Author: Mamian George

Russian cleric calls for boosting public relations against terror
By Viktoria Sokolova

ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 29, 2004 Wednesday 8:56 AM Eastern Time

MOSCOW, September 29 — Terrorism and counteraction to this menace
were the main subjects discussed by the Council for cooperation with
religious organisations under the Russian president on Wednesday.

“The main issue is terrorism, mobilisation of public forces, the entire
spiritual resource of the country to make Russia capable of stopping
activities of terrorists,” Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad
Kirill said after the meeting.

Metropolitan Kirill called for “giving a new impetus to public
relations, in order to make the country capable of stopping war that
has not been declared but is being waged on Russia.”

All the Council members noted the importance of the meeting, especially
the fact that it was held under the chairmanship of Russian President
Vladimir Putin after a pause in its meetings.

The presidential Council meeting was held in the Kremlin.

The meeting also focused on discussing ‘activities of religious
organisations on consolidating the civil society and counteracting
to the global threat of terrorism and extremism.’

The Council has recently undergone changes.

By his decree the president included in the Council the head of
the Russian Orthodox Church of Old Belief, Metropolitan Andrian
(Chetvergov).

So now the Council consists of 22 members.

There are four hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, three muftis,
the Chief Rabbi of the Federation of Jewish Communities, the Head of
Buddhists of Russia, the Old Believers Metropolitan, a representative
of the Armenian Church, heads of Russian Catholics, Lutherans,
Baptists and Adventists, as well as seven secular experts among them.

Addressing the Council meeting Putin said it is inadmissible and
harmful to wreak wrath against terrorists on people of other faith
and other nationality.

“It is inadmissible to toe the line of criminals and terrorists, as
well as to wreak wrath against terrorists on people of other faith and
nationality, and it is even pernicious to do so in a multi-confessional
and multinational country,” Putin stressed.

RIA Novosti, Russia
Sept 26 2004

MOSCOW OPENS STRING QUARTET CONTEST

MOSCOW, September 26 (RIA Novosti) – A 7th international string
quartet contest took start at the Moscow Conservatory today. To last
into September 30, Thursday, it bears the name of Dmitry
Shostakovich, one of the world’s foremost 20th century composers.

The contest has brought together fourteen quartets from Armenia,
Belgium, Finland, France, Italy and Kazakhstan. Performers from every
part of Russia represent the host country. These are student quartets
from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Novosibirsk and Petrozavodsk.

“The event is timed to the Dmitry Shostakovich birth centenary
galas,” Valentin Berlinsky, top-notch Russian performer and contest
jury president, said to a news conference last Thursday.

“The Moscow Conservatory has established its own award for this
particular contest,” added prominent violinist Vladimir Ivanov.
Conservatory orchestra department dean, he is on the jury. The best
quartet on which Moscow Conservatory students or alumni appear will
have its Smaller Hall for a concert-a generous award.

The winner quartet will also have a concert.

Renowned solo and quartet performers are on the jury-suffice it to
mention Marc Danel of Belgium, Italy’s Pavel Vernikov, Dominique de
Villancourt of France, and several Russians, among them Alexander
Galkovsky, Vladimir Ovcharek amd Vladimir Ivanov.

Grand Prix makes 720,000 rubles, roughly $24,000; the second prize
360,000 rubles, or $12,000; and third 280,000 rubles, $9,300.

Established seventeen years ago, the Shostakovich contest launched
many quartets into the global limelight. Of special brilliance among
them are Russia’s Eleonora, Dominant, Mozart and Romantic, The Lark
of the U.S., France’s Danael, the British Medea, and Italy’s Fone
Quartet.

Friday Review: ScreenReview: FILM RELEASES: Steve Rose on stunning tale of
warring Chinese states, plus the rest of the week’s films

The Guardian – United Kingdom
Sep 24, 2004

STEVE ROSE

Hero

4/5

Dir: Zhang Yimou

With: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Chen
Daoming

99 mins, cert 12A

This Chinese epic may owe its existence to Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon (which was essentially an American-Chinese epic), but it
betters that film on most counts. In contrast to Hollywood’s recent,
sprawling attempts at majestic action movies, everything seems to be
in tune with everything else here, all governed by a rigid formal
structure. Set during the “warring states” period before the entity of
China had been created, the action is framed around a meeting between
the Qin emperor (Chen Daoming) and an assassin named Nameless (Jet
Li). We see in flashback how Nameless eliminated the emperor’s most
feared enemies, Broken Sword, Sky and Flying Snow. But the King doubts
him, and offers a different explanation of events. And so they trade
stories like a chess game, writing China’s history in the process.

Each segment is colour-coded, so the dominant colour is red in the
first story, blue in the next and so on – a clever device that
preserves simplicity and allows the art department to pull out all the
stops. Hero really is one of the best-looking films ever made – a
combination of stunning landscapes, graceful duels and rigorous
compositions, all topped off with the cream of Chinese acting
talent. If there’s one flaw, it’s that the formal stateliness stifles
any sympathy we might have for these characters, who spend a fair
amount of time dying tragically. More intriguing is the overt theme of
Chinese unification, by no means a redundant topic. Where director
Zhang was once banned from making films in China, now he’s firmly at
the centre of the establishment, and essentially delivers an argument
in favour of tyranny. But there are sly hints of subversion. The
heroism of the title is open to ambiguity, and at one point the film’s
recurring motif, the pro-unification phrase “all under heaven”, is
literally written in the sand.

Red Lights

4/5

Dir: Cedric Kahn

With: Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Carole Bouquet, Vincent Deniard,
Charline Paul

105 mins, cert 15

After the excellent Roberto Succo, here’s another smooth,
sophisticated, real-world thriller from Cedric Kahn. Again the
transgression of the criminal is a theme, but this time it’s conflated
with the rules of the road, which proves to be an extremely rich
combination. And there’s something rather brilliant about a movie in
which the supposed hero gets increasingly plastered.

We’ve lost track of how much Antoine (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) has had
to drink before he and his wife (Carole Bouquet) have even left
Paris. Their car is one of the millions heading south for the summer
holidays, but Antoine doesn’t want to be one of the herd. His decision
to take a “short cut”, followed by a few bar stops, prompts his wife
to abandon him. Antoine then picks up a surly hitcher, whom he pretty
much knows to be the escaped fugitive mentioned on the radio. Antoine
sees his passenger as a soulmate, a fellow rebel. “You don’t give a
shit about their laws!” he proclaims. The fugitive, by contrast is
keen for Antoine to do exactly that. The story runs out of gas a
little when it leaves the road, but on the whole its marvellously
gripping, with a good few surprises up its sleeve.

Cellular

3/5

Dir: David R. Ellis

With: Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, William H Macy, Eric Christian Olsen,
Jessica Bie

l94 mins, cert 15

Most recent thrillers would have fallen apart completely had someone
possessed a mobile phone. This is the solution: a high-concept,
breakneck dash through the many features of the new Nokia 6600. The
hero, whose real name is unfortunately Chris Evans, receives a random
call from the hysterical Kim Basinger, who has been kidnapped. From
then on, it’s up to Evans and his Nokia to save the day. There are
some genuinely funny moments, but the writers are eventually defeated
by their hi-tech remit, and resort to an off-the-shelf shoot-out
ending.

Save the Green Planet!

3/5

Dir: Jeong Jun-hwan

With: Shin Ha-kyun, Baek Yun-shik, Hwang Jeong-min, Lee Jae-yong

118 mins, cert 18

A bizarre Korean sci-fi movie that’s so inventively demented, it’s
hard to dislike. It’s the unpredictable story of a loner named Lee
(Shin Ha-kyun), who attempts to save the earth by kidnapping a
pharmaceuticals executive whom he believes to be an alien. So,
naturally, he shaves off his prisoner’s hair, applies antihistamine
cream to his feet, then tortures him with electricity. Even David Icke
would blanch at Lee’s apocalyptic conspiracy theory, but we’re
successfully kept guessing about his sanity until the very
end. Technically accomplished, manically acted and extremely violent,
it’s constantly on the verge of collapsing into complete nonsense, but
never actually does.

Vodka Lemon

3/5

Dir: Hiner Saleem

With: Romen Avinian, Lala Sarkissian, Ivan Franek, Armen Marutyan

84 mins, cert PG

Another dry, droll, almost dialogue-free drama from an obscure corner
of Europe, to file alongside the work of Georgia’s Otar Iosseliani and
Finland’s Aki Kaurismaki. This is set in rural Armenia, which appears
to be a desolate post-Soviet country where the only commodity is vodka
and the national pastime is sitting outside on chairs, despite the
freezing temperature. It’s a bright, empty, snowbound landscape in
which any man-made object looks surreal – a hospital bed, a piano,
even the graveyard where two widowed survivors form a tentative,
courteous romance. Nothing new, you might say, but this establishes
its own distinctive rhythm, and puts its country on the map.

She Hate Me

2/5

Dir: Spike Lee

With: Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Ellen Barkin, Monica Bellucci,
Jim Brown

138 mins, cert 15

Spike Lee seems to have a backlog of issues he’s steamed up about. So
here he attempts tackle them all at once: the corruption of corporate
America; the persecution of marginalised peoples; the tyranny of the
heterosexual nuclear family; black homophobia; even the fate of the
security guard who exposed the Watergate scandal. The result is one of
the oddest films he’s ever made. The hero (Mackie) is a sacked
corporate whistleblower who finds a lucrative new line of work
impregnating lesbians, including his ex-girlfriend, her girlfriend,
and the daughter of a mafia crime boss. With a star-filled cast,
animated interludes, and a hugely improbably storyline, there’s rarely
a dull moment, but you’re constantly wondering what Lee is really
trying to say. At least he’s trying to say something.

Switchblade Romance

2/5

Dir: Alexandre Aja

With: Cecile De France, Maiwenn Le Besco, Philippe Nahon, Franck
Khalfoun

91 mins, cert 18

This presents itself as an edgy new French horror movie, but it’s
essentially a derivative old-school horror movie – with a twist that
only leaves you feeling even more cheated. It starts with urbanites
Alex (Maiwenn le Besco) and Marie (Cecile de France) coming to stay at
Marie’s family in their isolated farmhouse. But after a bloody
slaughter on the first night, courtesy of a random redneck, they’re
the only two left. What follows is less a game of suspense than a
drawn-out game of hide-and-seek, with the requisite false alarms and
idiotic decisions. Almost everybody needs killing at least twice
before they stay dead, and there’s some questionable gender
stereotyping to boot. If nothing else, though, it’s a warning against
selling axes in service stations.

Spivs

1/5

Dir: Colin Teague

With: Ken Stott, Kate Ashfield, Nick Moran, Jack Dee94 mins, cert 15

No! It’s back! The Brit gangster comedy rears its empty, Brylcreemed
head again. It’s all here: smart suits, split screens, short cons and
Nick Moran – until spiv-in-chief Ken Stott discovers a lorry load of
illegal immigrants. Then it lurches clumsily into an issue drama, as
he takes two eastern European urchins under his wing. The presence of
comics like Jack Dee and Paul Kaye only reinforces the impression that
these are two incompatible genres struggling to coexist. It’s like
Lock, Stock meets In This World.

The Punisher

1/5

Dir: Jonathan Hensleigh

With: Tom Jane, John Travolta, Will Patton, Laura Harring, Ben
Foster124 mins, cert 18

This lunk-headed action movie feels like something you’d have found on
video-store shelves in the mid-1980s, and passed over in favour of
something better, like Commando or Cobra. It’s the same old formula: a
gym-pumped brute of a hero (Tom Jane); a distastefully high body
count; and lots of big explosions. For John Travolta, it looks like
Pulp Fiction never happened.

The Ister

3/5

Dirs: David Barison, Daniel Ross

189 mins, no cert

Few films this, or any other, year will be such an unashamedly
intellectual long haul. Part travelogue up the Danube from mouth to
source, part meditation on writings by Martin Heidegger, this
three-hour documentary is not for the faint-hearted. The title is
borrowed from a poem by 17th-century German Friedrich Holderlin (Ister
being the Danube’s classical Greek name), that in turn gave rise to a
series of lectures Heidegger gave at the height of the second world
war. Heidegger, of course, is forever tainted by his enthusiastic
embrace of Nazism; here, with considerable rigour, a series of French
philosophers attempt to grapple with his thought. Another
controversial figure, film-maker Hans-Jurgen Syberberg, of Hitler: A
Film from Germany fame, weighs in for a few minutes at the end.

Russias Putin rules out talks with Chechen separatists

Agence France Presse — English
September 16, 2004 Thursday

ASTANA Sept 16 — Russias President Vladimir Putin on Thursday rejected
the idea of negotiations with Chechen separatists blamed for the
Beslan school siege at a regional summit focused on anti-terrorism.

Putin said that holding talks with rebel leaders from Russia’s
breakaway republic of Chechnya would be akin to negotiating with
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

“Bin Laden has twice offered Europe negotiations and no one thinks
of negotiating with him. “These are people you cannot talk to,”
Putin said.

“Naturally the atrocities we encountered in Beslan gave us the complete
moral right to insist that these people who are fighting against
Russia are part of the terrorist internationale,” he told journalists.

Putin has repeatedly linked recent attacks in Russia that culminated in
the deaths of more than 330 people at a school in the town of Beslan,
near Chechnya, to international Islamic terrorism.

His critics have focused more on local causes including corruption and
the failure to seek a political solution to the more than five-year
guerrilla war in Chechnya.

The Russian leader was speaking at a meeting of heads of the
12-member Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) bloc of former
Soviet republics, in fact attended by only 10 of the countries leaders.

But despite much talk of fighting terrorism, a news conference by
the 10 exposed an array of tensions, including between Putin and the
pro-Western Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

Saakashvili lashed out at Putin for Moscow’s ties with two breakaway
Georgian republics, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

“Russia can and should and should play a positive role in resolving
all post-Soviet conflicts including (in Georgia). All contacts should
be at a state level,” he said.

Georgia, which accuses Russia of encouraging separatism in its former
satellite state as a means of weakening Tbilisi, says this contradicts
Moscow’s tough stance against Chechen pro-independence rebels.

“These questions cannot be solved by double-standards,” he said.

Georgias anger at Moscows ties with Georgias break-away regions mounted
last month after Putin held talks with the self-declared prime minister
of Abkhazia ahead of controversial elections in the breakaway republic.

The spat worsened after Russia restored railway traffic between Moscow
and Abkhazia after a 12-year pause.

Putin, however, rounded on Georgia for its attempts to rein in the
renegade regions since Saakashvili came to power early this year
vowing to reunite his fractured country.

“An economic blockade, not to mention military pressure, do not result
in resolving problems,” he said.

The meeting in a vast, gilded palace newly built by Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev in Kazakhstans capital Astana ended with the
transfer to Russia of the leadership of the CIS after an 18-month
period in which Ukraine administered the group.

The strained post-meeting news conference also featured a series
of thinly veiled criticisms by Uzbekistans hardline President Islam
Karimov at Central Asian neighbours he blamed for being soft on groups
responsible for recent terror attacks in Uzbekistan that have left
dozens dead.

However Armenia and Azerbaijans presidents Robert Kocharian and Ilham
Aliyev, whose countries have been in a bitter stand-off since fighting
a war in the 1990s, took the opportunity to hold lengthy talks and
promised to keep up their dialogue.

Turkmenistan’s reclusive President Saparmurat Niyazov declined to
attend due to a prior medical appointment.

Moldovan leader Vladimir Voronin also stayed away, criticising the
body as ineffective.

Azeri experts say cancellation of Baku war games to damage ties with USA, NATO

Ayna, Baku
14 Sep 04

The cancellation of NATO war games scheduled to start in Baku on 14
September due to the refusal to allow Armenian military officers
entry to Baku could damage Azerbaijan’s relations with the USA,
political experts have told Azerbaijani daily Ayna. Independent
military expert Uzeyir Cafarov said that the incident was a serious
blow to the country’s image and would hamper Azerbaijan’s integration
into NATO. Political analyst Eldar Namazov held both the Azerbaijani
authorities and NATO responsible for the incident saying that all
disputable questions should have been resolved beforehand. The former
foreign minister, Tofiq Zulfuqarov, said that the cancellation of the
exercises was “a wrong decision” and NATO should have taken heed of the
position of the Azerbaijani public. The following is an excerpt from
C. Sumarinli’s report in Ayna on 14 September entitled “NATO exercises
in Baku cancelled” and subheaded “NATO leadership accuses Azerbaijan
of violating commitments”; subheadings have been inserted editorially:

The Cooperative Best Effort 2004 exercises within the framework of the
NATO Partnership for Peace programme, due to be officially opened in
Baku at 1800 [1100 gmt] today, were unexpectedly cancelled yesterday.

[Passage omitted: background]

Cancellation of NATO war games to damage Azerbaijan’s image

Independent military expert Uzeyir Cafarov believes that this incident
is a serious blow to Azerbaijan: “This incident is the first in the
history of the military exercises under NATO’s Partnership for Peace
programme. The cancellation of the exercises is a sign of serious
plans against Azerbaijan.”

Cafarov said that this incident would cost Azerbaijan dear: “I think
that we have come across a grave obstacle in Azerbaijan’s way to
integrate into NATO. In this direction, including in the resolution
of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, we shall witness western states’
political and other pressure on official Baku.

“As is known, NATO is planning to open its South Caucasus
representative office and the alliance’s secretary-general will
visit the South Caucasus states in November. I assume that when
deciding where to station NATO’s representative office, Georgia will
be given preference. We can say almost for sure that among the South
Caucasus states, NATO’s main partner Azerbaijan has yielded its place
to Georgia.”

The expert said that the cancellation of the exercises was a serious
blow to Azerbaijan’s image: “The attitude towards us will alter. Just
imagine that up to 1,000 servicemen from about 20 countries have come
to Baku. Now they are returning home frustrated.”

He thinks that Armenians and their supporters have a hand in this
incident: “We did not want Armenians to arrive in Baku. What did we
hope for and what have we got? We are now face to face with mighty
NATO. I think that Armenians did their best to provoke anti-Azerbaijani
moods in NATO and succeeded in this. Although Azerbaijan is the closest
partner of NATO, pro-Russian Armenia created a serious obstacle to it.”

…and ties with USA

The former foreign minister, Tofiq Zulfuqarov, thinks that NATO’s
biased decision was adopted without taking into consideration
the existing situation. He thinks that although the incident is
an undesirable one for our country, this decision will make think
those who sign agreements on hosting various international events
in Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijan is a victim of aggression, our lands are under occupation
and we have hundreds of thousands of refugees. It is wrong not to
take heed of this. I think that the NATO secretary-general took a
wrong decision,” the pundit said.

Zulfuqarov thinks that Azerbaijan’s refusal to grant visas to the
Armenian officers is connected with the tense regional situation. “It
is natural that the Azerbaijani public protests against Armenians’
visit to Baku. Unlike others, I would not say that this was an
erroneous step. I think given the current situation, Azerbaijan will
gain certain positive dividends. This shows that Azerbaijan has a
principled position on the conflict. This position should be taken
into consideration in the future by NATO and other international
structures.”

However, the expert does not rule out that Azerbaijan’s relations
with NATO and the USA might be affected by the incident.

Azeri leadership “feeble-minded”

“The incident shows that the Azerbaijani leadership is feeble-minded,”
expert Zardust Alizada said. He thinks that the current rumpus has
nothing to do with patriotism and the fight for Karabakh: “However,
this incident will gravely damage Azerbaijan.”

He thinks that the possibility of Armenians coming would not have
affected the Karabakh problem: “Armenians could choose to come or not
to come. This would have had no impact on the Karabakh settlement. I
think that our public should not have kicked up fuss or take the
position of ‘hurrah patriots’. This is a stupid and limp-wristed
position. This reminds me of stupid slogans of 1988-89. Some ‘hurrah
patriots’ were shouting that Baku was a nice city if not for Armenians.

“Actually, it is important to deal with the army [building] in
earnest. And a defeatist general should not be appointed defence
minister. On the whole, I think that the government of Azerbaijan
is behind all the uproar. They imply fighting for Karabakh,” the
expert said.

Both Baku and NATO are to blame

However, pundit Eldar Namazov’s approach to the issue is
different. He thinks that the incident both damaged our country and
NATO’s authority. The Azerbaijani leadership and NATO’s responsible
structures are responsible for this development of events.

“I think the issue of Armenian officers’ participation in exercises
on our territory should have been resolved long before,” the expert
said. Although Namazov deems the country’s refusal to accept Armenian
citizens to be a belated step, he thinks that this will be a good
lesson to all international organizations in the future: “They will
know which commitments Azerbaijan can fulfil and which it cannot.”

“I think that every country has the right to protect its national
interests and should be able to say ‘no’. A yes-man or country becomes
a ‘wimp’ in the end,” the expert said, adding that he did not rule out
tension in Azerbaijani-US relations after this incident. However, he
thinks that sooner or later international structures and the whole of
the international community will understand the situation and reckon
with Azerbaijan’s position.

Namazov said that the emotional public reaction was fully
understandable. But in contrast to this, the Azerbaijani authorities,
especially the Foreign Ministry, should have acted cold-bloodedly
and pragmatically.

“The country’s leadership should have ironed out all disputable
issues at the preliminary stage of the Cooperative Best Effort 2004
exercises. Emotions are unavoidable if this did not take place and
people intervened in the situation to protest,” he said.

Azeri official unhappy about Council of Europe’s requirements on public TV

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
13 Sep 04

[Presenter] The Council of Europe practises double standards in its
treatment of Azerbaijan and Armenia. This manifests itself in the
requirements regarding public television. The head of the public and
political department at the presidential administration, Ali Hasanov,
believes that although Armenian Public TV is of a formal nature,
endless requirements are being imposed on Azerbaijan. However, Hasanov
said that the Council of Europe would fail to conduct an experiment
on Azerbaijan.

[Correspondent over video of Hasanov] Baku will not satisfy the
Council of Europe’s advice to abolish state television, the head of the
public and political department at the presidential administration,
Ali Hasanov, said. He believes that a new bill on public TV drafted
by a working group has taken into consideration all recommendations
of the Council of Europe.

[Hasanov] Regrettably, after the second appraisal, the Council of
Europe came up with completely different recommendations and advice
than those given after the first one, i.e. the working group does
not understand what the Council of Europe wants.

[Correspondent] Therefore, Council of Europe experts have been invited
to our country to debate the bill. The experts will be visiting
Azerbaijan from 16 to 18 September. One of the main points that Baku
is interested in is that although state television exists in former
Soviet republics and in many European countries, why the Council of
Europe demands that precisely Azerbaijan abolish state television.

[Hasanov] I should say frankly that the Council of Europe wants us to
be a guinea pig. Many of Azerbaijan’s neighbours have state television,
they exist and operate. There are even countries where several state
television channels operate. For example, in Turkey there is TRT 1,
TRT 2, TRT 3, TRT 4, and TRT International. Moreover, recently Star
TV was purchased by the Turkish government. Russia has several state
channels, so do Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.

[Correspondent] Ali Hasanov added that the Council of Europe experts
in conversation with him had acknowledged that it was the first time
they had demanded that a country abolish state television and set
up public television instead. However, the government of Azerbaijan
believes that the Council of Europe has no authority to come up with
this kind of a demand.

[Hasanov] The issue of abolishing state television is not the subject
matter of this bill, this is not in the authority of the Council of
Europe experts and, in general, is not in the powers of the Council
of Europe. It is up to the president to preserve or abolish it.

[Correspondent] Hasanov also added that irrespective of the outcome
of the upcoming talks with the experts, the working group’s bill will
be sent to the parliament to be debated.

Rasad Huseynov, Mirtofiq Miralioglu for “Son Xabar”.

No Going Back

Transitions Online, Czech Republic
Sept 10 2004

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia–They compose poems about the city where they
were born. They send money home. They help each other find jobs and
solve problems. They even convene international reunions. But far
more often than they see each other in person, they meet up at the
web site Dushanbe.ru.

“They” are the Dushanbe diaspora. And having seen so many of my
friends leave since Tajikistan was thrust into independence in 1991,
and then mired in a civil war for most of the next 10 years, I feel
a part of this group, even though I still live in the Tajik capital.

I was flying to Prague for an international conference on migration
earlier this summer. As luck and geography would have it, the shortest
way to and from Central Asia to Central Europe was via Moscow. I
could get my visa and see my friends, the former residents of Dushanbe.

The friends I was staying with, Valeri and Lola, told me that they
had learned that our former compatriots were going to gather in the
suburbs of St. Petersburg for a reunion. They twisted my arm to get
me to postpone my return to Dushanbe–something that didn’t take much
effort–and I accepted their offer.

After a day’s drive, we reached a cozy recreation area by the Finnish
Bay. Most of the participants of the “Third Annual International
Meeting of Dushanbenians” had already arrived. They communicated
actively and loudly. A simple boom box blared Tajik music. Everybody
seemed to be excited to be together.

Some drank beer or stronger beverages in an arbor; others were
collectively cooking plov, the traditional Central Asian dish made of
stewed meat, rice, carrots, and other ingredients and spices. Soon
it had become clear that too many cooks had spoiled the plov. But
nobody minded too much in the festive atmosphere.

GOING TO EXTREMES

Trying to find familiar faces, I headed toward one man I knew, a
journalist working for a well-known media company. He caught sight
of me, unmasking my Internet identity before the crowd.

“Hey, folks, this is Kide (my nickname on the forum). You probably
haven’t seen him before,” he said, knowing that this was my first
gathering.

But someone said, “No, we know you. We’ve read your book, ‘The City
of Monday and the Jeans Community.'” I was flattered to be recognized.

“You probably have to go to Dushanbe a lot on business?” a pretty,
green-eyed woman asked me.

It took me a while to understand her question, but I automatically
responded: “I’m constantly there. I mean, I live there.”

She looked at me incredulously. “You’re fond of extremes?”

More people flock around me, asking questions that I try to answer
briefly and clearly. I simultaneously try to restrain myself from
exaggerating or airing my subjective opinions about the current
situation in Dushanbe. It feels like being at a press conference.

The men listen attentively, but the green-eyed lady doesn’t seem to
believe me. I can see her thinking “brain-washing” as she looks at
me. Suddenly I feel uneasy, as if I’m some sort of secret agent sent
to convince them to come back to their “motherland.” But after all,
with the five-year civil war over, there are no more tanks in the
streets of our town; no field commanders in camouflage uniforms;
the curfew was abolished long ago. Coming home is not out of the
realm of possibility.

“Who cares that fruit at the market is ten times cheaper than
in Moscow? Anyway, ordinary mortals cannot afford such gifts of
Tajik nature, I suppose,” one girl with dark hair and flashing eyes
exclaims. She left her town 12 years ago when she was just a child;
she has scars on her soul that time is not likely to heal. She’s an
ethnic Tajik but says she feels comfortable in the Western country
where she studied and managed to stay and work.

Another woman who was listening in on our conversation says, “You
mean to tell me that there are still Russians there?”

“Imagine, they are still there,” I–partly ethnic Russian–reply
dryly. I’m starting to feel somehow under attack, but I suppress
my emotions.

“And not only Russians, but also Tajiks, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Jews,
and Armenians. In other words, people are still there. They live and
work in Dushanbe.”

I desperately want to end my press conference.

But another small delegation approaches me. Sighing, I’m relieved
when they ask what school I graduated from. It turns out we share an
alma mater, and we pass some time warmly recalling our teachers and
classmates, some of whom perished during the civil war.

NICE PLACE TO VISIT…

Watching my downcast reaction to this spontaneous outpouring, my
former classmate, Dima, consoles me. Dima and I attended the same
school for 10 years, and then studied together again at university.

“Don’t let it get you down. They haven’t been in Dushanbe for years,
and you live there. They can’t believe there’s no more war there,
and somehow they cherish these thoughts… maybe it accelerates the
feeling of their own safety.”

But then he continues, “Aren’t you going to go somewhere yourself?”
Dima has been working in Helsinki for a Russian trade company. He
says it wouldn’t be difficult for “a smart guy like me” to find a
decent job.

I know that he has the best of intentions, and I try to appreciate the
sentiment, but inside I’m angry. Angry at him for offering to “rescue”
me and angry with myself for being irritated by the offer of a friend.

“Thanks, brother,” I respond finally. “But there’s too much winter
in Finland.”

Man feels good where he’s needed, and I feel needed in Dushanbe,
though I am not sentimental about it. But here, these 100 or so
ex-Dushanbeans–who are now Londoners, Muscovites, New Yorkers,
Parisians, Jerusalemites–are tuned to one nostalgic frequency, just
like a short-wave radio. And no “jammers” like me can push them out
of this groove.

They want to believe that all the ethnic Russians were cast out from
the Tajik lands, and–although things are far more complicated than
they seem–it’s difficult for me to argue with them. The truth is that
every one of these people–myself included–has countless different
bloods flowing in their veins from the hopelessly multicultural Tajik
past. But they still feel mostly Russian–they speak Russian and they
think Russian.

Having me here, among the exiles, perhaps only reminds them of the
motherland they left and that seems to be lost to them forever.

Khatami stresses expansion of ties with Armenia

IRNA, Iran
Sept 9 2004

Yerevan, Sept 9, IRNA — President Mohammad Khatami of Iran here
Wednesday evening underlined the need for further expansion of
Iran-Armenia cooperation.

In a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan, he
stressed that Iran and Armenia share identical views on many regional
and international issues.

He called for promotion of Tehran-Yerevan relations in the energy,
gas and communications sectors and said that bolstering bilateral
ties in those areas would pave the way for expansion of commercial
cooperations among regional states.

The Iranian president further called for settlement of peace in the
entire region and underlined the need to solve the existing problems
facing regional countries.

Turning to vast economic potentials in both Iran and Armenia, Khatami
called for promotion of foreign investments in the two countries.

For his part, the Armenian premier stressed the importance of
Iran-Armenia political ties and lauded the great efforts made by
the Islamic Republic of Iran to establish peace and stability in
the region.

Expressing his satisfaction with the current level of Tehran-Yerevan
political ties, he called for expansion of economic cooperation
between the two countries.

President Khatami, heading a high-ranking delegation, arrived here
Wednesday morning on the first leg of a tri-nation regional tour
which will also take him to Belarus and Tajikistan.

Khatami`s official visit to Armenia is taking place in response to
an official visit by President Robert Kocharian to Iran in 2001.
The visit, it is believed, could open new phases of cooperation
between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, Energy Minister Habibollah Bitaraf,
Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Safdar Hosseini and

Commerce Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari are accompanying President
Khatami on this regional tour.

NGOs insisting on protest action

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 9 2004

Baku, September 8, AssA-Irada

On Tuesday representatives of 62 NGOs, on the initiative of
the National NGO Forum, discussed the Armenian officers’ planned
participation in the NATO exercises to be held in Azerbaijan shortly
within the Partnership for Peace program.

The participants decided to hold a march on September 11 in protest
against the arrival of Armenian military men in Baku.

However, the Mayor’s Office of Baku did not register and returned
the notification letter it received from the NGO Forum on Wednesday,
explaining it by the fact that the letter was not received within
five days ahead of the protest action, as required.

The organization has further decided to hold the protest action at
4-6 p.m. on September 13 along one of the approved routes.*

Cucumbers a best bet at farmers markets

seattletimes.com
Food
Wednesday, September 08, 2004, 12:00 A.M.

Season: Although often overlooked, cucumbers are incredibly versatile.
Imagine a tangy Greek salad or cumin-scented Indian raita without
their crisp freshness. Cucumbers will be on market tables through
mid-September.

How to select: Farmers markets have an interesting variety of cukes
that may not be familiar. Yellow-green Armenian cucumbers are curved
with paper-thin skins and soft seeds. Be sure to try the Lemon
cucumber, a striped yellow orb, which is sweet and crisp with none
of the bitterness often found in other varieties. Also available are
the traditional slicing and pickling cukes.

Cucumbers should be firm without soft spots or shriveled ends. Avoid
those that are very large because they will be exceptionally seedy
and watery.

How to handle: Because of their high-water content, cucumbers have
a short shelf life but can be refrigerated in the crisper up to a week.

Scrub unwaxed cucumbers lightly; waxed cucumbers should be
peeled. Slice in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds with a small
spoon.

Goes with: Buttermilk and yogurt; dill, mint, tarragon and basil;
tomato, sweet red peppers, green, red and sweet onions; salmon.

Sources: “Field Guide to Produce” by Aliza Green; “Cook’s Thesaurus”
by Lori Alden; Chris Curtis, Farmers Market Association

Cece Sullivan, Seattle Times home economist

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company