U.S. CHEVRON TO OPEN OFFICE IN TURKMEN CAPITAL
29 June
Turkmenistan's official TDH news agency on June 28 reported that the U.S. oil major Chevron has decided to open an office in Ashgabat. TDH said the announcement was made the same day at a meeting between Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov; Jay Prior, Chevron's vice president for business development; and Ian MacDonald, the head of Chevron's operations in Russia. Early last month, Berdymukhammedov invited Chevron to prospect and develop oil fields in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea shelf. The invitation was seen as a sign of Berdymukhammedov's willingness to open Turkmenistan to Western investment. Also on June 28, Berdymukhammedov authorized the government to sign a $42 million drilling contract with the state-controlled China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and another deal for the construction of a $53 million polypropylene-film plant with France's Darlet Marchante Technologies. (RFE/RL)

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN EMBARK ON LANDMARK VISITS
29 June
The ambassadors to Russia of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Armen Smbatian and Polad Byulbyulogly, together with a group of cultural figures and academics from both countries, traveled on June 28 to the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and thence to Yerevan, Azerbaijani media reported. In Stepanakert, the group met with Karabakh President Arkady Ghukasian, who was quoted as saying that all disputed issues should be resolved at the negotiating table, and nothing can be resolved by a new war. The group then traveled to Yerevan where they met with Armenian President Robert Kocharian who, like Ghukasian, welcomed the initiative as contributing to an "atmosphere of mutual trust" between the conflict sides. Then in Baku, the group met with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, who reaffirmed that any solution to the Karabakh conflict must respect Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, day.az reported. Nizami Bakhmanov, head of Karabakh's small Azerbaijani community that fled the enclave in the late 1980s, hailed the group's visit to the town of Shusha (Armenian Shushi), where many Azerbaijanis lived. But Akif Nagi, chairman of the radical Karabakh Liberation Organization, denounced the trip as an insult to the Azerbaijani people and argued that by meeting with the leadership of the unrecognized republic, the Azerbaijanis recognized their legitimacy. Nagi called for Byulbyulogly to be stripped of the post of ambassador. (RFE/RL)

SUPREME COURT RULES ON TERRORISM SUSPECTS' BURIALS
29 June
The Russian Federation Supreme Court ruled on June 28 that legislation stipulating that the bodies of "terrorists" should be buried in an unmarked grave rather than handed over to their families does not violate the constitution, the "Kommersant" daily reported on June 29. But the court also ruled that the bodies should not be buried until an investigation has proven that the participation of the dead in terrorist acts, and that the burial should be undertaken in accordance with the customs and religious traditions of the dead person. The former conclusion highlights a legal discrepancy insofar as such investigations are automatically closed on the suspected person's death. The court ruling was handed down in response to a formal appeal by the mothers of two men killed during the October 2005 multiple attacks by militants on police and security facilities in Nalchik, capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic. Tatyana Psomiadi, a lawyer representing the families of some of the approximately 80 men killed, was quoted by kavkaz-uzel.ru as saying that the Supreme Court's ruling is tantamount to an admission that the cremation in June 2006 of the bodies was illegal. Relatives learned of the cremation only a few weeks ago from a response the European Court for Human Rights received from the Russian authorities. (RFE/RL)

Ilham Aliyev: “We are getting closer to liberation of Karabakh”
2 July
“We are getting closer to liberation of Karabakh. We have enough power for defending our territories. Azerbaijan’s position regarding the conflict settlement is supported globally,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevannounced today, speaking at a meeting with graduates of the Police Academy, a REGNUM correspondent informs. “The Karabakh territories will be liberated sooner or later. From the military point of view, Azerbaijan is the most powerful country in the region. Nobody wants a war or new suicide bombers. However, Azerbaijan is ready to launch any operation at any moment. The sooner Armenia recognizes it and liberates our territories the better,” Aliyev stressed. (Regnum.ru)

