PRESS RELEASE
CESS 2005 Annual Conference
c/o Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus
Harvard University
615 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139 U.S.A.
tel.: +1 / 617-496-2643
fax: +1 / 617-495-8319
e-mail: [email protected]

CALL for PAPERS

Central Eurasian Studies Society Sixth Annual Conference (2005)

September 29-October 2, 2005 Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

The Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) invites PAPER and ROUNDTABLE
proposals for the Sixth CESS Annual Conference, September 29-October 2,
2005, in Boston, Massachusetts. The event will be hosted by Boston University.

Please note that this is an abbreviated version of the Call for Papers.
Please visit the CESS website
for full details, or
request a text version of the full Call for Papers by sending an email to
<[email protected]>.

Paper and roundtable proposals relating to all aspects of humanities and
social science scholarship on Central Eurasia are welcome. The geographic
domain of Central Eurasia extends from the Black Sea and Iranian Plateau to
Mongolia and Siberia, including the Caucasus, Crimea, Middle Volga,
Afghanistan, Tibet, and Central and Inner Asia. Practitioners and scholars
in all humanities and social science disciplines with an interest in
Central Eurasia are encouraged to participate. The language of the
conference is English.

Based on past CESS conferences, we expect the 2005 conference to be lively
and well-attended by scholars from all over the world. The program will
include panels and roundtables on a wide variety of topics related to
Central Eurasia. Please note that due to the high level of interest, and
the fact that the total number of people on the program will be limited to
no more than 400, we anticipate that the selection of papers will be very
competitive. We also welcome attendees who do not wish to participate in a
panel (see the Registration/Pre-registration Form for information:
).

The 2005 conference program will be organized differently than it has been
in the past, so please read the full Call for Papers (located at
) carefully. ROUNDTABLE
proposals will be evaluated by the Conference Committee. PAPER proposals
will be submitted to a particular panel organizer from a list of panels
available on the conference website. The person submitting the paper
proposal will inform CESS which panels the paper should be sent to. Papers
that are not accepted on a particular panel will then be sent back to the
Conference Committee for consideration on another panel. Notifications of
acceptances and rejections will be sent by June 1, 2005.

The Conference Committee accepts ONLY ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS — either by
webform (see forms for Individual Papers and for Roundtable Panels at:
), or by an e-mailed form
in MS Word format in the case of those who don’t have web access.

INSTRUCTIONS for INDIVIDUAL PAPER Proposals

Paper authors should review the submission criteria and the participation
and program policies found at
, and then prepare the
following information in order to start the online submission process.

1. Review the list of panels at
and choose 1-2 panels
you would like your paper to be considered for
2. Prepare the following information for online submission:
– Paper title
– Paper abstract of 200-300 words. Please prepare this carefully, as
panel organizers will be making their decision to accept or reject your
proposal based on the quality of your abstract. Be sure to check spelling
and grammar, and clearly state the topic of your paper, the source of your
data, your specific argument and central findings, and the relevance of
your research for the scholarly literature and to Central Eurasia.
– A biographical statement or brief, narrative CV of 300 words describing
your educational and professional background
3. Submit your proposal via the webform located at
or request a submission
form from [email protected]
4. Become a member of CESS, if you have not already done so. While
membership is not required to submit a paper proposal, membership is
required for participation in the conference. You may complete this step
after your proposal has been accepted.

INSTRUCTIONS for ROUNDTABLE Proposals

A roundtable has four to six presenters and a chair/moderator. For
roundtable proposals, the organizer must provide a paragraph describing the
panel objectives and providing justification for use of the roundtable format.

Roundtable organizers should review the submission criteria and the
participation and program policies found at ,
and then prepare the following information in order to start the online
submission process.

1. Prepare the following information for online submission:
– Roundtable title
– Roundtable description of 200-300 words.
– A biographical statement or brief, narrative CV of 300 words describing
your educational and professional background
– The names, institutional affiliations, brief, narrative CVs, and contact
information of each of the presenters who have agreed to be part of your
roundtable
2. Submit your proposal via the webform located at
or request a submission form from [email protected]
3. Become a member of CESS, if you have not already done so, and make sure
that all the roundtable presenters are members, also. While membership is
not required to submit a paper proposal, membership is required for
participation in the conference. You may complete this step after your
proposal has been accepted.

