ties between Igdir and Nakhchevan which are still going on. And it will be forever”, the head of Azerbaijan said. He also stressed that in the period difficult for Nakhchevan, it was Turkey, including Igdir, which supported Nakhchevan.
According to Ilham Aliyev, during this period the bridge of Hope was built, thanks to which the blockade of Nakhchevan was broken off.
In accordance with the decree issued by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, dated 15 December 2005, Heydar Abbasov has been appointed head of the Executive Power of Sabirabad District, the President’s Administration announced.
Azerbaijan will not compromise in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,” Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani President, stated to a 60th anniversary of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), Trend reports.
“Armenians attempt to distort the history of Azerbaijan. They try to introduce Azerbaijan as aggressor. It is no secret that Armenians arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh, the integral territory of Azerbaijan, as guests. We must inform the world community about this historic truth,” the head of the country underlined. He stressed that the special role in the issue belonged to ANAS and appropriate bodies.
The President also said that the scientists must pay serious attention to humanitarian sphere in order to prevent distortion of Azerbaijan’s history. According to Aliyev, all necessary conditions will be established in this regard.
Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani President, dismissed Ramiz Ayvaz oglu Hassanov from the post of the Azerbaijani Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Georgia.
Ramiz Hassanov was appointed the Director General of the State Agency on Standardization, Metrology and Patent, Trend reports.
The head of the country also dismissed Khalida Mahammad kizi Masomova from the post of the Director General of the State Agency on Standardization, Metrology and Patent.
On Wednesday Yusif Humbatov, the head of the Division on Regional Governance and Local Self-Governance of the President’s Apparat, was dismissed at the President’s Decree, Trend reports.
At the other decree Zeynal Naghdaliyev, the head of the Lankaran town Executive Power, was dismissed from his post and appointed the head of the Division on Regional Governance and Local Self-Governance of the President’s Apparat.
At the next President’s decree Yusif Humbatov was appointed the chairman of the Azersu Tikinti JSC.
Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani President received Julian Barengaut, the Deputy Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Department on Near East and Central Asia on 15 Dec. “Macro-economic stability level and economic development rate in Azerbaijan is high,” Berengaut said.
He mentioned great role of the budgetary and foreign policy pursued in the country. The representative of the Fund voiced confidence that the successful cooperation of IMF and Azerbaijan would be continued in the future. According to Berengaut, the goal of his visit to Azerbaijan was to hold consultations with the government on the public budget for 2006 and economic development.
The Azerbaijani President mentioned importance attached by the Azerbaijani leadership to the cooperation with IMF. According to Aliyev, Azerbaijan has achieved great success in economy and global energy projects mat testify for it. The head of the country also spoke about the taking measures in keeping of macro-economic stability and principles of balanced economy.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received on 16 December the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs: Bernard Facie (France), Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia) and Steven Mann (USA) took part in the meeting.
Exchange of views around the current state, perspectives of the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over the Nagorny Karabakh took place at the meeting.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on 16 December on establishing the Ministry of Defense Industry of the Azerbaijan Republic, Trend reports.
Under the decree, the State Committee on special machine-building and conversion is liquidated and the Ministry is being established based on it.
In this regard, the Cabinet of Ministers has been commissioned to develop and submit to the president during one month the draft Charter of the Ministry, its structure, cost estimate an the staff list.
On Friday Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev issued a Decree on institution of the Ministry of Emergencies of the Azerbaijan Republic.
Under the decree, the Ministry is established with respect to remove the results of technical accidents, prevention of fires, establishment of unified government center over the relevant bodies on rescue and rehabilitation work, organization work on civil defense.
In compliance with the decree, the State Committee on control over observation of security in industry, the committee on mining control, as well as the Committee on material reserves at the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan, while their major funds, property functions and reserves are transferred to the disposal of the new ministry.
Hence, the Civil Defense Department of the Defense Ministry, the State Fore Defense Department, the State Rescue Service, complex of special plants Isotop of the Housing and Communal Services of the Baku City Executive Power, the unified directorate of the unbuilt facilities of the State Committee on construction and Architecture and storages under the disposal of the Committee are given to the property of the new establishment.
