Author: Tashjian Arbi

Slovene foreign minister urges Azerbaijan to ensure fair elections

STA news agency, Ljubljana
2 Apr 05

BAKU

The Nagornyy Karabakh conflict and democracy building topped talks
held by Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, the OSCE chairman, with top
Azerbaijani officials in Baku on Saturday [2 April].

Rupel met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister Artur
Rasizada, Speaker of parliament Murtuz Alasgarov and Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov in what was the final leg of his three-day Caucasus
tour, which had also taken him to Armenia and Georgia, as well as
Kyrgyzstan.

Moreover, he met the representative of the Azerbaijani population of
Nagornyy Karabakh, Nizami Bahmanov, as well as representatives of
political parties and local non-governmental organizations.

According to Rupel, Mammadyarov presented a number “of very
interesting and fresh ideas” for a solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict. [Passage omitted – background]

Visiting Armenia on Wednesday, Rupel said that “a window of
opportunity” could open by summer in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
over the disputed region.

Rupel today reiterated his call for both sides to join in efforts to
step up talks for a final resolution of this issue. The important
thing, in Rupel’s opinion, is to avoid fresh incidents and to stick to
the cease-fire. Efforts for this could be bolstered through more
frequent bilateral meetings, he added.

Speaking after the meeting with Aliyev, Rupel said he was hopeful 2005
would be a breakthrough year in the search for a resolution to the
conflict. He reiterated his view that the guidance of the presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan was crucial for the successful development
of the peace process.

Meanwhile, progress in democracy was the other main topic of Rupel’s
talks in Baku. The Azerbaijani foreign minister said the pair agreed
about the importance of building democracy in the country.

Defending the OSCE’s role in the region, Rupel said the security
organization was not meddling in internal affairs or taking sides. The
OSCE is merely striving to support a political process, he claimed.

With parliamentary elections looming in Azerbaijan, Rupel said the
goal of the government should be to ensure that there was no doubt
about the validity and fairness of the vote.

Moreover, Rupel underscored the OSCE’s readiness to continue assisting
Azerbaijan in implementing reforms, particularly in the fight against
corruption and money laundering, and the promotion of human rights.

North Shore Sunday, MA

What’s Hot! Your North Shore Arts Checklist

Friday, April 1, 2005

Discovery channel

In commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide this
spring, Salem State College is sponsoring artist and filmmaker Apo Torosyan
and his poetic documentary, ‘Discovering My Father’s Village.’

The North Shore resident created the film while visiting Turkey in fall
2003. The documentary is about the artist’s roots in Turkey, an analysis of
the Armenian genocide and the relationship between Turks and Armenians
throughout history. Apo will show the film and discuss his experiences
making such an emotional and personal account.

The film will be shown at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, in Salem State
College’s Ellison Campus Center.

For more information, call professor Christopher Mauriello at
978-542-7129.

AZERBAIJAN IS NOT IN THE STATE TO MAKE DEMANDS: ARMENIAN POLITICIAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 29. ARMINFO. “There are no cases in history when anyone
initiates war, losses it and tries to get something through peaceful
negotiations, and all this through blackmail and threats with new war,
which is silly,” Chairman of the Political Council of the opposition
party Republic Albert Bazeyan says during parliamentary hearings on
Karabakh.

Bazeyan says that Azerbaijan draws the attention of international
community to the consequences of the conflict and not to the reasons
that were driven into the depth but not solved. He says that no
positive progress has been fixed in the course of the negotiations
since 1994, the only agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is still
Bishkek cease-fire treaty signed by Karabakh representative as well.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
March 28 2005

Putin awards Order of Friendship to Lord Mayor of Helsinki

MOSCOW, March 28 (Itar-Tass) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has
awarded the Order of Friendship to Lord Mayor of Helsinki Eva Riitta
Siitonen for development and strengthening of Russo-Finnish
relations, according to information released on the official Internet
site of the Russian president on Monday.

It is not the first award given to a representative of a foreign
country. Previously, the Order of Friendship had been mostly awarded
to citizens of the CIS.

Since the beginning of 2005 the Russian president has signed decrees
awarding similar Orders to ten citizens of Belarus, two citizens of
Azerbaijan, including Azerbaijani Culture Minister Polad Byul- Byul-
Ogly, and two more similar awards were given to a citizen of Armenia
and a citizen of Ukraine.

BLESSED BE PUTIN’S VISIT TO ECHMIADZIN

A1+
25-03-2005

Today Garegin II, the Catholicos of all Armenians, received in
Echmiadzin the RF President Vladimir Putin, together with the Russian
Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Armenia Anatoly Dryukov
and Armenian Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Russia
Armen Smbatyan.

The Catholicos expressed his satisfaction with the fact that in the
process of the improvement of the Russian social life the President
gives importance to the spiritual values.

Vladimir Putin expressed his joy for the meeting, as well as for the
possibility to discuss the cooperation of the two countries in the
spiritual field.

At the end of the meeting the Catholicos and the {resident visited
the Museum, and then … the Holy Cathedral, where the Catholicos
prayed to God for the stability of the friendship of the Armenian and
Russian nations and the progress and well-being of the two countries.

Russia supports resumption of Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 25 2005

Baku, March 24, AssA-Irada

Russia is ready to assist in settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Upper Garabagh both on a bilateral basis and within
the OSCE Minsk Group. This country supports a resumption of dialogue
between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in particular, talks between the two
countries’ presidents, the Russian Foreign Ministry representative
Alexander Yakovenko said. The dialogue will bring the positions of
the conflicting sides closer and lead to achieving commonalities,
he added.*

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 23, 2005, Wednesday

ROLLER-COASTER

SOURCE: Novaya Gazeta, No 20, March 21 – 23, 2005, p. 12

by Pavel Felgengauer

MOSCOW HAS LOST THE CAUCASUS

Positions of the Russian military in the Caucasus appeared invincible
only a decade ago, in 1995. An accord was signed with Azerbaijan on
the use of the Gabala radar, an element of the Soviet missile attack
early warning system that enabled Moscow to “see” the south. A
military-political alliance with Yerevan, Armenia, was made. Russia
had over 15,000 servicemen in Georgia, and Russian border guards
manned the border with Turkey in 1995.

Everything has changed. Armenia is choosing between Iran and the
United States to lean on because it does not feel it can rely on
Moscow, Azerbaijan hopes for establishment of NATO bases on its
territory, the parliament of Georgia demands withdrawal of Russian
military bases… and Moscow is at a loss.

Retaining all external tokens of military, political, and economic
domination of the Caucasus, Moscow has failed to accomplish anything
by way of solutions to the Karabakh, Abkhazian, or South Ossetian
problems. The parliament of Georgia refused to ratify the treaty on
military bases. Efforts to put the conflicts on hold were undertaken,
but these efforts did not enable Russia to retain the favorable
atmosphere or its own influence.

Hostilities in Chechnya tied up all more or less combat ready units
Russia retained and demonstrated the Kremlin’s growing military
weakness. The Caucasus ruling elites got the impression that Russia
was not settling local conflicts first and foremost because it lacked
the strength and the will to do so. Traditional economic ties with
Moscow maintained the semi-impoverished condition but did not
facilitate development of the countries of the region.

In 2002, the Kremlin began distributing Russian passports in Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, clearly preparing for annexation of the
territories at a more convenient moment. Georgia found itself without
a choice because Russian military bases on its territory became the
fifth column.

That was how official Moscow set up a no-win situation in the
Caucasus, a situation in which every new step would only escalate
tension. There is lots of military hardware at the Russian bases in
Georgia (the 12th in Batumi and the 62nd in Akhalkalaki) – 114 tanks,
hundreds of armored personnel carriers and battle infantry vehicles,
artillery pieces… only 4,000 or so servicemen, most of them locals.

Mixed formations comprising Russian commanders and local servicemen
are not reliable by default. Should the Georgians decide to take over
the bases, resistance will be light – if any.

The Duma in Moscow is screaming in fury, claiming that Tbilisi must
be taught a lesson. How? Russia is tied up in Chechnya where it has
to reinforce its troops in fear of Shamil Basayev and Ramzan Kadyrov
alike. Even a complete economic blockade of Georgia is impossible.
The West will come to Tbilisi’s help, and particularly Turkey. Bases
in Batumi and Akhalkalaki were established against Turkey, and Ankara
will be happy to see them become history. It will only up its own
clout with the Caucasus. Along with everything else, the US Senate is
determined to demand from Moscow an unconditional withdrawal from
Georgia and Trans-Dniester region in return for its membership in the
World Trade Organization.

Russia is facing a choice between a hopeless conflict on the one hand
and a shameful but rapid withdrawal. Very soon now, Moscow will only
retain in the Caucasus small enclaves in Abkhazia and South Ossetia –
strategically pointless dens of smugglers and criminals. But even
that will not last. Sooner or later, through war or not, but Tbilisi
assisted by the West will reestablish its control over them.

As a matter of fact, the Caucasus is but a single example. The
growing discrepancy between the weakening capacities and colossal
aspirations are decidedly turning Russia into a global laughing
stock. The Russians always swell with pride over absolutely anything
nowadays only in order to cringe in shame soon afterwards and start
whining about dual standards.

Translated by A. Ignatkin

KOSOVO DECISION AS PRECEDENT FOR SELF-PROCLAIMED REPUBLICS

RIA Novosti, Russia
March 22 2005

MOSCOW, March 22 (RIA Novosti) – The settlement of the Kosovo
status problem can serve as a precedent for other regions seeking
independence, particularly Nagorny Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia,
Northern Cyprus, Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the State
Duma Committee on International Affairs, said in an interview with
RIA Novosti.

Prospects for the Kosovo settlement will be prominent on the agenda of
the State Duma delegation’s visit to the Balkans due on March 23-29,
he pointed out.

“There are many similar situations in Europe, which need a legally
coordinated resolution either in favor of territorial integrity or in
favor of the right of nations to self-determination. And the Kosovo
problem can become a precedent in this context,” Kosachev said.

Another example for the solution of similar problems in Baltic states
can become the settlement of the problem of ethnic minorities in
Macedonia, the official believes.

The MP recalled the Ohrid agreements signed in Macedonia in 2002
after an ethnic conflict with the Albanians. They provide equality
with the state language for the language of an ethnic minority,
if it accounts for no less than 20% of the population.

“This case is very interesting and can be applied to the Baltic
problem,” Kosachev noted.

The protection of ethnic minorities’ rights will be one of the
most important issues during the visit of the Russian delegation to
the Balkans on March 22-29. The Russian MPs will go to Serbia and
Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia.

“So far as Serbia and Montenegro is concerned this is one of our
closest partners both economically and historically,” he stressed.

“We are interested in the preservation of the two republic’s union.
But if the parties decide to split, this must be a civilized divorce”,
the MP remarked.

He announced that the delegation is expected to meet heads of state,
foreign ministers and MPs in every country it visits.

“The countries take interest in Russia, and it is a good sign for us,”
the head of the State Duma’ international affairs committee concluded.

ArmenPress
March 21 2005

THE QUILTS OF GEE’S BEND PRESENTED IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS: The U.S. Embassy in Armenia
presented last Friday “The Quilts of Gee’s Bend” exhibition of twelve
quilts created by a community of African-American women in Gee’s
Bend, Alabama. This exhibition has been shown with international
acclaim at major art museums across the United States, and is
appearing overseas for the first time. Ambassador John Evans
officially opened the exhibition at the Academia Gallery in Yerevan.
Gee’s Bend is a small rural community located in southwest Alabama
on a sliver of land five miles long and eight miles wide, an island
surrounded by a bend in the Alabama River. Gee’s Bend was the site of
cotton plantations, owned by the families of Joseph Gee and Mark
Pettway, and were worked by slave labor. Most of the approximately
750 people who live in Gee’s Bend today are descendants of slaves.
After the Civil War, when slavery was abolished, the freed slaves
rented the land from the Pettways, took their family name, and
founded an all-black community that was very isolated from the
surrounding world.
Throughout American history, quilting has provided generations of
women with an outlet to express their creativity and skill. A quilt
is a layered blanket, with a front and a back, and stuffing in the
middle for extra warmth. Though traditions of quilting span many
centuries, civilizations and cultures, “pieced” quilts, which have
tops decorated with strips of cloth in a range of colors and fabrics,
originated in colonial America.
In 2002, the first exhibition of these quilt masterpieces was
organized at the Museum of Fine Arts, Atlanta. The “Quilts of Gee’s
Bend” also traveled to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New
York, as well as other museums in a twelve-city U.S. tour. The
exhibition achieved tremendous international acclaim. Hundreds of
print and broadcast media organizations that have celebrated the
quilts and the history of Gee’s Bend. Art critics worldwide have
compared the quilts to the works Henri Matisse and Paul Klee.
In 2003, with assistance from Tinwood organizations, all the
living quilters of Gee’s Bend – more than fifty women – founded the
Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective to exhibit, market and sell the quilts
being produced by the women of the Bend. In 2005 the Quilts of Gee’s
Bend will travel overseas for the first time, to be exhibited in
Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan.

Legislation to neutralize Azerbaijani campaign against Armenians

Yerkir/arm
18 March 05

The National Assembly’s Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
faction is sponsoring two legislation pieces. While they are related
to different fields, both of them are quite pivotal.

The faction has proposed an amendment to the Law on Holidays and
Commemoration Days, making the February 28 the day of commemorating
the Armenian victims of the massacres in the Azerbaijani towns of
Sumgait, Gandza, Baku as well as in Shahumian and Getashen, and the
day of protecting the rights of massive deportation of the Armenians
from Azerbaijan.

“This issue is overdue,” ARF faction secretary Hrair Karapetian says.
Speaking of the importance of the draft, Karapetian noted that
the Armenian parliament has to express its position taking into
account that Azerbaijan has launched a vigorous campaign aimed at
recognition of the so-called Khojalu events a genocide, as well as
pushing legislation — including in international and CIS bodies —
on extremism and separatism.