ARKA News Agency
Aug 30 2004


4th meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijan foreign ministers takes place
in Prague

RA NA Speaker congratulates Armenian President with 50th anniversary

Celebration of 13th anniversary of Ukrainian independence takes place
in Ukrainian Embassy to Yerevan

New mayor of Stepanakert takes the office

The Stepanakert Press-Club and Artsakh Association on Human Rights
Protection on the whole positively evaluate the second round of
elections of the Mayor of Stepanakert

Priorities of the Armenian external politics in the context of
Karabakh Conflict Settlement discussed in Stepanakert

Catholicos of All-Armenians meets Danish Foreign Minister

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4TH MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJAN FOREIGN MINISTERS TAKES PLACE
IN PRAGUE

YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. 4th meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijan
foreign ministers took place in Prague. OSCE MG Co-Chairmen and
Personal Representative of Acting OSCE Chairman Anjey Kaspshik also
took part in the meeting. This meeting as previous ones did not have
any special agenda.
According to the estimation of the participants the meeting was
`useful and positive'. L.D. --0 -

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RA NA SPEAKER CONGRATULATES ARMENIAN PRESIDENT WITH 50TH ANNIVERSARY

YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. RA NA Speaker Arthur Baghdasarian
congratulated Armenian President Robert Kocharian with 50th
anniversary.
Robert Kocharian was born on August 31, 1954 in Stepanakert. Since
February 1988 Kocharian was one of the political leaders of Artsakh
movement, in August 1992 took the chair of NKR State Defense
Committee Chairman and in November 1996 he was elected the President
of Nagorno Karabakh. On March 20, 1997 Kocharian was appointed on the
position of RA Prime Minister and on March 30, 1998 in result of
extraordinary presidential elections he was elected the President of
Armenia, then on March 5, 2003 re-elected. L.D. --0 -

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CELEBRATION OF 13TH ANNIVERSARY OF UKRAINIAN INDEPENDENCE TAKES PLACE
IN UKRAINIAN EMBASSY TO YEREVAN

YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. Celebration of 13th anniversary of
Ukrainian independence took place in Ukrainian Embassy to Yerevan. RA
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian congratulated friendly Ukraine with
Independence Day and wished Ukrainian people happiness and
prosperity.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Armenia Vladimir Tyaglo expressed hope that
`relations between the countries continue develop successfully in the
future'. L.D. --0

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NEW MAYOR OF STEPANAKERT TAKES THE OFFICE

YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. New mayor of Stepanakert Eduard Agabekian
and 15 members of the council of deans received certificates.
According to the final results of mayor elections, 50.5% of voters
took part in the elections. 58.7% of votes were gathered by Eduard
Agabekian, 41.3% - Pavel Nadjarian.

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THE STEPANAKERT PRESS-CLUB AND ARTSAKH ASSOCIATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
PROTECTION ON THE WHOLE POSITIVELY EVALUATE THE SECOND ROUND OF
ELECTIONS OF THE MAYOR OF STEPANAKERT

STEPANAKERT, August 30. /ARKA/. The Stepanakert Press-Club and
Artsakh Association on Human Rights Protection on the whole
positively evaluate the second round of elections of the Mayor of
Stepanakert. As it's stated in the document on the results of the
second round of the elections provided to ARKA, the `high
professionalism and objectivity of the Central Election Commission
and Election Committees' are emphasized. The organizations that
conducted monitoring note the unexampled activity of local observers
and the trustees of the candidates. `This contributed to exerting
public control over the elections and created preconditions for
further development of democratic institutions', as stated in the
document. Evaluating the second round of the elections as one more
step on the way to the democratic reforms, the representatives of the
monitoring group also mention than there were all facilities for
holding fair and transparent elections, and the organization of a
normal work of the observers and the trustees. At the same time,
according to them, some shortages registered in the first round of
the elections failed to be avoided during the second round. In
particular, using the administrative resource, which was more obvious
in the second tour, and facts of counter- propaganda were recorded.
The Stepanakert Press-Club and Artsakh Association on Human Rights
Protection express hope that there will be some progress during the
next elections.
To remind, by the results of the elections, Edward Aghabekyan, the
Chairman of NKR NA Standing Committee on Social Affairs, the Leader
of `Movement-88' political organization was elected as a new Mayor of
Stepanakert. According to the NKR Central Election Commission, as
compared to the first round, the activity of the capital electors
increased by 10% up to 51%. A.H.-0--

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PRIORITIES OF THE ARMENIAN EXTERNAL POLITICS IN THE CONTEXT OF
KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT DISCUSSED IN STEPANAKERT

STEPANAKERT, August 30. /ARKA/. A seminar for the representatives of
youth organizations of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh was held under
the title `Priorities of the Armenian External Politics in the
Context of Karabakh Conflict Settlement'. The seminar was organized
by the Armenian Fund `For the Development of Science'. According to
ARKA's reporter in Stepanakert, key issues referring to the politics
of the official Yerevan and Stepanakert in the light of the Karabakh
conflict settlement were discussed during the seminar. There were two
main issues discussed during the seminar: if the societies of two
countries are ready to the reconciliation, even if the authorities
sign the agreement on peace, and whether Armenia gains from
postponing the conflict settlement process. A.H.--0--

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CATHOLICOS OF ALL-ARMENIANS MEETS DANISH FOREIGN MINISTER

YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. Catholicos of All-Armenians met the
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller. As St. Echimiadzin Mother
See told ARKA, the sides discussed the relations between peoples and
governments of two countries, as well as warms relations between the
churches. Touching upon the Karabakh conflict Garegin II and P.S.
Moeller mentioned spiritual mission of the religious Heads of Armenia
and Azerbaijan. Catholicos thanked the Danish Minister for the
assistance of Denmark to Armenia in the last century and in recent
years.
P.S. Moeller arrived in Armenia in the frames of the regional visit
in the South Caucasus countries. T.M. --0