World Azeris urge European body to impose sanctions on Armenia

Trend news agency
24 Jan 05

Baku, 24 January: The Azerbaijanis of the world demand that the
Council of Europe impose sanctions on Armenia and revoke the mandates
of the Armenian deputies of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe PACE , the Congress of the World Azerbaijanis says in a
statement forwarded to PACE and the parliaments of PACE member states,
Trend reports.

“If the Council of Europe is interested in establishing a lasting
peace in the region and preventing the threat posed to it, it has to
be objective in approaching the Nagornyy Karabakh issue and act in
line with the decisions it passed itself in the past,” the document
says.

To recap, PACE is expected to discuss rapporteur on Nagornyy Karabakh
David Atkinson’s report on 25 January.

“European parliamentarians have to realize that any decision by the
Council of Europe can change the situation in the conflict settlement
and give a political and practical assessment to the steps being taken
by Armenian separatists in violation of stability in the region,” the
statement says.

“We, the Azerbaijanis of the world, are aware of the role PACE can
play and appreciate it. We hope the European deputies can give an
objective assessment to the situation and support the prevention of
the Armenian aggression,” it says.

IRAN CONDEMNS OCCUPATION, USE OF FORCE BY ANY COUNTRY – PRESIDENT

IRNA web site, Tehran
24 Jan 05

TEHRAN

Immediately after the formal ceremony to welcome Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev, Iranian and Azeri presidents talked to reporters calling for
expanding Tehran-Baku relations.

President Mohammad Khatami accompanying President Ilham Aliyev told
reporters at Sa’dabad that Iran is keen on further development of
relations with Azerbaijan Republic.

Responding to an Azeri reporter about what Iran will do to help
resolve Karabakh crisis, President Khatami said that Iran is among the
few countries which supports Azerbaijani national sovereignty and
territorial integrity.

“Iran believes that the Karabakh crisis would be resolved through
logic and understanding between the two parties without resorting to
force. I believe that Karabakh conflict will be resolved if the two
sides seriously decided to do so,” President Khatami said.

He said that Iran has friendly relations with both Azerbaijan and
Armenia and is ready to mediate between them to help resolve the
crisis and hoped for immediate settlement of Karabakh conflict.

Another Azeri reporter asked Khatami whether there is similarity
between occupation of the Arab lands by the Zionist regime and
occupation of Karabakh by Armenia, the Iranian president said that
Iran condemns occupation and use of force being exercised by any
country.

“Of course, there is a difference. I believe Israel has occupied the
entire Palestine and has established illegitimate existence, but,
Armenia is a country itself and at the same time occupation and
seizure of an inch of the other’s territory is condemned and the
international community should help end the occupation,” President
Khatami said.

President Aliyev told reporters that his visit to Iran is aimed at
developing relations in all fields including the economy.

He pointed to the accords President Khatami has signed during his
visit to Baku and said Azerbaijan Republic calls for implementation of
these accords.

The Azeri president said that Tehran-Baku relations are developing
rapidly and political and economic cooperation is excellent.

“The exchange of visits by presidents of the two countries indicated
the extent of relations both countries enjoy,” President Aliyev said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN TECHNOLOGICAL GROUP OF AMERICA HAS IMPLEMENTED A NUMBER OF
HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMS IN NAGORNY KARABAKH SINCE 1995

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 24. ARMINFO. An Armenian Technological Group of
America has implemented a number of humanitarian programs in Nagorny
Karabakh since 1995.

According to ARMINFO’s correspondent to Stepanakert, the group, in
particular, implemented programs “Wheat,””Honey,””Wine,”provided
vegetables seeds, corn and other to farming economies in NKR. In 1999,
the organization started implementation of a program “Farm” (in the
territory of the village of Khramort) with the object of stimulating
development of wine-growing. Since the greatest part of arable lands
in Karabakh is infected with phylloxera, the program first of all
pursues a goal of creating phylloxera-stable plants. At present,
phylloxera-stable grafts and 20 sorts of grapes are grown in 2,5 ha of
lads. The cost of one graft is 600 AMD.

EU REPRESENTATIVE FOR SOUTH CAUCASUS HOPES FOR PROGRESS IN SETTLEMENT
OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24. ARMINFO. Serge Sargsian, Minister of Defence of
the Republic of Armenia, Secretary of National Security Council at the
president, met with EU Special Representative for South Caucasus,
Ambassador Heikki Talvitie. In the delegation staff is Head of the
representation of the European Commission for Armenia and Georgia
Torben Holze, representatives of the European Commission William Boen
and Harry Camarine, as well as British Ambassador to Armenia Thorda
Abbot Watt.

Spokesman of Armenia’s defence minister, Colonel Seyran Shahsouvarian
informed ARMINFO, during the meeting Serge Sargsian welcomed the
guests and stressed the important of the meeting. “We regard ourselves
as Europeans and our goal is to become a full member of that family”,
Serge Sargsian said. In his turn, Heikki Talvitie stressed that one of
his tasks is the creation of good bases for cooperation for the
purpose of settlement of the conflicts. The Ambassador stressed that
when preparation of programs of individual cooperation all the
countries will be estimates in accordance with real
potentialities. Concerning the problem of Nagorny Karabakh, the
defence minister mentioned that he has always advocated the peaceful
settlement of the conflict and is sure that this problem will be
solved only by peace. Welcoming this statement, Heikki Talvitie
expressed hope that a real progress will be registered in the process
of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict in the nearest future.

MINSK GROUP AND OSCE MONITORING MISSION TO BEGIN REGIONAL VISIT FROM
ARMENIA

Azg/arm
25 Jan 05

Last week, Minsk group co-chairs and the OSCE Monitoring Mission
(including representatives of Italy, Finland, Sweden and Germany) met
in Vienna to specify the details of their regional visit envisaged on
this week. Andzej Kasprchyk, personal representative of the OSCE
chairman, said in the interview to Free Azerbaijan TV that they are
going to discuss all the details of the monitoring mission in the
course of the meeting in Vienna, including the issue of appointing the
head of the mission.

On January 20, Kasprchyk met with the Azeri foreign minister in
Baku. After the two-hour meeting Elmar Mammediarov told the
journalists that “after visiting the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan,” the monitoring mission will prepare a report on
inhabiting these regions by the Armenians. “Let’s wait and see what
kind of a report it will be. Let the mission accumulate facts and we
will see what will happen,” Mammediarov said.

It hasn’t been decided which regions under the control of Karabakh
forces will be visited by the monitoring mission. It has been
preliminarily announced that they will visit Qelbajar, Lachin,
Jebrail, Ghubatlu and Zangelan regions. The monitoring mission is
expected to gather in Yerevan on January 28 and leave for Stepanakert.

Masis Mailian, NKR deputy foreign minister, stated that “Stepanakert
positively evaluates the OSCE monitoring mission’s visit to
NagornoKarabakh. We will spare no efforts to contribute to the
monitoring mission”. “We have nothingto hide from the international
community and we are ready to show the OSCE mo nitoring mission both
the regions in the territory of NKR and all the regions under the
control of our forces situated out of our borders,” Mailian said.

Mailian reminded that Stepanakert has invited such missions to NKR for
many times to deny Azerbaijan’s accusations addressed to NKR.

By Tatoul Hakobian

Karabakh will never give up independence – Karabakh leader

Regnum, Moscow
24 Jan 05

Regnum news agency Mr President, there has been some fuss of late over
the Nagornyy Karabakh problem (Baku’s initiative in the UN, Atkinson’s
report to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe PACE ,
the forthcoming visit of the OSCE factfinding mission to assess the
situation on the territory controlled by Nagornyy Karabakh, as well as
the statement of US Assistant State Secretary Elizabeth Jones ). In
this context, how justified are the worries of a number of politicians
that the Armenian side is losing ground in the talks?

Gukasyan First of all, I would like to specify that two Armenian sides
are parties to the conflict – Nagornyy Karabakh and Armenia. Since
Karabakh has been artificially isolated from the talks, it would be
wrong to appraise its diplomatic activities in any way.

As for Armenia, incessant meetings between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers are useful, of course. Yet they are
unable to substitute a fully-fledged talks process with the equal
participation of Nagornyy Karabakh. It must not be forgotten that the
Nagornyy Karabakh problem was raised by the Nagornyy Karabakh people
and is about the status of Nagornyy Karabakh. The rest are the
consequences of the war that was thrust upon us by Azerbaijan, which
does not recognize the right of the Nagornyy Karabakh people to
self-determination, and therefore, is not willing to discuss the
status of Nagornyy Karabakh. I believe that the concerns of
politicians which you mentioned are related to the latter fact.

Regnum Do you think that Yerevan and Stepanakert Xankandi are making
enough efforts to prevent undesirable formulations on Nagornyy
Karabakh in various international bodies?

