Artsakh  Newsletter

VOLUME 4, No. 8

Re-elected President Arkady Ghoukasian Inaugurated

BRIEFLY...

(Continued from page 1)

Ghoukasian also called economic development an ongoing priority.  He said that his cabinet will intensify efforts to attract foreign investments in energy, mining, wood processing, food

processing, agriculture and tourism.   
He praised the Armenian Diaspora and Republic of Armenia for their crucial role in assisting Nagorno Karabakh in its post-war rehabilitation and develop

ment as an independent state.  Ghoukasian emphasized that now relations with Diasporan Armenians should begin to rise toward a new level of mutually beneficial economic cooperation. 

President Ghoukasian Re-Appoints Anoushavan Danielian

American Scholars Visit Nagorno Karabakh, Meet Deputy Foreign Minister

Stepanakert, September 19.  Deputy Foreign Minister Masis Mailian received a group of American researchers headed by a Senior Fellow at the Institute for International Studies at Stanford University Dr. Gail Lapidus.  Lapidus heads the Project on Ethnic Conflict in the Former Soviet Union at Stanford's Center for International Security

and Cooperation (CISAC).   The group arrived in Stepanakert to study the current stage of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the internal political situation and Nagorno Karabakh's status during the negotiations.  Mailian briefed the scholars on the main stages and the legal aspects of the conflict as well as the current status of negotiations and pre

sented the government's position.  He emphasized that the government takes its direction from the 1991 referendum results, in which the people of Nagorno Karabakh overwhelmingly voted for independence.  The group of researchers subsequently travelled to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. 

National Assembly Returns From Summer Recess, Begins Fall Session

Stepanakert, September 14.  Following the summer recess National Assembly convened for its fall session.   Members of Parliament discussed the bills "On National Assembly Regulations" and "On Television and Radio", which were returned to the Assembly with the President's suggestions for the language.  Members also discussed amendments to the "Law on Firearms" and the "Law on Public Transportation", which were presented by the Chairman of the Defense and Se

curity Committee Arthur Masisian and Chairman of the Industrial Structures Committee Kamo Barseghian.  The National Assembly also considered the government's report on the implementation of the first half of the 2002 state budget.  The legislators approved the report on the results of state property privatization in 2001 presented by the Adviser to the Prime Minister, Arnold Abrahamian.  At the end of the session the bill "On Tax Service" was discussed.

Shushi province, September 20.  The management of "ArtsakhGaz" company announced that by the end of the year it will complete installing a natural gas pipeline system in Lisagor village of Shushi province.  Already 30 homes of the village are supplied with natural gas.  To date, the company has connected more than 13,000 apartments to the main gas pipeline in Nagorno Karabakh, restoring 124 miles of pipeline and nine gas distribution stations.  Ninety-eight percent of the capital city, Stepanakert is currently supplied with natural gas.

Yerevan, September 23.  Presidents of Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia, Arkady Ghoukasian and Robert Kocharian met in Yerevan.  The National Assembly Chairman Oleg Yesayan and Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielian accompanied Ghoukasian.  The parties discussed cooperation between the two countries and the economic

situation in Nagorno Karabakh.  Yesayan also met separately with the Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly Armen Khachatrian and briefed him on the legislative activity of the Nagorno Karabakh parliament.  They praised the enhanced cooperation between the two parliaments. 

OSCE Conducts Routine Monitoring in Jraberd Province and Agdam

September 16.  OSCE representatives conducted a routine monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the northern part of Jraberd province.  Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-

Office Andrzej Kasprzyk led the monitoring team from the direction of the NKR Defense Army.  The group also included Field Assistants to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Zbignew Fec (UK) and Yevgeny Sharov (Ukraine).   An

other monitoring took place on September 24 near the town of Agdam.  No incidents were reported during the monitoring sessions.  Representatives of the NKR Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense accompanied the OSCE representatives. 

Stepanakert, September 30.  The Executive Director of Andranik-Dashk diamond-polishing company Andranik Sargsyan announced that it has tripled its production and reached a capacity of 1,500 carats per month.  He also said that new investments and introduction of new technologies would permit expanding production to 5,000 carats.  This will create an additional 250 jobs.

HALO Trust Continues De-Mining Project in Nagorno Karabakh   

Stepanakert, September 23.  The Defense Ministry announced that during the last eight months, the British HALO Trust humanitarian organization has defused

fourteen anti-tank mines, 32 unexploded munitions, and 1,500 cartridges of different caliber.  Two air 550-lb. bombs were defused near the villages of

Chldran and Mehmana of Jraberd province.  Currently HALO Trust conducts de-mining projects in Khachen, Jraberd and Varanda provinces.