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05/12/2004
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1) Uncompromising Opposition Stance Hinders Success of Upcoming Dialogue
2) Just a Scuffle
3) ARF Meets with Iranian Ambassador
4) Turkey Must Shed Its Genocide Burden Says EU’s Gharton
5) ARS Seminar in Bulgaria

1) Uncompromising Opposition Stance Hinders Success of Upcoming Dialogue

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Armenia’s government coalition partners put forth a
four-point agenda for its upcoming dialogue with the opposition.
The three political parties of the coalition suggested that the two sides try
to reach an agreement on reforming Armenia’s constitution; formulating
election
legislation to fully correspond to international criteria; working out models
for active participation of opposition in the fight against corruption; and
cooperate in complying with recent resolutions of the Parliamentary
Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE). In a joint statement, the parliamentary leaders
of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Orinats Yerkir, and Republican
parties said these issues must be at the heart of the dialogue strongly
encouraged by the PACE and the United States.
The opposition Artarutyun (Justice) bloc and the National Unity Party (AMK)
have called for discussions on “ways of overcoming the political crisis in
Armenia resulting from the 2003 elections,” which they believe were rigged by
the authorities. The coalition leaders said they will agree to include the
issue on the agenda of the talks if the word “crisis” is changed to
“situation.”
The first official negotiations are scheduled for Thursday.
Regardless of the outcome of the talks, however, opposition leaders said
their
rallies in Yerevan would resume on Friday, and would continue to campaign for
Kocharian’s resignation
The uncompromising stance led one of the top coalition figures, deputy
parliament speaker Tigran Torosian, to seriously question the opposition’s
commitment to the dialogue. “I don’t think the negotiations will last too
long,
and I am not particularly optimistic about their results,” Torosian said.

2) Just a Scuffle

TBILISI (Combined Sources)–Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said that
the skirmish between ethnic Georgians and Armenians of the Tsalka region on
May
9 is not an ethnic conflict, and should not be over dramatized. “Let’s not
make
the situation tragic. It’s not an ethnic conflict, rather a fight between
Georgians and Armenians. But we won’t tolerate disorder and we don’t intend to
be drawn into provocation,” he told journalists on Tuesday.
He noted that while Georgia’s enemies have retreated since the quelling of
the
recent Ajarian upheaval, “some enemies of Georgia” seek to involve the country
in a new conflict. “We won’t allow anyone to blackmail us and will respond
appropriately to such tactics.”
Stressing that Georgia’s neighbors are peaceful, he said that both the
Presidents of Armenia and Ukraine applauded the peaceful settlement of the
Ajaria conflict.
Though officials from the Armenian Embassy in Georgia have not issued a
statement on the incident, they did indicate the issue lies within the
jurisdiction of Georgian internal affairs, excluding Armenia’s active
involvement in the matter. A statement was to be released late Wednesday.
Georgians living in the Tsalka region meanwhile rallied in front of the State
Chancellery in Tbilisi on Tuesday, demanding to meet with President
Saakashvili
to discuss disarmament of the Armenian population in Tsalka. The rally
participants said that almost all the Armenian families keep firearms.
There is a pending threat that the frequent conflicts in the Kveda Kartli
region may turn into the armed clashes. Notably, what began as an argument
among soccer fans at the Tsalka stadium on May 9 grew into a brawl, with
scores
reported injured.
After the incident, the Georgian government deployed regional police and
interior forces.

3) ARF Meets with Iranian Ambassador

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau’s Vahan
Hovhannisian, Supreme Body’s representative Armen Rustamian, and member Levon
Mkrtchian, met with the Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Mohammad Farhad Koleini
on Wednesday at the Simon Vratsian Center in Yerevan. They discussed
Armenian-Iranian relations, Armenia’s political developments, and regional
issues.
Addressing the recent political tensions in Armenia, Koleini praised the ARF
for its efforts to resolve the matter politically with its calls for
negotiations.
The sides confirmed that Armenian-Iranian relations are a key in
strengthening
the stability of the region.

4) Turkey Must Shed Its Genocide Burden Says EU’s Gharton

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–Speaking at a roundtable discussion on Wednesday, European
Parliament (EP) member Per Gharton said that Turkey must take responsibility
for the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
“Turkey should get rid of that burden. This year, the European Union
reaffirmed its decision recognizing the Genocide, and calls on Turkey to do
the
same,” Gharton said during the roundtable “Wider Europe: New Neighborhood:
What
are Armenia’s Expectations?”
He said that it is senseless for Turkey to deny the Genocide, pointing to the
decision of Istanbul courts immediately after the Genocide to sentence to
death
the perpetrators and Turkish officials responsible. “Where would Germany be
now
hadn’t it admitted the Holocaust against the Jews,” he asked.
He stressed that though Turkey “improves,” it fails to meet EU’s demands “to
recognize the Armenian Genocide and to cease its blockade against Armenia to
become an EU member.”
He said that the EU will not accept a state with local or regional conflicts.
“Cyprus was a bad precedent and we won’t make the same mistake again,” Gharton
said.
He said that while Armenia is Europeanized politically and is a member of the
Council of Europe, it must still tackle issues tied to democracy, the
environment, and settlement of confrontations.
Also attending the conference was National Assembly Vice-speaker Tigran
Torosian, who noted that Armenian authorities are determined to integrate into
Europe. “Armenia has no alternative,” he stated.

5) ARS Seminar in Bulgaria

Representatives of the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) European chapters will
gather in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, May 21-22, for a Seminar on Voluntary
Organizations in the 21st Century.
Organized by the ARS Central Executive, the seminar will address modernity
and
the Armenian women, as well broader topics on Armenia and the Diaspora.
Lectures include, Status of Armenian Organizations in a Newly Emerging Europe
by Hilda Choboyan, Non-Governmental Organizations by Helen Merdjanian, and
Javakhk by Garine Hovhanessian.

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PRESS OFFICE
Armenian Holy Apostolic Church Canadian Diocese
Contact; Deacon Hagop Arslanian, Assistant to the Primate
615 Stuart Avenue, Outremont Quebec H2V 3H2
Tel; 514-276-9479, Fax; 514-276-9960
Email; [email protected] Website;

The Schedule of His Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian

We hereby present to Clergy and faithful of the Armenian Church of Canada the
schedule of His Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian for the month of May

May 9, Sunday Laval Holy Cross Church
AGBU Montreal, Mother’s Day celebration

May 11-14, Toronto, Holy Trinity Armenian Church

May 12-13, Wednesday Thursday
60th Anniversary of the establishment of Canadian Council of Churches. The
Primate will participate in the Opening Ceremony, Faith and Witness Commission’s
session celebration’s service.

May 15, Saturday Montreal Diocese, Honoring the Babayan Foundation and the
Benefactors of the Diocese.

May 16, Sunday Montreal St Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral

May 18, Tuesday Toronto
Meeting with Archbishop Terrence Finley of the Anglican Church in Toronto

May 19, Wednesday Diocesan Camp committee meeting

May 20, Thursday The Assumption of our Lord -“Hampartsoum”- St Gregory the
Illuminator Cathedral.

22 May-June 3 Vancouver
May 25, Meeting with the Mayor of Vancouver
May 27, Thursday Clergy Conference
28-30 21st Diocesan Annual Assembly

June 2 “Louys” Armenian Choir concert in Vancouver with the participation of
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra organized by Diocesan Can-Armenian Association
for the Performing Arts Vancouver’s Chapter

Bishop Bagrat Galstanian’s meeting with His Eminence Jean Claude Cardinal
Turcotte

On May 3, 2004 His Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian, Primate of the Armenian
Church Canadian Diocese made a courtesy visit to the leader of Roman Catholic
Church of Montreal His Eminence Jean Claude Cardinal Turcotte. The meeting
was held at the Roman Catholic Archdiocesan Headquarters in Montreal.
Accompanying the Primate were representatives of Montreal Armenian Community Me. Vartan
Dellekian, Mr. Jack Seraydarian, Mr. Viken Darakjian as well as Very Rev Fr
Ararat Kaltakjian, Vicar General and Deacon Hagop Arslanian, Assistant to the
Primate.
His Eminence Bishop Galstanian thanked Cardinal Turcotte for sending his
personal representative to participate in Martyrs’ Prayer and Ecumenical Service
ceremony that was held on the 23rd of April 2004.

Discussions were focused on the relationship between Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Montreal and Armenian Church Canadian Diocese, perspectives on future
Ecumenical Relations in Greater Montreal area as well as the role and the
mission of Christian Churches in Canadian society. The two leaders agreed upon
supporting interchurch and interfaith activities so that the presence and unity of
Christians would be visible and fruitful.

Annual Meeting of Children’s Fund for Armenia, Montreal Chapter

The Annual meeting of Children’s Fund for Armenia Montreal Chapter took place
in the Diocesan headquarters, 615 Stuart, during which the report of the
Director and the activities of the last year were the focus of discussions.

Very Rev Fr Ararat Kaltakjian, Vicar General and Director of Armenia Projects
presented the annual Report of Activities which highly appreciated by the
members of CFFA executive and the sponsors. The Diocese of the Armenian Church of
Canada sponsors around 1000 (one thousand) Armenian orphans in motherland,
Armenia. Currently the Director of this project is Very Reverend Father Ararat
Kaltakjian. Following the meeting a new executive was elected.

His Eminence Bishop Bagrat galstanian, President
Very Rev Father Ararat kaltakjian, Director
Mr. Garbis Aposhian, Chairman
Ms Varsenik Nazoyan, Vice Chairman
Mrs. Anahid Demirodgen, Secretary
Ms Hasmig Keropian, Vice Secretary
Mrs. Imasdouhi Nigoghossian, Treasurer
Ms Karmen Mousakhanian, Accountant
Ms Hilda Tursucuyan, Advisor
Mrs. Veron Surmenian, Public Relation

Celebration of Holy Badarak in Windsor

On Saturday, May 1, 2004 Bishop Bagrat Galstanian accompanied by Rev Fr
Hayrig Hovhannissian visited Holy Resurrection Armenia Church of Windsor, Ontario.
Members of the Parish Council welcomed His Eminence Bishop Galstanian and
Reverend Father Hayrig Hovhannissian. During a cordial meeting with parish council
members and representatives of Windsor Armenian Community, Bishop Galstanian
presented his perspectives to reorganize the social and spiritual life of the
Armenian community of Windsor.

The next day, May 2, 2004 His Eminence Bishop Galstanian celebrated Divine
Liturgy. Parish Council members and faithful attended the Divine Liturgy. On
this occasion, the Message of Commendation of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenian, addressed to Mr. Herman Khentirian and
his family members was delivered.

Following the Divine Liturgy a reception in honor of Bishop Galstanian was
held.

Reception in honor of the members of Children’s Choir

On Tuesday May 5, 2004 His Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian hosted a
reception in honor of the members of the Children’s Choir of St Gregory the
Illuminator Armenian Cathedral. The children of the Choir and their parents as well as
members of the executive committee and Rev Fr Vazgen Boyajyan, Pastor of St
Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral were present.

Rev Fr Vazgen Boyajyan thanked Bishop Galstanian for the initiative. His
Emnence Bishop Galstanian, Primate expressed his joy on the occasion of the
establishment of the Children’s Choir and promised to fully support this mission in
every way possible.

Divan of the Diocese

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT DECLINES INVITATION TO NATO SUMMIT IN ISTANBUL

Radikal, Turkey
May 11 2004

Armenian officials announced yesterday that President Robert Kocharian
had declined to attend next month’s NATO summit in Istanbul. According
to a statement from the Armenian president’s office, the decision
was made to protest a lack of progress in relations between Ankara
and Yerevan. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan is expected
to go in Kocharian’s stead. The statement also underlined that
Yerevan remains ready to cooperate with Ankara to improve bilateral
relations. /Radikal-Star/

Armenian Leader Kocharyan Passes on NATO Summit

Zaman, Turkey
May 11 2004

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan reportedly will not participate
in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, which will
be held in Istanbul in late June. In his statement to the Russian
Itar-Tass news agency, Armenian Presidential Press Secretary Ashot
Kocharyan said that the decision of President Kocharyan could be
explained by ‘the current situation of the relations between Armenia
and Turkey’.

Kocharyan stressed that there has not been any further development
in the Armenia-Turkey relationship.

“I want to emphasize that Armenia is ready to develop its relations
with Turkey without putting forward any pre-conditions,” said the Press
Secretary. Kocharyan then added that Foreign Affairs Minister Vardan
Oskanyan would represent Armenia at the NATO summit. He finished by
saying that the relations between Armenia and NATO would continue
around the concept of Partnership for Peace.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info agency
May 11 2004

MEETING AT THE CABINET
[May 11, 2004, 19:04:44]

Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Chairman of the State Committee
for Refugee and IDP Affairs Ali Hasanov met members of the Bundestag
Germany-Caucasus parliamentary group led by Cristoph Bergner at the
Cabinet of Ministers on May 10.

Having warmly greeted the guests, Ali Hasanov stressed the role of
the inter-parliamentary cooperation between the two countries.. He
expressed gratitude to the delegation members for the interest shown
for the sorest point of Azerbaijan – plight of refugees and
internally displaced people, and told of the work done in this sphere
by various German organizations especially underlining the role of
Ambassador of Germany to Azerbaijan Mr. Klaus Grewlich.

The Deputy Prime Minister updated the guest on the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict lingering around 4 acts
of deportation of Azerbaijanis in 20 century, destruction of
historical and cultural monuments in occupied territories, UN
resolutions, plight of over million Azerbaijanis displaced from their
native lands.

Mr. Cristoph Bergner thanked Mr. Ali Hasanov for the warm welcome and
detailed information. He said that Government of Germany welcomes the
efforts of the leadership of Azerbaijan towards peaceful resolution
of the conflict. We are ready to help develop inter-parliamentary
links and solve relevant problems.

On the same day, guests met with IDPs in Narimanov district.

Analysis: Armenian, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers Resume Karabakh Talks
By Liz Fuller

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
May 11 2004

On 12 May, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Vartan
Oskanian and Elmar Mammadyarov, will meet for the second time within
one month to discuss approaches to resolving the Karabakh conflict.
Two weeks earlier, the presidents of the two countries, Robert
Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev, held similar talks on the sidelines of
the European Economic Summit in Warsaw (see “RFE/RL Newsline,” 29
April 2004).

Oskanian on 30 April quoted Kocharian as saying he believes his talks
with Aliyev in Warsaw “can really contribute to finding common ground
for the basis of negotiations at future meetings,” RFE/RL’s Armenian
Service reported. Oskanian added that “there will be clear instructions
from the presidents to the foreign ministers regarding putting the
negotiations on a certain basis. So we see positive movement and
believe there will be a continuation.”

That formulation suggests that the Warsaw talks clarified the
Azerbaijani negotiating position. In an interview published in the
“Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” following his 16 April talks with
Mammadyarov in Prague, Oskanian said that meeting failed to shed any
light on how seriously a statement made by Mammedyarov’s predecessor,
Vilayat Guliev, in February should be taken. Guliev had advocated
beginning talks again from zero (see “RFE/RL Newsline,” 13 February
2004). Oskanian told the German daily he believes Guliev’s statement
was intended purely for internal Azerbaijani consumption.

Neither Oskanian nor Kocharian has given any indication of what issues
were discussed during their respective talks with their Azerbaijani
counterparts. But Mammadyarov told AFP on 30 April that the two sides
are discussing the withdrawal of Armenian forces from seven districts
of Azerbaijan bordering on the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
in exchange for the restoration of rail communication between the two
countries. “The subject of our negotiations right now is how ready
the sides are to make compromises,” AFP quoted Mammadyarov as saying.

Ilham Aliyev said on 7 May that the proposal that Armenian forces
withdraw from the seven districts in return for the resumption of
rail communication originated in Baku, and was not suggested by
the U.S., Russian, and French co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group,
which has been attempting to mediate a solution of the conflict
for the past 12 years. The EU initially included in a resolution
on the South Caucasus adopted earlier this year a demand for the
withdrawal of Armenian forces from the Agdam, Djabrail, Fizuli,
Gubadly, and Zangelan districts of Azerbaijan in return for the
restoration of rail communication between Azerbaijan and Armenia,
but Oskanian at the time rejected that approach, and the demand
was dropped before the final version of the resolution was passed
(see “RFE/RL Newsline,” 30 January, 3 and 27 February, and 1 March
2004). It is not clear why, having rejected earlier this year the
initial EU proposal to withdraw from five districts, the Armenian side
should now be prepared to discuss withdrawing from seven districts,
as the Azerbaijani officials claim.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Kazimirov, who served in mid-1990s as the Russian
co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, has again slammed Armenia’s
stated preference for a “package” solution to the conflict that
would simultaneously resolve all contentious issues. In an interview
published on 30 April in “Nezavisimaya gazeta,” Kazimirov said a
package solution to such a complex conflict is “impossible,” and
that continued insistence on it “will only freeze the situation and
lead the mediation into a blind alley.” Instead, Kazimirov argued,
it would be more advisable to begin the search for a solution with
comparatively minor points.

In a second article, published in “Vremya novostei” on 7 May, Kazimirov
argued that it is important to reestablish a mechanism for constant
contacts between the two sides. He pointed out that the presidents of
the two countries “cannot meet that often, and one should not place the
entire responsibility for concessions on them personally.” Similarly,
Kazimirov continued, the foreign ministers also have numerous other
responsibilities. Therefore, he concluded, it would be better for each
side to choose a delegation that would concentrate exclusively on the
Karabakh conflict. In addition, he argued that the leadership of the
unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic should be included in talks on
“general issues” related to a solution of the conflict. Azerbaijan,
however, has consistently rejected any Karabakh representation at
peace talks.

Kazimirov suggested that the renewed peace talks should focus
simultaneously on four issues on the principle of “territory
for security.” Those four issues are: strengthening the existing
cease-fire and precluding a resumption of hostilities; removing the
root of the conflict by addressing the future status of Karabakh;
removing the consequences of the conflict by withdrawing Armenian
forces from the occupied Azerbaijani districts, demining operations,
and the return of displaced persons to their homes; and what he terms
“elementary measures to reduce tension and normalize relations.”
Kazimirov acknowledged, however, that progress on the second and
third issues would be slow.

Canadian Press
May 11 2004

NFB leads Canada at Cannes

Toronto — No Egoyan. No Cronenberg. No Arcand.

This year, as it has so often in the past, the National Film Board
will be carrying the can at Cannes for Canada.

The NFB is bringing several shorts and documentaries to the
prestigious festival, which opens Wednesday and runs until May 23.
And at least one of them has the potential to spark an international
incident.

What Remains of Us (Ce qu’il reste de nous) is a feature-length
documentary that follows a young Tibetan refugee in Quebec who
smuggles a forbidden videotaped message from the Dalai Lama back into
her native land and shows it to various Tibetan families. Chinese
authorities could impose severe penalties on any Tibetan caught
viewing the five-minute tape of the exiled spiritual leader and major
security precautions were taken when the film was screened recently
at Toronto’s Hot Docs festival.

There have been fears that if the Chinese get their hands on a copy
of the film, they might be able to identify and track down the
anonymous Tibetans who allowed their reaction to the tape to be
filmed.

Two years ago when Atom Egoyan’s Ararat was screened at Cannes there
were concerns the film would spark protests from the Turkish
community because of its politically charged theme that the Turks
inflicted genocide on the Armenians during the First World War.

Trouble never materialized and the co-producer of What Remains of Us,
Francois Prevost, isn’t anticipating any this time either. But he
says security will be in place anyway.

“The reason for security obviously is not to have any pictures going
out of the theatre,” he says.

Prevost is also in touch with a network of people within Tibet and
says that so far nothing has happened to any of the 17 people there
who were brave enough to take part.

But he does hope the film initiates an international dialogue, with
both foreign governments and the Chinese communities in their
countries about the half-century of oppression of six million Tibetan
people.

“We see this culture disappearing,” Prevost says. “Countries don’t
want to face China about this issue and they all want to keep their
economic links. So that’s a major, major, major point that is not
talked about enough.”

The film will be screened out of competition next Sunday but
co-director Hugo Latulippe isn’t looking for any prizes, just the
international exposure.

“It’s already a prize for us really to go there and bring our message
to the world. It’s fantastic.”

Another major film board entry will be a very avant-garde digital
animation short called Ryan.

The creation of Toronto-based animator Chris Landreth, it uses
surreal 3-D imagery to tell the story of one of Landreth’s
predecessors, Ryan Larkin, a groundbreaking animator with the NFB
back in the 1960s, whose decline, apparently a combination of
creative block, alcohol and drugs, has left him panhandling on the
streets of Montreal today.

Larkin was nominated for an Academy Award back in 1968, but lost to a
Disney entry. Landreth himself was also an Oscar nominee in 1996 for
a creative digital short called The End — which bears some style
similarities to Ryan — but he lost to Brit Nick Parks, creator of the
Wallace and Gromit films.

While none of Canada’s major directors are represented at Cannes this
year, the half-dozen titles submitted are still considered quite
significant.

Danny Chalifour, director of operations and international relations
for Telefilm Canada, the federal funding agency that operates the
Canada pavilion at Cannes, said there’s more to do at Cannes than
screen films.

While he prefers not to use the word shmooz, Chalifour says bilateral
discussions with delegations from Britain, France, Germany, Australia
and New Zealand are vital for the future of the Canadian film
industry, both in terms of export sales and co-productions.

“If we’re looking at financing a feature-film budget in excess of
$6-$7 million in Canada, we basically need a partner. We can’t fund
it internally.”

Armenian president not to attend NATO summit in Istanbul

Turkish Daily News
May 11 2004

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News — Armenian President Robert Kocharian
will not attend a NATO summit in Istanbul on June 28-29, a spokesman
for Kocharian was quoted as saying on Monday.

The decision not to take part in the historic summit is “explained
by the current state of Armenian-Turkish relations,” Presidential
Press Secretary Ashot Kocharian said in an interview with Russia’s
ITAR-TASS news agency.

No progress in bilateral relations was seen in 2003,” the press
secretary said. “Armenia reiterates its readiness to improve relations
with Turkey without preliminary conditions,” he said.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan will represent the country
at Istanbul’s summit.

Heads of state or government of some 46 countries, including U.S.
President George W. Bush are to attend the NATO summit in Istanbul,
which will welcome seven new members in the alliance’s biggest ever
enlargement.

Armenia is working with NATO as part of the alliance’s Partnership
for Peace program with some of the former Soviet republics.

Turkey became one of the first countries to recognize the independent
Armenia in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union
but relations with this country has been severed after Armenian
forces occupied Azeri territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. As part of a
trade blockade against Armenia, Turkey also keeps its border gate
with Armenia closed for the last ten years.

Turkey’s conditions for normalization of relations with Armenia are
withdrawal of Armenian troops from Nagorno-Karabakh, Yerevan’s stopping
to support Armenian diaspora efforts aimed at international recognition
of allegations of an Armenian genocide at the hands of late Ottoman
Empire and its renouncing territorial claims on Turkey’s eastern part.

Georgians in Tsalka demand disarming of the local Armenians

Batumi News
May 11 2004

Officials of the Armenian Embassy in Georgia have not commented yet
on the incident between the local Georgians and Armenian population
in the Tsalka region on May 9.

On the statement of the Armenian Embassy, they will clear with
their stance over the issue later today. The officials indicated,
this issue lies within the Georgian internal affaire and Armenia is
not going active involvement into it.

On May 11 the Georgians, living in the Tsalka region, rallied in
front of the State Chancellery, Tbilisi, and demanded meeting with
the President Saakashvili over the disarmament issue of the Armenian
population, domiciled in Tsalka. The rally participants said almost
all the Armenian families keep firearms, what stirs concerns among
the Georgians in the region.

There is a pending threat, that the frequented conflicts in the Kveda
Kartli region may turn into the armed clashes. Notably, on May 9,
on the Tsakla stadium, the argument, started among the football fans,
grew into the brawl. Scores were reported injured.

Georgian government deployed in Kvemo Kartli the regional police and
interior forces after the incident.

Igor Ivanov and the Russian Retreat to Moscow
By Mark Almond

Moscow Times, Russia
May 12 2004

It is getting to be a habit. Any post-communist leader seeing Igor
Ivanov across the threshold of his presidential palace knows his time
is up.

On Oct. 6, 2000, it was Slobodan Milosevic who received the
then-Russian foreign minister as graciously as a living political
corpse can receive his undertaker. Late last November, it was Georgian
President Eduard Shevardnadze who found Ivanov escorting him off the
premises of the presidential villa in Tbilisi.

Now Adzharia’s Aslan Abashidze and assorted family members and
hangers-on have been given a one way ride on Ivanov’s plane from
Batumi to Moscow.

Even after swapping his role from foreign minister to secretary of
the Security Council, Ivanov has carried on his role as an angel of
political death. Oddly, the victims of Ivanov’s political version of
euthanasia have all been on Washington’s rather than Moscow’s hit-list
of obvious geopolitical targets.

It seems that whenever popular discontent at poverty and corruption
reaches a critical mass fired by George Soros’ money and CIA muscle,
Ivanov is on hand to offer the coup de grace. Perhaps President
Vladimir Putin sometimes wonders whether one day — after seeking
a controversial third term? — he will receive a gentle nudge into
obscurity, or even a ticket to the Hague from Ivanov.

Russia has been in retreat since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Many of us can remember how in the late 1980s people in Boris
Yeltsin’s camp explained that Soviet imperialism was bad for ordinary
Russians. Hadn’t the British or Dutch got richer as their empires
vanished? Wouldn’t Russians be even better off without the burdens
of Brezhnevian overstretch? In many ways they were right. Ordinary
Russians had paid a high price for the Kremlin’s superpower status.
But sadly, the opposite of imperialism is not necessarily any more
advantageous.

It would no doubt be nicer if Russians could just get on with trying
to make a living. Siren voices say that that is precisely what is
happening now. Economic growth is making life more bearable for more
Russians than at any time since the early 1980s. No longer is it just
a rich micro-percentage that benefits from reform. And so no wonder
Putin enjoys real popularity.

Yet Russia’s retreat from world power politics, personalized by the
prominence of Ivanov in the Kremlin policymaking apparatus, could
easily have dire domestic economic consequences.

At present, high oil prices buoy up the Russian economy. Even pensions
are getting paid on time. But step by step, Russia’s significance as an
independent actor in the world of natural resources is being cut back.

The reach of the United States deep into Russia’s hinterland has
reached the tipping point. With the whole of the southern Caucasus
within grasp and U.S. garrisons pock-marking Central Asia, Russia’s
own energy resources are falling under the shadow of U.S. power, and
the routes to export Russian oil or gas, independent of Washington’s
sphere of influence, are narrowing.

High oil prices temporarily obscure how parlous Russia’s geostrategic
position is in its only area of economic strength — the export of
natural resources.

The United States’ grab of Iraq’s oil reserves has misfired for the
moment, but Libya has been brought on side by Washington and London to
release oil to fill the tankers left empty by Iraqi sabotage. At the
same time, the West is closing in on Russia’s remaining export routes.

With the oil terminal at Batumi under the guard of President Mikheil
Saakashvili’s troops, who were parading on CNN under the banner
“Georgia-USA United We Stand,” the Silk Route to Central Asia is safely
in Western hands. Does anyone doubt that Gazprom’s export pipelines
via Ukraine and Belarus will soon pass through states enjoying the
same kind of “Rose Revolution” which Georgia has accomplished?

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has an embryonic Rose Revolution
budding already and must be waiting for Ivanov’s visit. Ukrainian
President Leonid Kuchma has probably got an arrival date for Ivanov
pencilled in his diary. Even that refusenik against the New World
Order, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, ought to expect
a knock on his door soon after the Ukrainian president goes into exile.

What have Russia as a state or Russians as people got out of a weary
withdrawal to a state smaller than Peter I’s?

Arabs used to raise the joke-question: Why is it better to be an
enemy of the British rather than their friend? And answer: Because
if you are their enemy they will certainly buy you, but if you’re
their friend they’ll certainly sell you.

Certainly Russia’s retreat has bought it no friends. The Western
media portray Putin as a war criminal worse than Milosevic over the
war in Chechnya and accuse him of meddling in Georgian affairs as
his lieutenant hustles Moscow’s friends into exile.

A huge gap exists between the Western media’s portrait of Russia under
Putin as a reviving great power playing and winning subtle games in
its former sphere of influence and the reality of a Russian retreat
which has been gaining pace since Yeltsin’s retirement. Ivanov is
a man who straddled the two presidencies in Russia. More than anyone
else he personifies the age of accelerating withdrawal.

For instance, Ivanov was working for the political demise of Milosevic
well before his arrival in Belgrade on Oct. 6, 2000. Ivanov played
a major role in advising the NATO states how to start the war in
Kosovo in 1999 that led to Milosevic’s ultimate downfall. Both
Madeleine Albright and German officials have revealed how Ivanov
urged them not to go to the United Nations Security Council so that
the Russian government could avoid pressure from its own people to
veto a U.S. resolution for war.

By all accounts, the signals from Smolenskaya Ploshchad to George W.
Bush in March 2003 were: Storm Iraq, then ask the UN to pick up the
pieces as in Kosovo. But Tony Blair needed to show the British public
that the Security Council was on his side, which forced Russia’s hand
into voting “No” alongside France and China.

What is to be done?

After Margaret Thatcher sent troops to fight the Argentine invasion
of the Falkand Islands in 1982, Henry Kissinger remarked, “No nation
retreats forever.”

No doubt Russia’s slinking back deeper into a Eurasian hinterland
will stop some day, but Russians must be asking themselves whether
the retreat to Moscow will stop before or after Ivanov tells Vladimir
Putin it is time to go.

Mark Almond, lecturer in modern history at Oriel College, Oxford,
contributed this comment to The Moscow Times.