Author: Virabian Jhanna

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Evelyn Boyajian
ACYOA Dallas
Sports Weekend Committee

[email protected]

2004 Annual General Assembly and Sports Weekend heading down to the Lone
Star State

Dallas, TX – May 24, 2004 – For the first time ever, the ACYOA of St. Sarkis
Armenian Church in Dallas, TX will be hosting the Annual ACYOA General
Assembly and Sports Weekend. With over a year in planning invested, the
appeal of this year’s event has grown above and beyond its usual borders.
Having the added benefit of a centralized location, members as well as
clergy from both the Eastern and Western Diocese will be in attendance
throughout the entire weekend.

There are many firsts this year. Some of these include online registration
for workshops, sports and other events through the Dallas ACYOA website. A
choice of payment method, including check by mail, PayPal or online credit
card is also available. Hotel and Airline reservations are accessible with
special group discount codes posted on the site.

The event officially kicks off Thursday, May 27 with a welcome meeting and
reception for the delegates at the Hilton Hotel. The General Assembly
delegates meeting will continue throughout the day Friday at the Biblical
Arts Center, which will feature a 30 minute laser light show on the largest
oil painting of the Pentecost. The evening will include music and dancing at
the Al Amir Restaurant which features a great Mediterranean atmosphere.

Sports competitions will begin Saturday morning and continue through Sunday
afternoon at Jesuit College Prep located within 5 minutes walking distance
of the hotel. Sports registration has been overwhelmingly high this year
with over 37 teams from 12 parishes playing basketball, volleyball, soccer
and tug-of-war. Track and other individual events such as ping pong and
tavloo (backgammon) will also be taking place.

For those who aren’t participating in sports, or might have downtime in
between their games, special workshop programming and a clergy discussion
panel will be offered throughout Saturday. The day will begin with a visit
to the Children’s Medical Center followed by a packed schedule of speakers
discussing hot topics such as Marriage vs Civil Union, “The Passion of the
Christ”. The day will include presentations from other Armenian
organizations such as AGBU and the Armenian Assembly as well. A Gift Hygiene
Pack Assembly event will also be available for anyone to stop by and help.
These gift packs will consist of basic hygiene items, such as toothbrush and
toothpaste, which will be sent to orphanages in Armenia after the event.

Saturday evening will be held at the Dallas World Aquarium with live music
featuring the Aravod Ensemble. Participants will have the chance to walk
through a rain forest and see, as well as learn about, live animals from
around the world, some which are on the endangered species list.

Sunday Badarak service will be held at the St. Sarkis Armenian Church
followed by an Alumni Luncheon. In the late afternoon, an exhibition game
will take place with the Dallas parishioner’s soccer team challenging the
ACYOA soccer champions. In the evening, a formal dinner/dance ball will take
place at the hotel. This event will be open to Dallas community members and
will feature Philly Kef Band opening for Aram Asatryan. Following this, DJ’s
Nick & Jake Terkenian will provide entertainment at the after-hours event.
The farewell picnic will be held Monday at the church.

On behalf of the entire Dallas Sports Weekend Committee, we want to thank
everyone for the opportunity of hosting this year’s event and want to say
“Come on down, y’all !!”

For more information: or
Contact: [email protected]

###

ARMENIANS AND GEORGIANS IN TSALKA MAKE PEACE

ArmenPress
May 24 2004

TSALKA, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS: Ethnic Armenians in Georgia’s region of
Tsalka and local Georgians have reportedly overcome the tension that
was caused by recent clashes between them deciding to organize a joint
concert on May 26, the day when Georgia celebrates independence day
in a sign of friendship, the local A-Info news agency reported.

Ethnic Armenians comprise 57% of population of Tsalka district in Kvemo
Kartli region with population around 20,000. Also 4,500 ethnic Greeks,
2,500 ethnic Georgians, up to 2,000 Azerbaijanis live in the Tsalka
district. Local officials described clashes between ethnic Georgians
and Armenians as “a communal violence.”

Halley’s comet portrayed on ancient coin
Heather Catchpole, ABC Science Online

ABC Science Online, Australia
May 19 2004

Could the star shape on the king’s crown be Halley’s comet?
A rare ancient coin may feature an early record of Halley’s comet,
researchers say.

The coin features the head of the Armenian king Tigranes II the Great,
who reigned from 95 to 55 BC. A symbol on his crown that features a
star with a curved tail may represent the passage of Halley’s comet
in 87 BC, say the Armenian and Italian researchers.

