Nation

LATVIAN JOURNALIST DUBS AZERI GENOCIDE THE BIGGEST

Latvia's independent journalist Tatyana Chaladze has collected materials for the "Chronicle: the genocide of the millennium" project. She terms as the biggest genocide the carnage against the Azerbaijan people. T. Chaladze has been traveling to refugee camps in Azerbaijan, studying the horrors the displaced have experienced since 1992.

The Latvian journalist intends to publish the findings in English and forward to the International Tribunal and the International Court on Human Rights. The Eurasian Press Foundation is helping T. Chaladze publish them and calls on the well-to-do to make their contributions.

Tatyana Chaladze has already authored two books on the Garabagh conflict, "Garabagh: war in faces" and "Compassion".

BSECO FOREIGN MINISTERS' COUNCIL TO MEET

A meeting of the council of foreign ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization is expected to take place in Kiev, the Ukraine, in March this year. The meeting will focus on expansion of cooperation in fighting international terrorism, drugs smuggling and cross-border crime, as well as the establishment of an information center, according to an informed source.

176 AZERIS DIE IN ARMENIAN CAPTIVITY

4959 Azeris, including 69 kids, 320 women and 358 elders, are unaccounted for in the wake of the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict. It has been ascertained that 783 people are still kept captive by Armenia, something it won't admit.

176 Azeris have died in Armenian captivity, according to the International Committee of Red Cross.

In all, 1097 Azeri nationals were released from Armenian captivity in a period between 1992 and 2001, involving 67 children, 243 women and 246 elders.

MULTIMEDIA FILES APPEALS SUIT

The Economic Court heard the suit by Multimedia against the Ministry of Communication Monday. The Ministry of Economic Development, originally a third party to the law case, acted as a plaintiff.

Journalists were denied access to the courtroom. Head of Multimedia Osman Gunduzov told the press following the hearing that the court had adjourned till January 16 so that the ministries of communication and economic development can submit the originals of the investigated documents. O. Gunduzov also said that the court had declined a Multimedia plea to replace the judge and therefore he would file an appeals suit.

WOMEN SEE CORRUPTION AS HANDICAP IN THE ARMY

A meeting of the Women's Coordination Council on Garabagh focused on negative occurrences in the army Monday. Speakers underscored that the pervasive corruption and other negative phenomena impede progress in the armed forces.

The meeting decided to compile a list of draft dodgers, died soldiers as well as collect data on the corruption in the army within a month and forward the findings to the Ministry of Defense.

PRESS DISTRIBUTORS HOLD SANCTIONED PICKET

The representatives of Gaya press distribution firm, including its director Khanhussein Aliyev, held a sanctioned picket in front of the Mayoral Office of Baku Monday. The protesters chanted "an end to the crackdown on Gaya", removed newspaper booths back" and "Gaya shouldn't fall victim to the press distribution monopoly".

The resolution of the picket was forwarded to the Mayor's Office.

STATE PHILHARMONIC ORGANIZES CONCERTS

The Muslim Magomayov State Philharmonic, which has long been shut down for repair, is organizing concerts at the Chamber and Organ Hall. A concert of the Fikrat Amirov state ensemble of songs and dancing is scheduled for January 12 at the Hall. The concert program includes performance of People's artists Elmira Rahimova and Jamila Bayramova, as well as Yashar Safarov.

RESEARCHERS EYE MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT

Director of the State Museum Preserve Palace of Shirvanshahs Sevda Dadashova told AssA-Irada Tuesday that the researches were expected to commence for the copies of manuscripts dating back to the 15th century, which were brought from Turkey last year.

The manuscripts in Arabic and Persian are believed to be poet Seyyid Yahya Bakuvi's, who lived in the Palace of Shirvanshahs in the 15th century. The originals are kept in the libraries and museums of Istanbul and Manisa, Turkey. The copies of 23 manuscripts have been brought to Azerbaijan through the Ministry of Culture.

IRAN's DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER IN BAKU

Iran's deputy foreign minister, the Iranian President's special negotiator on the status of the Caspian Mehdi Safari arrived in Baku from Nakhchivan Tuesday.

The Iranian diplomat has met with premier Artur Rasizadeh, deputy foreign minister Khalaf Khalafov and minister for economic development Farhad Aliyev, the Ministry reported Tuesday. The negotiations focused on the expansion of bilateral commercial and economic ties, organization of border-line markets, as well as the preparations for President Aliyev's official visit to Iran in February this year.

The Azeri President was expected to meet with the Iranian envoy late Tuesday, the Iranian embassy said.

YOUNG LAWYERS PUBLISH HUMAN RIGHTS BOOK

The Union of Young Lawyers has published the "Human rights in international law and national legislation" book. Authoring the publication is chairman of the International Law Association, a member of the Expert Council of the Human Rights Institute under the National Academy of Sciences, chairman of a court in Surakhani district of Baku Vafaddin Ibayev.

The book was issued as part of the Union-implemented project "Legal education of the population with regard to the Ombudsman institution" with financial backing from the American Bar Association Central and East European Law Initiative and USAID.

The publication and free distribution of the book is another step forward for education of the Azerbaijan society, where the Ombudsman institution is just taking shape.

HALF OF ILLEGAL NUCLEAR TRANSIT IN CIS HALTED

Half of the cases of illegal transit of radiation sources and nuclear weapon components in the CIS space is usually halted, nuclear instrumentation specialist with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rolf Arlt said Friday.

According to him, legal export of isotopes in the CIS has a good share in the transit of radioactive materials. These isotopes target production aims and include chemical elements like caesium and radium.

An IAEA mission has been to Baku to hold a workshop for customs employees and provide the country's customs point with special equipment to detect radiation sources.

Attendees of the workshop got acquainted with the methods of keeping the offender accountable in cases of smuggling of radioactive substances, handling radiation detection apparatuses, searching and identifying radiation sources.

The workshop, which was underway in Baku, was attended by customs officials and Azeri, Russian, Czech law enforcers.