Author: Tumanian Talar

Turkey not to open borders until Armenia pulls out of Azeri lands – envoy

Bilik Dunyasi news agency, Baku
29 Mar 04

The importance of Azerbaijani-Turkish relations is much greater than
the prospect of opening the border between Turkey and Armenia, Turkish
ambassador to Azerbaijan Unal Cevikoz has said, commenting on the
“open borders” policy in the South Caucasus lobbied by Europe and the
USA.

“Turkish-Azerbaijani relations come first and there is no room for
hesitation in this,” the ambassador said.

The Turkish prime minister and foreign minister have repeatedly stated
the conditions which Ankara believes must be met before normal
relations between Turkey and Armenia can be established, the diplomat
added. Namely, Turkey demands that Armenia vacate occupied Azerbaijani
territories and ensure a safe transport corridor between Naxcivan and
the rest of Azerbaijan.

Agency WPS
What the Papers Say. Part B (Russia)
March 26, 2004, Friday

SERGEI IVANOV’S RECIPROCITY

SOURCE: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, March 26, 2004, p. 6

by Vladimir Mukhin

The “Rossia v Globalnoi Politike” (Russia in Global Politics) journal
quoted Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying that NATO expansion
might cause Russia to revise its military strategy – specifically,
its plans for nuclear forces development. This sharply-worded
statement was made in response to NATO intentions to deploy four
F-16S in Lithuania for protection of Baltic aircraft (the Baltic
states are to become NATO members on April 2).

Inspecting the 32nd Air Defense Corps in Tver this Wednesday, Ivanov
announced that Russia is waiting for explanations of the potential
appearance of NATO facilities and forces near its state borders,
especially in the Baltic states. “If deployment of the NATO military
infrastructure in the Baltic states is interpreted as posing a
threat, Russia will take adequate countermeasures,” Ivanov said.

The minister did not explain what kind of measures these would be. At
the same time, it is hard to lend much credit to promises to
reorganize the Russian nuclear forces after the recent statements of
Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov that the Pyotr Veliky
(Peter the Great) cruiser could blow up at any moment, and that ICBMs
carries by strategic nuclear submarines are technically obsolete
(only one launch out of five tried last month was successful).

An active phase of military exercises has taken place in some Russian
regions and CIS countries. It involved several Air Force regiments,
air defense units, flotillas, almost 20,000 troops, and units from
the national armies of CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization
members.

In fact, military activity was noticed across all post-Soviet
territory where the Russian military is stationed: off the Crimean
coast, in Akhalkalaki (Georgia), Gyumri (Armenia), and Tajikistan.

Estonia has already complained that a Russian aircraft had had the
temerity to trespass. Ukraine also responded to activeness of the
Russian Air Force above the Black Sea. It ran an exercise in the
Crimea, right near the area where aircraft of the Russian Black Sea
Fleet and its own aircraft were based. Ukrainian commandos practiced
dealing with illegal armed formations at airfields. Russian units
were not invited to participate in the exercise.

Estonia made its airspace open for NATO aircraft yesterday. A week
earlier, Ukraine made its territory available to NATO contingents for
emergencies.

Tension between Russia and NATO is mounting with each passing day.
Well-informed and reliable sources say that US Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to Uzbekistan last month resulted in an
agreement with official Tashkent on the use of military facilites in
Uzbekistan by American mobile forces. Russia promised to bolster its
Air Force unit in Kant, Kyrgyzstan, in response.

The Russian 92nd Military Base in Georgia is active these days.
Georgian special forces responded to this activeness with an exercise
of their own in Vaziani. Abkhazia is mobilizing its troops. The
situation is anything but tranquil. Neither is the situation any more
tranquil in South Ossetia and Trans-Dniester, the latter vehemently
objecting to withdrawal of Russian military hardware from the region.

All post-Soviet territory is a zone of conflicts, exercises, and
maneuvers. All this could even lead to a shooting war.

Associated Press Worldstream
March 25, 2004 Thursday 12:49 PM Eastern Time

Armenian opposition parties unite for promised protest action

by AVET DEMOURIAN; Associated Press Writer

YEREVAN, Armenia

Opposition lawmakers in Armenia on Thursday agreed to join forces in
their efforts to oust President Robert Kocharian and the government
of this former Soviet republic.

Leaders of the Justice and National Unity parties announced they
would organize “a joint protest of national disobedience” within the
next three weeks.

Stepan Demirchian and Artashes Gegamian said they expected from
100,000 to 150,000 people to participate in the demonstration
demanding the “expulsion of the illegal administration and the
re-establishment of constitutional order.”

The opposition, which occupies 23 seats in the 131-seat parliament,
emphasized that they would not resort to violence and warned the
authorities that they would “answer before society and the world”
should they use force against demonstrators.

Kocharian won a second term in presidential elections a year ago that
sparked mass protests, including nearly daily demonstrations between
the first round of voting in February 2003 and the runoff in early
March.

The opposition alleged widespread violations in both rounds of the
election. The election was followed by parliamentary ballot in which
the pro-government party won the most votes.

In April, Armenia’s Constitutional Court confirmed the results of the
presidential vote but suggested that a referendum be held within a
year to gauge the public’s confidence in the nation’s leaders.
Opposition leaders have pressed for the plebiscite.

Armenian National Committee of America
Eastern Region
80 Bigelow Avenue
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel: 617-923-1918
Fax: 617-926-5525
[email protected]

PRESS RELEASE
March 24, 2004

Contact: Arin Gregorian
617-923-1918; [email protected]

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE COMMEMORATES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

— In a Joint Order, State Senators and Representatives Join Armenian
American Community of Maine in Marking 89th Anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide

AUGUSTA, ME–On Tuesday, March 23, the Maine State Legislature passed a
joint order recognizing the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA) Eastern Region.

“The Maine Armenian American community thanks the Legislature for
commemorating this great crime against humanity,” stated ANC activist Kathy
Durgerian. “Over the course of the past couple of years, our great state has
been a leading example in honoring the victims and survivors of the Armenian
Genocide. We owe a great deal of gratitude to our elected officials on a
local, state, and federal level,” concluded Durgerian.

The order, cosponsored by Portland’s entire legislative delegation, reads
“Expressions of Legislative Sentiment recognizing: the 89th Anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide. On April 24, 1915, a campaign was launched by the
Turkish regime of the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian people, resulting
in the death of more than 1.5 million Armenians. Some of the survivors
settled in the State of Maine and their heirs have made significant
contributions to the State. We join our citizens of Armenian heritage on
April 24th in remembering this event, and we express our deepest sympathy
for the families of those who perished.”

In 2000, Maine’s Senate and House of Representatives concurrently adopted an
Official Expression of Sentiment recognizing “the 85th Anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide” noting that “on April 24, 1915, a campaign was launched
against the Armenian people that resulted in the death of over 1.5 million
Armenians.”

In addition, in June 2001, the Legislature passed a joint resolution
“Honoring Armenian Americans and Commemorating the Armenian Genocide of 1915
to 1923.”

On the federal level, Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME)
as well as US Representative Thomas Allen (D-ME 1) are currently cosponsors
of the Senate and House Genocide Resolutions, which commemorate the 15th
anniversary of the US implementation of the UN Genocide Convention.
H.Res.193 and S.Res.164 cite the importance of remembering past crimes
against humanity, including the Armenian Genocide, Holocaust, Cambodian and
Rwandan genocides, in an effort to stop future atrocities.

####

Pravda, Russia
March 24 2004

Armenia seeks to release its arrested pilots

The Armenian foreign ministry is taking further efforts to set free
Armenian pilots who have been arrested for their participation in a
plot against the government of Equatorial Guinea, spokesman for the
ministry Gamlet Gasparyan told reporters on Wednesday.

According to Mr. Gasparyan, in line with the contract signed with the
Armenian-based Dvin Kontsern airlines, six Armenian pilots had been
staying in Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea, since January 2004
and using an AN-12 aircraft registered in Armenia. Late on March 7
the Armenian pilots were arrested.

The authorities of Equatorial Guinea are accusing them of organising
a coup in this country, of being mercenaries and of espionage.
Allegedly, the pilots gathered political, economic and military
information.

“The charges forwarded against the pilots are very contradictory and
have nothing to do with their work. The authorities of Equatorial
Guinea present them as militant mercenaries while they are
professional and experienced pilots. The Guinean authorities claim
that the Armenian citizens had infiltrated their country by ship. The
espionage charges are not logical either because the pilots knew
nothing about the country’s customs, its language and the territory,
and therefore could not have been involved in espionage in Malabo,”
said Mr. Gasparyan.

According to the spokesman for the Armenian foreign ministry,
Armenia’s diplomatic representations in Moscow and New York are
negotiating the release of the Armenian pilots with the Guinean
authorities.

Besides, the Armenian foreign ministry has appealed to the Red Cross
and the Amnesty International organisations for help.

“The Armenian foreign ministry is ready to send its diplomats to
Equatorial Guinea to address these problems, if need be,” said Mr.
Gasparyan.

International Committee of the Red Cross News
March 24 2004

Southern Caucasus: Towards TB-free prisons
Every year, two million people die of tuberculosis (TB), and another
eight million contract the disease.

In most countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, it has
proven difficult to bring the disease under control because of the
social and economic situation and the breakdown of the health-care
system. In the southern Caucasus, where TB causes enormous suffering
and death in the prisons, the ICRC has been working with the national
authorities for many years to provide treatment for prisoners. In
1995, when the ICRC launched a TB-control programme in the prisons of
Azerbaijan, the disease was at least 60 times more prevalent among
inmates than among the country’s civilian population. In 1998, the
ICRC began providing support for implementation in Georgian prisons
of the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course) strategy
recommended by the World Health Organization. In 2002, the ICRC
extended its support for this programme to Armenia.

If prisoners have TB when they are released, they bring the disease
with them back into society. Since TB is a national public-health
issue that also affects the population outside prisons, the ICRC is
coordinating its activities in prisons with others working on behalf
of the population at large, including the donor community, to
reinforce joint efforts to fight the disease. Since 1995, the ICRC
has provided support for the treatment of more than 8,000 prisoners
in the southern Caucasus. One of the problems it has encountered is
that prisoners are sometimes released before they have completed
treatment, without proper coordination between the authorities
responsible for health care inside prisons and those responsible for
national TB programmes.

Major challenges still lie ahead. Outbreaks of multidrug-resistant TB
in prisons could cause these dangerous strains to spread into the
community through the families of prisoners, released prisoners, and
prison staff. In addition, as the number of AIDS cases rises
throughout the former Soviet Union, opportunistic TB infections will
increasingly destroy families and whole communities. In response, the
resources of the entire public-health system must be brought to bear
on this already devastating epidemic. Urgent action must be taken, in
particular to treat drug-resistant patients and reduce the
progression of HIV.

Armenian coalition parties slam opposition’s calls for new leader

Mediamax news agency
18 Mar 04

YEREVAN

Representatives of the ruling coalition parties are sceptical about
the intention of the opposition to start a protest action to demand
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan’s resignation.

The leader of the Republican Party’s parliamentary faction, Galust
Saakyan, described this initiative of the opposition as “ridiculous
and far from politics”. He said that the “people are not in a
revolutionary mood”. The MP described as inadmissible any action of
the opposition which could run counter to the constitution, noting
that “things will not reach open confrontation”.

The secretary of the faction of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
– Dashnaktsutyun, Grayr Karapetyan, expressed his concern that “the
opposition is aggravating the situation” and said that “our party will
do its best not to allow confrontation in society”.

A representative of the Orinats Yerkir [Law-Governed Country Party]
parliamentary faction, Mger Shakhgeldyan, said that “many countries of
the world have given up revolutionary approaches to a change of power
as this yields no good results”.

RosBusinessConsulting Database
March 19, 2004 Friday 11:14 am, EST

Vneshtorgbank managers to consider expansion in Belarus and
Azerbaijan

Vneshtorgbank might be interested in affiliates in Belarus and
Azerbaijan, senior deputy president of the bank Alexey Akinshin told
RBC. According to him, the bank has elaborated on its regional
expansion program, which suggests expansion into the CIS and European
markets. Vneshtorgbank plans to become the sole shareholder in the
Armenian Armsberbank. Vneshtorgbank is also working to create a
Ukrainian subsidiary.

Earlier Vneshtorgbank top-managers reported that the talks were held
on the possible creation of Kazakhstani and Georgian subsidiaries. A
lot of western rivals are present on the Kazakhstani market now.

As for expansion in Europe, Akinshin said that Vneshtorgbank in
cooperation with the Central Bank of Russia is considering a buyout
of the Central Bank’s stake in OST-West Handelsbank (OWHB) and Donau
bank. Currently the Russian Central Bank owns 51.62 percent in OWHB
and Vneshtorgbank holds a 31.92 stake.

It is too soon to consider the buyout of Vneshtorgbank’s stakes in
Eurobank (Paris) and the Moscow Narodny Bank (London), Akinshin
emphasized.

Vneshtorgbank owns 53 percent in Luxembourg-based East-West United
Bank, 100 percent in Zurich-based Russische Kommerzial Bank, 32
percent in Frankfurt-based Ost-West Handelsbank, 100 percent in
Cyprus-based Russian Commercial Bank and 85 percent in Viennese
Donau-Bank.

Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
March 16 2004

Melkonian school to close
By Jean Christou

THE MELKONIAN Educational Institute in Nicosia is to close from June
2005, the New York-based foundation that administers Armenian schools
worldwide announced yesterday.

The move by the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), which said
only three months ago that the 78-year-old school was not for sale,
has angered the 3,000-strong Armenian community on the island.

They said yesterday they planned to stage a demonstration on March 24
against the closure of the school, while the Melkonian’s alumni hope
to take legal action.

In November, the AGBU denied reports that the loss-making school,
sitting on a £40 million plot in the capital’s commercial district,
was up for grabs by developers and would be sold.

But in its announcement yesterday, the AGBU said that after
`extensive deliberations and thorough assessment’, the Central Board
had resolved unanimously to discontinue the school in June 2005.

`The Melkonian Educational Institute (MEI), as a significant and
historical institution within AGBU, has been a concern of the Central
Board over many years. This decision is based largely on the Board’s
conclusion that MEI no longer meets the challenges of its mission in
the present context of the Armenian world,’ the AGBU said.

`The ultimate objective is to lay their hands on the land and take
the funds out of Cyprus,’ Shavasb Bohdjalian, head of the alumni,
told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

Since the controversy began, the Armenian community has managed to
have the Melkonian declared a listed building and has persuaded the
Forestry Department to file an application to declare the wooded area
in the grounds as a protected forest. Legal action is now being
considered, Bohdjalian said. If there is a case, it is likely to be
fought in the Cypriot courts, he said.

In a paid advertorial that appeared in local papers 10 days ago,
Gordon Anderson, the American representative of the AGBU, said that
`several options are being considered’ to accommodate the 200 or so
students at other schools so that they can gain an education `that
will have an Armenian component’.

The AGBU administers 22 Armenian schools worldwide, including the
Melkonian, which was founded in 1926 and is today the only secondary
school in Cyprus for the Armenian community.

`It is not just a matter of the sale of the land and the flight of
some 80 million dollars to the US in violation of a 1926 will by the
founders,’ the alumni said. `It’s also abuse of the rights of
Armenian children who are being deprived their human right to a fair
education based on their cultural heritage,’ they said, adding that
the AGBU Central Board had refused to discuss ways to save the school
because their main aim was `to take the money and run’.

The AGBU said the Central Board fully recognised and honoured the
continued legacy of the Melkonian Brothers, and `is determined to
perpetuate their memory through new educational programmes to be
implemented within and outside Cyprus, in line with the spirit of
their donation to AGBU’.

However, the alumni said the AGBU’s talk of co-operating with other
institutions, research centres and even universities was a public
relations gimmick that aimed to mislead the Cyprus government into
allowing the sale and subsequent export of the funds.

RIA Novosti, Russia
March 11 2004

NEW CABINET’S FIRST SESSION LASTED 40 MINUTES

MOSCOW, March 11, 2004. (RIA Novosti) – The first session of the new
Russian government chaired by Mikhail Fradkov lasted forty minutes.

For this time, the cabinet members considered four issues. The main
issue dealt with measures to implement the Russian President’s decree
“On the System and Structure of Federal Bodies of Executive Power.”
Besides, the government approved the agreement with Ukraine’s
government on settlement of claims that aroused in the wake of the
air crash on October 4, 2001.

The protocol on extension of the term of validity of the agreement
between the Russian and Armenian governments on the regulation of the
voluntary migration process was approved as well. Besides, the
government took a decision on giving state housing certificates to
the North Caucasian autonomy, Ingushetia.