New party set up in Karabakh

Arminfo, Yerevan
31 Jan 05

STEPANAKERT

The new, Free Motherland Party, has been established in the Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic [NKR].

This is a centre-right party, whose main aims include the deepening of
democratic processes and establishment of a civil society in the NKR,
an Arminfo correspondent reported from Stepanakert.

The party’s programme, according to members of the party’s initiative
group, “reflects the Karabakh people’s fundamental interests and
ensures its freedom, security and right to self-determination”.

The newly-established party has expressed readiness to cooperate with
all the political forces of the republic. It has four cochairmen, who
are representatives of the intelligentsia and business circles.

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01/31/2005
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1) OSCE Mission Inspects Occupied Azeri Lands
2) European Armenians Denounce Removal of Armenian Genocide from German
Schools

3) Wales Community Commemorates 90th Anniversary of Genocide
4) Armenian Dram Again Rising against Dollar

1) OSCE Mission Inspects Occupied Azeri Lands

STEPANAKERT (Combined Sources)–Officials from the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) began on Monday, a first-ever international
inspection of Armenian-controlled Azeri territories around Karabagh, aimed at
investigating Baku’s allegations that they are being illegally populated with
Armenians.
The fact-finding team, led by a senior German Foreign Ministry official Emily
Habber, and accompanied by the French, Russian, and US co-chairs of the OSCE’s
Minsk Group visited the Kelbajar district west of Karabagh before arriving in
Stepanakert later in the day. They met there with Mountainous Karabagh
Republic
President Arkady Ghukasian.
“We have heard many interesting details and I am confident that those details
will help us assess the situation correctly,” Habber told local journalists
afterward. Stating that their mission is technical and not political, she said
the OSCE mission will spend ten days traveling around the occupied lands and
submit a report to the Minsk Group later on.
The fact-finding mission was sent to the region as a result of a compromise
agreement between the conflicting parties and the mediators that prevented a
vote in the UN General Assembly on an Azeri draft resolution that condemned
the
decade-long occupation of the seven Azeri districts seen by the Armenians as a
vital buffer zone guaranteeing Karabagh’s security. The resolution was
endorsed
by many Islamic nations but the United States, Russia, and France warned that
it would hamper their peace efforts.
Meeting with the OSCE officials, Ghukasian reaffirmed that his government is
not encouraging the resettlement of Armenian families in those areas and said
those Armenians who have moved there since the 1994 ceasefire are mostly
former
refugees from Azerbaijan. Ghukasian also urged the visitors to inspect
Azeri-controlled areas of Karabagh that were formerly populated with
Armenians.

He expressed hope that the mission’s report would contribute to forming a
constructive environment for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, as well as
conclusively dismiss the false claims of Azerbaijan.
The OSCE delegation held talks with Azeri officials in Baku before traveling
to Karabagh via Armenia.

