Author: Nahapetian Lilit

Independent on Sunday (London)
November 7, 2004, Sunday

HEADLINE: BOOKS: A NICE CHAP TO DRINK WITH;
BIOGRAPHY; IN SEARCH OF P D OUSPENSKY BY GARY LACHMAN QUEST POUNDS

by JAH WOBBLE Ouspensky: poetic and life-loving TOPHAM PICTUREPOINT

I t is the fate of P D Ouspensky that whenever his name is mentioned,
it is nearly always in relation to G I Gurdjieff, that mysterious
“esoteric master” who turned up in Moscow around 1913, claiming to be
a be a spiritual master. One thing is for sure: Gurdjieff, a powerful
and mesmerising personality, was a master at encouraging and
nurturing myths about himself and his origins. This of course makes
him even more fascinating. According to popular belief, Gurdjieff was
of Greek-Armenian parentage, and grew up in the Caucasus amongst
various cultural and religious traditions. He claimed to have
travelled extensively through remote areas of central Asia, stopping
off at monasteries and the abodes of gurus, gaining great knowledge
of all things esoteric, especially ritualistic dance. Initially
Ouspensky was cynical about Gurdjieff and his ambitions to spread his
knowledge to the West. However, he soon became his main disciple.
George Gurdjieff and Peter Ouspensky embarked upon introducing the
powerful ideas of the former’s “Fourth Way”. Gurdjieff believed that
people were asleep, that they were in a sort of prison, and that they
needed to escape. But of course he explained that is impossible to
achieve that escape on your own. “You need the support of a
organisation.” (It’s funny how they always say that.) Gurdjieff’s
system continues to be practised by groups all over the world.

Predictably the two men fell out some years later. Ouspensky started
his own operation, and wouldn’t even let his students utter the name
of Gurdjieff. Gurdjieff disparagingly said of Ouspensky that he was a
nice person to drink vodka with, but was essentially a weak man, who
lacked the necessary resolve to stick to the master’s plan. Since
then history has resigned Ouspensky to little more than a support
role to Gurdjieff.

This is not the first book to be written about P D Ouspensky. Colin
Wilson’s The Strange Life of P D Ouspensky and William Patrick
Patterson’s Struggle of the Magicians are probably the most notable.
The most striking difference, between these books and Lachman’s, is
the latter’s championing of Ouspensky’s cause. Typically Ouspensky is
portrayed as a bright yet flawed man, who betrayed his master’s
vision, and backed away from gaining true enlightenment. Lachman lays
his cards on the table in the introduction. It transpires that in the
late 1970s Lachman’s world (like many others before him) had been
rocked upon reading In Search of the Miraculous, Ouspensky’s account
of his time with Gurdjieff. Lachman subsequently immersed himself in
other books written by Ouspensky, as well as books written by
Gurdjieff himself. Indeed the author followed the teaching laid out
in those writings for several years. Eventually however, Lachman
moved on to explore other ideas. He was finally spurred into action
upon reading Patterson’s less than complimentary biography of
Ouspensky: “As far as Patterson was concerned, Ouspensky failed to
grasp the importance of Gurdjieff’s mission and when it came to it,
couldn’t abandon his own independence, self-will, and egoism in order
to devote himself entirely to Gurdjieff’s work… But as I read on I
found myself cheering for the wrong team.”

Even before reading Patterson’s biography, the author had found
himself revisiting, for the first time in years, Ouspensky’s
writings. Lo and behold, Lachman found that Ouspensky’s works before
meeting Gurdjieff were the most impressive of all, especially his
only novel, the beautiful and deeply metaphysical The Strange Life of
Ivan Osokin (which is a favourite of mine). I must say that I concur
with the author on this one. In my twenties I read Meetings with
Remarkable Men and other stuff on the “Fourth Way”. However, I wasn’t
that taken with it. I found it to be a jumble of ideas that with the
benefit of late-20th century hindsight (1960s hippie bullshit, dodgy
ashrams etc) didn’t hold water. Whereas Ivan Osokin had a wise and
compassionate feel to it. Above all, it had humour and innocence.
Lachman concludes that Gurdjieff had a negative effect on Ouspensky’s
personality, let alone his writing: “In the presence of the great
master, poetic, life-loving Peter felt somehow childish and immature;
all his philosophy and love of beauty and goodness were made to seem
mere adolescent romanticism. So he changed himself, worked on
himself, until that weakness disappeared and he became hard.” True as
that might be, it would be wrong to simply dismiss Gurdjieff as a
charlatan and control freak. However, it’s nice to see Ouspensky
appear, albeit belatedly, from the shadow of his master.

Indeed, Lachman would like it to be realised that before Ouspensky
met Gurdjieff, writers such as J B Priestley, Aldous Huxley and
Malcolm Lowry held him in high esteem. Ouspensky’s ideas were also
important to the avant-garde movements of the early 20th century, as
well as to going some way towards laying the foundations for early
Russian modernism. Weak, insignificant man? I don’t think so.

NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL
50 Khanjian Str., Yerevan 375010, Armenia
Tel: (3741) 551582, 571798
Fax: (3741) 574639
E-mail: [email protected]

NEW COMMUNITY CENTER IN GYUMRI

On November 2nd new Community Center is opened in Gyumri. The Norwegian
Refugee Council has financed the complete renovation of the 3-building
community center complex. Mission Armenia and Douleurs Sans Frontieres will
be providing social services to the local populations that include refugees,
earthquake victims, and local residents. These services will include
different facilities for youth and elderly persons, such as soup kitchen,
health post4, hairdressing room, bath and laundry, library, conference room,
counseling and advisory services, and trauma healing. The Center will also
have a Kindergarten for around 20 children.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental, humanitarian
organization that has worked actively for more than 50 years to create a
safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced persons
(IDPs), regardless of their race, religion, nationality or political
convictions. We work for the rights of refugees and IDPs, assisting with
food, shelter and education – and offering counseling on repatriation.

In Armenia, NRC has invested more that 10 million USD in refugee-targeted
projects since 1995. These include primarily housing construction, but also
school construction and rehabilitation, construction of drinking and
irrigation water pipelines, as well as human rights education and an IDP
mapping survey. So far, NRC has provided new homes for over 600 refugee
families in Armenia.

Mission Armenia was registered in 1993, though its founding members started
their activities since 1988 assisting those suffered from the earthquake and
the refugees.
The mission of the organization is to work for the interests of the elderly,
refugee and other vulnerable groups of population promoting their active,
healthy and dignified life and increasing the quality of their life
continuously advancing its model of community-based assistance.
Currently about 6,500 single older persons and 10,000 refugees residing at
250 temporary shelter benefit from Mission Armenia community-based
socio-healthcare and community development programs.

Douleurs Sans Frontiers (DSF, Pain Without Borders) is the only NGO
dedicated specifically to pain relief. Since 1995, Douleurs Sans Frontiers
has advanced the mission of helping those in pain. Based in Europe, DSF is a
non-governmental organization that has brought educational and clinical pain
treatment programs to developing countries. Since November 2001 DSF is
providing a medico-psychological assistance for mothers and children mostly
in Gyumri and partially in Yerevan. The priority is given to increasing the
competence and educational level and strengthening the capacities of
Armenian professionals.
For further information, please contact:

Norwegian Refugee Council

50 Khanjian Str., Yerevan 375010, Armenia
Tel: (3741) 551582, 571798
Fax: (3741) 574639
E-mail: [email protected]

Mission Armenia

42, Garegin Nzhdeh Str., Yerevan 375026, Armenia
Tel: (3741) 444792, 444793, 444761, 444732
Fax: (3741) 444792
URL: <;
E-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Douleurs Sans Frontiers

26 Parpetsi Str., Apt. 13, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel: (3741) 535410, 533749
Fax: (3741) 535383
E-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

KurdishMedia.com

Yezidi social life in the Commonwealth of Independent States
01 November 2004

KurdishMedia.com – By Lamara Pashaeva

Mrs. Lamara Pashaeva is a Yezidi Kurdish anthropologist who works in the
Institute of Ethnology in Tbilisi, the capital of Republic of Georgia.
Her academic field covers all ethnic and religious minorities peacefully
co-existing in Georgia – Kurds (both Muslim and Yezidi), Greeks,
Assyrians, Azeris, Armenians, Ossets and others. Lamara Pashaeva’s
family had for centuries been inhabiting the Wan region of Northern
Kurdistan, but after the World War 1 escaped the notorious genocide and
moved to Georgia. This paper has been presented at the 1999 Conference
in Berlin dedicated to Yezidi and Alevi religious communities. The
conference was sponsored by the French Institute in Berlin and the
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.

The confessional belonging is always an important factor in the social
life. This is also the case with the Kurdish society in which religious
diversity contributed to political division. However, the main obstacle
for Kurdish integration and consolidation is the fact that the Kurds
have no independent state of their own, although being an indigenous
population of the Middle Eastern region and although still massively
residing on a territory which politically belongs to four states. In
such a situation the Kurds are deprived of the right for
self-determination and fight a battle for independence with
overwhelmingly superior forces. As is known, in the past, the states
which divided Kurdistan used religion as a tool to involve the Kurds
into international disputes. Thus, during the Ottoman-Sefevid wars, the
Kurds became a part of Sunni-Shi’a discord. Frequently, religious calls
were intended against the so-called “infidels” including the Christians
and the Yezidi Kurds. At the same time, it must be noted that history
has enough evidence for how the Kurds protected and saved the Christian
groups.

Few Kurdish tribes, who were Yezidi in terms of religion, appeared in
Transcacuasia as early as in the 18th century. In 1770s, the Georgian
King Irakli II made a try to establish contacts with the Yezidis and
used the Assyrian Archbishop Isaya as a mediator. Irakli II sent via
Isaya a letter to the Yezidi leader Choban-Agha in which he proposed a
coalition with the Yezidi, Armenians and Assyrians against the Turkish
Sultan. In response, Choban-Agha showed his willingness and requested,
in case of success, a fortress called Xoshab.

A larger group of Yezidi migration to Transcaucasia took place during
and after the Crimean War (1853-1956) and the Russian-Turkish War of
1877-1878. During the second half of the 19th century, the Yezidi Kurds
lived in the following vilages of Armenia: Mirek, Kurabogaz, Djardjaris,
Chobanmaz, Kurdish Pamb, Big and Small Djamushlu and Korubulagh. The
population of those villages mostly came from the Ottoman Empire between
1830 and 1877. It is known that in 1875, the two Yezidi villages –
Baysiz and Sichalu – had 41 families.

However, the majority of the modern Yezidi Kurds settled in Armenia and
Georgia in the beginning of the 20th century as a result of religious
persecutions from the Otoman authorities and some pan-Islamic Kurdish
forces. These Yezidis came from districts of Van, Bayazid, Kars and
Surmalu. Since the Yezidi Kurds were a rural population, they mostly
settled in abandoned and deserted villages in Armenia, although in
Georgia they found refuge in cities – first in Tbilisi and later also in
Telavi. The migrants from one village normally would settle in a village
together, while in cities the members of one congener group would reside
on one street. In majority of cases, the spiritual group of Pirs would
settle with their Murids.

At present, the main group of the Kurds in Georgia lives in cities of
Tbilisi as well as in Telavi, Rustavi and Batumi. A part of them
migrated to Georgia in 1930s and after the World War 2 from their
villages in Armenia. Thus, in general we can say that the Yezidi Kurds
of Georgia are city dwellers. They chiefly work in the service sphere.
More and more young Yezidi Kurds become students and increase the number
and level of the intelligentsia. According to my data, in Georgia and
Armenia there live more than 80,000 Yezidis.

There are more around 80 patronimy groups – qebil of the Sheykhs and
90-92 groups of Pirs. The Southern Caucasian Yezidi Kurds use the terms
qebîl and bar in the same meaning. We know that in the Kurdish
tradition, alongside patronimies named after their leader and founder
(Mixaîlî, Anqosî etc.), there are some that bear geographic names. The
geographic patronimies reflected a relatively later stage of the
commencement of the social structure.

It is remarkable that the Yezidis in Georgia, to a certain degree,
continue to follow prohibitions in food. The food taboo includes:
lettuce, because once on Sunday in Mosul Sheykh Hasan was stoned by
lettuce; cabbage, because Shaykh Shams was thrown cabbage in Halab
(Aleppo) and the vegetable became damned (although there are other
legends connected with taboo on cabbage which are linked to Tausi
Melek). The Yezidis are also forbidden to eat hemp (qirqirk) and pork.
The pigs blocked the way of six disciples of Shaykh Adi who were coming
from Jerusalem.

