Author: Ekmekjian Janet

U.S. Newswire Press Releases / Yahoo News
May 7 2004

U.S. Church Leaders Press President Bush on Problems Facing Holy Land
Christians

To: National Desk and Religion Reporter

Contact: Jim Wetekam of the Churches for Middle East Peace,
202-543-4150 or [email protected]

WASHINGTON, May 7 /U.S. Newswire/ — Fifty leaders of evangelical and
mainline Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox churches and
church-related organizations in the U.S. today delivered a letter to
President Bush (news – web sites) asking for a full understanding of
“the crisis in the Holy Land confronting Christian Palestinians,
Christian institutions, and those who wish to visit the birthplace of
Christianity.”

Stating that the “churches have directed their concerns to the
Israeli government but to little avail,” the church leaders appealed
for the President’s intervention to help restore the normal
functioning of Christian institutions in Israel and the Occupied
Territories and claimed that “it is generally acknowledged that
relations of the churches and these institutions with the Israeli
government may be the worst they have ever been.”

The letter addressed the church leaders’ concerns specifically
regarding the effects of the separation barrier being constructed by
Israel, taxation issues that may force some church institutions to
close due to the removal of their longstanding tax-exempt status, and
“the denial and delay of visas, by Israel, for clergy and church
personnel result(ing) in understaffed seminaries, churches,
hospitals, education and other institutions.”

Speaking as one of the diverse group of signers, the Most Rev. Frank
T. Griswold, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA, said,
“Our churches, hospitals, schools, and other institutions are
important visible expressions of our faith’s concern for humanity.
While they serve Christians and non-Christians alike, they are also
expressions of our Christian heritage and its many contributions to
the region.”

Another signer, Brother Robert Schieler, Provincial for the De La
Salle Christian Brothers who administer Bethlehem University,
emphasized the destructive effects of the separation barrier on
Christian and Palestinian populations: “Even if the barrier is
intended for security, it has had the very real effects of separating
students and faculty from their classrooms, families from one
another, farmers from their fields, and Christian worshippers from
their churches.”

In the letter to President Bush, the church leaders observe, “We find
it difficult to be assured by your description on April 14 of the
barrier as ‘temporary’ in light of Israel’s plans to extend the
barrier far beyond the 1967 Green Line, encompassing on the Israeli
side those large West Bank settlements that you implied would remain
part of Israel.”

Speaking of Bethlehem particularly, Bro. Schieler noted, “The barrier
and checkpoints are now cutting off Christians in Bethlehem from
Jerusalem just a few miles away. I wonder if U.S. Christians who
visit Bethlehem as tourists know that many of their Christian
brothers and sisters who live and work and worship where Jesus was
born are not able to travel just a few miles to Jerusalem to where
Jesus died and was risen. Unfortunately, most American Christians
remain woefully uninformed about what is happening in the very land
where Jesus walked.”

Letter signers included the heads of many Catholic orders and
organizations in the United States; the General Secretary of the
National Council of Churches; the Presiding Bishops and leaders of
many denominations, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America; and
Armenian Church of America; evangelical leaders including Leighton
Ford, Robert Seiple, and Ron Sider; the heads of relief and
development agencies such as World Vision, Catholic Relief Services,
Church World Service, and the Mennonite Central Committee; and many
others. The complete text of the letter and list of signers is
available at

The signers, while specifically raising the concerns of church
institutions and Palestinian Christians, stated clearly that they “do
not mean to minimize the suffering of Muslims and Jews.” The letter
ended by imploring the President to assist all Muslims, Jews, and
Christians in the Holy Land, stating, “your help is needed as a force
for peacemaking that builds bridges to a new and hopeful future.”

Bishop Griswold summarized, “We believe that our institutions provide
services that are essential to bringing hope to people in need and
thus to our shared goal of two states, with secure borders, and able
to live in peace, one with the other.”

Hometown Dispute: Family faces displacement over residency status
May 7, 2004

By Julia Hakobyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

Levon Galstyan’s family are not refugees of war, but of natural
disaster. They are Armenians who escaped Gyumri on December 9, 1988,
two days after earthquake ruined their home. The “Corncob”.

They came to Yerevan, where they moved into a landmark of the capital, the
“Corncob” building, officially known as Yerevan Youth Palace.

As aggressions intensified between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Karabakh,
hundreds of Armenians from Azerbaijan also moved into the hostel.

These 15 years later, the building, home for all the time to the Galystans
as well as the refugees, has been privatized. Twenty-nine refugee families
were paid between $5,000 and $10,000 to move out.

The Galstyans have gotten nothing. The three-member family says it faces
being homeless, unless an arbitration court finds them qualified to be paid
a displacement allotment relevant to real estate prices in Yerevan.

Authorities say the Galstyans must move back to Gyumri and apply for housing
there.

“We lived in Yerevan for 15 years and we have jobs here,” Levon Galstyan
says. “We will have no job and no home in Gyumri. All that we want is
compensation. It is not human to compensate all residents except us. If we
don’t have the refugee status it does not mean that we have to end up in the
street.”

The director of insolvency issues for the Youth Palace, Levon Hovanisyan,
says the Galstyans needn’t worry about being homeless, but should move back
to Gyumri, where they would be eligible for housing under earthquake relief
assistance programs.

“No one is going to move them out to the street. It is not that they have no
place to go. The problem is that they do not want to leave Yerevan,”
Hovanisyan says. “Other families from Gyumri agreed to take certificates and
leave. There is no law saying that if a person has lived in some city for
several years and has a job in that city he has the rights to have residency
pretensions.”

Levon, 43, his sister Susanna, 50, and their 83-year old mother lived in No.
310 of the Youth Palace. On weekends Levon, a musician by education, sells
the paintings of his brother who lives in Gyumri. Susanna works in a
library.

“My job in Yerevan feeds my family and the family of my brother,” Levon
says. “How am I am supposed to maintain them if I lose this work?”

The Galstyans are again facing the problem of moving out.
Levon and his mother have residency permits form Gyumri. Susanna, however,
has a stamp in her passport showing that her residence is the 20-square
meter flat in the Youth Palace. Hovanisyan questions how she got the stamp
for the property, which had belonged to the Ministry of Youth and Culture.

The Galstyans argue that their registration in Gyumri would provide only
$3,000 for housing.

“We can not buy a house for $3000 neither in Yerevan nor in Gyumri,” Levon
says. (In Yerevan one room apartments sell for an average of $7,000).
“Besides I have already checked that there are more than 2,000 families in
Gyumri, having acquired a housing certificate, cannot find an appropriate
house, . My brother, too, got the certificate after the earthquake but he
could not find a house and lives now in domik (temporary housing) in
Gyumri.”

The Galstyans’ appeal is currently being heard in court. Levon says the
family is not optimistic of a settlement in its favor.

“The family was suggested to take an apartment for four months free of
charge until they find the house by their certificate, but they refuse” says
Karine Petrosyan, the arbitration judge.

The family’s property is stored in the corridor of the hotel while they try
to maintain living in their unit.

The building, which includes a 500-bed hotel, a 1,200-seat concert hall,
gymnasiums and recording studios, was sold in January for about $740,000 to
Avantgarde Motor Company, distributors for Daimler Chrysler. The company
says it intends to spend $5 million on renovation, but will maintain the
building’s unique design.

A1 Plus | 17:28:18 | 05-05-2004 | Politics |

PENDING JUSTICE

On Wednesday, Court of Appeal continued considering the first instance court
‘s decision, under which general-lieutenant Vagharshak Harutyunyan, who has
been charged with three counts of attempting a coup, making seditious calls
and making insulting remarks toward the authorities, will remain kept in
preliminary detention facilities while awaiting trial.

The Appeal Court upheld the first instance court decision.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
April 28 2004

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF EU ENLARGEMENT TO BE DISCUSSED IN WARSAW SUMMIT
[April 28, 2004, 11:11:06]

As was informed by AzerTAj correspondent, representatives from 45
countries – and thousands of anti-globalization demonstrators – are
expected in the Polish capital from Wednesday, for a 3-day summit
devoted to the economic impact of the European Union’s May 1
enlargement.

