Author: Antonian Lara

ARMENIA CAUCUS AT US CONGRESS REPLENISHED

WASHINGTON, AUGUST 28. ARMINFO. Congressman John Shimcus of Illinois,
USA, has joined the Armenia Caucus of the US Congress. Thus, the
Caucus has 136 members now. The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA)
reports that John Shimcus pointed out that the Armenian community in
Illinois has always been supported the improvement of relations
between the Armenia and American peoples. “In have the honor to help
them in attaining this goal as a member of the Armenia Caucus at the
US Congress,” he said.

“Aztag” Daily Newspaper
P.O. Box 80860, Bourj Hammoud,
Beirut, Lebanon
Fax: +961 1 258529
Phone: +961 1 260115, +961 1 241274
Email: [email protected]

The Challenges Facing the Armenian Church: An Interview with Hratch
Tchilingirian
by Khatchig Mouradian

`The Armenian Church hides, under its each and every stone, a secret path
ascending to the heavens’, wrote the famous Armenian poet, Vahan Tekeyan.
Yet, the Armenian Church is more than a religious institution that has acted
as a `mediator’ between Armenians and their God. Having survived the
shifting tides of time for more than seventeen centuries, this `unique
organization’, as Professor Hratch Tchilingirian calls it in this interview,
has served its people as much as, if not more than, it has served God.
Today, in the age of globalization, secularization and false crusades, the
Armenians – despite their constant boasting about having the oldest
Christian state in the world – are also following this global trend, by
gradually distancing themselves from established religious institutions and,
at times, looking for spiritual answers elsewhere.

What is the mission of the Armenian Church in the 21st century? What are the
challenges that it faces in Armenia and the Diaspora? How effectively is the
Church hierarchy tackling these challenges? I discussed these and a number
of related issues with Professor Hratch Tchilingirian when he was visiting
Beirut in July.

Hratch Tchilingirian is Associate Director of the Eurasia Programme, the
Judge Institute, University of Cambridge. He received his PhD from the
London School of Economics and Political Science and his Master of Public
Administration (MPA) from California State University, Northridge. His
current research covers political and territorial disputes in the Caucasus
and Central Asia, as well as the region’s political, economic and
geostrategic developments. He has authored over 120 articles and
publications on the politics, economy, culture, religion and social issues
of the Eurasia region, especially the Caucasus and the Armenian Diaspora.

Tchilingirian is closely involved in the affairs of the Armenian Church. He
has a Master of Divinity degree from St. Vladimir’s Theological School and a
Diploma in Armenian Church Studies from St. Nersess Armenian Seminary in New
York. He was the Dean of St. Nersess Seminary in 1991-1994. Tchilingirian
was also co-founder and editor of `Window View of the Armenian Church’
(1990-1995), a quarterly magazine dealing with issues related to the
Armenian Church. He has authored many articles on contemporary Armenian
affairs, including those relating directly to the Armenian Church.

Aztag- Currently, people are farther away from religion than they used to
be, perhaps because in a highly secularized world, organized religion is
giving way to other philosophies and teachings. How do you see the situation
of the Armenian Church in this context?

Tchilingirian- This is a major and complex issue, but I would say there are
internal and external reasons for the current situation. As you mentioned,
secularization is part of the general trend globally. There is a steady
decline of organized religion and church attendance. For instance, there are
some studies which show that in Armenia only about 9% of the population
attends church services regularly on Sundays. In America, the percentage is
much higher; it’s about 40%, but in Europe, it’s also low, about 6-7%.
However, this does not necessarily mean that there is a decline of interest
in spirituality. There are alternative religions, as well as various other
philosophies and spiritual teachings that have gained currency in our world
today. So the challenge to institutional churches is how to be relevant in
the 21st century. In the case of the Armenian Church, the question is no
different: How can a 1700-year-old church make itself relevant to Armenians
living around a very-fast paced world in the 21st century? This is the major
challenge. In fact, the Armenian Church has not addressed this issue
collectively and seriously.

Aztag- Can we benefit from the experience of other churches in this respect?

Tchilingirian- Well, virtually all churches are facing great challenges, be
it the Catholic or Orthodox or Protestant churches. They have various
programs or mechanisms to address- not necessarily successfully- these
challenges. For instance, homosexuality and gay marriage is a big issue in
the Anglican Church and it is creating divisions. The Roman Catholic Church
has its own sets of problems, with priests involved in cases of sexual
abuse, and with the issue of celibacy and marriage of the clergy creating
tensions. So, you have churches with particular issues and challenges, and
other problems that are common to all churches.

In the case of the Armenian Church, I believe there is a lack of clear sense
of mission. I have written about this quite extensively. What is the mission
of the Armenian Church in the 21st century? At least personally, I am not
aware of any well-articulated statement or program on the part of the church
that spells out the Armenian Church’s mission. Of course, if you ask the
clergy or the hierarchs, they would tell you that the mission of the church
is very obvious, it’s based on the Gospel; it’s the salvation of souls. But
how do we achieve this? How is this mission carried out? How do you make it
relevant to the Armenian on the streets of Bourj Hammoud, Yerevan or Los
Angeles? How does this translate into the everyday life of the Armenian
faithful?

Each problem is unique and has a unique solution and one cannot take a
one-size-fits-all approach when thinking about solutions. In America, there
are many new ideas. There are churches that play modern music or Christian
rock, but if you try to bring this to Lebanon, for instance, people would be
scandalized; they would find that very foreign and reject it. So you have
to find a solution based on the local culture, on how local people perceive
things, or based on whether a particular community is ready for a particular
change.

One of the most important functions of religion or faith is to provide
meaning to human life. If a religion or a philosophy provides this role in
your life, then you follow its teachings. If the Armenian Church provides
meaning to Armenians from different walks of life, who are looking for
something more than the Sunday liturgy, conducted in a language most people
don’t understand, then it would become relevant to them.

Aztag- The Armenian Church is also regarded as an institution with a
national mission. Is there a lack of planning in that domain as well?

Tchilingirian- I think the church and the clergy feel more comfortable in
the so-called “national mission” of the Church- Azkayin Arakeloutyoun, than
its religious-spiritual mission. And yet when you ask about the national
mission of the Armenian Church in specific terms, you realize that the
answers are very vague. Obviously, the Church has played the role of a
surrogate state in Armenian history and it has preserved our culture, but
today, one has to be more specific also about what the national mission of
the church is. Of course, the church can publish books, discuss Armenian
philology and culture, and so on, but why does the church have to do these
things? Why doesn’t the Church or the hierarchy relegate this role to
other, perhaps more qualified organizations in the community to carry out
such functions – and what could be termed as `non-religious’ services – so
that the Church and clergy can dedicate more talent and resources to their
main religious and apostolic mission?

Aztag- But throughout history, perhaps due to the circumstances, the
Armenian Church has served the people by a number of ways that have little
to do with its apostolic mission.

Tchilingirian- Every organization has its primary raison d’etre. But when
you neglect and do not carry out your primary mission and you engage in
secondary or other peripheral missions, then why exist? If an organization
wants to change its raison d’etre and say, `henceforth, we are not this, but
we are that’, fine! But if you say you’re something, and you are doing
something else, then you’re not being true to your own calling, and you are
not delivering what you say you are going to deliver. This is a matter of
principle; it’s a matter of stating your mission. What is your mission
statement?

The Church is the only national institution that has existed continuously
throughout Armenian history in the last 1700 years. So the church, as an
institution, is beyond the individuals who run it. It is very powerful – it
has an in-built power vis a vis the fact that it is a religious and national
organization that has a very long history. And it will still be here in the
coming centuries. It’s unlike a secular organization which is very temporary
– it is here today, but might not be here in 50 years or 100 years. And yet,
each generation has a responsibility to carry out the mission of the Church.
If we want the Armenian Church to be what it’s supposed to be, then we have
to ask: What are the people who are running the church, namely the clergy
and hierarchy, doing? What are the laymen doing? How are they carrying out
their mission?’

I think this is the problematic issue -whether in Etchmiadzin or in the
Diaspora. I should note that some Hierarchical Sees are more aware of these
issues and are carrying out more serious work in their respective
jurisdictions. The Catholicosate of Cilicia, for instance, is involved with
serious mission work. Yet, collectively, we are still not clear about what
the main purpose of the entire Church is. How do you reach the 90% of
Armenians who are not affiliated with the Church, who do not come to church,
except once or twice a year, for weddings or for funerals?

Aztag- Do you think changing the language of the liturgy into modern
Armenian would make a difference? After all, religion seems to have become
an individual quest for meaning in life, and it seems that the factors
carrying people farther away from the church have little to do with the
language.

Tchilingirian- If you conduct the liturgy in modern Armenian or English,
there is no guarantee that suddenly you’ll have thousands of Armenians
flocking to the church. I think making the language understandable does
help; but it’s not the solution.

In the old times, the church was the center of the community life. There was
a church in every village and it brought the community together. People had
a communal life around their faith, their everyday-life traditions. But in
modern times, when people live in such remote places the situation is
completely different.

I agree that religion has become a very individual matter. In fact, even if
people go to church on Sunday, they go there as an individual; they go there
to light a candle, to say a prayer; they don’t go there from the beginning
of the service, it’s like they go in for 10-15 minutes and they don’t
necessarily feel a sense of commonality with everyone in the church, because
probably they’re not from the same neighborhood or have no meaningful
affiliation with that community.

People choose various philosophies, various kinds of alternative religions
or faiths that fit their particular choice or particular sense of where they
are in their lives. For example, there are different types of Armenian
believers, which I have identified through my own research in Armenia,
Karabakh and the Diaspora. There are what I call Theist Believers, Deist
Believers, `Agnostic Believers’ and `Atheist Believers’. For instance, the
Armenian `atheist believer’ does not believe in the existence of God, but he
may be baptized in the Armenian Church; he may go to church once in a while
for weddings or on holidays, just to feel Armenian or to meet with friends,
so on. And, interestingly, he is considered a `child of the Armenian
Church’, at least by the hierarchy of the Church. If you ask the clergy,
they include every Armenian in the `membership’ of the Armenian Church. But
what is significant here – and generally overlooked – is the fact that if
you are preaching to an atheist Armenian, you have to preach differently
than if you are preaching to someone who is dedicated and attends church
regularly.

Aztag- What are the challenges facing the Armenian Church particularly in
Armenia and Karabakh?

Tchilingirian- As I mentioned, there are common problems facing the Armenian
Church regardless of geography, but there are issues that are specific to
the region where the church finds itself. For instance, in North America,
the Armenian Church has different sets of problems; these problems have to
do with language, the length of the liturgy, ordination of women, and so on.
These are not problems, say, in Karabakh or in Armenia.

In Armenia, the major challenge is what the late Catholicos Karekin I used
to call the
`re-Christianization’ of Armenia, the re-evangelization of Armenia. This is
still a major problem, because after almost seven decades of atheist regime,
people don’t even have the basic knowledge about Christianity and the
Armenian Church. In the last 10-12 years, the Church has tried to educate
the population and yet, as I mentioned earlier, there is the need to further
clarify the mission of the Armenian Church.

As far as the so-called cults are concerned, I think people have exaggerated
the problem. For example, there are about 30-40 Hare Krishnas in Armenia.
It’s not like tens of thousands of Armenians are following these cults. More
important, at least sociologically, is the fact that all of these people who
are following alternative religions are Armenians — they are not foreigners
who are coming and living in Armenia as Hare Krishnas or Jehovah’s
Witnesses. This fact is totally ignored in the anti-cult discourse in
Armenia. The fact that hundreds of Armenians are following alternative
religions indicates that these religions or teachings are appealing to a
certain segment of the population. These are not necessarily brainwashed
people, as anti-cultists would have us believe; in fact, many of them are
highly educated individuals. They are people who are in search of something
and it happens that a particular group or teaching provides them with what
they are looking for, spiritually. My point is that we should not look at
the issue of cults or alternative religions from a very nationalistic point
of view. Some say, `This is causing a problem to our national security’,
that’s too much. One way of addressing this problem is to carry out a
similar mission. If, for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are going around
in Yerevan knocking on people’s doors, why isn’t the Armenian Apostolic
Church doing the same thing? Simply sitting in comfortable places and
complaining about it doesn’t resolve the problem. We have to be very
realistic about this.

In Karabakh, I would say the church, headed by Archbishop Barkev
Martirossian, has done a lot of work. The church has provided extensive
pastoral services during the most difficult periods in the life of Karabakh.
Especially during the war, the church has played an important role and, I
believe, it is continuing to do so today. Of course, it has its own
problems, but the clergy are doing their best to provide the type of
pastoral mission and care the people expect from the church. In Karabakh,
generally people are skeptical about any philosophy or any kind of teaching,
so the Church faces a challenge there; but the younger generation, the
children and youth, are much more receptive and open to the teachings of the
church.

Aztag- In the Armenian Church, leaders constantly talk about reforms. What
is your take on that?

Tchilingirian- The issue of reform is not new. There has been a continuous
discussion about reforms in the Armenian Church at least in the last 100
years. There is some literature about this matter, for example, Patriarch
Torkom Koushagian of Jerusalem has written “Paregarkoutyoun hayasdanyayts
yegeghetsvo” (Improvements [or reform] in the Armenian Church), published in
1940. But, again, my point is that if you don’t have a clear sense of
mission, if you don’t have a clear mission statement, you cannot organize
the types of reforms you need to make. What are you trying to do? What are
you trying to change or reform? Where are you trying to go with your
reforms? From what point to what point? And as long as you don’t have a
clear idea about where you want to go and what you are supposed to do, then
all this talk about reform is irrelevant. In business, for instance, people
formulate a clear plan about the goals they want to achieve in, say, 5
years. My question is: Where is the plan in the Armenian Church that says in
5 years or 10 years time this is where we want to go and this is what we are
doing today to reach that point. It’s like a tree. You plant a tree, so that
in 5 years or 10 years you benefit from its fruits. If you wake up in 10
years and say `where are the fruits we need?’ people will tell you that you
should have planted your tree a decade ago.

PRESS RELEASE
Fund for Armenian Relief
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Edina N. Bobelian
Tel: (212) 889-5150; Fax: (212) 889-4849
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

August 24, 2004
____________________

A MOTHER’S LOVE FOR CHILDREN HONORED IN ARMENIA
New York Family Builds a Tribute through the Fund for Armenian Relief

As Gregory Manuelian and Christine Brewster watched the bubbling
enthusiasm among the children running through the new playground,
singing songs on the swings, and bouncing on the seesaw in Yerevan, the
two siblings witnessed a living tribute to the Armenian spirit of their
late mother, Diane Manuelian.

In memory of Diane, Charles Manuelian and family sponsored the
construction of a colorful playground and a two-tiered water fountain
for the children at the Nork Orphanage by the Fund for Armenian Relief
(FAR), a New York-based nonprofit organization with a trusted reputation
and successful 15-year track record of implementing programs in Armenia
and Karabagh. “We chose something meaningful and personal for my
mother,” said Mrs. Brewster. “The playground is tangible; it is to be
used and enjoyed by the children. She would have loved it.”

On August 4, 2004, Gregory Manuelian and Christine Brewster officially
opened the newly constructed playground at the Nork Orphanage. In the
presence of Mrs. Brewster’s two children, Elizabeth and Mark, Archbishop
Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of
America (Eastern) and President of the FAR Board of Directors, Very Rev.
Fr. Arshak Khachatryan, Chancellor of the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin, Simon Balian, FAR Executive Director, Krikor Tatoulian, FAR
Country Director, and Liana Karapetian, the Nork Orphanage Director,
they cut the red ribbon delicately tied across the playground with
scissors proffered on a tray by a young boy and girl dressed in their
Sunday-best.

The opening ceremony, which presented her first opportunity to travel to
the Homeland, “was an emotional, special occasion,” revealed Mrs.
Brewster. “No matter how much one reads about Armenia and talks to
others about their experiences, nothing quite prepares you for the
essence of Armenia, its people and the beautiful countryside,” she said.

The Manuelian family has a long-standing relationship with FAR,
supporting its programs to help the people of Armenia. On this personal
occasion, they again turned to the organization to fulfill their
objective. “FAR has done a beautiful job,” said Gregory Manuelian,
“Armenia needs FAR.”

FAR is a nonprofit organization headquartered in New York, with offices
in Yerevan, Gyumri, and Stepanakert. For 15 years, FAR has implemented
various relief, development, social, educational, and cultural projects
valued at more than $250 million. It remains the preeminent Diasporan
organization operating in Armenia.

For more information or to send donations, interested persons should
contact the Fund for Armenian Relief at 630 Second Avenue, New York, NY
10016; telephone (212) 889-5150, fax (212) 889-4849; ,
[email protected].

— 8/24/04

E-mail photos available upon request.

PHOTO CAPTION 1: By cutting the red ribbon on August 4, 2004, Gregory
Manuelian and Christine Brewster officially opened the Nork Orphanage
playground dedicated to their late mother, Diane Manuelian, as
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian
Church of America (Eastern) and President of the Fund for Armenian
Relief Board of Directors, and Mrs. Brewster’s two children, Elizabeth
and Mark, looked on.

PHOTO CAPTION 2: Elizabeth and Mark Brewster traveled to Armenia to
attend the opening ceremony of the playground built by the Fund for
Armenian Relief in memory of their grandmother, Diane Manuelian, at the
Nork Orphanage.

PHOTO CAPTION 3: This girl and boy played an important role in the
August 4 ceremony at the Nork Orphanage – providing the scissors to cut
the ribbon and officially open the new playground dedicated to the
memory of Diane Manuelian.

PHOTO CAPTION 4: After the opening ceremony, this young girl was among
the first to use the new, colorful water fountains in the playground
built by the Fund for Armenian Relief.

PHOTO CAPTION 5: Children at the Nork Orphanage began using the
colorful swings and seesaws in their new playground immediately
following the opening ceremony.

Business Wire (press release), CA
Aug 23 2004

Firebird Global Master Fund, Ltd. Invests in Indusmin

VANCOUVER, British Columbia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 23, 2004–Indusmin
Energy Corp.. (TSX Venture:IDM) announces that further to its news
release dated July 27, 2004, related to a proposed private placement,
the Corporation is pleased to announce that the Corporation has
received $ 1,000,000.00 from Firebird Global Master Fund, Ltd.
() Firebird Global Master Fund, Ltd. is a contrarian
portfolio equity fund that invests in exotic markets and sectors
around the world. Firebird Global Master Fund, Ltd. is associated
with Firebird, which manages approximately $625 million in six funds
dedicated primarily to equity investment in Russia, Eastern Europe
and Central Asia. A total of 3,333,333 units will be issued to
Firebird Global Master Fund, Ltd each unit will consist of one (1)
common share and one (1) share purchase warrant. each share purchase
warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one (1) common
share of the Corporation at a purchase price of $0.30 per common
share in year one and $ 0.40 in year two from the date of issuance of
the share purchase warrants.

The proceeds of the private placement will be used for exploration
and development of the newly acquired licenses in the Republic of
Armenia and further development of the Kerch project in Ukraine. For
information on these projects please visit our website
.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Agence France Presse
Aug 20 2004

Putin To Visit Armenia Early Next Year

MOSCOW, Aug 20 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said he will
visit his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharian, in Armenia early
next year and has renewed offers to mediate the decade-old conflict
in Nagorny Karabakh, the Russian media reported Friday.

Russia is ready to act as a “mediator and guarantor” of a negotiated
settlement in Nagorny Karabakh, an ethnically Armenian enclave of
Azerbaijan, Putin said according to Russian news service Interfax.

A 1994 ceasefire after a bloody four-year conflict left Armenian
forces in control of the enclave and surrounding Azeri regions.
Azerbaijan has said it is determined to force Armenian troops out of
the territory.

Along with France and the United States, Russia is part of the
so-called Minsk Group seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict.

No specific date was set for Putin’s trip.

RosBusinessConsulting, Russia
Aug 19 2004

Armenia to attract foreigners on its telecommunications market

RBC, 19.08.2004, Yerevan 19:25:07.The Armenian government will
hold an international tender to attract new mobile operator after
ArmenTel’s monopoly had been ruled illegal, Armenian Justice Minister
David Arutunian told journalists today. According to him, the
government decision to cancel the existing monopoly on the internal
telecommunications market will likely become effective starting
September 28, 2004. According to Armenian news agency Arminfo,
Armenian officials believe that an international tender was the most
prudent decision.

Armenian foreign minister, UN official discuss cooperation

Arminfo
18 Aug 04

YEREVAN

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan today met the chief
inspector in the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees,
Tahir Ali, who is in Armenia within the framework of his regional
visit.

Arminfo has learnt from the Armenian Foreign Ministry press service
that the main purpose of the inspection is to sum up results of the
work to improve the refugee situation in the region which has been
conducted since 1988, as well as to evaluate the activity of the UNHCR
office in Yerevan .

During the meeting, on behalf of the Armenian government, Oskanyan
spoke highly about the activity of the UNHCR in Armenia. He hoped that
in the future this organization would be actively involved in the
Armenian government’s programmes on refugees.

The sides discussed issues related to refugees’ speedy integration
into social and public life in Armenia. Tahir Ali will leave Yerevan
for Tbilisi and then Baku. He will submit a report on results of the
visit to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

FINE TO BE IMPOSED FOR DAMAGE CAUSED TO GREEN ZONES OF CAPITAL FROM
NOW ON

YEREVAN, August 16 (Noyan Tapan). From now on the Mayor’s Office or
the communal administrations will turn to the judicial instances on
each case of illegal tree felling or damage caused to the green zones
of the capital with a demand on compensation. Grigor Melkumian, senior
adviser of the Yerevan Mayor’s Office, said during the August 16 press
conference that the Licensing Expert Commission will determine the
amount of the damage. It was mentioned that 5-6 similar cases are
being examined now.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Aug 18 2004

STEVEN MANN: CO-CHAIRS TRY TO BRING ELEMENTS OF REALISM INTO THE
DISCUSSIONS.
[August 18, 2004, 21:33:27]

The following is an exclusive interview given by US co-chair of the
Minsk group Ambassador Steven Mann to the Washington representative
of AzerTAj news agency Shafag Akifqizi.

– Mr. Mann, it has been 4 months since you have been appointed as a
Special Negotiator for Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Do you think this
assignment brought anything new to the Minsk group or peace process?

I think there is no magic to the mediators, myself included. By
participating in the process, we demonstrate strong interests of our
governments in promoting a solution. But the bottom line, as always,
is that, it is up to the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia to
come through with the solution.

-The recent developments coming from the region are troublesome – the
so-called Nagorno-Karabakh republic holds elections, conducts
military trainings on the occupied Azerbaijani territories. What’s
your reaction to that?

The State Department has already answered your question. I’d just
like to stand with the statement of Mr. Ereli – `we don’t recognize
Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent country. Our position is to
support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. We don’t believe
that these elections will have an impact on the Minsk process.’

-Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs doesn’t seem to agree with you. They
are concerned, that Minsk co-chairs don’t react properly to some of
the developments going on in the region. They believe, that if
mediators don’t come up with clear position on issues like the
so-called elections or military training on the occupied territories
conducting by the separatists, the continuation of the whole
negotiation process may be jeopardized. Do you agree with that?

First of all, let me say that the Minsk group discussions at the
ministerial level are discussions, not negotiations. These
discussions are a serious effort among diplomatic professionals. And
we need to keep to that.

There are always going to be events in the region that are unpleasant
to one side or the other. This simply comes from the history of
conflicts. But a responsibility of all of us involved in the Minsk
process is to keep focused on the discussions themselves and the
development of the peaceful solution. Now, let me explain – why do we
do this? Why does Azerbaijan or Armenia do it? We don’t do these out
of any vague sense of courtesy or certain norms that we follow. All
of us are pursuing this out of our national interests. So, I think it
is a correct decision that president Aliyev has taken to participate
in the process and that is the decision based on Azerbaijan’s
national interests.

-Mr. Mann, you have stated that the US supports the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan. Yet, your country never recognized Armenia
as an occupant. What is that holds you back?

Yes, of course. And I reaffirm that we support territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan. We have also made a point that the solution to the
Karabakh conflict must take into account wishes of all the people of
the area. As to your question, you shouldn’t forget what a mandate of
the Minsk group is. The Minsk group is not there to take sides. The
international community has recognized the conflict and decided to
support negotiations and mediate. The international community didn’t
give the Minsk group the mission to be a judge. That is not what our
instructions are from the international community. So, what we can do
is work as hard as we possibly can to look for those elements of
common ground between the two sides and try to bring elements of
realism into the discussions.

-Will the November elections in the US put the interest of your
country in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the background?

No, I don’t think so. The position of the US has been very consistent
year after year, administration after administration in this. The
elections in November are not going to affect the professional
diplomacy that we want to this conflict.

-As a Special Advisor on Caspian Basin Diplomacy, were you surprised
by the recent suspension of the construction on BTC pipeline?

Frankly, I was mildly surprised. We have been having discussions with
BTC Co and Georgian government for some months now. The officials of
new Georgian government had a lot of questions about the project.
But, we were surprised when we saw stop of work order This was the
subject of extensive discussion in president Saakashvili’s recent
visit to Washington. It has also been the subject of some real
productive work between Georgia and BTC Co. I’m feeling good about
where we have come out and, as you know, the construction has fully
resumed now on the Georgian section of the pipeline.

-Will the main export pipeline have a role to play in
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution?

Interestingly, I get asked this question in Armenia as well. The
answer is no, it will not. The issues are separate. Naturally, we all
wish that the conflict was settled, so that we could all have
region-wide cooperation. But the pipeline reflects not political, but
commercial realities in the region.

Washington, D.C.

August 17, 2004

GUERRILLAS OF THE RESISTANCE

The Spaniards who liberated Paris

Le Monde diplomatique
August 2004

The German governor of Paris surrendered to a Spanish soldier two
hours before he signed the capitulation of his forces in August
1944. Will this year’s celebrations remember the foreign Resistance
fighters?

By Denis Fernandez Recatala

France has not done much to acknowledge its debt to the many
foreigners who helped free the nation in 1944. No significant
monuments pay tribute to the thousands of Spaniards who fought the
German occupation forces. As France prepares to celebrate the 60th
anniversary of the liberation of Paris, it should gratefully honour
the men and women who fought beside the French and died for freedom.

After the 1936-39 civil war many Spaniards fled to France and later
joined the Resistance or the Free French forces. In the Reina Sofia
Museum in Madrid, just next to Picasso’s Guernica, there is another
Picasso, Monument to the Spaniards who died for France, a reminder of
their sacrifice. Spanish Republicans contributed substantially to
liberating France. In the south they have had some recognition; in all
more than 10,000 fought all over France, in Brittany and the
Cévennes(1) and around towns such as Poitiers, Bordeaux, Angoulême,
Avignon, Montélimar, Valence or Anneçy(2). An all-Spanish force
liberated Foix, joined at the last moment by one Maurice Bigeard(3), a
token French contribution to the victory.

Near the end of summer 1940 Charles Tillon, founder of the French
Irregulars and Partisans (FTP-F) group, contacted local members of the
Spanish Communist party (PCE) in Bordeaux. Foreign nationals were a
ready source of volunteers, since unlike French citizens they had not
been mobilised and the Germano-Soviet pact had not discouraged
them(4). Spanish communists also remembered French support for the
International Brigades. Meanwhile the PCE’s underground leadership was
trying to meet its French opposite number and contacted Lise London in
December. She and her husband, Artur London, were plausible
go-betweens, having fought in Spain in the International Brigades(5).

>From then on, the resistance by communists and sympathisers started
to take shape. The Spanish community had arrived in two waves, first
because of poverty after 1918, then because of defeat by Franco’s army
in 1939, and settled all over France. The French Communist party (PCF)
started the Immigrant Workers (MOI) movement in the 1930s. The MOI
played an important part in the Resistance, integrating most Spanish
communists. The others formed armed detachments under PCE command,
coordinating their attacks with the Special Organisation (OS) and then
with the FTP-F.

In and around Paris Conrado Miret-Must, under the name of Lucien, took
charge of MOI combatants from 1942 on. The liberation of France was a
long way off, but preparations were already underway, despite a
massive raid that decimated the Spanish activists that year. The
trial of what the authorities claimed were terrorists from the Spanish
National Union was a foretaste of the trial of the members of the
Manouchian group(6). In the Little Spain neighbourhood of Plaine Saint
Denis(7) arrests became frequent, much as in Paris, Brittany and the
suburbs of other cities. In all, 135 Spaniards, including six women,
appeared in court. In their buttonholes they wore tiny espadrilles
with the colours of the French and Spanish republics. When their
sentences were read out they sang the Marseillaise and the Himno de
Riego(8). The sentences seemed relatively light, but meant torture,
deportation and, for many, death.

After the raids, which dislocated his unit and led to the
disappearance of his comrades, Celestino Alfonso, a former tank
commander, joined the Manouchian group and met Michel Rajman. With the
other members of the Manouchian group Celestino was executed on 16
February 1944, only months before the liberation of Paris. In his
farewell letter he wrote: “I lay down my life for France.” For many
Spaniards the Resistance was the continuation of the civil war by
other means. For the communists it was a way of repaying their debt to
the International Brigades, originally set up by the Komintern(9).

Spanish activists from Paris took refuge in neighbouring departéments
till the storm passed, returning to the capital under the command of
Rogelio Puerto. On 6 June 1944, when Allied forces landed on the
Normandy beaches, José Baron, known as Robert, mobilised all available
combatants and they formed the battalions that took part in the Paris
insurrection in August. They were determined and ready for anything,
convinced that once France regained its freedom the fascist regime in
Spain would soon collapse.

History does not always work out as planned, but there are fortunate
coincidences. The overall commander of the Paris insurrection was
Henri Rol-Tanguy, who had been a political commissar in the 14th
International Brigade in Spain. This eased contacts between insurgents
from the two countries. Military experience from 1936-39 combined well
with the invention of guerrilla tactics both in the maquis and in
cities.

With the prospect of Paris being liberated the Spanish anarchists came
to the fore. In 1939 the French authorities had interned the defeated
Republican army in camps in southeast France. Every morning gendarmes
visited the barracks encouraging internees to join the Foreign
Legion. Several thousand accepted the offer, seeing it as a way of
continuing the fight against fascism. They were sent to French
dependencies in North Africa or further south to Chad or Cameroon.
Those who went south joined the Free French in 1940, linking with the
force formed by General Leclerc(10). The others had to wait till the
Allied landings in Algeria in November 1942. But all – at least those
who survived – were among the first Allied troops to enter Paris on 24
August 1944.

Paris was fighting, but it needed help. A truce had been signed on 20
August by representatives of General de Gaulle and Choltitz (the
commander of the German garrison) providing for the peaceful
withdrawal of occupation forces. But the next day the Resistance
decided to break the truce, afraid that the Germans would use it to
their strategic advantage. Rol-Tanguy sent Commander Gallois to meet
the approaching Allied forces. Gallois convinced Leclerc to speed up
his 2nd armoured division’s advance on Paris. Leclerc sent the 9th
armoured company, led by Captain Raymond Dronne, ahead of the main
force: all its men were Spanish anarchists who spoke Castilian. In his
memoirs(11) Dronne writes of their courage; Leclerc thought highly of
them.

The first detachments of the 9th company entered the south of Paris at
8.41pm though the Porte d’Italie. A tank called Guadalajara after a
Republican victory in 1937(12) led the way. Forty minutes later, the
tanks and half-tracks halted on Place de l’Hôtel de Ville in the
centre. A crowd surrounded the 120 Spaniards and their 22 vehicles,
greeting them as liberators. “Were they American?” people asked,
surprised to hear them speaking Spanish. Their tanks were named after
civil war battles – Ebro, Teruel, Belchite, Madrid – and also called
Don Quijote, and Durruti, after the anarchist leader.

Their arrival ended the siege of the town hall, where Resistance
forces had been holding out against German attacks for five
days. Inside the building the Spanish troops set up a gun, El abuelo
(grandfather). As night fell everyone waited for reinforcements. Amado
Granelli, a lieutenant in the 9th company, met members of the National
Resistance Council, led by Georges Bidault. Meanwhile Leclerc, with
the rest of the 2nd armoured division, raced towards Paris, reaching
it the following morning.

In the days after, fighting increased in intensity. According to
Tillon, the Spaniards – the partisans who joined the French Forces of
the Interior (FFI) – were excellent street fighters. But he
exaggerated their contribution to the liberation of Paris. In the
preface to a book on the Manouchian group in 1946, he estimated their
number at 4,000 and used the same figure in Les FTP(13). Manuel Tunon
de Lara, a Spanish historian, is more cautious.

Once the fighting in Paris was over Rogelio Puerto led his Spanish
detachments – from the FTP, UNE and PCE – to the Reuilly
barracks. There Boris Holban, the MOI leader, merged a motley force of
combatants into a single battalion called Liberté. They included
Italians, Poles, Armenians and even escaped Russian prisoners of
war. The Spanish contingent, about 500, was the largest. They had
fought all over Paris, on Place de la Concorde, outside the National
Assembly, around the Arc de Triomphe, inside the Hotel Majestic that
housed the Gestapo headquarters, on Place Saint Michel and Place de la
République. Several dozen were killed, including José Baron, who had
supervised the regrouping of the guerrillas earlier that year.

The 9th company carried on with the 2nd armoured division towards
Germany. It took part in the liberation of Strasbourg, where
Lieutenant- Colonel Putz, a former International Brigade volunteer,
fell fighting alongside Spanish Republicans. The company ended the war
at Berchtesgaden, Hitler’s residence in the Bavarian Alps. Sadly only
a few Spaniards survived to scale the dictator’s mountain retreat.

In 1941 thousands of Spanish volunteers had set out from Chad
determined to help overthrow the Nazi regime, which had supported the
fascist forces that had conquered Spain. They had a single objective:
to carry the fight against fascism back into Spain, but this time with
the support of the Allies. Their hopes were betrayed and Franco stayed
in power until 1975. France, for which they laid down their lives,
forgot them.

Denis Fernandez Recatala is a journalist and writer, author of Matière
(Le Temps des Cerises, Paris, 2002)

NOTES

(1) See Hervé Mauran, Un Maquis de républicains espagnols en Cévennes,
Lacour, Nimes, 1995.

(2) See Eduardo Pons Prades, Los Republicanos españoles en la segunda
guerra mundial, La Esfera de los libros, Madrid, 2003; and Memoria del
olvido. La Contribucion de los Republicanos españoles a la Resistencia
y a la Libération de Francia, 1939-1945, FACEEF, Paris, 1996.

(3) General Bigeard made his name in Vietnam and in Algeria, where he
was accused of torturing National Liberation Front militants.

(4) The non-aggression pact of 23 August 1939 between Germany and the
Soviet Union drove a wedge between the communists and the rest of the
left in Britain and France.

(5) London’s activism made him a target for Nazi repression (he was
deported to Buchenwald), then persecution under Stalin. He narrowly
escaped a death sentence during the 1952 show trials in Prague,
alongside Rudolf Slansky and other former members of the government.

(6) An FTP-MOI group led by the Armenian activist, Missak Manouchian,
was executed on 16 February 1944 with 21 comrades. Louis Aragon
dedicated a poem to them, L’Affiche rouge. The title refers to the
bill Nazi authorities posted all over occupied France denouncing
attacks by an army of criminals.

(7) A working-class district north of Paris. See also Natacha Lillo,
La petite Espagne de la Plaine-Saint-Denis, 1900-1980, Autrement,
Paris, 2004.

(8) The national anthem of the Spanish Republic, proclaimed on 14
April 1931.

(9) Russian name for the Communist International, founded in 1919,
disbanded in 1943.

(10) Philippe Leclerc (1902-1947) was military governor of
Cameroon. He assembled a column of Free French forces which set out
from Chad to join British forces under General Montgomery at Tripoli
in January 1943. He took part in the Normandy landings with the 2nd
armoured division and entered Paris on 24 August 1944.

(11) Carnets de Route, two volumes, Editions France-Empire, Paris,
1984 and 1985.

(12) The battle of Guadalajara was the only major Republican victory
during the civil war. Italian units fought on both sides, the
Garibaldi battalion on the Republican side and regular army units and
fascist militia on the other. A popular song, Guadalajara no es
Abisinia, celebrated the event, contrasting it to Italy’s invasion of
Abyssinia in 1935-36.

(13) Les FTP, Julliard, Paris, 1966.

Translated by Harry Forster