Gukasyan The reason that a number of formulations detrimental to us
have appeared in the documents of the European bodies is that Karabakh
is not present in the international bodies when this issue is
discussed. The negotiations and discussions on Karabakh, mainly within
the framework of mutual relations between the two states – Armenia and
Azerbaijan, are bound to result in such formulations from time to
time. This is not about the degree of the efforts we are making, but
about the conceptual approach to the principles and mechanisms of the
settlement.

Regnum How possible is that Baku will succeed in dragging the Nagornyy
Karabakh issue into other international bodies and what is the
involvement of other international bodies in the resolution of the
issue fraught with? In your opinion, why does Azerbaijan not like the
format of the OSCE Minsk Group?

Gukasyan Azerbaijan is busy getting as many international bodies as
possible to sign various documents (even if they are only
recommendations) that portray Armenia as an aggressor and Nagornyy
Karabakh as an allegedly uncontrolled territory. Such behaviour stems
from Baku’s perception of the conflict as Armenia’s aggression against
Azerbaijan. Therefore, Baku is unwilling to make any concessions.

Since international bodies include countries which have nothing to do
with the settlement of the Karabakh conflict (and they constitute the
overwhelming majority), such tactics may yield some temporary
political dividends for Baku. What’s more, the decision-making
procedure in such bodies, say in the UN, allows the Baku authorities
to do so.

As for the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, which include Russia, the USA
and France and who mediate the talks, I am sure that they know very
well the underlying cause of the conflict, as well as the
circumstances that led to the current military and political status
quo in the conflict zone, which does not suit Azerbaijan. As you
understand, those circumstances are not in Azerbaijan’s favour. Hence,
the Azerbaijani leadership is trying to get rid of the mediation of
the OSCE Minsk Group which advocates a mutually acceptable compromise
to peacefully resolve the conflict and respects the Karabakh side’s
position by maintaining contacts with the authorities of the NKR
self-proclaimed Nagornyy Karabakh Republic .

Regnum Isn’t it high time for Yerevan to raise the question of
Nagornyy Karabakh’s involvement in the peace process more
specifically?

Gukasyan First, I am the wrong person to ask. Second, it is impossible
to peacefully resolve the problem in the language of ultimatums. Nor
will it be resolved without the full involvement of the Karabakh side
in the talks. Judge for yourself.

Regnum Recent developments testify to increasingly closer relations
between Russia and Turkey. Do you have any apprehension that close
relations between Moscow and Ankara may reflect negatively on the
resolution of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict?

Gukasyan In my view, Russia has declared its stance quite clearly. As
is known, Russia’s position is that the problem should be resolved by
the sides to the conflict and Moscow can only give them all possible
assistance and act as a guarantor of the agreements that have been
reached. Obviously, such a position stems from Russia’s interests and,
to all appearances, it will continue to maintain this
position. However, nothing can be ruled out.

At least, Turkey, which unequivocally supports Azerbaijan on the
Karabakh issue, will try to influence Russia in order to make it put
pressure on Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh.

Regnum What is Stepanakert’s principled position on Nagornyy
Karabakh’s future status?

Gukasyan The position of the Nagornyy Karabakh leadership on the issue
is based on the will of our people. This means that the security and
prosperity of Nagornyy Karabakh and its people are inconceivable if it
is to be under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan. We can only talk about
equal relations between the two subjects of international law – the
NKR and Azerbaijan. Not least because the NKR has demonstrated to the
world that the level of democratic transition here is higher than in
Azerbaijan, and that beyond the jurisdiction of Baku, the NKR’s
economy, social sphere and culture are developing at a rate that would
be unthinkable if Nagornyy Karabakh was part of the Azerbaijani
state. This is confirmed by many foreign guests of the NKR, including
your colleagues – journalists.

I do not even mention the fact that Azerbaijan, having imposed on us a
gruesome blockade and then a war, has never concealed and does not
conceal its intention to wipe out or expel the Armenian population
from Karabakh. Hardly anyone has the right to accuse us of taking up
arms and defending our right to live in our historical motherland.

We went through trials and tribulations to gain our independence, and
naturally, we will never give it up.

Authorities seek to mislead public to stay in power, Armenian movement says

Noyan Tapan news agency, Yerevan
24 Jan 05

YEREVAN

While expressing disagreement with some of the wording of US Assistant
State Secretary Elizabeth Jones’ remarks on Nagornyy Karabakh
describing it as a criminal separatist regime , the Democratic Armenia
movement has said that it is certain that “the fuss provoked against
Jones is part of a campaign which causes psychosis”. “Feeling the
irreversibility of the democratic process and the subsequent demise of
their power, the incumbent regime is trying to mislead the public at
exactly the same juncture,” a statement by the movement said on 24
January.

Lately, there have been many “artificial psychological attacks by the
authorities directed at eliciting the necessary mood in society”,
including in particular, over-reporting on earthquakes, anti-Semitic
propaganda, the fuss around homosexuals and the “provoked protest”
against the remarks by Elizabeth Jones.

“Coupled with the lack of attention of the progovernment organizations
to the numerous statements by the USA and other countries on
recognizing Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and to the recognition
of Armenia as a Russian outpost, this fact shows that the fuss around
Jones’ statement pursues other political ends,” the authors of the
statement said.

L’Express
24 janvier 2005

Le mal pour le mal;
La chronique de Bernard Guetta

Guetta Bernard

Le crime absolu d’Auschwitz n’a pas été seulement commis contre un
peuple, mais contre l’essence même d’une civilisation

Avant Auschwitz, il y eut le massacre des Arméniens. Le goulag a fait
plus de morts que tous les camps nazis réunis et, sans que quiconque
se soucie d’arrêter les machettes, le siècle de Hitler s’est achevé
dans l’extermination planifiée des Tutsi du Rwanda.

Il n’y eut pas qu’un seul génocide dans l’Histoire.

Les tueries de toute sorte y furent innombrables, mais Rita Süssmuth,
alors présidente du Bundestag, eut pourtant raison de dire, il y a
dix ans, que “le crime d’Auschwitz n’était comparable à rien”. Il est
incomparable, car il fut et demeure irréductible à quelque passion
humaine que ce soit, peur ou cupidité, vengeance ou fanatisme
religieux.

L’Espagne voulait s’approprier l’or des Amériques, les Hutu s’arroger
le Rwanda, Staline sauver son régime par la terreur, les Ottomans
exterminer le peuple qui, jusque dans la métropole, incarnait à leurs
yeux la désagrégation de l’empire, mais les nazis? Comment comprendre
que, tout à la conquête de l’Europe, ils aient consacré tant de
moyens et d’énergie à l’anéantissement des juifs, non pas des juifs
de gauche ou des juifs de droite, religieux ou libres penseurs, de
tel ou tel pays, mais de tous les juifs, d’hommes et de femmes si
divers et dispersés qu’ils ne pouvaient en rien constituer un
obstacle spécifique à l’ambition du IIIe Reich?

On ne peut pas le comprendre. Cela reste incompréhensible, sauf à
explorer l’irrationnel, sauf à voir que les nazis ne voulaient pas
seulement dominer le monde mais effacer aussi, avec les juifs, ces
idées de justice et d’égalité entre les hommes qui sont la référence
des enfants d’Abraham depuis les Dix Commandements, matrice du
judaïsme et de ses descendances religieuses et intellectuelles.

Ce n’est pas seulement parce qu’Auschwitz n’est réductible à aucune
fureur humaine qu’on ne peut le comparer à rien. C’est avant tout
parce que ce crime absolu n’a pas seulement été commis contre un
peuple, mais contre l’essence même d’une civilisation qu’il voulait
nier.

Au-delà du bien et du mal, c’est l’idée même de genre humain que les
nazis ont voulu détruire à Auschwitz. C’est pour cela que ce génocide
hante à ce point la conscience humaine, imprègne la littérature et le
cinéma, commande tant d’attitudes politiques et philosophiques, nous
sidère tant. A cette échelle-là, nous ne pouvons pas nous représenter
le mal pour le mal.

Auschwitz nous dépasse. Cela rassure sur l’me humaine, mais on peut
et doit, en revanche, comprendre ce qu’était l’Allemagne des années
1930. Humiliée, ruinée, minée par ses divisions politiques, elle
était devenue la proie rêvée des bas-fonds et des idéologues
illuminés.

Il est bien de commémorer la libération d’Auschwitz, mais il serait
encore mieux de regarder la carte, d’y voir bouillonner tant d’autres
pays aussi désemparés que le fut l’Allemagne, de s’attaquer à ces
crises avant qu’elles ne s’attaquent à nous.

IRNA, Iran
January 24, 2005 Monday

Azeri president in Iran to discuss economic,

Tehran

President Ilkham Aliyev of Azerbaijan begins a three-day official
visit to Iran on Monday.

At least eight inter-governmental agreements, mainly of economic
character, will be signed during the visit.

According to diplomatic sources in Baku, the Azerbajani head of state
is to have meetings with President Mohammad Khatami of Iran and other
leaders of the country to discuss all problems of bilateral
relations, as well as issues of regional security, cooperation within
the framework of international organizations, settlement of the
Karabakh conflict and defining of the Caspian Sea legal status.

Copley News Service
January 23, 2005 Sunday

A countdown for the daring and the distinctive
By George Varga

With more than 30,000 albums released each year, just getting heard –
let alone making an impact – is a daunting challenge. This holds even
more true for bold, uncompromising artists outside the mainstream.

In a just world, these performers would be household names. For now,
they remain hidden treasures whose work should be savored, shared and
savored again.

So let the countdown begin (record company Web sites are provided for
each album):

10. “Skeleton Key Orchestra,” Nathan Hubbard
()

A tour de force from this drum dynamo, whose dazzling fusion of avant
jazz, electronica, Afro-Cuban and more is showcased on this two-CD
set by a talent-rich group that numbers up to 28 members.

9. Jenny Scheinman, “Shalagaster” ()

This New York violinist bills her music as “modern folk jazz,” but
that hardly does justice to her daring blend of classical, tango,
klezmer, blues and Middle Eastern music.

8. David Murray & The Gwo-Ka Masters, featuring Pharoah Sanders,
“Gwotet” ()

On which the two saxophone masters create a propulsive, multicultural
gumbo of funk, zouk and jazz with musicians from Guadeloupe, Cuba and
the United States.

7. Karan Casey, “Distant Shore” ()

The former lead singer in Ireland’s Solas shines on this often
hushed, but consistently enchanting, collection of Celtic ballads,
stirring laments and bluegrass-tinged reveries.

6. World Saxophone Quartet, “Experience” ()

Jimi Hendrix’s music is saluted and reinvented by this heady,
guitar-free group, which has long been noted for its ability to
eviscerate, not merely push, musical envelopes.

5. Rokia Traore, “Bowmboi” ()

The third album by this charismatic singer-songwriter from Mali finds
her celebrating and extending the traditions of the griot, the
singing, kora-playing oral historians of West Africa that helped lay
the foundation for rap 600 or so years ago.

4. Hem, “Eveningland” ()

A treasure-trove of finely crafted music, topped by Sally Ellyson’s
heavenly vocals, which suggests an alt-country chamber group
performing down-home yet urbane art songs.

3. Youssou N’Dour, “Egypt” ()

Accompanied by a 15-piece Egyptian orchestra and a West African vocal
and percussion group, this Senegalese vocal star has rarely sounded
so intimate or impassioned as on this stunning homage to Sufism,
Arabic culture and the timeless power of love.

2. Jerry Gonzales y Los Piratas del Flamenco, “Los Piratas del
Flamenco” ()

The marriage of flamenco and jazz takes on new life as expatriate New
York trumpeter Jerry Gonzalez and his Madrid-based group inject new
vigor into both idioms. Their mesmerizing synthesis indicates what
might have happened had Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk been Spanish.

1. Diamanda Galas, “Defixiones: Will and Testament” and “La Serpenta
Canta” ()

These two double albums by vocal master Diamanda Galas couldn’t be
more different. But each is as rewarding as it is provocative, and
both are utterly distinct from the work of any other artist working
in any idiom.

At once wrenching and cathartic, “Defixiones” was inspired by the
still-controversial Greek, Armenian and Assyrian genocides of the
early 1920s.

It finds Galas using her four-octave voice to expertly perform lyrics
in six languages, including Greek, Hebrew and Arabic. With them she
creates an earthy yet otherworldly palette of richly textured music
that explores emotional extremes in a manner simultaneously horrific
and strangely beautiful. Only by embracing the darkness, she
suggests, can we move to the light beyond, and “Defixiones” succeeds
on both counts.

The comparatively inviting “Serpenta” features Galas performing
wonderfully original versions of songs by John Lee Hooker, Hank
Williams, Ornette Coleman and other American roots-music icons, along
with her own “Baby’s Insane,” a jaunty music-hall ballad from hell
that begins with her singing: “I was covered in blood, the war has
begun / Hide the straight razor, because baby’s insane,” and later
finds her quipping: “It’s very pretty, don’t you think?”

The two-CD set is a showcase not only for her expressive singing, but
for her incisive piano work.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress