ArmenPress
April 27 2004

RETAIL PRICES OF POTATO, CABBAGE AND GRAPE ARE DOWN

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS: According to Agri-Business
Development Center, retail prices of cabbage, potatoes, grape,
tomatoes are down, prices of flour, barley, wheat, onion, beef and
pork are up and prices of butter, sugar did not change as compared to
the same period last month.
The market price for one kg of pork a year ago was 1200-1300 drams
while its present average price is 1860 drams. Beef is sold at 1400
(2003 – 1200 drams). The present price of poultry is 1200 drams
against 1000 drams in 2003. Egg was sold at 44 drams a year ago,
while in January it increased to 55 and at present is sold at 58
drams.
Potatoes were sold in 2003, April at 200 drams per kilogram while
in January it reduced to 140 and its present price is 80-100 drams.
Last year cucumber was sold at 800 drams while this year it is 500
drams. Average price for apple is 400 drams. It increased by 100
drams as compared to the same period last year.
The highest prices can be observed at Mashtotc avenue market
number 1 and the lowest prices at Malatia market number 4 and in the
markets of Gyumri and Spitak.

ArmenPress
April 27 2004

SATELLITE IMAGERY FINDS EXTRAORDINARY OBJECT ON MOUNT ARARAT

WASHINGTON, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS: The US Trinity Corporation
announced Monday that they have collected new satellite images taken
over Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey that will add a new twist to an
exploration that has been going on for centuries, AP reported. The
images, which were revealed at a press conference at the National
Press Club in Washington, DC, reveal a man- made structure at the
site where the Bible states Noah’s Ark came to rest.
The first pictures of the site, taken by the U.S. Air Force in
1949, revealed what seemed to be a structure covered by ice, but were
held in a confidential file labeled “Ararat Anomaly” for years. In
1997, the government released several of these images, but experts
deemed them inconclusive.
The summer of 2003 provided a great opportunity to take a new
series of photographs. It was the hottest summer in Europe since
1500, which caused a massive meltdown on Mount Ararat. Daniel P.
McGivern, president of Shamrock – The Trinity Corporation, who had
been searching for the Ark via satellite for several years, used
Digital Globe’s Quick Bird satellite to collect a new set of
satellite images. Quick Bird is the world’s highest resolution
commercial imaging satellite.
Mr. McGivern has compiled a team of scientists, archaeologists and
forensic experts to excavate the object and collect samples beginning
in August of this year. The goal is o enter what they believe to be a
mammoth structure some 45 feet high, 75 feet wide and up to 450 feet
long that was exposed in part by last summer’s heat wave in Europe.
“We are not excavating it. We are not taking any artifacts. We’re
going to photograph it and, God willing, you’re all going to see it,”
McGivern said.
“These new photos unequivocally show a man-made object,” said Mr.
McGivern. “I am convinced that the excavation of the object and the
results of tests run on any collected samples will prove that it is
Noah’s Ark.” The field manager for the excavation will be Dr. Ahmet
Ali Arslan, a native of Turkey who has traveled up Mount Ararat 50
times in 40 years and formerly worked in the Turkey Prime Minister’s
office. He plans to discuss the details of the excavation with the
Prime Minister next week.
In 1957, Turkish air force pilots spotted a boat-shaped formation
in Agri province. The government did not pursue the sighting,
however. The entire area, including Mount Ararat, was off limits to
foreigners because of Soviet complaints that explorers were U.S.
spies.
That ban was lifted in 1982, and since then teams of explorers
have visited the area but have been unable to substantiate any claim
of an ark. McGivern and Ahmet Ali Arslan, say satellite photos have
helped them pinpoint a more exact location.
The biblical account in the Book of Genesis says that after the
great deluge, the ark came to rest on the mountain with Noah’s family
and a cargo of male and female pairs of every kind of animal.
Geologists say even though there is evidence of a flood in
Mesopotamia in Sumerian times, it is not possible for a ship to make
landfall at an altitude as high as Mount Ararat.

When family history has to be downloaded

Chance discovery of a photo on the Internet connects one Armenian to a
painful past

By Houry Mayissian
Special to The Daily Star
Saturday, April 24, 2004

I waited impatiently for the picture that was loading, bit by bit, on
my screen. I felt that it would be a small piece of a big, unsolved
puzzle – my family’s history. After a couple of moments of waiting,
the picture loaded. There they were: My great-grandmother,Aznive
Pootchigian at the age of five, with three of her family members in
Kharpert, Western Armenia, or what is now called Turkey.

