Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

Although the oil is running out Aliyev continues to splurge
MARK GODFREY
Thu, Dec 11, 2008
LETTER FROM BAKU:A man for big cars and building projects – the Azeri
president’s excesses know no bounds, writes Mark Godfrey
WALKING BY Baku’s tastefully restored Philharmonic Hall recently I got to eat
the dust churned up by a presidential convoy of 15 black cars tearing up
Niyazi Street towards government buildings. Riding in the second Mercedes,
President Ilham Aliyev was probably rushing from a ribbon-cutting downtown.
The mustachioed president, a man with reputedly Tony Soprano appetites for
gambling and women, has gone on a building spree to ready Baku for the Olympic
Games, an honour he has sought with obsessive zeal. Baku is the oil capital
of the world in the 19th century and still soaks in the stuff. The handsome
mansions built during the city’s first oil boom in the 1890s have been
renovated into a museum- perfect citadel peppered with boutiques and
embassies.
Oil and crony capitalism have allowed Azerbaijan to escape the worst effects
of global economic turmoil. A decade of oil earnings and average annual GDP
growth of 15 per cent give the Caspian Sea state a comfortable buffer of
foreign exchange; and because the economy is controlled by a handful of
interconnected officials and businessmen, overseas borrowings by local banks
or enterprises was limited.
That doesn’t mean Azerbaijan has a sound economy, because it hasn’t. It’s
easy to think that the Azeri leadership blew its chances on vanity building
projects and shockingly corrupt administration that has kept the bulk of
proceeds from prodigious gas and oil sales in the pockets of the politically
connected elite.
Chinese immigrant workers are an extravagance in a country with plenty of
poverty and unemployment. But ostentation is a way of life in Azerbaijan.
Baku’s prosperity is its curse. It has the least pedestrian-friendly cities
in the world which are ruled by jams of SUVs and saloons belonging to the
wealthy minority. The majority of the population, meanwhile, squeeze on to its
overwhelmed and uncomfortable Soviet-era subways lines.
It occurred to me, as I was swept along in a shuffling queue for the lone
escalator out of a subway station to the city’s main train station, that the
Azeri people had been badly served by their oil wealth.
"The bulk of the economy is controlled by a handful of officials and
businessmen," a local lawyer said. Like most local business people I talked
to, he didn’t want to be quoted but wanted it known that the country’s economy
is failing a young, relatively well-educated workforce.
Baku was only 100 years ago the world’s top oil exporter. In the
desert-barren landscape that surrounds it the smell of oil pervades the airm,
and soil
is streaked with black from exposed pipes and discarded metal oil rigging. But
this is no Dubai. Outside the oil and gas sectors, there’s been little
serious success at building alternative industries for the day when the wells dry
up. A economics lecturer at Baku State University curses Baku’s lack of
vision in investing its oil profits. "We’re just sucking out the existing reserves
. . . in the last five years there’s been no major find . . . there doesn’t
seem to be any plan for what happens when the oil runs out." Here’s his
suggestion: a bridge between Europe and the East, Azerbaijan needs to become a
services hub for multinationals servicing their operations in resource-rich
central Asia. It must hurry, says the professor. Across the Caspian, Kazakhstan
is leading Azerbaijan in busting corruption and attracting foreign investment.
"It’s building the financial services industry that Azerbaijan could have."
There is some hope amid the stench of corruption and oil. The state
investment agency Azpromo has belatedly been looking for foreign investmentin
mechanising agriculture. And despite the waste and the cronyism, roads have being
built with oil and gas revenues. "The government is well aware of Azerbaijan’s
infrastructure needs," says Daniel Matthews, a partner at the Baku office of
Baker Makenzie. He points to new highways that lead from Baku to the
Russian, Georgian and Iranian borders, and projects like a new Baku port.
My taxi driver insisted a seat belt wasn’t necessary as he showed off the
smooth new airport expressway at 140km/h. We whizzed past billboards along the
road bearing the wise, slightly smiling face of Heydar Aliyev, the country’s
deceased former president. A casual visitor would think he’s still the boss-
and in a sense he is: President Aliyev today rules with his father’s old
cronies looking over his shoulder. "They’re resistant to change, so don’t expect
much in the next five years, before the old crew begins to shuffle off,"
explains the local lawyer.
A man for big cars and building projects, Azerbaijan’s president will need to
keep building if he is to host the Olympic Games. He hasn’t lost his
ambition, judging by the generous use of the Olympic logos and a rash of
administrative buildings built for the national Olympic Committee, chairedby one Ilham
Aliyev.
Aliyev is unlikely to ever host the Olympics but a sharp fall in oil prices
means there will be less cash around in 2009 to build the infrastructure and
alternative industries Azerbaijan needs to guarantee future growth.
© 2008 The Irish Times

WRITER DEFENDS HIMSELF AGAINST MINISTER’S ACCUSATIONS IN A FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION CASE

BIA
Dec 11 2008
Turkey

Writer Temel Demirer, who was made a target of hate by the latest
statements of Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin, Minister of Justice, about his
case, defended himself by claiming that the minister has distorted
his words. The minister has just recently given the permission for
the trial of the writer under article 301, designed to restrict the
freedom of expression.

Temel Demirer, who is on trial under article 301 of the Penal Code
(TCK) because of the permission granted by Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin,
Minister of Justice, said the minister was distorting his words.

Demirer is accused of "denigrating the Turkish Republic" and "inciting
to hatred and hostility" for saying that Hrant Dink was not only
killed for being an Armenian, but for recognizing the genocide as well.

The Justice Minister had claimed that Demirer’s words were inviting
everyone to commit crime against the state by calling the state
murderer, having a negative influence on people.

Previously, the minister had made the following comment about Demirer’s
case that "They do not pay attention to the things this person has
been saying, but when a lawsuit is filed they feel sorry for him. This
person said Turkey was a murderous state. He says the Turkish state
first murdered the Armenians and will now murder the Kurds. Sorry,
but I cannot let anyone call my state a murderous state. This is not
freedom of expression. This is what this article describes as the
crime of insulting the person of the state."

Å~^ahin who cannot let anyone call the state murderer apologized
for Ceber’s death Demirer’s lawyers had accused the minister for
putting their client’s life in danger by making him a target of hate
and interfering with the trial process. Demirer is facing two years
in prison.

Saying minister’s latest statement does not reflect the reality,
Demirer claims that he did not talk about his thoughts, but actual
facts within their historical context and the state was disturbed
by this.

"Everyone knows how I speak and write about the facts; how can writing
about the facts be hurtful and provocative?"

Demirer says minister’s attitude is contradictory since the same
minister who makes him a target by saying that he calls the state
murderer apologized about the murder of Engin Ceber while he was
detained.

Article 301 permission to the cases trying the "marginal and radical
leftist" magazines So far 462 files have been sent to the Ministry
of Justice and Å~^ahin gave permission to 58 of them. Some of them
are still not decided and about 260 of them were denied.

The minister says that those that are given permission to be tried
under article 301 make up only 19 percent of the total and those
cases that target the press members are only 8 percent. He says these
numbers were much higher before.

Saying some of the cases for which he granted permission are marginal
and radical leftist magazines, Å~^ahin says, "Some of the statements
are so mean that only one’s enemy can write them. Only the enemy can
write those statements against the State and the Armed Forces. We allow
the trial to go on in these cases. One writes such comments that they
disturb you, I mean they insult. That is why we grant permission,
but it is the judiciary that will make the final decision. I do not
decide, I cannot say if he is guilty, because I am not the judge."

"He is making a call for committing crime, violence and terror…He
said ‘I expressed my opinion, and they gave trial permission against
me’. Then I asked what he said, why I allowed for this trial. I
explained what they said. I interpreted them as an invitation to
violence and terror. Of course the court itself will decide."

Demirer is on trial for the speech he gave at the 7th Munzur Culture
and Nature Festival in the province of Tunceli and is accused of
"doing propaganda of a terrorist organization." The next hearing of
the case will be on February 12, 2009.

–Boundary_(ID_MweY7TvIlotov64PfY6Gzw)–

MONUMENT TO WILLIAM SAROYAN TO BE UNVEILED IN YEREVAN

armradio.am
12.12.2008 15:36

On December 13 a monument to William Saroyan will be unveiled at the
crossroads of the Mashtots Avenue and Moskovian Street.

According to the Head of the Information and Public Relations
Department of the Ministry of Culture, Gyane Durganyan, the
Pan-Armenian Geographical Association has made a donation for the
monument. The author of the monument is David Yerevantsi.

The initiative is realized within the framework of the jubilee
arrangements dedicated to William Saroyan’s 100th birthday.

RA OMBUDSMAN CALLS MEDIA FOR EXERCISING CONTROL OVER "CASE OF SEVEN"

Noyan Tapan

Dec 12, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The monitoring of the March 1 cases
legal procedures held by RA Ombudsman’s Office shows that the proving
base of the prosecutor party is not convincing, as a rule, the courts
almost always defend prosecutor party’s approaches. RA Ombudsman Armen
Haroutiunian reported at the December 12 press conference. "My inner
conviction rather coincides with defence party’s approaches," the
Ombudsman said emphasizing that he welcomes the mercy and amnesty
institutions and considers that use of the two institutions is
expedient for coming out of the formed situation.

Nevertheless, the Ombudsman gives preference to amnesty.

According to Ombudsman’s estimation, the "case of seven" can become
a touchstone for country’s further development way, therefore
A. Haroutiunian has decided to constantly keep under monitoring
the process to start on December 19 and to make a statement in
the future only on basis of collision of defence and prosecutor
parties’ arguments and of judge’s position. He called the civil
society institution and media for constantly keeping the case under
control. "It is the case when all human rights structures, media with
their everyday consistent, professional activity, without shows can
achieve serious results in the respect of human rights protection,"
Armen Haroutiunian stated. Ombudsman’s representative will be present
at all court sittings on the case and the Ombudsman himself will be
present in some cases.

TIGRANAKERT BECAME NATIONAL PARK

Lragir.am
14:50:33 – 10/12/2008

The ancient town of Tigranakert which was discovered in NKR, to the
left of Aghdam-Martakert road was given the status of a national
park. The decision on this was made during the discussion of the NKR
state budget. The 2009 budget of NKR has foreseen 35 million drams
to continue the excavations.

Part of the money will be spent on the restoration of the findings,
Regnum reports.

THE FINAL ROUND OF "ARMROBOTICS" PAN ARMENIAN YOUTH COMPETITION – THE "OPEN CONTEST OF ARMENIAN ROBOTS" TO BE HELD DECEMBER 15

ARMENPRESS
Dec 10, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS: The final round of "ArmRobotics"
pan Armenian youth contest – "The open tournament of Armenian robots"
will be held December 15.

Program manager Mariam Nahapetian told Armenpress that robots of 15
teams are already ready for the contest: each robot must pass the
intended short way with minimal mistakes.

Four 4 young people are included in each team. They started the works
of robot construction from August 10, necessary equipments and means
have been provided with which robots have been constructed based on
their projects.

Members of the contest commission regularly followed the process of
works. 300,000 drams is intended for the first place, 200,000 – for
the second and 100,000 drams – for the third place. The five winning
teams will leave for Artsakh to compete with the local teams.

The contest is held with the initiative of "The union of IT
Enterprises". The contest aims at combining the young scientists
of Armenia and Artsakh, involving the scientific potential and
developing team way of thinking and working abilities among the youth
and promoting the entry of new technologies to Armenian scientific and
industrial centers. The final results will be summed up December 16.

HOLOCAUST AS PROPAGANDA WEAPON
Neil Berry

Pakistan Observer
ld05.asp
Dec 6 2008
Pakistan

IS another Jewish Holocaust any longer conceivable? The former speaker
of the Knesset, Avraham Burg, for one, finds it hard to take seriously
claims that Jews and the Jewish state are menaced still by the specter
of genocide. After all, he points out, Israel is not only itself a
heavily militarized state but enjoys the protection of the United
States, the most militarized country in the world and one where Jews
wield prodigious power and influence.

Burg in his remarkable new book, "The Holocaust Is Over: We Must Arise
from Its Ashes", argues that Israelis and Jewish people in general have
made a fetish of the Holocaust, with lamentable consequences. Published
last year in Israel, the book maintains that preoccupation with the
catastrophe known to Jews as the "Shoah" has prevented Israel from
achieving maturity, ensuring that the national psyche remains stuck
in an ugly phase of European history. Burg says that the Holocaust
has been cynically employed as a propaganda weapon, becoming even
mightier in its way than the Israeli Defense Force. Certainly, Gentile
guilt about the Holocaust has been a significant factor in enabling
Israel to get away with murder. Like the charge of anti-Semitism,
it has been ruthlessly exploited to silence Israel’s critics. But for
the Holocaust’s emotive effect, the brutality Israel has meted out to
the Palestinians would long ago have established it as a moral pariah.

True, the Holocaust is inseparable from the story of Israel. Not
only did it precipitate mass Jewish immigration into Palestine,
it was also a truly formative influence on the Israeli sense of
nationhood. Mandatory remembrance of the Holocaust did much to forge
its collective identity, uniting even Jews with no connection with
the Nazi death camps.

Israelis have been outraged by Burg’s portrayal of Israel as
militarized state with more than a little in common with the Germany
of yore. Burg believes that just as Germans demonized Jews as the
enemy who must be defeated at all costs, so Israel has transformed
Arabs into personifications of absolute evil, an enduring threat to
the very existence of the Jewish people.

Of German descent, Burg is well equipped to grasp the contradictions
of the Israeli psyche. Israel has reconciled itself to Germany yet
finds itself incapable of forgiving the Arabs. The Jewish anger and
desire for revenge inspired by Germans have, Burg suggests, become
displaced onto the Palestinians, whom Israel savagely oppresses.