Organized by the Davos, Switzerland based World Economic Forum; the
European Economic Summit is expected to gather 20 presidents and
prime ministers, along with 600 other ministers, central bankers,
representatives from the EU and other international organizations,
and 50 companies including Boeing, Hewlett Packard and IBM.

“The meeting will give the opportunity for the representatives of
hundreds of millions of Europeans to meet with leaders from business
and from civil society to try and map out the direction of this
amazing voyage that Europe has embarked on,” World Economic Forum
Chief Executive Officer Jose Maria Figueres said in a statement.

The European Economic Summit has been held every year in Salzburg,
Austria, since 1996.

It traditionally acts as a magnet for eastern European countries
seeking to join the wealthy West, after the collapse of the communist
bloc at the end of the 1980s set them on the difficult path to
economic transformation.

This year, as an exception, the meeting is being held in Poland, the
biggest of the 10 mainly former communist bloc countries set to join
the EU on May 1, along with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia.

While most of the leaders of the incoming countries will be in
attendance, they will be outnumbered by leaders from countries which
are not joining the EU for now, with for some, like Albania, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Serbia and Montenegro,
membership being a distant prospect.

Polish police are also braced for thousands of anti-globalization
protestors, who are expected to demonstrate and hold parallel
meetings on the sidelines of the summit meeting.

Warsaw police chief Ryszard Siewierski told a recent news conference
between 3,000 and 15,000 demonstrators were expected, and that 13,500
police officers, 550 firemen, nine hospitals, 15 medical teams, 40
ambulances, a medical helicopter, as well as prosecutors,
interpreters, negotiators and psychologists would be on hand.

The Summit has posed a particular challenge for Warsaw, as it has
never been the venue of a large anti-globalization demonstration.

The summit will involve working sessions ranging from the euro and
competitiveness to the financial services market, transatlantic
relations, relations with Russia and the Caucasus and one
cutely-named “jog, eat and be happy” session.

“The program will be built on issues that affect business and policy
making, such as the immediate impact of enlargement on current EU
states and new member countries as well as the impact the new EU will
have on world affairs,” the World Economic Forum said in a statement.

“Over the past 10 years accession countries to the EU have made
ambitious economic reforms. Their biggest challenge will be to
sustain this reform effort and narrow the income gap with respect to
current members,” it said.

Interfax
April 28 2004

Azerbaijan hopes to include Kazakhstan in BTC in 2004

Astana. (Interfax) – Azerbaijan hopes that Kazakhstan will become a
participant in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project in 2004, Azerbaijani
Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said at the forum Caspian:
Politics, Economics, Business in Astana on Wednesday.

“At the moment 34 companies from 16 countries are participating in
transport projects in the Caspian region. Azerbaijan considers the
Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline projects to be
the main ones,” he said.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum projects are
“necessary conditions” for the economic development of the Caspian
region and will strengthen its energy security,” he said.

He said that Azerbaijan shares the position of Kazakhstan regarding
the laying of pipelines along the Caspian seabed.

Kazakh First Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Abuseitov said at the
forum that Kazakhstan is against having to agree laying underwater
communications and pipeline in the Caspian with all of the littoral
states. These issues should be agreed with the Caspian states through
whose sectors they pass, and not with all states in the region, he
said.

Khalafov also said that the implementation of oil and gas transport
projects in the region might be hindered by the unresolved
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and the unstable political situation in
Georgia.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project will cost $3.6 billion. The future
pipeline will stretch 1,767 kilometers (443 km through Azerbaijan,
248 km through Georgia and 1,076 km through Turkey) and will have a
capacity of 50 million tonnes of oil per annum

Participants in the BTC project are: British Petroleum (30.1%), SOCAR
(25%), Unocal (8.9%), Statoil (8.71%), TPAO (6.53%), ENI (5%), Itochu
(3.4%), ConocoPhillips (2.5%), Inpex (2.5%), TotalFinaElf (5%), and
Amerada Hess (2.36%).

Kazakhstan hopes to transport 10 million – 20 million tonnes of oil
per year through the pipeline. The republic produced over 51.3
million tonnes of oil and condensate in 2003.

Construction of the 690-km Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline should begin
in the third quarter 2004. The pipeline will transport gas from the
Shah Deniz field, which has reserves of 625 billion cubic meters of
gas and 101 million tonnes of condensate.

A1 Plus | 14:40:25 | 03-05-2004 | Politics |

RALLIES HAVE NEGATIVE IMPACT ON ECONOMY

Armenian capital’s mayor Yervand Zakaryan, asked by journalists at his
Monday’s news conference why the municipality denies to authorize
opposition-staged rallies, said demonstrators bar traffic and that has
negative impact on economy.

He said the rally scheduled for May 4 would be denied authorization as well.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
May 3, 2004 Monday

Samara to host Russian-Armenian conference in mid-May

By Lyudmila Yermakova

A conference on inter-regional Russian-Armenian cooperation will be
held in Samara in the middle of May.

The head of the Federation Council Committee on the CIS, Vadim
Gustov, told Itar-Tass on Monday that the meeting had been initiated
by the upper house of the Russian parliament and the National
Assembly of Armenia.

“In conditions when the Caucasus remains a problem territory, it is
necessary to use the regional factor in order to forge relations,” he
said.

Armenian regions have signed 15 agreements with Russian regions, and
these ties need to be strengthened, the senator said.

Samara was chosen as the venue of the conference as one of the
Russian regions that cooperate with Armenia most actively.

Six Armenian governors, representatives of Russian regions, members
of the Federation Council, officials from the government and the
Foreign Ministry will arrive in Samara.

The conference will be moderated by Federation Council chairman
Sergei Mironov and Armenian National Assembly Chairman Artur
Bagdasaryan.

The Armenian delegation will visit an Armenian church and meet with
members of the local Armenian community.

A meeting of regional leaders and the co-chairmen of the
Russian-Armenian inter-governmental cooperation commission will also
be held.

Amnesty International
AI Index: EUR 55/001/2004 (Public)
News Service No: 113
4 May 2004

Azerbaijan: Political opposition leaders must receive fair trial

Amnesty International today called on the Azerbaijani authorities to
ensure that seven leading members of the political opposition in
Azerbaijan receive a fair trial in line with international standards.

Rauf Arifoglu, a deputy chairman of the Musavat (Equality) party and
editor-in-chief of the Yeni Musavat opposition newspaper, Arif Hajili
and Ibrahim Ibrahimli, also deputy chairmen of Musavat, Panah
Huseynov, chairman of the Khalq (People) party, Etimad Asadov,
chairman of the Karabakh’s Invalids Association, Sardar Jalologlu,
the executive secretary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party and Igbal
Agazade, the chairman of the Umid (Hope) party are due to go on trial
at the Court for Grave Crimes in Baku later this week for their
alleged participation in violent clashes between opposition
supporters and law enforcement officers in the wake of the
presidential elections in October 2003. All seven political opponents
are reportedly accused of having masterminded the post-election
violence and are charged with organizing mass disturbances (Article
220 part one of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code) and endangering the
life or health of representatives of the authorities by means of
force (Article 315 part two) – charges which they have consistently
denied since their pre-trial arrests in October 2003.

Amnesty International is concerned about allegations that, after they
were reportedly arbitrarily detained, some of the seven opposition
politicians were tortured by members of the Ministry of Internal
Affair’s (MVD) Organized Crime Unit (OCU) to force them to confess to
having organized or participated in the post-election violence and to
denounce the opposition electoral bloc Bizim Azerbaijan (Our
Azerbaijan) and its presidential candidate, Isa Gambar, the chairman
of Musavat and runner-up in the election, who had been placed under
house arrest.

For example, on 17 October masked OCU officers detained Iqbal
Agazadeh at his home, after a special session of parliament had
stripped him of his parliamentary immunity earlier that day. On the
way to the OCU offices he was allegedly repeatedly punched in the
face with a steel-reinforced glove. At the OCU he was reportedly
severely beaten and tortured during three days in order to force him
to denounce Isa Gambar in a television interview on 20 October, after
which he was allowed access to his lawyer. His lawyer told the
international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch that
Iqbal Agazadeh’s body was covered in bruises and that he had been hit
some 50 times on one leg.

Others were reportedly detained in cruel, inhuman and degrading
conditions. Rauf Arifoglu told members of the international press
freedom organization Reporters without Borders, who visited him in
pre-trial detention in Bailov prison in Baku, that he had been held
in solitary confinement for 32 days and forced to sleep on the floor
of an unheated cell for 18 days. He went on hunger strike in December
2003 and again in February 2004 together with dozens of opposition
detainees to protest their arrests, which they believe were
politically-motivated.

“Such ill-treatment and torture are against basic human rights
principles endorsed by Azerbaijan when it signed and ratified the
European Convention on Human Rights and if substantiated cast serious
doubts on Azerbaijan’s commitment to the respect of human rights and
the rule of law,” the organization said.

Amnesty International is further concerned about reports from earlier
trials of opposition activists, accused of having taken part in the
post-election violence, that evidence based on confessions extracted
under torture was admitted in court. The organization reminds the
Azerbaijani authorities of their obligations under international fair
trial standards not to admit such evidence in court and to promptly
and impartially investigate all allegations of torture and
ill-treatment and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Background
In August 2003 President Heydar Aliyev appointed his son, Ilham
Aliyev, as Prime Minister. Two weeks before presidential elections on
15 October, he resigned as President and withdrew his candidacy in
favour of his son who went on to win the elections by a large margin,
as the sole candidate, for the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan (New
Azerbaijan) party. The elections were marred by widespread voting
irregularities, including ballot box stuffing, multiple voting and
intimidation of voters and election observers. Scores of election
officials who refused to sign flawed election protocols during the
vote count were reportedly threatened and detained. Violent clashes
between opposition activists protesting election irregularities and
officers from the police and MVD special forces in the centre of the
capital Baku on 16 October left hundreds of protestors and dozens of
police officers injured, many seriously, and claimed at least one
death. Over 50 independent and opposition journalists covering the
demonstration were reportedly severely beaten by police and several
were detained along with scores of protestors and bystanders. There
were credible reports that large numbers of opposition activists or
supporters and members of their families were intimidated and
dismissed from their jobs following the election because of their
political affiliation.

Hundreds of opposition activists, officials and supporters – mainly,
but not exclusively, of the Musavat party – were detained throughout
the country reportedly for “instigating, organizing or participating
in violent activities”. Most were sentenced to short-term
administrative detention but more than a hundred were remanded in
custody. To date 118 opposition activists have been tried in separate
court cases for their alleged participation in the post-election
violence. Thirty three men received prison sentences of between three
and six years while the rest received suspended sentences. Among
those who received a conditional sentence was human rights activist
and imam of the independent Juma mosque, Ilgar Ibrahimoglu. He was
released on 2 April.

A1 Plus | 16:03:02 | 23-04-2004 | Politics |

STATEMENT OF CENTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT/TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
ARMENIA

Considering the unprecedented political persecutions, violence and arrests
that took place in the Republic of Armenia during the last weeks as a direct
result of political corruption manifested at the presidential and
parliamentary elections, Center for Regional Development/Transparency
International Armenia appeals to international community to condemn the
above-mentioned actions undertaken by the Armenian authorities violating
democratic principles, and calls to take real measures against the current
authorities for not following international obligations aimed at ensuring
democratic development of the country.

Baku Today
April 23 2004

Apresyan, Teryan might leave Azerbaijan

Baku Today 23/04/2004 19:50

Leaders of an international group which functions for release of
prisoners of war and hostages Bernhard Clasen and Paata Zakareishvili
have met with Artur and Roman in Baku today.
The two ethnic Armenians have asked Clasen and Zakareishvili to
assist them in getting residence `in a third country’, according to
ANS.
Apresyan and Teryan had fled to Azerbaijan from Armenia in quest of
refuge against constant abasement to their personalities on the part
of Armenians.

Clasen said, his group will help and to leave Azerbaijan for another
country.

`We hope to settle their problems with humanitarian methods,’ said
Clasen.