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US and Russian presidents George Bush and Vladimir Putin will discuss the Upper Garabagh conflict in Bratislava, Slovakia in February, along with other issues, says US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Elizabeth Jones. The two presidents will call for stepping up activity in resolving conflicts in the former Soviet Union countries, including the Garabagh problem, she said. (19-JAN-2005)

On January 20 it will be 15 years since a horrible tragedy that went down in Azerbaijan´s history as one of the remarkable stages in the national liberation movement.  In the early morning hours on January 20, 1990, atrocities were committed by 26,000 Soviet troops against civilians in Baku. They acted pursuant to a state of emergency declared by then Soviet leader Gorbachev and disclosed to the Azerbaijani people only after hundreds of peaceful residents laid wounded or dead in the streets of Baku. (19-JAN-2005)
 

Human Rights Watch published its next annual report on the situation in the world in 2004. The report contains serious critics towards the Azerbaijani government which has “a long-standing record of pressuring civil society groups and arbitrarily limiting critical   expression and political activism”. It has done so with a new intensity   following the October 2003 presidential elections, which international and   domestic observers said were marred by widespread fraud, reads the report. (14-JAN-2005)

The government of Republic of Azerbaijan has allocated one million dollars for the countries of South East Asia, hit by devastating tsunamis on December 26, the government press service reported on Wednesday. (12-JAN-2005)

The “Yeni Musavat” newspaper, a publication of the leading opposition Musavat Party of Republic of Azerbaijan, has been closed down due to financial constraints. Its last issue was published on December 31 on account of funds of the editorial office. Under court rulings issued in March 2004, the funds of the “Yeni Musavat” held in press distribution companies were arrested. (07-JAN-2005)

The famous international organization for freedom   of media “REPORTERS SANS FRONTIERS” has released the 2004-report on media situation in the world. The report, which is called The deadliest year for a decade: 53 journalist killed, reads that at least 53 journalists were killed in 2004 while doing their job or for   expressing their opinions, the highest annual toll since 1995. (7-JAN-2005)
 

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev signed a new decree pardoning 54 prisoners on 30 December, as the country prepared to celebrate the Day of Solidarity of Azeris around the world on New Year’s Eve. It was the fifth amnesty decree signed by Aliev since his election to the presidency in October 2003. (4-DEC-2005)

The OSCE has set up a fact-finding mission to monitor the Azerbaijani lands occupied by Republic of Armenia. The mission includes the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and representatives from Germany, Italy, Finland, Sweden as well as the OSCE Secretariat, a diplomatic source told AssA-Irada. The mission is scheduled to arrive in Baku late in January-early in February 2005 to further visit Upper Garabagh and monitor the occupied lands. A report will be prepared after the monitoring is over. Republic of Azerbaijan has lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s after a bloody conflict with Republic of Armenia. (3-JAN-2005)

West-leaning opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko took an landslide victory on Monday in Ukraine´s re-run presidential election. With about 97 percent of Sunday´s ballot counted, election officials said Yushchenko had a statistically unbeatable lead, with almost 53 percent against just under 44 percent for Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, whose campaign manager said there had been three million illicit votes and did not rule out legal challenges that could delay a final official result for days, reports HRH project coordinator Vugar Gojayev from Donetsk.  (27-DEC-2004)