Author: Karapetian Hovik

Tensions with Armenia figure in Azeri president’s visit to Turkey

BY BURAK AKINCI

AP ANKARA
April 12, 2004

A long-standing feud between two former Soviet republics over a
disputed enclave was expected to loom large in talks during a visit to
Turkey by Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, starting Tuesday.

Azerbaijan and Turkey are neighbours with a shared Muslim and
linguistic heritage, and Aliyev was expected during his three-day stay
to urge Turkey not to reopen its border with Armenia.

Turkey closed this border in 1993 to help Azerbaijan’s negotiating
position in talks with its neighbour Armenia over the enclave of
Nagorny-Karabakh, situated within Azerbaijan’s borders but largely
populated by Armenians.

Azerbaijan now fears Turkey will reopen the border in order to please
the the European Union, which Turkey wants to join.

The feud sparked war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s
when Nagorny-Karabakh seceded from Azeribaijan at the time of the
Soviet Union’s collapse, and the two Soviet Caucasian republics became
independent.

The war caused claimed more than 20,000 lives and made refugees of
nearly a million people.

After a ceasefire in 1994, Nagorny-Karabakh came under de facto
Armenian control.

Turkey recognises Armenia but has no diplomatic relations with it,
against a historic background of long-standing mutual bitterness.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in order to strengthen
Azerbaijan’s hand against Armenia.

But Aliyev, fearing Turkey will reopen it to please the EU, appealed
to Turkey last month, saying: “It’s no secret that the European Union
and other influential countries are pressuring Turkey to reopen its
border with Armenia.

“If that happened, the Nagorny-Karabakh conflict would never be
resolved.”

Several European countries have been calling for years for
normalisation between Turkey and Armenia.

Aliyev is worried about an EU meeting next December to decide whether
membership negotiations with Turkey should begin.

He warned in an interview with a Turkish newspaper that traditionally
warm relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan could deteriorate if the
frontier is reopened.

But he seems confident it will not happen. Azerbaijan holds a strong
card because Turkey is set to play a key role in Azerbaijan’s offshore
oil from the Caspian Sea.

A pipeline, operational from 2005, will ship up to one million barrels
of oil a day from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, on the Caspian Sea,
through Georgia and Turkey to a tanker terminal at the Turkish
Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

The Turkish government led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
adopted a diferent foreign policy from its predecessors, favouring new
openings towards neighbours.

But Nagorny Karabakh is not the only issue poisoning relations with
Turkey’s neighbour Armenia.

Turkey and Armenia remain at loggerheads over what Armenia says was
the genocide of hundreds of thousands of its people by Turks during
World War I.

Armenia says the killing and deportation by the Ottoman Empire between
1915 and 1917 claimed 1.5 million Armenian lives.

Turkey denies genocide, and says only between 250,000 and 500,000 died
as a result of the effects of civil war.

Worldwide Faith News <[email protected]>
Date Mon, 12 Apr 2004 14:04:31 -0700

All Africa Conference of Churches
Information and Communication Desk
P. O. Box 14205
00800 Westlands
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: 254 – 020 – 4441483 / 4441338/9
Fax: 254 – 020 – 4443241, 4445835
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

High Ranking Leader Of A Global Church Organisation Arrives In
Nairobi.

NAIROBI, April 12, 2004 – The Moderator of the Geneva based World
Council of Churches (WCC) His Holiness Aram I arrives in Nairobi
tomorrow (Tuesday April 13) to effectively place Africa on the global
agenda.

As a moderator who chairs WCC Central Committee the highest WCC policy
making organ after WCC General Assembly, his official visits attract
global attention which includes the attention of some 400 million
Christians world-wide who form the congregational membership of WCC
global network of member churches.

He is the most prominent leader of the Church outside the Roman
Catholic Church.

WCC is the world’s broadest and most inclusive ecumenical (fellowship
of churches) organisation. It enjoys a membership of 320 churches from
virtually all Christian traditions in 120 countries in all
continents. The Roman Catholic Church works cooperatively with WCC
although it is not a member Church.

Asked of his vision for Africa as he planned this visit, he stated:-

Africa is becoming an important region for many reasons. The
ecumenical movement must take Africa very seriously. Africa cannot
remain on the periphery of the international community. Its problems
are our problems. Its dreams are our dreams. Its struggle is our
struggle. The ecumenical movement is called to participation in all
processes and actions that are aimed at establishing lasting peace in
Africa.

His Holiness Aram I comes to strengthen the Church in Africa in its
own work of healing the wounds of the continent noted Rev Dr H. Mvume
Dandala, the General Secretary of the All Africa Conference of
Churches (AACC) adding that while the church plays leading roles in
the endeavours of the people of Africa, it needs unity in its thrust.

Upon his arrival at noon, His Holiness Aram 1 will address a press
conference at 2.30 p.m. Tuesday February 13, 2004 at the lounge of
Ufungamano House before he addresses a public lecture at the same
venue at 3.00 p.m.

On the following day Wednesday April 14 at 8.0 a.m., he will conduct a
ceremony in which he will bless Africa. The ceremony will be at the
AACC Chapel on Waiyaki Way, Westlands.

A wrap-up press conference is planned for Thursday 15th April at 2.330
p.m. at the Grand Regency Hotel.

He travels to Rwanda on Friday April 16, 2004. Having experienced the
impact of Armenian genocide known as the genocide of the 20th Century
(as Rwanda triggered the genocide of the 21st Century) His Holiness
Aram I makes key contribution of memory of genocide.

His Holiness Aram I, a PhD in Theology holder, is an author of a dozen
books, his recent book being a collection of essays entitled: The
Challenge to be a Church in a Challenging World.

He was elected Catholicos of the See of Gilicia of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, Oriental Orthodox, Antelias, Lebanon in 1995.

He visits Africa at the invitation of the AACC and the National
Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), for Kenya and National Council of
Churches of Rwanda, for Rwanda visit.

For further information, contact:

Mitch Odero
HEAD OF
COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY PROGRAMME

Defence minister briefs Putin on CIS air defence exercises

By Viktoria Sokolova

ITAR-TASS News Agency
April 12, 2004 Monday 8:08 AM Eastern Time

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov informed President Vladimir
Putin about results of air defence exercises of CIS countries.

Russia’s airborne early warning and guidance aircraft A-50 equipped
with the Shmel radar was used during the joint exercises for guiding
planes of Russia, Belarus and Armenia to targets, he said.

The plane can track 50 air targets at a 230-kilometre distance and
guide to them up to ten jets.

Another feature of the exercises was manoeuvres of planes of three
states – Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, Ivanov said.

The planes landed at airfields of other CIS countries and later
returned to their own bases.

More than 50 sorties were flown during the exercises.

The main task of the command and staff exercises was to drill
repulsing an air attack and preventing the seizure of aircraft by
terrorists.

“The conducted exercises have allowed strengthening the air defence
system at the scale of the CIS and Russia’s own security,” Ivanov
said.

General Alexander Mikhailov commanded the exercises that engaged
Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan, Belarus and Ukraine.

Air force units of eight CIS states took part in the exercises that
involved 50 command posts and 60 aircraft, including fighter jets
Su-29, MiG-29, MiG-31, assault planes Su-25, combat bombers S-24 and
long-haul bombers Tu-22 M3.

Russia’s air force base located in Kyrgyzstan’s city of Kant took part
in the exercises for the first time.

Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc.
State Department
April 7, 2004

Journalists Attacked in Armenia at Opposition Rally; Committee to
Protect Journalists release based in part on RFE/RL report

Journalists covering an opposition rally April 5 in Yerevan, Armenia,
were attacked by two dozen men in civilian clothes while hundreds of
police stood by, says the New York-based media freedom advocacy
organization Committee to Protect Journalists.

CPJ based its account of events in part on a report by Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).

Following is a press release by the Committee to Protect Journalists:

(begin text)

Committee to Protect Journalists

New York, New York

April 6, 2004

ARMENIA: JOURNALISTS ATTACKED AT AN OPPOSITION RALLY

New York, April 6, 2004 – Journalists covering yesterday’s opposition
rally in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, were attacked by two dozen men
in civilian clothes. The men smashed journalists’ cameras, assaulted
several reporters, and destroyed filmed footage of the events, the
U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported.

The men attempted to disrupt the rally by throwing eggs at Artashes
Geghamian, the opposition party National Unity leader, who addressed
a crowd of about 5,000 people from atop a van.

Several hundred policemen present at the rally stood by passively as
the assailants smashed the videocameras of three Armenian television
stations — Kentron, Hay TV and Public Television — and the still
cameras of two opposition dailies — Aravot and Haykakan Jhamanak.
According to RFE/RL, the assailants forced reporters with the private
television station Shant to surrender their videotape of the rally.
Several reporters and cameramen were physically injured in the clash,
the Association of Investigative Journalists in Armenia (Hetq)
reported.

According to RFE/RL, Onnik Krikorian, a British freelance
photojournalist, who was hit in the face by one of the assailants,
approached the police for protection, but an officer advised him to
complain to the British Embassy.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State.)

Armenian rural heads condemn attempts to “artificially add fuel” to tension

Noyan Tapan news agency
7 Apr 04

YEREVAN

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan met the heads of more than 20
Armenian rural communities on 7 April. The meeting condemned attempts
to artificially add fuel to the internal political tension.

Noyan Tapan learnt from the presidential press service that the heads
of the rural communities had assured Kocharyan that they would
continue to implement his stable development programmes.

Armenian speaker’s bid to reduce tension failed – opposition

Mediamax news agency
8 Apr 04

YEREVAN

The dialogue between the Armenian opposition and the authorities will
become possible only in case if the latter consents to a referendum on
confidence in the authorities, Armenian National Party and Justice
block leader Stepan Demirchyan said in Yerevan today.

National Unity Party leader Artashes Gegamyan said that the political
consultations held between the opposition representatives and the
Armenian National Assembly speaker Artur Bagdasaryan had produced no
results as the opposition’s proposals were rejected, Mediamax reports.

Armenian National Assembly speaker Bagdasaryan announced on 7 April
that he was going to held political consultations to reduce political
tension in the country.

ArmenPress
April 6 2004

OPPOSITION LAWMAKER BACK HOME FROM US PRISON

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS: An Armenian opposition lawmaker,
Tatul Manaserian from the Ardarutyun (Justice) bloc who had been
detained in the United States in early January on charges of
kidnapping, spoke today to a news conference in Yerevan after he was
acquitted of charges by a US court.
Manaserian was taken into custody at the Washington airport on
January 15, was later transferred to an immigration jail in the U.S.
state of Virginia and from there to California, where his ex-wife and
the 17 year-old son live now.
Manaserian and his ex-wife moved to the U.S. in 1992 before
getting divorced several years later. He returned to Armenia in 1997
with his son aged 13 at the time, allegedly without his mother’s
consent. She took him back to her California home later in 1997.
Manaserian said charges against him were a mistake as immediately
after his detention his ex-wife and the son denied them, asking the
US authorities to release him.
Manaserian complained of local mass media, especially of the
Armenian Service of RFE/RL, which he said broadcast reports that were
in violation of presumption of innocence. He said he would file a
lawsuit against it if it did not apologize.

The Washington Times
March 30, 2004

Terror and tolerance

By Jean-Christophe Mounicq

The morning of Jan. 29, upon hearing about the attack on a bus in Jerusalem,
I did not experience the expected emotion. It seemed such a “normal” thing,
and I have not enough tears to shed for people I do not know.
The next day, on Jan. 30, I read an article about one of the victims –
Avraham Belhassen, 26 years old, a young father – and realized that I could
tolerate no more. I can no longer tolerate terrorist folly, Islamist hatred,
the passivity of Muslims, the blindness of the West.
Following the attacks in Madrid, this feeling struck me again. The
reaction of the Spanish people, cringing in fear before the Islamist claim
of responsibility, bothered me even more. I can no longer tolerate such
cowardly Munich-like behavior that leads inevitably to dishonor and war.
The reaction of the European media and political class to the
elimination of Sheikh Yassin – the master of hate and terrorism, and one who
had called for the murder of Jews – pushed me over the edge. I can no longer
tolerate descriptions of the monster responsible for hundreds of deaths and
thousands of wounded as a “spiritual leader,” a poor “paralytic in a
wheelchair.” I can no longer tolerate murderous, barbaric Islamist hatred.
I can no longer tolerate the electoral victories of Islamists in
Algeria, Turkey or France. I can no longer tolerate the indifference of
Muslim leaders and the majority of Muslims to the suffering of non-Muslims.
I can no longer tolerate their affected statements or their perpetual
self-victimization.
I can no longer tolerate the double game of Yasser Arafat, the Saudi
princes or Pakistani leaders. I can no longer tolerate watching Muslims
dance with joy, in the Palestinian territories or in Paris, following
attacks on the World Trade Center or an Israeli bus. I can no longer
tolerate their anti-Semitism, anti-Christianism, anti-Buddhism or
anti-Hinduism.
I can no longer tolerate those who hate liberty but take every advantage
of it. I can no longer tolerate Islamist lack of respect for secularism and
equality, between men and women, Muslims and others. I can no longer
tolerate their lack of respect for the cultures of the very countries that
shelter them. I can no longer tolerate the multiplication of veils on women
in the streets of Paris.
I can no longer tolerate attacks on French officials, abusive complaints
against the police, terrorism against judges, the ban against teaching about
the Holocaust in schools, or the brutalization of male doctors who treat
Muslim women in hospitals. I can no longer tolerate burning cars in
Strasbourg and synagogues in Bondi. I can no longer tolerate catcalls when
the Marseillaise is played during games at the Stadium of France. I can no
longer tolerate the cries of “death to Jews” in their demonstrations or
“death to Christians” written on walls.
I can no longer tolerate concealing the massacres of Christians and Jews
in Islamic countries, Copts in the Middle East, of one-and-a-half million
Orthodox Armenians in Turkey at the beginning of the last century, as well
as a million-and-a-half Christian Sudanese at its end. I can no longer
tolerate Muslim ethnic cleansing in Kosovo or Palestine. I can no longer
tolerate Islamist totalitarianism.
I can no longer tolerate the relativism and masochism of a West
incapable of recalling its own history other than to denounce it. I can no
longer tolerate comparing the Crusades to jihad, when the Crusades were
nothing but a parenthesis in the history of Christianity while jihad is an
integral part of Islam.
I can no longer tolerate the cowardice, weakness and mediocrity of the
majority of Western leaders, or the unwillingness of Westerners to affirm
their own values and the superiority of liberty and democracy over all other
principles and systems. I can no longer tolerate the inability of Europe to
recall its Judeo-Christian heritage.
I can no longer tolerate taxes that the European Union transforms into
subsidies for the Palestinian Authority or that France transforms into arms
for Saddam Hussein. I can no longer tolerate paying the maternity bills for
women ready to sacrifice their infants as suicide bombers or for teaching
children hatred on the West Bank.
I’m going to pray in the memory of Avraham, pray that his death and
those of so many others might finally open the eyes of the cowards in the
West who refuse to face the truth. I’m going to pray for Westerners to
understand that the war on terrorism is in reality a war against Islamism,
and that Islamism is gaining ground among Muslims.
I’m going to pray that moderate Muslims might organize demonstrations
against the terrorists just as Corsicans and Basques have demonstrated
against their own terrorists. Pray that Islam, which is entering its nuclear
era, might become neither conqueror nor warrior, but rather adapt to
modernity before it is too late.

Jean-Christophe Mounicq is a French writer specializing in economics,
world politics and the French political scene. His book “Understanding World
War IV” will be published later this year.

Armenian minister urges Azeris not to turn officer’s trial into “show”

Arminfo
26 Mar 04

YEREVAN

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan is sure that Azerbaijan will
not succeed in making a “show” of the trial of Azerbaijani officer
Ramil Safarov charged with killing an Armenian officer in Budapest ,
the minister told a news conference in Yerevan today.

Asked about the possibility of such a turn of events, Vardan Oskanyan
said he didn’t see how the Azerbaijani side could do that because the
crime is obvious and all evidence is against the Azerbaijani officer.

“I think that all such attempts will have an opposite effect,” the
minister said and added that the Armenian side would monitor the way
the trial is progressing. The minister also expressed the hope that
the criminal would be punished severely.

Passage omitted: Known details of the Budapest killing

Armenian minister urges Turkey to be cautious over Azeri leader’s remark

Arminfo
26 Mar 04

YEREVAN

There is something Turkey needs to think about quite seriously if the
leader of a small country like Azerbaijan intends to use Turkey as a
tool of influence, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said
during a news conference in Yerevan today when commenting on
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statement that “the opening of
the Armenian-Turkish border would make a negotiated settlement to the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict impossible and that Azerbaijan sees as
Turkey as ‘a tool of influence on Armenia'”.

In this connection, the Armenian foreign minister said that the
opening of the Armenian-Turkish border would not only facilitate
regional cooperation, but would also have a positive influence on the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict settlement.