Author: Chavushian

Embassy of The United States
Yerevan, Armenia
August 17, 2005

Sw earing-In Ceremony Held for Peace Corps Armenia Volunteers

On August 15 the thirteenth group of Peace Corps Armenia volunteers was
sworn-in at the Armenia Marriott Hotel. The ceremony, which has become an
annual event, was opened by U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans. The 43
volunteers who were sworn-in have completed three months of language,
cultural, technical, and safety and security training to prepare them for
two years of service in towns and villages throughout Armenia. Volunteers
will collaborate with Armenian counterpart organizations in the areas of
English language education, business and community development, and health
and environmental education.

Armenian ministry representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Ministry of Trade and Economic Development, Ministry of Education and
Science, Ministry of Health Care and Ministry of Nature Protection were
invited to address the volunteers.

Peace Corps Armenia was established in 1992 at the invitation of the
Government of Armenia. Since that time, 500 Peace Corps volunteers have
served in Armenia. With the addition of this new group, 90 volunteers will
work in schools, universities, NGOs, and health facilities throughout
Armenia. The U. S. Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by United States
President John F. Kennedy. The organization has three goals: to provide
trained assistance to people of other countries as requested, to promote a
better understanding of Americans by the people of the countries in which
they serve, and to promote a better understanding of other cultures by
Americans.

A group of new Peace Corps volunteers following their swearing-in.

Peace Corps Armenia Director Patrick Hart is greeting the guests and the volunteers
U.S. Ambassador John M. Evans is opening the swearing in ceremony of the
13th group of Peace Corps Armenian volunteers.

U.S. Ambassador John M. Evans is leading the swearing-in ceremony.

Peace Corps volunteers perform an Armenia song

System of a Down carves a distinct path with prog-thrash sound
BY EVELYN MCDONNELL

The Miami Herald, FL
Aug 17 2005

The Miami Herald

Among the myriad norm-deviations that make System of a Down one of the
millennium’s strangest musical acts is the fact a holocaust indirectly
spawned the group.

>>From 1915-23, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the
Turkish government in a horrific campaign of massacres, deportation,
starvation and torture. For System, this brutal history is something
more than prime heavy metal song fodder: It’s personal.

“Because of the genocide, Armenians scattered,” System bassist Shavo
Odadjian explains over the phone from his Los Angeles home. A number of
the displaced, including 4-year-old Odadjian and his future bandmates,
eventually made their way to America’s 20th-century promised land:
Hollywood. While many rock groups have their genesis in high school,
System of a Down is probably the first whose members all attended an
Armenian-American academy (albeit during different years).

Odadjian, guitarist/singer Daron Malakian, singer Serj Tankian and
drummer John Dolmayan all speak Armenian. And while their music
isn’t filled with Armenian instruments, their shared ethnic history
undoubtedly unites them – and shapes their distinct world view and
musical vision.

“We’ve all grown up not the same, but with very similar morals and
values,” says Odadjian. “We know how it is. We know not to talk about
anyone’s mother and sister.”

That cohesion has allowed System to carve a distinctive path through
the contemporary soundscape. They’re a thrash band that throws in
operatic trills. Progressive in their musical tastes and politics,
they’ve shot a video with Michael Moore. On “Mesmerize,” their recently
released fourth album, they mostly seem to be channeling the goofy,
artsy ghost of Frank Zappa, if he were in Metallica.

The band members’ experiences as progeny of the Armenian diaspora
provided the fuel for “Mesmerize” and “Hypnotize,” its companion CD
to be released in late fall. Malakian’s family fled from Armenia to
Iraq before winding up in California. (Malakian was born in Hollywood,
Odadjian in Armenia, Tankian and Dolmayan in Lebanon.) His personal
and politicized fear, anger and sorrow drive “Mesmerize,” from the
opening “Soldier Side,” through the fierce anti-war “B.Y.O.B.” to the
melancholy “Sad Statue,” in which the Statue of Liberty – the beacon
of immigrants – weeps over her torn domicile.

“He sees it totally differently,” says Odadjian of Malakian’s view
of the war in Iraq. “It’s not because he’s from there, but because
it’s family. He doesn’t know when he’s going to get that call saying
something’s happened to somebody.”

Malakian’s need to express his feelings on global politics changed
the very dynamic of the band. For the first time, on “Mesmerize,” the
guitarist wrote the majority of lyrics and sings leads, while Tankian,
the traditional front man, plays such instruments as acoustic guitars,
piano and synthesizers (and cowrites and sings). It’s as if Keith
Richards and Mick Jagger traded roles in the Rolling Stones. And
unlike the famously rancorous Glitter Twins, System’s songwriting
partnership apparently made the transition smoothly.

“He’s always been a singer,” Odadjian says of Malakian. “I was not
surprised; we’re really good friends. I was surprised how Serj took
it so well and felt just like me: If you do something well, why would
I hold you back? We don’t let ego get in the way.”

Odadjian is also Zen about the way Malakian’s increased auteurship ate
into his presence on “Mesmerize.” The guitarist recorded many of the
bass parts himself, although Odadjian says the media has overplayed
this change.

“The way we did this album was a little different. The others we
wrote songs, played them for a while and then recorded. This time
around Daron had a vision. He wanted the bass playing to be similar
to guitar. The way I play bass is different. I did my stuff, and he
went in with my permission, with no ego, and redid some of the tracks
the way he wanted. Some songs are me, some are not.”

Odadjian does admit that he did, for the first time in his life,
take bass lessons while recording “Mesmerize”/”Hypnotize.”

The fact System’s members can so beatifically absorb one member’s
power move/creative burst is a testament to their strong roots. The
group formed in `95, when Odadjian met Malakian and Tankian at a
shared rehearsal area. At first Odadjian was the group’s manager,
but eventually he passed those duties on to professionals.

“That was the hardest thing to give up,” he says. “We’ve always been
forewarned that the industry will take you and make you into something
you’re not. Luckily that hasn’t hit us. We’ve totally made our own
path and not strayed.”

Dolmayan joined in `96. System built a reputation by gigging before
releasing their self-titled debut, on Rick Rubin’s American label.
Rubin, the legendary rock and rap producer, produced the band’s
four records to date, including `01’s “Toxicity,” which became an
unlikely multiplatinum global hit with such singles as “Aerials” and
“Chop Suey!”

Of course System’s intensely dramatic, sometimes grandiose music
has also earned the group its share of detractors. For the haters,
the best thing about “Mesmerize” is the fact it’s mercifully short,
just 36 minutes. Odadjian says the group chose to release the two
CDs separately, rather than as a double album, because they thought
songs would get lost to modern listeners’ short attention spans.

“The youth of today has ADD, or at least they like to say they do.
The school we came from, albums were 11, 12, 13 songs, and every song
meant something. With 20 songs, people are going to skip songs they
can’t relate to.”

Odadjian designs System’s stage shows, has directed several of their
videos, including the current Question, and is in charge of their
album art. “We look at the group as a team. Whoever’s good at what
they do, they do it. I have a visual thing.”

For the “Mesmerize” tour, Odadjian uses a lot of mirrors and stainless
steel. He says he was inspired by being in a small bar that seemed
twice as spacious because of a mirror on one wall. “I want to touch
every sense. It’s crazy, but not overdone.”

With his videos and the CD art, Odadjian says he tries to supplement
the songs, not duplicate or explicate them. Like the band’s odd name,
or such lyrics as “Gorgonzola gonorrhea,” some things are better
left unprobed.

“We don’t like to explain what we mean. It takes away the mystery.
It’s good to leave it to the person that’s seeing it or experiencing
it. I think our band is like an abstract painting.”

MCC approves compact aimed at reducing poverty, stimulating growth

USINFO.STATE.GOV
16 August 2005

The Bush administration’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has
approved a five-year, $295.3 million agreement with Georgia that aims
Georgia To Receive Over $295 Million in Millennium Aid Fundingto reduce
poverty and stimulate economic growth in the regions outside of Tbilisi, the
country’s capital.

The agreement — called a compact – is based on proposals developed by the
government of Georgia. It focuses on rehabilitating regional infrastructure
and promoting private sector development, according to an MCC statement
issued August 16. The compact is expected to be signed in September.

The funding will support improvements to roads, a gas pipeline and other
infrastructure; an investment fund to provide risk capital for small and
medium-sized enterprises; and grants and technical assistance for farmers
and agribusinesses.

“Georgia’s proposal was truly a homegrown effort,” said MCC Vice President
Charles Sethness. “They had a vision for reducing poverty and submitted a
thoughtful, results-oriented program to execute that vision. This Compact
is a testament to Georgia’s commitment to development.”

In March 2002, President Bush proposed a “new compact for global
development,” which linked greater contributions from developed nations to
greater responsibility from developing nations. The mechanism to implement
this compact is the Millennium Challenge Account program, under which
development assistance is provided to those countries that rule justly,
invest in their people, and encourage economic freedom. The Millennium
Challenge Corporation was established on January 23, 2004, to administer the
MCA.

For additional information on the MCC and compacts that have already been
signed with Madagascar, Cape Verde, Honduras and Nicaragua, see Millennium
Challenge Account.

Following are an MCC press release and a fact sheet:

Millennium Challenge Corporation
August 16, 2005
MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION BOARD APPROVES $295.3 MILLION COMPACT WITH
GEORGIA
Washington, D.C. -The United States, through the Millennium Challenge
Corporation, has approved a five-year $295.3 million Compact with Georgia.

The Millennium Challenge Compact aims to reduce poverty and stimulate
economic growth in the regions outside of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, where
more than 50 percent of rural households live below the poverty line. By
focusing on rehabilitating regional infrastructure and promoting private
sector development, the program will directly benefit approximately a
half-million Georgians. In addition, over one quarter of the population of
the country will receive indirect benefits from the program; for example,
the reliable transmission of gas will reduce environmental, health, and
safety risks.

“Congratulations to the people and Government of Georgia for developing an
integrated program targeted at helping the regional poor,” said MCC Vice
President Charles Sethness. “Georgia’s proposal was truly a homegrown
effort. They had a vision for reducing poverty and submitted a thoughtful,
results-oriented program to execute that vision. This Compact is a
testament to Georgia’s commitment to development. MCC looks forward to
building on our partnership with the people of Georgia to ensure that they
have the tools needed to lift themselves out of poverty.”

The Millennium Challenge Corporation anticipates signing the Compact with
Georgia in September. In addition to approving a Compact with Georgia, MCC
has signed Compacts with Madagascar, Cape Verde, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

MCC is also actively engaging with other Millennium Challenge Account
eligible countries.

Launched by President Bush, the Millennium Challenge Account is a historic
approach to development assistance that recognizes sound policies and good
governance are critical to poverty reduction and economic growth in
developing countries.

—–
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government corporation
designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the world, is based
on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good
governance, economic freedom, and investments in people that promote
economic growth and elimination of extreme poverty.

GEORGIA AND MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION: BUILDING A PARTNERSHIP FOR
POVERTY REDUCTION THROUGH SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH
The Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Board of Directors has approved
a five-year, $295.3 million Compact with Georgia.

In Georgia, 54 percent of the population living outside of the capital city,
Tbilisi, lives in poverty. The Georgians identified two barriers to poverty
reduction and economic growth in the regions outside of Tbilisi — a lack of
reliable infrastructure and the slow development of businesses, particularly
agribusiness. To address these impediments, the people of Georgia, through
a broad consultative process, developed a program focused on rehabilitating
regional infrastructure and enterprise development.

The two projects complement one another by facilitating economic growth.

The first enables agricultural and other suppliers to more easily connect
with consumers and the second facilitates access to capital for business
development. These projects will improve the lives of the Georgian poor by
helping them to integrate economically through improved access to jobs and
markets, by providing more reliable access to basic services such as heat
and electricity, and by providing capital and technical assistance for
enterprise development.

Regional Infrastructure Rehabilitation
The Regional Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project of the Compact totals
$211.7 million and includes the following three activities:
— Samtskhe-Javakheti (S-J) Road Rehabilitation – The $102.2 million
activity will fund rehabilitation and construction of approximately 245
kilometers of main road traversing the S-J region.

— Energy Rehabilitation – The $49.5 million activity will be used to
rehabilitate the North-South Gas Pipeline that fuels electric power
generation and provides heat to homes and businesses, and to further develop
and implement the Georgian government’s energy sector strategy.

— Regional Infrastructure Development Facility – The $60 million activity
will fund regional and municipal physical infrastructure for water supply,
sanitation, irrigation, municipal gasification, roads and solid waste in
regions outside of Tbilisi.

Enterprise Development
The Enterprise Development Project of the Compact totals $47.5 million and
includes the following two activities:
— Georgia Regional Development Fund – The $32.5 million activity will fund
a professionally and independently managed investment fund to provide
long-term risk capital and technical assistance to SMEs [small and
medium-sized enterprises], primarily in the regions outside of Tbilisi, and
will identify legal and policy reforms needed to improve the investment
environment.

— Agribusiness Development Assistance – The $15 million activity will be
used for technical assistance and grants to farmers and agribusinesses that
supply agricultural products to the domestic market.

Program Administration

Program Administration and Control will cost $27.6 million and Monitoring
and Evaluation will cost $8.4 million.

The Millennium Challenge Compact with Georgia is expected to improve the
lives of the rural poor in the following ways.

— Reduce the incidence of poverty in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region by 12
percent.

— Benefit approximately a half-million Georgians, and over one-quarter of
the population of the country will receive indirect benefits from the
program.

— Reduce average travel time from regional areas to Tbilisi –currently
6.5 hours — almost three hours or 43% percent, thereby reducing
transportation costs for farmers, for small business owners, and for
Georgians needing access to social services.

— Reduce the risk that a major accident will occur due to the gas
pipeline’s dilapidated condition. The completed rehabilitation of the gas
pipeline will provide reliable heat and electricity to over one million
Georgians.

The Compact is expected to be signed in September.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.

Department of State. Web site: )

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Aug 12 2005

Briner: 1915 Events Should Be Investigated by Turks and Armenians
Jan SOYKOK (ANKARA

~U Briner, a member of the centre-right Radical Party, maintains the
Senate’s position is that a committee of historians from the two
countries involved should investigate the events of 1915. Briner has
given an interview to SwissInfo and repeated that the Armenian issue
is not business of parliaments. Briner says “we felt that the policy
of our government was the wiser”.

~U Briner had said ‘Armenia issue’ is not the business of Swiss
Parliament

~U Armenian Government claims that 1915 Events was a ‘genocide’
while the Turkish Government rejects the allegations, claiming that
the Armenian deaths as a result of mass evacuation and starvation
were not a result of a state-sponsored plan of extermination. More
than 520,000 Turks were also massacred by the Armenians during the
1915 Events. According to the Turkish historians 1915 Events was an
Armenian riot when Turks were in war against the Russians. Turkish
scientists have found many mass killing graves of Turkish villagers
in Eastern provinces of Turkey. Dr. Nilgun Gulcan says “Of course
many Armenians were also killed during the communal clashes. However
thousands of Turkish villagers were tortured and massacred as well.

Armenians just focus on their pain. They cannot see our memories.”

——————————————— Full-text of Interview
with Peter Briner by SwissInfo

swissinfo: You say reports are false which claim you said the Senate
will never recognise the Turkish massacre of Armenians 90 years ago
as genocide. What is the Senate’s position regarding those events?

Peter Briner: Those reports are based on either a misquote or a
misunderstanding – and this is of course most regrettable. What I did
say was that when the Swiss House of Representatives had [voted to]
recognise the genocide, this was not an issue in the Senate.

The policy of our government – and the Senate foreign-affairs
committee – is that the two countries involved, Turkey and Armenia,
should investigate the terrible events of 1915 with a committee of
historians from both sides.

swissinfo: Two years ago the House of Representatives recognised the
massacre as genocide. Why did the debate not pass to the Senate?

P.B.: The House of Representatives vote was only [in response to]
a motion and not on the parliament’s agenda. We discussed this and
we felt that the policy of our government was the wiser course.

swissinfo: So the Armenian question is still a topic of discussion
for the Senate?

P.B.: I can never be sure what will be on the Senate’s agenda, of
course, but right now the postponement of Economics Minister Joseph
Deiss’ invitation to Turkey will certainly be discussed during our
next committee meeting on August 23.

swissinfo: Morally, shouldn’t the Senate recognise the Armenian deaths
as genocide like other western countries?

P.B.: I think that the position of our government is the better one.

I don’t feel comfortable being the judge of the whole world and of
something that happened a long time ago.

These are evidently terrible events and I think that they should
be investigated, but they should be primarily investigated by the
parties involved.

swissinfo: How would you describe Swiss-Turkish relations at the
moment?

P.B.: They are normally good – we felt this when a delegation of the
Senate foreign-affairs committee visited the Turkish parliament last
September. Then a Turkish delegation visited us this summer and we
talked about these things in a friendly way.

Relations have of course been strained by recent events but I think in
the long run good relations will prevail. I think relations between
the two countries will remain good and prosper as they have done in
the past.

swissinfo-interview: Thomas Stephens

Azeri Islamic body rejects Karabakh’s plan to restore ancient mosque

Bakinskiy Rabochiy, Baku
12 Aug 05

The Baku-based Board of the Muslims of the Caucasus has described as
“provocation and hypocrisy” the decision by the Armenian Apostolic
Church in Nagornyy Karabakh to restore the ancient mosque in the
Karabakh town of Susa. In its statement, the Board called on Iran to
show “Islamic solidarity” and not to send experts for the mosque’s
restoration. The following is the text of report by Azerbaijani
newspaper Bakinskiy Rabochiy on 12 August headlined “Statement by the
Board of the Muslims of the Caucasus”

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!

The Board of the Muslims of the Caucasus regards as another
provocation and hypocrisy and resolutely condemns the statement by the
Armenian Church’s Bishop Pargev Martirosyan [the head of the Nagornyy
Karabakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church] that they would
take care of the mosque in Azerbaijan’s ancient town of Susa [Shushi]
and take on commitment to repair it.

This is nothing but an attempt to conceal from the world community
atrocities and acts of vandalism committed by Armenian terrorists and
to pose as humanitarians.

Armenians, who no one in the world have ever trumped in building their
propaganda on lie and slander, this time once again decided to play on
their “devotion to religion”. Doing so, they have once again unmasked
themselves. We will never forget that people intending today “to take
care” of the Susa mosque are bandits who in the recent past were
pillaging our mosques and shrines, were desecrating our cemeteries and
bodies of Azerbaijanis they killed.

Our holy book [Koran] reads: “Who is more wicked than the men who seek
to destroy the mosques of God and forbid His name to be mentioned in
them, when it behoves these men to enter them with fear in their
hearts? They shall be held up to shame in this world and sternly
punished in the hereafter.” (The Cow, 114)

Our mosques do not need to be cared by vandals as the mosques are
protected by the Most High. We believe that, God willing, we will come
back to native lands and the sound of azan [the call for prayers]
coming from the minaret of the Susa mosque will be heard in entire
Karabakh.

As for the Armenians’ intention to invite experts from Iran to restore
the Susa mosque, we are sure that the Islamic Republic of Iran, which
has repeatedly said that Nagornyy Karabakh is an integral part of
Azerbaijan, will not succumb to this provocation and will show Islamic
solidarity.

The Board of the Muslims of the Caucasus states that it always brings
the truth to the world community’s notice and will keep doing so.

Peace, God’s mercy and His blessing be upon you!

Samtskhe-Javakheti to Supply Food for Armed Forces

Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 2005-08-10 11:36:43

The Georgian Ministry of Defense (MoD) launched on August 10 measures
aimed at procuring agricultural products for Georgian armed forces in
the Samtskhe-Javakheti region.

The initiative is a part of a state social program for this region
that will help ease the economic consequences that will result from
the withdrawal of the Russian military base from the predominately
Armenian-populated town of Akhalkalaki, in Samtskhe-Javakheti.

According to the Defense Ministry, special information stations will
be set up on August 10 in the Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda districts
which will disseminate information about the amount of food-stuffs
needed in the army. A special group from the Defense Ministry’s
Procurements Department will work in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region for
a week to study the situation at the scene.Samtskhe-Javakheti to
Supply Food for Armed Forces

CENN – August 8, Daily Digest
Table of Contents:
1. Protectors of Environment Argue with BP
2. The level of Poverty Raised by 3 Percent
3. Small Electric Power Station to be Built in Armenia
4.. Discussion of “Millennium Challenges” Program Pass Successfully
5.. Greenhouse effect could melt nearly all world’s glaciers, says
UN-backed report
6.. EIA Reports
7.. Electronic Conference on: Climate Change and Biodiversity
Conservation

1. Protectors of Environment Argue with BP

Source: “24 Saati” (“24 Hours”), July 30, 2005

Association “Green Alternative” has issued report on implementation of
Bako-Tbilisi-Jeihan Pipeline Construction. Report regards all the
violations that were disclosed by monitoring group in the last year
during construction. “During construction company caused great damage,
even – the damage of roads, irrigation channels and houses. Problems
were raised in the regions where the main income of population was
tourism. For example, in village Cemi due to drinking water pollution
holiday season was disrupted twice,” – declared head of “Green
Alternative” Manana Kocladze. Association “Green Alternative” demands
from Georgian Government report, which will elucidate how 40 million USA
dollars gave by “British Petroleum” were spent. As head of “Green
Alternative” declares in October 2004 “British Petroleum” transferred
this 40 million USA dollars to Georgian Government as grant to invest in
social and economic projects. In the contract signed between the
government and “British Petroleum” it is mentioned that all the
operations regarding this money should be transparent for community. “In
April of 2005 our organization demanded form the government and company
to issue information to make clear what projects were financed form this
grant. Since April we are waiting for replay. It must be investigated on
what basis private company transferred money to the government,” said
Manana Kochaldze.

2. The level of Poverty Raised by 3 Percent

“24 saaTi”(“24 Hours”), August 1, 2005

In Georgia the level of poverty have been raised by 3 percent. In
accordance with the Department of Statistics, in 2004 the level of
poverty was 16.9 percent. In 2002-2003 years this parameter was 16.3
percent. In accordance with the evaluation of the experts of Statistics
Department, in country the level of poverty raises rather slowly.

The highest level of poverty among the regions is characterized for
Qvemo Qartli and the lowest level – Imereti and Tbilisi.

3. SMALL ELECTRIC POWER STATIONS TO BE BUILT IN ARMENIA

Source: PanArmenian.Net. August 3, 2005

Within next few years small electric power stations with a capacity of
70 megawatt will be built in Armenia, RA Deputy Energy Minister Areg
Galstian stated. In his words, investments totaling in $70 million will
be made. At that the investments will be private. Various funds will be
formed for the creation renewable energy sources. The World Bank, the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, KfW Bank and
Kafeschian Foundation showed interest in the project. To remind, June 4
during a press conference in Yerevan World Bank Regional Vice President
for Europe and Central Asia, Shigeo Katsu stated that till end 2005 a
$10-million credit program for renewable energy sources will be launched
in Armenia jointly with the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, UN Ecology Foundation and a number of local financial
institutes. The funds will be also spent on the investigation of the
possibility of using wing energy for electric power processing. The cost
of the program can go up to $15 million, Express agency reports.

4. DISCUSSIONS OF “MILLENNIUM CHALLENGES” PROGRAM PASS
SUCCESSFULLY

Source: ARMENPRESS, August 4, 2005

This year the qualification round of the “Millennium Challenges” program
will end and afterwards the negotiations over preparation of the
agreement will launch, Tigran Khachatrian, deputy finance minister, told
at a press conference.

He said within the frameworks of the program a group of experts from US
arrived in Armenia to assess the separate points of the program from
qualification viewpoint. At present the effectiveness of the points is
being discussed i.e. whether they will secure economic growth and
promote the poverty reduction.

T. Khachatrian said the discussion of the program is going on
successfully and added that they have reached positive response over two
major points which are connected with the construction of community
roads and ensuring water supply. The two issues have been assessed as
important factors for securing economic growth and promoting poverty
reduction in Armenia. The deputy minister also noted that the first real
investments in the program will be made in 2007.

5. Greenhouse effect could melt nearly all world’s glaciers,
says UN-backed report

Source: UN news center, 4 August 2005

Dramatic scenarios from man-made global warming can no longer be
excluded, including the complete disappearance of glaciers from entire
mountain ranges, leading to processes “without precedent in the history
of the earth,” according to the latest update of a five-yearly United
Nations-supported report.

“The last five-year period of the 20th century has been characterized by
an overall tendency of continuous if not accelerated glacier melting,”
says the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) 1995-2000 edition of
the Fluctuations of Glaciers report, complied with the support of the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP).

“The two decades [from] 1980-2000 show a trend of increasingly negative
balances with average annual ice thickness losses of a few decimeters,”
it adds. “The observed trend of increasingly negative mass balances is
consistent with accelerated global warming.”

Analysis of repeated inventories shows that glaciers in the European
Alps have lost more than 50 per cent of their volume since the middle of
the 19th century, and that a further loss of roughly one fourth the
remaining volume is estimated to have occurred since the 1970s, the
report states.

“With a realistic scenario of future atmospheric warming, almost
complete deglaciation of many mountain ranges could occur within
decades, leaving only some ice on the very highest peaks,” it says.

Since the initiation in 1894 of a worldwide programme for collecting
standardized information on glacier changes, various aspects involved
have changed “in a most remarkable way,” the report notes.

Concern increases that the ongoing trend of worldwide and fast if not
accelerating glacier shrinkage at the century time scale is of
non-cyclic nature, there is definitely no more question of the
originally envisaged “variations périodiques des glaciers” as a
natural cyclical phenomenon, it states.

“Due to the human impacts on the climate system (enhanced greenhouse
effect), dramatic scenarios of future developments – including complete
deglaciation of entire mountain ranges – must be taken into
consideration,” it stresses.

“Such scenarios may lead far beyond the range of historical/holocene
variability and most likely introduce processes (extent and rate of
glacier vanishing, distance to equilibrium conditions) without
precedence in the history of the earth.”

6. EIA Reports

Source: “24 Saati” (“24 Hours”), July 29, 2005

In accordance with the Georgian legislation the following EIA reports
are submitted to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural
Resources of Georgia to obtain an environmental permit for the
activities of the second category:

1. “Koka” Ltd s “Project on Development of Lolasheni Deposit East
Part in Tkibuli Region Village Koka”;

2. CHF International – Georgia “Project on the
Construction-Functioning of Irrigation Systems in Qedi Region Villages”;

3. CHF International – Georgia “Arrangement -Rehabilitation of
Drinking and Technical Water Supply System in Samckhe-Javakheti Region
Villages”;

4. CHF International – Georgia “Project on the Rehabilitation of
Water Supply System of Kvareli Region Village Shakriana”;

5. “Merability” Ltd “Project on Development of Deposit of Sagarego
Region Sakhare and Grdzeli (Long) Lakes”;

6. Entrepreneur “Aleksandre Dadianidze” “Project on the
Arrangement Fishery in Gori Region nearby Village Karaleti”;

7. “Sagzamo-Samsheneblo Sammartveli N1” (“Road-Constructing
Institution N1”) “Project on the Arrangement Trout Fishery in Gori
Region nearby Village Karaleti”;

8. “Koromi” Ltd “Project on Development of Inert Materials Career
in Aspindza Region Village Nakalakevi”;

9. Adigeni Region Initiative Group “Project on Artificial
Melioration Water Reservoir in Adigeni Region Village Gordze”;

10. “Bordjomi Natural Product” Ltd “Project on Utilization of 20 Cubic
Meters Chitakhevi Fresh Water”.

EIA reports are available at the Department of Environmental Permits and
State Ecological Expertise (6 Gulua Str.). Interested stakeholders can
analyze the document and present their comments and considerations until
September 12, 2005.

Public hearing will be held on September 12, 2005 at 12:00, at the
conference hall of the Ministry of Environment.

7. Electronic Conference on: Climate Change and Biodiversity
Conservation

Dear colleagues,

The organizers of the UK presidency meeting of the European Platform for
Biodiversity Research Strategy (EPBRS) and the Center for Ecology and
Hydrology (CEH) invite you to participate in the electronic conference
“Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation: Knowledge needed to
support development of integrated adaptation strategies”, which will run
from 29th August to 16th September 2005. The results of the Electronic
Conference will be presented at the EPBRS delegates meeting in Aviemore
(Scotland), from 2nd to 5th October 2005.

The main scientific theme of UK EPBRS meeting is how climate change
impacts biodiversity and what adaptation strategies might be conceived.
The meeting will review the scientific evidence and provide
recommendations feeding directly into the EU Nature Directors meeting
(to be held in Aviemore from 5th to 7th October 2005). It is anticipated
that the recommendations will cover three areas:

(i) what we already know about impacts of climate change on biodiversity
and the policy options available;

(ii) what are the most important things that we need to find out in
order to develop adaptation strategies;

(iii) how we can ensure the flow of knowledge from research into policy
development.

The e-conference preceding the meeting will focus on the knowledge gaps
and research priorities regarding:

1. The development of adaptation strategies in terms of sites and
ecological networks;

2. The development of adaptation strategies working with other sectors
such as agriculture, forestry, water, energy etc;

3. Understanding, predicting and adapting to change in marine and
coastal ecosystems.

You are kindly invited to subscribe to the electronic conference by
filling the subscription form available at:

In case of any difficulty subscribing, please e-mail Juliette Young

E-mail: [email protected].

Note that there is no need to subscribe if you subscribed to the last
BioPlatform e-conference – you will automatically have access to this
e-conference.

This e-conference will run jointly with the MARBENA project

We would appreciate your kind help in forwarding this announcement to
anyone who might be interested.

For more detail information contact E-conference chairpersons:

Terry Parr

E-mail: [email protected]

Carlo Heip

E-mail: [email protected]

Also

Andrew Stott

UK EPBRS Organising Committee, Department for Environment, Food

and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

E-mail: [email protected]

E-conference management, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Banchory, UK

Juliette Young

E-mail: [email protected])

Malcolm Collie

E-mail:[email protected]

CENN INFO
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)

Tel: ++995 32 75 19 03/04
Fax: ++995 32 75 19 05
E-mail: [email protected]
URL:

WATER DAM PUT INTO USAGE IN ZEITUN

ArmenPress
Aug 5 2005

YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS: Within the frameworks of a joint
“Community Development Credit Program” implemented by the Armenian
government and the World Bank a water dam was constructed in Yerevan
Nerkin Zeitun borough and put today into usage.

Head of the “Yerevan Water and Sewage” company Andranik Andreasian
expressed hope that the water dam constructed within the frameworks of
the first credit program with the World Bank will serve as a guarantor
for providing stabile water supply in this borough.

Director of the Kanaker-Zeitun branch Atom Simonian said the water
dam will give an opportunity to secure 24-hour water supply for 70
percent of the consumers. For the construction of the dam 277 million
drams were invested.

In a Ruined Country

How Yasir Arafat destroyed Palestine

The Atlantic Monthly
September 2005

by David Samuels

[The following are excerpts from the article]

..The war for Jerusalem that began after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud .

Barak’s failed peace offer at Camp David in the summer of 2000 has
become the subject of legends and fables, each one of which is colored
in the distinctive shades of the political spectrum from which it
emerged: Yasir Arafat tried to control the violence. Arafat was
behind the violence. Arafat was the target of the violence, which
he deflected onto the Israelis. Depending on which day of the week
it was, any combination of these statements might have been true…

..There is a school of opinion that blames Arafat’s personal hatred
of .

Barak for the intifada. When I try it out on Barak, he dismisses
the idea as irrational; yet as we talk, it is not hard to see why
so many people find him disconcerting. Barak has two distinct and
contradictory personalities. He combines the hyperactive, engaging
manner of the smartest ten-year-old boy on the planet with a cold,
analytical way of describing events that suggests the personality of
the computer HAL in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Oslo,
Barak believes, was a political adventure embarked on by Rabin,
who distrusted Arafat but saw a strategic need to reach a political
settlement with the Palestinians.

“What we had in mind all the time was that if you keep moving
toward a volcanic eruption of violence, as a result of being unable
to stretch reigning over the Palestinians for another generation,
we might end up with a tragedy,” Barak says, tugging at the collar
of his navy windbreaker. He recalls a meeting at the beginning of
the first intifada, chaired by Rabin, in which the Israeli defense
establishment confronted the nature of the rebellion and the range
of available solutions.

“We had a closed gathering of probably thirty people~Wthe top
brass of the defense ministry~Wwith Rabin, and he brought several
academics to talk about what they believed they were seeing,” Barak
remembers. “The first intifada was then two weeks old. And there was
a brilliant presentation made by Professor Shamir, and he talked
about the fifty precedents in the last century of such events. He
said that throughout history only three strategies came close to
being successful. None is relevant to our case. The strategies were
extermination, starvation, and mass transportation. We were targets
of extermination and the Armenians also, but it didn’t work. Biafra
was starvation, didn’t work. And he analyzed what would happen~Wit’s
a brilliant short presentation.”

As chief of the IDF general staff, and later as a minister in Rabin’s
cabinet, Barak talked to the prime minister about the problems with
the Oslo Accords very often, he says. “Many times I would ask Rabin,
Why did you give up on this or that? and he would say, ‘You know, Ehud,
we still have wide enough margins. The moment will inevitably come when
we’ll have to pass our judgment.’ Even at the time, we read Arafat’s
speeches to other audiences, in Johannesburg and other places, where
he would say, ‘Remember the false Hudna,'” Barak says, referring to a
deceptive treaty entered into by the prophet Muhammad. By the time he
became prime minister, Barak says, he found that a violent explosion
was imminent and the strategic situation was not in Israel’s favor.

“I felt in all my mature life that Israel from 1947 on could never
materialize any operational or military achievement unless we had
two preconditions fulfilled,” he explains. “One, that we occupied the
moral high ground in the world, the other that we kept our internal
unity. It was the case in 1947 exactly because Ben-Gurion was ready
to take an almost impossible international plan and agree to it, and
the Palestinians rejected it. Only the fact that Ben-Gurion accepted
it made it possible for Israel to hold to the results of the war for
fifty-seven years.”

Azeri experts downplay Cyprus threats

Ekho, Baku
3 Aug 05

Azerbaijani politicians have downplayed recent threats of Cyprus
against Azerbaijan after a direct flight from Baku carried a group of
Azerbaijani businessmen to Northern Cyprus. They said that the threats
and acts of the government of Cyprus will not impact Azerbaijan’s
relations with the rest of the world. The following is the excerpt
from report by N. Aliyev and R. Rzayev in Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho
on 3 August headlined “Cyprus threatens Azerbaijan with international
organizations” and subheaded “But they are convinced in Baku that the
threats of Greek Cypriots are unfounded and fully unfair”; Subheadings
have been inserted editorially:

The government of Cyprus is reconsidering a whole spectrum of
relations with Azerbaijan by involving many European and world
entities. Financial Mirror published in Cyprus says that Nicosia’s
efforts have already led to the deterioration of relations between
European entities and a wide range of countries on the one hand and
Baku on the other.

The authorities in Greek Cyprus aim to convince Baku to stop direct
flights to Northern Cyprus. A group of Azerbaijani businessmen made a
trip to the Turkish part of Cyprus last week on a direct flight from
Baku operated by Imair [private Azerbaijani company].

“The government of Cyprus hopes that Azerbaijan will respect
international laws and the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus,”
the permanent secretary of the foreign minister of Cyprus, Sotos
Zackheos, has told CNN. The president of Cyprus, Tasos Papadhopoulos,
Foreign Minister Yeoryios Iakovou and Minister of Communications and
Works Kharis Thrasou have sent official letters to their Azerbaijani
counterparts.

[Passage omitted: more about protests by Greek Cyprus]

“Unsubstantiated and unfair”

“The statements by Greek Cypriots are unsubstantiated and fully unfair
threats,” a member of the standing commission on international issues
of the Azerbaijani parliament and the chairman of the Democratic
Reforms Party, Asim Mollazada, told Ekho yesterday [2 August]. A
private Azerbaijani company’s decision to open the direct flight to
Northern Cyprus and the businessmen’s trip to the island are within the
international norms, he said. MP Mollazada recalled that the Turkish
community of the island voted for and the Greek community against
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan on the unification of Cyprus
(the Annan plan).

“Now, it implies that the international community does not keep its
promise to ease the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community,”
the parliamentarian stressed. He viewed the trip of the Azerbaijani
businessmen as a humane step.

“But this is unfair,” the MP exclaimed. He said that Northern Cyprus
has remained in full isolation and blockade until recently. It is all
after the Turkish Cypriots voted for the Annan plan, which was backed
by all the members of the US Security Council and the international
community, the MP said.

“Empty words”

The EU and the USA promised to lift the isolation of the Turkish part
of the island so that its population can develop and improve their
conditions, he said. “But the promises turned out to be ’empty words’
and only Azerbaijan took actual steps to this effect.”

“Here, the talk is not about recognizing Northern Cyprus as an
independent state,” the parliamentarian explained. Mollazada does
not think that there is any serious violation of international
laws. The Azerbaijani side acted within the framework of the
principles of international organizations and the promises of the
UN secretary-general. All the reproaches against our country now are
fully unfounded, he noted.

The international community will not show understanding to the acts of
Southern Cyprus even if the latter tries to implement their threats,
he said. Moreover, the EU and the USA will have to deliver on their
promises to end the isolation of the Turkish part of Cyprus.

“They promised to do that, if Turkish Cypriots voted for the Annan
plan in a referendum,” Mollazada said.

“Greek side to blame”

Renowned political analyst Zardust Alizada says that it is the Greek
side to blame when they said “no” to the referendum on the Annan plan.

“They put themselves into an awkward situation, while Turkish Cypriots
proved their readiness for compromises,” the political analyst said.

But on the other hand, he says that, as a small nation, Azerbaijan
should never take too many initiatives in issues concerning the
territorial integrity of unrecognized states.

“We have enough problems and the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict may be
used against us any time,” Alizada warned.

Anyhow, there is a special resolution of the EU to ease the air and sea
blockade of Northern Cyprus. “The Greeks are playing a double-game,
but forget that the attitude of the international community towards
Turkish Cypriots is changing for the better,” he noted.

Nevertheless, he said that “if this issue were down to me, I would
not be so active because Azerbaijan does not need it”. Alizada said
that recognizing the independence of Northern Cyprus is out of the
question, as this could be a “suicide” for Azerbaijan. Moreover,
he is convinced that Azerbaijan’s activity in this issue will not
be understood in Europe. As for the complaints of Greek Cypriots to
European entities against Azerbaijan, they “are not going to change
anything principally”. “The EU will not stop cooperation with our
country,” Alizada said.

[Passage omitted: the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry could not be
reached for comments]