Author: Boshkezenian Garik

Lyudmila Putin opens Centre of Russian Book in Yerevan

ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 25, 2005 Friday

YEREVAN, March 25 — Wife of the Russian president Lyudmila Putin and
the wife of the Armenian President Bella Kocharyan opened a Center
of Russian Book in Yerevan on Friday.

The new book center is located in one of the most beautiful mansions in
the center of Yerevan that dates back to 1901. The building houses the
Armenian society for cultural contacts and cooperation with foreign
countries for more than 50 years.

The book center includes a library, a video hall and a readers’ hall.
The new center is hoped to be one of the most interesting institutions
of the Russian culture in Armenia. Its task is to maintain and
develop traditional Russo-Armenian contacts in the humanitarian and
spiritual fields.

The new book centre will host presentation ceremonies of new pieces
of Russian literature, meetings of workers of literature and art,
scientists, and language experts and jubilee parties in honor of
outstanding workers of culture and art.

Armen Sambatyan, Chairman of the Armenian society for cultural
contacts who is also the Armenian ambassador to Russia, said that a
first batch of 3,000 books published in Russia were already available
in the Library of the new book center.

Chairman of the Committee for economic policies and entrepreneurship
Oganes Oganyan from the Russian Federation Council had selected his
books for the Center and sent them to Armenia.

Self-proclaimed “Upper Garabagh Republic” admits illegal settlements

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 25 2005

Baku, March 24, AssA-Irada — The self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh
Republic leadership told the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs before the
monitoring held by the OSCE fact-finding mission in the occupied
Azerbaijani regions that it has created opportunities for the
settlement of Armenians in Lachin District and considers it normal,
the Russian co-chair of the Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov said.

Merzlyakov noted that the OSCE mission has not determined that the
settlement of Armenians in the occupied regions is realized according
to a purposeful policy of the Armenian government.

The Russian co-chair said there is evidence on the support of
Armenians’ settlement by the leadership of the self-proclaimed
republic. However, he declined to comment on its relations between
the leadership of the ‘republic’ and the Armenian government.

“It is impossible to solve the issue of illegal settlement of Armenians
in the occupied regions until they are liberated. These regions are
currently controlled by Armenians,” said Merzlyakov.

The Russian co-chair added that it will be impossible to withdraw
Armenians from Upper Garabagh unless Armenian armed forces are
withdrawn from the occupied lands.*

Journal of Turkish Daily
March 25 2005

After Kyrgyzstan: Is Next Stage Armenia or Belarus?

Davut SAHINER (JTW) After Georgia and Ukraine, ‘silk revolution’ hit
Kyrgyzstan. President Askar Akayev has fled the country, and
opposition MP Ishenbai Kadyrbekov was named acting president, hours
after demonstrators overran the presidential palace in the capital,
Bishkek.

Gangs of looters roamed through the city overnight, ransacking shops
and setting fire to buildings. At least three people are reported to
have died during the unrest. However it is understood that Kyrgyzstan
has faced a popular movement.

The US named the ‘revolution’ democratic, while Russia and the
neighboring Central Asia states are worried.

For many IR experts Kyrgyzstan is the latest stage of ‘the
democratization process’ triggered by the United States in the
‘greater Middle East and Eastern Europe, from Ukraine to China
borders. Nese Mesudoglu from Sabah, Turkish daily paper, argues that
the US uses George Soros and his foundations-societies in order to
undermine the existing ‘un-democratic’ governments. “Silk revolutions
follow Soros. When Soros goes a country, a revolution or unrest visit
that country” Sabah says. Not surprisingly the Bishkek Soros
Foundation was there before the ‘revolution’ and it is a well-known
fact that the foundation was making great assistance to the
opposition groups under the name of ‘education and democratization’.
The budget of the Bishkek Soros Foundation is about 4 million
dollars. Soros had made financial assistance to the Serbian,
Ukrainian and Georgian oppositions.

Soros has foundations and societies in 30 countries. It is claimed
that he supported opposition in Malaysia and Venezuela as well.

Withdrawal of the Russian Empire

It can be argued that the US continues to implement the ‘Greater
Middle East Initiative’. The Initiative has two columns: Military
Operations and Democratization Operations. In the second column, the
US encourages the opposing groups and minorities to overturn the
existing ‘dictatorial administrations’ or ‘anti-American powers’. In
almost all countries experienced silk revolutions the power was
belong to the anti-American groups, and all these governments had
good relations with Russia. Kyrgyzstan is a peculiar case, because
the Kyrgyzstan case can be considered as message not only to the
Russians but also to the Chinese. The country is at the crossroads of
Russia, China, India-Pakistan and the Turkic-Islamic World. Possibly,
it is the greatest gain for the US ‘Greater Middle Eastern Project’.
Kyrgyzstan is a perfect ‘base’ to control Russian and Chinese
politics in the region and to watch drug trafficking.

Next Target: Belarus or Armenia?

Kyrgyzstan is the latest example for the silk revolutions but not the
last one. Many expects that the revolution wave will continue.
Belarus is one of the possible candidates, but Armenia is the easiest
one. President Robert Kocherian, Karabakh veteran, dominates the
Armenian politics. He has very close relations with Russia and keeps
the opposition under pressure.
As Emil Danielyan pointed out “the ruling regime has heavily relied
on the oligarchs to manipulate elections and bully its political
opponents, making it doubtful that any serious action will be taken
to rein them in. They are able to bribe and intimidate local voters
and resort to other election falsification techniques. Ballot box
stuffing was commonplace during the 2003 presidential election, which
Western observers described as undemocratic.” (Jamestown). The
overwhelming majority of the Armenian population thinks that Armenian
political system is not democratic and there is no hope for the
future. The opposition started a huge campaign last year but
Kocherian with his armed supporters from Karabakh severely suppressed
the civil movement. Many were prisoned and tortured including very
young and women. There are Russian military bases in Armenia and
Kocherian Government is seen as the ‘only Russian ally’ in the
Caucasus. Armenia also has good relations with Iran. The FBI
investigates Armenian-Iranian connections in weapon trade and
terrorism. There are a pro-Western governments in Azerbaijan and
Georgia.

JTW, 25 March 2005

AzerNews
24/03/2005 15:18

Azerbaijan seeks WTO admission

The third round of talks on Azerbaijan’s admission to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) will be held in June. The discussions may not take
place if the Azerbaijani government does not prepare the necessary
documents within two months.

Minister for Economic Development Farhad Aliyev said earlier
that Azerbaijan’s admission to the WTO is possible in mid-2006. 18
requirements, developed by a special secretariat, need to be met for
membership. A project aimed at assisting the government in Azerbaijan’s
WTO accession, is being implemented in the country with the financial
support of the US Department of Trade and Development.

Initial drafts of a part of the documents on admission have been
developed. All relevant documentation should be finalized and
forwarded to the organization over the next few weeks.

Azerbaijan applied for WTO membership in 1997. The admission may take
from 3 to 15 years. China was admitted to the WTO within 15 years,
while Kyrgyzstan – 3 years. Among CIS countries, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia,
Moldova and Armenia have become WTO members, while Russia and Ukraine
submitted final documents for approval.

Issues relating to the customs duties on imports, setting limits on
agricultural subsidies and improvement of laws will be discussed at
the mentioned meeting.

Karabakh pleads for help in tackling “humanitarian catastrophe”

Mediamax news agency
24 Mar 05

Yerevan, 24 March: The Foreign Ministry of the Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic (NKR) issued a statement today in connection with the
publication of the report of the OSCE fact-finding mission which
visited the territories around the NKR.

“The NKR Foreign Ministry notes the high objectivity of the
fact-finding mission’s report. At the same time, it should be noted
that the mission covered only the territories controlled by the NKR
authorities after the establishment of truce, and this is why it
does not reflect the whole picture of the humanitarian catastrophe
which has emerged as a result of the war launched by Azerbaijan, when
about 500,000 Armenians became refugees, having lost their property,
motherland and confidence in the future,” the statement reads.

“The NKR authorities admit their responsibility for the destiny
of these people and will make every effort to create the necessary
conditions for them and restore their rights and pay them compensation
in the future either on a parity basis or unilaterally,” the statement
reads.

The NKR Foreign Ministry urged the international community to “follow
the example of the governments of Armenia and the USA which provide
humanitarian, financial and other assistance to the NKR people, respond
to the humanitarian needs of the people who suffered as a result of the
Azerbaijani authorities’ ethnic cleansing and large-scale hostilities,
stop using double standards and providing humanitarian programs only
for Azerbaijani refugees thus ignoring the rights of Armenian refugees
who found shelter on the territory of Nagornyy Karabakh”.

Birds spell bad luck for Armenian planes — and vice-versa

Agence France Presse — English
March 23, 2005 Wednesday 3:40 PM GMT

YEREVAN March 23 — Birds that had come down out of the trees around
Armenia’s main airport due to heavy snow put no less than three of
the national airline’s planes out of action in a single day when they
were sucked into engines, the Armavia company said on Wednesday.

The unusual series of glitches on Tuesday delayed several flights
out of the capital Yerevan Wednesday.

“Birds were sucked into the turbines of three of our company’s
airplanes that had landed yesterday and last night at Zvartnots
airport,” said Garik Siroian, a company spokesman.

“Because of heavy snowfall (the birds) were not sitting in the trees
and preferred to stroll on the runway,” he explained.

Four planes were undergoing technical checkups to evaluate the damage
caused by the birds. One flight to Moscow and another one to Dubai
have been delayed so far.

Birds that are sucked into jet engines frequently cause problems for
planes taking off and landing at airports around the world, but such
a string of incidents on the same day is unusual.

AZERI DELEGATION IN PA OSCE FAILS TO INCLUDE “ATKINSON” PROVISIONS
INTO LENMARKER’S REPORT

YEREVAN, MARCH 22, NOYAN TAPAN. Serious opportunities for becoming
a leader in the regional competition are created for Armenia within
the framework of the “Wide Europe. New Neighborhood” program. Vahan
Hovhannisian, RA NA Vice-Speaker, the head of Armenian delegation in
PA OSCE, expressed such an opinion at the March 21 press conference.
He reported that on March 17-18 the meeting of representatives of
Armenian and Azeri delegations in PA OSCE was held in Brussels. The
meeting was headed by Goran Lenmarker, Special Representative on
Nagorno Karabakh in the organization. The report on Nagorno Karabakh
will be represented by the latter in early July during the annual OSCE
Session in Washington. Hovhannisian said that Lenmarker’s preliminary
report submitted to the sides nearly a year ago was rather balanced,
which caused the protest of the Azeri party and became the reason
of the delay. In the above-mentioned period discussions on Nagorno
Karabakh conflict were held in the European Commission, in European
Parliament, in the EU Council of Ministers, which were followed by
the bilateral negotiations of Armenian and Azeri delegations. Owing to
the efforts of the Armenian party it was established and Lenmarker’s
report will also mention that the first and foremost issue among all
the others is the Karabakh status issue. It was also established that
all the other issues brought forward by the Azeri party are derivative
and their solution is impossible without the solution of the issue
of status. According to Vahan Hovhannisian, his European colleagues
also supported the opinion of the Armenian delegation that the 2
sides should cooperate, which will contribute to the process of the
conflict settlement. The delegation head emphasized that any progress
within the framework of the “Wider Europe. New Neighborhood” program
is only possible as a result of the regional cooperation. According
to Vahan Hovhannisian, the attempts of the Azeri delegation to include
“Atkinson” provisions in the Lenmarker’s expected report failed even if
at this stage of negotiations. Answering Azerbaijan’s statements about
growth of tension and exchange of fire on the contact line of Armenian
and Azeri forces, Samvel Nokoyan, another member of the Armenian
delegation, said that this tension is the result of the Resolution
adopted in PACE on the basis of David Atkinson’s report. Mentioning
that after the April 25 session of EU Council of Ministers each of
the 3 South Caucasian countries will be suggested an action plan,
Vahan Hovhannisian expressed an opinion that Armenia not only has a
chance to make maximum profit out of this program, but also to use
it for the purpose of creation more favorable conditions for solution
of the Karabakh problem.

Azerbaijan president sure that Karabakh settlement is possible
By Sevindzh Abdullayeva, Viktor Shulman

ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 21, 2005

BAKU, March 21 — Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev hopes that 2005
proves important for settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and
is sure that possibilities for that are not exhausted.

“I want to hope that progress will be achieved on this track,” he
said at celebrations of Novruz Bairam festivity in Baku on Monday.

He stressed that “diplomatic successes of Azerbaijan and its political
steps to settle the conflict have created a new situation in the
negotiation process and can positively influence it”.

“Azerbaijan wants to restore the territorial integrity on the basis of
the international law and to do it in a peaceful ways,” Aliyev said,
referring to a six-year war of Azerbaijan and its mostly Armenian
breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“If, however, we are unable to reach a fair resolution of the conflict
on the basis of the negotiations, a new situation will arise and
Azerbaijan will take up other variants of settlement,” Aliyev added.

He stressed that Azerbaijan would be able to solve its problems by
enhancing its economic potential, strengthening its army and improving
the well-being of people.

“We must make Azerbaijan a strong and rich state,” Aliyev said.

He outlined a concept of development of the country, stressing that
national interests of other states should be secured and mutually
beneficial relations with all friendly neighbour countries established.

Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili’s wife Sandra took part in
the celebrations.

She arrived in Azerbaijan for a three-day visit at the invitation of
the Azerbaijani president’s wife Mikhriban Aliyeva.

Agence France Presse
March 18 2005

Car bomb rocks Beirut, eight injured
Henri Mamarbachi
Posted Sat, 19 Mar 2005

A car bomb rocked a Christian suburb of the Lebanese capital on
Saturday, injuring eight and causing extensive damage a month after
the assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri sent shockwaves
through the country.

The explosion, which happened shortly after midnight (10.30pm GMT on
Friday), was the first attack since the February 14 assassination,
and the first sign of violence which some fear will surround the
forthcoming anniversary of the start of the devastating 15-year civil
war in April 1975.

“The explosion of the Japanese Datsun-make car left eight people
slightly injured,” a police spokesperson said.

Extensive damage caused

The blast caused extensive damage in the northern Beirut residential
neighbourhood of Jdeide, along a coastal road, damaging several
buildings and destroying cars parked in the street where the
explosion took place.

Police sealed off the neighbourhood, and the blast, which could be
heard in central Beirut, brought many people out into the street who
had been woken from their sleep.

“The… car belonged to an Armenian living in the building in front
of which the explosion took place. The explosive was placed under his
vehicle,” a police spokesperson said.

“An inquiry has been opened by the police who went immediately to the
scene,” he added.

Syria pulling out troops

The explosion was the first serious incident since the February
assassination of Hariri, which led neighbouring Syria, which has
dominated Lebanon for the past 30 years, to bow to international
pressure to start pulling out its troops.

Syria had an estimated 14 000 soldiers in Lebanon when the
redeployment began on March 7.

The Syrian army Thursday completed the first stage of the planned
pullback ahead of schedule, with about 4000 troops having returned
home.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last weekend gave a commitment to
re-deploy his ground troops and intelligence agents to the Bekaa by
the end of March, ahead of a final pullout, in compliance with a UN
Security Council resolution.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, meanwhile, said he expects a
complete withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon before legislative
elections are held, according to his spokesperson in New York, Fred
Eckhard.

Death of former premier

An estimated one million demonstrators poured into central Beirut
Monday in a spectacular rejection of Syria’s role in Lebanon, hurling
a potent challenge at the pro-Syrian Lebanese administration.

The death of Hariri also brought political turmoil to Lebanon and
ultimately deadlock, casting a cloud over the very elections in May
that are supposed to signal a new chapter in the country’s Syria-free
history.

Prime Minister a Syrian sympathiser

Reacting to public fury following the Hariri assassination, Prime
Minister Omar Karameh, considered a Syrian sympathiser, has so far
appealed in vain to the opposition to join him in a government of
national unity to prepare parliamentary elections later this spring.

The Lebanese opposition, made up largely but not exclusively of Sunni
Muslims, Christians and Druze, takes a far tougher line toward Syria
than the current government and has agitated strenuously for a speedy
departure from the country of the estimated 14 000 Syrian troops.

Reacting to public fury following the Hariri assassination Karameh
resigned on February 28, only to be called back to office ten days
later by President Emile Lahoud.

In his quest to form a government he has run into – and rejected –
opposition demands for the removal of Lebanon’s security chiefs and
an international probe into Hariri’s death.

AFP

Le Figaro
17 mars 2005

«Mein Kampf» parmi les meilleures ventes;
TURQUIE Le renouveau du nationalisme à travers le succès de librairie
du manifeste d’Adolf Hitler

Istanbul : Marie-Michèle Martinet

Placée ce mois-ci au quatrième rang des best-sellers, une réédition
de Mein Kampf, le manifeste antisémite rédigé par Adolf Hitler en
1925, s’est vendue, en Turquie, depuis sa sortie en janvier, à 50 000
exemplaires.

Si les livres sont le miroir de ceux qui les écrivent et, par
ricochet, de ceux qui les lisent, les ouvrages qui, ces derniers
temps, caracolent en tête des meilleures ventes de l’édition turque
font un peu frémir. Mein Kampf, publié pour la première fois en turc
en 1939, puis réédité par une douzaine d’éditeurs, n’avait jamais,
jusqu’à présent, dépassé les 20 000 exemplaires par an. Il se
négociait alors autour de 20 YTL (environ 11 euros). Cette fois, les
éditions Manifesto ont décidé de casser les prix en proposant
l’ouvrage à mois de 6 YTL. Pour l’éditeur Oguz Tektas qui signe cette
opération, il s’agit simplement d’une belle réussite commerciale, qui
n’avait d’autre objectif que de «gagner de l’argent». Sans négliger
l’argument lié à la modicité du prix du livre, on peut cependant
s’interroger sur les motivations des lecteurs turcs qui, dans une
période où leur pays prétend se rapprocher de l’Europe et des valeurs
démocratiques qu’elle défend, se sont précipités sur ce brûlot de
l’antisémitisme nazi : «J’observe qu’il existe actuellement, en
Turquie, un courant antieuropéen et antiaméricain qui peut être
favorable à la vente d’un tel livre, analyse le professeur Ahmet
Içduygu, spécialiste des relations et des migrations internationales
à l’université Koç d’Istanbul. Ce courant s’exprime par un renouveau
du nationalisme, nourri par la pression ressentie par de nombreux
Turcs.

Ils ont le sentiment que l’on veut leur dicter leurs actes. D’où une
certaine crispation…» Récemment, d’autres succès de librairie
semblent s’être construits autour de cette crispation nationaliste
effectivement perceptible. Le roman Orage de métal, qui se projette
en 2007 pour décrire une guerre provoquée par les Etats-Unis
attaquant la Turquie, s’est déjà vendu à plus de 100 000 exemplaires.
L’un de ses auteurs, Burak Turna, un ancien journaliste spécialisé
dans les questions de défense, ne cache pas son opposition à la
politique internationale américaine. Visiblement, ses idées sont
partagées par un grand nombre de lecteurs turcs qui, solidarité
musulmane aidant, ont jugé tout aussi sévèrement la guerre conduite
par les Américains en Irak et la politique menée par Israël dans les
territoires occupés par les Palestiniens. Les choix des lecteurs
turcs seraient donc l’expression de certains non-dits : «Le sentiment
de frustration actuellement ressenti par un grand nombre de personnes
en Turquie peut inconsciemment les amener à acheter tel ou tel livre,
précise le professeur Ahmet Içduygu. A l’inverse, certains auteurs
turcs peuvent faire les frais de leurs prises de position jugées
antinationalistes. Ainsi, le prestigieux romancier Orhan Pamuk, dont
les ouvrages sont traduits en France par Gallimard, a été violemment
mis en cause, le mois dernier, à la suite d’une interview accordée à
un magazine allemand. Dans cet entretien, il avait évoqué le génocide
arménien de 1915 en des termes jugés, par certains, contraires à
l’intégrité nationale turque. Le succès retentissant de la réédition
de Mein Kampf pose évidemment la question d’un éventuel antisémitisme
turc, qui irait pourtant à l’encontre d’une très ancienne tradition
d’accueil. La Turquie n’a jamais été un pays antisémite. Depuis le XV
e siècle et les persécutions de l’Inquisition jusqu’au génocide nazi,
de nombreux juifs échappant aux pogroms ont trouvé refuge sur les
rives du Bosphore. Silvyo Ovadya, qui dirige cette communauté
comptant 22 000 personnes en Turquie s’est déclaré «irrité» par le
regain d’intérêt manifesté par les lecteurs turcs pour Mein Kampf. Il
s’est également étonné que cet ouvrage de 500 pages puisse être
publié à si bas prix… Les juifs de Turquie n’ont pas oublié qu’en
novembre 2003, à Istanbul, deux synagogues ont été la cible
d’attentats terroristes islamistes qui ont fait 25 morts et des
centaines de blessés.