Author: Chaltikian Arsine

AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES LITHUANIAN MPS

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Oct 24 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend / Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov received a Lithuanian parliamentary delegation led
by Yustinas Korosas, the chairman of the permanent parliamentary
commission on foreign relations of the Seim [Parliament], Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry said.

The two sides stressed the expediency of developing energy cooperation
between Azerbaijan and Lithuania.

Mammadyarov stressed that the Baltic countries, including Lithuania,
play a role of bridge in the country’s integration to the Euro-Atlantic
organizations and voiced his gratitude for political support.

Korosas said that common interests unite both countries. Azerbaijan
as a source of alternative energy is more reliable partner in the
region from the political and economic aspect.

The minister said the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is
the most important foreign policy issue and conditions the development
of Azerbaijan. Mammadyarov elaborated on the Armenian aggression,
ethnic cleansing and vandalism by Armenia.

The two sides also discussed bilateral relations and some issues of
regional significance.

PETKIM, A NEW ENERGY VENTURE BETWEEN TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Oct 23 2007

Abdullayev: Petkim, a new energy venture between Turkey, Azerbaijan

The president of SOCAR discusses the repercussions of state-controlled
petrochemical producer Petkim’s 51 percent stake sale to the
SOCAR-Turcas-Injaz consortium, the second highest bidder, instead of
the TransCentralAsia consortium.

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR)-Turcas-Injaz
consortium submitted the second best bid in a July 5 tender for the
block sale of a 51 percent state-owned stake in Turkish petrochemicals
producer Petkim. The Kazakh-led TransCentralAsia Petrochemical
Holding consortium had outbid all of its five rivals by offering to
pay $2.05 billion, causing the Azeri consortium to withdraw from the
open bidding after announcing its final offer of $2.04 billion. After
the tender, a wave of resentment toward the winning group spread in
light of rumors that the Kazakh company was supported by the Armenian
diaspora, causing Turkey’s board overseeing the proceedings to nullify
the winning bid and instead award the tender to the second highest
bidder, the Azeri consortium.

Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Revnak Abdullayev, the president of
SOCAR, evaluated the recent developments. He stressed that Turkey
and Azerbaijan were not only sister countries because of their
historical connection but also strategic partners in many fields,
especially in energy. Abdullayev emphasized that Petkim was a kind of
continuation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum
(BTE) and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) pipeline projects.

What are your thoughts on the Petkim tender?

Abdullayev: First of all, this nice gesture is a sign that Turkey
regards Azerbaijan as important. This is SOCAR’s first attempt at
such a large project abroad. Our company has the largest financial
potential in Azerbaijan. Our first investment abroad was the Kulevi
Terminal project in Georgia. It was not as big as Petkim but it had
great importance in transporting Central Asian and Caspian Sea oil to
the Black Sea. To date the total investment in the Kulevi project has
reached $360 million. Our aim is to contribute to the Samsun-Ceyhan oil
pipeline with this project. Firstly, we have a $2 billion investment
plan for Petkim to upgrade and to modernize the facilities. After this
modernization process we want to meet an important share of Turkey’s
need for petrochemical products.

Currently Turkey imports 75 percent of its petrochemicals. With
SOCAR’s investment this will drop to 30 percent.

Was the proximity of the Petkim decision and the Armenian resolution
in the US a coincidence or a message to the world?

Abdullayev: Turkey and Azerbaijan’s foreign policies are similar.

That’s why the Armenian genocide claims are a problem for Azerbaijan
as they are for Turkey. On this issue both countries take the same
stance. Their stand against the diaspora is same; however, it would
be a mistake to relate this decision only to the Armenian issue.

Turkey and Azerbaijan are sister countries and strategic partners,
so they care about one another’s political, strategic and economic
interests.

Are there also refinery construction plans?

Abdullayev: Yes, our refinery construction work is ongoing. We plan
to build an oil refinery that has an annual production capacity of
6 million tons. I believe commercial relations between Turkey and
Azerbaijan will go much further because of these projects.

What are SOCAR’s projects other than Petkim?

Abdullayev: The most important and unforgettable event for SOCAR is
the launching of the Ceyhan terminal, which carries the name of our
deceased president Haydar Aliyev, who was involved in the completion
of the BTC project despite many difficulties. With the launching
of the BTC the most important part of the energy corridor between
Caspian Sea and Europe was opened up. Here we must mention that the
BTC has to this point carried the equivalent of 400 tankers of oil
directly to the Mediterranean Sea instead of through the Bosporus and
the Dardanelles straits. This means the BTC is also contributing to
the environmental and ecological balance.

With the BTC, Caspian Sea oil has reached the Mediterranean. How
are the regional and global energy markets affected by the BTC? Are
Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan expected to join the project?

Abdullayev: As I just said, with the launching of the BTC the issue
gained global importance. The global need for energy will increase
by 60 percent by 2030. This means the current reserves must increase
their capacity by 60 percent. So it is not very hard to predict
the importance of Caspian Sea reserves in the future. Azerbaijan’s
current economic and political stability contributes to the BTC’s
importance. Azerbaijan is ready to meet Kazakh oil exports. Today,
the world is governed mostly on economic principles. If Turkmenistan
and Kazakhstan think it is more profitable to export their oil and
gas through Azerbaijan’s pipelines, I believe they will do so. Last
year Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, signed a protocol during
his visit to Astana [Kazakhstan’s capital city]. The protocol details
the infrastructure of Kazakh oil transportation via the BTC.

Kazakhstan also has important oil reserves. With the increase
in production, the amount of oil transported via the BTC will
significantly rise.

Can we say that the relations in the energy field between Turkey
and Azerbaijan have reached desired level since the independence
of Azerbaijan?

Abdullayev: The BTC project, which we called the "project of the
century," helped us attract foreign capital to Azerbaijan. We removed
the old oil exploration and extraction infrastructure and began to use
modern technologies. Now, when establishing a collaboration, SOCAR
assesses the potential counterparts’ financial and technological
infrastructure. We have important cooperation with the Turkish
Petroleum Corporation (TPAO)

What’s the recent situation of the BTE project, which is also known
as BTC II?

Abdullayev: Azerbaijan is one of the most important centers of energy
reserves for the security of Europe’s energy supply. Energy needs
will increase sharply in the near future. The important part for
Azerbaijan is that Europe plans to meet its needs from Azerbaijan.

Furthermore, Turkish experts are also predicting that gas reserves
in the Shahdeniz field will be a good source for Turkey’s domestic
needs. A protocol was signed in 2001 between Azerbaijan and Turkey
according to which Turkey plans to purchase 79.9 billion cubic meters
of gas through the BTE between 2006 and 2018. Also, the plans for
exporting Azerbaijani gas to Europe via Turkey still active. All
these plans and developments reflect the importance of the BTE project.

AHMADINEJAD LEAVES FOR ARMENIA

Press TV
Oct 22 2007
Iran

President Ahmadinejad has left Tehran for Armenia’s capital Yerevan
at the head of a high-ranking political and economic delegation.

During his two-day visit, the Iranian President, accompanied by Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, and caretaker Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein
Nozari, will meet and confer with Armenian President Robert Koucharian.

The two sides will discuss bilateral relations and review the regional
and international developments.

President Ahmadinejad will also address Armenia’s national
parliament. He is also to deliver a speech at the Yerevan University,
where he is scheduled to be awarded an honorary doctorate degree.

Before leaving Tehran, President Ahmadinejad described the ties between
the two countries as satisfactory and stressed further expansion of
bilateral relations.

The President, who is making the visit at the official invitation of
his Armenian counterpart, said Tehran and Yerevan enjoy friendly ties
in energy, trade, gas and oil sectors and are interested in further
strengthening of mutual cooperation.

AHMADINEJAD OFF TO ARMENIA

Fars News Agency
Oct 22 2007
Iran

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
heading a high-ranking delegation, left Tehran for Armenia on Monday.

During the two-day visit which will take place at the invitation
of Armenian President Robert Kocharian, the Iranian president
is accompanied by his first vice-president, defense minister,
vice-president for executive affairs and oil ministry caretaker.

Ahmadinejad is scheduled to meet senior Armenian officials and sign
several agreements on mutual cooperation with that country.

Addressing university students in Yerevan and also a meeting with
Iranian expatriates are in Ahmadinejad’s itinerary as well.

Over 3,000 Iranian students are studying at different Armenian
universities while 120,000 Armenians are living in Iran.

The two countries’ trade exchanges amount to over USD20 mln.

IRANIAN PRESIDENT IN ARMENIA SEEKING TO BOOST TIES
By VOA News

Voice of America
Oct 22 2007

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has begun a two-day visit to
Armenia aimed at boosting economic and political ties between the
two neighboring countries.

The Iranian leader and Armenian President Robert Kocharian were to
sign a series of bilateral agreements on energy cooperation. While
in the capital, Yerevan, Mr. Ahmadinejad also is set to address the
Armenian parliament.

Ahead of the visit, Armenian officials told the Associated Press the
two governments may sign a deal on the construction of an oil pipeline
from Iran to Armenia.

Mr. Ahmadinejad, the target of international scorn for claiming the
Holocaust is a myth, also is slated to visit a memorial to victims
of the early 20th century massacres of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks.

Armenia accuses the Ottoman Turks of genocide in the slaughter of
1.5 million Armenians beginning in 1915 in a push to drive them from
eastern Turkey.

Turkey strongly rejects the genocide charge. It calls the death toll
exaggerated, and says a large number of people died in civil unrest
during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

TACTICS OF PARLIAMENTARY MINORITY PROVE UNSUCCESSFUL

Noayn Tapan
Oct 22, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. Despite all efforts of the
parliamentary opposition, the RA National Assembly passed the law on
operative investigative activity in third reading – just 5 minutes
before the end of the October 22 sitting. It is noteworthy that during
the sitting, the opposition factions "Heritage" and "Orinats Yerkir"
took 20-minute brakes 8 times. As a result, the parliament approved
the agenda of the four-day session at 5:00 pm, 5 hours after the
start of the sitting.

Explaining their tactics at the request of NT correspondent, member of
the "Heritage" faction Larisa Alaverdian said that the oppostition is
trying to urge the majority to familiarize themselves with the bill
and not to adopt it. "We think that the majority should be given time
to become sober because, perhaps, few realize what kind of law it
is. This is legalization of the worst manifestations of 1937," the
deputy noted. L. Alaverdian considered as unacceptable the approach
that a case can be initiated against people based on verbal evidence,
let alone a record made by phone tapping.

In her words, the law not only regards as permissible the worst sins –
treachery but also encourages it.

Members of the "Heritage" faction exercised their right to make a
speech several times. During one of the votes, L. Alaverdian and member
of the same factiob Zaruhi Postanjian spoke about several deputies
who voted instead of others, as a result of which the chairman of
the sitting had to hold a re-vote.

Commenting on this, the NA speaker Tigran Torosian expressed regret
that "the possibility of lack of good sense" was not taken into
consideration in developing the rules of procedure of the NA. In his
words, some people come to the parliament "to play childish games
instead of doing legislative work". At the same time, he noted that
the fact of voting instead of another person should be taken into
account only in case when it affects the vote results.

The Armenian Weekly On-Line
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(617) 926-3974
[email protected]
menianweekly.com

The Armenian Weekly; Volume 73, No. 41; Oct. 13, 2007

Literature and Arts:

1. ‘SAGHGHAKHANEH’
Nosrat Rahmani
Translated by Tatul Sonentz

2. W A K E S . . .
By Tatul Sonentz

***

‘SAGHGHAKHANEH’*

The last one to pass by this street,
I trample my own shadow in haste,
My eyes set on the road’s darkness,
I stroke each spoke of your rusty fence.

Your staring eyes fashioned of tin
Seemed to look at me in amazement,
Briefly laughter illumined your candles-
Now they are shedding warm tears.

Please tell, why your copper goblet
Is chained tight to your threshold?
Was it tempted with a sinful lust to get
To a tavern, or. who knows where!

Who, I wonder, set this rusty padlock
To your door’s ring. is it my mother,
To have her son home early at night,
To avoid taverns-and listen to advice?

And who forced these rags on you?
Was it Akhtar that swarthy beauty,
Ever by the brook, doing the laundry,
Wrapped in her pretty azure chador?

Was it good, or bad luck for the girl?
The boy next door bid for Akhtar’s hand,
Did Saghra Begum’s advice help, or
It’s a new knot linked with old ones.?

Who attached that cloth to your tap?
Who promised candles and offerings?
A mother saving a son from evil eyes –
No secret to you. how it came to pass!

Whose present is this dusty old lantern?
Is this the start or the end of this tale.?
Or this old mirror, yellowed and fading,
Whose sallow face is it reflecting.?

I’m the last one to pass by this road –
Trampling my shadow in my haste.
There’s more to say. but enough told!
I’ll drop by tomorrow, to see you again.

Nosrat Rahmani

Translated by Tatul Sonentz
>From A. MINASSIAN’s Armenian rendition

* ‘Saghghkhaneh’: Literally, a place to drink water.

Nosrat Rahmani is a contemporary Iranian poet.

***

W A K E S . . .

His back to the bow
The lone migrant soul
Sits at the stern of the ship
As it plows forth backwards
Towards a foreign shore.

His eyes transfixed
On the churning wake
Sinking beneath the swell
Way before it touches base
With the dim distant edge
Where ocean and sky
Adhere into one
Straight line.

Beyond that horizon
Lies another shore
Where his past
Now mourns
At its own
Wake.

Tatul Sonentz

CONGRESS IS WASTING OUR TIME

News-Leader.com, MO
e?AID=/20071021/OPINIONS/710210358/1091
Oct 21 2007

With all the problems facing this country, both in Iraq and at home,
why is Congress spending time trying to pass a resolution condemning
the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire nearly a century ago?

Make no mistake about it, that massacre of hundreds of thousands –
perhaps a million or more – Armenians was one of the worst atrocities
in all of history.

As with the later Holocaust against the Jews, it was not considered
sufficient to kill innocent victims. They were first put through
soul-scarring dehumanization in whatever sadistic ways occurred to
those who carried out these atrocities.

Historians need to make us aware of such things. But why are
politicians suddenly trying to pass congressional resolutions about
these events, long after all those involved are dead and after the
Ottoman Empire in which all these things happened no longer exists?

The short answer is irresponsible politics.

People of Armenian ancestry in the United States and around the world
are justifiably outraged at what happened in the Ottoman Empire – and
at subsequent governments in Turkey which have refused to acknowledge
or accept historical responsibility for the mass atrocities that took
place on their soil.

But the sudden interest of congressional Democrats in this issue goes
beyond trying to pick up some votes.

They want a resolution to condemn what happened as "genocide" – a word
that provokes instant anger among today’s Turks, since genocide means
a deliberate government policy aimed at exterminating a whole people,
as distinguished from horrors growing out of a widespread breakdown
of law and order in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

These are issues of historical facts and semantics best left to
scholars rather than politicians.

If Congress has gone nearly a century without passing a resolution
accusing the Turks of genocide, why now, in the midst of the Iraq war?

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this resolution is just the
latest in a series of congressional efforts to sabotage the conduct
of that war.

Large numbers of American troops and vast amounts of military
equipment go to Iraq through Turkey, one of the few nations in the
Islamic Middle East that has long been an American ally.

Turkey has also thus far refrained from retaliating against guerrilla
attacks from the Kurdish regions of Iraq onto Turkish soil. But the
Turks could retaliate big time if they chose.

There are more Turkish troops on the border of Iraq than there are
American troops within Iraq.

Turkey has already recalled its ambassador from Washington to show
its displeasure over Congress’ raising this issue. The Turks may or
may not stop at that.

In this touchy situation, why stir up a hornet’s nest over something in
the past that neither we nor anybody else can do anything about today?

In a rare but revealing slip, Democratic congressman James Clyburn
said that an American victory in Iraq "would be a real big problem
for us" in the 2008 elections.

Unwilling to take responsibility for ending the war by cutting off
the money to fight it, as many of their supporters want them to,
congressional Democrats have instead tried to sabotage the prospects of
victory by seeking to micromanage the deployment of troops, delaying
the passing of appropriations – and now this genocide resolution that
is the latest, and perhaps lowest, of these tactics.

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford
University, Stanford, CA 94305. His Web site is

Global Insight
October 17, 2007

More Doctors and Hospitals for Armenia as Second Phase of Healthcare
Reform Plan Launched

by Mitra Thompson

The second phase of Armenia’s public healthcare reform programme is
set to begin next year, with US$10 million to be invested in 2008 as
part of a wider US$29.6-million project that will last until 2012.
The World Bank is contributing the bulk of the funds via credit,
which, according to the ARKA news agency, will see the construction
of eight new hospitals equipped with high-tech services, the training
of some 600 general practitioners and 720 nurses, in an effort to
make GP access possible to all Armenians in five years’ time,
increasing and improving ambulance coverage, and modernising the
equipment found in all healthcare facilities.

Significance:This stage of Armenia’s healthcare reform will
reportedly focus on improving services in rural and regional areas,
after the first phase of the reform concentrated mainly on the
capital, Yerevan. Armenia is constantly struggling to provide better
and more equal access to its public healthcare services, but remains
reliant on organisations such as the World Bank for funding. The
Health Ministry was able to score something of a coup last year,
however, after securing the provision of free stomatological services
for the first time

Voice of Nor Serount
Contact: Khatchik Vartanian
1 Marsh Road
Wembely
HA0 1ES
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)20 8997 1200
Fax: +44 (0)20 8997 0900

PRESS RELEASE

Armenia Solidarity
British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group
Nor Serount Publications
Armenian Genocide Trust
[email protected]
baappg.bazil@ btinternet.com
[email protected]
edd@daniel yan.com

Two important developments in the fight for Armenian Genocide recognition in
the UK took place this week

1 Meeting with the Minister for Europe

For the first time in eleven years, Armenian lobbyists were invited to meet
the minister responsible for the Genocide issue, thanks to the help of
Andrew George MP, a long-time supporter of genocide recognition in the House
of Commons. The minister is the newly -promoted Mr Jim Murphy. He listened
carefully to three separate perspectives on the issue: Historical, Moral and
Political.

He was assured of the wide consensus by impartial historians regarding the
truth of the genocide by historian Christopher Walker, who also put it that
Genocide Recognition by the UK would help Turkey come to terms with its
past.

He was briefed on the replies received from his predecessors, by Eilian
Williams and was told that the often-repeated "neither this government, nor
previous governments have found the evidence to be sufficiently unequivocal"
was disingenuous and misleading as no historians or genocide scholars were
ever consulted by this or previous governments. He was updated on the
Recognition of the Genocide in Wales, and the unveiling of the Armenian
Genocide Monument in Cardiff on November 3rd 2007. He showed surprise that
by this week (until 16th October 2007) 175 fellow MPs have already signed
Early Day Motion 357 recognising the Genocide, making it the second most
successful foreign affairs EDM in parliament.

A description of the political consequences of the Genocide and its denial
on Armenia’s security was given by Bernard Nazarian. He described how the
Genocide had deprived Armenia of most of its historic lands and that today
Armenians were forced to live in a strip of land at the eastern extremity of
historical Armenia blockaded and threatened from the West (by Turkey) and
from the east (by Azerbaijan).

Mr Murphy (the Minister for Europe) promised to examine the issue with an
open mind and to consult his fellow MPs. The meeting was facilitated by Mr
Andrew George MP whose statement is below. Armenia Solidarity Lobbyists,
part of the Coalition which also includes the British-Armenian All-Party
Parliamentary Group, Nor Serount Publications and Armenian Genocide Trust
were accompanied by historian Christopher Walker.

2 Message from government minister Ed Balls

The Rt Hon. Ed Balls MP a government minister and close to the Prime
Minister Gordon Brown, sent a message to Wales-Armenia Solidarity wishing
the event in Cardiff on the 3rd November 2007 (unveiling of the Welsh
National Monument to the Armenian Genocide) "every success". No such message
from a government minister in the UK has ever been received before.

_____

PRESS STATEMENT

ANDREW GEORGE MP

HOUSE OF COMMONS

LONDON SW1A 0AA

Tuesday 16th October 2007

HISTORIC MOVE TO ENCOURAGE GOVERNMENT RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Andrew George MP led a small delegation to meet Minister for Europe, Jim
Murphy MP, today (Tuesday) to discuss proposals that the UK Government
should now recognise the massacre of Armenians between 1915-1923 as
genocide.

This was the first meeting between campaigners for the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide and a UK Foreign Office Minister since Labour took power
over 10 years ago. Alongside Mr George was Eilian Williams and Bernard
Nazarian of the Armenia Solidarity Society and the historian Christopher
Walker, author of ‘Armenia: survival of a nation’.

Mr George described this as the "beginning of a conversation" to hopefully
agree and acknowledge the historic accuracy of what happened to Armenians
during this period and to reflect upon the contemporary political context of
any decisions taken.

Mr George said: "There are still some survivors of this genocide living in
Armenia. The sensitivity of what happened still runs very high. I am pleased
that the new Minister has agreed to review the history and political context
and to continue this conversation."

Currently 22 countries recognise the Armenian genocide and earlier this
month members of the US Congressional Foreign Relations Committee passed a
resolution labelling the killings as genocide.