CENN – MAY 10, 2004 DAILY DIGEST
Table of Contact:
1. Become a Member of the “Caucasus Environment Society”
2. BTC Campaigner – Letters re Alleged Torture or Ill-treatment in
Turkey
3. Environmentalists: BTC Left Communities in the Dust
4. The Devil’s Tears
5. Urgent Appeal to International and Georgian Communities Concerned
With Wildlife Issues
6. U.S. Names Countries Eligible for New Assistance Funds
7. Armenian Group Releases Latest Bedoukian ‘Studies’
8. Arevag: Festival of Armenian Filmmakers
9. Margara Village would Be First to Enjoy Open Border
10. Armenia Raises $5.6 mln from Gold Reserves Sale
11. Smithsonian Advanced Course in Conservation GIS
12. MDF-Training and Consultancy

1. BECOME A MEMBER OF THE “CAUCASUS ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY”

Dear users of CENN services!

This is to inform you that due to necessity of financial sustainability
of CENN activities in the long run, we are introducing a number of
innovations in CENN services (Internet services and online products of
CENN – daily digests, bulletins` archive, full online versions of
magazines, GIS database of nature resources of the Caucasus region,
environmental legislation of the South Caucasus States in national
English and Russian languages, etc.) for different types of members to
set force from April 1, 2004.

Only the members of the “Caucasus Environment Society” will enjoy the
full range of our services. They will receive free of charge our
magazine “Caucasus Environment”, get free legal and environmental
consultancy, free access to CENN databases, maps, resources, etc.

All membership fees support the CENN magazine’s mission of expanding
environmental knowledge on the Caucasus and are considered as charitable
contribution to the production of the regional magazine.

We welcome you to become a Member of the “Caucasus Environment Society”
by registering online:

Annual membership fee for Caucasus citizens/organizations $19, for
international members – $39. Shipment cost included.

For any questions or queries regarding membership and future usage of
online services:

Contact person: Catherine Nakashidze
Tel: +995 32 92 39 46
Fax: +995 32 92 39 47
E-mail: [email protected]
URL:

2. BTC CAMPAIGNER – LETTERS RE ALLEGED TORTURE OR ILL-TREATMENT IN
TURKEY

Dear Friends,

Following the detention and alleged torture of Ferhat Kaya, the
prominent human rights defender, following his work to protect the
rights of Turkish citizens affected by BP’s UK-funded
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Kurdish Human Rights Project and
Corner House have sent the letter appended below to the UK government
departments which have financed the pipeline.

It would be act of much appreciated solidarity if you could also send
similar letters to your Executive Directors at the World Bank and
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or to your country’s
Export Credit Agency, if it is involved. Letters to the private banks
involved would also appropriate.

For those in the UK, please write to Hilary Benn. Please send your
letter to: [email protected]

Best Wishes

Nicholas Hildyard, The Corner |House
Tel: +44 (0) 1258 473795

SPECIMEN LETTER

Rt. Hon Hilary Benn MP,
Secretary of State for International Development
Department for International Development
Palace Street
London SWI

BY EMAIL AND POST

7 May 2004

Dear Secretary of State,

BTC Campaigner – Alleged torture or ill treatment in Turkey

We are writing to express our gravest concern over the detention and
alleged torture or ill-treatment of a prominent human rights defender
following his work to protect the rights of Turkish citizens affected by
BP’s UK-funded Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. There is strong and
direct evidence of a link between his intimidation and detention and his
work in connection with the pipeline.

It is our understanding that Mr Ferhat Kaya, a former deputy chair of
DEHAP in the central district of Ardahan, had been working to document
the case of an individual whose land was being used for the pipeline
without having been legally expropriated or compensation having been
paid. On 5 May 2004 he informed BOTAS, the company building the pipeline
under contract to BP, of his concerns and he had been promised a meeting
on Monday 10 May 2004. However, he was then arrested and now remains in
detention in Ardahan. Witnesses and relatives yesterday observed blood
on his clothes and deep cuts on his arms and elsewhere-following one day
in detention. According to information obtained by KHRP, a medical
report is consistent with allegations of torture. He was also derided as
a “terrorist” by the court prosecutor.

As you will know, witnesses, human rights and environmental groups
believe this is Mr Kaya’s second detention in connection with his work
to highlight concerns over the pipeline. Last year, he received death
threats prior to meeting with the Italian Export Credit Agency to inform
them about social and environmental concerns associated with the
pipeline. He was later detained. Assurances from Mr. MacShane, the
Foreign Office minister, that Amnesty International had found no
evidence of a connection between this detention and his work in relation
to the BTC pipeline have since been found to be unwarranted: Amnesty
International has not even investigated the case.

Mr. Kaya has been involved for some time in mitigating the impacts of
the BTC project by ensuring that local people obtain the compensation to
which they are entitled and that their rights under the European
Convention on Human Rights are respected. He has assisted 38 villagers
in bringing cases to the European Court of Human Rights complaining of
multiple violations of the ECHR. This also reflects the ongoing failure
of BP to fulfill its legal responsibilities to people affected by the
pipeline and to make good on its pledges that nobody would be
disadvantaged as a result of the project.

We believe that it is incumbent on the British government, as a sponsor
of the BTC pipeline, to ensure that those like Mr Kaya who seek to
improve the project are not victimized for speaking out. BP has
specifically requested that local people help in identifying problems
with the project’s implementation. For this to result in detention and
allegations of torture, as in this case, is not only unacceptable but a
savage indictment of the project and of Turkey’s commitment to human
rights. Turkey is required to achieve the “stability of institutions
guaranteeing democracy, human rights and respect for a protection of
minorities” in order to meet EU accession requirements; its accession
bid is due to be reconsidered in December 2004. Incidents such as the
arrest and alleged torture of Mr Kaya strongly indicate that legislative
reforms aimed at securing human rights in Turkey have failed to be
implemented on the ground.

We urge you to use your best offices to investigate the circumstances of
his detention and alleged torture or ill treatment; to obtain a
guarantee that his human rights are respected; and to press for his
immediate release.

Yours sincerely,

3. ENVIRONMENTALISTS: BTC LEFT COMMUNITIES IN THE DUST

Source: The Messenger, May 10, 2004

Georgian NGO once again reiterate their claim that the construction of
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipe continues to impose serious social
and environmental impacts on the local communities, this time citing
“violations made by the BP-led BTC Company (BTC Co.) during the
project’s planning period.”

In its most recent report released May 5, 2004 the NGO Green Alternative
and co-authors at the Georgian Young Lawyers Association and the CEE
Bankwatch Network, an environmental watchdog with partners in 12
countries, reveals a series of problems the NGOs identified related to
everything from inadequate food from workers to faulty plastic coating
on the pipe itself.

The report reveals the problems with the project’s land compensation and
acquisition process and violations of the BTC information disclosure
policy. The authors also criticize the involvement of the BTC’s key
international lenders, the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in
the project.

“We presume that the majority of the problems are the outcome of the
violations made by the BTC Co. during the planning period and an
inefficient due diligence process implemented by IFC and EBRD,” the
report states.

Green Alternative member Keti Kvinikadze claims that the number of
people who protest over problems of land compensation increases every
day. The report also claim there is a major gap between “official
disregard fore the problems which ordinary people are experiencing.”

According to another member of Green Alternative Keti Gudjaraidze,
“These people are directly affected and they will have to live side by
side with the pipeline for years.” Ms. Gudjaraidze thinks that the local
population has heard a lot of promises about the benefit they will get
because if the pipeline, which in reality as Green Alternative claims
will stay as mere promises.

According to the watchdog organizations, in the village of Tetritskaro
heavy trucks and machinery have destroyed sewage and water piping
underneath the roads, ruining the supply of safe drinking water and
spreading “infectious diseases throughout the neighborhood.”

One specific area of concern is Kvemo Kartli where monitors cite the
current presidential representative to the region as saying the former
governor and current fugitive Levan Mamaladze corrupted the pipeline’s
land compensation process by granting lad titles along the route to
friends and relatives, something often called “mushroom parcels.”

Director General of the BTC Co., Ed Johnson stated that the land
compensation process is “very transparent,” even in the wake of the
continuous protests of some villages claiming BP took their land without
giving proper compensation.

NGOs and even the Georgian Union of Workers have repeatedly claimed that
Georgian workers on the BTC get smaller salaries and are not provided
with elementary working conditions. According to the report by Green
Alternative, local workers average no more than 225 lari a month a day,
including weekends and holidays in order to reach the “declared GEL
600-700” per month.

GEO of the BTC Co. Michael Townshend commented that the human rights of
the workers along the BTC route are fully protected. Mr. Townshend says
some “minor” problems concerning salaries existed, but cites an
international study when saying, “all workers are treated with respect.”

4. THE DEVIL’S TEARS

Red Pepper May 2004

The Devil’s tears
Melissa Jones and Michael Gillard
1 May 2004

In Azerbaijan, oil is known as the Devil’s tears – a curse for the
desperately poor Azeris and a blessing for their autocratic rulers.

Relics of Soviet oil exploitation litter the view on the road going
south from the coastal capital Baku. Nodding donkeys and derricks lie
frozen with rust, encircled by stagnant pools of oil sludge and
seawater. Corroded pipelines criss-cross the flat, arid landscape. Just
out to sea stand ghostly oil platforms.

>>From 2005, new platforms in the Caspian will pump the Devil’s tears
through the world’s biggest oil and gas terminal at Sangachal and into a
1000- mile underground pipeline running west through Georgia to the
Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline will cross nature reserves,
archaeological sites and 1500 watercourses, from small streams in the
Caucasus Mountains to rivers and canals. Its route cuts almost entirely
through an active earthquake zone. Long-standing regional conflicts with
Armenian and Kurdish separatists add to the instability of the project.

It is being built by a BP-led consortium under the intense scrutiny of
international campaigners demanding that the oil giant lives up to
ethical commitments made after major environmental and human rights
scandals in Alaska and Colombia, where it operates two other major
pipelines.

Neither has the geopolitical significance of the BTC pipeline – the
first east-west energy corridor intended to reduce Anglo-American
reliance on OPEC and Middle Eastern oil – been overlooked. In Whitehall,
the pipeline is considered vital to Britain’s energy security as North
Sea oil reserves dwindle.

It is also key to what analysts call the ‘New Great Game’, a
geopolitical struggle between Presidents Bush and Putin for control of
the 15 new republics that emerged from the former Soviet Union in 1991.
Washington sees Azerbaijan and Georgia as bulwarks against Russia and
Iran.

There was intense political pressure from the US for BP to build this
pipeline. To be compensated for the risk to its well-crafted reputation
BP chief executive Lord Browne told the Financial Times in 1998 there
would be no BTC without “free public money”.

Total construction costs will top $3.6 billion dollars. Seventy per cent
of this is being borrowed from a ‘Lenders Group’ of international
financial institutions and commercial banks, such as the Royal Bank of
Scotland.

Yet none of the banks would have risked their cash without the backing
of the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD), political risk insurers and government export credit agencies
such as the UK’s Export Credit and Guarantee Department (ECGD).

The EGCD’s support came last December, when Trade Minister Mike O’Brien
pledged roughly £58m (fifty-eight million pounds) of taxpayer’s money to
underwrite British businesses working on the BTC project.

This, he assured Parliament, was based on “a rigorous assessment of the
risks associated with the project and a thorough review of the
environmental, social and human rights impacts.”

On February 3, BP signed the $2.6 billion loan agreement with the
Lenders Group at an ostentatious ceremony in Baku.

However, the Commons trade and industry select committee is now
investigating whether BP hoodwinked the ECGD by suppressing internal
warnings of a major design fault to secure the loan. Committee members
will also examine whether O’Brien misled Parliament when he claimed the
pipeline, and therefore taxpayers’ money, was safe.

One year before construction started last July, two senior BP managers
on the BTC project were so alarmed at design proposals from London that
they asked Derek Mortimore, a highly respected British pipeline
integrity consultant, to investigate.

Of particular concern was the choice of anti-corrosion coating for the
150,000 welds on the pipeline, one of the most important technical
decisions on the project.

Mortimore’s internal BP reports in August and November 2002, seen by Red
Pepper, were unequivocal. He warned that BP’s choice of a Canadian paint
was “utterly inappropriate to protect the pipeline for its estimated
design life” of 40 years.

BP, he said, would be burying an “environmental time bomb” because in
the cold months the coating would crack leaving the steel pipeline
exposed to corrosion and therefore ruptures as one million barrels of
high-pressured, hot crude was coursing through it daily.

Mortimore also warned that the performance test to choose the best
coating was “seriously flawed”. E. Wood, a British company that lost the
estimated £5 million contract to the Canadian firm went further and
wrote to BP alleging its procurement staff had rigged the test. The oil
company responded by carrying out an internal inquiry that exonerated
it.

BP then dispensed with Mortimore’s services in January 2003. But eleven
months later, with the $2.6 billion loan agreement just weeks from being
signed, the field joint coating cracked, as Mortimore predicted.

Work was secretly stalled over the Christmas period as BP panicked. An
estimated 15,000 field joints were already buried and could no longer be
regarded as safe.

Corrosion experts familiar with the problem say the only acceptable
thing to do is to dig it up and recoat using a different material with
proven adhesion to plastic-coated steel pipelines.

The remedial costs would run into hundreds of millions of pounds and
delay the project considerably, with knock on compensation payments for
the host governments in lost oil revenue.

During a series of secret and tense meetings in Baku and London,
contractors told BP the coating failure was down to them because the oil
company had nominated the Canadian paint as the only material to be used
on the field joints.

BP kept all this from the ECGD and the wider Lenders Group. But when we
exposed it in the Sunday Times on February 15, Mike O’Brien and ECGD
officials declined to set up an inquiry or even send his officials to a
briefing by Mortimore and other corrosion experts.

The minister’s letter to campaigners was grist to the mill of those who
refer to BP as Blair Petroleum. Fantastically, O’Brien said the
technical problems were “routine” and therefore BP had no obligation to
report them under the terms of the loan agreement.

O’Brien also protected his officials at ECGD by claiming an independent
engineering company, Parsons, operating on behalf of the Lenders Group
had “scrutinised and approved” the choice of coating.

Yet Parsons has confirmed to Red Pepper this was not the case. Their
reviewer was not a corrosion expert; he did no quality assurance
exercise; there was no testing of the Canadian paint; nor did BP
disclose to Parsons any background material or the Mortimore reports.

Parsons also confirm BP is a client and the so-called “independent”
review was paid for by the BTC consortium.

The Commons select committee has now received full details and will
cross- examine ECGD officials and Mike O’Brien in early May.

The minister’s position, that companies do not need to report
allegations of fraud or bribery if their own internal investigations
find no evidence of wrongdoing, makes a mockery of the prime minister’s
own commitment in September 2002 to tackling corruption in the
extractive industries.

The Labour-dominated committee could recommend a full independent audit
of the field joint system and refer the procurement fraud allegations to
the Serious Fraud Office. This would bring it into a collision course
with Tony Blair, who is very supportive of BP’s Caspian adventures and
enobled John Browne as a People’s Peer in 2001.

Sources on the BTC project deny BP’s claims that it has cured the
cracking problem. Corrosion experts consulted by Red Pepper confirm
Mortimore’s conclusion that the cracking is an indication of a serious
problem withthe paint’s chemistry and symptomatic of its
inappropriateness for a plastic coated pipeline it can never protect.

E.Wood managing director, Chris McDonnell, who has also written to the
committee, said: “Our view is that individuals within BP were trying to
cover up a decision which was clearly flawed and which we believe was
influenced by an individual who was closely associated with our main
competitor.”

Manana Kochladze

Regional Coordinator for Caucasus
CEE Bankwatch Network

Visiting address: Rustaveli avenue. 1. Entrance I. floors 4
Mailing address: Chavchavadze 62, Tbilisi, Georgia, 380062
Tel: 99532 93 24 03, 99 04 72
Fax: 22 38 74
E-mail: [email protected]

5. URGENT APPEAL TO INTERNATIONAL AND GEORGIAN COMMUNITIES CONCERNED
WITH WILDLIFE ISSUES
May 7, 2004

Aslan Abashidze, the odious rebellious leader of Georgia’s Adjara
province flees the country and leaves his own exotic and domestic animal
sanctuary to the mercy of fate.

Yesterday (May 6, 2004), Aslan Abashidze left the country in the company
of Igor Ivanov, head of the Russian Security Council who once served as
Russia’s foreign minister.