Central to Burg’s book is his discussion of the trial of Adolph
Eichmann, the Nazi war criminal who was arrested in Argentina in 1960
and subsequently tried in Jerusalem as one of the chief architects of
the "Final Solution". Burg regards the trial as a tragically missed
opportunity. Israel could have set an example as a state implacably
opposed to all forms of tyranny and oppression and affirmed its
commitment to the principle of "never again" on behalf not just of
Jewish victims but of victims everywhere, irrespective of their race,
creed or colour. Instead, in Burg’s view, Israel made far too much
of Eichmann’s deeds as crimes against the Jewish people rather than
crimes against humanity.

The truth is that when it comes to acknowledging the sufferings of
others, Israel has an ignominious record. Witness the Jewish state’s
persistent support of Turkey in denying the historical reality of the
Armenian Holocaust. Witness, too, its failure to take a stand over
the genocide that was visited on the Tutsi of Rwanda in 1994. It is
an especial source of dismay to Burg that when, in the late 1990s,
Serbia sought to purge Kosovo of Albanian Muslims, evoking worldwide
horror, Israel took the side of the Serbs. He believes that the
horrors Jews have known makes Israel’s moral dereliction over such
iniquities inexcusable.

Burg maintains that the commemorative trips young Israelis are obliged
to make to the Nazi death camps serve only to exacerbate the Israeli
fixation with the unique status of Jewish suffering. What he would like
to see is an educational program whereby groups of Israeli students,
including Jews and Arabs, visit Spain and learn about the days when
Islam and Judaism enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship.

Avraham Burg has great faith in the creative power of argument. His
book has already provoked much controversy and now that it has
been translated is certain to provoke more. At a time when crass,
catchpenny titles pour from the presses, it is that unusual thing:
A new book that matters.

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
Dec 3 2008

Telegram of Condolences to Astsatryans’ Family

RA NA President Mr Hovik Abrahamyan sent condolences to the close
relatives and friends of the state, public, economic prominent figure
Yeghishe Astsatryan on his death. `The development of a number of
branches of Armenia’s national economy is connected with the name of
Yeghishe Astsatryan. He had serious contribution to the sphere of
economics too,’ noted the NA President, expressing grief on behalf of
the National Assembly and on behalf of him on the moment of their
heavy loss.

V. PUTIN: "RUSSIA AND ARMENIA TO DEVELOP RELATIONS"

Panorama.am
19:43 05/12/2008

"Russia and Armenia are intended to develop their cooperation,"
announced the Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin.

"What we have now in our relations is not sufficient and it should be
expanded and improved," mentioned V. Putin before the Armenian-Russian
negotiations of the Prime Ministers.

He reminded that Russian investments in the economy of Armenia forms
1,6 billion USD and trade circulation increased by 17% in 2007.

STYOPA SAFARIAN: IT IS ALARMING THAT NKR IS NOT MENTIONED AS A CONFLICT SIDE

Noyan Tapan

Dec 5, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The only bright point of the joint
statement signed by the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairing countries, France, Russia, and the U.S. on December 4
in Helsinki is that unlike the November 2 Moscow Declaration, the
statement condemns any attempt to solve the conflict by war. Styopa
Safarian, the Secretary of the RA NA only opposition faction,
Zharangutiun (Heritage), expressed such an opinion at the December
5 press briefing. "In general, it remains alarming that NKR is not
mentioned as a conflict direct party, and the heavy burden left to us
from Moscow Declaration, the heritage left to us from our strategic
ally was that the conflict was moved to the Armenia-Azerbaijan plane,
just a bilateral negotiations format was mentioned at the level of
Presidents and Foreign Ministers, and it cannot but be alarming,"
he said.

Recording that the Nagorno Karabakh issue is already on the European
agenda.

S. Safarian expressed an opinion that everybody, including the
authorities, should realize in Armenia that the time of imitations in
the negotiations process has passed, and it is already time to make
concrete decisions. He also said that "the technology of extorting
little commitments is used at present, that is, some document is signed
in each capital, which is possible and advances the negotiations
process," and it can result in Armenian side’s "reaching rather an
unpleasant final point."

Touching upon Minsk Group American Co-chairman Matthew Bryza’s
statement made the day before in Helsinki that Armenia and Turkey are
close to establishment of diplomatic relations, S. Safarian noted
that American Co-chair’s "optimism is not a new phenomenon at all,
they saw windows of hope and possibilities in 2006, today they see
unprecedented positive atmospheres." "We see much worse facts in the
region, much worse precedents to solve the problem by a war, to make
ventures. Therefore, in this case if we speak about some diplomat’s
optimism, I rather consider it as a working duty or efforts aimed at
creating an atmosphere or awakening hopes, which can have nothing in
common with reality," S. Safarian said. He affirmed that no matter
how hard Turkey tried to change its positions to Armenia, at present
they are "still on a formal and not on a contents plane."