2) European Armenians Denounce Removal of Armenian Genocide from German
Schools

BRUSSELS(Combined Sources)–Reacting to the eastern German state of
Brandenburg’s removal of a reference to the Armenian genocide from a German
school curriculum, the European Armenian Federation denounced the unacceptable
attitude of the state, expressing that the decision of the local German
authorities is symptomatic of a lack of courage by a certain segment of
European leaders in dealing with this critical issue.
Following extensive pressure from Turkish authorities, the German state of
Brandenburg eliminated half a sentence on the Armenians included in ninth and
tenth grade history classes after a Turkish diplomat complained to state Prime
Minister Matthias Platzeck, the newspaper Die Welt reported.
Prime Minister Platzeck is a member of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s Social
Democrats (SPD). Schroeder is a strong supporter of Turkey’s bid to become a
member of the European Union.
The Federation explained that this position only encourages Turkey to export
its denialist propaganda to Europe. It continued to deplore the deep
consequences of the complicity between and European leaders and Turkey’s
historical revisionists on the European project.
“How can we believe the goodwill statements made by German leaders when they
allow genocide denial to be instilled in the minds of the German children?”
asked Hilda Tchoboian, chairwoman of the European Armenian Federation. “The
90th anniversary of the Genocide must mark the end of European complicity, as
shown by its silence during the extermination of the Armenians. We call upon
all German political leaders to turn this regrettable initiative into an
act of
justice best representing this great nation,” said Tchoboian.
Brandenburg was the first German state in 2002 to include the Armenian
genocide in its teaching guidelines. In October 2004, however, the
Ministry of
Education reversed a decision calling on Bochum’s Institute for Genocides and
Diasporas to prepare a book on the Armenian Genocide. The book would have been
the first of a series of three on genocide related issues and collective
violence in the twentieth century. The order was cancelled by incoming
Minister
of Education Holger Rupprecht (SPD), at the request of Prime Minister
Platzeck,
who had succumbed to Turkish lobbying efforts.
Bochum University’s Director of the Institute for Genocides and Diasporas,
Prof. Mihran Dabag, denounced the decision, stating, “The Armenian genocide is
inseparable from European remembrance. It is the first genocidal
achievement of
our common history.” He continued to argue that, “At the very time when the
world commemorates the victims of the Nazi camps, our country must, if we are
sincere in our fight against negationism, and give a firm answer to Turkey’s
denial. The Brandenburg government must reconsider its decision and carry out
its genocides teaching project.”
The Potsdam government’s announcement provoked a chorus of protests in German
television news shows and dozens of print articles, available on the European
Armenian Federation’s website– Policy-makers from throughout
the
political spectrum denounced the unacceptable position of the state.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which serves as junior coalition
partner
in Brandenburg’s government, is infuriated over the change to the state’s
schoolbooks. “The impression created is fatal,” said Sven Patke, the state CDU
secretary general.
The head of the Central Committee of Armenians in Germany, Schavarsh
Ovassapian, told Die Welt the move was “a scandal.” “It is depressing, if
what’s in schoolbooks in Brandenburg can be dictated from Ankara,” he said.

3) Wales Community Commemorates 90th Anniversary of Genocide

LONDON (Combined Sources)–On Wednesday, January 26, the 90th anniversary of
the Armenian genocide was marked at a commemoration held at the “Temple of
Peace and Health” in Cardiff, Wales. Organized by the Welsh Center for
International Affairs (WCIA), the event also commemorated the Holocaust
perpetrated by the Nazi regime, and was attended by a number of government
representatives, including the First Minister of the National Assembly of
Wales, Rhodri Morgan.
The commemoration drew the attention of the British government, which listed
it on the website government sponsored site
dedicated to the National Holocaust Memorial Day.
During the commemoration, Jenny Randerson, a senior figure of the Welsh
Liberal Democrats and a former minister in the Assembly, spoke about the
Republic of Turkey’s denial of the 1915 genocide and its policy of exerting
pressure on all those who affirm the genocide. Randerson has been harassed by
the Turkish government since 2001, when she made her first public statements
about genocide.
Established in 1973, the WCIA is organization dedicated to promoting world
peace, securing human rights, and educating the public about atrocities of the
past.

4) Armenian Dram Again Rising Against Dollar

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–The US dollar fell against Armenia’s national currency, the
dram, despite the dollar’s rally in world financial markets this month.
The dram gained 5 percent in value against the dollar over the past 10 days,
approaching its three-year high registered in the middle of December. It was
trading at an average of 473 against $1 on Monday, with a 20 percent increase
in value from a year ago.
The trend is surprising given the almost 5 percent increase in the dollar’s
value against the euro since the beginning of this month. Some economists
speculate that the Central Bank is artificially bolstering the dram in an
effort to benefit importers of key commodities.
The Central Bank argues, however, that the stronger dram is the result of
increased cash remittances from Armenians working abroad. An estimated amount
of at least $760 million was sent to Armenia last month through banks and wire
transfer networks.
The bank’s chairman Tigran Sarkisian insisted that the strong dram is a
positive for the Armenian economy because of resulting low levels of
inflation.
“The dram’s strengthening has had a major restraining impact on the prices of
imported goods,” he said in late December.

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EARLY GORKY WORKS & CATALOGUE BREAK NEW GROUND

“ARSHILE GORKY: THE EARLY YEARS” EXTENDED THROUGH FEB. 2005

Also on View: Jerome Witkin: Site & Insight Part 2

Jack Rutberg Fine Arts
357 North La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90036-2517
Tel (323) 938-5222
Fax (323) 938-0577
E-mail: [email protected]
URL:

PRESS RELEASE

LOS ANGELES, CA – Arshile Gorky (1904-1948) is widely regarded as one of
the most pivotal and significant artists in the development of 20th
century American art. After moving to America from Armenia in 1920, he
quickly became a lightning rod for other artists in the late 1920s and
early 30s, sparking the genesis what was to become the “New York
School”and setting the course of modern art in America.

Now, in a ground-breaking exhibition entitled Arshile Gorky – The Early
Years, and with a 96-page catalogue of the same name, Jack Rutberg Fine
Arts in Los Angeles is showing 66 rare works by Gorky from a private
collection, most previously unexhibited. This exhibition is thought to
be the largest exhibit of Gorky’s works ever presented outside of a
museum, and breaks new ground in addressing Gorky’s earliest stylistic
development.

“Arshile Gorky -The Early Years” offers new references and insights into
this legendary artist during his seminal period as he explored the avant
garde sensibilities of the time. As Melvin P. Lader (widely regarded as
the eminent scholar on the work of Arshile Gorky and author of numerous
books on Gorky and abstract expressionism) notes in this exhibition
catalogue’s text: “As a group, the drawings and paintings mirror Gorky’s
stylistic evolution, up to the point in the late 1930s when he began to
truly digest and synthesize so many of his early influences on the verge
of finding his own unique language and style. Examples of his absorption
of Analytic Cubism, Synthetic Cubism, and aspects of Surrealism are
plentiful among these works . . . and they offer us the rare opportunity
to view a good number . . . from a very fertile period of his artistic
career.”

As Donald Kuspit notes in his 1998 essay Arshile Gorky in the Thirties:
“Gorky began his `self-analysis’ in the drawings and painting of the
thirties . . . already beginning to move beyond [modernist elders] ideas
. . .in the thirties still lifes [which are] surrealized and
abstractified versions of Cezanne’s still lifes.” Indeed, Kuspit says
“we see the beginning of this pure, autonomous, highly fluid,
unpredictable line . . . which begins in nature and ends in pure
expression – as abstract expression.”

That this exhibition was even possible is due to the long-standing
friendship between Gorky and the Swiss-born American artist Hans
Burkhardt (1904-1994), who shared a studio with Gorky in New York for
many years, and acquired a formidable collection of Gorky’s early works.

As Lader observes: “Among them were Gorky’s small Cezannean landscape
Staten Island and an equally significant early Self Portrait, both of
which are key pieces in understanding Gorky’s early absorption of modern
influences” and the “Burkhardt collection Gorky drawings provides a
rather unique opportunity to see the artist’s art and ideas evolve
within an important period of his artistic transformation. Drawings, by
their very nature, register the artist’s first impulses in creating a
work. As such, they can often be of enormous value in understanding how
an artist thinks and in tracing the various stages through which his art
has progressed.”

“Arshile Gorky: The Early Years” is currently exhibited at Jack Rutberg
Fine Arts gallery, 357 North La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, through
February, 2005.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 96-page text with 103 color
illustrations; essay by Dr. Lader, who co-curated the recent major
retrospective of Gorky drawings at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York
and the Menil Collection in Houston.

Gallery hours are Tuesday – Friday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and
Saturdays from 10:00 to 5:00 pm or by appointment.

A portfolio sampling of Arshile Gorky’s exhibition may be viewed at the
gallery’s Web site,

MaineToday.com

1/31/05

AT THE MOVIES
By Marty Meltz

Eastwood`s `Baby` a diamond in the ring

Grizzled Clint Eastwood, virtuoso of plots grim and grisly, scores again
with a flawless study of a female boxing career headed for tragedy. No
“Rocky” this, it’s a tale colored in foreboding tones, both in narrative and
photography, detailing in ominous progression a relationship at first
distant, then melding into a deeply heartfelt surrogate father-daughter
bond.

The story, from a short story by F.X. Toole (pseudonym for actual fight
manager, corner man and “cut-man” Jerry Boyd), is of Frankie Dunn
(Eastwood), owner of a decaying but friendly boxing gym in a low-income
neighborhood. Guilt-laden because of some undefined estrangement with his
daughter, his letters to her have always been returned unopened. Proudly
Irish, he searches for solace in readings of Gaelic prose and Yeats poetry.
A devout church-goer, his endless questions about Catholicism irk his priest
who wishes he would miss a few Masses and just get lost.

Frank has been a good trainer in his past, but fate has always eluded him in
taking his boxers to contender level. One badly beaten failure had been now
best-pal (and the film’s narrator) Eddie “Scrap Iron” Dupris (Morgan
Freeman), who lost sight in one eye. Bitter disappointment now strikes again
as Frank’s highly promising young protege (Mike Colter) deserts him for a
savvy big-time manager.

But his life will change dramatically when 32-year-old Maggie Fitzgerald
(Hilary Swank), refugee daughter of a poor upbringing, seeking to find her
personal worth through boxing, comes to Frank’s gym for bag punching.
Undaunted by his stonewalling (“I don’t take on girl boxers”), enduring her
waitressing job and living on a pittance, Maggie, with encouragement from
Scrap, finally is making headway. She’s getting to Frank. And boxing is her
single life’s purpose.

Frank, feeling the fatherlike bond that is developing, is impressed with her
resolve, especially when she gets to decking one opponent after another. Her
feet and hands are amazingly fast; her attentiveness to learning is
productive at every level. She is headed for welterweight contender status
and the formidable champion awaits her. And so does an ultimately harsh
tragedy.

No Hollywood rise to stardom over insurmountable obstacles here, no wish
fulfillment cliches, this is, rather, about a “father” and a
40-years-younger “daughter” who have no one and nothing else in life but
each other. If either fails, the other will fail also to the same degree. As
director, Eastwood, with enormous gravity, isolates the intimate details of
confrontations with the preciousness of one’s short time on earth. In the
end, the two will be one, entwined in each other’s very essence, each having
completed the other perfectly. No sex, no romance. Just a spiritual triumph
at a cosmic level.

Cheadle, ‘Rwanda’ Unforgettable

In the darkest annals of the human spirit, the 20th century displayed its
ugliest politics of indifference in the special category of genocide. While
the Holocaust got its day in court and in retribution, 17 million Russian
civilians died under Stalin’s responsibility, ignored by the world. The
Chinese Cultural Revolution saw 30 million killed, ignored by the world. In
1919 a million Armenians were killed by the Turks, no punishment exacted.

The most heartrending of all, in terms of world indifference were the 1
million killed by machetes and bullets in Rwanda in April of 1994. “Hotel
Rwanda” dramatizes the saga of the willful apathy of the United Nations as
it manifested in the true story of a small hero of the slaughter.

It all begins when Rwandan President Habyarimana is killed when his plane is
shot down near Kigali Airport by Hutu extremists, this because he had been
about to implement the Arusha Peace Accords to settle the Hutu-Tutsi
conflict. Controlling the media and loudspeakers, the Hutus blame the Tutsis
and the mass killings begin that night, to continue for 100 days. The Hutus
(not mentioned in the film) hate the Tutsis for their collaboration with the
former Belgian colonialists’ oppression of them.

The story is of Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), the amiable, peaceful Hutu
manager of the ritzy Hotel Des Milles Collines in Kigali, who gathers in
some 1,200 Tutsi relatives, friends and strangers to hide them from the
massacre. He deletes names from the registry, bribes military officials with
cash and beer, and finally exhausts every ruse imaginable to sidetrack the
army of marauding machete-wielding Hutu fanatics.

A few U.N. camps offer shelter to civilians, but most of the U.N.
peacekeeping forces are obliged, by their explicit “monitoring” mandate, not
to intervene. Belgium and France send troops to rescue their own, American
civilians are airlifted. The U.N. Security Council votes unanimously to
withdraw almost all of the U.N. troops, cutting the number from 2,500 to
270.

At the hotel, Rusesabagina, his wife and children cringing in anticipation,
beseeches Col. Oliver (Nick Nolte), head of the U.N. contingent, to block
the oncoming Hutu vultures.

Don Cheadle, in this his most dimensional role, delivers a riveting mix of
dynamic emotions with fast-changing degrees of urgency as Rusesabagina
scrambles in dodges and delaying tactics, all the while dealing with his own
integrity as the rapacious Hutu military officers demand more and more
tribute amid their cold-blooded murdering.

A skilled portrayal of the caprice of the human kill motive at its primal
levels, the vagaries of greed and the whims of armed power in the hands of
uncivilized men, the film is also a stark commentary on the conveniences of
world politics when it comes to regards for humanity. The little people are
the pawns of the powerful, used, or unused and stored away for future use.
The terror of women and children is blood-curdling, the final assault
spellbinding. But out of the abominations of Rwanda comes unforgettable
stuff.

Marty Meltz has been reviewing movies for the Portland Newspapers for 27
years. His reviews appear weekly in the Telegram and on Thursdays in the
Press Herald.

PRESS RELEASE
January 31, 2005
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
2225 R Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20008
Tel: 202-319-1976, x. 348; Fax: 202-319-2982
Email: [email protected]; Web:

Second Pan Armenian Film Festival to be held in Armenia on July 12-17, 2005

Second Yerevan International Film Festival “Golden Apricot” will be held in
Yerevan on July 12-17, 2005, and the organizing committee is inviting
directors and their films from around the world, borne of different cultures
and a variety of aesthetics to convene in Yerevan, on the crossroads of
yesterday’s and today’s cultures. The objective of the festival is to
promote cross-cultural understanding, and the main theme will be Crossroads.

The Festival organizers would like to invite entries incorporating the
‘Crossroads’ theme, depicting human experience: the daily lives of ordinary
people, their troubles and joys, their hopes and heartbreaks. There are two
categories for the festival competition: full-length feature films and
documentaries (full length and short). One Grand Prix (Golden Apricot) and
one Special Mention will be presented in each category. Special Award will
be presented for significant contribution into the world cinema.

The festival will have a special competitive section for feature, animation
and documentary films made by filmmakers of Armenian decent. Two Awards will
be presented for the films included in this section. During the Second
Yerevan International Film Festival “Golden Apricot,” the organizing
committee will keep the “Yerevan Premiers” and “Retrospective” sections. The
former will include the best art-house films taken in the latest period, and
the latter will present films made by famous film directors.

The application submission deadline is 31 March 2005. Accepted screening
formats are:
film (35 mm) and video (DV, DVCAM, Beta-SP/PAL). The organizing committee
will not screen films from BETA NTSC or DigiBeta. Accepted preview formats
are VHS (PAL or NTSC). The date of production has to be after July 1, 2003.

The deadline for applications is March 31, 2005. For detailed inquiries and
application forms, please contact Susanna Harutyunyan and Mikayel
Stamboltsyan of the Golden Apricot International Film Festival, Byron
Street, #5, Yerevan, 375009, Armenia, Tel. (+374-1) 564484, email:
[email protected], web:

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
January 31, 2005
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
Email: [email protected]

NEAR EAST FOUNDATION TO PARTICIPATE IN GENOCIDE TRIBUTE
Cyprus, Ethiopia, Syria, Uruguay to Attend

Washington, DC – The Armenian Assembly, along with the Armenian
General Benevolent Union and the Western Diocese of the Armenian
Church, announced today that the President of the Near East Foundation
and the consul generals from Cyprus, Syria, Ethiopia and Uruguay will
be among those honored by the Armenian community for their efforts in
supporting the survivors of the Armenian Genocide.

The “International Relief, Refuge, and Recognition Tribute” will take
place on February 24 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles,
California. The event will also recognize those nations, such as
Cyprus and Uruguay, which have officially acknowledged the Armenian
Genocide and serve as a prelude to a series of local, national and
international events that will commemorate and raise awareness of the
90th anniversary of the Genocide.

“The governments of these four countries have long-standing
relationships with Armenia and its people, with all serving as a safe
haven for Armenians fleeing the genocide,” said Western Office
Chairman Richard Mushegain. “Similarly, the Near East Relief is
credited with saving hundreds of thousands of Armenians and making
possible productive futures for more than 130,000 orphans.”

>From 1919 until 1930, New York-based Near East Relief (now known as
the Near East Foundation) administered $117,000,000 to those in
need. Very early in the relief effort, attention focused on helping
rescued orphans to become self-supporting and contributing members of
the communities that had absorbed them.

Armenian survivors also turned to Syria, by far the largest recipient
of refugees of any Middle Eastern country. Cyprus, Ethiopia and
Uruguay also opened their doors and are home to well-established
Armenian communities.

The event planning committee includes Elizabeth Agbabian, Joan
Aghajanian-Quinn, Nancy Arabian, Lily Ring Balian, Flora Dunaians,
Audrey Gregor, Hermine Janoyan, Stella Moloyan, Cindy Norian, Krikor
Patatian and Savey Tufenkian.

For more information on this event, please contact Armenian Assembly
Western Office Deputy Director Nicole Shahenian at (310) 360-0091 or
via email at [email protected].

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.

###

NR#2005-010

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia & New Zealand
10 Macquarie Street
Chatswood NSW 2067
AUSTRALIA
Contact: Laura Artinian
Tel: (02) 9419-8056
Fax: (02) 9904-8446
Email: [email protected]

31 January 2005

DIRAMAYR ALICE BALIOZIAN ENTERS ETERNAL REST

Sydney, Australia – Today, the Armenian community of Australia solemnly
farewelled Diramayr Alice Baliozian, the beloved mother of His Eminence
Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of
Australia & New Zealand, who passed away on Friday, 28 January, 2005 at age
82 years.

Present at the funeral service were a number of dignitaries, government
officials and representatives, church leaders, clergy, representatives of
Armenian organisations, Diocesan and Church Councillors and the community at
large. During the service, messages of condolence were read from His
Holiness Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians and
His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian Patriarch of Jerusalem.

The passing of Diramayr Alice brings great sadness not only to her children,
grandchildren and extended family but to the Armenian community of Sydney
who endeared Diramayr as their own mother. Since her arrival to Australia
in 1976, Diramayr was a pillar of church community life bringing her service
when and where it was needed. She was a woman of small stature and soft
demeanour, yet her simple, wondrous smile communicated more than a mouthful
of eloquent words and conveyed genuine warmth and care. She was indeed a
quiet achiever.

Diramayr was a woman of conviction, deep faith and spirituality, values that
she instilled in her children by example. She will always be remembered for
the quiet force that she was for her immediate family and church family.

In his eulogy this afternoon, Archbishop Aghan conveyed his deep sadness for
the loss of his beloved mother but emphasised that the sadness was also
measured against a deep joy in the knowledge that Diramayr Alice truly
walked her life with God. With the will of God and His promise of eternal
life only, can we take comfort in today’s loss.

OSCE mission visits occupied Azeri district, meets residents – Armenian
report

Mediamax news agency
31 Jan 05

YEREVAN

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen and members of the OSCE fact-finding
mission today visited the centre and several villages of Kalbacar
which is controlled by the defence army of the Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic.

A special Mediamax correspondent reports that the members of the
mission are holding meetings with the district residents and asking
them to fill in questionnaires to establish where they were settled
before.

The co-chairmen and the OSCE fact-finding mission are planning to
visit Fuzuli and Cabrayil Districts. The visit of the OSCE mission [to
all seven occupied districts of Azerbaijan] is expected to last from
seven to 10 days.

NOVOSTI
2005-01-31 15:15 * RUSSIA * TRANSPORT * CORRIDOR * CONSTRUCTION * END *
RUSSIA COMPLETES NORTH-SOUTH TRANSPORT CORRIDOR

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti economic commentator Vasily Zubkov) – The last
month has seen two important events in the implementation of the North-South
International Transport Corridor project. First, Russian engineers opened a
700-meter railroad bridge over the Buzan river. Second, the Uljanik shipyard
at the Croatian seaport of Pula launched the first of four ferries capable
of carrying 52 train cars across the Caspian Sea. After the finishing
touches are added, it will be handed over to a Russian customer,
Makhachkalinsky Morskoi Port, by early summer. Each vessel comes with a $20
million price tag and the second one should be ready by August.

Taking into account that a project to construct a 49-kilometer railway
line toward the seaport of Olya was completed late last year in several
months, instead of the scheduled two years, Russia can be considered to have
finished its part of the North-South International Transport Corridor.

The new facilities are extremely important for Russia, which Prime
Minister Mikhail Fradkov’s attendance at the opening ceremony of the
Yandyki-Olya railway line in Astrakhan highlighted. Another high-ranking
official, Vyacheslav Ruksha, the head of the Russian Federal Agency for
Maritime and River Transport, was in Croatia for the ferry launch.

Linking the technological chain will soon directly affect performance
indicators, such as freight turnover, passenger miles, loading and unloading
rates, and accelerated cargo delivery. This will save foreign shippers’ time
and money. The North-South Corridor will cut shipping time from Northern
Europe to India and Iran from 37 to 13-15 days.

The project was devised to link India and Iran with Russia and
northern Europe through the Caspian Sea. And the figures suggest that it is
worth it. Indeed, experts estimate current Europe-Asia shipping yield totals
$140 billion a year. Iran alone claims it is going to gain extra $5-10
billion from cargo transit a year. Moscow is entitled tothink it will earn
just as much.

The consortium implementing this project, which was coordinated and
approved in the autumn of 2000, includes 10 countries: Russia, Iran, Iraq,
Oman, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Syria. Other
states, particularly the United Arab Emirates, have also displayed an
interest.

According to the Transport Ministry, Russia carried some 5 million
metric tons of bulk cargoes worth over $5 billion through the North-South
corridor in 2003. Although last year’s final results still have not been
calculated, preliminary estimates put cargo traffic growth at 15-20%. In two
to three years, the annual volume of freight traffic through the corridor is
expected to reach 15 million metric tons. The potential volume of transit
container cargoes is well over 20 million metric tons, the All-Russian
Market Research Institute reports. A container terminal with capacity of up
to a million TEUs a year is being built in the port of Olya to ensure that
these targets are hit.

Work on the project has accelerated since fierce rivalry emerged in
the Caspian region for cargo transit bypassing the Suez Canal. The rivals
are the TRASEKA International Transport Corridor (Europe-Caucasus-Asia), the
Trans-Kazakhstan and Trans-Asian railways. Moreover, the Caspian commercial
fleets of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are growing increasingly powerful. The
latter adopted a program to create a national commercial fleet last year.

Competition is forcing the founders of the North-South Corridor to
take a more flexible approach toward determining a strategy of further
development. Russian experts believe it is reasonable to use a transport
model combining the trans-Caspian ferry sea route and the
Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia railway route, along the Western coast of the Caspian
Sea. The huge resources of Russia’s river fleet and river-sea navigation
vessels could be used along the corridor to carry cargoes through the
Volga-Don and Belomor-Baltic canals to northern and southern Europe.

The Russian Railways joint-stock company is in talks with Iran and
Azerbaijan on reviving railway communication with Iran, which was broken off
some time ago. The advantages of carrying some of the cargo across land
route are evident. Freight does not need to be reloaded, while it is
transported faster and is not dependent on the weather.

The North-South International Transport Corridor is beginning to play
an increasingly significant role in international traffic between Europe and
Asia. The sooner difficulties are settled between Russian railway
functionaries and shipowners, and generally between Russian and Iranian
transport officials (delays in Iran’s returning empty containers), the more
attractive the corridor will be.

Even greater support for the project from the two countries’
authorities would help raise the North-South Corridor’s profile still
further.

NKR PRESIDENT PROPOSES OSCE MISSION TO VISIT ALSO REGIONS OCCUPIED BY
AZERBAIJAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 31. ARMINFO. NKR President Arkady Ghoukassyan met
Head of the OSCE monitoring group Emili Haber (Germany) as well as
OSCE Minsk Group co- chairmen Yuri Merzlyakov, Steven Mann and berard
Fassier, Sunday evening.

The NKR Presidential Head Information Office told ARMINFO that Arkady
Ghoukassyan pointed out the importance of OSCE’s initiative to visit
the territories under control of Karabakh. He said that earlier
official Stepanakert had repeatedly applied to the MG co-chairmen for
organization of such a monitoring to get informed of the real
situation in these territories to rule out any insinuations by
Azerbaijan in this connection. As regards the situation in the
territories subject to monitoring, which are the security zone of
Nagorny Karabakh, the NKR president said that the local authorities
had no state policy on their settlement. He said that the residents of
those territories are mainly Armenians forcefully expelled from
Azerbaijan. The country just creates conditions for normal residence
of those people in the territories and establishes relevant octnrol
there.

Expressing readiness of NKR leadership to render any assistance to the
mission’s work, President Ghoukassyan expressed hope that the report
to be prepared after the monitoring would contribute to creation of a
constructive atmosphere around the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh
conflict. The president proposed OSCE mission to visit the territories
of Nagorny Karabakh under occupation of the Azerbaijani army to get
more complete picture of the situation in the conflict zone.

In her turn, E.Haber expressed gratitude to the Karabakh leadership
for creation of necessary conditions for the mission’s work. She said
that the mission’s activity would take 10 days, adding that the work
was of technical nature and did not pursue of goal of giving a
political assessment of the situation. Participating in the meeting
was also Personal Representative of OSCE Chairman- in-Office
Ambassador Andrjey Kasprzyk.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress