Author: Hunanian Jack

ARMENIA: HAVING THEIR CAKE AND EATING IT TOO
By William Dunbar

The Messenger, Georgia
May 31 2006

Outside every public building in Georgia the flag of Europe flutters
away next to the five crosses of Georgia – a testament to the nation’s
western ambitions. But Georgia is paying a price for its occidental
inclination; the drive west has incurred the wrath of the northern
neighbor, and with every step Georgia takes towards ‘Euro-Atlantic
structures’ a reprisal is issued from Moscow. Be it visa regimes,
embargoes on wine and mineral water, or increasingly vocal support for
the separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia-like a jealous
lover-seems determined to punish Georgia for getting too friendly
with the west.

The Georgian authorities are at pains to point out just how far the
country has come on the road to western integration, and significant
progress has certainly been made. Inclusion in the new European
Neighborhood Policy (ENP), the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)
and the solidarity shown Georgia by Dick Cheney at the recent Vilnius
summit of Baltic-Black Sea nations-not to mention last year’s Bush
visit, and the praise he heaped on the ‘ beacon of democracy’-all of
these are achievements the Georgian government can be proud of.

However, each of these achievements has been accompanied by
deterioration in the relationship with Russia. Both the Russian and
Georgian authorities are trapped in a lose-lose situation. They each
see influence in Georgia as being like a cake: if the West gets more
cake then Russia gets less, there is only so much cake to go round,
after all. This ‘zero-sum’ thinking is leading both nations into a
spiral of increasing hostility, damaging them economically and/or
tarnishing their international image, and it seems it can only
get worse.

Yet there is a prime example to the south reminding us that influence
doesn’t have to be like a cake at all. Armenia is living proof that
you can have it both ways. Armenia-a small, impoverished and landlocked
country of some three million people-is home to the second largest US
embassy in the world (Iraq is number one). Little Armenia receives more
US government aid per capita than or almost anywhere else (including
Georgia), it is also signed up to the ENP and the MCA. And how are
Armenian/Russian relations? Well they’re just peachy. No visa regime,
no trade embargoes, no fiery rhetoric, and Armenian cognac is still
readily available in Moscow. The historical hatred they continue to
bear towards their Turkic neighbors notwithstanding, the Armenians
are quietly getting along with the real powers that be; they even
manage to have friendly relations with Iran and still get a huge
slice of military assistance from the US.

Armenia should be a lesson to both Russia and Georgia, politics doesn’t
have to be a zero sum game, and everyone can be a winner. You really
can have your cake and eat it too.

MOTTO OF SUDETEN GERMAN DAYS’ EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE-HISTORIAN

Czech News Agency
May 29, 2006 Monday

Munich, May 29 (CTK) – The motto of this year’s traditional Sudeten
German Days that will take place in Nuremberg next weekend is extremely
aggressive, the most aggressive in the history of these rallies,
German historian Martin Schulze Wessel says in the daily Sueddeutsche
Zeitung today. The motto, Expulsion is genocide, does not correspond
to historic reality, but it indicates those unclear but wide demands
towards the Czech Republic and clearly harms Czech-German relations,
Wessel says. “The expulsion is genocide – the future belongs to the
right for a homeland.” Even at the time of the Cold War the Sudeten
German Landsmannschaft rallies’ motto had never been so aggressive.

What do they mean by this?” the author asks and points out that it
is no coincidence that the German terms for genocide and expulsion
differ – they both express evil, but describe different kind of
injustice. The scientific research of genocides aroused the question
of where is the line dividing forced transfer and genocide, but only in
the case of the Holocaust of Jews and the extermination of Armenians by
Turks in 1915 it is possible to put the sign of equation between both
terms. Although the expulsion of Germans from the former Czechoslovakia
was accompanied, especially in the initial phase, by atrocities and
the deaths of tens of thousands of people were expected there was no
planned intention of physical extermination of the German-speaking
population, and the Sudeten Germans had a country that admitted them
– Germany to which they have integrated with the remarkable effort,
Wessels says. The fate of the Sudeten Germans was bad enough so why
there are efforts today to exaggerate it and put it on the level of
genocide? he asks. It is a political message, but given that the Nazis
prepared a real genocide of the Czech people since 1940 it can only
harm Czech-German relations, the says. The second part of this year’s
motto – the future belongs to the right for a homeland – can provoke
the impression that the Sudeten Germans are interested in restitution
and compensation. They still have the “return of their homeland back”
put as a goal in their programme. “If it is viewed metaphorically,
it is all right but to perceive it very specifically it can mean a
revisionist goal,”Wessels says. “To put the expulsion on the level
of genocide creates a moral reproach of the greatest calibre towards
Czechs and in connection with the right for a homeland it forms the
basis for the demands of a not quite specified revision,” he says. It
is not therefore surprising that 38 percent of Czechs believe that
it is possible for the German government to once raise the claim for
the regions that were populated by Germans in the past or to demand
the compensation and the same part of the population suspect the
Landsmannschaft of really pursuing these goals. Only four percent
of Czechs believe that the Expellees’ associations pursue friendly
contacts, Wessel says. These findings should alarm politicians
because the image of the nations is also decisive for other decisions,
for instance, about investments or language studies. Many positive
initiatives by the Sudeten Germans in Czech-German relations do not
unfortunately have any chance in this media atmosphere to win over
the persuasive slogans by expellees’ unions’ leaders, Wessel, who
is a deputy chairman of the Czech-German commission of historians
says. Sudeten German Landsmannschaft leader Bernd Posselt had
rejected his statements in an interview with the German news agency
dpa. He described Wessel as a politicising scientist who crosses his
powers. According to Posselt, modern historical science describes any
form of expulsion as genocide. The expellees do not want to lacerate
old wounds but they want to prevent similar events from being repeated
in the future.

MILITARY COOPERATION BETWEEN UKRAINE AND ARMENIA ISN’T AIMED AT DAMAGING TERRITORIES OF OTHER COUNTRIES – ANATOLY GRISENKO
Author: R.Abdullayev

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 31 2006

The cooperation between Ukraine and Armenia is not aimed at damaging
the other countries. The Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoly Grisenko
made such a statement at the press-conference held as a result of the
meeting of defense ministers of the countries of the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS) on May 31 in Baku, Trend reports.

“Our agreement with Armenia doesn’t intend to carry out any activity
aimed at damaging other countries,” said the minister noting that “the
activity of the organization is appointed at the level of solution
of the important problems”.

Grisenko stressed that all relations of Ukraine with the countries
around the world were based on the profitable aspects for Kiev by
taking into consideration the frame agreements and agreements on the
military cooperation.

AMERICAN CONGRESSMAN SUSPECTS INTRIGUES OF TURKEY IN DISMISSAL OF USA
AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA JOHN EVANS

Yerevan, May 29. ArmInfo. The controversy surrounded the firing of
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans continued to grow this
week with a powerful statement by the Co-Chairman of the Armenian
Caucus, calls for Congressional hearings, and a series of as yet
unanswered inquiries from the national media.

In a May 25th statement on the House floor, Congressman Frank Pallone
(D-NJ) forcefully condemned the Administration for forcing Amb. Evans
to vacate his post for publicly affirming the Armenian Genocide. He
voiced his “fear that the Government of Turkey may have played a role
in this unfortunate event. I strongly believe they have expressed
concern to the White House over Evans’ remarks last year. In fact,
immediately following his remarks, Evan issued a “correction,” all too
seemingly at the behest of the Administration. We must not allow a
third party to interfere in U.S. diplomacy and refrain from declaring
the truth in order to promote relations with Turkey.” He added that
hearings in the Congress will clarify the situation, as the White
House “has already made an official announcement but still has not
given an explanation”.

He closed by expressing his “hope that the newly-appointed
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Richard Hoagland, will not play the word
games of the White House, and comply with Turkey’s campaign of
genocidal denial.”

THEATRICAL FIGURES MARK ISAHAK ALIKHANIAN’S 130TH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY

YEREVAN, MAY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The memory-morning party taken place on
May 29 at the Theatrical Figures’ Union of Armenia was dedicated to
the 130th birthday anniversary of famous producer, actor and theater
builder Isahak Alikhanian who has been honoured the first People’s
artist title of the Soviet Armenia. Isahak Alikhanian, with his rich
and various theatrical activity, has his unique place in history of
the Armenian theater, speaker of the day Vahe Shahverdian, the
Artistic Head of the Gabriel Soundukian National Academic Theater
emphasized. According to him, the younger generation almost does not
know Alikhanian, and there are neither his partners nor contemporaries
now, but this fact does not cover with shade the great actor’s
productive way. Isahak Alikhanian played at the Baku Armenian theater
during the first times, then moved to the Tbilisi Armenian theater. He
was invited in 1922 with some other actors from Tbilisi to Yerevan to
found the Gabriel Sundukian State Academic Theater. On the stage of
the mother theater, the prominent artist staged Sundukian’s “Pepo” and
at the same time played the leading hero’s, Pepo’s part.

Living and working in Yerevan during a short period of his life, the
talented actor and producer returned Tbilisi later.

A1+

EXPRESSROAD TO BE CONSTRUCTED

[08:24 pm] 29 May, 2006

The first expressroad in Armenia is to be constructed in the
capital. The part of the Admiral Isakov avenue from the stadium
«Hrazdan» until the «Zvartnots» airport crossroad will be changed into
an expressroad.

According to Frunzeh Basentsyan, the head of the Yerevan municipality
urban development administration, the above mentioned part of the
avenue can be easily turned into a 7-meter wide two-sided
expressroad. The officials in the municipality think that there will
be no problems with the owners of the casinos in Paraqar.

GEORGE BUSH PROPOSES RICHARD HOAGLAND FOR POST OF U.S. AMBASSADOR TO
ARMENIA

YEREVAN, MAY 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. U.S. President George
Bush proposed Richard Hoagland who is the U.S. Ambassador to
Tajikistan at present, for the post of the Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Armenia. Radio Liberty
informs about it. Hoagland is a Caucasus and Central Asia Specialist
and has worked for more than 20 years at the U.S. Department of
State. Before being appointed the Ambassador in Dushanbe, Hoagland was
the Caucasus and Central Asia Office Director of the Bureau for Europe
and Eurasia of the Department of State. During the years of the war
led by Russia in Afghanistan, he worked with forces opposing
Russians. After September 11, 2001, when Presidents George Bush and
Vladimir Putin decided to cooperate very closely in the anti-terrorism
struggle, Hoagland was instructed to organize regular Russian-American
consultations, and in a year, the group headed by him was involved in
the U.S.-Russia anti-terrorism working group.

Hoagland worked as a Speaker at the U.S. Embassy to Russia, occupied
different posts at the American Embassies to Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
Richard Hoagland’s candidature must be affirmed at the Senat. According
to some data, he will arrive in Yerevan in August. Hoagland will take
in Armenia the place of John Evans, who, by insistence of American
press, will not work any more at the Department of State. To recap,
last year Evans called genocide the one committed against Armenians in
Ottaman Turkey in 1915.

YELLOW BIRD INDIAN DANCERS TO PERFORM IN ARMENIA

Armenpress
May 25 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS: On the initiative of the U.S. Embassy
the Yellow Bird Indian Dancers arrived in Armenia and are going to
hold an outdoor concert at the Cascade in Yerevan on Saturday, May
27 at 8:00 p.m.

The group will also perform at City Square in Ararat on May 26 at
7:00 p.m. and at Theatre Square in Gyumri on May 29 at 7:00 p.m. All
concerts are free of charge and open to the public. As part of their
regional tour, the group will also perform in Georgia and Azerbaijan.

The Yellow Bird Indian Dancers are respected in America and around
the world for continuing the traditions of ancient cultures and
family. Through their dance, the sharing of eternal wisdom through
storytelling, and their preservation of traditional Apache craftworks,
the group sustains timeless Native American art forms so that they
may be shared with the people of today and tomorrow. In Armenia,
the Yellow Bird Indian Dancers will mingle the ancient and beautiful
traditions of the first peoples of America with the equally ancient
and beautiful traditions of Armenia.

IAC SAYS OPERATION TO LIFT A-320 FLIGHT RECORDERS “UNPRECEDENTED”
by Dmitry Nezdorovin

ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 24, 2006 Wednesday

The Interstate Aviation Committee said the operation to find and lift
flight data recorders from the Armenian Airbus-320 passenger plane that
crashed into the Black Sea at the beginning of May was “unprecedented.”

“I have been working at the Interstate Aviation Committee for 20 years
and haven’t heard of any operation that ended successfully under such
harsh conditions as on the Black Sea bed,” committee head Tatyana
Anodina said on Wednesday.

In her words, about 2,000 planes of the Airbus-320 type are operating
around the world, and everybody wants to get full and objective data
about the accident as soon as possible.

According to Anodina, two black boxes from the crashed plane record
conversations in the cockpit and plane system data. “Unfortunately
the voice recorder was seriously damaged but the data recorder,
according to preliminary information, is in excellent condition.

Recordings will be analysed in Russia, using equipment from France
where the Airbus-320 airliner was designed,” she said.

With the second black box lifted from the seabed last night, the
operation to find and recover the flight data recorders was completed.

Transport Minister Igor Levitin said the operation was “unique.”

“Never before have Russian specialists lifted sunken objects from
such depths in the aggressive hydrogen sulphide environment,” he said
on Wednesday.

“The Russian equipment that was used has no analogues and therefore
work in this direction must continue,” he added.

The minister expressed condolences to the families of the plane crash
victims. “A sour feeling remains because we have not been able to
lift anything from the seabed but black boxes,” he said.

The first flight data recorder was lifted on Monday. It had taken
about 20 hours to identify and lift the flight data recorder, a
Transport Ministry official told Itar-Tass.

“The black box was found on Sunday at about 7.50 p.m. Moscow time
(1550 GMT) at a depth of 500 metres, but its version did not match
the one French specialists were looking for. It had a different size
and weight.

During the night, the images of the black box from the seabed were
transmitted to France where Airbus officials confirmed it belonged
to the crashed plane.

Specialists then started reprogramming the manipulator that was to
be used for lifting the black box. The lifting proceeded in three
stages and involved not only the robot but also a network in which
the recorder was placed.

“The black box was lifted in the net from the seabed to 17 metres
from the surface, where a diver picked it up to prevent it from being
carried away by currents,” the official said.

The black box was found in an area of three meters by five metres at
a depth of 500 metres. It lay under 50 centimeters of silt.

The first “black box” was lifted from the seabed at about 3.05 p.m.

(1105 GMT). “The flight data recorder was found under a layer of
soil. The operation to lift it began at 09:00 Moscow time and lasted
six hours. The ‘black box’ has been sent to Moscow for deciphering.

The second data recorder may be not far from the place where the
first one was found,” the operational headquarters told Itar-Tass.

Anodina, said, “The found flight data recorder is badly damaged because
of strong impact and because of lying in an aggressive environment.”

She said data from the recorder would be analysed by a standard
procedure that will involve officials from Armenia, France, and Russia.

There were three flight data recorders aboard the plane but no signals
from the third one have ever been registered, which suggests that
its radio beacon was knocked off during the crash.

The operation to lift the flight data recorders started last Tuesday
but was interrupted by a strong side wind that constantly carried
away the ship, which is operating the RT-1000 apparatus, which is
conducting the search for the flight recorders.

Silt on the seabed complicated the work, covering the video camera
and the searchlights. The team had to raise the apparatus several
times to clean them. It takes 40 minutes for the apparatus to sink
and as much to come back to the surface.

Flight data recorders used on aircraft of the Airbus-320 type withstand
the depth of up to 6,000 meters for 30 days, experts from the French
air crash investigation bureau said.

They said that flight recorders’ radio beacons keep working during
a 30-day period.

One of the flight data recorders registers flight parameters, including
the speed, height and direction of the flight and the autopilot
operation, each second. The other gadget records conversations in
the cockpit.

Each flight recorder weighs 10 kilograms, including a seven-kilogram
armoured casing for the gadget. The casing can withstand water pressure
at a depth of 6,000 meters, the temperature of 1,100 degrees Celsius,
and the compression of 2.2 tonnes.

The bureau retrieved flight recorders from the depth of over 1,000
meters in the Red Sea in January 2004, when an Egyptian plane crashed
near the Sharm-el-Sheikh resort. The rescuers were using a Scorpio
deep-water apparatus.

Of 113 people who were abroad the plane, 51 bodies have been found
so far.

The Airbus A-320 of the Armenian airline Armavia plunged into the
Black Sea as it was making a landing manoeuvre in the early hours of
May 3. The accident claimed the lives of 113 people.

RA FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS CANADA TO DISCUSS ISSUES CONNECTED WITH COMING ARMENIA-DIASPORA CONFERENCE WITH LOCAL ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 24 2006

OTTAWA, MAY 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. RA Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian paid a one-day short-term working visit to Canada on
May 22 within the framework of preparatory work of the Armenia-Diaspora
conference to take place in Armenia on September 18-20 of the current
year, implementation of the program of development of rural communities
of Armenia put on the agenda of the conference.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s Press and
Information Department, the goal of the visit was to discuss with the
Canadian Armenian community ways of future strengthening and widening
ties between Armenia and Diaspora, issues connected with organizing
and holding the conference, particularly, with implementation of the
long-term program, important for many-sided development of agricultural
infrastructures of Armenia.

During the practical meetings taken place in Ottawa and Toronto
with responsible representatives of community organizations of
the program, Minister Oskanian presented thoroughly details of
the Armenia-Diaspora conference and especially, of the agricultural
program, attaching importance to the strategic meaning of the program
for Armenia. Organization issues connected with the present stage
of implementation of the program as well as future activities were
discussed.

Community representatives appreciated the RA Government’s efforts
addressed to economic development of Armenia and undertaking
obligations, expressed readiness to properly participate in the
program.

Minister Oskanian made a speech on the same day at the solemn reception
organized at the Embassy of Armenia in Ottawa and answered Canadian
Armenian community representatives’ questions.