The internet is amazing when it comes to the amount of information it
can supply. But I never thought I would find a picture of my
great-grandmother taken in 1912 in her hometown, a couple of years
before it was raided by the Turks.

I sat in front of my computer, unable to move, and examined the
picture -the people in it, the background, the caption – like an
antique. The picture seemed to be taken in a garden with big trees
appearing in the background. All four people carried an object I
couldn’t identify: Something like a plant or flower, but yet seems to
be made up of cloth. My great-grandmother was the youngest in the
picture. She wore a long dress with small flowers on it. Even though
all four of them seemed to look straight into the camera at the time
the picture was taken, my great-grandmother’s look was much more
serious, much more “direct” than the others. It seemed as though she
was looking at me, right into my eyes, rather than at the camera. She
didn’t smile; she didn’t look sad; she just looked serious.

I kept thinking about the strange coincidence that had led me to her
picture. I was using the “Google” search engine to look for Armenian
music. I noticed the family name “Pootchigian” in the description of
one of the Web sites. I had heard from my grandmother that my
great-grandmother’s maiden name was Pootchigian. I also knew that I
had relatives by that name in the United States, but that contact
between our families had long since been lost.

I immediately clicked on the link that transported me to the Web site
of the Pootchigian family currently residing in the States. A whole
“new world” opened in front of me: Pictures, old and new, historic
data, a family tree, in which my mother, father and even big brother
were included. My name wasn’t there, though. Contact between the
families had probably been lost before I was born.

I knew bits of facts about how part of my great-grandmother’s family
had escaped to the US, how she had survived the Armenian genocide. But
I didn’t know all the details. Suddenly I felt the urge to have the
whole story laid out before me like the picture I was looking at.

I printed out the photo and took it to my grandmother. I didn’t know
whether she would recognize her mother at the age of five. The moment
she looked at the picture, however, tears started to come to her eyes.

“Oh my God … It’s my mom,” she exclaimed with a faint voice that
seemed to be suffocated by her tears. I had never seen my grandmother
in such a “lost” state. Her eyes were filled with pain, longing and
confusion. The rosy color of her fleshy cheeks disappeared behind her
tears.

“My uncle and his children live in the States. He has many
grandchildren as well. My mom used to say that my uncle migrated to
the States to work before the massacres started. She had another
brother who was hanged by the Turks.” And so my grandmother started
the story. A story every Armenian family has – one which brings tears
to the eyes of any listener, one which makes people wonder about how
savage humans can be.

My great-grandmother was seven years old when the Armenian genocide
started. It took the lives of more than 1.5 million Armenians and
deprived the rest of their homeland. During the years 1915-1918, amid
the confusion of World War I, the Young Turks carried out the
deliberate deportation and massacre of the entire Armenian population
of the Ottoman Empire. Most of them were massacred along the
road. Those who survived scattered across the globe. Almost nine
decades have passed, but the realization of being descendants of
genocide survivors remains firm in the minds of new Armenian
generations.

My great grandmother was deported with her mother and her two aunts,
like all the Armenians living in Kharpert.

“They spent days walking under the sun, barefoot, without food, water
or proper clothes, stripped of their dignity, stolen of their
possessions,” continued my grandmother.

My great-grandmother had been separated from her mother in Diyarbekir,
somewhere along the endless journey. She was adopted by a Turk and
never saw her mother after that.

“She used to repeat the story over and over again. She remembered the
smell of death lingering in the air, the sight of mutilated corpses on
the sides of the roads they passed by, the savage treatment meted out
by the Turk gendarmes to those who were no longer able to continue
walking, the hunger, the thirst, the rapes, everything. Despite that,
however, despite all the things that terrorized her, as a child at
least she felt secure that her mother was with her to hold her hand,
to carry her, to cover her eyes when necessary. A while later,
however, she lost even that.”

My great-grandmother was raised by the man who adopted her into his
family.”She used to tell me that she secretly kept an Armenian book
from her school books with her. She used to read it secretly when she
had time alone so she wouldn’t forget her mother tongue,” my
grandmother said. With the help of an Armenian lady, my grandmother
was married at the age of 14 to an Armenian. Later, they moved from
Diyarbekir to Aleppo and then Beirut.