ADJARA Population: 400,000; overall population of Georgia: 5 million
Depends on income from transited goods, its port shipping about 200,000
barrels of oil a day Has run its own affairs for years, withholding tax
payments from central government in Tbilisi Adjarians are ethnic
Georgians, some of Moslem faith, though the majority are Orthodox
Christian as elsewhere in Georgia.

“Georgians: Aslan has fled! Adjara is free!” The President of Georgia,
Mikael Saakashvili, addressed the nation from his office. Saakashvili,
elected in January 2004 after leading a bloodless revolution (referred
by Georgians as the “Rose Revolution”) to oust veteran leader Eduard
Shevardnadze last year, had vowed to bring Adjara and other unruly
Georgian regions back under central control. Adjara has been a
semi-autonomous republic within Georgia for over a decade. Abashidze, a
Soviet-era politician who had maintained strong links with Russia during
his rule and strongly opposed the western-leaning Saakashvili, had ruled
this Georgian province for 10 years in an extremely autocratic manner
virtually without any challenge, due to the former administration’s weak
policy on regional politics. However, after January 2004, when Mr.
Abashidze appeared on the losing side in the Rose Revolution his regime
eventually collapsed after a month-long bloodless confrontation during
which his heavily armed supporters at one point blew up bridges leading
into Adjara from Georgia proper. The crisis aroused the concern of
Russia, Europe and the US, all of whom consider the Black Sea state of
Georgia to be of key strategic importance. Ahead of his talks with
Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov, Mr Abishidze had been
saying he had “no intention” of quitting Adjara. However, pressure came
to a head on Wednesday (May 5, 2004) when citizens from all over the
small ‘state’ increasingly massed in the streets, even coming down from
the mountains on foot. Then the President declared direct presidential
rule and offered Mr Abishidze safe passage abroad.

Thus Abashidze fled to Russia!

However, prior to this last standoff, and as suspected, he made sure to
take out enormous public misappropriated assets from the country.
Naturally he abandoned solid goods such as fancy villas, houses,
vehicles, and–his private zoo-like animal “sanctuary”.

For years Abashidze, just like his Asian and Latin American
counterparts—other drug barons and local dictators–has been collecting
individual animals of different species of birds and mammals, some of
them rare. He was especially proud of his magnificent birds of prey and
predators that he showed off in an extremely primitive manner. His
official protocol for important official guests almost always included a
visit to this “sanctuary” where the Adjara leader would feed animals in
front of cameras, journalists and guests. Appeals to him to obey the
laws of Georgia that strictly forbid keeping wild animals in private
ownership, or numerous requests to him to act humanely and release local
wild fauna back into their natural habitat, as well as constant
reminders of the requirements of the CITES convention received
absolutely no attention from Mr. Abashidze. Laws in Georgia strictly
forbid keeping wild animals in private ownership and requires their
confiscation and subsequent placement in humane conditions.

Now, as their “owner” has escaped his own “sanctuary” for another, these
animals are left to the mercy of fate and their future is unclear.

NACRES has sent a “crisis relief team” to Batumi, the capital of Adjara,
to assess this situation and provide emergency relief aid to the
animals. NACRES has also contacted the Ministry of Environment of
Georgia and requested Governmental support to define appropriate
emergency action for the animals kept in Abashidze’s zoo.

Such action could include the release of native birds of prey to their
natural habitat, with the aid of NACRES specialists. However, the
situation is more dramatic for large native predators (bears, wolves)
and ungulates. Having been kept for years in enclosures with human
contact, they can no longer be released, and will require permanent and
humane care.

As for exotic species, NACRES is currently contacting representatives of
the CITES Focal Point in Georgia and with the Secretariat of
thisConvention, to undertake proper measures as required by the treaty.

Hereby, NACRES would like to draw attention of international and local
communities to the most urgent of Georgia’s wildlife problems. This
issue is related to a wider one—that of international illegal trade in
animal parts (such as gall bladder, skin/pelts, bear fat and meat) as
well as the common capture and illegal possession of live wild animals
in Georgia, which has been a growing problem all over the country.

NACRES, in partnership with the World Society for the Protection of
Animals (WSPA-UK) and other local environmental groups, has been seeking
solutions to these urgent issues, asking the Government of Georgia to
confiscate bear or wolf cubs kept in chains or cages, to implement a
nation-wide educational program for pubic awareness against this
trafficking. The Ministry of Environment expresses a deep concern about
the issue but has not had the financial means to address it efficiently.

Now with the emergency situation in Adjara, NACRES believes that an
opportunity should be seized: Abashidze’s Zoo can be transformed into a
real sanctuary for captive animals, a facility that has been sorely
lacking in this country.

In the near future (after the return of our rescue team from Adjara and
in consultation with Ministry officials) NACRES will obtain clear
picture regarding the present conditions of the former dictator’s Zoo
and the official position of the central and local Governments.

We will immediately release information on the situation and keep you
updated. NACRES would appreciate your ideas and support at this point,
and will keep in touch with you concerning the most appropriate
solutions that have been found.

Please contact us if you would like to be updated or if you have had
experience and know-how involving similar situations.

Levan Butkhuzi
Head, Governing Board
NACRES
Regular Mail Address: PO Box 20; 0179 Tbilisi; Georgia (CIS)
Courier Address: 34, Gamrekeli str.; 0186 Tbilisi; Georgia (CIS)
Fax: (+995-32) 537124
Tel: (+995-32) 537125
E-mail: [email protected]

6. U.S. NAMES COUNTRIES ELIGIBLE FOR NEW ASSISTANCE FUNDS

Government Corporation also plans to help other countries qualify

The recently created Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the U.S.
government has named 16 countries eligible to apply for development aid
from an innovative new program.

In a May 6 news release, the MCC said that its board of directors
selected the countries — Armenia, Benin, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Georgia,
Ghana, Honduras, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique,
Nicaragua, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu — based on their governance,
social investment and economic freedom.

The MCC said it also approved a program to help some other countries
meet eligibility requirements.

The Millennium Challenge Account program announced by President Bush in
2002 is designed to help poor countries spur the economic growth and
attract the investment necessary to further development. Congress has
appropriated $1 billion for the MCC for this fiscal year.
Following is the text of the release:

Millennium Challenge Corporation

May 6, 2004
The Millennium Challenge Corporation Names MCA Eligible Countries

Washington, DC — Today, the Board of Directors of the Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC) selected the 16 countries eligible to apply
for Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) assistance in FY04 [fiscal year
2004]. MCC, a newly created government corporation designed to work with
some of the poorest countries in the world, is based on the principle
that aid is most effective when it reinforces sound political, economic,
and social policies that promote economic growth.

“This is a historic day for the Millennium Challenge Corporation,” said
Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell, Chair of the MCC Board. “The
President’s vision has come to pass, and today’s decision by the Board
of Directors is a major step in implementing the vision of the MCC.”

The selected countries include: Armenia, Benin, Bolivia, Cape Verde,
Georgia, Ghana, Honduras, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia,
Mozambique, Nicaragua, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu. In making its
determinations, the Board considered both the past and current policy
performance of the candidate countries in the areas of governing justly,
investing in their own people and promoting economic freedom. The Board
also considered trends that indicated policy improvement or slippage.

“Our mission — encouraging and rewarding good policies that produce
sustainable economic growth — holds profound implications for freedom
and security across the globe,” MCC CEO [chief executive officer] Paul
Applegarth said today. “Today’s decision demonstrates the clear
commitment of the U.S. to reducing poverty and human suffering.”

The Board also approved a “Threshold Country” program, which will be
directed toward a limited number of candidate countries that have not
met the requirements for MCA eligibility but demonstrate a significant
commitment to meeting the requirements for eligibility. The Threshold
Country program will provide an added incentive to countries that are
committed to reform, and will be used to assist such countries in making
further progress towards becoming eligible for MCA assistance in future
years. MCC expects to work closely with USAID [U.S. Agency for
International Development] in this effort.

The United States is committed to the MCC as an innovative approach to
delivering foreign aid. Congress has appropriated $1 billion for the MCC
for this fiscal year, and President Bush has requested $2.5 billion for
FY05.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: )

7. ARMENIAN GROUP RELEASES LATEST BEDOUKIAN ‘STUDIES’

Source: World Coin News, May 8, 2004

The Armenian Numismatic Society has published the second volume of Dr.
Paul Z. Bedoukian’s Selected Numismatic Studies.