The Cabinet is charged within a month to prepare proposals and appropriate papers and submit to the President of the Azerbaijan Republic and resolve other questions resulting from the Decree
Foreign policy
The head of the Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry (FM) Elmar Mammadyarov held meetings with high-ranking officials of the European Union (EU) within the sitting of the European Union вЂ"Azerbaijan Cooperation Council.
On 12 December the FM met with the EU special envoy for South Caucasus Heikki Talvite. On 13 December an informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the 3 South Caucasus states, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, took place with the EU official spokesmen. The European Union has been represented at the meeting by Talvite, the EU deputy director general on foreign policy Carel Covan, a EU representative for South Caucasus from the United Kingdom Brian Fall and the secretary general of the Austrian FM. According to Tagizade, two issues have been considered at the meeting, the conflicts in South Caucasus and the EU cooperation with South Caucasus states.
According to the Azerbaijan’s FM official spokesman, EU has again confirmed its readiness to be involved in the restoration process after the conflict settlement, in the mine clearing of the areas and etc.
During the meeting with Javier Solana, the EU High Representative on foreign policy and security, on 13 Dec Mammadyarov mulled the conflicts in the South Caucasus and negotiation process on their resolution, as well as the important role of the EU in the resolution of conflicts and subsequent rehabilitation of areas.
The experts of the Azerbaijani Foreign Affairs Ministry participate in the meeting of the Council for Interaction and Confidence Measures in Asia (CICMA) Special Working Group holding in Alma-Ata from 12 to 13 December, the Ministry told Trend.
The current meeting of the Special Working Group is supposed to lay a foundation for discussion of implementation of the Confidence measures catalogue adopted at the meeting of the CICMA Foreign Ministers in October 2004.
The mini-plan on cooperation of Azerbaijan with NATO covering the 6-month period will be adopted in March, the Azerbaijan’s deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov told journalists, Trend reports.
According to him, the plan will be adopted within the Individual Partnership with NATO Plan. It will cover the cooperation in issues of political and general security, defense, cooperation in ecology, science, informational exchange and etc. Azimov assessed positively the results of the 7-8 December sitting of the Foreign Ministry heads of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in Brussels. According to him, the partner states discussed the key transatlantic political problems. As the diplomat says, Azerbaijan pursues its own policy, which is defined by the national interests.
Azimov also said, a large European Union delegation will arrive in Baku late in the week. The delegation will comprise 16-17 experts of this structure and they will discuss in detail the role of Azerbaijan in the European Union New Neighborhood Policy.
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
On Friday Krabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) activists attempted to hold a protest action at front of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The members of the organization attempted to voice slogans at 11.30am, but the police broke up the action.
There were incident between the KLO activists and the police. 10 people were detained and handed over to police station 27. The KLO activists intend to stage next action in other place.
KLO protests against the visit of the Minsk Group co-chairmen to Azerbaijan, demands cessation of the visits and the activities of the group.
On 16 December the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, Bernard Facie (France), Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia) and Steven Mann (USA) met with Azeri Defense Minister Safar Abiyev to discuss the resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
In 205 the OSCE Misnk Group co-chairs differed for their intensive activities, Novruz Mammadov, the head of the Foreign Relationships Division of the President’s Apparat, told journalists.
Starting from 2002 the Azerbaijani state leaders have numerously sounded their dissatisfaction with the co-chairs’ activities, noting their inactivity, he noted
“Participants in the negotiations underlined the proximity in the positions of conflict sides, hinting at possible breaks in the talks in 2006,” the state officer underscored.
Touching upon the co-chairs’ visit to the region Mammadov said that there are definite forces in Armenia who are interested in the delay of the conflict and maintenance of tension. It can be the positions of both definite political forces in Armenia and Armenia’s leadership are contradictory. It is first of all linked with the pressures on the international organizations and Azerbaijan,” Mammadov stressed.
According to Mammadov, the unsettlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict evolves tremendous difficulties for the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the neighboring Armenia.
“The development of the regions, as well as Armenia, delays. Unfortunately, instead of directing efforts to the prosperity of the state, the Armenian leadership has become a victim of their groundless claims,” Mammadov said, noting that so far the Armenian authorities have failed to form a concrete and effective stance on the conflict.
The state official explained such vagueness with the fact that the current Armenian authorities came to power on the wave of Karabakh conflict and tries to prolong the ruling through the problem.
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen hope, that 2006 will be the “window for the progress” on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement issue and the continuation of the work done in 2005, the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, publicized on 16 December 2005 at the news conference in Baku reads, according to the Trend report.
The statement, particularly, notes that the current visit is the continuation of the meeting of the Foreign Ministries heads of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Ljubljana in early December. The co-chairs will render feasible support in future to the negotiation process. We (co-chairs вЂ" В"РўrendВ") will hold meetings with presidents of the both countries in late January-early February 2006 at the preliminarily stipulated points. We hope, the resoluteness and positive advancement in the negotiation process will go on.
The US co-chair Steven Mann noted, neither of parties can “receive all they want”, saying, the OSCE Minsk Group welcomes “advancement towards lessening of differences in the position of the sides”. В"It is possible, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be settled during one year, or during one hundred years”, Mann said, noting the US financial support to Nagorny Karabakh is “minimal and bears the humanitarian character”.
The OSCE Minsk group co-chair from France Bernard Facie called “nonsense” statements of municipality heads of any cities in France on the partnership with the residential settlements of Nagorny Karabakh. В"There are 38,000 municipalities and none of them is entitled to make political statements. Such statements are mere rubbish”, the French co-chairman said in conclusion.
We hope sincerely that the agreement on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement will be signed in 2006, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman from Russia Yuri Merzlyakov said in a statement on 16 December at the news conference in Baku, Trend reports.
В"The co-chairs are only mediators and the major role in the negotiation process remains for Armenia and Azerbaijan. “The negotiation sides themselves are to be addressed more specific issues of the negotiation process to”, Merzlyakov was quoted as saying, urging the sides to be more reserved in their utterances. According to him, it would be easier for the co-chairs to take measures, “unless the sides come out with militant statements and the cease-fire regime would be kept “. As he says, such statements serve partly to the “internal political goals”.
Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov said in a statement during the briefing on 13 December, Trend reports.
In his view, the options for the conflict peaceful settlement are possible the next year. However, he thinks, there exists a number of problems in the conflict solution which are to be resolved at the highest level. He agrees with the standpoints of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen that 2006 may be decisive for the problem solution. He explained it by the fact, that there will be no elections in either of the countries the following year and there are changes in the geopolitical and geo-strategic situation in the region. These changes form new pre-conditions for the conflict resolution, the diplomat stressed.
He confirmed the information on the forthcoming 16-17 December visit of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to Azerbaijan. Touching upon the diplomats’ forthcoming meeting program Azimov said, their meetings with the President and the Foreign Ministry head of Azerbaijan are scheduled.
Political life
PACE Monitoring Committee met in Paris on 15 Dec. The meeting discussed the 6 November parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan. Samed Seyidov, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation at PACE, also a member of the Monitoring Committee, delivered a speech at the meeting. In his remarks, MP Asim Mollazade spoke about the position of DRP on the elections.
PACE MPs from UK, Turkey, Russia and other countries also expressed their position on the parliamentary lections held in Azerbaijan. One of the PACE co-rapporteurs Andreas Gross did not participate in the meeting. No document on the elections was adopted at the meeting due to absence of report.
The Central Eelection Commission has not received any appeal on waving the deputy mandates, the CEC press service head Azer Sariyev told Trend.
A group of oppositionists from the Azadlig bloc, who have been elected deputies at the parliamentary votes on 6 November, took a decision to waive the deputy mandate.
Sariyev noted the process is regulated by the articles 89.5 of the Constitution and 176.1 of the Election Code of Azerbaijan. “CEC is committed to response on such appeal during two days”, Sariyev said.
The head of the Azadlig bloc press service Nureddin Ismaylov noted, the organization is not going to appeal to CEC so far. “We wait for some time. Then we, of course, will apply to CEC within the framework of the law”, Ismaylov said.
The sitting of the Central Election Committee (CEC) of Azerbaijan has been held on14 December. The sitting was dealing with the repeated elections to be held in 10 constituencies, the results of which had been cancelled after the parliamentary polls on 6 November.
Protocols of sittings held on 18,19, 23, 24, 26, 29 October and 1,4, 6,8,9,10 November 2005 have been registered at the sitting.
The candidates who will participate in the repeated votes are to submit the relevant papers to the election committees not later than 105 days and not earlier than 70 days before the voting. The election committees are to consider the documents during 10 days and make a decision. The campaigning will start 60 days before the election date and will finish 24 hours before the voting moment.
State building
Experts of the Defense Ministries of Azerbaijan and Poland are in Baku to discuss the implementation of an agreement in the defense sector, Voytsikh Guretskiy, adviser of the Polish embassy in Baku, told Trend.
According to Guretskiy, the delegation of Polish experts, led by Deputy Director of the Department for Foreign Military Cooperation, Rafel Senyukh, is carrying out talks with the Azerbaijan counterparts on the base of an agreement on cooperation in the defense sector, signed in Warsaw on 30 March 2005 during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s official visit to Poland.
Elchin Guliyev, the head of the State Birder Service of Azerbaijan (SBS) discussed in Tehran, Iran, bilateral cooperation in the sphere of security and border guarding, Irna news agency announced.
During the meeting the Iranian Interior ministers and the chief of the SBS stressed their satisfaction about huh-quality of interaction between the border services of the two countries.
Pur-Mohammadi and Elchin Guliyev positively estimated the earlier achieved agreement on joint actions in the border safeguarding.
The two sides noted that close interaction between Iran and Azerbaijan in the sphere of security makes considerable impact on the improvement of the living condition of people residing in the borders.
Parliament
At the Azerbaijan’s Milli Mejlis (the Parliament) next meeting the issue of electing deputies chairmen of the Parliament’s permanent commissions haves been considered. At the sitting deputies chairmen of 11 permanent commissins have been elected, Trend reports.
Rovshan Rzayev was elected deputy chairman of the legal policy and state structuring commission, Aydin Mirzazade - on issues of security and defense, Azer Amiraslanov вЂ" on economic policy, Elton Mammadov вЂ" on natural resources, energy and ecology, Eldar Guliyev вЂ" on agrarian policy, Musa Guliyev- on social policy, Fattah Heydarov- on regional policy, Bahtiyar Aliyev- on science and education, Rafael Huseynov- on culture. Ev Abramov вЂ" on human rights, Gyultekin Hadjiyeva вЂ" on international relations and inter-parliamentary ties.
Appropriate measures will be taken in respect to oppositionist parliamentarians, who boycotts attending the parliamentary sittings, Ziyafat Asgarov, the first deputy speaker of the Milli Majlis [parliament], told Trend.
The parliament will regulate the problem in accordance with the internal regulations of the parliament, he said. “MPs, not attending more than 30 parliamentary sittings without adequate reasons, will be deprived of their MP mandate. It is referred not only to the oppositionist parliamentarians,” he underlined.
Asgarov said that refusing from the participation at the parliamentary sittings MPs from the opposition show disrespect to towards their electors.
Due to introduction of supplements to the first part 95 of the Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic appointment of the Central Election Committee (CEC) members has been delegated to the Milli Mejlis. The relevant document which the Parlaiment received from the head of the state has been passed by voting.
According to the document, election of some members of the state service administration board, election of some members of the corruption fighting commission under the board, election of some members of the judicial and legal council and election of members of the broadcasting board of the Public Television and Radio will be implemented by Milli Mejlis. .
The oppositional deputies plan to establish a fraction in the Parliament, the chairman of the United Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (UPFPA), a MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev told Trend.
According to him, negotiations are being held with the oppositional deputies in this respect вЂ" Fazil Gazanfaroglu, Igbal Agazade, Aynur Djamalgizi, Sabir Rustamhanli. В"According to the by-law, availability of 15 deputies is needed for the fraction establishing. We intend to apply to the Parliament’s leadership for reducing its number to 10 вЂ" there are no 25 representatives from the opposition”, Hasanguliyev noted.
He also noted, setting up two commissions will be proposed at one of the parliamentary sittings вЂ" on Karabakh and the European integration.
“On 30 December MPs will take a winter recess,” Agshin Babayev, the head of the press service of the Milli Majlis [Parliament], told Trend.
He said that the Milli Majlis assembles twice a year in spring and winter. MPs taken a winter recess will rest two months. “The MPs will return to the Milli Majlis on 1 March for spring session,” he added.
Babayev also underlined that the spring session would start from 1 March to 30 July. “The commissions will set to the work from 15 January and draft bills by the spring session of the Parliament,” Babayev underlined.