Author: Chaltikian Arsine

RUSSIAN ACTIVIST AWARDED AT ONE WORLD FILM FESTIVAL

Prague Daily Monitor, Czech Republic
March 1 2007

Prague, Feb 28 (CTK) – Russian film maker Svetlana Gannushkina was
awarded the prize Homo homini at the beginning of the ninth Czech
festival of documentary films One World today.

The festival is held in two places in Prague.

Gannushkina deals with the human rights abuse in the former Soviet
Union.

"I greatly esteem the award from the People in Need, one of the
first organisations to have helped Chechnya," Gannushkina, a trained
mathematician, said.

She highlights the growing xenophobia in Russia. As early as 1990 she
established the first organisation dealing with the problems of war
victims in Nagorno Karabakh and further conflicts. Three years later,
she helped found the association Memorial and at present she heads
the project Migration and Law.

Human right abuses in Russia is the theme of the film Operation
by German film director Kerstin Nickig, shown after the prize Homo
homini was awarded. The film takes place in the autonomous republic
Bashkortostan in December 2006, when almost 350 people spent a night
in a police cell without any apparent reason.

The festival One World, staged by the group People in Need, offers
123 documentaries from almost 40 countries, seminar, concerts and
exhibitions.

‘OPENING OF AKDAMAR CHURCH GESTURE TO ARMENIANS’

New Anatolian, Turkey
March 1 2007

Recognized as one of the most important examples of Armenian
architecture, the Akdamar Church, whose restoration was recently
completed, will now be opened on April 15, after controversy over
the date.

Yusuf Halacoglu, head of the Turkish Historical Society (TTK), said
that if his schedule allows, he will attend the church’s reopening.

"We don’t have anything to hide," he said. "Opening the Akdamar Church
will be a gesture to Armenians and the whole world."

Armenian officials, leaders and culture ministers from European
countries will be invited to the opening of the church.

The restoration of the church was started three years ago and the
country has spent around YTL 4 billion on the project.

Speaking to Anka, Halacoglu said that after the conquering of Anatolia,
the Turks didn’t damage foreign assets, even in Istanbul, which was
conquered by war, nothing was destroyed. "In this way, these assets
have survived through to today," said the historian, adding that in
the Balkans, where there were once 22,000 cultural assets, there are
only 2,000 now.

Halacoglu asserted that other countries don’t give enough attention
and sensitivity as shown by Turkey. "The Mostar Bridge was destroyed
in Bosnia just because it was a Turkish work of art," he said. "Can
you imagine such a mentality treating buildings so brutally as human?

We don’t have anything to hide. Opening the Akdamar Church will be
a gesture to Armenians and the whole world."

The opening of the church located on Akdamar Island was delayed
until April 24 by the Culture Ministry, but as that day is regarded
by Armenians as marking the so-called genocide, the ministry earlier
decided on April 11.

Criticizing the date change for the opening of the church,
Turkish-Armenian community head Patriarch Mesrob II Mutafyan has said
that he won’t attend the opening.

Assassinated journalist Hrant Dink claimed in one of his last articles
that the change of date was planned and that April 11 is the same
date as April 24 going by the Ottoman calendar.

AIMOC TO SUE COMPANIES EXPLOITING GOLD FIELDS IN OCCUPIED AZERI LANDS

Today, Azerbaijan
March 1 2007

Azerbaijan International Mining Operating Company wants an
international monitoring group to be sent to the occupied Azerbaijani
lands in order to get acquainted with the situation of gold fields,
AIMOC President Rza Veziri told.

"We have appealed to the UN and Armenian government to ensure the
security. Armenia hasn’t answered to the appeal so far which proves
that Armenia exploits these fields illegally," he said.

Veziri noted that AIMOC has sent protest letter to the governments
of the countries of which companies are engaged in illegal gold
extraction in Nagorno Karabakh territory.

AIMOC is preparing necessary documents to bring those companies to
the international court, APA reports.

URL:

ARMENIA SHOULD KEEP UP SUSTAINABLE PROGRESS

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.02.2007 17:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Armenia has endured its worst times thanks to
reasonable policy and peace," UNDP Director of Bureau for Europe and
the Commonwealth, Ms. Kori Udovicki said. Nevertheless, Armenia has
much to do for a greater development, according to her.

"The UNDP assists the Armenian government in entering the next
stage of the strategic program for reducing poverty, first of all in
the regions," she said. In her words, it will allow the residents
of distant regions to assume responsibility for their own economic
welfare, forthcoming parliamentary election and democratic future of
the state, reports

ARMENIA MAY START PROSECUTION OF VEDANTA-CONTROLLED ZOD GOLD MINE
By: John Helmer

Mineweb, South Africa
Feb 28 2007

MOSCOW (Mineweb.com) –A state prosecutors’ investigation has uncovered
serious and fresh licence and regulatory violations by Vedanta’s
gold mine operator in Armenia. The move by Armenia’s prosecutors
follows eighteen months of special commissions and ministry-level
investigations that failed to produce compliance by Vedanta. This
time, if the Armenian government moves into court against Vedanta,
the company could lose the Zod gold mine altogether.

A 5-page report was issued last week by three experts – government
officials from Armenia’s ministry of natural resources. Their
report had been commissioned on January 24, and they were ordered to
assess Vedanta’s performance in line with a list of 16 statutory and
regulatory agreements and undertakings.

The findings followed within a month. They accuse Vedanta’s Armenian
mining company of under-spending on required mine operations and
under-valuing taxable assets.

Zod, located in the eastern corner of Armenia, close to the Azerbaijan
border, has been evaluated over more than a decade by Soviet
geologists, Kilborn-SNC, SRK, Snowden, and Micon. First identified
in 1976, and prospected when Armenia was part of the Soviet Union,
the mine project has also included substantial, high-grade tailings
from Soviet-era mining.

Mining rights for Zod (also known in Armenia as Sotk), and a second
deposit known as Meghradzor, were initially vested in the Ararat Gold
Recovery Company (AGRC) for 25 years each. Following the break-up
of the Soviet Union and Armenia’s independence, Canadian mining
entrepreneur Robert Friedland acquired the rights for a company of his,
called First Dynasty Mines Armenia, in a joint venture with a local
state-owned mining enterprise. The state sold out, and full rights
were sold in 2002 to Indian entrepreneur Anil Agarwal’s company,
Sterlite Gold. Agarwal is reported as holding the titles of chairman
and director of Sterlite, whose principal office is in Mayfair,
London. Sanjay Dalmia is the CEO. Agarwal’s bigger title and property
is Chairman of Vedanta Resources, also officially based in London.

In 2002, Sterlite said it produced 102,960 oz, primarily from tailings
accumulated at the Ararat processing plant. In 2003 output fell
to just over 59,000 oz, as the tailings dwindled, and costs rose
for transporting the ore, mined at the Zod pit, by railway to the
processing plant, 235 kilometres away to the west, on the Turkish
border. The plant has the capacity to process about 1 million tons
of ore per annum, but the cost of transportation is prohibitive.

According to company releases, in 2005, gold produced from tailings
and ore totalled 44,137 oz, a decline of 35% on the year before. The
costs of production outstripped revenues; and financial statements
issued by the company, losses in the nine months to September 30,
2005, had mounted to almost $7 million. In the most recent financial
report for the nine-month period of 2006, the Armenian operations
were still running at a loss. The company blames the loss on falling
grades at the Zod mine, falling tonnages of tailings, and lower grades
in the tailings.

Substantial investment in a new mill at the mine site was promised by
Sterlite, and according to the company, it was targeting a revival of
production to at least 160,000 oz per annum. A website statement claims
"the Company estimates that a minimum capital expenditure of US$ 80
million will be required to execute the move and will take a minimum
of 18-24 months to complete. The Company is committed to undertake
the move once environmental clearance is provided by the Government
of Armenia. For financing this move, the Company is looking to raise
funds using a variety of options."

There is no mention in Sterlite releases of the trouble it was in with
the Armenian government. In a note on contingencies, attached to the
3rd-quarter financial statements issued last year, Sterlite admits
it had been obliged to pay additional royalties on an under-counting
of gold production. Payment was made in December 2005.

A further royalty tax claim for the period 2004-2005 was in court,
Sterlite contended — without referring to the broader dispute over
licence violations.

No fund raising by Sterlite has taken place. Instead, in the second
half of 2006 Agarwal sold his control stake in Sterlite to Vedanta,
making a handsome profit. As Mineweb reported last June, Sterlite’s
controlling shareholder at the time, with a 55% stake, was Twin Star
International (TSI), which is fully owned by Volcan Investments, which
in turn is controlled by Anil Agarwal. Thus, he appeared to be on the
receiving end of the $34 million (C$37.68 million) Vedanta agreed in
June 2006 to pay for its takeover of the TSI stake, plus $27 million
(C$30.8 million) for the other shares in Sterlite.

Vedanta is also controlled by Volcan, with about 54% of Vedanta’s
shares, and thus by Agarwal.

In disclosing the buy-out of Sterlite, Vedanta’s statement of June
13, 2006, did not mention Agarwal. But it acknowledged the deal was
"a related party transaction under the Listing Rules of the UK Listing
Authority and an insider bid under Canadian securities laws."

To prepare a valuation and supervise the deal, "a special committee of
directors" was appointed, "who are independent of Volcan". In addition,
Ernst & Young "provided Vedanta with written confirmation that the
terms of the TSI acquisition and Sterlite Gold Offer are fair and
reasonable as far as the shareholders of Vedanta are concerned."

The buyout represented a price of C$0.258 for each share of Sterlite
Gold. This was a 20% premium on the 3-year high achieved by the share
of C$0.215. It was even more generous in relation to the price of
the share just before Agarwal’s sale, when it was three times lower,
at C$0.080. Today’s price for Sterlite is almost unchanged from
Agarwal’s selling price.

Meanwhile, remote from London investors, a great deal has changed in
the Armenian government’s attitude towards the gold asset.

A source familiar with Zod has told Mineweb:"The main problem is that
the company owner is not investing anything into the deposit. Maybe
because of the political situation, maybe because the deposit is
located on the Azerbaijan border, nobody wants to buy it."

The Armenian Minister of Nature Protection, Vardan Aivazyan, has told
Mineweb, through a spokesman, that there are no stop-work or ministry
orders against Sterlite’s subsidiary, AGRC. "The problem," he said,
"is that to continue profitable development of the Zod deposit,
AGRC is asking to build a new refinery close to the deposit itself,
on the shore of Sevan Lake. This violates ecological restrictions."

The expert report to the state prosecutor’s office last week accuses
ARGC, and thus Vedanta, of three main violations — of mining more
gold than planned, instead of over-burden operations; of disposing
less mine waste than required; and of under-valuing reserves. The
charges amount to short-changing the government and its tax budget,
while the miner has tried maximizing the gold offtake for every metre
of earth and ore removed. An additional $20 million in mine spending
will be required, the report recommends. An additional environmental
impact report is likely.

Agarwal and Vedanta were asked by Mineweb to respond to the charges,
and to indicate what financial set-aside or contingency payment they
would report to shareholders for the Armenian prosecution. They did
not respond.

tm

MOODY’S ASSIGNS B1/NP/E+ TO ARMENIA’S ANELIK BANK

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
February 28, 2007 Wednesday 8:46 PM MSK

Moody’s Investors Service has assigned the following ratings to Anelik
Bank (Armenia): B1/Not-Prime long-and short-term local currency deposit
ratings, B1/Not-prime long-and short- term foreign currency deposit
ratings, and an E+ Financial Strength Rating (FSR), the ratings agency
said in a press release.

All ratings carry a stable outlook, the release says.

The bank’s E+ Financial Strength Rating (FSR) reflects its good asset
quality, adequate liquidity and strong profitability.

The FSR also takes into consideration that while trying to expand its
product base the bank is currently a niche player, with its money
transfer business generating around 60% of operating income before
taking into consideration FX translation gains.

The significant impact of this line of business on bottom line
profitability highlights the bank’s sensitivity to competitive
pressures in this sector. The rating also takes into account the
bank’s asset quality that, although currently robust, is subject to
risks relating to Armenia’s potentially volatile operating environment
as well as to currency-induced credit risk, as a large percentage
of loans is FX denominated. Supporting the ratings is the bank’s
capitalization which is maintained at appropriate levels, given
operating environment concerns.

We also note that, in common with other Armenian banks, Anelik Bank’s
efforts to develop its retail business and expand its retail product
range are constrained by the country’s small population and low income
levels, together with the public’s lack of confidence in the system,
having experienced losses during the 1990s when a large number of
local banks closed down – though there are signs that confidence
levels are gradually improving.

Meanwhile, as the bank expands its product range it will need to
further improve risk management and IT infrastructure. Given its
moderate market share (ranking seventh in Armenia in terms of banking
system assets) the B1 long-term local currency and the B1 long-term
foreign currency deposit ratings assigned to AB reflect not only the
bank’s intrinsic strength but also some, albeit limited, support from
the Armenian authorities in case of need.

Consequently the bank’s long-term foreign currency deposit rating is
lifted to the upper end of the range that its FSR implies.

Headquartered in Yerevan, as at June 2006 Anelik Bank reported total
assets of AMD25.6 billion ($58.8 million)

DIE TURKISCHEN NATIONALISTEN UND DER MORD AN DEM JOURNALISTEN HRANT DINK
Von Rainer Hermann

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
28. Februar 2007 Mittwoch

Return of the Trauma: Turkish Nationalists and the murder of Journalist
Hrant Dink

Ruckkehr der Traumata;

In vielen Kopfen ist der Inhalt der acht großen Reformpakete noch nicht
angekommen. Gesetze allein andern die Mentalitat eines Volkes nicht.

Seit Wochen arbeitet die Turkei den Mord an Hrant Dink auf. Kein Tag
vergeht, ohne dass neue Enthullungen uber Hintergrunde und Hintermanner
des Mordes bekanntwerden. Die Scharfe der Auseinandersetzung zeigt,
wie tief der Graben zwischen den beiden großen Lagern des Landes
ist. Auf der einen Seite stehen diejenigen, die uber den Mord emport
sind und herausfinden wollen, was im Sicherheitsapparat ihres Staates
los ist. Ihnen stehen jene gegenuber, die im Innern wie im Äußern nur
Feinde des Turkentums wittern und diesen Hass zu einem rassistischen
Nationalismus verformen.

Schnell sind sie bei der Hand, den anderen als "Vaterlandsverrater"
(vatan haini) anzuklagen. Diese Ausgrenzung hat Tradition. Spatestens
seit der erste Bannertrager eines rassistischen turkischen
Nationalismus, der Historiker Nihal Atsiz (1905 bis 1975), den
osmanischen Politiker und liberalen Reformer Sabaheddin Ali (1879 bis
1948) als "Vaterlandsverrater" denunziert hatte. Atsiz war es auch,
der unter Berufung auf den Schutz des Turkentums das Abschlachten der
Armenier gerechtfertigt und den Kurden gedroht hatte, ihnen drohe
das gleiche Schicksal. Jene, die dachten wie Atsiz, verabscheuten
alle, die keine ethnischen Turken seien, kommentiert der liberale
Intellektuelle Murat Belge.

Der Konflikt zwischen den Lagern wurde auch auf Transparenten
ausgetragen. Mehr als 100000 Turken hatten auf einer Strecke von acht
Kilometern mit einem Schweigemarsch von Hrant Dink Abschied genommen.

Nie hatte Istanbul eine großere Demonstration gesehen. Noch vor wenigen
Jahren waren Transparente mit der Aufschrift "Wir sind alle Armenier"
undenkbar gewesen. Bei einer Umfrage der Zeitung Hurriyet stimmten
47 Prozent dieser Aussage zu. Sie sprachen sich damit gegen Gewalt
aus und fur eine offene, pluralistische Gesellschaft.

Unversohnlich war die Antwort der Nationalisten. Im Fußballstadion
von Trabzon, dem Geburtsort des Morders, begnugten sie sich zunachst
mit der Aussage: "Wir alle sind Turken." Dann entrollten sie,
beispielsweise bei einem Fußballspiel in Afyon, Spruchbander mit der
Aufschrift: "Wir alle sind Ogun." Zehntausende bekannten sich zu dem
Morder und waren bereit, es ihm gleichzutun. Ein "Lumpenproletariat"
mit einer turkischen Version des Faschismus sei da entstanden,
furchtet Murat Belge. Andere nennen diese gewaltbereiten Jugendlichen
"Desperados ohne Perspektive".

Gesetze allein andern die Mentalitat eines Volkes nicht. Acht große
Reformpakete hat das turkische Parlament bisher verabschiedet, um
die Gesetze an den Standard Europas anzupassen. In den Kopfen vieler
ist davon nichts angekommen. Die todlichen Schusse eines 17 Jahre
alten Arbeitslosen genugten, um die Turkei in eine neue Sinnkrise zu
sturzen. Alle Traumata, die man habe abwerfen wollen, seien zuruck,
schreibt eine junge armenisch-turkische Journalistin in der Zeitschrift
Tempo. Auch Generationen nach dem 1869 geborenen armenischen Dichter
Tumanyan bleibe dessen Hoffnung unerfullt: "Lebt ihr Kinder, aber lebt
nicht wie wir!" Der militante und rassistische Nationalismus hat in der
Turkei wieder Konjunktur. Im vergangenen Jahr hatte darauf der Film
"Tal der Wolfe" einen Vorgeschmack gegeben und einen tiefen Blick in
die turkische Seele erlaubt. Mit vier Millionen Zuschauern brach er
alle turkischen Kinorekorde. In diesen Tagen findet das "Tal der Wolfe"
als Fernsehserie seine Fortsetzung, und in den Kinos bekampfen in nicht
weniger als drei Filmen gute Turken die bose Welt – in den Komodien
"Amerikaner am Schwarzen Meer" und die "Maskierten Funf" sowie in
dem in Deutschland umstrittenen Film "Der letzte Osmane – Yandim Ali".

Drei Faktoren speisen den rassistisch gefarbten Nationalismus
der Turkei: das Uberlegenheitsgefuhl aus dem Millet-System des
Osmanischen Reichs, die Grundung der Republik Turkei gegen europaische
Besatzer sowie der Widerspruch in der kemalistischen Ideologie des
Staatsgrunders Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, der die Turkei auf das Niveau der
westlichen Zivilisation heben wollte, aber die Macht des autoritaren
Staats vor die Freiheit der Gesellschaft stellte.

Zu Unrecht wird das Osmanische Reich und sein System der Millets
verklart. In ihm organisierte der Vielvolkerstaat seine Nationen
nach ihrer Religionszugehorigkeit. Gewiss hatten die Nichtmuslime
mehr Rechte als zur gleichen Zeit in Europa die Minderheiten. Die
muslimischen Turken, Araber und Kurden, Tscherkessen und Bosnier
bildeten indes die herrschende Nation (hakim millet). Heute betrachten
sich noch immer viele Turken als die "herrschende Millet".

Sie seien nicht bereit, ihre Privilegien aufzugeben und anderen
die gleichen Rechte einzuraumen, beobachtet der linksliberale
Sozialwissenschaftler Ahmet Insel von der Universitat Galatasaray. So
ahndet das turkische Strafgesetzbuch die "Herabsetzung des Turkentums",
nicht aber eine "Herabsetzung" der Kurden und nichtmuslimischen
Minderheiten der Turkei.

Schwer tragt die Republik Turkei noch immer an einem ihrer
Geburtsfehler: Als Ataturk sie 1923 grundete, hatte er einen Staat, der
Staat hatte aber keine Nation. Der Staat musste sich seine Nation erst
schaffen, was er bis heute versucht. Ismet Inonu, der Weggefahrte und
Nachfolger Ataturks, gab einmal zu, dass der turkische Nationalismus
das einzige Mittel sei, ein homogenes Staatsvolk zu schaffen. Der
turkische Nationalismus war also das Mittel, als Instrument dienten die
Institutionen des Staats, vor allem das Militar und die zentralisierte
Burokratie.

Nicht aus der Gesellschaft kam der Nationalismus, sondern aus einem
autoritaren Staat. Der war als Antwort auf eine doppelte Bedrohung von
außen gegrundet worden: gegen Europa, gegen dessen Besatzer Ataturk
1923 die Republik ausrief, und gegen die Araber, von deren islamischer
Kultur er sich absetzen wollte. Der turkische Nationalismus war stets
auch eine Abgrenzung von Europa. Ihm unterstellen die Nationalisten
bis heute, nichts anderes als die Teilung und Schwachung der Turkei
im Sinn zu haben.

Bis heute hat zudem der Kemalismus seinen inneren Widerspruch nicht
aufheben konnen, gleichzeitig die Hohe der westlichen Zivilisation
erklimmen zu wollen, auf den Pluralismus der Gesellschaft aber zu
verzichten. Zu den Grundungsdoktrinen der Republik gehorte die Idee des
"Halkcilik" (etwa "Populismus"): Das "Volk" sollte eine vollkommene
Einheit sein, ohne soziale Klassen und ohne gesellschaftliche
Spannungen. Als Einheit sollte es den Vorgaben des autoritar fuhrenden
Staates folgen. Das ging in der Epoche des Einparteiregimes (1923
bis 1946) gut, als in Europa die meisten Regime ebenfalls autoritar
waren. Im Kalten Krieg waren die Trager des Staates immerhin zu einer
Wahldemokratie bereit, aber nicht zu Pluralismus.

Erst mit der Globalisierung und der Offnung der Turkei, mit den
Reformen unter Turgut Ozal in den achtziger Jahren und Recep Tayyip
Erdogan in den vergangenen Jahren ist die Turkei demokratischer,
freier und pluralistischer geworden. Der EU-Prozess hat zuletzt die
Polarisierung weiter verscharft: Auf der einen Seite zeigen Parteien
ihren nationalistischen Reflex, die traditionell rechte MHP, die
nationalistisch-islamistische BBP, die national-kommunistische IP,
aber auch die von Ataturk als sozialdemokratische Partei gegrundete
CHP, die sich unter ihrem Vorsitzenden Deniz Baykal zunehmend auf das
nationale Erbe besinnt. Ihnen stehen jene gegenuber, die sich nicht
langer im Namen eines autoritaren Staats ihre Freiheiten beschneiden
lassen wollen und die Transparente mit der Aufschrift tragen: "Wir
alle sind Hrant Dink."

–Boundary_(ID_Ue6FBi2I3FIpSjwoaAmIMw )–

THE GREAT SATAN, THE WOUNDED SNAKE – THE U.S.-IRAN IMBROGLIO
Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta

Desicritics.org, India
Feb 27 2007

The idea for this essay was borne when several aspects came together.

The first was when I heard on the Sky News channel that the Americans
were complaining about the fact that several Iraqi road side bombs
were either designed in or actually being constructed in Iran. The
view that there is a nexus between Iran and Iraq has been endorsed
by Condoleezza Rice, who said a few months ago that Iran "does need
to understand that it is not going to improve its own situation by
stirring instability in Iraq," and by George W. Bush, who said, in
August, that "Iran is backing armed groups in the hope of stopping
democracy from taking hold" in Iraq. Seymour Hersh of the New Yorker,
of Abu Gharib fame, wrote recently: "More and more people see the
weakening of Iran as the only way to save Iraq." The second aspect
emerged when I was trying to write about the future of Iraq and the
fact that Iraq as we know it now doesn’t really have any strongly
unifying national ethos or ideology. The final aspect came up when I
was reading Robert Fisk’s magnum opus, The Great War for Civilization –
the Conquest of the Middle East. My overall thoughts at the end of all
this was, Lord, I hope Dubya doesn’t attack Iran, because if he does,
it will be yet another spectacular mistake.

I have already written about Iran and its nukes and why attacking
Iran won’t be such a good idea, but the more I read about the
happenings in the USA, the more worried I get. I am seriously
concerned about President George Bush, his cabinet, the armed forces
and the GOP’s ideas. Slowly and surely, as of middle of February 2007,
the noises around attacking Iran are steadily becoming more and more
cacophonous. Seymour Hersh further wrote recently that U.S. officials
were involved in "extensive planning" for a possible attack –
"much more than we know". There is not much point going on about
the respective strengths of the militaries, the local geo-political
situation or the possibility of non-conventional war, as they have been
discussed before, but what I do want to concentrate on is what Kautilya
has talked about. Kautilya defined the most important aspect of one’s
enemy as being the enemy’s mental strength. In this particular case,
I am afraid, Iran is not Iraq. While debating this, we can look at
what potential angle to take if the grand panjandrums do want to do
something about Iran, purely as a theoretical exercise.

To understand and appreciate the mental strength of your enemy,
history is a very good starting point. That allows one to avoid
getting sucked into the day to day humdrum aspects of the number of
155 mm guns or the coverage of their air defense network. Persia,
the old name of Iran, has an amazing history, almost rivalling that of
Egypt. But unlike Egypt, Iran kept hold of its history, its culture,
language and ethos, even after the Islamic conquest (something which
I find very curious and strange. I intend to explore this strange
phenomena in a later essay, and look into how huge blocks of history
are simply and explicitly lost. The Iranians kept their pride in their
long history. The fact that despite conquering Persia – Alexander
the Great ended his life as a Persian with ringlets and huge palaces
says a lot.. Their culture in terms of arts is extremely strong.,
be that painting, famous miniatures, drama, poetry, song or music
and is famous across the world. Look at their military strategy,
civil administration and judicial systems down the ages.

For a long period of human time, Persian / Farsi was known across
the world, ranging from China to India as the only civilised language.

And believe me, if you hear Farsi, it is such a mellifluous language.

Now imagine that lovely language reading the poems of Rumi, Khayam,
Ghalib, just to name a few of a long list of famous Persian poets.

Even me, a confirmed poetry illiterate know about these great poets
and their prolific, lovely and beautiful output.

But besides this, Iran is now the repository of Shia Islam. A
particular sect of Islam, (we won’t go into the differences and
minute details here), suffices to say that it is heavily symbolic
in nature and more ritualistic as compared to the more traditional
Sunni Islam. Hey, don’t quote me on this, I am no theologian, these
are just my impressions From a long time ago. I grew up in a Shia
Muslim town in India. Muharram, Ashura, the Tajiza processions, the
martyrdom of Hussayn and the Ijtema all were pretty much part and
parcel of my growing up. Ah! Let me not forget the food during the
festivals, the biryani and sweets were heavenly and I can still taste
the biryani cooked by Abdul Mian. But one of the downsides (well,
when you were a kid, all you wanted was to get to the food) of all
this was that you had to sit and hear the stories of Ali Ashgar Ibn
Husayn, Ali Akbar Ibn Husayn, Hussayn Ibn Ali, Qasim, etc. And if I,
living thousands of miles away from Iran, the homeland of Shia Islam,
can get to hear and imbibe all these stirring stories of martyrdom
and bravery, you can just imagine a country full of these young chaps,
who are full of religiously motivated fervour.

How does this matter? It matters indeed, because of a very small
equation. Other things being equal, soldiers seeking religiously
mandated martyrdom will always win over soldiers motivated by
patriotism or money. This is so obvious that I simply cannot see
why the USA would want to make these warlike noises or even consider
going to war with Iran. Given the superiority of Iran in its local
neighbourhood and the power of the religious pulpit, the USA is
never going to win if it goes head to head with Iran. We have already
discussed two aspects of a potential Iran USA conflict and concluded
that it’s simply "nuts", to use a layman’s term.

While I am not one to indulge in conspiracy theories, I am getting
a feeling that there is something which could be happening just
under the surface. You see, this has happened before. At the end of
the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq was on its knees. The huge waves of Iranian
warriors overcoming the Iraqi army made its job very difficult. As
mentioned by both Dilip Hiro in Iran Today and Robert Fisk, the western
and Sunni powers got very worried about the possibility that Iran might
win. Combined with very aggressive patrolling of the Persian Gulf,
Straits of Hormuz, the blatant crime of shooting down the Iranian
Airliner by USS Vincennes (an essay on how the US Navy has shown a
rather interesting streak of creating major foreign policy problems
for the USA, rather than resolving is in preparation), supply of arms
and ammunition to the Iraqis, etc. all put intolerable pressure on
the Iranians. And they finally buckled and signed a ceasefire with
Iraq. Ayatollah Khomeini said that he has drunk from the poisoned
chalice. This ceasefire, from all accounts, was one of the seminal
moments of the Iranian Revolution. The Americans with their allies,
managed to clip the wings of the Iranian revolution.

Is that what is happening now? Look at the evidence! The Eastern Sunni
provinces have seen unexplained bombings. The southern Arab areas have
seen riots, shootings, bombings and protests. The Kurds in the north
east are restive and are making loud noises about their independent
brethren across the border in northern Iraq. The other minorities
in North Iran are restless and links between Armenia and the Iranian
Armenians are suddenly improving and much better than before. The oil
prices are being pushed down strongly. Financial Institutions ranging
from the international houses to emerging market banks are heavily
withdrawing from any form of financial links with Iran (and there
have been public examples of banks being very seriously punished for
links with Iran). All this has put immense pressure on Iran’s friends
and allies such as Japan, India and Pakistan against any form of oil
relationships with Iran.

International Oil companies are under severe pressure not to do any
kind of work with Iran. Then there is the whole different area of
pressure around the nuclear issue from IAEA and the UNSC.

Is the USA going around in an indirect way to put pressure on Iran
to perhaps withdraw from supporting the Shia Iraqi insurgents as well
as Hezbollah, in return for a grudging acceptance of the Iranian bomb?

Who knows? Take a look at the short lived story around the claims by
the US army that Iran is supplying bombs to the Shia militants. That
was such a silly claim (even though it might be true), that I cannot
believe that they expected Iran to grind its teeth and admit: "yes sir,
yes sir, we did but we won’t do it again sir". So, there is definitely
something else going on but here’s hoping that USA doesn’t wage war
on Iraq. Covert yes, quite possibly, overt, please no!

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!

Dr. Bhaskar Dasgupta works in the city of London in various capacities
in the financial sector. He has worked and travelled widely around
the world. The articles in here relate to his current studies and are
strictly his opinion and do not reflect the position of his past or
current employer(s). If you do want to blame somebody, then blame my
sister and editor, she is responsible for everything, the ideas, the
writing, the quotes, the drive, the israeli-palestinian crisis, global
warming, the ozone layer depletion and the argentinian debt crisis.

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WATER SUPPLY OF SOME PART OF KANAKER-ZEYTUN COMMUNITY TO DE DISCONTINUED ON FEBRUARY 28

Noyan Tapan
Feb 27 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Due to construction work, the water
supply of the following streets of Yerevan’s Kanaker-Zeytun community:
Gertsen St, Busabanakan St, Raynis St, Gogol St, Norashkharian St,
Shovroyan St, Dro St, Avetisian St, Aharonian St, Vahian St, Kamarak
St, Anhakht St, Sevak St, as well as 1st and 6th lanes of Lepsius St,
3rd lane of Rubiniants and Ulnetsu Streets, and Myasnikian Avenue
will be discontinued from 8 am of February 28 to the morning of March
1. NT was informed about it from Yerevan Water CJSC.

ARMENIAN BILL ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP PASSED
By Astghik Bedevian and Ruben Meloyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Feb 26 2007

The National Assembly adopted on Monday a controversial bill that
allows millions of foreign nationals of Armenian origin to become
citizens of Armenia and vote in national elections held there.

Deputies voted by 66 to 5, with one abstention, to pass, in the
second and final reading, a package of government-drafted amendments
to relevant Armenian laws, despite serious objections voiced by the
leaders of the parliament’s largest faction.

The legislators representing the governing Republican Party (HHK)
insisted as recently as last Thursday that dual citizens from the
worldwide Armenian Diaspora be granted voting rights only if they
live in Armenia during at least one of the five years preceding
a particular election. The demand was backed by the parliament’s
opposition minority which boycotted the parliament vote. Justice
Minister David Harutiunian, who authored the amendments on behalf of
the government, rejected it as unconstitutional.

Parliament speaker Tigran Torosian and virtually all other Republicans
eventually fell in line, suggesting that President Robert Kocharian
personally pushed for the bill’s adoption. Torosian attributed the
U-turn to a "political agreement" reached by the country’s governing
coalition.

The leader of the HHK’s parliament faction, Galust Sahakian, denied
any pressure from Kocharian. "The matter should not be linked with
the president," he said.

The five votes against the amendments, made possible by the November
2005 abolition of a constitutional ban on dual citizenship, came from
the deputies affiliated with the pro-Kocharian United Labor Party
(MAK). The MAK is unhappy with the fact that dual citizens will be
allowed to hold ministerial positions in the Armenian government. The
amended law on citizenship only bars them from running for president
and parliament.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), another
coalition member and the main proponent of the right to dual
nationality, welcomed the adoption of the bill. Dashnaktsutyun deputies
celebrated it with an improvised reception promptly held in their
parliament offices. "This law is an opportunity to consolidate our
nation," one of them, Ruben Hovsepian, said.

Dashnaktsutyun leaders earlier shrugged off opposition claims that the
nationalist party has been strongly advocating introduction of dual
citizenship because it has many members and supporters in the Diaspora.

The ban on dual citizenship was imposed by former President Levon
Ter-Petrosian and his Armenian Pan-National Movement (HHSh), which
remains staunchly opposed to the idea. The HHSh deputy chairman,
Andranik Hovakimian, insisted on Monday that it is "extremely
dangerous" and fraught with "numerous risks" for Armenia’s national
security.