Author: Hovhannisian John

NewRatings.com
Dec 20 2004

Dr Leonid Roshal, the Russian Paediatrician who was Chief Negotiator
During the Beslan Siege, is Named Reader’s Digest ‘

Monday, December 20, 2004 7:01:00 PM ET
PRNewswire

LONDON, December 20 /PRNewswire/ —

Russian paediatrician Dr Leonid Roshal, who acted as an intermediary
during the Beslan school siege last September, is to receive the
Reader’s Digest European of the Year Award 2005 for his tireless and
dedicated work helping children who have been injured in disasters
and conflicts around the world.

Dr Roshal was chosen by the Editors-in-Chief of the 18 European
editions of Reader’s Digest magazine, which reach 4.2 million
subscribers. The Reader’s Digest European of the Year is awarded to
the person who in the Editors’ opinion best embodies the contemporary
expression of Europe’s values and traditions. The award will be
presented to Dr Roshal at a ceremony in Moscow on 19 January 2005.

Dr Roshal, 71, is head of the Moscow Scientific Research Institute
for Emergency Children’s Surgery and Traumatology and founder of an
international aid organisation which aims to rescue children in
trouble. Over the last two decades, thousands of young people with
horrific injuries have benefited from his specialised emergency care.

He has also become a hero in his own country. When terrorists seized
School Number One in Beslan in September, they asked for Dr Roshal to
act as mediator. This wasn’t the first time he had been called on as
an intermediary. Dr Roshal had gained international renown in 2002
for the crucial role he played when the Dubrovka theatre in Moscow
was seized by Chechen terrorists and he managed to negotiate freedom
for some of the hostages.

Within 30 minutes of arriving in Beslan he was speaking to the
terrorists and implored them, in vain, to allow in food, water and
medicines. Over the next two days he served as main negotiator and
alerted nearby hospitals for possible casualties. On the third day a
powerful explosion inside the school triggered a savage gun battle
with the special forces outside. According to official figures 379
people died, including 171 children and 30 terrorists. A further 700
hostages were injured, but thanks to Dr Roshal’s and his colleagues’
meticulous medical preparation all received medical attention within
two hours.

Dr Roshal’s international aid work started in 1988 when he and 34
doctors from Moscow’s hospitals volunteered to help the relief effort
following the devastating 1988 earthquake in Armenia.

Since then his work has taken him to more than two dozen major
incidents on four continents, including the first Gulf War, Romania,
former Yugoslavia, Nagorno Karabakh, the US, Egypt, Japan,
Afghanistan, Turkey, India and Algeria.

The full story of Dr Roshal’s remarkable achievements, written by
contributing editor Brian Eads, is published simultaneously in all
European editions of Reader’s Digest in January.

Dr Roshal is the tenth winner of the Reader’s Digest European of the
Year award, worth EUR5,000.

A high resolution photograph to accompany this release is available
to the media free of charge at (+44-207-608-1000)

Reader’s Digest

TOLL SYSTEM ‘WILL ADD TO BURDEN’
by Bassam Za’za’ and Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporters

Gulf News, United Arab Emirates
December 19, 2004

Motorists publicly denounced the proposed toll system yesterday,
saying the new fee would only add to their already rapidly rising
cost of living.

Armen Hagobian, an Armenian manager who works in the tourism industry,
said the proposed toll system was a bad idea.

“I don’t think I can pay any fils for entering or leaving Dubai. On
the contrary, I believe that I should be paid for promoting Dubai
and bringing in tourists.

“If that means any additional infrastructure, which makes my life
easier, then I would agree to pay. Otherwise, I live in Sharjah because
the rents are much more affordable and reasonable than they are Dubai.

“If the authorities install the toll system, I am ready to leave my
Dubai office and move elsewhere.”

Ayman, a salesman working in a company in Dubai, echoed the same
feelings. “I live in Ajman and work in Dubai. I have to travel to
Dubai four times a day. I cannot afford an apartment in Dubai because
the rents are high.

“So what will I do after the implementation of the toll system? How
much do I have to pay per month? Shall I travel by boat to reach work
every day?” Ayman asked.

“If they offer cheap flats in Dubai, I will be the first to live
there, but it is too expensive for low income families,” said Amir,
a Pakistani.

Haytham Al Shami, a traffic analyst, said the use of a toll tax will
reduce traffic but it should be used during peak hours only and not
on the weekends. “If it is applied in a fair way, with a fair toll,
it is a good way to reduce traffic,” he said.

“Such a toll system is adopted in London, Paris and many other European
cities,” he said.

Jad Mustafa, a 25-year-old Lebanese who works as an account executive,
disagreed.

“This toll will increase workers’ expenses by Dh250 to Dh300 a month.
This system will increase traffic congestion if motorists were required
to stop and pay.

“Many Sharjah residents will be forced to move to Dubai. Some might
even leave the country because the only reason that brought them
here is to earn a living and save. The toll system will make life
more expensive. It’s going to be a huge burden.

“In the past few years, the cost of living in the UAE has taken off
like a rocket. The daily living expenses are increasing, and our
salaries are not,” said Mustafa.

Jamal Saif, newly married UAE national and government employee,
said he is against the toll system.

“We cannot afford to pay for petrol, especially after it recently
increased. Prices of food, vegetables, beverages and clothing have
also increased.

“I cannot imagine myself paying the toll. We already pay taxes,
known as road fees, about Dh250 in Dubai and Dh150 in Sharjah, when
renewing our car registration.”

Saif lives behind Al Qasimi hospital. He spends about three to four
hours a day on the roads between Sharjah and Dubai.

“Before installing the toll system, the authorities should consult the
people. If this toll system goes ahead, it would be an unreasonable
and illogical decision.

“I believe the government should be more careful when issuing new
drivers’ licences. Selling new cars to new drivers should also be
monitored,” he said.

A merchant at one shopping complex in Dubai said the toll system
would have a negative impact on business in Dubai.

“Citizens from other emirates come to Dubai for shopping. The toll
on entering the city, no matter how little, will drive them away,”
he said.

“Before installing the toll system, the authorities should consult
the people.

If this toll system goes ahead, it would be an unreasonable and
illogical decision.”

CONSUMERS AGAINST SHADE ECONOMY

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
17 Dec 04

Recently the NKR National Assembly discussed the NKR bill on cash
registers. The bill maintains the forms of liability in case of the
absence of cash registers or breaking of the rules of their operation
in an obligatory use of cash registers. The obligatory use of cash
registers was introduced by the decision N 250 of the NKR government
adopted on November 24, 1998. The use of the cash registers is a
means of revealing the shade economy and reducing it. It should be
mentioned that at the beginning the process was very slow due to
technical problems but during the past two years it was expedited and
presently very few shops and services do not have cash registers. The
first rank specialist of the State Tax Agency under the NKR government
Anahit Beglarian told that the retailers occupying more than 10 square
metres of space, as well as casinos, baths, hotels, restaurants,
cafes, cafeterias, pharmacies, and persons paying the trade tax
according to the NKR law on trade tax must have cash registers.
Since 2000 778 cash registers were installed in NKR of which 468
in the capital. The registration of cash registers used by shops
and services is done in 7 days after submitting all the necessary
documents to the tax agency. Anahit Beglarian also informed that in
case of obligatory use of cash registers the taxpayer pays a fine of
150 thousand drams in case of keeping financial records without cash
registers or breaking the rules of their usage. If it repeats within
a year after the imposition of the fine the taxpayer is liable to a
fine of 300 thousand drams. According to the bill, the size of the
fine imposed for the first case of breaking the rules of the cash
register is reduced to 75 thousand drams and in case breaking repeats
the taxpayer is fined 150 thousand drams and his activity is stopped
for five days. In case of breaking the rules for more than 2 times the
size of the fine totals 300 thousand drams and the activity is stopped
for 10 days. To check the operation of cash registers the workers of
the tax agency sometimes do shopping. According to Anahit Beglarian,
the behaviour of the consumer has a significant role in fighting
shade economy. If every buyer demands check for the goods he bought,
he will contribute to the economic and social growth of the country,
which in its turn will result in the payment of salaries, pensions
and benefits on time.

LAURA GRIGORIAN.

17-12-2004

INSUFFICIENT SOURCES ALLOCATED FOR ARMENIAN SCIENCE

Azg/arm
15 Dec 04

The intellectual resources have always been considered Armenia’s major
wealth. Tatoul Manaserian, member of Justice faction, stated that our
statesmen have forgotten about this factor. The scarce financial
sources allocated for the science in RA state budget of the next year
testify to our authorities’ indifference to the science. According to
him, the allocations for the science should at least amount to 3% of
the budget. It’s worth reminding that 4 billion AMD are allocated for
the science in Armenia where over 6000 scientists work. Manaserian,
who is an economist, believes that the financial sources allocated to
RA National Academy of Sciences should be at least doubled, while the
Byurakan Observatory should be financed separately. He also demands
that the Astrological Laboratory led by academician Grigor Gyurzadian
should also bepaid attention and financed very well, as this scientist
has traditionally made serious contribution to the development of the
world’s astrology, while today he is deprived of this opportunity.

By Karine Danielian

Lowell Sun (Lowell, MA)
December 6, 2004 Monday

‘It’s a family tradition’

NANCYE TUTTLE, Sun Staff

Tradition, tradition …

Tevye, the milkman, sang of its significance in the popular musical
Fiddler on the Roof.

And at this time of year, families draw on their own traditions to
make the holidays special and truly memorable for every member.

It may be as simple as trooping into the woods to chop down the
Christmas tree or decorating cookies for a family celebration or
savoring the same festive dinner each Christmas Eve.

Whatever it is, traditions are important for solidifying family ties
and creating memories to last a lifetime.

Traditions often are food-centered and faith-based. That’s the case
in Sara Bogosian’s family.

“Christmas is a very special time of year for our family, filled with
many age old traditions because of our multi-cultural, multi-lingual
backgrounds,” says Bogosian of Lowell.

Her parents were 100 percent Armenian, but Sara and her mother before
her were born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. So they blend several
different cultures’ holiday traditions.

The real Armenian Christmas, primarily a religious celebration, is
based on the Julian calendar and celebrated on Jan. 6. Bogosian and
her family celebrate on both Dec. 25 and Jan. 6.

“On Christmas Eve, our immediate family gets together with cousins,
aunts, uncles and friends. We go to Christmas Mass and then come home
to a dinner filled with Argentinian and Armenian cuisine,” she said.

Besides dinner, there are traditional desserts, including an Armenian
Christmas pudding called Anoshaboor.

“It is a pudding made of whole grain wheat, apricots, yellow raisins,
pistachio nuts, walnuts, filberts, sugar, rose water, almonds and
pomegranate seeds. The pudding is placed in a large bowl and
decorated with the almonds in the shape of a big star to represent
the star that shone on Christmas night,” said Bogosian.

Music also plays a big part in the family celebration, with a carol
sing around the piano.

Before going to bed, each member celebrates the Argentinian custom of
putting their shoes out at the front door for the Three Wise Men who
come bearing gifts. In the morning, the shoes are filled with candies
and little gifts.

Even though Bogosian’s children are now 21 and 24 and a niece is 18,
Santa still gets his due.

“Every Christmas Eve, we still put out a long note to Santa, along
with milk, cookies and carrots and celery for the reindeer. Amazingly
enough, Santa, in spite of his busy schedule, always seems to write
us back, mentioning every member of the family. Before we begin to
open our gifts on Christmas morning, we read the note from Santa out
loud. It is a funny, and sometimes emotional way to start off the
gift giving,” said Bogosian.

Christine and Bruce Brown’s holiday traditions focus on food as well.
And the famous cookie tray is a major focal point, says Chris, who
directs the Center for the Arts at UMass Lowell

“Most of our holiday traditions are food-related. In the 18 years
since we’ve lived in Lowell, we’ve always welcomed many of the Brown
family on Christmas Eve. It’s a large family and they come from all
over,” says Chris.

The evening always starts with a big, sit-down dinner of roasted loin
of pork, tiny roasted potatoes and Bruce’s mother’s special pork
sauce recipe.

“We eat by candlelight, and then go into the living room for a
gift-opening respite,” says Chris.

Following gifts, they retreat to the dining room again for the
fabulous cookie tray.

“This is something I inherited from Bruce’s mother when we got
married. We always have a big discussion on what will be on the
tray,” she said.

There are usually eight varieties, but painted cutouts, coconut
macaroons, almond spritz, and triple orange frosted brownies are
always on the tray, Brown says.

On Christmas Day, Chris, Bruce and their son Ethan, now a sophomore
at University of Michigan, traditionally walk down the stairs holding
hands to see if Santa came. After breakfast with a sour cream coffee
cake that Bruce always bakes, they open stockings and enjoy an “orgy
of Christmas present opening.”

Then they travel to a brother’s home in Newton for Christmas dinner,
always a traditional turkey with more cookies. During the day, they
all help put together a jigsaw puzzle.

“It’s always a new one, set up on a card table and everyone helps put
it together,” says Chris.

Retirees Chet and Carole Babineau of Pepperell have a few happy
traditions that they enjoy sharing with their family.

“Christmas services on Christmas Eve, no longer a midnight Mass, but
we like to go Christmas Eve and hope it is [snow] flurrying as we
leave. That really sets the mood,” said Chet.

They have stockings at their house for the five grandchildren who
live next door. “We invite the little tykes up to our house later in
the day so they can retrieve what Santa has left in their stockings
that Nana hangs on the mantel,” he said.

After Christmas, they celebrate New Year’s with a bang with their
Texas grandchildren.

“It’s a ban-up time in Texas, as they can set off fireworks. The
street looks and smells like a combat zone after the display. This is
our second Christmas with the family there,” said Chet.

Nancye Tuttle’s e-mail address is [email protected].

GRAPHIC: Every Christmas, Christine Brown of Lowell creates ‘the
fabulous cookie tray’ for members of her extended family a custom she
took over from her mother-in-law. sun file photo

Boulder Daily Camera, CO
Dec 11 2004

Family’s release brings relief

Judge: Armenian immigrants illegally entered country

By Kim Castleberry, Camera Staff Writer
December 11, 2004

After spending five weeks locked away in a federal detention center,
most people would have an endless list of things to do once they were
released. For Gevorg Sargsyan and his family, a nice dinner at the
Chop House was at the top of that list.

“The first thing we did was go get a good meal,” said Colin Lacy,
Sargsyan’s best friend who picked the family up Thursday afternoon
after they were discharged from the detention center. “Everybody was
so excited.”

Lacy attends the University of Colorado, where Sargsyan was a student
until he and his family were arrested on Nov. 4 for entering the
country with the wrong kind of visa. The family’s lawyer and friends
worked for weeks to get them released from the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement detention center, but the decision came
unexpectedly.

“I found out about 15 minutes before they were released,” said Jeff
Joseph, the family’s lawyer. “We called the ICE officer and he said
that they couldn’t really answer any of our questions.”

Joseph was told that the case had been re-evaluated and the family
was no longer thought to be a flight risk.

“The release does nothing to change the case,” said Joseph, who is
going forward with filing for special visas so the family can stay in
the United States. Sargsyan, his brother, sister and father all were
held at the detention center in Aurora. The family has lived in the
mountain town of Ridgway for more than six years and is now back at
home.

The family could not be reached for comment Friday.

Lacy, who attended Ridgway High School with Sargsyan, and other
residents have been trying to get political support and raise money
for the family’s deportation appeal in federal court. He and Sargsyan
talked all night on Thursday, but he said he’s not sure what his
friend’s immediate plans are.

Sargsyan was a sophomore at CU, where he was studying pre-medicine.
The 20-year-old withdrew from school after an immigration judge ruled
that the family had entered the country fraudulently using student
visas.

The circumstances behind the family’s release are cloudy.

“Nobody knows who exactly made the release or why,” Lacy said. “We’ll
probably never know. All we know is it came from Washington.”

He said reporters from The New York Times interviewed the Sargsyans
on Friday morning and the fact that the family’s story was getting
national media attention might also have factored into the decision.

Family members say they were forced to flee Armenia because of the
Russian mafia and if they returned mobsters would kill them because
of alleged crimes there by a former in-law who is an American.

The Australian, Australia
Dec 10 2004

Return of the big bad bear
Paul Dibb

FOR more than a decade, received wisdom in the West has been that
Russia has changed fundamentally and is now a peace-loving European
power prepared to keep to itself and live by the rules. If we prove
to have been wrong about Russia, much of what has been assumed about
global and European security will need revision, too.

Moscow’s interference in the Ukrainian election, the announcement
that Russia will deploy a new type of strategic nuclear missile “that
other nuclear states do not have”, and President Vladimir Putin’s
increasingly anti-democratic attitude all point to a reversion to bad
old habits.

Putin has openly mourned the passing of the Soviet Union as “a
national tragedy” for Russia. He has launched a bid to reconstitute a
“joint economic space” on the ashes of the Soviet Union, taking in
Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Putin’s growing antipathy
towards the US is reflected in his accusation that Washington is
running a “dictatorship” over global affairs.

The visit to Moscow last week of Leonid Kuchma, President of Ukraine,
to meet Putin looked suspiciously like a Soviet era visit to report
to head office for new instructions. The West has been accused of
using the Ukraine as part of “a well-planned strike directed
primarily at Russia”, and to effect “a political takeover of the
post-Soviet area”. There have even been suggestions in the Russian
press that a Viktor Yushchenko presidency in the Ukraine could
trigger military intervention.

Bad habits have been evident for some time in the new Russia. At
home, the dominance of Kremlin advisers from the former KGB, who now
occupy 60 per cent of key decision-making positions, the suppression
of dissent in the media, and the jailing (or killing) of political
adversaries are all too familiar from the days of the Soviet Union.
Overseas, the retention of links with former client states (such as
Syria and North Korea), the suspicion of NATO, and the latent fear of
China all reflect abiding Soviet geopolitical concerns.

The days of euphoria over the expectation that a democratic Russia
would become a member of the Western strategic community are long
gone. Instead, we are now seeing an attempt by Putin to re-establish
Russia as a great power.

Most countries are prisoners of their geography and history — and
none more so than Russia. There is a deeply entrenched sense of
geographical vulnerability in Russia. Invasions by the Mongol hordes,
and later attacks by Poland, Sweden, France and Germany have left an
acute sense of paranoia.

This was reflected in a statement by Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov
last year, which identifies among the main threats to Russian
security: “the expansion of military blocs and alliances to the
detriment of the military security of the Russian Federation” and
“the introduction of foreign troops onto the territories of states,
which are adjacent to and friendly toward [Russia]”. These are
scarcely veiled references to the expansion of NATO on Russia’s
western borders and the military presence of the US in states of
former Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Then there is the question of the re-emergence of Russia’s imperial
impulse. As Ilan Berman, who is with the American Foreign Policy
Council, says in The Washington Quarterly, this concept has been
present in Russian political life for centuries, and the end of the
Cold War did little to mute it.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn advocated calls for a Greater Russia shortly
after the Soviet Union collapsed. Under Putin, these impulses are
beginning to be put into practice. As he said in June, Russian
officials are “now working to restore what was lost with the fall of
the Soviet Union”.

Russia’s strong economic growth is enabling it to spend more on
defence and increase its military presence in what it calls “the near
abroad”. Russia’s real defence expenditure was $US65.2 billion ($86.1
billion) in 2003 — an increase of more than 40 per cent from 2001.

This makes Russia the second-largest defence spender in the world
after the US, and ahead of China and Japan. Of course, it would be
wrong to assume that Russia is anywhere near repairing the
post-Soviet damage to its military. But Russia still has 5000
operational strategic nuclear warheads and armed forces numbering 1.2
million. And Russia under Putin is re-establishing a military
presence in neighbouring countries.

As Berman points out, the US’s new emphasis on Central Asia and the
Caucasus as part of the global war against terrorism is drawing a
strong Russian response. In Uzbekistan, Russia has negotiated an
agreement that effectively puts Moscow in charge of much of
Tashkent’s military policy. Last year, the Russian military opened
its first foreign base since the fall of the Soviet Union, in
Kyrgyzstan.

This year, Tajikistan granted Moscow military basing rights “on a
free of charge and open-ended basis”. Russia and Kazakhstan have also
inaugurated a joint action plan for security co-operation.

In the Caucasus, Russia has negotiated the use of military bases in
Armenia. Moscow continues to foment separatist tendencies within
Georgia and has threatened to cease gas supplies to Azerbaijan.

In June, Moscow commenced large-scale military exercises (called
Mobility 2004) with a clear signal to its neighbours that it
possesses the will and firepower to project force. The Russian
Foreign Ministry said they were intended to demonstrate that “any
place is within our reach”.

So, how did we get to this remove? Not all of it can be levelled at a
paranoid Russia. Had the West mounted a serious attempt to aid Russia
after the collapse of the Soviet Union, we might have had a better
chance of a democratic Russia. Instead, Washington was intent on
never allowing Russia to emerge again as a major power. The expansion
of NATO up to the Russian borders, including basing NATO planes in
Lithuania, NATO activity in the Caucasus, and the prospect of the
Ukraine joining the EU and NATO, may turn out to be a fatal step in
the history of the 21st century.

President Putin has made it clear that Moscow should not allow this
erosion of Russia’s geopolitical space. The Chief of the Russian
General Staff has written: “A powerful military stationed at our
borders with no declared objective poses a threat to any non-NATO
country. Sensible leaders would realise this and prepare to counter
the threat.”

The problem is that Russia, after 400 years of autocracy, has never
felt its independence threatened in this way before from European
hegemony. The forthcoming elections in Ukraine may just provide
Moscow with the pretext it requires to assert control over what it
sees as vital geopolitical space.

Paul Dibb, a former deputy defence secretary, is chairman of the
Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National
University in Canberra.

Armenian MP rubbishes Turkish premier’s remarks on ethnic minorities

Arminfo
7 Dec 04

Yerevan, 7 December: One should not take “at face value” Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent statement during the opening of
the Armenian museum in Istanbul that ethnic groups living in Turkey are
native elements of that country and that Turkey has defended and will
defend their interests, Vaan Ovanesyan, deputy speaker of the Armenian
parliament and a member of the bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation – Dashnaktsutyun, told a press conference today.

Today Turkey is ready to say flattering words to the Armenian
people in order to successfully implement its far-reaching plans,
he said. However, the deputy speaker said, this is just an attempt
“to blow smoke” into the eyes of the international community and the
Armenian people.

VOLUME OF ELECTRICITY PRODUCED IN ARMENIA DURING TEN MONTHS OF 2004
INCREASES BY 8.9% IN COMPARISON WITH SAME PERIOD OF LAST YEAR

YEREVAN, December 3 (Noyan Tapan). 4877.2 mln kwt/h electricity were
produced in Armenia in Jan-Oct 2004, which is more by 8.9% than the
same index of last year. According to the RA National Statistical
Service, the volumes of electricity produced by HPPs increased by
5.9%, the volumes of electricity produced by the Armenian Nucler Power
Plant increased by 19.2%, and by TPPs increased by 0.3%. ANPP produced
1846.1 mln KWT/h electricity, which made 37.9% of the total volume of
electricity produced in the republic during the period under review,
TPPs produced 1273.7 mln KWT/h, or 26.1%, and HPPs produced 1757.4 mln
KWT/h electricity, or 36%, respectively,

RIA Novosti, Russia
Dec 2 2004

NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT WORRIES AZERBAIJANIS

BAKU, December 2 (RIA Novosti) – According to a recent poll conducted
by the International Foundation of Election Systems funded by the US
Agency for International Development, 69% of Azerbaijanis said the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has made hundreds of thousands of
people refugees in their own country, was the biggest problem facing
Azerbaijan. The poll was conducted June 21-July 21, 2004 with 1,620
people polled in Baku and six other urban centers.

During a meeting with International Committee of the Red Cross Baku
representative Mary Werntz, Eldar Makhmudov, chairman of the
Azerbaijani State Commission on POWs, missing persons and hostages
and a national security minister, said 1,357 Azerbaijanis were freed
from Armenian captivity in 1998-2004. He also claimed that Azerbaijan
had testimony about another 783 people being held captive in Armenia.

He noted that 4,852 Azerbaijanis had been missing since the beginning
of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an
Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan that Baku lost control over in the
late 1980s and early 1990s.

According to the survey 40% of the respondents cited unemployment,
13% cited low standards of living, 6% cited imperfect social
protection and 6 % cited economic problems as the largest problem
facing Azerbaijan.

Fifty-four percent of the respondents described the current economic
situation as good or very good, 48% expected it to improve next year
and only 7% expected it to get worse.

According to the poll, 46% of respondents think that democracy had
been established in the country, 20% did not think Azerbaijan had a
democracy and only 37% were aware of their civil rights.

Forty percent of the respondents said the ruling party, Eni
Azerbaijan, reflected the interests of citizens more completely than
other political parties.

Sixty percent of the respondents said the Azerbaijani judicial system
was no impartial. According to the respondents the most corrupt
aspects of society were medicine and education. Interestingly,
Russian surveys produce the same results. This is a common problem
for all newly independent post-Soviet states.

Twenty-five percent of the respondents said they would vote in the
municipal elections on December 17, while 33% said they might vote.

According to the respondents, the main source of information in the
county is television. In terms of popularity, 51% of the respondents
watched Russian television channels and 49% watched Turkish stations.
The most popular newspapers, the opposition newspaper Eni Musavat and
the Russian newspaper Zerkalo were each read by 7% of the
respondents.

The poll also showed that young people, 18-25, were inadequately
informed about politics and economics.