Author: Chilingarian Babken

Macleans, Canada
Jan 3 2005

A tragedy beyond belief

We once could close our minds to others’ disasters — but the world
is smaller now

ANTHONY WILSON-SMITH

Phi Phi Island, off the coast of Thailand, is — or was — one of
those unbelievably lovely, restful places where you go to temporarily
abandon all cares in the world. During a week there 15 years ago, I
spent hours literally staring into space — mesmerized by the perfect
beach and the remarkable colour of the ocean, so bright it was almost
teal. The island’s tranquility contrasts with the much larger Phuket
nearby, which has a well-deserved reputation as Party Central. Both
places have provided great getaways — depending on how you take your
pleasure — which is why it is even harder to realize they are now
among the most deadly, devastated places on Earth. After the Dec. 26
tsunami that brought such phenomenal devastation to Asia and East
Africa, more than 300 bodies were found on tiny Phi Phi; the toll
around Phuket island runs into the thousands, and the final total may
not be known for months.

The nature of tragedy is that it can take months or sometimes years
before we fully comprehend how much it has changed everything. The
events of 9/11 were like that: even as we watched, with horrible
fascination, the televised replays of aircraft crashing into the
World Trade Center, it still wasn’t immediately possible to fathom
that the world really had just become a much different place. Three
years on, we feel the effects in ways both small (long lineups at
airports and vastly increased security) and large (the much more
polarized — and dangerous — nature of global politics).

The Dec. 26 tsunami is such an event. The first reports of the death
toll, though terrible, were in line with other tragedies that mankind
has endured in recent years — a 1988 earthquake in Armenia killed
25,000; a 1998 hurricane in Central America took 15,000 lives; a 2001
quake in India killed 20,000. And there was the consoling thought
that the initial estimate of 13,000 dead was probably too high — as
is often the case in the aftermath of disaster. (After the 2001
Indian earthquake, the first estimate was 100,000 dead.)

This has been the awful exception to that rule. With each day in the
immediate aftermath, the estimate of the tsunami’s toll doubled —
then doubled again and again, to beyond 100,000. In the months ahead,
disease, tainted water and spreading germs from rotting food and
outdoor toilets will drive that total far higher.

Years ago, I read a study of the print media that came to roughly
this conclusion: equivalent space is usually devoted to coverage of
hundreds of people dying in a far-off corner of the world, dozens of
people dying in North America, and a couple of people dying in the
city in which the newspaper operates. The reasons were that we care
much more about events on our doorstep (which remains true) and we
don’t feel the same empathy for faraway people from other cultures
(which, in a multicultural society, is now much less true). The sting
of loss extends everywhere, including here: as many as 85 Canadians
remain missing, and we may never know how many Canadians who were
born elsewhere lost family members. You’ll find a list of contacts on
page 27 for organizations offering aid. Be generous and remember: the
world is a smaller place in every way than it once was. And Phi Phi
Island will never again be a place where we can escape all cares.

Interfaith rite launches inaugural

Deseret Morning News (Utah)
Monday, January 03, 2005

By Joe Bauman ([email protected])

A preview of an inaugural speech, lessons in the importance of kindness
and good deeds, prayers by representatives of several religions and
rousing songs by Utahns of varying ethnic backgrounds were highlights of
an interfaith music service Sunday night.

The service was a pre-inaugural celebration held at the First
Presbyterian Church, 12 C St. It attracted an estimated 300 Utahns,
including religious leaders, Gov.-elect Jon M. Huntsman Jr. and
Huntsman’s family.

Afterward, Huntsman held an impromptu press conference in which he
promised to try to “bring out the best our people have to offer,” and to
reach out and touch residents of the state.

On the eve of his inauguration, he said he was what his feelings were.
“It’s a combination of jubilation and fear,” he said. The fear was there
because he did not want to let people down, and the jubilation was
because “we’re really in a position to make changes in the state.”

President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints discussed the kindness
that other faiths perform, such as the Salvation Army collecting
contributions to help those in need, the Catholic Church’s St. Vincent
de Paul soup kitchen, the Salt Lake Dental Clinic and other charities.

When men and women of good will unite together in doing good, he said,
it helps eliminate weakness.

The Huntsman family members are “good people . . . doing noble work for
Utah and even all the world,” he said. He cited contributions the family
has made, including working to improve life in Armenia, and sponsoring
the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

During LDS meetings on Sunday, a letter was read about the disastrous
tsunami in southern Asia, he said. “I’m pleased that we’re there”
helping with the humanitarian effort in stricken countries, Pres. Monson
said. He said members were asked to give generously to help alleviate
the suffering.

Speaking of generous deeds, he added, “We can do it in our daily lives.”

President Monson cited the Charles Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol,”
in which Jacob Marley’s ghost cries, “Mankind was my business,” and
Marley says he should have been attentive to the common welfare when he
was alive.

“And then of course he (Ebenezer Scrooge) had that marvelous awakening,”
he said. He urged people to think of God.

“We look to Gov. Huntsman and his associates” in the coming
administration, he added. “We stand behind them.”

President Monson said, “They have the community support, and we still
have challenges.”

The service began with a welcome from Michael J. Imperiale, pastor of
the First Presbyterian Church. He said his faith has always valued
dialogue and members of the religion want to be good friends and
neighbors. Hosting the pre-inaugural event was part of that outreach, he
indicated.

The Rev. Jerry K. Hirano of the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple expressed the
wish that Utahns contribute abundant good will.

Rabbi Joshua M. Aaronson of the Temple Har Shalom, Park City, talked of
the diverse beliefs of Utahns. God’s purpose for humanity must be to
enable every human to achieve a full, free life, he said.

“Let Utah become a light for other states, a beacon of good,” he said.

Children of the International Children’s Choir, whose costumes reflected
many countries and ethnic groups, sang several numbers.

“This is indeed a new day for Utah,” said community activist Pamela
Atkinson. “I have a vision for this administration. . . . There will be
a focus on all Utahns performing acts of service on a daily basis,” she
said.

Mary Anne Huntsman, the governor-elect’s oldest daughter, and Eugene
Watanabe performed a duet “Beautiful Savior,” the young woman playing
the piano and Watanabe the violin.

Readings from Hindu Sanskrit and comments were delivered by Pandit
Somayaji of Ganesha Hindu Temple, South Jordan, and Caru Das Adhikary of
the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork.

A rousing version of “God Bless America” by the Ogden Second Baptist
Mass Choir shook the church, with drums, electric guitar and audience
participation.

Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish of the episcopal Diocese of Utah prayed that
God would grant Utahns wisdom and reverence for the land, and that He
bless all with democracy and peace.

“I’ve been inspired by the music, I’ve been uplifted and edified by the
spoken word,” Huntsman told the group.

“The most important thing we can do is to come together as Utahns,” he said.

He said he celebrates the goodness of the state and the goodness of the
people. The past year and a half he has visited all of Utah. “I want all
of you to know that I found the heart and the mind and the soul” of the
state, he said.

“It has made me a better person.” What stands out to him most is the
ability as a community to reach out and touch the human heart. “I’m
going to do that and I hope all of you will do the same,” he added.

He called for respect for others of different backgrounds. “It is now
more important than ever that we reach out a loving hand.”

At the end of the day, Huntsman added, “it’s the human heart that
matters.” He pledged to do his best to promulgate policies to make the
state better.

Inauguration schedule, Utah Statehood Day

Monday: Inauguration ceremonies will be held at Abravanel Hall, 123 W.
South Temple. Doors open to ticket holders at 10 a.m.. All guests are to
be seated by 11:40 a.m., and at noon the ceremony begins. A receiving
line will be in the building’s lobby.

Tuesday: Utah Statehood Day Celebration will be held at the E Center,
3200 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City. A free open house will be
held for all Utah residents. Doors open to the public at 5 p.m., opening
ceremonies start at 6 p.m., music groups and entertainment begin at 7 p.m.

,1249,600102151,00.html

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Jan 1 2005

Armenian Tragedy, But Who Is Responsible?
View: Jan SOYKOK (JTW), 2 December 2005

Newly independent Republic of Armenia is a landlocked country.
Armenia is surrounded by 100 million Turkish (Azerbaijan, Turkey and
Iranian Azerbaijan) and Georgia. It has no significant natural
resources and fertile territories. Its population relatively low,
about 3 million and the immigration to Russia, Europe and North
America has dramatically continued. Armenian economy has been
depended on aids from the US and Armenian diaspora. Armenian workers’
financial transfers also have a significant contribution to the
economy. In short, Armenia, had to develop good relations with its
neighbors in order to end its isolation. However the Armenian
Governments has chosen an awkward way:

Unlike the other former USSR republics, Armenia forged its links with
the Russian Federation. Georgia and Azerbaijan for instance made
efforts to lessen their dependency to Russia. Both states have tried
to balance Russia with the European Union, the United State and
Turkey. Armenia, on the other hand, has been skeptical in developing
relations with these three `alternatives’. Even, opponents to
relations with Russia were considered as traitors by main stream
political parties.

Secondly, young Armenia involved the ethnic conflicts and Armenian
forces occupied neighboring Azerbaijan territories. Apart from the
Nagorno-Karabakh territories, many Azerbaijani towns have been under
Armenian occupation.

Third, Armenia with its Constitution and Declaration of Independence,
has not recognized neighboring Turkey’s borders. Many Armenian
politicians, even today, call Turkey’s Eastern region as `Western
Armenia’.

Moreover, Armenia has encouraged separatist movements among the
Georgia Armenians and Russia Armenians. Apart from this, Armenia’s
close relations with Russia have been considered as a direct threat
by Georgia. Georgia, in return, has forged its relations with the
West (EU and US), Azerbaijan and Turkey.

In addition, Armenian politicians have made the so-called `genocide’
allegations foremost priority of Armenian Foreign Policy. Armenian
politicians argued that Turkey has to recognize 1915 events as
`Armenian genocide’. Otherwise good neighborhood was not possible for
the Armenian side. The Armenian diaspora in particular has
manipulated Armenia’s Turkey policy. Extreme Armenian diaspora
institutions have even opposed commercial relations with Turkey.

`Armenia Island’

As a result of all these Armenia’s isolation has deepened: As Sachs
from NYT points it out `Citing terrorism concerns, Russia abruptly
sealed its border with Georgia in September and kept it closed for
nearly two months, effectively cutting off the road that was the main
transit route for Armenian trade with Russia.’ Turkey after the
Armenian forces’ occupation of Azerbaijani territories closed its
borders with Armenia except the air transportation. Turkish Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan says they could not take any step before the
Armenians take a step in occupation of Azerbaijani territories.
Naturally, Armenian borders and almost all relations with Azerbaijan
were ceased. Not only the borders with Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan
but also Iranian border is also problematic. Armenia’s only direct
outlet, apart from the Georgian way, is through Iran to the south,
where trade has been hampered by a poor road network and lack of rail
lines.
Iran is in the United States’ `enemy list’ and Iran, with Russian
Federation, has been considered as one of the obstacles for the
Western policies in the Caucasus. So, developing closer relations
with Iran would be risky for Armenia.

Azerbaijan and Georgia has celebrated the completion of a large
section of the pipeline to carry Caspian Sea oil to the Turkish port
of Ceyhan. The $3 billion regional energy project bypasses Armenia
entirely. The pipeline project will integrate Azerbaijan and Georgia
with West and relations between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia are
being forged changing regional balance of power against Republic of
Armenia. Turkey, considered as historical enemy in Armenia, will also
start membership negotiations with the EU. It is estimated that
Turkey will be a EU member in 10 years. According to Armenian Foreign
Minister Oskanyan European leaders ignored what he called Turkey’s
“faults and shortcomings” with regard to Armenia. “What is
regrettable,” he said, “is that Europe is closing its eyes on
Turkey’s petulance.” For Armenia Turkey has no right to close its
territorial borders with Armenia. `Turkey has to establish diplomatic
relations with all European states, including Armenia says one of the
Armenian officials. However Armenian forces still occupies almost 20
percent of Azerbaijani territories and Armenia does not recognize the
written international agreements set Turkey-Armenia borders.

Dr. Sedat Laciner from ISRO says `Armenia must question its relations
with the world and the region. While all neighboring countries takes
great steps in integration with the West and the global order,
Armenia’s dependency to Russia has dramatically increased. Nothing is
bad with having good relations with Russia. However if you claim you
are an independent state you should balance your relations. A
nation-state cannot establish its security and foreign relations on
trusts and promises.’ According to Dr. Laciner extreme Armenian
diaspora manipulate and misdirect newly independent Armenian State:

`Armenia has no enough human sources to survive. Migration to Russia,
Europe and Northern America has badly damaged national economy.
Hundred thousands work abroad. About 40,000 Armenians work illegally
in Turkey, for instance. However the Armenian nationalists are
talking about a Greater Armenia from Black Sea to Mediterranean, from
Mediterranean to Caspian Sea. Armenia suffers from corruption and
economic catastrophes. However Armenian politicians are talking about
events happened almost a century ago. They politically attack Turkey.
The EU project has been the greatest Turkish dream and Armenian
politicians they have made enormous efforts to prevent Turkey’s EU
membership. Turkish public was shocked by Armenian anti-Turkish
campaigns. Armenian politicians do not understand that Turkey is
ready to normalize its relations with Armenia. AK Party, in
particular, is very willing to develop good relations with Armenia.
However if you insist on armed occupation and if you do not recognize
Turkey’s national borders, and if you continue to undermine Turkey’s
relations with the EU, you cannot expect any step from Turkey’ added
Dr. Laciner.

Turkish Embargo?

Armenian politicians accuse Turkey for Armenia’s economic failures.
Turkish-Armenian territorial border is closed. However there are
direct weekly flights between Yerevan and Istanbul. There is no
diplomatic relations between two states, however thousands of
Armenians work in Istanbul and other Turkish cities. Turkish goods
make their way to Armenia. According to New York Times, Turkey is
Armenia’s seventh largest trading partner. Dr. Nilgun Gulcan from
ISRO claims Turkey is its fifth largest partner. But the closed
border adds cost of road transit through third countries like Georgia
or by the planes that operate flights between Yerevan and Istanbul to
Turkey-Armenia trade. Georgia roads are not safe enough and mostly
closed due to the ethnic tension. Turkey says it will not open its
border before withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied
territories.

Armenian Foreign Minister on the other hand told NYT that they will
not give up the captured territories: “We won’t trade off Karabakh
for a railroad. We have learned to cope with the isolation. Things
are evolving around us. Let it be.” In short, Armenian politicians
seem happy with the status quo.

Armenian forces still occupy 20 per cent of Azerbaijani territories.
Armenia does not recognize its main neighbor’s national borders.
Armenian politicians organize anti-Turkey campaigns in European Union
and the United States. And, Armenia ironically cannot understand why
Turkey does not open its borders with Armenia. Nearly half of the
country’s 3 million people live in poverty on less than $2 a day, but
Armenia’s Foreign Minister could say `we have learned to cope with
the isolation’. As Dr. Gulcan says, `Armenian politicians have chosen
isolation. They curtail the real problems with the past. They
sacrifice today for the legacies and imagined enemies. They should
not learn to cope with isolation, but to cope with their
politicians.’

Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
December 31, 2004 Friday
Final Edition

Calgary jeweller scores big on sports scene: Winning ground against
international giants

by Grant Robertson, Calgary Herald; CanWest News Service

CALGARY

CALGARY – Tom Wilson is no stranger to glitzy jewelry. For the past
15 years, the Detroit Pistons’ chief executive has been the owner of
two championship rings from the National Basketball Association
team’s back-to-back titles in 1989-90.

He remembers when the Pistons received those rings, they seemed so
big and extravagant.

But when the team received its 2004 championship rings last month, it
was clear times had changed. The latest Pistons bauble — a
conglomeration of roughly $20,000 US worth of gold and diamonds —
makes the old ones look like a high-school ring, he says.

“It is gargantuan, yes — three times the size. You can’t lift your
arm. It covers two knuckles,” says Wilson.

The man behind the masterpiece is Miran Armutlu, a fifth-generation
Armenian jeweller and the founder of

Calgary-based Intergold Ltd., a small company that has taken the
North American sporting scene by storm in the past three years.

In addition to the Pistons, the company has made championship rings
for the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils and Tampa Bay
Lightning; and Major League Baseball’s Anaheim Angels and Florida
Marlins.

It has been a long road for the company Armutlu started with his
brother in the early 1980s. But Intergold — the smallest player in a
business dominated by international giants Jostens and Balfour — is
now commanding a good portion of the spotlight.

“Finally, over the last three years I would say, our reputation is
starting to precede us,” says Armutlu, sitting in the boardroom at
Intergold’s manufacturing plant in northeast Calgary.

“We’re finding that when we get in the door, people have heard of
us.”

Sales once were more difficult. When Armutlu decided the company
should branch out from designing jewelry, graduation rings and
corporate items into the sports arena, he walked into the offices of
the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1989 as an unknown.

“I just told them I wanted to do their ring,” Armutlu says of the
meeting with the team’s managers, all of them ex-football players.
“They all stood up, looked down at me and said ‘you better make us
the nicest championship ring in the world.’ Well, these were big
boys, they could be very persuasive.”

Intergold landed several Canadian Football League contracts after
that, including the 1992 Calgary Stampeders Grey Cup ring, but the
company still lacked a major U.S. deal.

Part of the challenge, says Armutlu, is that pro sports is dominated
by close relationships between teams and manufacturers. Once teams
picked a jeweller, they stuck with them.

In a strange twist, Intergold’s break came when Michael Jordan left
basketball to play minor-league baseball. With the Bulls’ dynasty on
hiatus, the Houston Rockets stepped in to claim back-to-back titles
in ’94 and ’95.

More importantly, the Rockets were a team without a jeweller.

“We were lucky. The organization didn’t have any old ties, so they
took a chance on us,” he says.

Being a small operation is an initial hurdle for Intergold against
its larger competitors, but that agility has become its biggest
asset.

Where other jewelers produce artist renderings of rings for teams,
Intergold makes a genuine version of each proposal, no matter how
many variations. Whatever rings aren’t used get melted down and
recycled.

“We knew they were the smaller company,” says Wilson of the Calgary
firm.

“But they kept telling us, don’t make a decision based on something
that looks good on paper. If you like these five designs, we’ll make
you five rings.

“Other companies were saying, ‘Well, maybe we can do one ring, but
these things are very expensive.’ … We started to get a feel for
just how badly they wanted the job.”

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Dec 30 2004

U.S. Team Went to the PKK Camp in Iraq

Anatoly Kopulov, the former Russian commander who crossed to the
Turkish side coming from northern Iraq in November along with 4 PKK
militants made interesting revelations about the arms and logistic
support of the organization.

Kaapilov said that he joined the PKK terrorist organization in Moscow
after working two years in the army and had stayed in the PKK camps
in Kandil for 5 years.

Kipolv told Turkish officials that “PKK provides its wireless from
Netherlands. Missiles are coming over Armenia. The organization is
communicating with European countries, over the internet. There are 3
tons of TNT, 2.5500 mines, 2 thousand mortar shells and Katyusa
missiles in the hideout near the lolan river. There are also Docka
anti-aircraft missiles.”

Source: Hurriyet, 30 December 2004

PRESS RELEASE
The Armenian Prelacy
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 689-7810
Fax: (212) 689-7168
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
Contact: Iris Papazian

CROSSROADS E-NEWSLETTER – December 30, 2004

ARCHBISHOP OSHAGAN ISSUES APPEAL
FOR VICTIMS OF EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI
Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate, today issued an appeal to the
Faithful of the Eastern Prelacy for immediate aid for the victims of
the violent earthquake and tidal waves. Calling it a natural disaster
of great magnitude, His Eminence issued the following statement:

We are witnessing what is being described as one of the worst natural
disasters in recent history. As we write this message, the official
death toll has already passed 100,000, and is expected to go even
higher.
The survivors of the massive underwater earthquake that brought on the
violent Tsunamis (tidal waves) need the help of every country and every
person. The areas affected include Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand,
India, the Maldives and as far away as Somalia in Africa. It is
critical that help reach these areas as soon as possible, otherwise the
death toll through disease and malnutrition can easily double.
What is needed most urgently is money so that relief agencies can
purchase the necessary staples in areas closer to the disaster areas
and make it available quickly to the suffering population.
We are asking all of our parishes to offer prayers for the dead and
the survivors on Sunday, January 2, asking the Faithful to make special
donations for relief aid to the affected areas. We suggest that the
sermon of the day include a message about the disaster. Whatever money
is collected should be immediately sent to the Prelacy office. We, in
turn, will transfer the total amount to AmeriCares. We have chosen
AmeriCares because this organization quickly came to the aid of the
victims of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia and to this day AmeriCares is
very instrumental in securing medical supplies, medicines, as well as
other items, which we send to Armenia on a regular basis.
Armenians, unfortunately, are all too familiar with great tragedies.
We have been the benefactors of the altruism of others. Let us open our
hearts and our pockets to help humanitarian assistance reach those
caught up in this tragic scenario. We ask you to make every effort to
generously participate in this endeavor so that we can make a
respectful and substantial donation on behalf of the Armenian Church.
As we prepare to celebrate the New Year and the birth of our Lord and
Savior let us bring to life His teachings by helping our fellow human
beings.

Donations can be made through your local parishes or by sending your
check directly to the Prelacy. Checks should be payable to the Armenian
Apostolic Church of America and mailed to 138 E. 39th Street, New York,
NY 10016.

GOOD WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR
Historically, the New Year (Amanor or Gaghand in Armenian), has been a
time of happiness and celebration. In fact, for Armenians it is at the
New Year that gifts are exchanged, and children anticipate the arrival
of Gaghand Baba.
All of us here at Crossroads wish all of you, our valued readers, a
happy and healthy New Year.

CHRISTMAS EDITION OF CROSSROADS NEXT WEEK
Next week we will have a special Christmas edition of Crossroads,
which you will receive on Wednesday instead of Thursday.

RING OUT, WILD BELLS
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Happy New Year!

Visit our website at

Azeri, Armenian foreign ministers set to meet on 10 January – TV

ANS TV, Baku
27 Dec 04

[Presenter] The time of the next round of consultations between the
Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers on resolving the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict has been clarified. Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign
Minister Araz Azimov has said that the meeting is set for 10
January. However, a special OSCE mission plans to monitor the
situation only on the occupied Azerbaijani districts around Nagornyy
Karabakh.

[Correspondent, over video of UN] Azerbaijan will not submit to the UN
General Assembly’s discussion a draft resolution on the situation on
[Azerbaijan’s] occupied lands. The Russian co-chairman of the OSCE
Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, has said that the Azerbaijani and
Armenian foreign ministers have agreed on this. In exchange for this,
Armenia will help in all ways the OSCE monitoring on the occupied
territories. In an interview with ANS, the Russian co-chairman said
that the verbal agreement had been reached on this.

[Merzlyakov in Russian with Azeri voice-over, on the phone] The draft
resolution will not be submitted for voting as I understood from the
talks we had held. The agreement was reached after the lengthy talks
between the foreign ministers. In any case, I think that all the
co-chairmen realized this because when we [co-chairmen] talked to each
other, I did not hear anyone understanding the results of the talks in
a different way.

[Correspondent, over video of Azimov] The Azerbaijani deputy foreign
minister and the president’s special envoy for Nagornyy Karabakh, Araz
Azimov, neither denied nor confirmed the aforesaid [verbal] agreement.

In any case, the resettlement of the Armenians on Azerbaijan’s seven
occupied districts has been put on the agenda of the UN General
Assembly session under Paragraph 163. There have been no changes in
the session’s agenda so far, end quote.

The OSCE monitoring mission will only examine if the Armenians are
being resettled on the occupied lands, Azimov said. The mission’s
mandate does not envisage the political assessment of the situation.

To recap, the OSCE mission which is to head for the occupied lands on
25 January will monitor the illegal resettlement of the Armenians on
the occupied lands around Nagornyy Karabakh, including Lacin
District. Merzlyakov said that the monitoring in Nagornyy Karabakh had
not been talked about when the mandate of the OSCE special mission was
determined.

[Merzlyakov, on the phone] This is not our task. All this is about the
occupied territories around Nagornyy Karabakh. It is very difficult to
examine Nagornyy Karabakh because Armenians live there. They have
always lived there. This is another issue. No one should live on the
occupied lands and this differs them from the other lands. That is
Azerbaijanis who have left these lands and the Armenians should not
live there.

[Correspondent] One can only come to a conclusion from the aforesaid
that if the Armenians hamper the work of the OSCE special mission and
create some other obstacles to the diplomats in recording the
resettlement of the Armenians, Azerbaijan will be able to submit for
the discussion the issue which is still on the UN agenda.

Ceyhun Asgarov for ANS.

[The next round of peace talks between the Azerbaijani and Armenian
foreign ministers will be held in Prague on 15 January 2005, 1700 gmt
23 December ANS TV quoted Merzlyakov as saying]

PanArmenian News
Dec 27 2004

“BEGINNING OF YEAR CAN BE MARKED WITH RESIGNATIONS”

27.12.2004 16:50

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Golos Armenii pro-governmental Armenian newspaper
published an astrological forecast for the coming year of Cockerel.
According to this forecast, the year promises to be rather unstable.
“The influence of the planets testifies that the beginning of the
year in Armenia can be marked with resignation of some high rank
officials and unexpected appointments. In Armenia and many other
countries new figures with a big but not always positive potential
will appear on the political arena”, the newspaper continues without
clarifying the sources the data was received from. The rest of the
article is rather remote from astrology, so we omit it.

Next round of peace talks due in January

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 24 2004

The next meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers is
due in Prague on January 15, Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group
Yuri Merzlyakov told local ANS television. He also voiced his position
on the recent statement by Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanian
that Armenia is ready to show decisiveness with regard to the issue
of Upper Garabagh’s self-determination.

“We are currently working on a specific issue – the January 15
consultations on the Upper Garabagh conflict resolution. The parties
will put forth their positions in Prague and we will try to bring
them closer. It is not necessary to make any statements on the issue
at this point”, Merzlyakov said.*

Barnier: poser toutes les questions à la Turquie dont le “génocide arménien”

Agence France Presse
20 décembre 2004 lundi 8:13 AM GMT

PARIS 20 déc 2004

La France posera “toutes les questions” à la Turquie avant une
éventuelle adhésion de ce pays à l’Union européenne, “y compris celle
du génocide arménien”, a déclaré lundi sur la radio RTL le ministre
des Affaires étrangères Michel Barnier.

“Il ne s’agit aujourd’hui que d’engager des négociations d’adhésion
qui vont être très longues, très difficiles, durant lesquelles nous
poserons toutes les questions, y compris celle du génocide arménien,
en souhaitant obtenir, avant l’adhésion, une réponse de la Turquie”,
a déclaré M. Barnier.

M. Barnier avait déjà utilisé le terme de “génocide arménien” mardi
dernier devant l’Assemblée nationale. Mais auparavant, il avait pris
soin dans ses différentes interventions d’utiliser le terme de
“tragédie”, qui est souvent employé par les autorités turques pour
qualifier cette question.

Le Parlement français a adopté une loi le 18 janvier 2001, promulguée
le 29 janvier, qui dispose dans son article unique : “La France
reconnaît publiquement le génocide arménien de 1915”, sans toutefois
en désigner les responsables.

“Le président de la République exprime une vision, exprime où se
trouve pour lui l’intérêt de notre pays, de notre continent”, a
ajouté M. Barnier en commentant la position de Jacques Chirac en
faveur d’une entrée de la Turquie dans l’UE.

Jeudi et vendredi lors du Conseil européen de Bruxelles, M. Chirac a
fermement appuyé – au nom de sa vision à long terme de la
construction européenne – l’ouverture de négociations d’adhésion de
la Turquie, qui a été fixée au 3 octobre 2005 par les 25 chefs d’Etat
et de gouvernement.

Il a cependant assuré que la route menant à ce “mariage” serait
“longue et difficile”.

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