The spiritual group of the Shaykhs have animal taboos. Thus, members of
the family of Shaykh Hasan are not allowed to kill rabbits. The Shaykhs
from the family of Sidjaddin Shams have control over mice: if in
villages someone noticed the rodents, they would ask the Shaykhs of
Sidjaddin Shams to pray in order to get rid of mice. Snakes are believed
to be obedient to the family of Shaykh Made Farkh. You may know that
snake is carved on the door of Shaykh Adi’s grave in Lalish, together
with figures of lion, axe, man and comb.

As is widely known, the only holy place of the Yezidis is Lalish in
Iraqi Kurdistan. Since the Caucasian Yezidis lived far from their
historical holy land, they had to find a solution. Therefore, they
performed their religious duties in the houses of their Shaykhs, who, in
turn, were visiting their Murids during religious holidays. In Armenia,
the Yezidi Kurds had settled 80 years before they did in Georgia. They
lived in rural areas either separately (the case of the tribe of Zurbai)
or together with the Armenian Christians. Not surprisingly, their life
and habits have experienced a certain Armenian influence: for instance,
the Yezidis started to visit Churches and local Armenian sacred places
including the Ziyaret against barrenness (Dêra Qaltixçî).

The Yezidi Kurds in Georgia primarily live in cities. They visit the
Churches, lighted candles before the icons of Virgin Mary, but they
never cross themselves. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the
Yezidi communities of Georgia and Armenia were in close contacts. As it
has been already mentioned, in late 1930s and after the World War 2,
many Armenian Yezidis moved to Georgia. However, as early as in the
Soviet era, a group of the Yezidis from Elegez (Aragats), Armenia, had
migrated to the city of Novosibirsk to create a rather powerful
community there.

After the break-up of t he USSR, the economic situation of the Yezidis
and non-Yezidis alike rapidly worsened. Many Yezidis started to look for
jobs in Russia, Ukraine, and conequently migrated abroad. This has
widened our research possibilities, since the Yezidi communities can be
now found in West Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia. Sticking to
Russia, the groups of the Yezidi Kurds live in Moscow, Saint Petersburg
and Yaroslavl. It is interesting to note that in Yaroslavl, a Yezidi
cultural-religious centre came into existence. Some of the Yezidis
constitute big communities in the rural areas of Krasnodar, Stavropol,
Rostov and Volgograd districts of the Russian Federation and in around
the city of Anapa. There, the Yezidis work in agriculture.

In addition to what has been said, there are quite numerous Yezidi
colonies in the Ukraine: in the Crimea, near the city of Kharkov and
possibly in some other locations, which I have no data sofar. In places
where the Murids settle, their Shaykhs and Pirs also join them. It must
be highlighted that there are many Shaykhs in the city of Saint
Petersburg. As a result of disperse settlements, ethnic and religious
ties somehow weaken. However, some try to overcome this difficulty by
the means of marriage.

The Yezidis display a very active pan-Kurdish activity as well: they
make financial and moral contributions to the Kurdish
national-liberation movement. The majority of the Soviet Kurdish
intelligentsia were Yezidis, who worked in their villages and cities as
well as in the scholarly centres of Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yerevan
and Tbilisi. Nowadays, there is a Kurdish theatre and radio in Tbilisi.
The Georgian Yezidi scholar, Karame Anqosî, has translated and edited
the Yezidi sacred books into Georgian. Throughout last decades we have
had Yezidi Kurdish members of the Georgian parliament.

The Yezidi Kurds of Armenia, Georgia and now also Russia and Ukraine
have survived during 80 years of their life in exile in countries with
overwhelming non-Kurdish ethnic and religious majorities. They succeeded
to retain their identity and cultural elements by resisting natural
assimilation. Certainly, their everyday life and social settings were
going through certain changes, but their major ethnic and religious
specificities remained immutable. To the beast of my understanding, the
Transcaucasian Yezidi Kurds, before the destruction of the USSR, were a
successful example of ethnic and cultural diaspora. Its history and
experience must be better investigated and analysed. To demonstrate a
real, that is, non-partisan picture, I would suggest to organise
expeditions to the remaining islands of the Yezidi Kurds in the
Commonwealth of Independent States.

Translated by Dr. Zorab Aloian

—

Turkey has no intention to change

Yerkir/am
October 22, 2004

If Turkey enters the EU the percentage share of EUâ~@~Ys Muslim
population will increase from 2% to 20%. Public opinion polls show
that 75% of EU population is against Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership in the
Union. Is it possible that Turkey will change after it enters the
European Union? How will Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership affect the EU? How
will it affect Armenia? We interviewed ARF Boardâ~@~Ys officer in
charge of political affairs Kiro Manoyan.

KM: The assumption that Turkey will change after EU membership is
absolutely wrong. And EU shares this position. Europe will not accept
Turkey until it changes. The opinions voiced in Armenia that Turkey
will change once it becomes E U member are absolutely ungrounded. If
Turkey does not change before EU accession and enters the Union as
it is now, I think the EU itself will change.

Once Turkey enters the EU there will be far less leverages to influence
it because then it will become an equal member, even more than equal
because in terms of the population, Turkey will be the second largest
EU member after Germany. This means that it will have the corresponding
influence at all levels of EU decision making. In other words, once
it is accepted into the Union Turkey will have no incentives and
reasons to change.

The European Commission report states that even if accession
negotiations with Turkey are launched, the final outcome will
not necessarily be membership in the EU. These negotiations can be
suspended at any time if Turkey deviates from the standards prescribed
by the EU. All this shows that Turkey will have to change before it
can be considered for membership.

Q: What has Turkey done so far in this respect? Is the EU likely
to overlook certain issues and make a political decision based on
its interests?

A: It is obvious that EU decisions do have political implications. The
European Commission report that recommended to launch accession
negotiations with Turkey stated that Turkey had fulfilled certain
requirements in terms of legal reforms but the adopted laws arenâ~@~Yt
properly implemented.

In other words, the decision to launch accession negotiations was based
on a significant reservation. As to the recent law adopted in Turkey
criminalizing any mentioning of the Armenian Genocide or withdrawal
of troops from Cyprus, the European Commission report stated that it
is necessary to amend this law.

These issues will be clarified when the European Council makes its
final decision at the EU Summit on December 17. There is another
approach that holds that irrespective of how much Turkey changes it
cannot enter the European Union because it has a completely different
culture and represents a different civilization.

Q: Viewed from this perspective, how will Turkeyâ~@~Ys accession to
the EU affect the European civilization?

A: Those who are against Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership put forward several
issues â~@~S civilizational and cultural differences, economic
problems, etc. Even if we imagine for a second that one day Turkey
will meet all the requirements in terms of its political system and
will join the EU, it will be a huge burden for the union from the
financial and economic perspectives because Turkeyâ~@~Ys economy lags
far behind the economies of other EU member states.

The EU will have to allocate money paid by its taxpayers to support
the Turkish economy and assist it to reach the economic development
level of the EU members. On the other hand, Turkish citizens will
get access to EU member states. They will flood the European labor
market and will be able to influence the policies of EU member states.

Q: Is the opinion that Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership in the EU is favorable
for Armenia grounded? How can Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership in the European
Union affect recognition of the Armenian Genocide, resolution of
Nagorno Karabagh conflict and the development of the Armenian-Turkish
relations?

A: First of all, as I already mentioned, there are no grounds for
expecting Turkey to change after it joins the EU. The opinion holds
that Turkey will change, and Armenia will be bordering the European
Union. I think itâ~@~Ys too early to speak about this.

It is possible that the EU will accept Turkey for different reasons
without further insisting on accomplishing changes in that country. In
this case I think Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership will not have any favorable
aspects for Armenia because in this case, Turkey will no longer have
any reasons for taking Armenia seriously.

Even the most optimistically minded observers believe that Turkeyâ~@~Ys
membership in the EU is a matter of at least one decade. If Turkey
persists with its current position on Armenia and the Armenians,
I think the EU will find itself in a somewhat awkward position by
accepting this country. The EU hopes that Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership in
the Union will have a positive impact in terms of interaction with the
South Caucasus and establishing the EUâ~@~Ys influence in this region.

But at the same time, the EU wants Turkey to settle its problems
with Armenia, to reconcile with its history and to stop the blockade
of Armenia. In other words, EU understands that in order to have any
positive potential for the Union Turkey has to normalize its relations
with Armenia.

One thing is clear â~@~S once Turkey joins the EU it will be very
difficult to influence it. At the same time, the major factor in this
respect is USAâ~@~Ys pressure to accept Turkey into the EU in order
to show to the Muslim world that it is possible to be Muslim while
at the same time being progressive.

The Turkish president noted in response to the American presidentâ~@~Ys
remark that US views Turkey as moderate Islamic country that Turkey
is not an Islamic but a secular state. The Americans and Europeans
do not seem to understand this approach. It is possible that the
Islamic forces within Turkey will turn to the Islamic world if Europe
rejects Turkey.

Interview by Karine Mangassarian

–Boundary_(ID_coBN2kIbD27S/HxL7dKxow)–

Armenia breaches ceasefire again

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 28, 2004

The situation on the frontline has become tense over the last few days,
as Armenia subjected the Azeri positions to sustained shooting.

On Friday, Armenian units, from their positions in the occupied
Sikhlilar village of Agdam region, opened machine and submachine fire
at the Orta Gishlag village controlled by Azerbaijani troops. The
shooting lasted an hour and stopped after retaliation, ANS said. No
casualties are reported.

Armenian forces fired at the Alibayli village of Tovuz province
several times in the past several days. 30-year-old local resident
Azer Naghiyev was heavily wounded as a result of the shooting.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jennifer Cannata
October 27, 2004
Andrew Souvall

(202) 225-4671

PALLONE CRITICAL OF U.S. DECISION TO ABSTAIN FROM UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE
VOTE ON CONTROVERSIAL AZERI RESOLUTION

Organizing Armenian Caucus letter to President Bush

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, co-chair of the Congressional
Caucus on Armenian Issues, today criticized the Bush Administration’s
decision to abstain from a United Nations committee vote on a controversial
Azeri resolution calling for the removal of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh.
The resolution was approved today by the U.N. General Committee and is now
able to be brought before the U.N. General Assembly.

“I am deeply disappointed in the United States’ decision to abstain from
this vote,” Pallone said. “This mean-spirited resolution by the Azeri
government threatens to destabilize peace talks in the region. If we are
truly committed to finding a lasting solution to the NKR conflict then we
need to take a stronger stance.”

In a letter written yesterday, prior to the committee vote, to U.N.
Ambassador John Danforth, Pallone urged the U.S. to vote against the
resolution and to condemn the Azeri government for threatening peace and
stability in the region.

“I can’t stress enough, the crucial role that the United States plays in the
negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh, to help the people of this region find a
lasting and equitable peace,” Pallone wrote in the letter to Ambassador
Danforth. “A failure on our part to forcefully and publicly confront the
Azerbaijani government over these destabilizing maneuvers would, in my view,
send extremely dangerous signals to Azerbaijan. These desperate tactics by
Azerbaijan undermine our efforts and seriously complicate our diplomacy in
the region. ”

The New Jersey congressman is now working to gain support for an Armenian
Caucus letter to President Bush urging that the United States oppose the
resolution if it is brought before the U.N. General Assembly.

Text of Pallone’s letter to Ambassador Danforth follows.

October 26, 2004

United States Mission to the United Nations
140 East 45th Street
New York, NY 10017

Dear Ambassador Danforth,

I write to you today to urge your immediate action against a troubling move
by the government of Azerbaijan, which threatens the stability of the
Transcaucuses region, and jeopardizes the cease fire that was established in
the Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan conflict nearly a decade ago. Recently,
the Azeri representative to the United Nations, Yashar Aliyev, sent a
request to the U.N General Committee asking for the consideration of a
disturbing resolution regarding the “situation in the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan.” If the United States does not act swiftly to stop the
adoption of this resolution, the measure can negatively affect the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

I can’t stress enough, the crucial role that the United States plays in the
negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh, to help the people of this region find a
lasting and equitable peace. A failure on our part to forcefully and
publicly confront the Azerbaijani government over these destabilizing
maneuvers would, in my view, send extremely dangerous signals to Azerbaijan.
These desperate tactics by Azerbaijan undermine our efforts and seriously
complicate our diplomacy in the region.

I hope that the United States will vote against this resolution when it is
considered in the U.N. General Committee, and by doing so, condemn such
actions by Azerbaijan, further ensuring that all parties involved in this
conflict make a genuine commitment towards peace and stability.

Sincerely,
FRANK PALLONE, JR.
Member of Congress

cc: Ambassador Steve Mann

-30-

Jennifer Karch Cannata
Press Secretary
Office of U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr.
420 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4671 office
(202) 225-9665 fax

Turkish TV: Kurdish officials tell EU “systematic torture exists”

NTV television, Istanbul
26 Oct 04

The European Parliament [EP] Human Rights Subcommittee has discussed
Turkey. [Kurdish] DEHAP [Democratic People’s Party] Chairman Tuncer
Bakirhan and IHD [Human Rights Association] Diyarbakir leader
Selahattin Demirtas maintained that there exists systematic torture
in Turkey. Demirtas and Bakirhan called on the EU to decide on 17
December to start accession talks with Turkey, but maintained that
systematic torture continues in Turkey. Bakirhan accused the [ruling]
AKP [Justice and Development Party] government of not taking any
action regarding the clashes in the southeast.

Leylekyan who was invited to the meeting as the representative of
European Armenians stressed that the recognition of the Armenian
genocide by Ankara should be a condition for the start of Turkey’s
accession talks.

A report on Turkey drawn up by Dutch MEP Eurlings will be discussed
at the EP Foreign Relations Committee. The report recommends many
conditions and an open-ended negotiation process for Turkey.

Azeri foreign minister says Armenia responsible for “time-out” in talks

ANS TV, Baku
26 Oct 04

Time-out taken by the Armenian side in Astana is becoming too long,
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has said. He added
that although during a meeting with the Azerbaijani president in
Astana [Kazakhstan in September] Armenian President Robert Kocharyan
had asked for some time to examine several issues, there had been
no news from him up to now. The [Azerbaijani] Foreign Ministry has
already informed the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen about this. Even a
meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries scheduled
for October has been postponed, end of quote.

Armenian Defence Ministry spokesman denies detention of Chechens

Arminfo
23 Oct 04

YEREVAN

The head of the Armenian Defence Ministry press service, Col Seyran
Shakhsuvaryan, today denied media reports saying that three Chechens
had been detained on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act in
Yerevan’s district of Kanaker.

[Passage omitted: Arminfo reported on 22 October that three Chechens
were detained near the area of deployment of a Russian military
regiment in Yerevan]

In a conversation with an Arminfo correspondent, Col Shakhsuvaryan
firmly rejected the report, saying he “was checking it at the highest
level and had not received any confirmation”.

The Messenger, Georgia
Oct 22 2004

Poland supports Azerbaijan’s bid to join the EU and NATO

According to the Azeri newspaper Zerkalo.Baku, Poland is ready to
help Azerbaijan to become a member the European Union and NATO and to
render assistance in solving the Karabakh problem peacefully.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of Poland’s new Embassy in Baku,
Polish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andjei Zalutski said,
“Relations between Poland and Azerbaijan are at a high level in the
political sphere. We intend to render assistance to the integration
of Azerbaijan into the European Union and NATO. We have a group of
experts who are ready to share their experience.” Zalutski added
during his three-day official visit to Baku that Poland can render
necessary assistance for such kind of integration, as it is currently
preparing to chair the committee of ministers of the Council of
Europe from next year.
At the same time, Zalutski noted that this issue very much depends on
the Azeri side as well. “If Azerbaijan has such intentions, then we
are ready to support it and to share our experience with it,”
stressed the diplomat. As he said, integration into European
structures is a very long process involving great reforms, especially
in the legislative sphere. “The doors of the European Union must be
open to everyone who aspires to join,” Zalutski thinks.
As for bilateral relations, according to the diplomat there are very
good prospects between Poland and Azerbaijan and not only in the
political sphere. “We have to enlarge contacts at the level of trade
and industrial chambers, and to increase commodity turnover. Active
cooperation must continue in the spheres of culture and tourism,”
stated Zalutski.
Regarding Nagorno-Karabakh, the Polish minister stressed the need to
look for peaceful ways to resolve this problem. “We support the
territorial integrity of the country and as the chair of the
committee of the ministers in the Council of Europe from next year,
Poland will help to settle this conflict,” he promised.