China denies involvement in spy scandal in Kyrgyzstan
3 July
China’s Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Jian Jichen “was surprised to hear that one of Kyrgyz parliament employees is allegedly a Chinese spy.” Speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament Marat Sultanov informed reporters on it today, a REGNUM correspondent reports. The Chinese ambassador and the parliamentary speaker discussed the fact of detaining a female employee of the Kyrgyz parliament and a foreign citizen. According to Jian Jichen, cited by Marat Sultanov, “Kyrgyzstan is quite a transparent and open country, and in this connection, there is no need for spying.” The chair of the parliament supported the ambassador: “There are no grounds for espionage. Any information China might need, they could have asked through an official inquiry.” “The detained Zhyparkul Arykova had no access to classified documents, as there are no such documents at the parliament,” Marat Sultanov noted. Earlier, employee of the Kyrgyz parliamentary press office, Zhyparkul Arykova and a foreign citizen were detained by security officers at the moment, as the Kyrgyz State National Security Committee press office said, at the time they were handing over classified materials to each other. Now, Zhyparkul Arykova is in custody; she is charged with high treason. Under the charge, she faces from 12 to 20 years sentence with expropriation. (Regnum.ru)

Baku hopes talks on Karabakh will continue in previous format

3 July
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov hopes talks with Armenia on the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem will be continued in the framework of the Prague process. "We've been in talks within the framework of the Prague process for three years now and would be disappointed if it came to a halt," Mamedyarov told the press. He said talks with Armenia would hopefully continue in this format.

"But the choice of the format also largely depends on the co- chairmen of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Minsk Group," Mamedyarov said. (Interfax-Azerbaijan)

 

RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR IN GEORGIA DOES NOT SUPPORT TBILISI’S INITIATIVE TO INVOLVE “PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT” OF SOUTH OSSETIA IN SETTLEMENT PROCESS
5 July
Russian Ambassador to Georgia Vyacheslav Kovalenko finds ungrounded an initiative of the Georgian side to engage head of the South Ossetian “provisional government” Dmitry Sanakoyev into the process of settling the Georgian-Ossetian crisis. “The only way to resolve South Ossetia’s problems is a negotiation process between two internationally recognized parties – Georgia and South Ossetia. There is no other way here. No new parties, no new actors must be engaged in the process,” Vyacheslav Kovalenko is quoted as saying by a REGNUM correspondent. The South Ossetian provisional government was established under a law that was passed by the Georgian parliament on April 13, 2007, and came into force on April 16. Dmitry Sanakoyev was appointed head of the provisional government by a Georgian presidential decree of May 10. (Regnum.ru)

“Baku will rise, but Yerevan will go down” – Armenian politician on possible Russian-US exploitation of Gabala radar station
6  July
If an agreement is reached on joint Russian-American exploitation of the Gabala radar station, Azerbaijan will climb another stage in the eyes of the United States, and Armenia will go down, deputy chair of the Armenian National Movement Party Aram Manukyan announced at a news conference in Yerevan. As a REGNUM correspondent informs, according to Manukyan, if the United States does not give up the idea of deploying its missile defense in Czechia and Poland, it will affect Russia negatively. “Taking into consideration that Moscow is Armenia’s major strategic partner, it will have the same effect for Armenia,” he said.  As Manukyan noted, as for other neighbors, Georgia and Turkey, their alliance with Baku in projects isolating Armenia today is the main foreign policy challenge in Yerevan.  Moreover, according to Manukyan, if Turkey and Azerbaijan’s actions against Armenia are understandable, it is evident in Georgia that Armenia is not treated as a friendly nation. This, according to him, is stipulated by a recent statement by Robert Kocharyan that Armenia’s joining NATO will be a step backwards for its sovereignty. The international community believes that negative attitude of one of South Caucasian countries towards joining European institutions hampers tehprocess of uniting the whole region with Europe. Manukyan also believes that such pro-Russian direction of Armenia’s foreign policy is not justified. Russia “caused damage” to Armenia, and withdrawal of Russian military bases for the territory of Samtskhe-Javakheti, mostly populated by Armenians and the base was practically the only working place for them. At the same time, he noted that Moscow even paid to Tbilisi for deploying its forces in the Georgian territory. “Why is Russia not paying to Armenia for its military base in Gyumri?” asked Aram Manukyan.

TRIAL OF ALLEGED COUP PLOTTERS OPENS IN ARMENIA
3 July
The trial began on July 2 at a district court in Yerevan of two Karabakh war veterans and one of their former comrades in arms charged with plotting to overthrow the Armenian leadership, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. Lebanese-born Zhirayr Sefilian and Vartan Malkhasian were arrested in December, shortly after presiding over the founding conference of an organization that opposes the return of occupied Armenian territory to Azerbaijan as part of any Karabakh peace deal. They have both rejected the charges against them as politically motivated. Their colleague Vahan Aroyan was arrested in late December after the National Security Service claimed to have found a huge cache of arms at his home in the southern village of Lusarat. (RFE/RL)

Protesters demand coalition airbase be removed from Bishkek airport

7 July
About thirty people held a picket at the international antiterrorist coalition's Ganci airbase at Bishkek's Manas Airport on Saturday. The protesters arrived at the base on three buses and held a Soviet flag and red banners saying "Americans, Get Off of Kyrgyz Soil!", "Hands Off Iraq!", "Manas Airport is For Civilian Aircraft", "We Want Peaceful Skies Above Our Heads", and others. The demonstrators chanted anti-NATO and anti-American slogans and played the Soviet national anthem. Alexander Tiperov, a coordinator of the movement for the airbase's withdrawal, said at the demonstration that "the participants demand the immediate withdrawal of the airbase from Kyrgyz territory, the severance of the Kyrgyz-American intergovernmental agreement on deploying the base, concluded in December 2001, and the extradition U.S. Air Force serviceman Zachary Hatfield, who shot Kyrgyz citizen Alexander Ivanov, a fuel truck driver, dead at a Manas airport checkpoint on December 6, 2006." Ivanov's widow and their two sons also took part in the protest. (Interfax)

Ossetian peacekeepers to set up checkpoint near Georgian positions – Chochiyev
8 July
South Ossetia plans to set up an Ossetian peacekeeping battalion in the area, where the movement of Georgian special police forces was reported, Boris Chochiyev, the chairman of the Mixed Control Commission for Georgian-Ossetian settlement, said. "We'll set up an Ossetian peacekeeping checkpoint in this area, but the attitude of the Georgian side has been negative thus far," Chochiyev told Interfax from Tskhinvali on Sunday. The situation remains tense in the conflict zone, he said. "The Georgian side has declined to attend a meeting of the Mixed Control Commission co-chairmen in Tskhinvali, and offered to meet in Tbilisi in late July without a prior discussion of the agenda, which is unacceptable," he said.
"Reports were circulated on Sunday morning, citing a Georgian deputy minister for conflict resolution, as saying that Cossack troops and military hardware had entered the conflict zone. This is not true," Chochiyev said. "Should tensions arise, not only Cossacks will assist us, but other aid wil come, as well. But there are no formations other than those already in place right now," he said. South Ossetia's spokesperson Irina Gagloyeva earlier said that all of the South Ossetian armed forces were alerted on Saturday evening on reports about the movement of Georgian special police forces outside the Ossetian village of Khod. "Leaving their positions near Khod, Georgian special police forces moved towards the Dzhava road and stopped at a distance of 70 meters from our police checkpoint," Gagloyeva told Interfax from Tskhinvali. Ossetian authorities got in touch with Georgian officials and delivered an ultimatum. "We warned that if the Georgian special police force does not move back to its positions before 6 a.m., July 8, it will be destroyed," she said. The Georgian side claimed, meanwhile, that a South Ossetian armed contingent of about 200 men assumed positions on Friday near the Nikozi -Avnevi road under construction, which Tbilisi thinks could seriously worsen the situation. Georgia placed responsibility for further tensions in the conflict zone near Tskhinvali entirely on the Russian peacekeepers who, it said, have been declining to fulfill the duties documented in the peacekeeping mandate. Dmitry Madzhavidze, Georgia's deputy minister for conflict resolution, told the press on Saturday that, "the situation in the conflict zone is extremely serious and even explosive." (Interfax)

 

AZERBAIJAN MOVES TO CURTAIL RUSSIAN, TURKISH TV BROADCASTS

9 July

As of July 11, the Russian television channel ORT will no longer to permitted to use a local frequency to broadcast to Azerbaijan, National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council Chairman Nushirevan Magerramli told journalists in Baku on July 9. ORT's agreement on rebroadcasting to Azerbaijan expired in January, and talks on renewing it failed to yield an agreement on the terms whereby ORT would continue rebroadcasting to Azerbaijan and the state-run AzTV would be broadcast in Russia. Magerramli said talks will continue with a second Russian television company, RTR-Planeta, and if no agreement is forthcoming within the next month, it too will no longer be allowed to rebroadcast to Azerbaijan. Similarly affected is the Turkish channel Samanyolu, whose frequency will be offered for tender on July 17, and which will have to cease broadcasting by September 17. Meanwhile, Azerbaijani Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ali Abbasov told day.az on July 9 that the technical problems involved in making Iranian television broadcasts available to the population of Azerbaijan's southernmost districts will be solved "very soon." (day.az)

 

Suspects established in attack on Abkhaz prime minister - prosecutor

9 July
A number of people suspected of involvement in an attempt to assassinate Abkhaz Prime Minister Alexander Ankvaba have been identified, the breakaway province's Prosecutor General Safarbei Mikanba told journalists on Monday. "We know a number of people who could be involved in the assassination attempt," he said. The owner of the car the attackers are believed to have used to escape has already been identified, Mikanba said, refusing to provide further details. (Interfax)

 

Abkhaz president: Attack on Ankvab is a political order from neighboring country
9 July
Abkhaz President Sergey Bagapsh expressed serious concern about an attempt on life of Abkhaz Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab today, reports a REGNUM correspondent. “Repeated attempts to liquidate the prime minister prove only one thing: some groups are trying actively to hamper the changes started in the republic and activity of the presidential team, aimed at economic reforms and fighting organized crime, is on their way. Probably, those people are trying to destabilize the domestic situation in Abkhazia. No matter was it deliberate or not, they are implementing order of our opponents, the country with which our country is in a state of war,” the republican president believes. Sergey Bagapsh thinks that finding and punishing the attackers is a task of the law enforcement authorities, but Abkhaz society must assist governmental institutions in this matter. A 500,000-ruble reward ($20,000) is announced for those who will assist in investigating the attack. The president finds inadmissible any action that can destabilize the situation in the republic and paralyze activities of the government. “Policy of the government will not change and such acts of pressure will not make the republican leadership to turn off the road we have chosen,” Bagapsh announced. The prime minister’s jeep was fired upon by unknown gunmen earlier today. His life is not under threat. It was not the first time Alexander Ankvab was attacked. In February and April 2005, soon after the presidential election, his car was twice fired at from a machine gun. (Regnum.ru)

Toshiba eyes Kazakhstan for uranium
9 July
Toshiba Corp. plans to sell a 10-percent equity stake in its subsidiary Westinghouse to Kazakhstan's state-run uranium monopoly Kazatomprom to secure a stable supply of uranium, sources said. Toshiba, which owns 77 percent of the U.S. nuclear technology company Westinghouse, aims to win nuclear power plant contracts by forming a conglomerate capable of covering everything from uranium mining to plant construction, the sources said. More than 100 nuclear power reactors are expected to be built around the world over the next 20 years as concerns about global warming are rekindling interest in the technology, which emits no greenhouse gases. Industry officials say access to uranium will be key to clinching contracts as prices of the raw material have soared to about 19 times the level of late 2000. Kazakhstan has the world's second-largest reserves of uranium after Australia. Toshiba's president, Atsutoshi Nishida, visited the Central Asian country in April with industry minister Akira Amari and leaders of the nuclear power industry. The company's officials agreed to start negotiations for a strategic alliance with Kazatomprom centered on the purchase of uranium, an area in which the Japanese company remains weak. The Shaw Group Inc., a U.S. engineering contractor, and IHI Corp., a Japanese heavy machinery manufacturer, together hold 23 percent of Westinghouse. If Kazatomprom acquires a 10-percent stake in Westinghouse, the Kazakh enterprise will become its third-largest shareholder. Toshiba, with Westinghouse as a subsidiary, has the technology to build both boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors.(asahi.com)

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS BLAMES RUSSIA FOR DEATH OF FORMER CHECHEN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER

9 July

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on July 5 found Russia guilty of the detention in May 2000 and subsequent death of Ruslan Alikhadjiyev, who served as Chechen parliament speaker from 1997-99, kavkaz-uzel.ru reported. Ruling in response to an appeal lodged in December 2005 by Alikhadjiyev's mother, the ECHR ordered the Russian authorities to pay 40,000 euros ($54,500) to his family. Alikhadjiyev was detained, together with five neighbors, by Russian troops at his home in Shali, southern

Chechnya, in May 2000. On May 25, 2000, the then-deputy commander of the Russian forces in Chechnya, Colonel General Valery Manilov, confirmed his detention, but the Federal Security Service subsequently denied any knowledge of his whereabouts. On September 2, 2000, the press service of Chechen President and resistance commander Aslan Maskhadov reported that Alikhadjiyev died under torture the previous month in Moscow's Lefortovo prison (RFE/RL)

17 KILLED, 30 WOUNDED IN A SUICIDE BLAST IN AFGHANISTAN
10 July
A suicide bomber targeted a NATO patrol in a crowded marketplace filled with schoolchildren Tuesday, killing 19 people, including 13 elementary students — an attack the U.N. and NATO quickly criticized for harming so many civilians. The bombing — one of the deadliest of the year — injured at least 35 Afghans and eight Dutch soldiers patrolling on foot, whom the bomber apparently had targeted. Both the United Nations and NATO criticized the Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack, over the civilian deaths — an issue the U.S. and NATO have taken heat for this year because of dozens, if not hundreds, of innocent Afghans killed by Western military action. The governor of northeast Kunar province, Shelzai Dedar, meanwhile, said a government investigation found NATO military action in Kunar last week killed 27 civilians along with 37 militants. NATO has said it had no evidence of civilian casualties from the battle. Details about Tuesday's bombing varied. The deputy district police chief, Jahih Kawi Khan, said 19 were killed and 35 wounded, while the Interior Ministry said 17 died, and the provincial health department chief said 51 were wounded. Afghan officials said the suicide bomber was on foot; NATO said it was a vehicle-borne bomb. (AP)

AZERBAIJANI AUTHORITIES ACCUSED OF DISCRIMINATING AGAINST ETHNIC MINORITIES

10 July

In a statement addressed to foreign diplomatic representations in Baku, Khilal Mamedov, who heads a committee to defend the right of Novruzali Mamedov, the arrested editor of the Talysh-language newspaper "Tolyshi sado," accused the Azerbaijani leadership of Turkic nationalism and of seeking to suppress non-Turkic minorities, including the Talysh, an Iranian ethnic group. He said the Azerbaijani leadership seeks to minimize contacts between the Talysh communities in Azerbaijan and Iran and to run Azerbaijan into a monoethnic state. Novruzali Mamedov was arrested five months ago and has been formally charged with spying for Iran. (day.az)

 

Georgian media claim two Russian peacekeepers arrested by Georgian police

10 July
Georgian police reportedly detained two Russian peacekeepers in Zugdidi in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone last night. Russian servicemen Andrei Kuts and Maxim Korenev were detained on suspicion of "carrying out an illegal raid while entering Zugdidi," the Georgian television station Rustavi-2 has reported.  Both are servicemen of the peacekeeping force based in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone. No official confirmation of these reports from Georgian authorities or from the command of the peacekeeping force is available to Interfax. (Interfax)

Turkey steps up talks with non-Russian gas exporters
10 July
Turkey is stepping up talks with gas exporters Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran to put projects on stream in the face of Russian Gazprom's expansion in the region, energy officials said on Tuesday. Turkish and EU energy plans for the Nabucco pipeline, which would cross Turkey, were rattled last month after Gazprom announced a deal with Italian energy company Eni to construct a pipeline that would enter Bulgaria via the Black Sea. "Turkey has made contacts with the Turkmen and they will be ending with some kind of result. Included is a framework within which we can carry Turkmen gas through Iran or bring to life the Trans-Caspian pipeline," said a high-level energy official. Ankara secured in 1991 a 30 billion cubic metre agreement with Turkmenistan, rich in Caspian gas, but the project has so far failed to materialise. Under the accord, 16 billion cubic metres would go to Turkey and 14 billion cubic metres to European markets. Routes for the export of the gas are being discussed with Asghabat, including a pipeline across the Caspian, which would link on to the existing Azeri Shakh Deniz pipeline, and additional shipments of the gas through existing pipelines between Turkey and Iran. Both Iran and Azerbaijan want to be part of the project, said the energy official, however a new pipeline would be necessary if gas is channelled through the Azeri infrastructure and into Turkey along the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) pipeline. "Here carrying gas along the BTE is a possibility, but new pipelines may play a role in the case that the capacity is not enough. If the second phase of the Shakh Deniz comes on line on the BTE, we can't talk about current pipelines," he said. The $4 billion Shakh Deniz project is expected to have a total capacity of 12 bcm by 2012. (Reuters)