After I heard the story, I went back to the Web site to see the
pictures of the relatives I never knew about. The Pootchigians are now
a well-known family in California. One of them, Chuck Pootchigian, is
a member of the State Senate.

Yet the most important thing for me remained the picture. As I looked
at it, I wondered what they knew. Did they have a clue that they would
be victims of such a great crime? Probably not. But I know, and my
children will. So will all the new generations of young Armenians. And
so will the world, despite the ongoing denial by Turkey and the
failure by the international community to properly condemn this crime
against humanity.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Polish Press Agency
PAP News Wire
April 27, 2004 Tuesday

Kwasniewski meets president of Azerbaijan

Warsaw

President Aleksander Kwasniewski and the visiting President Ilham
Aliev of Azerbaijan discussed the situation in the Caucasus region,
fight against terrorism and bilateral relations in Warsaw Tuesday.

Andrzej Majkowski, head of the presidential International Affairs
Office told PAP that the two presidents discussed the present state of
talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia concerning Nagorno Karabakh.

The European Economic Summit staring Wednesday will provide an
opportunity to hold a bilateral meeting of Aliev with President Robert
Kocharian of Armenia.

In his talks with Kwasniewski Aliev confirmed that the Armenian
contingent of 150 men will stay in Iraq, and expressed readiness to
continue to participate actively in the fight against terrorism,
according to Majkowski.

The Polish president declared that Poland as a European Union member
will strive to continue to develop relations with the Caucasus region
countries.

