Author: Nalchajian Markos

Associated Press Worldstream
August 8, 2004 Sunday

Nagorno-Karabakh holds municipal elections

YEREVAN, Armenia

The Nagorno-Karabakh enclave held local elections on Sunday, ignoring
the Council of Europe’s advice to call off the municipal balloting.

“Free and fair elections are the only mechanism to form a legitimate
government in Nagorno-Karabakh,” said Sergei Davidian, chairman of
the enclave’s Central Election Commission.

The 45-nation Council of Europe, however, had voiced regret over the
elections in the enclave, which has broken off from Azerbaijan, with
Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer saying “one-sided actions are
counterproductive.”

More than 85,000 residents are registered to vote in Sunday’s
balloting to choose community leaders, members of the Council of
Elders and also the mayor of the regional capital, Stepanakert.
Preliminary results are expected Monday.

Davidian said he was confident the election would proceed fairly,
adding that international experts were closely following the results.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s Union of Journalists, citing the results of an
earlier survey, predicted that 72 percent of registered voters would
cast ballots.

Armenian-backed forces won control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a largely
ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, in a 1988-94 war that killed
some 30,000 people and drove a million from their homes.

Despite a cease-fire, Armenian-backed forces and Azerbaijani troops
continue to face off across a demilitarized zone, and shooting
occasionally erupts. On Sunday, Nagorno-Karabakh’s Foreign Ministry
announced that a 21-year-old Azerbaijan soldier, identified as Anat
Samyedov, was detained on Friday during an alleged attempt to cross
the border.

Nagorno-Karabakh said it had informed the International Committee of
the Red Cross and the Organization of Security and Cooperation in
Europe about the detention, adding that it was willing to return the
soldier to Azerbaijan if it received such a request.

Armenian official slams Azerbaijan’s “non-constructive position”

Arminfo
6 Aug 04

YEREVAN

The Armenian Foreign Ministry has described as unacceptable the latest
attempt by Azerbaijan to conceal its non-constructive position on the
issue of achieving a lasting peace, the press secretary of the
Armenian Foreign Ministry, Gamlet Gasparyan, said while commenting on
the statement issued by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on 4 August
regarding the exercises in Nagornyy Karabakh.

“Azerbaijan’s militarist rhetoric, its discontent with the peaceful,
legal and democratic elections to the local government bodies in
Nagornyy Karabakh and its contemptuous statements regarding its
Karabakh’s right to self-defence are only aggravating the atmosphere
of mistrust and cynicism. Despite such futile comments by the
Azerbaijani side, Armenia is always ready to take part in the efforts
which the international organizations are making in the region,
specifically in the forthcoming NATO exercises, and also to continue
its involvement in a peaceful settlement to the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict,” Gasparyan said.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian International Policy Research Group (Washington, DC)
Armine Khachatryan <[email protected]> – WASHINGTON DC
Garik Hairapetyan <Garik [email protected]> – YEREVAN

THIRD ANNUAL AIPRG CONFERENCE ON ARMENIA–CALL FOR PAPERS

The Armenian International Policy Research Group is pleased to
announce that its third annual conference on will be held in January
15-16, 2005, at World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC. While the
focus of this year’s conference will be on the issues related to
distribution of income and social safety nets, papers from all areas
of relevance for economic development and growth are welcome.
References should be made to the following broadly-defined sections:

– Growth and Poverty Reduction
– Social Sector Reforms (Education, Health, and Social Security)
– Taxation and Fiscal Policy
– Institutional Reforms and Governance
– Banking and Finance
– Diaspora’s Role and Channels of Involvement
– Trade, Regional Cooperation, and Geopolitics

Prospective authors should email abstracts to
[email protected] by September 15, 2004. The
Selection Committee will notify authors of accepted abstracts by
October 1, 2004. The deadline for completed papers is December 10,
2004. The Committee will be chaired by:

– David Joulfaian, US Department of the Treasury
– Saumya Mitra, The World Bank
– Susan George, International Monetary Fund

Select papers will be considered for publication in the Armenian
Journal of Public Policy. The final agenda along with the list of
confirmed papers will be circulated by January 1, 2005. The official
language of the conference is English. For more information on the
AIPRG and past conferences please visit

armenianow.com
August 6, 2004

Culture Shock: Survey reveals bleak outlook among social/political experts

By Zhanna Alexanyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

A survey of sociologists and political scientists has found that only 16
percent of the specialists believe the republic is “going toward democracy”.
Over the past several months, the Armenian Center for National and
International studies, ACNIS, has conducted a series of such surveys. The
most recent, released last week concerned “The Challenges of Culture and
Value System in Armenia”.
Fifty experts participated in the survey, the results of which were
summarized in a seminar at the center in Yerevan July 29.
Armenia, the majority of experts concluded, is leaning more toward
authoritarianism than democracy.
According to experts the results of the study show that, after 13 years of
independence, the public has not formulated a value system. And everyday
life is orientated more toward the past than the future.
“In the presence of today’s conditions we are inclined toward anti-popular
regime politics,” said the center’s Styopa Safaryan, a political analyst,
who presented the study results.
According to the experts (who represent a variety of political persuasions),
democracy in Armenia will be strengthened in five to 25 years. Eight percent
were completely pessimistic, saying it will be 100 years before democracy
flourishes.
The study asked specialists to identify obstacles, if any, that hamper the
democratic process.
The onus for change, the experts say, is on government officials.
“If 30% is the result of this or that peculiarity of the public, the rest is
the result of government actions,” Safaryan said. “This all can be explained
as follows: Changes in Armenia come from above and it is natural that the
solution of such a problem is seen to come from a vertical direction (from
high to low).”
Some of the 31 questions addressed cultural/spiritual attitudes. Here, too,
the experts do not paint an optimistic picture. (Find complete results on
)
Safaryan said opinions of experts in this category were driven by the
“changes from above” model and that spiritual/cultural change must also
start from the top.
“In my opinion, this can offer significant thought for our cultural elite,”
Safaryan said.
Yerevan State University professor Vardan Khachatryan said such ideologies
“can only be built on real existing classes. But nowadays, there are not any
classes in our reality.”
Khachatryan disagreed that the study reflects “dispair” and said Armenian
history favors recovery.
“I am sure that it will not go this way, because a nation which has
centuries-old culture and which passes through genocide cannot be negative,”
Khachatryan said.
ACNIS expert Hovsep Khurshudyan said the main aim of the study was to prove
already existing theories and make clear the positive and negative opinions.
We think that the situation in our cultural value system is too bad,” he
said. “But there is hope and experts see that and nobody behaves like
ostrich, hiding the head in the sand. In the discussions some ways out were
found and we must work on them.”

VOLUME OF INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT INCREASES BY 4.9% IN ARMENIA IN FIRST HALF
OF 2004

YEREVAN, August 6 (Noyan Tapan). GDP of Armenia made 9.2% in the first
half of 2004. RA Minister of Trade and Economic Development Karen
Chshmaritian said during the August 6 press conference that the main
share of the registered economic growth falls on the real sector. In
particular, the share of chemical industry increased 3.7-fold, the
share of the light industry increased by 75%, machine-building – by 9%
and the production of metalic ore – by 50%. During the period under
review industrial output increased by 4.9% in comparison with the same
period of last year. In particular, 28 enterprises of the ore mining
sphere turned out production of 66.1 bln drams as against 67.5 bln
drams of last year. It was also mentioned that 9,913 people, in fact,
work at the enterprises of the sphere, their average monthly salary
makes 72,000 drams (about 150 dollars). The volume of output made 63.1
bln drams in the jewelry sphere during the last six months. The
imports of natural diamonds from Russia decreased: only 70,000 carats
of natural diamonds have been imported to Armenia up to day.

The agreement was reached with the government of Russia that if
Armenia doesn’t use 15% of raw materials imported to Armenia, it will
re-export it. Only 17 enterprises out of 32 enterprises of the sphere
of light industry operated in Jan-June of this year. They turned out
output of 6 bln, 169 mln drams, which is more by 75% than last year’s
index. 40 companies of the sphere of machine-building of the republic
turned out output of 2.5 blndrams. The volume of the production of
eight enterprises of the woodworking industry made 295 mln drams in
Jan-June 2004, which is more by 22% than last year’s index.

UEFA to investigate Karabakh soccer championship following Azeri protest

Ekho, Baku
5 Aug 04

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) intends to clarify
the situation with the football championship in the so-called Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic which started on 1 August. This was said in a letter
sent by Giovanni Infantino, the director of the UEFA legal committee,
to the secretary-general of the Armenian football association, Armen
Minasyan. The copy of the letter was sent to Fuad Asadov, the
secretary-general of the Association of Football Federations of
Azerbaijan [AFFA].

“We draw your attention (addressing Armen Minasyan – author’s note) to
a fax message from AFFA which informed us about an illegal football
championship being held in the territory of the unrecognized Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic in which an Armenian club from the town of Goris is
also taking part. Prior to carrying out an investigation, we would
like you to familiarize yourself with a copy of the aforesaid fax
message from AFFA and give an official explanation of the issue on
behalf of the Armenian football association,” [the letter said].

Ekho has already reported that the first open football championship
started in Nagornyy Karabakh on 1 August.

[Passage omitted: reported details of the championship in Karabakh]

Azerbaijan produced an immediate response to the mentioned sporting
event. Both AFFA and the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Tourism
expressed their extreme indignation at the case. AFFA notified UEFA
and FIFA about the case while the Sports Ministry informed the Foreign
Ministry.

“In my letter to UEFA and FIFA, I said that in line with our charter,
football championships in the territory of our country can be held
only under the banner of AFFA and with its consent. The championship
held by separatists in Nagornyy Karabakh is illegal. What is more, a
team from another state, namely the team of the Armenian town of
Goris, is taking part in the championship. I asked them to look into
the situation and apply the necessary sanctions against the Armenian
football association,” Asadov said.

To begin with, UEFA officials want to learn what is at the bottom of
it, he said. When the situation is investigated, they will demand that
the championship be prohibited, Asadov said.

[Passage omitted: FIFA promised to announce its decision regarding the
championship on 6 August]

Noyan Tapan Highlights #30 (532)
02 August 2004

THE SOCIETY AND THE POVERTY

By Haroutiun Khachatrian

Last Friday, the ministry of economy and finance hosted a group of people
who are not typical in that building. The group included the representatives
of trade unions (which is not so unexpected), of business NGOs (who also do
sometimes meet with the minister).

But it also included representatives of environmental protection NGOs, Human
rights protection NGOs and even the Armenian Apostolic Church (Abbot Mushegh
Babayan as a representative of Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians). All
these people were there to sign a specific document, the memorandum on
“performing partnership negotiations on implementation of the Poverty
Reduction Strategic Program”.

The government has adopted the PRSP as early as in August 2003. This
document has two important features. First, it is subject to continuing
changes and improvements. Second, it is to be implemented through
participation of the whole society (at least, in principle), and in
particular, as the government declares, the document is open to signals from
the society aimed at improvement of this program which will be the
guidelines of the countries economy development for at least a decade. The
negotiations to be performed under the memorandum signed will pursue these
two goals.

The PRSP is funded by the foreign donors (led by IMF) and the participation
of the civil society in its implementation (and elaboration) was one of
their preconditions. This is a good thing, of course, and the government
looks like it is happy to share the burden of the PRSP implementation with
the NGOs and the Church. However, the formal initiative still needs to be
made into real deals and there is a real concern that this may not happen.
Just like in judiciary, where there are a lot of good laws which are not
implemented in the real life. Hence it remains to see if the participation
of the civil society in PRSP implementation will go beyond declarations.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Aug 3 2004

Azeri, Armenian presidents to meet in Astana

A third meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents to discuss
the Upper Garabagh conflict is due in Astana, Kazakhstan in September
within the summit of CIS heads of state.
President Ilham Aliyev is expected to hold a private meeting with
Armenian leader Kocharian and a trilateral meeting to be attended by
Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Foreign Ministry said.
In the private meeting the two presidents are expected to discuss the
current state of the conflict settlement.
No agreement was reached in the two previous meetings of Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents.*

Ekklesia, UK
Aug 2 2004

Christians respond to church bombings in Iraq

Middle Eastern church leaders have condemned attacks on Iraqi
churches and called for solidarity following bombings at churches
yesterday.

According to some news reports, at least 11 people were killed and
dozens injured as bombs exploded at four churches – two of them
Syrian and two, Armenian Orthodox – and a monastery.

Two churches in the Karada District in central Baghdad were bombed.
Local reports there said that two or four people were killed and
several injured when a car bomb exploded outside the Syrian Catholic
Church. The reports also said that several people were injured in a
similar car bomb attack on the nearby Armenian Catholic Church. Two
churches in the Al Dura suburb of southern Baghdad, and a church in
Mosul in northern Iraq, were apparently attacked at the same time.
The attacks mark the first time Iraqi churches have been targeted in
this way.

Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Iraq, Sheila
Provencher and Greg Rollins, were worshipping at St Raphael’s
Catholic Church when the first bomb exploded at 6:25 pm at the
Armenian church about a quarter mile away from them. At that moment
in the service, there had been a time of silence, and the priest then
continued with the next words of the regular liturgy, “Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.”

Two other CPT members Peggy Gish and Doug Pritchard were worshipping
at St Yousef’s Chaldean Church in the same neighbourhood as the
Armenian and Syrian churches. Gish said, “When I heard the first
explosion, I wondered if it was
an attack on a church, and I prayed immediately for whoever might
have been involved.” As people were leaving the service at 6:50 pm,
the second blast occurred at the Syrian church three blocks away.
Parishioners were quickly hurried out of the area by the Chaldean
church’s security staff who then blocked off the road.

While walking away from the church, Gish and Pritchard asked worried
residents for details. One family pulled them inside their home and
shared their recent experiences.

The young woman of the family wept and said, “My father was killed
recently because he sold alcohol. Because of that, I was too afraid
to go to my church today. Now it has been bombed. I don’t know if my
friends there are alive or dead. Saddam was a killer. Now there are
many Saddams.”

Speaking today at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order
plenary commission meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, bishop Nareg
Alemezian of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Catholicosate of Cilicia)
said: “This is the first time Christian churches have been targeted.
We condemn this attack and we are very concerned about it.”

Metropolitan Dr Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, from the Syrian
Orthodox Church of Antioch, urged Christians and Muslims to work
together for peace. “Solidarity is very important, both inside and
outside the region, both among Christians and between Christians and
Muslims,” he said.

Gregorios stressed that “the WCC and others should encourage anything
that brings Christians and Muslims together, not only in theological
dialogue but also in the dialogue of life and work.”

“I address my appeal to the Arab world, which can support any plan
for peace, and also to the Iraqi people themselves – if they are not
in solidarity, how then can they solve these problems?” he asked.

Alemezian called on international and local people to work for peace.
“This is not just a problem for Syrians and Armenians,” he said. “The
situation in Iraq is not isolated. It is related to the general
political situation in the world.

“We have a conflict, and we have to solve it – the US, the UN, all
parties involved in the creation of this situation, but also local
people and faith communities.”

Both leaders stressed the good relations between Christians and
Muslims in Iraq prior to the bombings.

“Christians are an integral part of the society they are living in,
they are not newcomers, they are not there for any superficial
reason,” said Alemezian. “Middle Eastern Christians are the people of
the land where Christ was born,” he added.

They both stressed the dangers posed by pressure on the nearly
1million Iraqi Christians leading to increased emigration.

“The diminishing number of Christians in Iraq is a terrible thing,”
said Gregorios. “The same picture is replicated in other countries
like Turkey, Iran, and Palestine. We are losing our people.”

Could a situation arise, they said, where there were no Christians in
the Middle East and no Muslims in the West? This would be “dangerous
for everybody,” said Metropolitan Gregorios. “This is very important.
It’s not good for humanity.”

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for these coordinated
attacks.

Reuters
Aug 1 2004

Cars Explode Outside Baghdad Churches; 2 Dead

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Car bombs exploded outside two Christian churches
in central Baghdad Sunday, killing at least two people, wounding
several more and damaging cars and buildings.
A security source in Baghdad said they were suicide attacks.

The first blast occurred outside an Armenian church in the Karrada
district of Baghdad, which is heavily populated with Christians, and
sent thick clouds of black smoke billowing into the sky over the
city.

The second blast happened about 15 minutes later outside an Assyrian
church in the same area, rattling windows and sending a loud boom
reverberating across the neighborhood.

An ambulance driver told Reuters at least two people were killed in
the second explosion and several more were wounded.

The first blast blew out the stained glass windows of the church,
scattered pieces of hot metal across a wide area and left the burning
wreckage of at least three cars in its wake. “There was a
booby-trapped car, it exploded,” said policeman Geilan Wahoudi at the
scene of the first explosion.

The U.S. military said it had found the shell of a mortar near that
blast, which caused several injuries but is not believed to have
killed anyone.

The bomb appeared to detonate near a generator, which may have caused
more of a conflagration, the police said.

There are an estimated 800,000 Christians in Iraq, most of them
living in Baghdad.

In recent weeks there has been a string of attacks on alcohol sellers
throughout Iraq, the vast majority of whom are Christians of either
the Assyrian, Chaldean or Armenian denominations.