Their research will be published in Astronomy & Geophysics, a journal
of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Halley’s comet, which was last visible in 1986, has cropped up
periodically in the Earth’s history, with regular observations in 1531,
1607 and 1682.

This led Edmond Halley to declare in 1705 that this was the same
comet, with an orbit taking it past the Earth about every 76 years.
He predicted successfully it would return in 1758, and the comet was
named after him.

Now researchers have found further evidence that the comet was
significant thousands of years before Halley was born.

Tigranes could have seen Halley’s comet when it passed closest to the
Sun on 6 August in 87 BC, according to the researchers, who said the
comet would have been a “most recordable event”.

The appearance of the comet in Armenia, which borders Turkey and Iran,
could be useful to date the coin accurately. While the coin dates back
to before 83 BC, when Tigranes conquered the ancient city of Antioch,
the capital city of Syria at the time, researchers do not know its
precise date.

Halley’s comet (Image: NASA/Ames Research Center) Halley’s comet is
a ball of dirty snow and ice about 15 kilometres long. Like other
comets that periodically pass the Earth, it has a highly eccentric
orbit that changes as the larger planets pull at its orbit.

Astronomer Vince Ford from the Research School of Astronomy and
Astrophysics at Canberra’s Australian National University said the
comet would have been bigger and brighter 2000 years ago.

“As comets come round the Sun they lose a lot of material, up to 10%,”
he said.

Although Halley’s comet wasn’t losing that much, it would still get
smaller over time as the Sun burnt away icy dust and gas.

Like other comets that return within 200 years, Halley’s comet is
thought to come from the Kuiper belt, a disc of comets and icy planets
including Pluto, which periodically sends icy material hurtling into
the solar system.

Ford said the oldest confirmed observation of Halley’s comet was from
Chinese recordings on 25 May in 240 BC.

Art had often been the source of evidence of sightings of Halley’s
comet, he said.

For example, the Bayeux tapestry depicted the comet in the lead up to
the Battle of Hastings in 1066. But art had also mislead astronomers,
Ford said.

“Giotto painted it into his nativity scene, probably because he has
recently seen Halley’s comet and he was impressed,” Ford said. “But
the comet only appeared in 12 BC, way before the birth of Jesus.”

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
05/18/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1) EU’s Prodi Caught Off Guard by Aliyev’s Request
2) Rustamian Calls on Opposition to Show True Colors For Sake of Reform
3) US Details Armenia Responsibilities for MCA Participation
4) ARS Festival Celebrates Armenian Heritage with All

1) EU’s Prodi Caught Off Guard by Aliyev’s Request

BRUSSELS (Reuters)–Azerbaijan called on the European Union (EU) to help
resolve a long-running dispute with Armenia over Mountainous Karabagh,
apparently catching the EU’s executive Commission off its guard. The
Commission
this month added Azerbaijan, with Caucasus neighbors Armenia and Georgia, to
its New Neighborhood program, which seeks closer ties with countries around
the
bloc following its expansion eastwards on May 1.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev lost no time in challenging Commission President
Romano Prodi to translate this into action by asking the EU to take a leading
role in the conflict.
Karabagh is a territory wholly inside Azerbaijan, populated by Christian
ethnic Armenians, which broke away from Baku’s rule as the Soviet Union
collapsed. The Azeris, their country controlling large oil resources, want it
back.
Prodi told journalists after meeting Aliyev that the EU had expressed “our
disposal to help if requested.” He insisted he could not give details as no
request had been made.
Not so, shot back Aliyev. “We already asked, and during today’s meeting once
again,” he said.
A ceasefire, ending a six-year conflict that killed about 35,000 people, has
held for a decade. However, the Minsk Group of 11 countries, led by France,
the
United States, and Russia under the mandate of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has so far failed to settle the problem.
Aliyev, who succeeded his father as president last year, backed the Minsk
Group but said he wanted more.
“Azerbaijan is very strongly interested that other important European
organizations, first of all the European Union, take a more active stand,” he
said.
“If Azerbaijan and Armenia are now in the New Neighborhood policy, the
occupation by one country of the territory of another must be stopped,” he
added, demanding the immediate withdrawal of Armenian troops.
His remarks suggest the EU may face problems by rolling out the new policy,
which could mean “importing” several conflicts–notably in Moldova, another
New
Neighbor, where a stalled war pitting Romanian-speaking Moldovans against
ethnic Russians has also rumbled on for a decade.