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
April 27, 2004

AGRICULTURE: ACHIEVEMENTS, PROBLEMS, PROSPECTS

Declaring its independence and winning the war, the Republic of
Nagorni Karabakh faced another difficult problem: restoration of the
economy of the country adjusting it to the rules of the market
relationships and achieving tangible results in improving the quality
of life of the population. DATA ON NEAR PAST: in the Soviet years the
autonomous region of Nagorni Karabakh was a rather developed agrarian
region, which supplied raw material. It was developed to such a level
that was the main supplier of grapes, meat and dairy products to
Azerbaijan, naturally with a large net of factories of fabrication of
wine, meat and dairy products. The following are data provided by the
NKR Ministry of Agriculture. The highest rate of productivity of
vineyards was reported in 1980 and 1984: 123.2 and 121.2 centners per
hectare (total volume of harvest was 137 981 tons from 10 954
hectares; 164 227 tons from 13 600 hectares). The harvest was good in
1981-1982 as well (116.4 and 113.8 centners per hectare); in 1976,
1977, 1979 respectively 104.1, 104.8 and 103.4 centners per hectare.
In the postwar years the highest rate of productivity was reported in
2000: 42.4 centners per hectare. According to the data of the NKR
Ministry of Agriculture, in 1985 only through artificial insemination
97 500 head livestock, 282 100 sheep, 93 600 pigs, 575 000 poultry
were bred. Against 1985 in 1993 the number of cattle livestock reduced
by 72 percent, sheep 92 percent, pigs 92 percent; the amount of
poultry and beehives also reduced steeply. In the same period the
production of meat dropped 6.7 times, milk 6.4 times, eggs 83 times.
The situation was comparatively better in the sphere of grain
production. The success of the past two years are almost close to the
highest rates of the last years of the Soviet Union; in 2003 about
85.2 thousand tons of grain was produced in the republic (the
productivity per hectare was 21.2 centners), and in 1988 107.8
thousand tons was produced (productivity per hectare was 27.3
centners). For the government of the newly established republic it was
clear that the development of the country’s economy should be related
to the development of agriculture. The ministry of agriculture was
established on the very first days and was meant to work out strategic
and tactical programs of development of agriculture. LAND FOR THE
FARMERS: The privatization of land was the first strategic
agricultural problem in NKR. And again the same problem occurred: is
the farmer able to work the land alone or is it better to do it
cooperatively? The problems, which occurred in the process of
privatization, were and are discussed in the newspapers. In this
article we wish to speak about the success achieved in the past ten
years. To know what the possibilities the agricultural ministry are to
support the farmer and which branches of agriculture will become
priority, we talked to the NKR minister of agriculture Benik
Bakhshiyan. PRIVATIZATION WITHOUT CONSIDERATION OF THE LEVEL OF
DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGION IS AN OBSTACLE FOR THE NKR AGRICULTURE:
According to the NKR minister of agriculture Benik Bakhshiyan,
privatization of land in Artsakh without the consideration of the
level of development of the region has become an obstacle for the
development of the country’s agriculture. The situation is that land
privatization in Artsakh, as well as in entire Armenia, according to
the minister, was carried out according to the model of Ararat
valley. This region noted for developed viticulture, vegetable
orcharding, with a large irrigation system (confer irrigated land of
Karabakh total 5 percent of the farming land), and what is more
important, the large consumption market of agricultural products
capital city Yerevan is near. In Artsakh there is no efficient system
of irrigation channels, processing factories, in other words
conditions for formation of stable market. According to the minister,
it will take Karabakh time to reach the level of Ararat valley. “It
was not sufficiently studied whether this model of privatization could
be used in Karabakh. In Soviet years we had well-developed complex
cattle breeding. During the war and in the postwar years the situation
changed. If in those times 90 and more percent of products of cattle
breeding was put to market, now despite the absence of statistical
data, production of cattle-breeding products does not exceed 50
percent. Today there are 50 thousand head of cattle. However, almost
there is no production of fodder. And to develop cattle breeding it is
necessary to establish production of at least 30 percent at
home. Mountain sides with growing perennial plants supplied fodder at
the same time preventing erosion of land. Now these lands are
seriously endangered as every year these lands are put under crop. And
all this is the consequence of wrong privatization plan.” “KARABAKH
PEOPLE ARE HARD-WORKING AS ALL THE ARMENIANS”: There is an opinion
that the people of Karabakh are lazy. Therefore, there is an opinion
that there is no local production in the market. According to the
minister, this opinion is wrong. “Simply our market has not been
accomplished yet because of the lack of processing factories. The
farmers in Armenia sell 90 percent of their production at a low price
to the food factories and the remaining 10 percent sell at higher
prices in the market. As the Karabakh farmer does not have the
opportunity of large consumer market, he is compelled to produce as
much as there is demand in the market. And investing labour for a
small amount of production is not profitable. As soon as we do not
have production of tomato paste, local tomatoes will not be cheaper
from the tomatoes imported from Armenia. This year 7000 tons of grapes
was produced. This cannot be consumed by the population, but as there
is already production of vodka and wine, almost the entire harvest is
sold to the factory.” In reference to the question of opening food
factories the minister said, “The government is not to take such steps
but through legislation, finance, loaning and tax policies it favours
development of such productions. There are already facts: factories of
wine, vodka, dairy products, canned food, flour operate in the
republic. Although the volumes are not big.” CONSOLIDATION OF FARMS
WILL SOON OR LATE START IN KARABAKH: This is the opinion of the
minister of agriculture. According to him, production of grain has
moved to vast territories of liberated regions. This was not done in a
regulated manner. According to the minister, it would be better for
the landowners to unite in partnerships and become
shareholders. Although, on the other hand, the possibilities of each
of them should not be restricted. In this self-organization of private
farms the minister ascribes a core function to the local
governments. According to him, a guarantee for development of
agriculture is, in his opinion, cooperation of small farmers in larger
organizations with the principle of common interests. PROGRESS IS
RATHER QUANTITATIVE THAN QUALITATIVE: People are often heard saying
that there are no few small and big rivers in Karabakh but the harvest
of grain suffered from drought. According to the data of the NKR
Ministry of Agriculture the irrigated land totals 5 percent of farming
land in the republic. What does the government undertake to expand
irrigated farming land, to aid the farmer and generally to promote the
development of agriculture? In answer the minister of agriculture
said, “for developing the irrigation system of channels large
investments are required. The financial situation of our country does
not enable us to solve such problems. Nevertheless, the authorities
do everything possible to have as much land irrigated as possible. In
the past ten years the government funded the construction of the
channels Khachen-Martakert and Khachen -Khramort, repaired old
channels and artesian springs. Certain privileges were granted to
those who use land irrigated with artesian waters (14 drams for
electric power instead 25 drams). Investments are made in the sphere
of cattle breeding and protection of plants. Loans are granted in
almost all the branches of agriculture, especially for the development
of wine-growing. In the past two years the Foundation for Small and
Medium-size Business attached to the government was established which
allows to regulate the procedure of loaning. As distinct from the
previous years the foundation (for subjective and objective reasons
from 1998-2000 there remains 1.2 US dollars of loans to be repaid)
provides the loans through the bank, which allows controlling the
procedure of their repayment. By the way, the bank gives preference to
those who have the opportunity of mortgaging. It should be mentioned
that all these actions favoured the growth of gross agricultural
output. Nevertheless, the progress in the sphere of agriculture is
rather quantitative than qualitative. Although in the last years
there was also qualitative progress. I mean in the sphere of
consolidation of agricultural product producers, development of
wine-growing, acquirement of new agricultural machinery without which
it is not possible to expect serious progress in agriculture.”

SUSANNA BALAYAN

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
April 27, 2004

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NKR GOVERNMENT

Against the background of the recent home political developments in
the capital of the republic of Armenia certain political forces and
mass media serving them try to achieve their selfish ends through
arousing adversities between the different parts of our nation. The
NKR government refuses the manipulation of the factor of Karabakh in
the home political struggle of Armenia and is of the opinion that all
those who speak with the people in that language, “play into the hands
of the enemy”. The evidence to this is that the false rumours
circulated by the same politicians and mass media immediately spread
in the Azerbaijani mass media. In particular, the rumours that the
subdivisions of the NKR police forces led by the head of the Police
Armen Isagulov allegedly participated in the April 13 events in
Yerevan, in Baghramian Street. The NKR government states that the
mentioned rumours have nothing to do with the reality and are spread
deliberately. None of the subdivisions of the NKR police left the
territory of the republic, and the entire personnel including the head
of the police continue to function in normal order. The NKR government
considers such libeling manipulations aimed at dividing the nation
unacceptable and addresses all the political forces and
representatives of the mass media to abstain from circulation of
unverified information, which may obstruct the settlement of national
problems.

AA

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
April 27 2004

BAKU CIRCULATES LIES AND EMPTY TALKS

Despite the useless efforts Baku does not give up the attempts at
discrediting the Republic of Nagorni Karabakh in front of the
international community, trying to accuse the latter of international
terrorism and illegal trade in narcotics. Recently “525-aya Gazata” of
Baku, making a reference to the Azerbaijani Ministry of National
Security, published information about the arrest of the Irani citizen
Khudam Penah (born in 1969), as well as four other offenders who tried
to smuggle drugs into Azerbaijan at the Irani border of Azerbaijan,
near Fizouli on March 27. The newspaper states that during the
interrogation it was confirmed that the drugs confiscated from the
group were produced in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan. Probably, it would be strange if the Azerbaijani Ministry
of National Security did not connect the fact of arrest of the drug
dealers (if it happened, in fact) with Nagorni Karabakh because in
this country they even tried to find “Armenian traces” in the
explosion of the World Trade Center in New York. This is a habit which
Baku cannot and does not want to give up. Of course, it is their
problem that they look ridiculous by circulating one more lie but in
this case Azerbaijan did not take into consideration the authority of
its southern neighbour Iran, actually accusing it of inability to
control their borders. By the way, the embassy of Iran in Baku has not
confirmed this information yet. As to the evidence confirmed during
the interrogation, it is clear to anyone in what way the anti-Karabakh
evidence was extorted from the accused. This country has been accused
by the European organizations of using torture and violence against
the prisoners and even participants of protest meetings. However, the
Ministry of National Security of this republic, for concealing such a
“hearty talk” has chosen a corresponding expression “filtering”. The
participants of the “talk” with this agency, which acts as coordinator
of the anti-Armenian and anti-Karabakh campaign, after going through
the mentioned “procedure” start uttering trite expressions of the
powerful propagandist machine of Azerbaijan. Recently the same
ministry has undertaken a rather disgraceful experiment, using
Armenian refugees from Baku A. Apressian and R. Terian (who
mysteriously appeared in their native city from Yerevan) for the same
intention. Undergoing “filtering” in the same ministry where they had
appeared, according to the information of the Ministry of National
Security Council, by their will, during the press conference under the
roof of the same ministry started to utter absolute absurdities about
production of narcotics in Nagorni Karabakh (where they had never been
to), hundreds of Azerbaijani hostages and POW’s in Armenia and Nagorni
Karabakh, as well as training of terrorists of the imprisoned
Azerbaijani children in Armenia to be used against Azerbaijan, etc. I
wonder whom the authors of these absurd tales meant if the
international organizations, in particular the Red Cross, the
International Working Group on Hostages and POW’s, as well as the
Azerbaijani representative of the group and representatives of public
organizations of Azerbaijan confirmed that there were no POW’s in
Armenia and Azerbaijan. By the way, it is not difficult to guess that
this raving about drugs and prisoners is the consequence of failure of
the Azerbaijani foreign policy, more exactly one of its priorities,
the discrediting of NKR. It is known that during international
conferences, official and non-official meetings the representatives of
Azerbaijan have a number of times stated about production of narcotics
in Nagorni Karabakh. The same Ilham Aliev the head of the Azerbaijani
delegation in the PACE and vice president of Azerbaijan then during
the meeting of that authoritative organization accused Karabakh of
growth of narcotics and demanded application of sanctions against
Nagorni Karabakh. We should confess that in the sphere of mythology
Azerbaijan has achieved considerable success and confused
corresponding organizations. Not very long ago through various lies
and falsification official Baku tried to introduce false data about
production and circulation of narcotics in Nagorni Karabakh and
adjacent territories in the annual report of the USA State Department
on strategic control of world circulation of drugs. The comic side of
the situation is that Azerbaijan which supplies Washington with false
information, has no access to these territories for ten years already,
therefore it has no information on these areas. Everything is like in
Dostoevsky’s works; crime begets another crime, in the case of
Azerbaijan falsification begets other falsification, which, however,
in this case is equal to committing an offence. Realizing the
absurdity of their statements, hoping to create illusion of truth,
Azerbaijan circulates new slander; the Russian satellites have
allegedly detected plants containing narcotics and the routes of
circulation of drugsâ=80¦ Is it possible to fool the authoritative
international organizations for such a long time? And this in the case
when the Karabakh party has done so much consistent work to dispel the
accusations of Azerbaijan and achieve taking out the negative
formulations in the reports of the USA State Department, at the same
time appealing to the international organizations to form an
independent monitoring group and send to NKR to study the
situation. It is enough to recall that in 2001 the NKR president
addressed the OSCE chairman-in-office, as well as the co-chairmen of
the Minsk Group with the same suggestion, the speaker of the NKR
National Assembly addressed the chairman of the PACE, the minister of
foreign affairs made corresponding announcements. If follow the
dynamics of the evaluations to Karabakh in the reports of the USA
State Department, it is easily seen that accusations were substituted
by careful remarks that the information on using the territory of
Nagorni Karabakh for production and circulation of narcotics are
presented by the government of Azerbaijan. In further reports it is
mentioned that the United States does not possess the independent
confirmation of those statements. Thus, for the first time since 1996
there were no accusations in Karabakh’s address in the report of
2003. Moreover, the UN Department on Drugs and Crime confirmed they
did not posses evidence on the use of the NK territory for transit of
narcotic drugs. In addition to this, for a number of times now the
report of the State Department states that one of the main transit
routes of drugs passes via the territory of Azerbaijan. Let us agree
that Azerbaijan has enough reasons for losing hope, which causes
another wave of misinformation and slander. In other words, appearing
in a comic situation, the Azerbaijani authorities still point the
arrow at Nagorni Karabakh accusing of production and trade of
narcotics. Apparently doubting the announcements of Azerbaijan the USA
State Department and UN corresponding organizations have dealt a
serious blow to the authority of Baku. Hence the barefaced lies,
slander and hysteria, nervous efforts of saving “their
image”. “Nagorni Karabakh was pleased with the latest report of the
State Department of the United States and we hope the foreign
political agency of the USA, as well as the international
organizations will refuse to use unverified data in their reports,”
said the NKR vice minister of foreign affairs Masis Mayilian. “Let us
hope that in answer to the numerous appeals of Nagorni Karabakh the
interested organizations will form a group of independent experts to
monitor the situation directly and reveal objective facts. We are
convinced that the findings of the survey will allow putting an end to
the manipulations of the topic and will prevent Azerbaijan’s attempts
at providing misinformation to the international community.” By the
way, setting forth unacceptable conditions in recent years official
Baku counteracted to the attempts of sending the international mission
to Nagorni Karabakh, which allowed Baku to confuse the international
community freely. We want to believe that the international commission
will finally manage to cut the long thread of falsification and false
accusations.

LEONID MARTIROSSIAN.

The Times (London)
April 27, 2004, Tuesday

Flag waving

Iraq’s Governing Council has just created employment for thousands of
tailors and seamstresses. The Iraqi flag, which for 40 years
fluttered across courts, barracks and stadiums, has been changed. The
three stars, adopted by the Baathists as symbols of their ideology,
have given way to a pale blue crescent, intended to symbolise peace,
surmounting two lines of blue, the Tigris and the Euphrates, with a
strip of yellow sand. At least this new flag, unlike our own, will
not be inadvertently flown upside down.

Flags are today the most potent symbols of nationhood. When a border,
system or constitution changes, so does the flag. Apartheid and
communism have been consigned to the dustbin of history and so has
the hammer and sickle, as well as the old South African symbols of
Dutch and British settlement. The Rising Sun shed its rays after
Hiroshima and the swastika mercifully was obliterated. The Arab world
has had its share of changes: in the heady 1960s, when short-lived
unions inspired nationalist fervour, stars were sewn on or ripped off
at a dizzying rate.

The United States slowly added stars to the 13 bars as states joined
the union.

Indeed, the most persuasive argument against statehood for Puerto
Rico is the havoc an extra star would play with the constellation.
The European Union, thankfully, has stuck at 12, even though it is
soon to be 25.

Flags were originally markers, “colours” to rally troops lost in the
confusion of the battlefield. They then were used to designate the
lands and cities over which the king’s writ held sway. For centuries
they were iconic symbols, emblematic of patron saints, mercantile
interests or national history. England chose St George – a saint
rescued from right-wing extremism by football, his banner now greased
on a thousand supporters’ faces. Some countries made confusingly
similar choices: in strong sunlight the Italian flag could be
mistaken for the Irish, the Dutch for the flag of Luxembourg. Newer
countries wanted clearer symbols: the Lebanese chose a cedar tree,
the Cypriots a map (which ought, perhaps, to be divided now), the
Saudis a Koranic credo.

Colours matter too. Blue is the universal favourite. Communists had a
passion for red, Muslims prefer any combination of the sacred colours
red, green, black and white, and the old maxim that blue and green
should never be seen largely holds true. Politics is never far away.
The Greeks were furious at Macedonia’s claim to the many-pointed
star. The best retort was that of Gromyko to the Turks’ objection
that Soviet Armenia’s flag pictured Mount Ararat, in Turkey: “Your
flag has a crescent. Do you claim the moon?” Let us hope that no one
else now lays claim to the Euphrates.

Bahrain Tribune
April 27, 2004 Tuesday

Five new envoys present credentials

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh
Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, yesterday received credentials from
five ambassador-designates. The ambassadors are Abdulrazaq Taher of
Ghana, Daiya Aldeen Saeed of Djibouti, Rito Rekola of Finland, Dr
Arshak Poladyah of Armenia and Janos Jeerees of Hungary.

Los Angeles Times
April 27, 2004 Tuesday
Home Edition

POP MUSIC REVIEW;
System of a Down turns it up at benefit

by Lina Lecaro, Special to The Times

The refusal of the American government to officially recognize the
Armenian genocide of 1915 continues to be a source of outrage among
Armenian Americans, the largest concentration of whom live in Los
Angeles. It’s something manic metal band System of a Down, whose
members are all of Armenian descent, has been addressing for years,
and on Saturday at the Greek Theatre, on the 89th anniversary of the
beginning of the controversial episode, the band took its fight a
step further with “Souls 2004,” a benefit concert to raise awareness
and money for the issue.

“You’re here for the music,” remarked poet Saul Williams, whose
passionate orations preceded System of a Down’s pulverizing
performance. “But there’s a message too.”

A news clip related to the genocide, projected on giant monitors
before the quartet took the stage, started System’s set off on a
somber note. But it also allowed their music to steadily surge,
beginning with a pitch-perfect rendition of its hypnotic hit
“Aerials” and building with other songs from its breakthrough release
“Toxicity” and the more recent “Steal This Album.” Singer Serj
Tankian’s rapid-fire rants, while impressive, would have been grating
without the balance of his other more soothing vocal guise, an
operatic croon that swelled with emotional reflection.

Guitarist Daron Malakian’s intricate instrumental work truly danced
with and enhanced Tankian’s singing.

System’s quirky mash of chaotic riffs and majestic, Middle
Eastern-flavored melodies manages to be boisterous and beauteous,
frantic yet languid and lush. It’s a signature style that’s even more
powerful live, and it’s one that should give the band a forum to
express its views, political or otherwise, for a long time.