Deadline for Submission of Paper and Roundtable Proposals: April 1, 2005.

Note: Submissions after this date may be accepted only in the case of
special justifying circumstances and at the discretion of the program
committee.

Notification of acceptance: by June 1.

BEST PAPER GRADUATE STUDENT AWARD: There will be an award in the amount of
$500 given to the best graduate student conference paper submitted to the
Awards Committee for consideration. See the CESS awards webpage for
details, or contact the Awards Committee Co-chair, Dr. Uli Schamiloglu
<uschamilwisc.edu>.

Contact Information

The Co-chairs of the Conference Committee are:

Dr. Laura Adams (Princeton University; [email protected])
Prof. Thomas Barfield (Boston University; [email protected])

Correspondence should be directed to:

CESS 2005 Annual Conference
c/o Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus
Harvard University
615 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139 U.S.A.
tel.: +1 / 617-496-2643
fax: +1 / 617-495-8319
e-mail: [email protected]

Full information about CESS 2005 in Boston is found on the conference webpages:
Main conference website:
Full information about hosting and location at Boston University:

Karabakh defence minister downplays Azeri combat readiness

Noyan Tapan news agency, Yerevan
27 Jan 05

STEPANAKERT

“Based on the intelligence information of the Nagornyy Karabakh
republic’s defence army, as well as regular monitoring on the contact
line, one can say with a great deal of confidence that Azerbaijan is
not capable of resolving any issue militarily,” the defence minister
of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic, Seyran Oganyan, told a news
conference on 26 January when asked about Azerbaijan’s belligerent
rhetoric.

At the same time, he acknowledged that such statements are indeed
worrying.

With regard to the arrival of an OSCE monitoring group in the region,
he said: “We treat this mission quite normally.”

As far as agricultural work on the territories controlled by the
defence army is concerned, the minister said the army could not hamper
the population in this and could only help farmers with it.

UNEMPLOYMENT – PROBLEM OF PROBLEMS

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
26 Jan 05

Within the framework of stabilizing the social and economic sector in
Nagorni Karabakh unemployment has always been regarded as the problem
of problems. To find out if there were changes in the number of
unemployment we turned to the head of the department of work and
employment of the NKR Ministry of Social Security Ararat Bakhtamian.

According to A. Bakhtamian, the number of people looking for jobs in
Nagorni Karabakh by January 1 totaled 4223, which has decreased from
January 1 of the previous year by 1.1 per cent or 49 persons. Against
3314 people of the previous year the number of unemployed people
presently is 3278, i.e. it has decreased by 36. At the beginning of
the year 264 people were withdrawn from the records for the reason of
finding employment, canceling the status of unemployed, changing the
residence, as well as retiring. The number of women prevails in the
rate of unemployment, totaling 92.5 per cent or 3032 persons. By
January 1, 2005 of the total number of the unemployed 124 people have
received the unemployment benefit, decreasing from the same period of
the previous year by 55 or 30.7 per cent. The number of workers totals
37.2 per cent of the total number of the unemployed or 1219. Observing
the levelof education of the unemployed, persons with higher education
total 10.1 per cent of the unemployed, 23.4 per cent have average
education and 66.5 per cent secondary or 8-year education. In the
mentioned period the age of the unemployed is the following: 47.6 per
cent are under 30, 48.1 per cent are 30-50 years old, and 4.3 per cent
are above 50. From the beginning of the year 76 people found employment,
of them 57 through employment agencies. According to Ararat Bakhtamian,
the NKR law `On the Minimum Monthly Salary’ hasbeen put in effect
since January 1, 2005, by which the minimum salary in NKR increased
from 10 thousand to 15 thousand drams. Basing upon the law, the draft
decision of the NKR government `On the Basic Unemployment Benefit’ was
worked out which, after its adoption by the government, will maintain
the size of the basic unemployment benefit 9000 drams. The size of
compensation for injuries, professional diseases or damage of health
caused during work will also increase since January 1, 2005. After the
adoption of the government decision the size of compensation will be
maintained 20 per cent of the minimum monthly salary (3000 drams) plus
the sum calculated according to the degree of damage of working
ability.` Till January 1, 2005 66 citizens received 1000 drams of
compensation from the state budget. They received this sum
irrespective of the degree of working ability, which was not socially
fair. I hope the adoption of the decision will enable to differentiate
the degrees of damage to working ability,’ mentioned the head of work
and employment adding that for this sphere in 2005 3947.4 thousand
drams will be provided from the state budget against 3147.4 thousand
drams in 2004.

NVARD OHANJANIAN.
26-01-2005

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Jamestown Foundation
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 — Volume 2, Issue 12

MOSCOW THREATENS, SLOVENIAN CHAIR DITHERS, UKRAINE RALLIES AT OSCE

by Vladimir Socor

Addressing the 2005 inaugural session of the OSCE Permanent Council on
January 13, Russia openly threatened to sink the organization unless it
accepts Russian-prescribed “reforms.” Permanent representative Alexei
Borodavkin declared, “The situation has reached the critical point, and any
further delay in reforming the organization would bring grave political
consequences upon the OSCE . . . This year can either mark a turning point
toward a renewed OSCE, or see it pushed farther toward the periphery of
European politics.” He made clear that Moscow would continue to press its
point by refusing to approve the organization’s 2005 budget.

The Russian address listed “reform” proposals carried over from the
preceding year, but with some shifts of emphasis. Most notable among these
is a demand for the OSCE to pressure Latvia and Estonia into conferring
citizenship unconditionally to Soviet-era arrivals, as well as granting
voting rights in municipal elections to non-citizens, and stopping school
reform. Borodavkin’s speech implied that OSCE inaction on these issues would
add to Russia’s reasons for questioning the organization’s legitimacy: “Why
does the OSCE keep silent about that scandalous situation? It is not
difficult to guess why. Should it continue in this vein, the OSCE could
forfeit its ‘honest broker’ function and, therefore, its political
usefulness.” Such warnings appear designed to spur the OSCE into resuming
its meddling in Estonia and Latvia through the organization’s High
Commissioner on National Minorities after a four-year pause.

That move, currently in preparation, corresponds to Moscow’s notion of
“strengthening the OSCE” as long as it cooperates with Russia. Along the
same lines, Borodavkin’s address insisted, the “OSCE must continue its
efforts toward conflict-resolution in the established formats” — a
reference to Moldova/Transnistria, Georgia/South Ossetia, and the Karabakh
conflict, all formats in which the OSCE underwrites Russia’s dominant role.
The Russian address offered to “strengthen” the OSCE even more by asking it
to become involved in conflict-resolution in Western Europe.

Assailing the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR) as a “clear example of political hypocrisy” and “an instrument of
manipulation and destabilization,” Borodavkin warned, “We are not going to
put up with this.” He demanded that ODIHR’s standards for monitoring and
evaluating elections be harmonized with Russia’s standards, and that its
field operations add personnel from Russia and CIS countries. For now, ODIHR
remains one of the few OSCE institutions able to operate outside Russian
control.

In his inaugural address as OSCE Chairman-in-Office for 2005, Slovenian
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitrij Rupel seemed to aim primarily for the
organization’s survival. Unlike previous chairmen-in-office, Rupel failed to
mention the most egregious human rights and security problems in the OSCE’s
area of responsibility, such as Chechnya, Russian troops in Moldova and
Georgia, de facto border changes by military force, and breaches to the CFE
Treaty of which the OSCE is the custodian. Observing, “It is truly
unfortunate that we do not have an agreement on a budget for the year in
which we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act [and] the
15th anniversary of the Paris Charter for a New Europe,” he omitted the even
more unfortunate fact that the OSCE is unable to uphold those covenants, or
at least for the record to note their ongoing violation on the territories
of several OSCE member countries.

Rupel tried to offer Russia a degree of satisfaction by agreeing — under
apparent duress — to discuss several of Moscow’s reform proposals. Without
alluding to Russia’s responsibility for terminating the OSCE’s Georgia
Border Monitoring Operation (BMO), he expressed regret for its termination
and called for reconsidering the issue in response to Georgia’s expressed
wish. Casting Slovenia in the role of West-East facilitator, he expressed
hope that the example set by the “summit meeting of Presidents Bush and
Putin in 2001 in Slovenia . . . will guide our work this year,” for the
chairmanship and the OSCE generally. Rupel appeared oblivious to that
summit’s notorious connotations in terms of misperception of the Kremlin
leader.

For their part, the Moldovan and Georgian delegations called for withdrawal
of Russian troops from their territories, as well as internationalization of
conflict-settlement negotiations so as to include the United States and the
European Union. Moldova also appealed for international monitoring on the
Transnistria sector of the Moldova-Ukraine border, as well as for
international inspection of Russian and Transnistrian military units and
arms stockpiles. Georgia asked for urgent resumption of the Border
Monitoring Operation on the Chechen, Ingush, and Dagestani sectors of the
Georgia-Russia border from Georgian territory. The U.S. and European Union
statements supported these goals in varying degrees.

Ukraine’s position, reflecting the recent political developments in the
country, changed dramatically by comparison with November 2004. Speaking on
behalf of the GUAM group of countries (Georgia-Ukraine-Azerbaijan-Moldova),
the Ukrainian delegation put the Permanent Council on notice, “The OSCE has
to prove its capability to safeguard the implementation of its own norms and
principles.” GUAM and other countries “strongly believe that the issue of
unresolved conflicts should always be at the forefront of the daily agenda .
. . We call on the OSCE for more active engagement and decisive actions.”

These assertions did not reflect confidence in the OSCE’s capacity to
perform; rather, they seem intended to build the case for transcending the
OSCE so as to broaden the existing formats. The Ukrainian statement
expressed “strong support” for the BMO (enjoining the “OSCE to give due
regard that the extension of BMO is strongly supported by the host country
and the international community”), for the proposed Declaration on Security
and Stability for Moldova, and for international inspection of the military
installations in Transnistria. Russia had thwarted all of these initiatives
toward the end of last year, exposing the organization’s structural
paralysis.

(Documents of the Permanent Council session and Slovenian Chairmanship,
January 13).

Social and economic reforms on right path, Karabakh premier says

Arminfo, Yerevan
27 Jan 05

STEPANAKERT

The prime minister of the NKR [Nagornyy Karabakh Republic], Anushavan
Danielyan, has noted a stable tendency for the development of the
economy and an increase in microeconomic indicators. Speaking at the
first sitting of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic government in 2005, he
said that social and economic reforms “are on the right path”.

Danielyan noted that the economic growth rate will almost double in
2006, an Arminfo correspondent in Stepanakert said. The prime minister
said also that GDP should reach 60bl drams [124.740m dollars], and
that a new goal of 100bl drams [207.9m dollars] has been set for 2010.

The prime minister noted that because of the high rates of growth a
need has emerged to reconsider the social and economic programme of
the republic for 2010.

USA CALL THE PRESIDENTS OF AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA TO TAKE MORE
CONSTRUCTIVE POSITION IN SETTLEMENT OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT

BAKU, JANUARY 26. ARMINFO. “The OSCE Minsk group conducted large work
last year. The meetings of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia,
as well as several meetings of the Foreign Ministers of those
countries took place. It testifies effective activity of the Minsk
Group”, the U.S. Ambassador Reno Harnish told journalists today.

According to him, there are good opportunities to reach progress in
peaceful talks. And the Ambassador referred to the statements of the
president Ilham Aliyev at the session of Security Council early in
January of this year.

The Ambassador noted that the policy of the US concerning the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict was consequent. “We did not recognize
and will not recognize self-proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh republic. The
USA recognize territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. We welcome the
attempts of the sides to settle the conflict peacefully and we are
witnesses of some progress on the matter. I positively assess the role
of the USA in this question”, the American diplomat said.

The Ambassador noted that the Karabakh problem would be discussed at
the coming meeting of the presidents of USA and Russia. The role of
Russia in settlement of a number of conflicts, as well as the Karabakh
conflict is rrefutable. However, settlement of the conflict depends
not only on Russia and USA. “My government believes that the leaders
of Armenia and Azerbaijan should speed up the question on settlement
of the conflict. We call Russia to play positive role and we call the
presidents of the conflicting sides to demonstrate more constructive
position”, Harnish said.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
01/27/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1) French Foreign Minister Reiterates Turkey Must Come to Terms with Its Past
2) US Will Pay the Bill If Kirkuk Plunges into Turmoil, Turkish PM Warns
3) Armenian Charities Receive New York Life Settlements
4) President Kocharian Addresses Nation on Army Day
5) New Armenian Genocide Publications Dedicated to 90th Anniversary

1) French Foreign Minister Reiterates Turkey Must Come to Terms with Its Past

NEW YORK–French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier again stressed the importance
of Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian genocide, speaking to reporters in New
York on Tuesday.
Barnier made his remarks during a press conference held after the UN General
Assembly session commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz.
Barnier told reporters that he hoped Turkey, “as a developed country,” will
come to terms with its past, and in aspiring to become a member of the
European
Union, will admit to perpetrating the Armenian Genocide 90 years ago.
He added that the EU has an “obligation to not only commemorate the victims
[of the Armenian genocide] but to, at the same time, be alert and unyielding,
so that similar tragic acts are not repeated.”
Asked by a reporter what France’s position would be if Armenia demanded that
the UN General Assembly hold a session similar to the one commemorating the
liberation of Nazi concentration camps 60 years ago, Barnier reminded the
reporter that the French Parliament unanimously passed a law in 2001
recognizing the Armenian genocide.

2) US Will Pay the Bill If Kirkuk Plunges into Turmoil, Turkish PM Warns

ANKARA (AFP)–The United States will bear the consequences of ethnic
turmoil in
Kirkuk if it fails to prevent the oil-rich city in northern Iraq from falling
under Kurdish control, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on
Thursday.
“Any wrong move in Kirkuk will have a negative impact on peace in Iraq in the
future,” Erdogan told reporters at Ankara airport before he flew out to Davos,
Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.
“The United Nations, America, and the other coalition forces should never
allow an unfavorable structure there,” he said. “If they turn a blind eye to
such a mistake, they will pay the bill in the future.”
Ankara is vehemently opposed to Kurdish control of Kirkuk, which many Kurds
want to incorporate into their enclave in northern Iraq and even see as the
capital of a future independent Kurdish state, a nightmare scenario for Iraq’s
neighbors.
Separatist moves in northern Iraq, Ankara fears, may spill over to adjoining
southeastern Turkey, which is home to its own large and restive Kurdish
community.
Erdogan’s remarks were the latest in a series of warnings issued by Ankara
since mid-January when the Iraqi Kurds reached a deal with Baghdad that
cleared
the way for an estimated 100,000 Kurds said to have been expelled from Kirkuk
under Saddam Hussein, to vote for the local government in Sunday’s elections.
The deal effectively tipped the balance of power to the Kurds, fanning ethnic
tensions in the city, which is also home to a large number of Arabs and
Turkmens, a community of Turkish descent backed by Ankara.
Turkey has charged that more Kurds than those expelled in the past have now
settled in the city and registered for the elections.
Critics in Ankara believe that the population shift is taking place with the
tacit approval of the United States.

Crisis Group Warns of Regional Conflict

The International Crisis Group (ICG) warned on Thursday that ethnic tensions
in Kirkuk are the biggest threat hanging over the country’s stability and
could
spark a regional conflict.
“In northern Iraq, largely unnoticed, a conflict is brewing that, if allowed
to boil over, could precipitate civil war, break-up of the country and in a
worst-case scenario Turkish intervention,” said the report.
The ICG, an international conflict resolution think-tank, warned that
aggressive rhetoric had been festering unchecked in the ethnic tinderbox of
Kirkuk since the April 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, as Kurds seek to
the right the wrongs of the old regime.
The ICG said that as US attention is shifting to other troublespots in Iraq,
the neutralizing influence of US troops is receding, and the Kurds, Arabs,
Turkmens, and Chaldo-Assyrians of Kirkuk “find themselves in a violent
stand-off.”
“Turkey is anchoring its strategy in commitment to the political process in
Baghdad… (and) is banking on progress in accession talks with the European
Union to reduce any appetite for secession its Kurdish population might still
harbor,” the ICG said.
But “public pressures resulting from Ankara’s manipulation of the Iraqi
Turkmen question and the continued deployment of Turkish troops on Iraqi soil
could create a dynamic of their own, possibly precipitating military
intervention in Kirkuk,” it warned.

3) Armenian Charities Receive New York Life Settlements

NEW YORK (AP)–Five Armenian charities received checks for $333,333 each
Wednesday as part of an insurance settlement with descendants of Armenians
massacred 90 years ago by the Turks.
The checks are part of a $20 million settlement with New York Life
Insurance
Co., which issued 2,300 policies to Armenians in Turkey before 1915 that were
never paid, according to plaintiffs’ attorney Brian Kabateck.
The agreement set aside at least $11 million for descendants, $3 million for
charities, and $2 million for administrative costs. Four charities in Los
Angeles will receive the rest of the $3 million.
Descendants of the policy holders have until March 16 to file claims.
The settlement, approved last year by a federal judge in Los Angeles, is
believed to be the first involving the events of the era.

4) President Kocharian Addresses Nation on Army Day

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–President Robert Kocharian congratulated the
nation
and the military on Armenia’s Army Day, a holiday that was recently added to
the Republic’s list of official observances.
The president told the nation that the January 28 commemoration is
invaluable,
having been “achieved through the heroic acts and collective will of the
Armenian people on the borders of Artsakh and Armenia.”
The establishment of the Armenian Armed Forces began in the early 1990s,
practically before the collapse of the Soviet Union. One of the first steps
was
the formation of a special regiment of the Armenian Interior Ministry in 1990
that had up to 400 men. In early 1991, when the regiment was reorganized into
four battalions, it already had over 1,000 troops. At the same time,
volunteers
fighting on the border with Azerbaijan were organized into six to eight
battalions
President Kocharian congratulated soldiers for their difficult and noble
service to their country. “Your professionalism and high spirit are the
pillars
of our freedom and independence,” he told the servicemen.

5) New Armenian Genocide Publications Dedicated to 90th Anniversary

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–The government of Armenia has allocated over 36 million
drams, nearly $77,000, to the Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs to fund
the
publishing of several books dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide.
The list includes 27 books, among them works by various authors and
historians, as well as official documents of foreign countries on the
Genocide,
reports of German diplomats from 1915-18, and “The History of the Armenian
Genocide,” by Vahakn Dadrian.

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) 2005 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.

KVBC.com
January 27th, 2005

Two local sisters are one step closer to being tossed out of the country.
Today, another loss in federal court for the Armenian-born teenagers
fighting to stay with their family in Las Vegas. 18-year-old Emma and
17-year-old Mariam Sarkisian have been in INS custody in Los Angeles for
almost two weeks. Today, News 3’s Denise Rosch spoke with a relative who
talked to the girls last night.
A judge says he has no choice but to keep them locked up. The judge says he
has no authority to release the sisters. This is a mandatory detention
because there’s already an order for deportation. Even so, the family asked
for emergency bail today. it, too, was denied.
“Every day they tell them, don’t even hope for anything, you will be
deported.” Rouben Sarkisian says his daughters are being terrorized in INS
custody. Someone, he says, is repeatedly telling the girls their case is a
lost cause. “This morning she was hysterical. How can somebody do that to
the kids?”
Thursday morning, Sarkisian and his three other, American-born daughters
went to federal court asking a judge to release his girls on bail. It didn’t
happen. Troy Baker is the Sarkisian attorney. “We’re still very hopeful we
can get one of our senators or congressmen to sign a private bill to let
these girls stay here.”
The Sarkisian sisters have lived in this country most of their lives and
fully believed they were here legally. In fact, it wasn’t until Emma wanted
to apply for a driver’s license that they learned the ugly truth. “These
girls were actually deported a dozen years ago, and for whatever reason, the
government never acted on it. It was only when they came forward to get
their citizenship in order the government suddenly acted upon it.”
Little sister Michelle says her phone calls from Emma and Mariam are
difficult. “We were just talking about how they were doing. I didn’t really
ask her any questions. I didn’t want to cry.” But the family is still
confused why the country they love is making it so difficult for two teenage
girls. “We never planned to break the law, so nothing bad would’ve happened
if the kids just stayed here.”
The family also wanted me to express their thanks to Senator Harry Reid.
He’s asked the Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, to look at the
case and help the girls. Meanwhile, another hearing on the girls status will
take place next month. Support for this family is coming from all over. One
of their neighbors says they are wonderful people who this shouldn’t be
happening to.
The Sarkisian sisters were born in Armenia, but only lived there a short
time. They have no family and no friends there.

Karabakh ready to repel Azeri attacks – NKR DM

Regnum, Moscow
26 Jan 05

Text of report by Russian news agency Regnum headlined “The defence
minister of Nagornyy Karabakh: ‘We are ready for a successful
counterattack'”

“The year 2004 saw unprecedented progress in the issue of
strengthening the front line of the Nagornyy Karabakh defence army. A
great deal of work was carried out to construct on the front line
engineering installations that would allow the command and personnel
to wage positional warfare and foil all the attempts of the enemy to
advance if hostilities resume,” the defence minister of Nagornyy
Karabakh, Lt-Gen Seyran Oganyan, said during a press conference on the
results of the 2004 army year.

He said that the command and staff exercises held in August last year
showed that the command and units of the army of the Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic [NKR] are capable of fulfilling properly the tasks they are
set. “A great deal of work was carried out to strengthen army
discipline, reduce the number of emergencies and military crimes (one
premeditated murder was registered),” the minister pointed out.

Seyran Oganyan also said that the wages of the military have increased
in 2005 and about 750m drams [1.27m dollars] will be allocated for
improving the housing conditions of officers and about 300m drams
[over 500,000 dollars] have been earmarked for improving the housing
conditions of the families of those killed in the war and war
veterans. The NKR defence minister pointed out that 2005 will see
improvements in the combat and professional skills and knowledge of
officers and rank-and-file soldiers. Special attention will be paid to
“the first fighting” if the war resumes because “the world’s war
experience shows that the biggest casualties occur in the initial
period of hostilities,” the minister stressed.

“Every year the NKR defence army sees certain progress, which is
stated not only by the command of the army, but also confirmed by
checks, inspections, command and staff exercises, as well as by the
commander-in-chief’s visits to army units,” the NKR defence minister
said.

Asked by journalists about Baku’s warlike rhetoric, the NKR defence
minister, Seyran Oganyan, said: “Of course, the command of the NKR
defence army is concerned about such statements, since the Karabakh
side’s task is to achieve a peaceful solution to the Karabakh
conflict. However, the balance of forces in the region is maintained
and Azerbaijan will not manage to solve anything by force. In any
case, we are ready to repel such attempts, and not only to defend
ourselves, but also to launch a successful counterattack.”

Touching on the visit by the OSCE monitoring mission to the
territories controlled by the NKR scheduled for the end of February,
Seyran Oganyan said that “he views such monitoring normally”. “These
territories are under the total control of the NKR authorities.
However, we cannot ban our citizens from farming in these territories.
At the same time, our duty is to ensure law and order in populated
areas. As for the fate of the territories themselves, a major
negotiating process lies ahead and any decision on these territories
should be adopted within the framework of this process,” the minister
said.

PACE INTENDS TO HELP OSCE MG RATHER THAN SUBSTITUTE FOR IT

YEREVAN, JANUARY 27. ARMINFO. “We are not going to substitute or OSCE
Minsk Group we just wanted to help the o-chairs,” PACE rapporteur on
Nagorny Karabakh David Atkinson says in an interview to BBC.

The over 10 year wrk of MG has yielded no results. PACE’s objective is
to bring about some parliamentary aspect in the confict settlement and
to enhance the role of the conflicting parties’ parliaments in the
process. This may give new settlement ideas. “After the adoption of
the resolution we are expecting the Azeri government to start
contacting Nagorny Karabakh representatives and discussing mutual
problems with them,” says Atkinson noting that these discussions may
be held in Strasbourg too.

In 1994-1995 when Atkinson was the chairman of the PACE committee for
CE non members he organized such a meeting in Strasbourg and all the
parties to the conflict were there. Unfortunately the meeting brought
no results. “But I think that the recent initiatives will be
fruitful.” The CE can make its own contribution to the peace process
but this is not substitution for MG. The major reason for no result in
the past years was the lack of contacts between the Azeri authorities
and Nagorny Karabakh representatives.

The CE’s initiative is expected to generate contacts that may lead to
the conflict settlement.

Asked if he was pressured by the Armenian or Azeri sides while
drafting his report on Nagorny Karabakh Atkinson says that he has his
own idea of the problem and his goals coincided with the opinions of
both Armenian and Azeri delegations.
From: Baghdasarian