Author: Nadirian Emma

Norwegian FM: ‘CE is not capable of resolving Upper Garabagh conflict’

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Oct 14 2004

The Upper Garabagh conflict settlement depends on a mutual agreement
of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Norwegian Foreign Minister, chairman of the
Council of Europe’s (CE) Ministerial Committee, Ian Peterson visiting
Baku said during his meeting with Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
The Council of Europe is not capable of solving the Upper Garabagh
conflict but can act as a mediator, he said.

Afterwards, the parties discussed issues related to fulfillment
of Azerbaijan’s commitments to the CE and fighting international
terrorism.

In a meeting with Speaker Alasgarov the parties focused on the Garabagh
conflict and the Azerbaijani-CE relations. Alasgarov underlined that
Azerbaijan binds hopes with the Council of Europe with regard to the
conflict resolution.

Alasgarov emphasized that Azerbaijan has joined over 40 conventions
and passed 100 laws.

Peterson said in reply that adopting decisions does not mean fulfilling
commitments, as their execution is important. As for the Upper Garabagh
conflict, Peterson said he supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk
Group in this area.*

Time & Place: The hippies on the hill

Historian Saul David grew up running wild with his cousins on the family
commune in Wales – until they all fell out over money

The Times/UK
October 10, 2004

I was brought up with a whole bunch of cousins in the Wye Valley
during the hippy days of the 1970s. There were about 30 children at
one stage, running around like savages at a place called Callow Hill,
near Monmouth, which was owned by my grandparents. They lived in the
big house, but my dad had five brothers and a sister, and they all
lived in various houses scattered on the hill.

I wouldn’t call it an estate because that’s a bit grand, but we had
a couple of hundred acres. My forebears were fantastically wealthy
Armenians who came to England from India in the 19th century and did
what foreign types do – they married into a penniless but well-bred
local family. My great-great-grandfather, who made his money in the
jute trade, had at one time 600 houses in London and within three
generations the money was gone.

We didn’t care. Life was wonderful. We roamed the woods and swam in
the ponds, we built dens and we had tree houses. The cousins were a
self-contained clan and, because the hill was up a long drive and
relatively secure, we were allowed the run of the place. It got a
bit Lord of the Flies at times, with the older cousins setting up
pretty brutal situations. My oldest cousin, Simon, who was basically
in charge, had a gang. Everybody wanted to join it because all the
older children were in it, but the only way you could be a member
was if you handed over your pocket money, which everybody did. The
saddest times of my childhood were when my cousins moved away.

The house we lived in was originally put up as a temporary place for
my father to work when he was an undergraduate. It was an outhouse
basically, but he moved in with his wife and started having children,
of which I am the fourth, and it grew organically over the years. When
my stepmother first saw it she described it as a series of potting
sheds.

Life on the hill was like living in a commune. I went to school
because I liked it but nobody forced me to. You’d hardly guess it
if you met my aunts and uncles now, but at the time everybody bought
into the hippy theme. Some of the parents were all for educating their
children themselves, not that it lasted long, and Mum got very into
self-sufficiency at one point, with her vegetable plot and her farming
and her pigs. She was a bit of an amateur. Her butter was never quite
the thing and she had to put it in an old Anchor wrapper and pretend it
was bought or we wouldn’t eat it. It was the same with her bacon. She
was never adept at getting the hair off the pig, so there’d always be
little spiky bits on the rind, which gave us an indication that it was
Mum’s. She used to write “Danish” on the side but we were never fooled.

By the 1970s the place had got so shabby they chose to film the second
series of The Survivors there. That was a television drama about a
post-nuclear-type survival scenario and Callow Hill was ropey enough
to fit the bill. We were extras and from then on I was fascinated
with making television. I have just completed a series of historical
documentaries for Five.

I also made a BBC documentary about the Zulu war, as well as writing
a book about it, and that was influenced by my life at the hill,
too. One of the chief stories in Zulu concerns the battle of Rorke’s
Drift, when 140 British soldiers held out against 4,000 Zulus for 24
hours. Eleven Victoria Crosses were won, more than in any other single
action in British military history, and a lot of the soldiers were
recruited from Monmouthshire. It was local lore when I was growing
up and I always promised myself that one day I would write about it.

Now my father owns the big house, as he was the only one whose
finances allowed him to take it over, helped by my stepmother,
who just happened to have a few quid. There are no cousins there
now as there were all kinds of problems over inheritance. It was
idyllic when we were growing up but everybody fell out ultimately,
as my father and his siblings scrabbled over the last bones of a once
immense fortune. It was very un-hippyish. I don’t think inheriting
money is a terribly good thing for anybody.

Zulu by Saul David, Viking, £20. Interview by Cally Law

Movement formed in Azerbaijan to shut down Russian radar station

Turan news agency, Baku
12 Oct 04

Baku, 12 October: An initiative group has been set up in Azerbaijan by
the name of “Azerbaijan without radar stations”. Activists of the group
have appealed to the country’s intelligentsia to support their efforts
to shut down the Qabala radar station operating in Azerbaijan. This
facility has been operating since 1985 and was rented to Russia in
2002 for 10 years.

The need to close down the radar station is based on political and
environmental reasons, in particular, the constitutional ban on
foreign military bases on Azerbaijani territory. Apart from this,
it is inadmissible for Azerbaijan to host a military facility of a
country which is a military ally of Armenia.

The report also says that the radar station poses a serious threat to
the country’s environment. In particular, the number of cardiovascular,
skin, cancer, dental and other diseases is on the rise in areas
around Qabala.

The radar station is not economically viable either. The 7m-dollar
rent paid by Russia cannot compensate for the damage inflicted by
its activities.

Calcutta Telegraph, India
Oct 11 2004

Exhibition

Exotic artefacts, jewellery, stationery and garments on view at CIMA
Gallery, 11 am to 8 pm. Works of Armenian sculptor Levon Tokmajyan on
display at Armenian College & Philanthropic Academy, 3 pm to 7 pm. An
exhibition of handicrafts of Bengal, organised by Nimble Fingers, at
Effex Showroom on Mirza Ghalib Street, noon to 6 pm.

SeeNews
October 5, 2004 07:09 PM EEST

Bulgaria Sees Regular Air Flights to Armenia from April 2005

SeeNews

SOFIA (Bulgaria), October 5 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria and Armenia may be
linked by regular air flights from April next year, Bulgaria’s
Transport Ministry said on Tuesday.

Launching direct flights between the capitals of the two countries,
Sofia and Yerevan, was agreed at a meeting of Bulgaria’s Transport
Minister Nikolai Vassilev and his Armenian counterpart Andranik
Manukyan, the ministry said in a statement.

Vassilev is paying a visit to Armenia.

He and Manukyan also discussed boosting the development of transport
links between the two countries following a sharp rise in bilateral
trade in recent years.

Bulgaria was ready to launch a ferry link between its Black Sea port
of Varna and Russia to service trade with landlocked Armenia and was
expecting Russia’s final decision on this project, the statement
said.

Bulgaria’s exports to Armenia increased by over 100% in the last
three years, the statement said.

Bulgaria’s exports to Armenia reached 18.7 million Bulgarian levs
($11.7 million/9.6 million euro) in 2003, while imports totalled 21.2
million levs under official Bulgarian statistics.

(1 euro=1.95583 levs)

New York Post

CHILLED ‘VODKA’ IN HIGH SPIRITS
By V.A. MUSETTO
Rating: *** 1/2
October 8, 2004
VODKA LEMON

Romance in the snow.

In Armenian, Russian and Kurdish, with English subitles. Running time: 88
min utes. Not rated (brief violence). At the Lincoln Plaza and the Cinema
Village.

‘WE’RE in deep sh – – here,” Hamo, a 60-ish gentleman with a white beard and
a full head of matching hair, tells his dead wife during one of his daily
visits to her grave.

Indeed, life is tough for Hamo and his neighbors in a godforsaken,
snow-blanketed village in post-Soviet Armenia.

Hamo receives a tiny pension and waits for a letter from his son in France
to arrive with money in it. Letters arrive, but there is no money.

To keep going, Hamo (Romen Avinian) sells his few possessions, even his old
army uniform.

It is during one of his cemetery visits that Hamo first sees Nina (Lala
Sarkissian), a widow who works in a liquor store called Vodka Lemon and is a
decade or so younger than he.

Iraqi-Kurdish director-writer Hiner Saleem watches from afar as a romance
ever so slowly builds between the two lonely souls.

He’s in no hurry to tell the story, and viewers drawn in by the warm-hearted
tale and charmingly eccentric characters will be in no hurry for the closing
credits.

Associated Press
Oct 7 2004

Family will travel to Armenia in search of answers in killing of
Minnesotan

Five months after Joshua Haglund was stabbed to death in Armenia, his
family plans to travel there in search of answers.

No one has been arrested in the killing of Haglund, 33, who graduated
from high school in Mounds View and had traveled the world after
graduating from the University of Minnesota. His landlady found him
May 17 on the street outside his apartment in the Armenian capital,
Yerevan.

“We haven’t seen a police report, autopsy – basic information,” said
Haglund’s brother, James, who planned to leave for Armenia on
Thursday along with his mother and two other siblings. “We’re told
this is a highest priority to the Armenian officials, but we’ve had
no direct contact with them. I think it’s a lack of closure and
that’s a very important part of our healing process.”

Haglund was gay, and his family has wondered if his killing was a
hate crime.

The family plans to spend 10 days in Yerevan meeting with local court
officials and Joshua’s friends and colleagues.

Haglund was fluent in Japanese, Spanish and Hindi and taught English
courses in several countries. He moved to Yerevan last year to take a
job at the state-run Linguistics University through an exchange
program overseen by the U.S. State Department.

State Department spokeswoman Kelly Shannon said officials have issued
weekly reports to the family including all information available.
They also paid for the return of Haglund’s body and personal effects,
and helped arrange the family’s trip to Armenia. She stressed that
local police are handling the case.

“We can’t make the outcome of the investigation different,” Shannon
said. “Just like in the United States, some crimes remain unsolved
when police cannot go past a certain point.”

PRESS RELEASE
HAIGAZIAN UNIVERSITY
Mrs. Mira Yardemian
Public Relations Director
telefax: 9611353010/1/2
e-mail: [email protected]
and Mrs. Maria Bakalian
e-mail: [email protected]
mailing address:
Rue Mexique, Kantari
P.O.Box: 11-1748
Riad El Solh 1107 2090
Beirut, Lebanon

Haigazian University launches its 50th Anniversary calendar.

On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, Haigazian University organized a
press conference on October the 5th, 2004, at 12:00 noon, in the
University’s campus in Beirut.
The conference opened by a welcome speech by Mrs. Mira Yardemian, the new
Public Relations director. Mrs.Yardemian highlighted the ethical and social
values that Haigazian has promoted throughout the past 50 years.
Then, the President of the University, Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian, introduced
the audience with the historical background of the university. Haigazian
was established in the year 1955 by the Union of the Armenian Evangelical
Churches in the Near East, and the Armenian Missionary Association of
America. The university was named after a prominent leader and scholar in
Konya, Turkey, Dr. Armenag Haigazian, who had lost his life in 1921 as a
victim of the Armenian genocide.
Haidostian explained that in spite of being a relatively small-sized
university, Haigazian has capitalized on its strengths by giving priority
to service-oriented academic majors that enable the youth to become leaders
in their community and work environments. In today’s competitive world,
Haigazian has been experiencing growth in a number of aspects. Student
numbers have grown and physical expansion of the campus is being
planned. However, President Haidostian added, this expansion will not be
at the expense of the personalized and student-oriented service the
University has always offered. A physical expansion of 30% will allow for
even better academic service, in terms of research, administrative space,
libraries and sports facilities.
Last but not least, Haidostian assured that the university will always
value the building of the ethical person of tomorrow, achieving the highest
educational and moral values, and enhancing the cultural well-being of all,
thus capitalizing on dual riches of the Armenian heritage and the Lebanese
culture.
After noting that the 50th anniversary celebrations will also take place in
the USA, Syria and Armenia, Dr. Berj Traboulsi, a Faculty member at
Haigazian and a member of the jubilee committee, presented the agenda of
the events that will take place throughout the academic year 2004-2005.

For further info. pls. contact:
Mrs. Mira Yardemian
Public Relations Director
telefax: 9611353010/1/2
e-mail: [email protected]
and Mrs. Maria Bakalian
e-mail: [email protected]
mailing address:
Rue Mexique, Kantari
P.O.Box: 11-1748
Riad El Solh 1107 2090
Beirut, Lebanon

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

OCTOBER 1-7, 2004

HIGHLIGHTS:

“PRESS CLUB” ON AIR

HEARINGS ON THE CASE OF ATTACK ON PHOTOJOURNALIST STARTED

COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT REPORT OF THE PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE

MDI SEMINAR: NGOs AND MEDIA

YSU JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT IS FIVE YEARS OLD

“PRESS CLUB” ON AIR

On October 4 on the evening air of the Second Armenian TV Channel the “Press
Club” program cycle was launched. The cycle is organized by Yerevan Press
Club under “Strengthening Democracy by Free Expression in South Caucasus”
project, implemented jointly with “Article 19” international organization
with the assistance of Open Society Institute. Once every two weeks, on
Mondays the heads of leading Armenian media and journalistic associations
will gather in the studio of the Second Channel to discuss the topical
issues, also of information sphere.

One of the main subjects of the first “Press Club” show was the
media-related legislation, in particular laws “On Mass Communication”, “On
Freedom of Information” and “On Television and Radio”. The second issue
discussed referred to the documents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe that have recently been at the focus of media attention:
two draft reports, on Mountainous Karabagh (rapporteur Terry Davis) and that
of the Monitoring Committee on the fulfillment of Armenia’s commitments to
the Council of Europe (corapporteurs Jerzy Jaskiernia and Rene Andre).

HEARINGS ON THE CASE OF ATTACK ON PHOTOJOURNALIST STARTED

On October 7 in the court of primary jurisdiction of Kotayk region of
Hrazdan city hearings on the case of attack on the correspondent of
“Photolure” news agency Mkhitar Khachatrian and the obstruction of
professional activities of Mkhitar Khachatrian and the correspondent of
“Aravot” daily Anna Israelian started. As it has been reported, the incident
occurred on August 24 in Tsaghkadzor, where the journalists were preparing a
piece on the forest cutting in the vicinity of sports complex for the
construction of summerhouses of high-ranked officials. After the end of the
shootings the memory chip of Khachatrian’s camera was taken away by force
(see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, August 26 – September 2, 2004).
Charges of public disorder (part 1 of Article 258 of the RA Criminal Code)
and the obstruction of legitimate professional activities of journalists
(part 1 of Article 164 of the RA Criminal Code) were introduced to a Yerevan
resident, formerly twice convicted Gagik Stepanian.

At the first session the court started the interrogation of the parties. The
next session is scheduled for October 11.

COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT REPORT OF THE PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE

On October 4 in Yerevan the Partnership for Open Society Initiative, uniting
over 40 public organizations, held discussions of the draft report of the
PACE Monitoring Committee on implementation of Resolutions 1361 (2004) and
1374 (2004) on the honoring of obligations and commitments by Armenia
(corapporteurs Jerzy Jaskiernia and Rene Andre), to be heard on October 7 at
the PACE session. At the discussion comments on the report developed by the
Partnership for Open Society Initiative were presented, too.

In the beginning of the comments the Initiative points out the preferability
of a more detailed examination of the situation in Armenia and their taking
into account the opinions not only the state representatives but also of the
NGO-community. “We work together with the government, international
organizations and civil society towards achieving the common goal of
democratic reforms in Armenia”, the comments read. “This will happen only if
accurate information and analysis is provided. Unfortunately, lack of
accurate information and thorough analysis of the situation is manifest in
both the points that the rapporteurs highlighted as positive and also in
those that they present as negative.”

The omissions named are also present in the reference the corapporteurs make
to the media situation. Thus, in item 3 iii of the draft report of the
Monitoring Committee it is noted that “the investigations on incidents and
human rights abuses reported during the recent events, including assaults on
journalists and human rights activists, were led and information was
provided to the Assembly on their findings and of any legal action taken
against persons responsible”. Yet, as the comments of the Partnership note,
the corapporteurs do not specify that the investigation of many such cases
was stopped, and it was not conducted at all on the abuse of journalists by
the police on the night of April 12-April 13, 2004. The events of April
12-April 13 were not reflected in the report at all, even though in them
several journalists were injured. Only the punishment imposed on two
attackers for violence against journalists on the rally of April 5, 2004 is
mentioned (the punishment left the journalistic community and the public
discontent, the comments note).

In the opinion of the Monitoring Committee, the request to the National
Commission on Television and Radio to add arguments when awarding broadcast
licenses, as stipulated in the last amendments to the RA Law “On Television
and Radio”, will prevent “the adoption of arbitrary decisions” (item 9). The
corapporteurs also hope that the expected renewal of the composition of the
NCTR, proceeding from the same amendments to the broadcast law, will
contribute to the creation of “fair conditions for awarding broadcast
licenses to televisions, in particular ‘A1+'” (item 11 iii). Firstly, the
comments of the Partnership stress, the mere giving additional arguments is
not a guarantee for preventing arbitrary decisions. This requires other
methods of open and public discussion, too, also involvement of NGO
representatives and experts into the process of bid evaluation, as allowed
by Article 26 of the RA Law “Statutes of the National Commission on
Television and Radio”. Such a proposal was made by a number of NGOs to the
NCTR Chairman during the last broadcast licensing competition, however, it
was rejected. Secondly, the comments of the Initiative say, the amendments
to the broadcast law do not stipulate changes in the NCTR composition: they
only refer to competitive appointment to vacancies. And, finally, the
comments note, the corapporteurs link the creation of fair competition
conditions with the changes in the NCTR composition, whereas attention
should be drawn to its formation procedure which “does not ensure the
independence of the body and makes it a tool in the hand of the executive”.

When quoting negative examples, the comments of the Partnership note, the
report of the Monitoring Committee has a number of mistakes. Thus, item 30
of the report says: “The situation regarding media still gives cause for
concern. Newspapers are regularly found guilty in court and ordered to pay
heavy fines for publishing defamatory articles about prominent figures in or
close to the government.” Yerevan Press Club and the Committee to Protect
Freedom of Expression monitor the media situation, also the media-related
litigations, and during the past year, fortunately, nothing has been
recorded, the Initiative writes in its comments.

Among the most vivid examples of information lack, in the opinion of the
Partnership, was the mentioning of the corapporteurs that “Kentron” TV
company stopped broadcasting and was replaced by “Aravot” TV company. In
reality, the comments explain, “Kentron” did not stop its activities, it
only changed the air name. As the corapporteurs note, “Yerkir Media” TV
company that got a broadcast license is managed by Armenian Diaspora. In the
Partnership’s comments this statement is characterized as “irresponsible”.

MDI SEMINAR: NGOs AND MEDIA

On October 4-6 in Yerevan a training seminar for non-governmental
organizations representing various society groups and minorities and for
journalists of Armenia was held. The training on NGO relations with media
was organized by the London-based Media Diversity Institute under “Minority
Empowerment and Media Development in South Caucasus” project, implemented
with the financial assistance of the European Union and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The practical activation of relations of
the “third sector” and the “fourth estate” were discussed in the mode of
interactive communication, moderated by Tim Grout-Smith and Lily Poberezhska
(“Media Player International” consultancy partnership, UK) and Elina
Poghosbekian (Yerevan Press Club).

YSU JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT IS FIVE YEARS OLD

On October 1 the Journalism Department of the Yerevan State University
celebrated the fifth anniversary since it was founded. The Journalism
Department grew out of the journalism major groups of the YSU Philological
Department. The greeting address of the Yerevan Press Club noted the
progress of the study process, the availability of technical facilities and
wished the school success, conscientious students and open-minded graduates.

When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.

You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]

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Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
____________________________________________
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
375007, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 1) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 1) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

VISIT OF THE FOREIGN MINISTER OF FINLAND TO BAKU RECEPTION AT THE AZERBAIJAN
PARLIAMENT

AzerTag
October 04, 2004

Foreign minister of Finland Mr. Erkki Tuomioja has arrived in Baku on a
business visit.

On 4 October, Chairman of Milli Majlis (Azerbaijan Parliament) Murtuz
Alaskarov received the Finnish minister and delegation he leads.

Greeting warmly the guests, Speaker of Milli Majlis recalled the kind
relations between the two countries, the group of friendship with the
Finnish Parliament in Azerbaijan Parliament, also stressed urgency of
creation of such group in the Finnish Parliament.

Head of the Azerbaijan Parliament updated the guests on the reforms
conducted in the legal, economic, political and other spheres, as well
as the accomplishments Azerbaijan has achieved, emphasizing that
Azerbaijan is themost developed country of the region, however, he
said, some problems, in particular, the unsolved Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorny Karabakh conflict impedes progress in the region. Speaker of
Azerbaijan Parliament told of the history, reasons of the conflict,
stressing the non-consecutive position of Armenia related to the
problem, underlining that some states and international organizations
regard the question from the position of `double standards’.

Expressing gratitude for warm reception, Mr. Erkki Tuomioja stated
that his country is interested in development of links with
Azerbaijan. The country, therefore, considers necessary to make some
steps in this direction. Goal of the visit is to have exchange of
views on this and other issues, he underlined.

The Minister said that Finland wishes the Nagorny Karabakh conflict be
settled in peace way. The conflict should be solved only with the
consent of the sides concerned, but also with the participation of
international structures and Finland stands ready to render assistance
in this cause.

Also were exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.