Author: Nargizian David

ANSA Notiziario Generale in Italiano
August 23, 2004

PREMI: ANTONIA ARSLAN VINCE ‘CAMPIELLO SECONDO NOI 2004’ ;
CON ‘LA MASSERIA DELLE ALLODOLE’

TRENTO

(ANSA) – TRENTO, 23 AGO – Antonia Arslan con il libro ‘La
masseria delle allodole’ di Rizzoli ha vinto la nona edizione de
‘Il Campiello secondo noi’, una sorta di anticipazione del
prestigioso premio letterario Campiello che si e’ svolta presso
l’auditorium della Casa della gioventu’ di Predazzo.

La scrittrice padovana di origine armena ha completamente
sbaragliato gli avversari sfiorando il 50% dei consensi con 44
voti su 90 validi. Alle sue spalle la torinese Paola Mastrocola
che aveva gia’ vinto a Predazzo nel 2000 con ‘La gallina
volante’ e che questa volta si e’ aggiudicata la piazza d’onore
con il simpatico ‘Una barca nel bosco’ edito da Guanda che ha
ottenuto 18 voti.

A 16 voti e’ rimasto Carmine Abate lo scrittore di Scarfizzi
di origini arbereshe che vive da anni in Trentino e che e’ stato
molto apprezzato dal pubblico locale con i suoi precedenti
romanzi, ma che evidentemente non ha convinto del tutto con il
suo ultimo ‘La festa del ritorno’ di Mondadori.

Piu’ staccato a 8 voti Luigi Guarnieri con il suo
romanzo-saggio ‘La doppia vita di Vermeer’, sempre di Mondadori.
Ultimo posto per ‘La Pasqua rossa’ di Alberto Bevilacqua che ha
ottenuto solo 4 consensi.

Sono tre anni consecutivi che il nome del vincitore di
Predazzo coincide con quello del Campiello di Venezia. Nel 2001
Giuseppe Pontiggia, nel 2002 Franco Scaglia e lo scorso anno
Marco Santagata.

Lo spoglio delle schede e’ avvenuto ieri sera durante una
serata di gala improntata che ha visto anche la partecipazione
della scrittrice Maria Venturi in veste di madrina che ha
parlato anche del suo ultimo romanzo ‘Butta la luna’, edito da
Rizzoli. Una serata allietata dagli intermezzi musicali del trio
rumeno Taraf Dunarea e che ha visto la partecipazione di circa
250 ospiti.

Sono stati 92 (22 in piu’ rispetto allo scorso anno) i
lettori che, su proposta della biblioteca e della libreria
Discovery di Predazzo promotori dell’ iniziativa assieme al
Comune di Predazzo, si sono impegnati a leggere i 5 libri
finalisti del Campiello e a votare il preferito. Il 42% dei
lettori sono turisti. Prevalgono insegnanti, pensionati e
casalinghe. Le piu’ giovani sono 2 ragazze del posto di 17 anni.
La piu’ anziana una signora di 85 anni di Predazzo. 70 le donne
e solo 20 gli uomini.

Intensi i commenti dei giurati al libro vincitore, un
romanzo dolce e amaro nello stesso tempo, nato per testimoniare
la tragedia del popolo armeno tra il 1915 e il 1916. Ispirato ai
ricordi familiari dell’autrice e’ il racconto della tragedia di
un popolo ‘mite e fantasticante’, teso come un thriller ed
emozionante come una storia d’amore.

Ora la scrittrice Antonia Arslan sara’ invitata, dopo sabato
18 settembre quando a Venezia verra’ aggiudicato il Campiello
‘vero’, a presentare il proprio libro a Predazzo ed a ritirare
il premio che consiste in un decimo del Supercampiello.(ANSA).

ELECTION CAMPAIGN IN ELECTION DISTRICT #44 MARKED WITH GROSS
VIOLATIONS

YEREVAN, AUGUST 19. ARMINFO. The election campaign in election
district 44 is being held with gross violations of the RA election
laws.

At a press conference in the “Pakaguitz” club, the candidate for
Parliament Babken Margaryan reported that the supporters of some
candidates collect voters’ passports and offer bribes. “One vote costs
10 to 20 thousand AMD,” Margaryan said. He also reported that the
supporters of some candidates exert pressure on his
supporters. According to Margaryan, a few days ago unknown persons
attacked his supporters and beat them. He also stated that to put an
end to unlawful actions he had to call Aram Sargsyan, the brother of
the candidate Artak Sargsyan. Margaryan also stated that he nominated
himself at the voters’ request, and they demanded that he fight to the
end. Margaryan expressed confidence that he will win if the elections
are fair.

The Parliament member of the “Law-Governed Country” party Aram
Harutyunyan was appointed Minister of Urban Development, which
necessitated elections in election district

44. Five candidates are currently running for Parliament, but the
principal struggle involves the owner of a chain of drugstores and
dry-cleaners “Lavanda:” Araik Hairapetyan and Co-President of the “SAS
Group” company Artak Sargsyan. Haurapetyan is a member of the “Nig
Aparan” Union and is supported by Honorary Chairman of the Union, RA
Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsebyan, as well as by the “People’s
Deputy” group, formed by businessmen. If elected, Hairapetyan intends
to join the deputy group. In turn, Artak Sargsuyan is supported by the
“Law-Governed Country” party. The voting is scheduled for August 29.

Athens2004 Official Website

Armenian Athletes at Athens 2004 Olympics

Name National Olympic Committee Sport

AGAEV Mamed – ARM Wrestling
ALEKSANYAN Gevorg – ARM Weightlifting
ANDREASYAN Aram – ARM Canoe/Kayak Flatwater
ANDREASYAN Serob – ARM Rowing
ARAKELIAN Avetik – ARM Athletics
ASMARYAN Gevorg – ARM Canoe/Kayak Flatwater
ATOYAN Gegham – ARM Weightlifting
AVETISYAN Varduhi – ARM Swimming
BAKHTAMYAN Norayr – ARM Shooting
BERBERYAN Martin – ARM Wrestling
DANIELYAN Artur – ARM Weightlifting
DANIELYAN Ashot – ARM Weightlifting
GALSTYAN Haykaz – ARM Wrestling
GALUSTYAN Vaghinak – ARM Wrestling
GEGHAMYAN Levon – ARM Wrestling
GEVORGYAN Arayik – ARM Wrestling
GHAZARYAN Armen – ARM Weightlifting
GHAZARYAN Marine – ARM Athletics
HAYRAPETYAN Arshak – ARM Wrestling
HOVHANNISYAN Zhirayr – ARM Wrestling
HOVSEPYAN Hayk – ARM Canoe/Kayak Flatwater
ISRAYELYAN Varuzhan – ARM Judo
JAVAKHYAN Vahagn – ARM Athletics
JUHARYAN Vahan – ARM Wrestling
KAMALYAN Tigran – ARM Weightlifting
KHACHATRYAN Sos – ARM Weightlifting
KHURSHUDYAN Hripsime -ARM Weightlifting
KOLOYAN Mikayel – ARM Swimming
KYAPANAKTSYAN Khachatur-ARM Weightlifting
MALUMYAN Artak – ARM Boxing
MARKOSYAN Suren – ARM Wrestling
MARTIROSYAN Armen – ARM Athletics
MARTIROSYAN Tigran – ARM Weightlifting
MATEVOSYAN Samvel – ARM Boxing
MELIKYAN Arsen – ARM Weightlifting
NALBANDYAN Aleksan – ARM Boxing
NAZARYAN Armen – ARM Judo
NURIJANYAN Eric – ARM Athletics
PAPOYAN Davit – ARM Wrestling
SARGSIAN Sargis – ARM Tennis
SARGSYAN Makar – ARM Rowing
SARGSYAN Meruzhan – ARM Athletics
SHAHNAZARYAN Andranik – ARM Archery
TOROSYAN Aida – ARM Athletics
TOVMASYAN Harutyun – ARM Boxing
TOVMASYAN Marat – ARM Boxing
VARDANYAN Garsevan – ARM Wrestling
VASILYAN Varazdat – ARM Weightlifting

VAHRAM PAPAZIAN THEATRICAL GROUP OF BEIRUT TO PERFORM “STRANGE MISSIS
SAVAGE” PLAY IN YEREVAN ON AUGUST 17

YEREVAN, August 16 (Noyan Tapan). Vahram Papazian theatrical group of
the Armenian Youth Association of Beirut also participates in the “One
Nation, One Culture” first Pan-Armenian cultural festival. Trdat
Avetikian, Chairman of the theatrical group, told NT’s correspondent
that they will perform John Patrick’s “Peaceful Cloister, or Strange
Missis Savage” play, which was staged by RA People’s Artist Yervand
Ghazanchian, at the Yerevan Theater of Musical Comedy after Hakob
Paronian on August 17 in Yerevan. Trdat Avetikian said that within the
framework of the festival the theatrical group will perform with the
same play at the Gyumri Theater after Vardan Achemian on August
18. Vahram Papazian theatrical group was established in 1959. During
its 45-year activities the group had tours not only in different areas
of Lebanon, but in a number of countries of the world. It is the
fourth year in succession that Yervand Ghazanchian, Director of the
Yerevan Theater of Musical Comedy after Hakob Paronian, Chairman of
the Armenian Theatrical Workers’ Union, works with the theatrical
group of Beirut.

NewsCentralAsia, Asia
Aug 14 2004

Silence is Complicity – Responses to the Third World and Muslim
Holocausts
Dr. Gideon Polya

[This is the last part of the 5-parts series.]

United Nations demographic data from 1950 to the present have enabled
calculation of the `excess mortality’ (avoidable mortality) for every
country over that period – `excess mortality’ being defined as the
difference between the ACTUAL deaths in a country and the deaths
EXPECTED for a decently-run, peaceful country with the same
demographics.

The results are startling and horrifying. The total post-1950 `excess
mortality’ has been 1284 million for the whole world, comprised of 54
million for European countries (Australasia, Israel, North America
and Europe) and 1230 million for the non-European countries. The
post-1950 `excess mortality’ of the Third World is estimated to be
about 1 billion and that of the Muslim world about half a billion.

The 1 billion Third World Holocaust and the half-billion Muslim
Holocaust constitute the greatest crime in human history and demand
immediate international action. Crucially required international
actions over this immense crime can be summarized simply as
Cessation, Acknowledgement, Apology, Amends and Acceptance of
non-repetition – acronym CAAAA. The acronym CAAAA is appropriately
the mournful cry of the crow, the near-universal, black scavenger of
the dead.

Cessation of global mass mortality

The total, annual, global avoidable mortality from deprivation and
malnourishment-exacerbated disease is about 20 million or 55,000
people per day. To put this into a human framework, it is as if
somewhere in the world one major soccer stadium packed with fans is
completely obliterated EVERY DAY. We have trouble dealing with large
numbers as individuals and as societies. Thus the potential fate of
one threatened hostage will horrify billions of people throughout the
world for a week – but 55,000 avoidable deaths a day is somehow
regarded as `normal’ for the Third World and Muslim adults and
children who are dying.

There is usually one compelling reason for doing anything but lots of
arguments for not doing it. The one compelling argument for trying to
stop this 55,000 a day massacre of the innocents is that every life
is sacred – if it were your life at stake in the Third World you
would certainly want the clean water, soap, mosquito netting, minimal
food, shelter, security and primary health care that can be provided
for you at a cost of several dollars a day. It will not happen
because, for example, the world (armed by the First World) has a
priority military expenditure of about US$800 billion a year or
US$40,000 dollars a year for each of the 20 million who perish
avoidably annually.

Of course immediate cessation of economic constraint, war and
military occupation would be useful, as seen in the example of Iraq.
It is estimated that the financial cost of the Iraq débacle to the US
will come to about US$200 billion. However the human cost to Iraq
(population 25 million) is an annual under-5 infant mortality of
about 100,000 – as compared to a figure of about 1000 for the
occupying Coalition nation Australia (population 20 million)
(UNICEF-based estimates). This largely unreported, massacre of the
innocents is continuing because the Coalition wrecked the water,
sewerage, electricity and other infrastructure, wrecked the economy,
does not provide security, continues to bomb and strafe cities and
funds medical services at only 4% of that required under the Geneva
Convention.

Acknowledgement of the greatest crime in history

The Germans and Austrians have acknowledged the crimes of the Nazi
era. Further, denial of the Jewish Holocaust (6 million victims) is
illegal in Germany, Austria, Israel, France and Switzerland and is
punishable by fines and imprisonment. The same moral measure should
apply to man-made, mass mortality elsewhere in the world – but
unfortunately the First World-dominated media largely ignore the 1
billion Third World Holocaust and the half-billion Muslim Holocaust.
Indeed the man-made famine in British-ruled Bengal (4 million
victims) that occurred at the same time as the Jewish Holocaust has
been largely deleted from British and world history.

>From a basic scientific perspective, failure to sensibly acknowledge
massive realities blatantly undercuts the whole scientific process
and prevents any rational solutions being developed. No solution will
be found if the problem has been rubbed out. Ethical and humane
people cannot ignore the blatant, general holocaust denial by
academics, politicians, governments and mainstream media in relation
to the Third World and the Muslim world – they must respond
positively by informing and educating the world and punitively, by
exposing, excluding and boycotting these intrinsically racist
holocaust deniers.

Of course, the holocaust deniers could argue that high mortality is
somehow `normal’ for developing countries (an assertion contradicted
by many examples of developing countries with excellent mortality
statistics). They could further argue that there is a distinction
between violent death and genocide (as in German South West Africa,
Turkish Armenia, the Jewish Holocaust, South Asian Partition and
Rwanda) and mass mortality associated with man-made famine and
avoidable, curable disease in occupied or neo-colonial countries.
However whether a person dies violently or from avoidable disease or
deprivation, the end result is the same. Further, as described in
Sven Lindquist’s important book `Exterminate All the Brutes’, the
racism of the brutal colonial and neo-colonial European occupiers of
the non-European world is ideologically directly linked with the
genocidal racism in Nazi Europe.

Apology permits healing and reconciliation

Peace can be achieved under the weight of cost-benefit analysis –
although the same analysis has instructed the US and the UK that war
in Iraq and its endless continuation globally (as in George Orwell’s
`1984′) will be immensely profitable for their respective
military-industrial complexes. On the other hand, healing and
reconciliation require simple, sincere apology as demonstrated by
post-Apartheid South Africa and current global attitudes to Germany
and Japan. Lack of reconciliation will lead back to conflict, as
illustrated by Europe in the 1930s. The Gypsies (Rom) of Europe (who
originated from India a millennium ago) have not been given the
fulsome apology offered to the Jews for the Nazi era genocide and are
still being persecuted in Europe. Of course, an apology presupposes
cessation and acknowledgement of the Third World and Muslim
Holocausts.

Amends – mandatory war crimes trials and compensation

The 1 billion Third World Holocaust and the half-billion Muslim
Holocaust cry out for Justice that cannot be denied. Justice for the
victims of the Nazi era meant war crimes trials for those responsible
and attempted compensation for the surviving victims – the Third
World deserves the same.

War crimes trials should primarily involve the First World leaders
responsible over the last half century for the Third
World-devastating impositions of militarization, debt, malignant
interference, corrupt client régimes, threat, sanctions, war,
invasion, occupation, economic distortion and economic exclusion. The
magnitude of the crimes can be glimpsed from just a few statistics:
the value of First World arms supplies to the Third World from
1991-1998 totalled US$172 billion; the current annual world military
expenditure totals US$800 billion, of which half is that of the US;
it has been estimated that the Iraq conflict alone will cost the US
US$200 billion; the post-1950 `excess mortality’ in Iraq and
Afghanistan has been 5.2 million and 16.2 million, respectively.

What can compensate the people of Sierra Leone or East Timor for whom
the post-1950 death toll means almost one avoidable death for every
person alive in those countries today? The obscenity of the
continuing, 90-year duration, First World violation of Iraq can be
seen in the under-5 infant deaths per thousand live births in
oil-rich, Muslim Iraq (133) and in modestly-endowed but peaceful and
democratic, largely Muslim Malaysia (8) (2001 UNICEF data). If the
US$800 billion annual global military expenditure were allocated to
Third World people it would give them an annual income increment of
over US$200 per head. There is plenty of `fat’ in the rich First
World for compensation by direct payment in cash or kind, debt
elimination and trade equalization.

Acceptance of no repetition, `never again’

The inner strength of Israel derives from the post-Holocaust
resolution of `never again’. Unfortunately Cold War rivalry, US
aggressiveness, Arab hostility and Israeli intransigence have meant
that the Palestinians have been the post-war victims of the Jewish
Holocaust. Nevertheless the Third World and the Muslim World must
learn from the thoroughly justified and unwavering Jewish resolution
of `never again’. The 1 billion Third World Holocaust and the
half-billion Muslim Holocaust must stop now – and must never be
repeated.

It is unfortunate that a history of colonial occupation and
neo-colonial arrangements has so distorted highly-compromised,
corrupt, client and mendicant governments in the Third World that the
appalling mass mortality reality is still not a front page issue in a
world flooded with `information’. If Third World and Muslim leaders
ignore the continuing holocaust, what hope is there for the victims?
With Third World populations still increasing and US-driven global
warming set to decrease crop productivity in much of the tropical and
sub-tropical world, a window of opportunity for humane global
reorganization is rapidly disappearing.

Many of the prosperous citizens of the aggressive First World
countries have in effect become `arm chair Nazis’ in democracies
largely oblivious to their complicity in the carnage being wrought in
the Third World. Insidious `democratic Nazism’ rapidly developed into
” totalitarian Nazism” in 1930s Germany. “Democratic Nazism” is now
returning with a rampant, imperialist, human rights-abusing US,
backed by the Anglo sycophants of the UK and Australia. One hopes
that this will be increasingly resisted by the huge reservoir of
truthful, democratic, humane decency in the US and the rest of the
English-speaking world – reflected in people such as Tariq Ali, Noam
Chomsky, George Monbiot, Michael Moore (`Fahrenheit 9/11′), John
Pilger and Arundhati Roy.

Global mass mortality will ultimately be halted by truth and reason,
by informing, education and resolute advocacy, principally in the
aggressive First World countries that are the major players in this
continuing disaster. Intellectual and political leaders in the
developing world (especially women and mothers) have a crucial role
in informing the potentially responsive First World about the
horrendous realities of the Third World and Muslim Holocausts.
Silence is complicity – inform others.

About the author: Dr Gideon Polya of Melbourne, Australia published
some 130 works in a 4-decade scientific career including the
pharmacological reference text `Biochemical Targets of Plant
Bioactive Compounds’ (Taylor & Francis/CRC Press, London & New York,
2003).

Azad Azabycan
Aug 14 2004

AZERI POLICE ARREST JAPANESE STUDENT SUSPECTED OF SPYING FOR ARMENIA

BAKU, 14.08.04. An act of sabotage by Armenia was foiled in Baku
today. Employees of [Baku`s] Sabayil district police department
detained Japanese citizen (?Ogawa Siniawa), 28, when he was taking
photos of the Azarbaycan Hotel and other facilities.

The preliminary investigation showed that the Japanese resident, who
is a first-year student of Yerevan State University`s social studies
department, arrived in Tbilisi from Yerevan on 1 August and went to
Saki [northern Azerbaijan] two days later. He stayed in Saki for
three days, arrived in Baku on 6 August and stayed at a hotel in
Baku. He came to Azerbaijan as a tourist. The investigation is
continuing.

Iran’s nuclear programme threat to world, Rumsfeld says in Azeri capital

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
12 Aug 04

Presenter Namiq Aliyev Before leaving Azerbaijan, US Secretary of
Defence Donald Rumsfeld has held a news conference at Heydar Aliyev
airport. Speaking about the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Rumsfeld said
he viewed the settlement of the problem only within the framework of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

Correspondent, over video of Rumsfeld and Azerbaijani Defence Minister
Safar Abiyev at news conference Rumsfeld said that the USA appreciated
Azerbaijan’s involvement in the antiterror coalition. Speaking highly
about the Azerbaijani peacekeepers in Afghanistan and Iraq, Rumsfeld
spoke about the topics discussed at his meetings with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev and Safar Abiyev. He said that cooperation
within the framework of NATO’s Partnership for Peace Programme,
bilateral military cooperation, combating international terrorism,
smuggling, drugs trafficking and proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction in the Caspian region had been the main subject of the
talks.

Rumsfeld said that the expansion of the Azerbaijani military
contingents in Afghanistan and Iraq had not been discussed.

Rumsfeld in English, with Azeri voice-over The UN wants to organize
the upcoming elections in Iraq. There is a need for assistance in
organizing and holding these elections. We hope that the coalition
countries will render this assistance.

Correspondent Azerbaijan is the only Muslim country in the coalition
that has sent troops to Iraq and supports the USA in this as given
. Asked when Azerbaijan will witness the USA’s support in the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem, Rumsfeld said:

Rumsfeld A settlement to the Nagornyy Karabakh problem is being
discussed within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. The USA and
the Minsk Group co-chairmen want to resolve this issue. Washington has
appointed a new co-chairman. I would like to say that the USA supports
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

Correspondent Asked about how he could explain the fact that USA,
which supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, had allocated 5m
dollars to the separatist Karabakh regime, Rumsfeld said that one
should view this as part of general humanitarian aid to Azerbaijan and
the entire region. This is quite a large sum, he added. Another
question to Rumsfeld was why the USA did not demand that Armenia
fulfil the UN’s four resolutions on Nagornyy Karabakh .

Rumsfeld The international community supports the OSCE Minsk Group
which is dealing with this issue. I believe that the OSCE Minsk Group
will find a solution to this problem and Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity will be protected.

Corespondent Rumsfeld said that Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s
visit to Azerbaijan on 5-7 August had been discussed as well. He added
that Iran has been developing its nuclear programmes and, in doing so,
poses a threat to the whole world, including the neighbouring
countries.

In turn, Safar Abiyev spoke about the issues that the Azerbaijani
government wanted the USA to help it with in the first place.

Safar Abiyev in Russian, with Azeri voice-over First, we would like
the USA to demand that Armenia urgently withdraw its occupying troops
from Azerbaijani territories. We also want the USA’s support to
guarantee security in the Caspian because there are some disagreements
there, and the USA’s assistance is very important.

Correspondent Safar Abiyev said that Washington-Baku military ties
have been speedily developing and the sides plan to develop
cooperation in the future to strengthen their relations.

Etibar Mammadov, Mirtofiq Miralioglu, for “Son Xabar” programme.

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief

===============================================Monday 9 August 2004
TURKMENISTAN: WHY REGISTER WHEN PERSECUTION CONTINUES?

Despite gaining state registration under the much-trumpeted
“liberalisation” of the religion law, secret police raids and
threats against a Baptist congregation in Turkmenistan have not stopped,
Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Last Wednesday (4 August), NSM secret
police raided a meeting for prayer and bible study, arrested participants
for three hours, confiscated bibles and hymn books, and threatened a
“big problem” if meetings continued. Another state registered
community, the Hare Krsihnas, have been told by state officials that they
do not know whether the community should be allowed to operate. A wide
range of religious communities have either been unsuccessful with
registration applications, or do not want to apply because of the harsh
controls they would be subjected to. Asked about making a registration
application, one Jehovah’s Witness said to Forum 18 “Why should we
when persecution continues?”

TURKMENISTAN: WHY REGISTER WHEN PERSECUTION CONTINUES?

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service

State registration as a religious community has not halted secret police
raids on and threats against a Baptist congregation. On the evening of 4
August, six National Security Ministry (NSM) secret police officers raided
a private flat in the town of Abadan (formerly Bezmein), near the capital
Ashgabad, where a small group of Baptists were meeting to pray and read the
Bible, reliable Protestant sources have told Forum 18 News Service. After
holding them for three hours and confiscating their Bibles and hymnbooks,
the secret police threatened that any attempt to meet again in Abadan would
cause a “big problem” for Pastor Vasili Korobov and other local
Baptists.

The meeting, led by Pastor Korobov from Ashgabad, had only just begun at 9
pm when six NSM secret policemen raided the apartment owned by Irina
Nazarova. The Baptists reported that they were initially “very
aggressive”, ordering Pastor Korobov and the group not to undertake
any religious activities in the town. Pastor Korobov pointed out that the
Baptists have received state registration from the Justice Ministry
(certificate number 0012, date of registration 25 June 2004), and told the
secret police that he could show them the registration documents the
following day. However, contradicting public official statements, secret
police officers Saparov and Ishanov (first names unknown) both said that,
even if religious communities have registration, they still need 500
members to be able to meet.

The secret police officers held the whole group until just after midnight
and confiscated all Bibles and hymnbooks. The Baptists reported that Pastor
Korobov told one secret police officer that he should not confiscate the
books, to no effect.

Abadan is a particular religious freedom blackspot, with local police in
June repeatedly warning Svetlana Gurkina, a member of a different Baptist
church in the town, that she would be imprisoned and her flat confiscated
if she continued to host religious meetings (see F18News 1 July 2004
). She was also told by
the town’s deputy police chief that “in Turkmenistan only two faiths
are allowed, Islam and Orthodoxy, while the rest are banned.” A group
of non-denominational Christians were fined there in June 2003, chief mufti
Kakageldy Vepaev taking part in at least four secret police raids (see
F18News 3 June and 6 June
2003 ).

Under the much-trumpeted “liberalisation” of the harsh law on
religion earlier this year, which reduced the theoretical threshold for
religious communities to gain registration from 500 adult citizens to five,
only the Baptists, Hare Krishna community and Adventists have been able to
gain registration (see F18News 3 June 2004
). Registration fees are
high by Turkmen standards: the Hare Krishna community had to pay 2,500,000
manats (roughly 100 US dollars [679 Norwegian Kroner, or 82 Euros] at the
black market exchange rate). Average salaries are roughly 1/3rd of this
amount. Contrary to international human rights agreements, unregistered
religious activity remains illegal and punishable by fines.

A wide range of religious communities would like state registration, in
order to try to function legally in the eyes of the government –
including the Catholics, Lutherans, Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Armenian
Apostolic Church, Pentecostals, New Apostolic Church and Shia Muslims. But
all have either been unsuccessful with their registration applications, or
have declined to apply as they are unhappy with the harsh controls they
would be subjected to. (See F18News 28 June
and 13 May 2004
=320).

A Jehovah’s Witness elder from Ashgabad, asked by Forum 18 on 2 August
about his community applying for registration, said “Why should we
when persecution continues? They asked for lists of all our members –
they’ll just summon them one by one. Why should we register and go through
all this persecution? We’re not criminals.” He said that Jehovah’s
Witness congregations cannot meet, as “the police have warned those
who were fined earlier for hosting meetings not to allow more than three
believers to meet together.”

Although fines for religious activity seem to have eased in recent months,
life for religious communities is still difficult. “Our church is in a
desperate situation,” one Protestant pastor who preferred not to be
named told Forum 18 from the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi
[Türkmenbashy] (formerly Krasnovodsk) on 14 July. “The
authorities have more than once and very brutally resisted our earnest
desire to meet and preach the Gospel among the population. Our brothers and
sisters have repeatedly been interrogated and threatened by the secret
police, while many brothers and sisters have been kicked out of their jobs
for their faith.”

Other religious communities, as well as the Baptists, who have been able to
gain registration have also suffered difficulties. One Hare Krishna told
Forum 18 that although the community now has state registration, state
officials do not know whether the community should be allowed to operate.
The Hare Krishna’s have not yet been able to hold open, public religious
meetings, and are still being forced to meet privately in homes.

There also seems to be no change in the government’s strongly expressed
hostility to any form of religious freedom. The exiled Turkmenistan
Helsinki Initiative reported on 5 August that, last week, officials of the
government’s Gengeshi (Council) for Religious Affairs visited the
administrations in all the velayats (regions) of the country to meet
state-approved religious activists, heads of ideological organisations, and
elders to warn them of the threat to Islam posed by officially registered
“non-traditional” religious movements. In particular, Gangeshi
officials singled out the Jehovah’s Witnesses, even though they do not have
official registration.

According to a participant at the meeting held in the hyakimlik (town
administration) of the Mary velayat, in eastern Turkmenistan,
Turkmenistan’s central Gengeshi deputy chairman, Murad Karriyev from the
capital Ashgabad, said that representatives of other religions are far more
active in public activities than followers of Islam. Karriyev complained of
what he described as the greed of many imams, citing the case of an unnamed
prominent imam who was visited one night by a young man who had just stolen
a girl, asking the imam to conduct a religious wedding ceremony for them.
The imam tried to refuse stating that it was late, but when the young man
offered him money, the imam allegedly agreed. According to Karriyev, imams
do not regard working with the people as a priority, unlike the leaders of
the Jehovah’s Witness, Baha’i and Adventist communities who regard
“ideological and agitational activities” among the people as very
important.

In Karriyev’s emphatically expressed view, the worst aspect of this is that
many Muslims are being converted to other religions, and become such devout
followers of the religions they convert to that little can alter their
views. In one case cited at the meeting, a previously devout Muslim became
a Jehovah’s Witness and is now successfully recruiting Muslims. Officials
complained at the meeting that the ability of leaders of non-traditional
religions to convince others is hard to surpass; they successfully did that
“from the underground”. With official registration, they will now
be even more active, which therefore means more successful. Karriyev called
on imams to be more active, and to be aware of other religions which will
operate legally with state registration.

Meanwhile, intermittent protests have continued against the enforced
imposition of President Saparmurat Niyazov’s “spiritual
writings”, the Ruhnama (Book of the Soul), on mosques. Vitali
Ponomarev of the Moscow-based Memorial human rights group reported on 14
July that anonymous anti-government leaflets circulating in Ashgabad in
early July contained calls for Muslims not to go to mosques where the
Ruhnama is cited together with the Koran. Both imams and Russian Orthodox
priests are compelled to make approving references to this book in sermons,
and a mosque has been closed down by the NSM secret police for not putting
the Ruhnama on the same reading stand as the Koran (see F18News 19 November
2003 ).

For more background, see Forum 18’s Turkmenistan religious freedom survey
at

A printer-friendly map of Turkmenistan is available at
tml?Parent=asia&Rootmap=turkme
(END)

© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved.

You may reproduce or quote this article provided that credit is given to
F18News

Past and current Forum 18 information can be found at

Trial of Azeri pressure group members postponed

ANS Radio, Baku
9 Aug 04

The trial in the case of the six arrested members of the Karabakh
Liberation Organization KLO was to have begun at Baku’s Nasimi
district court today. However, the trial was postponed, since lawyers
Elton Quliyev and Vidadi Mahmudlu did not appear in court.

The court is presided over by judge Famil Nasibov. At the preliminary
hearing on 27 July, the judge rejected the appeal to release the KLO
members.

KLO Chairman Akif Nagi, his deputy Firudin Mammadov, KLO members Manaf
Karimov, Rovsan Fatiyev, Mursal Hasanov and Ilkin Qurbanov, were
arrested for protesting against the visit of Armenian officers to Baku
to attend NATO exercises on 22 June.

Interfax
Aug 6 2004

Belarus has highest Jan-June inflation in CIS

Moscow. (Interfax) – Belarus posted the highest inflation rate – 8.1%
– in the Commonwealth of Independent States in January-June 2004, the
CIS Inter-State Statistics Committee reported.

Prices for goods rose 9.3% over this period in Belarus, prices for
non-food items 4.1% and services 9.0%.

Inflation was also high in Russia at 6.1% for the first half, with
food prices rising 6.0%, non-food goods prices 3.4% and service
prices 11.0%.

Moldova and Armenia each posted first-half inflation of 4.5%, Ukraine
inflation of 4.4%, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan 2.4% apiece, Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan 1.0% apiece.

The only country where consumer prices dropped in January-June was
Georgia, with 0.8% deflation.
The Statistics Committee did not report data for Turkmenistan or
Uzbekistan.