Author: Kafian Jirair

Defense minister says Armenia would consider ceding territory in exchange for security of Nagorno-Karabakh

The Associated Press
02/15/05 16:43 EST

MOSCOW (AP) – Armenia would consider ceding Azerbaijani territory it
controls outside Nagorno-Karabakh in exchange for greater security
for the disputed, Armenian-held enclave itself, Defense Minister
Serge Sarkisian said Tuesday.

In an on-line news conference, Sarkisian called Armenian-controlled
territory a “security zone” and said that the aim in taking it
during a six-year war over Nagorno-Karabakh had not been to expand
the territory of Armenia or of Nagorno-Karabakh.

If, giving up this security zone, we can achieve more secure conditions
for the people of Karabakh, then this question can be discussed,”
Sarkisian, who is also head of Armenia’s presidential Security Council.

“But if we’re taking about the voluntary surrender of these territories
without increasing security guarantees for Karabakh, then I think
that nobody intends to do that,” he said.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been de facto independent since the war, which
killed 30,000 people and drove a million from their homes. Armenian
forces also control a large amount of surrounding territory, including
land that links the enclave with Armenia.

A cease-fire ended the war in 1994, but tension remains high and
disputes over the additional territory have been among the factors
that have prevented Armenia and Azerbaijan from settling the conflict
and kept the threat of a new war alive.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian government is not recognized
internationally, and Baku insists it must remain part of
Azerbaijan. The continuing dispute has hurt the economies of both
ex-Soviet republics.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
11. Februar 2005

Schwierige Wahrheit;
Schulen und Schulbuchverlage ringen mit dem Armeniergenozid

Ist der Skandal um die Streichung des Genozids an den Armeniern aus
dem einzigen deutschen Geschichtslehrplan, in dem er jemals
aufgeführt wurde, beigelegt? Und wenn ja, wie? Eine präzise Antwort
darauf ist schwierig, ja unmöglich, weil es gleichzeitig mehrere zu
geben scheint. Gemeinsam ist ihnen nur, daß sie fast alle so klingen,
als handle es sich um Antworten auf Anfragen an den legendären Sender
Eriwan.

Haben nun türkische Diplomaten den brandenburgischen
Ministerpräsidenten bei Lammcarré in Rotweinjus dazu gebracht, den
Klammersatz zum Völkermord, den es ihrer Ansicht nach nie gab, zu
streichen? Im Prinzip nein, hatte schließlich der türkische
Botschafter der “Berliner Zeitung” gesagt. Sein Konsul sei in Potsdam
nur vorstellig geworden, um die türkische Sicht auf Vorgänge zu
erläutern, die im Westen als Genozid der Türken an den Armeniern
wahrgenommen würden. Doch werde immer verschwiegen, daß in diesen
gewaltsamen Auseinandersetzungen mehr Muslime als Armenier den Tod
fanden. Auch der Ministerpräsident sagt, nein, er habe die Streichung
nicht wegen der türkischen Diplomaten veranlaßt. Aber es bleibe bei
der Korrektur, gleichwohl gehöre das Thema in den Unterricht. Ähnlich
antwortete der Berliner Bildungssenator Böger. Die
Nachrichtenagenturen, auf kurze, klare Informationen bedacht,
meldeten daraufhin, Berlin werde den Armeniergenozid nicht in seinen
Lehrplan aufnehmen. Nein, sagt der Böger-Sprecher Frisse, so könne
man das nicht interpretieren. Lehrplanziel in Berlin seien
“Kompetenzen”, einzelne Themen, die dorthin führen sollen, müsse kein
Lehrplan aufzählen.

Gute Lehrer ficht so etwas nicht an. Als ein Lehrstück eigener Art
sieht Manfred Behrens vom Ossietzky-Gymnasium in Berlin-Pankow die
verwunschenen Politiker-Statements. Gemeinsam mit Kollegen hat er an
Matthias Platzeck geschrieben und ihm empfohlen, seinen Briefwechsel
mit türkischen Diplomaten den Schulbuchverlagen zu übergeben, weil
diese Dokumente die Schwierigkeiten mit der Wahrheit besser erhellen
als mancher Kommentar in den (seltenen) Lehrmaterialien zum Thema.
Mit Schülern der Abiturstufe hat er den Genozid unter anderem auch im
Deutschunterricht behandelt, die Romane von Franz Werfel, Edgar
Hilsenrath, Armin T. Wegner und anderen ergänzt in Geschichtsstunden
und Politischer Weltkunde. Entstanden ist daraus eine kleine
Ausstellung. Behrens bestätigt wie viele seiner Kollegen, daß es im
Prinzip keiner besonderen Aufforderung bedarf, das schwierige Thema
in den Unterricht zu nehmen. Doch eine Hervorhebung im Lehrplan habe
durchaus Vorteile, denn die Schulbuchverlage könnten sich endlich
aufgefordert sehen, ihre bislang recht spärlichen Angebote zu
erweitern.

Tatsächlich muß man lange suchen, um in Geschichtsbüchern, die das
Osmanische Reich oder die Zeit vor und nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg
behandeln, mehr als eine Erwähnung der Armeniertragödie zu finden. In
Band 1 “Epochen und Strukturen” (Diesterweg Verlag) ist es ein
einziger Satz, der jedoch allen diplomatischen Tiefenprüfungen
standhalten dürfte: “Die türkische Politik erzwungener Assimilation
von oben”, heißt es dort, “provozierte Widerstand von unten, zunächst
der Armenier, gesteigert zu Massakern an Armeniern 1895/96, 1909 und
im Schatten des ersten Weltkrieges 1915/16, als die Türken durch
muslimische Kurden rund eine Million Armenier ermorden ließen.” Der
Schroedel Verlag behandelt das Thema als einziger in seiner
“Geschichte konkret” ausführlicher und vor allem so kontrovers, wie
die Debatte in der EU und der Türkei auch geführt wird.
Weiterführendes Unterrichtsmaterial gibt es in Deutschland so gut wie
nicht, was erklärt, warum sich jetzt sehr viele Lehrer an das
Bochumer Genozidforschungsinstitut wandten, dessen Lehrbuch zu
Prozessen und Strukturen kollektiver Gewalt und Völkermord
Brandenburger Politiker in vorauseilendem Gehorsam wieder
abbestellten. Die Schulen sind also zuweilen besser als ihr Ruf und
vor allem couragierter als Politiker, wenn es darum geht, unsere
Standards historischer Aufklärung gegen ideologische Interpretationen
zu verteidigen.

Faruk Sen, Direktor des Essener Institutes für Türkeistudien, ist
trotzdem nicht wohl bei dem Gedanken, der Armeniergenozid, dessen
exemplarische Bedeutung er durchaus anerkennt, könnte im Unterricht
behandelt werden, ehe sich Armenien und die Türkei auf eine
“gemeinsame Sicht” geeinigt hätten. Er wolle dafür plädieren, das
Thema einstweilen aus dem Unterricht herauszuhalten, weil er fürchte,
Vorbehalte gegen Migranten könnten sich verstärken. Die
Ossietzky-Schule in Berlin-Kreuzberg würde ihm da nicht zustimmen.
Anders als die gleichnamige Lehranstalt in Pankow wird sie vor allem
von Migrantenkindern, darunter viele Türken, besucht. Schulleiter
Rähme weiß, daß Armenien für einige Eltern seiner Schüler ein
Reizthema ist, doch kein Lehrer mag sich vorschreiben lassen, deshalb
auf Aufklärung zu verzichten.

Die Reaktionen auf den grotesken Potsdamer Lehrplanstreit, darunter
irritierend viele wütende Attacken türkischer Akademiker, zeigen aber
auch, daß es hier um mehr geht als um eine Schulstunde. Die einen
würden es lieber als “interkulturellen Schulkonflikt” wieder unter
den Teppich kehren, doch mehren sich die Stimmen, die eine Klärung
fordern. “Über den eher beiläufigen Anlaß hinaus müssen wir eine
grundsätzliche Debatte über europäische Standards der
Erinnerungskultur anstoßen”, sagt Martin Sabrow, Direktor des
Potsdamer Zentrums für Zeithistorische Forschungen, “gerade weil der
Armeniergenozid einen umstrittenen Konflikt repräsentiert, bei dem
ein Generalkonsens nicht in Sicht ist.”

–Boundary_(ID_5WRKguxpJ+j1iHuoI1yhmA)–

Foreign Minister Wraps Up Visit to Turkey

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 12 2005

AssA-Irada 12/02/2005 17:46

Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov wrapped up his two-day visit to
Turkey on Friday.

On the last day of the visit, Mammadyarov met with Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan to discuss relations between the two
countries, prospects for settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
over Nagorno Karabakh and the situation in the South Caucasus region.

On Thursday, Mammadyarov met with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer,
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc.

PRESS RELEASE

Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317

Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

ARAM I IS INVITED TO GIVE A SPEECH DURING THE INTER PARLIAMENTARY
CONFERENCE OF ORTHODOX CHURCHES

Antelias, Lebanon – His Holiness Aram I held a meeting with the council
responsible for the preparation of the inter parliamentary conference
of Orthodox countries. The council is headed by Costas Mikdalis from
Greece and Alexy Valery from Russia. Representatives from the Greek
and Russian embassies of Lebanon are also members of the council.

The delegation visited His Holiness in order to officially invite him
to the conference. The Catholicos met with the delegation for over
an hour, discussing various issues related to the conference. Issues
related to Orthodox countries in general and Europe in particular
were also discussed during the meeting.

The inter parliamentary conference of Orthodox Churches will be held on
17-19 April 2005 in Athens. His Holiness will give a speech entitled
“Nation and Church”. Representatives of the European Parliament and
European community will also speak during the conference.

##

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about
the history and the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may
refer to the web page of the Catholicosate,
The Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church
is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
Feb 7 2005

TRADITIONAL FRIENDLY AND FRATERNAL RELATIONS BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN AND
TURKEY DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN

PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN ILHAM ALIYEV RECEIVES DELEGATION HEADED BY
CHAIRMAN OF GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TURKEY BULENT ARINC
[February 07, 2005, 23:14:02]

President of Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev has received the
delegation headed by Chairman of the Grand National Assembly of
Turkey (GNAT) Bulent Arinc, February 7.

Warmly greeting the guests, Head of the Azerbaijan State said:

“Esteemed Mr. Chairman,

“Dear guests,

Dear friends,

I cordially welcome all of you and say: “ Welcome to Azerbaijan”.
Visit of your delegation to Azerbaijan testifies to very high level
of our bilateral relations. We perfectly cooperate in all areas.
Friendly, brotherly relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan every day
develop and become stronger. We very much want that these links were
shown in all spheres, developed more actively, more dynamically. We
carry out successful enough cooperation in political, economic and
humanitarian areas, and our traditionally friendly, brotherly
connections rapidly develop.

Certainly, in this case I would like to emphasize especially also my
official visit to Turkey and its results. The visit was extremely
successful and we met within the framework of this visit. I have
carried out meetings, and have acted also in Grand National Assembly
of Turkey. This visit and other events once again testify to
development of relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan. We are the
closest allies. It is very glad, that the relations develop both in
economic and political spheres.

Lately numerous Turkish delegations of various level have come to
Azerbaijan. Besides, the Turkish-Azerbaijan business-forum has been
conducted, and I have joined the action and was convinced of as far
as the level of mutual interest is high.

We welcome the arrival here of the Turkish businessmen. Opportunities
existing here are open for them, and we aspire to the further
strengthening of our relations in economic, political and other
areas.

Also deserved are the links between Great National Assembly of Turkey
and Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, mutual visits are carried out. I
repeatedly met here the Turkish deputies and I welcome these visits.
I especially welcome your visit. I want to thank once again you for
hospitality rendered to me in Turkey. It is confident that your visit
to Azerbaijan will be very successful. Azerbaijan is your country,
your native land. In turn, I also wish that you felt like at home.
That all our friends, brothers have carried out here fruitful days.
Once again I warmly welcome you”.

Expressing to President Ilham Aliyev deep gratitude for warm
reception and kind words, Chairman of the Great National Assembly of
Turkey Bulent Arinc has told:

“Dear President, I am very grateful to You for pleasant words, for
rendered reception. Many thanks.

We are in this remarkable, brotherly country on the invitation of the
Chairman of Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, esteemed Murtuz Alaskarov. We
are very glad to this. We have arrived in Azerbaijan with five
deputies of our Assembly. We have met esteemed Chairman of
parliament, members of group of friendship. And now we are on your
reception. We have arrived in Azerbaijan – to our friends and
brothers, therefore, we do not feel like on the foreign land”.

Further, Mr. Bulent Arinc said: “We are very grateful to You for the
work done in Azerbaijan, for your merits, that have achieved the
highest development of relations with Turkey. With feeling of deep
respect I want to honor memory of your father, the outstanding
statesman of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. Everything that has been made
by him today gives fruits. You, as his son and as the President of
Azerbaijan, also serve this country. Our Assembly, our Prime
Minister, and all our friends convey You greetings and love.

We were very glad when in April last year during your visit to Turkey
you came to our Assembly and have made speech. All our friends till
now with deep excitement, feeling of boundless pride recollect your
speech in Assembly on April 14. Today, we have really felt eternal
brotherhood and friendship of Azerbaijan”.

Then, having presented members of delegation, Mr. Bulent Arinc has
conveyed to the President of Azerbaijan greetings of 550 deputies of
the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and has told: “Turkey and
Azerbaijan are eternal friends. Wit our culture, belief, cohesion,
going back into centuries, we were support for each other, gave each
other force.”

Mr. Bulent Arinc said as the fist state to recognize independence of
Azerbaijan we feel boundless pride. And we support the fair cause of
Azerbaijan. WE wish Azerbaijan rapidly release its lands under form
occupation. Our states and governments back each other on the
international organizations. We have joint goals in the world policy.
We are confident that under your strong will the Nagorno- Karabakh
problem will find its just resolution.

Speaking of the Turkish businessmen and investors, the GNAT Chairman
said they make every effort to improve welfare of the Azerbaijani
people. Then, the Turkish Speaker expressed gratitude for provided
conditions for the Turkish businessmen.

Addressing the guest, President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham
Aliyev requested to pass his heartfelt greetings to the President and
Premier of Turkey. The Azerbaijan-Turkey relations have acquired a
strategic partnership level, he underlined. We are always together.
We meet and we have close relations. And, of course we often discuss
the most painful problem of Azerbaijan – the Armenian-Azerbaijan,
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and share our views on world policy. We
every time feel this support by Turkey, President Ilham Aliyev
stressed.

President of Azerbaijan reminded of cooperation between the two
countries in regional and international level, noting the leading
role of Turkey and Azerbaijan in the region. ”We are one nation, two
states. Turkey and Azerbaijan are one and the same in all
internationals actions. And we shall further support each other.”

***

Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Turkey Mammad Aliyev, ambassador of
Turkey in Baku Turan Morali and other officials took part at the
reception.

–Boundary_(ID_5ftvLROHz4HXJ2KoBcuIHg)–

Washington Times, DC
Feb 7 2005

U.N.’s good name tarnished
By Philip Sherwelland, Charles Lawrence
LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

LONDON – Is the United Nations damaged beyond repair? Evidence of
double-dealing in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal is stacking up by the
week, and more and more of the organization’s officials are being
implicated.
It was just two weeks ago, in a rented suite of offices on the
15th floor of an anonymous Manhattan office block, that Benon Sevan
finally discovered that his story would not hold. For months, the
burly, bristling Armenian-Cypriot, known within the United Nations
for both his bonhomie and bad temper, had insisted that the talk of
oil deals with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and strange petroleum
companies in Panama had nothing to do with him.

On Jan. 21, however, the former head of the U.N. oil-for-food
program in Iraq was confronted by proof of his deception by Paul
Volcker. The former Federal Reserve chairman is leading the U.N.
investigation into a scheme from which Saddam skimmed off about $2
billion and bribed foreign allies.
Mr. Volcker’s interim report, delivered last week, not only
contained a damning verdict on the behavior of Mr. Sevan, an official
long defended by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, it also threw an
unexpected new focus on the role of Mr. Annan’s predecessor, Boutros
Boutros-Ghali, as the unraveling scandal dragged in new names.
The meeting was the 13th between Mr. Sevan and the investigators
since accusations of financial abuse were first raised by Claude
Hankes-Drielsma, a British banker who was advising the interim Iraqi
government in Baghdad. Although it was an open secret at the United
Nations that the oil-for-food scheme had been subject to surcharges
and kickbacks for years, Mr. Annan initially refused to order an
investigation.
On his first 12 visits, Mr. Sevan refused to discuss the
specifics of the accusations against him. But by this trip, the
investigators had obtained his full telephone records after clearing
his office files and computer disks. (Mr. Sevan already had provided
the “clean” telephone data from his home). These records proved that
Mr. Sevan’s claim to have spoken with Fakhry Abdelnour, the man who
ran the African Middle East Petroleum Co. (AMEP), the Panamanian oil
dealership, only once, by chance at an Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna, Austria, in 1999, was
false.
Senior former Iraqi officials already had told the commission
that Mr. Sevan had solicited contracts for AMEP — statements Mr.
Sevan denied, saying he barely knew Mr. Abdelnour, who is a nephew of
Mr. Boutros-Ghali. This new set of telephone numbers showed several
calls between the two men, who sometimes conducted back-to-back
conversations with Fred Nadler, Mr. Boutros-Ghali’s brother-in-law.
Relative trouble
The spotlight thrown on the relatives of Mr. Boutros-Ghali was
one of the surprises of the report released Thursday. The former
secretary-general’s role in pushing the French bank preferred by the
Iraqi authorities to administer the program’s accounts also comes in
for close scrutiny.
But Mr. Volcker and his fellow commissioners have become
accustomed to digging into the activities of secretaries-general and
their relatives. Their second report, due next month, will focus on
the business links of Mr. Annan’s son Kojo with Cotecna, the Swiss
company that won the U.N. contract to oversee oil-for-food imports
into Iraq in 1998.
Kojo Annan has said he played no part in Cotecna’s Iraq work, and
his father said he had no idea that Kojo Annan remained on Cotecna’s
payroll until a year ago.
Although the secretary-general had avoided ordering an inquiry,
the Volcker findings might help save his job — for now, at least. The
United Nations is not a body in which the buck stops with the boss,
and now, in Mr. Sevan, there is a senior official to blame.
Defiant diplomats
He was not, however, the only U.N. official singled out for
criticism in the report and now subject to disciplinary proceedings.
So was Joseph Stephanides, a fellow Cypriot who oversaw the selection
of the program’s major contractors. The report said the United
Nations broke its own competitive-bidding rules when it chose Lloyd’s
Register of London, the French Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) and
Saybolt, a Dutch company, to implement the program.
In particular, Mr. Stephanides is criticized for cooperating with
British diplomats at the United Nations to ensure that Lloyd’s
Register, the 245-year-old inspection and risk-management group, won
the contract to oversee imports into Iraq. A lower bid was submitted
by a French rival, but the United Nations decided the deal should go
to Lloyd’s because BNP had been awarded another key contract.
John Weston, then head of the British mission, said Friday that
he had been operating under “ministerial instructions” from London
when he advised Lloyd’s on the best tactics to win the contract.
Suggestions that there was any improper behavior are based on
“ignorance of the practices of diplomatic missions,” he added.
Lloyd’s is furious that it has been dragged into the row and says
its reputation has been badly damaged by the release of U.N. audits
that suggested it overcharged. David Moorhouse, executive chairman of
the group, also said it was customary for British diplomats to be
helpful to British companies seeking overseas contracts.
Carne Ross, the British diplomat in charge of Iraq policy at the
United Nations at the time, said the program was “deeply politicized”
and “carved up” between member states.
“It was our job to lobby for British companies, and we did so
extremely vigorously. Nobody in Britain would have expected any less
of us,” said Mr. Ross, who resigned from the diplomatic service last
year. “That is the way the U.N. operates, and it seems a little harsh
if Joseph Stephanides is carrying the can for this as a U.N.
official.”
Missing money
The Volcker committee’s criticism of Mr. Sevan was scathing. It
concluded that he had solicited and received oil allocations of
several million barrels on AMEP’s behalf, helping the company earn
about $1.5 million. Saddam’s regime apparently thought Mr. Sevan
would help ease economic restrictions in return.
The committee also said Mr. Sevan failed to adequately explain
the source of $160,000 of extra income from 1999 to 2003. He had told
the panel that he was given the money by an aged aunt who died in
Cyprus last year after falling down an elevator shaft.
The committee said it “continues to investigate” whether he
“received personal or financial benefits” for soliciting the oil
deals for AMEP.
Even after the publication of the interim report, Mr. Sevan’s
status with the United Nations remains strangely blurred, and U.N.
officials seem to have remarkable trouble defining it:
Does he still have diplomatic immunity? Yes. Has he retired? Yes,
but he still has the status of a contract employee, at $1 per year,
maintaining his immunity. Does he have a pension? Yes, but it is not
yet being paid.
The U.N. press office had been speaking on Mr. Sevan’s behalf
until last week, when calls were referred to Eric Lewis, a Washington
lawyer who issued a spirited defense. He said, “Mr. Sevan never took
a penny,” adding that the inquiry committee “succumbed to massive
political pressure” to find a scapegoat.
There was no sign of Mr. Sevan at his Manhattan apartment block
on Saturday. When the Sunday Telegraph tracked him down last year
during a visit to see his aunt in hospital in Cyprus, he defiantly
rejected all suggestions of impropriety against him and said he would
be vindicated by the report.
Future fights
Even if Mr. Annan escapes censure in Mr. Volcker’s next report,
he is not out of the woods. There are five U.S. congressional
investigations into the oil-for-food scandal and U.N. mismanagement,
as well as two criminal inquiries being conducted by federal and New
York prosecutors. And in Republican-controlled Washington, where many
politicians consider “United Nations” to be dirty words, the
secretary-general’s role still faces intense scrutiny.
Nile Gardiner, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, who has
studied the scandal, said: “The U.N. continues to display
breathtaking arrogance with regard to the oil-for-food scandal. The
organization does not seem to recognize the extent to which it has
been damaged by this. Five major congressional investigations are
looking at the role of Kofi Annan, and any of them have the potential
to force his resignation.”
The Volcker findings have provided fresh ammunition for prominent
U.S. critics of the United Nations.
“I am reluctant to conclude that the U.N. is damaged beyond
repair, but these revelations certainly point in this direction,”
said Rep. Henry J. Hyde, the Republican chairman of the House
International Relations Committee, one of the investigating panels.
At the United Nations, the defense is being led by Mark Malloch
Brown, the eloquent British official whom Mr. Annan recently promoted
to chief of staff, with a brief to “renew” the organization.
“Benon Sevan has been a lifelong colleague and a dear, dear
friend,” he said. “But these are extremely serious charges of
wrongdoing, and no one will be shielded from prosecution. If there
are criminal charges, the U.N. will fully cooperate and waive
diplomatic immunity of staff members, whoever they are.”
Mr. Malloch Brown said the Volcker report was “encouraging” and a
“step in the right direction.”
But, he continued, the report showed that the U.N. bureaucracy
would have done better at controlling Saddam’s oil-for-food schemes
if it had been allowed to do its jobs without the interference of the
“member nations,” particularly those on the Security Council.
The report also said the major source of Saddam’s illicit money
was not kickbacks but oil smuggling to Jordan and Turkey, to which
the United States and Britain turned a blind eye because the two
countries were allies.
“Back off — that’s the message to the member states,” Mr. Malloch
Brown declared boldly. “They should look to the mote in their own
eye, because what has been revealed is a process of politicization.”
Mr. Boutros-Ghali was even blunter in his response after the
report detailed how he “acquiesced” to the Iraqi authorities in the
choice of BNP as the program’s banker, despite apparently stronger
bids from others. Mr. Weston said Mr. Boutros-Ghali did not get a
second term because he was not regarded as good enough to deserve it.

Mr. Weston said of Mr. Boutros-Ghali: “I think he was an
honorable public servant. But he had a number of shortcomings. One of
them was that he was a singularly poor manager.”
The former secretary-general, reached by telephone at his Paris
apartment shortly after the interim report was published, insisted
that he had done nothing improper. He called the accusations “silly”
and dismissed the Volcker investigators as “ignorant” about the U.N.
system.
In fact, the investigators have become well-informed about how
the U.N. system operated, and the rest of the world is now learning
fast.
• Mr. Sherwell reported from Washington and Mr. Lawrence from New
York, with additional reporting by Ed Simpkins and Damien McElroy in
London.

–Boundary_(ID_ELrctpUuTERSvtKoXyDBYw)–

Karabakh draw up citizenship bill

Mediamax news agency
5 Feb 05

YEREVAN

The foreign minister of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic (NKR), Arman
Melikyan, said today that a draft law on NKR citizenship has been
drawn up at the initiative and with the immediate participation of the
NKR Foreign Ministry.

Speaking about the main provisions of the draft law, Melikyan said
that NKR citizens should have the right to dual citizenship, Mediamax
new agency reports. He pointed out that the law will defend all NKR
citizens regardless of their origin, racial and ethnic affiliation.

“NKR citizenship will be given to people who were born in the areas
that were incorporated into the NKR – Shaumyan District, Getashen and
the Nagornyy Karabakh Autonomous Region,” the minister pointed out.

“There is no longer Soviet Azerbaijan, but there are two states that
were established after the Azerbaijani SSR – the Azerbaijani Republic
and the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic,” Melikyan said.

He said that the NKR must assume responsibility for the fate of
Armenians who were born, lived and then were expelled from
Azerbaijan. The draft law also envisages the granting of citizenship
to people of this category, which will make it possible to protect
their rights fully.

AZERBAIJANI PSYCHOLOGIST WANT TO PROVE IRRESPONSIBILITY OF
OFFICER-KILLER

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5. ARMINFO. Chief psychologist of Azerbaijan Bilal
Mirzali- oghli Asadov has applied to the Hungarian Court for
participation in a judicial and psychological examination of
Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov. A well- informed source in
diplomatic circles told ARMINFO. It is not ruled out that the
psychologist tries to influence on the result of the examination to
prove Safarov’s irresponsibility.

To note, Ramil Safarov, Azeri officer axed his Armenian counterpart
Gurgen Margaryan when sleeping in Hungary Feb 19 2004. Witnesses, a
Lithuanian officer and another Azerbaijani officer, head of the
medical group, are supposed to be interrogated. During the previous
trial, Safarov refused from his testimonies stating that at the moment
of killing Margaryan he was in an “unconscious” state. However,
medical examination showed that he was fully aware of his acts.

As it was report earlier, chairing the trial will be the judge Andrash
Vaskuti, the state prosecutor Margarite Chohayn will support the
prosecution. Armenian and Hungarian lawyers Nazeli Vardanyan and
Gabriela Kaspar will defend the interests of Margaryan’s family and
Hayk Makuchyan, an Armenian officer whom Safarov failed to kill. The
trial will be held in Hungary. Safarov is charged with the Article
No. 166.2 of the Hungarian CC (first-degree murder and attempt on more
than 1 person). Safarov is facing 10-15 or even life in prison.

The Guide: PREVIEWS film: The London Armenian Film Festival LONDON

The Guardian – United Kingdom;
Feb 05, 2005

PHELIM O’NEILL

Apparently the first UK season of Armenian cinema for 25 years, so
there’s clearly a lot of catching up to do. The dark spectre of
genocide still features heavily in their movies, directly or
otherwise. But these are not doomy works – the culture is rich, if
little known here. Ararat and Calendar by Atom Egoyan – the big name
in Armenian cinema – are showing. Recent hit Vodka Lemon provides a
droll look at romance, Komitas tells the story of a traumatised
composer, and the dialogue-free Lovember charts a luckless couple’s
creation of a new god. po’n

Cine Lumiere, Instituit Francais, SW2, Fri 11 to Feb 17

GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT STRESSES STABILITY AS SEARCH FOR NEW PRIME
MINISTER BEGINS

Eurasia Insight

EurasiaNet.org
2/04/05

By Elizabeth Owen

The search for a replacement for Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, who died
February 3 of carbon-monoxide poisoning, is underway. Political analysts
in Tbilisi say there is `no obvious candidate’ that can match Zhvania’s
technocratic skills.

President Mikheil Saakashvili is expected to nominate a replacement for
prime minister by February 10. A state funeral for Zhvania will be held
at the newly constructed Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi on February
6. Saakashvili’s cabinet, meeting in a late-night session February 3,
reportedly considered several prime ministerial candidates, the Civil
Georgia website reported. While most political figures continue to
emphasize the difficulty of replacing the prime minister, some Georgian
media outlets have speculated on the leading contenders. In its February
4 edition, for example, the daily Rezonansi reported that the top
candidates to head the government included Defense Minister Irakli
Okruashvili, State Minister for European Integration Giorgi Baramidze,
State Minister for Economic Reform Issues Kakha Bendukidze and
Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze.

Few analysts in Tbilisi appeared to put much faith in such reports. `You
can’t take the stupid speculations of the Georgian media seriously,’
said Levan Ramishvili, director of the Liberty Institute. Ramishvili
also dismissed reports of a potential cabinet split prior to Zhvania’s
death.

Ramishvili is just one of many political analysts in Tbilisi who
emphasize that Georgia lacks a natural successor to Zhvania, who
possessed the most political and administrative experience of any member
of Saakashvili’s reformist administration.

Devi Khechinashvili, president of the Partnership for Social
Initiatives, a public policy think tank, contended that one government
leader who could at least replicate Zhvania’s independence is
Bendukidze, who oversees economic reforms. An influential businessman,
Bendukidze returned last year to his native Georgia after nearly a
decade in Russia. During his tenure in 2004 as economics minister,
Bendukidze’s proved an effective policy planner, but his advocacy of an
aggressive privatization campaign generated considerable controversy.
`He has no network here, he is a guy by himself, he has power by
himself, and he can push things through, but he will have no political
ambitions,’ said Khechinashvili.

Georgian newspaper reports have also focused on Defense Minister
Okruashvili as a leading candidate to replace Zhvania. Though
Khechinashvili agreed that Okruashvili’s close ties to the president
could enhance his chances, he expressed doubt that the 31-year-old
defense minister, often portrayed as the most radical member of the
Saakashvili administration, would accept the post of prime minister if
nominated.

`His [current] position is very powerful, and he is concentrated on a
main priority of this government [modernization of the military
according to North Atlantic Treaty Organization norms]. So what is the
rationale [for him] to deal with social or economic issues right now?’
Khechinashvili said. `It is much easier to upgrade the military than it
is the social sphere or economy.’

Ultimately, how the government navigates the transfer of power to a new
prime minister will prove critical to the reform process, both analysts
said. The most immediate impact of Zhvania’s death will be on the speed
of reforms, Ramishvili said. `We have to revise the division of powers
between the president and the prime minister. The president will have to
take on more strategic and tactical responsibilities to make sure that
the government continues on with reforms,’ Ramishvili said. With Zhvania
gone, the powers of the ruling party could become more concentrated,
added Khechinashvili, but how that will affect the quality of reforms is
unknown.

With the country still in shock over Zhvania’s passing, government
leaders remain intent on projecting an image of stability. Foreign
Minister Salome Zourabichvili announced that she, along with
Saakashvili, who has assumed much of Zhvania’s responsibilities on an
interim basis, would fulfill all of Zhvania’s scheduled appointments in
the coming days, the Russian agency Regnum.ru reported. Top government
ministers, meanwhile, stressed in televised statements that key
political and economic policies would not change.

Authorities also sought to reassure Georgians that Zhvania’s death was
accidental. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has agreed to help
Georgian investigators, and will perform `biological and chemical tests’
to determine `the exact cause’ of Zhvania’s death, Rustavi-2 television
channel reported February 4.

The circumstances surrounding Zhvania’s death have prompted various
conspiracy theories among Georgians. For example, as news of Zhvania’s
death was still spreading, Alexander Shalamberidze, a member of
parliament, claimed publicly that Russia was behind both the recent
car-bombing in Gori and Zhvania’s death, and that the two events were
linked. Russian diplomats have adamantly denied involvement in the two
incidents. Meanwhile, Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili and
General Prosecutor Zurab Adeishvili dismissed rumors of foul play.

To downplay speculation about the cause of Zhvania’s death, Merabishvili
and Adeishvili showed Georgian journalists late February 3 a one-minute
video tape with footage from the apartment where Zhvania and his friend,
Raul Usupov, the deputy governor of the Kvemo Kartli region, were found.
Both men were shown stretched out on the floor of Usupov’s apartment
after artificial respiration had been unsuccessfully performed, the
Civil Georgia website reported.

Editor’s Note: Elizabeth Owen is EurasiaNet.org’s regional news
coordinator in Tbilisi.