2) Rustamian Calls on Opposition to Show True Colors For Sake of Reform

YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–In an interview with Noyan Tapan, ARF’s Armen Rustamian
said that if the opposition is sincere in its claims that a power shift is not
an end in itself and that it seeks reforms, then it must opt for dialogue.
Rustamian, Chairman of the National Assembly’s foreign relations commission
and the chairman of ARF Armenia’s Supreme Body, said that dialogue, on the one
hand, allows for achievements to date to be preserved, while opening the doors
to resolving existing problems.
The only alternative to political confrontation, Rustamian stressed, is the
resolution of issues through political consent. He proposed that the
opposition
accept the offer to participate “as an equal side, with rights of veto” in
working to reform Armenia’s electoral code and constitution, and struggling
against corruption–generally in implementing obligations assumed by Armenia
[before the Council of Europe].
Part of the opposition, said Rustamian, opposes dialogue because it does not
grasp that proposals put forth are, in fact, very realistic.
“Working with that part of the opposition, and extending the idea of
political
consent, we must present the idea–not as an empty declaration, but a concept
that has serious potential.”
“Another portion of the opposition simply will not opt for dialogue
because of
its fundamental desire to increase its electorate on the threshold of possible
elections,” Rustamian added.
Rustamian said that the possible collision of authorities and the opposition
weaken the nation, and the government becomes the responsible party.
He revealed that the opposition, while considered “a persecuted political
force carrying out an unshakable struggle for democracy,” is void of ideas and
programs. For this reason, Rustamian said, they must enter into the political
process and work constructively, instead of putting forth far-fetched,
artificial reasons, pre-conditions, and ultimatums–anything to avoid
dialogue.

3) US Details Armenia Responsibilities for MCA Participation

YEREVAN (Armenpress/RFE/RL)–The 8th session of US-Armenia Task Force
continued
on Tuesday with detailed discussions on Armenia’s responsibilities for
participation in the US-funded Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) program.
Ambassador Carlos Pascual, a senior State Department official coordinating US
aid to Europe and the former Soviet Union, reviewed criterion for the
selection
of countries eligible.
Armenia is among 16 countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the former
Soviet Union selected for the MCA earlier this month on the basis of 16
indicators of political and economic reforms. Six of those indicators,
including protection of civil rights and freedom of expression, deal with what
is defined as one of the three main objectives of the scheme: promotion of a
“just government rule.”
Pascual said that by qualifying, countries are not guaranteed funding, and
that allocation of funds will be based on the quality of program proposals,
and
on a compulsory basis. Their financing will depend on the economy’s fair
management, addressing investment in social issues, as well as the quality of
programs presented.
“As you know, there have been issues here in Armenia that have raised
questions about political and civil liberties in the past few months,” Pascual
told a news conference in Yerevan. “The expectation, in order to be able to
move forward with the program, is that there would be progress on these issues
and not movement backwards.”
Pascual, who co-chaired a two-day session of the US-Armenian
intergovernmental
“task force” with Finance Minister Vartan Khachatrian, said that Yerevan would
further increase its chances of securing MCA funding by combating endemic
corruption in earnest. “We had some very frank discussions about struggle to
fight corruption in Armenia and the importance of translating the
[government’s] anti-corruption strategy into specific steps,” he said, calling
for “concrete examples that can show the population the seriousness of the
will
to fight corruption.”
Khachatrian agreed, saying: “We must do a lot of work to get that
assistance.”
He confirmed that the Armenian government has “in effect” already drawn up a
number of strategic Poverty Reduction programs to submit to the Millennium
Challenge Corporation, a US government agency in charge of the MCA’s
implementation. He said those programs will be discussed in detail with a team
of other US officials who are due to visit Yerevan later this month. The
government will also initiate public debate on its proposals, Khachatrian
added.
The task force also discussed the ongoing regular US aid to Armenia, which
has
exceeded $1.5 billion since 1992 and, according to Pascual, will total $94
million this year. More than half of the 2004 funds are to be spent on job
creation, poverty reduction, and social services, while $15 million is
earmarked for “security and law enforcement,” officials said.

4) ARS Festival Celebrates Armenian Heritage with All

GLENDALE–The third annual Armenian Relief Society (ARS) festival proved to be
yet another year of success, providing delicious food, rousing music, arts and
crafts, and spontaneous dancing. Over 7,000 people passed through the doors of
the Glendale Civic Auditorium, for the two-day weekend festival, May 15-16.
The festival drew in a mixed crowd of both Armenians and non-Armenians who
shared the rich Armenian cultural experience with their children,
grandchildren, and friends. The upper level of the auditorium was filled to
capacity with people eager to watch the dancing and view the Armenian clothes
modeled by local teenagers.
Vendors lined the auditorium, selling artwork, ceramics, jewelry, T-shirts,
food, drinks, books, clothes, and desserts. Informational displays were
available on the lower level of the auditorium, filled with postcards and
stamps from Armenia and pictures of the country’s men and women and their
fashion from different eras.
Through the festivities, the ARS was able to fulfill a sense of pride and
tradition for Armenians and non-Armenians alike.

All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier
and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and
subscription requests.
(c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved.

ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for
academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through
mass media outlets.

14 ARMENIANS QUALIFY FOR SUMMER OLYMPICS

ArmenPress
May 17 2004

BUCHAREST, MAY 15, ARMENPRESS: Armen Nazarian of Armenia has become
the 14-th Armenian athlete to have qualified for summer Olympic Games
in Athens after overcoming his rival at Europe’s judo championship
in Bucharest, Romania.

St. Francis may become Armenian church
By SCOTT BROOKS Union Leader Correspondent

The Union Leader (Manchester NH)
May 13, 2004 Thursday STATE EDITION

NASHUA — A Hollis real estate developer hopes to turn the former St.
Francis Xavier Catholic Church into the state’s second Armenian church.

Vatche Manoukian, owner of Mile High Real Estate, successfully
negotiated a $1 million deal last week with the Diocese of Manchester
for the 19th-century French Hill landmark, which he plans to donate
to the Armenian Orthodox Church.

“It’s a very unique opportunity at a very unique time, and he’s
grabbing it,” said Manoukian’s attorney, Gerald Prunier.

The deal is contingent on a judgment in Hillsborough County Probate
Court, where the diocese hopes a judge will declare the sale
permissible under the church’s 1885 deed. However, some Catholic
parishioners, who call themselves the St. Francis Xavier Church
Foundation, opposes the sale and plans to intervene in the case,
the group’s attorney said.

“The parishioners want it to remain the St. Francis Xavier Catholic
Church,” said Randy Wilbert, the foundation’s attorney and former
president. “There’s a statute that says it’s got to be held in trust
for members of the parish. You can’t very well sell it to another
religion and consider yourself in compliance with your obligations.”

Wilbert said he hopes to file a motion to intervene by the end of
this week.

The diocese closed St. Francis in 2003 due to “declining financial
health and waning parishioner attendance,” according to its May 7
probate court filing. With the church on the market, the foundation
offered to buy it for an undisclosed amount of money earlier this year.

Diocesan officials said the foundation’s bid would not be considered.
Bishop John McCormack has said the church can no longer be used for
Catholic worship once it is closed.

Last month, the group responded by petitioning Hillsborough County
Superior Court for a declaratory judgment to keep the church a
Catholic facility.

A judge stayed the case at a pre-trial hearing Monday, allowing the
diocese to pursue a ruling in probate court.

The diocese’s filing argues a transfer to the Armenian Church would not
violate the building’s deed because it would ensure the structure’s”
continued public religious or pious use.”

In its filing, the diocese says net proceeds from the sale would go
to the St. Aloysius of Gonzaga parish in Nashua, which absorbed the
former St. Francis parishioners after their church was closed.

Prunier said his client is seeking word from the Armenian Church in
Jerusalem that it will accept the building. Manoukian, who is 54,
is asking nothing in return, he said.

New Hampshire currently has only one Armenian church, the Ararat
Armenian Congregational Church in Salem.

Manoukian’s brother, Hollis Selectman Vahrij Manoukian, said there
are few nearby churches for the Armenian community. The brothers,
who were born in Lebanon and moved to New Hampshire in 1977, attend
the St. Vartanantz Armenian Church in Chelmsford, Mass., about a
half-hour drive from their Hollis home.

“Nobody wants to travel that far,” Vahrij Manoukian said. “But if we
have one in Nashua, people will do it.”

The purchase and sale agreement is voided if the Armenian Church
refuses the gift, although Prunier said he saw no reason that would
happen.

Manoukian initially asked to conceal his name from the court documents,
but his identity remained visible through the black ink crossing
it out.

“The main reason for that was he didn’t want to be called up by
everyone asking for a donation,” Prunier said. Also, Prunier said,
“He didn’t want to be named as a party in the suit and end up appearing
as the bad guy.”

