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08/02/2006
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1. Christian and Muslim Leaders Appeal for Immediate Cease-Fire
2. Homenetmen Pan-Armenian Jamboree Begins in Armenia
3. Armenian Community In Rostov Condemns Church Desecration
4. Minsk Group Co-Chairmen Meet in Paris
5. Extent Of ‘Victory’ In Kodori Offensive Unclear
1. Christian and Muslim Leaders Appeal for Immediate Cease-Fire
ANTELLIAS, Lebanon–His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great See of
Cilicia
Tuesday joined Lebanon’s spiritual leaders to call for an immediate cease fire
and urge the international community to monitor the crisis more seriously.
The conference, which was held in Bekerkeh region of Lebanon, was attended by
Christian and Muslim leaders and carefully examined the current military
crisis
afflicting Lebanon.
"This is the true Lebanon; this togetherness of Muslim and Christian
Spiritual
leaders concretely manifest the real image of Lebanon. This very meeting by
itself is a living message. It is a message of the crucial importance of
coexistence; it is a message of peace with justice; it is a message of
compassion tolerance and mutual respect. In fact, violence is not the way to
solve problems. Dialogue, mutual understanding and compromise based on justice
and peace for all, is the most efficient way of dealing with complex issues
and
situations," Aram I told the press after the conference.
"Together with one voice in our joint declaration we appealed for immediate
cease-fire and cessation of all hostilities. We expressed our full support to
all actions and initiatives taken by the government of Lebanon. We emphasized
the importance of the expansion of the state’s authority over all the
territories of Lebanon. It is our firm expectation that international
community
and particularly the United Nations will act decisively to stop violence and
help Lebanon to recover itself," added the Catholicos.
2. Homenetmen Pan-Armenian Jamboree Begins in Armenia
BIURAKAN, Armenia–More than 650 scouts representing 16 countries gathered
at a
campsite Monday for the opening of the 8th pan-Armenian scouting jamboree
organized by Homenetmen.
Present at the opening ceremonies for were chairman of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation Bureau Hrand Markarian, Primate of the Argadzotn
Diocese Rev. Torgom Donikian, members of the Homenetmen Central Executive and
other guests.
At the beginning of the inaugural, representatives from each country
participated in a flag ceremony where the flags of each guest country was
raised. This was followed by the raising of the Armenian tri-color and the
Homenetmen flag.
This impressive ceremony was followed by a message delivered by Lucine
Kazezian who spoke on behalf of the Homenetmen Lebanon Regional Executive,
expressing disappointment that its members were unable to participate in this
event due to the continuous bombing of the country by Israel.
Kazezian explained that despite months of preparation and excitement, the
scouts from Lebanon were unable to attend, adding that while they were not
physically present at the jamboree each and every scout in Lebanon was there
with heart and soul.
Hratch Shmavonian, chairman of the Homenetmen Armenia (HASK) Regional
Executive welcomed all the participants and expressed hope that this jamboree
will, once again, become an opportunity to create new memories.
Following remarks by jamboree director Alec Khatchatryan, who underscored the
important role of gatherings such as the jamboree in the lives of young
Armenians, ARF Bureau chairman Markarian welcomed the participants.
In his remarks, Markarian stressed that the mission of the Homenetmen and the
ARF did not differ from one another, stressing that the Homenetmen has an
important mission in Armenia as the nation continues to become strong country.
By comparing Homenetmen to a volunteer army, Markarian underscored the
important role the organization plays throughout the world in bringing
together
Armenians and especially the Armenian youth.
On behalf of the Homenetmen Central Executive, Garbis Kabasakalian
highlighted
the significance of being able to convene the jamboree in Armenia as the most
natural setting for the organization since its mission of bringing Armenians
together is fully realized when its scouts gather in the homeland.
After the convocation by Primate Donikian, the jamboree officially began,
with
the participating scouts each beginning to take part in the various
activities.
The jamboree will conclude on Wednesday, August 9, at which time the
participants will tour Armenia.
3. Armenian Community In Rostov Condemns Church Desecration
ROSTOV, Ukraine (Armenpress)–Armenian intellectuals and community leaders
Wednesday condemned the desecration of Holy Cross Armenian Church in Rostov,
Ukraine and an attempt to burn down the Russian-Armenian friendship situated
inside the church.
Unknown assailants Monday reportedly desecrated the temple and tried to burn
it. Failing to enter the church they broke and burnt the windows and sprayed
the slogans "white justice has come" and "Russia is for Russians" on the
church
walls.
A meeting was held Tuesday at the Armenian Consulate General in the Southern
Russian, during which Consul General Ararat Gomtsian condemned the act of
vandalism and read a message directed to the town and provincial authorities,
as well as to law-enforcement bodies. The message demands that the persons
responsible for this be found and punished.
The Russian-Armenian Yerkramas newspaper reported that the director of the
Rostov regional monuments protection agency Alexander Kozhin said "the
desecration of historic monuments is terrible." He added that the Holy Cross
Church was the only architectural monument in Rostov that date back to the
18th
century.
4. Minsk Group Co-Chairmen Meet in Paris
PARIS–The US, French and Russian Co-chairmen of the OSCE Minks Group were
joined by the special representative to the chairman in office of the OSCE
Wednesday to discuss the Karabakh peace process, following the recent by
the US
Co-chair Matthew Bryza to the region.
Bryza briefed his Russian and French counterparts Yuri Merzlyakov and Bernard
Fassier Yuri, as well as the OSCE Chairman in Office representative Andrzej
Kasprzyk about his recent visit to Yerevan, Stepanakert and Baku.
Sources close to the discussion stated that the Minsk Group leaders are
expected to recommend a meeting between Armenian foreign minister Vartan
Oskanian and his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammedyarov to be held in Prague.
In Yerevan, director of political affairs for the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Giro Manoyan told the Hayots Ashkhar daily that Bryza’s visit to
the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic could be viewed as an indication that the Minsk
Group
was considering to bring back Stepanakert into the negotiating process.
Manoyan told the newspaper that before agreeing to a future referendum of
independence in Karabakh, the Armenian side must make sure that Azerbaijan
would not be able to thwart the vote or reject its results.
"If the parties agree to hold a referendum clarifying Karabakh’s status three
or five years after signing an accord, it must be made clear that in case of a
failure to hold it for any reason Karabakh will automatically become a part of
Armenia," he says.
Meanwhile, the human rights group Refugees for International Law, in a
letter,
appealed to the OSCE Co-chairmen to include the issue of Armenian refugees
displaced by Azeri ethnic cleansing efforts in Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan
within the ongoing negotiations.
In the letter, the organization pointed out that the status of the 500,000
Armenian refugees from the Baku and Sumgait pogroms in the late 1980’s and
early 1990’s, as well from ethnic cleansing operations in Nakhichevan at that
time needed to be a part of the Minsk Group peace process agenda.
"From the legal point of view the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is the only legal
successor of Soviet Azerbaijan. We believe a partial resolution of the issue
would be if Karabakh citizenship were granted to the Armenian refugees in
territories outside Karabakh boundaries but within its jurisdiction today,"
stressed the human rights organization’s appeal.
Similar letters have been sent to leaders of both Armenia and Azerbaijan by
the same group.
5. Extent Of ‘Victory’ In Kodori Offensive Unclear
PRAGUE (RFE/RL)–Georgian officials have sought to present last week’s
incursion into the Kodori Gorge as a major territorial gain. But such claims
gloss over the Georgian failure to apprehend former Kodori Governor Emzar
Kvitsiani, whose defiance of the Georgian authorities served as the catalyst
for what Tbilisi claims was simply a police operation.
Speaking on national television on July 28, Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili said that Georgia now "directly controls a very important
strategic
part of the territory of Abkhazia," and will "establish Georgian jurisdiction
and constitutional order in the heart" of that breakaway region.
"We have a good army in Georgia. They are really good boys…but the
commander…is an idiot. He knows nothing about military strategy." —
Kvitsiani
Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili said the same day that
"practically the whole of the gorge is under the control of the police."
Such claims are, however, an exaggeration, insofar as Georgia has merely
extended its control over the upper reaches of the gorge — formerly a
no-man’s-land controlled by Kvitsiani’s Monadire (Hunter) militia — as far as
the border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia.
Kristian Bzhania, a spokesman for Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh, derided
the
Georgian claims, telling regnum.ru that "we have another word for what
Saakashvili calls the heart."
Bagapsh himself warned when the Georgian forces first entered Kodori that he
would mobilize his army if the Georgian contingent actually advanced onto
Abkhaz territory.
Saakashvili and Okruashvili praised the conduct of the Kodori operation,
which
was supervised by Okruashvili and Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili
personally as both army and Interior Ministry troops took part. (Okruashvili
subsequently clarified the division of responsibilities between the Defense
and
the Interior ministries, saying that the latter carried out the operation and
the armed forces merely provided "logistical support," according to "Novye
Izvestia," as cited on August 1 by apsny.ru.)
Former Governor Emzar Kvitsiani (InterPressNews, undated)US military
personnel
in Georgia described the Georgian troops’ performance to one Washington
analyst
as less than stellar, noting that morale among the Georgian servicemen was not
good and that at one point the operation was halted due to "inclement weather
conditions."
The Russian newspaper "Vedomosti" on July 28 likewise quoted unnamed
"experts"
as saying the Georgian military is not yet professional enough to conduct
large-scale operations.
Former Kodori Governor Kvitsiani, who managed to evade the advancing Georgian
troops and whose current whereabouts are unknown, was particularly
scathing. He
said in video footage broadcast on July 30 by the independent Georgian
television channel Imedi that claims that his fighters were surrounded were
"laughable."
Kvitsiani claimed that the Georgian troops "do not know the area and cannot
read maps…. We have a good army in Georgia. They are really good boys…but
the commander…is an idiot. He knows nothing about military strategy."
Russian experts have pointed out that even if, as Abkhaz presidential
envoy to
Gali Raion Ruslan Kishmaria has alleged, Georgia is deploying more troops to
the upper reaches of the Kodori Gorge with the aim of advancing into the lower
reaches and attacking Sukhum, the Abkhaz capital, such an offensive is fraught
with risk.
"Izvestia" on August 1 quoted an unnamed Russian general as saying that
"starting a campaign in Kodori in summer would be suicidal." He pointed out
that the mountains are covered in foliage, providing the enemy with excellent
cover, and that it would be virtually impossible to use armor or heavy
artillery. A Russian military analyst similarly noted that at one point the
gorge narrows to the point that two platoons of Abkhaz special forces could
easily block any further Georgian advance.
Georgian First Deputy Foreign Minister Valeri Chechelashvili said on July 31,
however, that Tbilisi has no intention of using Kodori as a bridgehead to
advance further into Abkhazia. And Abkhaz President Bagapsh apparently sees no
danger of such an advance at this point.
Bagapsh told volunteers from the North Caucasus on August 1 that there is no
need at this juncture to mobilize the entire male population of Abkhazia,
Caucasus Press reported, although he added that "there are people within the
Georgian government whose ambitions are so high they are incapable of rational
decisions."
But Abkhaz Defense Minister Lieutenant General Sultan Sosnaliyev told
Interfax
on August 1 that Tbilisi is secretly replacing the Interior Ministry troops
deployed to Kodori with regular military personnel — a claim that has not
been
verified.
The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement on July 31 demanding the
immediate withdrawal of all Georgian forces from Kodori. That statement warned
that the Georgian authorities’ actions risk fueling tensions and provoking an
unanticipated "confrontation."
Meanwhile, Okruashvili responded on July 31 to Russian Defense Minister
Sergei
Ivanov’s demand for international monitoring of the Georgian troops in Kodori
by saying Tbilisi would consent only after international military experts have
been allowed to inspect the former Russian military base in Gudauta,
Abkhazia.
Under an agreement signed in November 1999, Moscow undertook to withdraw its
troops and materiel from that base by July 1, 2001, but the Georgian
government
claims that some Russian personnel are still there. Whether Okruashvili is
trying to buy time in order to prepare for a new offensive is as yet unclear.
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From: Baghdasarian