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Azerbaijani President calls opposition parties for dialogue
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has made an extraordinary statement calling all political parties for dialogue and reconciliation, Assa Irada news agency reported. Although such implications were made earlier by the President, they were not followed by any specific actions. Aliyev confirmed his proposal by issuing a decree pardoning 266 people, including the notorious separatist Alikram Humbatov, charged with high treason, and other individuals included into the Council of Europe list of people regarded as political prisoners. This is the fourth amnesty decree signed by Ilham Aliyev during his presidency. (09-SEP-2004)
Baku sends humanitarian cargo to North Ossetia
A plane with humanitarian cargo on board has left Baku for North Ossetia, a source in the Azerbaijani Airlines State Concern told Itar-Tass News Agency. (8 SEP 2004)
Azerbaijani President pardons 264
The Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree on 3 September pardoning 264 prisoners. This is the fourth amnesty decree signed by Ilham Aliyev during his presidency. (07-SEP-2004)
Azerbaijani Media Protest Visit of Armenian Officers
Media in the Republic of Azerbaijan released a statement protesting visit of Armenian officers to Baku to attend training to be held within NATO Partnership for Peace Program on September 12, 2004. The statement considers visit of Armenian officers who occupied Azerbaijan’s almost 20 per cent of territory as a stab against independence of Republic of Azerbaijan. (03 Sep 2004)
Radical group members’ sentence stuns public
On Monday the court found the Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) chairman Akif Naghi and five members of the organization guilty of violating public order and resisting police. The six GLO activists were arrested on June 22 while protesting against the participation of Armenian officers in a NATO conference held in Baku on June 21-23, Assa-Irada reported. (03-SEP-04)
Azerbaijan urges the Russian Federation to strive for Garabagh hotbed settlement
The Upper Garabagh conflict was in the focus of Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov´s meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow last Wednesday. Lavrov said following the meeting that “Russia is interested in a peace settlement of the Upper Garabagh conflict, but the problem will be resolved only if the parties come to terms”. (28 August 2004)
Aliyev warns of dangers posed by Armenian secessionism
Republic of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said Wednesday the breakaway ethnic Armenian province Nargorno Karabach would have to remain a part of his country and warned against the dangers of secessionism, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported. (28 August 2004)
OSCE holds seminar on fighting human trafficking
The necessity and effectiveness of close co-operation in the fight against human trafficking was emphasized by participants at a one-day seminar held on 26 August by the OSCE Office in Baku.The event is aimed at increasing the overall understanding of the positivebenefits of cooperation between state authorities and non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) in the implementation of a comprehensive NationalAction Plan (NAP) against human trafficking, which was adopted by Republic of Azerbaijan in May of this year. (28 August 2004)
Azerbaijan’s municipal elections to be held December 17
Municipal elections will be held in the Republic of Azerbaijan on December 17, 2004. The decision on holding the elections has been adopted at a recent meeting of the Central Election Commission of Republic of Azerbaijan (CEC). 21,650 members to 2,735 municipalities will be elected during the polls. At present, there are a total of 4,462,000 electorates in the Republic of Azerbaijan. (23-AUG-2004)