TURKEY SHOULD ALLEVIATE BURDEN OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, EP MEMBER CONSIDERS

12.05.2004 15:16

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide
and alleviate the burden at last, European Parliament rapporteur
for the South Caucasus Per Gahrton stated in Yerevan at the
conference on the subject of “Enlarged Europe – New Neighbors:
Armenia’s expectations”. In his words, this year the EU confirmed
its commitment and again urged Turkey to recognize the Armenian
Genocide. It is naive of Ankara to deny the Genocide as the Istanbul
courts at their time sentenced to death the Turkish politicians, who
had organized the genocide of Armenians, EP member said. “Where would
today’s Germany find itself if hadn’t acknowledged the Holocaust? Not
in European structures anyway”, Per Gahrton noted. At the same time
the parliamentarian spoke for Turkey’s admission to EU, what, in
his words, will contribute to the settlement of regional problems,
the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border, in part.

Armenian party leader downbeat on government-opposition dialogue

Noyan Tapan news agency
11 May 04

Yerevan, 11 May: “The current political consultations between the
coalition and opposition forces will hardly yield any result, because
the coalition has no elementary powers, which are concentrated in the
hands of President Robert Kocharyan,” Garnik Markaryan, chairman of
the Motherland and Honour Party, said in an interview with a Noyan
Tapan correspondent. He thinks that the president “is using the
coalition forces as a tool for preserving his power”.

Markaryan noted that the political consultations in essense have
substituted the real negotiations conducted between the sides by
the council of elders of the intelligentsia forum. “The fact that
the opposition went for these consultations is another mistake,”
he is sure.

Garnik Markaryan said that if the opposition does not drastically
change its organizational and management methods, it will be difficult
to expect any positive changes in its favour in the domestic political
process.

Apart from this, it is necessary to expand the geography of the
opposition’s activity, keeping Yerevan as the centre of the events
of course: “We must not forget that in Armenia there are also other
huge cities and regional centres”.

As for the possibility of changing the authorities’ behaviour,
connected with Resolution No 1374 of the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) on Armenia, Garnik Markaryan stated
that the ruling administration “has no desire to change anything,
and the process of intimidation and persecution is continuing”.

ARMENIA THIS WEEK
Friday, May 7, 2004

ARMENIA DEEMED ELIGIBLE FOR MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE AID
The United States this week found Armenia and fifteen other countries
eligible for new U.S. assistance from the Millennium Challenge Account
(MCA), an initiative launched two years ago by President George W. Bush and
chaired by Secretary of State Colin Powell. In a congratulatory statement to
the selected countries, President Bush noted that “these countries have met
the high standard of this groundbreaking program by governing justly,
investing in their people, and promoting economic freedom.”

Congress has appropriated $1 billion in MCA assistance in Fiscal Year 2004.
The Bush Administration requested an additional $2.5 billion for the same
purpose in Fiscal Year 2005 and hopes the funding will reach $5 billion by
2006. To receive the funds the eligible countries will first have to present
sound project proposals to the U.S. and negotiate a “Compact” on how the
money will be spent.

Armenia’s proposal is likely to center on the Poverty Reduction Strategy
approved last year by the country’s coalition government that aims to reduce
the number of people who are living below the poverty line from the 49
percent estimated in 2002 to under 35 percent in 2007 through job creation
and higher spending on social programs. In 1996, 55 percent of Armenia’s
population was estimated to live in poverty, but there has been some
improvement as a result of strong economic growth of recent years.

The MCA program initially considered 63 countries with good political ties
with the U.S. and with the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of under
$1,415. Following the review, Armenia and Georgia were the only two former
Soviet Republics that were deemed eligible for the MCA funding on the basis
of data provided by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund,
Washington-based Freedom House and the Heritage Foundation and others.

Armenia scored above the median in 14 out of 16 performance indicators, with
investments in health and education being the two exceptions. Armenia scored
highest on quality of economic regulation and trade policy (both 100%),
government effectiveness (80%) and on how many days on average it takes to
start a business in Armenia – 25, compared to 30 in Georgia, 106 in
Azerbaijan and the average of 61.

Azerbaijan, which was also a candidate, failed to meet the eligibility
requirements because of worse than average scores on political rights, civil
liberties, corruption, government effectiveness, rule of law, voice and
accountability and quality of economic regulations. (Sources: ;
Armenia This Week 7-25-03, 2-6, 3-12; Reuters 5-3)

KARABAKH MARKS TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF CEASE-FIRE
This week marks the tenth anniversary of what may be the longest-running
self-regulated cease-fire in the world. The agreement, signed by Parliament
Speakers and Defense Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh
in May 1994, with mediation by Russia and Kyrgyzstan, has marked a watershed
in the conflict that broke out in 1988. While no peacekeepers have been
deployed between Armenian and Azeri forces, and shooting occasionally
occurs, the parties have largely adhered to the 1994 agreement despite the
lack of progress on a comprehensive settlement.

Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev,
resumed their consultations last week during a European forum in Warsaw,
Poland. This was their second tête-à-tête meeting since Aliyev took over the
presidency from his dying father Heydar Aliyev last October. The two
countries’ foreign ministers are expected to meet next week. But the sides
are seen as pursuing divergent goals and no progress is expected any time
soon.

Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh are seeking Azerbaijan’s recognition of
Karabakh’s separation and eventual reunification with Armenia, in exchange
for most of the Azeri districts Armenian forces control outside Nagorno
Karabakh. The late Heydar Aliyev gave a tentative agreement to such a
resolution at talks in France and the United States in 2001, before backing
off. In addition, Armenia has long argued for confidence-building measures,
including joint economic and humanitarian projects to lessen tensions, which
Azerbaijan continues to oppose.

The new Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev appears averse to risking
possible political backlash at home and has said publicly that he is “not in
a hurry” to settle the conflict. Instead, Azerbaijan is trying to revitalize
the 1997 proposal for the so-called “step-by-step” settlement: unilateral
Armenian withdrawals from areas adjacent to Karabakh in exchange for
reopening communications and no commitments on Karabakh status. (Last month,
Aliyev got Turkish support for the proposal and, as a return favor, pledged
to recognize the Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus as an independent state.
Aliyev then backed away from the pledge drawing the ire of Turkish
nationalists.)

Azeri officials make no secret of their hope to use such unilateral
concession to put more pressure on Armenia. It is not surprising, therefore,
that Armenia is strongly opposed to such a plan. Most Armenian experts
believe that territorial concessions are possible only in return for similar
Azeri withdrawal from parts of Karabakh or in a package with determination
of its status. (Sources: Arminfo 4-29, 30, 5-5, 6; Zerkalo 5-3)

ARMENIA WELCOMES END TO AJARIA CRISIS
The Armenian government this week welcomed a swift and largely bloodless end
to the standoff between Georgian authorities and the local leader in
Georgia’s Ajarian autonomy, which threatened to undermine Armenia’s access
to a key Black Sea port. Ajaria’s long-time leader Aslan Abashidze resigned
under popular and apparent Russian pressure, and left Georgia for Russia. A
spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry Hamlet Gasparian praised
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili’s handling of the crisis and called
the outcome “another important step towards establishing peace and stability
in Georgia and therefore in the entire South Caucasus.” Chairman of the
Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee Armen Rustamian also welcomed the
resolution as “the best solution.”

Abashidze wielded great influence in Ajaria, a traditionally Muslim but
ethnically Georgian autonomous republic, striking a power sharing agreement
with Georgia’s former President Eduard Shevardnadze. Last year, Saakashvili
led popular protests that resulted in the ouster of Shevardnadze. Following
his election as Georgian President, Saakashvili has been at loggerheads with
Abashidze, threatening prosecution against him. In the end, Abashidze and
his family were allowed to leave Georgia unimpeded in exchange for ordering
his security forces to disperse and not to oppose the government forces. New
elections in Ajaria are due next month.

Speaking at a Johns Hopkins University conference in Washington, DC this
week, regional expert Richard Giragossian noted that the Georgian
leadership’s strategy in the crisis had been to mobilize the local Ajarian
discontent with Abashidze, and realization that a military intervention and
resultant bloodshed could in fact empower him. In the end, the strategy had
paid off with tens of thousands of locals holding continuous protests
calling for Abashidze’s resignation. Russian President’s National Security
Advisor Igor Ivanov arrived in Ajaria to seal the Saakashvili-Abashidze
compromise deal. (Sources: Armenia This Week 1-16, 3-19; BBC 5-3, 6; Civil
Georgia 5-5, 6; R&I Report 5-5; RFE/RL Armenia Report 5-6)

A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
122 C Street, N.W., Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20001 (202) 393-3434 FAX
(202) 638-4904
E-Mail [email protected] WEB

AAA Note: On May 6, 2004 President George W. Bush announced his intention to
nominate John Marshall Evans, of Virginia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of
Armenia. The nomination is to be confirmed by the Senate.

John Evans will take over from Ambassador John M. Ordway, who has worked in
Armenia since June 2001 and will next serve as U.S. Ambassador to
Kazakhstan. Below is John Evans’ biography as posted on the web site of the
Mississippi State University’s Radvanyi Chair in International Security
Studies in February 2002 (please note that since 2002 to date Evans has
served as Director, Office of Russian Affairs in the Bureau of European and
Eurasian Affairs with the rank of Minister-Counselor):

John M. Evans, Director, Office of Analysis for Russia and Eurasia, Bureau
of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State

A native of Williamsburg, Virginia, and a graduate of Yale College, with
study toward the Ph.D. at Columbia, Evans joined the U.S. Foreign Service as
a political officer in 1971. He has served in diplomatic missions in Iran
(1971-74), Czechoslovakia (1975-78), the Soviet Union (Moscow, 1981-83), at
NATO Headquarters, 1983-86), the Czech Republic (as Deputy Chief of Mission,
1991-97). He has also represented the United States as deputy head of
delegation to a number of experts meetings of the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe, and headed the OSCE Mission to Moldova, an
international mediation and peacekeeping operation, 1997-99. In the State
Department, he has served as a special assistant to Secretaries Vance and
Muskie, as Deputy Director of the Soviet Desk, and, since July 1999, as
Director of the Office of Analysis for Russia and Eurasia.

Evans is married to the former Donna Chamberlain, executive director of the
World Affairs Council of Washington. They have a daughter who lives in New
York City.

Source:

Turkey: Can Turkey Salvage Sabotaged Relations with Armenia?
by CDeliso

Balkanalysis.com, AZ
May 10 2004

Armenia’s president, Robert Kocharian, will not appear at the NATO
summit of 27-29 June to be held in Istanbul, owing to the continued
political alienation between his country and its historic nemesis to
the west.

While signs seemed encouraging not long ago that Turkey might end its
11-year blockade and open the border with Armenia, that possibility
was unceremoniously quashed by continued bellyaching from Baku.

Azerbaijan has demanded that its historic allies and ethnic kin, the
Turks, support it over the intractable Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. For
the Azerbaijanis, Turkey’s opening the border before a settlement
has been reached would be tantamount to betrayal. According to an
article published today,

“…Turkey signaled last year its readiness to reopen its border with
Armenia before a Karabakh settlement — a move which would please the
United States and the European Union but would jeopardize its close
ties with Azerbaijan. Some Armenian sources involved in contacts with
Turkish officials said earlier this year that the decision to lift
the 11-year blockade might be announced during the NATO summit.

However, Kocharian’s decision not to travel to Istanbul suggests
that the reopening of the Turkish-Armenian border is still not on
the cards.”

Armenian presidential press secretary Ashot Kocharian hastened to
add that the decision “…has nothing to do with the Armenia-NATO
relationship which is currently on the rise.” He mentioned Armenia’s
participation in the U.S.-led alliance’s Partnership for Peace
program. A less senior official than President Kocharian will make
the trip, and it is hoped that tripartite peace talks will be held
on the sidelines of the summit.

According to the same article,

“…Turkish leaders reportedly assured Azerbaijan’s President Ilham
Aliev last month that they will continue to link the normalization
of relations with Armenia to a pro Azerbaijani solution to the
Karabakh dispute. ‘It is out of the question for now to reopen
the Turkish-Armenian border,’ Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said
afterward.”

According to Gul, “…such a thing [opening the border before a
settlement] is not the issue. For some reason, this is spoken about
a great deal in Azerbaijan. Whenever we come across Azeri reporters
they ask us this question.”

However, given the longstanding nature of the dispute and the
likelihood that no solution will satisfy Baku’s desires, the Turks
will probably be waiting a long time to normalize relations with
Armenia. Which is too bad for them, considering that having friendly
relations with one’s neighbors is looked upon as a big plus by the
European Union, which Turkey hopes to join someday.

So what, then, do the Turks get for their endless support for
Azerbaijan’s territorial pretensions? Aside from a sort of patriotic
satisfaction, not very much.

Some in Turkey can see that they’re getting a raw deal. Besides
hindering its drive towards EU membership, Turkey’s uncompromising
support for Baku is unhelpful because it is not reciprocated. The
newspaper Radikal recently reflected on why Azerbaijan, purported to
be such a close ally, has not done more to support the self-declared
“Turkish Republic of North Cyprus,” considering the similarities
between this situation and the Nagorno-Karabakh one:

“…The issue also carries a geopolitical aspect. The TRNC is a concrete
form of separation in the context of international relations and
was formed unilaterally as a result of military intervention
by Turkey. However, today’s geopolitics frowns on separatism,
micro-nationalism and political formations based on ethnicity excepting
where there is mutual consent. On the contrary, today’s geopolitics
favors integration based upon democracy, political equality and
economic sharing. This is another political reason why the TRNC is
not recognized. The interests and policies of countries faced with
splits or threatened by separation are in line with this geopolitics.

One of those countries is Azerbaijan, with its problem of upper
Karabakh. The serious problem faced by Baku is that 20% of its land
is currently occupied by Armenia and the upper Karabakh separatist
movement. Therefore, the Azerbaijani representatives in the European
Council’s Parliament were leaning towards not recognizing the TRNC.
‘The Parliament vote would mean recognizing the TRNC,’ said one
Azerbaijani official. ‘This would set a risky precedent for the
future recognition of the administration in upper Karabakh.’ This
development should remind Turkey that in international relations
there is no friendship or brotherhood, but only interests.”

That said, we might ask whether Turkey’s interests are being
respected in the case of Armenian relations. A Eurasianet.org article
published one month ago, entitled “Could Turkey Spoil Nagorno-Karabakh
Peace?” disingenuously misrepresents the question. It does so by
framing the debate in the typical guise of a clash between Caucasus
neighbors, rather than to look for once at Turkish-Armenian relations
as being a legitimate and significant topic in its own right. In
this light, we could rephrase the crucial debate as being, rather,
“Could Azerbaijan Spoil Armenian-Turkish Peace?”

Azerbaijani officials continue to play the issue for nationalist
effect, relying on the handy “backup” of having great natural
resource riches at their disposal. President Ilham Aliyev makes
fulsome statements to the effect that:

“…Turkey is a great and powerful nation and I am sure that Turkey
will withstand the pressures [to open its border with Armenia]… the
Turkish-Azerbaijani brotherhood is above everything.”

Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov was equally
melodramatic on 6 April when he declared that, “…if Turkey
opens the border with Armenia, it will deal a blow not only to
Azerbaijani-Turkish friendship but also to the entire Turkic world.”
Arrayed against these dire and suspect pronouncements are a plethora
of facts that support the idea of rapprochement. According to
Eurasianet.org,

“…the World Bank has estimated that the lifting of both the Azerbaijani
and Turkish blockades could increase Armenia’s GDP by as much as 30-38
percent. The Turkish-Armenian Business Council has estimated that
bilateral trade could reach $300 million per year with the lifting
of the blockade.”

Currently, the author adds, Turkish-Armenian trade between the two
states (estimated at roughly $70 million) must occur via neighboring
Georgia and Iran. Ankara would like the Armenians to let bygones be
bygones and “give up” their quest to gain worldwide support for the
mass killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottomans from
1905-15. While that’s a long shot, there’s nothing like economic
cheer to expedite international forgiveness. Certainly normalizing
relations could not make them worse.

However, the government of Azerbaijan is not concerned with the
economic well-being of Armenia or even with that of its great ally,
Turkey. Its motivations are simple:

“…without Turkey, Azerbaijan would be the only state maintaining a
blockade of Armenia over Yerevan’s ongoing occupation of Azerbaijani
territory captured during the Nagorno-Karabakh war. A decision to
open Turkey’s borders with Armenia, Aliyev said, would leave Baku at a
disadvantage in negotiating for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from
Azerbaijani territory. ‘If Turkey were to open its doors to Armenia,
Azerbaijan will lose an important lever in finding a solution to the
conflict,’ the president told reporters on 24 March after returning
from an official visit to Uzbekistan. ‘It also would make it impossible
for us to continue the peace talks and would even bring the talks to
an end.'”

So far the Turks have rushed to soothe every Azerbaijani temper
tantrum. However, this has only estranged them from their own interests
and has thus meant a certain sacrifice:

“…from the EU’s perspective, lifting the blockade of Armenia
remains a key component of any program for change. A draft version
of the European Parliament’s yearly report on the status of Turkey’s
accession bid reportedly called on the country ‘to open the borders
with Armenia, establish good-neighbor relations . . . and to give up
any action impeding the reconciliation of the two countries.'”

As Turkey continues its committed quest towards EU membership, there
will come a point when it will have to reconsider its unquestioning
allegiance to Azerbaijan- one which is not particularly helpful and
which has not been entirely respected by the latter party, either.

As time goes on, it will become increasingly clear that opening the
border with Armenia is in Turkey’s own best interests- and for those
of the region as well. It remains to be seen how much pressure will
need to be exerted, and from what quarters, to prompt Ankara to make
the switch- and let the chips fall where they may.

;file=article&sid=343