ARMENIA THIS WEEK
Monday, March 7, 2005

In this issue:

U.S. Ambassador Evans: Armenia is on the right track

Leading critic of Azeri government’s anti-Armenian mongering killed

Turkish Ministry renames wild animals bearing “separatist” names

U.S. ENVOY: ARMENIA ON RIGHT TRACK

The United States Ambassador to Armenia John Evans described Armenia
as “on the right track along several important vectors.” Evans made
the remark last month during a speaking tour of universities and
Armenian-American communities in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San
Francisco and Washington, DC. Evans said that while progress was
often uneven and there were problematic areas, there have already
been significant accomplishments.

Speaking at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC Evans said that
U.S.-Armenia relations were good when he took his post in Yerevan
last August and that they continue to strengthen. He particularly
noted Armenia’s deployment with the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. Evans
said that he fully realized that this decision was complicated by
concerns over the safety of the Armenian community in Iraq and came
after much internal debate. Evans also noted that the overall
U.S.-Armenia security partnership, including cooperation on
counter-proliferation, was developing quite rapidly.

Evans along with Robin Phillips, the Armenia Director for the Agency
for International Development (USAID), spoke of significant economic
progress made by Armenia. The Armenian economy has now recovered from
its post-independence crisis. Unlike the past, when much of the
production was geared for the Soviet military-industrial complex, 80
percent of Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) today is generated
by the private sector. With double-digit economic growth in the past
four years, poverty levels have fallen from close to 50 percent in
2002 to about 40 percent last year. Evans identified corruption as an
issue that is widely perceived as a significant problem. He added
that he was encouraged by President Robert Kocharian’s pledge to
fight unfair revenue collection and tax evasion.

Evans also touched on Armenia’s foreign policy challenges. On the
Karabakh conflict, Evans said he was “very slightly encouraged” with
continued talks between Armenian and Azeri officials, but that the
overall outlook for settlement was not very promising because of the
lack of mutual trust and continued bellicose rhetoric. While speaking
at the University of California, Berkeley, Evans noted that while
U.S. policy was to recognize the territorial integrity of other
states “everybody realizes that Karabakh can’t be given back to
Azerbaijan.”

Evans further noted that the United States continues to hope for
“evolution in Turkey” that would lead to a change in its policy
towards Armenia. He further stressed that the murders and
deportations of over one million Armenians from Ottoman Turkey should
be properly characterized as Genocide. (Sources: ANC-San Francisco
2-19; R&I Report 2-23; RFE/RL Armenia Report 2-25)

LEADING DOMESTIC CRITIC OF AZERBAIJAN’S ANTI-ARMENIAN POLICIES
MURDERED

Azerbaijan’s leading opposition journalist known for his harsh
criticism of the Azeri government’s domestic and foreign policies was
murdered last week. Elmar Huseinov, 38, was shot four times,
including once in his mouth in what appeared to be a contract killing
just outside his apartment door. Reports from Huseinov’s family and
friends, who were first on the scene, said that electricity in the
building went out and that his cell phone was switched off by a
government-controlled company shortly before the murder.

The U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan called Huseinov’s death a “great loss”
and urged that “everything possible” be done to locate the
perpetrators. U.S. Ambassador Reno Harnish called Huseinov a true
patriot, who wanted to see his country free and democratic. A leading
opposition figure Ali Kerimov accused the government of orchestrating
the murder, calling it an “act of state terror.” Both Harnish and
Kerimov made their remarks at Huseinov’s funeral attended by
thousands of mourners. The government, meanwhile, claimed the murder
was a “provocation” by unnamed forces and promised a thorough
investigation. Past murders of Azeri government critics were either
left unsolved or resulted in dubious prosecutions of government
opponents.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) noted in a
statement that the murder comes amid a broad government crackdown on
the media and opposition activists. Observers believe that following
recent government changes in Georgia and Ukraine, the Azeri
government is nervous that domestic opposition groups may restart
protests with Western support. Pro-Aliyev politicians have accused
Western democracy organizations and even BP, a leading Western
investor in Caspian oil, of helping the Azeri opposition foment
unrest.

Huseinov was the founder and chief editor of the Monitor, a weekly
publication that, in addition to investigative reporting of the Azeri
government’s domestic corruption, was virtually the sole Azeri
publication to publish articles that opposed the government’s
anti-Armenian actions and rhetoric. The magazine accused the
government of instigating the anti-Armenian hysteria and its articles
repeatedly called the Azeri President Ilham Aliyev’s threats to
launch a new war in Karabakh a “bluff,” the Azeri army not ready for
war and the government’s entire approach to the conflict as
counterproductive to its resolution. As a result, the government
repeatedly fined and periodically shut down the Monitor, with
Husseinov and other authors accused of treason and “insulting Azeri
national dignity,” imprisoned and assaulted.

The Monitor countered the dominant trends in Azeri media, by
repeatedly condemning anti-Armenian violence in Azerbaijan since the
late 1980s and exposing government complicity, including that by the
late President Heydar Aliyev and his associates. In its recent
issues, the magazine criticized anti-Armenian vandalism in Azerbaijan
and linked senior Azeri officials to terrorism and narcotics
trafficking. Last week’s issue was due to feature a report on a
Monitor correspondent’s trip to Karabakh. The correspondent, Eynullah
Fatullayev, who was himself a target of an assassination attempt last
summer, said in his interview after returning from Karabakh that he
was pleasantly surprised with democratic and economic progress made
there. He noted that Armenians were tolerant towards Azeris, and that
Azerbaijan should focus on settlement of the conflict now.

Azeri President Aliyev said last year that he was “not in a hurry” to
settle the conflict, but would instead use oil revenues to build-up
the military and intensify an anti-Armenian public relations campaign
to coerce Armenians into concessions. (Sources: Armenia This Week
1-24-03, 1-23-04, 11-15-04, 2-7; Zerkalo 2-23, 3-5; Ekho 3-1;
Associated Press (AP) 3-2, 3; British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
3-2, 3, 5; CPJ.org 3-2; Day.az 3-3; R&I Report 3-7)

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Monday, March 7, 2005

Separatist animals curbed

Environment and Forest Ministry acts on animal names considered a
threat to Turkey’s unitary state

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News

The Environment and Forest Ministry has announced that it has changed
animal names that contain the words “Kurdistan” and “Armenia,” which
they considered threatened Turkey’s unitary state. Meanwhile, a
United Nations Development Program official objected, noting that the
change needed to be cited in relevant literature to come into effect.

Some animals, whose Latin names included “separatist” words, have
become a source of concern.

The names of red fox, wild sheep and roe deer were officially changed
by the ministry on Friday.

>From now on, the Latin name of red fox will be Vulpes Vulpes, instead
of Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanicum, wild sheep will be known as Ovis
Orien Anatolicus, instead of Ovis Armeniana and Roe deer will be
called Capreolus Caprelus Capreolus, instead of Capreolus Capreolus
Armenius.

In a ministry statement, it was said that the changes were made,
because the names were selected intentionally to pose a threat to the
unitary state, and the foreign academics had acted very prejudicial.

UNDP rejects the change:

A UNDP official, who was asked about the changes by daily Hürriyet,
said the ministry had to make a valid case for the changes and make
sure the changes were cited in literature, before they could be
considered official. The official said that it was up to the
scientist who made the discovery to name the animal.

Environment and Forest Ministry Nature Preservation Department chief
Professor Mustafa Kemal Yalinkiliç admitted that scientific names
could not be chosen by anyone, but claimed that certain games were
being played over Turkey. He said these academics were using such
names to argue that Armenians or Kurds used to live in these regions.

–Boundary_(ID_1otu+CS65/17tRNYS8ENOw)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress