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09/30/2004
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1) Minister Oskanian Delivers Strong Message to UN General Assembly
2) Defense Minister Sargsian Advises Baku to Steer Clear of War
3) Kokoity Confirms Intentions to Integrate with Russia
4) Armenian Man Kidnapped in Iraq
5) Bush Administration Disappoints Ethnic Voters

1) Minister Oskanian Delivers Strong Message to UN General Assembly

NEW YORK–Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian delivered Armenia’s annual message
at the United Nations on Wednesday, speaking to the 59th Session of the
General
Assembly on such issues as UN reform, Millennium Development Goals, and the
fight against terrorism. At the same time, he addressed the Mountainous
Karabagh conflict, and Armenia’s position on prospects for its resolution.
He said that Armenia is ready to “compromise and collaborate” with neighbors
only if they are ready to make history, not rewrite it. “We want to work with
an Azerbaijan that understands its place in a rule-based international order,
not one whose policies, practices and statements threaten the fragile peace
and
stability of our region.”
Azerbaijan maligns the OSCE Minsk Group, stressed Oskanian, in order to mask
its refusal to consider proposals.
“For more than half a decade, it has rejected every proposal placed before it
from the Common State Proposal in 1998 to the Key West document of 2001,”
revealing that the same proposals emerged from discussions and negotiations
that included the participation of Azerbaijan’s leadership.
He concluded saying that though Armenians and Azeris were forcibly linked
together during the last century, they have, nevertheless, earned the right to
determine, in the coming century, whether they will live in peace.
“If we are serious about becoming full, deserving residents of the European
neighborhood, where borders don’t matter, but intentions and tolerance do, we
will have to come to terms with our past, with our history, with the realities
that have gripped our region.”
Local students and representatives of Armenian organizations were present to
hear the statement, and later participated in a short question-and-answer
period with the Minister.
The speech came at the conclusion of a three-day visit during which Oskanian
met with various UN officials, as well as foreign ministers. On Wednesday, the
Minister met with the Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, with
whom he discussed various UN issues, as well as matters related to Armenia-UN
cooperation. At the Secretary General’s request, the Minister briefed Annan on
the Mountainous Karabagh peace process.
Earlier in the day, Oskanian also met with the Secretary General’s Special
Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Juan Mendez. Minister Oskanian held a
short meeting with the Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amre
Moussa, where the two welcomed Armenia’s inclusion in the Arab League with
observer status. Within the margins of the UN, Minister Oskanian conferred
with
the foreign ministers of China, Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon. He also met with
the US Undersecretary of State Mark Grossman, the US Co-chair of the Minsk
Group Ambassador Steven Mann, and the Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy.

2) Defense Minister Sargsian Advises Baku to Steer Clear of War

YEREVAN (PanARMENIAN.Net)–The consequences of renewed hostilities in the
Mountainous Karabagh region would be extremely grave both for Armenia and
Azerbaijan, warned Armenia’s Minister Serge Sargsian, who is also the
Secretary
of the President’s Defense Council.
Speaking on Armenian Public TV on Wednesday, Sargsian emphasized Armenia’s
resoluteness to steer clear of war. “The outcome of any possible war–even the
most favorable for Armenia, means casualties; we have no desire to be involved
in military operations.”
It would even be no consolation, said Sargsian, that odds would be in
Armenia’s favor, as was the case in 1992-1994. “There are, after all, huge
prices to pay for war–delays settling social problems, limitation on
freedoms.
. . ”
Sargsian said that Armenia would be forced to pursue war, only if Azerbaijan
advances the attack.
“In this case, I assure, we will respond adequately, and the response will be
one that will, for many years–crush Azerbaijan’s desire to fight.”

3) Kokoity Confirms Intentions to Integrate with Russia

MOSCOW (Interfax)–At a ceremony marking the dispatch of humanitarian aid from
Moscow to the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali on Wednesday, president of
the breakaway republic Eduard Kokoity, stressed the need for unity between
north and south Ossetia.
“It’s time to forget the words ‘southern’ and ‘northern.’ There is one
Ossetia, which will be part of Russia,” Kokoity said, adding that nearly
98% of
residents of South Ossetia are Russian citizens.
“We are aware of our responsibility before our compatriots in Russia, since
geographically it is in a place where the future of the Caucasus is being
decided,” he said.
A united Ossetian people would “do everything possible to rebuff the forces
that are trying to oust Russia from the Caucasus,” he said.
“We shall work on several economic projects to integrate South Ossetia with
Russia,” he said.
South Ossetia is legally a province of Georgia, but a conflict in the 1990s
led to its de-facto independence. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has
stepped up efforts to restore control over South Ossetia. North Ossetia is a
constituent territory of the Russian Federation.
Meanwhile, South Ossetian Interior Minister Robert Guliyev told Interfax by
phone on Thursday that Georgia has set up two army groups on the border with
South Ossetia as part of its plans to launch strikes at the republic from the
direction of Znauri and Tskhinvali.
“By concentrating their forces in two directions–Tskhinvali and Znauri–the
Georgian authorities are entrusting the task of surrounding Tskhinvali and
closing the Trans-Caucasus highway to traffic traveling to [Russia’s republic
of] North Ossetia to these army groups. This will become possible as a result
of two parallel strikes,” Guliyev said.
“An intelligence report suggests that up to ten T-72 tanks, some of which
Tbilisi purchased in Romania and some other tanks that were repaired in
Ukraine, have been deployed in Georgia’s Kareli district alone. These tanks
are
expected to take part in an invasion of South Ossetia’s Znauri district,” he
said.

4) Armenian Man Kidnapped in Iraq

BAGHDAD–The Sydney Morning Herald reported that among three Lebanese travel
agency workers kidnapped in Iraq on September 17, is Armenian Aram Nalbandian.
The three men and their Iraqi driver were abducted by gunmen on the
Baghdad-Fallujah highway, a Lebanese Foreign Ministry official told The
Associated Press
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the three Lebanese
worked for a travel agency that has a branch in Baghdad.
The motive for the kidnapping was not immediately clear.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid has instructed the Lebanese charge
d’affaires in Iraq, Hassan Hejazi, to contact Iraqi authorities to secure the
release of the three Lebanese, the official said.

5) Bush Administration Disappoints Ethnic Voters

–Visit

–Multi-Ethnic Review Reveals Deep-Rooted Frustration Across Diverse
Communities

WASHINGTON, DC–Community leaders representing millions of ethnic Americans
are
fed up with George W. Bush’s neglect, opposition, and–all too often–outright
assault on the issues and values they care about, according to a review
released recently by the National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council
(NDELC).
“Each of the community leaders reached out to in this survey represents a
different element of our nation’s great ethnic diversity, but what they all
have in common is a profound disappointment with how the Bush Administration
has misled their communities and mismanaged issues–both domestic and
international–that hold the most meaning for the ethnic voters they
represent,” said AADLC representative Tsoghig Margossian.
“Over the past four years, Armenian Americans have suffered setback after
setback under the Bush Administration’s attack on the issues we care about
as a
community,” added Margossian. “As the NDELC review makes clear, we aren’t
alone
in our frustration over these disastrous policies, nor do we stand alone in
our
efforts to bring about real change this November.”
The National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council (NDELC) is an ethnic
constituency based organization encompassing the community of immigrants and
descendants of immigrants who primarily trace their heritage from Europe and
the Mediterranean. The groups include, but are not limited to Albanian, Arab,
Armenian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, German, Finnish, French Canadian, Greek,
Hungarian, Iranian, Irish, Italian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese,
Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Swedish, and Ukrainian Americans.
The purpose of NDELC is to continue the work of the 1990s to redefine how the
Democratic Party communicates with ethnic Americans and to ensure that ethnic
Democrats continue to be players in American politics.
For more information about “Armenians for Kerry” and Senator Kerry’s
record on
Armenian American issues, visit
“Armenians for Kerry” works in partnership with the Armenian American
Democratic Leadership Council (AADLC), a long-standing ethnic council of the
Democratic National Committee’s National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating
Committee. The AADLC actively fosters support within the Armenian American
community for the Democratic Party and national Democratic office holders,
while promoting the election of Armenian American Democrats to political
office
and encouraging participation by Armenian American Democrats at all levels of
the public policy process.
The text of the NDELC review is provided below. For more information about
the
role that ethnic Americans are playing this election season, visit:

George W. Bush is Wrong for Ethnic Americans*

IRISH AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 44 million Irish Americans by failing to
engage in the Northern Ireland peace process and standing by while a top
advisor made reckless comparisons to the war on Al Qaeda.”
–Stella O’Leary, Irish American Democrats

POLISH AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 10 million Polish Americans by relying on
Poland’s sacrifice in Iraq but continuing to impose burdensome and costly visa
requirements on Poles coming to the US and by not facilitating bidding by
Polish firms on post-war contracts in Iraq.”
–Nicholas Rey, Ambassador to Poland 1993-1997

ARMENIAN AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 1.5 million Armenian Americans by breaking
his pledge to recognize the Armenian genocide.”
–Aram Hamparian, Armenian National Committee of America

ARAB AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 3.5 million Arab Americans by tolerating
anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry from members of his Administration and
allowing an unfettered John Ashcroft to run roughshod over the civil liberties
of Arab
immigrants, creating fear and mistrust.”
–Dr. Jim Zogby, Arab American Institute

GREEK AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 3 million Greek Americans by failing to
show the required leadership, diplomacy and commitment in resolving the Cyprus
conflict to help bring peace and stability to the region.”
–Clay Constantinou, former Ambassador, Dean of Whitehead School of Diplomacy
and International Relation

UKRAINIAN AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 1.5 million Ukrainian Americans by
blocking
legislation condemning Stalin’s Famine-Genocide against the Ukrainian nation.”
–Julian Kulas, Ukrainian Americans for Kerry-Edwards

MUSLIM AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 7 million Muslim Americans by speaking of
inclusion while creating an atmosphere where law-abiding Muslim Americans are
afraid of a government they thought was supposed to protect them, not harass
them.” –Isi Siddiqui, Undersecretary of Agriculture during Clinton
Administration

ROMANIAN AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 2 million Romanian Americans by seeking to
cut foreign aid, and failing to engage pro-democracy, anti-corruption
forces in
Romania.” –Prof. Radu Florescu, Romanian American community leader

ALBANIAN AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 1 million Albanian Americans by abdicating
America’s traditional leadership role in resolving Kosovo’s final status and
securing stability in the Balkans.”
–Ilir Zherka, Clinton-Gore ’96 Ethnic Outreach Coordinator

SERBIAN AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 2 million Serbian Americans by abandoning
US efforts to promote regional stability in the Balkans and support for
democratic forces within Serbia.”
–Obrad Kesic, Serbian American community leader

HUNGARIAN AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 2 million Hungarian Americans by ignoring
the human, civil, and religious rights of Hungarian minorities throughout
Central Europe.”
–Peter Ujvagi, State Representative, Ohio District 47

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 5 million Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian,
Czech, and Slovak Americans by failing to continue America’s traditional
engagement with pro-democracy forces.”
–Mark Brzezinski, former director Southeast European Affairs, National
Security Council

BALTIC AMERICANS:

“George W. Bush turned his back on 1 million Latvian, Lithuanian, and
Estonian
Americans by eliminating VOA and RFE radio broadcasts to the Baltic states.”
–Asta Banionis, Lithuanian American community leader

*Organizational affiliations are for identification purposes only.

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