Author: Vardanian Garo

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
September 3, 2004, Friday

THE AIR FORCE WILL PREVENT TERRORIST ATTACKS

General of the Army Vladimir Mikhailov, Commander-in-Chief of the
Air Force, stated on Wednesday: “If terrorists skyjacked a jetliner
and tried to attack an important object we would make every effort
to stop this jetliner.”

The general said: “This requires a strong-willed decision.” He said
that issues linked with air terrorism are discussed by representatives
of the Air and Anti-Aircraft Force of the CIS. He noted: “We discuss
this problem at a meeting of the coordinating committee today. The
main task is to prevent such crimes.”

Representatives of the Armenian, Belarusian , Georgian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz,
Russian, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek and Ukrainian Air and Anti-Aircraft
Forces participate in the meeting.

Source: Interfax, September 1, 2004

Azerbaijan, Belarus to sign military agreement

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Aug 31 2004

31/08/2004 22:14

Belarus is interested in military cooperation with Azerbaijan,
Belarusian Defense Minister, Colonel-General Leonid Maltsev said in
a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Safar Abiyev during the
latter’s visit to the country on August 27-28.

AssA-Irada — Touching upon the policy of aggression pursued by Armenia
against Azerbaijan, Defense Minister, Colonel-General Safar Abiyev said
“Azerbaijan does not want war but is being instigated to war,” he said.

Maltsev said the conflict should be resolved based on the United
Nations principles and international legal norms. The two ministers
extensively discussed bilateral military cooperation and outlined
its key facets, in particular, military and technical collaboration,
joint military and scientific research, training of personnel and
other fields.

Minister Abiyev invited his Belarusian counterpart to Azerbaijan and
said that “before you visit Baku, the agreement on cooperation between
the two ministries will be prepared and signed”. During the visit,
Abiyev also became familiar with military production facilities and
their products.

DISASTROUS FOREIGN POLICY MADE ARMENIA MARGINAL IN REGIONAL PROCESSES:
HOVHANNES HOVHANNESYAN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 21. ARMINFO. If Armenia fails to get integrated into
global foreign-policy processes before 2009, by 2010 it will only turn
into a territory inhabited by Armenian-speaking people, Chairman of
the Liberal-Progressive Party (LPP) Hovhannes Hovhannesyan stated at
the “Azdak” discussion club today.

According to him, Armenia is no longer pursuing a flexible foreign
policy and has become a country isolated from all the regional
communication, economic, and political processes. Hovhannesyan pointed
out the fact of Armenia remaining outside the EU-implemented INOGATE
and TRACECA projects, and the North-South railway section skirted the
country. According to Hovhannesyan, the construction of the
Iran-Armenian gas main is danger as well,as the laying of a gas
pipeline with a diameter of 700mm will be of no benefit to either
Armenia or Iran.

Hovhannesyan also stated that Armenia’s orientation to Russia has put
the country into a most delicate situation. “The international
community views Armenia as Russia’s vassal, which makes Europe, the
USA and NATO to turn from the country, the LPP leader said. According
to him, Russia values Armenia now, as all its other satellites have
got out of its control. On the other hand, it did not prevent RF
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to make a statement the other day that
Moscow recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sees a
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as based only on this
principle. According to Hovhannesyan the fact that the Speaker of the
Iranian Parliament made a similar statement in Baku the other day
testifies to Yerevan’s disastrous foreign policy. The LPP leader said
that the international community is now forcing on the Armenian side
“a scheme of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that does not
meet its interests.”

According to Hovhannesyan, Armenia’s membership in the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is not justified as well, as the
country does not border on any of the CSTO members. “Armenia’s
membership in the CSTO does not solve its security problems,” he
said. Meanwhile, Armenia’s neighbors, Georgia and Azerbaijan, are
making every effort to get integrated into NATO. According to
Hovhannesyan, it may happen as soon as 2007, in which case Armenia
will find itself isolated, as, in case of need, the CSTO members will
not be able to render prompt assistance to it through the territory of
its neighbors, which will be NATO members.

La Nouvelle République du Centre Ouest
19 août 2004

” L’me arménienne ” demain, à Gargilesse

Au travers de poèmes et de musiques intimement liées à l’histoire de
son peuple, le concert proposé vendredi soir, dans le cadre du
festival d’été de Gargilesse, évoquera l’Arménie et cette « me
arménienne » qui constitue pour elle un véritable espace de survie
culturelle.

Le concert se compose de trois parties.

« Mémoire et pays », « Du génocide à l’exil », « Renaissance et amour
» avec des poèmes et des musiques d’écrivains et musiciens arméniens.

Pour lire les textes, un spécialiste de l’art de dire, Alain Carré.
Il s’est produit dans de nombreux thétres tant à Genève qu’à Paris
où il a notamment participé à la création du « Roi David » de
Honegger ou bien encore « Béatrice et Benedict » de Berlioz au
thétre des Champs-Élysées. Il est aussi le créateur et le directeur
artistique des Nuits médiévales de Saint-Antoine l’Abbaye, en Isère,
et a mis en scène une vingtaine de créations mêlant littérature,
musique, arts de la rue et du cirque entre 1990 et 2000.

Pour enrichir son propos de traits musicaux, le duo composé de
Martine Blot (harpe) et Pierre-Aram Nazarian (flûte) sera présent à
Gargilesse demain soir. Créé voici maintenant une vingtaine d’années,
ce duo est l’invité de nombreux festivals. En France mais aussi en
Belgique, au Luxembourg, en Angleterre. Ils exercent l’un et l’autre
des activités musicales variées et consacrent aussi de leur temps à
de jeunes enfants au travers de concerts éducatifs.

– « L’me arùménienne » vendredi 20 août, à 21 h, en l’église romane
de Gargilesse. Prix d’entrée : 18 EUR (10 EUR pour les étudiants).

San Diego Union Tribune, CA
Aug 21 2004

Mexico deports 2 detainees to US
They were among 8 in group originally from Armenia, Iran

By Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

MEXICALI – Mexican immigration authorities said yesterday they
deported two men to the United States after detaining a group of
eight people who are originally from Armenia and Iran.

The two men – identified by Mexican authorities as Kirakos Gary and
Gurgen Koshnudyan – are U.S. citizens, according to a press release
issued by the Mexican immigration agency.

A spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said she
hadn’t received official word of the transfer but that U.S.
authorities are interested in getting access to the group’s members.

Baja California state preventive police and Mexican immigration
agents detained the group Thursday in a Mexicali hotel after getting
information from their U.S. counterparts.

Lauren Mack, ICE spokeswoman, said that information was the result of
a coordinated investigation by the Border Patrol, ICE and the FBI.

“U.S. authorities received information that there were a number of
Middle Easterners in the Mexicali area and relayed that to the
appropriate office in Mexicali,” Mack said.

The information “specifically identified the Motel Colonia on Las
Fuentes in Mexicali,” according to a news release from the FBI.

After detaining the group, Mexican authorities initially announced
that some were from Iraq, but yesterday none of the eight were
identified as from that country.

The other six people, including an Iranian man with legal residency
in the United States, have been sent or are being sent to Mexico City
for further investigation and possible deportation, according to
Mexican authorities.

Gary is originally from Armenia, and Koshnudyan is originally from
Iran, according to Mexican authorities.

Middle Easterners are among many groups of people that enter the
United States through Baja California, sometimes to seek asylum. The
United States and Mexico have been working together to prevent the
entry of terrorists into the United States. There is no indication
that any of the eight are suspected terrorists.

Oregonian, OR
Aug 17 2004

In baseball, Greeks enjoy what they don’t understand

ATHENS – In the first inning of an Olympic baseball game between Cuba
and Greece on Monday, some poor Greek fan, one who probably just
wanted to sit in his seat down the first base line and watch a live
baseball game in peace, had the misfortune of catching a foul ball.

So, he looked around for a few seconds.

Everyone looked back at him.

Then he reared back and threw the ball back onto the field, where it
rolled to the pitcher’s mound.

“I thought they needed the ball,” he said.

Otherwise, this was a normal game.

Cuba won 5-4. They served hot dogs at the stadium. One fan even
brought a glove.

Oh sure, some of the 6,700 Greeks here kept calling the bat a “club.”
And others asked why the three white “pillows” on the field were
shaped differently than the one on the ground near the catcher. And,
also, some enthusiastic guy wearing a giant blue and white Greek flag
like a super-Greek cape around his neck led the entire stadium in a
traditional soccer song.

They sang:

Sikose to,

To Timimeno,

Then boro,

Then boro,

Na perimeno!

Hey, can we work in a “Take two and hit to right?” Still, they sang.
They politely clapped whenever Cuba scored a run. And they danced to
music from the organ. And also, they chanted traditional Greek soccer
cheers that called for them to: “Raise the cup, raise the cup.”

Nobody minded that during the seventh-inning stretch only a handful
people knew to stand and stretch while they played “Take Me Out to
the Ballgame” on the public-address system. Maybe because nobody in
the place knew the words.

Otherwise, this game was as American as, say, apple pie.

“They are very enthusiastic,” said stadium usher Ariana Chris of
Toronto, “but also very uninformed.”

And why not?

Until recently there were two baseball diamonds in Greece. They were
located on an old U.S. Air Force base in Athens. Now, Greece has this
perfect baseball complex, with two perfect baseball fields featuring
perfect green grass and bright blue outfield fences, and concrete
everywhere.

“You’re from the States?” everyone wanted to know. “Is this what
Yankee Stadium is like?”

Yes, I told them.

Exactly.

Down the left field line, in seats that sold for 10 euros (about
$12.25 U.S.), here was 47-year-old Costas Platis, with his
13-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter, Daphne. They rode two buses
and a train to get here from their home in Ionnina in northern
Greece, near the Albanian border.

Said Daphne: “I’m Greek. So all I know about baseball is they go
around in a circle.”

See, just like Yankee Stadium.

And down the right field line was Dimitrios Georgitsas, a 28-year-old
police lieutenant. He is one of the few fans here who actually played
baseball. Well, OK, technically, he never really played. But, as a
teenager, he and his friends watched “The Natural” and then raced out
into the street with a wooden broom stick and an old tennis ball and
took turns pitching to each other.

“We would have played a game, but nobody knew the rules,” he said.

And here is Greece’s third baseman, Clay Bellinger, who played for
the Yankees in the 2000 and 2001 World Series. In fact, Bellinger
played every position except pitcher while in pinstripes. So, since
he’s had a good look around both places, Clay, what do you think? Is
this the House that Ruth Built 2 or what?

Clay?

Clay?

“Did you hear them singing those crazy soccer songs?” he asked.

Also, you should know this: On Sunday night in Greece’s opening game,
an 11-0 loss to the Netherlands, the entire stadium jumped to its
feet and cheered wildly after Greek pitcher Clinton Zavaras’ first
pitch was a called strike.

“I mean, they went nuts,” Bellinger said.

Then, Zavaras’ second pitch was called a ball.

“So, they all jumped up and went nuts again,” Bellinger said. “And
Clint steps off the mound and looks over at me and then around the
infield and we all started laughing. I think it’s great.”

Now, understand, there’s a little uneasiness with the players on this
team. But, really, isn’t that just like Yankee Stadium? Only two of
the 23 on the current roster were born in Greece. The rest were part
of the host country’s plan, with help from the International Olympic
Committee, to field a competitive team in every sport.

Greece wanted baseball. So it needed Greeks who could play baseball.
And since nobody here owns a broken-in baseball glove, it looked for
second- and third-generation Greeks from the United States and
elsewhere.

“I don’t see the big deal,” Bellinger said.

It’s really not any different than what Armenia did in the 2002
Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, when it put together a team of
Armenian Americans in an attempt to jump-start the bobsled as a
sport.

But here, Team Greece baseball players and coaches say they’re
treated differently now by their Olympic committee. For example,
after their opener against the Netherlands, nobody bothered to wash
their uniforms. Stuff like that.

“Also, most of the other Greek athletes in the Olympic Village will
not talk to us,” coach Ioannis Kazanas said.

Strange, but true. Especially considering what the Greeks went
through to get this far.

Remember Daphne, Costis Platis’ teenage daughter?

“Four years ago, the Greek (Olympic Committee) came to my high school
and invited everyone to participate in as many sports as they could,”
she said. “They offered baseball, softball, badminton and encouraged
everyone to participate because we had no national teams in those
sports.”

Now they do.

Team Greece ended up with two Greek-born baseball players on the
team. And a stadium filled with excited people, one of them wearing a
Jason Giambi Yankees replica jersey. Of course, the fans kept
explaining that their only brush with baseball was seeing a game in
an American movie and wanting to know more about it.

“We’re so ready for this,” Costis Platis said. “Greece is so ready.”

Ready, but is it just like Yankee Stadium?

Sure it is.

Maybe except for the message that flashed on the scoreboard after
that first inning.

It read: “You may keep foul balls.”

San Francisco Chronicle, CA
Aug 14 2004

Flame lights a Greek revival

John Crumpacker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Athens — To rousing cheers of “Hellas! Hellas! Hellas!” the
442-member Greek delegation marched into the Olympic Stadium on a
wave of emotion Friday night as the Opening Ceremonies of the Games
of the 28th Olympiad reached a crescendo of sound and sentiment,
silencing skeptics the world over who had doubted it could be done.

Minutes later, sailor Nikolaos Kaklamanakis lit the Olympic cauldron
to bring to a conclusion ceremonies that ran nearly 3 1/2 hours and
touched upon Greece ancient and modern and upon the nation’s unique
role in the history of the Olympic Games.

“This is the new Greece waiting for you to discover,” said Athens
2004 head Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, the woman credited with
rescuing the Olympic bid from internecine squabbles and three years
of mismanagement. “You will be revived. Greece is here tonight. We’re
ready. The Olympic Games — welcome home.”

Perhaps 2 billion people worldwide and 72,000 in person watched as
the 35-year-old Kaklamanakis, familiar to Greeks for his sailing
skills in the Mistral class, touched the Olympic flame to a
needle-like device attached to a fulcrum.

Upon being lit, the stiletto-like device was raised back into
position by a huge counterweight. At that, fireworks went off to more
cheers, and people slowly walked from beneath the stadium’s stylish
arched glass roof into a balmy summer night in this northern Athens
district of Mousassi.

“It was incredible,” said U.S. middle-distance runner Alan Webb.
“Just watching the flame being lit was well worth it. I thought that
was the highlight.” The cauldron will burn continuously for the next
16 days, until the 2004 Summer Olympics conclude on Aug. 29.

American archer Jennifer Nichols said the lighting of the cauldron
“gave me a feeling of awe, like I can’t believe I’m here.”

During the ceremonies, a piece of the pyrotechnics lodged high in the
latticework of a crane outside the stadium and remained burning as
visitors exited to an acrid aroma.

An equally familiar smell was noticeable inside the stadium, that of
fresh paint. Outside, trees had been planted mere days before to
brighten a tableau of dirt reflecting a frantic rush to complete the
facilities in time.

These are the Games that Athens had hoped to host in 1996 for the
centennial celebration of the modern Olympics, which had been
established after a hiatus of 1,500 years. But Atlanta won the bid
instead.

Greeks take almost perverse pride in their last-minute ethic in
getting things done, and indeed they got things done on the most
important day of the Olympics.

But even as all of Greece celebrated the arrival of a sporting
festival developed here in 776 B.C. as a paean to the gods and
revived in 1896 under the precepts of fair play and sportsmanship,
the potential of shame lurked: National hero Kostas Kenteris, the
defending Olympic champion in the 200 meters, faced a possible ban
for skipping two mandatory drug tests.

Kenteris and sprinter Katerina Thanou became the big story Thursday
night and early Friday morning after both missed tests and after a
motorcycle accident in which they were said to suffer minor injuries.

Their cases were being reviewed by an International Olympic Committee
panel hours before the Opening Ceremonies were to begin.

The artistic portion of the ceremony was constrained by time because
the nearly 10,000 athletes from 201 nations had to wait to walk into
the stadium. It was nevertheless classy as more than 2,400 volunteer
performers referenced Greece from antiquity to the present day in
stylized vignettes rolling by on floats.

Greek civilization was presented as an evolution of art, science and
mathematics under the heading “Clepsydra,” described as “a dreamlike
parade depicting stylized figures that look as though they have been
brought to life from Greek frescoes, mosaics, sculptures and
paintings.”

The ceremonies quickly transitioned from art to athletes. Competitors
from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe celebrated their time on the global
stage in a slow gambol before spectators and a segregated section of
dignitaries.

Among the royalty, Queen Sofia of Spain attracted the most attention
in her pale lime-green dress and her obvious bodyguards with
earpieces. There was no Fidel Castro sighting, as in Olympics past.

The parade of athletes is always a highlight for its very definition
of human diversity. Attire ranged from ghastly Ward Cleaver-like gray
suits for the men of Armenia to genuine leopard-skin loincloths for
the men of Burundi. The women of Moldova wore silky pink slacks and
pink halter tops above bare midriffs.

Bermuda, true to tradition, sent out grown men wearing black blazers
with red shorts and knee-high black socks.

The U.S. delegation was the largest, with 538 athletes, not all of
whom took part in the ceremonies because of imminent competitions
today. The Americans were casual and well-behaved in their uniforms
from Roots, a Canadian company that caused a marketing furor with
berets at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002.

Despite Greece’s relatively proximity to the continuing conflict in
Iraq, the Americans received an enthusiastic greeting when they
entered the stadium, putting them in the same league, ovation-wise,
as Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and nearby Cyprus. Israel was met
mostly with silence.

In contrast to the U.S. delegation, sauntering in six abreast, the
east African nation of Djibouti was represented by one athlete,
tennis player Abdo Abdallah, who by necessity carried his country’s
flag.

The most rambunctious country was Italy, its men specifically. A
number of them mugged for the camera, kissed the lens and tarried to
such an extent they had to be herded back to their delegation by
black-clad production people acting as sheepdogs.

The tallest flag bearer in Olympic history was someone familiar to
U.S. sports fans. Basketball player Yao Ming of China, at 7-feet-5 or
perhaps 7-6, led his country’s delegation clad in cream-colored
slacks and red jacket. During the NBA season, he plays for the
Houston Rockets.

North and South Korea marched in together, most athletes holding
hands above their heads. Earlier in the day, International Olympic
Committee president Jacques Rogge spoke of the possibility of the two
Koreas forming one country as Germany did after the fall of the
Berlin Wall.

While Armenia was noticeable for its drab suits, easily the worst
fashion statement of the evening was turned in by the athletes of
Kyrgyzstan, who wore hats that can only be described as demented
stovepipe Tyroleans, like the Swiss wear only much taller.

In any event, it was hats off to Athens and all of Greece for an
event seven years in the making, three years in the delaying and
finally brought to fruition with frantic effort.

For complete Olympic coverage — including interactive guides to
featured sports — go to sfgate.com/olympics/.

PERSONS ACCUSED OF PREPARATION OF TERRORIST ACT SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 9
SENTENCED TO 1-YEAR IMPRISONMENT FOR ILLEGAL KEEPING OF WEAPON

YEREVAN, August 12 (Noyan Tapan). The court of the first instance of
the Kentron and Nork Marash Communities of Yerevan presided over by
judge Pargev Ohanian sentenced Gevorg Mesropian and Artur Mangasarov
living in Moscow to 1-year imprisonment according to the August 3
verdict. The judge presided over on this case reported to NT’s
correspondent that, according to the verdict, the defendants are
accused only of the illegal keeping of weapon, and the court
recognized them guilty of it. To recap, the case was instituted by the
RA Prosecutor General’s Office on the basis of the illegal keeping of
weapon and the preparation of the terrorist act. According to the
statement made by the RA Prosecutor General’s Office, the
investigation brought to light that one of the RA oppositional MPs
with his confederates ordered a terrorist act in early April of
2004. As a result, the actions would have been committed with the
application of weapon that would bring to socially dangerous
consequences. The purpose of all of this is to violate public
security, intimidate the population and fulfill other illegal
demands. It was noticed in the statement of the Prosecutor General’s
Office that MP Smbat Aivazian, a member of the political board of the
“Hanrapetutyun” (“Republic”) Party, is a paymaster of the terrorist
act during the oppositional rally held in Freedom square on April 9.

FIRST ISSUE OF “LITERARY CRITICISM” PERIODICAL RELEASED

YEREVAN, August 11 (Noyan Tapan). The first issue of the “Literary
Criticism” periodical was released upon the initiative of the
Institute of Literary Criticism after M. Abeghian and the Writers’
Union of Armenia. Literary critic Azat Yeghiazarian, editor-in-chief
of the periodical, told NT’s correspondent that the issues of the
history of the Armenian literature and the development of the modern
literature, as well as theoretical problems will be covered in the
magazine. According to Azat Yeghiazarian, the creative activities of a
number of Western Armenian writers weren’t sufficiently studied for
some reason or other. “We are still far from the entire notion about
the Western Armenian literature. One of the main tasks of the new
periodical is to fill this gap,” he mentioned. Articles on Hakob
Oshakan, Byuzand Topalian, Andranik Tsarukian, Kostan Zarian and many
other Western Armenian writers have already been published in the
first issue of the magazine. Azat Yeghiazarian mentioned that the
magazine will also give its pages to young literary critics, as
according to him, “they should continue, develop and deepen all the
traditions that the Armenian literary criticism has, as well as should
advance new ideas and approaches, being grounded on these traditions
and achievements of the world literary criticism ideology.” It should
be mentioned that it is expected that the extracts from the “White
Book” of Avetik Isahakian dedicated to the Armenian Genocide, some
letters of Hakob Oshakan, as well as the memoirs of Maro Alazan on
Yeghishe Charents, Nairi Zarian and other writers will be published in
the second issue of the “Literary Criticism Magazine”.

Ekho, Baku, in Russian
10 Aug 04

Results of Iranian president’s Baku trip “very modest” – Azeri paper

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s recent visit to Azerbaijan has
little to show for it, with no agreement on the status of the Caspian
Sea, a commentary in a Baku-based newspaper has said. “There is a
definite gap between statements by Iranian officials on eternal
friendship with Azerbaijan and the real policy pursued by Tehran,”
the commentary said, citing Iranian cooperation with Armenia and its
attitude towards the large Azeri ethnic minority in Iran as evidence.
The fact that Khatami’s long-awaited visit has taken place may be a
factor in a reorientation of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy, according
to the commentary. The following is the text of Nurani’s commentary
in Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 10 August headlined “Lame ducks”;
subheadings inserted editorially:

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s visit to Azerbaijan is over.
Even before the visit started, the press had been full of
commentaries, saying that the negotiations in Baku are of great
importance for the Iranian authorities. Firstly, Iran has long been
troubled by the strengthening of the USA’s position in our country
and it was not opposed to “getting closer” to Azerbaijan. And
secondly, today, when the international community is already openly
discussing measures to pressurize Tehran into giving up its nuclear
programme, which in no way can be viewed as “peaceful”, and the USA
is openly implying that Iran could be next after Iraq, Tehran would
like to improve relations with its neighbours for clear reasons.
Furthermore, this visit had been cancelled and postponed innumerable
times. In a word, the public had every reason to expect a “diplomatic
breakthrough”.

Little to show for visit

But the results of the visit have turned out to be very modest: the
Iranian president did not bring “in his briefcase” either an
agreement on the Caspian status, or a decision on opening
Azerbaijan’s consulate in Tabriz. It looks as though in Iran they
considered any curtsies towards Baku to be unnecessary. What is more,
for several months before the visit, the Iranian army located close
to the Azerbaijani border carried out threatening and large-scale
manoeuvres, ignoring the reaction of official Baku.

Tehran fears strong Azerbaijan will boost Azeri national movement in
Iran

However, we have already had plenty of opportunity to be convinced
that there is a definite gap between statements by Iranian officials
on eternal friendship with Azerbaijan and the real policy pursued by
Tehran. It is enough just to mention Iran’s cooperation with Armenia.
People in Baku prefer to pretend, especially during the run-up to
talks with Iran, that the South Azerbaijani factor does not exist at
all. However, it does not mean that Iran forgets about it. The
authorities of this country understand very well: the stronger
independent Azerbaijan is in the north the Azerbaijani Republic , the
more noticeable the national movement in the south northwestern Iran
will become. Of course, an open anti-Azerbaijani policy causes only
an outburst of indignation in Tabriz, Ardabil, Orumiyeh, Maragheh,
which is why Iran has been pledging eternal love for our country for
over 10 years now, but has in reality been pursuing a contrary
policy. On the eve of the visit, there was nothing to point to a
change in Iran’s foreign policy towards Azerbaijan.

Iranian media deliberately fanned tension ahead of Khatami’s visit

In Tehran Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who went to
Iran to prepare for Khatami’s visit, was accused of all mortal sins.
In a press conference in Tehran Mammadyarov recalled the Iranian
Azerbaijanis. As one can infer from the explanations of the
Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister, Xalaf Xalafov, there was nothing
to criticize in the quotations the Iranian media took from
Mammadyarov. The minister noted that Azerbaijanis are a minority in
Iran and that they maintain good relations with Iranians. However,
even this was enough for Allahuddin Burujerdi, head of the National
Security and Foreign Policy Committee at the Iranian parliament, to
see in these words a “distortion of history” and threat to the “unity
of Iran” in his interview with the newspaper Baztab.

Against the background of the arrests of participants in the peaceful
march to Fort Bazz, all this might seem natural and fully in line
with Iran’s official policy, which gives “model” minority status to
Armenians, with rights to schools, but not to Azerbaijanis.

The dubious honour of releasing the next “duck” rumour falls to the
Tehran Times, which on the eve of Khatami’s visit to Azerbaijan
reported that the American military will be located on the
Iranian-Azerbaijani border. Baku denied this sensational report.

Taking into consideration the extent to which Iran’s ruling clerical
elite controls everybody and everything from parliament to the press,
it is very hard to believe that it is a matter of Burujerdi’s extra
emotions or lack of professionalism in Tehran Times staff. It is more
logical to suppose that the appropriate “information background” for
Khatami’s Baku visit was set up in Iran by means of such a festival
of “lame ducks” play on words, in Russian the word for “duck” has the
secondary meaning “rumour” .

Khatami a “lame-duck” president

However, in the political slang the term “lame duck” implies not only
“sensation” which is refuted before it can draw attention. It also
implies a president who has no hope of re-election and the only thing
he can do is see his term out quietly.

In fact, soon after his election as Iranian president, Khatami was
openly dubbed “Iran’s Gorbachev”, he was calling for reforms and
“dialogue among civilizations” and enlisted colossal support from
Iranian voters, but now the situation is principally different.
Following the latest parliamentary elections in Iran, in which almost
all the candidates from the reformist bloc were simply barred from
running because of insufficient religious devotion, Khatami’s
positions in the ruling bodies are not stable. For the ruling clerics
he is not going to be “their man”. But, recent student protests in
Tehran illustrated that Khatami is also losing the support of his
natural allies – supporters of liberal reforms who accuse him of
indecisiveness and half-measures.

In a word, if several years ago drawing parallels with Gorbachev
sounded flattering enough for Khatami, now it is assuming a different
meaning.

Azerbaijan may be about to change foreign policy

In the end, the heightened tension around Iran logically required
known caution from Baku. Against a background of increasing US
criticism of the actions of the Azeri authorities and large-scale
consultations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Khatami’s visit to
Azerbaijan that has already materialized may prove to be a serious
argument in favour of the fact that Azerbaijan is on the threshold of
another “re-orientation” of its foreign policy. It remains open to
question if the country’s foreign policy will indeed be reconsidered,
but our Western partners are more likely to exercise a certain
caution with regard to Azerbaijan. And it is not by chance that they
are cautious in Iran about “tough measures” by the USA and its
allies. In the best case scenario bright economic projects will fall
victim to international sanctions. In the worst we will be reminded
about all the smiles and handshakes, although without documents
signed, when bombs rain down on Tehran.

Of course, if negotiations with Khatami promised Azerbaijan great
success, it would be possible to take a risk for the sake of national
interests, but what is to be done if in the negotiations portfolio
there is nothing but less impressive quasi-economic documents, which
are signed by a president with a rather gloomy political future? To
be frank, can we generally live up to our state and national
interests?

Perhaps, the answer to this question lies in such delicate spheres as
the mentality and psychology that we inherited from the times of
Azerbaijan being Moscow’s colony. People who passed through the
school of “apparat games” and behind-the-scenes struggle in those
corridors and rooms where a potential candidate would win after
eliminating all conflicting groupings inevitably bring the same
principle to the foreign policy of a state. Maybe, they cordially
believe in pursuing a “balanced policy”, trying to be “white and
fluffy” in the eyes of the USA and Iran, Russia and Turkey, Arab
nations and Israel and transfer the accumulated experience to the
politicians of the ensuing generation without even thinking that the
policy of an independent state is built on principles entirely
different from an “apparat game” in the next “plenary session” or
“congress”. And it seems that these delusions may cost us so much.