Bedoukian is considered the foremost authority in the study of Armenian
numismatics. His great knowledge of chemistry, metallurgy and Armenian
history has greatly added to the numismatic field.

The non-profit ANS was founded in 1971 and is the only Armenian
numismatic organization in existence. It publishes a number of books and
journals of Armenian ancient and medieval coins.

For more information on prices and ordering, write to: Armenian
Numismatic Society, Attn: Y.T. Nercessian, 8511 Beverly Park Place, Pico
Rivera, CA 90660, or call (562) 695-0380.

8. AREVAG: FESTIVAL OF ARMENIAN FILMMAKERS

Beirut International Documentary Festival (6th)
Mohamad Hashem
Founder & Manager

113-7222 – Hamra
Beirut – LEBANON
Tel: +961 3 771880
Fax: +961 1 352256

AREVAG. Festival of Armenian Filmmakers
May, 5, 2004

Arevag Film festival, which kicked of on April 26, 2004 in Beryte Hall
on the campus of Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon and closed
on April 30, was received by the audience and the local press by great
enthusiasm and success.

For the first time in the Middle East, a festival was solely dedicated
to Armenian filmmakers. Five filmmakers, who were attending the festival
presented the audience with many of their films, each filmmakers was
given a night and the selection of their films was done by the
filmmakers themselves.

The participating filmmakers were Serge Avedikian (France) Gariugin
Zakoyan (Armenia) Garine Torossian (Canada) Nigol Bezjian (Lebanon) and
Stephane Elmadjian (France).

The audience filled the cinema every night to full capacity and lively
debates and question/answer with the filmmakers followed at the end of
each screening night.

This successful event was organized as a joint venture between
Hamazkayin of Lebanon, Hamazkayin Centeral executive body and Docudays;
the only film festival in the Arab world dedicated to documentary films.

The admittance to the event was free and sponsored Societe General, Audi
and Credit Libanies banks, Libby’s, Haygazian University and AFHIL.

For more details of AREVAG festival, you may visit:

9. MARGARA VILLAGE WOULD BE FIRST TO ENJOY OPEN BORDER

Source: ArmeniaNow reporter, May 7, 2004

Along a 15-kilometer stretch of the Armavir region, a barbed wire fence
and the Araks river separates Armenia from Turkey, with the village of
Margara the last spot on the Armenian side. Villagers think the village
will profit if the border with Tukey is opened.

“See, that is the bridge and that is a Turkish soldier,” says Deputy
Head of Margara village Gharib Tadevosyan, pointing to a frontier guard
post.

He explains that the village Alijan, which can be seen over there, was
once Armenian.

People of Margara grow up accustomed to military-guarded borders.
Villagers have friendly relations with soldiers. The 15 th station of
frontier troops of the Russian Federation is based in Margara.

Until 1994 non-residents of Margara, could enter the village only with
special permits and passes.

“Our girls couldn’t get married, because people who were not residents
of the village couldn’t come to see them,” villager Samvel Mirzoyan
says. “For that reason almost everyone in the village are in-law
relatives to each other.”

There are 400 households and 1100 residents in Margara. This year 24
births have been registered.

“We love our village very much but the life is very passive here. It’s
true, we are people who keep the border but there is nothing interesting
here,” says Tadevosyan.

There is a cultural center in the village, but the roof is almost gone.
There is no kindergarten. There is a school for 240 students, but it has
no gym. Employees of the village government offices have not received
salaries for three years.

Gharib says when lands were distributed, families got 800 square meters
each. He complains that it isn’t enough, compared to what neighboring
villages got. Besides, the land itself is not so rich.

Villager Vachagan Asatryan moved to Margara from Spitak after the
earthquake of 1988.

He says Margara soil is too salty.

“People hardly work the land as the soil isn’t fertile,” Asatryan says.
“During Soviet times people used to add acid to the soil for increasing
its fertility. But now, who cares?”

Mirzoyan says the land has never been fertile, but that the village was
settled because of the river.

“Our grandfathers decided to go along the Araks and settle there.
Fishery was their primary occupation. They were living at the expense of
fishing. But now who will allow us to fish in the Araks?”

Villagers’ privatized lands are located behind the barbed wires within
the border. They can enter their own lands only with special permits.

“They open the fence in the morning at 9 o’clock and in the evening at 7
o’ clock they drive us out. We can’t fully use our day. We can’t work at
nights. But in summer our turn to get water often comes at night,” says
Mirzoyan, who argues that the river should be more accessible.

The village itself is in a depression created by a flood that in 1968
changed the center of the village.

May is always a dangerous month for Margara, when spring floods
threaten.

Near the border bridge is a half-built construction. Tadevosyan says it
was supposed to have been a tourist camp.

“They say when Breznev was in power they wanted to open the bridge but
probably they didn’t come to agreement and left the works incomplete,”
he says.

Over the past year there have been official speculation on opening the
border with Turkey. Margara would be the first Armenian territory
affected by such a situation. Villagers are in favor of seeing it
happen.

“We will be the first to make use of it,” Tadevosyan says. “If they open
the border the village will gain. One of the reasons is that there will
be a lot of new things to do. The trade will be developed, prices for
the lands here will increase and roads will be at last be
reconstructed.”

Deputy head of Margara village Gharib Tadevosyan. But he is interrupted
by Mirzoyan who says villagers aren’t prepared for the traffic of a
border town. They don’t know how to manage business, run restaurants,
hotels, he argues.

And he tells of the history of other traffic through Margara.

“People used to pass the border and join Kurdish troops in the struggle
against the Turks. We heard it from our grandfathers,” he says. “Those
who were going to escape, told those who stayed in the village, that as
soon as they successfully reach the place they will light fire on the
slopes of Masis and smoke of the fire would mean they have reached the
place without problems. And it happened the way they told.”

Samvel says a prosperous life in the village would prove to the outer
world that Armenia is in good conditions.

“The sound of our school bell can be heard in Turkey. If our lights are
switched off at night our neighbors can clearly see. If the village
lives good it will be good for everyone. After all Margara, in some
measure, is a lock for the country. ”

In Margara storks live in concord with villagers and soldiers. As
villagers say, these birds in these latter days don’t leave the village
even in winters. They are like frontier guards, who are simple dressed
in white.

10. ARMENIA RAISES $5.6 MLN FROM GOLD RESERVES SALE

Source: Interfax, May 7 2004

Armenia raised 3 billion dram (about $5.6 million) in net profit for the
country’s budget from the sale of gold reserves, Central Bank of Armenia
Chairman Tigran Sarkisyan told the press.

Armenia sold its entire gold reserve of 1,396.5 kilograms, estimated at
$17.1 million on October 1 2003 and forming part of the country’s
international reserves, at the end of 2003.

The sale was made in accordance with the international reserve
management strategy and had the approval of the Central Bank of Armenia
board, Sarkisyan said. The Armenian government made transaction through
international dealers when the price of gold topped $400 per troy ounce.

When foreign debt is double the volume of international reserves, there
is no need for a gold reserve because debt payments are made in dollars,
euros or SDR, Sarkisyan said.

Sarkisyan would not say whether the Central Bank would buy gold again if
international prices dropped.

The Finance Ministry reported that foreign debt on January 1 2004
totaled $1.097 billion and international reserves amounted to $512
million.

11. SMITHSONIAN ADVANCED COURSE IN CONSERVATION GIS

The Smithsonian Conservation and Research Center is offering the
following advanced GIS and remote sensing course:

Measuring Landcover Change and its Impact on Endangered Species
June 14-18, 2004

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
This one-week advanced GIS and remote sensing course provides
conservationists with an opportunity to learn how GIS and remote sensing
can be used to assess the conservation status of endangered species.
Participants will be provided with their own desktop computer for all
lab exercises. During the hands-on exercises participants will use the
Internet, ArcView, ArcView Spatial Analyst, ERDAS Imagine, Fragstats,
and other spatial analysis programs. Instructors will lead participants
step-by-step through the process of:

§ conducting a regional conservation assessment using GIS to determine
critical conservation areas for an endangered species;
§ acquiring multi-date satellite imagery to quantify land cover change
and to map the extent of the remaining habitat;
§ using landscape analysis to determine optimal landscape configurations
for conserving the endangered species.

Visit the following web address for more details and registration
information:

Contact:
Kate Jenks
[email protected]
1500 Remount Road
Front Royal, VA 22630
540-635-6535 (GIS Lab)
540-635-6506 (FAX)

12. MDF-TRAINING AND CONSULTANCY

Management for Development Foundation from the Netherlands is a
worldwide operating training and consultancy firm specialised in
capacity building, project management, and the standard EU management
method PCM, Project Cycle Management.

In the period 10 May – 4 June 2004 MDF organises for the 61th time its
internationally reputable Project Management Course in Ede, The
Netherlands. This course is based on the PCM method and offers managers
of developmental organisations, projects or activities everything they
might need in terms of technical management tools, personal skills and
human resources management methods and skills.

Today’s managers and advisors need to facilitate teams and groups to
analyse their situation and to make effective plans for action. From 2 –
10 June MDF offers a course on facilitation skills, also in the
Netherlands. This course improves your personal interaction skills,
provides insight in participative group processes and offers methods and
tools for different categories of participative decision-making events.
This course is designed and conducted in association with Bureau Frank
Little

Especially for clients in South East Europe involved with or interested
in projects or activities funded through one of the EC programmes such
as CARDS, TACIS or PHARE there is a new opportunity to get familiar with
the PCM management method. In close co-operation with Vakakis
International MDF organises two PCM courses in Athens, Greece in the
weeks of 24 May and 31 May. The first one focuses on the planning tool
Logical Framework whereas the second one concentrates more on Monitoring
and Evaluation. Together these courses cover the entire cycle of PCM
application throughout the lifespan of projects.

For more information consult our websites (, )
or contact us on [email protected] and [email protected]

—
*******************************************
CENN INFO
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)

Tel: ++995 32 92 39 46
Fax: ++995 32 92 39 47
E-mail: [email protected]
URL:

Armenia Tree Project
Yerevan 375025, Aygestan 9th Str., #6
Tel./Fax (374 1) 569910
Internet:
E-mail: [email protected]

Press Release
10.05.2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

US Ambassador’s Roundtable Participants Plant Evergreen at Tsitsernakaberd

Thursday, May 06 – John Ordway, the US Ambassador to Armenia, presided
during a special tree planting ceremony at Tsitsernakaberd on May 6 as
part of the Spring 2004 meetings of the semi-annual “U.S. Ambassador’s
Diaspora Roundtable.” After laying flowers in front of the Eternal
Flame, Roundtable participants planted a tree with the Ambassador in
the alley of evergreens. The tree planting was arranged by Armenia
Tree Project (ATP). Susan Yacubian Klein, ATP Country Director,
who also participated in the Ambassador’s Diaspora Roundtable,
accompanied the Ambassador during this act of respect.

For further information, please contact Karen Sarkavagyan at the
Armenia Tree Project, phone numbers 569910 and 553069, E-mail
[email protected]

The Armenia Tree Project was founded in 1994 during Armenia’s darkest
and coldest years with the vision of securing Armenia’s future
by protecting Armenia’s environment. Funded by contributions from
Diasporan Armenians, ATP has planted and rejuvenated over 500,000
trees at more than 450 sites ranging from Gumri to Goris.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

California Courier Online, May 13, 2004

1 – Commentary
Turks Identify Themselves As
Perpetrators of the Genocide

By Harut Sassounian
California Courier Publisher
**************************************************************************
2 – ALMA Features Two Exhibits: ‘Bloodlines,’
& ‘Images From the Ashes: Smyrna 1922’
3 – AIWA Will Honor Lily Balian
At May 22 Fundraiser in L.A.
4 – Concern Foundation Honors
Bosley CEO John Ohanesian
5 – AJA Elects New
Board for 2004
************************************************************************
1 – Commentary

Turks Identify Themselves As
Perpetrators of the Genocide

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

While April 1915 spelled a national disaster for the Armenian people, who
would have thought that 89 years later, the Armenian Genocide would still
haunt the Turks?
To the dismay of the Turkish government, several major developments last
month reminded the Turks that they cannot escape the consequences of the
crime committed in 1915:
— Five more U.S. states (Montana, Idaho, Tennessee, Nebraska, and
Louisiana) acknowledged the Armenian Genocide this month, bringing the
total number of such U.S. states to 36;
— The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement on April 21, expressing
“its extreme regret” that “a monument was erected in the yard of a Catholic
Church in Krakow, Poland, on April 17, 2004, with an inscription that reads
‘Armenians were the victims of genocide in Turkey in 1915;’ ”
— The New York Times issued an internal guideline stating that henceforth
it would refer to the Armenian Genocide as such without any denialist
qualifiers;
— Thousands of articles were published in newspapers throughout the world,
referring to the 89th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and covering the
commemorative events on that occasion;
— Both Presidential candidates in the United States issued solemn
statements on April 24. Pres. Bush recognized the mass murder of 1.5
million Armenians without using the word genocide, while Sen. Kerry called
it genocide and urged the international community to recognize it;
— One of the most significant developments for the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide occurred in Canada on April 21. With a vote of 153 to 68,
the Canadian Parliament officially recognized the Armenian Genocide,
despite strong Turkish opposition.
Hundreds of articles on this subject were published in Canada and Turkey on
the Parliament’s vote. The Turkish Ambassador and the Turkish communities
in Canada and the United States engaged in a massive lobbying campaign
trying to block this initiative. Afterwards, the Turkish government
threatened that the vote would have serious economic repercussions on
Canada, meaning that Turkey could cancel major business contracts with
Canadian companies.
There was, however, one key observation missing from all of these news
reports, editorials and commentaries. While wildly lashing out at Canada,
the Turkish government does not seem to have paid close attention to the
text of the resolution which reads as follows: “This House acknowledges the
Armenian genocide of 1915 and condemns this act as a crime against
humanity.”
Nowhere in the text is there a mention of Turks or Ottomans as the
perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. Why are the Turks then, so
vociferously complaining about this resolution? Simply because the Turks
know all too well — better than anyone else — the crime that was
committed by their ancestors. That knowledge must weigh heavily on their
collective guilty conscience. This resolution is not blaming them for
committing any crime. Under these circumstances, the Turks are simply
identifying themselves or accusing themselves of committing genocide
against the Armenians.
There is no more damning evidence of the genocide committed by the Turks
against the Armenians than their own acknowledgment or confession of their
guilt.
Turks Complain to The N. Y. Times
As expected, the Turks are lashing out at The New York Times for announcing
last month that it would henceforth refer to the Armenian Genocide simply
as genocide, without any qualifiers.
In a letter to Bill Keller, the Executive Editor of The New York Times, the
President of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, Ercument Kilic,
expressed his “disappointment” over the paper’s decision to describe as
genocide “the misfortune of the Ottoman Armenians.” After listing a series
of falsehoods, Kilic urged the Editor “to reconsider” his decision, stating
that “the image of The New York Times as a neutral and impartial medium has
been seriously tarnished.” As I had suggested in an earlier column, the
more the Turks complain to The New York Times, the more they help publicize
the Armenian Genocide.
Already, the newspaper’s new guideline has resulted in a lengthy and very
positive article on the Armenian Genocide, in the April 26 issue of the
prestigious New Yorker magazine. Writer Gary Bass recalled that Bill
Keller, the Executive Editor of The New York Times, referred to the
Armenian Genocide as genocide back in 1988 in an article he wrote during
his time at the paper’s Moscow bureau. Bass reported that during a phone
conversation last month, Keller told him: “It seemed a no-brainer that
killing a million people because they were Armenians fit the definition [of
genocide].”
In the weeks ahead, the Turks, with their complaints, will probably cause
more such positive articles to be written on the Armenian Genocide in many
other major newspapers and magazines.
**************************************************************************
2 – ALMA Features Two Exhibits: ‘Bloodlines,’
& ‘Images From the Ashes: Smyrna 1922’
WATERTOWN. Ma – The Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) announced
its most recent exhibit, “Images from the Ashes: Smyrna 1922” featured in
the Bedoukian Gallery, April 18 through October 3. The opening reception
will take place May 16, from 3 to 5 p.m., and will mark the opening of
Greek-American artist, Anna Spileos Scott’s, “Bloodlines,” a contemporary
and striking art installation commemorating the destruction of the city of
Smyrna. In addition, Anna Scott and “Bread” series artist, Apo Torosyan,
will give a lecture about their experiences and inspirations that are
reflected in their artwork.
In 1921, the city of Smyrna, south of Constantinople, was the second
largest city of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey’s primary center of trade and
culture, Smyrna known as “gavour Izmir” (“infidel Smyrna”) to the Turks, as
most of the population were Greeks, Armenians, Europeans and Jews. By
December 1922, the city was a smoldering ruin, with most of its population
murdered or driven out permanently in the ruthless drive to create a new
Turkish state without the “gavours.”
“Images from the Ashes: Smyrna 1922” examines the role of Smyrna on
Ottoman and European culture, as well as the primary roles of Greek and
Armenian Christian populations. Both groups, the native populations of the
area, were completely eliminated in this early model of ‘ethnic cleansing’.
Unlike other destroyed cities in history that are remembered today, the
city of Smyrna has been forgotten.
The exhibit tells the tragic story of the city in a diverse exhibit
encompassing different materials combined from a number of sources. The
exhibit includes an extensive photograph record of the city compiled by
Richard and Anne Elizabeth Elbrecht of Davis, Calif., The exhibit includes
rare images of the final days of the city prior to its destruction. These
photographs will be complemented by rare textiles, rugs, and publications
produced in Smyrna, all of which survived the final destruction. The
textiles, now part of the museum’s holding, were donated by the Yeranian
and Nicolaides families, who are immigrants from Smyrna.
Although Armenians made less than ten-percent of the population, the city
was a major center of Armenian arts and education. The destruction of the
Armenian population in 1922 was the final major atrocity of the Genocide,
the closing act on seven years of rape, murder and pillage.
On the same afternoon as the opening of “Bloodlines”, Peabody-based artist
Apo Torosyan will present his own experiences when he returned to his
native village in Turkey. Torosyan is a successful artist and lecturer who
has exhibited in hundreds of galleries, including several exhibits at ALMA.
He is perhaps best known for his “Bread” series of art, that incorporates
actual pieces of bread into his multimedia art installations. Torosyan’s
video and discussion will explore the emotional impact of his return to
Turkey after 25 years.
Admission is free to ALMA members and children under 14, and a $2 suggested
donation for non-members.
For more information, call the office at 617-926-2562
**************************************************************************
3 – AIWA Will Honor Lily Balian
At May 22 Fundraiser in L.A.
LOS ANGELES – The Armenian International Women’s Association (AIWA), Los
Angeles Affiliate, will honor Lily Ring Balian with the Outstanding Woman
of Achievement and Commitment Award at their annual fundraiser on May 22,
at The Millennium Biltmore Hotel.
Balian has represented Armenian women in Los Angeles for over 10 years
working to increase the visibility of Armenian women, promote their equal
role in the world and advance the discussion of education, social welfare,
culture, business and heritage in society. The AIWA luncheon will help
raise funds for their continuous outreach projects for women.
Balian lives in Los Angeles and serves as a consultant for political
campaigns statewide and nationally and has managed public affairs and
political campaigns in both the private and public sector for more than 20
years. In 1991, Gov. Pete Wilson appointed her to the California Commission
on the Status of Women where she advanced to Chair of the committee. Ring
Balian continues to take an active role in numerous organizations many of
which focus on women’s causes. She is currently the Vice President of the
KCET Women’s Council; a member of Women Los Angeles, participated as
chairperson of the Ladies Auxiliary of Western Diocese, served as former
President of the Los Angeles Affiliate of the Armenian Women’s
International Association, where, in 1995, she represented California, as
well as the AIWA at the United Nations Fourth World Conference for Women in
Beijing, China. It is for her ongoing commitment to Armenian women in
society that AIWA honors her this year at their annual fundraiser.
AIWA has worked to gather information about the changing role of women in
the world, monitored the activities of Armenian women, established an
Armenian Women’s archive and regularly sponsored programs and issues
publications to further these purposes.
For more information on the luncheon or to order tickets, contact Cindy
Norian at 310-277-4490, or Joan Agajanian Quinn at 310274-4938 by May 10.
For more information on AIWA, visit
**************************************************************************
4 – Concern Foundation Honors
Bosley CEO John Ohanesian
BEVERLY HILLS – The Concern Foundation for funding cancer research
worldwide announced the honoree for this year’s Annual Block Party. John R.
Ohanesian, President and CEO of Bosley, will be honored at the 30th annual
fundraiser on July 17, at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
The Concern Foundation wages a war against cancer every year by raising
money at its signature event and by promoting public awareness of its
community outreach programs. Ohanesian epitomizes the values of this
charitable organization. He is a humanitarian and community leader with
over two decades of experience in the health care industry.
Ohanesian has been President and Chief Operating Officer of Bosley since
joining the company in 1990. As of 2001, he assumed the role of Chief
Executive Officer after successfully completing the acquisition of Bosley
by Aderans, Inc. of Tokyo, Japan. Since joining Bosley, the world leader in
surgical hair restoration, Ohanesian has led growth from 8 offices to 90
offices and from 68 employees to over 600 employees. Performing more
surgical hair restoration procedures than any company in the world, Bosley
was the first medical provider in the United States to successfully produce
and air an infomercial in 1993. As President and CEO, Ohanesian has been
the prime caretaker of the company founder’s core values – personal
integrity and the highest level of quality patient care. Bosley advanced
many of the artistic techniques used worldwide today to achieve natural
results under the leadership of hair restoration pioneer L. Lee Bosley,
M.D.
>>From 1984 to 1990, Ohanesian was Vice President of Saint John’s Hospital
and Health Center in Santa Monica, from 1990-1996 he was a member of the
California Citizens Compensation Commission as an appointee of Gov. George
Deukmejian.
Since 2000, Ohanesian has been an active member of the Los Angeles Music
Center’s Center Theatre Group, the operating company for the Ahmanson
Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum. He is on the Corporate Circle Committee
and assumed the Co-Chair role from 2001 to 2003. He joined the Board of
Directors in 2001 and presently serves as Vice-Chair of the Development
Committee.
Ohanesian resides in Beverly Hills with his two daughters, Adona and Ava.
Ohanesian enjoys supporting his daughters’ schools, in particular, the
Curtis School Hot Lunch Program where he has volunteered annually since
1994.
For more information, contact Lysa Barry, Barry & Associates at
818-716-7111 or [email protected].
**************************************************************************
5 – AJA Elects New Board for 2004

LOS ANGELES – At its first 2004 general membership meeting, the Armenian
Jewelers Association, West Coast, elected a new Board of Directors.
Meeting on April 12 at Mandaloon Restaurant, discussions were held for a
new agenda and plans for the year were sketched out.
The new Board members are: Peklar A. Pilavjian, Ghazaros Ghazarossian, Joe
Zabounian, Gevork Hagopian, Karen Michaelian, Vatche Fronjian, Jack
Hovanessian, Krekor Karaguezian, George Gulian, Aret Menzilcian, and
Khachig Hawatian.
**************************************************************************
**************************************************************************
**************************************************************************
The California Courier On-Line is a service provided by the California
Courier. Subscriptions or changes of address should not be transmitted
through this service. Information in that regard should be telephoned
to (818) 409-0949; faxed to: (818) 409-9207, or e-mailed to:
[email protected]. Letters to the editor concerning issues
addressed in the Courier may be e-mailed, provided it is signed by
the author. Phone and/or E-mail address is also required to verify
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**************************************************************************

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Municipal polls The family factor

Monday Morning, Lebanon
May 10 2004

The dramatic recent events in the Middle East have not overshadowed
the municipal elections, which are at the center of the Lebanese
interest this month. President Emile Lahoud was particularly
concerned, in the last few months, for ensuring a climate of security
and neutrality, through the intermediary of the administrative and
security apparatus, the Army and Internal Security Forces maintaining
order around and inside the election offices. President Lahoud was
also in favor of having an agreement in the towns and localities
where it would be possible to set up consensual tickets, but if this
was not the case, the municipal elections should take place in a calm
atmosphere, given that the municipality assumes functions having an
administrative nature, or relating to the environment, health and
public services. Receiving Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Peter
VIII Abdelahad, President Lahoud insisted on the necessity of having
“all the Lebanese disregard their dissensions and sensitivities that
are the case of ill-feeling”.

“They should close ranks and join efforts so as to confront the dangers
threatening the Middle East and the challenges facing us”, he added.

‘Preservation of harmony’

After Mount Lebanon, came the turn of Beirut and the Bekaa to elect
their candidates on May 9.

As to what concerns the capital, the odds seemed to be strongly
in favor of the ticket sponsored by Prime Minister Rafik Hariri,
especially after Abdelhamid Fakhouri withdrew his candidacy. Fakhouri
pulled out after former Prime Minister Salim Hoss, a Sunnite notable
in Beirut, decided to distance himself from the elections. For his
part, Tammam Salam, another Sunnite figure and also a supporter of
Fakhouri, decided to support the ticket headed by Abdelmonem Aris,
outgoing mayor of Beirut.

Salam praised the formation of the “Beirut Unity” ticket sponsored
by Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, designed to embrace as much of the
city’s confessional political and confessional horizon as possible
in order to “maintain the unity of Beirut and express the desire of
its people to live together in harmonious coexistence”.

There was one slight note of disharmony in Hariri’s refusal to accept a
candidate of the Kataeb Party on the Unity ticket, reportedly because
the leader of the party, Karim Pakradouni, minister of administrative
development, had irritated the prime minister by opposing proposals
supported by him during cabinet meetings.

Pakradouni tried to put the best face on the matter by indicating that
he preferred to withdraw his party’s candidate rather than compromise
national unity.

As for Gebran Araiji, leader of the Syrian Social National Party
(SSNP), he declared in the name of the committee of parties, “We have
noted Salam’s desire to preserve harmony between all sides and ensure
their representation [on the municipal council], and especially the
representation of the Christians within the ‘Unity’s ticket”. He
added that “Syria supports this action, and this is proved by the
fact that President Bashar Assad has affirmed his determination to
remain equidistant from all the components of the Lebanese population”.

Murr: ‘In favor of democratic elections’

Elias Murr, minister of the interior and of municipal affairs, stated
following a meeting with Mgr. Elias Audé, Greek Orthodox archbishop of
Beirut, that his main concern was that “the municipal elections have
taken place in a democratic manner, giving Lebanon some credibility
abroad”. He added, “If we think that the municipal elections in a
certain region will lead to trouble that may endanger public security,
we will postpone the elections for one month”.

Following a fracas between supporters of MP Walid Jumblatt, leader
of the Progressive Socialist Party, and Talal Arslan, head of the
Lebanese Democratic Party, in the Mount Lebanon town of Shweifat,
Murr stated that those who provoked it may have wanted to postpone
the municipal elections in that region, where the two traditional
fractions of the Druze community, “Yazbakis” and “Jumblattis”, were
confronting each other.

In response to the statement made by the Free Patriotic Current,
loyal to exiled General Michel Aoun, accusing the authorities of bias
in the conduct of the elections, Murr replied, “We’ve heard the same
accusation from several of the many candidates. That’s why we have
set up a special bureau to receive such complaints and investigate
them and check their veracity”.

The minister was non-committal about the situation in the Beirut
polls, to be held on May 9. “I think that Premier Hariri, being in
the strongest position, will have the lion’s share of the seats on
the city council”.

Lahoud satisfied

Back to the elections in Mount Lebanon. President Lahoud expressed
satisfaction with the results and the way the polls had been conducted
and congratulated the winning candidates and the officials responsible
for polling stations and security. “The elections in Mount Lebanon
should serve as models for the polls in other provinces”. At Shweifat,
the Jumblattist candidate won the palm, while Talal Arslan called
for an invalidation of the poll “because of flagrant irregularities”.

In the North Metn, MP Michel Murr, the dominant political figure of
the region, sponsored tickets in 40 of the 48 municipalities and was
the main winner in the elections.

In Jounieh, ticket-splitting and vote-buying were the principal
accusations made by the competing candidates. Two tickets were in
contention for the 16,000 voters. The first, called “Jounieh of the
Future”, included the outgoing mayor, Adel Bou-Karam, and was backed
by MPs Georges Frem and Mansour el-Bone. The other, supported by MP
Farid el-Khazen and Minister Fares Bouez and called “All for Jounieh”,
was led by Juan Hobeish. The latter ticket managed to obtain the
largest number of seats on the municipal council.

In Deir al-Kamar, 11 of the 12 candidates on the ticket sponsored by
Dory Chamoun, leader of the National Liberal Party and mayor of the
town, were elected. Only the head of the opposing ticket, retired
Brigadier Adonis Nehmé, broke through the Chamoun list.

Michel Murr:’No link between municipal polls and the presidential
election’

Following his success in the North Metn, Michel Murr, replying to a
reporter’s question, indicated that “the presidential election is in
no way linked to the municipal polls” and criticized those who wanted
to “do battle with the Administration, that is, with the president,
and in his own fief, the Metn District… which is and will remain an
area of Christian moderation, and President Lahoud wishes to see this
attitude of mind maintained throughout the region.

“That is why, when the political battle comes, we shall declare
our position in all frankness and say: this region will be behind
President Lahoud if he stands as a candidate for the headship of
the state. President Lahoud is considered a man of deep patriotism,
as he proved in South Lebanon, and he opposes the implantation of
[Palestinian] refugees. I will always be by his side, whatever
the battle may be, not least that of a renewal of the presidential
mandate”.

In Dekwaneh, all factions of the opposition supported the incomplete
ticket of Joseph Bou-Abboud, which confronted the pro-Michel Murr
ticket of Antoine Nicolas Shakhtoura, which captured the majority of
seats in contention.

In Sin al-Fil, there was an intense battle between the opposition
ticket led by Nabil Kahalé and that of the outgoing mayor, Sami
Shaoul, pro-Murr. Fifteen of the 18 seats went to the opposition.
In Jdeide-Boushrieh, everyone was surprised to see the arrival,
carried en masse in minibuses, of bedouins brought in to vote for
the pro-Murr ticket. They were heard discussing the “tariff”, which
was not up to their expectations, but which they received as soon
as they had cast their ballots. As usual, the Armenian Tashnak Party
came down solidly on the side of the Administration.

The opposition was divided between the reformist Kataeb movement,
supporting Boulos Kanaan’s (second) ticket, on the one hand, and a
ticket representing the Free Patriotic Current, the National Liberals
and the Lebanese Forces on the other.

In Jal al-Dib, fief of the Abou-Jaoudé family, the contest was between
two tickets, one headed by Edouard Abou-Jaoudé (pro-Murr), the other
by Tony Abou-Jaoudé and Antoine Zard (Free Patriotic Current-National
Liberals Lebanese Front).

In Antelias, three tickets were in contention. The first was led by
Elie Farhat Abou-Jaoudé, outgoing mayor, supported by Michel Murr and
the Tashnak Party. The second, led by Basam Abou-Fadel and enjoying
the support of the Rahbanis, refused to politicize the elections. The
third, that of the opposition, was supported by the reformist Kataeb
and the Free Patriotic Current.

In Dbayé, four tickets opposed one another: that of the outgoing mayor,
Kabalan Ashkar, supported by the SSNP; that of the outgoing deputy
mayor, Salim Massoud, backed by Michel Murr and the Tashnak; the
third comprised opposition personalities, Aounists and independents
with the support of the NLP; and the fourth, led by Milad Massoud,
candidate of the reformist Kataeb.

The “alliance” between Michel Murr and Amin Gemayel remained undeclared
and had the purpose of giving victory to the largest number of Kataeb
candidates. Ticket-splitting was the rule.

>>From Bikfaya and Baabdat to Jbeil In Bikfaya, Amin Gemayel and
Toufik Daher, the outgoing mayor, brought together a ticket of 15
members led by Fuad Abi-Hayla. Another ticket of six members was
assembled by families in the town who felt they should be represented
on the municipal council.

In Baabda, a ticket was agreed bringing together the leading families
of the town, led by Imad Labaki, nephew of the outgoing mayor, Assaad
Labaki. This ticket was backed by MP Nassib Lahoud and Salim Salhab,
who is “close to” the National Bloc.

In Jbeil, two large tickets and one ticket of the opposition faced
one another. Family considerations prevailed over political factors.
Of particular interest was the alliance enjoying the support of MP
Nazem Khouri, close to General Michel Sleiman, commander-in-chief
of the Army, and formed by the Hawat and Shami (National Bloc)
families, who were allied for the first time in half a century,
with the Kallabs (Destourians). The purpose of this combination was
to dislodge Jean-Louis Kardahi, who was himself mayor before being
appointed minister of telecommunications. Kardahi reportedly had the
backing of influential figures in the Administration and had used
the facilities of his department to win the favor of the Jbeiliotes.

Ticket-splitting and vote-buying

In Hadeth and Shiyah, two important towns of the Baabda-Aley District,
the Aounists comprised the most important opposition force to confront
the tickets loyal to the Administration. Other “opposition” forces were
too fragmented to be taken seriously. In Ghobeiri, in the southwestern
suburbs of the capital, a Hezballah tidal wave called into question
the popularity of the Amal Movement, led by the parliamentary speaker,
Nabih Berri.

The poor performance of opposition candidates reflected their habitual
inability to cooperate effectively.

In their monthly message, the Maronite bishops deplored the fact
that family considerations had played such a major role in deciding
voters’ choices.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

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

Balkanalysis.com, AZ
May 10 2004

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

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

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

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

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

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

According to the same article,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

;file=article&sid=343

System Of A Down Get Back To Business
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Chart Attack, Canada
May 10 2004

System Of A Down have been incredibly busy lately and they’re
only going to get busier. Having recently completed their massively
successful Souls 2004 benefit concert, System Of A Down are currently
in the late stages of pre-production on their new album.

System Of A Down have been passionate about their Armenian heritage
and vocal about political inequities since their emergence onto the
music scene in 1998, and their new album will surely be no exception.
SOAD’s new album, will be the follow-up to their hugely popular
Toxicity, which was released in September 2001.

System Of A Down band members Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian and John
Dolmayan have been in a North Hollywood, California rehearsal studio
since January. The band members have been busy writing and rehearsing
almost non-stop since the beginning of this year, with recording of
the album beginning this summer.

The details surrounding the new album are fairly top-secret. However in
a recent statement Malakian was able to give some hints. “Two or three
years ago, Serj and I knew that we wanted something different for this
album … the whole world’s gone crazy over the past couple of years,
so that’s brought out a lot of emotions and affected our songwriting,”
he said. “We just want to make a great rock record, a record that
will be heavy, but heavy in emotion, not just heavy in riffs.”

Some fans at the April 26 Souls 2004 benefit concert (to commemorate
the lives lost in the Armenian Genocide) expected SOAD to play a
couple of their new songs – unfortunately, the band did not fulfil
expectations. In a statement to Rolling Stone, bassist Shavo Odadjian
said that they’re not going to play or perform any of the songs from
their upcoming record until they’re “really ready.” Expect SOAD’s
new album to hit record stores late this year.

-Stephanie Lagopoulos

SYMBOLIC RITUAL OF PASSING THROUGH BARBED WIRE INVENTED

A1 Plus | 18:57:31 | 11-05-2004 | Politics |

Each participant of the For and Against Civil Will forum held Tuesday
by 40 organizations had to go through barbed wire to get in the hall.

Armenian Helsinki Assembly member Isabella Sargssyan says: “When I
passed through the wire, some sense of freedom from fear and victory
over lawlessness came over me”.

Armenia authorities, opposition agree on start of dialogue

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 11 2004

YEREVAN, May 11 (Itar-Tass) – Armenia’s authorities and the opposition
have succeeded in agreeing on the start of a political dialogue and
the formulation of an agenda for talks, Parliament Speaker Artur
Bagdasaryan announced here on Monday night at the close of a regular
meeting between officials of the ruling pro-president coalition and
the opposition.

Bagdasaryan said, “Political consultations that have been held in the
parliament of Armenia from February to May have yielded the first
positive results,” said the Speaker’s statement circulated by the
parliamentary press service.

Members of the factions represented in the National Assembly “agreed
on the start of a political dialogue. An appropriate agenda is to be
formulated on May 13,” the Parliament Speaker pointed out.

The demand for a political dialogue between Armenia’s authorities
and the opposition is contained in a resolution passed by the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that considered the
internal political situation in Armenia on April 28.

The opposition continues to insist on President Robert Kocharyan’s
resignation. The opposition also demands that that the arrested
activists of the opposition be released, that the opposition be given
airtime in live television broadcasts, that residents of Armenia’s
regions be given an unimpeded access to Yerevan for participation in
anti-government actions.

The authorities of the republic refer to the opposition actions as
“manifestations of political extremism”. The opposition rally that
took place in downtown Yerevan on the night from April 12 to13 was
dispersed by police.

The opposition has taken a time-out in the holding of meetings in
Yerevan for the period from the coming Wednesday to May 14.

Movie tells of Armenian family’s experience
By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
May 11 2004

GLENDALE — Armenian-Americans are expected to respond to Glendale
resident Vahe Babaian’s film “After Freedom,” but the first-time
feature filmmaker believes his portrayal of the immigrant experience
could also appeal to a wider audience.

The film will open Friday at the Glendale Cinemas and Laemmle’s Music
Hall in Beverly Hills. Over the past two years, the film has been
shown at the Method Fest Independent Film Festival, the Montreal
World Film Festival and the Avignon Film Festival.

“It’s about people; everyone can relate to it,” said Babaian, 43,
an Armenian-American who grew up in Iran.

“After Freedom” is about a young Armenian-American man, played by
Mic Tomasi, and his relationships with his father, his fiance and
his at-times reckless friends.

Tomasi’s character, Michael Abcarian, feels obligated to his father,
who brought his family to the United States and struggles to make a
living in his new country.

Like the father in the film, Babaian’s own father, who had worked
for British Airways before coming to the United States from Lebanon,
could not find comparable work in the United States and instead worked
for a carpet store and a fan company before he died in 1987.

Babaian’s mother died when he was getting ready to shoot the film.
The relationship between father and son plays a prominent role in
the film, and that will be compelling for viewers, he said.

“A lot of questions are not answered when you lose your parents like
that early on,” he said.

Both Babaian and Tomasi attended Herbert Hoover High School in
Glendale.

Glendale is briefly mentioned in the film as being where Tomasi’s
character lives, but the film was shot throughout the Los Angeles area,
Babaian said.

The budget for the film, which was finished in 2002, was less than
$1 million.

Greg Laemmle, president of Laemmle Theatres, said his company has
had success showing films by or about Armenians in the past, and that
Armenian-Americans respond.

“While they don’t come out for every picture, when they do they come
out in large numbers,” he said.

Babaian has lived in Glendale since he came to the United States
at the age of 16 knowing only a few words of English. He learned
filmmaking at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and paid his
way by working full time at a supermarket.

In a future project, “Hotel Luxe,” Babaian plans to convey his
experience in a hotel in war-torn Beirut, where his family stayed
while trying to arrange their immigration to the United States.

Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304 [email protected]

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
May 11 2004

INTER-PARLIAMENTARY GROUP OF COOPERATION PLAYS IMPORTANT ROLE IN
DEVELOPMENT OF AZERBAIJAN -GERMANY RELATIONS
[May 11, 2004, 10:51:07]

As was informed by AzerTAj, on May 10, members of the Germany-Caucasus
parliamentary group of Bundestag, Germany, have met members of
the Azerbaijan-Germany inter-parliamentary group of cooperation of
Milli Majlis.

Having welcomed the visitors, the head of Azerbaijan-Germany
inter-parliamentary group of cooperation, academician Jalal Aliyev
noted that between our countries there are friendly relations with
ancient history. Similar visits even more expand our cooperation.
German businessmen willingly put investments into various branches of
economy of Azerbaijan. After regaining state independence, Azerbaijan
under the direction of our national leader, President Heydar Aliyev
in the country began realization of some large projects, and it has
turned to very much advanced country of region. However, as a result
of occupation by Armenia of the 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands, more
than one million people became refugees and IDPs in their homelands.
The fact creates serious obstacles for development of the country.
The century, in which we live, is a century of protection of human
rights. But the states of the world and the international organizations
do not want to apply sanctions against the Armenian aggressors and to
put the aggressor on its place. We hope, that our German friends will
help us to solve the problem in the peace way within the framework
of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The head of German delegation Christoph Bergner informed, that
today they have met the refugees placed in Baku. We have very
heavy impression. In structure of delegation, there are the persons
representing both opposition, and authority. If in the Bundestag also
there are disagreements in the decision of any question, but in the
question of cooperation with Azerbaijan all are unanimous.

The goal of visit to Azerbaijan is carrying out exchange of opinions
on some questions. Parliaments play great attention on development
of relations between our countries and rapprochement of our peoples.

At the meeting, passed in a friendly and mutual understanding, the
parties had exchange of opinions and on a number of other questions
representing interest, and also deputies have shared their impressions.