Author: Jalatian Sonya

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
October 9, 2004
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]

ASSEMBLY HAILS HOUSE PASSAGE OF ARMENIA PNTR BILL
Senate Set to Vote Next

Washington, DC – One of the Armenian Assembly’s highest priorities –
normalizing trade relations between the United States and Armenia – won
passage in the House of Representatives late last night as part of a
comprehensive trade measure, known as the Miscellaneous Trade and
Technical Corrections Act

“The Assembly welcomes tonight’s action passing Armenia PNTR and thanks
House Ways and Committee Chairman Bill Thomas for his crucial support,”
said Assembly Board of Trustees Chairman Hirair Hovnanian. “We commend
him and the Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank
Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) for their leadership and steadfast efforts to deepen
the U.S.-Armenia trade relationship.”

“The ongoing Turkish and Azeri blockades are two strikes against Armenia’s
ability to prosper as a free-market economy, so any U.S. trade benefits,
such as those resulting from the removal of the trade restrictions, are
helpful,” Hovnanian added. “It is our hope the Senate will pass this
legislation at its earliest opportunity.”

PNTR, known as “permanent normal trade relations” would remove a nearly
30-year-old provision requiring Armenia and other countries to
periodically obtain presidential approval for continued access to low
tariffs. In so doing, it would signal an upgrade in Armenia’s status as a
trading partner and should lead to additional trade agreements between the
United States and Armenia

Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Co-Chairmen Joe Knollenberg (R-MI)
and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) first introduced the legislation known as
H.R. 528 in February 2003, which passed the House of Representatives later
that year. The Assembly for its part, helped push the measure through by
working to secure the co-sponsorship of more than 100 lawmakers from both
sides of the political aisle.

“The PNTR bill has been an Assembly priority throughout the 108th Congress
and when enacted will be the first Armenia specific legislation passed
since the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act in 1996,” said Assembly Board of
Directors Chairman Anthony Barsamian. “The efforts of the bill’s sponsor
Joe Knollenberg, along with Reps. William Thomas and Frank Pallone, Jr.
also paved its passage. Key support from Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY),
the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee was
also instrumental.”

Last year, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) along with Senators Paul
Sarbanes (D-MD) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced S. 1557, which was
modeled after the House version of Armenia PNTR. This measure has the
bipartisan support of over 20 cosponsors.

“The Assembly thanks Senators McConnell, Sarbanes and Boxer for helping
strengthen U.S.-Armenia trade relations,” said Hovnanian. “We also
greatly appreciate Senators McConnell and Sarbanes for raising the issue
and discussing the merits of the bill during a pan-Armenian conference
held by the Assembly, AGBU and Eastern and Western Diocese of the Armenian
Church.”

During that same conference, the Bush Administration made its first public
endorsement of the trade bill. Ambassador Elizabeth Jones, Assistant
Secretary of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, who delivered
the news, said “The U.S. government supports extending Permanent Normal
Trade Relations to Armenia and will support Congressional efforts to
graduate Armenia from the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the Trade Act.”

Last April, Hovnanian together with former Board of Directors Chairman
Peter Vosbikian sent a letter Congressman Philip M. Crane (R-IL), Chairman
of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, calling for the
extension of PNTR to Armenia and stated that the country is an
increasingly important partner for the U.S. and poised to play a pivotal
role as a commercial hub.

The Assembly also designed an aggressive campaign that hinged on the
support of the Armenian community. Part of the strategy included a phone
banking session last summer in which the Assembly contacted
Armenian-American constituents across the nation, urging them to call
their Members of Congress and support Armenia PNTR.

The PTNR issue was also at the forefront of every community forum, in
cities and towns across the U.S. Assembly Board Members and staff
provided legislative updates and answered questions regarding the bill and
its benefits for Armenia. They reminded activists, for example, that
although Armenia acceded into the World Trade Organization (WTO), a
144-member international trade body, in February 2003, the full benefits
of accession would not be realized unless PNTR was granted.
(Participation in the Geneva-based organization will offer Armenia lower
trade barriers and increased opportunity for trade.) The Assembly touted
the government of Armenia’s economic reforms which led to its entry in the
WTO.

The next step in the legislative process is for the Senate to vote.

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of
Armenian issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

###
NR#2004-093

Burlington Union, MA
Oct 8 2004

Armenian fashions on display in Lexington

Students of the Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts and their
instructors will present fashions from Armenia in New England on
Sunday, Oct. 10, at 5 p.m. at National Heritage Museum in Lexington.
This event, the first of its kind to be held in the U.S., has peaked
public interest.

Coordinating the program will be four accomplished designers
from Armenia who will present their unique fashions. Nune Aghbalyan
and Anna Panosyan, instructors at the Academy’s Textile Department,
have resumes that include degrees and design coursework in Berlin,
Paris and Barcelona. Kevork Chadoian, 30-year-old, brilliant designer
and 2004 graduate from the Academy will present an elegantly designed
“Armenian Wedding Suite.” ATEX Fashion Salon proprietor Karine
Hakobyan will show her beautiful collection which will include unique
fashions embellished with Marash and Aintab embroideries.

The Fashion and Textile Design Chair was joined to the Design
Department of the Academy in 1999 after overcoming great hardships.
The department aims to give students a sound education, emphasizing
theory and practice a free way of thinking about composition, and
insight on how to find correct functional solutions.

La Croix
5 octobre 2004

Dossier. La Turquie aux portes de l’Union Européenne. Les Eglises
posent le problème de la liberté de culte. Les chrétiens de Turquie
se placent sur le terrain du respect de la liberté religieuse.

GAULMYN Isabelle de

A Leeds (Angleterre), ce week-end, lors de l’assemblée générale du
Conseil des conférences épiscopales d’Europe (CCEE), il ne fut pas
question de l’adhésion de la Turquie. Du moins officiellement. Car,
dans les couloirs, les conversations sur le sujet n’ont pas manqué,
note Mgr Louis-Armel Peltre, vicaire apostolique d’Istamboul, qui y
représentait les évêques catholiques de Turquie : Beaucoup sont venus
m’en parler. Il était facile de deviner que, sur ce sujet, tous n’ont
pas la même opinion. Mgr Peltre a donc rappelé à ses confrères que
la Conférence des évêques de Turquie (CET) n’avait pas pris de
position officielle : Nous restons en retrait par rapport aux
responsables du patriarcat oecuménique de Constantinople et de
l’Eglise apostolique arménienne, qui représentent la grande majorité
des chrétiens en Turquie. Le premier, le patriarche Bartholomeos Ier,
s’est depuis longtemps prononcé pour. Le second aussi, mais avec plus
d’hésitations.

Pour autant, poursuit Mgr Peltre, les catholiques de Turquie sont
favorables à l’adhésion du pays. · Leeds, j’ai expliqué aux évêques
que nous en espérions une amélioration de notre situation . Les
responsables catholiques turcs vivent mal les réticences feutrées de
nombre de leurs confrères européens. Il est faux de présenter les
musulmans turcs comme formant un ensemble monolithique, où tous
seraient contre la liberté religieuse des chrétiens, ajoute l’évêque.
Au contraire. Les réticences de la Turquie ne doivent pas alimenter
une islamophobie.

Tel est le piège. Si des responsables chrétiens s’expriment à propos
de la Turquie, leur position est immédiatement interprétée en termes
religieux. Et les Turcs, qui font du lobbying pour leur adhésion à
l’Europe, ont vite fait de caricaturer ainsi nos positions. Sans
oublier que ce débat suit la polémique sur l’héritage chrétien de
l’Europe , souligne un observateur de l’Eglise allemande. D’où, sans
doute, la prudence de cette dernière, concernée au premier chef du
fait de l’existence d’une importante communauté turque sur son sol.
Lors de l’assemblée plénière des évêques allemands, fin septembre, le
cardinal Karl Leh mann, président de la Conférence épiscopale, s’en
est donc tenu à une position de principe concernant le respect de la
liberté religieuse. Il a rappelé que l’observation des critères de
Copenhague, y compris, donc, ceux qui concernaient la liberté
religieuse, individuelle comme collective , devait impérativement
être respectée.

L’évêque de Mayence a cependant insisté, demandant que les droits qui
sont reconnus en Allemagne aux musulmans turcs soient, au moins
progressivement, accordés aux chrétiens qui vivent en Turquie . La
liberté religieuse doit être respectée comme marque de l’identité
démocratique européenne , a martelé le cardinal Lehmann, évitant
soigneusement la question de la légitimité de l’appartenance de la
Turquie à l’ensemble européen.

Même prudence à Rome. En février, Jean-Paul II, recevant
l’ambassadeur de Turquie, avait évoqué le sujet de la reconnaissance
du statut juridique de l’Eglise. Mais le cardinal Sodano, secrétaire
d’Etat, a affirmé jeudi que le Saint-Siège se devait de rester neutre
sur l’adhésion de la Turquie : Nous ne pouvons pas dire à la Suisse
qu’elle ne doit pas adhérer, à la Turquie qu’elle ne peut pas entrer,
et à l’Ukraine qu’elle le peut , a expliqué le numéro deux du
Vatican. En juillet cependant, le cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, préfet
de la Congrégation pour la doctrine de la foi, avait qualifié une
probable intégration d’ énorme erreur dans un entretien au Figaro
Magazine.

Ces hésitations et nuances traversent les autres Eglises européennes.
Au sein de la Conférence des Eglises européennes (KEK, 130 Eglises
protestantes, orthodoxes et anglicanes), on trouve toutes les nuances
d’expression, de l’opposition virulente du primat orthodoxe de Grèce
à d’autres plus ouvertes. Ainsi, pour le pasteur Jean-Arnold de
Clermont, président de la KEK et de la Fédération protestante de
France, si le critère géographique ne peut être opposé pour refuser
l’entrée de la Turquie en Europe, encore faut-il, dans ce cas, poser
le problème de l’adhésion de la Serbie, de l’Albanie, du Kosovo .
Mais, ajoute-t-il, il faut alors être sérieux sur le respect des
critères de Copenhague, et notamment entendre la voix des Eglises
minoritaires . Enfin, conclut le pasteur, cela passe, au plan
culturel, par une réconciliation des mémoires. La Turquie doit
reconnaître le génocide arménien. Et elle ne peut faire comme s’il
n’y avait pas eu d’Empire ottoman .

Sans surprise, d’ailleurs, c’est bien au sein des Eglises de ces pays
de l’ex-empire ou aux marges de celui-ci – Autriche, Hongrie et
Pologne – que les réticences sont les plus grandes.

ISABELLE DE GAULMYN

Pas d’amélioration notable de la liberté religieuse.

La Turquie est-elle sur la voie de l’Europe en matière de liberté
religieuse ? Il sera bien difficile de donner une réponse positive ,
affirme la section Droits de l’homme de Missio, l’organisme allemand
des OEuvres pontificales missionnaires, dans un rapport publié en
septembre. Principal problème : l’absence de statut juridique des
communautés religieuses, le gouvernement semblant considérer leur
existence même comme incompatible avec le principe turc de laïcité.
Aussi, si la construction de lieux de culte est désormais libre, les
minorités non musulmanes ne peuvent rien demander puisque,
juridiquement, elles n’existent pas.

Par ailleurs, la formation supérieure étant monopole d’Etat, aucune
Eglise ne peut former son personnel à la théologie en Turquie, le
gouvernement cherchant à mettre cette formation sous contrôle (même
au séminaire orthodoxe de Halki, dans l’hypothèse de sa réouverture).
Quant aux clercs étrangers, leur entrée demeure très difficile. Même
les oeuvres caritatives sont considérablement freinées dans leur
action, alors que la Turquie s’est engagée à les préserver dans le
traité de Lausanne (1923) – qui protège les minorités non musulmanes
– et dans une loi de 1935, toujours pas appliquée. Enfin, selon le
rapport, les lois d’harmonisation européenne votées par la Turquie
n’ont pas apporté d’amélioration notable des problèmes existants . Il
y a parfois des miracles, même en politique, et la résolution des
problèmes fondamentaux en matière de liberté religieuse en Turquie en
constituerait indubitablement un , conclut le rapport.

N. S.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 375033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 1) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 1) 52.48.46
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website:

October 8, 2004

ACNIS Opinion Polls on Armenia’s Independence

Yerevan–The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
today released the results of both a specialized questionnaire and a public
survey on “Armenia’s Thirteen-Year-Old Independence and Sovereignty,” which
it conducted in September among 50 experts and 1526 citizens from Yerevan
and all of Armenia’s regions.

ACNIS economic and diaspora affairs analyst Hovsep Khurshudian greeted the
invited guests and public participants with opening remarks. “Thirteen years
are probably not a long period to assess Armenia’s independence and
sovereignty, but it is important to look back to analyze, evaluate, and find
necessary mechanisms to surmount our shortcomings. Both the public and
expert surveys aim to achieve this goal,” he said.

ACNIS legal and political affairs analyst Stepan Safarian presented “The
Results of the Survey,” focusing in detail on the findings of the expert and
public opinion polls. Accordingly, a plurality of surveyed citizens and
specialists (43.8% and 34%, respectively) assert that the losses of the
independence era are more than its gains, while 8.8% and 26%, respectively,
say the gains are more than the losses. Hence, independence is valued more
among professional circles.

28.8% of citizens think that Armenia’s main achievement since its
independence is the establishment of the army and 18% the liberation of
Mountainous Karabagh. In contrast with the public survey, 46% of experts
choose liberation of Mountainous Karabagh as the key accomplishment of
Armenia, and only 16% the organization of a military. Among other
achievements of the independence years 8.9% of citizens mark strengthening
of ties with the Diaspora, 6.2% formation of people’s free thinking, 1.9%
shaping of national institutions, and 3.7% a return to national and
religious roots. In the expert opinion poll the corresponding findings are
4%, 4%, 10%, and 4%. According to 11.7% of citizens and 4% of experts,
Armenia has not registered any achievement since independence. 4.2% of
citizens and 6% of experts find this question difficult to answer.

Among the broader public, 38.4% point to poverty, emigration, unemployment
and other social evils as the main negative phenomenon since Armenia’s
independence, 10.2% check economic decline and turmoil, 14.7% formation of
clans, 9.4% decline in educational level, 3.6% deterioration of the health
care system, 6.1% isolation of the country, 10.3% human losses in Karabagh’s
fight for freedom, and 2.9% restriction of civil and political rights. In
the expert opinion poll the findings are 24%, 4%, 24%, 6%, 4%, 12%, 6%, and
12%, respectively. 45.6% of citizens and 50% of experts think that their
families’ standard of living has declined, 26.7% and 20% say it has remained
the same, and only 18.2% and 26% confirm it has improved.

The plurality of respondent citizens (33.7%) and experts (36%) opine that
all branches of national authority are equally anti-democratic. 13.9% of
citizens surveyed consider the presidency to be the most anti-democratic
institution, 9.6% the judiciary, and 9.2% the national assembly. The expert
indices read 36%, 26%, and 2%, respectively.

Most public respondents (31.2%) deem the terrorist act committed in the
Armenian parliament on October 27, 1999 as having the biggest negative
impact on the nation’s path of development, whereas the experts (42%) note
the falsification of presidential election results in 1996, 1998, and 2003.
4.8% of citizens and 14% of experts find falsification of the parliamentary
election results in 1995 and 2003 to be the most negative.

24.8% of citizens and 50% of experts mark the Armenian triumph in the
Karabagh war as carrying the biggest positive effect for the nation’s
development, 17.8% and 20% the cease-fire with Azerbaijan, 6.4% and 10%
adoption of the Armenian Constitution, 8.4% and 8% membership in the Council
of Europe, and 18.2% and 0%, respectively, the treaty of strategic
cooperation with Russia.

25.7% of citizens and an alarming 60% of experts are convinced that, if the
present system stays in place, Armenia will move toward authoritarianism;
14.6% and 20% think it will approach totalitarianism; and 17.8% and 8%,
respectively, forecast a tendency to democracy. Things are no better along
democracy’s timetable: 16.8% of citizens and 22% of experts believe that
Armenia will overcome the current obstacles and become a democratic country
in at least ten years, whereas 18.7% and 30% think it will take 25 years,
14.7% and 6% 50 years, and even 11.5% and 6% 100 years. More optimistic on
this score are the specialists, 20% of whom hope for the victory of
democracy within the next five years. Only 4.2% of citizens, on the other
hand, hold the same opinion. The most pessimistic group of experts (6%) and
citizens (20.1%) does not believe Armenia will ever become a democratic
country.

Only 13.6% of the public and 12% of experts conclude that Armenia is truly
independent and sovereign in its decisionmaking, while 70.4% and 80% do not.
Correspondingly 50.4% and 80% of them believe that the decisions made in
Armenia first and foremost depend on Russia, 8.8% and 8% on the United
States, and 14.8% and 4% on the European Union. 43% of citizens are of the
view that Armenia should maximally integrate with Russia, 10.3% with Europe,
and but 3.8% with the United States. The respective findings of the expert
opinion poll, quite distinctly, are 2%, 60%, and 8%.

The second item on the day’s agenda was a comment by former prime minister
Vazgen Manukian, chairman of the National Democratic Union, on “Independence
and Sovereignty: Reality or Ideal?” From his perspective, Armenia was
granted independence, the gravity and value of which were therefore
underestimated from the very beginning. Moreover, both the majority of
intellectuals and traditional parties were against independence, while the
government continues to pursue a policy contradicting the letter and spirit
of sovereignty. These measures do not promote the two basic blessings of
independence: perpetuation of the nation and extension of its international
influence. “Independence, the calling of which is to solve the problem of
national development, is not duly applied in our lives, and a mere change of
authority will not fix this situation,” he emphasized.

The formal presentations were followed by contributions by former minister
of state Vahan Shirkhanian; Stepan Minasian of the People’s Party of
Armenia; former parliamentarian Khoren Sargsian; Armine Gasparian of the
Institute of Culture and National Values; former state minister Hrach
Hakobian; Gagik Tadevosian of the National Unity Party; Artashes
Ghazakhetsian of the Armenia 2020 Project; Albert Baghdasarian of the
National Democratic Union; Yerevan State University professor Haik Sargsian;
former Yerevan mayor Vahagn Khachatrian; political analyst Artsrun Pepanian;
California Superior Court Judge Zaven Sinanian; American-Armenian attorney
Armen K. Hovannisian; and several others.

43.5% of the public respondents are male and 56.5% female. 13.7% are 16-20
years of age, 21.8% 21-30, 22.5% 31-40, 20.4% 41-50, 11.4% 51-60, 7% 61-70,
2.2% above 70, and 1% refused to answer. 43.5% of the citizens surveyed have
received a higher education, 12.1% incomplete higher, 18% specialized
secondary, 21.2% secondary, and 2.1% incomplete secondary training. 54.2%
are actively employed, 20.3% are unemployed, 6.9% are pensioners, 2.2%
welfare recipients, and 15.6% students. 59.7% are urban residents, and 40.3%
are from rural areas. 32.6% of them hail from Yerevan, the remainder from
the regions.

Among the experts, 72% are male and 28% female. 10% are 21-30 years of age,
32% 31-40, 34% 41-50, 18% 51-60, and 2% above 60. All of them have received
a higher education: 2% are full professors (PhD) and 30% candidates of
sciences, 66% hold a Master’s degree, and 2% have earned solely a
Bachelor’s degree. 20% are journalists by profession, 14% physicists or
radio-physicists, 10% political scientists, 8% economists, 8%
mathematicians, 8% managers, and 6% historians.

Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS serves
as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy challenges
facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet world. It also
aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic thinking and a wider
understanding of the new global environment. In 2004, the Center focuses
primarily on public outreach, civic education, and applied research on
critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the nation.

For further information on the Center or the full graphics of the poll
results, call (3741) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax (3741) 52-48-46; e-mail
[email protected] or [email protected]; or visit or

EurasiaNet Organization
Oct 7 2004

ARMENIAN PILOTS TRAPPED IN AFRICAN MERCENARY PLOT
Emil Danielyan 10/07/04

Difficult economic times have forced many Armenians to search for
work abroad. For most, especially the large number of Armenians in
Russia, a foreign job means leading a relatively Spartan
lifestyle – the main aim being saving enough to send money back to
loved ones at home. For the six-man crew of a charter cargo jet,
however, what appeared at first to be a routine assignment has turned
into an ordeal in which they stand accused of participating in a
failed coup attempt in the African nation of Equatorial Guinea.

Ashot Karapetian and his five-man crew departed in their heavy
Antonov-12 transport jet from Yerevan’s international airport in
January. They, along with dozens of other Armenian aviators, had
taken on many jobs in the past shuttling cargo across Africa, and had
no reason to believe that their current assignment would be any
different than others.

They were mistaken.

The six Armenians found themselves under arrest last March, accused
of participating in an international plot to overthrow Equatorial
Guinea’s longtime president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Their trial in
Equatorial-Guinea’s capital, Malabo, began August 23. The trial had
been slated to resume October 4, but was postponed with no new
resumption date set. If convicted, the six Armenians face long prison
terms.

The aviators vigorously deny involvement in coup preparations. They
enjoy the strong support of the Armenian government, which insists
that they are innocent and which has lobbied hard to secure their
release. President Robert Kocharian has personally appealed to Obiang
to release the Armenian detainees.

Obiang, whose regime is seen by the United States as one of the most
repressive in the world, has been in power ever since overthrowing
his uncle and predecessor Macias Nguema in a 1979 coup. The
impoverished former Spanish colony began to attract Western interest
in the mid-1990s with the discovery of substantial hydrocarbon
reserves off its Atlantic coast.

According to British news accounts, a group of South African and
London-based businessmen, including the son of former British Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher, sought to grab their share of the oil
riches by plotting to topple Obiang and install an exiled opposition
leader in his place.

The reported conspiracy was uncovered in early March. The arrests of
the Armenians and other foreigners in Malabo were announced a few
days later. The accused ringleader is Nick du Toit, an apartheid-era
soldier who ran a mercenary firm in South Africa until it was banned
in 1999.

Prosecutors in Malabo have not provided details on the Armenian
aircrew’s supposed role in the coup. Their Soviet-made Antonov-12
aircraft belonging to the Yerevan-based firm Tiga Air was chartered
to carry out flights across the region by Central Asian Logistics
(CAL), a German airfreight company.

CAL’s representative to Equatorial Guinea, Gerhard Eugen Merz, was
also among the foreign detainees. Merz died, officially of cerebral
malaria, in Malabo’s notorious Black Beach prison just days after his
arrest. The human rights group Amnesty International said he was
tortured to death.

The director of Tiga Air, Boris Avagian, insists that his company’s
contract with the Germans only envisaged the transportation of
“civilian goods and equipment.” He also claims to have never known or
dealt with the reputed South African mercenary du Toit.

“The charges against our pilots are groundless,” Avagian said in a
recent interview. “They are honest professionals who went to
Equatorial Guinea to do their job.”

CAL chief executive, Thomas Rinnerd, speaking in a telephone
interview, denied any connection between his Frankfurt-based company
and the alleged coup conspirators. “The Armenian pilots are 200
percent innocent. So are Mr. Merz and our company,” he said. He added
that the Armenian cargo jet had been hired by CAL to ship various
supplies to oil companies operating in the African country

Officials in Malabo announced in early September that a team of
investigators would travel to Armenia to probe possible links between
the Armenian transport firm and the alleged coup plotters. Armenian
authorities have maintained that they have no information about such
a mission. But, a person close to the arrested aviators’ families
claims that a visit did take place, and that the Guineans told the
relatives not to talk to journalists.

The pilots, for their part, have testified at the trial that they
carried out only one flight from Equatorial Guinea, bound for the
Democratic Republic of Congo. They said the Congolese airport they
were bound for was closed and they returned to Malabo with nothing in
the hold.

Du Toit’s court testimony did not explicitly implicate the Armenians
in the coup preparations, a fact that the Armenian government says
proves their innocence. “These are quite serious ground for
optimism,” Sergei Manaserian, Armenia’s ambassador to Egypt who has
repeatedly visited Malabo since March, told the official Armenpress
news agency on September 7.

The saga of the Antonov-12 crew is somewhat symbolic of the overall
state of Armenia’s civil aviation sector. During the Soviet era, the
small South Caucasus republic operated 13 airports and a possessed a
fleet of commercial aircraft that employed more than a thousand
pilots and technicians. Today, 0nly Yerevan’s Zvartnots international
airport now functions at full capacity.

The post-Soviet economic decline coupled with government corruption
and mismanagement is taking a heavy toll on the sector. Last year’s
scandalous bankruptcy of Armenian Airlines, the state-run carrier
flagship, left more than 300 pilots and flight engineers out of work.
The luckiest few of them found new jobs with local small companies
like Tiga Air that carry out charter flights in Asia and Africa.

The Armenian aircrews are cheap labor for the foreign firms that pay
them a fraction of what they would spend on Western pilots. Aviation
experts say they also run additional health and safety risks in third
world countries. Two Armenian planes have already crashed in Iran and
Sudan under mysterious circumstances.

Editor’s Note: Emil Danielyan is a Yerevan-based journalist and
political analyst.

AZERI MPS URGE INTERNATIONAL REACTION TO ARMENIAN RESETTLEMENT IN KARABAKH

ANS TV, Baku
2 Oct 04

The Milli Maclis (parliament) standing commission for foreign
relations has appealed to the OSCE, UN, NATO, the Organization of the
Islamic Conference and the League of Arab States in connection with
the illegal settlement of Armenians in the occupied territory of
Nagornyy Karabakh and other seven districts of Azerbaijan.

In an interview with Trend news agency, the commission chairman, Samad
Seyidov, said that these steps, which are aimed at strengthening the
occupying regime in the occupied territories, cause concern. This runs
counter to the Geneva convention which bans an occupying country from
settling people in the occupied territories. These steps by Armenia
call into question a peaceful solution to the Karabakh conflict,
Seyidov said.

The standing commission called on the world community to react to the
incident properly.

FM HOLDS MEETINGS IN NEW YORK

ArmenPress
Sept 28 2004

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS: On 27 September Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian held several meetings in New York, within the framework
of the 59th General Assembly of the United Nations.

In their fourth meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
and Minister Oskanian explored bilateral issues as well as regional
concerns. This meeting followed a meeting with Minsk Group co-chairman
Ambassador Steven Mann. Earlier in the day, the Minister had met with
US Undersecretary of State Mark Grossman, with whom they explored
bilateral issues, including the upcoming Armenia-US Task Force meeting
and the Millennium Challenge Account.

The Minister also met with Jean Obeid, Foreign Minister of Lebanon,
who was also in New York for the UN General Assembly.

The Minister will remain in NY through Wednesday September 29 when
he will address the General Assembly.

Azeri paper derides decision to allow Armenian military experts to visit Baku

Zerkalo, Baku
17 Sep 04

Text of Farid report by Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on 17 September
headlined “Armenians still to come to Baku” and subheaded “Though this
time, they will be wearing plain clothes”

The participation of Armenian representatives in the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly’s [PA] Rose-Roth seminar due in Baku on 26-28
November is still on the agenda, the head of the Azerbaijani
delegation to the NATO PA and deputy speaker of the Azerbaijani
parliament, Ziyafat Asgarov, has told Trend news agency.

He said Armenian specialists are not military officers and since they
are civilian experts, their visit to Baku will not cause serious
protests in Baku.

The seminar, which was postponed in 2003, will be held at Hyatt Park
Hotel which the NATO PA chose itself during a visit to Baku (Trend).

Only one thing remains unclear: who is trying to fool who? Either
Ziyafat Asgarov, who is trying to convince the nation that the
Armenians, who have now slipped into plain clothes, will meet less
resistance in Azerbaijan or our neighbours have decided to set foot on
our soil at all costs.

And while the wish of the Armenians is quite understandable, the
position of the Azerbaijani authorities in this issue is causing
nothing but astonishment. Why did they raise all this hue and cry
over the visit by Armenian officers to Baku and eventually damage
relations with NATO, if only two months later Armenians are to appear
in Baku anyway?

Even stranger is the fact that this has been announced by the deputy
speaker of the parliament, a body whose representatives were almost
kissing each other in jubilation after representatives of the Armenian
military establishment were barred from coming to Azerbaijan.

Whatever the outcome, Azerbaijan has made a rather precipitous
decision, especially if we take into account Asgarov’s statement.

Agence France Presse — English
September 22, 2004 Wednesday 11:44 AM GMT

Armenia prepared to send Iraq aid not troops: FM

YEREVAN

Armenia will not send troops to Iraq but is prepared to take part in
the country’s reconstruction, Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said
Wednesday.

“Armenia is not prepared to have a military presence in any foreign
country, but we have always said we would cooperate in the
reconstruction of Iraq,” Oskanian told a press conference.

The south Caucasus republic could send doctors, drivers and engineers
to Iraq, he said.

Earlier this month Yerevan agreed with Poland to send 50
non-combatant troops to Iraq to work with the Polish military
contingent there.

Parliamentary approval is required for the accord to come into
effect.

Armenian political circles expressed disquiet at the commitment,
fearing that the ethnic Armenian diaspora in Iraq, numbering around
20,000 people, could be targeted by Iraqi insurgents.

Officials here said around 100 Armenian families in Iraq have sought
temporary asylum in Armenia following last month’s wave of bomb
attacks on churches in Baghdad and Mosul, in northern Iraq.

PanArmenian News
Sept 22 2004

ONE CANNOT INTIMIDATE ARMENIA BY SAYING REGIONAL PROJECTS PASS IT
ROUND, ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAID

22.09.2004 18:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “One cannot intimidate or disturb Armenia with
statements that it remains aside regional oil, gas and transport
projects,” head of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia Vardan Oskanian
stated in Yerevan today. “Nagorno Karabakh does not have a price and
is not subject to bargain, thus we do not accept the argument that by
protecting its interests the Armenian party loses the opportunity to
participate in regional projects,” the Minister noted. “We never
connected the Nagorno Karabakh problem with regional projects and we
are not going to do it in the future,” V. Oskanian noted.