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05/09/2005
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1) Liberation of Shushi, End of WWII Cause for Celebrations in Armenia
2) Catholicos Aram I Calls on Germany Church to Back Genocide Recognition
Efforts
3) Army Head Warns Azerbaijan
4) Armenian-Azeri Summit ‘Could Break Karabagh Impasse’
5) Bush Arrives in Georgia to Support Pro-West Drive

1. Liberation of Shushi, End of WWII Cause for Celebrations in Armenia

YEREVAN (RFE/RL, Armenpress)–Armenia officially marked on Monday the 60th
anniversary of the end of the World War II, honoring and remembering hundreds
of thousands of its citizens that contributed to the Allied victory over Nazi
Germany.
In two-day official celebrations, Armenia also marked the 13th anniversary of
Mountainous Karabagh’s ancient city of Shushi from Azerbaijan.
`I think that if the Shushi operations had failed the Azerbaijanis would have
easily occupied Karabagh,’ Defense Minister Serj Sarkisian said on Monday,
after visiting Yerevan’s Yerablur military cemetery with other senior
government officials and the top brass of Armenia’s Armed Forces.
The fall of Shushi was one of Azerbaijan’s most serious military setbacks and
proved vital for Armenian victory in the 1991-94 war. The anniversary was
marked as a day of mourning in Baku.
President Robert Kocharian issued a written address to the nation in
connection to both victories:
`In 1992, the Armenian people achieved a new victory after liberating the
town
of Shushi in Karabagh. In the war imposed on us we again proved that we are
always ready to protect our people’s right for peaceful life. Again
congratulating all of us on the great date I wish all us peace. Our
devotion to
the fatherland should be displayed in the raising of the new generation and
the
building of a new state.’
For Victory Day celebration, hundreds of gray-haired war veterans wearing
wartime medals were joined by senior government officials as they paid tribute
to their fallen comrades at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Yerevan’s
Victory Park. Thousands of younger Armenians laid flowers by its eternal fire
throughout the day.
The nationwide celebrations began with a military parade and ended with a
concert and fireworks show at the WWII memorial in Yerevan. Separate
wreath-laying ceremonies were also held by the statutes of the two most
prominent and high-level Armenian participants of the war: Marshal Ivan
Baghramian and Admiral Ivan Isakov.
Praising the bravery of Armenian soldiers during WWII, President Kocharian
told the nation, `Armenia’s revival was made possible by that victory and
[ensued] peace,’ he said. `Armenians showed unique examples of bravery and
sacrifice within the ranks of the Soviet army.’
Kocharian issued the statement ahead of his departure to Moscow at the
weekend. He was among nearly 60 heads of state and government and other
international dignitaries who arrived in Russia to take part in the
anniversary
celebrations.
Some 600,000 citizens of Soviet Armenia took part in what many people in the
former USSR call the Great Patriotic War. Nearly half of them lost their
lives–a catastrophic death toll for what was then a republic of less than two
million inhabitants.
Just over 19,000 war veterans remained alive as of May 2000.

2. Catholicos Aram I Calls on Germany Church to Back Genocide Recognition
Efforts

ANTELIAS–In letter to the Chairman of the Evangelical Church in Germany,
Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I asked Germany’s churches to
support Armenian genocide recognition efforts, so as to `restore the rights of
the Armenian people, which have been held captive.’
`We are deeply satisfied that in German political and academic circles,
there is renewed interest and vigor in advancing the issue of the Armenian
genocide,’ His Holiness Aram I writes to Bishop Wolfgang Huber.
The Catholicos praises all parties in the German parliament, which
recently agreed to a resolution telling Turkey to “take historic
responsibility” for the 1915 Armenian genocide. He also praised German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for reminding the leadership of Turkey, during a
recent visit there, that it must come to terms with the issue of the Armenian
genocide in order to join the European Union.
Bishop Huber and Catholicos Aram I enjoy a lengthy professional
relationship and personal friendship, including their work together on the
World Council of Churches.
Meanwhile the Conference of European Churches (CEC) on April 23 called on
Turkey to recognize that it committed genocide against Armenians and urged
reconciliation between Ankara and Yerevan.
The CEC Presidium urged the Turkish government to initiate a process of
reconciliation between the Turkish and the Armenian peoples, including as
integral elements, `the recognition of guilt and the proclamation of the
truth.’

3. Army Head Warns Azerbaijan

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–The chief of the Armenian army staff,
Colonel-General Mikael Harutiunian, said on Monday that there exist no
tensions
on the contact line established by the 1994 ceasefire agreement in the
Mountainous Karabagh war, saying that hostilities have come only in the
form of
announcements by Azerbaijan’s president, head of parliament, as well as
defense
minister. He stressed, however, that if Azerbaijan is bent on resuming the
war,
then they will pay dearly, and risk losing vast territories.
Speaking during Victory Day celebrations and ceremonies marking the 13th
anniversary of the liberation of the Shushi from Azerbaijan, Harutiunian said,
`I would advise Azerbaijan’s leadership to be reserved with their aggressive
militaristic announcements, which adversely and mechanically affect servicemen
and the military leadership, and heighten tensions.
He also denied Azeri claims that dozens of Armenian soldiers have been
killed there in recent weeks. `They wish we had lost many soldiers,’
Harutiunian told RFE/RL. `There have indeed been a few cases of our soldiers
dying or getting wounded. `But the figures cited by them are mere propaganda
and blackmail.’
Harutiunian also reiterated Armenian claims that Azerbaijani troops have
been moving closer to Karabagh Armenian positions. `We see no point in moving
our positions because we already control the main heights which we took ten
years ago,’ he said. `They probably need to do that because they had left
their
weapons behind and run away [during the war]. They probably felt that they
need
to improve their positions. In any case, we are taking adequate measures in
response.’
Meanwhile, three Azerbaijani soldiers that were captured the Armenians in
northeastern Karabagh last February, after crossing the frontline, were handed
back to the Azerbaijani military on Saturday. Azerbaijani media quoted
officials in Baku as saying that they were not harmed during their detention.

4. Armenian-Azeri Summit ‘Could Break Karabagh Impasse’

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–The upcoming meeting between the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan could prove decisive for the success of the latest international
push to resolve the Mountainous Karabagh conflict, Defense Minister Serj
Sarkisian said on Monday.
`I look forward to that meeting just as you do, because a lot depends on it,’
Sarkisian told reporters. `We can probably say after that meeting whether the
peace process is continuing or has entered a deadlock.’
President Robert Kocharian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev are
scheduled to meet on the sidelines of a Council of Europe summit in Warsaw
next
week. The two leaders will try to build on progress reportedly made by their
foreign ministers during a series of internationally mediated talks over the
past year.
French, Russian and U.S. diplomats spearheading the peace process announced
last month that the conflicting parties are close to making a `first step
towards an agreement.’
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said last week that further progress in the
long and painful peace talks depends on the results of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani
summit.
`The foreign ministers have done all they could possibly do and that the next
step has to be taken by the presidents,’ Oskanian said. He again insisted that
no formal peace agreements will be signed at Warsaw.
Aliyev and Kocharian could have come face to face in Moscow at the weekend on
the fringes of a summit of former Soviet republics. However, Aliyev chose to
boycott the summit on the grounds that it coincided with the 13th anniversary
of the capture by Karabagh Armenian forces of the strategically important town
of Shushi.

5. Bush Arrives in Georgia to Support Pro-West Drive

TBILISI (Reuters)–President Bush flew to the small ex-Soviet republic of
Georgia on Monday for a visit being hailed as a pointed show of Washington’s
support for democratic freedoms in Russia’s backyard.
Bush, making the first visit to Georgia by a U.S. president, arrived aboard
Air Force One from Moscow, where he took part in celebrations to mark the 60th
anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
At Tbilisi airport, decorated with Stars and Stripes flags, he was greeted by
President Mikhail Saakashvili, the pro-Western leader catapulted to power 18
months ago in a “Rose Revolution” who has since been trying to shake off the
Kremlin’s influence.
Saakashvili boycotted the Moscow festivities because the Kremlin refused to
bow
to his demands for the immediate withdrawal of two Russian military bases on
Georgian soil.
Moscow has about 3,000 troops in the Soviet-era bases, which Saakashvili has
likened to an “occupation” of his country. The United States has dozens of
military trainers in Georgia.
Georgia is in the turbulent Caucasus region, scene of a clutch of local
conflicts that grew from the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is also on the
route for a U.S.-backed pipeline linking the oilfields of the Caspian Sea to
world markets.
“This visit means a lot,” Giga Bokeria, a Georgian parliamentarian and close
Saakashvili associate, told Reuters.
“It is a message that we are not alone in our struggle to become a decent
democracy … a sovereign country on which no one can impose their will. I am
talking about Russia here,” he said.

SPEECH IN SQUARE

The highlight of the 24-hour visit will be on Tuesday, when Bush addresses
the
Georgian people on Tbilisi’s Liberty Square beneath a massive banner that
reads: “Celebrating Democracy and Freedom.”
It was from that square in November 2003 that crowds of people marched on
Georgia’s parliament, forcing the resignation of veteran leader Eduard
Shevardnadze.
Georgia’s peaceful revolution created the template for fellow ex-Soviet
republics Ukraine and Moldova to turn their backs on Moscow and pursue
integration with the West.
The Bush administration has indicated it would be happy to see power change
hands elsewhere in the former Soviet Union with Belarus–described by
Washington as central Europe’s last dictatorship–at the top of its list.
In Georgia, a state of 5 million that saw its economy implode after
independence in 1991, most people were eagerly awaiting the Bush visit. The
new
leadership is tackling corruption but economic reforms are proving painful.
Tbilisi was soaked by rain on Monday but officials say if the weather
improves
more than 50,000 people will come to hear Bush speak on Tuesday.
Lamp-posts along the city’s main streets were decorated with Georgian and
U.S.
flags while crews have worked round the clock to repair the potholed roads.
Policemen in fluorescent rain capes lined the streets in what locals said was
the biggest security operation they could remember.
“We are very pleased that such an important person is visiting us. The United
States is Georgia’s main partner and we hope America will help us solve our
problems with Russia,” said Lali Khestsuriani, a 42-year-old doctor.

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