ARMENIANOW.COM May 13, 2005
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STOPPING TO SMELL THE ROSES: BUSH IN TBILISI, BUT WHY NOT YEREVAN?
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
When U.S. President George W. Bush landed in Tbilisi, Georgia on
Monday, he was only another 30 minutes away from Yerevan. Half an hour
away lies the capital where U.S. aid has flowed, second only (per
capita) to the amount the world’s most powerful nation allots to
Israel. And only half an hour away from the city that is now home to
the largest U.S. embassy in the world.
But 30 minutes away, too, from a government’s leadership that
necessarily leans more toward Moscow than toward Washington. Nor is
Armenia’s president the English-fluent, American-educated, favored
friend of the West like his neighbor Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili.
Given the U.S.’s current need for allies in this region, the strong
involvement here of America’s Diaspora, and the even stronger lobbying
of Armenian agencies in Washington, if the `Leader of the Free World’
would come so close, why not closer?
`Armenia is not a conductor of American policy in the region to the
degree that Georgia manages to do it today,’ political analyst Tatul
Hakobyan told ArmeniaNow upon his return from Georgia to witness the
American president’s visit.
The leader of Georgia’s Republican Party David Usupashvili said the
`answer is simple’ concerning why Bush went to Georgia:
`George Bush visits the country that managed to change the ineffective
government in conditions when that government was about to embark on a
very dangerous path by rigging the elections. The Georgian society
performed a heroic act and it is no wonder that this step deserved
serious attention of the political circles in the West, and especially
in the United States.’
In the Georgian capital, Bush was greeted by 150,000 well-wishers (and
one grenade thrower), as if it were he, himself, who had led the `Rose
Revolution’ rather than the one coming to offer his congratulations.
Timed to coincide with commemorations in Moscow marking the 60th
anniversary of allied victory over the Germans in World War II, Bush’s
visit to Tbilisi was a historical endorsement of the Georgian
President, who was noticeably flattered by the attention.
`Throughout our history any leader of a large state would come to
Georgia as an aggressor or enslaver,’ Saakashvili told the crowd
gathered in Freedom Square. `He would come to even more destroy the
country, humiliate and offend our people. Their arrivals brought only
blood and destruction. Today, for the first time in the history of our
country, the leader of the world’s most powerful state stands next to
us and he stands as our companion.’
Georgia’s new `companion’ hailed the Caucasus republic as a champion.
`You are making many important contributions to freedom’s cause, but
your most important contribution is your example,’ Bush said. `In
recent months, the world has marvelled at the hopeful changes taking
place from Baghdad to Beirut to Bishkek. But before there was a Purple
Revolution in Iraq, or an Orange Revolution in Ukraine, or a Cedar
Revolution in Lebanon, there was the Rose Revolution in Georgia. Your
courage is inspiring democratic reformers and sending a message that
echoes across the world: Freedom will be the future of every nation
and every people on Earth.’
What exactly do these words imply? What specifically did the
U.S. President mean when he spoke about the Georgian leadership in the
cause of freedom?
`Of course, George Bush had to endorse all Georgian reforms and, first
of all, Georgia’s advanced role in the course of revolutionary changes
in the post-Soviet space,’ says Hakobyan. `It implies serious
financial injections into the radically or revolutionarily disposed
youth wing of the Georgian reforms – Kmreu – which announced itself
both in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. Today, it is actively operating in
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Thus, the American president determined
Georgia as the main conductor of U.S. regional policy.
`It is obvious that he couldn’t but pay attention to Georgia – the
homeland of the `Rose Revolution’. But there is another motive as
well: I am convinced that the main reason why George Bush chose to
visit Georgia was the `go-ahead to revolution’ voiced by him, which he
had to publicly read out in Tbilisi by all means. Today, Georgia,
indeed, stands in the vanguard of the spread of revolutionary ideas,
and not only in the space of the former USSR, but also in the
countries of Central Asia and the Middle East.’
And, politically, it is obvious too why the American president didn’t
take that 30-minute flight to Yerevan.
`Besides everything else, George Bush cannot allow himself to visit
Armenia, ignoring the Azeri interests. Parity is very important
here. It is apparent that the U.S. leader found it necessary to
maintain the balance of official attitude towards Armenia and
Azerbaijan. He couldn’t permit himself to visit only one of these
countries, since otherwise he would oblige himself to visit the other
country too. Thus, everything fits in well with the context of the
main reason for the U.S. President’s visit to Georgia – this country
is to export revolutionary ideas to a large space, including Belarus
as well.’
As part of his tour George Bush also visited the Netherlands, Latvia
and Russia. But it was Georgia where he was greeted like a hero as
much as a guest.
Saakashvili himself stated that Tbilisi is ready to become
Washington’s chief partner in the push for world-wide democracy.
`We have a responsibility before our Motherland to disseminate
democracy all over the world, beginning with Belarus, whose people
deserve freedom. We have stood next to the Ukrainian people and next
to other peoples in their struggle for democratic ideals.’
THE FRUIT OF SPRING: STORMS DESTROY ARMAVIR CROPS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow Reporter
For the third year in a row, hail has severely damaged immature fruit
in more than a dozen villages of the Armavir province.
Late last week, a storm that swept across the Ararat Valley took only
a few minutes to threaten, if not destroy, the hopes of an entire
year’s production of apricots, grapes and other fruits.
Alik Karapetyan, 40, has filled a few cases with yet unripe but
already blackened apricots. He says that this year they will again be
deprived of the famous Armenian apricots and other fruits.
`The yield of fruit orchards has been spoiled by 100 percent,’
Karapetyan told ArmeniaNow. `Half of it has fallen off and what still
remains on the trees is not useful for anything. They are all damaged
and will not ripen anymore. I have a plot of 1.5 hectares, half a
hectare is under vineyards and fruit trees, and there is nothing left
of it. Hail has beaten the young grape shoots.’
>From among the 14 villages that suffered from hail, the most damage
occurred in Nalbandyan, Janfida, Pshatavan, Aygeshat, (some 60-70
kilometers west of Yerevan). Janfida, which is on the bank of the
river Arax, is only 500 meters away from the Armenian- Turkish
border. Village head Ghukas Sreyan says the storm has caused an
emergency situation in Janfida.
`Nothing is left of the potato seedlings. Hail has beaten almost 80
percent. Four hundred of the 800 hectares of the village’s crops have
been damaged fully, 200 hectares by 50-60 percent, and the remaining
200 hectares by 20-30 percent. The scale of damage is huge in the
village’s 110-hectare vineyards and 120 hectares of orchards,’ says
the village head.
The village’s old-timers say the last time they saw such heavy hail
was as far back as 1963.
Ruzik Petrosyan, 76, says: `The hail has blackened and taken
everything, nothing is left. It didn’t spare us. The land is so empty
that it seems we didn’t plant any seedlings at all. It is the third
year the same misfortune happens to these villages, and the surprising
thing is that it strikes the same places.’
The seedlings of all vegetable crops – tomato, pepper, cucumber,
eggplant, potato – have been destroyed. Vineyards, apricot, apple and
medlar orchards have been damaged.
Janfida’s head says that the villages have found themselves in a heavy
social situation and villagers do not know how to repair the damage.
`Of course, we cannot speak about the restoration of orchards and as
to purchasing new seedlings, it is rather difficult for a villager,
since they incurred all those expenses once and were expecting the
yield. The day following the hail the price for a seedling went up
from 5 drams (less than 1 cent) to 45 drams (10 cents). Imagine the
prices in summer. To be short, we worked so hard but are left with
nothing.’
Ministry of Agriculture and Governor’s Office workers were touring the
villages, examining the scale of damage to decide the volume of
compensation.
Meanwhile, 53-year-old Artsrun Poghosyan says that after last year’s
hail he received a compensation of only 100,000 drams (less than $200
according to the exchange rate at that time), which was a fraction of
the profit he would have got from his orchard.
`I have a 1,200-meter plot near my house and also a privatized plot of
2,300 meters,’ he says. `Water has taken everything. We don’t even
have vine leaves to make tolma, or green onion. I know one thing that
the anti-hail station, which used to operate in this territory, should
be restored. I worked there myself as deputy chief and can say that we
protected the village from such calamities by 95 percent.’
The anti-hail station that is situated between the villages of Janfida
and Nalbandyan hasn’t operated since 1987. The villagers say that if
hail destroys their produce every year, how much more can they beg
from the state? They want the station to be re- operated. . (Widely
used during Soviet times, the station had a gun from which chemicals
were shot into clouds to dissolve hail.)
Minister of Agriculture David Lokyan, who visited the villages that
suffered from the calamity, told the villagers that they were already
testing one such station in the Aragatsotn region. The next one, he
said, will be located in this territory.
`Representatives of the Argentinean Sopua Company are to arrive in
Armenia in late June. Negotiations are already underway for
purchasing cannons for the anti-hail stations,’ the minister said.
Janfida villagers show an egg-size hailstone which they kept in the
fridge. They say that the climate has changed so much that they always
find themselves in unexpected situations.
Sreyan says: `Last year’s winds and hail blew off the roofs of 320
houses. And on April 13 of this year, the river Arax overflowed so
much that it broke through the dams. Governor’s Office workers and
local villagers had to use different 10-15-ton concrete equipment to
neutralize the danger temporarily until Arpa-Sevan constructors began
the restoration works a few days later.’
The village head is convinced that if they hadn’t done the preliminary
works, the river would have flooded the four or five borderline
villages.
HISTORIC CONCERN: GEORGIAN ARMENIANS SAY AUTHORITIES OUT TO RID
COUNTRY OF ARMENIAN TRACES
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
AKHALTSKHA, GEORGIA – A once powerful Armenian ethno-cultural layer in
Georgia is currently facing destruction.
This at least is the conclusion of representatives of Armenian public
organizations operating in the territory of Georgia’s
Samtskhe-Javakhetia (Javahk) province. In their opinion, the
eradication of the Armenian element has been elevated by official
Tbilisi into state policy and it is being effectively carried out
especially in the area of Armenian architecture.
`The process of turning the Armenian monuments of medieval
architecture into Georgian ones, has sense only in the context of the
common policy of Georgian authorities,’ Ludwig Petrosyan, chairman of
the Armenian National Public Union (ANPU) told ArmeniaNow. `In this
connection it is no wonder that this policy is being initially tested
in the provincial center of Akhaltskha,’ a traditionally Armenian
province.
In 1829, Russian general Paskevich occupied Akhaltskha and annexed it
to the Russian Empire. The same general, in 1830, carried out the
resettlement of 2,536 Armenians families from Armenian Karina (Erzrum)
to Akhaltskha, which then was situated only on the left bank of the
tributary of the Kura – Pokhtsova. The Armenian population that
settled down on the right bank of the river expressed their desire to
call that region `New Erzrum’, but the general did not give his
consent, saying that the right bank of the Pokhtsova, in accordance
with the resettlement plan, would bear the name of `Plan’. At present,
this region of Akhaltskha is known under the name of `Mard’. At least
since the 10th century the opposite bank has borne the Arabic name of
`Rabat’. It became the nucleus of the town’s establishment.
`Basing on this very fact the authorities of official Tbilisi are
trying to prove to the world that up to the first half of the 19th
century there was no Armenian town-forming factor in Akhaltskha,’ says
the head of the ANPU legal department Samson Abrahamyan. `Thereby the
Georgian leadership totally ignores the ancient and medieval history
of the land and is trying to overlook the presence of numerous traces
of Armenian culture – including churches and cemeteries in the town’s
left bank dated to an earlier period. That’s why the traces of
Armenian life preserved there are either being destroyed or portrayed
as Georgian. And this policy often acquires comic manifestations: in
particular, the exclusively Armenian tombstones – khachkars (stone
crosses) are presented as Georgian gravestones by way of putting
Georgian inscriptions on them. The same inscriptions can be met today
also on the facades of Armenian buildings in Rabat. The Surb
Astvatsatsin (St. Virgin) Church, for example, dates back to
1356. Founded in the 12th- 13th centuries the Surb Eremyan Church
originally was an Armenian Apostolic and later Armenian Catholic
Church. It is remarkable that the country’s authorities are thus
trying to present even the Catholic buildings as Georgian, although
Georgians have never been Catholics. They were Muslims, but not
Catholics.’
This region of Georgia, as in the north-western region of Armenia, is
a center of Armenian Cahtolicism. The majority of the Christian
population here are Catholics, and it is from among them that one of
the prominent figures of the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal G. P.
Aghajanyan came.
`The Armenians of Akhaltskha constituted the core of trade-merchant
and manufacturing urban estates, they had their workshops and we
engaged in medicine and education,’ Hrant Karapetyan, the head of the
youth union of scouts, said in an ArmeniaNow interview. `In 1876 the
population was 13,300, and in 1900 it was 16,116, and the Armenian
population made 13,000. There were Armenian periodicals in the town as
well as numerous schools. There were five Armenian churches, and
among them the famous educational complex at the Surb Nshan Cathedral,
which is today presented by Georgian authorities as a monument of
Georgian architecture. Besides Armenian churches there was also a
mosque and two synagogues in the town.’
The old Jewish cemetery of Akhaltskha was situated on the left bank
next to the Armenian cemetery. Despite the fact that there are
practically no Jews left in town, the cemetery itself is surrounded by
a high stone fence and is under protection.
`The same cannot be said about the old Armenian cemetery,’ says Ludwig
Petrosyan. He himself is an Akhaltsikh native, whose ancestors lived
here long before the resettlement of 1830.
`The uniqueness and value of this cemetery consists in the fact that
along with early Christian buildings it is a material proof of the
permanent presence of Armenians in the town,’ he says. `It is an old
necropolis where residents of Akhaltskha were buried even before the
19th century. That’s why this cemetery is not properly protected by
the state. Of course, much depends on us, however in the current
conditions we are practically deprived of many possibilities.’
A monument to the victims of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey was
erected in one of the hills near the town last year upon Petrosyan’s
initiative. The only such monument in the territory of Georgia is a
traditional Armenian khachkar. It was set up on the threshold of the
saddest day in Armenian history – April 24. The project had been
coordinated with municipal authorities.
`However, it was dismantled by officers of the law, on orders by
provincial authorities, and I was summoned to the Prosecutor’s
Office,’ remembers the ANPU chairman. It was only after a row
threatening to strain Armenian-Georgian state relations that the
monument was restored, by the intervention of Georgian President
Mikhail Saakashvili.
`The provincial leadership did not allow us to fence the khachkar and
build a dozen steps leading up to it on the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide,’ says Petrosyan. `What larger project can we speak
about in such conditions? It is enough to mention that against the
background of numerous idling and decaying Armenian architectural
constructions framing the hollow of Akhatskha, the only functioning
church is literarily driven into the former synagogue and then into
the mosque situated in the Jewish district.’
MOVEMENT OVER `KARABAKH PROBLEM’: COUNCIL OF EUROPE WEIGHS IN WITH COMMISSION
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has
noticeably stepped up its efforts to find ways of the soonest
settlement of the `Karabakh problem’. In particular, earlier this
month the PACE for the first time made a decision to set up an interim
commission on Nagorno Karabakh consisting of representatives of six
Council of Europe member states – France, Germany, Russia, Italy,
Sweden and Turkey – as well as the chairmen of PACE committees.
The meetings of the new body will be held simultaneously or within the
framework of PACE season sessions. In this connection political
analysts do not rule out that the first meeting may be held as soon as
next month. The structure is led by the former PACE head, British MP
Lord Russell Johnston. PACE Monitoring Committee co-rapporteurs
Andreas Gross and Andreas Henkel will continue their work within the
new structure. David Atkinson, the author of the report on Nagorno
Karabakh, will also work in the commission. The PACE’s new interim
body will read its first report on Nagorno Karabakh in January 2006.
This event has caused a great deal of concern among certain political
circles in Armenia and is viewed as the continuation of Azerbaijan’s
consistent policy on shifting the issue of Nagorno Karabakh from the
political competence of the OSCE Minsk Group. In particular, Shavarsh
Kocharyan, a member of the Armenian delegation to the PACE,
representative of the opposition Ardarutyun (Justice) bloc thinks that
the formation of the commission to a certain degree proceeds from the
interests of Baku:
`The Azeri authorities are trying to shift the discussion of the
Karabakh conflict from the plane of the OSCE Minsk Group to the format
of other international organizations,’ said Kocharyan. `During most
different discussions Baku presents a distorted essence of the
conflict and the position of Azeri authorities often finds support
from the international community.’
Some Armenian analysts pay attention to the presence of well-known
representative of the corporate interests of British fuel companies,
David Atkinson, as well as authorized delegates of the most biased
state on the commission, Turkey. Official Ankara does not conceal its
position on the Karabakh problem and even in the aspect of the
possible development of Armenian-Turkish relations, as a rule, always
insists on the `soonest withdrawal of the Armenian army units from
Nagorno Karabakh and respect for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.’
`The fact of Turkey’s involvement in the commission per se challenges
the degree of impartiality in the approaches of this body,’ says
military analyst David Harutyunov. `Turkey whose representatives have
a greater experience of work with European parliaments will lobby not
only the interests of Baku, but also its own, trying to present its
problems in the Armenian vector exclusively on the plane of the
`Armenian destructive factor in the region.’ That it is in a position
to do that is testified by the fact that as early as in April 2005 the
Turkish delegates to the PACE managed to enlist the support of 97 PACE
deputies on the matter of approving Prime Minister Recep Erdogan’s
initiative.’
(See ????????)
`Turkey has, indeed, launched an offensive and currently continues to
collect signatures,’ Shavarsh Kocharyan stresses in this regard. `The
Armenian delegation sent letters to the heads of delegations to the
PACE indicating that the president of Armenia had already responded to
the initiative of the Turkish premier and that to collect signatures
after that was simply immoral. We also made it clear in our appeals
that the Turkish prime minister acted not quite politely by publishing
his letter to the president of Armenia before it even arrived to the
addressee. Though, it doesn’t stop Turkey. I consider it inadvisable
that the PACE should set up an ad hoc commission on Nagorno Karabakh,
and although it cannot directly influence the work of the OSCE Minsk
Group, indirectly such influence is possible. The discussion of this
problem within different international structures will put immediate
pressure on the OSCE Minsk Group.’
The Vice-Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, head of the Armenian
delegation to the PACE Tigran Torosyan holds a different opinion: `The
PACE Commission on Nagorno Karabakh is not set up to replace the
adopted mediatory format of settlement and hamper the efforts of the
OSCE Minsk Group’s cochairmen. Its task is to gather information on
the measures being taken by the OSCE Minsk Group countries in the
direction of the soonest resolution of the Karabakh problem. Besides,
the mandate of the commission does not imply visits of its members to
the region. Therefore the uproar that it caused in Armenia is not
quite clear to me.’
But in any case, many Armenian observers are inclined to think that in
a structure like the PACE similar commissions are not born just like
that, especially that the CE itself now has all the possibilities for
conducting a more independent policy in the Karabakh conflict, which
geographically is within its political borders. In particular, there
is a version according to which the issue of the security along the
line of contact between the armed forces of Armenia, Karabakh and
Azerbaijan will be raised during the first meeting of the commission
which is likely to be held in June.
`It will be exactly 11 years on May 12 since the day when Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh signed an agreement on ceasing active
military operations, however it is this year that the truce regime has
been broken more often than during all the preceding years,’ says
David Harutyunov. `Forty violations were registered in March alone and
those violations of the truce, by the way, were accompanied by
casualties on all sides. I think that the newly formed commission will
first of all get down to the consideration of these very issues.’
It is notable in this connection that on May 3, immediately after the
decision to establish the commission was made, the CE Secretary
General, former rapporteur on Nagorno Karabakh Terry Davis stated that
if any of the parties to the conflict launched combat operations the
Council of Europe would resort to tough measures: `Systematic
violations of the truce cannot but alert the CE. In the event of the
violation of the truce by any of the parties the CE Ministerial
Committee will take tough measures without waiting for the decision of
the PACE.’
LAW ALIGNMENT: DRAFT AMENDMENTS MEANT TO SATISFY COUNCIL OF EUROPE
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
Following two weeks of debates the National Assembly Wednesday adopted
new draft amendments to the Constitution that will be put to a
referendum this summer.
The proposed amendments are in response to Council of Europe
requirements calling for certain changes in compliance with Armenia’s
membership.
Some political analysts say the amendments are cosmetic and do not
serve the purpose of aligning Armenia’s laws to be consistent with
European standards.
Even though the country’s Basic Law adopted in 1995 envisages the
separation of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities, it
bears merely a declarative nature, because by other articles the
country’s whole power depends on the President. (The President forms
the government, appoints the Prime Minister, presides over government
sittings, appoints the mayor of Yerevan, the members of the Justice
Council, judges, etc. And the President is entitled to dissolve the
National Assembly).
Political scientists say the current Constitution puts too much power
in control of a single authority and is a reason why Armenia suffers
corruption, especially in election procedures and in judicial matters.
Local government bodies are also dependent on the national body, since
the Government appoints provincial governors. Only communal bodies are
elected, however they are dependent on the authorities too, since the
government is entitled to dismiss the head of the community (at the
request of the governor).
Three drafts were put to discussion at the National Assembly. All
three had passed the expert examination by the Council of Europe’s
Venice Commission. According to the examination, the closest to
European standards and the democratic system is the draft submitted by
the United Labor Party (ULP). However, the Coalition’s draft was
adopted.
In the course of the discussions the Deputy Parliament Speaker, member
of the Republican Party (which is part of the Coalition) Tigran
Torosyan indirectly defended the ULP’s draft saying that it is not
important which draft will win, but rather what matters is the quality
of the draft. He said that the ULP’s draft is the best in terms of
quality according to the findings of the Venice experts. Torosyan
declared that if a poor draft was adopted `Armenia might become a
target in connection with the constitution.’
ULP Chairman Gurgen Arsenyan stated that they would not allow Armenia
to become a constitutional autocracy and the President to be given
sweeping powers and that they would turn to the people if the
Coalition’s draft passed.
Only two of the Council of Europe requirements are met in the new
draft. First, every entity is entitled to apply to the Constitutional
Court (in the Constitution currently in effect only the President, one
third of MPs and candidates for presidency or MP having to settle
disputes over elections are entitled to apply to the CC). And
secondly, the institution of the Ombudsman is introduced.
`The main shortcoming of the Coalition’s draft is that there is no
separation of powers as such,’ says independent political analyst
Vardan Poghosyanof the “Democracy” legal and political research
center.
He points at the fact that by the new draft it is the president who
single-handedly appoints the prime minister and ministers named by the
premier and can dismiss the prime minister whenever he wants. By the
new draft the National Assembly’s twice passing a vote of no
confidence in the government within a space of two months will entail
its dissolution:
`It means that the National Assembly’s vote of no confidence in the
government has no consequence to have an impact on the government,’
says Poghosyan. `In the semi- presidential system the government is
responsible to the National Assembly, and what we will have is the
government that has no responsibility to the National Assembly, the
prime minister and his cabinet will always have to pay heed to the
president. True, the National Assembly can pass a vote of no
confidence in the government, but the president can any minute
dissolve the Parliament, and there is no instrument of influence on
the president.’
It is said in the conclusion of the Venice Commission that Armenia,
where the directly elected President is the real `engine’ of the
political system, from the point of view of the state’s democratic
life any further extension of the presidential powers is fraught with
dangers without the consolidation of the provisions increasing the
role of the National Assembly. The Commission also was disappointed
that the National Assembly plays no role in the procedure of
appointing and dismissing the prime minister.
In Poghosyan’s opinion, the changes in the judicial system are also
cosmetic. By the Constitution currently in force the list of judges is
drawn up by the Justice Council and ratified by the president (the
president also chairs the Justice Council). Besides, the Council
members are also appointed by the president. Experts observe a certain
progress in the new draft.
Only two of the Justice Council members are appointed by the
president, two are appointed by the National Assembly and nine by the
Council of Judges. However, it is the president who appoints the
Chairman of the Justice Council, the chairmen of courts and also
judges (upon the nomination of the Justice Council).
By the new draft Yerevan, which now has the status of a marz (region),
becomes a community, however the mayor is still appointed by the
president. The president also appoints the governors.
The Venice Commission concludes that the President’s powers to appoint
and dismiss the mayor of Yerevan are a violation of the key principles
of local democracy and the European Charter on Local Government.
The author of the ULP draft, MP Grigor Ghonjeyan describes the
Coalition’s draft as `Eurodisintegration’.
OUTSIDE EYE: A NON-ARMENIAN’S VIEW OF LIFE IN HIS ADOPTED HOME
By John Hughes
Editor
For some of us, finding reasons to like President Robert Kocharyan
don’t come as often as we’d like. When it happens, it is more likely
acquired tolerance rather than outright appreciation that redeem the
man.
But this week provided an occasion to feel good about one thing:
Kocharyan is not Mikhail W. Bushaashvili, his neighboring Georgian
revolutionary-turned-suck-up contemporary.
I refer, of course, to this week’s meeting between US President George
W. Bush and Mikhail Saakashvili in East Washington, D.C., aka,
Tbilisi.
The American president in his `if you only knew’ grin and walking like
he has briars in his arm pits, and the Georgian so giddy with glee to
have the Leader of the Free (at great expense) World at his side – the
two might at any moment have broken into a jig, twirling each other
like schoolgirls at Last Bell.
George in Georgia and Mikhail in Bliss. Whoopee, ain’t democracy grand
(especially when the grenades are duds)! I tried to imagine the same
scene in Yerevan. I’m glad that I couldn’t.
It was enough to inspire de facto appreciation for the stoicism of
Kocharyan and his pal to the north, Vladimir Putin. When did it become
necessary for Western presidents to become cheerleaders instead of
simply leaders? (Ah, for the days when bald, fat Khrushchev banged a
shoe on a United Nation’s table.)
Listen to what W told the Georgians:
`You are making many important contributions to freedom’s cause, but
your most important contribution is your example. In recent months,
the world has marveled at the hopeful changes taking place from
Baghdad to Beirut to Bishkek. But before there was a Purple Revolution
in Iraq, or an Orange Revolution in Ukraine, or a Cedar Revolution in
Lebanon, there was the Rose Revolution in Georgia. Your courage is
inspiring democratic reformers and sending a message that echoes
across the world: Freedom will be the future of every nation and every
people on Earth.’
Indeed, let freedom ring!!!! But, about that `Purple Revolution’
. . . uh, need we mention that on the day cheers went up in Tbilisi,
60 innocent Iraqi civilians died in the war Mr. Bush started? Given
the choice (which they weren’t), do you think those people would
rather be alive though oppressed, or dead but `free’?
And, for what it’s worth, some of us whose passports bear the US seal
worry that America’s President’s definition of `freedom’ and
`democracy’ strike closely to a kinder, gentler form of
totalitarianism that hardly separates democratization from domination.
Somewhere very close to frothing, the Roseman himself joined the
propaganda of short- sighted pride:
`Throughout our history any leader of a large state would come to
Georgia as an aggressor or enslaver,’ Saakashvili said. `Today, for
the first time in the history of our country, the leader of the
world’s most powerful state stands next to us and he stands as our
companion.’
Freedom may make a country free but `companionship’ often comes with a
price. And I’m guessing that the price of Bush’s Georgia visit goes
way beyond whatever it cost the country where electricity isn’t even a
regular service, to turn Freedom Square into a red, white and blue
hullabaloo.
`Your courage is inspiring democratic reformers and sending a message
that echoes across the world: Freedom will be the future of every
nation and every people on Earth.’
Note to Iraqis: If necessary, we will kill you to make you free.
In the US President’s roll call of heroes, so alliteration-ally
convenient to link Baghdad with Beirut and Bishkek, was there any
thought that as near to Tbilisi as D.C. is to Delaware (to keep the
aliteration) Armenian citizens were still recovering from senseless
bludgeoning, when last year they tried to hop the democracy train
encouraged by the smell of Georgia’s roses and crushed by Armenia’s
smelly reality?
America loves a winner, especially if he speaks Ivy-League
English. And: While maybe love can’t be bought, then friendship is as
close as a State Department aid allotment and troop training by the
yanks. Coming close (as in Armenia’s failed opposition) doesn’t count
in war and democracy pimping.
Should we feel slighted that GWB stopped to smell the roses in the
neighborhood, but didn’t hop down to say `howdy’ in Yerevan? After
all, Mr. Putin occasionally pops in. And this is a year of
commemoration. . .
Oh, right, that.
`Your courage is inspiring democratic reformers and sending a message
that echoes across the world . . . `
Right. It’s about courage. Like having enough courage to take a
30-minute plane ride to lay a wreath at a memorial for a million
people who never got a chance to be courageous. But then, what would
the democracy-loving Turks and Azeris think of that?
Probably not the same as the Georgian cheerleader.
SHNORIK: `WE ARE A PEOPLE OF PEACE . . .’
By Suren Musayelyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
Editor’s note: Through the remainder of this commemorative year,
ArmeniaNow will present regular profiles of Armenians who survived the
1915-18 Genocide. The stories become familiar, but each is told by an
individual — a fact that should never be forgotten as fewer remain
whose eyes hold history. Click here to read our April 24 issue.
Shnorik Galstyan remembers the `gold oranges’.
Now aged 100, Shnorik was 10 years old when her family and others were
marked for deportation or extermination at the hands of the Ottoman
Turks in their Aegean sea-port village of Izmir, in 1915.
But Shnorik’s family employed a well-tested Armenian custom that, to
this day, is the surest way of common folk getting on with
authorities: They bribed officials.
`We emptied oranges and stuffed them with gold. There were a lot of
those gold oranges. And we sent them all to the local pasha,’
remembers Shnorik.
According to Shnorik, they also sent a letter along with oranges,
which read: `We are people of peace, please don’t remove us from
here.’
Along with other families, her father Gevorg Chakhmakhchyan, a dentist
by profession, mother Mariam, her two brothers and three sisters were
allowed to continue their peaceful life in Izmir, but only
temporarily.
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, in 1919 Izmir passed under
the control of the British, Italians and Greeks. Shnorik remembers how
well the Christian population of the town received them, but by 1922
the Greeks, who would hold control of the city, withdrew following a
British order and as Shnorik remembers, `Turks came on horsebacks from
Ushak and began to persecute giaours (Greeks, Armenians and other
non-Muslim population).’
Shnorik remembers how Turks caught her father and tried to make him
betray other fellow- Christians by giving their names and
addresses. `My father was a man of peace but also was a man of honor,
he didn’t betray others,’ she says.
Instead, Gevorg Chakhmakhchyan instructed his daughter Shnorik to run
to the houses of the people the Turks were looking for and warn them
of danger.
Shnorik remembers too well how the years of horror began in their
lives. All Armenian male population were put into trains and taken in
an unknown direction. Many of them were later said to have been
executed or died from unbearable suffering and diseases.
All women and children were rounded up, put on ships and
exiled. Turkish soldiers were on their guard not to let any male on
board the ships. Shnorik remembers how some men who wanted to get into
the ships together with their families had to suffer humiliation by
putting on women’s clothes. But only a few managed to cheat the Turks,
while the majority were taken out and executed on the spot. But
Shnorik says her father was among the few who did trick the Turks, by
putting on women’s clothes and passing onto the rescue ship.
`When the last ships were sailing off people would swim after these
ships asking to be taken on board, but the Turks would stop them in
every way, pouring hot water on them,’ remembers Shnorik.
Shnorik’s two brothers, Kirkor and Nazareth, were arrested by
Turks. Later their family learned that Kirkor died in a Turkish jail,
while Nazareth managed to escape.
One of Shnorik’s sisters, Beatrice, was wounded when Turks threw bombs
in Surb Stepanos Church in Izmir where Armenians were hiding from
Turks and tried to summon help from the English and Italians, by
ringing the church bells. `But there was no help,’ says Shnorik. `A
great many people went down during those attacks and my sister went
missing and for some time was presumed dead.’
Another of Shnorik’s sister, Yeghsapet, was saved by an Italian who
took her from Izmir under false documents as his Italian servant.
For two years Shnorik and her parents were the only members of the
family who managed to escape to a Greek island. `We lived in a school
for two years without any news from my brothers and sisters.’
Eventually, by a twist of fate, there was a family reunion in Athens,
but it was not a happy one, as they had to mourn the death of one
brother and the loss of one sister. The other sister was already far
away from them, overseas. They only learned that she was alive and
that was enough for them to rejoice, although they never saw her
since.
In 1947, Shnorik and her husband Ghazaros, another deported Armenian
who found his second home in Athens, decided to repatriate to
Armenia. But more troubles were waiting for the repatriates in their
home country. The carpet-weaver Shnorik and the metalworker Ghazaros
were to face numerous problems at home. `Cheka officials would not
allow us to live and work the way we wanted. At gunpoint they made my
husband give up all his tools he had brought with him from Greece,’
she remembers.
The couple was happy in marriage but could not have children and so
100-year-old Shnorik has no descendants now. It is more than 30 years
that Shnorik lives alone after mourning the death of her husband in
1974.
She rarely goes out and mostly spends time alone in her one-room
apartment in Yerevan’s Shengavit district.
Shnorik, who receives a pension of 12,000 drams (about $26), says that
post-independence life is better than it was in Soviet Armenia. She is
now cared for by her friend’s daughter Ovsana and also by a charity
who send social workers every week to clean her apartment and help her
take a bath.
But Shnorik, who is very religious, says it is God who takes care of
her.
Spending much time alone Shnorik every now and then goes back to the
years of her adolescence, looking through her old photo albums and
other memos of her distant past. But she says she doesn’t want to
remember her life in Izmir, where they were in constant fear for their
lives as they heard the news coming from other parts of Turkey where
Armenians were suffering at the hands of Turks. Rather she remembers
with a tender feeling her life in Athens.
`I long for Greece and not so much for Izmir. We stayed in Greece for
a long time,’ says Shnorik. `We are grateful to the people of Greece
for not discriminating between Greeks and Armenians and treating them
all alike as people who suffered at the hands of Turks.’
INTERNATIONALLY WANTED: INTERPOL ARMENIA SEARCHES FOR EX-MINISTER AND OTHERS
By Julia Hakobyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
Armenia’s former Interior Minister Vano Siradeghyan is still being
hunted along with 265 Armenian residents wanted currently by Interpol
International, says Vardan Eghizaryan, the chief of Interpol Armenia
National Center Bureau. (NCB)
Eghiazaryan met Armenian journalists on Wednesday to inform them about
the activity of the Armenian bureau, about its successful searches and
about illegal migrations and trafficking of stolen vehicles. He says
that NCB Armenia is a well organized body which deals with operative
information, has a large-scaled database (10,250 entries) and modern
telecommunications and technologies system.
However Interpol Armenia so far failed in tracking down Siradeghyan,
the controversial Armenian MP, and Yerevan Mayor from 1996-1998 who is
charged with 10 offenses, including murder, attempted murder, and
misappropriation of state property. Siradeghyan left Armenia in 2000,
immediately after the National Assembly withdrew Siradeghyan’s
immunity from persecution.
Eghiazaryan said that `time to time they get some operative
information’ about Siradeghyan’s whereabouts. Responding to
journalists’ criticism he said Interpol is not an all-powerful
organization, but rather a clearing house of sorts for exchange of
information.
`We do not have James Bond or Sherlock Homes,’ he said. `Interpol
Armenia cooperates with 182 member-counties, but we do not have a team
of detectives with supernatural power who travel the world to
investigate cases.’
The Interpol, (International Criminal Police) was established in 1923
(the headquarter in Vienna) for combating international crime. Armenia
joined Interpol in 1992, a year after it proclaimed independence and
it became one one of the services within the structure of the Ministry
of Internal Affairs.
Since 1992 the Armenian bureau has declared international search
warrants on 431 wanted criminals; 168 of them were found, (31 people
were found in 2004) 162 arrested and 62 extradited to Armenia. Also 59
people were searched as missing, 14 of them were found. Currently the
Interpol official website has information of 17 Armenian residents,
including Siradeghyan and some Armenian women who are accused in
pimping.
To see a list of fugitive Armenians, visit
ct=Data&q1=Armenia&Search=Search&cboNbHitsPerPage)
Armenia’s NCB most actively cooperates with Russia, Greece, Germany,
Belgium and Ukraine. Three of nine people accused in pimping were
found due to the cooperation with United Arab Emirates. Four of the
missing are children which have not been found.
Armenia NBC is currently looking for possibilities to establish a
coordination office in UAE. As for Turkey, cooperation is hindered
because of the absence of diplomatic relations between the two
counties. Armenia NBC does not have official ties with Karabakh, but
Armenia-Karabakh police are in close cooperation.
WORKING WOES: LABOR POOL LIFE A HARD TASK FOR THE UNEMPLOYED
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
At the end of a two-month project in which Hamlet Galajyan, a mason,
put up the walls of a 150-square meter house, he asked to be paid.
The man who had hired him: ` . . . put his hand in his inner pocket. I
thought he did so to take out the money to give . . .’
Instead, the man `put his gun on my forehead and said `run away till
you’re alive’.’
The crooked homeowner got away with two months extorted labor, and
Galajyan returned to his four children empty handed.
His story is not so unusual in today’s Armenia, where so many
construction sites are only outnumbered by so many out-of-work men
looking for day labor.
Workers on private construction sites do not sign contracts, and are
at the mercy of oral agreements and labor laws that are hardly
enforced.
At a prominent building on Soseh Street in Yerevan, one worker (who
wished to remain anonymous) says he has been working for three months
but has not been paid.
`I am hungry all day long,’ the laborer says. `I have no money to eat
something during the day. I fainted once. We work with concrete 12-13
hours a day, but we haven’t received money yet, and when we complain
and go to our boss he says you may not work if you don’t want; so, we
wait with hope.’
According to official data today in Armenia there are 142,668
unemployed, many of which earn their daily living as hired
workers. There are no statistics on those who have experienced labor
exploitation. Sociologist Karine Saribekyan says this is a closed
field and you can learn information neither from the employer nor from
the employee.
According to the Minister for Labor and Social Issues, Aghvan
Vartanyan, measures are being taken to regulate the field.
`It is six months the Labor Agency has been created, authorized also
to protect the employees’ rights. Immediately after the creation of
the Agency we sent the labor law to all employers and information
about the agency for their awareness on the existence of a law
protecting employees’ rights and prevent them from taking such steps,’
says the minister.
However at present the Agency is still focused on employers and the
amount of the salaries held secret as well as the hidden labor
market. During the six months of its existence no one has applied to
them to restore their labor rights.
According to the Association of Young Lawyers of Armenia, 1,616 people
have applied to them regarding labor rights during the last two
years. The majority have appealed to the court for restoring jobs or
for claiming unpaid salaries.
`The number would be higher if people knew about their rights,’ says
Lianna Harutyunyan, legal adviser at the Association of Young Lawyers
of Armenia.
According to Saribekyan people know about their rights, but don’t
believe the court will protect them.
`If militia (police) take me, exploits me the whole day and does not
give me money, saying `go away, complain if you can’, what is
protection of labor then?’ says Vardges Grigoryan, 32, who is a
regular at the Faylabazar, a day-labor pool in Yerevan, where men are
hired for temporary work.
Daily, about 400 men from age 25 to 75, such as Grigoryan, gather near
the Yerevan Circus, in hopes of getting a day’s work.
`People usually pay, only those from militia do not pay and others
from law enforcement bodies. They come choose the young men, put into
the car and take away, just dare not to go, they will charge you for
something to serve 10 years prison,’ says craftsman Mkrtich Grigoryan.
Many of the workers prefer work for a daily pay, to lose only a one
day effort in case they are not paid. People from marzes – from
Gyumri, Charentsavan, Vanadzor and even Kapan – also come in search of
work to Faylabazar.
Armen Chilingaryan, 28, from Charentsavan, crosses 40 kilometers to
come to Faylabazar to earn money for his family.
`Every single day we come here. If I get work I’ll go home happy. If
not we do not have money even to go back, we stay here either on this
pathway, or in the market, wherever it happens,’ says Armen.
The workers from Faylabazar get 1000-5000 drams (about $2.50-11) daily
depending on the mood and the character of the employer.
Mukuch Gasparyan, 68, thinks the most unpleasant thing is that they
are frequently humiliated as persons.
`The employer treats workers from Faylabazar even worse than the
serf-owner the serf. You don’t get angry if they do not pay so much as
when they insult you. I once couldn’t keep from punching a policeman,
for besides not paying he also cursed,’ tells Gasparyan. However
hitting the policeman turned into expensive entertainment. `To escape
imprisonment I had to borrow $1500 to give a bribe. I can’t give the
money back until now.’
The elderly at the Faylabazar keep silent.
Margar, 75, worked for 40 years in a factory. He gets 5000 drams ($11)
pension. He goes to the labor pool, hoping to earn for things the
measly pension doesn’t cover.
`When they see an elderly man they do not take him, but sometimes
there are kind people saying come do a bit of work, we’ll give you
money. Do we deserve this life? I should have gone now to the park,
play nardi, chess…,’ he says.
On this dusty pathway they stand for hours and dreamingly watch
patrons enter the gorgeous `Golden Fish’ restaurant and imagine that
one day they will also catch a golden fish for their life and will
never return to Faylabazar.
In the evening on this very pathway the workers will be replaced with
prostitutes who will also wait hopefully for clients who will either
pay or not.