Three servicemen killed, two wounded in landmine blast in Chechnya

10 July
Thee servicemen of the Russian interior troops were killed and five others wounded when a land mine exploded in Chechnya's Vedeno district, sources in law-enforcement services told Interfax. "The mine went off when interior troops were carrying out a field engineering mission near the village of Dyshne-Vedeno on Monday morning. A BTR-80 armored vehicle carrying interior troops was hit. Gunfire was opened at sappers. A unit commander, a sapper and the driver were killed. Two unit commanders, two sappers and an instructor sustained wounds," a source said. "The wounded servicemen were rushed to a hospital. An operation to track down the assailants is under way," he said. (Interfax-AVN)

 

CHECHEN REPUBLIC HEAD SUBMITS ANNUAL ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT

10 July

Ramzan Kadyrov's annual address to the Chechen parliament was posted on July 9 on the Chechen government website, chechnya.gov.ru. In that missive, Kadyrov called on the parliament to work closely with the government in preparation for next year's local elections. He noted that the draft project for socioeconomic development in 2008-11 envisages doubling gross domestic product (GDP) and reducing unemployment and poverty. He argued against relying primarily on Chechnya's oil sector to generate economic growth, advocating instead expanding into machine building for the oil and petrochemical sector and resurrecting the agro-industrial sector. He further proposed resolving the acute housing shortage by introducing a mortgage program, but did not explain how that would benefit the estimated 75 percent of the population that is unemployed and thus has no regular income. Kadyrov advocated measures to expand the use of the Chechen language, including switching to Chechen as the language of instruction in primary education. Finally, he called for the "maximum transparency" in the work of the government bureaucracy in order to preclude corruption. (RFE/RL)

Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan to set up $120 million joint investment fund
11 July
The prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan signed Wednesday an agreement to establish a joint investment fund worth $120 million for rehabilitating the Kyrgyz economy. "We have signed an agreement to establish a Kyrgyz-Kazakh investment fund worth $120 million," Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov said after talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart Almaz Atambayev. "Kazakhstan will contribute $100 million and the other $20 million will come from Kyrgyzstan." The Kazakh premier said the fund would be meant to develop the Kyrgyz economy. Atambayev said that Kyrgyzstan would receive an interest-free non-refund investment, not a loan, to develop its economy. Among other things, Masimov said, the parties agreed that Kazakhstan would allow Kyrgyz railway carriers to use Kazakh domestic tariffs. "A decision was taken to cancel Kyrgyzstan's debt to Kazakh railway carriers," he said. Kazakhstan also plans to take part in a tender for the privatization of Central Asia's largest Kambaratinskaya hydropower plants, located in Kyrgyzstan. Masimov said the initiative was favorable since "Kazakhstan needs additional energy resources." The two officials will also attend a Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan business forum later Wednesday to discuss promising Kyrgyz economic projects. (RIA Novosti)

Consultations on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement held in Paris
11 July
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan met OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia) and Bernard Frassier in Paris yesterday. Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk and Office Director of the US State Department's Office of Caucasus Affairs and Regional Conflicts Elizabeth Rood participated in the meeting too.  As Regnum was told at the Armenian foreign ministry press office, during the meeting, the sides gave their assessments of the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents held in St. Petersburg on June 9. They discussed opportunities of closing in Armenian and Azerbaijani positions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and further steps in the negotiation process. (Regnum.ru)